Part 1, Chapter 2 (17)

Seung-hyung opened his eyes to the warm sunlight touching his face.

“??”

It was a familiar ceiling. The special ward of the Hero-exclusive hospital attached to the Association headquarters. Only A-rank and above could enter this ward, and Seung-hyung had already been indebted to it multiple times.

Seung-hyung tried to get up but collapsed back down under the oppressive sensation weighing down his entire body.

“They said it’s mana exhaustion.”

Across from him, a blonde woman sat on the bed, greeting Seung-hyung with a gaunt face. An IV drip containing pale green fluid was stuck in her arm.

Seung-hyung recalled the woman’s name from a memory several years ago.

“Stormgirl Yang Seon-woo?”

“Tempest Lady. I beat up the commander and changed my name.”

“…Ah, I see.”

It was rare for an established epithet to change unless one became an S-rank. Seung-hyung, guessing the reason why Yang Seon-woo, who was merely an A-rank, changed her name, closed his mouth.

Yang Seon-woo’s previous position was, as of this year, 3-

“You seem to be thinking something unpleasant.”

“Not at all.”

Seung-hyung, who had barely managed to sit up, extended both arms forward. His right arm was tightly wrapped in white bandages.

“Uh….”

“They said it’s a burn. Honestly. It’s the first time in my life I’ve seen a pyrokinesis user get burned. How strongly did you pour mana into it?”

“Ah, ahaha.”

Seung-hyung rubbed his neck with his left hand. He had simply poured mana beyond his limits, driven by the thought of having to defeat the monster.

“Ah! Fire Dragon?!”

Seung-hyung was startled and tried to stand up from the bed. But the pain in his legs immediately made him lose strength, and he slumped back down.

Seon-woo looked at Seung-hyung with a mix of pride and exasperation, then pointed to the TV placed between the beds. On the news channel the woman had turned on, a man with a familiar face was entering a press conference hall.

“Ah.”

“He’s your uncle, isn’t he?”

Seung-hyung nodded.

The middle-aged man stood before the microphone in the conference hall. The man, with a generally sharp impression, had a long knife scar below his left eye.

[Citizens, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I am President Seonui Cheol.]

Lee Seung-hyung clutched the blanket with his left hand.

The iron-blooded ruler. The cold-blooded man. The man who didn’t hesitate to get blood on his hands in the name of national interest.

A ruthless strategist who packaged his son, who was wandering after losing his father, as merely a new ability user who had experienced an unfortunate incident, to boost their approval ratings.

Despite him being his uncle, Seung-hyung did not vote for him. But having built immense power based in New Seoul, he rose to the presidency with the support of New Seoul’s residents.

“He’s capable, but he’s the type that always puts me off whenever I see him. …Oops.”

“It’s alright.”

Seung-hyung turned his gaze away from the TV with an understanding smile. The clock already pointed to 10 AM.

“How long did I sleep?”

“More than half a day.”

“That long?”

Even when he was actively deployed to monster suppression sites, he was fine sleeping only three hours a day. Seung-hyung was surprised that his mana had been depleted to such an extent and placed his left hand on his chest.

Thump.

Fortunately, his heart was still beating hotly. More precisely, the blue flame felt inside his heart had not yet extinguished and remained.

“Whew.”

Seung-hyung let out a deep sigh of relief. The traces of the blue flame, as if it would incinerate his entire body, were still vivid in his eyes.

“Oh? Seung-hyung-ssi? Your eyes?”

“Huh?”

Seon-woo pointed at Seung-hyung’s pupils. Seung-hyung was surprised to see his eyes reflected on his smartwatch screen.

The iris, set in the middle of the white, was dyed blue.

“Seung-hyung-ssi’s awakening is truly unique. Others have their hair color change, but Seung-hyung-ssi’s eye color changes.”

“……Indeed.”

Seung-hyung vaguely answered, fumbling his words. Seon-woo didn’t know, but Seung-hyung clearly saw the flame burning in his pupils.

“Ah. What about the Fire Dragon?!”

As Seung-hyung fidgeted, not knowing what to do, Seon-woo pointed to the TV. The President played a video, telling them to look at the screen next to him during his speech.

A shaking view. In the evening night, where black flames blazed and acrid smoke billowed, a white flame rushed forward.

The urgent shouts of the heroes and the roar of the demon-type Fire Dragon immediately made the viewers tense.

The man, rushing through the black flames, leaped high towards the Fire Dragon’s head. The Fire Dragon thrust its head forward and swallowed the man.

“It’s still scary to watch. What were you thinking, rushing in like that?”

“Ah, ahaha.”

Seung-hyung gave an awkward laugh and placed his hand on the bandage on his right arm. In the video, the desperate screams of the heroes echoed.

And then, for a moment. A white flame shot up, piercing through the Fire Dragon’s nape. The video’s brightness even momentarily dimmed to protect the viewers’ eyes.

“It’s really white. Do you know that all of Seung-hyung-ssi’s fan nicknames in the community have ‘white’ attached to them? Like White Flame Emperor, or White Flame.”

“…Huh?”

Seung-hyung’s eyes widened. Of course, white was strong. But wasn’t the light blue flame rising within that white flame even more noticeable?

“Ah. Seung-hyung-ssi, is the name better? It’s also the name given by your mentor, the Praetor.”

“Ah, yes. That name is better, but….”

“That’s good then.”

At the voice heard from the door, Seung-hyung tried to straighten his posture but collapsed back onto the bed from muscle pain.

The man who entered, Yoo Young-ho, exuding a coffee scent, scanned the hospital room with eyes heavily shadowed by dark circles.

“Where are the others?”

“They went to review the combat footage. I was stuck here.”

“I told you to do it after you’ve fully recovered.”

Seon-woo tapped her smartwatch and then pointed her chin at Young-ho. Seung-hyung immediately understood the meaning.

“Were you waiting for me to wake up?”

“You can’t forcibly wake up a great hero who defeated the Fire Dragon.”

Young-ho looked for a place to sit and frowned at the TV screen. When the video ended, the President’s face returned.

[Rest assured! The Republic of Korea is safe!]

Snap.

Young-ho cut the mana cable connected to the TV.

“Ruining my mood first thing in the morning.”

“You still hate the government, Praetor-nim. Oh, by the way. What happened to the Minister of Measures?”

“He already fled to Japan. If he has any conscience, he won’t be able to return to Korea forever.”

Young-ho casually sat on the bed next to Seung-hyung’s. His eyes, reflected through the sipping tumbler, were reproaching Seung-hyung.

“Lee Seung-hyung.”

“I’m sorry….”

Seung-hyung, too exhausted to even turn his head, could only answer while looking at the ceiling.

“You know how many times you almost died, don’t you?”

“…Yes.”

It was a miraculous survival, difficult to describe even as a miracle. He directly confronted a demon-type, lured that demon-type from Gwanak Mountain to Anyang, directly countered its breath attack, and detonated mana inside the demon-type’s mouth.

“You even ignored orders at the end.”

“I saw the time remaining and got impatient….”

While it might be true for any hero active in Korea, the thought of Chinese and Japanese heroes from the east and west setting foot on the Korean peninsula, even for simple travel or friendly relations, was unwelcome.

Especially thinking of those who abandoned Korea and naturalized in those two countries, Seung-hyung’s teeth would grind.

“I reflect on it. But if such a moment comes again, I will do it again.”

“For what?”

Seung-hyung closed and opened his eyes for a moment. A faint white flame flickered before his forehead.

“For those who entrusted this power to me.”

“…What?”

Young-ho’s expression hardened. Seon-woo stared at Seung-hyung as if he were possessed by a ghost.

Seung-hyung looked between the two with a puzzled expression.

“Why are you like this? You all know, don’t you? The person who gave me power when I closed the dimensional gate on Gwanak Mountain peak.”

“Seung-hyung-ssi… what are you talking about?”

Seon-woo’s voice trembled. Young-ho leaned in, meeting Seung-hyung’s eyes.

“Description?”

“Uh, well.”

Seung-hyung searched his memory. Suddenly, his head throbbed, and he winced.

“Ugh….”

“Don’t strain yourself, try to recall it slowly.”

As Young-ho soothed him, Seung-hyung blinked and then described the impression that came to mind.

“A large man in a gray hood. His face was covered so I couldn’t see it. He called himself… ugh.”

A sudden dizziness caused Seung-hyung’s body to momentarily convulse. After that, the images of those he had encountered on Gwanak Mountain peak completely eluded him.

“Lee Seung-hyung. Look at this.”

Young-ho, with a stern face, tapped his smartwatch to bring up a screen. Young-ho tilted the screen so Seung-hyung could see it even while lying down, and pointed to the center of the image.

“This is Gwanak Mountain peak at the moment the dimensional gate closed and the demon-type, Fire Dragon, appeared.”

The first satellite image. The satellite image was heavily distorted due to the mana waves generated from the dimensional gate.

“And this is a scan of the mana waves at that time.”

A giant red circle and a very faint green dot. Seung-hyung knew well the owner of the mana pattern emitted by that green dot.

“That’s me?”

“Playing it back.”

The still image played back as a video. The Fire Dragon rampaged around, and Seung-hyung’s signal remained in place. And a moment later, Seung-hyung’s signal grew stronger and began to move towards Anyang in the south.

Seung-hyung’s expression hardened. What should have been there was not.

“The demon-type and you. On that day, there were only two mana patterns on Gwanak Mountain peak.”

“But… surely that man was.”

“The phenomena people experience when awakening to S-rank differ. Some just awaken, some meet deceased parents, and some receive power from a third party. It seems you saw a hallucination of someone granting you power.”

“Ah. Is that how it is?”

Seung-hyung smiled in relief. The large man who had given him power and asked for world peace. He was merely a figure from a hallucination that appeared during his awakening.

“But is that really so surprising?”

“…Seung-hyung-ssi. Listen carefully.”

Yang Seon-woo said, her voice trembling.

“The last love you appeared in. Most of the filming crew survived.”

“Then that’s good, most?”

Seung-hyung abruptly sat up in anxiety. His entire body screamed in pain, but Seung-hyung endured the agony from the creeping unease in his chest.

“…Three people died.”

Young-ho swiped the screen. There was a newspaper article ranked third in the entertainment section.

「Actress Cheon Gaeul, dies at the age of 28.」

“Huh?”

Seung-hyung even forgot his pain.

“It’s a joke, right?”

Seung-hyung pressed the screen with trembling hands. The mosaiced photo showed a celebrity vehicle attacked by a monster.

“You’re just messing with me as a hazing ritual for becoming S-rank, right? Right?”

Seung-hyung scrolled down the article.

– …In the early hours of that day, the joint investigation team discovered two bodies in the parking lot of S University. Mr. Kwon, a filming staff member, and Mr. Shin, actress Cheon Gaeul’s manager, were found as cold corpses…

“Look. It’s not Gaeul-ssi.”

– Meanwhile, a massive amount of blood was found on the rooftop of a lecture hall near the parking lot. After examining the traces of dragging from the rooftop door, the Association investigator determined, based on mana analysis, that the blood belonged to actress ‘Cheon Gaeul-ssi’….

Seung-hyung’s vision went black.

But Young-ho’s words weren’t over.

“And this is a photo of the rooftop where Cheon Gaeul is presumed to have been ‘murdered’.”

Red blood splattered across the entire rooftop. The trail of blood, as if dragged from the steel door, led to a massive pool of blood.
“…Cheon Gaeul, is dead.”

Gods do not ask for a price.

If one demands a price for power, that is a demon deceiving humans with honeyed words.

The demon had taken away the love Seung-hyung had wished would be the last in his life.
Seung-hyung lost consciousness.

* * *

, Offshore.

“Came up empty-handed.”

Xiaolin turned his reins at the mana in the sea breeze brushing against his mask.

“To think someone would awaken as an S-rank.”

“Isn’t that good for a hero?”

Jeokto blinked as he walked on the water. Xiaolin affirmed by nodding his head.

“Though others don’t seem to think so.”

Xiaolin inwardly clicked his tongue, sensing that the heroes on deck were about to explode.
“Ah! What kind of bullshit is this!”

“Ugh! Joseon tricked us!”

They could have landed on the peninsula with just a little more waiting, but suddenly, due to an awakened S-rank hero, the landing became futile. Some countermeasure would surely be necessary to quell the heroes’ dissatisfaction.

“……It’s going to be a mess when we go back.”

“Still, we have to go back.”

“Yes. …….”

Xiaolin’s head turned back, glancing at the distant land.

“…….”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing at all….”

Suddenly, goosebumps rose on his back. He felt as if his back was burning up from a hot flame.

“…….”

No way. It couldn’t be. Hadn’t the reaction disappeared after falling into the sea?

“Is something happening?”

“…As soon as we return, training. Giddy up!”

Jeokto began to run on the water. Unjang wanted to wield his spear in the training ground right away.

To shake off the fear.

With Unjang’s retreat, all the amphibious assault ships turned their sterns and headed back.

* * *

“They’ve gone back.”

“What are you talking about out of the blue?”

“Oh, nothing, just a scary woman was glaring at me.”

Phoenix grinned and poured mana into Cheon Gaeul, who was lying on the ground. The pure mana of the Spirit dwelled in Cheon Gaeul’s body, dramatically boosting her physical recovery and regeneration abilities.

“Can’t you just heal her? Like, use a heal spell or something.”

“I’m a pure damage dealer, so I can’t.”

“……So you mean you can’t heal at all?”

“Yes.”

Phoenix placed both hands on Gaeul’s chest, regenerating the wounds on her body. Deokbae, following Phoenix’s command, pointed out with his eyes closed.

“Then what’s this?”

“We’re just faking it as excessive bleeding and patching it up with mana. It’s a temporary measure, so I can’t use it twice.”

Phoenix gave a bitter laugh.

“Alright, that’s the end of the treatment! Let’s move while Gaeul-ssi regains consciousness.”

Phoenix picked up Gaeul. Phoenix carrying a woman much larger than himself looked somewhat comical.

“Where are we going?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Our original destination?”

Phoenix pointed west with his chin.

“Guro.”

“……Wasn’t the original destination Yeouido?”

“Yes. Yeouido via Guro. Fufufu.”

A smile never left Phoenix’s lips.

“There’s someone I absolutely have to kill.”