Staggered (1)

The scene had monster bodies scattered everywhere.

Due to the quick action, there was almost no property damage, and on top of that, they succeeded in destroying all the monsters at the gate’s entrance.

There were five members of Team A, and it was only natural that they arrived on time.

Then, the Aegis’ plane landed, and an Awakened man in a black coat descended.

The man who was alone approached Lee Soo-Yeon, who was currently sitting on a wreck while checking the documents in her hand.

“Thank you,” the man said as he took off his hat.

“You can easily take control over this particular spot,” Lee Soo-Yeon said from that man’s accustomed voice and looked up at him.

Then, a familiar face that she’d seen a lot of times came into view.

“Their numbers were actually a lot, even for the team leader.”

Lee Soo-Yeon laughed faintly.

The man’s name was Choi Hyun-Tae, one of her team members until the previous year.

Then, he finally got promoted and even had a team assigned to him.

It was one of the newly formed teams for this cycle.

“So, it’s temporary. Honestly, there’s Kang-Joon and Hyun-Seo, but I don’t know why I was selected, not even an A rank.”

“They’re still new kids, and you’re a team leader already.”

“Is that a compliment? It sounds very bitter.”

“I like to say it that way.”

The two laughed shallowly.

Then, Lee Soo-Yeon smiled and looked at him with a very serious expression.

“You deserve it, so I entrusted it to you. It’s not the other way around. It’s the responsibility of an entire team, but I know you’re not the type of person who’s going to waste it. Take pride.”

“Haha, it’s an honor.”

When they gathered the Awakeners, a few people at hand could be the leader of Aegis.

As the world’s best gathered Awakeners, the leader had to have the ability to be recognized and to lead the people.

When team members looked up to the team leader, teamwork tends to be better.

Choi Hyun-Tae, although he couldn’t go beyond A rank, has good skills, and has enough qualities in most aspects of his judgment and career.

At least Lee Soo-Yeon in this position thought so.

“Where is he....”

Choi Hyun-Tae looked around repeatedly.

From the Aegis staff to local officials at the site where the gate was finished, many people were running around.

“Oh, Il-Hyun is there!” Lee Soo-Yeon faced her head and pointed to one side.

Then, Choi Hyun-Tae’s eyes moved along its path.

Il-Hyun, who was having a serious conversation with Ghost and Lee Tae-hee, arrived.

“What do you want to eat for lunch?” he said even though their conversation was casual.

“Two of the most anticipated Awakeners are here. Where did that guy come from? Usually, I don’t care about something like this,” he asked as he slightly lowered his voice.

Amazingly, Lee Soo-Yeon brought a person for the first time.

However, his skill soon became too promising for Aegis, and it’s now comparable to Lee Tae-hee’s.

He has already reached the three-digit number of the B-ranked monster kills, but Togra actually has a history of capturing A-ranked ace monsters.

Of course, after removing his solid body, he was equal to some of the weaker A-class monsters, but recruiting someone who Awakened just a while ago was a big deal.

It was natural that curiosity and questions were flying around, about where the surprisingly unknown Awakener rookie came from.

But Lee So-Yeon wasn’t saying anything. She was just staring at him.

“Right, you won’t say anything. I already expected it.”

“Because we’re in different situations. Anyway, I have high expectations this time,” Lee Soo-Yeon stood up, putting documents in an envelope.

“I’m turning thirty soon, and I want to stop. I can’t get married and die old if I go on this way.”

“But as I watch what’s happening right now, I think this cycle is going to be the busiest, don’t you think?” Choi Hyun-Tae carefully asked.

He watched her personality change over the past few years; she seemed to leave the scene by saying.

“I don’t know.”

Although the Aegis team leader was usually busy, Lee Soo-Yeon was famous for working around the clock, and it wasn’t because she was obsessed with money or fame that she was so buried in her work.

“Ah, man!.. I can’t see you die.” Choi Hyun-Tae said as he looked at her.

Lee Soo-Yeon, who bitterly glanced at him, brushed off her dusty clothes.

“So, you’re actually looking forward to it.”

From where she was standing, she looked at Lee Tae-hee and Il-Hyun and thought that they would be responsible for the next generations to come.

Lee Tae-hee had two instincts with very high potential among A ranks, which happened to be the highest level, and was in full bloom recently.

Above all, the other guy..

He was a bit old for the next generation, but he clearly showed strong potential and an amazing growth rate.

Lee Soo-Yeon thought that maybe both of them can change the world.

“I’m tired. Don’t tire yourself,” Lee Soo-Yeon hit Choi Hyun-Tae’s shoulders.

“Let’s go pack up, everyone! We have to go back.”

* * *

25th.

Korea’s bustling streets were filled with excitement.

Carols flowed from place to place, and the large trees glowed.

It was snowing in moderation, and lovers and harmonious families were enjoying Christmas day.

“Nice,” Il-Hyun looked around and smiled.

The streets were incredibly crowded, but for the past few weeks, he was only looking at the broken ruins, his heart warming up just by beholding the peaceful scenery before him without a worry.

Except he doesn’t have a girlfriend to fold his arms around with.

“OK. I don’t have a date.. It’s just that I’m too busy with..work,” Il-Hyun walked by and justified himself to the couples passing by.

At that time, the shopping bag he was holding shook.

The Summoners were lazing among the items they bought as gifts for his parents.

“We’re going soon, so stay calm,” Il-Hyun touched the shopping bag.

He didn’t want to attract the people’s attention, and randomly changing his face also changed his standard impression.

Although many people didn’t notice as they barely only slightly strained their eyes.

Even if the Summoner’s sizes were reduced, they ran on fours, had unusual traits like visible nine tails.

I’m going to go to bed and sleep quickly.

Il-Hyun yawned loudly and checked his cell phone’s time.

Even with the help of medicine, his fatigue had continued to accumulate, as he hasn’t been able to sleep properly.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep, but most of the time, it felt like he could sleep for half a day or so.

Still, the trip was longer than he thought, and he was so busy that he couldn’t get in touch with his parents that much, so he visited them once and fell asleep afterward.

Crossing the street, Il-Hyun traversed the station’s news column. It had become a habit of his before going to work, and he unintentionally encountered something.

“My face looks crazy....”

Il-Hyun had already covered his face.

It was a feature article that sat in the middle of the main page.

There was a big picture of Il-Hyun posted in there.

To be precise, it was a picture of four people combined into one image, but one side of Il-Hyun’s face showed only his eyes, which looked weird.

I really can’t get used to this.

Il-Hyun shook his head and clicked on the article. An enlarged photo and text appeared.

Regarding the power ranking predictions at the end of the year, it was an article ranking and was comparing who was the best Awakener.

The answer was obvious, but it was the subject that the public talked about the most.

On top of that was a familiar picture.

The first one was Min Ji-hoon.

He seemed to be in his young days, along with additional explanations.

Awakeners who have already retired will not be placed in the rankings, but the Awakened people, in reality, had different stories.

Most of the retired Awakened people were forced to return when a really dangerous situation approaches.

Of course, when their activity was lowered, their evaluation declined as much as their ability became dull, but Min Ji-hoon, was like a living legend, he was an exception.

Also, Ryu Jin-Tae, the representative of Aegis, who was also retired, was in a high position. There were also photographs of the faces of the heads of the teams, including Lee Soo-Yeon of Aegis, and Ah Seol-young of the government team that they met a while ago.

He was trying to see where Il-Hyun would be in it, but he had high expectations this year.

When he was Awakened, a long description of himself was written on the column along with a photo of a scene wherein he had a lot of dust on his face.

However, it was a little different from other Awakeners.

Each article ranks with opinions of self-proclaimed experts, Awakeners that possessed the desired ability, physical and mental, career and performance, etc.

Various indicators were roughly evaluated.

However, most of them were written with question marks at the end of their sentences.

Shortly after Il-Hyun’s debut, there was no information and guesses made, and that meant there was nothing to write down except for his brilliant performance in a short amount of time.

It seems he had been chosen because it alone shows his ridiculously steep growth.

“Hmmm, I really look good here.”

Il-Hyun was coughing while caressing his face.

However, most of the comments that responded to him said that he was a bubble.

Nothing has been released properly, but on what criteria was he selected for, and fans of Lee Tae-hee and other promising Awakeners were complaining about the unfair play.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand why they were posting such comments from a perspective they didn’t know.

They’re the ones who chose me, so why are they cursing me now?

It’s just a little absurd.

However, Il-Hyun brushed it off lightly because he was familiar with these kinds of news comments.

It will sound natural when he actually turned out like this.

“By the way.. What’s this..?”

After leaving the screen, Il-Hyun read the other articles frowning and muttering slightly.

These were articles on the new cycle that hopes for an economic boom thanks to more Ether being released on the market.

The economy is fueled by higher tax revenues and lower Ether prices, thanks to the gate.

Thanks to the new cycle, economic growth is expected to exceed 5 percent next year, so how much the electricity bill will fall.

Besides, some articles dealt with the expected earnings that would rise beyond the imagination of star Awakeners.

“But yes. You all can say this.”

Gates with increased risk cycles and frequencies were considered a gift bag that gave them a bunch of candies.

It was a disaster where it happened, but people treated it like no more than a traffic accident, yet people continued to die on the other side.

When Il-Hyun was an ordinary citizen, these articles won’t ignite anger in him, but when he became an Awakener, he had nothing to say about the topic at hand.

Looking at these articles, it was understandable that many Awakened people were dissatisfied with the media and the government that hid the truth.

Friends who contacted him also know that he will be busy these days, but they didn’t know anything about the gate’s details.

About the realities of the Awakenings of big and small outbreaks and lives being taken in them

“Uh? Look at that!”

“What is it?”

“Wow..”

People mumbled and looked at the sky.

Confused by the sudden situation, Il-Hyun looked at the sky.

Il-Hyun thought that something was amazing going on up there.

“What is that..?” Il-Hyun muttered as he looked up.

There was a shudder, and the translucent film, which was unidentifiable, covered the sky.

No, it was covering more and more.

It wasn’t easy to see from a distance, but it spread at an enormous speed and simultaneously descended.

Shortly after that, a large, rounded membrane formed around it, and the city seemed to be trapped entirely.

People were curious and touched and pushed, but nothing happened.

“Huh....”

The problem is that Il-Hyun didn’t break it even though he pushed it with both hands.

It was not normal for this weak-looking film to overcome his powers.

Il-Hyun, who stepped back for a moment, hit it with his fist as hard as he could.

Bang!

The shock made a loud noise, and the people around him stared at him with wide-open eyes.

However, the semi-transparent power barrier was not scratched.

Il-Hyun looked down at his hurting fist.

“It didn’t budge..?”