At first, Kang Sihyun thought Haehyuk was lying. He had neither attempted nor succeeded in soloing a catastrophe-class enemy before, so he demanded to know how Haehyuk could claim he was of S-Class Rank. Haehyuk remained quiet, his smile not fading. Sihyun cast him a dubious glance and looked at his own hand repeatedly before finally speaking.
"Really?"
When he asked with his eyes, Haehyuk's smile grew wider.
"Really?"
His voice rose.
"Have you been deceived all your life? Congratulations on becoming the third S-Class in Korea. The Association wanted to see you, but since I'm the guild leader, I declined on your behalf. Is that okay?"
"Ah, yes."
"From now on, don't let the Association tell you what to do. You can afford to do that at S-Class."
It was a good lesson.
Despite grumbling inwardly, Sihyun couldn't shake off his stunned feeling. S-Class. He had aimed for it, sure, but never expected to achieve it so soon.
"Why do you look so incredulous? Look at your achievements. It would be strange if you hadn't reached it."
Thump.
He handed Sihyun a document on the table.
'Kang Sihyun Achievement Report'
Sihyun's gaze moved down from the title written at the top of the white paper.
'First place in comprehensive assessment at the end of the month for the first year at Choaegang High School. Top ranks in survival, partner war, cooperation, and sparring.'
The paper detailed not only his time outside the guild but also every monthly assessment he had taken and the grades he had achieved. Following this were the deeds he had done outside school, like rescuing Lee Hamin in the Shadow World, gathering information on Irregulars in the Orc Stronghold, evacuating people and encountering Gula, the number of supports during rifts, and Karis eliminations after joining the guild. It was enough to fill four A4 pages.
Indeed. He was newly aware of how he had been relentlessly on the move. Haehyuk took the paper back from a bewildered Sihyun.
"There aren't many Awakened who have achieved this much in just a year and a half of activity."
"What about you, Guild Leader?"
"Well, I was similar to Mr. Sihyun."
He wouldn't say he was less. His slight smile looked almost humble, forcing Sihyun to swallow any irritation and respond dryly, "Is that so?"
"It would be odd if you weren't S-Class. You've worked hard."
"Is it confirmed?"
"S-Class?"
"Yes."
"It's confirmed. There might already be articles about it. Your phone has been ringing a lot, haven't you checked?"
Haehyuk handed Sihyun his phone, which had been charging on the table. Sihyun took his phone and was shocked. The messenger notification showed 999+ messages.
He had never experienced this before.
Given that very few people had his contact information, and he rarely communicated with others besides students from Class A, Ruth, and Haehyuk, this was unexpected. Opening the messaging app, he found dozens of unregistered numbers requesting interviews, along with messages from Shin Ijae and former third-year students from Choaegang High School who had gone to Muam. Even the Cha siblings, whom he had befriended in Muam, sent a message expressing their shock at him achieving S-Class.
The overwhelming number of messages conveyed the reality. It seemed Haehyuk wasn't pulling a prank.
Sihyun recalled the day he decided he needed to become stronger. Six months since Gula's emergence. In just half a year, he had obtained the power he aimed for and achieved the status he desired, yet it was still insufficient. If he struggled against Gula's offspring, defeating Gula, who was far superior when combined with his offspring, would be impossible.
He needed more power.
To achieve that.
"..."
He glanced at the glowing staff in the corner. Feeling Sihyun's gaze, the staff floated from its place and flew to the bed.
"Hm?"
Haehyuk was puzzled. Surprised, Sihyun awkwardly caught the staff.
"What's this?"
Vroom-vroom!
Muttering in disbelief, the staff vibrated in his grip as if responding. After humming in resonance with Sihyun's core for a while, it suddenly lost its light, like a machine powered off.
Startled, Sihyun infused mana into it. The staff glowed brilliantly as it absorbed the mana, then dimmed when he stopped the infusion. Finding it absurd, Haehyuk explained the situation.
"It seems to be bound to you."
"Bound?"
"It means it's bound to be used only by you. It seems to have changed to respond only to your mana."
"My mana only? That can't be..."
"If you don't believe me, lend it to me for a moment."
Haehyuk's voice held no greed, but Sihyun, still wary, handed over the staff after a moment's inspection. Haehyuk tried infusing the weapon with mana. His hair stood on end and a tremendous mana presence was visible even to Sihyun, yet the staff showed no reaction. It neither glowed brightly nor changed size. Sihyun let out a soft exclamation. Haehyuk smiled and ceased infusing mana.
"Looks like you don't need to buy any other weapons for Sihyun now. You've obtained the best one."
Agreeing, Sihyun nodded.
"But please take care of the other kids. I saw cracks in Geonu's shield."
"Geonu's shield was replaced last month, wasn't it?"
"That was then. Things are different now. It's going to be more dangerous in the future. What if someone gets hurt because they were carrying a cracked shield?"
The crack Sihyun mentioned was as small as a fingernail. Haehyuk silently observed Sihyun for a moment before slowly nodding.
He excused himself for a moment and returned with a contract. Sihyun questioned the contract, and Haehyuk explained that since he had become S-Class, his treatment needed to be updated to be fair. The contract was for one year, with no toxic clauses. The conditions were clearer than the previous contract, so Sihyun signed without hesitation.
"Let's work well together again, Mr. Sihyun."
Haehyuk smiled satisfactorily, having protected Sihyun from various guilds that had tried to entice him with billions in salary.
"For now, since Mr. Sihyun has just awakened, we'll prioritize rest over external activities for the time being. We'll check your physical condition periodically because it would be a problem if something happened. Rest up this week, and we'll resume activities next week."
"Yes. Thank you."
"Then, take a good rest."
After giving his last greetings and leaving the room with the contract, Sihyun sat alone, dumbfounded, replaying the conversation with Haehyuk.
S-Class.
He had become S-Class.
He had acquired a weapon and safely completed the fourth engraving.
Recalling the first time he engraved, memories from just a year ago felt like a distant past, and he quietly smiled, sensing it wouldn't be long before he regained his normal life.
Of course, it might not necessarily end with him regaining what was lost.
With a slight shake of his head, he dismissed the ominous thoughts.
***
Sihyun had thought becoming S-Class would bring something special, but surprisingly, his life remained much the same. He had already been summoned here and there as a Quadruple and a provider of Irregular information, so being called by domestic agencies or the global Awakeners association as an S-Class wasn't particularly new.
Of course, while Sihyun's life hadn't changed, the reactions of those around him certainly had.
To put it bluntly, there were more people in the associations and Awakener organizations who were wary of Sihyun than those who liked him. There were those who resented the sudden emergence of a young 18-year-old Quadruple Awakener, and those who thought he was overstepping his bounds by obtaining such immense power at his age and causing trouble.
Those people flipped their stance as soon as Sihyun became S-Class.
It was a ridiculous situation.
When had they ever ignored him?
Those who had openly scoffed or talked behind his back were now coming forward, shaking hands and greeting him warmly. It was the usual behavior of people wanting to get close to Haehyuk whenever he visited the association.
"That, Mr. Sihyun. You know, back then... We were lacking a lot, at that time...."
"Becoming S-Class is recent, but it seems you've grown."
"No, that's not what I mean..."
"Thank you for your effort. Since we haven't formally introduced ourselves, I'd appreciate it if you refrain from informal speech next time."
Deciding it was a waste of time to engage further, he frowned, withdrew his hand, and left. Subsequent events mostly followed this pattern. He was called to high-level institutions, to major rifts, and was the first to be requested for support when a catastrophe appeared. After about a week, news came that the third dungeon in the Philippines had been successfully cleared.
It was Ruth's doing.
Smiling softly, his phone buzzed.
[Master, you went to a dungeon and didn't even send a message. You've raised your disciple poorly.]
It was a message from Ruth.
Where did he learn to call someone "master"?
Sihyun clicked his tongue at Ruth's ever-improving Korean language skills and started to
reply. Before he could finish, another message from Ruth arrived.
[I've cleared the dungeon safely. Congratulations on becoming S-Class, kiddo. You're not a sprout anymore, but a flower.]
"...A flower, really?"
Ruth had aged to thirty as Sihyun turned 18. Perhaps mellowed with age, Ruth sent a rather sentimental message, and Sihyun replied with thanks.
Beep-beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep-beep.
Beep. Beep, beep—
Phones of all the Awakened in the vicinity rang. Sihyun stopped replying to check the emergency text on his screen.
"A fourth dungeon has opened in China..."
Ruth had just sent a message right after clearing a dungeon, acting fast. The speed at which dungeons were being created was worrying when Haehyuk contacted him to come up to the guild leader's office. Without a word, Sihyun took the elevator up and upon opening the door, saw the man always prepared with two cups of tea, sitting on the sofa.
"You've heard that a fourth dungeon has opened in China."
"Yes."
"Do we need to go?"
"Yes."
China was a place they needed to go. Haehyuk clicked his tongue at the straightforward answer. "Just our luck," he muttered, just as Sihyun wondered what was in China.
"You should be careful in China."
"Why?"
"The guilds there are a bit shady. A bit too aggressive too. Especially since the area where the dungeon appeared is crowded with bounty guilds... It's best to be cautious."
Haehyuk advised carefully. Just as Sihyun thought there wouldn't be a reason for him to be targeted for assassination, he suddenly realized there was indeed a reason.
He had almost been killed by someone before.
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