Chapter 40 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: The Heavenly Demon and the Special Response Team (2)
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Shield Boundary Zone outskirts.
The fifth floor of the newly built villa, serving as both the outpost and the Special Response Team's nest, had been converted into a situation room and conference room rather than living quarters.
"You're saying he lives in the rooftop room of that building?"
Yoo Eunho snorted after listening to Chohong's story for a while.
"What kind of lunatic would live in a rooftop room right up against the shield? In a place where it could break through at any moment."
He shot to his feet, his voice laced with irritation.
"It's gotta be someone the Association sent to keep tabs on us. Ever since Park Jeongmin got ousted as director, the Association's been openly trying to screw over the team leader."
"Eunho."
Han Manjae tried to stop him with a hand, but Yoo Eunho pressed on irritably.
"It's true, isn't it? Has the team leader ever been harassed just for being Elder Jang Geum-seon's disciple before this?"
Jang Geum-seon, a first-generation awakener who propped up the Association and one of the country's top mental skill users.
But because of her terrifying ability to turn people into puppets, she'd been hounded out of the Association into retirement and kept under surveillance.
And Chohong, her disciple with even greater potential, was constantly watched, suspected, and monitored by the Association.
Park Jeongmin had backed Chohong fully, but after his downfall, she'd become an eyesore to them—like a chick that had hatched from a rotten egg.
They couldn't let her out of sight, but keeping her close made them uneasy.
That was the Association's view of Chohong—no, of any mental manipulation awakener.
"Don't worry. That guy's definitely got nothing to do with the Association."
"What are you talking about?"
"I already checked with the local realtors. He moved in just because the rent's cheap."
Yoo Eunho's face turned icy at Chohong's words.
"You expect me to buy that?"
"Yeah, it's ridiculous, right?"
Chohong took a deep breath and spoke slowly.
"That guy's an awakener with insane power. Unregistered, sure."
An unregistered awakener living in the Shield Boundary Zone, the most dangerous spot far from the city center.
The team members were full of questions but kept silent. They knew Chohong would explain everything soon.
"He showed up at the elder's bar a while back. And then…"
Chohong recounted everything she'd seen in detail to her team.
As they listened, the team members gaped in unison.
Their faces said they couldn't believe their own ears.
"You're saying he one-shotted a hidden monster with a danger level of 13,000? An Ice Golem, no less?"
Instead of answering Han Manjae, Chohong placed a small metal device on the table.
A blue wave rippled through the air, projecting a holographic image of the Heavenly Demon shattering the Ice Golem.
"Whoa."
Han Manjae, who'd watched it all, let out a sigh.
"I thought the Association was just messing around. But a monstrous unregistered awakener like that actually exists."
"Yeah. I figured he'd built a house here and was just waiting around."
Yoo Eunho chuckled at Shin Chaeyoung's quiet remark.
"Not wrong. How often do hidden monsters break through the shield or get someone trapped in a stabilized safe dungeon? Once or twice a year?"
Chohong, who'd been sitting silently, shook her head.
"Anyway, powerful hidden monsters have been popping up more frequently these past few months. And this powerful unregistered awakener we thought might not exist? Turns out he's real."
"Team leader."
Han Manjae, staring at the hologram in the air, spoke up.
"With evidence like this, why haven't you reported it to the Association?"
Chohong stared into space for a moment, then took a deep breath.
"As you can see, all he's done is save awakeners in trouble and take down hidden monsters. He didn't even glance at the relic from the Ice Golem."
"You're just gonna let him be for that reason?"
Dodging Han Manjae's piercing gaze, Chohong shook her head.
She glanced at the hologram projector on the table and continued.
"The elder told me to leave him alone."
She swallowed the part about "if you want to preserve the Association intact" and went on.
"Provoking him rashly now wouldn't do us any good anyway."
"Hmm."
Han Manjae let out a groan as he eyed the 3D footage.
"But we can't just ignore him, can we?"
The Special Response Team, made up of elites, specialized in eliminating "hidden monsters."
And half the reason those monsters appeared was unregistered awakeners blinded by money.
On top of that, Han Manjae had his own unforgivable grudge against unregistered awakeners.
"It's not that simple. To restrain someone with that level of power, we'd need at least three of the Association's main teams."
True, the power of that red-eyed man's fist was inhumanly overwhelming.
"So what's your plan?"
At Han Manjae's question, Chohong looked at Yoo Eunho, who had his arms crossed.
"Eunho. You investigate this one."
"Me?"
"Yeah. For the next week, observe everything he does without missing a beat. His background, main skills, weaknesses… no, even his little habits. All of it."
Yoo Eunho's skill was super high-speed movement.
It was the ultimate skill not just for combat but for covert intel gathering.
"Got it."
As Yoo Eunho replied, Chohong took a deep breath and spoke firmly.
"We'll decide what to do with him after that."
* * *
Rooftop railing of a high-rise building.
Standing on the windy rooftop railing, looking down at the double interior building, Yoo Eunho pulled out his phone.
The screen showed a foreign resident registration card with a fierce-faced photo.
"A foreigner."
The name on the screen: Heavenly Demon.
He'd gotten his foreign resident card recently and was employed at a small interior shop called Double Interior.
"Doesn't make sense."
Yoo Eunho, who'd been observing the Heavenly Demon for days, was utterly baffled.
He'd been with the Special Response Team, fought countless battles, and observed countless people.
But he'd never seen anyone as bizarre and unique as this.
"Why not hit a dungeon? Why do manual labor like that?"
Yoo Eunho couldn't fathom this Heavenly Demon guy.
Despite power surpassing a 1st-grade awakener, he was doing grunt work at a tiny interior shop.
And while he worked hard, the results were mediocre.
He broke things left and right, bickered with the workers constantly. He seemed quick on the uptake, but clumsy with machines and stubbornly stuck to weird construction methods sometimes.
Plus, despite not being an awakener, he'd sling a nanobot over his shoulder now and then, and for lunch, he'd die before eating anything but jjajangmyeon.
"Why did that young lady boss hire a guy like that?"
Even more baffling was the attitude of the Double Interior owner, the young woman Jang Chaewon.
She'd clutch her head in frustration every time, yet she never fired this headache of an employee and somehow cleaned up after him tearfully.
Sure, she'd get violent in speech and high-handed sometimes, but considering what the Heavenly Demon pulled, it was practically Buddha-level compassion.
"Hmm."
Yoo Eunho shook his head, watching the Heavenly Demon sit at the reception table getting an earful from Jang Chaewon.
"No clue at all."
A routine of screwing up work daily, getting scolded—it was so monotonously consistent it was creepy.
Watching it for a week made his head throb.
"No big issues, at least."
The guy wasn't scheming illegal big money or abusing his powers.
If an unregistered awakener lived this diligently, they should be grateful.
"No, that can't be right."
On second thought, it didn't add up at all.
Someone stronger than a 1st-grade awakener doing grunt work at a small interior shop?
He was definitely hiding his identity while plotting something unimaginable.
"It's not even been a full week yet."
Being stuck on guard duty at the Shield Boundary Zone meant time to burn.
Yoo Eunho vowed to uncover the guy's true face.
Late into the night.
Yoo Eunho sat on a folding chair on the villa rooftop, eyes closed.
To perfectly monitor the Heavenly Demon's every move for at least a week.
Flash.
His eyes snapped open, hands clasped behind his head.
He crept to the rooftop railing, pressed against it, and peeked out.
Thud, thud.
There was the Heavenly Demon, bulky frame exposed, slowly heading toward the city.
Silently watching, a triumphant smile crept onto Yoo Eunho's lips.
'Gotcha.'
No way he'd head out in the dead of night for no reason. He was definitely up to something.
Yoo Eunho took a deep breath, activated his skill, and quietly tailed him.
'Navigation?'
Yoo Eunho tilted his head, peering down from a distant rooftop.
The nanobot on the Heavenly Demon's shoulder was shooting a guide line on the ground.
'Doesn't know the area?'
Sure, nanobots had general navigation beyond dungeons.
But people used car GPS or phones, not nanobots for street guidance outside dungeons.
'Convenience store?'
The Heavenly Demon finally arrived at a convenience store by the main road.
But then—
Boom!
A massive explosion rang out as a sports car slammed into the Heavenly Demon's body like a shot arrow.
A sudden car accident.
Even an awakener should've been flung back from that impact…
'Hardening skill too?'
With a screech, the Heavenly Demon stood firm like a utility pole, while the sports car crumpled like paper.
'What the hell?'
Yoo Eunho gaped at the unfolding scene.
The nanobot's words, the Heavenly Demon's response, and what followed were nothing like he'd expected.
'This guy…'
Having witnessed it all, Yoo Eunho felt utter chaos.
What was that weird nanobot?
Why wasn't this guy registered as an awakener?
As stray thoughts flooded in and he shook his head, a chill shot through him—his hairs standing on end.
A pair of red eyes pierced the darkness, staring straight at the building where Yoo Eunho stood.
'He spotted me!'
Whoosh.
Gritting his teeth, Yoo Eunho poured all his power into fleeing.
Like a shooting star, he instantly escaped the building and dashed back to the villa rooftop in the Shield Boundary Zone.
"Huff. Huff."
Yoo Eunho had never once failed at stealth or reconnaissance.
"Detection skill or something?"
His stealth and tracking were top-tier in the country.
If he wanted, he could leisurely observe Strategic Planning Director Kim Suwoong's daily routine.
Yet this guy had instantly sensed him lurking dozens of meters away.
"Dangerous… Definitely not normal."
The more he observed, the more it felt like facing an unknown lifeform.
Catching his breath, Yoo Eunho ground his teeth.
"I need to confirm for sure."
* * *
Next morning, Special Response Team villa, 4th floor conference room.
Reporting his observations of the Heavenly Demon to the team, Yoo Eunho dropped an unexpected bombshell.
"…So I need the team leader's suit."
"You want to borrow the stealth Nano Suit?"
Chohong blinked at Yoo Eunho's resolute expression.
Stealth Nano Suit.
An ultra-expensive suit for Chohong, whose mental manipulation left her body immobile, equipped with AC (Active Camouflage) for invisibility.
"Would that be okay?"
"Of course not. It's not meant for reconnaissance…"
Studying Yoo Eunho's stiff face, Chohong asked.
"You got spotted by him, didn't you?"
"Probably."
At that, not just Chohong but all the team members' faces hardened.
Yoo Eunho's super high-speed movement was S-Class. If he wanted, he could nullify even detection skills.
"If he spotted you, no need to continue. This op is…"
"No. There's something I want to verify a bit more."
Is he an apostle of justice?
Yoo Eunho had personally witnessed something like the footage Chohong showed from last night.
But he couldn't judge on fragments alone. This unregistered awakener had bottomless, terrifying power.
"If I check just a little more, I think I'll know what he's about."
Yoo Eunho looked at Chohong earnestly.
"Please, the suit. Team leader."
Chohong, grave-faced, nodded.
"Fine. But stop immediately if it gets too risky, got it?"
Yoo Eunho clenched his fist.
"Understood."
* * *
Wearing the stealth Nano Suit, Yoo Eunho observed the Heavenly Demon day and night.
He surveilled the rooftop room all night, trailed his daily routine by day.
After a few days, he noticed one oddity.
The warehouse connected to the interior shop's back and the hanok house were utterly inaccessible, no matter what.
Like an invisible barrier repelled even a single insect.
'Is that young lady boss an unregistered awakener too?'
High probability.
No normal person would employ someone with that much power.
What Yoo Eunho wanted to confirm was one thing.
Why this unregistered awakener Heavenly Demon went into dungeons.
Once he knew that, he'd know exactly what kind of person he was.
"Off to the convenience store again…"
The Heavenly Demon's post-work routine was mechanical.
Dinner at Mom's Hand Snacks, grab a snack from the roadside convenience store, head home.
But today was off.
'Weird. What's with the sudden change?'
He was pressed against the convenience store building, whispering covertly with the nanobot.
His expression screamed something major had happened.
'Gotta hear this.'
Yoo Eunho activated the active camouflage and crept closer with all his might.
He switched on the long-range voice detector in his ear.
"…"
His face hardened into shock as he eavesdropped on the Heavenly Demon and nanobot.
A few days later.
Standing on a general hospital rooftop downtown, Yoo Eunho wore a faint smile.
He'd finally confirmed everything.
Why the Heavenly Demon entered dungeons.
How overwhelmingly powerful he was, and how kind and just.
Click.
He activated the mini-computer on his wrist to send the report of his findings to team leader Chohong.
"Hmm."
But picturing Han Manjae and Shin Chaeyoung, he shook his head.
Convincing the unregistered-hating Han Manjae and by-the-book Shin Chaeyoung wouldn't be easy.
"Guess I'll have to persuade them in person."
Next day.
In the 4th floor conference room of the villa, all team members including Chohong stared at Yoo Eunho.
"Out with it."
Chohong nodded.
"What happened that you need to explain in person?"
Yoo Eunho, face tense, stated firmly.
"We let him be. No—he's a good guy."
"What?"
"I'd even want to make him a temporary pass."
Han Manjae scowled at Yoo Eunho's words.
"You call that reasonable? How's a criminal a good guy?"
"He's not a criminal."
"Unregistered awakeners entering dungeons illegally."
"What if he stayed unregistered to do good deeds on the down-low?"
"What?"
Chohong spoke up from across the table.
"Tell us in detail first. What's this sports car incident? And the convenience store part-timer?"
Yoo Eunho took a deep breath and nodded.
"First, the sports car incident."
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