Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The day of the Level measurement arrived.

I got up as usual, stretched, and made breakfast. It was nothing more than a procedure to confirm my abilities, but Yunhee, sitting across from me, looked like her soul had half left her body.

“This guy is Level 8, for crying out loud. Good grief…”

She’d been like this ever since she heard the news back at our hometown house.

“Is it that surprising?”

“Isn’t it weirder that you’re so calm about it? Not just anything—Level 8!”

Her voice had been ringing loud since morning.

“If you really wanted to, you could rake in money with a shovel. No, money isn’t even the issue. You could have anything you want just by saying the word, right? The respect of every Awakened is a bonus, and the attention too…”

That stuff mattered less to me than immunity from arrest. That was where things really began.

“Once I become Level 8, what will you do?”

“Me? Why?”

“Once all the attention pours onto me, you’ll get attention too.”

Yunhee had a few reasons to draw attention besides being my sister.

Being part of the Shinseong Guild, already standing out for her skill, and so on.

She calls herself a super-duper-ultra beauty, and she really is pretty, so later on she might get even more attention than me.

“I’ll just enjoy it. Just being from the Shinseong Guild draws a lot of attention as it is, right? I might as well ride my brother’s coattails while I can. Maybe male idols will try to get on my good side?”

She had some wild dreams. As if it’d ever be that easy.

“Wake up.”

“Hmph.”

She didn’t seem to hear me.

“Do well on your Level measurement. Even if you fail, I’ll always be cheering for you, so don’t get discouraged. Fighting!”

“Yeah.”

With Yunhee’s encouragement, I arrived at the Korean Awakened Central Center in Jongno, Seoul. It was a place that hosted the National Guild Alliance Conference, international Awakened exchanges, and all sorts of other events.

I met Jung Dahyun at the front gate.

“Junho.”

“Dahyun.”

“……”

Jung Dahyun stared at me. She looked dissatisfied. I wondered if I’d made some mistake, then remembered she’d asked me to speak comfortably with her last time.

“I’m still not used to it. I’ll try to work on it little by little.”

“Okay.”

Jung Dahyun and I went inside.

“The Level 8 measurement checks your Force manipulation method and mobilization output. There are minimum standards.”

Force manipulation and Force mobilization were the areas I was most confident in. For a Level 8 measurement, it didn’t seem all that different from previous measurements.

That is, until I heard what came next.

“And you’ll be facing a Level 7 Awakened. The suppression process is what matters.”

“Which part matters?”

“The less you injure them, the better.”

“What?”

I stopped walking without realizing it. I doubted what I’d just heard. In my head, suppression meant death. Being generous, it meant critical injuries.

Should I break their limbs like usual to subdue them and then spray them with a recovery potion? My head spun.

Jung Dahyun was startled by my reaction too.

“If—if you do end up injuring them?”

I’d barely managed to soften “what if I kill them” into that.

“That’s the second test. Among those who passed the first, no one has ever failed the second.”

“……”

When I asked why such a test even existed, she said that overwhelming strength and the ability to moderate it were both part of the examination.

Honestly, killing ten Level 7 Awakened would be easier for me.

Seeing my grim expression, Jung Dahyun grew flustered too.

“Someone like you will do fine, Junho. I-I’m sure you’ll manage somehow?”

“I’ll have to.”

This measurement might be the hardest trial of my life.

* * *

The Level 8 measurement is conducted with only government officials, the examinee’s acquaintances, and invited observers present.

Typically, the invited observers are members of the examinee’s guild, along with foreign dignitaries who serve as certifiers. Though Choi Junho didn’t belong to any guild, he named the Shinseong Guild.

As for foreign dignitaries, the United States—a long-standing ally that had kept a close eye on Choi Junho for some time—sent an observer delegation.

From the Shinseong Guild side came Lee Sehee, who could be called its face.

“I’d been thinking I needed to take a look at this Choi Junho, and now I end up seeing him at the Level 8 measurement site. How surprising.”

Also present was Baek Gunseo, the Black Dragon—a Level 8 transcendent belonging to the Shinseong Guild.

Baek Gunseo, once a retainer of the Shinseong family, is a Shinseong man down to the bone. His contributions to the Shinseong Guild were so great that the prevailing view was that the guild as it exists today couldn’t have existed without him.

Privately, he was a sworn brother of the Shinseong Group chairman, and Lee Sehee called him uncle.

“Sehee, it’s not as if you’ve ever shown interest in a man.”

“When you say it like that, people get the wrong idea.”

“It is about time you took an interest in men, though.”

“Honestly, you’re not even willing to listen.”

Baek Gunseo, who had been smiling, looked down at the measurement hall and his smile faded.

“Still, the rumors I heard were hardly ordinary. They say his temperament is quite strong as well. The fact that he appeared only recently means there’s a great deal about him still unknown.”

“Yes, but his skill is real. His younger sister is tremendously talented too.”

“Choi Yunhee, was it? I heard as well. A sibling pair with certainly impressive talent.”

“Please look after her if you get the chance. Once she gains momentum, she’ll grow frighteningly fast.”

“I will.”

Baek Gunseo wasn’t a man who said things carelessly, so Lee Sehee’s expression brightened. Just then, she spotted Jung Dahyun coming back up after seeing Choi Junho off and raised her hand.

“Dahyun, over here!”

Jung Dahyun approached, exchanged a nod with Lee Sehee, then bowed her head to Baek Gunseo.

“Hello, Director.”

“It’s been a while, Dahyun. You’ve been training hard. You’ve grown a lot. Still, do keep in touch more often. I nearly forgot your face.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No need. You’re trying to establish your own path, and that’s not something I can stand in the way of. Just remember that Shinseong is your home too, so don’t feel burdened—come by anytime.”

“…Thank you.”

“Instead of nagging, you should have visited her first, Uncle.”

“Wouldn’t that have made me look terribly meddlesome?”

At Baek Gunseo’s words, Lee Sehee and Jung Dahyun burst into laughter.

The warm atmosphere was broken by the arrival of other guests.

“Look there.”

Lee Sehee pointed at a group of foreigners approaching from a distance. It was the American observer delegation scheduled to observe today. The three of them fixed their eyes on the blonde woman at the head of the group.

“Anna Christine.”

A headhunting specialist with a lovely appearance and a voluptuous figure who made a profession of charming male Awakened. She possessed not only beauty but flawless capability.

Anna Christine, meeting Lee Sehee’s gaze, smiled and greeted her in English.

“Hi, Princess Lee. How have you been?”

“You too, Anna. I didn’t expect you to come in person.”

“Of course I had to come. It’s a historic moment.”

“You’re not thinking about something else, are you?”

“Who knows? What kind of thought might you mean?”

Lee Sehee stared hard into Anna Christine’s eyes as she wore a meaningful smile. Anna Christine didn’t avoid that gaze either. Sparks flew between them.

The fierce war of nerves ended when word came that the measurement was about to begin.

“We’ll be watching from a bit closer. See you.”

Anna Christine gave a slight bow and moved away with her group. Lee Sehee, quietly watching her retreating figure, muttered.

“That’s surprisingly unpleasant.”

“Same here.”

“Hah hah, isn’t this no time to be standing around? Anna Christine’s snare is no ordinary thing.”

Baek Gunseo voiced his concern.

To young men in particular, Anna Christine’s beauty was lethal. Choi Junho was in his mid-twenties—an age when the blood runs hot. If things went wrong, the newly emerged Level 8 transcendent could end up crossing over to America.

Anna Christine’s nickname was Succubus. There was a reason she was called that. The moment you let your guard down, you were charmed.

But Lee Sehee’s reaction differed from Baek Gunseo’s expectations.

“Uncle. Do you know what one of the most pointless worries in the world is? Worrying that Choi Junho will fall for a woman.”

“What?”

“You’ll see for yourself. What kind of person he is.”

Lee Sehee smiled forlornly, recalling the moment her confidence in her beauty, which had pierced the heavens, came crashing down into the gutter overnight.

Choi Junho was fair to everyone. Whatever she had experienced, Anna Christine would experience too.

A short while later, the Level 8 measurement began.

* * *

The first thing to begin in the Level 8 measurement was Force manipulation.

[We will now begin the Force manipulation test.]

Along with the announcement, five blue stones the size of ping-pong balls appeared before me.

Opposing-Polarity Mana Stones.

They were stones that held Force, yet had the property of repelling it on contact. Just as like poles of a magnet push each other away, Force exerted a repulsive force against them.

They were widely used for Force detection, and by taking advantage of that opposing repulsion, they were also used as armaments for ranged Hunters to maintain distance.

[If you successfully hit the Opposing-Polarity Mana Stones with Force within the five-minute time limit, you pass.]

It was called a Force manipulation test, but a clever trap was hidden within it. Meaning they would also be watching how you predicted the path of the Opposing-Polarity Mana Stones once repelled, how you calculated the repulsive force, and so on. Controlling those variables would be included as well.

You needed to handle Force as naturally as your own body and bring the space in which the Opposing-Polarity Mana Stones moved under your control, so quite a lot was required.

But was this supposed to be hard?

It’s easy for me.

The Opposing-Polarity Mana Stones, the Force repulsion—what it all came down to was the time needed to react.

Overwhelm even that with crushing speed and seize the shortest path, and it becomes the easiest thing in the world.

[The measurement will begin.]

The moment I heard that, I activated Arc Mine and fired it at the Opposing-Polarity Mana Stones.

The clear condition was simple.

All it took was being fast enough that the Opposing-Polarity Mana Stones couldn’t react.

Wham! Thwack! Wham!

In an instant, all five Opposing-Polarity Mana Stones were struck by Arc Mine and went rolling across the floor. The timer was frozen at 4:59.

One second had passed. Perhaps because there was no threat to my life, my reaction had been a bit dull.

[You have passed. Congratulations. The next test will be the Force capacity measurement.]

The next test measured Force capacity, and it was broadly divided into two parts. One was proving the minimum amount of Force one must possess as a Level 8 transcendent.

If you failed to meet that standard, you would be judged incapable of sustaining combat as a Level 8 transcendent and would not be recognized as Level 8.

The next was Force mobilization output—measuring how much Force you could channel in a brief moment. It was fair to call it a kind of output test.

It was an item that judged whether you could demonstrate the might befitting Level 8 by meeting a minimum output standard.

Placed before me was a completely drained, empty monster’s heart.

It was of a size corresponding to a Grade 7 Corrupted Monster; filling it completely would signify that one had broken through the limits of Level 7. And how long it took would determine the output standard.

[The measurement will begin.]

I moved my Force and pushed it into the monster’s heart all at once.

Beep-beep-beep-beep!

In an instant it surpassed 70%, and a loud alarm rang out. It broke through 80%, then 90%, and succeeded in filling it to 100%. I stopped my Force manipulation, but in that brief gap, the Force that had pushed in further caused cracks in the monster’s heart and shattered it outright.

Crunch!

I reached out toward the Force that, with its vessel destroyed, had lost its place and was about to run wild. The Force that had been on the verge of rampage came under my control, gently spun once, then seeped into my fingertips and vanished.

[Error! Error!]

Along with the announcement, murmurs spread. They had entered into a discussion about what had just happened.

The reason this had happened was simple.

My Force capacity was greater than expected, and my output was stronger too. Having fed on so much blood, it was also ferocious. The monster’s heart had simply been too frail to withstand it.

[You have passed. Congratulations.]

A short while later, the pass was announced, and I had cleared both items.

I had passed the first test.

* * *

It was a measurement expected to pose difficulties.

Though Choi Junho was anticipated to be Level 8, Baek Gunseo had expected the first measurement to be no easy feat.

As if mocking that expectation, Choi Junho passed with ease.

“Unbelievable.”

Baek Gunseo, watching, wore a bewildered expression as he recalled measurements he had seen before.

“The Opposing-Polarity Mana Stones in one second? Just how fast would that make him…”

It had taken him a full five minutes just to touch those five.

What was more astonishing was what came next.

When the monster’s heart failed to endure and shattered, Baek Gunseo shook his head.

“He moves an absurd amount with such ease. Just looking at his Force capacity and manipulation ability, he’s already at the Level 8 standard.”

Quantity, speed, power—all were top-tier. To think he was only now seeing such a talent.

What would happen if he were to face Choi Junho?

The thought that it would not be easy filled his mind. A monster had appeared.

The negative perception from before the measurement began had long since vanished.

Soon after, the second measurement began.

“Ham Ikcheol.”

In the Level 8 measurement, the selection of the combat opponent for the second round involved fierce behind-the-scenes competition. The reason was that combat experience against a Level 8 became great nourishment for advancing to a higher realm.

That was why most were chosen from the same guild, or were figures the government was backing.

Ham Ikcheol was the prospective second-in-command of the Awakened Security Office, and at the relatively young age of early forties, he was counted among the strong candidates to rise to the next Level 8.

Wielding a gift called Mana Bullet through a gun, he possessed outstanding long-range attack means while compensating for his close-range weakness with a 12th dan in mixed martial arts.

The battle lasted a full five minutes and more.

Baek Gunseo, watching, furrowed his brow.

“This is insane.”

* * *

The second measurement ranked among the top five hardest battles of my life.

Suppress your opponent without injuring them, of all things.

Where in the world was there a fight without injuries?

For me, who had always been best at killing, this was a calamity and an ordeal. Keeping someone uninjured was far too difficult a demand for me.

Fearing that a single blow might kill him, I concentrated more than at any other time.

Every time I found an opening, I detonated Arc Mine off to the side instead of using my hands. That was a single death. One death.

Five minutes that felt longer than eons passed.

Over those five minutes, I could have killed Ham Ikcheol twenty-seven times, yet I succeeded in not inflicting a single wound and forced his surrender.

The man, utterly dazed, hung his head low, having lost all will to fight.

He left a greeting for me and vacated his spot, but there was not a trace of vitality about him. Still, better that he lived.

A short while later, the announcement rang out.

[Pass. Congratulations.]

So it's over now.

Now I understood why people said the Level 8 measurement was difficult.

Killing really was easier.

While I was waiting for the remaining procedures to wrap up, a group of foreigners from the observation delegation approached me.

The woman at the very front grinned and raised a hand in my direction.

"Hi."

* * *

To Anna Christine, the emergence of a new Level 8 was nothing particularly novel. Nations around the world poured their resources into cultivating Level 8s, and several were born every year.

Her profession had brought her face-to-face with the finest Awakened in the world. So labels like genius or monster no longer stirred anything in her.

But this time was different. She couldn't pull herself out of the shiver running over her entire body.

"...Ha!"

Anna Christine let out a gasp of admiration and shook her head. The lingering thrill from moments ago still hadn't settled.

The transcendent born today was special. He was only in his mid-twenties. Youth meant potential. Potential meant growth, and high capability.

The sheer number of incidents Choi Junho had handled in such a short span was staggering. A 100% success rate, and the number of incidents meant combat experience.

The combat prowess he'd displayed in the final measurement in particular had been strong enough to make her hair stand on end.

In his twenties, Level 8, and rich in combat experience on top of that? And even a sense of justice that let him subdue villains without hesitation?

If a Hollywood movie were written like this, it would get torn apart for lacking plausibility.

'No need to say more. He's the biggest catch that will never come my way twice in my lifetime.'

The obstacle, however, was that Choi Junho belonged to a government agency, and now that he was Level 8, the right of first negotiation belonged to South Korea for three years.

What was astonishing nonetheless was that even after three years passed, Choi Junho would only be twenty-eight. Twenty-seven by American reckoning. An absurd, all-time-great talent. Even if he wasted three years without signing with the government, Choi Junho's value would still be the highest in history.

Anna Christine believed in the word "mind stamp."

To achieve that, she needed to steal Choi Junho's heart for certain.

If he came to want to join her, even the South Korean government would have no choice but to release him.

Though the vast territory of the United States was called a hellish hunting ground for Awakened, the treatment there was the best in the world. She was confident she could persuade him well enough.

Persuasion was, after all, the field she was most confident in.

Her calculations finished, she stretched her body and flashed a confident smile. The cleavage emphasized between the black two-piece suit, the slender waist, the voluptuous hip line, and the long, straight legs were her pride and the finest weapon that had seduced countless male Awakened.

"Hi."

As she drew close, Choi Junho's features came into clear view.

He was so fair of face that, if not for his Level 8 status, one might have taken him for an actor. The more she looked, the more attractive and handsome he seemed.

"Junho! Congratulations on reaching Level 8. I'll pray that blessings fall upon your future."

The distance between them was close enough that their bodies nearly touched. She spoke as if whispering, close enough to feel even his breath.

The harmony of sweet perfume and female pheromones. Add to that the abundant blonde hair and voluptuous figure that men admired, an appeal of pure sexiness.

After wearing him down with a near-visible, near-invisible tease, she took one step back and gazed steadily at Choi Junho's face.

Normally, at this point, ninety-nine out of a hundred men would come around.

Having thought he would come around 100%, she saw Choi Junho's furrowed brow and sensed something was off.

"Um, Junho?"

"If you've come to Korea, you should speak Korean."

"What?"

"You don't seem to be insulting me, so I'll let it slide."

Choi Junho clicked his tongue lightly and turned away.

"......"

Faced with a cold rejection she had never experienced in her life, Anna Christine was left speechless.

Lee Sehee, watching the scene, doubled over clutching her stomach.