Free Web NovelSo, to sum up, I’ve just been scouted. By one of the Big Three guilds.
Pluton had learned early on that I’m truly an S-rank Awakener, and even used “Busan Gong” rumors to stir things up, claiming I was S-rank. A Pluton guild member was the first to post that Gong from Busan was here...
And Seohyunwoo even knew I was the son of the Maru Group chairman—and that I’d resurrected.
I never would’ve guessed... Pluton really are terrifying people.
Especially that Busan Gong! I’ve hated that brat for ages! Of course, school life was easy—everyone underestimated me as trash, even the teachers. In that sense, I was both the biggest beneficiary and victim of Pluton’s hype campaign.
“I’m sorry. I have no excuse.”
Thud!
Seohyunwoo bowed his forehead to the floor again.
“Enough of that, please!”
“Then... will you come join our guild?”
“No!”
His eyes drooped in disappointment, but at least he looked a bit better than before. According to him, the moment our eyes met, he felt he might die if he didn’t confess the truth.
“My insides felt like they were burning and twisting. I couldn’t stand it. Did you cast a skill on me?”
“Me? I’m a fire-attribute Awakener.”
I shrugged, pretending that only mental-attribute Awakeners could do something like that.
“Right. I shouldn’t have asked. Do you have any other questions?”
Seohyunwoo asked kindly. The once-curmudgeonly Pluton rookie had turned into a gentle lamb, freely spilling guild secrets. At first I’d been flustered, but soon I crossed my arms and spoke down to him naturally.
“Though I do wonder—did you really have to follow me all the way in here? You could’ve met me outside.”
His pupils trembled.
“Of course we tried that.”
Many Pluton members had attempted to contact me outside, but I’d always given them the slip. It wasn’t that they wanted to chase me here—it’s just that so many eyes and cameras were watching that it was too risky to act.
“So Pluton really came looking for me?”
“Yes.”
The first to be ordered to contact me was a rookie guild member in my dorm’s section.
“But a month passed with no word...”
He reported that every time he came to my dorm, I wasn’t there. That stung a little—I’d only just enrolled when I met Hojin, and since then I’d been sneaking over the school wall every day. Between hanging out late with my hyungs and sneaking into matches, I barely spent time in the dorm.
“You could’ve come at another time.”
“They said you were always glued to someone at lunchtime, so they couldn’t approach.”
Was that Yeonwoo? There was a time he’d followed me around with red bean jelly, trying to cure my status ailment. Because of that I’d earned the nickname “Poop Puppy.”
“And on weekends—”
“Stop! You can stop there.”
On weekends I’d been holed up at home with Roze or ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) busy preparing for with my hyungs. It was galling that they’d snooped on me, but I could respect Pluton’s effort.
Still, I had no intention of joining any guild. If this world was to follow the concept I knew, Shooting Star had to exist in the Wilderness.
So do I have to debut as an idol first?
No way. Let’s re-examine Shooting Star’s concept: by day idols, by night handsome warriors. In my previous life I was an idol, and here I’m simply an Awakener. So daytime equals the old world, nighttime equals the Wilderness. I must exist here as Shooting Star—Awakeners—so I can’t belong anywhere else.
I decided to be honest.
“I’m sorry. I don’t plan on joining any guild.”
I expected Seohyunwoo to beg me—he still looked under the skill’s influence—but he merely grew quiet.
“I thought so. You plan to go to the Bureau of Awakener Affairs.”
“Huh?”
Why mention the Bureau now? I blinked in confusion. They hadn’t shown any interest in me there—apart from the fuss when I first tested as S-rank, they’d acted remarkably disinterested. But apparently that wasn’t true. frёewebnoѵēl.com
“Why would I go there?”
“You met people from the Bureau, didn’t you?”
“Why would I?”
His firm answer seemed to surprise him.
“Really? I—I see them often.”
“Who?”
“People who came from the Bureau of Awakener Affairs.”
So Seohyunwoo meant that every time Pluton trailed me, I’d run into Bureau agents. My head tilted.
“They followed me? Why?”
“You never noticed?”
“I had no idea—”
...Could it be? My denial froze mid-thought as memories flooded back. When I walked alone, I often felt uneasy, like someone was behind me—and I kept seeing people in black suits.
I assumed they were my parents’ bodyguards and evaded them...
I understood parents worrying, but I had a right to privacy. I’d nearly died escaping fiends, snuck into the river training camp—I couldn’t let them know.
One unfilial act is enough.
So I shook them off, expecting them to give up. Eventually they did—until apparently they didn’t. And to think it was the Bureau. I’d wrongly blamed my parents. Damn that Bureau.
Quietly resenting them, I made my stance clear to Seohyunwoo.
“No, I won’t go to the Bureau either.”
“May I ask why?”
I didn’t really owe him an explanation, but I was too annoyed by his snooping to answer.
“Well, you’ll find out eventually.”
A flash of disappointment passed over his face.
“But you still have to try your best through the second survival round—and keep my secret, too.”
“Does Pluton still have a chance?”
“No.”
Had I drawn too hard a line? I immediately softened my tone.
“But perhaps I could help Pluton in some way?”
“Yes. Whatever you wish.”
It looked like I’d be busy once the program ended.
✧
Back in the training hall—leaving Seohyunwoo behind—Taeeon greeted me as he practiced with the medic.
“You’re back. Is Seohyunwoo okay?”
“Yeah. He’s just overworked. Sounds like they work people hard in that guild.”
“Really?”
“Mm. I brought him back to the dorm to rest today.”
“Good job.”
I lied with a smile, then checked the remaining time. We had about thirty minutes left to use the hall. Too bad, but Seohyunwoo’s a pro—he’d bounce back after a day off.
The problem is me.
I needed to control a spark of fire—but it was harder than expected. I had no plans to reveal my S-rank now or chase Chaos Evil yet. I only needed enough power to save face. Not too much, not too little—so that when I unveil my S-rank later, it seems like I was holding back.
“Hyung, go back to practice.”
“Roy?”
“I’ll do some solo practice. Don’t worry about me.”
Just what I needed—alone time. I dragged a training dummy to a corner. It was made of special material that wouldn’t sustain fire for long. Today’s goal: ignite a spark. Every fire-attribute Awakener should manage that.
“Hmm.”
Squatting before the dummy, I remembered a conversation with Taeeon. I’d asked how he, who awakened later, was already so adept. He’d said if you truly wish in your heart, it becomes reality. The key is an unbreakable will.
Every time I tried that, some other skill came out.
I took a breath. Fear accomplishes nothing.
“Okay!”
Resolved, I stood up. No expectations—just light a spark. The opponent: a lifeless dummy. God’s Lighting wouldn’t work.
Hoo...
Exhaling, I imagined a tiny ember taking hold, then snapped my fingers—the same gesture the medic used to induce hallucinations. It looked so cool, I’d been practicing it.
Snap!
“...”
As expected, nothing happened. Damn this world. Everyone else could do it, but not me. I felt a twinge of irritation.
“Ugh, damn you! Burn to ashes!”
I glared at the dummy, muttering curses, when Yeonwoo’s voice called from behind.
“Poop Puppy! Stop slacking and practice!”
“I am practicing!”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
“It’s not slacking—”
Just then, the tiny spark I’d imagined leapt from my fingertip, engulfing the dummy in flames.
Flare!
“ACK!”
I screamed as the heat knocked me backward. I’d thought the fire would die out quickly, but it grew, fully consuming the dummy. Ten seconds later, the dummy was completely incinerated—despite being designed to resist fire.
I—and the others who rushed over—stood frozen in shock.
“...What the hell is that?”
Yeonwoo looked the most stunned. He’d once treated me like absolute trash. Now he felt a flicker of betrayal—someone rated C just for hanging with me, while I, the so-called F-rank, just pulled off something no F-rank could ever mimic.
