# Chapter 13
Lee Hwan had never thought of his judgment as slow. Four years as a supporter, three years as a hunter. He had worked long enough in this industry, both as an Awakened and non-Awakened person, so in emergencies, his actions usually came out before his thoughts.
Nevertheless, this situation was utterly impossible to handle.
“Ugh!”
The moment he jumped out of the alley to block the flames in front, something hard struck his head from behind. Lee Hwan’s knees buckled.
‘…Kang Taesung?’
“Where are you trying to run off to? We need to talk among ourselves here.”
Taesung murmured with a face devoid of any hint of a smile. With his monotone voice and cold expression, Lee Hwan felt for the first time that his face resembled the grim reaper.
From behind, there were also soft, steady footsteps. Without turning his head, he could sense someone was there, and most likely with a high probability, it was the sunglasses guy he had seen before.
When he realized that what had struck his head was the handle of an anti-monster pistol, and when he noticed that regardless of the position of the footsteps, it was still attached to his head.
Lee Hwan felt a chill run down his nape as he finally recognized Sunglasses’ ability.
‘Telekinesis…’
In a many-against-one situation, with long-range attacks added, Lee Hwan would be at a disadvantage regardless of skill or reflexes. Lee Hwan remained stiff with tension until Sunglasses walked over to stand beside Taesung.
The reason for this ambush was clearly due to Lee Hwan’s foolish behavior two days ago. After he pretended to fight Taesung as an equal, Taesung, who until then had considered him just a crazy fan barging in, must have started to seriously regard him with caution.
The question was how they had found him…
‘Did they follow me for a short while?’
Lee Hwan recalled trudging all the way home that day. Considering they were waiting at the entrance of the alley, it seemed they hadn’t discovered his house yet.
Taking a hard hit for the mistake he had committed, Lee Hwan sighed.
“Who sent you?”
Sunglasses asked, seemingly misunderstanding that Lee Hwan had been sent by someone. Taesung stood beside him, looking down at him nobly.
Lee Hwan fell into momentary contemplation. How should he answer this? If he simply said he went because he wanted to, would they believe him?
“Too sloppy to be a corporate spy. Kang Dongying?”
A familiar name flowed from Sunglasses’ mouth. An absurd suggestion. Lee Hwan made an incredulous expression, but Taesung’s eyes only grew colder.
Kang Dongying was a figure known to everyone in Korea both before and after the regression, and was the older brother whom Dongha envied endlessly.
Dongha’s father was the eldest son, significantly older than his other siblings. He was the president of several affiliates and the practical successor to Naru, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would become chairman the moment the old man breathed his last.
So Kang Dongying was essentially the predetermined prince, the third-generation heir to the Naru world. Everyone agreed that in about 30 years, all of Naru’s wealth would likely be consumed by Dongying.
Moreover, Dongying himself had awakened abilities and was well-versed in gates and hunter society, and he was also good at business. In short, he was a prepared future chairman.
Nevertheless, he seemed quite displeased with the situation where there was another Awakened person in Naru besides himself. Or perhaps he was simply insanely thorough.
Taesung had been under unnecessary check from Dongying ever since he awakened as S-class. Taesung, who was a teenager at the time and had no particular interest in politics, somehow got caught up in the factional struggle and ended up in opposition to that side.
‘Why is another family’s son’s name being associated with me?’
But that was their situation. It should have nothing to do with Lee Hwan to begin with.
Lee Hwan wasn’t interested in the Kang family’s internal politics and succession battles. He just wanted to prevent the Monster Wave and, incidentally, escape his poverty and enjoy a slightly more prosperous life.
And also to catch up with Taesung, who had returned from death with him.
But why was the conversation flowing that way?
“That’s not what I—!”
As Lee Hwan tried to dismiss the absurd claim, there was a click of a gun being loaded from the side. Lee Hwan closed his mouth in fear.
“Are you going to say you’re my friend again?”
This time Taesung asked coldly. How could the voice of someone who uses fire be so full of frost?
Hearing this cold voice that he had never heard before the regression, Lee Hwan felt a twinge of hurt despite understanding the situation.
“Is he just crazy?”
“He’s too high-spec to just be mentally ill.”
“Maybe he went crazy when he awakened.”
Taesung whispered with Sunglasses. They had no filter, speaking like that about someone collapsed on the ground.
Well, from their perspective, it must be an incomprehensible situation.
Someone circles around, too sloppy to be a corporate spy. He should be avoiding Taesung, yet he came looking for him on his own. But to dismiss him as simply a delusional stalker, he’s too capable.
Even if they considered all possibilities and assumed he was sent by Kang Dongying, they couldn’t understand the intention. He just came and made a claim. That he was Taesung’s friend.
‘I must have seemed crazy…’
Lee Hwan muttered to himself. The pounding sound of his heart kept echoing in his ears like tinnitus, so he slightly turned his head… his shoulder was soaked red.
‘Damn it.’
No wonder the back of his head had been feeling increasingly warm and wet. By now, even his nape was moist, suggesting he had been properly cut when he was struck in the head earlier.
How hard did they hit for it to be this damaged? Seeing that the bleeding wasn’t stopping, Lee Hwan became anxious.
Lee Hwan glanced, checking Taesung’s reaction. The two were still chattering, but showing no openings.
When blood dripped down through his hair, Lee Hwan felt his heart sink. He needed to stop the bleeding and rest urgently, but they showed no sign of letting him go.
Maybe it was because his vision was becoming dizzy, but Taesung looked unusually unfamiliar.
Until the regression, he had liked Taesung’s eyes, which though sharp, contained a warm light. But now, looking at him again, they were just scary. For some reason, Lee Hwan was reminded of Dongha, who would shudder whenever Taesung was mentioned.
“…Seems like he’s unregistered? I was wondering why nothing came up after searching through all the Awakened person files.”
Such words spoken in that manner made his warm head feel like it was suddenly cooling.
Of course. Taesung, who had been working as a hunter for a long time, wouldn’t fail to recognize a unique ability.
Moreover, in front of Taesung, Lee Hwan had extinguished fire, blocked flames, cut glass, and even fallen from a high-rise building to land safely. If an Awakened person with such abilities had been registered, he would have found out long ago using money and connections.
“I don’t know who you are… but if you meddled, you must pay the price.”
It was truly a terrifying statement. How could such words come out when someone was so pitifully bleeding?
“Let’s take him away for now. If he’s really mentally ill, we’ll just hand him over to the association to have him locked up, and if not…”
Sunglasses picked up the conversation from beside him. The voice faded, so he couldn’t hear anymore, but whatever was attached to the blurred end, it certainly wasn’t a good story.
Was it because they judged they had already subdued him? Taesung, who had shown signs of tension until just a moment ago, now nodded with a face that had lost interest. Lee Hwan wore a surprised expression once again.
Take him away? Where to?
He needed to stop them. He thought so but didn’t know how. Lee Hwan suddenly felt like he would die of injustice.
He couldn’t speak about anything related to the Monster Wave. As for other future events, he didn’t know which ones would interest them right away.
Moreover, Sunglasses was someone he had never seen before the regression. He knew nothing about his weaknesses or secrets. Lee Hwan anxiously stared at Taesung slowly approaching.
Bam, in an instant his collar was grabbed, and with a throbbing head, Lee Hwan’s body was lifted up. Ahead, he could see a van with heavily tinted windows. As if they had come intending to take him away from the beginning.
The blood that had been soaking his nape dripped down, wetting Taesung’s hand. The fresh blood seeped through between his fingers.
As his skin turned red, overlapping with the battle before the regression, Lee Hwan’s vision momentarily blurred. In that final moment, Taesung’s hands had been covered in blood just like this.
In that instant, a certain thought crossed Lee Hwan’s mind.
“Wait, kuk… stone…”
When he suddenly opened his mouth, Taesung paused and lowered his gaze. Lee Hwan furrowed his brow and hurriedly continued.
“Whirlwind… explosion!”
After spitting that out, Lee Hwan felt as if the world had stopped for a moment.
There had been a thought troubling Lee Hwan all along. Had Kang Taesung regressed?
If Taesung had temporarily lost his memory due to the side effects of regression, or due to skill constraints, it would be fine. He could firmly endure while waiting for memories that would return someday. He would work himself to death to prevent the destruction alone. Then Lee Hwan could become friends with Taesung again in a peaceful world.
But what if that wasn’t the case? What if only he had regressed? What if he had abandoned Taesung, who was coughing up blood from a severe injury, and escaped alone?
If Taesung, who had worried about him until the end, remained in the future facing the approaching monsters… if he had died miserably and disappeared. If Lee Hwan had truly fallen here alone.
‘I’ll come find you, Joo Lee Hwan. I’ll…’
When such thoughts crossed his mind, Lee Hwan felt goosebumps rising from the base of his neck, as if all the hair on his body was standing on end. His breathing quickened, and he felt as if he was standing in the chaos before the regression once again.
The front line that kept getting pushed back. Endless gunfire, screams, and the smell of blood. Flesh and bones scattered on the ground.
And if he turned his head, instead of Taesung’s forced smile, there would be his corpse lying there.
“Huk, hoo…”
So when Taesung flinched at his words, Lee Hwan momentarily felt like he had found a ray of light, forgetting the situation. He tried to suppress his panting breath and continued with a choked voice.
“Hoo… I suddenly got two skills, aren’t you curious at all?”
If Lee Hwan’s guess was right, regression meant returning to the past body with memories and abilities intact. While memory could be affected by an abnormal skill, if abilities disappeared as well, it couldn’t truly be called regression.
So if Taesung had really regressed, at least his skills should have remained.
When Lee Hwan suddenly raised his head, a faint look of surprise crossed Taesung’s face. The grip on his collar slightly loosened.
In that moment, Lee Hwan felt as if his insides were in turmoil.
