Chapter 20: Release the Hunting Dog (1)

The King of Owls stared at Yoo-Jin, his face now contorted. A deadly silence momentarily settled between them before the old man radiated a terrifying murderous glance at him.

“

Hoohoohoo

. Yoo-Jin, what exactly are you doing?”

Yoo-Jin trembled as he desperately channeled more mana into the black chalice at the inscribed circle's center.

“Th-This isn’t...”

However, the chalice didn't react no matter how much mana he poured into it.

“W-Why isn’t anything happening...?”

The white-haired Cheon Do-Yoon stroked his beard and let out a deep sigh.

“

... Haa

. If any other Executors had seen this, oh, how they would’ve mocked the Owls...”

“N-No! Sir, let me explain—”

“Yoo-Jin.”

The old man snapped his fingers.

Swoosh!

A black feather flew by and grazed Yoo-Jin’s neck in the blink of an eye.

“Agh!”

Blood trickled down his collarbone. Yoo-Jin pressed his hand against his bleeding neck, looking up at Cheon Do-Yoon in terror.

“E-Executor...”

“Don’t disappoint me any further.”

Yoo-Jin bit his lip as he lowered his head.

“... Yes, sir.”

“Well, this isn’t exciting anymore. I shall take my leave,” Cheon Do-Yoon declared as he clicked his tongue and turned around. “The rest of the executives can leave as well.”

The black-robed figures surrounding Yoo-Jin laughed, mocking his failure.

“Hahaha.”

“Hohoho!”

Flap!

Soon, they all disappeared.

Finally left alone, Yoo-Jin clenched his fist tightly.

“

Ugh. Aaaaagghh!

”

His enraged scream echoed through the dark mountain.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuuck!”

Yoo-Jin thrashed wildly, his black feathers materializing and shooting out in rapid bursts, shredding through the air like rounds from a machine gun.

Bang! Bang!

“Haa! Haa!”

With bloodshot eyes, he turned around and walked into the observatory. In the basement, about fifty of his subordinates trembled as they stared at him, horrified.

“Mr. Yoo-Jin...”

“... That bastard.”

Only one person came to mind—a young man with droopy eyes and a beguiling expression.

“Where’s the guy who went to kill that bastard?”

“Th-The thing is...”

“We lost contact with him.”

“...”

That only meant one thing—his underling had failed his mission.

“Find him.”

“Pardon?”

“Find that son of a bitch, you blithering fools!”

Yoo-Jin’s furious roar echoed throughout the basement.

***

A week had passed since Kwon Oh-Jin's return from the newly opened gate in Mokdong. During that time, he had chosen to lay low at home.

There were two reasons for that. Obviously, he had to hide from the Black Star Society, which would be flipping out trying to track him down. The second reason was that he had to adjust to the explosive growth of his mana and physique after reaching three-star status.

On the rooftop of the rundown house he was renting, a grimy space riddled with mold, beads of sweat flew off him as he trained relentlessly.

“Hmph!”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

He wielded his spear with blinding speed, each thrust, slash, and cut flowing seamlessly like a river in motion.

“Hup!”

With a soft push off the ground, he soared nearly fifteen meters into the air, tucking into a flawless backflip as he grabbed his ankles mid-arc—a feat far beyond the reach of any ordinary human. Even among Awakeners, such a leap was no easy task. But for a three-star like Kwon Oh-Jin with enhanced physical stats, it was merely a warm-up.

“Haaa.”

Thud!

He landed gracefully on the ground and glanced down at himself, soaked in sweat.

“The Stigma of Lyra really is a cheat.”

He had been training relentlessly for over three hours, yet fatigue didn’t even touch him. Typically, only a three-star Awakener with a Stigma focused on physical enhancement, like Taurus, could hope to rival the level of strength and stamina Kwon Oh-Jin was displaying right now.

Unless, of course, they're of a higher rank.

Among the Stigmas that granted physical abilities were strength-based ones like Taurus and agility-based ones like Scorpio.

On the other hand, Stigmas like Aquarius, which are healing-based, show smaller gains in physique.

Kwon Oh-Jin's Stigma was an outlier here.

Even though the Stigma of Lyra isn't specialized in physical gains, it still grants me capabilities on par with those kinds of Stigmas.

With its special ability to control lightning, the Stigma of Lyra was technically classified as an ability-based Stigma, yet it granted him tremendous physical strength.

In a game, this would be akin to a wizard having the strength to beat down a warrior, using just their staff.

“People playing such a game would’ve lost their minds.”

Kwon Oh-Jin softly chuckled as he placed his spear against the wall. He had done enough physical training; it was time to focus on honing his Stigma's skills now.

“Skill window.”

Ptzz.

At his command, a blue window appeared before his eyes.

[Stigma of Lyra]

- Skill list:

Thunderbolt Lv3.

Azure Lightning Lv2.

Lightning Strike Lv1.

After a week of training each skill, he had come to a solid conclusion.

I need to focus on training Thunderbolt, the Stigma's core skill.

The Stigma's foundation rested entirely on Thunderbolt, from which Azure Lightning and Falling Thunder were derived.

If I just level up Thunderbolt, the other skills will naturally follow.

Closing his eyes, he focused his mana into his chest.

Crackle!

His blue Thunderbolt sparked to life, stronger and more abundant than when he was a two-star. He compressed Thunderbolt into a solid sphere about the size of a basketball.

“It's pretty clear when I observe it this way.”

His mana capacity had increased after reaching three stars, but what stood out more was that he could use a larger amount at once. In terms of capacity alone, he was probably at the level of a six or seven-star Awakener.

No, I might even have more than that. I’ve had times where my mana levels didn’t fall no matter how much I used up.

In fact, the opposite had happened. He remembered when he had fought against the slime giant and unleashed hundreds of Azure Lightning strikes only for his mana to increase instead.

I don't even know why that happened.

He had tried to replicate the same phenomenon a few days ago, but his mana drained as usual. The inverse reaction seemed to have been a one-time thing.

I’ll think about that later, though.

There was no point in pondering it now since he could neither recreate it nor figure out the cause.

“For now, I’ll focus on this.”

Concentrating the crackling blue Thunderbolt on his fists and feet, he practiced some basic martial arts.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

“Hup!”

With no formal training, his movements were sloppy at best. It seemed like he was flailing his arms and legs around, but with time and effort, he figured he would improve.

It beats sitting around doing nothing.

The focus of his training wasn’t to improve his martial arts techniques but rather his ability to freely control Thunderbolt across his body.

Crackle! Crackle!

“Cha-ha!”

He grabbed the spear by the wall and used Thunderbolt, slicing sharply through the air with its blade.

“... Hmm.”

After another thirty or so minutes of training, Kwon Oh-Jin planted the spear on the ground, frowning.

Something feels off.

He glanced down at the spear and clicked his tongue.

“

It’s a decent weapon, but...”

The spear, which once belonged to Lee Shin-Hyuk, was light and sharp. However, its wooden shaft interfered with Kwon Oh-Jin's ability to channel Thunderbolt through it.

Using just a spear also feels a bit limiting.

Even in the last battle, his spear had gotten lodged into the slime giant’s back, leaving him weaponless against the monster. He felt that a spear alone wasn’t enough to utilize Thunderbolt to its full potential.

This isn't even some martial arts novel where I’m trying to become some kind of spear master.

In the first place, Kwon Oh-Jin could use a spear because he had inherited Lee Shin-Hyuk's skills.

I’ll need to get new gear soon.

That was far from urgent, though; improving his skills was more critical right now.

“Guess I should head back.”

Lifting his sweat-soaked shirt, he made his way down the stairs.

“Huh?”

As he descended, he saw Song Ha-Eun smoking with the window open, leaning on her crutches.

“You’re smoking again?”

“I only smoke a few times a day, you brat.”

“I told you to just do it inside.”

“It’ll stink inside.”

“Then maybe stop smoking?”

“No can do.”

“You’re a hopeless addict.”

Shaking his head, he walked past her and made his way down.

It was only twenty steps to their place at most, so she could easily come and go on her own.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Song Ha-Eun asked.

“Home.”

“Wait for me to finish.”

“You’re asking for too much from a non-smoker.”

“Then you should start smoking too. You’re an Awakener now, so you can heal from the cigarette toxins anyway.”

“It’s a waste of money.”

“Fuck you,” Song Ha-Eun muttered, shaking her head.

“Hurry up,” Kwon Oh-Jin groaned as he stood beside the stairs, waiting for her.

Song Ha-Eun fumbled to find the ashtray and put out the cigarette.

Sizzle.

“Done with your training?”

“Yeah.”

“

Ugh

, you reek of sweat. Go wash up.”

“Weren’t you the one who told me to wait?”

“

Oh

, right.

Hehe

, sorry.”

“

Ugh

.”

This woman...

Song Ha-Eun reached out, fumbling as she wrapped her arm around his and rested her chin on his shoulder.

“Now, help your dear friend.”

“But you said I stink.”

“Yeah, real bad. My poor nose is about to rot.”

Then why are you clinging on to me?

“... Ha.”

Letting out a short sigh, he helped her into the house. After laying her down on the bed, he entered a cramped bathroom and filled a basin with water.

Splash!

The ice-cold water cooled down his overheated body.

“Now that hits the spot.”

Groaning like a grizzled old man, he scrubbed himself all over with cheap soap.

After cleaning up, he stepped out and saw Song Ha-Eun sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Are you done washing up?”

“Yeah.”

“Come here. Let me check if you cleaned up properly.”

“I’m not a kid, you know.”

“Just get over here, you brat,” she said, patting the spot beside her.

With a smirk, he sat down.

She leaned in and sniffed him, wrinkling her nose. Satisfied, she smiled and said, “

Hehe

! You washed up well!”

“You looked like a fucking pervert just now.”

“So what?”

She poked him in the side and pouted.

“Now, turn your back this way.”

“Why?”

“Just do what I say, idiot.”

He cocked his head and turned around.

Her soft hands touched his shoulders and then pressed into his back with just the right amount of pressure.

“What’s this? Are you giving me a massage?”

He couldn't help but laugh.

“What, you don’t like it?”

“

Pfft

, no. I love it.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Despite her harsh words, she gently moved her hands along his back, drawing circles.

“

Ah

, you’re killing me~”

This feels great.

“You like it that much,

huh

?”

Crack!

A sharp pain suddenly shot through his shoulder as if a hydraulic press was squeezing it.

“You’re

actually

killing me!”

“

Hehehe

! Stop being a baby!”

She burst into laughter.

“How am I being a baby?!”

Even though Song Ha-Eun could no longer use her Stigma and was only half of what she used to be as a seven-star Awakener, her strength was no joke.

“

Hehehe

, alright, you baby. I’ll go easy on you.”

She adjusted her grip and resumed the massage normally.

“All done,” she remarked as she finished up.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t overwork yourself. How long have you been training for? Since dawn?”

“I’m not overworking myself.”

Thanks to the Stigma of Lyra, even hours of training didn't exhaust him.

“Hey, quit snapping back at everything I say.”

Song Ha-Eun gave him a light pinch and then gently leaned her forehead against his back.

An awkward silence fell between them for a moment before she carefully broke it.

“... Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Have you made a lot of money since becoming an Awakener?”

“I’ve made a ton.”

He was, quite literally, raking in money.

I got lucky.

Becoming Vega's only apostle, inheriting Lee Shin-Hyuk’s memories, and the timely appearance of the Black Star Society pushovers—everything had lined up perfectly.

“... Really?” she said in a dry voice as if she'd swallowed sand. “Then I guess... we don’t have much time left together.”

It was as if a switch had been flipped. Cold, stiff air spread throughout the small house.

Kwon Oh-Jin nodded slowly. “Yeah, there’s not much time left.”

If he continued at this rate, he would soon reach his goal of saving ten billion won.

And when that happens, everything will be over. Even this seemingly endless routine.

“

Haha

! Why are you getting all serious again?”

Song Ha-Eun burst into laughter, playfully slapping him on the back.

Thwack! Thwack!

It hurt like hell.

Just then, his phone started vibrating from on top of the shelf.

Bzzz! Bzzz!

“Are you getting a call?”

“Yeah. Just a sec.”

Team Leader Han Jun-Man's name popped up on the screen.

Click.

Kwon Oh-Jin stepped outside.

–Is now a good time to talk?

“Yes. I was actually planning on contacting you too.”

Kwon Oh-Jin had been thinking about gathering more information on the Black Star Society. He also had to figure out how to sell the Starstone and the Astral Relic he had gotten from them, so this was perfect timing.

–That’s great. I had something I wanted to discuss as well.

“What is it?”

–An urgent request has come in.

A request, huh?

This wasn't an ideal time for him, considering he still hadn't formed a solid plan against the Black Star Society. At least until Vega could appear again, he figured it was better to keep a low profile.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not in a situation to take on any requests at the moment—”

–The reward is two billion won.

“Arf, arff! Grrr!! Woof!”

“... Excuse me?”

“I’ll head to the association right away. We can discuss the details in person.”

He was going to leave the house for the first time in a week.