Episode 13
Chapter 5: The Awakened (2)
“……That is why we are implementing the registration system.”
The consultant spent quite some time explaining the reasons for the Awakened registration system. She offered various justifications—for the safety of ordinary citizens, to prepare for side effects from ability usage, and so on—but Yeonghun could not bring himself to agree.
It had not even been two weeks since the Awakened had appeared. Their numbers were still few, and not many Awakened were committing crimes. Yet here they were preparing as if they could see the future. Yeonghun increasingly felt that his suspicions were correct.
At any rate, the consultant finished speaking and handed Yeonghun a document. It contained various cautions, compensation details, and spaces to write down a bank account number and contact information. Noticing Yeonghun reading it over, the consultant added an explanation.
“As stated, you must not cause harm to ordinary people. We will call you once a week to check in. And once a month, you must visit here or the Awakened center that will be established separately. If you are too busy to visit, simply let us know and we will come to you.”
Yeonghun frowned slightly. The registration system definitely felt closer to an emergency contact network prepared for a crisis.
Perhaps misinterpreting Yeonghun’s expression, the consultant carried on.
“And we will wire one million won per month to the account number below. Think of it as a kind of contract position.”
A million won for one monthly visit and a weekly phone call was a fairly decent income. It was not a bad incentive to encourage registration, so Yeonghun nodded.
“Ah, and in the event of an emergency, you may be called upon separately. We ask for your understanding in that regard.”
The consultant added this as if she had forgotten. There was a high probability that an emergency summons would happen soon, because the Awakened would be needed before long.
Yeonghun began filling out the document.
“Is your name Lee Eunseo?”
The voice of the consultant at the next desk carried over. Yeonghun’s hand stopped writing. He definitely knew that name.
Class A striker Lee Eunseo, a famous Korean Awakened who had made a name for herself in countless battles. Now it made sense why Yeonghun had failed to recognize her face. In the other world, Lee Eunseo had been severely injured in battle, so her appearance had been drastically different. She had been outgoing and popular, but she had shown up here dressed like a stylish career woman in a suit, so he had not recognized her. Yet hearing the name, it was unmistakably that Lee Eunseo.
Yeonghun had seen her face a few times, but their assigned regions had been different, so he had not seen much of her. Moreover, Class A and Class C moved in entirely different circles. In the end, she was someone whose name had faded from memory after she lost her life in a battle three years ago.
‘But did Eunseo awaken this early?’
Yeonghun tilted his head, puzzled, because the timing of her awakening was different from what he knew.
“Is something the matter over there?”
Seeing Yeonghun stop writing and remain still, the consultant asked him a question. Yeonghun shook his head and resumed filling out the document. His curiosity had been satisfied, so it was time to focus again. While Lee Eunseo was certainly a powerful Awakened, he did not feel the need to establish a connection with her just yet.
Once Yeonghun returned the document, the consultant began checking its contents. He then asked her something he had been wondering about.
“I have a question.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
The consultant looked up from the document.
“I heard on the internet that there is a company supporting Awakened registration work.”
“That’s correct.”
“Is there anyone from that company here as well?”
“Yes, they are helping out in the examination room. Why do you ask?”
“I was only asking out of curiosity.”
Fortunately, it seemed they had sent support to Korea as well.
The consultant finished confirming the document and pointed to the door behind Yeonghun.
“You’re all set. The examination room is in the back. They will conduct a simple physical ability test and verify your ability. Once that is done, you are completely finished.”
Yeonghun nodded, stood up from his seat, and walked toward where she had indicated. Behind him, Eunseo also rose from her seat, having seemingly finished filling out her forms.
Yeonghun looked above the door. There was a hastily made sign.
[Supernatural Ability Examination Room]
Yeonghun entered through the open door beneath the sign.
Inside was a fairly large space. Along one wall, equipment for measuring physical abilities was lined up in a row. Several people were already being tested on it, while staff in white coats watched over them with charts in hand. However, in one corner, a scene entirely removed from the surrounding atmosphere was visible. There, a man in a suit sat at a desk with a small laptop on it.
Eunseo, who had followed him inside, also tilted her head at the sight, seemingly puzzled. But Yeonghun knew exactly what was going on. It was a sight he had seen often in the other world.
Two men in white coats approached the two of them standing at the entrance.
“Kang Yeonghun?”
“Yes.”
One of them guided Yeonghun, apparently assigned to him. The other guided Eunseo.
Shortly after, Yeonghun changed clothes in a partitioned changing room and moved to where the measurement devices were. There, physical ability measurement devices that one might expect to see in a large hospital or a university sports medicine lab were lined up in abundance.
Yeonghun looked around. He could see people being tested on the equipment. One person was running continuously at 40 kilometers per hour without difficulty, and around the muscular endurance testing equipment, records were being broken one after another.
Yeonghun began his tests as well.
“This device, you see, measures cardiopulmonary function……”
While being tested, Yeonghun tuned out the man’s continuous explanations about the equipment. A short while later, after finishing the tests, as Yeonghun was wiping sweat with a towel, the man spoke excitedly.
“It’s truly amazing. At this rate, you’d shatter world records in Olympic track and field or swimming. The others are surprising too, but yours are even better, Mr. Yeonghun. Wow, the Olympics might as well be over. And……”
Yeonghun frowned. He had been training systematically ever since gaining his abilities. It was inevitable that he would be ahead of everyone else. But as the saying goes, a nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Revealing his abilities too much could draw unwanted attention. He might need to be more careful.
“Wow!”
Suddenly, an exclamation echoed throughout the examination room. Yeonghun turned his gaze toward the sound.
That was where Lee Eunseo was being tested. People in lab coats had crowded around her, and a continuous beeping was ringing out from the equipment she was on.
“As expected of Class A.”
Yeonghun muttered quietly. Awakened with high maximum levels had considerably high initial growth rates. Thanks to that, even without special training, Eunseo’s numbers were undoubtedly impressive.
“Are my tests all finished now?”
Yeonghun cut off the man who was still chattering beside him. If left alone, the man might have gone on forever.
“Ah! Right. Look at me getting carried away. The physical tests are all finished. Finally, you just need to go to that person over there for one more test.”
He pointed to the suited man Yeonghun had seen earlier. Leaving behind a man rushing excitedly toward Eunseo, Yeonghun approached the man in the suit. Another Awakened was sitting before him.
The Awakened sat in a chair wearing a device that looked like a wrist guard. A wire ran from the device to the laptop on the desk. On the laptop cover, the name “Link System” was written in large letters alongside the company logo.
‘A dimensional power detector?’
The shape was quite different, so he could not be sure. He would need to verify it more closely.
“All done. Nothing abnormal. You may remove the equipment and go back.”
The suited man spoke to the Awakened sitting before him, and the young male Awakened left his seat overjoyed at receiving free money.
“Next, please sit.”
The suited man gestured for Yeonghun to sit and took a sip of the coffee on his desk. He was a man cultivating his own little cafe atmosphere.
Yeonghun placed the towel he had been using to wipe sweat on his lap and sat in the chair before the desk. Then, as instructed by the man, he fastened the device around his wrist. The wrist guard-like device had a metal surface where it touched the skin, giving it a slightly cold sensation.
Yeonghun asked the man before him about the device.
“Could you tell me what kind of test this device performs?”
“Yes, it checks the hormones and biorhythms in your body when you use your ability to see if there is anything wrong. There is nothing wrong with your body, so please do not worry.”
Yeonghun’s eyes narrowed. He felt he needed to verify this.
Ding!
In that moment, Yeonghun’s dimensional power had appeared on the screen. A small signal sound came from the laptop.
Now was the time. Yeonghun pretended to accidentally knock over the cup on the desk.
“Oops!”
The remaining coffee spilled across the desk and onto the floor, and the man stepped back to avoid getting it on his suit.
“Sorry.”
Yeonghun apologized, stood up, and used the towel he was holding to wipe the desk. Out of the corner of his eye, he stole a glance at the laptop.
[Kang Yeonghun] [F] [1.4 / 10.0] Monitoring Required
His dimensional power information was displayed on the screen. There was definitely someone from the other world at this company. And the man’s words had been lies.
Yeonghun, who had naively thought that if there were people from the other world here, he could reveal himself and receive their help, came to his senses with a jolt. He recalled what the corporation that developed the dimensional power detectors in the other world had done. That corporation had made a fortune developing Awakened equipment before later becoming a government-affiliated research institute. It was a corporation that had treated Awakened as mere experimental subjects, countless Awakened dying as a result; those who heard the news had gnashed their teeth in fury. The vegetative state incidents involving dimensional connectors had also been the work of the institute that succeeded it.
Yeonghun tensed up once more. He needed to approach this carefully. If they learned he had come from the other world, they would not welcome him—they might throw him in as an experimental subject.
The information was written in small text at the bottom of the list of names; not many had been tested yet, so he had barely been able to make it out. His level was F, and his dimensional power was 1.4. It seemed this place could display values to one decimal place.
His training until now had been effective. Dimensional power, which normally did not increase easily without combat or special methods, had risen to 1.4.
The man who had stepped back a moment earlier seemed to remember the laptop and immediately sat back down. Yeonghun feigned complete nonchalance and sat down with the towel he had used to wipe the coffee. The man worried that Yeonghun might have seen the laptop, but seeing nothing unusual in his expression, he told Yeonghun the test was over.
“You may remove the equipment now.”
Yeonghun removed the device from his wrist.
“Then may I go home?”
“Yes, you are free to go. And as you heard from the consultant, there will be an emergency summons later. Please be sure to participate. You will likely receive separate compensation.”
Yeonghun nodded. The summons would likely come after the monsters appeared.
Yeonghun stood up and turned around. Eunseo, who had been waiting behind him, stared intently at him.
Yeonghun gave a bitter smile inwardly. He could fool ordinary people easily enough, but his abilities were insufficient to hide from an Awakened’s enhanced vision. She had clearly noticed that he had spilled the coffee on purpose. But Yeonghun feigned ignorance and passed by her side. There was no need to reveal an opening for no reason.
Shortly after, as Yeonghun changed clothes in the changing room and came out, a loud noise resounded throughout the examination room.
Bang!
Yeonghun turned toward the sound. The suited man had collapsed on the floor along with the desk.
“What am I going to do? The desk legs seem flimsy. At least I caught the laptop properly.”
Eunseo stood before the collapsed desk, holding the laptop and speaking with a smile.
Yeonghun gave a bitter smile. It seemed she had secretly broken the desk leg with her ability to check the laptop’s contents. He had misunderstood her because she showed up looking like a career woman, but it seemed her true nature was more aggressive.
Yeonghun shook his head and slowly left the examination room. And he erased her from his thoughts.
He needed to make a plan. It seemed many things were happening that he was unaware of. To avoid being swept away by the storm, he needed to hold his ground and establish a plan.
Lost in thought, he was exiting the main gate of the city hall when a shout came from behind him.
“Wait a moment!”
Yeonghun turned his head at the voice calling him.
It was Eunseo.