Chapter 25 - The Front (3)

The Front (3)

Il-hyun sat on the floor and continued to practice his transformation ability – a scene that was not too different from before.

The background he has, and the floor he sits on, however, was entirely different.

He is sitting on a marble floor, with the Han River flowing outside the panoramic windows of his apartment on the 72nd floor.

This was his new home.

It was spacious, comfortable, and luxurious.

There was one unfortunate thing – the room seemed empty.

He disposed of the few furniture he had from his small apartment.

“Shall I make a cabinet here?”

Il-hyun browsed through his cell phone. He was looking at photos of furniture.

He thought it would be good training for his transforming ability to create furniture.

He started doing it out of curiosity and found it really fun as a hobby.

He did not use any raw materials, yet the furniture he made are of top-quality that he could decide to sell them on the market.

His transforming ability developed remarkably.

He made a cabinet about his size and effortlessly carried it off to a corner with one hand.

“Hmm.”

He stared at the product of his ability, satisfied.

Dingdong!

The doorbell rang, and Il-hyun approached the door. He had a rough guess who his visitors were.

“I’m here!”

“Ah, it’s cold outside.”

“Hey, I like the house!”

Each of them chuckled and went in.

It was Kwon Se-hyeong and Kim Byeong-cheol, his old friends.

The guys rushed to Il-hyun to see if he was okay.

They were happy to see that the Kang Il-hyun they knew was still the same.

They thought that being an Awakener, his body would change, but it seemed that this was not the case.

“Hey, I could not believe how many times you’ve been talked about these days. I’m so thrilled.”

“People could not believe it when I say you’re my friend.”

They laughed happily.

They placed the bag they had brought on the table and began wandering around the house in excitement.

His friends gathered in front of the table once more and took out a bunch of shochu and beer from the bag they brought.

“Let’s take it out first.”

Il-hyun, who saw the beer, got up and pulled a bottle of liquor from the refrigerator.

The red bottle had a luxurious label.

“What, are you the only one allowed to drink good things?”

Il-hyun smiled and replied.

“If you drink this, you die.”

It was a drink made with ether that was specially made for the awakened people. It was so strong that if an average person drank it, it would not be strange if he died immediately.

“Wow, is it the drink that the awakened people only took? It’s amazing that my friend is an Awakener and has entered Aegis.”

“Yeah, it was difficult for me.”

“When are you going to tell us stories about monsters?”

Il-hyun began to share stories about him and his teammates’ missions.

Whenever there was a story about Lee Soo-yeon, Kim Byung-cheol was cheering, and the flow was often interrupted.

“Isn’t the field dangerous? I saw so many awakened people who were hurt and carried away when I was working.” Kwon Se-hyeong said.

He knew a lot about how the site worked.

“It wasn’t as dangerous as I thought,” said Il-hyun.

Aegis had the most valuable collection of awakened powers. Whenever something important, such as a high-grade gate, comes up, it was Aegis that the government authorizes to action.

The best team was dispatched to reduce the risk of being injured, rather than having several small companies try recklessly.

While he did not find his past mission too dangerous, Il-hyun had heard that the next cycle would be more difficult.

“You guys, however, should be careful around the gates. I’m serious. It’s a big deal. Abroad, without the response of companies like Aegis, people die everywhere they go.”

Il-hyun said to them with a serious expression.

However, for Kim Byung-cheol and Kwon Se-hyeong, it was a story that didn’t settle much, and it brought a loud reaction.

“Ah, that’s it. You must have felt that way because you’ve been through a lot of hard places, being with Aegis.”

“Yes, you said that you also went to Russia last week? It was a really unusual case.”

“Well… Just be careful, anyway.” Il-hyun said, seeing that his friends did not take his warning seriously.

His friends had heard about gates only through media, and could not understand the dangers. For them, dying due to a gate incident seemed to be out of this world.

But even if they haven’t been in a car accident, they must know it’s dangerous to drive a car recklessly, Il-hyun thought.

“Ah! I also want to work with Suyeon! Damn, I envy you to death!”

One of Lee Soo-yeon’s fanatics, Kim Byeong-cheol, grumbled violently.

Il-hyun thought about her, then walked into his room, and went through the drawers.

Then he came back and pushed an object in front of Kim Byung-cheol’s face.

Kim Byung-cheol’s expression slowly changed, with his face frowning reflexively.

“Uh…? Wow!”

Excited, he jumped up and trembled.

Lee Soo-yeon’s autograph was right in front of his eyes.

Byung-cheol started to hit his own cheeks to check if he is dreaming.

“Oh, is that real?”

Kwon Se-hyung’s eyes were also wide-open.

“Of course, it’s real.”

Il-hyun smiled and nodded.

His friends asked for the autographs of Lee Soo-yeon and Jeong Jin-sung.

Il-hyun promised to get them autographs with kind comments and their names.

Kim Byung-cheol was almost crying.

“Thank you!”

“Hahaha!”

The evening quickly passed by.

* * *

When Il-hyun received an emergency call, asking him to return for a mission, he knew it would not be an easy.

He sat on the plane, looking down at the brightly lit city below. It was late at night, and the sky was dark.

He began to see debris from buildings and collapsed people in the streets.

“There are many people isolated inside.” Lee Soo-yeon said.

Ghost took one last puff out of his cigarette before throwing it down the plane.

Il-hyun’s gaze followed the slowly falling cigarette butt.

Quaang!

Even before the butt hit the ground, there was a big explosion beneath them, and people’s screams rang out.