Free Web NovelRoy’s pupils began to tremble like aspen leaves.
It was the same outfit he’d worn for the Awakening test, and he must have left his license in the pocket.
Frozen for a moment, Roy reached out to snatch back the license.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
But the man’s hand was faster. If this had been 21-year-old Roy, maybe he could have grabbed it—but current Roy was so scrawny that no matter how high he jumped, he couldn’t reach the man’s hand.
“Give it back! It’s mine!”
The man brushed Roy’s leaping head aside with one hand while examining the license with the other.
“S-rank, huh? Wasn’t your real name II-gong-yi?”
“I don’t know!”
“And this is school hours, isn’t it?”
Of all things, he knew about Awakener high schools.
“It’s mine, so hand it over!”
In the blink of an eye, Roy scrambled onto the flowerbed and lunged at the man’s left hand.
With a flick, the man switched the license into his right hand and stepped back—swift enough to believe he was an Awakener himself.
“If you say it’s not yours, then you stole it?”
“You piece of—!”
Provoked by the license as leverage, Roy charged in a desperate headbutt.
The man, an ordinary person with no hope of fending off an S-rank body tackle, crashed to the ground with Roy. Roy quickly straddled him and forcibly pried the license from his grip.
Then Roy, thinking, This bastard—let me see your face, yanked off the man’s hat.
Under the streetlamp appeared a face Roy knew all too well: raised eyebrows in anger, a distinct mole beneath the apple of the cheek.
It was Hojin, Shooting Star’s rapper and master of water.
“...Hojin-hyung?”
【Discovered scattered companion “Kim Hojin (unawakened).】
【Gather Companions (1/4)】
The status window popped up the moment Roy recognized Hojin, leaving no doubt. His first thought, however, was relief.
I didn’t have to ask him to be my companion...!
Embarrassed at acting so foolishly, Roy felt like dying. But regret faded when he realized he’d finally found his hyung, and he threw his arms around Hojin.
“Hyuuung!”
Startled, Hojin tried to push him away but couldn’t resist Roy’s desperate embrace—he could feel Hojin’s small body trembling.
“Um...”
Instead of pushing him off, Hojin only shook his head, burrowing further into Roy’s arms like a kitten.
So cute... no, that’s not it.
“Could you come out a bit?”
Roy wanted to coax him gently, but Hojin eventually pried himself free and stepped back.
“How did you know my name?”
Hojin wasn’t in uniform, and “Hojin” wasn’t exactly common. From the odd location to Roy’s strange outfit and behavior, Hojin couldn’t help but be suspicious.
“A stalker?”
“What do you take me for!”
Roy admitted he tracked him down, but “stalker” was crossing the line—first accused of animal abuse, now stalking. Roy felt he’d heard everything.
“Well...”
He really had no excuse. He’d known his hyungs might not recognize him, but now that it had happened, he couldn’t help feeling hurt. He pressed his lips together to hide it.
“You just looked so much like someone I knew, I called out. Your name’s Hojin too? Woah. What. A. Coincidence.”
His forced acting would fool no one, yet he’d spoken before thinking. He tried to smooth things over with an awkward smile, but Hojin’s frostiness remained.
“As far as I know, the only minor S-rank Awakener is II-gong-yi. I’ll ask again—is that a fake ID?”
“Fake?”
Now he was a fraudster too? Roy scoffed.
“Ha! Do I look like someone who’d do that?”
“Hmm.”
Rather than being cowed, Hojin’s stern glare made Roy flinch.
Weird... Hojin-hyung wouldn’t act like this.
Roy realized why: his hood hid everything but his eyes. He quickly loosened the ribbon and tugged off the hat.
Behold! The face you went crazy over!
Revealing his full face, Roy saw Hojin’s eyes widen. Sensing the shift, Roy dropped his gaze pitifully.
“I told you I’m not that person. You haven’t believed a word I said...”
At that moment, the status window reappeared.
“I hate you, hyung.”
【Casting skill “God’slighting.”】
With a thud, Hojin sank to his knees and pressed his hands to the ground.
“I’m sorry... I’m trash...”
Wait, what? How did it turn into this?
✧
Roy, now consoling a deeply self-hating Hojin, guided him to a nearby café. He’d come to catch Junseo and instead found Hojin—confusing, yet oddly welcome. Only three companions remained to find.
“You okay now?”
“Yes. I’m sorry for being trash...”
“You’re not okay!”
Roy snapped. Was it the “God’slighting” skill? Since the status window appeared, Hojin’s mood had flipped.
God’slighting—what kind of skill is that?
Before he could ponder further, the status window appeared again.
【God’slighting
: Glory of God. Passive skill.
Manipulates the target’s perception, causing them to emphatically agree with the user.】
God? Me?
Putting aside the divinity, this was just gaslighting! He couldn’t believe his only skill was something so absurd. He’d thought, as a fire-attribute Awakener, he might spark a flame at most.
This is straight-up criminal, this crazy worldview...
No wonder not a single spark flew when he snapped his fingers. “Fiery” in the description was the only flame involved! It had nothing to do with actual fire. It was maddening. Roy shook his head nervously and downed his drink in one gulp.
Hojin, meanwhile, sat with his head bowed in front of his lemonade as if performing a ritual.
“Why aren’t you drinking? It’s your favorite.” freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
“How did you know?”
“Just ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ a guess.”
Roy quickly averted his eyes at nearly slipping up.
“And why are you still hung up on this? Is it because I said I hated you?”
Hojin’s brow furrowed. A few harsh words shouldn’t leave him so down. Roy slid the lemonade across.
“I don’t hate you, hyung. Okay? So stop moping and drink up.”
Roy felt proud that Hojin had come to him of his own accord. But after a few sips, Hojin looked uncertain again.
“Why—um—”
“But you’ve been speaking informally; aren’t you younger than me?”
Hojin’s clear eyes asked for an explanation.
“That’s why I call you ‘hyung.’ ...Okay?”
Roy’s face twisted at using awkward honorifics he wasn’t used to.
“Alright, let’s go with that. But if I’d wanted to run, I could have. Why come here?”
“Do you think I’m an idiot? ...Okay?”
“Just talk normally.”
“Yeah. You too, hyung.” freewёbnoνel.com
Roy’s face brightened as if relief washed over him.
“How can I let go of someone who knows my name, age, school, and rank? You were caught sneaking out too.”
“That was real?”
“...”
“You snuck out of school?”
The more they talked, the more Roy felt stuck in quicksand. A wave of dizziness hit him as he wondered how to fix this. Still no idea.
Should I just knock him out from behind?
But he couldn’t hit Hojin. He’d use the most humane method—face. Fortunately, Hojin was the hyung most susceptible to a sweetheart approach.
“You?! If you peek at someone’s personal info, you have to take responsibility! Where do you think you can just slip away?”
“Responsibility...?”
“Yes! I won’t sleep at night because of you. What if you go telling people about me? There are tons of people selling my info.”
“I’m not one of them—”
“How would I know! Do you think I’m hiding my identity for fun?”
Roy fueled the fire, claiming he suffered severe trauma when he awakened—so much shock that he became an utter fool.
Ever heard of the tragic S-rank?
“I thought I’d be left alone if I ghosted everyone... but it turns out someone’s impersonating me.”
Thanks to that, at school he was treated like F-rank and bullied, he said with feigned tears—a feast of nonsense.
At that moment, the skill triggered again and the status window appeared.
【Casting skill “God’slighting.”】
Hojin’s tear ducts burst once more.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know...”
He hadn’t intended to make him cry. Seeing Hojin’s sorrow as if it were his own awoke a pang of conscience.
“You’re crying too hard...”
“Roy’s so pitiful. Sob.”
Ah... I should have moderated it.
The power of an S-rank was astounding.
