Probation (1)
"Ugh…"
Lee Junyoung groaned as he sat up, clutching his head. It felt like it was about to split open from pain.
Looking around, he saw his comrades groaning and writhing just like him.
'What the hell happened?'
One by one, his teammates collapsed, and then he too succumbed to a sudden wave of drowsiness.
'I feel like… I had a weird dream…'
It was a dream in which he, along with countless others, floated up toward a land in the sky.
"Urgh!"
Junyoung immediately covered his mouth, suppressing the urge to vomit.
"Damn…"
It had been a horrific dream.
He couldn't remember all the details, but the emotions he'd felt in that dream were still vivid.
Blinding light, searing pain, and an unexplainable fear of his very existence vanishing.
The fear etched into his soul lingered all too clearly.
'Was it really just a dream?'
Could it really have been just a simple dream?
Even if it was, how could he explain the strange phenomenon that happened right before they all passed out?
Everyone around him-including Junyoung himself-started collapsing at the exact same time. That couldn't be just coincidence.
'But now we're awake and seem okay…'
He looked up toward the sky where the sanctuary had floated, but there was nothing there now.
Just in case, he turned to Kim Taehyun, who was lying next to him, absentmindedly fixing his hair.
"Taehyun."
"Huh?"
"Did you… have a weird dream or something?"
"Dream?"
"Yeah, like… something really horrific? At first I was flying toward some land in the sky, and then-"
Taehyun cut him off mid-sentence.
"It felt more like drowning in the ocean with a bunch of people. A raging storm and violent whirlpools everywhere."
"Huh?"
"And then… that light… like it could melt your mind."
Seeing the fear in Taehyun's eyes, Junyoung became sure.
…So it wasn't just a dream after all."
"Yeah."
Taehyun gritted his teeth and looked in the direction of the sanctuary.
"Feels like those cult bastards did something to us."
"I was thinking the same thing."
The memories were faint, but the emotions they felt in that place remained strong and among them, a clear sense of hostility toward the JHS cult.
Junyoung, quietly seething, finally said,
"Should we attack them?"
"Attack who?"
When Taehyun looked at him like he was crazy, Junyoung protested indignantly.
"Obviously that sanctuary. Let's go and wreck the place."
But Taehyun answered firmly.
"No."
"Why not?"
"We'll die."
"I'm not saying we go alone. Judging from what happened, I don't think we were the only ones affected. If we gather others and—"
"No one's gonna join us."
Junyoung frowned at Taehyun's blunt answer and argued back.
"You won't know unless you try."
Taehyun let out a sigh and started explaining.
"While you were out scouting for new recruits, I learned quite a bit about this place. One thing I found out-there's this group called the Trump Knights. Apparently, they're all Awakened. Every single one of them. The only reason Jamsil is relatively free of monsters is because of those guys."
Junyoung and his group, who had wandered through Seoul, knew better than anyone just how terrifying monsters could be.
"…They're that strong?"
"Yeah. And here's the crazy part-the woman who saved you and brought us here, Kang Yaeun?"
"Yeah."
"She's not even part of the Trump Knights. Those knights always carry symbols on both shoulders to show who they are."
"Then…"
"That means people with just average abilities don't even make the cut for the knights."
Junyoung remembered Kang Yaeun fighting off the blade golem to save him.
'…There are dozens of people stronger than her?'
That was a shocking thought.
Junyoung pulled something out of his coat and spoke.
"Still, with one shot from this…"
Taehyun sighed at the sight of the revolver Junyoung pulled out.
"Calm down. What's gotten into you? That thing only has three bullets left."
"…Sorry."
"And remember what that woman said? If you're Awakened, you immediately rise to a higher class. That means there could be hundreds of Awakened people in that sanctuary."
"Sigh…"
This was a world where power was the law.
In other words, those without power were as good as criminals.
In this world, the options available to the weak to survive had been predetermined from the start.
"Let's run away."
"
'…Yeah. Let's do that."
"Before that…"
Kim Taehyun trailed off and looked at Lee Junyoung.
Lee Junyoung immediately understood the meaning behind that gaze and responded.
"Yeah. We should take what we can."
The two gathered their comrades and explained the plan.
"Very much like you, Junyoung."
"Jihyun, calling a theft 'like me'-how cruel."
"Come on, obviously I'm joking."
In short, the plan was to steal as much food as possible that the cult had stockpiled.
It was their own small revenge against the cult.
However, their plan failed right from the start.
"…Huh?"
It happened just a few minutes after they crossed Olympic Boulevard and entered the area where the sanctuary was located.
Before their eyes stretched a scene of utter destruction-buildings had collapsed, the ground was shattered.
It looked as if a massive earthquake had occurred.
And then-
"Someone's trapped here! Please help!"
"Aaahhhh!"
"P-please, save me…"
What lay before them was a hellish scene, teetering on the edge between life and death.
Lee Junyoung was the first to act.
He rushed toward a man nearby who was pleading for help and began desperately trying to remove the rubble.
But the chunk of concrete crushing the man was far too heavy for a normal person to lift alone.
He shouted at his comrades.
"What are you all doing?! Help me, now!"
"Uh, y-yeah!"
"I-I'm coming!"
Only after twelve of them joined forces were they barely able to remove the concrete slab.
But…
"
The man's condition was far beyond saving just by clearing the rubble.
Judging by how his lower body was completely crushed and twisted, the man had very little time left.
He lay face down, unable to even scream.
He was practically already a corpse.
It had all been in vain.
The man would soon die.
"…Damn it."
But just then-
"Excuse me!"
A woman pushed her way through Lee Junyoung's group.
'Huh?'
Lee Junyoung felt a strange emotion upon seeing the woman.
More precisely, it was because of the black aura rising from her entire body.
'What is that…?'
Though its color should have felt ominous, the aura strangely felt incredibly familiar and comforting.
'It feels like I've seen this before…'
Strangely enough, just seeing the black aura surrounding the woman warmed his heart, as if he were being comforted.
And it seemed he wasn't the only one feeling that odd emotion.
All of his comrades were also staring fixedly at the dark energy radiating from the woman.
And then-
Wuuuuuuung-
The black aura extended from the woman's hands and surged toward the dying man.
And then-
"!!!"
A miracle happened.
The man's shattered lower body began to rapidly regenerate.
His twisted bones and muscles realigned, and his bruised skin returned to its original state.
Even the small cuts and scrapes all over his body disappeared in an instant, leaving him in perfect health.
"Please take care of him."
"O-oh, okay."
Having finished her work, the woman immediately rushed off to another injured person, leaving Lee Junyoung's group dazed and staring at each other.
"…What just happened?"
"I don't know either."
While they stood there stunned, the man who had collapsed opened his eyes.
He stood up effortlessly.
As if still in disbelief, he stared down at his now-healed lower body for a while before turning to Lee Junyoung's group and asking,
"Uh… Were you the ones who saved me?"
"Well, sort of…"
"Thank you, thank you so much. Truly, thank you for saving me."
The man, now looking perfectly fine, bowed several times.
Seeing this, Lee Junyoung and his group were astonished once again.
"He's really healed."
The ability to save someone who was on the brink of death…
This was the first time they had ever witnessed such a miracle with their own
eyes.
"Is she… maybe something like a saintess from a fantasy novel?"
Lee Junyoung was deep in thought about the dark aura she had used, and eventually, he succeeded in recalling it.
"Ah!"
At the final moment of his dream.
When he was suffering, exhausted, and in pain, he had seen that dark aura.
And not long after, he had been freed from the agony.
"I don't know exactly what it is, but that power is the one that saved us."
His instincts were whispering to him—
That he absolutely had to follow that woman.
Lee Junyoung spoke.
"Mister. The person who actually saved your life is someone else. If you're feeling okay, would you move with us?"
"Huh?"
Kim Taehyun, who had been listening nearby, asked,
"What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking of following that woman and helping her."
"All of a sudden…?"
"Please. Just trust me and come along for now.'
""
""
Kim Taehyun hesitated for a moment, but soon nodded.
After all, the only reason they'd managed to survive up to now was thanks to Lee Junyoung's gut instincts.
So he decided to trust them again.
"Let's go."
Fortunately, they soon spotted the woman nearby rescuing someone, and they realized just how presumptuous it had been to think they could help her.
CRASH CRASH CRASH
"Hang in there! I'll get you out soon!"
The woman was trying to rescue an entire family buried under concrete rubble.
And then they witnessed something incredible-the massive concrete pile that looked like it wouldn't budge even if they all pushed together flew away like it was made of styrofoam.
BOOOOM!
The woman cleared away all the debris with brute strength, reached inside, healed the people, and then casually walked away again.
Watching her, Lee Junyoung whispered in awe,
"Insane."
Who was this woman?
And the shocking scenes just kept on coming.
A man rescuing people with an entire squad of armored knights behind him, a bear-human hybrid carrying an injured child on his back, a man lifting the ruins of a collapsed building with telekinesis, another teleporting in and out while saving people—
Not just awakened ones, but even people without any special powers, wearing 119 rescue uniforms or doctor's coats, heroically saving lives and treating the wounded.
But the real shock came when they followed the rescuers into a kind of shelter.
"No way."
White rice, ramen, cola, soda, snacks, bento boxes, and clean bottled Samdasoo water.
The shelter lacked nothing.
Even more incredible was how, when supplies ran low, new items just appeared out of thin air.
Seeing all this, Kim Taehyun muttered,
"Dude… should we actually start believing in this cult?"
From their uninformed perspective, all these miracles seemed like something out of a shady religious group.
"Maybe we misunderstood something…"
Just then-
"Hey. You there."
A middle-aged man in the shelter called out to them.
He was effortlessly carrying five packs of six water bottles each-it was clear he was no ordinary person either.
"You seem to be mistaken, but this place has nothing to do with those fake cults like JHS or JMS."
The man set the supplies down and said proudly,
"The one performing all these miracles is named Kim Jaehyun.
Remember that name. It'll do you good. Heh."
Having nearly become a sacrificial offering in a shady cult himself once, Lee Junyoung hesitated.
But looking at the abundant supplies around him, his hesitation faded quickly.
"This level of care is worth believing in."
Cola, red bean bread, energy bars, and more—
The quality of the aid was on another level.
And unlike JHS, which demanded people to bring in others, pray constantly, or prove their abilities, this group asked for only one thing:
To remember the name of the man believed to be their leader Kim Jaehyun.
Even that, the man said, was completely up to you.
Lee Junyoung liked that attitude.
"I'll remember it in my heart."
But at that point, it was still just a polite response.
He had no idea yet-
That soon, he and his comrades would sincerely carve the name "Kim Jaehyun" into their hearts and live by it.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]
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