Ever since the Major Guild Evaluation—
White Lotus had landed squarely on the Awakened Management Bureau’s radar.
The guild members could no longer keep even their private lives entirely private.
And Baek Yulheon, the Guild Master, could feel people shadowing him even when he merely left home to buy groceries.
Baek Yulheon felt no small amount of responsibility for the situation.
He might have been able to tolerate it if he were the only one suffering.
But he could not stand seeing the guild members dragged into it as well.
‘I need some kind of card to play.’
Clearing away all suspicion would be impossible.
But he needed something capable of peeling away at least one layer of it.
‘For example…… rescuing civilians.’
The most reliable method would be media play.
No matter how powerful the Awakened Management Bureau was—
they could not recklessly pressure a guild that had captured the public’s attention.
“Isn’t there anything useful out there……?”
If he left a wound unattended for too long, it would eventually fester.
At that moment—
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP―!
“……Who’s calling at this hour?”
A call came in.
An uneasy feeling began creeping over him.
‘Don’t tell me they’ve started harassing me over the phone too……?’
For a moment, he considered ignoring it.
But he picked up his phone anyway, if only to check who was calling.
And then—
“S-Sohyeok!?”
His heart dropped.
‘I almost ignored Sohyeok’s call…….’
But why was Sohyeok calling at this hour?
According to Sohyeon, this was normally when he would still be fast asleep.
‘First, answer it.’
Before any more time passed, he accepted the call.
Then—
―Guild Master!!
“Y-You startled me…….”
Sohyeok sounded desperate.
Baek Yulheon could even hear a slight tremble in his voice through the phone.
‘……This is an emergency.’
Something had happened to Sohyeok.
There was no other conclusion he could reach.
And as though confirming his fears—
Sohyeok told him something shocking.
“What!? A t-terrorist attack?”
―Yes! An Awakened is rampaging around like he’s lost his mind! He’s about two meters tall, and I think he has an Explosion-Type ability!
‘Explosion?’
Two meters tall.
Explosion-Type.
A list of Awakened began unfolding inside Baek Yulheon’s mind.
‘A Fire Mage? No. If that were the case, he would’ve said the man was using fire. Two meters tall…… someone who wraps his body in explosions…….’
“Ah.”
One person.
A name flashed through his mind.
Cold sweat began running down Baek Yulheon’s forehead.
‘Sohyeok is in danger.’
Explosion-Type abilities ranked among the very best in both destructive power and lethality.
And if the man Baek Yulheon was thinking of really was the culprit……
―I’m sorry to ask this, but could you send any available guild member?
“I’ll send someone immediately. Your sister is away on business right now, so she can’t go, but I’ll send someone capable. Don’t worry.”
―Thank you!
“No, of course I’m sending someone. Sohyeok, stay hidden and keep away from that bastard. They should…… get there in about fifteen minutes.”
―F-Fifteen minutes?
“Is that too slow? I’ll send the fastest one available, so stay safe!”
Click.
The call ended.
“Secretary Yoo! Chae-rin is at the guild right now, isn’t she? Bring her here!”
Baek Yulheon immediately dispatched one of his guild members.
‘I absolutely cannot lose Sohyeok.’
Beads of cold sweat formed across Baek Yulheon’s forehead.
Awakened terrorist attacks had finally begun decreasing lately.
And one had occurred at the exact supermarket Sohyeok happened to be visiting.
‘Chae-rin should arrive before it’s too late. Sohyeok said himself that he was somewhere safe, so he should be fine. He is still an Awakened, at least.’
“First, calm down.”
Whew―.
He took a deep breath and forced his pounding heart to settle.
This was not a situation he could afford to view emotionally.
His head always had to remain cool.
A heated mind could miss even prey placed directly before it.
‘Use the situation.’
Once he looked at the matter calmly—
this was precisely the kind of major incident the guild had been hoping for.
Baek Yulheon slowly retraced the situation.
‘The trust I can earn from Sohyeok, and White Lotus’s achievement in stopping a major incident involving Awakened terrorism.’
“……An achievement?”
BANG!
As though something had suddenly occurred to him, Baek Yulheon slammed his hand onto the desk and stood up.
“We can do it…… media play.”
The world felt slow.
It almost seemed as though a refreshing breeze were blowing past me.
Death was right in front of my face.
A fist wrapped in flames.
It was nearly as large as my head.
If that hit me, I would definitely die on the spot.
“Urgh……!”
BOOM!
I avoided the fist by a hair and rolled sideways.
I could clearly feel the enhancement to my physical abilities.
‘Thank God I wasn’t too late…….’
He had closed the distance far faster than I expected.
I nearly died before I could even use the ability.
If that fist had so much as grazed me, the explosion would have turned my face into pulp.
Right.
The ability.
The moment I provoked the giant—
I used Retainer of the World Tree and borrowed an ability.
The ability I borrowed belonged to Baek Yulheon.
‘Wind-Thunder Fist Art.’
To be honest, I had no idea what kind of ability it was.
My sister’s ability required a greatsword.
Jeong Cheongun’s Enhanced Senses made it impossible for me to even stand properly.
So by process of elimination, Baek Yulheon’s ability had been my only choice.
‘I got lucky.’
Physical enhancement.
Movement correction.
So far, those seemed to be its effects.
I would have to check the Status Window to understand the details.
‘Not that I have time for that…….’
“What the hell? You dodged?”
CRASH.
The giant, who had pitched forward when I avoided him—
pushed aside the burning wreckage and stood back up.
Crack, crack.
He cracked his knuckles and settled into a stance.
“You…… You’re not a civilian, are you? You an Awakened?”
“…….”
I slowly backed away.
Carefully enough not to agitate him.
Even getting caught in the aftershock of an explosion would probably inflict serious damage.
“I asked you a question. Are you an Awakened?”
“…….”
I kept my mouth firmly shut.
I had no obligation to make conversation with a terrorist.
If I started talking to him—
I might unintentionally become agitated or lose focus.
Especially when the other man was clearly intoxicated by something.
‘……Intoxicated?’
The giant looked almost like someone who was completely drunk.
He was excessively excited.
Barely aware of his surroundings.
Even while facing me, his gaze kept drifting past me—
toward the children trapped beneath the rubble.
‘Are the kids okay……?’
Damn it.
This was not the time to worry about other people.
I cleared every stray thought from my mind.
I had to focus solely on his movements.
If I lost sight of him for even an instant, I was dead.
“You’re boring as hell…… Whatever. I already decided I’m killing everyone I see.”
When I widened the distance—
the giant prepared to leap again.
“You won’t dodge this one. Forget punching you. I’ll just fly at you at full speed and blow you apart.”
‘Full speed……?’
That had not been his fastest?
BANG! BANG-BANG!
A string of firecracker-like explosions erupted.
Small flashes and smoke began bursting from the giant’s feet.
His shoes were reduced to rags by the repeated explosions.
‘Run? No. He’s much faster than me. Dodge like before? Can I even react if he’s faster than last time?’
Too many thoughts flooded my head.
I had never been in a real fight in my entire life.
Of course I had no idea what to do.
‘I don’t know…….’
In the end, I neither moved nor ran.
I simply took a stance where I stood.
I did not even know what kind of stance it was.
My body had moved instinctively.
It was probably the effect of Wind-Thunder Fist Art.
Even with the ability correcting my movements—
the image of my death grew increasingly vivid.
The giant seemed to have finished preparing.
He stared at me with a sickening grin.
“Heh…… Blow apart and die.”
And then—
WHOOSH―!
‘Faster than the sound of the explosion……!’
THWACK―!
“Fifteen minutes and thirty-six seconds…… I’m a little late.”
At the supermarket entrance—
a woman dressed in black checked her wristwatch and clicked her tongue.
“Damn it…… No one’s already dead, right?”
Hyeon Chae-rin.
A combat-type member of White Lotus.
An Awakened who had cleared the 39th Floor.
At Baek Yulheon’s request, she had come to subdue the Awakened terrorist inside the supermarket.
A considerable amount of time had already passed.
So without hesitation—
she charged into the supermarket.
“Ugh…… Smoke……!”
A fire.
A wall of flames had sealed off the supermarket entrance.
‘He had an Explosion-Type ability, right…….’
With the entrance blocked this thoroughly—
it was probably safe to assume no one had escaped through the front.
Unless there was a back entrance.
“Why did it have to be explosions……? The lethality is going to be ridiculous too…….”
She did not have time to complain.
She immediately activated her ability and began searching for the culprit.
“Acceleration.”
WHOOSH―!
She started running.
Everything around her whipped violently in the wind.
There was no need to wonder where she should start looking.
The culprit had left an obvious trail behind him.
‘He really made a spectacle of himself, blowing things up everywhere…….’
Fortunately, she had not seen any bloodstains or corpses yet.
But she was still near the supermarket entrance.
There was no guarantee she would not find plenty of them deeper inside.
‘It’ll be difficult for no one to have died, but please…… let at least more than half of them still be alive……!’
SCREEECH―!
As she raced around searching for the culprit—
something caught her eye.
“What happened here……?”
The damage was incomparable to what she had seen near the entrance.
It was the gardening section.
“Ugh…… The smoke……!”
As expected of a gardening section—
there were living plants.
Artificial flowers.
Plant-related furniture.
The entire area was filled with flammable objects.
As a result, the fire had spread so extensively that the gardening section was practically engulfed in a major blaze.
“Why did he go this wild only here……?”
Against ordinary civilians—
it was difficult to imagine an Awakened, especially one with such a lethal ability, needing to cause this much destruction.
A relatively small explosion at close range would kill most ordinary people.
This looked almost like—
‘The aftermath of a fight…….’
Then—
“Waaaaah……!”
“Waaaah…… Mommy……!”
‘Children……?’
She suddenly heard crying.
Perhaps they had heard her arrive.
Whatever the case, she immediately ran toward them.
‘How are they even alive……?’
She could not help wondering.
With this much destruction—
how could young children possibly have survived?
“Kids! Where are you!”
“Sniff…… O-Over here……!”
She headed toward the voice.
Pushing through flames and wreckage.
Then she came upon a shocking scene.
“Huh?”
A hollow breath escaped her lips.
She could not believe what she was seeing.
A massive man lay unconscious on the floor.
Two children were covered with a blanket soaked in water.
“D-Did you two do this……?”
The fallen man was nearly two meters tall.
There was no doubt he was the culprit.
But—
Why was he lying unconscious here?
The children hesitated for a moment before answering.
“N-No. The big brother who saved us beat him.”
“……Big brother?”
‘Another Awakened……?’
At that moment—
urgent footsteps sounded in the distance.
“……!”
Hyeon Chae-rin immediately assumed a combat stance.
There was only one kind of person who would willingly walk into a place engulfed in flames like this.
‘The one who defeated this bastard……!’
She glanced down at the giant.
There were almost no visible injuries.
His clothes had been shredded by his own explosions.
Especially his shoes.
‘So it wasn’t even a proper fight.’
The most noticeable injury—
was a vivid red mark staining the man’s jaw.
‘One punch to the jaw, and he was knocked unconscious.’
According to what Baek Yulheon had told her—
this giant’s name was Kim Wigang.
She had not had enough time to hear the full details, so she only knew the essentials.
But apparently, he was an Awakened who had cleared the 20th Floor.
‘He defeated a Level 20 Awakened one-sidedly…….’
There was a high chance the person belonged to a guild.
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
The footsteps drew closer.
‘Now!’
“Kids! Are you okay!? I found a safe route, so come with…… Huh?”
“Ah?”
A man broke through the flames.
The moment Hyeon Chae-rin saw him—
the dagger slipped from her hand.
‘Top-priority individual…… Jeong Sohyeok……?’
What are you doing here?