Chapter 14
I’m translating the chapter directly into the required HTML format and will preserve the system-style blocks where they appear. Next I’m handling the prose cleanly, then I’ll do a quick consistency pass for names, terms, and any special in-universe text.CHAPTER_TITLE: Hale Irene
Hale Irene.
She was twenty-five years old, an American superhuman, one of the few SS-class beings in the world, and—
The strongest in the world.
At present, she was judged to be the most powerful superhuman on the planet.
Her first awakening had come at twelve. From the moment she awakened so young, she had already been a force to be reckoned with.
There were countless high-rank gates she had cleared through sheer overwhelming contribution.
She had not only put down terrorist incidents involving other countries on American soil, but had also crushed an SS-class superhuman from another nation.
Her friendly match against the Mad Dog of China—proud symbol of that country—had ended in under ten minutes, and that feat had become famous around the world.
At the time, Irene had been only seventeen.
She had reached the summit in less than five years of active work as a superhuman.
An emblem of the United States, and the strongest superhuman of them all.
She possessed such vast power that other nations grew tense whenever she moved.
And she was known as someone who virtually never left America.
So when I heard that kind of Irene had come to Korea—
“What?”
I had to widen my eyes at the article.
As I stared at it, wide-eyed,
“For that reason, the chairman asks for your understanding.”
Jeon Yuseon spoke to me.
“Since the Great Mage has come to Korea, the chairman has gone to greet her personally.”
“Ah….”
The Great Mage was Irene’s past life, and the name used to refer to her.
“Would it be all right to delay your conversation with Hunter Lee Jinwoo a little longer?”
“Yes. I’m fine with that. It’s not like I have much else to do anyway.”
“……Thank you for your understanding.”
It wasn’t as though some ordinary person had shown up. The strongest superhuman in the world had suddenly come to Korea, so of course the chairman would be busy.
“But why did the Great Mage come to Korea in the first place?”
“……I’m afraid I can’t say anything about that.”
“Ah, I see.”
So it really was hard to get an answer.
Fine. I hadn’t expected to hear it anyway.
“Thank you again for understanding, and… how are you feeling? Are you in any pain?”
“I’m fine. I could be discharged anytime.”
“That’s a relief.”
At my answer, Jeon Yuseon smiled.
For some reason, that smile gave me a strange feeling.
It was uncomfortable somehow. I got that kind of feeling from Jeon Yuseon.
“Then I’ll let you know as soon as the chairman contacts me.”
“Understood…… thank you.”
Jeon Yuseon bowed his head and left the room. I narrowed my eyes at his polite back.
“Hmm….”
Halfway through the thought, I lay back down on the bed.
The chairman had gotten tied up and couldn’t come after all. That meant time had opened up for me.
With that sudden breathing room, I immediately recalled what had happened during the gate incident.
“...Lin Xiao, was it?”
Lin Xiao.
The man who had inexplicably hated me.
He had said he was a Chinese S-class superhuman.
“If he was S-class, he must’ve been incredibly strong.”
If an SS-class was national-level force, a natural disaster, then S-class superhumans were human weapons.
I’d heard that even if you brought tanks or fighter jets, you still wouldn’t be able to take down an S-class.
And yet, even with such a being right in front of me—
“I wasn’t afraid.”
Inside the gate, I had been able to instinctively tell that my power was stronger.
What the hell was that?
Was it because I had awakened the EX-class past life?
“...Just how amazing was it?”
A power that seemed to stand even above SS-class. And my Synchronization Rate had only been five percent.
Of course, it wasn’t this much outside.
Still, it had been enough to force back an A-class superhuman when I used Patcheonmu.
And if that was the case, then what if—
“If my Synchronization Rate rises higher….”
Maybe I could obtain power as strong as the kind I had inside the gate.
That possibility surged up in me.
But the problem was…
My past life had told me not to let the nature of that power be discovered.
...Right. He meant I shouldn’t let anyone find out I’m the God of War.
The black mask that got forced onto me whenever I entered a gate.
Judging from everything he had directly told me, my past life did not want his identity exposed.
Then—
Do I have to keep acting like I’m not the God of War?
It felt like it wouldn’t be easy.
I even wondered why I had to bother, but—
Still, for sure—
With my understanding of this power still incomplete, it would be dangerous to go around making it obvious.
Especially now, when I was already drawing attention because of what I had done in the gate.
...For now, then.
Until I learned more about this power, I’d have to keep my identity hidden.
That was the decision I made.
“Then….”
That was settled. Next was—
I flicked my finger lightly.
Ring-!
With the alarm sound, something popped up in front of me.
■ Reward from the Cowardly Brave.
It was the reward I had received for clearing the gate.
It doesn’t look like the achievement-clear reward came in this time.
The quest reward hadn’t arrived yet either. I remembered that it had been said to come with a time delay. Then this probably meant that one would arrive later too.
Was this the only thing I got? For now, the reward from the Cowardly Brave was all there was.
Hmm…
Why had they given me a reward? Because I saved them, maybe? If I looked at it simply, that seemed to be the only reason.
■ In a false world, only you had no prejudice.
The system message that had flashed up then kept circling in my head. For some reason, I couldn’t shake it.
I didn’t know why, but it bothered me.
“……Hm.”
I scratched my cheek lightly.
Would you like to receive the reward?
I carefully pressed the [Y] button on the floating system message.
Whoosh-!
Light spread softly. Nothing materialized like an item. Instead, a shimmering current flowed out and began to envelop my body.
Wooooong-!
What?
The surrounding energy was instantly sucked into my body.
■ To you, who saved the world without prejudice, the Cowardly Brave bestows a blessing.
■ You have acquired Hero's Instinct.
■Hero's Instinct (B)
■ Your senses become sharply heightened. Your five senses rise, and you begin to perceive what you could not perceive before.
“Oh….”
It was a passive skill. Since this was a B-class gate, maybe the skill reward was B-class too.
I wasn’t disappointed.
B-class, huh.
Maybe I’d gotten too used to all the absurd things I kept receiving—S-class this, impossible that. If it was B-class, that was still an enormous reward.
At this point, I should’ve been grateful for something like that…
■ Hero's Instinct reacts to the illusion of Korka.
■ The illusion of Korka identifies the hidden true nature of Hero's Instinct.
■ The illusion has finished its analysis.
■ Hero's Instinct (B) evolves into Hero's Super-sensory.
■Hero's Super-sensory (S)
■ Your five senses transcend their limits. There is now nothing you cannot perceive.
“……Whoa.”
I stared blankly at the system alert.
A skill evolves?
...This is insane.
I had been happy about getting a B-class skill, and then all of a sudden it had evolved into an S-class skill. Super-sensory?
There’s nothing I can’t perceive?
It said my five senses had transcended their limits, but I didn’t exactly feel different.
What was this so-called super-sensory supposed to be? As I tried to read the skill description further, wondering if there was something else to it—
■ Hero's Super-sensory has been activated.
At the same time,
“……”
I drew a quiet breath.
As the super-sensory activated, I understood at once.
...Someone’s here?
Someone was around me.
And not just anyone—someone I couldn’t see.
* * *
Incheon International Airport.
Even in the early morning, on a weekday no less, crowds of people had gathered at the airport. Most of them were holding cameras, waiting tensely by the entrance for someone to appear.
They were all reporters. And as long as no one spoke, only a tight silence hung in the air.
Then—
Shiiing.
The doors opened, and someone stepped inside. The reporters reacted the instant they saw her.
“She’s here…!”
Clack-clack-clack-!
The sound of shutters and flashes filled every direction. They were all trying to capture the woman walking out from the doors. The woman who appeared wore sunglasses, as if she had already expected this.
She was slender, walking with calm composure.
Her wavy blond hair swayed over blue jeans and a rider jacket. She looked quite tall for a woman.
Behind her sunglasses, the shutter clicks came pouring at her from all sides.
And perhaps she found that irritating, because the woman’s delicate brows drew together.
She was just about to raise a hand and wave when—
“Hale Irene.”
Kuuuuung-!!!
Someone appeared, cutting through the noise.
“Ugh!”
“……Gah…….”
An old man—Baek Hyeonho, chairman of Korea’s Hunter Association. The moment he appeared, the air grew heavier. The pressure in the atmosphere made the reporters all gasp in shock.
“Thank you very much for coming all the way to this distant country.”
“……”
At Baek Hyeonho’s appearance, the woman, Hale Irene, lowered the hand she had been holding up.
Then she parted her gleaming lips and said,
“……Too noisy…….”
Her voice was cool and distant, yet surprisingly fluent Korean flowed from her mouth.
At the sight of her, Baek Hyeonho smiled brightly as if he was used to it.
“My apologies. The schedule was far too tight… Had we given even a little advance notice, you wouldn’t have had to deal with such inconvenience.”
He probably would not have let the reporters gather like this in the first place. This was also because Irene had abruptly decided to come to Korea.
“Irene……!”
“Hale Irene—please look this way just once!”
At the reporters’ cries, Baek Hyeonho glanced at them. Even after being warned, they were still at it.
Should he exert a little more force? Just as he was considering it—
“……It was urgent.”
Irene murmured softly.
Urgent?
Was she really saying that she would just force her way in if they didn’t grant permission—and calling that urgent?
“Heh… That could easily have caused friction between nations.”
“It’s fine…….”
Irene shook her head quietly.
“America…… is fine.”
“And why do you think that?”
“……They won’t want to lose me…….”
“……You’re very confident.”
She was basically saying that if they didn’t want to lose her, America would have to allow it. The tone made it obvious she knew exactly how valuable she was.
“Anyway… shall we go to the Association and discuss the important matters there?”
Baek Hyeonho prepared to move Irene along. There was nothing more to say here, and they couldn’t very well leave her exposed to the public like this forever.
He didn’t know why she had come here, but—
What a chance.
Baek Hyeonho regarded this as a fortunate turn. The fact that an SS-class superhuman had come directly to Korea was already an enormous event.
And just in time.
Could there be a better opportunity than this? As he was thinking that—
“Irene……!”
One of the reporters pushed through the pressure and shouted,
“Is there a reason you came to Korea? If so, what is it…!”
“Hey.”
An Association staff member stepped in to stop the reporter. He was about to prevent any more questions—
“Reason…….”
Irene looked at the reporter and removed her sunglasses. Her dazzling gold eyes were revealed to the world.
Her face was so beautiful it almost looked as if it shone.
Against that, Irene’s eyes were utterly expressionless as she answered the reporter calmly.
“……There’s someone I have to meet.”
Within that flat gaze, a fierce longing burned.