Why Don't You Try Winning Once
It was true that the family—Lumen—had grown weaker since Jeong-Hoon became Gaju.
If Jeong-Hoon, as Gaju, ever went berserk, it would create a serious problem.
The previous Gaju, his uncle, had placed restrictions on him precisely to prepare for that contingency, and as a result the family’s power was currently diminished.
But the government must never learn of this fact.
The family maintained ties with the government, yet it was an organization that walked its own independent path. If they carelessly borrowed the government’s hand, word might get out that the family had been weakened.
On the contrary, since they had remained quiet throughout the transition of Gaju, they needed to demonstrate their strength. That was also why he had to claim the business that housed the largest number of vassals.
This assignment existed for that purpose.
“I thought Lumen would have the most vassals, but this is a bit surprising.”
“Lumen is an elite few.”
Given the family’s purpose, the Gaju’s safety was the absolute top priority, so Jeong-Hoon nodded in agreement with the “elite few” description.
“But is it really all right to station so many vassals at a front company?”
“It’s a business that treats personnel as a resource, so the more people there are, the less out of place it feels.”
At those words, Jeong-Hoon looked up at the massive building before him.
It couldn’t quite compare to a true skyscraper, but considering the company occupied an entire glittering thirteen-story building, its grandeur did not fall short of Shine Mall.
The security and protection firm Apollon.
Security and bodyguard work was something hunters hated doing, yet for Awakened who wanted to make a living with their powers, it was the best alternative. Moreover, crimes committed by Awakened were far more terrifying than those of heavily armed ordinary people, so demand had long since surpassed mere necessity and become a booming industry.
There weren’t enough Awakened, while jobs were overflowing—so even if Awakened gathered in one place, it didn’t stand out.
“So even with a thousand vassals disguised as employees, no one notices?”
“That’s correct.”
“They’re all A-class Awakened.”
“An Awakened’s rank is treated as personal information after the initial assessment, so it never comes to light.”
He spoke as if it were safe, yet that very safety was now under threat—and they had come here to stamp out the spark that had fallen on their feet.
“Come to think of it, do we even need to pass the assignment? Can’t we just say the family is in crisis and demand their cooperation?”
“If a truly dangerous situation arose, all twelve of us Vassals would step in, so this is not a crisis.”
In other words, since no immediate crisis had arrived, they could take their time dealing with it. Jeong-Hoon considered that classic safety negligence.
In this era, safety negligence was the most dangerous thing of all, and the thought that even the family that secretly protected the world suffered from it made him uneasy.
“Not at all. It’s simply that if a problem arises and the family is exposed, we can just overthrow the nation and have the family rule it.”
“…I understand. To protect this country, I absolutely have to pass the assignment.”
Since that meant the only option left in a pinch would be world domination, Jeong-Hoon steeled his resolve.
Jeon Mun-Jae.
Age twenty-eight. Far too young to be the man leading Apollon, one of the top security and protection firms. Yet he had cleanly resolved any such doubts by publicly revealing his Awakened rank: he was an SS-class Awakened.
In other words, among the 12 Vassals—composed of three SSS-class, four SS-class, and five S-class—he was one of the four SS-class Awakened that included Yeo Tae-Hyeon, Ko Yu-Yeon, and Woo Do-Il.
Jeon Mun-Jae, who ranked among the younger members of the 12 Vassals, did not give a first impression that suggested the president of a security firm. He wore a suit, but instead of a dress shirt he had on a hoodie, and his hair was a bright brown two-block cut. Instead of dress shoes, sneakers.
“Uh, so…”
“You can call me whatever’s comfortable.”
“Then since you’re the president, I’ll call you President Jeon. President Jeon, you’re close with Representative Yeo, right?”
Unlike Representative Yeo, who gave off a rough vibe, this one radiated youth—yet somehow the two felt similar, so Jeong-Hoon asked. Both Butler Ju and Jeon Mun-Jae shook their heads at the same time.
“Gaju, there is no member of the 12 Vassals who is not close with Butler Yeo Tae-Hyeon.”
“…Really? I thought you and Butler Ju didn’t get along.”
Butler Ju had been scolding Yeo Tae-Hyeon, so Jeong-Hoon gave him a surprised look.
“It is simply that, as a junior I cherish, I hope he will do even better.”
In other words, it had been affectionate scolding. Jeong-Hoon roughly nodded. If the one doing the scolding said so, there wasn’t much he could say.
“By the way, you’re taking on the assignment in order to mobilize Apollon’s personnel—the vassals—correct?”
Jeon Mun-Jae changed the subject to shift the atmosphere, and Jeong-Hoon nodded.
“Butler Jeon, if you understand the situation, why not hurry and inform us of the assignment the previous Gaju left behind?”
“Uh, well, you see. I put it somewhere safe, but where did I leave it?”
He stood up and spun around, clearly not joking, so Jeong-Hoon looked at Butler Ju.
“Butler Ju, what should we do in a case like this?”
“Without further discussion, we absorb Apollon, remove Butler Jeon from the 12 Vassals, and reorganize.”
“W-Wait a second! It’s definitely here!”
Knowing exactly how heavy that punishment was, Jeon Mun-Jae hurriedly ran to the desk and brought out an attaché case from underneath.
“I put it in here.”
As he opened the attaché case and pulled out a single sheet of letter paper, Jeong-Hoon waited for him to read it—but Jeon Mun-Jae handed it straight to Jeong-Hoon without reading.
“You’re not going to read it?”
“Wouldn’t it be better for you to read it yourself, Gaju?”
“Well, yeah—acting all solemn about it would be cringey.”
Since they were both in their twenties and seemed to be on the same wavelength, Jeong-Hoon readily nodded and unfolded the letter.
“Let’s see…”
To my son Mun-Jae who is reading this letter.
Our family has served the Gaju for generations…
“This appears to be the will of Butler Jeon Gyeong-sa, Butler Jeon Mun-Jae’s father.”
Jeon Mun-Jae’s smiling face froze as he realized he had handed over the wrong letter, and he hurriedly rummaged through the bag.
“Butler Jeon, I understand it is a precious item, but confusing it with the previous Gaju’s…”
“No, I mean, I definitely put it in here carefully. So where could it be?”
Jeon Mun-Jae turned the attaché case completely upside down and shook it out. When the letter containing the assignment still failed to appear, cold sweat even broke out on him.
“Um, President Jeon?”
“Y-Yes! Please speak, Gaju!”
“You received word that I was coming before I arrived, right?”
“Yes! I definitely received it! So I made sure to check the letter containing the assignment!”
“Then check the inner pocket of your suit.”
Thinking this would go on forever otherwise, Jeong-Hoon let out a long sigh and pointed it out. Jeon Mun-Jae hurriedly slipped a hand inside his suit jacket and smiled.
“Ah! Here it is, ta-da!”
“…Remarkable, Gaju.”
“I just figured you would have put something important somewhere safe in advance.”
Seeing that display left Jeong-Hoon mentally exhausted, and he hoped Apollon’s assignment would please be easy and over quickly.
But while Apollon’s assignment might be finished quickly, it was by no means easy.
Suppress the three vassals designated by Jeon Mun-Jae, one-on-one.
That was Apollon’s assignment.
But if Jeon Mun-Jae designated three SSS-class vassals, Jeong-Hoon would lose without being able to lift a finger. Moreover, as a Non-Awakened, he could not win by any common sense.
Therefore various conditions were attached to the assignment. One of them was that only vassals belonging to Apollon could be designated. In other words, the opponents Jeong-Hoon had to face were A-class Awakened.
Furthermore, Jeong-Hoon could use weapons as long as they were non-lethal. The vassals were forbidden from using superpowers or weapons—they had to fight with physical ability alone. On top of that, if Jeong-Hoon successfully landed just three attacks, it would count as a successful suppression.
And even if Jeong-Hoon was suppressed, the points would still accumulate, so the conditions were generous if anything—yet he had absolutely no confidence he could win.
“If I just ask them to stand still and take three hits, will they do it?”
“A good idea, but I recommend you think of it as self-defense practice and give it your best.”
In the training room prepared in the basement of Apollon, a ring had been set up for the current assignment. And around that ring, numerous vassals had gathered.
People belonging to the family’s businesses were largely divided into two types: vassals, and employees who were not vassals.
The 12 Vassals and the roughly three thousand vassals were people who had originally belonged to the family. In other words, they were individuals who offered absolute loyalty to the Gaju, and they had gathered because they wanted to see the Gaju.
There was a reason Butler Ju always included the roughly three thousand A-class Awakened in the family’s combat strength.
“Gaju, a word in advance: orders like ‘deliberately lose’ will not work. Rather, because of the restrictions, we will give it our all.”
Having already designated the fighters, Jeon Mun-Jae approached and smiled as he informed Jeong-Hoon that shortcuts were impossible.
“Here is a handgun loaded with rubber bullets and a sheathed dagger. Do you have any other preferred weapons?”
“…If it weren’t for the non-lethal restriction, I’d even take a grenade.”
No matter how many restrictions there were, a Non-Awakened Jeong-Hoon facing A-class Awakened was, to put it kindly, nothing short of a suicide attempt. So Jeong-Hoon grumbled and accepted the handgun and dagger before climbing into the ring.
There was no limit on the number of attempts, so the fact that he could challenge without pressure was his only comfort.
“Then we begin!”
At Jeon Mun-Jae’s words, one of the vassals around the ring lightly kicked off the air and leapt up.
Over 190 cm tall, solidly built with a sharp impression. And that movement just now.
“Butler Ju! You said martial arts can only be learned from S-class onward!”
“With the family’s technology, A-class can manage it as well. But it is only for auxiliary purposes, so it is not of great help.”
“Does that look auxiliary to you? He kicked off midair!”
“Even so, by martial arts novel standards it is only at the Peak level, so you may rest easy.”
Jeong-Hoon wanted to retort asking since when Peak level had been something you called “only,” but the vassal who had climbed into the ring was already in a combat stance, so he gave up.
“Then we begin.”
With Jeon Mun-Jae’s declaration the assignment started, yet the opponent did not move and simply stood still.
“Feel free to come at me first.”
At the vassal’s words yielding the first move, Jeong-Hoon thought in that case and quickly raised the handgun, shooting at the vassal’s head.
For all his appearance, he was a crack shot who had taken down orcs with a handgun. So even if it was an A-class, he was confident that a surprise attack—especially with a gun—could suppress him.
“Huh?”
But the moment he saw the vassal’s response to the handgun, Jeong-Hoon felt the strength drain from his body without realizing it.
Even though it was a rubber bullet, the vassal did not dodge—he caught it. Confirming the catch, he opened his palm and dropped it to the floor.
“How am I supposed to beat this!”
The physical ability that could be boosted with a suit was F-class. There was no way his physical ability could compete with an A-class no matter what he did. In other words, any close-quarters fight was impossible to win, and the moment his only means—the rubber bullet—had been caught, Jeong-Hoon’s defeat was already certain.
“Gaju’s marksmanship is far too accurate.”
“And so?”
Yet contrary to that despair, the vassal who had caught the rubber bullet calmly pointed out Jeong-Hoon’s shortcoming.
“Accurate and sharp shooting only works on monsters. Even at B-class, they can dodge or block it.”
At the vassal’s words, Jeong-Hoon nodded—that was certainly true.
Unless it was a firearm with greater firepower than a handgun, no matter how accurate and sharp the shooting, there were limits against Awakened.
Watching the vassal facing Jeong-Hoon offer advice, Butler Ju nodded and looked at Jeon Mun-Jae.
“Butler Jeon, about this assignment.”
“Yes, I’m listening.”
“Was it prepared so that the Gaju could experience Apollon—precisely the family’s military force—and to train him in combat against people?”
“Well? How would I know the previous Gaju’s deep designs? I’m just following what’s written.”
The previous Gaju had not created the assignments merely out of boredom. He had created them to raise the current Gaju, Jeong-Hoon, as a proper Gaju.
Therefore Butler Ju realized that this assignment had been designed with the insight that there were not only monsters but also humans among the enemies.