Chapter 154 – Their Identity (Part Five)

Rumble!

The fractured golems shattered, crumbling to the ground in a shower of pieces.

It didn’t take long for Lee Dong-won, with his newly awakened ability, and the summoned creatures to join forces and defeat the remaining monsters.

“Incredible… How did this happen?”

Unable to hide their excitement, the other team members rushed toward him.

But Lee Dong-won, perhaps from the backlash of his awakening, felt his strength drain away and collapsed where he stood.

The child had been brought out safely, and once all the monsters on site were dead, the barrier that had surrounded the area vanished.

The terrified people who had been trapped inside scrambled out, while the citizens outside looked on in shock as a section of the city suddenly appeared in ruins.

“We did it. The force field is gone!”

“I can’t believe it turned out like this…”

The summoned creatures that had bought them time also gathered around him, and Seo Jeong-hwa offered a hand to the seated Lee Dong-won, helping him up.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it seems I’ve awakened, too. It feels strange.”

Lee Dong-won replied, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Having lived his entire life as a non-Awakened, becoming one at his age brought a rush of conflicting emotions.

“It seems what Team Leader Kang said was really true. If so, does this mean I, who am already Awakened, can awaken another ability?”

Jo Nam-seok muttered.

Honestly, although he had heard Il-hyeon’s words, he had never truly believed them.

As long as he got paid well, that was all that mattered; he had never once considered that he might actually possess an SS-rank ability.

It made sense, as there had never been a single recorded case of someone who was already Awakened undergoing a second awakening to gain a previously unmanifested ability.

Even Lee Dong-won, who had just gained his power, had merely been an un-Awakened with an abnormally strong body; this was his first time being reborn as an Awakened.

“Hmm…”

Seo Jeong-hwa, the first one Il-hyeon had told about a hidden ability, had just as much to think about.

In fact, her situation was far more complicated than the other two.

Originally a non-Awakened, she had been captured by a criminal organization and forcibly turned into an Awakened.

She even possessed a physical enhancement ability they had given her. If this was true, she had no idea if she could awaken her own unmanifested ability, or what would happen if she did.

“But I think we might have made too much of a scene.”

Lee Dong-won said, looking around.

They were, after all, supposed to be tracking the organization in secret.

Although the appearance of a Gate had forced their hand, a group of unknown Awakened clearing a B-rank surprise Gate without any outside help was bound to draw attention.

In the worst-case scenario, the masterminds behind it all could discover their identities and have them eliminated.

“You’re right. We should get moving.”

“Let’s go this way.”

The group hurried away with the summoned creatures, heading for a deserted alley.

The collapsed buildings and ruined streets made the going difficult, but there was certainly no one else around.

“Still, for there to be no one here at all…?”

Jo Nam-seok muttered, sensing something was wrong.
While the people who had been trapped inside were rushing out and rescue teams were moving in from the outside, the path they were taking was strangely empty.

Just as his instincts screamed a warning of danger, a man and a woman emerged from behind a collapsed building, blocking their path.

“Son of a…”

Swallowing the curse that had almost escaped his lips, Jo Nam-seok flinched and stepped back.

The masterminds they had been chasing—the very monsters they had been warned never to confront.

They were Awakened wearing white Defensive Coats.

“Th-those people.”

Seo Jeong-hwa and Lee Dong-won recognized them instantly.

They weren’t wearing the ‘masks’ Il-hyeon had described as the mark of the most dangerous ones, but they exuded an oppressive aura unlike any ordinary Awakened.

“Hey, quick! Tell Ms. Hyeon-seo to get us out of here!”

“Squeak…”

Jo Nam-seok urged, but the mouse just shook its head.

At that, the blonde woman, who had been grinning in amusement, pulled back her hood and walked toward them.

“Hey, it’s no use. Kang Hyeon-seo has no idea what’s happening here. Not that she could pull you out with her ability even if she did.”

“How do you know about Ms. Hyeon-seo…”

“No way…”

As the woman drew closer, the group instinctively backed away.

But they didn’t get far before something blocked their path, stopping them from going any further.

Turning around, they saw the translucent barrier they thought had vanished with the monsters’ defeat now stood in their way.

A panicked Jo Nam-seok looked around and realized a circular barrier had already formed, completely enclosing them.

“Th-this… Didn’t this disappear earlier?”

“Trying to run is pointless. The only way to break through it is to kill me.”

The woman, who looked foreign to anyone, smiled pleasantly and spoke in fluent Korean.

Just as she said, the force field that had appeared this time was, surprisingly, not the ability of a monster like the Nightmare, but the work of an Awakened.

“You’re not on our list, but we can’t afford to leave unexpected variables alive. You will be eliminated here and now.”

The large man standing beside her also threw back his hood and strode forward.

His skin, bumpy and cracked like rock, was horrifying to behold, and his eyes glinted like a reptile’s, wild and primal.

A physical mutation born from the side effects of an Awakened’s ability—a Mutant.

Seo Jeong-hwa, who had been with the criminal organization that mass-produced Awakened, and Jo Nam-seok, who had worked in the underworld, had seen them before. But Lee Dong-won, unlike them, flinched as if he were seeing a monster for the first time.

Although it wasn’t an extremely rare phenomenon, most Mutants were isolated from regular society for various reasons, so it wasn’t strange that this was Lee Dong-won’s first time seeing one.

‘…We’re in deep trouble.’

As they advanced, radiating killing intent, Lee Dong-won broke out in a cold sweat.

He could feel that he had grown much stronger than before after awakening his new ability, but that didn’t mean he, who had been at a C-rank level, had suddenly become as powerful as an A-rank Awakened.

He had been able to destroy the mindless golem monsters easily because they’d taken his ability head-on, but they were superior in overall power.

Though he didn’t show it, Lee Dong-won was already at his limit from taking the golems’ attacks with his bare fists, and facing the two suddenly-appeared Awakened was impossible.

“Grrr…!”

The summoned creatures formed a protective circle around the team, but their opponents paid them no mind and continued to approach.

“Ray Mota, and Kreger. You’re both members of Eclipse.”

Jo Nam-seok spoke quickly, and as the name of the hitherto unknown organization left his lips, the woman’s perpetually relaxed expression twitched for the first time.

“How did you…”

“We’ve already figured that much out.”

Having bought a little time as intended, Jo Nam-seok said with a sense of relief.

His opponents seemed unaware, but he was not only an Awakened but also an ability user.

It was a unique ability that allowed him to see information about anyone he faced directly, and it had been the single most valuable asset in gathering information during their investigation.

It was a power he had never mentioned even to his own teammates, with the exception of Il-hyeon, with whom he had discussed many things.

While his opponents hesitated, Jo Nam-seok succeeded in identifying their abilities and whispered to his teammates.

“The woman on the right has Barrier and Wraith Form. The tailed rock monstrosity has superhuman strength.”

“How do you… no, that’s not important right now. I get the other two, but what exactly does ‘Wraith Form’ do?”

“How should I know? All I can see is the text.”

Hearing their conversation, Ray and Kreger radiated an even more intense killing intent.

For the few Awakened who kept their abilities hidden, having someone else chatter about them was an incredibly unpleasant experience.

Jo Nam-seok had lowered his voice as much as possible, but naturally, that was useless in front of high-ranking Awakened.

CRASH!

The Mutant, Kreger, leaped high into the air and slammed his fists into the ground. The spot where the team had been standing, having barely dodged, was completely obliterated.

Before they could even regain their balance, Ray’s sword shot toward Jo Nam-seok. He was saved from decapitation only when the wolf and the fox intercepted the attack.

The nine-tailed fire fox had grown to the size of the wolf, its body wreathed in shimmering flames.

“Oh, how cute.”

In the middle of the fight, Ray suddenly reached out and stroked the fox’s head.

The fox, of course, immediately retaliated, breathing a powerful stream of fire, but the attack simply passed right through her, never touching her body.

“Whine…?”

It was the same with the attacks from the other summoned creatures, including the weasel and the phoenix.

Ray glided forward, her arm slipping through to seize Seo Jeong-hwa by the throat.

Even as she was lifted off her feet by the woman’s incredible strength, her airway completely cut off, Seo Jeong-hwa couldn’t believe it.

An ability that let her ignore any attack or interference while being the only one able to physically interact… it was completely nonsensical.

“That’s one.”

A cruel smile played on Ray’s lips.

***

“Something’s wrong.”

“Hoo, what is it all of a sudden?”

Il-hyeon asked, wiping the blood from his sword on a bridge littered with monster corpses.

It had been a B1-grade Gate, yet it had taken him and Hyeon-seo less than five minutes to clear it by themselves.

Hyeon-seo, who had been standing blankly for a moment, continued cautiously.

“I’m not sensing anything wrong with the summons, but… something feels off.”

“Off?”

“It’s hard to explain… like there’s some kind of hazy interference. What if something happened over there? Should I just summon them back here?”

“No, it’s fine. Nothing’s wrong.”

Unlike the worried man he had been this morning, Il-hyeon’s tone was filled with conviction.

As a puzzled Hyeon-seo tilted her head, he let out a smirk and said.

“On the contrary, it’s a good thing. I’ve just seen the second future.”

Il-hyeon glanced down to see his sword greedily devouring a core, as if starved.