A commotion broke out at Hyangseol’s words, but the misunderstanding was soon cleared up, and Yonghoon was able to explain what had happened during his vacation.
Yonghoon told the team members everything truthfully except for one thing.
At first, he considered leaving out the story about meeting the Linkers, but since Hyangseol had come with him, it was hard to keep it a secret. It seemed better to tell the team everything and share the secret together.
The only thing he couldn’t tell truthfully was why he had gone to Jian City. Fortunately, thanks to Hyangseol’s misunderstanding, he was able to tell the team that he had gone because her brother called him.
The team members were very surprised by Yonghoon’s story.
They were angry at the Linkers who had committed murder and were tense about Yonghoon’s battle.
They also shared their anger toward those who had taken over cities and killed Awakened, and they felt sorry for Hyangseol, who had lost her family.
Yonghoon felt relieved seeing the team members’ reactions.
Fortunately, the team members understood why Yonghoon had killed the Linkers. Since they had experienced countless battles against monsters, their view of Yonghoon didn’t seem to change.
Sunhee and Jimin’s attitudes toward Hyangseol changed immediately. Being kind-hearted, they began to worry about how they could help her as soon as they heard her story.
However, Sunhee had something she needed to point out.
“Still, a girl who’s not yet an adult living alone in a man’s house? No way! It would be better if she stayed at my place!”
Sunhee said sternly for the first time in a while.
The other team members agreed with her, and Yonghoon, thinking her suggestion wasn’t bad, looked back at Hyangseol.
But Hyangseol clutched Yonghoon’s clothes and looked up at him with tearful eyes.
She now had no one else to rely on but Yonghoon. Though the others seemed kind, being separated from him in this unfamiliar place was too frightening.
Seeing her expression, Sunhee sighed.
She felt like she was being cruel to a child who had lost her entire family and was stranded in a strange place. Sunhee had no choice but to allow Hyangseol to stay with Yonghoon. Instead, she decided to visit Yonghoon’s house as often as possible.
Once the discussion about Hyangseol was somewhat settled, Dohyeon stepped forward. Pointing at the relics set up to the side, he asked Yonghoon.
“Then, are those spears and shields the relics you mentioned?”
Dohyeon’s eyes sparkled as he spoke.
Right now, the Awakened forum was buzzing over two major issues. One was the mysterious movement and dimensional shifts of monsters, and the other was the awakening of ancient artifacts that had happened recently.
During the relic awakenings, the government and the Link System had worked together with many countries to collect the awakened relics. Some countries even ignored the Link System and forcibly seized the items through their governments.
However, the Link System had already used the enormous wealth they had accumulated to acquire numerous relics. Since they already knew which relics would awaken, they were able to obtain many items not stored in museums.
“Over the past few days, a few battle videos using relics have been uploaded. Most of them weren’t much different from the equipment we already have, but one of them was amazing.”
“Well, not all Awakened use the same kind of equipment as us, so it’s a pretty big deal.”
Kangwoo added to Dohyeon’s words.
“In that video, there was a person wielding a huge war hammer. When they slammed it into the ground, all the surrounding monsters went flying! It was really cool.”
Yonghoon gave a bitter smile at Dohyeon’s words. That weapon was famous even in the other world.
“Aside from this sword, we haven’t yet confirmed if the other weapons have special abilities. We’ll probably need to test them during hunts.”
Yonghoon told the team members.
“Oh, then are you going to distribute them to the team?”
Dohyeon shouted excitedly.
“But do you even have a weapon you can use? According to the captain earlier, you need to inject Dimensional Power to activate the special abilities.”
Jimin’s words immediately sank Dohyeon into silence.
Once the conversation wrapped up to some extent, the team members headed off to take a bath.
After a while, the women finished first and came out of the showers. As soon as Sunhee and Jimin stepped out, they grabbed Hyangseol and dragged her out of the office to go shopping.
Hyangseol looked at Yonghoon with a pleading face, but there was nothing he could do.
Hyangseol and the female team members soon left the gym, and after a while, the male team members finished their showers and returned. Yonghoon and the others discussed the aftermath of the recent events.
First, they needed to resolve Hyangseol’s domestic residency issue.
Fortunately, at the moment, countries were desperate to secure Awakened. Some powerful nations had even dispatched navies to collapsed governments to extract Awakened individuals.
Moreover, China had ended up divided into several states due to conflicts with the Link System and attacks from monsters. Being a communist country, it had been difficult for them to follow the lead of American corporations.
As a result, China was unable to present a unified voice.
It seemed that Hyangseol’s residency could be processed smoothly without opposition from China. Especially if Yonghoon vouched for her, it would be even easier.
The relics might pose a problem, but Kangwoo agreed to handle that. He knew someone involved in importing Chinese antiques and said he would arrange it as if they had bought the items from him.
Yonghoon was very grateful for Kangwoo’s help, but the other team members became even more curious about Kangwoo’s past profession.
Thankfully, Hyangseol’s domestic residency was quickly processed thanks to Yonghoon’s guarantee.
Some questions were raised about how Hyangseol had entered Korea, but since there were already many illegal immigrants from China, it wasn’t a big issue.
Before long, the review concerning Hyangseol was completed, and she was officially allowed to live in Korea. During that time, Team Crazy took a break, and Jimin and Sunhee grew much closer to Hyangseol.
Time passed, and the day of Hyangseol’s test arrived.
For Hyangseol to become a member of Team Crazy, she needed the approval of the other team members.
No matter that Yonghoon had brought her and vouched for her, they couldn’t accept an Awakened who wasn’t a Special Ability User without a test.
Moreover, Hyangseol’s ability was still only E-Rank.
Unless she was a Special Ability User like Dohyeon, it might be unfair to let her join the team.
The test site for her was Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Although located outside the Safe Zone, it had long been left abandoned as a Dead Zone.
Due to its danger, ordinary Awakened teams couldn’t handle Dead Zones. It required large teams, the government, or the Link Corp, but it wasn’t feasible to deploy such forces to a simple park without special facilities.
Although the frightened nearby residents had appealed to the government and Awakened forums, they couldn’t spare the resources to deal with it.
For a while, residents had hoped because a Singularity was briefly detected in the Dead Zones, but it turned out not to be, and the park remained abandoned.
Eventually, unable to endure their fear, all nearby residents left, and the area around the park turned into a massive slum.
Team Crazy didn’t intend to clear out all the monsters here either. They chose this park to prepare for unexpected situations arising from terrain like mountains or buildings.
Team Crazy planned to assess Hyangseol’s hunting ability and test their equipment here.
The group entered through the west entrance of the park, Peace Plaza.
Peace Plaza was a long plaza over 300 meters in length, and as if to prove it had become a monster den, a giant cat monster was prowling around inside.
Yonghoon checked his smart watch. The cat monster in front of them was an E-Rank over 2 meters long.
Yonghoon turned his head to look at Hyangseol. Holding a small-sized Anti-stab Clothing and Yonghoon’s spear, she was waiting for his signal.
Yonghoon nodded at Hyangseol.
Tensed by his signal, Hyangseol stepped forward, while the team members far behind silently cheered her on.
Yonghoon followed behind Hyangseol, preparing for any unexpected danger.
As Hyangseol and Yonghoon approached, the cat monster turned to face them and let out a sharp cry.
Hyangseol took her stance and raised her spear. She was a Strike-type Awakened.
Lowering her body and gripping the spear with both hands, she looked like a martial arts master from a wuxia movie.
“Wow, her stance is amazing.”
Dohyeon’s eyes widened at her posture.
The other team members nodded at his words. But no matter how good her stance was, it wasn’t enough to defeat a monster. They quietly watched her hunt.
She spun the tip of her spear slowly as she approached the cat monster. She closed the distance until she was right in front of it.
The cat monster crouched low and growled.
They faced off for a moment, but the standoff ended when the cat monster, unable to bear the spinning spear point, attacked.
The cat monster leaped high to avoid the spinning spear. Its target was Hyangseol behind the spear.
The monster’s claws, flying toward her, had grown longer and were now glowing brightly.
“Watch out! It’s E+ Rank!”
The team members shouted in shock from behind.
But Hyangseol remained calm. She spun her body to dodge the incoming glowing claws and used that momentum to swing her spear at the cat monster.
Thwack!
Guided by her touch, the spear struck the cat monster’s side at an incredible speed. The impact sent the monster rolling across the ground, while Hyangseol was pushed sideways by the recoil.
As she was pushed away, she curled up her body, then sprang forward toward the cat monster as soon as she stopped. Her body shot out like a cannonball.
The battle was one-sided. She narrowly dodged the cat monster’s attacks and kept striking it with her spear.
The cat monster became increasingly bloodied, but it seemed hard for her to finish it off with just a single spear.
Yonghoon, watching her fight, turned to look back. His eyes were asking the team members for their evaluation.
The team members, after watching her fight, all nodded. Originally, they had planned to accept her if there were no major problems, partly because of Yonghoon’s request and partly because they felt sorry for her. But what they were seeing exceeded expectations.
“Wow, she’s a master of spear techniques!”
Dohyeon, seeing a martial arts master in real life, was nodding more enthusiastically than anyone.
Yonghoon confirmed the team’s decision and drew his sword. It was time to wrap things up.
Yonghoon had expected this outcome.
He had been watching Hyangseol closely ever since crossing over from North Korea. Based on his experience, he had a good grasp of her abilities.
As Yonghoon approached, the bloodied cat monster leapt backward. Caught off guard by its sudden retreat, Hyangseol lost her chance to finish it.
Yonghoon frowned at the monster’s behavior. It was too intelligent for a low-level monster.
The cat monster, after retreating, glanced at Yonghoon and the Team Crazy members standing behind him, then let out a sharp cry toward the sky. The sound echoed through the park like a wolf’s howl.
Before the cry even faded, more cat monsters began to appear one by one from behind the plaza.
Yonghoon’s expression darkened. He had anticipated the monsters’ movements, but their organization was happening much faster than expected.
“Did I fail?”
Next to Yonghoon, Hyangseol’s tearful voice could be heard.
When Yonghoon turned his head, Hyangseol was looking at him with teary eyes. Seeing Yonghoon’s darkened expression, she seemed to have misunderstood that she had failed.
Yonghoon raised his hand and patted her shoulder.
“You passed!”
Hyangseol’s expression brightened.
Yonghoon turned his head to the back. Seeing the cat monsters appear, the team members were rushing over.
Yonghoon spoke to Hyangseol.
“We evaluated you, so now it’s your turn. Watch carefully here and decide whether this is a team you want to join. From now on, it’s Team Crazy’s test time.”
Team leader Han passed by Yonghoon, raising his shield.
The shield began to emit light, already filled with Dimensional Power.
Then the other team members ran after him, and Yonghoon started running with them. Ahead of them, dozens of cat monsters could already be seen. It seemed like all the monsters in the park were gathering here.
The antique-style oriental weapons and shields in the team members’ hands shone brightly, and Team Crazy clashed with the dozens of cat monsters.