His conduct was anything but proper.
His eyes were set on lofty places, yet he was always indolent, lazy, and unwilling to make an effort.
The result was that, at nineteen years old, the eldest child’s ability amounted to a mere 1-Star in Illusory Heaven True Energy.
And now, that very boy had suddenly raised his realm and was demanding to learn another martial art.
Unlike the eyes that had always glared from the shadows with envy and jealousy, claiming that only the second child was favored and secretly taught the Five Kings’ Martial Arts behind his back, Jeong Hyeon-su now even seemed to radiate a pure yearning. It was utterly unfamiliar.
“That is impossible right now.”
At Jeong Cheol’s answer, Jeong Hyeon-su immediately nodded calmly.
“Then it cannot be helped.”
Then he trudged back and sat on his bed.
“…You are not going to ask why?”
“If you say it cannot be done, then what can I do?”
“I have a Gate raid coming up.”
“Yes. You always work hard.”
He had changed far too much.
“Is that all?”
“Yes?”
“I told you, look at him. That is definitely a doppelganger. Reacting like that to a Gate raid?”
“Young lady, doppelgangers are exceedingly intelligent. That is why they behave exactly like the people they disguise themselves as.”
“I know that!”
“…But this is certainly strange. He used to say all the time that he could not understand why we always chose Gates that earned no money and received no recognition……”
There were many types of Gates.
Some Gates offered treasures, while others drew the attention of the public and allowed one to build fame.
On the other hand, there were Gates that were only difficult and carried enormous risks, so most people avoided them. Garam Guild had always volunteered to deal only with such Gates.
They were usually large Gates that appeared near small villages on the outskirts after the era of Gate upheaval.
If a Gate was not cleared within the allotted time, monsters poured out from within.
Then every ordinary person nearby would inevitably be swept away. High-ranking hunters were limited in number, and because everything was ultimately governed by market logic, the outskirts were bound to be neglected.
The place that shouldered that responsibility was Garam.
Silently.
His father walked that arduous road, one that was not widely known because of the checks imposed by the other Ten Great Guilds and, beyond that, the chairman’s schemes from the shadows.
‘I should have just kept my mouth shut…….’
Jeong Hyeon-su regretted those days.
He regretted the self that had complained, asking why they did not raid Gates that would make them famous like the bloodlines of the other Ten Great Guilds he had followed.
“Could the place you are going this time be the Gate in Asan?”
“Yes.”
“The boss there will probably be an absurdly huge water buffalo. If you stab the core inside the hoof of its hind leg, it will not be able to move.”
“What…?”
“Please take care of yourself and go.”
Then Jeong Hyeon-su closed his eyes, as if he had no further business with them.
It was a clear order for them to leave.
Considering that, in the past, he had tried to escape by any means possible whenever he was confined, this truly was a series of unbelievable events.
“Let us leave.”
He had been suspended, yet he was exceedingly calm about it. Confused by Jeong Hyeon-su, who was covered in behavior they had never seen from him before, his family first closed the door and left.
“What in the world is wrong with him?”
“Would it not be a good thing if he changed?”
At the butler’s words, Jeong Hyeon-a snorted.
“It is all just for show anyway. That man will not last long.”
The old butler wore a bitter smile.
Naturally, he thought the same.
Even so, if they could have a few peaceful days, would that not be decent in its own way?
The storm that approached after the silence ended would be all the more fierce, but silence itself was still something to welcome.
Happy, looking somehow satisfied, licked his lips and went out for a walk with Jeong Hyeon-a.
PATTER PATTER PATTER!
“Ha-Happy! Wait for me!”
It was a walk so intense that even Jeong Hyeon-a, a cadet of Cradle, had a hard time keeping up while running at full speed.
***
As time passed, some things dulled into hazy memories, while other incidents grew vivid even if one merely closed one’s eyes for a moment.
How could he ever forget this day, when he had grinned like a fool, thinking it had been settled with a mere suspension, only to end up standing before the press cameras after being blamed for everything from illegal artifact distribution to the sale of drugs for awakened ones?
Jeong Hyeon-su spread the mana of Illusory Heaven True Energy, avoided the presences he sensed, and slipped out of the mansion.
If he was caught roaming around, making excuses or explaining himself would become tiresome.
For now, this was a moment when producing results mattered most.
When he came outside and looked around the streets, what entered his sight was not the familiar ruins of a world driven to the brink of destruction, but skyscrapers that seemed to pierce the sky.
He saw people passing by.
The people who had trembled in fear and watched only the countdown to destruction were glancing at billboards or hurrying along toward their own destinations.
Beyond them, a colossal Tower stood tall.
The Tower was so enormous that the buildings of Songpa-gu beside it looked laughable.
That unknown Tower imposed trials on humanity and tossed out rewards when they were overcome. If it was not conquered properly and thoroughly, Earth would once again be invaded by otherworldly races.
‘The people now do not know.’
They did not know that simply climbing it was not the important part.
Naturally, they felt no fear of the Collapse that would occur if a floor was not cleared within the allotted time.
But since the Collapse had not yet progressed properly, and since they did not know the hidden meaning behind it, that was inevitable.
Only Jeong Hyeon-su knew.
He knew the strategies, the rewards that came with them, and the methodology for allowing this world to survive in the most efficient way possible……
‘And the strategies that come from the Tower and the Gates.’
Because his ultimate goal was to survive by making use of those advantages, Jeong Hyeon-su first set out for Cradle.
It was a hot summer day.
Because his mana realm was not yet deep, Jeong Hyeon-su had not reached the realm of immunity to heat and cold that he had once possessed, and so he sweated.
It was truly hot.
As he walked along the road beneath that blazing sun, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
HOOOONK!
The cars passing along the road before him.
In the world of destruction, their functions had stopped, and honestly, once one reached a certain level, moving on one’s own two legs had been faster. Seeing those products of civilization that he had not even thought of, Jeong Hyeon-su immediately boarded a bus.
BEEP!
BEEP!
[Transfer.]
“Ah…….”
A sigh slipped out immediately.
He had forgotten the basic common sense of this era: in order to use public transportation, one had to use a card with transportation-card functionality!
“Student, what are you doing?”
“My card is…….”
At that, the bus driver gave him a broad smile. Jeong Hyeon-su also wore a slightly awkward smile.
“Get off.”
The world’s worst criminal in the hunter world, the Dark King. He had been an absolute ruler called by the embarrassingly grand title of the Night King in the West, but in this situation, he had no particular option.
Even the utterly hopeless Jeong Hyeon-su who had lived in this era would not have resorted to asking whether the driver knew who he was when told to get off for not having a bus card……
Surprisingly.
“Ah…….”
The ordeal did not end there.
Jeong Hyeon-su, who bowed his head and stepped back down, came face-to-face with an exceedingly familiar face.
Not his enemy, but the owner of the photograph beside his pillow.
Why was Ji Min-jeong, whom Jeong Hyeon-su had been hopelessly in love with during this period, here of all places?
Of course, Ji Min-jeong, who despised delinquents, merely passed by Jeong Hyeon-su without so much as glancing at him.
Jeong Hyeon-su also had no feelings from that time left. He was merely embarrassed.
Because the memories remained.
Even so, she had been his first love and the girl he had loved one-sidedly. For their first meeting after he had crossed so many years to be the sight of him getting off a bus because he had no bus card……
‘This is driving me insane.’
Scratching his head, Jeong Hyeon-su happened to encounter girls in Cradle cadet uniforms walking toward him from the front.
They were rather fresh and innocent……
“Whoa, did you see the group chat?”
“Group chat? What came up?”
“This is huge! They said Chae Seung-jin just went to find Jeong Hyeon-a and dragged her away. Huh!”
“J-Jeong Hyeon-su?”
Jeong Hyeon-su’s gaze, which had been about to recall better days, instantly changed.
“When?”
“Huh. What…?”
“I mean the time Chae Seung-jin supposedly dragged my sister away.”
“…Th-They said just now?”
The moment he heard the answer, Jeong Hyeon-su began to sprint at full speed.
“Wh-Why is he so fast?”
“Was Jeong Hyeon-su’s physical ability always that good… huh?”
“No, as far as I know, he is at the very bottom…?”
Jeong Hyeon-su, who had exploded the power of Illusory Heaven True Energy to raise his speed for an instant, even passed the bus that had stopped briefly.
“…?”
Ji Min-jeong, who was sitting by the window, tilted her head as she watched Jeong Hyeon-su.
***
Jeong Hyeon-a had been in an extremely bad mood since morning because Chae Seung-jin and his group had come barging in, grinning.
“Ha, our Hyeon-a. No matter when I see it, that look in your eyes always thrills me.”
“Shut up and tell me what you want.”
“What I want? Ah, right. I have a first-rate matter that will leave our Hyeon-a utterly spellbound.”
Chae Seung-jin, who held firm control over Cradle’s third-years, looked Jeong Hyeon-a up and down with eyes soaked in desire.
Jeong Hyeon-a was the daughter of Garam Guild’s guild master, one of the Ten Great Guilds, but Chae Seung-jin was likewise the heir to Songgwang, also one of the Ten Great Guilds.
“Tell me.”
Chae Seung-jin grinned and took a USB drive from his pocket.
“Hyeon-a. Do you know what this is?”
“How would I know that?”
“The huge accident my friend Hyeon-su caused. If this gets released, it will be quite a sight.”
Jeong Hyeon-a’s expression crumpled violently.
“What?”
“Your brother is going to be put in handcuffs. There is footage of him delivering unregistered artifacts for illegal distribution.”
Artifacts were objects with strange powers obtained as rewards from Gates or from climbing the Tower.
Because they could display powerful effects when worn by awakened ones, the Association thoroughly monitored their distribution and imposed strict responsibility for them.
And the heir to one of the Ten Great Guilds was caught illegally distributing artifacts?
‘No wonder he acted strangely affectionate yesterday!’
To think he had caused this kind of trouble!
Honestly, Jeong Hyeon-su going to prison did not matter to her at all.
However, Jeong Hyeon-a absolutely hated the idea of Garam’s name being dragged through the mud because of him.
“If that was all, honestly, would one of the Ten Great Guilds even take much damage? But you see.”
“What… else is there?”
“Well, it turns out Hyeon-su also tossed in some Manajia.”
Jeong Hyeon-a’s mouth fell open.
“Mana… jia?”
Mana was the power handled by awakened hunters. Manajia was a kind of drug created by combining mana, the English word for that power, with jia from fantasia.
Why would something that produced tremendous hallucinations when awakened ones circulated mana, but carried side effects such as the destruction of one’s humanity or a violent rampage, and was therefore punished severely for mere possession…?
“Do not make me laugh. Jeong Hyeon-su is trash, yes, but he is a coward. He would never dare touch something like that.”
“Do you really think so?”
Chae Seung-jin’s grinning smile carried confidence.
For him to move this openly, he surely had solid circumstantial evidence.
Chae Seung-jin was a delinquent as well, but he was not so reckless that he would charge straight at Jeong Hyeon-a, a direct descendant of Garam Guild, without thinking.
Rather, he was closer to a hunter who set the trap perfectly before beginning the hunt.
“…What do you want?”
Chae Seung-jin licked his thin lips.
“There are three options. Choose one.”
“Three… options?”
“First, our Hyeon-a dates me. Starting today, we become a very in.ti.mate. re.la.tion.ship, one might say.”
His lecherous gaze swept over Jeong Hyeon-a.
“Stop joking and say it properly.”
“If not that, then starting today, you do not even breathe in Cradle without my permission. Last, you pass a message to your father and tell him to come quietly to our Songgwang.”
Each and every one of them was a humiliating and dreadful demand.
And the bastard’s true goal was ultimately the last one.
Because Songgwang and Garam were, in the end, bound to be rivals.
‘Jeong Hyeon-su…….’
She could hear Chae Seung-jin and his group grinning and chuckling.
“Now, choose. Surely I would not fail to grant one request from my girlfriend, would I? He might even become my brother-in-law, so I ought to watch his back properly. Heh heh heh.”
Just as Jeong Hyeon-a squeezed her eyes shut and was about to make a choice.
“All of that is nonsense, so there is no need to listen.”
The voice she heard belonged to the man she hated like an enemy.
When Jeong Hyeon-a whipped her head around, Jeong Hyeon-su, drenched in sweat, was walking into their hideout.