The place he headed to first after the three months of enclosed training was the Association.
“Huh? Is that person perhaps…”
“Isn’t that the Lightning Wolf?”
“What? Didn’t he die inside a gate?”
It appeared that rumors about him dying inside a gate had spread out during the three-month period of time he was absent. Passing by the Awakeners that had crowded in front of the Association, he entered the HQ building.
Knock, knock—
“Yes, come in.”
He entered after knocking on the office door.
What came into view was a middle-aged man with a build so big that it made the large desk look cramped.
“A-Awakener Ohjin?!”
Bang!—
Team Leader Han shot up from his seat.
“It’s been a while, Team Leader Han.”
With it having been three months since their last meeting, even those tan muscles felt welcoming.
“Haha. I’m no longer a Team Leader.”
“Huh?”
Han Joonman then smirked and held out his business card.
On it was not ‘Team Leader Han Joonman’, but written proudly next to his name was the position ‘General Manager of Disaster Countermeasure Headquarters’.
“Wow, when did you get promoted?”
“This is all thanks to you.”
Team Leader Han Joonman, no, General Manager Han Joonman smiled as he raised his thumb.
‘Well, the one who recruited me to the Association was Han Joonman, after all.”
That kind of high-speed promotion was understandable.
“Huhu. Shouldn’t you treat me?”
“Of course. Ah, It just so happens to be lunchtime, would you like to share a meal together?
“Sure.”
There was no reason to decline a free meal.
“Let’s go. I have a nice place in mind.”
Like that, Ohjin exited the Association with General Manager Han.
The place they went to was a luxurious traditional Korean house. Glancing at the signboard, Ohjin could tell that it was a store that specialized in selling Hanwoo.
‘Hanwoo!’
Ohjin’s eyes shined greedily.
Although he had some degree of financial freedom, his habits that built up during his entire life wouldn’t disappear easily.
His heart palpitated from the thought of being able to eat expensive food for free.
“Haha! Now! Order as much as you’d like!” General Manager Han shouted out while laughing broadly.
“Then I’ll order without reserve.”
Ohjin called out to an employee.
“Hello~ Please give me your orders.”
“Give us everything from there to here,” said Ohjin as he pointed from the top left, straight down to the bottom right of the menu.
Flinch—
General Manager Han’s shoulders shook.
“A… All of this?”
“Yes.”
Ohjin nodded his head with a bright smile on his face.
“K-Khm. Isn’t that too much?”
“No way~ I should order at least this much, taking your sincerity into account.”
“…” General Manager Han gulped in silence, his face was on the verge of crying.
Ohjin thought about the possibility he was taking it too far, but…
‘This much is probably okay when he got promoted thanks to me.’
Nodding his head, he waited for the food to come out.
* * *
* * *
“Were the results of your training promising?”
“Yes. It wasn’t bad.”
From the past three months of training, Ohjin had been promoted to 4-Star and developed a new field known as combination skills. He wasn’t 100% satisfied, but the results were more than sufficient.
“By ‘wasn’t bad’, you mean…?”
“I’ve reached the 4-Star rank.”
“What?” General Manager Han’s eyes opened wide. His mouth gaped like he had seen a ghost.
“4…4-Star? Are you saying you have reached the 4-Star rank in just three months?”
“Yes.”
“Ha…” He touched his forehead in disbelief.
For an Awakener that hadn’t been awakened for even half a year to reach 4-Star…
“…Not even the Seven Stars would’ve been that fast.”
In addition, If you took into account the fact that the ‘star’ ranking would be harder to raise the more powerful a stigma was, it truly was a speed hard to believe.
“I should do this much at the very least when I’m the rookie the entire world is paying attention to.”
“Haha! Recruiting Awakener Ohjin into the Association really was a godsend.”
“By the way, did anything special happen during the past three months?” Ohjin asked as he placed meat on top of the grill.
Sizzleee!—
“Anything special huh… I guess there was something quite big.”
General Manager Han’s expression slightly stiffened.
“What kind of…?”
“A gate break happened near Sokcho.”
Gate Break.
It was the phenomenon where monsters inhabiting gates poured outside.
“What’s especially problematic is that the monsters that came out of there weren’t normal monsters but demon beasts.”
“Demon beasts?”
It was Ohjin’s first time hearing that title.
“Ah, you wouldn’t know since you’ve been inside the sanctum. Didn’t I once say that the number of mutant monsters was increasing sharply around the world?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Ohjin had also bumped into many mutant monsters.
“Because too many mutant monsters emerged, a separate title that referred to them was designated.”
“Is that ‘demon beast’?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Demon Beast.
It was a plausible title when taking into consideration how mutant monsters were several times more horrendous and powerful compared to normal monsters.
“Anyways. We’re currently in quite a serious situation, as the demon beasts have run amok up to the central areas of Sokcho.”
If you viewed the situation worldwide, monsters running amok inside the central parts of cities was nothing special, but for Korea, which had been evaluated as more or less a ‘safe country’ against monsters, it was definitely something uncommon.
“How large is the scale?”
“I’m not sure. It’s hard to calculate the exact number since most of them are hiding in the mountains outside the city, but we’re currently predicting them to number at least one thousand.”
“…That’s quite a lot.”
A group of demon beasts that numbered over one thousand.
Just imagining it induced dizziness.
“We happen to have formed a subjugation force this time.”
‘A subjugation force, hm… should I participate?”
If he had to go to a place where over one thousand demon beasts crowded by himself, he would count himself out by any means necessary, but that wasn’t the case.
‘It’s not bad.’
The group of demon beasts were enough of a threat that a subjugation force was formed. They would not only help him with building up experience in real fights, but also help him check up on his stigma that had been promoted to 4-Star..
“Is there a separate remuneration?”
“Of course. According to the rank, around $1,000 to $3,000 will be rewarded per demon beast. Harvested starstone is accounted for separately.”
There was even more of a reason to join in if they were willing to reward him as well.
‘Now that I’ve fixed Ha-eun’s eyes…’
Sizzle!—
Ohjin placed two pieces of mouthwateringly cooked beef on top of lettuce.
Two pieces of meat on a single lettuce.
It was a luxury he could never dare to imagine in the past.
‘I’ll eat as many delicious things as I want.’
Whether it was himself or Ha-eun, hadn’t they lived through an unlucky life of hardship for a long time?
“Can I participate in the subjugation force as well?”
“Hahaha. I was going to give the proposal first, but I ended up missing the timing.”
Nodding his head, General Manager Han smiled like he knew Ohjin would do so all along.
“When will the subjugation force depart?”
“It’ll most likely depart around the day after tomorrow.”
“Perfect.”
That amount of time was more than enough to prepare the necessary equipment.
“I guess everyone will make a fuss again when they hear that the Lightning Wolf is participating in the subjugation force.”
“The more commotion the better.”
Fame equaled money.
As long as it wasn’t to the point where fame couldn’t be handled, there was no reason to reject it.
“Well then.”
Raising up his now-empty bowl, Ohjin smiled brightly.
“I’ll have to fill myself even more since I'll have to depart for the subjugation soon.”
“…”
General Manager Han counted up the number imprinted on the bill and let out a deep sigh.
“Ah, right. Do you have a car? The subjugation strategy meeting will take place in Sokcho.”
“No.”
In a situation where he had struggled to save up every penny, there was no way he would have enough leisure to buy a car.
‘With the gathering location being at Sokcho… will I have to ride a train?’
He wondered if trains would be operating normally when demon beasts were running amok even up to the central parts of the city.
“In that case, there is no need to worry.”
General Manager Han fished out a car key from his pocket.
“This is…”
“This is a car provided by the Association. There shouldn’t be any discomfort with it, as it’s quite an expensive model.”
“Ooh.”
Following up the beef, a car.
‘Indeed, fame equals money.’
They continued to give when all he did was sit still.
It was a privilege he couldn’t have imagined even in his wildest dreams before he awakened.
“By the way, do you know how to drive a car?”
“I’ll have to learn now.”
Two days until the subjugation…
It was sufficient time to get himself acquainted with driving.
* * *
After parting ways with General Manager Han, Ohjin returned to his house.
“Though it’s been a while, this place doesn’t feel sentimental in the least.”
He looked at the worn-out exterior and clicked his tongue.
Creak—
He opened the door and entered.
“Hm?”
Ha-eun was nowhere to be seen.
“Where did she go?”
Ohjin tilted his head and went up to the rooftop.
In that place—
“Fuu.”
—was Ha-eun.
With her eyes closed and right arm stretched forward, she was focused on her mind.
‘So she was in the middle of training.’
Ohjin stood still and observed the scene.
“Fuu.”
Slowly exhaling the deeply held breath—
Owooong!—
—Light poured out of the stigma on her left chest.
And then…
Fwooosh!—
Crimson flames soared up from her hands.
“Ch-hat!”
Flames like that of a nimble beast erupted as Ha-eun swung her arms around.
‘Wow.’
A short exclamation flowed out of Ohjin’s mouth.
Back when he saw her when he wasn’t an Awakener, he only thought of it as ‘looking impressive’, but he was sure now that he had seen it after rising to a certain level.
‘So she was this strong.’
Well…
Ha-eun was a 7-Star Awakener.
Not only that, she was also regarded as one of the strongest amongst other 7-Star Awakeners.
There was no way she would be weak.
Fwosh! Fwosh!—
The crimson flames spread out like a net and dominated the surroundings.
Despite being quite far away from the flames, the fiery heat made his skin sting.
However…
‘…It’s not as much as when I saw it before.’
He could definitely see that her body wasn't entirely recovered yet.
“Huh? O-Ohjin?”
After being shocked from discovering Ohjin, Ha-eun drew in the flames that dominated the area.
“Bastard, what are you spectating without saying a word for?”
Was it because she was embarrassed about how she looked when training?
Ha-eun approached him with a tint of red on her face.
“You seem to have gotten much better.”
“Well… I’m not completely recovered yet.”
Ha-eun shrugged her shoulders.
“Hehe. If you’ve finished your training as well, do you want to go out and eat with me?”
“I already ate moments ago.”
“Ang?”
Scrunch, Ha-eun’s expression distorted.
“Huhu. I came here after being treated to hanwoo~”
“Ahk! You cheap bastard!” Ha-eun grabbed him by the collar and shook him.
Ohjin cackled out.
“Let’s go out to eat after I finish my business.”
“Hm? Business?”
“You heard about Sokcho, right?”
“…Demon beasts coming out and whatnot?”
“Yup.” he nodded his head.
“I’m participating in the subjugation force. so I’m going to be outside the house for a couple of days.”
“…”
Ha-eun narrowed her eyes.
She strode towards Ohjin.
Her maroon hair waved like flames.
“Take me as well.”
“What?” Ohjin narrowed his eyes.
“You haven’t completely recovered yet.”
“I’ve recovered more than enough to deal with some monsters.”
“Still.”
“Wouldn’t moving around a little be more helpful for my recovery compared to staying still?”
“Hm.”
She wasn’t wrong.
Just like how stories of real fights being the fastest way to raise a stigma’s proficiency were more than just stories, stigmas would become more active the more urgent the situation was.
“Okay. Let’s go together then.”
For the first time…
He would end up moving together with her as a fellow ‘Awakener’.
“Uhehe.”
Ha-eun twisted her body in delight.
Sneak—
Grabbing Ohjin’s hands, she smiled.
“You need to hold my hand when we get there so you don’t get lost, okay?”
‘For crying out loud.’
