"A sigh? Did this bastard just sigh? F*, think you can get away with anything just because you're a little good-looking?"**
The boy who'd first spoken, crouched on the left, rolled up his sleeves and stepped toward the two men.
"Hey! Don't—!"
"Are you crazy?!"
The girls cried out again as the boy clenched his jaw, veins bulging in his neck, and switched his cigarette to his left hand. He stepped right up to Soohyeok, eyes glaring.
"You wanna die, you son of a b**?"**
The moment the words left his mouth, his body was hurled into the air and slammed down onto the ground.
No fancy martial arts. No complex techniques.
Soohyeok had simply reached out and thrown him. The kid had flown, that was all.
"Aaaagh! Agh, it hurts!"
The boy screamed as he hit the ground, rolling and crying in pain.
"F*, call the cops! Call the damn cops! These motherf— they're going to rot in jail…!"**
He started shouting at the top of his lungs, his voice full of rage.
"Too loud."
Soohyeok touched an acupoint, silencing the boy mid-sentence.
"You're not a duck—stop squawking like one. I hate the sound of people screaming."
The boy's mouth opened, but no sound came out. His eyes filled with terror as he realized he physically couldn't speak.
Soohyeok's presence now completely filled the alley.
The same boy who'd tried to intimidate them by showing off his tattoo looked ghostly pale.
What was impressive, though, was that even in his fear, there was still some flicker of resistance in his eyes.
But Soohyeok had no interest in wasting any more time with these kids.
He crouched down, reached to the ground, and scooped out a chunk of solid stone from the alley floor.
Crack.
The sound alone stunned everyone present.
All the remaining students flinched, their eyes wide.
"Ah—wait! Vladimir!"
Finally, one of the girls recognized him and shouted.
"Oh? You know me?"
Vladimir, who had been watching silently, stepped forward with a smile.
But this wasn't the playful smile he showed Soohyeok.
It was sharp.
Predatory.
The smile of a vampire—a creature that feeds on humans.
From that point, Soohyeok didn't need to lift a finger.
Vladimir stepped fully into the situation and spoke:
"So… you realize now that whatever you do is meaningless, right?"
"Call the cops? You think Korean police can arrest me?"
His voice was calm.
"You little punks. Maybe next time, look before you pick a fight."
And harsh.
Whatever defiance remained among the students vanished. All that was left was pale-faced fear.
"And how dare you—"
Vladimir suddenly slung an arm around Soohyeok's shoulder.
Soohyeok turned his head sharply, startled, but Vladimir's face remained cold and unreadable.
"Try to mess with my dear friend here? I mean, I wouldn't mind letting you off—but you must have at least nine lives to try something like that. Think it was impressive watching your buddy get thrown? You'll find out that was just the warm-up. So, what now?"
He bared a hint of fang as he grinned.
"Wanna scram? Or do you feel like gambling your life a little more?"
There was no real choice.
They were ordinary kids.
And these two men were awakened beings. Supernaturals.
Vladimir was from Universal 8, and the unfamiliar man—Soohyeok—was apparently his friend.
Even if they didn't understand the full extent, one thing was clear: the guy next to Vladimir was someone very dangerous.
"W-we'll leave right now!"
One of the girls tossed her cigarette away and bolted down the alley.
"Sorry we didn't recognize you!"
The tattooed boy, now looking like he wanted to disappear, rolled his sleeves back down, bowed deeply, and scrambled after her.
The rest followed suit without a word.
"Sorry!"
Echoing apologies faded behind them as they ran.
In just a few minutes, the once-crowded alley was completely emptied.
Vladimir turned to Soohyeok with a bright, satisfied smile.
"See? Don't you think being my friend has its perks?"
Authority was a powerful thing.
Soohyeok knew that better than anyone.
"Doesn't mean I want to be your friend."
He shrugged Vladimir's arm off and turned to face him squarely.
"Just say whatever you came to say and get lost."
"Man, straight to the point, huh."
Vladimir clicked his tongue and rubbed his chin, as if deep in thought.
"Well, I've got a ton of things I'm curious about, but I doubt you'll give me many answers… So how about just three questions?"
Soohyeok didn't respond. He simply crossed his arms.
Taking that as silent permission, Vladimir nodded and continued.
"Alright. First question—how the hell did you resist my magic?"
There was no reply.
"So you're really not going to answer that, huh? Fine, straight to question two then."
Luckily, Vladimir had never expected Soohyeok to answer everything.
So the next question flowed out naturally.
"Are you… an Origin?"
"What are you talking about?"
This time, Soohyeok frowned in confusion.
He genuinely didn't understand the question.
Vladimir caught himself and explained further.
"I've seen your data. Says you were just a portal impact aftereffect patient until recently. No particularly special background or family, either. So under normal circumstances, I wouldn't suspect anything. But… you don't fit the mold of a typical body-enhancement type."
The enhancement type—a subcategory of the physical class—was the most common among Awakened.
They didn't have flashy powers or spectacular abilities.
They just leveled up, grew stronger, faster. Simple and reliable.
Not especially advantageous, but not weak either.
High base stats, steady growth—it was a solid, balanced path.
Still, it lacked a "wow" factor. There had only ever been one enhancement-type Awakened in all of Universal 8's history.
And according to the data Vladimir had seen, Soohyeok was classified as one of them.
Vladimir had believed that, too. Soohyeok wasn't a shapeshifter like the transformation subclass. He didn't show telekinesis, curses, healing, or any other powers of the supernatural category.
He wasn't part of the Natural class either—the rarest and most powerful, known for their flashy, elemental force. Like Baek Muhak's Lightning Body.
'And he's definitely not magic-type, either.'
Magic-type. Often lumped into the supernatural category, but in truth, it was something distinct.
"Let me explain it this way. You know what a true magician is?"
"A magic-type Awakened, right?"
Vladimir grinned, wagging a finger.
"Nope. Listen carefully."
What most Earthlings didn't know was that magic existed even before the portals appeared.
Long before.
Like Vladimir himself—an otherworldly being—there were real magicians who wielded arcane powers before the era of dimensional gates.
Those magicians didn't gain their abilities from awakening.
They were taught by someone, or came into contact with grimoires, and learned it through study. They became true magicians—independent of the system.
Now, the Force System simply recognized them and facilitated their growth.
"Those types—true magicians and a few others like them—we call Purebloods, or Origins."
Not awakened. Not granted powers.
They were born different. Innately gifted.
And they'd existed in the world long before the current age.
Soohyeok's eyes widened.
He couldn't help the reaction—because what Vladimir said fit. Too well.
It hit too close to home.
He might actually be one of those Origins.
"What kind of trigger…"
Vladimir, sensing the change in Soohyeok, began to ask something, but cut himself off.
He smiled faintly, but there was a flash of seriousness in his eyes.
"Never mind. That's not something I should dig into. Still… I like you even more now."
"Can't say I feel the same."
Soohyeok replied bluntly, eyeing Vladimir licking his lips with clear distaste.
"Tch. Just so you know, I'm not into guys or anything. Don't get the wrong idea. Now, onto the final question."
Soohyeok never answered the first question.
The second, while not spoken aloud, was answered in truth.
And for Vladimir, that was already enough.
Even just their clash earlier that morning had proven Soohyeok's worth.
He raised three fingers.
"You ever thought about joining Universal 8?"
"That's… hard to believe. Isn't Universal 8 supposed to be Earth's final defense? The strongest of the strong?"
If people could just come and go from Universal 8 freely, it would never hold the fearsome reputation it did.
"Well, yeah, that's true. You can't even get an offer unless you meet the qualifications. But that doesn't mean there's no one making the decisions. Think about it—where do you think the name 'Universal 8' came from?"
Vladimir pointed at himself and smiled brightly.
"You… created it?"
"Bingo."
"Unbelievable. So the last bastion of humanity was created by a monster."
"I've said it before—I like humans. And yeah, 'final bastion' is right. We needed one. After the portals opened and all those otherworlds got tangled with Earth, everything changed. As always, the weak countries get stepped on first."
"So you reached out to others and formed Universal 8?"
"Originally, the plan was to have ten members. But turns out, more people said no than I expected."
Soohyeok's eyes sparkled faintly.
He'd just learned something new.
'So Universal 8 isn't the end of it.'
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]