The Pervert Transcendent
Tuesday arrived.
I was exhausted beyond belief.
If I was being honest, An Sora was more to blame than the president who'd bothered me at dawn. But no matter how oblivious I might be, there were some things you simply couldn't say out loud.
"Is that him?"
"Yeah. The Pervert Transcendent."
"Keep it down. He'll hear you. What if he catches us?"
The irritation outweighed the fatigue.
Wherever I went in the Academy, eyes locked onto me and whispers followed close behind. It had been the same when word first got out about my ability to enhance others' mana. But once rumors spread that I charged a fortune for it, most of the people who approached me without a second thought vanished, leaving only those who watched from a distance and fretted over how they might get close.
Since yesterday, though, the quality of those stares had completely changed.
Those gazes should have been ones of awe. Respect mixed with fear. They might envy me and want to become like me, but just as ordinary people look at Awoken hunters, they should naturally fear me as well. I was monster-strong now, after all.
But reality was nothing like what I'd expected.
What? Pervert Transcendent?
These bastards all have a death wish or what?
Lightning Sword Park Yuri. Iron Wall Noinseong. God's Hand Yoo Jeongha, and so on. When people refer to Transcendents, they usually attach a descriptive epithet in front of the name—and those epithets mostly come from their special abilities. Of course, there are occasional exceptions.
If I'd frozen an entire ocean with a skill that spectacular, shouldn't a related epithet be attached as a matter of course?
Snowstorm Kang Junghyeok. Blizzard Kang Junghyeok. Heavy Snow Kang Junghyeok. Ice God Kang Junghyeok… okay, that last one was a stretch, but still—what the hell? Pervert Kang Junghyeok?
South Korea's newest Transcendent. I'd planned a grand entrance as the eighth Transcendent, and this was how it turned out.
From the crack of dawn, I could barely put down my cigarette.
"Good morning, Mr. Kang Junghyeok."
Eight-thirty a.m.
Having forced down breakfast under the assault of those unpleasant stares, I was taking a deep, satisfying drag of a post-meal cigarette when several intimidating men in suits appeared.
I wasn't even surprised anymore. It wasn't as if only one or two people came looking for me.
"What is it? I'm in a foul mood right now, so choose your words carefully."
"…We come from the Blue House. The President asked us to deliver this to you personally…"
"Hmm?"
They pulled a box from a jet-black suitcase. The carefully wrapped package bore gold-embossed lettering that read President of the Republic of Korea.
"What is this?"
"A gift from the President to Mr. Kang Junghyeok."
"Excuse me? Isn't this a bribe?"
"No, sir. This is an official gift, so you need not worry on that account. Feel free to open it right away."
The entire Academy was a no-smoking zone, but there was still such a thing as manners. I hadn't been smoking openly inside the cafeteria. I'd stepped outside the building for my smoke, but curiosity about the box's contents drew me back inside. It was a gift from the President, after all—opening it while squatting against a wall mid-cigarette felt wrong somehow.
"Aren't you leaving? Why are you following me?"
But these men, having handed over the gift, followed me right into the cafeteria instead of heading back. As if the stares weren't already burning enough, ninety-nine percent of the people in the room stopped mid-meal and turned to look at me.
Fuck, is this a show now?!
I heaved a deep sigh and sat down across from An Sora. She was eating ice cream as a morning dessert and seemed more interested in the men who'd followed me than in me myself.
"Ugh… cigarette smell. Who are these guys, though? Who are they?"
"The President's flunkies."
"What?"
Come to think of it, I hadn't told her about what happened at dawn. By the time I'd finished negotiating with the President and returned to the room, she'd already been dead asleep. It wasn't that I'd kept it secret—I simply hadn't had the chance to tell her. I gave her a rough rundown of the events now.
"The President's in a hurry, huh. The rumors only started yesterday and he calls at dawn? Does the man even sleep? Hmm? What's this, though? Is it for me?"
"I'm sorry, but this item is a gift the President sent specifically to Mr. Kang Junghyeok."
When the suited man spoke up in my place, An Sora's brow furrowed.
"I know that! I was just saying!"
"Is that so. My apologies. Given the high value of the item… If I may ask, what is your name…"
"Why do you need my name? What are you planning to do with it? Are you interested in me?"
"Never mind."
The suited man seemed a bit ruffled himself. Meanwhile, An Sora was now shooting a sharp look my way.
What am I supposed to do about it?
Unable to make sense of her meaning, I ignored it and hurried to open the box.
"A watch?"
"Yes. A presidential commemorative watch. This particular model was specially manufactured for Awoken hunters, with production costs alone reaching one billion won…"
"Huh? This costs a billion? That's ridiculous. Someone skimmed a ton off the top, right?"
An Sora cut in again. The man's brow twitched once.
Was this about to turn into an actual fight? An ordinary person wouldn't stand a chance against her as she was now.
She snatched the watch from my hand and turned it over this way and that, her suspicious gaze unrelenting. I was thinking the same thing. At a glance, it didn't look like something worth a billion won. But the man's next statement left both of us nodding in agreement.
"It's a mana-coated watch. Only one hundred were produced, and the coating is at A-rank equipment level. Its actual market value would run into the tens of billions of won."
Putting that expensive a mana coating on a mere watch… Well, it might actually prove useful. The things Awoken hunters lost and destroyed most often inside dungeons were smartphones and watches. Watches, worn on the wrist, were especially prone to being the first things destroyed in combat.
An Sora suddenly tried to put the watch on her own wrist. I knew she was joking—I was used to her—but the man looked thoroughly flustered.
"Ah, that was manufactured as a men's model…"
"Who said I was taking it? I'm just trying it on. So petty… and it's not even yours."
At this point, I felt sorry for the man. An Sora wasn't the type to lose a war of words. Just give up. You'll feel better.
"Isn't there one for me? I have some of the top mana in the Academy myself!"
"Ah, so you are Ms. An Sora after all. Yours is also being prepared. We simply came regarding Mr. Kang Junghyeok's gift this time."
They must be delivering it in person because it's such an expensive watch.
I checked the other items in the box. There was a message the President had written by hand, and something else as well. Something that looked like a credit card…
"A license?"
"Yes. A specially manufactured Transcendent-exclusive Awoken hunter license card. It serves as identification granting you unconditional entry to every gate in the Republic of Korea. It can also be used as a debit card. Domestic use only, however."
"Things move faster than I expected."
"I understand it was manufactured on an emergency basis last night."
I couldn't help the smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. Being a Transcendent really was pretty damn good. The government preparing a license overnight, the President calling without sleep at dawn… It just went to show how heavily the nation's safety depended on Transcendents—or Awoken hunters in general. But I wasn't complaining.
So that's why they'd followed me in—to explain all this? These presidential bodyguards sure had it rough, running errands like this.
"Lucky you. I want mine soon too."
An Sora shot me an envious look. I knew she was putting it on to make me feel good. I wanted to pat her head for being so thoughtful, but there were far too many eyes watching. Not that I planned to do it even when we were alone. She always tried to steer things in a suggestive direction, which made things complicated. So I'd just have to keep the thought to myself.
I took the watch back and put it on. It wasn't my style, but knowing it was expensive made it look good for some reason.
"I shouldn't sell this, right?"
"…It would be extremely difficult to obtain another one."
"I'm joking."
They didn't get the joke and left immediately—leaving behind some rather good news.
It seemed most of the demands I'd made of the President at dawn had gone through. The more I thought about it, the more I appreciated how fast they worked. The license issue was already resolved. Regarding early graduation, the government would set its policy within the week and announce it at an official press conference.
I'd also picked up some valuable information: Shinbaram Corporation had finally decided to sell off its dungeon expedition division through a public auction. If I submitted a letter of intent to acquire within the week, the government would push it through.
It really wasn't far off now.
My own company.
Government policy had changed to allow testing at any time, not just during the end-of-semester early graduation exams. There was a condition, though: possession of Elite Stage 40 or higher mana. An Sora and I, who met that condition, were able to take the exam immediately.
For us, who could cover for our technical shortcomings with raw mana, the practical test wasn't a concern. Those lacking skills could be gradually improved through real combat experience. Next was the theory portion… and that was equally straightforward. Especially for the two of us.
Dungeon monster types and their patterns. One-on-one through many-versus-many. Tactics for close-range, long-range, and mixed monster compositions. A single thorough reading of the textbook was enough. As former ordinary Supporters, entering a dungeon without that knowledge had been life-threatening, so we'd memorized it all with our lives on the line.
Who knew we'd put it to use here.
"Congratulations. Not only have you met the early graduation requirements, you've also qualified for the A-rank license test."
"Wow, really? I was worried we'd have to work our way up from F-rank…"
"And Mr. Kang Junghyeok… congratulations on your graduation. Both of you can have your graduation credentials issued within the week. The commencement ceremony is in February of next year, so we'd appreciate your attendance then. If you become famous enough by then… you might even deliver the valedictory address… though you're already quite famous enough as it is."
I already held a Transcendent license, and An Sora had become eligible for the A-rank license test. That meant she'd been issued a B-rank license—without ever setting foot in a dungeon.
The government was in a hurry, all right. I'd been the one to demand this, but they should still be more thorough about things like this.
"Graduation, huh… bittersweet. Going to school with all those fresh-faced kids wasn't so bad… the theory classes were just boring as hell."
"Listen to you. Who was it singing about wanting to get into dungeons and make money as soon as possible?"
An Sora and I looked at each other and smiled brightly.
We planned to stay in the dorms a few more days and head back to Seoul the day the graduation certificates came out. Our business at the Academy was finished. Not that we weren't busy…
"See you next week, then, sunbae."
"Tch, fine. Have my contract ready. I'm going to go over it with a fine-tooth comb."
"Got it. Take care on your trip. You can fool around if you want, but if I catch the guy, he's dead."
"Idiot."
An Sora loved to travel. She'd asked me to come along, but I had far too much to do. In the end she left alone, though she didn't look particularly unhappy about it. She'd always traveled solo on company vacations anyway.
After seeing her off as she packed up and left the dorms, I immediately summoned Hong Eunyoung. From here on out, I had a truly packed schedule to work through.
"You understand?"
"You want me to handle all of that by myself?"
"…If you do a good job, I'll give you a reward."
"You'd better."
I told Hong Eunyoung to contact all my sponsors—the corporations and the parents. Since I was leaving the Academy, I needed to check in with my cash cows and notify them of the schedule change. They were treating me even more carefully than before. The title of Transcendent carried that much weight.
Shinbaram's public auction was next week. The reason the schedule had become so urgent was simple: the government had begun consolidating all the minor companies. In other words, they wanted to sell off as quickly as possible before their value dropped any further. The two hundred billion won they'd dreamed of was long gone.
Adding up everything I'd received in sponsorships so far, I currently had seventy-two billion won in my account. Would that be enough to pull off the acquisition? Would other corporations jump into the public bidding?
Well, let's wait and see.
Who would dare try to snatch the prey I had my eyes on.