35 – 35.
The city of Gora, located on the southwest coast of India, where festivals and parties are held all year round.
Shehid Khan, an S-class Awakened One who threw a wild party all night, brought a woman he met at the party to his house for some private time.
“Quickly shower and come out. It’s hard to resist.”
“Understood, honey.”
Despite being a married man, he often seduced women he liked at parties and brought them back to his accommodation.
It was possible because he was one of the most popular awakened beings in the entire country.
*Sigh…*
As the woman went into the bathroom, Shahid, who was slightly drunk, burped and leaned his body against the large sofa.
He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking that he would only wait until the woman came out….
That moment.
Swish. A man wearing a hood flipped deep inside the dark terrace, revealing his figure.
Two round-shaped sickles in his hands gleamed in the dim moonlight.
*Huh…?*
Shahid opened his eyes wide, sensing the flow of unfamiliar magical power.
!!!
And reflexively, he used his abilities when faced with the man who approached him with the intention of swinging his sickle.
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Kwaaang!
The building shook violently from the impact of the two men colliding.
Having narrowly blocked the attack, Shahid quickly distanced himself from the man.
The man’s misguided attack not only split the thick sofa in half but also left deep scars on the hard walls and floor.
He had attempted to assassinate an S-class awakened being.
“What the hell are you doing?”
The man did not answer Shahid’s question.
Instead, he slowly aimed his gun and threatened.
“I will take the stone.”
“…!”
Shahid understood immediately what the man meant by ‘stone’.
It was the third Primordial Stone possessed by India.
He was saying that he would take the ‘Stone of Wisdom’.
“How did you know that I have the stone?”
Recently, the Indian Awakening Association had revealed that the Primordial Stone had different abilities depending on the user, and they had handed over the ownership to Shahid, who possessed great power and abilities.
Having obtained the stone, which was now nothing short of a national symbol, Shahid had come to the orphanage to commemorate it…
For some reason, the man had accurate information about the classified stone.
Someone leaked the information.
“So there was a little rat in our country!”
Thinking that he had caught a spy, Shahid confidently laughed and activated his power.
Divine Power. The power to summon a god and fight against enemies.
Becoming one with the ‘God of Battle’, Shahid’s entire body turned red, and without hesitation, he rushed towards the man to test the stone’s abilities.
“I’ll kill you in an instant!”
And then…
“…Huh?”
Thump. He fell forward, rolling on the ground.
Before he knew it, his ankle was cleanly cut.
“Huh, how did this happen?”
The man approached the startled Shahid and spoke as he pushed the scythe forward.
“Do you think you’re the only one who has a stone?”
That’s right. The man also knew how to wield the power of the stone.
“This guy…!”
Currently, the only countries possessing stones, excluding India, were the United States, the European Union, and Japan, which had recently discovered a stone.
Shahid was certain that the assassin had been sent from one of these three countries.
“Where are you from? Europe? America? Or is it Japan?”
But the man did not give a straightforward answer.
“If you hand over the stone, I’ll spare your life.”
He was only interested in the Wisdom Stone that Shahid possessed.
“Do you think I’ll believe that?”
Enduring the pain, Shahid activated his abilities again and rushed towards the man, taking advantage of the narrow street.
He planned to immobilize the man and take the stone from him by attaching it to his ankle.
“If I check the stone, I’ll know which country it’s from!”
However, Shahid’s fist failed to reach the man and fell to the ground with a thud.
“Well, well.”
In an instant, his wrist was also cleanly cut.
“Wha- I definitely used Kangshin!”
Shahid, taken aback by the power gap he had never experienced before, initially tried to retreat rather than confront it…
“He was just a useless pawn who didn’t know how to write properly.”
The man didn’t give him any chance.
Swoosh-!
Thud. Flop.
A heavy silence fills the room.
Finally, after rummaging through Shahid’s body and grabbing the Wisdom Stone, the man suddenly disappeared.
“…Sha, Shahid…? Are you okay…. aaahhhhh!!!!!”
News of Shahid Khan’s assassination spread throughout the world, revealed by the woman hiding in the bathroom.
*
This can’t go on like this.
With a firm determination, I declared to Mayeonseo.
I won’t follow her schedule anymore.
“I won’t do it anymore. No, I can’t!”
“…Suddenly?”
She showed a sudden reaction, as if it was out of the blue.
“What do you mean suddenly? It’s been like that since we forced ourselves to eat and laugh in front of the President!”
It has been a few days since I followed Mayeonseo’s busy schedule.
To someone, it might be just a few days, but to me, it was a complete disaster.
With the whole country’s attention focused on us, I had no choice but to obediently go along, and she took advantage of me endlessly, dragging me around.
“I should’ve just ignored him being the nation’s husband or whatever and punched him in the face!”
There was a limit to how much I could tolerate and follow along.
“I can’t handle this anymore, so you figure it out!”
From now on, it’s a full-scale strike.
“Hmm. You held on for quite a while.”
“What did you say?”
But strangely, Mayeonseo, who had been looking at me with a surprised expression, simply nodded and accepted the strike.
“Got it. I’ll cancel all the schedules from today.”
“R-Really?”
I had thought it over and discussed it, so I was suspicious of how readily she accepted it.
“I thought you would quit sooner. Since I’ve raised your awareness to the point where you can, you can stop following me now.”
Mayeonseo actually picked up her phone, saying she would contact Yeena.
As I blankly stared at her, I realized that I had been deceived.
“So, you… You purposely dragged me along even though you didn’t need me?”
“It’s not that I don’t need you, it’s just that it’s good to have you around.”
“That’s… that’s it!!”
I felt not only incredulous but also a sense of emptiness.
The anger I had been holding back boiled over.
“Hey, Mayeonseo.”
In the end, I exploded with all the accumulated frustration, lowering my voice and confronting her.
“You seem to be seriously mistaken. I am purely accommodating you out of goodwill. The wedding, the master of ceremonies, all that nonsense, I’m just going along with it for you.”
“I know. That’s why I appreciate it.”
“Is that your way of showing gratitude?!”
I couldn’t stand Ma Yeon-seo’s continued arrogant behavior, so I finally blurted out what I had been holding back, glaring at her.
“You know, if I say one wrong thing when I go out, your image and everything will be ruined.”
“….”
“Forced to be confined at home. And because of that, I broke up with the girlfriend I was going to marry. People would love to hear about that, wouldn’t they?”
“If you want to, go ahead.”
“Well, well…”
“If that makes you feel better, then go ahead and do it.”
But Ma Yeon-seo remained unfazed by my threat and calmly responded.
“I don’t care if my image is bad. What difference does it make if I get some insults? It actually makes things easier.”
It was an overwhelming confidence that stemmed from solid evidence.
After all, you and I have to be together for the rest of our lives… So you’ve been blindly following me until now, haven’t you?”
This guy. He really knew me too well.
No matter what I do in this situation, nothing will change.
I’ve already broken ties with Hanyeo-won, and I’m still just a summoned being.
If I’m lucky, I won’t be tied up and confined like before.
It’s better than just sitting still and doing nothing.
“But if you don’t like that, go ahead and say it.”
Mayeonseo crossed her legs and casually glanced at me.
She knew very well that I wouldn’t leave.
“That damn witch.”
I clenched my teeth and glared at her, realizing that I couldn’t let it slide.
“If you keep playing with people’s hearts like that, I won’t just stand by.”
When I said that, she subtly looked around as if checking something.
“…Are you really angry?”
“……”
With no response, she approached me and started acting cute.
“…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that…”
“Don’t touch me.”
“This time, I was harsh. I won’t do it again.”
Mayeonseo, who had just shown a strong attitude, lowered herself and offered an apology as if turning her palm.
I couldn’t tell if this was the result of my previous lectures or a strategy to catch me off guard.
“…Apologize properly.”
Deciding to scold her properly this time, I demanded an apology from her with a stern posture.
“……”
While subtly observing my reaction, Mayeonseo only played with the edge of her hair.
Swoosh. She suddenly started undressing.
“What are you doing…?”
Without saying a word, she stripped off all her underwear and quietly knelt on the floor, resting her head on my lap.
“…I’m sorry….”
I was at a loss for words at the bizarre sight.
“Where on earth did she learn this?”
Ironically, my anger subsided at her appearance, and I asked with a sigh.
“Will you do it again? Or won’t you?”
“I won’t.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
I felt like I was being pushed down.
“…Now that’s enough, get up.”
“……”
Muyeonseo, who stood up like that, approached me cautiously without putting on any clothes.
Even though I saw her every day, her curvaceous body always stole my gaze, always new and stimulating.
How dare she try to seek forgiveness with her body.
“Why. What.”
“…I wanted you to scold me more.”
Grabbing my hand and bringing it to her thigh, she strongly appealed to how excited she was.
She was damp, as if she had spread gel all over herself.
“…No way?”
“…You really can’t do it.”
So, I let her have it just the way she wanted.
*
After I no longer followed Mayeonseo’s schedule,
I suddenly had a lot of free time, so I tried contacting Hanyeo using my new phone.
Me [Hey, Hanyeo. It’s Yoochan. Let’s talk.] 11:59
Me [I want to apologize. Please meet me.] 16:27
Me [If you don’t want to meet, at least answer the phone.] 17:08
Me [If you’re too busy, it’s okay to just send a reply.] 17:30
Me [I’ll wait.] 17:30
But she would only read my messages every time and never send a reply.
“…Is she really angry…?”
I wish she had cursed at me instead, then it wouldn’t have been like this.
I became more anxious as she read each message one by one.
It was the first time in my life that I felt so desperate for someone to answer my call.
“This is driving me crazy.”
How many days had passed with me repeatedly sending one-sided messages?
“Why won’t she answer? It’s not like she hates me completely, right? No, then at least answer the call…”
It was around the time when my mind started to fill up with thoughts of Hanyeo.
“Where are we going tomorrow?”
After a long time, Mayeonseo pushed her schedule onto me.
“Me too?”
“I want to entrust you with a task as an Awakener for the Association.”
Since it’s such an unbelievable thing for a human to become a summoner, she said there might be some special abilities and suggested that I try being a Awakener.
…And it had to be at the Hanryeowon Company.
“Our Association may not know much else, but we won’t lose to any other country in terms of facilities.”
The next day, secretly visiting the headquarters of the Awakener Association.
Mayeonseo and I followed the Association’s guidance and entered the building.
“…Lyeowon must be somewhere around here.”
Having visited nearby several times to meet Lyeowon, I felt an indescribable emotion as I looked at the familiar scenery unfolding outside the elevator.
Even though we’re in the same building, we can’t even see each other’s faces.”
I couldn’t just go and see her without any reason.
A deep sigh escaped me.
“Mr. Kang Yuchan, our staff will assist you from here. Please have a brief conversation upstairs.”
With that, Mayeonseo and I, who had separate matters to attend to, went up to a different department on the upper floor.
As I got off the elevator first, I obediently looked around and waited for the staff.
“Mr. Kang Yuchan.”
After a while, the staff appeared and called my name.
“…I’ve heard that voice somewhere before.”
And as I turned around towards the direction from which the voice was coming.
“!”
I was startled by the sight of her standing in front of me.
“Hello?”
It was Hanyeo-won.