Chapter 62: 62

Act 9

It snowed a lot . It was the worst snowfall of the winter; the traffic was even paralyzed . Several cars arrived at the Awakeners Accreditation Authority . Some people were standing and waiting outside of the car in the midst of this heavy snowfall .

“A lot of people gathered in this weather . ”

A middle-aged man with a long, thick cigar in his mouth stared at the falling snow . There were many groups of two or three people around the building, but he didn’t care about them because he already knew them . They were people he met by chance before .

“The information was blocked though… It is strange,” the man’s assistant said .

“Well, they all have ears . And if they want to figure out, there are always ways . We did the same, didn’t we?” he replied .

Ripper Guild . It was one of the ten largest guilds . In terms of the number of awakeners possessed, it was the best guild in Korea . The middle-aged man was a vice guild master of such Ripper Guild . His name was Kim Seok-jin . Money, power, and honor: the vice guild master position gave him all of that . In fact, he was the one who actually led the guild instead of the guild master, who did not show up most of the time . Of course, the fact that he was just the guild’s second in command didn’t change .

Kim Seok-jin breathed the cigar smoke through the snow and recalled the guild master of Ripper Guild, Park Ji-yeon . She was an awakener of S-rank, and only five of them existed in Korea . The Ripper Guild was able to come this far, not only because he worked very hard, but also thanks to her name and title as the only S-rank awakener in the guild . She was as beautiful as the celebrities and also had outstanding talent and achievements as an awakener . Half of the awakeners who joined the Ripper Guild joined because of her .

“Damn it . This is so unfair,” Kim Seok-jin said quietly to himself .

“What are you talking about?”

“…Nothing . ”

Kim Seok-jin dropped the cigar he had been keeping in his mouth and stepped on it like a habit . He knew why he was in such a bad mood .

He didn’t like the fact that he had to come by himself to scout a person . He had thought he could just send one attendant, but he could not do that because Park Ji-yeon meddled .

“Vice guild master . You go . ”

Park Ji-yeon made him do it because she was too busy climbing the tower . In the end, it was his job to recruit the new S-Rank .

“Let’s see… In other guilds…”

He glanced around . He could see several outstanding guilds .

“From Blue Dragon… the guild master himself came . Silence Guild… How many are there? Are they going to push with this number of people?”

The competition was pretty stiff . He had no idea how all they got the information, but not only the guilds but also the press came . Of course, this crowd was nothing . At the time of Park Ji-yeon’s rank reexamination, there was no place to put their feet .

Kim Seok-jin lit up one more cigar and asked his assistant, “This S-rank candidate is in his twenties?”

“Yes, sir . He will be the second S-Rank awakener in their twenties after our guild master . As looking at what happened in Anyang a while ago, I think it won’t be hard for him to get S-Rank . ”

“Then the problem will be ranking, I suppose . ”

“Yes . We have to figure out Kim Su-hyeun’s Magic Factor and physical ability… But since he is just in his second year as an awakener, I think it will be hard to compare him with other S-Rank awakeners . ”

“Well . The proficiency of skill will be different . ”

“But still, he has great talent . ”

The evaluation of Kim Su-hyeun had been made many times here and there . But he never showed himself for an official appearance . His only accomplishment was he caught the boss of the green-colored dungeon when the outbreak had happened in Anyang City . And now, it was time to take an objective assessment .

Then, all of a sudden, the journalists on one side were disturbed . They whispered to each other to keep the information, but awakeners who had good ears could hear what they were saying .

Kim Seok-jin thought and started to walk quickly .

***

“…Why are there so many people?”

“There is no perfect secret in the world . Actually, there are not that many . When the reexamination of Park Ji-yeon of Ripper Guild happened, there were at least thousands of people gathered . ”

“You mean the reporters?”

“Hundreds of guilds, too . ”

Su-hyeun and Lee Ju-ho talked about the many people gathered in front of the Authority building . It looked like there were about one hundred people . Su-hyeun, who had initially intended to take examine quietly, felt embarrassed .

“Su-hyeun! Over here!”

Then, a familiar voice came from one side . When he turned his head, he could see Hak-joon and Yun-seon . Their faces looked much happier than before . Su-hyeun did not know anyone here except them, so he started to walk to them, waving his hand .

Rather, he tried to go .

“Are you the awakener Kim Su-hyeun? I am from Daewoong News . Could you give me a moment…?”

People started to gather in a flash . Su-hyeun stopped his walking because of the crowd and said, “Let me through . ”

It was a calm voice, but everybody could hear it . Some slippy people stepped back but some did not .

“It will only take a second! As a new S-Rank awakener candidate—”

“You stopped the catastrophe that almost happened in Anyang City, how did you know about—”

They were the reporters . Unlike the others who came out to scout for their awakeners’ guild, the reporters’ goal was quickly to send out articles about Su-hyeun . For journalists whose monopoly and preemption were important, they were even more enthusiastic to cover Su-hyeun .

“I hold grudges,” Su-hyeun looked around and met eyes with each one of them and said, “I will remember you guys faces and where you belonged . I have a pretty good memory . ”

The reporters became silent, watching a smiling face of Su-hyeun . What he had said was if they didn’t step back, he would not respond to the coverage next time . If they said something wrong to Su-hyeun in here, they would take all the blame for their mistakes . So, soon after, the reporters started to step back as well . Su-hyeun passed through and headed to Hak-joon .

“Wow . That was strong . ” Hak-joon gave him a thumbs up .

Su-hyeun smiled at him and looked at both Hak-joon and Yun-seon . “How are you?” he asked .

“It’s all good . Except for those from the Authority that bother us,” Hak-joon answered .

“There will be no issues . I am the one who killed Jung Dong-yeong . You were just there . ”

“Then won’t you be in trouble?” Hak-joon asked .

“If I have trouble, I can just go to the moon . Even if I don’t have a flight there, it would be no problem to go abroad . ”

Hak-joon laughed at Su-hyeun’s joke . Surely, his face and smiling looked way better than before .

“We came here to say thank you . ”

Yun-seon carefully opened her mouth to the conversation between the two . Su-hyeun shook his hand in embarrassment when he saw her bowing . “Oh, you don’t have to do this . I had been thinking about doing something to Ares Guild for a long time now… . ”

“But if you did not help us, this fool would have suffered more . I also still suffered from poison,” she said .

“Well, I did suffer a lot,” Hak-joon said .

At Hak-joon’s joke, Yun-seon pinched his arm with her long fingernail . She glared at him as if telling him to be quiet . “You are slow-witted,” she said .

“Ah, he looked burdened,” Hak-joon replied .

“But still we have to say what we have to . ”

“Do we have to do that now?”

“Then, when will you do?”

Hak-joon and Yun-seon glared at each other and argued . It was pretty childish .

Su-hyeun thought .

The face of Hak-joon he had watched so far was always a little bit gloomy . He looked mature, not like his age . The dark mood that he had was not his original personality . He became like that under certain circumstances . But now, his shadow cleared up and his original personality appeared . His character was a little different from what Su-hyeun had thought .

Su-hyeun looked at the two who fought like cats and dogs as if it was funny . He turned his eyes to Lee Ju-ho . “Isn’t it about time?”

“We still have three minutes . ”

“Let’s go inside now . Let them keep fighting . ”

“Shall we?”

When Su-hyeun and Lee Ju-ho turned their bodies to the building, Hak-joon and Yun-seon thought they might make a mistake . They started to worry if their actions might make them upset .

“Su-hyeun . It’s not that…”

“I am sorry . We didn’t pick up the mood…”

Su-hyeun looked back at the two restless people and shook his head .

“You don’t have to be sorry . You guys look good . You don’t have to thank me, and you really don’t have to feel sorry . And Hak-joon—” Su-hyeun said .

“Yes?”

“—You owe me one . ”

At Su-hyeun’s words, Hak-joon blinked his eyes and soon smiled big .

“Yes, of course! If you need me next time, just let me know . ”

Hak-joon felt comfortable that Su-hyeun told him so . It was much easier just to run for him instead of only feeling sorry or thanking vaguely .

“Good . Don’t forget that,” Su-hyeun said and started to walk to the entrance of the building .

The S-Rank examination was something that the Authority was paying attention to as well . So, many of the examiners gathered and waited for Su-hyeun . When Su-hyeun showed his awakener registration card, the examiners looked at the people behind him .

One of the examiners asked him, “Will you allow people to watch your reexamination?”

Since it was Su-hyeun’s personal exam, he could decide whether to proceed privately or publicly . And hundreds of people here came to see the screening in person, to see the birth of a new S-Rank awakener . They wanted to report the scenes to the press or scout him for their guilds, or just watch it . But…

“Except for the three people here…” Su-hyeun pointed Lee Ju-ho, Hak-joon, and Yun-seon . “…please, tell the other people to go back . ”

“You mean…all of them?”

The examiner looked embarrassed and looked around the people gathered in front of the entrance . There were people from major guilds such as Blue Dragon, Silence, Ripper, and etc . In addition, there were journalists such as major stations and internet newspapers that could guarantee his fame . But Su-hyeun refused to allow all of them to watch the exam .

“Are you going to be a mercenary soldier?” Hak-joon, who was following Su-hyeun, also made a surprised face like the examiner .

A mercenary was a contract awakener who only fought when they were paid . They were also an awakener who did not join either governmental institutions or any guilds .

“I don’t plan to work as mercenary either…” Su-hyeun walked further into the building and he swallowed the last of the sentence .

Guild, press, agency, all of those, seemed like child’s play to Su-hyeun . In the future, all of those things that share power, compete, and quarrel would all be a luxury because mankind would be destroyed . Su-hyeun had no intention of entertaining them at all .

Su-hyeun shook his head inside and looked back Hak-joon .

“No . I guess there’s two of us . ”