Chapter 66: A Clash of Shadows

-You Started It First

Jua Young’s incredible performance.

Hae Eung Eung initially thought it was simply a talent for gaming, but the examiner came with clear analysis results.

“Applicant 820’s awakening ability has been identified. The ability name is <Merfolk Massacre>.”

The examiner’s words were quite interesting.

[Increased attack speed and attack power]

[Condition: Engaging with hostile lifeforms]

[Increased toughness and penetration power]

[Condition: Engaging with merfolk]

[Massacre Aura activation]

[Condition: Encountering multiple merfolk]

By massacring multiple lizardmen in a short period, she far surpassed level 1 experience points, which enhanced her characteristics, class, and the overall strengthening effect of her stats.

“This ability’s versatility is limited due to multiple conditions, but it shows incredible efficiency under specific circumstances. It’s a natural-born nemesis in combat.”

The examiner then gave examples of other awakening abilities with similar traits.

“Are you familiar with the Goblin Slayer or Dragon Slayer? ”

“These are codenames for awakened individuals from Japan and Eastern Europe who are natural enemies of goblins or dragons.”

“Hmph. I’m envious. Can’t I be a Dragon Slayer instead? I don’t want to be a merfolk slayer.”

“Depending on the evolution path of the ability, the amplification may increase, and the restrictions may decrease. ”

“From now on, it depends on how the applicant develops the ability.”

Jua Young readily understood.

After all, on the association’s website, there was a story about a level 1 awakening ability, Wood Punch, which grew into the Iron World Tree through leveling up and ability growth.

‘If I develop the Merfolk Massacre ability, it could become much more powerful than it is now, right?’

Jua Young’s heart swelled with dreams, and the examiner raised her grade.

“Although the ability mainly belongs to martial and natural-born nemesis categories, it also touches on enhancement and slaughter, so Applicant 820’s grade has been upgraded to C-rank.”

“Wow! C-rank is something even promising guild members struggle to achieve! That’s a star rank, right?!”

“That’s right.”

“Yay! I made it, I’m a star now!”

[Congratulations.]

Of course, simply congratulating her wouldn’t do.

Hae Eung Eung adjusted the internal energy captured by the scanner, and her grade soon rose to C-rank as well.

“Please rest in the VIP waiting room for a moment. You will be guided to the next process soon.”

The two applicants were placed in the VIP waiting room, complete with fine pastries and tea, by Examiner Im Ji-Young.

She immediately called her senior.

“Senior, after double-checking, the scanner’s temporary error is definitely not a mistake. Applicant 821 also had 10 checks, and all of them came out as C-rank.”

• Are you joking?

“No joke.”

• C-rank, even promising guild members struggle to surpass D-rank, and they’re starting from C-rank? Hold them there. Come up with an excuse to delay their process and keep them in the waiting room. If we pass them up to the higher-ups, we’re getting incentives. We need to delay them for a while, understood?

“They’re safely in the waiting room now, and I’ve also assigned two guards.”

Once her senior returned and they signed the contract to transfer the applicants to the association,

both Im Ji-Young and her direct senior’s achievements would soar high.

Im Ji-Young’s heart was filled with excitement.

‘I can finally escape this dreadful testing ground.’

She was tired of dealing with ordinary people who thought they’d become awakened just by undergoing the exam or

dealing with idiotic applicants who blamed examiners for their low rankings.

She was also sick of dealing with upper-level pressures who only cared about results and never gave her any useful negotiating cards.

Her job was full of stress and unfairness.

But once she sold those two applicants to the association, her future would look bright.

‘If my senior moves up to headquarters, my rank will rise too, and I might even be able to accept bribes from prominent guilds.’

Or maybe she’d go with her senior to headquarters and take a position where she could be the one to criticize others, rather than being criticized.

Im Ji-Young, the examiner, was filled with excitement as she started gathering the contract.

While she was absent, the blind humanoid scorpion, Seogyeong-seok, confidently entered the VIP waiting room, which was restricted to authorized personnel only.

“This area is off-limits.”

“Please identify yourself.”

Seogyeong-seok pulled out his business card with a frustrated expression as the security guards blocked his way.

“This is an urgent mission from the association. The guild members are starting to catch the scent and are gathering. We need to move them to headquarters immediately.”

“Can you show us the details of the mission?”

The security guards were well-trained, following the rules strictly and questioning him thoroughly.

Having spent a lot of time locating this place, Seogyeong-seok realized that if the examiner returned, escaping without a fight would be impossible. He steeled himself.

Snap!

He slapped one of the guards across the face and raised his voice.

“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to? Do you think guild members will ignore the official mission record if I leave it here?”

“…Sorry…”

“If you’re sorry, you shouldn’t have done something that needed an apology. Don’t you think?”

Seogyeong-seok roughly pushed the guard’s forehead and shoved him aside.

“If you block me again, I’ll treat you like a guild spy. Be prepared.”

The guards’ faces grew dark.

Being slapped and humiliated was an extreme blow to their pride. The association’s security was typically full of rookies who thought they’d have an easy life once they awakened their abilities. They often joined the industry expecting a smooth ride but ended up being rescued by the association.

Once they were pushed out of the association, it would be nearly impossible for them to find new jobs or succeed as awakened individuals.

“I’m from the association. Since you two have high ranks, you need to undergo examination at the more specialized headquarters facilities. I’ll escort you there.”

“Huh? Ah, okay…”

Sensing the seriousness of the situation from Seogyeong-seok’s strange behavior, Jua Young subtly turned her raised hand behind her back and lowered her tone.

Following Seogyeong-seok, they exited through the back door.

“Oh no.”

As Seogyeong-seok hurriedly pressed himself against the wall and reached out, Jua Young and Hae Eung Eung quickly followed suit and hid behind the wall.

“These are easy prey, caught without effort. For inexperienced civilians, the one who grabs them first wins. Rush in and catch them before the contract is signed. Got it?”

“Yes!”

“I’ve found the location. The VIP waiting room is on the third floor.”

“What are you doing? Hurry up!”

“You two take the stairs here. We’ll cover the elevator and the opposite stairs.”

The Ihwa Guild’s Awakening Test site, right next to Myeongho-dong, was in a territory controlled by the Ihwa Guild. There was no information the guild wouldn’t discover.

As Seogyeong-seok led the two out, guild members started storming the test site.

At the back entrance, a woman in semi-formal attire, likely a high-ranking member, was firmly guarding the entrance.

“We’ll have to use force. Please understand, as it could look ugly.”

Seogyeong-seok walked confidently toward the high-ranking member.

She frowned as he approached.

“Turn back. You can’t use this passage.”

“Really? I guess there’s no choice. I’ll just have to do it here.”

Without hesitation, Seogyeong-seok pulled out a cigarette and lighter.

The high-ranking member’s expression tightened further.

“Sir! Don’t you know smoking is prohibited indoors?”

“Why are you getting mad when you won’t even let me go to the smoking room? Just don’t block the way.”

“Light it, and I’ll fine you.”

“Three people blocking a public facility passage and illegally occupying it? What are you going to do if I report this as coercion and obstruction of work? You all want to make this harder?”

“Is this guy a total psycho? Ugh… I’ll avoid the mess. Just hurry up and go.”

The high-ranking member and her subordinates scowled and moved aside.

As Seogyeong-seok passed by them, his shoulder brushed against one of the subordinates, causing the lighter to fall to the ground.

Kwah-jik!

Seogyeong-seok, who quickly stepped on the lighter with his own foot, let out a loud, frustrated shout.

“Are you seriously asking for it? You want to bump shoulders?”

“You should’ve avoided it yourself. Do we need to cater to the needs of smokers?”

“Not really? Actually, thanks. It made my job easier.”

Seogyeong-seok’s calm voice had completely changed, 180 degrees.

The high-ranking member felt an uncomfortable sense of unease and turned to face him, only to see his subordinates collapse, paralyzed by the poison injected into them.

As a sign of his ability’s activation, the high-ranking member’s eyes glowed red, and the air seemed to heat up. But before he could react, Seogyeong-seok launched a quick strike to his abdomen, causing the high-ranking member to lose his focus. He was then tripped and hit in the head, collapsing to the ground.

It didn’t take long for the high-ranking member’s consciousness to fade away.

“Wow!”

“Save your admiration for later. Let’s get moving.”

Fortunately, there were no guild members guarding the parking lot, and the three of them managed to escape the test site safely.

2.

Once they felt it was safe, Jua Young couldn’t help but chat about what had just happened.

“I thought I was watching a scene from a movie! You’re so strong, Mister.”

“I was just lucky. The other side let their guard down and gave me an easy opening. Plus, their ability isn’t one that activates instantly or continuously, so retaliation was difficult.”

“Still, that was so cool!”

Hae Eung Eung’s view of Seogyeong-seok had changed. What had seemed like just another colleague of Woo Ji-Woo’s now felt like admiration for an awakened individual.

“But what about our licenses? If things go like this, it seems we won’t be able to get them.”

Jua Young asked with a worried look, and Seogyeong-seok pulled out an envelope from his coat.

“I anticipated this. I’ve already brought the exam data. Just submit this, and you’ll get your license from any branch of the association.”

The lack of an awakened license had been a weakness that the Myeongho Guild could have exploited. Now, Jua Young and Hae Eung Eung’s vulnerability was resolved.

“So, what are you two planning to do as awakened individuals? Usually, civilians either join a guild or work as freelancers under the association.”

Jua Young groaned.

“I’m really torn. I’ve never liked Myeongho Guild, but after seeing what happened with the gate incident, I feel like joining would be a death sentence.”

[Do we have to be affiliated with a guild to work?]

“Ah, I guess Hae Eung Eung wouldn’t know, since you’re more involved in the shadows. To maintain your awakened license, you need to meet a certain level of contribution.”

He explained that there were various ways to increase contributions: social service, apprehending criminals, monster hunting, and so on.

“If you’re in a guild, they’ll manage your contributions for you. If you just follow orders and work hard, you’ll make a lot of money and things will be easier.”

[Why aren’t you in a guild, Seogyeong-seok? Why work as a freelancer?]

“Well, it’s a bit embarrassing, but I used to be in a guild. But the work there was much dirtier than it seemed from the outside.”

A shadow crossed his face as he gripped the steering wheel.

“If you join a guild just for the money, you’ll regret it someday.”

[Don’t worry. I have plenty of money myself.]

“Haha, well, that’s a relief.”

Seogyeong-seok didn’t look entirely convinced, and Hae Eung Eung started pulling up her account information to show him.

Her account had grown significantly from donations on her VTube channel, and in just three months, this would be the first time she’d see the balance grow like this.

“Unnie, this is bad!”

Jua Young’s face went pale.

“The police sent a summons.”

It seemed the Myeongho Guild, which had been trailing the incident site, had found something at a nearby convenience store that could cause trouble for Jua Young as well.

“Did they find expired food or something?”

Despite Seogyeong-seok’s casual question, Jua Young didn’t seem relieved.

“They found illegal substances at our convenience store.”

“What substances?”

“Magical waste.”

Seogyeong-seok clicked his tongue, realizing the gravity of the situation.

[What’s magical waste?!]

“It’s a substance that causes a mess. The guild member mentioned using glow-in-the-dark paint to summon monsters, right?”

“Yeah, a famous streamer, Lee Hye-Chan, even saw it.”

“They must have created evidence to cover up the story. They made it seem like monsters gathered due to magical waste, not the glow-in-the-dark paint.”

[Is magical waste something that can’t be found at a convenience store?]

“It seems the guild members were playing tricks. Magical waste is a byproduct of artifact creation. It’s not something that could come from a convenience store.”

Seogyeong-seok declared firmly.

“If we handle this poorly, it could become a serious issue, even involving you, Jua Young, since you worked at that convenience store.”

Hae Eung Eung had wanted to end her conflict with the Myeongho Guild by punishing Choi Ho-Phil, but it seemed they weren’t backing down either.

‘You started this. Now that you’ve touched my little sister, I won’t let it end easily.’

The clash between Hae Eung Eung and the Myeongho Guild was becoming even more intense.