Big Fan
The supreme elixir of the Divine Cult, renowned as its greatest treasure.
And astonishingly, it was a pill the Heavenly Demon himself had created.
Having possessed overwhelming talent in every discipline, the Heavenly Demon had also achieved mastery of the art of alchemy. He succeeded in fusing the qi of Heaven, Earth, and Demon into a single entity, forging the Divine Pill.
"Do you remember the Eight Trigrams?"
"Yes, Master. Geon is yang qi, gon is yin qi, and from those two pillars arise jin, son, gam, ri, gan, and tae. The Eight Trigrams are the art of wielding all these mysteries in concert."
The Heavenly Demon nodded in approval.
"In its true form, the Heavenly Demon Divine Pill is made by placing azure lapis essence and spirit herbs into the Eight Trigrams Alchemy Furnace and refining them with Heavenly Demon qi. The ingredients are so precious, and the process so intricate and profound, that no one but I has ever succeeded. But this lump of resin here is a divine substance—one that allows the Pill to be created without any of that process."
Even as he spoke, a trace of weariness clung to the Heavenly Demon. It was only natural. No elixir of such caliber could be conjured without a price.
"Master... are you all right?"
"I am fine. My presence is anchored firmly here in the World of Dream Souls. You have nothing to worry about."
Yu Jaewoo dropped to his knees and bowed deeply.
"Thank you... truly. Thank you, Master."
The Heavenly Demon waved his hand dismissively, as if gratitude were unnecessary.
"There is no loss for a martial artist to learn alchemy. So from this moment, I shall teach it to you."
"Excuse me? Now?"
"Yes, now. You may have need of it someday, so learn it well. Besides, the alchemy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Pill will also aid you in reaching the great completion of the Demon-Defying Heavenly Demon Art."
"...Master. Are you a tree that gives without end?"
"Enough of your nonsense. Take the Divine Pill first. I will guide your qi circulation as you absorb it and teach you as we go."
Yu Jaewoo was about to bow once more when—
Thwack!
The Heavenly Demon's hand knocked him back to his senses.
"Do you intend to make me watch you bow twice?"
"F-forgive me!"
Seoul Awakener Association Headquarters. Strategic Operations Room.
Three people popped out of thin air, and the room filled with the sound of spluttering.
"Bwahah!"
"Kgh—kgh!"
The climbers of Team Superhuman, back from the 48th floor, spat water from their mouths.
"Team Leader, are you all right?"
A-class awakener Kim Yunju asked, and Cho Sanghyuk raised a hand to signal that he was fine.
"Sejung, what's your read?"
A-class awakener Yoo Se-jung answered as she caught her breath.
"The 48th floor is another open ocean, just like the 46th and 47th. It's so vast that hunting with poison or similar methods seems completely out of the question."
"Right. That figures."
The 46th floor had housed one hundred Giant Megalodons, each stretching nearly fifty meters in body length. The 47th floor, a million one-meter Blue Piranhas. All floors of staggering difficulty.
And now the 48th floor was an ocean as well.
This is the worst.
No matter how well a human swam, they could never outpace a fish—and underwater monsters, naturally, were faster still.
"The 48th floor holds one hundred Mega Sea Serpents. They're faster and tougher than the Giant Megalodons, and their defining trait is the blue beams they fire from their mouths."
"What equipment should we request?"
"We already have gear suited to underwater movement, and suits that block scent and heat detection are ready as well. What we need is armor that can defend against the beams."
Cho Sanghyuk nodded.
"Good. Compile the data and send it to headquarters, and put in a requisition for attribute-specific torpedoes."
"Yes, sir. Understood."
"Oh, and—good work today, everyone."
"Great work to you too, Team Leader!"
Kim Yunju and Yoo Se-jung snapped off salutes, and Cho Sanghyuk returned them with a smile.
Once Cho Sanghyuk left the strategy room, Kim Yunju turned to Yoo Se-jung.
"Doesn't the Team Leader seem like a different person lately? He smiles so often now. His whole complexion somehow looks brighter."
"It's because of that newbie, obviously."
"Now that you mention it, he's always reading the awakener forums."
"He only searches for posts about the legendary newbie, though."
"He's a total fanboy now."
"Aigoo. Our Team Leader, fangirling over a newbie at his age."
Cho Sanghyuk's change hadn't gone unnoticed by those two alone. Everyone on Team Superhuman and every staff member of the Association could feel it: that Team Leader Cho Sanghyuk had fallen head over heels for the news of the legendary newbie.
The top floor of the Grand Emperor Hotel in Seoul.
Cho Sanghyuk was waiting alongside the South Korean Minister of National Defense for someone, international translation earpieces fitted in both men's ears.
Cho Sanghyuk was said to wield more real authority than the President of South Korea itself—yet even he had no choice but to wait for this man.
The top climber of the United States.
The world's foremost awakener.
The self-proclaimed, universally acknowledged Rank 1 of the entire world.
Daniel Jensen.
And with him—
Leni, the United States Secretary of Defense.
The appointment was for 8:20 in the evening. The current time: 8:32. Twelve minutes past the promised hour.
At last, the stars of the meeting made their entrance.
"Oh-ho~ Mr. Cho! I do hope I haven't kept someone as precious as you waiting!"
"Apologies for keeping you waiting so long, heroes of Korea."
Daniel and Leni entered with apologies for their tardiness, but Cho Sanghyuk and Defense Minister Ryu Hyeongjun remained utterly expressionless.
And with good reason. Daniel Jensen ran ten to fifteen minutes late in every single appointment he made with any nation, without exception. It was less a matter of a packed schedule than a calculated performance—a display of political dominance.
"Not at all. We only just arrived and sat down ourselves."
"Oh-ho? So Korea, too, arrived later than the appointed hour. That rather hurts my feelings, you know?"
"We arrived precisely on time. Saying we 'just arrived' is mere courtesy. Coming from the party who was late, that accusation is rather bewildering."
"Whoa, whoa—it was a joke, a joke! Don't take it so seriously, Mr. Cho. Quite the serious man, aren't you?"
Cho Sanghyuk and Daniel traded smiles, but the demonic energy faintly radiating from the two of them alone was enough to press the air of the room down into a suffocating weight.
"Setting that aside—may I ask the reason for your sudden visit to Korea?"
"Goodness, it really is all work with you Koreans, isn't it! Straight to business!"
"Korea has a great deal to investigate now that the 48th floor has opened."
"I was hoping to trade a few pleasantries first, but I suppose a hot temper travels everywhere. You're doing well, Mr. Cho?"
"Of course, Daniel."
At Cho Sanghyuk's unyielding attitude, Daniel let out a small chuckle and glanced at Leni, who cut to the heart of the matter.
"You wish it, so I'll be direct. We want to investigate the 48th floor of the Korean Tower. We request that you grant temporary national affiliation to Daniel Jensen here and to the awakeners of the American tower-climbing team, Team Heroes."
This time, Minister Ryu Hyeongjun answered.
"Certainly. Tower climbing is a matter on which the whole world must combine its strength—there is no reason to refuse a request from the United States, our ally. Provided, of course, that it is the America who would come to Korea's aid should we ever find ourselves in dire straits."
"If Korea cooperates fully, then following the conquest of the American Tower, we will provide support for the Korean Tower on the best possible terms. Ah—and of course, appropriate compensation will also be paid for the investigation of the 48th floor."
"I'd like to settle what exactly 'the best possible terms' and 'appropriate compensation' mean first, if that's acceptable."
"Naturally. The Minister and I can discuss that separately."
"Very good."
The two ministers turned their gaze upon their respective nations' top climbers, and Daniel and Cho Sanghyuk nodded to one another.
Once the ministers moved to another room, Daniel asked Cho Sanghyuk:
"You still haven't found that legendary newbie, have you?"
"...I'm not sure why that feels like the actual reason you're here."
"Haha! Don't be so touchy. It isn't just me—the whole world has its eye on that newbie. Surely I'm allowed to ask this much?"
"......."
In truth, the world's foremost nations and awakeners were all watching Korea closely. Awakener teams from neighboring countries had already made contact, announcing their intention to come.
"China's Team Ascension and Japan's Guido, to say nothing of the Russians, the Italians, and the Germans—they've all said they're coming, haven't they?"
"They have."
"Come on! Let's be honest with each other for once! Do you really think those people have no interest in a legendary-class awakener? Who is he? Or—is it that even you don't know who he is, Mr. Cho?"
"......."
Cho Sanghyuk didn't answer right away, and Daniel read him instantly.
"Bingo! Just as I thought, Mr. Cho!"
Sighing at Daniel's reaction, Cho Sanghyuk answered.
"That's correct. I don't yet know who he is either."
"If Mr. Cho doesn't know, then neither does South Korea."
"......."
"You are an honest man. But don't assume the others will be the same."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm enough of a gentleman to stop at this much, but what about the tougher guys out there? The villains, especially—I mean the likes of China's Twelve Earthly Branches, or Japan's Orochi."
The villains Daniel spoke of were awakeners who, despite their power, fought neither for their nations nor for humanity—men who trafficked in every manner of vicious crime.
Trash the world needed swept clean, plain and simple.
Cho Sanghyuk knew it too.
He knew they were moving in the shadows, stealthily.
Korea was not without its own.
Not large enough to be called true powers, but the Axe Gang and the Cleaver Gang were the most notorious examples.
"I will bear it in mind."
Just then—
Jiiiing—
A call came through on Cho Sanghyuk's phone.
A call like this, at a time like this.
"Excuse me for a moment."
Cho Sanghyuk excused himself from Daniel, stepped outside, and vented his demonic energy to seal off all sound before answering.
"What is it?"
—Team Leader. We found him.
"...What?"
Cho Sanghyuk's voice trembled as he asked.
"On what basis?"
—He's been selling large quantities of lowest-grade and low-grade mana stones at one-day intervals. The volume matches floors 1 through 10 exactly. And today he purchased ten million won worth of random box fusion agents. We can't say for certain, but it looks like he's chosen to combine all the random boxes he acquired on floors 6 through 10 into one. Analysis of Seoul and Incheon city CCTV footage caught him moving from Seoul to Incheon in a single instant. That is absolutely not F-class speed. I'm confident, sir.
"The probability?"
—Ninety-nine percent.
Hoo—
Cho Sanghyuk's heart pounded like a war drum.
But Daniel Jensen was sitting right beside him.
He desperately forced his mind to calm.
"Remember this. We must not approach him carelessly—but we absolutely cannot allow him to fall into another faction's hands, either."
—We've already scrubbed every piece of information connected to him, and I'll station several people from your personal line around his residence.
"Good work. Comb through the covert assets we've quietly catalogued from other countries and start clearing out some positions. Time to show them the dignity of the Cheater class, wouldn't you say?"
—I'll gather them all, from those attached to government agencies to those who aren't.
"Good. Move now."
Click—
Cho Sanghyuk hung up and steadied himself. Then he returned to where Daniel sat waiting.
"An urgent call, I take it?"
"The 48th floor did just open, after all."
"......."
At that moment, golden light poured from Daniel's eyes.
Blazing Golden Eye Lv.5
Kiiiiing—
Cho Sanghyuk answered it in kind, activating his own skill.
Veil of Deception Lv.21
Saaaa—
A gray veil of mist swept the golden radiance away.
"Ha!"
Daniel let out a sigh of genuine disappointment.
"Mr. Cho, your abilities are excellent, but you're a terrible liar."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"I mean no offense. As a fan of the legendary newbie, I simply want to see him, just once."
"And I want to see him so badly it's killing me—as his biggest fan."
"...Okay, okay. I suppose I have no choice."
Daniel stroked his chin once with his hand.
"I say it every time we meet, but America's doors are always open. Talent like yours is welcome any time."
"I'm honored, but I'll have to decline."
"Hahaha. Well, minds can change. Open mind, okay? In any case, it was a pleasure to meet you today. I'll be staying in Korea for a while, so let's see each other often."
Daniel rose with a laugh, and Cho Sanghyuk stood to see him off.
"I hope you enjoy your travels in Korea."