Free Web Novel“(Breaking News) Blood Fiend Appears in Athletes’ Village; Two Archery Team Members Dead” freewēbnoveℓ.com
“(Guild of Korea, Awakened Management Department to Search for Blood Fiends Around Athletes’ Village)”
“(Athletes’ Village Temporarily Closed Due to Safety Concerns)”
“(One Victim Awakens, Prevents Athletes’ Village Disaster)”
└ “Yeah, only civilians can enter the Olympics”
└ “For real?”
└ “Already had awakening test?”
└ “How’d you know?”
└ “Family’s here in the village”
└ “God-Myeongjung, what a legend...”
└ “Isn’t that him awakening?”
└ “No no, article says Park Yeonwoo awakened”
└ “Unknown jaemmini”
└ “Stop joking, I’m serious”
└ “Not a joke lol. Some jaemmini just came for the tour and left. Creepy thing is, nobody knows who he is”
└ “Like Jesus descending”
└ “Park Yeonwoo did descend lol”
└ “Village almost got wrecked”
└ “S-class awakened”
As soon as Roy arrived in Seoul, his hyungs’ fussing got him treated at an Awakened hospital, and he returned home in one piece. Sure enough, every portal site and community was ablaze with news about the athletes’ village. He even saw articles saying blood fiends no longer only appeared at night.
“(Daytime Blood Fiend Appearances Raise Urgent Need for Countermeasures)”
“(Fear Around the Clock! Citizens Panic over Blood Fiend Sightings)”
People had assumed blood fiends could only operate when the moon’s power was strongest. But after Maha’s prophecy, the boundary between humans and blood fiends was gradually eroding.
└ “Right? Suddenly everyone’s losing it lol”
└ “Kieeeek!”
└ “Bang. Anyone else?”
└ “Yeah, if you can’t catch one kid who broke in, what’s the police for? They can’t even figure out how he got in—comedy gold”
Reactions split: those alarmed by fiends’ daytime appearances versus those brushing it off. Roy felt the “public complacency” comment hit home. A bigger catalyst was needed to wake people up.
This is bad. Blood fiend sightings are only beginning.
Lying on his bed scrolling forums, Roy felt a sudden chill. Of course he worried his family might be hurt while he was gone—but not knowing Hangyeol’s whereabouts made him more anxious. Why did CEO come up with such a world view? If he’d preferred things like DiXni instead of MaX, life would be prettier. For the first time, Roy felt a twinge of resentment toward Jeonseo.
✧
Roy’s worries followed him to school the next day.
“Sigh...”
The weight of being the protagonist. Roy lay face-down on his desk, having skipped lunch, sighing. His seatmate, finishing lunch, plopped something on his desk.
“Here, attention.”
It landed—one of the convenience-store hamburger buns.
“What’s this? I don’t need any comrades now. Too late, pal.”
Roy refused the gesture, and his seatmate’s face twisted.
“You’re pathetic. I give you a snack and you’re imagining things. Who wants to hang with you?”
The glasses-wearing seatmate was Seogal Bi—a rare Jungal clan psychic awakened. He’d hidden his name for nearly a month. Roy had been annoyed, but once he learned Bi’s name, he understood why.
“So what is it?”
“...Got worries?”
Oh—this was kind. Bi was the only one in class who looked out for him, even if he seemed prickly.
“If I do, will you listen?”
“Keep it short. And if you keep sighing through afternoon classes, I’ll pluck every hair out of your head.”
Bi yelled that Roy’s sighs kept him from concentrating.
“You’re sensitive, Bi.”
“You said stop calling me that! My name is Bi—‘to soar high.’ How many times?!”
“You called me stupid!”
“You are!”
“Fine, you’re the only stupid one. But listen, Bi—”
“Dammit!”
Bi, unable to contain his frustration, kicked the desk in lotus position.
Ka-ang!
Oops—he must’ve hit his shin and sat down clutching it.
“Bi, I’m talking—please take this seriously.”
“You jerk... ugh.”
Roy was his nemesis; Bi glared with pure resentment.
“Can I speak?”
“Hurry up!”
“Gosh. I need to chill, Bi.”
Roy sighed deliberately, baiting Bi.
“Listen, Bi—”
“If you don’t say it in three seconds—”
“I feel so weak.”
Silence. Bi’s eyes asked if Roy just realized that.
“I mean—nobody ignores me because they don’t know me. It’s because I’m the main character? I get blamed for everything. It’s all too much lately.”
“You psycho.”
“See? Even Bi can’t trash-talk me properly.”
Roy joked, but in truth his self-esteem was shot. Especially after the village incident. Without ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ Yeonwoo’s awakening and Myeongjung’s help, he’d be dead.
“Why am I so useless? Ha...”
But the worries didn’t end there. Suppose he found Hangyeol—would unlocking Skill Lock guarantee he’d get stronger? He sensed something more was at play. His instincts had never been wrong.
“Sigh...”
Roy’s sighs grew louder, while Bi’s expression grew uglier. No wonder some people can’t study... Bi’s glare practically shouted curses.
“Hey, you idiot. If you have time for this, just go sleep. You think you’re some two-core or something? Gonna save the world?”
“Who says I’m not two-core?”
“If you’re two-core, I’ll change my name to Galbi.”
Change your name? Then Bi becomes “Jeogal Galbi”? Roy burst out laughing.
“Pfft! You just said it yourself: you’d change it to Galbi.”
“I said if you were two-core, not when! Listen when someone speaks!”
Friends or not, they bickered nonstop. Just then, voices drifted by the window—third-year group in the hallway.
“Hey, hey! Awakening24 says Park Yeonwoo’s up!”
“What? Show me!”
“Insane. Elemental type? Light attribute? Damn, got it all.”
“But why is his rank C? Kinda meh.”
“Maybe he’ll go to Elite High? That school’s got all the elementals.”
“Nah, I heard in the faculty office he might come to our school?”
Yeonwoo-hyung is coming here? Wait—he’s a minor too, right?! Roy had worried about leaving Yeonwoo back there, but if that’s true, he could see him every day. Feeling elated, Roy grinned to himself.
“Hee. Hee-hee! Woohoo!”
“Ugh, what a lunatic.”
✧
After school, in the classroom. As classmates prepared to return to the dorm, Roy’s phone buzzed.
[Hojin: (Art Academy selfie.jpg)]
[Hojin: But, Roy... do you really have to take proof shots forever? It’s kinda embarrassingㅜㅜ]
Roy opened the messenger; Hojin’s close-up appeared—apron smeared with paint over his uniform.
“Wow...”
Terrible selfie skills. Even in Shooting Star days, Hojin was notorious for bad selfies. He tried his best, but somehow became the definitive selfie disaster. “Wilderness Hojin” was as expressive as Yeonwoo, mixing nostalgia with exasperation.
[Roy: For now, keep going. And why care what others think? I told you not to]
[Hojin: Okay....]
[Roy: Taeeon-hyung said he’d pick you up after class, so stay together]
After the village incident, Roy took steps for Hojin too—he paired him with Taeeon. Blood fiends could target Hojin anytime; this was the best he could do. Taeeon was a B-class Awakened, no penalties, so it’d be fine. Maybe they’d even become friends.
Roy chuckled at his phone and rose to pack his bag.
Thunk—
He knocked a notebook out of his drawer. Inside, doodles from class: all Hangyeol’s name.
Just then, Bi’s nasty voice cut through above.
“Seo Hangyeol? What’s this? You actually did some notes, huh? Figures.”
Bi. Roy picked up the notebook and dusted it off, glaring at Bi. Arguing with someone five years younger felt petty—and ignoring it felt infuriating. He chose his words carefully.
“Bi, you really have a talent for making your words sound nasty. Watch your back at night.”
A sincere warning from someone older than Bi by five years. Yet Bi clicked his tongue, looking between Roy and the notebook, then sneered.
“Who are you to say? Instead of worrying about celebs, how about minding your own grades? At this rate, you’re guaranteed dead last in the school.”
Bi adjusted his glasses with his middle finger. Roy’s defeat seemed certain—until he grabbed the back of Bi’s collar and yanked him to a stop.
“Ugh...!”
“Say what you just said again.”
“You psycho?! You nearly choked me!”
“A little force won’t kill you. Now say it again.”
“Dead last in the school!”
“Not that!”
Bi shrank under Roy’s serious glare.
“W-what?”
Roy leaned close.
“I said: instead of worrying about celebrities, take care of your own life! Got it?”
Bi waved him off.
“You... you know Hangyeol-hyung?”
“Who doesn’t know Seo Hangyeol? Unless there’s another Seo Hangyeol besides the actor?”
