One Who Exists Yet Does Not Exist
They ate a delicious dinner and settled in to rest.
"Hyung, that was good, right?"
"I ate well. Felt solid."
"You bought more than I expected, though?"
"I know how much you eat, so I got plenty."
"As expected~ haha!"
Areum helped beside Ji-ah as she washed the dishes.
"But hyung."
"What?"
"Why do you think Awakeners appeared in the first place?"
"Hell if I know."
"I don't think they just showed up for no reason… Maybe there's some hidden secret or something?"
"What is this, a conspiracy theory?"
"I was just saying… haha! …It's fun, isn't it?"
They flipped through the channels, and the news was covering Kang Jung-gil, who had taken the director's seat of the National Safety Group that very day.
"But that guy's seriously incredible, isn't he? How can he do all that when he's not even an Awakener?"
"There's no law that says he can't."
"Huh?"
"Awakeners showed up out of nowhere. So there's no law saying someone like him can't exist either."
"Yeah… you're right about that."
Awakeners themselves were hard enough to believe. Superhero types straight out of the movies had appeared in real life — so there was no reason something else couldn't appear alongside them.
"But Awakeners just suddenly showed up in the world, right? Through that whole 'awakening' thing."
"Right."
"What good deeds did people do in a past life to become Awakeners?"
"There are plenty of scumbags among them. Thugs. Gangsters, even."
"True… looking at the weirdos who awaken, it doesn't seem like you need to have done anything special."
"You two talking about Awakeners?"
Having finished the dishes, she came back with cookies and four cups of tea. Three were green tea to go with the sweet chocolate cookies; one was cocoa.
"Only one cocoa?"
"Unnie said she wanted cocoa."
"…I… like cocoa…"
"Unnie doesn't really drink other teas either. She likes cocoa, or chocolate drinks like it… haha…"
"Unnie, don't you get sick of drinking that much cocoa?"
"…No… it's delicious…"
Watching Areum drink her cocoa with pure happiness, Yoo Ji-ah wore a quiet, gentle smile.
"I was worried… but maybe I don't have to be anymore?"
"Probably not? They lifted the protective measures, after all…"
After the domestic news came the international reports, and the television still showed the chaos abroad continuing unabated.
"Other countries are a mess."
"Because no one has appeared who can completely overwhelm and suppress everything."
Unlike Korea, which was gradually finding some stability, the rest of the world remained in turmoil.
"Looks like other countries are watching closely too."
At Min-hyeok's words, Seong-min spoke up.
"Of course they are. He put on one hell of a display."
"What's going to happen…? It won't turn into something big, will it?"
Yoo Ji-ah said it with a worried face.
"It'll be fine. Don't worry."
Seong-min spoke with absolute conviction. He didn't know about everyone else — but the people around him, he could protect. He was sure of that.
They'd had a beer as well, so they called a designated driver for the ride home. By the time they arrived, it was past ten at night.
"Did you catch up properly after so long?"
"We had a beer and grilled some good samgyeopsal…"
"Hohoho… as long as you had fun."
There had been one incident. But after that, with neighborhood patrols running more often, nothing like it had happened again. And once the National Safety Group was formed and began sweeping up, arresting, and detaining the worst Awakened criminals, those kinds of incidents dwindled further.
More than anything, starting with a hundred people, like-minded Awakeners had begun cooperating, and order was steadily taking hold.
The next day.
Seong-min went to work as usual, and when the job was done he headed for the gym. Stacking experience through Gombang Work and then going to the gym to train on top of that meant he could manage at least five levels. Of course, that only worked if he actually put in the effort — an hour on the treadmill, minimum. Half-assing it wouldn't cut it.
Raising his Martial Power was important. But for emergencies, Seong-min also intended to build his Escape Skill up to five charges. He only had one right now, so he needed to keep grinding experience through exercise and level up. Ten levels would complete one charge of Escape.
And that man showed up again today.
Midway through his workout, a commotion drew Seong-min's eyes — and there he was. Same as yesterday, performing with absurd weights right in front of the other members.
The difference was that the looks aimed at him today were far less friendly. Of course they were. After the things he'd said, no one was going to look at him kindly.
But the raw display of power as an Awakener was still overwhelming. He was lifting weights no ordinary human could touch. Deadlift: five hundred kilograms. Barbell squat: five hundred kilograms. The big three totaling fifteen hundred.
It was a truly monstrous load.
He seemed aware that the gazes on him weren't warm. But Seong-min also saw the envy and fear mixed in among them.
Hmph. Even if you die and come back, you'll never be like me.
Awakeners were, quite literally, chosen by the heavens. Which meant he himself was as good as heaven-appointed.
"Today I have one more thing to tell you people."
Finished with his set, the Awakener spoke again, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"As you all know, Awakeners can't just use force however we please. But that's only on the surface… In reality, you can't lock us up when we haven't even committed a crime like any other ordinary person, can you? Right? So we Awakeners put our heads together. Want to know what we came up with?"
The man slowly looked around at the people in the gym.
"Guilds. We're going to form something called guilds, like in a game, and operate through them. From what I've seen, Awakeners in Europe and America have already started moving that way. So we're doing the same over here. For reference… the guild I'm joining already has over a hundred members. Know what that means? We're already more numerous than the National Safety Group's hundred. But don't worry… this is just an interest group of Awakeners banding together. Right?"
With that, the man turned as if he had nothing more to say and walked out through the entrance.
"Can't even tell him to stop coming… damn it."
Once the man was gone, the trainer spat a curse under his breath. He knew full well that picking a fight with an Awakener never ended well. Fist was closer than law, as the saying went. However much things were stabilizing, no one could cover every corner in detail.
"Guilds? What's that?"
"Hell if I know… first I've heard of it."
"I saw it on SNS. Awakeners have started forming guilds like in games and operating through them…"
"So it's basically a gang, then?"
"End times, man. End times… people scarier than actual gangsters are about to run the place…"
Even if Awakener outrages had decreased, their presence and behavior still couldn't help but feel brazen.
As he worked out, Seong-min listened to the members talking among themselves.
Beyond just forming groups — they're building something like organized outfits.
The founding of guilds.
From this point on, the number of Awakeners openly committing vicious acts decreased — but those of like mind began clustering together and forming guilds. It wasn't just Korea. It was a global phenomenon, with its origins in Europe and America. Spreading through SNS, Awakeners worldwide had started creating guilds.
Korea was no exception. The only difference was that overseas was still in chaos, while Korea was at least finding its way back toward order.
Even so, Seong-min remained unmoved. The man talked a lot of nonsense, but he hadn't actually done any serious harm yet. Seong-min had no intention of sticking his nose into something that wasn't his business.
He trained in silence, stacked experience, and leveled up. Then he invested the gathered points properly. Right now he was saving stats to build Escape charges. He already had one usable charge; he needed four more. After that, he planned to pour everything back into Martial Power.
Three hours of training done, Seong-min opened his Status Window to check, then went to the locker room, showered, and headed home.
Of course, he didn't go straight to sleep when he got back. He climbed up to the rooftop and threw himself into training with the same single-minded focus he'd had before going to rescue Min-hyeok and Ji-ah.
He kept at it past eleven. That was when Hye-sook came looking for him. Around then, when he opened the Status Window to check, he'd gained about ten levels.
Seong-min opened the Status Window and immediately invested into Escape.
Escape : 2 charges
(1 charge acquired per 10 points.)
Enables escape from any situation.
Two charges now.
If he kept going like today, five wouldn't take long.
The next day, after Gombang Work finished, Seong-min headed to the gym again. Over three days he had earned 2.1 million won through Gombang Work. With his Physicality at 300 and Martial Power past 400, Gombang Work was no longer difficult for him in the slightest. Truthfully, it had become easy the moment those stats crossed 100 — for a long time now, it had been no harder than a light walking workout. That didn't mean it was easy for other people. For them, Gombang Work was still brutal.
So for a second day in a row, Seong-min went to the gym. Light stretching, about ten minutes on the treadmill, then into the weights — and just like yesterday, that man appeared.