Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Defying the Guardians
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"I know that even Guardians are allowed to enter portals in emergencies."
In response to Yang Su-hyeok's words, Kim Yu-min frowned this time.
"Yes. In emergencies, that's correct."
"Isn't this an emergency right now?"
"I don't think it's serious enough to risk an Awakener's life."
A question suddenly popped into Yang Su-hyeok's mind.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said. Just because a few ordinary people got caught up doesn't mean we Awakeners need to risk our lives in a potentially dangerous situation. Aren't we the chosen ones? If we get unlucky and die, that's just their fate."
It was narcissism transcended into an elitist superiority complex.
The moment he heard it, Yang Su-hyeok's head spun.
Flames seemed to spark in his eyes.
"No, are you seriously saying that crap right now?"
"Crap?"
Anger seemed to rise in Kim Yu-min's eyes as well.
"Isn't that obvious? We're Awakeners. It's unreasonable to treat us the same as the dime-a-dozen ordinary folks. If you're stepping up out of some flimsy sense of justice, that's pretty laughable. Not knowing how precious your own life is..."
Bang-!
The air exploded with a boom as Yang Su-hyeok's fist struck empty space.
His eyes were bloodshot red as he unleashed the pinnacle technique of One Thought Pierces Rock and Iron Palm Strike.
Only then did Kim Yu-min notice the silver bracelet clamped around Yang Su-hyeok's left arm.
'Rank 6 or higher.'
Kim Yu-min swallowed hard, his eyes wavering.
"It's not about some sense of justice. If you have power but cower like a scared turtle hiding in its shell, then why bother wearing the Awakener badge?"
"What? Turtle?"
A surge of fury welled up in Kim Yu-min's chest as well.
A Rank 6 Awakener.
Of course, it was intimidating.
He wasn't even confident he could win in a real fight.
But he was affiliated with the Association.
That meant he had backing.
Moreover, an Awakener attacking another Awakener was a crime.
So he could vent his anger with righteous indignation.
"Fuck, higher rank makes you cocky, huh? Who the hell do you think you are?"
"You're just a yapping turtle pup."
Yang Su-hyeok flashed a cold smile and tried to walk past Kim Yu-min.
"Have some shame. That's not why the nation shells out massive salaries to you guys."
As Yang Su-hyeok moved to pass him, Kim Yu-min, his face twisted in rage, dashed forward and spread his arms wide to block the way.
"Entering a portal alone is illegal, you know that?"
Even amid the harsh shout, Yang Su-hyeok's expression didn't change as he walked right through him.
Astonishingly, he passed straight through Kim Yu-min's front like a ghost phasing through a wall.
"Crazy, what kind of ability is that?"
Kim Yu-min cursed and whipped around to yell at Yang Su-hyeok's back.
"Stop! If you don't stop right now, I'll report you to the Association!"
Yang Su-hyeok didn't respond.
But his decision was already made.
Activity restrictions? Fine, he'd take them.
Yang Su-hyeok's eyes were already glazed with fury.
He wasn't some righteous great hero overflowing with justice, but he wasn't scum who would stand by and watch innocent weaklings die when he had the power to help.
In front of the portal emitting a faint green glow.
"You'll regret it! You'll definitely regret it!"
At Kim Yu-min's desperate shout, Yang Su-hyeok paused for a moment and glanced back.
'Come to think of it, I've been pretty tame since coming to Earth.'
Back on the Huan Continent, Yang Su-hyeok's temper wasn't exactly mild.
Especially toward those who thought they were special just because they were strong.
He despised those who were weak against the strong and strong against the weak the most.
Kim Yu-min's attitude fit that perfectly.
He was just puffing out his chest because he had something to rely on.
It was obvious he'd act completely the opposite if he became the weak one.
"Use that energy yelling your head off to call your mommy on your phone instead."
Yang Su-hyeok raised his thumb and pinky to his ear like a phone and shouted loudly.
"Mommy, there are monsters in my dream, I'm so scared! Wah, wah!"
"Fucking retard."
Yang Su-hyeok vanished into the portal.
Kim Yu-min, his face stunned, flushed red and exploded in even greater rage.
"You damn bastard! Just go get yourself eaten by monsters inside!"
Astonishingly, one of the Association staff who had been hesitating until then—a burly man—scratched the back of his head and started walking forward.
"Han Tae-min, don't tell me..."
Kim Yu-min called out to the man, Han Tae-min, in a shocked voice.
He hadn't expected his peer, another Rank 3 Guardian, to step up here.
Han Tae-min didn't even look back at him.
"You'll die if you go in! You'll fucking die, you idiot!"
Kim Yu-min spat curses like venom.
Toward him, Han Tae-min smirked and replied.
"What can you do? It's been ages since I suckled at my mom's breast. I can't just stand here like a retard getting treated like that."
Soon, Han Tae-min disappeared into the portal as well.
Then, surprisingly, two Rank 2 Awakeners who had been silently gauging the situation leaped in after him.
Their expressions were complicated.
But none turned back.
"You crazy fuckers! Think you're all hot shit, huh? Fucking assholes."
Bang-!
In his rage, Kim Yu-min's kick shattered the innocent asphalt.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Suddenly, the world around him flipped upside down.
From standing in the middle of a road with cars spewing exhaust at a bus stop, he was unceremoniously dropped into the heart of a tropical rainforest teeming with trees so tall they blocked out the sky.
Park Tae-jun, 47 years old and a section chief at a typical mid-sized company in Seoul, couldn't comprehend the situation at first. Whether unfortunate or fortunate, it took him just one minute to accept it.
"Kyaaak-!"
A woman's scream echoed from not far away.
"Gasp."
As Park Tae-jun collapsed in shock and unwittingly swallowed air.
"Save me, please... Aak-!"
The scream turned to a shout, then back to a scream, piercing Park Tae-jun's ears.
And silence fell over the forest.
He didn't need to look to know what outcome had come.
"F-Fuck. Did I just get sucked into a portal?"
A curse he hadn't uttered in over 15 years—since his daughter was born—slipped out involuntarily.
"What... what should I do?"
He couldn't think straight.
The government manual said that if this happened to ordinary people, stay calm, survey the terrain, hide quietly in a safe spot, and an Awakener rescue team would come soon.
Just a manual, nothing more.
A suddenly changed environment, a world possibly teeming with life-threatening monsters.
Stay calm here?
And even find a hiding spot.
It was no different from telling them to fend for themselves in a place too terrifying to even take a single step.
"Ha... haha..."
A hollow laugh escaped him.
'Mi-yeon-ah...'
The face that immediately surfaced in his mind was that of his one and only daughter.
Park Tae-jun stared at the round plastic tube clutched in his arms even as he sat slumped.
It was a large idol poster tube he'd embarrassingly bought at a cosmetics store—totally not his scene—just to bond a bit with his daughter, who had just entered middle school and puberty. He'd gotten it after a tough hunt in Sinchon, planning to surprise her on a casual walk, but now he couldn't deliver it.
'H-How much life insurance do I have again?'
His wife's face came to mind a bit late.
He'd snapped at her for nagging and nitpicking every day when he came home, but she silently held the family together. Without her, hand in hand through tough times plotting ways to survive, he doubted he could have endured his harsh life this far.
The tip of his nose stung, and his eyes burned.
"F-Fucking hot in here."
The tropical rainforest scenery matched its humid, sweltering heat.
Even his single T-shirt felt heavy. As an unfamiliar fishy scent brushed his nose, Park Tae-jun's face stiffened.
Swish-!
Something scraped the ground near his ear, or so it seemed.
Rustle-!
Was that bushes parting? Or an illusion?
No way.
This was inside a portal world.
Anything could happen here.
'I can't die. If I die, my family... my daughter...'
Park Tae-jun forced his numb legs to stand.
His reddened eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.
Something was approaching.
A gut feeling—instinct or paranoia—tormented him.
'Where... where do I go?'
His thoughts raced, but in this forest packed with towering trees, no hiding spot was in sight.
'Up a tree?'
He glanced up at the sky-obscuring giants and swallowed hard. He'd been pretty good at climbing trees as a kid, but he'd never scaled anything this tall without footholds.
As he agonized, the fishy stench grew thicker at his nose.
Slither-!
Something crawled up from under his feet.
The moment he looked down in shock.
Whoosh! A thick black vine wrapped around his ankle, yanking Park Tae-jun high into the air.
"Aaack-!"
Below his screaming eyes, a grotesque flower whipped its long black vine like a lash.
Purple petals, but where the stamen should be, sharp teeth like a carnivore's filled the center. Red blood seemed to drip from beneath the violet leaves.
This monster was the apex predator of the tropical rainforest.
Park Tae-jun knew it the instant he saw the petal monster, nearly bursting into tears.
But he didn't cry.
Instead, he desperately struggled to pry off the black vine around his ankle.
"I... I can't die."
Still clutching the plastic tube with the idol poster for his daughter, Park Tae-jun twisted his body like he was chanting a spell.
Hanging upside down, blood rushed to his head, but such pain was nothing.
He thrashed, kicking at the vine.
Yet the petal monster seemed unaffected.
If anything, it leisurely, very slowly reeled him in, as if enjoying his futile struggles.
"Please... I have to survive."
Time drove him to despair.
The approaching stench—beast musk, rotten decay—all heralded his death.
It was coincidence—and a miracle—that Park Tae-jun spotted someone charging toward him.
Movement too fast for a mere human: an Awakener.
"S-Save me! Please save me!"
Park Tae-jun shouted.
The petal monster noticed too, viciously shooting out one of its remaining two vines.
Park Tae-jun couldn't even track its eerie speed.
But the approaching man dodged it effortlessly.
The petal monster, enraged, retracted the extended vine and bellowed with its mouth agape.
Grrrraaah-!
Chills erupted over Park Tae-jun's body at the horrific roar.
At the same time, his body soared high again.
The petal monster, deeming one arm insufficient, had flung him aside.
"S-Save me!"
Under the dense canopy, from a height sure to shatter bones on impact, Park Tae-jun wept and cried out.
Just then, the man leaped into the air.
The problem was the two pursuing vines from the petal monster.
Fast.
Faster than the airborne man.
The vine tips reached the man's heels in an instant.
It bent slightly, as if to coil around him like it had Park Tae-jun.
Then, an astonishing sight unfolded.
The man lightly stepped on the coiling vine as if kicking off the ground.
And leaped again.
He caught the falling Park Tae-jun in his arms and landed on the ground.
"Rank 6 Hunter Yang Su-hyeok. You're safe now."
"Ahh!"
At that reassuring voice, an exclamation escaped Park Tae-jun's lips.