7 PM at the Guro Cheonghwa-dan Hideout
No one knows how to awaken as an ability user yet. Academia has proposed countless hypotheses, but none could provide solid evidence, and all experiments to induce awakening in ability users have failed. So Cheon Ga-eul had no choice but to eye Jo Deok-bae suspiciously after hearing his explanation.
"That's it?"
"Yeah. That's everything I heard."
Deok-bae recounted to Ga-eul what he'd learned about mana attributes while getting pummeled by Phoenix.
"I can't get a single clue. Mana attributes? I can't even sense mana in the first place—how am I supposed to draw out its attributes?"
Ga-eul tore at her hair, rolling around on the sofa in frustration. Deok-bae couldn't help feeling sorry for her.
"Why don't you just wait a few more days and head down to New Seoul quietly?"
"No way!"
Ga-eul shot up from the sofa with a yell.
"Deok-bae-ssi, do you trust Phoenix? You think she'll keep her promise?"
"...Fifty-fifty?"
Deok-bae had been the witness to the bet between Phoenix and Ga-eul.
"Deok-bae-ssi, how did you awaken? Weren't you an ability user from the start?"
Ga-eul gulped down some water and asked. Deok-bae, who had been lying on the opposite sofa fiddling with rock fragments shed from his skin, sat up straight.
"I was working as an organized thug when we got into it with a rival gang from the next district. Nearly died from a steel pipe to the head, but then monsters hit Yeongjongdo. I awakened my ability while fleeing—that was the miracle."
"...I won't pry into your past. But was there anything special you felt? Like energy surging inside you or something?"
"Nah. How'd you awaken?"
"Eek?!"
Kim Ji-hwa, knees tucked on a stool, flinched under Deok-bae's gaze. Ever since the 2-meter rock monster admitted to his ex-gangster life, Ji-hwa had been on his best behavior.
"Mine's just cheap body enhancement, but yours is some special lineage, right?"
"...? Deok-bae-ssi, isn't your ability...?"
Ga-eul pointed at the rock fragments flaking off Deok-bae.
Deok-bae paused for a moment before answering.
"This wasn't my original ability. The rock skin came after I became a Kaijin."
Phoenix had told him: his original ability had fused with a monster core, mutating into something new. Of course, that explanation had taken a solid 30 minutes of nonstop lecturing, but Deok-bae summed it up neatly.
"Uh... that Kaijin thing. I'm one too, right?"
Ji-hwa pointed at his own eyes.
He'd told his subordinates it was just an upgrade from his ability leveling up, but he couldn't ignore how they flinched whenever they looked at him.
"What's a Kaijin anyway?"
"...Shoving a monster core into a dead person to revive them? Like zombies."
"...Eek."
Ji-hwa's eyes trembled. According to Deok-bae, he'd already died once, with a monster core embedded in his heart.
"More like resurrection of the dead than zombies. Zombies don't have reason, but you and Deok-bae-ssi act rationally, don't you?"
"Y-yes! Th-they're saying I died, but it doesn't really feel real. I just woke up thinking, 'Oh, my ability got stronger.' That's all."
Suddenly, Deok-bae grinned ferociously.
"Hey. Kim Ji-hwa."
"Yes?!"
Ji-hwa swallowed hard, tensing up. The boss had said he'd reached B-rank level, but facing Deok-bae—who was supposedly C-rank—always made him shrink.
"You ever killed anyone?"
"Deok-bae-ssi?!"
Ga-eul snapped at him in shock.
"Asking out of the blue if someone's killed—"
"...You mean before becoming a Kaijin, or after?"
Mana sank low in Ji-hwa's demon eyes. He might act submissive, but among the three in the room, he had the highest mana reserves.
"......."
Ga-eul shut her mouth at Ji-hwa's words. Kim Ji-hwa was a villain too. According to Phoenix, the bastard who'd kept future Cheon Ga-eul as a sex slave for years.
Deok-bae stroked his chin and asked.
"I never killed before this, so I can't compare. Do you just feel nothing after killing? All numb and shit?"
"Of course not."
Ji-hwa shook his head vigorously.
"...The first one was my boss. The section chief who always made me fetch his coffee and bitched nonstop. One time, I was so exhausted I said I couldn't pull an all-nighter, and he stomped my knee with his shoe."
Ji-hwa interlaced his fingers.
"But that night, a monster hit the office. No alarm. Lights off, blinds down—they must've thought everyone clocked out."
"Ah, the Guro Incident..."
Ji-hwa nodded. Deok-bae had heard of it too.
"Four years ago? One monster broke into the building at night. Up to the fifth floor, empty."
"Sixth floor had people. Hiding in the office pretending to be gone."
Ji-hwa sipped from his cup.
"Anyway, monster hits our floor, chaos everywhere. The chief's hiding in the break room, tries shoving me out. We scuffle. Monster's right there. Don't know where the strength came from."
"...Was that your awakening?"
Ga-eul asked with a grim face. Ji-hwa shook his head.
"No. Awakening came later. Fled the monster, locked the break room door—that was fine. But no way to check outside. Phone in the office, watch broken. Survived a few days on stuff in there."
Ji-hwa pointed to his eyes.
"Passed out, woke up, and this. First the door outside, then up and down the building. Eventually all of Guro. But by the time I got out, monster gone, four years passed."
"That make sense? Unconscious nearly four years without food?"
"Mana makes anything possible."
A warm voice added the explanation as Phoenix entered. Ji-hwa jumped up and bowed.
"You're here!"
"Enough. I heard your story—don't want to end up like that chief. Relax."
"No, ma'am! This is comfortable!"
"What, gonna backstab me like you did him later? ...Kidding. Stop shaking."
Ji-hwa broke out in cold sweat, trembling in terror. Phoenix set her coffee on the table.
"Let's talk over drinks."
"...Where'd you get this?"
"Incheon. Starbucks by the bus terminal."
"...?"
Deok-bae pulled up a mental map. Guro to Incheon.
"Didn't you meet me 30 minutes ago and tell us to gather here?"
"Yeah. It's close—I zipped back."
The four drinks in cardboard carriers were all different. Deok-bae, calculating order time, gave up and grabbed the Americano.
"Grab one each. Speak up if you want something specific."
Phoenix picked up the strawberry yogurt with real fruit blended in.
"......."
Ga-eul's eyes met hers. Phoenix casually set the yogurt down.
"Thanks."
Ga-eul took the strawberry yogurt. Ji-hwa hesitated, then met Phoenix's eyes.
"You first."
Ji-hwa grabbed the iced tea and sat on the stool.
"......."
Phoenix took the remaining café latte. She sipped, her gaze flicking briefly to the yogurt and iced tea before returning.
"Alright, strategy meeting time."
"This vibe, suddenly?"
Phoenix nodded.
"Gangnam S Hospital. Midnight tonight—where the villains hold their 'summit.' Thanks to Ji-hwa-ssi’s hard work, we found it in time."
"Ah, haha. No big deal."
Dark circles still lingered under Ji-hwa's eyes.
"Midnight? I heard nothing."
Deok-bae nodded at Ga-eul's question too.
"Was gonna ask—how'd you know midnight?"
Phoenix set her cup down and clapped.
"Villains always meet at night. Universal rule worldwide. We're meeting after sunset too, right? Villain Alliance same. Seoul villains set date and place at the black market. Their pattern—"
"Just the point?"
Ga-eul cut in, setting her yogurt down. Phoenix spun her hand like a waterwheel, then froze.
"...Intel says midnight at S University Hospital in Gangnam."
"Good. We raid?"
Deok-bae cracked his neck. Ji-hwa waved frantically.
"No, it's hosted by Haneulseong! Near S-rank monster of a villain!"
The screen over the table showed a man in a fedora stepping from a car in S Hospital's parking lot. Phoenix moistened her throat with her drink, calming Ji-hwa.
"Ji-hwa-ssi, no such thing as quasi-S-rank. Just ability users stuck between ranks, artificially labeled. To jump ranks, you need awakening..."
Phoenix glanced at Ga-eul. Surprisingly, Ga-eul nodded to continue.
"Not stopping me this time?"
"Hoping for an awakening hint."
"......Then I won't."
"What? There's no such thing!"
Phoenix shrugged, about to continue.
"If you're gonna say it's here, shut up. Annoys the listener."
"...I'll explain after the meeting. Happy?"
Phoenix gritted her teeth and bowed her head. Ga-eul smiled faintly at Deok-bae, who looked away awkwardly.
"What? Nothin'."
"Ah, nothing."
Ji-hwa fixed his gaze on his iced tea. Phoenix cleared her throat and steered back.
"Villain summits are no big deal. 'Yo, two S-rank heroes coming to Seoul. Government's sending heroes big-time? They'll wipe monsters—and us too? Arrests?' That kinda worry-fest."
"Don't wanna run, but wanna see first."
"Right, Ga-eul-ssi. No real center to the Villain Alliance now. Grand name, but just refugees hunkered in Seoul districts. Not your group, Ji-hwa-ssi."
"It's fine."
Ji-hwa smiled bitterly. The monster before them had turned 400 refugees into Guro vigilantes in a flash.
"Ragtag ones already fled Seoul. Remaining alliance members are the bigger players—who can't leave Seoul."
"...Can't abandon ten Gangnam apartments for New Seoul. No cash either."
"Yes. South of the Han still has intact facilities. Restore, reclaim property value."
"But."
Ga-eul raised her hand.
"If it's just Seoul real estate, wait for restoration. Government compensates."
"That's..."
"Guys left in Seoul ain't sane like you. At least snagged one person like this guy."
"...Seoul's lawless now. Government abandoned it. Even back in the fold, not the good old days. My illegal Gangnam penthouse? Owner reclaims post-restoration. Back to homeless. Right?"
Phoenix leaned back at Deok-bae and Ji-hwa's explanations.
"...Seoul residents detached from modern civ. Crime normalized, mindsets shifted. Look at Deok-bae-ssi and Ji-hwa-ssi."
Phoenix pointed between them.
"One scraping by in dying city, other near-refugee. Incheon-Seoul, hour away."
"...Why's government left Seoul like this?"
Ga-eul asked incredulously.
"Phoenix-ssi said president's pushing restoration. Seung-hyung... Hero Lee Seung-hyung awakened S-rank, so power's there."
"I'm curious too. Dimension gates? Or other reason?"
"For a strong, rich nation."
The others looked puzzled at Phoenix's sarcastic tone. She crossed her legs.
"Had power to restore Seoul, no need. Seon Ui-cheol's base is New Seoul; Seoul's just a nuisance."
Phoenix tapped her smartwatch, spreading a map on the table.
"Human-monster buffer. Monsters from Pyongyang periodically feed S-rank at Seoul City Hall. Seon Ui-cheol thought: leave Seoul be."
Phoenix snapped her fingers; flames bloomed in the air, shaping forms.
"New prey for Pyongyang monsters. Monsters and humans flooding in for Seoul monsters. Hunter heaven for cores. Lawless playground for villains. Bridges gone, S-rank crisis north—odd balance over the river. Seon Ui-cheol milked it. New Seoul safe."
"...Then why restore now? Show off extra S-rank? His nephew?"
"No. Absolutely not."
Phoenix reached into her inner pocket.
"Deok-bae-ssi, ever tell you Cheonghwa-dan's goal? Incheon café."
"...Gather toy cubes for world peace?"
Phoenix grinned.
"Leaders learn things willy-nilly. Seon Ui-cheol knew the cube's existence and value back then. But..."
Phoenix zoomed the map. Yeouido's edge showed the National Assembly, charred skeleton.
"During Seoul retreat, someone stole it from the president, fled here. Candid congressman chatting with prez then."
"What? That toad—"
"Sharp as ever, student Deok-bae. God's fragment—makes monsters, ability users. Congressman turned monster from cube greed. Told you: must go Yeouido."
Phoenix raised her fist from her pocket.
"Question: National Assembly burns, where cube sleeps. Unique knower—what now?"
"...Heard ex-president suicided at New Seoul home, conscience gnawing."
Phoenix opened her hand.
"Lucky he's no ability user. Would've come sooner."
The impish Phoenix held a cube etched with bizarre patterns.