Chapter 15

Chapter 15

A white room with nothing in it.

It looked to be about three hundred square meters in size, but the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling were all completely white, so there was no sense of perspective or space.

It was a phenomenon called whiteout.

They said you could only experience it in polar regions like Antarctica in reality, but I had never gone that far, so I would not know.

“What is this, some kind of mental hospital.”

Shaking my head, I gave a light wave of my hand.

Before long, the scenery before my eyes changed, and the space I stood in turned into a dense primordial forest beneath a steady drizzle.

I hated getting wet, so I waved my hand and set up a tent, then created a camping chair and a campfire.

Since it would be a problem if it got too hot, I adjusted the temperature so that the warmth of the fire felt pleasantly comfortable.

I also made a simple table at a suitable height, and placed a laptop on top of it.

This place, too, had originally been named [Meditation Chamber], following the naming conventions of Korean temples, but now everyone simply called it [Nest].

Apparently, it all started when some Awakened changed his avatar into a dragon and decorated the place like a dragon’s lair.

That was how much everything here was subject to the will of the Awakened.

Within their own Nest, Awakened could wield virtually omnipotent authority, so each of them decorated the place according to their own tastes.

I furnished my Nest to a reasonable degree, then turned on the laptop.

A messenger program with a familiar UI appeared.

That, too, was the will of the Awakened.

If one wanted, it was possible to communicate not through a laptop, but by sending a carrier pigeon instead. I went into [Settings], moved to the [Security] section, and checked my current account status.

[Callsign] Private

[Name] Private

[Followers] Hidden

[Following] Hidden

[Online Status] Hidden

[Recommend Me] Hidden

[Direct Messages] Enabled

[Voice Call] Enabled

[Video Call] Enabled

[Guest Access] Locked

[Ads] Blocked

There were no problems with the default settings.

“Let’s see.”

[Friends List]

None

Since this was my first time logging in after returning, it was only natural that I had no friends.

[Recently Contacted Awakened]

Bloody Mary Online

Shylock Online

Iron Blood Online

As expected of Awakened, they all seemed to be online at this hour.

Since I had set [Recommend Me] and [Online Status] to [Hidden], the other Awakened would have no way of knowing that I was online.

Since I did not have a callsign yet, I casually set my nickname as [BestSupportEver].

In any case, Hunter Link allowed anonymous activity, and if one wished, it was entirely possible to act as multiple different people, so there was no need to assign any particular meaning to a nickname.

BestSupportEver.

It roughly meant the greatest Supporter of all time.

Of course, even the thought of being a Supporter made my teeth grind.

I had not the slightest intention of ever again playing the role of a Supporter and backing other people up from behind.

Still, in my previous life, I could say with certainty that I had been the greatest Supporter in history, and I was proud of that.

Proud enough that I had no qualms about using a somewhat arrogant nickname like BestSupportEver.

Click. I selected Choi Yura’s callsign, [Bloody Mary], and sent her a DM.

[BestSupportEver] What are you doing?

[Bloody Mary] ?

[BestSupportEver] It’s me, Cha Eunseong.

[Bloody Mary] How do you know about this place?

[BestSupportEver] Is there even such a thing as an Awakened who can’t use Hunter Link?

[Bloody Mary] At this stage, not knowing how to connect would be normal, though.

[BestSupportEver] Doesn’t it all come up if you search for it?

[Bloody Mary] ...

[BestSupportEver] Why?

[Bloody Mary] If it were the kind of thing you could just say is all on Google, then who would go through training at the Special Force Training Center?

She had a point.

Connecting to Hunter Link and using it were easy, but getting used to it took at least a month.

[BestSupportEver] It was easy, though.

[Bloody Mary] What is BestSupportEver?

[BestSupportEver] The greatest Supporter of all time.

[Bloody Mary] .....

[Bloody Mary] Are you a Supporter???

[BestSupportEver] No.

[BestSupportEver] I just made it up.

[Bloody Mary] -_-

[Bloody Mary] Why are you sending a DM instead of just calling? Are you excited because it’s your first time logging in?

[BestSupportEver] What is there to get excited about? It’s because of the wiretapping.

[Bloody Mary] Wiretapping?

[BestSupportEver] I registered as an Awakened and signed a contract.

[Bloody Mary] Ah.

[Bloody Mary] Good job.

[Bloody Mary] That was fast.

[BestSupportEver] I can’t keep living in the refugee camp. I’ve got a family.

[Bloody Mary] That’s true.

[BestSupportEver] Anyway, if we’re going to talk, why don’t we do a video call? Typing is annoying.

[Bloody Mary] Come to my Nest.

Ding!

A notification window appeared.

[Bloody Mary] has invited you to her Nest. Do you accept?

YES / NO

An invitation, huh.

Her intention was obvious.

Visiting another Awakened’s Nest without knowing any better was a very dangerous thing.

As I said before, an Awakened was virtually omnipotent within their own Nest.

Which meant it was entirely possible for them to attack another Awakened there and inflict mental damage.

It was commonplace for clueless newcomers to visit the Nest of a superior Awakened and get thoroughly put in their place, and in severe cases, there were even many who went mad after suffering mental torture.

‘Cute.’

There was a limit to how ridiculous it was to show off in front of someone like me.

For now, I decided to pretend I knew nothing and fall for it.

You have accepted the invitation!

You will move to [Bloody Mary]’s Nest in 3 seconds!

Three, two, one.

Flash!

I moved to Choi Yura’s Nest.

***

Choi Yura’s Nest was bleak.

It looked like the inside of some abandoned building, with a bed, a table, and a chair set out inside.

Scrap material was blazing inside a large brazier made from an old oil drum, and a faint smell of kerosene stung the tip of my nose.

Overall, it felt like some hideout one might only see in an American drama or film.

What drew my eye in the middle of all that, though, were the photos plastered all over one side of the wall.

Among them was a picture of a young Choi Yura in a school uniform, riding a motorcycle with a handsome thug and smiling brightly, and there was even a photo of Godfather with a military greatsword stuck into it.

“What are you looking at? Do you think you were invited into someone else’s Nest so you could snoop around?”

Choi Yura, who had been sitting at the table looking through a notebook, gave a displeased wave of her hand and swept the photos off the wall.

“If you’re going to say that after inviting me here, doesn’t your conscience hurt? It’s not like I don’t have eyes.”

“Shut up.”

Choi Yura snapped irritably, then rose from the desk and pointed at the table.

“Sit.”

“Gladly.”

“Beer? Whiskey?”

“I’m fine.”

“If you don’t want any, then forget it.”

Choi Yura made herself a highball, took a sip, then pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

“Fuuu.”

“In front of a non-smoker.”

“So what? This isn’t reality.”

“That’s true.”

Choi Yura smoked in silence for a while, then stubbed it out in the ashtray and asked me directly.

“How did you know?”

“There are ways to know.”

“That’s not the answer I want.”

“How can you go through life hearing only the answers you want?”

“If you came here to play word games, you’re going to regret it.”

Clatter!

Chains suddenly wrapped around me.

“If I move one finger so much, you’ll start begging me to kill you. You’ll suffer unbearable pain. And for the record, pain carries over into reality too, so keep that in mind.”

“Is this why you invited me into your Nest?”

“Of course.”

“Good grief.”

Letting out a deep sigh, I waved my hand.

Srrk, and the chains that had wrapped themselves around me vanished without a trace.

“......!”

I could see Choi Yura’s face going rigid as stone.

She seemed plenty shocked, but it was still too early for that.

“How about this?”

Snap. When I flicked my finger, what must have been thousands of bees appeared and began circling around Choi Yura.

Bzzzzz!

The sound of their wings was threatening.

“If I move one finger so much, you’ll become a literal beehive. You’ll suffer such agony that you’ll beg me to kill you instead. I probably don’t need to mention that the pain carries over into reality, do I?”

“H-how?”

She looked as though she had seen a ghost.

It was only natural. The law that, within a Nest, an Awakened was absolutely omnipotent had just shattered into pieces before her eyes.

Choi Yura knew one thing and not the other.

The owner ruled the Nest, yes, but only when facing someone of the same standing.

For superior Awakened—in other words, Rankers—it was entirely possible to raise hell even inside another Awakened’s Nest.

This had nothing at all to do with one’s current grade or combat power, which was why even I, a mere 1-Star Awakened, could exert plenty of power here.

How did I know?

I got the feeling when I was decorating my Nest.

In reality, I was only a 1-Star Awakened, but within Hunter Link, I still possessed the standing I had held in my days as a Ranker in my previous life.

And in my case, not only was I a former Ranker, but perhaps because I had been born that way, my influence inside Hunter Link was unusually powerful as well.

“You shouldn’t treat a guest like this after inviting him in.”

“Th-that makes no sense.”

“It does.”

Bzzzz. I directed a single bee and had it sting the back of Choi Yura’s hand.

“Ugh!”

Perhaps it stung a little, because Choi Yura grabbed the back of her hand and twisted her face.

“How did you do that? What the hell are you? Ugh.”

Choi Yura clutched the back of her hand, which had swollen up in the blink of an eye.

“It throbs, doesn’t it?”

“I asked how you did it.”

“That’s a trade secret, so I can’t tell you.”

I answered like that, then waved my hand and made the swarm vanish. I also healed the back of Choi Yura’s hand where the bee had stung her.

If I provoked Choi Yura any further here, I would only make things difficult for myself.

Here, I stood absolutely above her, but in reality, I was the weaker one through and through.

If a mere 1-Star rubbed a 4-Star the wrong way, who knew where or when he might turn up as a corpse?

“Now that you’ve had a taste of what I can do, you won’t pull any more pointless stunts, right?”

“......”

Choi Yura said nothing.

Ignoring her, I said what I had to say.

“I’m telling you again, I can’t reveal where the information came from. So don’t ask about it anymore.”

“And you call that an answer......”

“In the end, all that matters is taking down Godfather and the Incheon Union, isn’t it?”

Choi Yura clamped her mouth shut.

“I’ll help you, so for the time being, just keep your head down and focus on getting stronger. Don’t go drawing attention to yourself just because you want to hunt Wreckers.”

“What do you know that makes you talk like that?”

“Well. I may not know everything, but I think I might know what your future looks like.”

If memory served, Choi Yura was destined to die in the end while fighting the Incheon Union.

I did not know how she died.

One day, she disappeared without a trace, and when she appeared again, she was a corpse hanging from Incheon Bridge.

“I’ll help you take down Godfather and the Incheon Union, so how about working with me?”

“With someone like you?”

“That sounds a bit harsh, but since I’m only 1-Star right now, I’ll let it slide.”

“At least you know your place.”

“I have that much conscience. Anyway, this isn’t really something I can explain right now. You’ll understand in time.”

“What do you take me for, an idiot?”

“If you’re not an idiot, then shouldn’t you just wait and see?”

“Hmm.”

After seeming to think for a moment, Choi Yura spoke.

“Then what do you want? You’re only doing this because you want something from me too, aren’t you?”

“There is something I want.”

“What is it?”

“I want you to carry me.”