Awakener
Together they watched the first sunrise of the New Year.
January 1st.
On that first day they gazed at the rising sun of the new year and made their wishes.
Even so, little truly changed just because it was a new year. They worked the same jobs and earned the same money. Level-ups continued exactly as before.
Seong-min kept leveling steadily, investing his Stat Points to raise his abilities. Needless to say, the higher those abilities climbed, the easier Gombang Work became. By now he had pushed his Physicality stat all the way to 300. He felt he could handle Gombang Work not only all day but for a full twenty-four hours without tiring. Of course, twenty-four hours meant a single day—not an entire week straight.
It simply felt as though his stamina had become that absurdly good.
And Seong-min had a reason for raising Physicality so high.
When I fought at full power, the stamina drain wasn’t small either.
In ordinary situations the consumption barely registered. But Kang Jung-gil—when he had dueled that man he had poured every ounce of his strength into the fight. The energy he expended then seemed to burn through his stamina at a rate beyond comparison. Perhaps because it had drawn every last reserve from his entire body. He couldn’t be certain.
What Seong-min had realized that day was simple: he could not afford to neglect Physicality if he ever faced a situation like that again.
And since that day he still had not met Kang Jung-gil.
Of course he could have gone anytime he wished. The man had given him the address of the house he lived in and told him to drop by whenever he liked. Yet Seong-min had never gone. He still could not be sure whether he truly trusted the man, and the knowledge that they both wielded the same Status Window pressed on him like a quiet weight.
Kang Jung-gil had shown no malice. That duel had been nothing more than a test.
So Seong-min brought Physicality up to 300, raised his other stats as well, and steadily poured points into Martial Power. Before long Gombang Work had become so easy he did not even break a sweat. The pay, of course, stayed the same—300,000 to 500,000 won per job, 600,000 to a million for two. Weekly that came to three to five million; monthly, somewhere between twelve and twenty million won.
Money was no longer a problem. The remaining debt of a little over ten million had been paid off completely the previous year. Seong-min had finally cleared every last won of the debt he had taken on by co-signing.
With the new year he also spent time talking with Seong-jun, Aunt Hye-sook’s son, for the first time in a long while. Seong-jun hyung worked in America; he had a cheerful personality and was a decent guy. Maybe he took after Aunt Hye-sook.
They greeted the new year, yet their daily lives continued much as before while Seong-min kept earning diligently.
Yoo Ji-ah declared she could not keep freeloading forever and started working. She took the first job she could get—a convenience-store part-time shift. Whether it was her looks or something else, after she began working there male customers increased by fifty percent. That was no secret. Word later had it that the store manager was thoroughly pleased.
And so January slipped by.
“What’s going on?”
Seong-min stepped out of the bathroom, a towel draped around his neck, and walked over to where Aunt Hye-sook was staring at the television with a grave expression.
“Accidents like this keep happening these days…”
She was watching the news. Incident after incident filled the screen.
“Violent crimes?”
“Yeah…”
“Those have always been around, haven’t they?”
“They have… but the police are having a really hard time catching the perpetrators. The world feels like it’s getting so much more dangerous. It makes me uneasy…”
“Don’t worry. If any of those bastards show up, I’ll teach them a sharp lesson!”
“Hohoho… just hearing that makes me feel safer.”
“Of course. You know me, Auntie—this body’s been forged by Gombang Work and training.”
“Who could possibly beat our Seong-min? A man who handles that brutal Gombang Work like it’s nothing… hoho…”
“Exactly.”
No matter who came swaggering around, Seong-min felt no fear. He was a Transcendent who could crush anyone.
Except one person.
Only one man had to be set aside as an exception: Kang Jung-gil.
Day after day Seong-min lived his peaceful routine. Yet the longer time passed, the more the world outside refused to stay peaceful. At first the incidents only seemed a little more frequent, just as Aunt Hye-sook had fretted. Later the news began reporting far more shocking stories every single day.
Strangely enough, people had started calling these new humans “the New Humanity” or simply Awakeners.
These Awakeners had appeared out of nowhere and displayed powers no ordinary person could match. When some of them trusted in that power and turned to crime, the police were left completely helpless.
Then, two weeks later, it happened.
On his way home after work Seong-min opened the front gate and felt killing intent rolling out of the house. Instantly uneasy, he did not open the front door. Instead he activated his Teleportation Skill.
“Quiet!”
He appeared in the living room just in time to see Aunt Hye-sook being dragged away by a stranger, unable even to resist properly.
Seong-min closed the distance in a heartbeat, seized the man’s arm, twisted it, and slammed him to the floor.
Crash!
“Auntie, are you all right?!”
“S-Seong-min…!”
“What happened?!”
“H-he came in through the window all of a sudden…”
“The window?”
He glanced over. The living-room window stood half open.
The stranger Seong-min had just hurled across the room slowly pushed himself up.
“Damn… what the hell is this embarrassment…”
The man looked to be in his late thirties.
“Robbery?”
Seong-min stepped in front of Aunt Hye-sook and faced the rising figure.
“Robbery? Heh… to ordinary eyes I suppose I would look like nothing more than a robber.”
“Ordinary eyes?”
“Don’t you watch TV? This body of mine is one of those famous New Humans they call Awakeners.”
At the word “Awakener” Seong-min’s expression hardened. How could he not know? All day long the television had been filled with emergency reports about these New Humans—or Awakeners. They awakened in an instant and threw society into chaos. Ordinary police could not handle them; only officers armed with firearms stood a chance.
“So you do know what an Awakener is. That’s right—I’m one of them.”
“And what of it?”
“You really don’t know? An Awakener can do anything… we can ignore the constraints of the law entirely.”
Seong-min wondered if the man was simply insane. From the news it seemed some of these New Humans, drunk on their own superiority, committed crimes—especially those who had already been thugs or criminals before awakening.
“You’re a criminal?”
“A criminal…? Well, I did do time for attempted rape.”
A record, just as expected.
“Shame I didn’t get to have that woman, but I’ll still rough you up before I leave.”
A blue, haze-like shimmer began to ripple around the man.
What is that?
Seong-min watched the unfamiliar phenomenon with curiosity. Aunt Hye-sook trembled.
“I’ll tear you apart…!”
The words had barely left his mouth before the man lunged. His movements were sharp and fast.
Whoosh!
“Wh-what…?”
Yet the fist he threw was caught in midair by Seong-min’s hand.
Thud-thud-thud! Crack—!
Three rapid consecutive blows followed by a devastating punch driven straight into the solar plexus.
“Guh…?!”
The man staggered backward, clutched his chest, and collapsed forward, body twitching.
Seong-min stepped close and struck the back of his neck, knocking him out cold.
“Auntie, call the police.”
“O-okay…”
Hye-sook hurriedly dialed. Not long after, armed officers arrived. They entered, examined the fallen man, and asked,
“This man is an Awakener?”
Seong-min nodded. Aunt Hye-sook explained everything that had happened inside the house.
“Take him.”
At the order of the man who appeared to be in charge, the armed officers bound the unconscious Awakener and hauled him out.
“Are you an Awakener as well?”
An ordinary person subduing an Awakener was extremely difficult. The question was only natural.
“I’m not an Awakener. I just got lucky.”
“Lucky?”
Seong-min claimed the man had suddenly produced that blue haze, then clutched the back of his own neck as if something had gone wrong, and that he had simply seized the opening to take him down. After a few more questions and checks, the ranking officer nodded.
“Understood. If he turns out to be an Awakener we’ll process him under the Emergency Measures. If not, you’ll get a call and both parties will need to come in.”
The Emergency Measures were special statutes enacted to deal strictly with Awakeners. Mutual fault and ordinary legal provisions did not apply; if the man was confirmed as an Awakener, only he would be punished.
“Understood.”
Once the police had all left, Aunt Hye-sook approached.
“Seong-min…”
“You don’t have to worry. He’s an Awakener, so we won’t suffer any fallout.”
The Emergency Measures existed precisely to handle Awakeners with an iron hand. The chaos caused by the New Humans—now simply called Awakeners—was growing worse by the day and had already reached a serious stage. It was not only happening in Korea. Across the entire world these Awakeners were appearing and throwing societies into turmoil. In the Middle East some countries had even declared martial law. That region already suffered from conflict zones, terrorist groups, and rebel factions; the sudden arrival of Awakeners had only plunged it into deeper chaos.
Seong-min guided Aunt Hye-sook to the sofa, then went to the kitchen, prepared two cups of coffee, and brought them back.
“Auntie… I don’t think we can take this lightly anymore.”
“Y-yeah…”
An Awakener had broken in and nearly raped her.
“From now on lock every door and window thoroughly and be careful. The moment anything feels even a little off, call my number right away.”
Hye-sook nodded. She had never imagined something like this could happen to her.
After reassuring her, Seong-min stood and stepped out into the yard. He called Min-hyeok and explained the situation. Min-hyeok was horrified.
“Whoa… that’s brutal…”
“So be careful. This doesn’t feel like ordinary trouble.”
“Got it, hyung… Is Auntie okay?”
“She’s fine.”
“That’s a relief…”
After one more firm warning, Seong-min called Yoo Ji-ah next. He thoroughly cautioned her and told her to phone him the instant anything happened. Still not satisfied, he had her install a location-tracking app and link it to his phone so he could reach her immediately if needed.
I should do the same for Min-hyeok and Noona A-reum.
Knowing their locations meant he could use the Teleportation Skill and arrive at once. He called, they answered, and he instructed them to install the tracking app. He had Min-hyeok install it for A-reum as well and activate the link. Once those measures were finished he did the exact same for Aunt Hye-sook so her location would appear on his phone.
On the television, stories about Awakeners continued to dominate every channel.