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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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The sun rose as always, its red light turning the silver exterior of the 70-story building crimson.
It was a place that was busy 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, regardless of whether it was a Saturday, Sunday, holiday, day, or night.
This was the headquarters of the Awakened Association.
Unlike when it was first established 25 years ago, the Awakened Association now handled many tasks.
However, the most important tasks were managing the awakened, managing hunters and hunter guilds, and investigating and managing monsters and gates.
That was the purpose of the Awakened Association, also known as the Silver Tower.
There were several departments in the Silver Tower.
There were general departments like the Finance Department and the General Affairs Department, but there were also departments unique to the Silver Tower: the Support Department, the Enforcement Department, and the Inspection Department.
First, the Inspection Department monitored the awakened, especially hunters, to make sure they weren’t doing anything wrong. Some of the Inspection Department staff operated openly, but many of them were hidden throughout society, secretly carrying out their duties.
The Enforcement Department was made up of the strongest awakened individuals, and their main task was to apprehend Blackmen.
Blackmen were those who committed crimes using their awakened abilities.
With monsters and gates already causing headaches, the existence of Blackmen was a source of chronic migraines for the association’s staff.
Because they could destabilize the foundations of society, countries around the world were working together to apprehend Blackmen.
Finally, the Support Department.
They were the ones who handled the frontline work of the Awakened Association, and they dealt with a wide range of tasks, from Support Division 1 to Support Division 10.
In fact, most of the Awakened Association’s core work, excluding the work of the Enforcement and Inspection Departments, was handled by the Support Department.
Therefore, the Support Department was called the flower of the Awakened Association.
Of course, it was unknown what those working in the Support Department actually thought.
Ding dong.
The elevator doors opened on the 60th floor with a cheerful sound.
A slender beauty in a black suit skirt stepped out of the elevator and stood in front of the door of Support Division 1 on the 60th floor.
Two sturdy men in black suits stood in front of the door.
They were the guards who protected Support Division 1.
It was a stark contrast to the other Support Divisions, which did not have separate guards, as their motto was to communicate with the public.
This was because Support Division 1 handled confidential work, even among the work of the Support Department.
The woman who got off the elevator approached the door, and one of the guards spoke.
“If you are authorized to enter, please prove your identity.”
She presented her ID and said,
“Inspection Division 2, Head Kim Myung-hee.”
“Please wait a moment while we verify.”
The other guard took off his sunglasses and scanned her from head to toe.
If any other man had done that, he would have been half-killed by her, but she stood still.
This was because the guard had the ability to detect hidden objects just by looking.
Since she was entering a place that required confidentiality, the procedure for verifying her identity and belongings was very important.
It was a procedure that not even the head of the Awakened Association, or even the leader of a country, could refuse.
Soon, he put on his sunglasses and stepped back.
“Verification complete. Please enter.”
The door opened, and Kim Myung-hee entered, momentarily bewildered.
“…”
All the employees of Support Division 1 were either slumped over their desks or collapsed on the floor.
“C-Could it be an attack?”
Kim Myung-hee sharpened her senses, preparing for any intruders who might still be present.
‘I need to inform the chairman immediately… But the fact that the guards outside didn’t know about this situation means it must be someone quite strong? Where’s Jin-ho? The fact that he’s down means the attacker is at least A-rank? Maybe even A-rank with an artifact!’
While the tense Kim Myung-hee was assessing the situation and speculating about the culprit, someone groaned.
“Ugh…”
A hand reached up from someone slumped over a desk.
The hand fumbled on the desk, grabbed a pair of glasses that had been knocked aside, and put them on as the person lifted their head.
“Who is it… Oh, it’s Myung-hee?”
The man in his thirties, with messy hair and dark circles under his eyes that reached his knees, was the head of Support Division 1, Sung Jin-ho.
“Hey, Sung Jin-ho! What happened here? Why is everyone…”
Bang-!
Just then, the door of Support Division 1 burst open, and two employees rushed in, carrying something in their arms.
“Head! We got energy drinks!”
“Don’t die! Drink this and wake up! Seniors!”
Only then did the employees who were slumped over their desks and collapsed on the floor start to stir.
“Ugh, if I drink any more of that, my heart might explode.”
“I called an A-rank healer while buying these, and they said they’d revive you before your heart explodes!”
“Just let me die…”
“You can’t die yet! You have to finish your work before you die!”
“I need an awakening buff scroll!”
“You can’t! You’ve already exceeded the limit! The scrolls won’t work anymore anyway. Just drink the energy drinks for now!”
Kim Myung-hee finally understood the situation.
There was no attack.
The employees were simply exhausted from working টানা several nights in a row.
They were human, after all, even if they were awakened.
Kim Myung-hee approached Sung Jin-ho’s desk and clicked her tongue.
“I thought there was an attack!”
“An attack?”
Sung Jin-ho chuckled as he gulped down an energy drink.
“On Support Division 1, where I am?”
“Well… No one would dare come here unless they wanted to be fried by your lightning. But…”
Kim Myung-hee’s eyes went to the desk and below it, where there were piles of empty energy drink cans and bottles, and torn awakening buff scrolls. She gasped.
“Goodness! How many energy drinks did you drink? You tore ten awakening buff scrolls! And five recovery scrolls already? Hey! Stop drinking that!”
Kim Myung-hee snatched the energy drink can from Sung Jin-ho’s hand.
“We have no choice.”
Sung Jin-ho sighed.
“The A-0128109 Gate incident. It’s still not resolved.”
“Still, isn’t this too much? Working even on a Sunday…”
“There’s hope that our country might also have a Zero-rank awakened individual.”
Kim Myung-hee clicked her tongue.
“Tsk tsk, such a great patriot!”
“Says you.”
“By the way, I heard that a Cyclops, a Werewolf, and even a Minotaur, monsters that would require two or three A-rank hunters to fight, were taken down with a single punch? Was that really done by a human?”
At Kim Myung-hee’s question, Sung Jin-ho adjusted his glasses and said,
“It was definitely a human. After analyzing the wounds on all the monsters in the gate, it was নিশ্চিত a human fist. Do you doubt my investigation results?”
“No, I believe you! I believe you… but honestly, it’s hard to believe.”
“…I couldn’t believe it at first either. But after reviewing it several times, the results were the same, so I have to believe it.”
Kim Myung-hee pulled up a chair next to him, sat down, took out a document envelope from her bag, and handed it to him.
“Anyway, the head of Inspection Division 1 asked me to deliver this to you. It’s a list of individuals suspected to be Zero-rank awakened. And the one below is what our Division 2 put together.”
“Oh! Thanks!”
“Do you know? The whole world is buzzing with the news that Korea might also have a Zero-rank awakened individual.”
“I know.”
“What on earth are the chairman and Ms. Kang thinking, making such an announcement when there’s no conclusion yet?”
Even though it was a country where freedom of the press was guaranteed, this was an incident related to a Zero-rank awakened individual.
If the Awakened Association had taken proper action, not a single media outlet would have dared to write an article about it!
“Why else? It’s because of the Military Cooperation Council. If we can put even a little pressure on the member countries, it’s to our advantage.”
“You have to bluff within reason! What if it’s exposed?”
“It’s fine. We’ll just brush it off. Other countries bluff too. Honestly, who conducts diplomacy with 100% truth? Half-truth, half-bluff. Isn’t that fair diplomacy?”
“Good grief! Diplomacy isn’t half-and-half fried chicken…”
Currently, the dominance of a country’s power was determined by whether or not it possessed an exceptional awakened individual.
People had thought that S-rank was the highest level of awakened individuals.
However, five years ago, it became known that there were awakened individuals stronger than S-rank.
Zero (0) rank, meaning immeasurable.
It was said that the United States and China each had one, but their exact identities were still unknown.
Naturally.
There was no way they would easily expose an awakened individual who could sway the country’s strategy.
Kim Myung-hee and Sung Jin-ho were colleagues who had been together since their time at the Hunter Academy.
Although they weren’t related by blood, they had gone through the trials of the Great Clash together ten years ago and were already like siblings.
“By the way, did the head of Inspection Division 2, who’s just as busy as I am, really come all the way here just to deliver this document?”
“Ah, the real reason I came is this.”
Kim Myung-hee took out a pen case from her bag and placed it on the desk.
“This is?”
“It’s finally finished. The new weapon you requested. Since you’re too busy to even visit the workshop, the old man asked me to deliver it.”
When the pen case was opened, there was a golden pen inside.
However, when it was held in Sung Jin-ho’s hand, it was no longer just a pen, but a weapon.
He infused the pen with his aura.
Whoosh-!
With a sound of air vibrating, the golden pen transformed into a golden longsword.
“It’s called Lightning Sword. Only lightning-type awakened individuals can use it. Be careful, as other types of awakened individuals could get electrocuted if they touch it.”
“Thank you. I should call the old man to thank him.”
“Do that. I’m going. Try to take it easy.”
“I can’t see you off.”
“Get some sleep instead of seeing me off!”
Kim Myung-hee looked at her watch as she left Support Division 1.
“I should be able to make it if I leave now.”
She had a lunch appointment with her younger brother today.
The meeting place was on the first floor of the Silver Tower.
She took the elevator down to the first floor and soon spotted her brother standing near the door in the distance.
“Noona!”
“Oh! Myung-jin! Have you been waiting long?”
“No, I just got here.”
Her younger brother, Kim Myung-jin, also worked at the Silver Tower.
He worked in the medical department on the third floor of the Silver Tower.
It was a place that treated ordinary people and awakened individuals injured by monsters.
Ordinary injuries could be treated at regular hospitals, but injuries caused by monsters could only be healed by C-rank or higher healers.
Therefore, the cost of C-rank or higher healers was quite high, and this was also true for healers belonging to the association.
However, those belonging to the association were more driven by a sense of duty than money.
Becoming awakened was more than half hereditary, and like Kim Myung-hee, Kim Myung-jin was also an exceptional awakened individual.
Kim Myung-jin was an A-rank healer, the pride of the association.
The two of them were going to have a meal together after a long time.
They were both so busy that if they didn’t make a special appointment, they could only have a few meals together a year.
“What do you want to eat?”
“You’re buying, right, Noona?”
“Do you think I’d ask my younger brother to pay?”
“Then there’s something I want to eat with you.”
* * *
A little while later, Kim Myung-hee and Kim Myung-jin were standing in front of Yang Chun Gak.
Seeing the sign, Kim Myung-hee asked her brother,
“What, you wanted to eat Chinese food?”
“Yeah. Jajangmyeon. Baek Eun-ho from Support Division 1 said the jajangmyeon here is amazing, so I tried it, and it was really good! So I wanted to come here with you.”
Kim Myung-jin opened the door of Yang Chun Gak and said,
“Let’s go in.”
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