The delinquents, upon confirming that there were only two opponents, started threatening them with curses and growls.
“Don’t cause any trouble and just leave.”
“Are you trying to save face in front of a girl? You’ll regret it.”
At that moment, one of the delinquents noticed something off about Shinnoda and Yang Min-seo’s appearance.
The long object hanging from their waists caught his eye. Although it wasn’t clearly visible due to the backlight, the silhouette gave him a pretty good idea of what they might be carrying.
“Hey! Wait a second. Isn’t that a sword?”
“Huh?”
As they got closer, they could make out each other’s faces, confirming the nature of those objects.
A spear and a crescent blade. Shinnoda and Yang Min-seo both had weapons strapped to their waists—Shinnoda with a folding spear and Min-seo with a crescent blade.
The delinquents were taken aback.
“What, what is going on? Why do they have swords…?”
“Could they be what we’ve only heard stories about—the heroes?”
“Are we seriously doomed?”
It was true that in Seoul, often referred to as the Republic of Korea, with its large population, Awakened Ones were concentrated in the city, making them harder to find in the suburbs or rural areas. The delinquents had only heard tales about the Awakened Ones; this was their first encounter.
In South Korea, the only ones allowed to carry swords or knives were Awakened Ones fit for combat.
“Min-seo, do you want to take care of them? I’m feeling too irritated right now and might not be able to control myself if I deal with them.”
Lately, Shinnoda had been finding it hard to suppress the destructive instincts bubbling up within him.
Especially when it came to dealing with the weak, he struggled even more.
“Could this be Laura’s influence?”
He remembered something from genre novels—how dragons were always depicted as being extremely volatile.
Sure enough, Laura agreed with that notion.
“It could be. Young dragons often have a hard time controlling their instincts and act out frequently. Your soul seems to be gradually transforming into something similar to that of a dragon. It’s a plausible explanation.”
Laura reflected on her own youth, reminiscing about the time she, unable to control her frustration with humans who wouldn’t listen, obliterated an entire kingdom.
Dragons are far from a wise species.
“I suppose I could be considered fairly mature by human standards, but by dragon standards, I’m still a newborn.”
His lack of full maturity made him susceptible to the instincts of a dragon, as Laura explained to him and he accepted.
“Alright.”
Yang Min-seo nodded and drew her sword.
With a sharp ‘swoosh’, the crescent blade was revealed, causing the delinquents to fidget and take a step back. The sheer magnitude of the blade was intimidating to the knife-wielding delinquents.
“The best course of action is to surrender. I despise parasites like you.”
Though in the Academy, Min-seo wasn’t considered to have an exceptional combat ability, which was a reflection of being surrounded by talented peers. However, compared to the average person, she was overwhelmingly strong.
“Shit, what should we do?”
“How do you beat a hero?”
Then the apparent leader of the delinquent group had a remarkable realization.
“Hey, aren’t they wearing school uniforms? Could they possibly be from that Hero Academy?”
He guessed this from the identical designs of Shinnoda and Min-seo’s outfits and inferred from their somewhat plain appearance that they might be students.
“Nah, it could be. But seriously, their swords are way too long, right?”
“Isn’t this dangerous?”
However, some of the other delinquents thought differently. The delinquents generally only armed themselves with knives or similar small weapons. Facing something like the crescent blade that was several times taller than their own weapons, they felt thoroughly outmatched.
“Damn…cowards.”
With no support from his friends, the leader clenched his teeth and spat curses. A delinquent’s life was all about staying in groups to cow the weak and bow to the strong; they could sense the overpowering aura radiating off Shinnoda and Min-seo.
“We will relieve you of one of your legs, to ensure you won’t repeat such behavior. Even sitting down should be manageable afterward.”
With that, Min-seo continued advancing calmly while the delinquents took hesitant steps backward.
“Scatter!”
“Damn it!”
As one delinquent turned tail and bolted, the rest followed suit in a panic. Min-seo didn’t bother chasing them.
“Are you okay?”
Min-seo leaned down kindly to offer her hand to Hwang Hyo-joo, who was lying on the ground. Hyo-joo gratefully took her hand and stood up.
‘I should have stayed inside the store.’
Danger can always find you if you’re out of place and at the wrong time, anywhere in the world.
Hyo-joo regretted the rash decision she had made.
‘Academy students…’
Though Hyo-joo herself was not an awakened one, her sister was, and she was pretty familiar with the subject. She was lucky the Academy students had accidentally crossed her path.
“Thank you so much for saving me. My name is Hwang Hyo-joo. What are your names, my saviors…?”
“My name is Yang Min-seo, and this is Shinnoda… Yes, his name is Shinnoda.”
Just as they exchanged names, a man in a black suit hurriedly entered the alley.
Hyo-joo’s bodyguard.
“Miss! Are you alright?!”
“Over here.”
Hyo-joo waved to let her bodyguard know her position. When he saw her, he was visibly horrified.
She had tumbled roughly on the rough ground, her clothes torn in multiple places, her skin bruised, her legs showing dark blue marks from being stomped on, and her nose bleeding and twisted in an abnormal direction. She looked like something out of a horror film.
“Who are you guys?!”
He pulled out the gun at his waist and pointed it at Shinnoda and Min-seo. It was a gun permitted for hunting dungeon monsters, and with substantial financial support from his employer, it even fired mana bullets.
“These people saved me. The ones who did this to me have already fled.”
The bodyguard’s mind was spinning. If his employer ever found out the one he’s supposed to protect is in this condition, he’d be fired for sure.
‘Getting fired would be the best-case scenario…’
He thought about the terrifying strength and fiery temper of his employer, Hyo-joo’s sister.
“Don’t worry. I’ll tell my sister that I acted on my own. Uncle Ji-Hoon told me to stay inside the store, right?”
“Y-yes. Would you really do that for me?”
The bodyguard looked like he had gained a decade of relief.
As the bodyguard, Kim Ji-Hoon, became slightly more relaxed, he examined the people who had saved Hyo-joo.
Familiar-looking uniforms.
A few years ago, he used to wear similar ones himself.
“Hey, you’re Academy students, aren’t you? Nice to meet you. I’m also an Academy graduate, though I only reached D-class.”
Ji-Hoon was a case of someone who had entered the Academy as a D-class but hadn’t been able to make the cut as a hero, eventually choosing the path of a bodyguard. Despite this, he continued going to the dungeons part-time, spending a lot of money to try to become a hero, but even now, C-class was the highest rank he had reached.
Because general summon gates could appear anywhere at any time, only heroes and professional hunters were privy to them, thus making it impossible for the likes of Ji-Hoon to even catch a glimpse. He had to go work in field dungeons, which guilds and management groups often bought out and sent their own Awakened members to better regions while renting out less favorable spots to individuals like him.
Hence, it was very difficult for someone with initial lower aptitudes to grow and overturn the odds.
“Yes, nice to meet you.”
“Yes. My name is Shinnoda.”
Min-seo answered a bit coldly while Shinnoda introduced himself.
“Shinnoda?!?”
The bodyguard opened his mouth wide, astonished. That name was famous in the Awakened community.
“Is that the Shinnoda who won the tournament?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, it’s an honor. It’s a pleasure to meet a future A-class hero.”
“Yes…”
Ji-Hoon grabbed Shinnoda’s hand and shook it enthusiastically. Shinnoda’s hand moved up and down along with Ji-Hoon’s thick hand.
“It’s considered as a handshake.”
After saying that, Ji-Hoon pulled out his phone.
“Would you happen to have a contact I could use to reach you both? I’ll make sure to thank you later.”
While speaking, Hyo-joo pulled out her phone. Min-seo and Shinnoda gave their names and contact information, which she carefully noted down. Hyo-joo expressed her gratitude once more and disappeared with her bodyguard.
“Anyway, it turned out pretty well, right?”
“That’s true. Even though I’m not aspiring to be a hero myself, it still feels rewarding to help someone.”
Min-seo had entered the Academy primarily to expand her network; she didn’t exactly have any strong sense of justice, but she still felt good about rescuing someone and receiving their gratitude.
“I know what you mean.”
Shinnoda agreed. He had unwittingly been honored as a hero many times while working as a Dark Knight, so he understood what Min-seo was feeling.
Helping Hyo-joo took up quite a bit of their time, and they now headed towards the Red Knight’s boat.
The journey was, as usual, through a quiet dock where they boarded a motorboat.
Following the Red Knight’s instructions, they no longer had bombs strapped to their wrists, given their status as guests and because the well-known Shinnoda and Min-seo were simply not in a position to cause any trouble.
They boarded what was essentially the Red Knight’s cruise ship, giving the feel of a “seaside party.”
In the middle of the deck, a swimming pool.
The club music blasting from the cruise made Shinnoda and Min-seo automatically feel festive.
But then they saw a familiar face, causing them to be shocked.
“Wow! What a coincidence?”
“Wha-, why are you here?”
Shinnoda and Min-seo asked, surprised.
“Well, my sister lives here aboard this ship! And for now, so do I.”
Shinnoda immediately had a hunch.
It had to be.
“Could it be that your sister is Red Knight?”
“Oh my, how did you know? Did my sister mention her name?”
“Not exactly…”
Shinnoda smiled slyly, having guessed right by intuition.
“Things seem to be going well. Even if she’s reckless, she wouldn’t dare to mistreat those who saved her sister.”
Shinnoda and Min-seo looked at each other thoughtfully and snickered softly—they had the same thought.
