So, 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 mber 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 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 co join our guild?”
“No!”
His eyes drooped in disappointnt, but at least he looked a bit better than before. According to him, the mont our eyes t, 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 ?”
“? I’m a fire-attribute Awakener.”
I shrugged, pretending that only ntal-attribute Awakeners could do sothing 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 all the way in here? You could’ve t outside.”
His pupils trembled.
“Of course we tried that.”
Many Pluton mbers had attempted to contact outside, but I’d always given them the slip. It wasn’t that they wanted to chase here—it’s just that so many eyes and caras were watching that it was too risky to act.
“So Pluton really ca looking for ?”
“Yes.”
The first to be ordered to contact was a rookie guild mber in my dorm’s section.
“But a month passed with no word...”
He reported that every ti he ca to my dorm, I wasn’t there. That stung a little—I’d only just enrolled when I t 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 ti in the dorm.
“You could’ve co at another ti.”
“They said you were always glued to soone at lunchti, so they couldn’t approach.”
Was that Yeonwoo? There was a ti he’d followed around with red bean jelly, trying to cure my status ailnt. Because of that I’d earned the nickna “Poop Puppy.”
“And on weekends—”
“Stop! You can stop there.”
On weekends I’d been holed up at ho with Roze or ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) busy preparing for with my hyungs. It was galling that they’d snooped on , 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 handso warriors. In my previous life I was an idol, and here I’m simply an Awakener. So dayti equals the old world, nightti 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 —he still looked under the skill’s influence—but he rely grew quiet.
“I thought so. You plan to go to the Bureau of Awakener Affairs.”
“Huh?”
Why ntion the Bureau now? I blinked in confusion. They hadn’t shown any interest in there—apart from the fuss when I first tested as S-rank, they’d acted remarkably disinterested. But apparently that wasn’t true.
“Why would I go there?”
“You t people from the Bureau, didn’t you?”
“Why would I?”
His firm answer seed to surprise him.
“Really? I—I see them often.”
“Who?”
“People who ca from the Bureau of Awakener Affairs.”
So Seohyunwoo ant that every ti Pluton trailed , I’d run into Bureau agents. My head tilted.
“They followed ? Why?”
“You never noticed?”
“I had no idea—”
...Could it be? My denial froze mid-thought as mories flooded back. When I walked alone, I often felt uneasy, like soone was behind —and I kept seeing people in black suits.
I assud 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 blad 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 disappointnt 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 imdiately softened my tone.
“But perhaps I could help Pluton in so 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 as he practiced with the dic.
“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 ti. 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 .
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 so solo practice. Don’t worry about .”
Just what I needed—alone ti. 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 rembered 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 becos reality. The key is an unbreakable will.
Every ti I tried that, so other skill ca 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 sa gesture the dic 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 . 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 flas.
Flare!
“ACK!”
I scread as the heat knocked 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 like absolute trash. Now he felt a flicker of betrayal—soone rated C just for hanging with , while I, the so-called F-rank, just pulled off sothing no F-rank could ever mimic.
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