Small Happiness
Order returned so swiftly it was as if the great chaos had never happened at all.
The appearance of the National Safety Group—an Awakener special response strike force under the Ministry of National Defense—drew intense interest not only across Korea but around the entire world. It was only natural. While nations everywhere reeled from the upheaval caused by the Awakeners, short of a full-blown Great Depression yet still deep in turmoil, Korea alone was steadily reclaiming stability and order. No one was unaware that the National Safety Group was the reason.
They hunted down the vicious Awakeners who had been acting like lawless thugs, loaded them into transport vans, and locked them away.
All of it had been possible because of the National Safety Group.
More precisely, because of its director, Kang Jung-gil.
People were stunned.
First, by the fact that he was not an Awakener at all—he was an ordinary human.
At first no one could believe it, yet he never once used the blue, mist-like energy that rose from Awakeners.
Awakeners wielded that strange power to display strength and abilities far beyond ordinary people. Kang Jung-gil, director of the National Safety Group, did no such thing.
As an ordinary man he simply demonstrated superhuman power that defied belief.
Second came the question of how it was even possible.
The answer that emerged was this: he might not be able to handle the energy of an Awakener, yet his body itself seemed to have transcended the limits of humanity.
One might wonder how that could happen without Awakening, but Kang Jung-gil had simply shown them.
Some began to ask whether ordinary people, too, might become enormously strong… yet the general reaction was skeptical.
If that were possible, they argued, people who surpassed human limits would have appeared long ago, and Olympic records would already have been shattered into something unrecognizable.
Therefore the experts concluded that a case like Kang Jung-gil’s was every bit as rare as Awakening itself.
In any event he was not an Awakener, yet he displayed tremendous power, and as a result domestic order and public safety—which had been sliding toward chaos—regained their footing.
Naturally the public could not help but go wild for Kang Jung-gil.
They bestowed upon the ordinary man who had forced Awakeners to submit the title of The Absolute.
And the world could not help but fix its eyes on Kang Jung-gil and on the Korea that was steadily recovering its stability.
The only nation rapidly finding its feet again amid the great Awakener upheaval was the Republic of Korea, and at its center stood an ordinary superhuman stronger than any Awakener: Kang Jung-gil.
To the public he was already a hero.
“Hyung~!”
Seong-min showed up for gombang work as usual.
Min-hyuk greeted him with a bright face.
“You look cheerful.”
“Of course I do~! The protective measures finally got lifted so we can work again~!”
Protective measures meant exactly what they sounded like: control. A state in which free outdoor activity was forbidden.
But those measures had now been lifted, and ordinary daily life was possible once more.
Seong-min exchanged greetings with Min-hyuk, then with Team Leader Jeong and the rest of the crew.
“We should count ourselves lucky it ended at this. Sitting around unable to work left everyone stiff as boards, right?”
“Don’t even start, hyung-nim. I was going crazy from the restlessness.”
“I kept wondering when the protective measures would finally be lifted.”
“Still, we had money saved up so we weren’t scraping by or anything.”
“Same here~ I wanted to work so badly… heh!”
“It’s all thanks to the National Safety Group~”
“More precisely, thanks to that man Kang Jung-gil~! Right, Seong-min?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Seong-min gave a wry smile.
“Haa~ We thought things were finally going to open up with the new year, then these Awakener types show up… Who knows where the world’s headed…”
“Still, we’re better off than other countries, aren’t we?”
“It’s really incredible~!”
“But how can an ordinary person like Kang Jung-gil be that strong?”
Min-hyuk asked, genuinely curious.
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
“Think I’d get strong if I trained hard?”
“Come on, man. If that were the case it would’ve happened already.”
“Why? I handle this tough gombang work just fine, don’t I?”
“Put Director Kang on gombang work and he’d do it so well you couldn’t even compare.”
“Well… yeah…”
“He’d probably haul these heavy materials around like they were feathers. That guy.”
“Just hearing it is amazing…”
“There’s already one person like that among us…!”
At Min-hyuk’s words everyone turned to look.
“One person?”
“Seong-min hyung.”
In an instant every gaze in the team settled naturally on Seong-min.
“True.”
“Come to think of it… Seong-min, you’re our team’s ace.”
“Not just any ace, either~! The kind of ace whose reputation’s gone nationwide~!”
“Maybe you were born with a special constitution like Kang Jung-gil?”
“Haha, so that means I’d end up like him?”
“That’d be pretty hard, wouldn’t it…?”
“He’s stronger than Awakeners. And what are Awakeners? Even if Seong-min was born with crazy strength and stamina, fundamentally it’s a different level…”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Even among Awakeners there were differences in power, and the weakest of them could still turn an ordinary person into pulp without effort.
“All right, all right~! The emergency protective measures are lifted and we can work again, so let’s all put our backs into it~!”
“Yes, sir~!”
“Got it, hyung-nim!”
With Team Leader Jeong lightening the mood, they started from the fifth floor and worked their way down, surveying the commercial building under construction. At half past they began hauling materials in earnest.
Back in their daily routine, everyone looked full of energy.
Seong-min, too, felt good about the ordinary life he had reclaimed.
When the morning work finished they rested before moving to the next site.
“Like I said… working like this is better than resting at home.”
“Tell me about it… Sitting around the house was so uncomfortable…”
“Seong-min, you drink some too.”
“Thanks.”
Seong-min took the bottle of electrolyte drink, drank, and held it out to Min-hyuk.
“Here.”
“Oh~ There’s a lot left!”
Watching Min-hyuk chug it down, Seong-min let out a quiet snort of laughter.
“Anyway, what’s going to happen now?”
“With what?”
“The world. We’re gradually finding stability, but look at America and the other countries—they’re still a mess.”
“That’s their problem to handle. Do we have time to worry about that far?”
“Maybe a man like Kang Jung-gil will show up there and clean things up too?”
“You think that happens twice?”
“I was just saying. Being that strong without even being an Awakener is just so incredible~!”
“Yeah, it really is.”
“And now that I’m saying it… Seong-min hyung’s pretty good in a fight too!”
“Oh~!”
“For real?”
“Eh, just enough to protect myself.”
“I used to scrap a bit back in the day too~!”
“Yeah, back in the day~”
“If I were just ten years younger… like this. One-two, right there…”
Old Kim stood up and threw punches at the empty air, drawing laughter from everyone.
After the rest they finished cleaning up and moved to the next site.
Today they would earn a total of 750,000 won—one job at 350,000 and another at 400,000.
Work finished early enough that they still had time, so they stopped at a restaurant for lunch, then headed to the next location, surveyed it, and started the job right at one o’clock.
After finishing both jobs they pocketed 750,000 won in daily wages; the rest of the team took home 650,000.
“I’ll take that noona with me, then.”
“Got it.”
Seong-min headed straight for the Gym.
He planned to work out for about an hour, stop by the mart, then go to Jia’s one-room. To celebrate the lifting of the protective measures they had decided to have dinner all together tonight.
In truth Seong-min had shared a glass of wine with Hye-suk just last night.
Tonight they would drink beer.
Driving was no problem—he could just call a designated driver.
At the Gym Seong-min took a shower first.
He needed to wash off the dust that had clung to him while working.
After showering he changed into workout clothes.
His bag held a tracksuit and a T-shirt so he could change from work clothes into everyday clothes after exercising.
When he stepped out onto the floor—
More people than usual.
Quite a few people were working out hard, and Seong-min knew exactly why they were so dedicated.
Kang Jung-gil’s influence, no doubt.
The fact that an ordinary man had risen to the ranks of superhumans.
That alone was enough to plant the thought “Maybe me too?” in people’s minds.
Of course it was impossible.
For them, at least.
They did not possess a Status Window the way Kang Jung-gil and he did.
Not knowing that, they clung to such hopes.
“Whoa… this is ridiculously heavy…!”
“That’s why I told you not to add more plates.”
“But I heard even weak Awakeners can handle this much weight?”
“Yeah, because they’re Awakeners.”
“How is Kang Jung-gil that strong without even being one?”
“That’s why he’s amazing. Honestly, the fact that he’s not an Awakener and still that strong is even more shocking.”
“That guy’s completely my idol~!”
While doing light stretches Seong-min overheard the conversations.
Sure enough, every discussion revolved around Kang Jung-gil—the “ordinary superhuman” who was restoring order to the country.
Of course they’re amazed. I was too.
When the Awakeners first appeared, Seong-min had wondered just how much of an edge the Status Window would still hold against them.
In an era without Awakeners the advantage had been absolute.
But Awakeners were superhumans.
They were different from ordinary people.
They were superhumans who wielded that strange energy.
Yet now Seong-min’s evaluation was complete.
Through the feats Kang Jung-gil had displayed, he had learned that even against Awakeners the Status Window could claim a tremendous advantage.
Finished with his light stretches, Seong-min stepped onto a treadmill and began to run.
He only planned to exercise for an hour today, so he skipped weight training and intended to stick to the treadmill alone.
He turned on the small television mounted in front of the machine with the remote.
He switched to a news channel, and of course the main stories were still about the Awakeners.
The man at the center of the storm, Kang Jung-gil, dominated the headlines.
Today, the very day the protective measures were lifted, he had been officially appointed to the director’s seat.
Considering everything Kang Jung-gil had shown, Seong-min thought it only natural.
And right now—
What should I do?
He, too, was a Transcendent who possessed a Status Window and could, like Kang Jung-gil, be called The Absolute.
Just because he had a Status Window… did that mean he had to step forward the way that man had?
But Seong-min liked this ordinary life.
He liked the peaceful daily routine he had reclaimed after the protective measures were lifted.
Don’t think about that right now. Focus on the everyday life I’ve gotten back and on the life I’m living.
Having settled his thoughts, Seong-min turned the television off again.
Then he began running hard on the treadmill.
After all, he could not afford to neglect leveling up.