Darkness crept back into the room that had been flooded with light just moments ago.

The three men recoiled, the memory of the halo of light that had just filled the room fresh in their minds.

“Hyung… Hyung-nim, that was an Awakening, right? Are we in danger?”

“What the hell are you scared of?! A guy who just Awakened is no different from a normal person!”

The three men exchanged wary glances as the weight of their own deeds settled on them. Locking him up, beating him, cutting off his finger — it was no wonder their legs felt shaky beneath them.

Ha Gangwoo watched them squirm and began to walk forward, slow and deliberate.

[See? Lower life-forms never know their place. Do you have that 100 million won?]

The face of that Healer who had clicked his tongue at him surfaced in Gangwoo’s mind.

That look of contempt, as if staring at a disgusting insect.

Just recalling it sent a fresh wave of irritation surging through him.

‘Let’s see how impressive you really are,’ he thought.

That was what he wondered. Just what kind of power had that man gained to let him look down on people like that?

Thud… thud…

As Gangwoo drew closer, the boss, Kim Ducheol, shoved his two thugs forward.

“What are you waiting for, you bastards! Get him! Grab that son of a bitch!” he roared.

The two underlings hesitated for a moment, then steeled their expressions.

Shiiing— Park Donggu, standing to the right, pulled a knife from his coat. The well-honed blade gleamed with an edge sharp enough to cut.

“Stop right there, you bastard! I said stop!!!!!”

Gangwoo kept walking, unfazed.

Park Donggu scowled at the approaching man.

‘Is that fucker ignoring me again?’

He had never liked Ha Gangwoo.

From the way he ignored orders to his sharp-tongued retorts. For a pathetic, spineless fool, the guy was way too cocky.

“I told you to stop! You son of a bitch!!!”

Seeing Gangwoo walk on again, brushing off his command, made Donggu’s blood boil.

“Think you’re somebody just because you Awakened?”

Donggu ground his teeth audibly.

He’d never liked the bastard anyway!

‘Time to taste some knuckle action today!’

Steeling himself, Park Donggu gripped his knife tight and charged at Gangwoo.

Gangwoo watched Donggu sprinting toward him.

‘So this is an Awakening…’ his mind murmured.

His pupils contracted as his senses spread outward like a net. The boost from his Agility stat sharpened his perception.

Thu-dump… thu-dump…

Gangwoo carved every detail of Donggu’s approach into his mind.

Each step felt like a frame in a slideshow. So slow that he could have, if he wanted, planted a fist right in that ugly face without breaking a sweat.

“You son of a bitch!”

He drove the knife straight at Gangwoo’s abdomen. The motion was fluid and natural, the skill of someone who had done this more than a few times.

Gangwoo watched the blade arcing toward him.

‘How can he stab someone so easily?’

The strike carried no hesitation — it had the force of an intent to kill.

Thunk—

Drip… drip…

Blood dripped onto the floor beneath Ha Gangwoo.

Seeing this, the loan-shark boss Kim Ducheol shouted.

“You crazy bastard!! I said grab him. Who told you to stab him? I still need to collect the money… right…?”

The shouting died in his throat as his face hardened.

Because the knife hadn’t pierced Ha Gangwoo’s abdomen—it had gone clean through his palm.

Ha Gangwoo stared at his perforated hand.

*Hurts.*

Blood gushed from the clean hole torn through skin.

*So much for an Awakening. Not much changed.*

The pain felt the same as before. No—worse. Maybe the sharper senses made it hurt more.

And his Awakened body had been skewered by a simple knife.

“What’s this?”

A faint smile touched Ha Gangwoo’s lips.

He’d thought Awakening would grant some incredible power. Turns out, it was nothing special.

Ha Gangwoo gripped the blade with his pierced hand.

Park Donggu thrashed, trying to pull the knife free. It didn’t budge.

“You son of a bitch!! Let go!”

Crack—

Ha Gangwoo seized Park Donggu’s wrist with his free hand. Then squeezed with all his might.

Crunch—

A satisfying sound of grinding.

*Definitely stronger.*

He’d easily resisted the force of a grown man throwing his full weight into pulling out a knife. And he’d shattered an adult male’s arm bones with grip strength alone—physically, he’d clearly surpassed human limits.

“Urgh… AHHH!!!”

Park Donggu cried out in agony, releasing the knife and clutching his broken wrist.

“Let… go, you bastard… let… go…”

Park Donggu writhed in pain. The sensation of bone shards piercing muscle was beyond imagination.

“Let go… please let go… I’m begging you…”

Park Donggu begged Ha Gangwoo without even realizing it.

Ha Gangwoo watched him. The same bastard who’d grinned and enjoyed tormenting him was now begging on his knees.

When Ha Gangwoo released the crushed wrist, Park Donggu crumpled to the floor, clutching his mangled limb with a low, guttural whine.

THWACK!!!

He drove his knee directly into Park Donggu’s face.

A satisfying crack echoed, and Park Donggu toppled backward.

Park Donggu lay motionless on the ground. Knocked out cold.

“Payback.”

Ha Gangwoo pulled the knife from his own hand and turned toward Kim Ducheol.

Drip—

Blood spilled from his wound in a steady stream.

Watching this, boss Kim Ducheol and his underling Ji Seongman backed away, cold sweat beading on their foreheads.

“B-boss… I think we need to run…”

Ji Seongman’s legs trembled as he spoke to Kim Ducheol, but the boss just stared at Ha Gangwoo, silent.

An Awakener—a being beyond human.

But word has it a freshly Awakened isn’t much different from an ordinary person.

‘Right. Believe rumors and you’re asking to get burned.’

If there’s no difference, then what the hell is that aura pouring off the man in front of him?

But boss Kim Ducheol had no intention of running.

“Run? You crazy bastard. I’ve got money to collect.”

Kim Ducheol forced his face into composure and stared at Ha Gangwoo.

‘Crazy son of a bitch got lucky—Awakening, my ass.’

Kim Ducheol recalled his first meeting with Ha Gangwoo.

A contract plastered with sleazy tricks, the kind that’d fool even someone sharp. But whose fault was it for falling for it?

And just like that, Ha Gangwoo walked right into Kim Ducheol’s trap.

Three months after signing the deal.

[Take this and get lost.]

Ha Gangwoo had brought the full twenty million won he’d borrowed, plunked it right down.

But that fact was what mattered.

A mark willing to pay back—there was no better mark than that. So Ducheol dredged up the fine print in the contract and squeezed him. But Gangwoo was stubborn.

-Hey, little brother Gangwoo, is that any way to talk? Your payment date’s seven days past, and you’re playing dumb?

He’d had Gangwoo kidnapped for talking back to him, to put the fear in him.

[Let me go before I report you.]

‘Talking tough with that ego of his.’

At first, he thought Gangwoo was just some punk with pride.

Thud—

Kim Ducheol had jabbed the knife into Gangwoo’s thigh. Prideful punks broke under pain. But the reaction he got just pissed him off.

[If you’re gonna kill me, kill me. I’m not interested in living.]

-Yeah? Don’t come begging me to spare you later.

Furious, Kim Ducheol laid the knife blade across Gangwoo’s finger.

Even hardened men broke down and begged on hands and knees by that point. But the words that came back were pure insolence.

“A finger? That’s modest. If you’re going to cut, cut the throat.”

He’d never planned on cutting.

A body had to be whole to earn money fast, after all.

But Gangwoo’s arrogance crossed a line. Kim Ducheol slammed the knife down.

Thwack—Crunch—Crunch—

The bone didn’t cut clean, so he had to hack at the finger again and again.

But there wasn’t even a whimper.

Feeling something was off, Kim Ducheol’s eyes drifted naturally to Gangwoo’s face.

And the look he saw there sent a chill straight up his spine.

If it’d been his own finger on the block, what expression would he have made?

‘Crazy bastard.’

Seeing Ha Gangwoo’s face, Kim Ducheol’s legs went weak.

Gulp—

Kim Ducheol swallowed dry spit and stared at Gangwoo. That gaze that’d made his knees buckle was aimed right at him.

‘Empty…’

The hollowness in those eyes twisted with rage—it kept raising goosebumps on his skin.

‘A bastard with eyes like that… it’s only a loss to mess with him.’

Back when he was about to cut off his fingers, Gangwoo had planned to use that emptiness against them.

That look in his eyes was the kind only someone who’d do anything to get what they wanted could have — the kind of look a true stubborn bastard wears.

But now the tables had turned. Because that target seemed to be aimed at him instead.

‘Get a grip on yourself.’

Kim Ducheol forced a faint smile and spoke to Ha Gangwoo.

“Gangwoo, you Awakened? That happened fast, huh? How about we chill out a bit and have a talk?”

But Ha Gangwoo ignored him and kept walking. Blood dripped from the knife in his right hand — plop, plop.

Gulp—

Watching that, Kim Ducheol found himself swallowed by fear without realizing it.

‘I’m Kim Ducheol. I’ve gotten through worse than this. No way I’m getting taken down by some punk like him.’

Kim Ducheol put on a relaxed expression and spoke again. He had more faith in his silver tongue than anything.

“I said calm down. That thing back then? My bad, okay? I’ll admit it. I’ll knock some off your debt for it. Now that you’ve Awakened, let’s get along, bro. Your life’s all uphill from here — what good’s acting on emotion gonna do you? I’ll back you up all the way! You’re gonna need a ton of cash for items and Catalogs anyway, right?”

Had his words gotten through? Ha Gangwoo stopped.

‘See? Once a pushover, always a pushover.’

Kim Ducheol smirked and licked his lips. It looked like his persuasion had worked.

‘Unbelievable.’

Ha Gangwoo hadn’t stopped because Ducheol’s words had tempted him.

It was just one Awakening.

Nothing had really changed.

Yet the guy was already crawling on the floor, offering support and debt forgiveness like a groveling worm!

“Hah-“

A small laugh escaped Ha Gangwoo. He’d always been on the losing side. Always the weak one among the strong and the weak, always looked down on for being broke.

But just one Awakening, and the bastards who strutted around were groveling and changing their tune.

‘Not bad.’

It didn’t feel bad at all. Even if it was just a lucky ability, it was still his. He had no intention of living like a groveling loser like in the past, not with this power now.

‘This is my chance.’

Ha Gangwoo steeled himself.

He would exploit this opportunity called Awakening to the fullest.

His grip on the knife tightened.

Kim Ducheol read the small smile on Ha Gangwoo’s face and pressed on.

“Yeah, that’s it, Gangwoo. Good choice. Isn’t it better to keep things smooth? Now that it’s come to this, let’s work together. We’ll rewrite the contract, get everything sorted. First, take it easy and have a seat.”

Kim Ducheol saw it in Ha Gangwoo’s eyes and felt certain.

‘He’s caved.’

Once a pushover, always a pushover — so easily swayed by a few words. He figured he could even use this guy as a lifelong slave if he played his cards right.

Kim Ducheol pulled a contract from his pocket as he spoke.

“So now you need to test into the Tutorial first, right? We’ll set up the whole thing—even bring in the examiners for you. Don’t worry! Come here, let’s sign a new contract. I’ll even tear up the old one special, just for you. I’m not usually this generous, but I’ve known you, Gangwoo-ya, for a while now. Consider it my personal favor!”

Kim Ducheol dangled the sweet words like bait, beckoning Ha Gangwoo in.

‘And just like that, I’ve hooked myself one sucker Awakener. How many years should I lock him in for? Ten sounds about right, doesn’t it?’

While Ducheol was lost in his blissful scheming, Gangwoo had already closed the distance—now standing right in front of him.

A well-honed blade gleamed in Ha Gangwoo’s hand.

Gulp—

Ducheol’s eyes locked onto the knife, and he swallowed dryly before he could stop himself.

“G-Gangwoo-ya… what’s wrong? Did I say sorry? I’m sorry, come on—let it go!”

“Shut up. You’re too loud.”

“Wha… What?!”

Ssshhlick—

Ducheol’s thumb and forefinger hit the floor.

“Ugh… Uuaaah!”

Kim Ducheol crumpled to the ground, writhing in agony.

Ha Gangwoo ground his heel down—Crunch—onto the severed fingers, pulping them into the concrete.

“Y-you insane bastard!! You wanna die?! You think you’re getting away with this?!”

Ducheol clutched his sliced hand and shrieked, his voice raw with fury.

“Seongman-ah!!! Call the cops!!!”

When Ducheol whipped his head around to find Ji Seongman, the man was already long gone.

“That son of a bitch—fled alone?!”

Ha Gangwoo crouched down, leveling his gaze with Ducheol’s.

“No. There’s still one more left to settle.”

In that instant, Ducheol’s face went paper-white.

“N-no… No way.”

“Yeah. That ‘no way.'”

Thud—

Ha Gangwoo drove the knife straight into Ducheol’s eye.

“Uuaaah!”

Ducheol’s scream filled the room.

He grabbed at the blade lodged in his socket and rolled across the floor.

Ha Gangwoo sauntered out with unhurried steps.

‘I don’t play their game anymore.’

The man who’d lived like a fool died today.

Ha Gangwoo stepped out into the world to live a new life.

***

Ha Gangwoo sat in a dark corner of an alley, staring at his own hands. The scorching sting still pulsed through his skin.

“Hmm…”

He replayed what had just happened. The moment he’d severed Ducheol’s fingers. The sensation of gouging out that eye—still so vivid it made his stomach turn.

The sight of the man who’d always looked down on him, sneering, now rolling on the ground—it wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t a perfect revenge, either.

With a cool head, his thoughts started to churn.

If Ducheol reported him to the police, he’d be in a tight spot. Still weak, still untrained—no power to defend himself.

Ha Gangwoo clenched his fists.

“Yeah… he’ll come looking for me.”

But Kim Ducheol wouldn’t bring the cops into this.

He’d cut off that proud bastard’s fingers and gouged out his eyes. The man was probably gnashing his teeth, dreaming of revenge with his own hands.

‘I need to prepare.’

Which meant he needed a plan.

Right now, starting with Kim Ducheol and going all the way to his little sister Ha Jiyeon’s maintenance fees—there were too many things to handle.

‘Let’s take them one by one.’

A situation so tangled it had driven him to contemplate suicide.

He needed a plan to untangle it.

‘Debt, repository fees, meals, a place to stay…’

Every time he ran through what needed to be done, it all boiled down to one thing.

“In the end, it’s money, huh…”

As expected, the most urgent thing was money.

Money to fill his stomach. Money to cover his sister’s maintenance fees.

At the end of the day, living meant money.

Ha Gangwoo began patting his pockets.

“Twenty thousand won…”

The shabby wallet held nothing but a single twenty-thousand-won note.

‘Won’t even last two weeks.’

Even if he counted sleeping outdoors as a non-issue, meals were the real problem.

Right now, he’d have to weigh every hundred won just to pick a ramen packet at a convenience store.

Yet a faint smile crept across Ha Gangwoo’s face. Before he knew it, he had lifted his head to gaze at the sky.

A bright sky, not a single cloud in sight. A refreshing breeze blew gently.

This was rock bottom.

This morning, he’d thought things couldn’t get worse. But looking at it now, wasn’t this even worse?

And yet his chest felt as wide open and clear as if a hole had been punched through it.

The garbage he’d been yesterday and the man he was today—they were the same. The man who had resolved to kill himself moments ago and the man he was now—they were overwhelmingly identical. But one thing, just one, was different.

‘Awakening.’

All because of a single blessing called Awakening.

[!!!]

A button had been flickering at the edge of his vision ever since the moment he Awakened.

Ha Gangwoo moved his hand toward the button.

The first priority to deal with. This was it.

“First, let’s check the Catalog.”

Confirming his Trait.

Ding-

Ha Gangwoo’s hand reached for the button.