Chapter 52 - Staggered (1) (2/2)

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…?”