Chapter 135 (1/2)

Act 2

Hak-joon was sitting in the living room with his eyes closed, thinking over the fight he’d had during the Ranking Wars.

<< I got lucky. >>

He knew that he wasn’t skilled enough to get to the finals. He’d only managed to pass the preliminaries because the team he was assigned to didn’t fight amongst themselves and got through their mission, that was all.

Then, his opponent during the first round just happened to be an awakener specializing in recovery-type skills. So far, he had been riding his luck. If he had to go through a similar path as Su-hyeun, then he’d have dropped out during the prelims, that’s for sure.

<< What would’ve happened if I fought against Thomas….? >>

He had witnessed Thomas’s strange skill through the display screens. Although that particular skill’s name was unknown, Hak-joon knew that his abilities were inadequate to break out of that.

Su-hyeun’s methods always had been based on the overwhelming, absolute difference in power level between himself and his opponents. Such a method would only work for people like him and maybe Gordon Rohan and…just these two, really.

<< What if I fought against Gordon Rohan? >>

He imagined how he would fight the American in his mind. It wasn’t a pretty picture.

<< What if I fought Su-hyeun, then? >>

He couldn’t even picture that. Hak-joon had no clue of the true extent of Su-hyeun’s abilities, since he’d never seen him go all-out before.

Su-hyuen, Thomas, and Gordon Rohan.

Compared to those three, he was just too weak.

“Hah-ah-” Hak-joon sighed.

Lee Ju-ho, sitting next to him asked, “Is something wrong?”

“I was thinking that I’m still way behind, that’s all.”

Lee Ju-ho’s expression soured as he heard Hak-joon’s reply, “Is that something you should say in front of me?”

He’d been an awakener for far longer than Hak-joon, after all.

“Oh, that, uh….” Hak-joon could only smile awkwardly and avoid meeting Lee Ju-ho’s piercing gaze.

He knew he should be resting, yet his body continued to itch for some reason. He stood up from the couch, wondering if he should go somewhere to loosen up, but then…

“I’m home.” Su-hyeun’s voice drifted from the foyer.

Hak-joon was so engrossed in his thoughts that he failed to notice Su-hyeun’s return. He got up and walked over to the foyer to welcome back his bro, returning from almost a full day’s absence.

“Hey, bro. Welcome ba….?”

“Uh? Both of you are here?”

Su-hyeun was about to greet Hak-joon, as well as Lee Ju-ho, also coming to the entrance, but belatedly noticed that both men were frozen stiff, eyes wide.

All thanks to Thomas, cautiously following behind him.

“B-bro, behind you…”

“Oh, him. He said he had no place to go, so I told him to come with me. Why don’t you say hello, Thomas.”

Thomas listened Su-hyeun and awkwardly greeted the others from behind his back. Since the greeting itself was in pretty simple English, understanding the dude wasn’t a problem. No, the real problem was something else.

“Will this be okay?” Hak-joon asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Let me explain what happened.”

Su-hyeun went on to explain Thomas’s situation to Hak-joon and Lee Ju-ho. After hearing everything, they began to see Thomas in a slightly different light.

“Ah, that means from now on….”

“I should say that he really doesn’t have anywhere to go. Until the Ranking Wars are over and we’re ready to leave, he’s going to crash here with us. And then I’ll find him a house once we get back. He’ll probably go back to climbing the tower afterward.”

“Meaning, he’ll be with us until then?”

“Yeah. So, please, do try to look after him.”

“Even if you ask us that, I don’t speak a lick of English, so….”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be the interpreter,” said Lee Ju-ho.

“Bro? Since when do you know English?” Hak-joon asked, eyes wide.

Lee Ju-jo ignored Hak-joon and furrowed his brows ever so slightly. “Su-hyeun, someone was looking for you while you were out.”

“Who was it?”

“It was the other Korean S-Rank awakener besides our little group. Name’s Bak Yun-gyu. Besides the name, I don’t know much about him.”

“Bak Yun-gyu….?”

Su-hyeun’s brows rose at hearing that name.

Lee Ju-ho was puzzled and asked him a question. “What’s the matter? You know him?”

“No, not personally. But I do know what kind of a person he is.”

Su-hyeun knew that he was in America as well, but since they weren’t acquainted at all, he didn’t expect the other side to seek him out first. Also, that man had never been too interested in other people’s business, anyway.

<< Looks like I’ll meet him far sooner than I thought. >>

Bak Yun-gyu.

The awakener affiliated with the Korean Awakener Authority, and also the man who taught Su-hyeun how to fight in his previous life.

More importantly, South Korea’s strongest awakener, as far as Su-hyeun knew.

That was Bak Yun-gyu.

* * *

Inside a spacious cafe within the Gordon Tower:

Currently, the place was off-limits to everyone until the end of the Ranking Wars, yet one man was using it as if he had rented the whole place out.

He was a clean-cut man in his mid-thirties, his black hair cropped short like a soldier’s, his face angular like an actor’s.

With a cup of coffee bought from the convenience store in one hand, he was observing the countryside of California spreading outside the windows.

“….You came faster than I thought,” the man said while turning around, as a familiar face walked into the cafe. “Mister Kim Su-hyeun.”

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister Bak Yun-gyu.”

Bak Yun-gyu nodded his head at Su-hyeun’s greeting and stood up from his chair. He walked closer and pushed forward another cup of coffee he bought earlier from a convenience store.

“This place isn’t operating at the moment, so I had one ready beforehand. We’re meeting in a cafe, so I thought that at least coffee should be available.”

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

“I’m not sure if such a cheap cup of coffee will satisfy your palate. People’s taste buds seem to have become rather discerning lately.”

“Tastes good in your mouth but is bad for your health. In that regard, this cup is better than okay, actually.”

Su-hyeun received the cup, took the lid off, and emptied half of the coffee inside in one go, since Bak Yun-gyu had already finished his coffee a while ago, after growing weary from all the waiting.

The lukewarm cup of coffee had no aroma, just the bittersweet taste.

“You’re exactly as I expected.”