Riding the Typhoon
Many Awakeners dream of becoming professional hunters in pursuit of wealth and fame, but only a select few ever achieve that dream. That's the unavoidable reality.
And in cases like this, it's almost always because they're too weak.
If they're too weak to function as hunters, so feeble that even hunting goblins requires risking their lives, then even as Awakeners, they end up living ordinary lives.
But occasionally—very occasionally—there are those who are as strong as hunters… no, in some ways, far stronger than hunters, yet still refuse to become one.
Like Yun Cho-a here.
One-two straight. The man was being driven back by a relentless barrage of punches.
Though his transformation was complete and his claws gleamed with lethal intent, an attack that never lands is meaningless.
Yun Cho-a evaded every strike with upper-body movement refined from a synthesis of kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Taekkyeon weight shifts.
And in modern martial arts, what does evasion become?
An attack.
Pabababak—!!
“Ghh!!”
Short, sharp counters fired at point-blank range.
She steadily accumulated damage, slowing his feet.
The relentless counters born from extreme martial arts were Yun Cho-a's specialty. At this range, she had no doubt of victory. None whatsoever.
The man seemed to realize this instinctively. He tried to break away, but he was outsped. Even when he swung his beast-like arms wildly to force distance—
“Kuhak!”
A kick came flying from somewhere.
A spinning back kick combining kickboxing, taekwondo, and Taekkyeon smashed into his jaw.
With his brain rattled, the man was once again defenseless.
Finally, unable to endure any longer, the transformed man unleashed his rage-infused mana.
“Блять!! (You fucking bitch!!)”
Had he ever been driven so helplessly even after transforming into his complete form?
True to his macho Russian nature, he believed a man's fight was about power—nothing but raw power. Tricks and techniques would eventually crumble before overwhelming strength, so he had devoted all his time to training his body and building power.
That was why this was so humiliating. Being thoroughly dominated by the very “techniques” he had dismissed as tricks.
The excited man's eyes turned blood-red.
Originally, the plan had been to simply teach her a lesson and end it, but that was off the table now.
Once Berserk activated, he had to erase this disgrace. Only then would he be able to stop.
“I'll kill you. Убьют (I will kill you)……”
The fur across his entire body stood on end.
This sign…?
It was a lion's roar. More precisely, since he was a wolf-type, a howl.
A wide-area skill common to beastkin that inflicted stun over a certain range.
Lee Shin had given it high marks due to its expandability, versatility, and activation speed depending on the user's ability.
The way to counter a lion's roar was to first exit the battlefield, create distance, then re-engage.
So naturally, Yun Cho-a was expected to escape the range at her incredible speed… but in that split second, she instead charged forward.
Once her foot had already stepped in, there was no angle left to dodge.
Of course, she took the howl head-on with her bare body.
“Kwaaaaaah—!!”
The man's wolf snout opened wide, and a wave of mana rippled outward in concentric circles.
Dust, sand, air—everything caught in the mana wave was blasted away like a tidal surge.
The gang members waiting nearby were hit by a powerful dust storm strong enough to force them to shield their eyes.
They were certain of the woman's fate.
Taking a howl at that range meant at least unconsciousness, no matter who it was.
However… when the dust settled, they were all shocked.
Yun Cho-a had planted her feet into the concrete with a grounded stance and was assuming a ready posture.
Crack.
She had even forcibly dislocated her own thumb to break the stun through sheer force.
After all, stun was ultimately a mental-type ability. With extreme mental training, it could be overcome.
What had only been discussed in theory, she had just demonstrated in reality.
Through her windblown hair, Yun Cho-a's eyes flashed.
One strike.
She would end it with a single blow. That resolve was written clearly on her face.
She drove her fist into the chest of the man still exhaling his howl.
Fa-gyeong—explosive force.
This would surely decide the match.
But at that moment—
Just before Yun Cho-a's explosive strike could connect with the beastkin's chest—
“Hey, that's enough.”
Bang—!!
Something falling from the sky forced the two apart.
And between them—
A man who had leapt from the rooftop of a twelve-story building across the street and landed here.
Pale Russian skin, a thick gut, and dense body hair.
The gang boss was staring at Lee Shin with his massive frame.
Lee Shin grinned in response.
“Finally showed yourself.”
The boss bared his teeth and grinned back.
“Stop tormenting the kids and talk with me instead.”
“Anytime.”
* * *
A shabby gukbap restaurant in Chinatown.
The door opened and a group of large men entered. The elderly owner with streaks of white hair hurried out from the kitchen.
“Welcome… What the—it's you lot.”
“мама привет~! (Mama, hello~!) I'm here.”
“Chara!”
The hairy white man embraced the owner affectionately.
Despite being Russian, his behavior was more Korean than most Koreans.
Even more unusual was his dialect. He spoke the old-school Busan accent—rarely heard these days—with natural fluency.
The owner seemed accustomed to this and didn't make a fuss.
“Sit down already. It's all pork gukbap today.”
“Wait. Hey, you guys are having pork gukbap too.”
“And a plate of boiled pork.”
The hairy Russian man turned to ask, while Lee Shin casually draped his Yainshidae coat over a chair.
“You heard her, Mama. Boiled pork too. And don't forget plenty of perilla leaves.”
“Shut it. My ears aren't deaf yet, so lower your voice. Who's the new face?”
He looked familiar somehow?
The owner glanced at him several times before her eyes widened and she clapped her hands.
“Oh my! I remember now! Isn't that Representative Lee Shin from Mir Guild?”
“Hahaha. Hello. I'm Lee Shin of Mir Guild.”
“Oh dear, welcome! My hometown's Yeongdo, you know! I've been watching you on TV!”
“Haha! Didn't expect a fan here.”
“Look at me, getting all worked up. I need your autograph.”
“Mama, our gukbap—”
“You shut your mouth! Gukbap isn't the issue right now.”
After making a big fuss and securing a promise for both an autograph and a photo when Lee Shin left, the owner finally disappeared back into the kitchen.
“Tsk, sorry about that. It's a neighborhood shop, so things get a bit eccentric. No ill intent.”
“It's fine. Much more gentlemanly than greeting me with a gun to the head.”
“……The kid says he's sorry. Our boys just aren't fluent in Korean.”
“Fluent? They understood better than your dialect.”
“You're a real pain in the ass. Anyway, I'll just buy you a meal and call it even?”
“Vodka too.”
“You little… You know your stuff.”
Right on cue, bubbling pork gukbap arrived in earthenware bowls.
“This one's on the house.”
A large tray of appetizing boiled pork steamed invitingly as the meal began.
“Eat up. Business talk after we fill our stomachs.”
“Thanks for the meal. You eat too, noona.”
“You too.”
Lee Shin and the hairy boss picked up their spoons with complete composure.
Even the boss's right-hand man—who had been fighting to the death moments ago—and Yun Cho-a reluctantly picked up their spoons.
The underlings watching from the opposite table were dumbfounded.
‘Both of them have nerves of steel bigger than the Pacific.’
‘I've never seen anyone with a heart as strong as the boss.’
People who had pointed guns at each other during their first meeting were now saying things like “The broth here's killer” and “Right?”
Was this normal? No—the fact that food was even going down their throats was abnormal.
And the boss felt the same way.
‘As expected, my eyes weren't wrong. This guy's a lunatic too.’
His eyes, with their unusually distinct black-and-white contrast.
He had seen eyes like these many times before. Eyes where purity and madness coexisted—eyes of someone who had lost something essential to being human.
That was why you could never predict where he'd jump or how far he'd go.
‘Well, it was strange from the moment he showed up with just one attendant.’
To a boss who had experienced real life-or-death situations—not the fake ones seen in the league—this was crystal clear.
The dangerous aura emanating from the man called Lee Shin.
‘This kind of person will definitely cause trouble. They can never stay quiet for even a moment. If I could avoid him, I would, but there's nowhere to hide in this small Busan scene.’
The boss's eyes narrowed.
Eventually, a collision was inevitable.
In that case……
‘If you can't avoid the typhoon, riding it might be the way.’
Slurp. After finishing one bowl, they moved on to serious business.
First, the boss filled a silver water purifier cup to the brim with vodka.
“Continuing from earlier—you said you want to buy us?”
“Yeah. Work under me.”
“Hmm. Not a fan of being under someone else.”
“What's not to like? In the end, all you guys do is clean up other people's messes and pick up scraps.”
“You little bastard……!”
“Hey, don't butt in. And watch your mouth too. In the land of Eastern courtesy, basic manners should be observed.”
“Heh, hearing a hairy Russian with pale skin talk about Eastern courtesy feels weird. But he's not wrong. Sorry, I got a bit harsh there.”
“Apology accepted.”
The two men clinked glasses in apology and downed their vodka in one shot.
“By the way, why us? We're outsiders, after all. Wouldn't it be easier to use fellow Koreans if you're giving orders? That's why you've been wandering around the back alleys these past few days, isn't it? Am I wrong?”
“You really know your stuff. You'll do good work.”
“Just answer. Right or wrong.”
“Hmm. Wrong.”
What Lee Shin was about to touch was the underworld.
A realm outside the bounds of law and order.
To fight there, you needed to be strong. And thorough.
That's why he chose them. They were different from other organizations from the very start.
Cruel but not sadistic, greedy but meticulous.
“You guys, who are closer to ‘mercenaries’ than an organization, are perfect for the job.”
At the word “mercenaries,” the boss's eyes turned cold for a moment, but soon returned to their usual hearty glow.
“Can't argue with that. It's what we do every time.”
They receive requests and handle the work.
No matter what the job is, they just process it mechanically.
That was the world they lived in. A natural part of breathing.
It was a deal with no downsides whatsoever.
The decision came quickly.
“So what's the commission?”
“Two hundred million. How's that for generous?”
“Three hundred. Give it.”
“That's steep. Two hundred.”
“Three hundred.”
“Two hundred.”
“Two-fifty.”
“Two hundred, plus incentives.”
Deal?
Lee Shin extended his vodka glass. The boss chuckled and clinked his own against it.
Clink~!
“Good choice.”
Lee Shin smiled with satisfaction—innocently, like a child.
Then, curiosity suddenly welled up.
Maybe he was mistaken? The boss lit his cigar and probed lightly.
“Glad you think so. Hey, what if we mess with you after all this?”
Then—
“Mess with me?”
Puh-huh. Lee Shin, still smiling, reached out and casually took a cigar from the case as if it were his own.
And the moment he lit it with a match—
Shiver……!!
“Sounds fun. Go ahead and try. Whatever ‘messing around’ means to you.”
He had asked earlier why them. Whether there weren't other organizations.
Right. Honestly, if he just put in the legwork, he could find plenty of similar cards.
So why had Lee Shin chosen these guys?
“Because you're outsiders.”
Their work was reliable, and cleanup would be easy.
“And one more thing—and this is important……”
They had something to protect. Something more precious than their own lives.
Lee Shin leaned in and whispered into the boss's ear.
“Family.”
The boss's previously round eyes sharpened in an instant.
A murderous aura exploded outward.
Yun Cho-a, who had been guarding Lee Shin's side, immediately rose as if ready to spring. The boss's right-hand man also extended his long claws toward her.
A situation on the verge of explosion.
But Lee Shin's mouth remained at the boss's ear.
“Don't get tense. I'm not threatening you. On the contrary, I can help you.”
“!!”
Help? With what?
While the boss stared at Lee Shin with wide eyes, Lee Shin merely gave a meaningful smile and stood up.
Yun Cho-a followed suit.
“Noona, give him the deposit.”
She slid the 007 briefcase in front of the boss.
“This is the advance payment. Think it over and contact me.”
Don't forget what I said!
Inside the open briefcase were stacks of cash, completely filled.
The moment he saw it, the boss slowly closed his eyes.
“B-Boss…… This is……”
“Yeah.”
The amount matched exactly what they needed. The other party had already known everything about their situation.
In that moment, he realized.
From the moment Lee Shin had opened his mouth, there had never been any choice for him. As of today, the Russian gang had thrown themselves into the typhoon.
The typhoon called Lee Shin.