Chapter 52 – Divergence (Part One)

The scene was littered with the corpses of monsters.

Thanks to a swift response, there was almost no property damage, and they had successfully annihilated all the monsters at the Gate’s entrance.

It was an expected outcome, given that they had arrived on time and all five members of the Alpha Team were present.

Just then, an Aegis transport aircraft appeared and landed. An Awakened in a black coat stepped out.

The man who disembarked alone approached Lee Soo-yeon, who was perched on a piece of debris, reviewing documents.

“Good work.”

The man said, taking off his cap.

“It’s been a while since we did the handover right on site.”

Lee Soo-yeon remarked at the familiar voice, looking up at the man.

A familiar face she had seen many times came into view.

“You’ve come a long way. Even made Team Leader.”

Lee Soo-yeon smiled faintly.

The man’s name was Choi Hyeon-tae. Until the year before last, he had been one of her team members.

Now, he was in charge of his own team.

It was one of the new teams formed for the current cycle.

“It’s only temporary, though. Honestly, with people like Kang-joon and Hyeon-seo around, I don’t know why I was chosen when I’m not even A-Rank.”

“They’re still greenhorns. You, on the other hand, have the experience of a team leader.”

“Is that a compliment? It sounds rather bittersweet.”

“Look on the bright side.”

The two shared a light laugh.

Then, Lee Soo-yeon’s smile faded, and she looked at him with a serious expression.

“You were entrusted with it because you’re capable. This isn’t just anything; it’s the responsibility of an entire team. The Director isn’t someone who would make such a decision lightly. You should be proud.”

“Haha, I’m honored.”

Even if you gathered all the most talented Awakened, those worthy of being a team leader in Aegis could be counted on one hand.

Since the world’s best Awakened were already gathered here, leading them required a level of skill that even they would acknowledge.

After all, if team members looked down on their leader, teamwork would simply fall apart.

Although Choi Hyeon-tae hadn’t surpassed A-Rank, he had excellent skills, and in terms of experience and judgment, he was more than qualified.

At least, that’s what Lee Soo-yeon, standing here, believed.

“That person who’s been the talk of the town lately…”

Choi Hyeon-tae glanced around, searching.

The post-Gate site was bustling with people, from Aegis staff to local officials.

“Ah, Il-hyeon? Over there.”

Lee Soo-yeon tilted her head, gesturing to one side.

Choi Hyeon-tae’s gaze followed. He saw Il-hyeon engaged in a very serious conversation with Ghost and Lee Tae-hee.

“What should we have for lunch…”

Though the content of their conversation was trivial.

“The two most anticipated people in the organization are both here. Where on earth did you find someone like that? You usually don’t show any interest in this sort of thing.”

He asked, lowering his voice slightly.

At first, it was just surprising that Lee Soo-yeon had personally recruited someone. Il-hyeon had been a complete unknown, a total rookie.

But now, he had become a promising talent within Aegis, comparable even to Lee Tae-hee.

The number of B-Rank monster species he had subdued single-handedly was already approaching the triple digits, and he had a record of taking down an A-Rank ace monster called a Torg.

Of course, aside from its tough hide, it was one of the weaker A-Rank monsters, but for someone who had only recently awakened to defeat it was a remarkable feat.

It was only natural that questions and curiosities were pouring in from all over about where this completely unknown monster rookie had suddenly come from.

However, Lee Soo-yeon simply stared at him without giving an answer.

“Right, you’re not going to tell me. I didn’t expect you to.”

“Everyone has their own circumstances. Anyway, I have high hopes for this cycle.”

Lee Soo-yeon placed the documents into an envelope and stood up.

“I’ll be thirty soon, and I want to rest. At this rate, I’m going to die old without ever getting married.”

“But from the looks of it, this cycle is going to be the busiest yet. Will you be okay with that?”

Choi Hyeon-tae asked cautiously.

From what he had observed of her personality over the past few years, it didn’t seem like she would ever turn her back on the field.

The position of an Aegis Team Leader was always busy, but among them, Lee Soo-yeon was famous for working without rest.

The reason she buried herself in work wasn’t because she was obsessed with money or fame.

“You can’t stand to see people… die.”

Choi Hyeon-tae looked at her.

At his words, Lee Soo-yeon’s eyes held a brief, bitter look as she brushed the dust off her clothes.

“That’s why I have high hopes.”

She looked at Lee Tae-hee and Il-hyeon, who were standing together.

They might be the two who would carry the next generation.

Lee Tae-hee possessed two special powers with extremely high potential, even among the top-tier A-Ranks, and she had recently begun to truly blossom.

And as for Il-hyeon…

He was a bit old to be called the next generation, but he had clearly demonstrated bottomless potential and an unbelievable growth rate.

Perhaps he could change the world.

“Take care. And don’t get hurt.”

Lee Soo-yeon patted Choi Hyeon-tae’s shoulder.

“Everyone, let’s pack up! Time to head back.”

* * *

December 25th.

The bustling streets of Korea were filled with an excited energy.

Christmas carols drifted from all directions, and large trees twinkled with lights.

A light snow was falling just right, and couples and happy families were out enjoying Christmas Day.

“Nice.”

Il-hyeon smiled as he looked around.

The streets were incredibly crowded, but after weeks of seeing nothing but rubble and ruins, just looking at such a peaceful, carefree scene warmed his heart.

The only thing missing was a girlfriend to link arms with.

“It’s fine. It’s not that I can’t get a girlfriend, I’m choosing not to. Right… I’m just too busy with work.”

Il-hyeon walked on, rationalizing to himself as couple after couple brushed past him.

Just then, the inside of the shopping bag he was holding stirred.

His summons were squirming among the presents he had bought for his parents.

“We’ll be there soon, so be patient.”

Il-hyeon gently tapped the shopping bag.

Not wanting to draw unnecessary attention, he had endured the strange feeling of altering his face and changed his features.

Thankfully, the crowds made it so that a slight change to his eyes went unnoticed.

But walking around with four peculiarly shaped animals—one with nine tails, for instance, even if shrunken—would surely get him found out in no time.

‘I should get home quickly and just crash.’

Il-hyeon yawned widely and checked the time on his phone.

Even with the help of medication, he hadn’t been able to sleep properly, and the fatigue had been steadily accumulating.

He had mostly survived on short naps, and for once, he wanted to sleep soundly for half a day.

Still, since his trip had been longer than expected and he had been too busy to even call, he planned to visit his parents first and then get some deep sleep there.

As Il-hyeon crossed the street, he scrolled through the news section of a portal site out of habit from his office days, and unexpectedly, he came face to face with another version of himself.

“Damn, my face…”

Il-hyeon covered one side of his face in embarrassment.

A special feature article was plastered right in the middle of the main page.

A large picture of Il-hyeon was featured there.

To be precise, it was a photo split into four sections, but all Il-hyeon could see was his own face, which seemed to have been captured at a particularly odd angle.

‘I can never get used to this.’

Il-hyeon shook his head and clicked on the article. A long piece with photos and text appeared.

It was an article about the year-end power ranking predictions, comparing and ranking the best Awakened.

It was a cliché topic, but one the public loved most.

At the very top was a familiar picture.

The number one spot, of course, belonged to Min Ji-hoon.

A photo of him from his active days, looking sharp as a razor, was accompanied by a long explanation.

For athletes, retired individuals would never be included in rankings, but it was a different story for the Awakened.

Retired Awakened would almost always be forced to return if a truly dangerous situation arose, and considering that, they were invariably included in these kinds of rankings.

Of course, their evaluation would drop as their skills dulled from inactivity, but Min Ji-hoon, a living legend, was a major exception.

Besides him, the retired Aegis Director Ryu Jin-tae was also ranked high up, followed by a stream of photos of team leaders, including Seol Ah-yeong from the government team he had recently met, and Lee Soo-yeon.

Il-hyeon wondered where he fit into all this, but there he was, at the very end, featured as the number one rising star of the year.

Alongside a field photo of him with a dusty face—taken who knows when—was a lengthy description of him.

However, it was a bit different from the other Awakened.

For each rank in the article, there were various comments from self-proclaimed experts, along with the Awakened’s rank, their special powers, physical and mental stats, career achievements, and so on.

A variety of metrics were roughly evaluated and listed.

For Il-hyeon, however, most of these were marked with a question mark.

Having debuted so recently, there was little information on him, and since he kept his special powers private, there was nothing to write about besides his spectacular track record in a short period.

It seemed he was selected based on that alone, which pointed to an unbelievably steep growth curve.

“Hmph, they know how to spot talent.”

Il-hyeon cleared his throat, trying to maintain his composure.

Even if he usually didn’t care for such things, it was hard not to feel good seeing it.

However, the comment section was mostly filled with people calling him overrated and trashing him.

Fans of Lee Tae-hee and other promising Awakened were denouncing Il-hyeon’s media play, asking on what basis he was selected when nothing about him had been properly disclosed.

He could understand why people who didn’t know the full story would post such comments.

‘They’re the ones who picked me, so why are they blaming me?’

It was just a little absurd.

Fortunately, Il-hyeon was familiar with these kinds of news comments and brushed them off lightly.

It was all noise that would naturally die down once the truth came out later.

“But… what is this.”

After exiting the article, Il-hyeon frowned slightly as he read other news, muttering to himself.

They were articles about the new cycle, with content expecting an economic boom thanks to the greater amount of Ether being released into the market.

A flourishing economy due to increased tax revenue from Gates and the falling price of Ether.

There were articles predicting that next year’s economic growth rate would exceed five percent thanks to the new cycle, or how much electricity bills would drop.

There were also articles about the unimaginably large increase in the expected income of star Awakened.

“Still, for them to be saying things like this.”

They were treating the dangerous cycle and the increased frequency of Gates like some kind of gift bundle packed with cores.

Here, it was a disaster that felt less threatening than a traffic accident to people, but on the other side, people were continuously dying.

When he was an ordinary person, these articles hadn’t evoked any feelings, but now that he was an Awakened, he was at a loss for words.

Reading articles like this, he could understand why many Awakened held a great deal of resentment toward the media and the government for hiding the truth.

Even his friends, whom he had contacted after a long time, only knew that he would be busy lately; they knew nothing about the detailed situation regarding the Gates.

About the major and minor tragedies happening outside, and the reality for the Awakened who risked their lives.

“Hey? Look at that!”

“What is it?”

“Whoa…”

People began to murmur, looking up at the sky.

Puzzled by the sudden situation, Il-hyeon looked at the people around him and then followed their gaze upward.

Something incredible was happening there.

“What in the world is that…”

Il-hyeon muttered, staring up in a daze.

An unidentified, translucent membrane was squirming as it covered the sky.

No, it was in the process of covering it more and more.

From this distance, it was hard to tell, but it was spreading at an incredible speed while simultaneously descending.

Before long, a huge, round membrane had taken root on the ground, and it looked as if an entire city had been trapped.

People looked on with curiosity, some even touching it or pushing against it, but nothing happened.

“Hmph…!”

The problem was that even when Il-hyeon pushed against it with both hands, it didn’t budge an inch.

It wasn’t normal for such a fragile-looking barrier to withstand his strength.

Stepping back for a moment, Il-hyeon swung his fist with all his might.

*CRACK!*

A tremendous impact resounded with a loud bang, and the people around him jumped in surprise, their eyes wide as they stared at him.

But the translucent force field didn’t even have a scratch on it.

Il-hyeon looked down at his throbbing fist.

“I have a bad feeling about this…”