Chapter 52

Yang Won-hoon’s sunken eyes stared into the empty air.

There, a distant past unfolded like a panorama.

The day the brothers Yang Hoon and Yang Won-hoon became Awakeners, the Republic of Korea was turned upside down.

-Is it true that you both became Awakeners on the same day at the same time?

-Is it correct that both of your Potential Ranks came out as S-Rank?

-Your deceased parents have also been confirmed as Awakeners. How are you feeling right now?

The brothers were so happy they couldn’t put it into words.

It wasn’t because of the smooth road that lay before them. Nor was it because of the wealth and fame they could seize at will.

-The heavens are helping us.

-They are.

The reason Yang Hoon and Yang Won-hoon had laughed like madmen was that they could finally avenge their parents, who had been innocently killed by an Association agent.

Fueled by a rage that seethed like an active volcano, the brothers raided Dungeons.

They spent more time inside Dungeons than outside. They spent ten years like that.

The day before they were to execute their plan, after all preparations were complete.

Yang Hoon spoke.

-If you follow me now, you will lose a lot. A promising Hunter, fame, wealth. Things like that.

-That’s fine.

-We’re messing with an Association employee. This means it won’t end well.

-That’s fine.

-Yeo Ju-kyung might even kill us. For the record, I have no intention of resisting.

-I will follow you.

And so, the two finished their revenge and chose to turn themselves in.

Their sentences were commuted on the grounds that their Potential Ranks were S-Rank and that they had turned themselves in.

But the revocation of their Hunter licenses was unavoidable.

-Hyung-nim. What should we live for now?

-Live however you want.

-What about you, Hyung-nim?

-There are guys like us who’ve had their licenses revoked and have nowhere to go. I’m thinking of taking them under my wing.

-Why?

-Because that’s why Yeo Ju-kyung let me live.

-Hyung-nim. You don’t know, but those guys are truly bad people. There’s no room for rehabilitation.

-Are we not bad people?

-We’re different from them!

-There’s no difference. Go to a prison. See if there are any criminals without a sob story. Even murderers genuinely feel they’ve been wronged.

-······.

-Enough. You go find your own way to live. I’m leaving.

-Tsk. Where does the thread go without the needle? You should be the one following me, Hyung-nim.

-Where to?

-To where those guys are gathered.

For a place full of riff-raff criminals, the appearance of an S-Rank Awakener was nothing short of a new world opening up.

That day, the brothers took over the Black Market.

-What are you going to do now?

-Do you know what’s most needed to make bad people good?

-A beating?

-That’s important too, but what’s more important is money. It takes money just to breathe, so imagine how much money it would take to change a person’s character.

-Are you saying we should leave the Black Market as it is?

-Why get rid of a distribution channel we’ve worked so hard to create? We just need to improve its constitution.

-What’s that?

-We’ll gradually get rid of the drugs, and in their place, we’ll stock high-quality Items and materials. So that even the guys in the light can use them without hesitation.

-Do high-quality Items and materials fall from the sky?

-What’s there to worry about when their labor is free? For the time being, we’ll only leave a very small profit margin. The important thing is to make the Black Market’s name widely known.

-That’s not something that can be done in a day or two.

-Are you trying to be full from the first spoonful? Don’t even think about sleeping for the next ten years.

-···I thought I could just beat them all into submission. I would’ve been in big trouble without you.

-To make money, strength is more important. So you use your strength on the front lines, Hyung-nim. I’ll go make the money.

From then on, the brothers used their strength and made money.

-From now on, there are no drugs in the Black Market. If I catch you selling, you’ll die by my hand.

He beat down the criminals who wouldn’t listen and brought the useful ones to his side.

-Ahn Jae-beom, you say? What kind of trouble did a smart guy like you get into? From now on, you’ll learn how to manage the ledgers under me.

-Just feed me, and I’ll pledge my loyalty!

Though incidents and accidents never ceased and they overcame dozens of crises, the brothers felt a sense of reward.

Because the Black Market was gradually rising to the surface.

-I will live as a new person. It’s all thanks to you two.

-I’m going to turn myself in. When I come back after paying for my crimes, please take me in again.

The feeling of successfully turning hopeless trash into human beings was an indescribable joy.

But the happiness did not last long.

-Vice President. Jae-beom… has become a Demon.

The first to become a Demon was his right-hand man. The second was his left-hand man, and the third was an executive he cherished like a younger brother.

He should have killed them, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Instead, he dreamed a futile dream.

Just as he had rehabilitated criminals, he thought he could turn them back into humans again.

It was from then on.

The brothers devoted themselves to an unreachable study.

On how to turn Demons back into humans. They dedicated the rest of their lives to it.

The Black Market grew exponentially, but the festering wounds multiplied just as much.

-More than fifteen guys have become Demons in the last month. You should just ask the Association for help.

-Yeo Ju-kyung is on Jeju Island right now, so we can’t contact her. If we contact the Association, Seong Yo-han will naturally come here.

-···We’ll all die. Even the ones who are fine.

-Burning down the whole house to catch a flea is his way.

-Let’s just research a little more. We’re almost there, aren’t we?

-Yeah. We’re almost there. But we can’t reach it.

-Are you giving up already?

-It’s not that. It’s that the power we discovered isn’t enough on its own. We can’t analyze what that damn Demonic Energy is.

-···So what do you want to do?

-You become a Demon. And figure out exactly what the hell we need to do to break down that goddamn Demonic Energy.

-Have you finally lost your mind?

-I guess so. I must be crazy. I value my own life, but to see myself offering it up so readily like this.

-···What?

-If we’re going to do it, we have to do it right. They say there’s no better Sacrifice than a high-Rank Awakener, right? If we can use that power too, there’ll be no loss of self.

-Hyung-nim!

-What. You’re bursting my eardrums.

-···I understand. I’ll become a Demon.

-Good thinking.

-But I can’t sacrifice you, Hyung. I’d rather use another Awakener…

-Won-hoon. We started this to make people human. What happens if we become monsters ourselves?

In the end, the brothers went through with it.

Swallowing his bloody tears, Yang Won-hoon devoted himself even more to his research.

And just when he thought he had finally figured it out.

“It was penny-wise and pound-foolish. I have failed.”

“So what is it you want to say?”

Choi Gi-woong, who was in front of him, asked indifferently.

“Did you call me in the middle of the night to tell me your life story? I’m not that curious.”

I gave him a day, but he called me back in just five hours. While I was sleeping, no less.

Damn it, I had a feeling I would have a Past Life Lucid Dream if I just slept one more time.

Perhaps because of that, no kind words came out of my mouth.

“I don’t need the long, drawn-out story. More importantly, have you deciphered everything I wrote on the paper?”

Seeing him again, Yang Won-hoon’s face was bright.

“Yes. It was perfect. I apologize in advance. I was truly sorry last time.”

Remembering how he had boasted to me with his half-baked Divinity, Yang Won-hoon squeezed his eyes shut.

“Forget about that. Tell me what you’ve deciphered.”

I had to check how much he had managed to digest.

“What Divinity is, the principles by which it can create a person… that it could be expressed on a single sheet of paper… I couldn’t have imagined it.”

“Is that all?”

That would be a bit disappointing.

Yang Won-hoon shook his head.

“So I realized for certain. That my Divinity is a half-measure. And.”

Yang Won-hoon smiled bitterly.

“That one cannot become human with half-baked Divinity, and that one cannot learn true Divinity regardless of effort or will. Right?”

It was a little surprising that he had figured it out this far.

He seemed to be smarter than I thought.

“Yes. No matter what you do, Mr. Yang Won-hoon, you can never awaken true Divinity.”

That he came to understand Divinity from a barren wasteland with nothing was praiseworthy.

I also knew how incredible that effort was.

But effort and reality are separate issues.

There are only two ways to obtain true Divinity.

Either receive a baptism from the Lu Order, or be born with an out-of-spec talent like Ian.

Naturally, Yang Won-hoon was neither.

“So I was able to let go of my lingering attachment cleanly. It has nothing to do with my efforts. My dead Hyung-nim will understand this.”

“······.”

“It’s not much of a gift, but.”

Yang Won-hoon scratched his cheek and continued.

“I’ll tell the men below. That they must never oppose the Association, even after I die. I’ll tell them firmly, so the remaining guys will understand.”

“That would be a relief.”

“Of course, there will be some who won’t listen, but that’s not something I can control.”

Smiling awkwardly, he stood up from his seat and said.

“I hope the execution is carried out as soon as possible. It’s getting harder for me to control my Demonic Energy, too.”

I stared at him.

I guess being smart is a problem if it’s a problem.

To think he’d jump to such a conclusion.

“Why would you die, Mr. Yang Won-hoon? Do you know how much I’m suffering right now trying to save you?”

To the point of getting on Seong Yo-han’s bad side.

“Why are you jumping to conclusions?”

“What do you mean…”

“Just because you can’t learn true Divinity doesn’t mean you can’t become human, Mr. Yang Won-hoon.”

A look of bewilderment bloomed on Yang Won-hoon’s face.

This guy is surprisingly frustrating.

“What does it mean that I gave you this?”

“It means… that you, Secretary Officer, can wield true Divinity.”

Yang Won-hoon’s eyes darted around. He looked at the paper with the formula written on it and said.

“Secretary Officer. Are you perhaps an S-Rank?”

“No.”

“Then I don’t understand. For you to turn me into a human, Mr. Choi Gi-woong…”

“You think I need to be at least S-Rank?”

“Yes.”

“This is why I told you not to jump to conclusions.”

“?”

“There is one more condition that isn’t written there.”

The target must desperately wish to become human.

Desperately enough to endure someone else rampaging through their body with Divinity.

After thinking about my words for a moment, Yang Won-hoon frowned.

“···There’s another condition needed for that.”

“Tell me.”

“If the procedure is performed by someone capable of immense Mana control.”

“How do I look to you, Mr. Yang Won-hoon?”

“I’m not looking down on you, Secretary Officer. But something like that is impossible for anyone.”

In other words, it was the same as telling me to show him proof.

“I have no intention of doing so, but I can’t even generate Mana right now because my body is in bad shape.”

Maybe in a week.

I stood up and said.

“The choice is yours. Will you trust me and entrust your body to me, or will you die as you are? What will you do?”

His relieved gaze became complicated again. His face was a mixture of excitement, anticipation, and doubt.

This time, even more so than before.

But the answer had been decided from the beginning.

Swallowing hard, Yang Won-hoon said desperately.

“I-I’ll do it. No, please let me do it. I’m a dead man walking anyway, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“I will perform the operation.”

“If, if it really succeeds… Haah. This is crazy. You said in a week, right? It’s going to feel longer than my entire life.”

Yang Won-hoon’s words were wrong again this time.

Time flew by like an arrow.

A week later, Yang Won-hoon and I stood before all the executives of the Association, who were watching.