The Age of Upheaval
Knock, knock.
At the sound of the knock, the door opened and a neatly dressed man stepped inside.
"Come have a seat."
"Yes, sir."
The man approached and sat down.
"I had a cup of coffee ready for you."
"An Americano, I see."
"I happen to like Americano."
"I like it as well."
Seated across from the man with the hooked nose and rough features was someone with broad shoulders and a strikingly handsome face.
"Nothing beats a sweet dessert with a nice Americano."
A pile of chocolates sat in the center of the table where the coffee cups rested. The man spoke toward the figure who had just picked one up and brought it to his mouth.
"Word is that Cheonseong Guild's movements have been unusual lately."
"Is that so?"
The figure lifted his iced Americano, rattling the ice as he swirled it, then took a sip.
"Small-scale Awakener guilds, starting with Gangnam, are reportedly rallying around Cheonseong Guild."
"That's entirely possible. Ever since the Jungang Guild appeared, every Awakener guild in Seoul has been shrinking back."
The Jungang Guild was the Awakener guild under the Joongang-hoe. The number of Awakeners belonging to it alone exceeded three hundred. That was no small figure — the National Safety Group itself only had five hundred.
"Im Seong-woo, was it?"
"That's correct."
"I've been hearing talk about him already."
"Did you look into it?"
"You think I'd just sit still?"
The figure — no, Kang Jung-gil — let out a short laugh.
"He's extremely strong, I take it?"
"The Awakeners from the small guilds who submitted to him or were drawn in look up to him with reverence. Not only that — people are even bringing up the Director on social media."
"People are?"
"That's right."
The man seated across from Kang Jung-gil was named Jeon Dok-jin — Deputy Director of the National Safety Group and Kang Jung-gil's closest confidant. Whenever Kang Jung-gil engaged in external activities, Dok-jin handled the National Safety Group's affairs. And among the five hundred Awakeners in the National Safety Group, he was the strongest.
"What about you, Dok-jin?"
"Sir?"
"If you went up against this Im Seong-woo, do you think you could win?"
"Well... you'd only know by fighting him, wouldn't you?"
"But you don't think you'd lose, do you?"
"I've only ever lost to you, Director. I've never lost to any other Awakener."
Jeon Dok-jin spoke with absolute confidence.
"True enough... You were the strongest Awakener I've ever faced. Stronger even than Seo Dong-ju of Incheon."
Seo Dong-ju had been a notorious Awakener in Incheon. He had been the strongest opponent Kang Jung-gil had personally stepped forward to eliminate. And Jeon Dok-jin, sitting right in front of him, was stronger still.
"If it hadn't been for you, Director, I would have completely taken over the National Safety Group. Heh heh heh..."
"You're still the one running the household, aren't you?"
"Well, that's..."
It wasn't wrong, so Jeon Dok-jin scratched his cheek.
"What about the situation at Yongdusan?"
"It appears to be the real thing."
"Is that so?"
Kang Jung-gil showed no great surprise.
There was a matter currently being handled in absolute secrecy around the world. Of course, it would come to light soon enough. In an age of social media, keeping something secret forever was impossible — and monsters had already emerged from a site in Alaska in the United States.
They had clamped down thoroughly and maintained ironclad security to prevent information from leaking, but that only applied to the general public. The relevant agencies of every nation had already shared the intelligence. If it had been America's problem alone, they might have kept it secret — but this was not that kind of issue. Naturally, the Korean government had also received the information from the American side.
"So that means there are quite a few Monster Holes."
"That's right."
Monster Holes.
The appearance of those dimensional rifts — holes that radiated an eerie dark-red energy — had only been recent. Police who responded to a civilian report had sensed something was seriously wrong and reported it up the chain. After that, barricades had been erected to thoroughly keep civilians out.
"Vine-like plants are reportedly overtaking the surrounding area."
"Expanding their territory, you mean?"
"Exactly."
"Then it's confirmed."
Through shared intelligence, the National Safety Group already knew the characteristics of those holes — the ones they had named Monster Holes after monsters began emerging from them.
"Then sooner or later, monsters will come pouring out of that place, won't they?"
"Which is why I believe we should send our people."
"Do it. For now, the National Safety Group managing and handling this is the right call."
"In that case..."
"Dok-jin, you lead the team."
"Me, sir?"
"You don't want to?"
"No... of course I should go."
"Report properly to the higher-ups as well."
"Me, sir?"
"You've always done that, haven't you?"
"......"
"Then that's settled. Go handle it well."
Kang Jung-gil picked up another chocolate and ate it.
"Sweet."
The next day.
Seong-min was eating breakfast and getting ready for work as usual when his phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hyung... I don't think I can make it to work today... cough!"
"Why? Are you sick?"
"I'm not feeling well..."
"Judging by that cough, it sounds like you've caught a cold."
"Yeah, I think I need to take some medicine and rest... My head feels feverish too..."
"Got it. I'll tell the team leader for you, so just rest up at home."
"Sorry, hyung..."
"What is there to be sorry about? If you're sick, you rest."
After ending the call, Hye-suk came over carrying two cups and sat down beside him.
"Was that Min-hyeok?"
"Yeah. He says he's sick and needs to take the day off."
"Oh dear... You should tell him to go to the hospital."
"He says he'll be fine if he just takes some medicine and rests."
Seong-min lifted his cup and took a sip of coffee.
"Come to think of it, Min-hyeok's really diligent... Gombang work is brutal, but he never misses a day."
"Right? The daily wage starts at two hundred thousand won minimum. Paying that much means the work is punishing."
"Last time I saw him, he was friendly and seemed like a good kid..."
"He is a good kid..."
As Seong-min flipped through the TV channels with the remote, a news segment came on featuring a research team's announcement.
The research director's remarks from the press conference had become a hot topic, and they were still being covered on the morning news.
"Looking at that, it seems people's perception of monsters has changed a lot..."
"They're saying it could replace oil, after all."
A single gem harvested from a monster could supply electricity to downtown Seoul for over an hour — an extraordinary amount. In purely economic terms, the value was astronomical.
"And they're calling it crystal?"
"Apparently Europe and America started calling it crystal energy, so we've adopted the same term. Some expert said that on TV before."
The news that followed was, as expected, more coverage on monsters — and on Awakeners. In particular, more than half of all Awakenings occurred during adolescence, when people were still young, and the segment delved deeply into that issue. The core proposal was that once someone Awakened, they should be educated through specialized schools tailored to their nature.
Letting Awakeners attend ordinary schools created its own set of problems, and such incidents were already being reported from schools on a continuous basis. The report stated that discussions would be wrapped up within the month, after which designated specialized schools would be established. Until then, the government's directive was to dispatch specialists to each school to manage Awakened adolescents.
They also announced that even juveniles would face special criminal charges and severe punishment if they used their Awakener powers to cause incidents. Public opinion already overwhelmingly held that Awakeners should be distinguished from ordinary people, so there was little pushback. Even as teenagers, Awakeners were dangerous.
"Alright, I'm heading to work."
Having finished his coffee and gotten ready, Seong-min left the house.
"Have a good day."
With Hye-suk's farewell at his back, Seong-min set out.
Arriving at the site, he reported to Team Leader Jeong and started work right on schedule. Min-hyeok was absent, but with Seong-min there, it wasn't much of a problem. If he put his mind to it, Seong-min could handle several people's worth of work on his own.
That day, he completed two jobs and earned a million won. Because he was covering Min-hyeok's share as well, he received five hundred thousand per job. None of the team members complained — they could see he had been working harder and faster than usual.
The next day, Min-hyeok still couldn't come to work.
The day after that was the same.
And so, on Saturday, Seong-min paid a visit to Min-hyeok's house — stopping by a café first to pick up coffee and desserts.
"I got the coffee bongbong that A-reum noona likes, too."
When A-reum opened the door, Seong-min held up the café bag as he spoke. She smiled, clearly pleased.
"Is Min-hyeok in his room?"
"...Yes... He's lying down right now..."
"Here you go."
Handing the café bag to A-reum, Seong-min headed for Min-hyeok's closed door.
Knock, knock.
"Min-hyeok, I'm here to check on you. Coming in, okay?"
He called out loudly through the door, then turned the handle and pushed it open. Stepping inside—
"......?"
Seong-min stopped dead in his tracks.
A wet towel lay draped across the forehead of Min-hyeok, who was lying in bed — something A-reum noona must have put there. But that wasn't the problem.
"A-reum noona. Was Min-hyeok like that when you put the towel on him?"
A-reum, who had followed him in and looked inside, shook her head. Her face was a mixture of confusion and shock.
Seong-min turned back to look at Min-hyeok.
Saaaah...
From the body of the boy lying there, a blue mist was billowing and swirling.