Chapter 70: Mind, Body, Technique (3)

Riarc glanced aside. “

Uhhh...

Sorry. I didn’t think it would turn out like this.”

Kwon Oh-Jin was curled up into a ball, sitting on his naked butt, glaring at Riarc. He stood up, put on his underwear and pants, and let out a long sigh. “So, what’s the problem?”

“Take a good look at your body.”

“My body?” He stood before a mirror and spread his arms out. His consistent training had given him some muscle.

Song Ha-Eun clapped her hands. “

Oh

, I get it!”

Kwon Oh-Jin cocked his head, still puzzled. “What is it?”

“Take a good look at yourself. You’re so skinny you might snap in half.”

He turned back to the mirror. “No, it’s not that bad...”

But as he examined himself more closely, he fell silent.

“Right?” Song Ha-Eun pressed.

“

Uh...

”

He hadn’t realized it before, but her comment put things into perspective. Despite some muscle, his visible ribs revealed just how thin he was.

Song Ha-Eun smacked him on the back. “

Geez!

I’d been meaning to bring it up for a while now!”

“

Ugh

. So, what do I need to do?

“Isn’t it obvious?” Riarc scoffed, walking over to a nearby drawer and clamping the handle between his teeth. He tugged it out completely, and several cheap protein bars spilled onto the floor.

“First, get rid of all of these,” he declared.

“What? Why would I throw away perfectly good food...”

“It’s this crap that’s ruining your physique!” Riarc bellowed, rousing his mana.

Crackle!

In a flash of blue lightning, he scorched the protein bars into blackened ash.

Kwon Oh-Jin let out a horrified scream, clutching the charred remains of his precious protein bars. “What are you doing?! Do you know how many days' worth of food that was?!”

This is a superfood! Two a day is enough to keep me going!

Riarc only sighed, turning to Song Ha-eun with an accusatory glare. “How did he end up like this?”

“

Uh...

well, y-you see...” she stammered, averting her eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to criticize Kwon Oh-Jin, knowing full well that she was the main reason he'd ended up like this.

“In any case,” Riarc said firmly, “from now on, you’re going to eat high-protein meat with plenty of vegetables.”

“Huh? That’s all I have to do?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked, somewhat surprised.

All the talk on balancing mind, body, and technique had seemed grave, yet all he had to do was eat well?

“It means you’ve been neglecting even the simplest tasks until now,” Riarc retorted.

Kwon Oh-Jin let out a defeated groan. Even though he had more financial leeway, he rarely spent more than five thousand won a day on meals.

I'm getting chewed out for eating poorly, but it's already become a habit,

he thought.

“The body is the vessel for mind and technique," Riarc asserted. "You obsess over the latter and completely neglect the vessel.”

“... You’re right.”

He had no excuse for it. This was entirely his own fault. Nothing affected a living being as drastically as an imbalance of nutrients.

“Alright! Now that it’s come to this, let’s eat until we’re stuffed today!” Song Ha-Eun exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.

“Ha-Eun...?”

“

Hahaha!

Come to think of it, we still haven’t thrown a housewarming party, have we? I’ll whip up something delicious as a toast to our new home and for your quick recovery!”

“

Ummm

...”

He knew that if she cooked, the food and even the cookware were bound to be destroyed.

“C-Come on, trust me! I'll make it delicious this time!” she said, like a gambler who had lost their entire fortune on slots already.

He shot her a skeptical look.

“Hey! Just shut up and eat whatever I make for you, you jerk!” she yelled, throwing a couple of punches at him.

Whack, whack.

“

Pfftt,

alright. I’ll leave it to you and your cooking skills just this once, then.”

“

Hehe

, that’s what I like to hear. Have faith in me, okay?”

She puffed out her chest with a confident smirk as she rolled up her sleeves and put her hands on her waist.

Vega’s eyes lit up, too. “

Haha.

This sounds fun. Since this is for my beloved child... I can’t just sit around and do nothing!”

Kwon Oh-Jin proceeded to lie on the bed as he waited for the two women to finish their kitchen adventures.

“

Eeeek!

W-What are you doing?!” Song Ha-Eun shrieked.

“

Hmm

. Why bother roasting it with fire?" Vega replied. "I could reduce this to ashes in an instant with just one strike of my lightning.”

“No, you’re not supposed to turn it into ashes!”

Kwon Oh-Jin and Riarc heard one unsettling sound after the other coming from the kitchen.

“... Riarc.”

“What is it?”

“Don’t you think it might’ve been better if I'd just stuck with the protein bars?”

Riarc turned his head away, his mouth clamped shut.

Kwon Oh-Jin sighed and sat up from the bed. He pulled out the flash drive he had received from Jang Seok-Ho.

I might as well check this out in the meantime.

He had gone through a lot of trouble to get his hands on this information, after all.

With a bitter expression, he stared at the flash drive for a moment before clicking his tongue and plugging it into an old laptop.

“This is...”

He squinted while scanning the contents of the drive, coming across the Black Star Society’s objective that Jang Seok-Ho had mentioned.

“... So their goal is to kill off all current Awakeners and then turn the entire population into Awakeners?”

Was this vision of newfound equality the true purpose of the Black Star Society? He let out a dry chuckle.

At least it’s easy to comprehend. They couldn't have had a more straightforward plan.

He scrolled down and read the note beneath.

[P.S. This stated goal is purely for public appearance. Each faction within the organization has its own strategies and objectives.]

Well, that's not surprising. No real authority would blindly follow such a crazy plan.

The so-called "equality" was neatly packaged bait to expand their influence.

“

Tsk.

I think I’ve got a rough idea of their scheme now,” he muttered.

They’re trying to frame the existing Awakeners as a privileged class, rallying the non-awakened against them, huh?

Earth had Awakeners blessed with the Stigma of a Celestial, but it also had ordinary people who weren’t. In a world overrun by monsters, it was obvious which group held more power.

The Black Star Society, however, can grant Stigmas to non-Awakeners, stirring up hatred for its own cause.

“Looks like even Jang Seok-Ho doesn’t know their true motives.”

The man had been merely a pawn, so this was likely the extent of information he could access.

In any case... eliminating all the Awakeners seems to be a key part of their plan. These guys definitely need to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

Kwon Oh-Jin's eyes narrowed as he opened another file that contained the locations of the Black Star Society's branches and details on the Owl faction's executives, just as Jang Seok-Ho had mentioned. As he skimmed through the data, a particular name caught his eye.

[Cheon Woo-Seong]

- Son of Cheon Do-Yoon, the King of Owls.

- Known as the King's Proxy, he assumes a managerial role inside the Black Star Society.

- Believed to have infiltrated the association.

Kwon Oh-Jin recalled Ashad Khan’s memories.

Was he the one Ashad Khan was speaking with back then?

Cheon Woo-Seong, the King’s Proxy, was the leader of the Owl faction.

“I’ll need to let Jun-Man know about this,” Kwon Oh-Jin muttered. He had planned to visit the association soon anyway. Now, he had valuable information to share.

Clack.

He closed the laptop and put the USB drive back in his pocket.

I’ll drop by the association tomorrow. I’ve got to rest for now, like Riarc said.

Bang!

Song Ha-Eun burst into the room, grinning brightly, her face smudged with sauce. “Oh-Jin! Dinner’s ready!”

He smiled bitterly and walked into the living room.

“

Ta-da!

This is my perfectly balanced, nutritious meal!” she announced.

“

Haha!

I, too, poured my heart into this meal!” Vega said.

Song Ha-Eun and Vega sat on either side of him and simultaneously held out spoons. Would he ever have another day to enjoy such a luxury?

Well, the food obviously tastes like shit.

***

The next day, Kwon Oh-Jin headed straight to the association.

Han Jun-Man turned stiff after he heard the information Jang Seok-Ho had gathered. “You’re saying Cheon Woo-Seong is with the Black Star Society?”

“Yes, according to what I’ve discovered.”

“

Haa...

I can’t believe it’s him...”

“Is there a problem within the association?”

Han Jun-Man ran his hand through his hair. “As you might have guessed, the entire association is split into two factions right now.”

So there really is internal strife, and Cheon Woo-Seong has infiltrated one side.

“I belong to the association chairman's lineup. The other side is managed by the board of directors, and their leader is—”

“Cheon Woo-Seong, right?”

“... That’s right.” Han Jun-Man sighed. “I knew I'd need to tell you all this one day, but... I didn’t expect things to turn out like this.”

“Is that why you asked me to join the association in the first place?”

Han Jun-Man chuckled bitterly and nodded. “You’re sharp as ever. While we did wish to restore the association’s tarnished reputation... we also had to bring the apostle of the North Star to our side no matter what.”

Is that why he insisted on giving me a vague position and not an official role?

Kwon Oh-Jin wondered.

If I had joined formally, the other faction would have also had the authority to give me orders.

Everything was finally clicking into place. Although he was part of the association, he'd interacted almost exclusively with Han Jun-Man, apart from a single special agent in between.

He had intentionally restricted who I interacted with.

In a situation where it was impossible to determine who was in which faction, Han Jun-Man, firmly aligned with the chairman, had exclusively handled his case in a calculated move.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked. He didn’t particularly care if the association split into two or even three factions, but it was a different story if one side had been infiltrated by the Black Star Society.

“... No. We’ll try to handle this on our own for now,” Han Jun-Man said. “If I ever need your help, I’ll be sure to reach out.”

“Of course—”

“You don’t need to worry about proper compensation, it would surely be arranged.” Han Jun-Man smiled.

Kwon Oh-Jin was moved.

This guy really gets me.

With reasonable justification and a promise of fair reward, there was no reason to refuse.

There is one problem, though.

Cheon Woo-Seong was an opponent far beyond his current capabilities. He had barely managed to defeat a mid-ranking executive, so taking on the King's Proxy, one of the Black Star Society’s core leaders, was a distant dream.

I’ll have faith in Jun-Man and wait it out for now.

Strengthening himself was the smarter move at present.

“

Oh,

by the way, here.” He placed the wire shooters and spear on the table.

Han Jun-Man glanced at the ravaged weapons and chuckled. “They’re completely wrecked.”

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Kwon Oh-Jin cleared his throat and turned his head. “So, about that... I’d like to request new weapons.”

“

Hmm...

Hold on a moment.” Han Jun-Man grabbed the broken gear and stood up. “Why don’t you meet the guy yourself? I think he could craft you much more suitable weapons then.”

“Meet who?”

Han Jun-Man grinned and opened his office door. “You’ll see when we get there.”