Chapter 66 – Earning Your Keep (Part Seven)

“Is there any way you can get them out?”

A member of the backup team asked cautiously.

All of Team A was completely buried down below.

It was impossible to know if they were even alive, but on a global scale, they weren’t assets that could be easily given up on.

“Sigh… Like I said, I can’t do anything until I get their exact coordinates.”

The man, kneeling on one knee with a hand on the ground, answered with a deep sigh, clearly frustrated by the situation.

He was Cheon Seong-jae, an Awakened from Aegis’s Team C, and he possessed a spatial displacement ability.

It was an incredibly useful power that allowed him to swap a space at precise coordinates or within his line of sight with another designated location, but it came with numerous restrictions.

Most abilities that manipulated time or space were heavily restricted to prevent versatile applications.

“Dammit…”

He had been on a small-scale dispatch to North America but was sent here as support to prepare for a situation just like this.

However, for him to use his ability, the team on the other side had to be alive even after the collapse.

“Wait! We’ve got coordinates from an emergency signal!”

The staff member shouted urgently, handing him the coordinates from the signal.

Cheon Seong-jae hurriedly prepared his ability.

He closed his eyes, focused his mind as much as possible, and gathered power in the arm he had planted on the ground.

His already tricky ability became even harder to use than usual due to the severe ability interference underground.

Of course, even so, Cheon Seong-jae was an Awakened from Aegis. He quickly adapted to the interference, recalculated, and manipulated his power.

*Shwook!*

The members of Team A appeared in the air just above, along with a pile of dirt, and came tumbling down.

The interference around the site was so intense that he had displaced the space a little farther out, so there was no one else nearby.

“Cough, cough!”

“We… we’re alive.”

Having escaped the dark, collapsing underground, their faces lit up at the sight of the bright sunlight shining down from the sky.

“Huh? Wait, the summons…”

The only ones brought out by the spatial displacement were the four team members and the mouse that had been sharing its senses while perched on Il-hyeon’s shoulder.

The other summons had, without him realizing, completely ignored Cheon Seong-jae’s ability.

Just as Il-hyeon was feeling quite bewildered, Kang Hyeon-seo thankfully appeared, tearing through space and bringing the other summons with her.

“Here we go!”

The summons nestled in her arms leaped to the ground one by one.

Only then did Il-hyeon let out a sigh of relief.

But he had too many questions to just sit down and rest.

“What on earth happened?”

Il-hyeon looked at Hyeon-seo.

When she first appeared and he faced her, she felt like an ordinary person with no abilities, but now he could feel a considerable amount of energy from within her body.

On top of that, she had been in Korea and had suddenly appeared here.

“You looked like you were in danger, so I rushed over in the middle of my meal.”

“I mean, how did you get here…? Did you get a teleportation ability or something?”

“Hmm, it’s similar, but a little different.”

She could only travel through space to appear at Il-hyeon’s side.

She said she couldn’t move to any other location.

After briefly hearing about her other abilities, Il-hyeon fell deep in thought.

‘Could she have been influenced by that monster, the one that had the core?’

The various abilities Hyeon-seo had used.

When Il-hyeon was in danger, she had leaped through space to appear and deployed a force field to block the collapsing rubble.

They were very similar to the abilities used by the Nightmare, the Chaser variant, at the last site.

Furthermore, seeing that the wounds of the thought-forms she attacked weren’t regenerating, it completely overlapped with the abilities of the one that had injured Il-hyeon.

“That outfit…”

Il-hyeon’s gaze fell on the Defensive Coat Hyeon-seo was wearing.

Not only was she wearing a Defensive Coat, but she was also carrying two Ether Swords, with daggers tucked into the back of her belt.

Il-hyeon had certainly never given her any equipment, and since she wasn’t part of Aegis, she couldn’t have been issued any, so he wondered where she got it all.

“Oh, I bought them.”

Hyeon-seo glanced down at the coat she was wearing and said with an awkward smile.

Il-hyeon turned on his phone and checked his messages, only to find a payment statement for a massive sum.

“I told you to buy some clothes, but I never imagined you’d buy *those* clothes.”

Il-hyeon let out a dry laugh.

He had plenty of spare coats and swords issued for his own use. What a waste.

Of course, it wasn’t a huge blow to his finances, but for Il-hyeon, who had spent more time as an office worker than as an Awakened, seeing all those zeros still made him flinch.

“I’m sorry. I did it without telling you.”

Hyeon-seo said, her spirits slightly dampened as she watched his reaction.

“No, you did well.”

Besides, compared to the price of their lives, it was an incredible bargain.

“Thanks for saving me.”

Il-hyeon reached out and ruffled Hyeon-seo’s hair.

Maybe it was because she was born from his ability, but rather than feeling any ulterior motives toward her, he just found her endearing, like a grown child.

Not that it was a fitting thought for someone his age.

At that, a bright smile spread across the face of the inwardly anxious Hyeon-seo.

“Don’t mention it.”

***

“Ugh, what was I doing… So stupid.”

Having come to her senses after breathing the fresh air, Lee Soo-yeon’s cheeks flushed slightly with embarrassment.

The team leader, who was supposed to be leading the team, being carried on a team member’s back—it was an unsightly scene.

Lee Soo-yeon slapped her cheeks with both hands and glanced to the side.

Compared to her, Ghost was still dazed and out of it.

“You all made it out without any injuries. That’s a relief.”

Cheon Seong-jae approached with a few staff members.

“Thanks. You saved our lives.”

Lee Soo-yeon walked up to Cheon Seong-jae, who had gotten them out, and greeted him warmly.

The accompanying staff quickly checked the team members’ physical conditions and equipment, while Cheon Seong-jae exchanged brief greetings with the others.

He paid particular attention to Il-hyeon, more so than Seok Pil-joon and Ghost, whom he already knew.

“I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Rumors about him had been circulating for a while.

The monster rookie who killed an A-rank variant monster during the major incident on Christmas and single-handedly wrapped up the situation.

There was even talk that he should already be considered on par with a team leader.

Of course, that was just talk from people who didn’t know about Il-hyeon’s ability or the situation inside, unaware that he had consumed a core.

“Hey, it’s been a while! It’s so hard to see your face!”

Ghost suddenly grabbed him in a hug and leaned against him limply.

Cheon Seong-jae’s expression immediately soured, and he looked at the other team members.

“What’s with him now? He was always weird, but he seems even stranger.”

“It’s because of the hallucinations. It was a pretty strong mental attack, so we had a tough time.”

“Ah.”

Nodding as if he understood the situation, he struggled to pry Ghost off him.

Then he noticed an unfamiliar face behind Il-hyeon.

It was a woman clad in Awakened gear, but she wasn’t from Aegis. Still, seeing how naturally she blended in, she didn’t seem like a trespasser either.

“Who is that? I don’t think I’ve seen her before.”

“Our savior? Or maybe a new team member.”

When asked about Hyeon-seo, Lee Soo-yeon gave a vague answer and pulled Cheon Seong-jae aside.

It was unfortunate for him, but it was better for Il-hyeon’s ability to remain as unknown as possible.

Especially this ridiculous ability to summon a person.

The two of them moved away and sat on a half-broken chair.

“I’m going to have a smoke.”

“Go ahead. How’s Team Leader Han?”

“He’s in a really dark mood. So much so that I’m worried he’ll make himself sick.”

“Hmm…”

Given his career, Team Leader Han Sang-jin of Team C should have been more than used to losing colleagues by now.

But it wasn’t as if she hadn’t expected him to be particularly grief-stricken.

After all, Lee Tae-hee, whom he had doted on as if raising his own child, had unexpectedly lost her life.

“And you? Are you okay?”

Lee Soo-yeon asked, and Cheon Seong-jae just gave a silent, bitter smile.

“This isn’t my first day as an Awakened, you know.”

She had been a reliable team member and a junior he was personally fond of.

It sucked, but he had no intention of walking around looking downcast and sad.

Gates would continue to appear the very next day.

If they fell into despair every time they lost a team member, the atmosphere would be like a funeral home all year round.

As members of the world’s top Awakened corporation, responsible for countless lives, they always had to be professional.

That was the weight of this position, which came with something other than money and fame.

A brief silence fell before Lee Soo-yeon spoke.

“How is that business coming along?”

“That business?”

Cheon Seong-jae paused slightly and asked back.

“Seeing as the Awakened dispatched overseas are still there, it means the North American side has some breathing room… But the fact that you were sent alone suggests there was something specific they needed your ability for, right?”

“You’re sharp. They told me it was top secret…”

“If it’s about that, I already know.”

“Well, I guess… it would be stranger to hide it from you, Team Leader Lee.”

Cheon Seong-jae threw his cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it under his foot.

“We should have the results soon. It’s ridiculous to think this will just be swept under the rug.”

***

Once the situation was somewhat under control and Ghost had regained his senses, they quickly boarded the transport plane.

Although things had quieted down for now, there was still a risk of further collapses large enough to sink the entire area, so most of the staff had also evacuated the site.

Cheon Seong-jae headed back to the dispatch area Team C was covering, while Team A returned to Korea.

A Gate that needed to be dealt with had appeared relatively close to them, but they had already handled a major incident, and with Hyeon-seo’s appearance, they had things to confirm. So, they left it to another team and headed for headquarters.

Not long after arriving, they had to turn in their gear and wash up first, as they were covered in the fragments and blood of giant spiders and reeked of a foul stench.

Afterward, Il-hyeon and Hyeon-seo both underwent a detailed Awakened examination.

While the two of them were being tested with various high-tech devices, the other team members were taking a short break, waiting for the results outside.

“Creating a person from a core…”

Lee Soo-yeon muttered in disbelief.

She hadn’t shown it in front of Hyeon-seo, but during the trip back, she had chatted with her about various things, and Hyeon-seo seemed no different from a normal person.

It was impossible to think of her as a summon created by someone’s ability.

The shock was like indirectly experiencing a singularity, like the emergence of an AI that surpassed human intelligence.

“She was born from a monster core, but she won’t suddenly attack people or anything, right?”

“There’s no way for us to know right now. But I don’t think it’ll be that extreme.”

Lee Soo-yeon replied to Ghost’s comment.

When you thought about it, Il-hyeon’s permanent summons had also become that way after eating monster cores.

No, in fact, Il-hyeon himself had grown stronger by absorbing countless cores.

Seeing as neither had shown any major issues so far, it was an excessive worry.

“From what I saw earlier, her skills are incredible.”

“Looks like you remember clinging to me and flailing around.”

Seok Pil-joon opened the door and came in holding three cups of coffee, handing one to each of them.

“Thanks.”

“Thanks… No, of course I remember! Seriously, when mental-type monsters show up, there’s no way to train up your ability resistance. It’s hopeless.”

Ghost grumbled, recalling the time he was dazed from the hallucinations.

To avoid being affected by mental attacks, one needed high ability resistance, but there was no way to train and increase it after birth.

It was an enviable trait that could only be raised along with one’s overall level or be innate like a talent.

Lee Soo-yeon took a sip of her warm coffee and said.

“Her abilities were amazing, too. She had three of them. That’s not easy, you know.”

People born with three abilities were incredibly rare, even among all the Awakened in the world.

Although Il-hyeon had three abilities, he too was one of those with an incredibly low probability.

Ghost, carefully mulling over the scene where Hyeon-seo appeared and fought, cautiously opened his mouth.

“Could it be… that her results will come out higher than his?”

“Nah, no way.”