Chapter 105

It was by sheer coincidence that Han Seung-hoon’s nonsensical post rose to the surface.

[Hey, what is this?]

A very short video uploaded by a netizen.

In it, a low-level earth spirit, a Gnome, was zipping around.

[A low-level spirit wants to make a contract with me, what should I do? It says its name is Gnome.]

He, unlike Han Seung-hoon, had a talent for getting aggro.

[Good luck to you all. You low-class bastards. Hyung has become an Awakener. Let’s go for that 300 million won annual salary.]

-? You became an Awakener? Try calling up your Status Window.

[The Status Window doesn’t appear. But I became an Awakener.]

-? What kind of bullshit is this? If the Status Window doesn’t appear, you’re not an Awakener.

[No, I’m an Awakener. Can’t you see this? Its name is Gnome. Spirit Contract complete.]

-People are even using doctored videos to get aggro these days. I’ll give you an upvote out of pity.

[Haha, I swear on my mom it’s not doctored. You guys should try it too. I’ll send you the link.]

-You sure put a lot of effort into one post. But it’s not working for me?

[Seems like your talent is shit lol]

-Oh, wait a minute.

A speck of dust became an ember,

[I’m the person who commented, “It’s not working for me.” Fuck, what is this? Why is a flame suddenly sparking from my finger?]

-Oh, did you make a Spirit Contract too?

[No, this isn’t a Spirit. It says it’s 1st Circle magic.]

-You don’t have a Status Window either?

[Yeah;; But something is squirming in my heart. What is this.]

-Did a group chat open up somewhere? Where did all these bastards pop out from all at once? Or is this some new cult?

[What group chat. You should try it too. It’s explained really kindly and well.]

-I tried, but it didn’t work.

[Seems like you don’t have the talent lol]

-Oh. Wait a minute.

And that ember turned into a wildfire due to Lee Seok-jae’s live stream.

-Isn’t that guy the eldest son of the Daehu Group’s Chairman?

-Yeah, Lee Joong-seob’s son. I heard he got pushed out by the second son, looks like he’s fallen for a cult now? He’s suddenly saying weird things.

-He’s saying anyone can become an Awakener, doesn’t that smell like a snake oil salesman? Don’t be fooled.

-Wait. Isn’t what Lee Seok-jae is talking about this? Link.

-What is this.

-It’s the video that’s causing controversy on the trending page right now over whether it’s doctored or not. There’s a lot of talk about whether they contracted a spirit or not.

From then on, it was like mushrooms after rain.

The video was reposted to all sorts of online communities, and with it, Han Seung-hoon’s post began to spread everywhere.

-They’re saying Lee Seok-jae wrote this post?

It was from that moment.

The wildfire turned into a bomb and exploded.

Proof shots poured in from all over.

[Proof shot of successfully contracting a spirit. Not doctored.]

[Something’s squirming in my lower abdomen, could this be a Dantian?]

[See the white light? They say this is Divinity. I can’t believe it even as I’m seeing it. You mean it was real?]

[The amazing thing about this post. If you don’t have a talent for swordsmanship, you can learn magic, and if you don’t have a talent for magic, you can learn Elementalism. If you don’t have a talent for Elementalism, you can learn Divinity.]

-So does that mean Lee Seok-jae posted this?

-There’s a very high possibility, and even if not, it’s very likely that an organization Lee Seok-jae belongs to posted it.

In an instant, Lee Seok-jae’s name shot up the real-time search rankings, and related news articles quickly broke.

And just like that, a nuclear bomb went off in the Republic of Korea.

-KOSPI closes up +7%.

-Hoarding slows, is the economy turning around?

-We will find a way. We always have. PVS, No Yoon-jung.

The stock market soared, and people who had been cooped up in their homes began to tentatively venture outside.

The awakening of civilians.

People cheered for it. It was nothing short of a festival. The atmosphere was clearly joyous.

On the other hand, there were also those rubbing their faces with grave expressions.

A prime example was the Awakener Association.

“What’s the situation.”

Head of department Kim Yoon-joong let out a deep sigh.

“We’re working hard to delete them, but… you know.”

The PR Team leader shrugged his shoulders.

“We can’t get a grasp on it. We don’t even know how far it’s spread. Would you believe me if I said my grandmother in Inje contracted a Gnome? She was happy she could plow her fields more easily.”

“This is driving me crazy.”

Awakeners must be thoroughly controlled.

How many countries had gone to shit after letting them run free?

In that respect, [Click here if you want to become an Awakener.] was no different from a nuclear bomb.

“Shall we go grab Lee Seok-jae?”

“If we touch him now, do you think the public will stand for it?”

“That’s true. Still, it’s a relief, isn’t it? That the skills that have been posted so far aren’t even E-Rank level.”

“That’s why it’s a problem.”

Kim Yoon-joong licked his dry lips.

“Look at Lee Seok-jae’s interview. He was posturing as if there’s more to come.”

Head of department Kim Yoon-joong played the last part of the interview.

[You can all become stronger. I will become stronger too. We can be liberated from the Monsters.]

“Imagine the guy living next door is an A-Rank Awakener. Do you think you could sleep at night, scared like that?”

Then, he glanced at Choi Gi-woong and asked.

Suspicious gazes poured in his direction.

All the circumstances clearly pointed to Lee Seok-jae, but it was a strange thing.

Head of department Kim Yoon-joong’s instincts were strongly suspicious of Choi Gi-woong.

That Choi Gi-woong was the only one who would pull something like this.

It wasn’t just him; the government was also trying to use this incident to pressure Choi Gi-woong.

The one desperately stopping them was Head of department Kim Yoon-joong.

Whether he knew that or not, Choi Gi-woong smiled and sipped his tea.

For some reason, the sight of him was irritating.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen the streets bustling with people.

Every single person has a face blooming with hope.

They’re like this even though I only spread things that are barely at the beginner level.

But this is what’s important.

It’s nothing much, but it’s a very small hope.

The hope that they, too, can hunt Monsters.

Of course, the side effects that follow won’t be trivial, but that’s something that will have to be endured.

“You.”

“?”

“You endure it.”

“Yes. I will endure it.”

Lee Seok-jae bowed his head deeply.

“What do you think you’re agreeing to.”

“The management of the new humanity, whose Ranks will gradually rise.”

As I’d mentioned several times, he was quick on the uptake.

Lee Seok-jae defined the civilians who had become Awakeners as the new humanity.

“I plan to establish an organization.”

This was in one of the abandoned buildings, after checking several times whether there was anyone tailing him.

Despite that, Lee Seok-jae’s voice dropped low.

“Looks like you’ve gotten popular lately.”

“It is all thanks to you, Team leader.”

“Continue with the story about the organization.”

“I plan to take measures so that only those belonging to our organization can obtain the intermediate-level secret manuals.”

“That won’t be a job for just one or two people.”

“I made many connections when I was an executive director at Daehu. I will contact them.”

He’s smart, too.

“Do you need help?”

“I would be grateful if you gave it.”

“Contact Rachel Carson.”

“…If you mean Rachel.”

“The Three Sovereigns.”

At the mention of one of the Three Sovereigns’ names, Lee Seok-jae, who had maintained his composure until now, snorted heavily.

He looked as if he was clearly feeling his world expand.

“I told you. I’ll give you a position that can’t even be compared to the likes of the Daehu Chairman.”

“I will work hard.”

Lee Seok-jae bowed his head deeply.

In the meantime, I finished my observation of Lee Seok-jae.

I was worried that he, who would have to work hard as my puppet alongside Rachel, might harbor some strange thoughts.

It was a relief.

As Han Seung-hoon said, Lee Seok-jae is not the type to betray me in the future.

To be precise, he must have realized early on that it would be useless to even try.

After giving him Rachel’s number, I moved to the next location.

It was a meeting held at Ilseong. As soon as I entered the conference room, I could feel the bleak atmosphere.

Daehu’s Chairman Lee Joong-seob, Ilseong’s Executive Director Bae Hyeon-jo, JW’s Chairman Lee Jeong-hwan, the Black Market’s Yang Won-hoon, Daehyeon’s Poong Taeseok.

And even Hwang Mu-yeol.

The chairmen of the Republic of Korea’s five major groups each occupied a seat.

“You’re here. Finally.”

“I thought I was going to die from having nothing to say to these old geezers. Hurry up and sit down.”

The atmosphere in the dry conference room changed as soon as I appeared.

“It’s so hard to get a look at your face. I almost forgot what you looked like.”

Chairman Lee Jeong-hwan openly showed his disappointment.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been a little busy. Have you been well?”

“I’ve been fine. More importantly, my daughter made a birthday cake recently. She said she really wants you to try it.”

I was suddenly reminded of Lee Jeong-hwan’s daughter, Lee So-yeong’s, terrible cooking skills. The fact that I still shuddered at the thought, even now that I was just before Level 400, was remarkable in a way.

Executive Director Bae Hyeon-jo quickly stepped in.

“Could you please not talk about that dreadful food.”

As Executive Director Bae Hyeon-jo shivered, Chairman Lee Jeong-hwan smacked his lips.

A short laugh spread through the room.

I played along with the mood for a moment, then cautiously asked.

“The reason I asked you all to gather here today is…”

“It’s because of that noisy business these days, right? The non-Awakeners.”

“Yes.”

Chairman Lee Jeong-hwan sent a displeased look.

Towards Lee Seok-jae’s father, Chairman Lee Joong-seob.

The others were similar.

An uncomfortable atmosphere arose once again.

I slowly looked around at them.

These people would become far more important than they were now once the age of ruin arrived.

I realized it for certain from the vision Ian saw.

That I could never protect the world alone. That I would need the help of many people.

Could it be that these people didn’t know I was the one behind what was happening now?

No way.

Therefore, it was safe to assume those gazes were directed at me.

Because people can’t stand having their own chairs taken away.

If these people were negative about my plan, it would become quite troublesome.

Because they were in positions where they could cause a ruckus however much they wanted.

Of course, I wouldn’t stand by idly in the name of a Black Agent, but the more that happened, the more it would just be a waste of strength.

In the end, we wouldn’t be able to avoid ruin.

I was in the middle of all sorts of thoughts.

The next moment, Chairman Lee Jeong-hwan relaxed his face and spoke.

“Why make such a fuss over civilians gaining a little bit of power.”

Hmm?

“You were the one making a fuss. Why were you looking at me like that?”

Chairman Lee Joong-seob snickered.

“You?”

“Then should I call you Hyung-nim instead of ‘you’?”

“Of course you should. I’m five years older than you. What, if you have a problem with it, should I start by cutting off the Elixirs going to Daehu?”

“If the Elixir factory explodes tomorrow, you’ll know it was me.”

The words exchanged were harsh, but the icy atmosphere strangely thawed.

I looked around.

The seated chairmen were looking at me and smiling.

“We finished talking before you came. What, is it really a big deal? If we were going to worry about civilians taking our spots, we should just take off our Hunter badges.”

Executive Director Bae Hyeon-jo shrugged.

“Our Black Market sales have gone up a little more. They’re ordering Items even though they can’t use them.”

Yang Won-hoon said, as if reporting.

Lee Jeong-hwan, who had been glaring at Lee Joong-seob, also relaxed his expression and crossed his arms.

“Orders for Elixirs have increased dramatically on our end, too. Well, I don’t know if it’ll help F-Ranks like them to take it, but if business is good, that’s a good thing.”

Last was Hwang Mu-yeol.

He said hesitantly.

“The number of civilians looking for Skill Books has also increased.”

“Why are you even mentioning the sales of that tiny hole-in-the-wall shop?”

At Chairman Lee Jeong-hwan’s words, laughter broke out in the room again.

They all grinned at me. As if telling me not to worry.

It was a relief. To think that they trusted me completely.

And so, the meeting concluded well.

“Sit for a moment.”

In the room where everyone had left, Executive Director Bae Hyeon-jo said slyly.

“Your gamble paid off.”

“What gamble do you mean?”

“The gamble that you would climb even higher. These days, I hear people asking to be introduced to you so much my ears are about to fall off.”

He grinned and asked.

“It was you, wasn’t it? You were the one who turned people into Awakeners?”

“Didn’t you already know?”

“Hearing it from the person himself is different.”

“You were the one who skillfully persuaded the other chairmen, weren’t you?”

Executive Director Bae Hyeon-jo shook his head as if he couldn’t be helped.

He changed the mood.

“Do you remember what happened a long time ago?”

What came out of his pocket was a necklace.

It was a familiar object.

The S-Rank Item, Abraxas’s Necklace.

“A long time ago, I said this. That if you either joined Ilseong or granted me just one request, I would give you this.”

“You did.”

It was a largely meaningless statement now.

Because an S-Rank Item no longer held much meaning for me.

There was no way Executive Director Bae Hyeon-jo didn’t know that.

“I’ll have to give up on you joining Ilseong.”

Nevertheless, he was speaking.

“Can you grant me just one request?”

His eyes were wavering.

It was my turn to respond to the faith he had shown me.

“Anything you ask.”