The Fan Meeting of Terror
“Let's see... look over here, look over there.”
Browsing through Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, and the like.
Truth be told, he knew next to nothing about luxury goods.
He had no idea what he was supposed to buy.
“What should I get them? I wonder if word will spread about what a great gift I picked.”
As he flicked through the screen with his finger,
a pretty design caught his eye.
“Goyard? This one's not bad.”
He liked the pattern and the color.
The price was around 1.2 million won.
“Purchase.”
He set the delivery address to his own studio apartment. Why?
Because he wanted to hand it over in person.
After that, he browsed clothes,
but he had no idea what to pick.
His father in his younger days might have worn completely different things from what he actually liked now, which only made him more cautious.
“Fine, this is hopeless.”
Five million won in department store gift certificates.
“Checkout~”
He'd deliver these in person too.
Next, he searched for a bag for his mother.
A rough search through women's bags turned up a Celine that looked pretty good.
But the price was 2.8 million won.
Ordinarily he would have shrieked and backed away—
“Buy it now.”
Around nine million won in total had flown out the door.
Still, he didn't regret a single won of it.
“Puh-huh. They'll love it, won't they?”
After that, he picked out clothes for himself.
The weather was slowly turning cold, so he needed things to wear.
He bought a coat, knit sweaters, a scarf, trousers, and dress shoes.
All of it luxury, or near-luxury.
Another seven million won or so gone.
Checking his balance, he had about twenty million won left.
So this was what spending money was all about?
Burning sixteen million won in a single day sent a thrill shooting up his spine.
Honestly, he wanted to look after his siblings too, but naturally his parents came first. The siblings could wait. He'd take care of them slowly, one thing at a time.
“Which university did Jaehee say she was attending again?”
And with that, his phone shopping spree came to an end.
He headed home, humming a tune.
Yu Jaewoo sat cross-legged in his studio apartment, circulating his qi.
But before long, he broke off his meditation and opened his eyes.
His sharpened energy sense had caught something alien.
“Looks like a swarm of gnats has gathered around me.”
An ordinary person wouldn't have been able to tell them apart, but Yu Jaewoo was no ordinary person.
He pinpointed the distinctive aura of awakeners with perfect accuracy.
Chilmyo and his lackeys?
That couldn't be it.
At their level, no one could defy the Soul-Capturing Art.
Then who?
Yu Jaewoo focused his energy sense,
and detected one familiar presence among them.
Section Chief Jeon Sua...
“Association staff, is it.”
He opened the window of his officetel studio.
From the twelfth floor, he leapt down without a moment's hesitation.
Whoo—
He spread his qi to tread on empty air and launch himself, scanning his surroundings as he moved.
A young man in a windbreaker.
A middle-aged man in a fluorescent vest cleaning trash along the roadside.
A real estate agent showing an officetel to a young couple.
Among them, the woman was Section Chief Jeon Sua.
Of course, Jeon Sua's face and movements were nothing like before. She looked for all the world like a young wife who knew absolutely nothing—perfectly natural.
But even a flawless disguise couldn't fool Yu Jaewoo's energy sense.
Five in total, then.
“Who should it be—”
Yu Jaewoo's gaze settled on the windbreaker-wearing man loitering near the officetel. His ponytail hairstyle was memorable.
You're the one.
Shuk— fwook—
Yu Jaewoo sent out a thread of qi-wind and pressed the man's sleep acupoint (the point that, when struck with concentrated internal force, plunges one into deep slumber).
Firing qi-wind to strike an acupoint from a distance
was a miracle art used only by masters of the heavens beyond heaven.
Yu Jaewoo was simply a being who could do it.
“Ugh—”
The man collapsed mid-yelp, fast asleep, and Yu Jaewoo carried him back to his studio apartment.
Total elapsed time: 0.1 seconds.
No one on earth had registered the abduction.
“Look into my eyes, and you shall grow wise... no, wait, that's not it.”
Back in his apartment, Yu Jaewoo woke the man and wove the Soul-Capturing Art around him.
Wuwoong—
The man, roused from a half-dreaming slumber, saw Yu Jaewoo gazing down at him with violet eyes—and promptly went blank-faced.
“Name. Affiliation. Title.”
“Yu Jun. Awakener Association. Assistant Manager.”
“Answer every question I ask you truthfully.”
Assistant Manager Yu Jun nodded and answered.
“Yes. Understood.”
“What is your purpose here?”
“To protect the safety of F-Class Awakener Yu Jaewoo.”
Yu Jaewoo nodded.
Ever since he'd been trading in magic stones, he'd expected the Association to catch on to his identity and come looking eventually.
But still.
They were rather late about it. A cautious approach, I suppose.
And yet—
Why protection, and not securing him?
“Protection from whom, exactly?”
“As of now, some of the world's most renowned awakeners have arrived in Korea, led by America's top awakener, Daniel Jensen. Awakener criminal organizations have come as well.”
“And?”
“The Republic of Korea and the Korean Awakener Association have designated your safety as their highest priority and have strictly controlled any exposure of your information. However—we have now judged that approach to have reached its limit.”
Yu Jaewoo found the argument reasonable. How could he not, when he himself had crossed paths with a Twelve Earthly Branches errand runner just that very morning?
They didn't seem to know my identity either.
But if such vermin were lurking everywhere?
The limits of information control were obvious.
“Maybe. But you're telling me the Korean Awakener Association managed to deceive American intelligence agencies? Does that even make sense?”
“Team Leader Jo Sanghyuk stepped in personally. Of course, even his efforts reached their limit—which is why we are here.”
“What? Team Leader Jo Sanghyuk?”
“Yes. Our mission is to safeguard the meeting between Team Leader Jo Sanghyuk, who is on his way here now, and Awakener Yu Jaewoo.”
“Wha—?!? Team Leader Jo Sanghyuk is coming here? The hero of Korea himself?”
“That is correct.”
“Whoa.”
Now everything finally makes sense.
Yu Jaewoo looked at Assistant Manager Yu Jun again and spoke.
“From this moment on, forget everything—forget that you met me, forget that we spoke. You were walking down the street, blinked, and opened your eyes.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Gwook—
He pressed the sleep point and knocked the man out again, returned him to his original spot through the window, and released the acupoint with another thread of qi-wind.
Fuk—
“Huh!?”
Assistant Manager Yu Jun came back to his senses, bewildered. But after glancing around for only a moment, he resumed walking without a shred of suspicion.
Yu Jaewoo sat back down in his apartment and thought.
I never intended to dodge the government. If a meeting was inevitable, I figured I'd meet the head honcho himself.
But Team Leader Jo Sanghyuk, of all people.
So the reason I've been able to live quietly all this time was Jo Sanghyuk's consideration.
Yu Jaewoo respected Team Leader Jo Sanghyuk.
But respect aside,
he couldn't help agonizing over this.
Priority one: his family's safety.
Priority two: freedom.
Priority three: convenience.
He recalled Section Chief Jeon Sua's words.
Equipment, a secretary, an office, and other forms of support.
“It's a pretty tempting offer, I'll give them that.”
Especially the secretary!
With a secretary, all the tedious hassles life threw at you could be handled with ease. And Yu Jaewoo had zero desire to live his life agonizing over taxes, real estate, and legal matters one by one.
“It's about time I moved somewhere bigger, too...”
Then—
an idea flashed through his mind like lightning.
“That's it! A way to get everything without being tied down! A way to catch all three rabbits at once!”
Tok— tok— tok—
Someone knocked on Yu Jaewoo's door.
He already knew who it was, of course.
An extraordinary presence.
Without a doubt, the hero of Korea.
Leader of Team Superhuman, Jo Sanghyuk.
I'm a fan, but. Let's keep a cool head.
Someone once said—
admiration is the emotion most perfectly divorced from understanding.
Yu Jaewoo drew up the internal force he had gathered and refined.
Heavenly Demon qi seeped out, faint and vast.
And then—
he answered in a bright, cheerful voice.
“Yeees~ It's open!!”
Jo Sanghyuk knocked with a trembling heart.
Preparations to assault the 48th floor.
Keeping rival powers in check.
Protecting Awakener Yu Jaewoo.
Information control, and more.
He'd been endlessly busy, yet he didn't feel tired.
No—in truth, he was a little thrilled.
In a few short minutes, I'll be meeting the being who upended the entire world in mere days.
That fact alone set his nerves on edge.
But—
he couldn't let emotion carry the day.
I need to verify his abilities for myself. Definitively.
Then a bright voice rang out from within.
The officetel door opened, and a tall, strikingly handsome young man stepped out.
His appearance had shifted somewhat, but he was recognizable at a glance.
F-Class Awakener Yu Jaewoo.
“Who might you be?”
“...Ah.”
Yu Jaewoo offered a perfectly ordinary greeting.
But in that instant—
Jo Sanghyuk's breath caught in his throat.
Saaaaaa—
...What is this?
The South Korean top awakener's hypersensitive instincts rang the alarm of death.
An unsettling demonic qi.
It felt as though a violet dragon of annihilation had coiled itself around his entire body.
As though a giant blotting out the sky had bent down to stare at him from above.
Yu Jaewoo had become the giant, and Jo Sanghyuk the ant.
For one instant, Jo Sanghyuk nearly stumbled backward.
Cold sweat trickled down his spine,
and gooseflesh erupted across his limbs.
Th-this is impossible. An F-Class Awakener radiating an aura this chilling, this ominous?
He was a climber who had crossed the line between life and death more times than he could count—
which was exactly why death felt so vividly, terribly clear.
Gulp—
He swallowed dryly.
Jo Sanghyuk had planned to ask Yu Jaewoo a dozen things at this first meeting. Whether he truly was the legendary-class awakener, what his awakening ability was, how he'd cleared each floor.
And—
why he hadn't climbed the tower for nearly two weeks.
But now—
merely standing face-to-face with the man had turned his mind to blank white. What could be more foolish than an ant asking a giant for tower-strategy tips?
He'd be lucky not to get crushed to death!
That thought seized his brain with brutal force.
He's a hundred times more dangerous than the hundred Mega Sea Serpents I saw on the 48th floor. This man is not someone I can test.
He was terrified—and, at the same time, overjoyed.
He's no joke! He's even more ridiculous than I expected!!
Rapidly reassessing his own position, Jo Sanghyuk steadied his heart with practiced calm and introduced himself.
“It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm—”
“Team Leader Jo Sanghyuk?”
“Ah. ...Yes. That's me.”
“Whoa. First time seeing you in the flesh. But how did you...?”
Jo Sanghyuk bowed his head first and apologized.
“I'm sorry for showing up unannounced. It was an urgent matter—I looked up your address through the Association and came directly.”
Yu Jaewoo replied with an expression of mild surprise at Jo Sanghyuk's deference.
“No, no, no. It's perfectly fine. When I registered as an awakener with the Association, I even swore an oath permitting them to access my information in emergencies. More importantly, what brings you here?”
“I'll be direct. The Republic of Korea and I believe that you, Yu Jaewoo, are the one who achieved the legendary-class accomplishments.”
“You saw right through me. So that's why you came.”
“Er... pardon?”
Yu Jaewoo smiled easily and said,
“I'm the very party responsible for those legendary accomplishments. You found the right man.”
Jo Sanghyuk was floored. According to Section Chief Jeon Sua, he had flatly denied being the person behind the legendary feats.
“In that case—”
“We shouldn't do this here. Let's head to a café and talk. I'd invite you inside, but my place is a bit cramped.”
“Ah. Yes. By all means. I actually had a café nearby cleared out in advance.”
“The future of Korea, everyone! You really are quick about everything!”
“Ah, haha. Yes.”
Bewildered though he was, Jo Sanghyuk set off alongside Yu Jaewoo.
Yu Jaewoo watched the back of the man walking ahead of him and thought.
The reason my family and I have all stayed safe until now—that must be Team Leader Jo's doing too. If that's the case, there's no reason not to cooperate.
Of course—
that didn't mean he intended to be led around by the nose.
Two years since I met my Master.
And what he'd learned in that time
was not merely martial arts.
What his Master, the Heavenly Demon, had taught him was
how to reign above the heavens themselves.
And now—I've got you, hook, line, and sinker.