The Senior's Awakening
I didn't tell her why this strange ability had appeared.
Nor did I explain the specifics of the power itself.
What I told Senior was simply that I had gained the ability to awaken ordinary people—and that she had been the first.
That was all.
Of course that much would never be enough to satisfy her questions. She kept asking one thing after another, and I answered each calmly while my head spun trying to decide what to reveal and what to hide.
"That's impossible..."
"I thought the same. If I'd become an Awoken myself, I would have felt a lot more at ease... Still, I'm glad I could awaken you like this, Senior. You don't mind, do you?"
"No... Thank you. Look at this."
Senior lifted the table with nothing but the strength of her thumb and index finger. She wasn't even holding it upright for balance—she raised it perfectly horizontal to the floor. That should have put crushing strain on the fingers gripping the edge, yet she lifted it as lightly as if she were holding a wooden chopstick.
Just as the information I had confirmed, she had truly become an Awoken.
She looked genuinely happy. She didn't treat me like some freakish monster, nor did she demand to know why I was giving her this power now when the pain of the recent accident had made her swear never to set foot in a dungeon again.
Of course she wouldn't. Suddenly gaining superpowers—how could anyone not be delighted?
It was a relief that her reaction wasn't the one I had been dreading.
"Amazing. Could you be a Transcendent?"
"A Transcendent?"
"Yeah. Those Transcendents of which there are only seven in our country and barely any worldwide."
"I know what you mean, but they're all Awoken, right? I don't have a scrap of mana no matter how hard I look."
"Is that so? Hmm..."
Transcendents are Awoken as well. They are simply known as Awoken who have gone beyond ordinary Awoken by expressing mysterious powers through training past their limits. An Awoken who wields a sword might suddenly transcend those limits, and from that moment every swing sets the target ablaze or electrocutes it. People invent all sorts of explanations—blessing of mana, gift of the gods—but nothing is actually known about why the phenomenon occurs. One thing is certain: every last one of them had already been among the highest-ranking Awoken before becoming Transcendents. The mana they possessed beforehand was said to be incomparably vast.
The complete opposite of me... Those enviable bastards.
"Don't make that face. In my opinion the ability that appeared in you is the truly incredible one. If you can awaken ordinary people, our country won't need to worry about Gates anymore. No—the whole world. You could become the savior of the world!"
I spoke to the fussing Senior. It was a bit of a leap, but I needed to calm her down.
"Senior... There are conditions for me to awaken someone else."
"Conditions?"
"Yes... That is... sex... I can't exactly have sex with every single person in South Korea or the entire world, can I?"
"......"
Senior suddenly stared at me without a word. Why that look? Shouldn't she be grateful I chose her first?
"So... you asked me to have sex because you wanted to awaken me...?"
"Ah... I thought it was something else. Yes, that's right."
"So saying you liked me was a lie..."
"Huh? Why is the conversation going that way? I awakened you first because I like you, Senior."
"...Really?"
"Why would I awaken someone I dislike? I'm not an idiot."
"Right? Phew... I thought... you were just using me as a test subject."
A guilty twinge.
As expected, Senior was sharp. Using her as a test subject wasn't entirely wrong. But it was also true that I was drawn to her, so she had no real reason to feel disappointed.
"Haha... Senior! It's not over yet. Right now your mana is at the absolute bottom of Academy graduate level. That's nowhere near enough, so from now on I'll raise it further."
"You can do that too?"
"Yes. The amount varies by person, but you still have a long way to grow. Ah... and even if I don't say it, you already know..."
"Don't worry. I can keep a secret."
"Yes. I trust you."
She had been masturbating to me for a long time even though I had a girlfriend, and she had kept that tightly hidden. No need to worry. If anything, she would probably think that if word got out she might lose me.
To keep it that way, I shouldn't develop every last bit of her potential to the limit. Leave some room so that if she ever wanted stronger power she would keep seeking me out till the end...
Ah, I had liked Senior precisely because I didn't need calculations like that. Still, I couldn't trust her blindly; there was no predicting how someone with new power might act. Just as she had hidden her lewdness from me, she might have other sides I didn't know.
I shook my head. No harm in being careful. Conversely, I myself was already tangled in sticky relationships with women other than Senior.
For now I decided to raise her mana only as far as E-class. Today E, tomorrow D—watching day by day. And sex every day... ahem.
I couldn't raise her mana by simple means either, not when I had to prepare for the day she might join the same expedition team as me. I needed ready-made excuses for the moment she discovered my contact with other female Awoken.
So I stripped her clothes off.
"Aang, w-what are you doing? I have to go to work now."
"You're Awoken now—what work? Quit it. And I have to go to work too. It won't take long, so stay still."
"Aii... Junghyeok is a pervert."
"...It's weird hearing that from someone who was sucking on my thing since morning."
Sunlight streaming through the window lit her body almost transparently. I caressed every corner of her with my palms, then settled my hands on her breasts and pussy. While lightly massaging, I gradually raised her mana.
"Hmm... this is weird... my body is suddenly getting hot..."
"Just accept it naturally."
"Haa, haang... there... if you touch it like that... hnng."
Over several minutes I raised her mana step by step, developing her potential until it broke through its previous limits. The sensation seemed different from the moment of awakening itself; Senior trembled violently. But she didn't wet herself the way Kim Isol had.
As expected, that one had been special.
"Haa... haa..."
Senior collapsed exhausted onto the bed. I prepared for work, putting on the same clothes I had worn the day before.
"Sorry... I couldn't even make breakfast."
"It's fine. I'll grab something on the way. And from now on you'll live a new life, Senior. Congratulations. I won't interfere with how you live, so think carefully about what kind of life you'll lead with that power. Ah—contact me if anything special happens... and, um... can I come back to your place after work tonight?"
Senior looked at my face and nodded, a gentle smile on her lips. Relieved by that expression, I opened the door and stepped outside. After the door locked automatically behind me, a cheer of pure joy rang out from inside. Whether she had done it on purpose for me to hear or she was simply that happy, I found myself smiling too.
Though I was more than a little envious.
I spent Wednesday night, Thursday night, and Friday night at Senior's house. Following Tuesday, that made four consecutive days of heading straight to her place the moment work ended, as if it were my own home. And every single night we repeated intense sex.
Of course I was dying at the company, but I simply couldn't stop. Senior was just as excited, throwing herself at me every night.
And now it was Saturday morning. Since I didn't have to go to work, I woke up late. I couldn't keep buying new underwear at the convenience store every day, so now, with noon approaching, I was finally on the way home after a long absence. Of course Senior was glued to my side.
Over the past few days she had quit the job she had been working, then gone to the National Mana Examination Center for a simple test. Unlike me, she hadn't needed to pay nearly ten million won for an internal mana examination. Because she was already Awoken, a demonstration of lightly lifting a thousand-kilogram dumbbell had been enough, she said.
In truth, ordinary people other than me—even those who fail the Academy entrance test—still possess a certain amount of mana in their bodies. Among them, a few occasionally awaken on their own at a late age. Extremely rare, yet in South Korea alone the number runs from dozens to hundreds every year.
"They said someone like me is a first. Someone presumed to have mana this powerful."
Senior had been in a good mood the entire time. Of course she was—from now on she would receive all sorts of welfare benefits and tax reductions. Starting next week, if she attended the special class at the Awakening Academy, she would even get an allowance almost twice my salary.
Ahh, I'm so envious.
"It's all thanks to you. My Junghyeok."
You're heavy, Senior. Your strength is way beyond mine, so stop hanging on my arm.
Senior was a former Supporter and thoroughly versed in the tactics needed for battles between monsters and Awoken. But she had never hunted a monster herself, so she would need training from now on. Raw mana quantity wasn't everything. Even though her type was Archer, she had zero experience shooting a bow.
The current South Korean government was controlling the Gates reasonably well. I had already predicted that simply becoming an Awoken wouldn't mean they would throw her straight onto the front lines; of course this would be the procedure. From the government's perspective, training them personally in preparation for emergencies was pure profit. They needed to grasp the abilities in advance so the Awoken would be useful when forcibly conscripted.
"I leave for a provincial expedition starting next Monday, and Senior goes to the Academy, so we won't see each other for a while."
"Hmm... too bad. Right?"
"Yes."
"What, you don't look that disappointed? Already tired of me?"
"No. I've just been doing it too much lately and got a bit tired."
"What... then today?"
Since awakening, Senior's body was overflowing with power. Sometimes that made her frightening enough that I always turned her mana off before we started. Her skin had begun to brim with elasticity, and her stamina likewise. Above all, what had strengthened most was her sexual desire. It had seemed strong originally, but with power surging through her body she charged without knowing fatigue.
How the hell had she endured two years without a boyfriend?
"We'll do it today. There's not much time left."
"Huh? For what?"
"Nothing. We can't do it next week since I'm going on expedition."
"Ah... then I'll stay by your side all weekend. Good?"
"Yes."
Senior stretched out her arm and stroked my head. She might have been doing it because she found me cute, but I felt as if I had become her personal sex pet. Still, the goal was drawing near, so I had to endure. My Synchronization Rate with Senior had already climbed past ninety percent. When it hit one hundred, System Authority would rise and a new ability would be granted to me as well.
Originally I had planned to do this with Lee Donggeul, but the plan had gone awry. In truth I knew almost nothing about her, so having Senior first rather put my mind at ease. Still, being a little closer was better.
I arrived home after a long time. Haa—even if it was a rental, my own place was still the most comfortable.
"Shall we do it right away?"
"Let's eat lunch first..."
"Ah, shall we? You need strength to do anything, right? Heh. Heh."
Save me, Senior... At this rate I might die of exhaustion from oversex. When is our company's comprehensive checkup again?
Senior had begun paying every cost that arose from our relationship herself. Thanks to me she was receiving government benefits and would soon be earning quite a bit, so that made sense. Just now she had ordered the meal herself—and the menu was grilled eel of all things.
We ate the delivered food with gusto. Then, to digest, we leaned back on the old sofa to watch television. Senior flipped channels with the remote until something caught my eye.
"Senior, wait a moment. Turn back to the previous channel."
"Huh? Why? What number?"
"Breaking news. Put on the news channel. Yeah—here..."
Senior's expression turned grave. At the same time another fierce headache crashed over me. It wasn't enough to make me collapse the way it had last time—but the content of the breaking news was the real problem.
That Gate had overflowed again?
I had thought the government was controlling it properly. What the hell had the military been doing? That place was only a B-Rank dungeon...
Senior spoke to me.
"Junghyeok... I have to go there right now."