Chapter 97 (2/2)

Gulp—

Hwang Jun-peong quaffed the beer, then continued to speak. “Fooling someone, laughing behind their back, acting like somebody else, and watching people who love to watch it. It was all very funny to me. That was why I dreamed of becoming an actor.”

“You could have just focused on acting then.”

“As time goes on, the stimulation dulls. I stopped having fun once I got used to this job. But…”

Thump, thump—

Hwang Jun-peong walked to the big window.

“Look at those idiots. They don’t know who I actually am, but they cheer for this fake Hwang Jun-peong they see. Soon, the bereaved family will come and tell me,” Hwang Jun-peong turned his head and said in a low voice, “‘Thank you very much for helping us afford our son’s funeral. Sob, sob, sob.’”

Su-hyeun remained silent.

“They don’t know anything about me. What fools. I lose track of time when I look down on those ants.”

“Is that funny?”

“Yes, very much. It’s thrilling.”

The answer came without any hesitation.

“Is that why you created the Dump Guild? To hide the fact that you are an awakener?”

At Su-hyeun’s words, Hwang Jun-peong grinned. He was known as a normal actor, not an awakener. But he was the worst awakener that Su-hyeun had ever heard of. He was the founder of the Dump Guild. And he was a terrible criminal who had managed to hide his identity. That was the real Hwang Jun-peong.

“Yes. I thought I was hiding it well. But you… I don’t know how you figured it out.”

Sizzling—

Hwang Jun-peong lit up a cigarette and asked, “You leaked information to the Chinese Agency, didn’t you?”

“Because I knew you targeted Beijing. You’re a cautious guy and I thought you wouldn’t risk revealing yourself.”

Su-hyeun thought he knew a lot about Hwang Jun-peong, but there was one mistake he made.

“I never thought you would murder Lin Zhuming.”

Hwang Jun-peong was a cautious person. He had been hiding his identity for a lifetime. He was always very careful to hide his true intentions. Su-hyeun thought if the Chinese Agency was involved, Hwang Jun-peong would not take any action. Even if he did, Su-hyeun never expected Hwang Jun-peong to gamble when two S-rank awakeners were involved.

“Lin Zhuming! I really wanted to kill that bitch with my own hands. I met her once at a party, she was annoying. Ha-ha!”

“Did he have a personal grudge?” Su-hyeun thought. “No. This couldn’t be called a grudge.”

He had killed her simply because he thought she was annoying. It would be impossible to consider him normal.

“He’s a real psychopath,” Su-hyeun thought.

The Dump Guild had all kinds of human beings. The most common one among them was the one who wanted to show off their strength. Twisted exhibitionists usually related to the crime directly.

However, Hwang Jun-peong was not like those people. He was crazier than anyone else. He was a famous actor before he became an awakener. But according to his own words, he had this twisted personality from the beginning. He enjoyed cheating and deceiving others.

“You must think you’re above them.” Su-hyeun pointed to the fans visible through the window. “Maybe you’re right. You’re surely a great actor, Hwang Jun-peong. You deserve to think of yourself that way.”

“Are you complimenting me? You’ll make me blush.”

“That was not a compliment.” Su-hyeun stood. “I meant I will drag you down.”

“…What will you do? How will you get me here?”

“I put your manager to sleep. Your people won’t be back for at least an hour. I also soundproofed the room.”

“You’ve prepared a lot, haven’t you?”

At Hwang Jun-peong’s words, Su-hyeun nodded.

“The penthouse is nice. The living room is so spacious. I could even play soccer here, right?”

“Ha-ha-ha.”

Hwang Jun-peong laughed strangely. He threw his beer bottle and warmed up his hand.

“It’s perfect. I would be in trouble if I revealed my identity during the fight. Who else knows about me?”

“No one. If you kill me, nobody would know. I can guarantee that.”

“You’re pretty determined, huh.”

“Because I’ll be in trouble if you run away.”

“Run away? Me?”

“Don’t pretend like you have the guts. I know you, and you are that kind of person.”

For the first time, there was a crack in Hwang Jun-peong’s smile.

“Why do you pretend to know me? What the hell are you?”

“I know you well.”

What Su-hyeun said was not an empty phrase. This was not the first time that Su-hyeun had faced off against Hwang Jun-peong.

“It was because of me,” Su-hyeun thought.

He was complacent. He had reflected on it a lot. In his previous life, Su-hyeun had missed Hwang Jun-peong because of a small mistake. He had run away and made another guild. It had taken almost half a year to clean up the resurrected Dump Guild. Su-hyeun still felt sick thinking about all the people who were victimized by the Dump Guild during that time.

“I won’t miss you this time,” Su-hyeun said.

“…You’re annoying.”

“Then bring it on.”

Schwing—

Su-hyeun drew his sword.

“Don’t run away.”

“Okay.”

Rumble—

Enormous magic suddenly filled up the large living room. It was the most ominous magic Su-hyeun had ever encountered.

“I will kill you quickly.”

It was highly concentrated magic that gave Su-hyeun chills. Su-hyeun had caught him in his previous life. But Su-hyeun was different from that time, he was much stronger now.

“It’s been ten years since he became an awakener,” Su-hyeun thought.

Hwang Jun-peong became an awakener in the first year that dungeons and awakeners started to appear. Since then, Hwang Jun-peong spent most of his time in the Tower of Trials except for a few months out of the year.

When other people attacked the dungeons, he worked as an actor and expanded his power in the Tower of Trials. He was a talented awakener. Just by virtue of sheer talent, he was comparable to other S-Rank awakeners.

There were two reasons that Su-hyeun left him alone so far, even though he knew his identity. First, Hwang Jun-peong could conceal his identity and vanish if he figured out somebody had discovered the truth. If Hwang Jun-peong decided to go to ground, it would be more difficult to find him again.

Second, Su-hyeun did not want to make any mistakes. He wanted to make sure he could catch him. He needed time to get strong enough. He waited until he was confident to not miss Hwang Jun-peong.