The Life of an S-Class Awakened (4)
As Jo Geon-uk had said, an S-class Awakened wielded power close to that of an emperor. Even though we were only heading out to subjugate a small nest in Incheon, the Management Bureau had called in a helicopter. They even offered air force support and additional A-class Awakeners, which I barely managed to turn down.
“Are you sure you’ll be fine alone? I could come with you.”
“No need. It’s not like we’re tackling some difficult disaster like last time. We’re just cleaning out a single nest.”
That was what I told Jo Geon-uk, but the Bureau must have still been worried, because they assigned one Awakener to accompany me. The woman now sitting across from me in the helicopter.
“…Huu, I’m so nervous… Aren’t you nervous, Nam Juyeon-ssi?”
Seated opposite me was a Bureau Awakener with delicate, well-balanced features. Her name tag read Seo Ye-rin. She stared at my face with curious eyes. When I frowned, wondering if she had something to say, she gave a shy smile.
“Um… I watched the footage from the last subjugation! It was amazing!”
“…Ah, right…”
“I’m really your fan!”
“……”
Seo Ye-rin seemed to genuinely mean it—her clasped hands were trembling slightly. Was this my number-one fan? Then again, the 5-star disasters who had entered this world were probably my real number-one fans. How was I supposed to respond? While I sat there with an awkward expression, she carefully asked,
“But are you really okay going alone? The reports said the Incheon nest was extremely tricky for a 3-star…”
“It’ll be fine. Tricky or not, it’s still just a 3-star nest.”
I glanced out the helicopter window at the nest below. Just as the reports had described. There wouldn’t be any problems.
Whatever she thought of my attitude, Seo Ye-rin covered her mouth with one hand and murmured softly,
“…Cool.”
“……”
What could I even say? They always said celebrities got applause even when they took a dump. This felt exactly like that. At the same time, it was like sitting on a bed of thorns. One mistake here and I’d lose a fan. Jo Geon-uk had called it my flashy S-class debut. If so, I needed to deliver results worthy of that title.
Summon 4★ Storm Dragon Tempestra
A massive shadow fell over the helicopter right after. Storm Dragon Tempestra. The living calamity that had devoured dozens of Awakeners and soldiers in Ilsan. Yet now it was nothing more than my limb.
“…Whoa.”
Seo Ye-rin let out a gasp of admiration. The sight of Tempestra flying alongside the helicopter with its enormous wings spread was truly overwhelming. I shifted my gaze to the water below. A whirlpool rising in the middle of the sea. Disasters had gathered around a small reef at its center. The disaster at the heart of the nest had a familiar face—one that often appeared in disaster synthesis.
[3★ Wave Chaser is watching you.]
The 3-star disaster and master of the nest, Wave Chaser, had the form of a massive seal with a long fin. Thanks to the terrain advantage of the sea, its body looked nearly 1.5 times larger than an average specimen. Its destructive power from that hulking frame would be close to twice as strong.
“Hmm…”
But Wave Chaser was still just a 3-star disaster. Even with a terrain buff, could it defeat Tempestra, a named 4-star disaster? The answer was no.
4★ Storm Dragon Tempestra uses skill 「Roar of the Storm」
The moment I gave the order, a massive sphere of wind coalesced in Tempestra’s maw. Then a colossal breath swept across the sea. The reef where Wave Chaser had been, along with the entire nest, flipped over. The whirlpool churned the seawater up and down. Splashing seawater caught the sunlight and scattered rainbow hues.
Kugugugugu!
A tremendous vibration. All that remained afterward was a calm, empty sea.
[Nest 「Offshore Reef」 subjugation successful!]
[Reward: 100 Exp / 3★ Wave Chaser]
The only thing that appeared before my eyes was a dry message. The remaining miscellaneous disasters scattered in panic the moment their core disappeared. I didn’t bother chasing them. There was no efficiency in pursuing anything across this vast ocean.
“I-It’s already over?”
Seo Ye-rin muttered in shock. When I turned my head, she looked less like an Awakener on a mission and more like a spectator at a concert.
“Th-This is what S-class is like…”
“…Are you filming that?”
“…Is it not allowed?”
“Well, there’s no rule against it…”
Seo Ye-rin kept filming me with her phone camera while letting out constant sounds of admiration. Hard to say what to make of it. She had a different flavor from Kang Se-na, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
“Whoa…”
Seo Jae-hun, a D-class Awakener and low-ranking Bureau employee, honestly admired the video attached to the news article. In the footage was a man. An ordinary-looking man, yet Korea’s first S-class Awakener and the world’s second person capable of commanding a 4-star disaster—an existence beyond all norms. With a single strike, he had eliminated the notoriously difficult Incheon nest. The image of Storm Dragon Tempestra coiling its body and unleashing its breath, along with Nam Juyeon watching with a detached expression, was captured perfectly.
“…Insane. Seriously.”
└ Then does S-class mean you can stand on the same level as Actor or whatever?
Most of the comments under the article were pure admiration. Even those who had looked at S-class Awakeners with doubt had no choice but to accept after witnessing that power firsthand.
“…Haa.”
Seo Jae-hun set his phone down and let out a deep sigh.
“When am I ever going to make it big?”
Low-ranking Bureau employee. D-class Awakener. That was Seo Jae-hun’s current position. He had somehow earned recognition as a functional Awakener, but being D-rank meant nothing. While an S-class Awakener rode a helicopter to the site, Seo Jae-hun had been dispatched to clean up after the Incheon nest.
1★ Forest Imp uses skill 「Leaf」
Seo Jae-hun’s only disaster, Forest Imp, was cleaning up the ruined site. A mountain of reef debris. The nest was gone, but the disasters remained. Because it had been a danger zone, Awakeners had been sent in to clean it up.
“Haa…”
Seo Jae-hun sighed as if the ground would swallow him. In this new era, Awakeners enjoyed popularity close to superstars, but a D-class like him was no different from an ordinary person. No—if anything, he was in a more pitiful position because he was being used as a doormat.
“This is the worst.”
Instead of subjugating nests, he was being dragged around to clean up after them. Seo Jae-hun picked up his phone again and stared at Nam Juyeon’s face in the article. S-class Awakener. The chosen one everyone envied. A seeker of the new era.
“Could I ever become like that?”
The moment he muttered that—
“You can.”
“…Huh?”
Seo Jae-hun frowned. What had he just heard? A hallucination?
“You can succeed.”
At the voice that came again, Seo Jae-hun spun around in a hurry.
“……”
The moment he saw the petite woman standing behind him, Seo Jae-hun froze. Not just because of her strikingly foreign appearance, but because of the blue text floating above her head.
5★ Storm of the North Sea Mirien
“D-Disaster!”
“Want to succeed?”
The woman—Mirien, Storm of the North Sea—asked. But Seo Jae-hun wasn’t listening. He frantically grabbed his radio to report the situation to his fellow Awakeners. The radio he lifted smelled of burning. Through the half-open casing, he saw a blackened circuit board.
“…Ugh!”
“If that’s what you want, I can make it happen.”
Mirien slowly approached Seo Jae-hun and placed a hand on his shoulder. A sharp current instantly robbed him of control over his limbs. With only his eyes wide open, Seo Jae-hun looked at her. Her pale pink lips parted.
“Serve Actor.”
“A-Actor?”
“Yes. Actor. The ruler of this world. And beyond that, the new king who will reign over all dimensions.”
Mirien continued with a mischievous smile.
“And my king. My one and only king.”
“……”
“Don’t worry. You’ll soon get exactly what you want.”
Mirien brought her middle and index fingers together and pressed them against Seo Jae-hun’s temple. For an instant, everything grew hazy, as if his consciousness were sinking.
“You won’t die. Don’t worry.”
“…Ugh, uuurgh.”
“Under Actor’s name, we will all surpass the heavens.”
Mirien grinned.
5★ Storm of the North Sea Mirien uses skill 「Mind Control」
Resistance failed!
That was his last memory.