Asura
Asura.
A god with three heads and six arms, who delighted in strife. A being between god and man, an eternal symbol of conflict and desire.
The reason Choi Seongcheol was called Asura was that he resembled one. When he fought, he swept the battlefield with three heads and six arms, just like the god of war himself — and sometimes, those heads and arms would separate from his body entirely.
The Second Coming of Asura
The nation had witnessed his true power when an S-Rank gate erupted in the past. Treated as merely A-Rank at the time, he had moved like the god of war incarnate, slaughtering monsters without pause or mercy.
"An S-Rank hunter..."
Lee Hocheon knew Asura well. No matter how high celebrities or politicians flew, they couldn't come within a mile of the fame an S-Rank hunter commanded.
I wonder.
He was curious how the man would react if his son were to die. From what he'd learned, Choi Seongcheol was hot-blooded to the point that even other hunters feared him. He would hardly sit still.
"Hm."
His abilities had been partially disclosed to the press. Watching the footage, Hocheon could see he was clearly different from the rest — soaring through the sky, cleaving the sea, shattering the ground.
A-Ranks worked fine.
On the very first day he'd gained his power, he had killed two A-Rank hunters. Whether those two had resisted or not, he couldn't know. What mattered was that they had died.
The odds were good that it would work on an S-Rank as well.
There was one more piece of evidence besides that. The skills held by S-Rank hunters were graded S through SSS — and it was an accumulation of such skills that had made them what they were.
My skill's grade is Beyond Classification.
His instant-death skill belonged to a tier for which no precedent could be found. He had searched even overseas databases, and the classification of "Beyond" was never so much as mentioned. In terms of both power and rarity, the odds were overwhelming that it sat at the very top of the scale.
I'll know for sure when the chance comes, anyway.
Nothing was more certain than testing it firsthand. The hunters needed a demonstration too. Under the pretense of defending the nation, they had basked in every privilege and abuse of power imaginable, standing above the law itself.
First, I need to investigate Choi Jinwoo.
The victim's evidence was more than sufficient — but he needed to find out why the police had been so eager to close the case. If no charges had been filed, the police must have had their reasons for that judgment.
He left his home and headed for Seoju High School, where Choi Jinwoo attended classes.
Park Sooyeon had left the entertainment industry a year ago over a school bullying scandal. With the victim's testimony, formal disciplinary action, and a forced transfer on record, there was no self-reflection deep enough and no comeback possible. The only work left to her was internet streaming.
She had become a streamer, and the dance skills and looks honed during her idol days raked in money by the fistful.
Before turning on her stream today, she had spent the night with Kim Minho, a male streamer she'd recently collaborated with.
"You have to do this for your face to come out pretty on camera. It debloats you and gives you a nice flush."
Sleeping together before a broadcast was one of her habits.
"Whew. You turning the camera on right away?"
Kim Minho asked, lighting a cigarette. His tattoo-covered body repulsed her.
"Yeah. Today's the day the piglet comes, so I have to."
The "piglet" she spoke of was a viewer known as a whale — a big spender who occasionally donated upwards of ten million won.
"He asked you to have a meal with him, didn't he?"
"I told him I'd do it if he passed three hundred million. Pictures alone don't satisfy the piglet."
She had been sending the whale lewd photos on the side. The donations had grown even larger, and now he was demanding a meeting.
"Kiki. What an idiot. I'm getting eaten for free while he's paying three hundred million for dinner. You're not even that good."
"What? Cut the crap and get the hell out if you're done."
"Cold, isn't it? You were screaming your head off until just a minute ago."
"Shut up and get out. I have to stream."
Park Sooyeon began fixing her makeup without even washing first. Streams right after sex always drew comments about how unusually pretty she looked — and plenty of donations too.
"By the way, didn't you do school bullying back in the day?"
Kim Minho remarked, eyes on his phone. Her face twisted viciously, and she shot him a glare. Bullying was a hot issue these days, and she was on edge about it.
"No, seriously, I just saw the news — the Judgment Seat killed eight celebrities who did school bullying."
"What?"
She hurried over, snatched the phone, and checked the article. Among the dead was someone she knew. Her pupils began to tremble violently.
"You fucking—"
Park Sooyeon paced the room, at a complete loss, while Kim Minho rose and watched her with a flat stare.
"Saw the article. The exposés are insane. You might be in real danger, huh?"
He was clearly mocking her, but she was too lost in her own spiraling thoughts to answer.
"I'm heading out. Good luck~"
"Hey. You bastard. Wait."
She grabbed Kim Minho's arm.
"What?"
"Help me."
"With what?"
"Help me not die, please!"
"What am I supposed to do about that? I'm not a hunter. Ah~ that was a good hole going to waste."
Kim Minho smirked and made for the door. Seeing that, Park Sooyeon was seized by fury and brought a piece of her streaming equipment down on his head.
With a dull thud, the defenseless man dropped, and she struck his head again and again. Blood streamed out from beneath the doorframe.
"Fucking bastard."
She had been about to start her stream when a sudden thought struck her. She immediately checked whether Kim Minho was alive. Thankfully, he was still breathing.
"Ughh—"
A student knelt on the classroom floor, drool trailing from his mouth. His face was contorted in agony, and he couldn't even breathe properly. Before him stood another boy.
"Hey, hey. I only hit you once. Isn't the act a bit much?"
A tall, handsome student sneered. It was Choi Jinwoo, son of Choi Seongcheol. He liked tormenting kids during lunch break.
It delighted him endlessly to watch the other children grow tense and anxious during a time that was supposed to be pleasant and carefree. It made him feel like a king. To avoid crossing him, the students pretended to sleep or faked being busy with something else.
"I'm... I'm sorry."
The boy who'd been hit groveled, apologizing with his hands pressed together. His name was Kim Taejun. When the kid Choi Jinwoo had been tormenting stopped coming to school, he'd become the new target.
"Sorry for what?"
"For... for everything."
Kim Taejun hadn't actually done anything wrong. If he was guilty of anything, it was ending up in the same class as Choi Jinwoo. He'd been dragged out here for the crime of looking like a freak, and beaten.
"You didn't do anything wrong, did you?"
"..."
Choi Jinwoo politely helped him to his feet. Then he took Kim Taejun's fist and pressed it against his own face.
"The one who screwed up was your mom. For giving birth to a freak like you."
At those words, Kim Taejun's face flinched.
"Oh? So even a freak like you gets angry when someone curses your mother. Then come on, take a swing. I'll let you — hit me as hard as you're mad."
Choi Jinwoo thrust his cheek toward Kim Taejun's fist. But even after the insults, Kim Taejun could do nothing. The kids who had swung back had all experienced hell that very day.
"Aigoo. You freak."
When Kim Taejun finally proved incapable of anything, Choi Jinwoo patted his cheek a couple of times — then, in a flash, clenched his fist and drove it into the boy's solar plexus.
"Ah—ghk!"
Kim Taejun's body crumpled, and he clutched his chest, shivering uncontrollably. Pain like his insides being wrung out flooded his entire body; death would almost have been a mercy.
"Ha. What kind of man has such a weak body."
Choi Jinwoo checked the time. Lunch would end soon, and the teacher was due to arrive.
"Boring as hell. Hey, Class 2, third year."
He spoke quietly. Every child in the room stopped what they were doing and turned toward him. All of it was conditioned behavior.
"You should try posting something about it too. I'll show you what happens."
The words were aimed at the Judgment Seat. Every single student shook their head. They were already hollowed out by their terror of Choi Jinwoo.
Asura Choi Seongcheol emerged from the gate, hauling his massive frame behind him. He peeled off his blood-soaked armor and tossed it to a guild member.
"Good work, sir."
This gate had been S-Rank, one that had absolutely required Choi Seongcheol's strength. He had fought tooth and nail alongside his guild members to clear it, and he was the last to emerge.
"Notify the Management Bureau and send the guild members home."
Choi Seongcheol's voice was heavy as stone.
"Understood. Will you be returning to the guild?"
"No. I'm going home."
"Then I'll prepare a vehicle."
The man vanished, and two female hunters approached. They were healers, and they quietly began treating the wounds of Choi Seongcheol as he stood in silence.
Before long, a single luxury sedan pulled up and stopped in front of him.
"We'll take you home, sir."
Lee Dooho, Choi Seongcheol's executive secretary, stepped out and opened the door. The healers withdrew once the treatment was done, and he climbed into the car.
"Anything happen today?"
Choi Seongcheol asked, settling deep into the seat.
"The Judgment Seat has appeared again. They say he killed seventeen public figures and students for acts of school bullying."
"Still haven't caught him, I see."
Even with the entire nation in uproar, Choi Seongcheol's reaction was one of indifference.
"It seems they can't even locate him."
"Can't even catch one lousy criminal. Truly befitting the Management Bureau."
Choi Seongcheol despised the Bureau. Powerless nobodies threw their weight around simply because they were a state institution. Strictly speaking, they weren't entirely powerless — they simply had no S-Ranks.
"He doesn't seem to be an easy opponent, in any case."
"How long has it been since the bastard showed up?"
"About two weeks."
"And if it were me — what do you think would have happened?"
Lee Dooho deliberated for a moment.
"I believe you would have caught him."
"Not that you would have caught him — that you believe you would have?"
A trace of excitement crept into Choi Seongcheol's voice. His executive secretary Lee Dooho was one of the very few powerful hunters Choi Seongcheol himself acknowledged. If the man who had watched his strength from closer than anyone couldn't speak with certainty, it meant the Judgment Seat's abilities were even more extraordinary than expected.
"Yes. His power is so mysterious that two weeks may have been too short. But it is certain that in the end, he would be caught — by you, Master."
"If it weren't for these gates, I'd go beat the man to death right now."
Lee Dooho stole a glance at Choi Seongcheol through the rearview mirror. For all his words, his expression hadn't changed in the slightest. He didn't care at all. And it made sense — lately the frequency of gate outbreaks had grown alarming, leaving no room to spare for matters like this.
"We've arrived."
Lee Dooho parked in front of the residence, stepped out, and opened the rear door. Choi Seongcheol got out and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Don't come tomorrow. I'm taking a day off."
"Understood. I'll push back tomorrow's schedule."
Lee Dooho bowed, and Choi Seongcheol was about to head inside.
"Master."
At Lee Dooho's voice, Choi Seongcheol turned his head.
"Something to say?"
From the man's expression, it seemed fairly important. Choi Seongcheol turned his whole body to face him.
"Speak."
"It's... about Jinwoo."
"Jinwoo?"
His son's name came up out of nowhere. Lee Dooho occasionally helped with the boy's commute to school.
"Yes. I don't know the details, but it appears Jinwoo has been engaging in school bullying."
Choi Seongcheol's face twisted.
"Kids grow up fighting. What exactly did you see?"
Children fighting was only natural. In his worldview, a boy who grew up without fighting had a problem with his manhood. But there was no way Lee Dooho would fail to make that distinction himself.
"I saw him beat other children several times with Force. I warned him it was dangerous, though I don't know whether it reached him."
"Force?"
Force was the ability his son had acquired upon awakening — a potent technique that vibrated mana to inflict internal injuries on a target. Used even at low power against an ordinary person, it could kill.
"Yes. Judging by how the boys who took it reacted, it was Force."
"And the reason you're telling me this now — is it the Judgment Seat?"
There was nothing else it could be.
"Correct. I'm telling you in case Jinwoo becomes a target."
"..."
Choi Seongcheol said nothing. His son had been bullying other kids. Using his awakened ability, no less.
"And the odds that he already knows?"
"Low, for now. In truth, I've been checking the internet constantly while you were in the gate, looking for exposé posts, but none have gone up."
"If what you say is true, then the odds of one appearing going forward are high."
Judgment had been passed today; it was self-evident that the victims would find their courage. Lee Dooho nodded slowly.
"Can it be stopped?"
"I doubt it."
"... Call the Management Bureau. Find Choi Jinwoo and bring him before me."
The frigid voice struck Lee Dooho's ears. Choi Seongcheol's fury came through undiluted, and Lee Dooho felt his own body shrink in on itself.