Two days passed by in an instant while he was preparing equipment for the subjugation.
“This is probably enough.”
Hmpf—
Ohjin carried the rather heavy backpack over his shoulders.
Although it was quite hefty, thanks to his body that had become one step stronger from rising to 4-Star, it felt like he was carrying a light laptop bag over his shoulders.
“Isn’t that too much?” asked Ha-eun as she approached him.
“It’s better to have too much than not enough.”
“That’s strange coming from someone who’s a cheapskate by nature.”
“I still know how to distinguish where money should be spent or saved.”
When he was obtaining equipment needed for survival, he couldn’t be frugal.
‘Anyways.’
“…What’s with your outfit?”
With his eyes narrowed, Ohjin studied Ha-eun, who had worn leather armor that clung tightly to her body.
He understood the importance of flexibility, but her body figure was clearly discernible from the leather armor that clung to her like a wetsuit.
“Hehe! Why? Do you like it?”
Ha-eun chuckled while posing like a model in a magazine.
Her face heated up from the extremely embarrassing pose.
‘Seriously… let’s say it’s fine because it’s just the two of us right now, but what about when we go outside?’
“Hurry up and wear something else.”
“Huhuhum. Why~? This is nice and really comfortable to move around in~”
Ha-eun giggled while covering her mouth with her hands.
“…”
Ohjin’s brow slowly rose up.
“Kyahaha! I’m just kidding! Did you really think that I’d go outside like this?”
She cackled out as she threw on a jacket she had hidden in the corner of the room.
Even though it was a jacket, the length of it went down to her thighs.
“Oh my, you cute weasel! Why? Were you jealous that other people might see?”
Ha-eun jumped up and headlocked Ohjin, messing up his hair playfully.
Ohjin’s eyes shone coldy.
“Yeah, you’re right. I was jealous.”
“…Huh?”
Flinch—
Ha-eun’s body shook.
Slowly unwrapping her arm locked around his neck, he stepped one step closer to her.
“Only I can look at your body. I won’t let it be seen by anyone else.”
“O-Ohjin?”
“Ha-eun.”
Bang!—
He pushed her against the wall.
“Uh? Uhhhh?”
Ha-eun’s body shivered.
Her left eye that wasn’t covered by the eyepatch looked around in a hurry.
Slowly…
He tilted his mouth closer to her face.
“O-Ohjin! W-Wait!”
Ha-eun floundered.
“…Close your eyes.”
“Uht!”
Ha-eun closed her eyes tight.
Her shoulders slightly shook.
“Ohjin…”
He could see Ha-eun carefully raising her chin and puckering out her lips.
And on her light pink lips—
Tak!—
“Oww!”
—he flicked his finger.
A light sound came out from the fingernail that bumped into her front teeth.
“Haha! Just kidding.”
“Y-You piece of shit!”
Ha-eun rubbed her lips and kicked him in the shin.
‘Shouldn’t have teased me in the first place.’
“We’re going to be late. Let’s go.”
“Fuu…”
Even though she frowned, she grabbed her luggage and followed him out.
Vroom—
They loaded all the luggage into the trunk of the car that the Association gave them.
Ha-eun who sat on the front passenger seat looked around.
“But since when could you drive?” she asked.
“I learned.”
“Ooh. When?”
“Yesterday.”
“You fuck.”
Ha-eun grabbed the assist grip located above the window with a pale expression.
Dazzle—
Then…
As the pendant worn around Ohjin’s neck gave out light, a little goddess the size of a small doll appeared.
[Ooh. Are you departing now?]
“Yeah. Stay inside since it’s going to take a couple hours. I’ll call you when we arrive.”
[Hmm. This lady wants to look around this thing called a ‘car' for a moment.]
Vega, who sat on top of Ohjin’s head, looked around with an interested expression.
[Although this lady has heard from Riak that humans ride around these lumps of metal… to be able to ride one of these for real!]
“Is it that amazing?”
[Hm! Of course! As it is something this lady has never seen inside the world she has lived in!]
“It’s amazing for me, too.”
[…?]
‘Well.’
‘Should we get going?’
“Right side is the accelerator; the left side is the brakes.”
[My child?]
“Nice, it’s perfect.”
[Is it truly perfect?]
Vroooooooom!!!!—
The engine howled out like a beast.
Was it because the performance of the car was outstanding?
The car raced forward with frightening acceleration speed.
“T-This is!”
It was thrust that far exceeded the manufacturer’s expectation!!
“Kyaaaaaaaa!!!”
[S-Stop!!!]
The screams of the two women faintly echoed out.
* * *
Click—
The car door opened.
“We arrived in a flash."
“Haa, haa, haa!”
Ha-eun exited the passenger seat while gasping heavy breathes.
Vega escaped into the pendant when it hadn’t even been five minutes since the car departed.
“I-I thought my stomach was going to turn inside out.”
“Still, I got the hang of it during the middle of the trip and controlled the speed.”
He had pressed excessively hard on the accelerator because he wasn’t used to it at first, but he actually drove pretty well starting from the halfway mark.
“See if I ever ride it again.”
“You need to ride it on the way back, anyways.”
“Damn it.”
Ha-eun's expression was on the verge of crying.
He cackled as he moved his feet.
After walking for around five minutes, they could see the distant Sokcho.
“That’s…”
“It’s quite serious.”
Even from such a distance, they could see smoke rising up all across the city.
The stories of demon beasts raiding all the way down to the city appeared to be true.
“You said that the people evacuated, right?”
“Yeah.”
The Awakeners from the Association and guilds had prioritized the evacuation of the city’s residents before planning the subjugation operation.
“So I guess Sokcho is currently brimming with demon beasts.”
“Probably.”
With humans no longer being present, the demon beasts that resided in Mt. Seorak would most likely have come down in large masses to take control of the city’s center.
“Hmm. I think it would have been better if we ambushed them while they were hiding in the mountains.”
“But then there’s a possibility that the escaping demon beasts could flock to the city at once, which would have been another problem.”
In the Association’s position, their only option was to prioritize the residents' evacuation.
“Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
* * *
* * *
As they walked a little farther, approximately 200 gathered-up Awakeners came into view.
Click! Click!—
“Could we get a word from the [Star of Peace] guild about their resolve in this subjugation operation?!”
“We are always treating the nation’s peace with utmost priority and promise we will punish those evil demon beasts!”
Arriving near where the subjugation force was gathered, they could see reporters carrying around heavy cameras following guilds and interviewing them; the guilds also partook in the interviews like they had been waiting for it.
The subjugation soon became a side matter as everyone was zealously chattering on about the nation’s peace, safety, and whatnot.
However, even that was momentary.
“L-Lighting Wolf!! It’s the Lightning Wolf!”
“Woaah!”
“Awakener Gwon Ohjin!! Could we get a word from you!!”
As Ohjin made his entrance, reporters gathered around like ants that found sugar.
Click! Click! Click!—
The flashes of the cameras sparkled like starlight.
‘Let’s see.’
Ohjin organized what the reporters said in his mind.
After some time passed…
“…What are you all doing?”
“Yes?”
“The… interview.”
Zap—
“Even at this moment, it is still unknown if there are civilians who still couldn’t evacuate. Are we in a situation where we have the time to spare on interviews?” He furrowed his brows and said coldly.
“Ah.”
“Tch. Get out of my way. I’m busy.”
He passed through the reporters while putting on an unnecessarily temperamental expression.
Though he honestly couldn’t care less whether there were civilians that were left behind or not.
“A-As expected of the Lightning Wolf!”
“Kuu! Yeah, this is it!”
“We’ve plucked out three articles already!”
A heated reaction occurred, as he expected.
‘Stuff like this works better than blabbering on about the nation’s safety and whatever. Who cares about going on and on about boring words people are fed up with.'
“…You're as good at using that mouth of yours as ever.”
“Of course, it’s the one thing that's allowed me to survive.”
Taking notice of Ohjin’s intention, Ha-eun stuck out her tongue.
Ohjin shrugged and headed to where the subjugation force was gathered.
“The subjugation force will be divided into three-man teams because of the characteristics of urban areas! People who are lacking in members, please write your name and specialty in the application form over here!”
With their members being only Ohjin and Ha-eun, they went up and filled out the application form.
After waiting for a moment, a youth carrying a heavy shield approached them.
He was a youth with a memorable square jaw that looked like it had been measured by a protractor.
‘Is he a tank-type?’
It was perfect when putting the party balance into consideration.
‘…Though he doesn’t seem to be just a tank.’
In the other hand, he was holding a large hammer.
“Woah! Lightning Wolf! You’re the Lightning Wolf, right?!”
The square-chinned youth smiled brightly after discovering Ohjin.
“Iya~! It seems that we were destined to meet up once again!”
“Once again?”
“Haha! I’m from the Valhalla guild! I’ve known about Mr. Ohjin since even before the Seoul Station incident!”
“Ah.”
‘So he was from the Valhalla guild.’
“Hehe. Take good care of me! Ah, right. I’m Park Changhyun, an apostle of Taurus!”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Gwon Ohjin, an apostle of Lyra.”
Park Changhyun.
‘Was he the Awakener that raided the gate at Mok-dong in the 1st Round?’
He vaguely remembered his name inside the memories of Lee Shinhyuk that had been handed down.
“How is Mr. Woohyuk these days?”
“Guild Leader is currently quite busy with catching the tails of those Black Star Organization guys or whatever.”
‘So he’s doing well. But does that mean he still hasn’t found a lead even after three months?’
Although he had handed over Arshad Khan’s contacts to Lee Woohyuk, it seemed like a decisive lead had yet to be found.
‘Well.’
He had contacts.
In other words, the only thing he had were contacts.
Lee Woohyuk’s goal was not Arshad Khan but destroying the entire Black Star Organization. He would need a lot more information than contacts in order to sweep up the group that acted secretly in the dark all at once.
“Still, I think he’s found something out recently since he goes out so often.”
“I hope good results come out soon.”
The Black Star Organization was an organization Ohjin was keeping his eyes on as well.
‘It’s the organization where the Heavenly Demon will be born, after all.’
Of course there was the objective of using them as well, but—
‘Even if that isn’t the case, they’re a group I need to be wary of.’
They were the ones who talked nonsense about making the Black Stars rule over the world. It wouldn’t matter if those people were only wrong in the head, but they actually possessed the strength and force that could make that nonsense become reality.
“We’ll contact you once we get good news.”
“I’ll leave it to you, then.”
Ohjin shared a handshake with Park Changhyun.
After the handshake, Park Changhyun's eyes headed towards Ha-eun.
“By the way, could you introduce me to who you are?”
“Song Ha-eun, apostle of Draco. I’m not used to formalities, so you should speak comfortably as well.”
“Wew! What a fresh personality! Hm… I’ll speak comfortably once I get myself more acquainted.”
Park Changhyun let out a hearty laugh and nodded his head.
“Well, should we get going?”
“Let’s do so.”
When they were just about to head down to the city…
“Iya, who is this? Isn’t this our gre~at rookie? Huh?”
A blond youth that looked to have a dirty personality approached them.
“Remember me, bastard?” asked the blond youth as he pointed at his chin.
“No. I don’t remember.”
“Hik! Park Jungwoo!!! I’m the Pandinus guild’s Park Jungwoo, you fucking bastard!!!”
‘Ah.’
‘He’s that guy I met at the Association.’
“Did you send my regards to the guild leader?”
“Regards?!?!”
Park Jungwoo showed his anger while baring his teeth.
‘Well, he probably didn’t actually send my regards.’
It was most likely that he came to a realization that he was fooled after discovering Ohjin’s face on the news.
“Woah, woah! Calm down, Jungwoo.”
Step—
Stopping Park Jungwoo, someone from the back walked towards them.
A middle-aged man with a face that induced displeasure from just a glance.
Coincidentally…
It was a face that remained in his memories.
“Wow~ So we meet once again!”
Huhuhu!—
With his tongue stuck out, the middle-aged man repeatedly looked at Ha-eun and Ohjin.
His glance at Ha-eun was greasy with sticky desire.
Ohjin’s expression suddenly distorted.
“…Choi Jongchul?”
‘Why is this bastard here?’
