Chapter 4: Sorry, I’m Not the Awakener You Expected

“Groan—”

A sudden, bursting pain in that precious place.

Sung-ho Choi, frothing at the mouth, collapsed as he was.

It was a faint caused by shock.

“D- Damn it!”

“You bastard!”

They had been using violence for a long time.

So, perhaps they never expected me to fight back and looked utterly flustered.

But they were no rookies.

“Clack clack clack.”

In an instant, each grabbed the weapon they had prepared.

The problem was, I had no intention of letting them swing those.

Pat!

The moment I stomped the ground, it was like the space compressed and the distance closed instantly.

For ordinary people, not Awakeners, it would be impossible to catch such movement.

What they could do was—

“Hup!”

They were shocked to see me suddenly so close.

Pahk!

And then, they fell with a single blow.

“Puh puh puh!”

When the same attack repeated three times, there wasn’t a single one left standing.

Many in number, even wielding weapons, yet they were utterly crushed.

That was the level difference between them and me.

Even if dozens, or hundreds of thugs were here, the outcome wouldn’t change.

“Ugh.”

“Uuuuuh.”

The ones hit in the abdomen groaned.

They posed no threat to my actions.

Therefore—

“Clack.”

I grabbed the aluminum bat rolling on the floor.

“Aaah—”

They tried to say something as I approached, bat in hand.

But—

“Pahk!”

Do I need to have a conversation with them?

“Pahk, puh-puhk!”

I just mercilessly beat them.

“Ugh!”

“Ughk!”

Head, chest, abdomen, thigh, calf.

Wherever I could strike, the bat flew.

Of course, I controlled the strength moderately.

Unfortunately, if I gave it my all, one hit could split a skull.

A death?

I’m not afraid.

I’m only afraid that they might die without feeling any pain.

So, carefully, cautiously, I adjusted my power, carving pain into every inch of their bodies.

Just like they had done to me in the past.

“P- please, spare me…”

“P-please…”

Pain is truly like an instantly effective medicine.

Just moments ago, they were arrogant, but now they quickly submitted, begging for mercy.

There’s a reason tyrannies and terror reign.

From what I experienced on the continent, they chose that path for efficient rule.

And now, I am the same.

To dominate them, to rule through fear, I wield violence.

“Pahk, puh-eok!”

I put will into that violence.

You will be beaten to death today.

No, you will surely die here.

The voices begging gradually faded away.

They lost consciousness from the shock.

No surprise.

The constant beating had burst their skin, coloring their entire bodies red.

Like eels shedding their skin, writhing—what a fitting sight.

Yes.

This is what suits them.

This squirming every time the club strikes like live fish.

The relentless assault only ended—

“Thuk!”

When the bat broke.

“Just…”

Only after they lost consciousness did I speak.

“…Can’t even endure this.”

Such a pity.

The violence now was barely a fraction of what they had done to me in the past.

I wanted to do more.

But I couldn’t.

Rattle—

The twitching was a sign.

They were dying, their breath about to stop.

Inflicting pain on cold corpses wouldn’t stir any feelings within me.

I briefly stared at the last convulsions, then turned away.

Originally, I had planned to head straight to the tower.

But I decided to postpone that.

‘Sandeul Money.’

There was information to be extracted from those persistent bastards who kept harassing me for interest (and didn’t seem to care much about the money itself).

***

A high-rise building.

On the signboard of the 6th floor, [Sandeul Money]

The words advertised an obvious loan shark.

Inside the office.

“Are you sure the matter with that guy is being handled properly?”

The one sunk into the sofa.

Dressed neatly in a gray suit, he boasted a notably small frame.

At a glance, he didn’t fit in this rough office.

But he was Kim Sang-pil, head of Sandeul Money.

A boss of the money racket, commanding hundreds of thugs under the Daehopa.

Opposite him stood another man, also in a black suit.

In contrast to the small frame of Kim Sang-pil, he was a towering figure over 190 cm tall and weighing more than 100 kg.

He was Choi Ho-cheol, second-in-command of Daehopa.

“I get reports from Sung-ho regularly. We’re harassing him as much as possible, so it should be soon.”

Their conversation was triggered by a ‘small request’ overheard not long ago.

“Tch. Don’t just take reports, go check for yourself. You know what that was, right? Said casually, but it was clearly an order.” He said it casually.

But no words are ever just casual.

Especially between people in such high positions.

The two, taking the order seriously, relentlessly tormented one man by any means necessary.

“Yes. I’m monitoring him today, and if there’s no change, I’ll handle it personally.”

The goal was a man’s death.

Of course, if requested, contract killing could be done anytime.

But what they wanted was not a simple murder.

“Push him as hard as you can. So he’d kill himself immediately.”

Suicide.

Since they had to consider outside appearances, that was the best scenario.

“Right. Let’s wrap this up for now. Next…”

Though he gave the instructions, he wasn’t really worried.

Making a nobody with no background kill himself was easy.

It was more a warning to be cautious since this matter connected to the higher-ups, telling them to handle it perfectly.

Just as he started to bring up the next business—

“Who is that!”

“You bastard!”

Shouting began.

“Hmm?”

Kim Sang-pil looked toward the door at the sudden commotion.

“A visitor?”

He remained calm despite the uproar.

He was used to it.

The Noeunja Area near Daehopa was the prime spot for making money.

Various organizations vied for control, constantly checking each other.

Besides Daehopa, five other major groups eyed every opportunity.

Not open war, but scuffles like this were frequent.

The ruckus would die down soon enough, just—

“Aaagh!”

“Ugh!”

Clatter!

The noise did not diminish.

It only grew, turning into screams.

“Tch. Another bastard from the Doksa-pa?”

Doksa-pa.

The organization clashing most with Daehopa.

Among the groups gathered in Noeunja Area, it boasted the largest force.

Honestly, it was a whole different league from Daehopa.

Still, Daehopa’s name was up there because—

“Stay calm. If they come in, I’ll handle them.”

Thanks to Choi Ho-cheol, Daehopa’s second-in-command.

“Good. I’m counting on you.”

Despite countless crises, Daehopa remained strong solely because of him.

So this time too, with strong trust, they stood their ground.

A little later.

Kwahng!

A tremendous impact shattered the office door.

Step by step.

A figure appeared in the room with slow steps.

“Huh…?”

They expected members of Doksa-pa or other groups.

But what appeared was a pale-looking man in his 30s.

At first, Kim Sang-pil was puzzled, but then—

“…Kim Si-won?”

Since the higher-ups gave the order, Kim Sang-pil had also researched the target.

The man before him was the target, expected to kill himself soon under Sung-ho Choi’s pressure.

But why?

Shouldn’t he be a wreck by now?

Yet he was strolling confidently inside the office.

“You’re the boss, huh.”

His casual tone made it clear he looked much younger.

Kim Sang-pil did not react.

In the thug world despised and scorned by others, it’s hard to become a boss without keen intuition.

And he was the boss of Daehopa, a fairly solid organization.

He could tell the situation was unusual without needing to look outside.

‘Interest isn’t ordinary.’

Kim Si-won, previously thought to be an ordinary man.

But now that he was here in front of him, he was anything but normal.

The organization members outside had been defeated, and he had come here alone.

That meant he had a hidden trump card.

Perhaps—

“An Awakener?”

High chance.

No, definitely.

Though the man gave no answer.

‘There was no mention of awakening. Could it be…he suddenly awakened? Damn it, Sang-pil, at a time like this!’

Until recently, he was an ordinary man.

Suddenly showing up like this, displaying power, could only mean he had naturally awakened.

The gap between an Awakener and an ordinary person was vast.

Even if a thug lived off scraps, the difference was clear.

Of course, depending on what trait was awakened, it varied, but the level gap was like heaven and earth.

If Kim Si-won really awakened, this was indeed a critical moment.

However—

“This is unfortunate, isn’t it?” Kim Sang-pil remained calm.

He even seemed relaxed.

Not the attitude of an ordinary person facing an Awakener.

“He came looking for his own grave.”

As soon as he finished speaking—

Buuuuuuung!

A hemispherical barrier enveloped the entire area.

The source was Choi Cheol-sik.

The aura he raised completely dominated the room.

“Hahaha!”

Looking at it, Kim Sang-pil burst into loud laughter.

“How does it feel to lose the trait that made you seem almighty?”

The Mugwort Zone.

Choi Cheol-sik’s trait.

Surprisingly, he was just a rank-and-file member but an Awakener.

Moreover, he created a rare barrier-type trait that projected a special effect in a radius.

Its effect was nullifying traits.

Of course, a high-level trait could override that, but a rookie who just awakened wouldn’t have a high-level trait.

Plus, inside this Mugwort Zone, Cheol-sik’s physical ability rose drastically.

Even among ordinary people, Cheol-sik’s physicality was top-tier.

The boosted power was phenomenal.

This was why Kim Sang-pil had survived the organization’s rivalries under Cheol-sik’s protection.

And the result was always the same.

Any arrogant member who targeted him met an irreversible end—death.

And this time would be no different.

“Cheol-sik!”

Kim Sang-pil looked at him with full trust.

And at that moment, Kim Sang-pil saw—

Puhk!

Choi Cheol-sik’s head shattered like a ripe watermelon.

Flakes of white brain matter and scattered flesh splattered onto his body and the floor.

“Sorry.”

A low voice came with it.

“Not the Awakener I was hoping for.”

The words were hard to believe.