Chapter 70 – New Team Member (Part Four)

“Hello.”

“Good morning!”

Some time had passed since Hyeon-seo joined the team, and as usual, the members gathered in the morning.

“How’s your injury from yesterday?”

“Ah, it’s fine.”

In response to Seok Pil-joon’s question, Il-hyeon tapped his lower left chest.

Of all things, they’d encountered a tricky monster with no available data at their last site yesterday. An attack with an unexpected pattern had broken two of his ribs.

Fortunately, though the bones were fractured, it wasn’t excruciatingly painful or debilitating, so he finished off the monster on the spot without any issues.

Il-hyeon’s body, which was becoming more monstrous by the day, was different from an ordinary person’s. Despite an injury that would have left a normal person bedridden for at least a month or two, Il-hyeon only felt a slight throb under his chest. After going home and lying down for about thirty minutes, the bones mended themselves.

“Gah! What are you doing?”

“You should quit smoking.”

Hyeon-seo pinched the cigarette in Ghost’s mouth between two fingers and crushed it, extinguishing it.

“Hey, that was my last one… There’s no real reason for me to quit, so why do you keep doing this?”

“They say it’s bad for your mental health, even for the Awakened whose bodies aren’t really affected.”

“Who says?”

“The researchers from the article.”

“Those are the kind of people who’d say your lifespan will be cut in half just for using bad words.”

Grumbling, Ghost swallowed his disappointment and tossed the crumpled cigarette into the trash.

At first, he’d been thrilled that a stunning beauty had joined, but now he treated her like a new, immature younger sister.

Since they were so busy during the danger cycle, practically living together, they had grown close quickly.

Then, Lee Soo-yeon, the only one who hadn’t been present, approached with someone in tow.

She was a woman with a chic black bob and light makeup, looking as if she’d just come from a salon.

Il-hyeon was lost in thought, trying to place her familiar face.

He hadn’t met every Awakened from Aegis, but he had previously looked them up online and memorized their faces, names, and team affiliations.

But even though she was definitely not an internal Aegis team member, he was sure he had seen her face often somewhere as an Awakened.

“Everyone, say hello.”

“I’m Heo Yu-ra, and I’ll be joining the A-Team starting today. I look forward to working with you all!”

The woman, who introduced herself as Heo Yu-ra, bowed her head deeply in greeting.

Her voice was filled with determination; she was a new recruit brought in from the outside after passing Aegis’s internal tests and evaluations.

“Ah, the new recruit who was supposed to come today?”

“Heo Yu-ra… wasn’t she with Pace?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Heo Yu-ra replied to Seok Pil-joon’s question.

She was from Pace, a major Awakened corporation known for its strict discipline, and had been one of their top five poster stars.

For the past few months, her growth had been so steep that there were rumors she might join Aegis or the Response Team, and she had indeed succeeded in joining with excellent results.

Today was her first day after being assigned to the team, and she wore a look of great excitement.

*’I finally made it!’*

Aegis.

This was the stage Heo Yu-ra had always admired and dreamed of.

The best Awakened from all over the world, who would be called the top anywhere they went, gathered here to form teams and operate.

Lee Soo-yeon, Jo Yoon, Han Sang-jin, Yoon In-hye, Jeong Jin-seong… The greatest specialists, an endless list of names she had only seen from afar, were all team leaders here. And Ryu Jin-tae, practically an idol to the Awakened, served as its director.

Seeing the faces of the team members standing before her made it all the more real.

Among the so-called Big 6, the major Awakened corporations that maintained a very tense relationship with one another, transferring to a different organization was a rather sensitive matter.

This was even more true if the person was one of the company’s star players.

However, Aegis and the Response Team were exceptions.

A company couldn’t hold back someone who was being scouted by them, nor could other team members criticize them for leaving.

It was a dream every Awakened shared.

Money, honor, working conditions, career.

No matter what one desired, no other place could compare to these two.

Just getting in was a sign of success as an Awakened, a position many longed for day and night.

That was why Heo Yu-ra, after receiving countless congratulations and enjoying a happy holiday, now stood here.

Moreover, as a newcomer, she had been likely to be assigned to a temporary team, but with Jeong Jin-seong’s absence leaving them short-staffed, her placement in the A-Team was confirmed.

While Hyeon-seo had suddenly joined during the various procedures, a team of six was neither too large nor too small—it was just right.

The A-Team was not only the top-numbered team but also frequently in the public eye and media. As the only team with two leaders, its combat power was also formidable.

For her, it was an unexpected stroke of luck.

Facing the people she admired, Heo Yu-ra approached her teammates warmly.

She had already asked Team Leader Lee Soo-yeon, whom she had long looked forward to meeting, for a photo together, posted it on social media, and the response had been explosive.

But unlike with the first three, when she greeted Il-hyeon, her expression turned cold.

The sudden change in attitude was so obvious that even Il-hyeon immediately noticed something was off.

“Nice to meet you!”

“Yeah, well.”

It didn’t stop there. When she got to Hyeon-seo, she took it a step further.

Her expression and her attitude were openly dismissive.

She seemed to be making a moderate effort not to let the other team members notice, but he saw it all clearly through the eyes of the mouse perched on Hyeon-seo’s left shoulder.

*’What the…?’*

Il-hyeon’s expression hardened unconsciously.

He didn’t know why, but her disrespectful behavior toward Hyeon-seo was far more unpleasant than if someone had ignored him.

It felt as if his younger sister had come home bruised after getting beaten up by someone.

“Hmm…”

Il-hyeon crossed his arms and watched Heo Yu-ra with a sharp gaze.

Still, it wasn’t a situation where he could definitively call her out, so he watched in silence for now.

*’How shameless…’*

While exchanging greetings, Heo Yu-ra thought to herself as she looked at Hyeon-seo’s smiling face.

Kang Il-hyeon and Kang Hyeon-seo.

She couldn’t accept those two, who had wormed their way into Aegis, the object of her admiration.

Neither of them had been well-known, and they had no experience. They had simply snuck in.

It was the complete opposite of her own path—building a career by taking the lead at all sorts of dangerous sites and enduring grueling training to get into Aegis.

No, she could at least give Il-hyeon some credit.

The media might have hyped him up, but even considering that, his track record didn’t suggest he was completely unskilled. Most importantly, he had been personally approved by Team Leader Lee Soo-yeon.

But she couldn’t stand the existence of that other woman.

After the rumors about their relationship and special treatment spread, Aegis’s response made the public forget about it quickly before it was even widely known. But it was a different story among the high-ranking Awakened, where information flowed more easily.

*’To think he got his girlfriend into Aegis just like that!’*

Hearing the news, she, who had always longed to join Aegis, felt a great sense of deprivation and, at the same time, felt it was nothing short of an insult to herself.

This was not a place where some nobody could get in just because she had a pretty face.

“Today’s schedule is relatively light. Since we have a new member, we need to work on our coordination.”

Unaware of the full situation, Lee Soo-yeon spoke calmly.

Of course, it was only ‘relatively’ light.

The outside world was still overflowing with endlessly appearing Gates.

“Oh, and the neighbors next door should be all moved out.”

“Already…? That was fast.”

Despite the uncomfortable situation, Il-hyeon couldn’t help but be impressed.

After the false rumors spread, the company had offered to buy the entire apartment building to prevent any more troublesome gossip. Il-hyeon had managed to talk them down, compromising on just the apartment next door.

It took less than a week to persuade the owner of the neighboring apartment, go through the purchasing process, and get Hyeon-seo moved in.

Of course, they had also ensured the previous owner’s silence, and Il-hyeon didn’t have to worry about a thing; the company took care of all the arrangements.

The cover story was that he and Hyeon-seo had known each other for a while and were neighbors, but he was too worried to leave her alone, so he planned to use his transformation ability to make a small opening in the wall.

Because of that, his already large home was about to get twice as big.

Lee Soo-yeon put an earpiece in her ear and began to speak.

“First up is a B0-grade Gate that appeared on an island in the waters north of Australia. It manifested 32 hours ago, and we have 40 minutes until it activates.”

She waved her hand, and a hologram appeared in mid-air.

It displayed a simple map along with a wealth of detailed information about the site.

“As you can see, it’s a large-scale, wide-area Gate covering the entire island. On top of that, the monsters are avian, so it’ll be a headache if they fly to nearby islands or escape far away.”

It was a tricky site, but the one fortunate thing was that the Gate analysis had identified the monster.

The monster expected to appear was called the Kuroku.

Despite its simple-sounding name, it was a vicious avian monster.

If the Gate had appeared on an uninhabited island, dealing with it would have been relatively easy, but a considerable number of people lived on that island and the surrounding ones.

The residents had all been evacuated, but it would be nothing short of a disaster if the flying monsters scattered to the nearby islands.

“A Gate this big must involve another team. Who are we working with?”

“Three members from the B-Team will be joining us shortly. For a 0-grade Gate, the number of entities isn’t horrific, so their detection abilities will be useful.”

Il-hyeon had run into the B-Team on site several more times since their first joint operation.

Among them, Joo Hye-jin’s unparalleled detection ability was a great help at any site, and it would shine even brighter on a wide-open site like this one, which encompassed an entire island.

“Normally, we’d feel short-staffed… but this time, we have Hyeon-seo.”

Lee Soo-yeon smiled and glanced to the side.

With her force-field ability, she could prevent the monsters from escaping the site.

Given the size, it wouldn’t be easy, but thanks to her exceptional skill in using her power, it wasn’t impossible.

In response, Hyeon-seo, who was already skillfully checking her equipment, gave an awkward laugh.

Seeing this, Heo Yu-ra’s expression soured even more.

She knew nothing about Hyeon-seo’s ability or skills, but with her mind already set, she could only fume about how that woman had managed to sweet-talk Lee Soo-yeon.

Il-hyeon, who had been watching her carefully from the side, sighed inwardly.

Even back when he had a regular job, colleagues were obviously important. But being an Awakened was a life-or-death profession, and with this attitude, he wondered if he could trust her to watch his back.

As everyone finished their preparations and boarded the waiting transport plane one by one, Il-hyeon approached Lee Soo-yeon.

“Um…”

“How many new team members do you think I’ve welcomed over the past few years?”

Lee Soo-yeon spoke before Il-hyeon could even finish his sentence.

She patted the shoulder of a surprised-looking Il-hyeon and then boarded the transport.

After standing there for a moment, Il-hyeon set aside his worries and followed her.