Twisting Fate
Twisting Fate
Pentagon Academy's entrance ceremony had been struck by one upheaval after another.
That night, the academy's chairwoman and president of the Awakener Association, Seol Hayeon, found herself deep in worry beneath the moonlight.
'The Awakener Proliferation Plan, and the Grade 1 Villain Winterer....'
Seo Haru's past, as recounted by Yujin.
And the villain who had been mentioned briefly, almost in passing.
...Wasn't that the villain who'd attacked the academy two months ago?
The one who had targeted her personally, no less.
[Once I kill you, this country gets a whole lot more fun!!!]
'She was certain to attack again, and soon.'
The reason the Republic of Korea was both the strongest awakener nation and a public-safety powerhouse where people could stride through the night without fear of villains.
Her S-rank Innate Talent, Sixth Sense, which allowed her to identify villains.
From a villain's perspective, it was a thorn in their side.
It was more than enough reason to attack.
'If only to take Seo Haru back.'
On top of that, she now had Seo Haru in her possession.
An asset approaching peak A-rank whom Winterer had been using very conveniently until now.
It was only natural to expect another assault, if only to reclaim a subordinate.
Things had felt a little ominous lately. Was this the reason?
The chairwoman bit down hard on her lip.
'I'd strengthened security and kept at least two A-rank awakeners on permanent standby... but was even that not enough?'
Her Sixth Sense and the experience she had accumulated over decades were sounding the alarm.
The next attack would not be as easy as the one she'd faced before.
No matter how much she strengthened security, even as the fourth-ranked S-rank and representative of Korea’s awakeners,
she couldn't guarantee their safety this time.
She needed still greater preparations.
One worry led to another.
'I needed an S-rank. But how?'
She was an awakener who'd risen to fourth among the S-ranks through her ability to identify villains.
Besides, time had long since stolen the strength of her prime.
Despite her reputation, she couldn't guarantee victory if she was forced into a one-on-one fight with the Grade 1 villain Winterer.
Villains killed their opponents without hesitation, whereas awakeners had to prioritize taking them alive.
So she needed to bring in an S-rank from abroad.
An S-rank awakener capable of opposing Winterer.
Without outsiders finding out. In secret.
But how?
An S-rank awakener was a powerhouse equivalent to a nation's power.
They were effectively each country’s nuclear weapons. Would any foreign nation really dispatch one?
Would they even be willing to help Korea in the first place?
The frustration she hadn't been able to show in front of Yujin leaked out as a sigh.
"Haa...."
"Granny. Why are you sighing?"
"Hm? Haru?"
Seo Haru approached and sat beside her, incongruously dressed in adorable animal pajamas.
The pitiful child she had decided to take in and raise.
A smile spread across her lips unbidden.
"You little rascal. Don't call me Granny."
"Daddy said a granny should be called Granny."
"......That bastard, really. Haa."
Being called Granny did bother her a little, but anyway.
Her hand came to rest atop Haru's head.
She did so affectionately, as if Haru were truly her granddaughter.
"...How was Yujin—your dad?"
"The best. I like Daddy so much. He cuts my pork cutlet for me, and he gives me piggyback rides. He said he'll take me to the amusement park on the weekend too. I'm too excited to sleep."
Seo Haru didn't avoid the hand either.
No, she even nuzzled against it, asking to be petted more.
She welcomed that warmth, so different from anything she'd experienced before.
"I see. What a relief."
'I had to protect them—the future of these children, and Korea.'
The sight of Haru chattering happily awakened the chairwoman’s maternal instincts.
Right. Wasn't I this country's only S-rank awakener?
She had a duty—a mission to take responsibility for the future of this nation.
Along with it came the resolve to protect that future no matter how difficult it became.
'Seo Yujin. If that fellow could grow a little faster, it'd lighten the burden on my heart, but....'
-Ding.
"...Hm?"
And then, a cell phone rang the very moment she thought of Seo Yujin.
It was her personal phone.
'Who was contacting me this late...?'
-Ding!
'...Twice, no less?'
Who could possibly contact the fourth-ranked S-rank privately at such a late hour?
Wondering who it could be, she checked the notification on her phone...
And immediately, her expression went blank.
"......?"
'Two S-ranks...? Seo Yujin, did you rub honey all over yourself or something?'
* * *
Meanwhile, other countries were in an uproar as well.
It was because of Yujin's entrance-exam footage, which was sweeping across the entire world.
[Korean Awakener Minor Gallery]
Title: I kinda wanna crack open the skulls of the guys yelling that the hypnosis ability is fake
(Image of a crab holding a wooden mallet)
He gets zero benefit from lying about his ability
And if it were some other ability, Stages 6 and 9 make zero sense
If you watch the full video from 1:12:57, you'll get your answer
The guys who just look at screenshots and start trolling seriously need their skulls cracked
└ Crab pic came up so I thought it was a crab joke but why is it real
└ You're the one showing you know nothing. Anyone can see that sword draw was a skill.
└└ That's actually hypnosis too lol, he cast an illusion hypnosis to show effects so it'd look insanely cool
└└ Are you being serious right now, smdh...
Naturally, Korea—indeed, all of humanity—took an interest in his ability.
A promising S-rank candidate had finally appeared, and his ability was hypnosis. What better subject could there be?
Countless people debated whether it was real and picked apart Yujin’s combat footage.
And...
That commotion reached others as well.
"Ms. Ninomiya! Excellent work on the S-rank Gate subjugation!"
"All I did was swing a sword for about three days. Has anything happened while I was gone?"
"Anything... Ah, everyone is in an uproar because a Korean freshman broke the record you set at Pentagon Academy, Ms. Ninomiya."
"Hoh? Someone other than me broke it?"
First, Japan.
Ranked first among the S-ranks: Aika Ninomiya.
"Let's see... hm? This person's swordsmanship is......?"
"Ms. Ninomiya?"
"......Book me a plane ticket to Korea. As fast as possible."
"Excuse me? Why all of a sudden... the government won't let you leave the country, you know?"
"I can go and come back without those bald bastards finding out. Hurry."
"Y-yes!?"
Yujin's former master had taken an interest.
"Heh, hypnosis, is it...."
"What will you do, Boss?"
"If it's true, I'd very much like to see it once. I happen to be free, so shall I drop by for a moment?"
The man ranked seventh among the S-ranks—the only man among them—also took an interest.
In Seo Yujin.
Yujin had captured even the attention of the S-rank heavyweights at a glance.
* * *
Meanwhile, there were two people whose heads were completely filled with thoughts of Yujin.
Two women whose minds were complicated for reasons a little different from everyone else's.
Before the regression, they had been his wives: Yoo Sia and Alice.
"Ms. Sia? Why are you calling...?"
"Investigate everything about Seo Yujin—from his family circumstances and upbringing to how he became so strong."
Sia made thorough use of her position as a Cheonhwa Clan executive.
She resolved to dig into every last detail about Yujin.
"Well, he is a talent of that caliber, so...."
"...A-and also. Maybe, his dating history? Or his favorite foods? I'd appreciate it if you could look into that sort of thing too?"
"......Excuse me?"
"I-if we're going to recruit him, we need to know that stuff!!"
There was quite a lot of personal interest mixed in, but anyway.
And so Yoo Sia began secretly gathering information about him.
'I was losing ground to that vixen and the woman spouting that ridiculous nonsense about being his daughter. I had to do at least this!'
If you swapped the gender, it would've been stalking, but she paid it no mind.
Today. The humiliation she'd suffered at the hands of Seo Haru and Alice.
She had channeled that fury into an obsession with Yujin.
Sia's eyes were already glinting dangerously.
Meanwhile,
"Haa...."
'Was it because we were comrades in Pine-Needle Snow? I kept thinking about him. I should've asked for his phone number.'
Alice, too, was busy pining in her own quarters.
The drink can he'd given her.
She tapped it lightly with her fingers—the can she'd washed clean and put on display in her room.
'Yujin, Yujin... Come to think of it, the hypnosis had been incredible. My body had moved on its own.'
What surfaced next was the sensation she'd felt when he'd placed her under hypnosis.
The man she'd met for the first time today had stolen the freedom of her body, but.
Far from being frightened, she'd actually felt so good. At ease.
She'd wanted him to do it more.
...Felt so good.
That unfamiliar sensation, whether she realized it or not, tugged the corners of her lips up into a grin.
'Maybe I should ask him to hypnotize me again? I'd get in trouble if anyone found out, so it would have to be when we were alone... Hmm. What should I ask him to make me do?'
-Tap-tap.
With a strangely pounding heart, she tapped at her phone.
She searched for an answer to what kind of hypnosis she should ask Yujin to use on her.
And then,
"Huh? Female:Mind control...? Why is it English on a Korean site?"
-Tap. Tap-tap.
".........!!!!!!!!!!?"
———She activated her Eyes.
"W, What the...?!!"
'Dirty comics!? No, wait, are these all hypnosis comics!!?'
Alice, who was so innocent that the word hypnosis only brought to mind psychotherapy or clinics.
She'd had zero interest in lewd videos or anything of the sort; she'd actually found them creepy and avoided them.
Onto that very girl, a flood of provocative content born from mankind's sexual desire came crashing down.
-Gulp.
'I-it's okay if I look just a little, r-right? I'm an adult, after all. Yeah.'
-Tap. Tap-tap.
'...P-people do this sort of thing with hypnosis?! And that too, and even that...!!!?'
In the end, Alice stayed up all night exploring her Eyes.
She breathed rapidly in excitement, her eyes wide open.
'An exchange student from England, with hypnosis... th-this is just like me...!!?'
Her sexual proclivities greeted a new horizon that day.
* * *
Lastly, Yujin, who was at the very center of all the commotion.
Yujin was simply swinging a wooden sword.
With a serious face. With an unnecessarily wholesome attitude.
'I had Unyielding, my relationships with my wives were good, and I was financially comfortable. It was the best possible start.'
-Swoosh. Swoosh.
'But it was still only Day One. I was still far too weak. This was nothing to make a fuss about.'
To the regressed Yujin, who had returned from the future, even all these achievements were merely a first step.
Because he knew the height of the mountain he still had to climb, Yujin devoted himself to training, cutting back even his sleep.
To grow stronger, faster than anyone.
Steadily.
'The academy would start tomorrow. In the game, the first-year curriculum couldn't be skipped, but...'
-Grin.
'Now that I'd made the chairwoman's acquaintance, I could probably skip the unnecessary parts. This was the Second Round, after all.'