Yonghoon’s expression turned serious.
It was something he hadn’t expected at all. Too dramatic to be a coincidence. Given his situation, it was clearly connected.
Knowing the disadvantages of registering as an Awakened in the other world, Yonghoon had originally planned to delay registration as long as possible. If he ran out of living expenses, he’d use his enhanced physical abilities to take on day labor.
In that world, many of the first Awakened who registered lost their lives fighting monsters. Facing monsters without proper preparation meant they were bound to die easily.
For Yonghoon, whose goals were survival and reuniting with Sunhee, it was a pointless act.
But the situation had changed.
Yonghoon scrapped all his previous plans and decided to first visit the place where Awakened were registered. Even if he didn’t register, he had to confirm something about that military contractor.
Since they said they were cooperating with countries other than the U.S., it was clear there would be some support in Korea too.
The next day, before entering the office, Yonghoon heard people chatting inside.
“This is insane! I told you, there really are superhumans! Ah, I wish I could get powers too.”
It was Chief Kim’s voice. She was completely excited.
“They say it’s like one in a hundred thousand. No way that’s happening.”
Manager Jung was shooting her down.
“Still, better odds than the lottery. But I still can’t believe it.”
And Manager Park still didn’t seem to believe it.
Yonghoon opened the door and entered the office. The room instantly fell silent. Today was his last day at work.
The people in the office glanced at Yonghoon, and he quietly packed up his things. He had already moved most of his belongings, so he only needed to take one small box.
That’s when it happened.
The manager came in grumbling.
“Ugh, the country’s gone to hell. What kind of nonsense is this, like a bunch of kids.”
The manager stopped mid-sentence when he saw Yonghoon. Then he gave a sneering smile.
Yonghoon ignored him and continued packing. Chief Kim looked at him with pity. Ever since she saw him stammering during the handover, she had looked at him with sympathy.
Manager Jung and Manager Park seemed wary of the manager and said nothing to Yonghoon, while the manager glared to see if Yonghoon was taking any company property.
It seemed he had been completely marked.
Yonghoon just wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible. If it were the old Yonghoon, he might have felt some nostalgia, but to him, it was just a boring place.
After finishing packing, Yonghoon looked around at the others.
Everyone approached him. Since he was leaving, they all wanted to say something.
“Do your best wherever you go. You’re still young, so you’ll succeed at whatever you do.”
Manager Jung, who had gone through tough times with him, offered some comfort.
Manager Park gave a small wave, and Chief Jung ended up tearing up.
“It must’ve been so hard, right? You seemed off after hitting your head last time. Please go to the hospital. I’m worried…”
Chief Jung had misunderstood. She thought something was wrong with Yonghoon’s head after his injury.
Yonghoon, finding it annoying, just nodded.
Then the manager spoke from across the room.
“Wherever you go, act right. If you keep doing things like now, you won’t last a few days!”
Yonghoon frowned at the manager’s words. The manager, seemingly still afraid of him, stopped talking.
“So, do you have any plans?”
Chief Jung still seemed worried about Yonghoon. He just told her the truth. It wasn’t something he needed to hide.
“I’m planning to register as an Awakened.”
A bomb dropped in the office. Everyone froze in place.
“No way.”
Chief Jung’s unconscious muttering echoed everyone’s thoughts.
“I’m serious.”
Yonghoon raised his left hand. The tip of his fingers were glowing white. Everyone was stunned.
“Then, I’ll head out first.”
Yonghoon gave a light farewell to the people staring blankly at him. Then he looked at the manager one last time.
“Manager.”
“Eek!”
The manager let out a deflated sound at being called.
“Please make sure my severance pay is deposited on time.”
After saying that to the flinching manager, Yonghoon left the office.
Yonghoon gave a bitter smile.
He had been fired in less than a month since coming here. It seemed he didn’t fit in with normal companies.
Thankfully, the president’s daughter wasn’t around today. She had been showing up every day lately, but luckily, not today. At least he could quit without any annoying encounters.
Yonghoon was doing bench presses in a small open area on the hill behind the neighborhood. The barbell moved up and down over his chest.
Occasionally, people passing by would watch him, then walk away with a bored expression.
Some whispered that he might be a superhuman, but he paid no attention.
Except for the first few days when he was injured, he had been working out ever since coming to this world.
Running, strength training, and Dimensional Power training at home. That’s how he built up his body as much as possible.
It had been three days since he quit the company. Today was the first day of Awakened registration.
Since awakening, Yonghoon’s body had changed rapidly.
When someone became an Awakened who used Dimensional Power, their physical abilities increased dramatically.
But to internalize those improved abilities, training was the only way.
That’s why Yonghoon kept pushing his body to the limit.
Thanks to that, his body had become very similar to the one he had in the other world. He had lost a lot of weight and now looked like he had a normal build.
Of course, that body was now filled with muscle instead of flab.
Yonghoon regretted not having a Dimensional Power Detector even more.
All Awakened started at F-Rank when they first awakened.
But even within that, the types of powers and their level caps differed.
Still, until their Dimensional Power stabilized after awakening, all Awakened could grow through training to some extent.
Of course, to raise their level or increase Dimensional Power beyond D-Rank, they had to fight monsters.
But right now, without a Dimensional Power Detector, he had no idea how much Dimensional Power he had or how much training he needed.
All he could do was give it his best.
After finishing his target reps, Yonghoon set down the barbell.
A pleasant sweat ran down his whole body.
It was time to move. Yonghoon threw a towel over his shoulder and began jogging back home.
Three hours later, Yonghoon stood in front of the Seoul City Hall building. The city hall he remembered had been turned into a library, and behind it stood a strange-looking new building.
Yonghoon thought back to when he registered as an Awakened in the other world. At that time, it had been over a year since superhumans appeared and eight months since monsters showed up.
Since they hadn’t yet installed devices to block Dimensional Movement by monsters in the city, monster attacks happened everywhere.
The economy had collapsed, and survival was difficult. People lived in constant fear, never knowing when a monster might appear.
Yonghoon had dropped out of college and was scraping by with part-time jobs. One day, a year after Aurora appeared, he awakened as an Awakened.
Back then, he had been truly happy. It was dangerous, but being a normal person was even more dangerous.
Compared to the early days, combat had become more systematized, and the death rate had dropped significantly. Of course, monsters had become stronger and more dangerous, but it was manageable.
By registering as an Awakened and fighting monsters, he could live quite comfortably on the government’s compensation.
For Yonghoon, who had just entered society and was struggling with part-time work, it had been a welcome change. On top of that, drunk on the heroism of protecting humanity, he fought monsters more passionately than anyone.
Yonghoon gave a bitter smile. It had been a naïve thought.
He entered the unfamiliar city hall building in front of him.
Right at the entrance, he saw female guides. He approached them.
“How can I help you?”
The government referred to Awakened as superpowered people. Remembering that, Yonghoon replied to her.
“I’m looking for the superpowered people registration office.”
The woman in front of him-and even the one beside her-both changed expressions. The first woman immediately stood up and guided him with extreme kindness.
Her eyes looked at Yonghoon as if he were some kind of fascinating creature.
It seemed Yonghoon was the first Awakened to ask them for directions.
Yonghoon followed the directions she gave him. There were large directional signs all around. Yonghoon gave a bitter smile. No wonder no one had asked.
The place he arrived at by following the signs was a large office. Above the open door was a sign that read “Special Abilities Management Headquarters.”
It must’ve been a repurposed office, as the smell of fresh paint lingered.
One side of the office was set up like a typical office with desks and chairs, while the entrance area looked like a civil service counter with booths and sofas for people to rest.
Yonghoon looked around at the people.
As expected, there didn’t seem to be many actual Awakened. The ones who had Awakened seemed to be lying low.
The initial Awakening rate was one in every hundred thousand. More would continue to Awaken over time, but currently, there were probably only about a hundred Awakened living in Seoul.
Since it was still the morning of the first day, it made sense that there weren’t many people yet.
He himself had planned to delay registration, so he could understand the situation.
Yonghoon looked around again. More important than registering was finding the person from the multinational military contractor that was working with the government.
But aside from a few civil servants and Awakened, there wasn’t anyone who looked like they were from a company.
He figured he’d probably have to ask the person in charge directly.
Just then.
A woman’s voice came from behind Yonghoon.
“Could you move aside a bit? You’re blocking the entrance.”
“I’m sorry.”
Yonghoon apologized, stepped aside, and turned around.
There stood a stunning young woman with long straight hair. She gave a slight nod to Yonghoon and walked in, dressed in a sleek business suit.
Yonghoon frowned as he watched the woman walk past him.
He had seen that face somewhere before.
He put a hand to his forehead and tried to remember, but couldn’t place it. It left him with an uneasy feeling. She seemed important, but he couldn’t recall who she was.
He felt he needed to figure out her identity.
Just then, a man approached him. It looked like he was there to guide him.
But Yonghoon declined the offer and followed the woman who had just entered. He sat down at the consultation booth right next to hers.
“Welcome. Please have a seat over here.”
The counselor was a young woman, and surprisingly, she was quite friendly.
It had been years since Yonghoon had encountered such a kind civil servant, so the seat felt oddly unfamiliar.
The counselor asked for his ID, verified his identity, and immediately began explaining.
As he listened to the explanation, Yonghoon also carefully eavesdropped on the conversation next to him.