Chapter 3
An hour ago, Baek Gyeon, who had casually slung me over his shoulder, brought me to a place I had never seen before—a luxurious limousine.
I was momentarily dazed by the dazzling interior of the limo, which I had only ever seen on TV, and I responded to his words a beat too late.
“So you’re saying I’m an awakened?”
“Yeah. You, and that boy who was on the same floor earlier.”
Baek Gyeon replied in an incredibly indifferent voice. As soon as we arrived at the Association, he dropped me off at the front gate and vanished.
Though Baek Gyeon disappeared just like that, the words he left behind stuck vividly in my memory:
“Gate Break. Najin. Terrorism. Two late awakened.”
And the description of the man who awakened with me on the fourth floor of the department store—no matter how I thought about it, that was my younger brother, Kwon Seo-woo.
It felt like I’d been executed without even a chance to hold onto hope.
As I snapped out of the brief recollection, I looked down and saw Kwon Seo-woo lying unconscious in front of me.
“He collapsed due to a combination of injuries and fatigue, and then suddenly relaxed. That’s likely what caused him to faint.”
“So there’s nothing else wrong with him?”
“No, he should wake up soon.”
“Then take him to the infirmary. Contact me immediately when he wakes up.”
The medical team, summoned after being notified, spoke with Baek Mae, the Director of the Awakened Management Department, and carried Kwon Seo-woo away on a stretcher.
It was a relief that he hadn’t fainted because of my awakening—although, is that really something to be relieved about? This whole string of absurd events was making me feel like I was losing my mind.
My brother is the protagonist.
That flower-brained high school boy, who doesn’t resemble the original Kwon Seo-woo in the slightest, is somehow that Kwon Seo-woo!
Some might wonder how anyone could tell someone is awakened without a measuring device.
But Baek Mae and Baek Gyeon were S-class hunters and members of the Baek clan—renowned for their uncanny instincts that went beyond human and bordered on wild animal territory.
Born with gold-standard—no, diamond-tier—genes. They’re the very definition of munchkin (overpowered).
If those two said Seo-woo and I were awakened, no formal test would change that conclusion.
Just then, the lobby’s front door burst open and a man rushed inside.
“Sorry I’m late! On the way here, I ran into a transport vehicle moving injured civilians and had to help…”
Several attendants followed close behind him. The man’s green hair was slicked to his cheeks with sweat.
“I left as soon as I got the call, but I guess I was still too late. You’re all here already.”
[“I left as soon as I got the call, but I guess I was still too late. You’re all here already.”]
This scene—I remember it.
It was the protagonist’s first awakening scene. I’d watched it so many times, it was burned into my brain.
And that gentle, kind-looking man with the tear mole under his eye—there was only one original character who fit that description.
“Master, please give me your outer coat.”
“Ah, right. So… I heard we’ve got some late awakenings? Two people at once?”
Shin Dorim, the youngest clan leader in the Underworld universe and an S-class healer in the Awakening Management Team.
As he casually handed over his coat, the staff finished preparing the measurement equipment and began bustling around.
Baek Mae, Director of the Awakened Management Team and acting president of the Association, tucked her silver hair behind one ear and smiled brightly.
“Dorim, you’re here? Then let’s start with the measurement. Is the equipment ready?”
“Wait, my brother is still—”
“He’ll wake up soon anyway. I’ll keep an eye on him until he does, so why don’t you go get tested with the handsome healer over there?”
I wanted to say I’d wait and get tested with Seo-woo, but the pressure of an S-class aura wasn’t something I could easily defy.
I followed Shin Dorim into the testing room.
“Okay, we’ll start now. Relax and place your hand on the detection panel.”
“O-okay.”
Why was the real protagonist, Kwon Seo-woo, the one fainted and being carried away, while I was the one stuck here doing this?
Only Shin Dorim and I were inside the measurement room, facing each other. That was to prevent interference from other awakeners’ abilities.
Following his instructions, I placed my hand on the panel. I didn’t want anything to do with the original story, but now that I was here, there was no escaping the measurement.
After a while, a strange sensation tingled at my fingertips.
[Welcome, Awakened <Kwon Ah-sol>!]
“Ah.”
A bright blue light filled the screen and lit up the room.
I’d stood in front of this device before, back when I was just a regular civilian—but I’d only ever seen the black “Unable to Determine” screen.
Which meant…
[Detecting resonance from the measurement subject!]
I really had awakened.
While I blinked at the surreal sight, the screen quickly changed and new text appeared.
**[Unique ability <Gate> detected!]
[Awakened <Kwon Ah-sol>, your determined rank is—]**
Thunk!
“Huh?”
The screen glowed brightly, then the machine suddenly powered down.
“Ugh… this machine again. Sorry, just give me a moment?”
“Huh?”
“These things usually work if you smack them a bit.”
“O-oh, broken…?”
Wait—did I just hear a loud thump before it shut off? Or was that my imagination?
Shin Dorim smiled gently and started slapping the control panel.
It was more like pounding, honestly. Not exactly the treatment you’d expect for a machine worth hundreds of millions, but even that couldn’t distract me from what I had just seen.
**[Welcome, Awakened <Kwon Ah-sol>!]
[Detecting resonance from the measurement subject!]
[Unique ability <Gate> detected!]**
After a short loading screen, the machine finally displayed the result:
[Awakened <Kwon Ah-sol>, your rank is <A>! Welcome to registration!]
Holy sh—.
So there it was. No strange twist.
—
An hour later, a secret emergency meeting was convened at the very top floor of the Association HQ.
Under normal circumstances, I should have been working a shift at an internet café. But I had no say in the matter—I was forced to attend.
For one reason:
“N-Najin?! You’re saying Najin appeared?! What the hell is going on?!”
“No, sir! It’s not Najin—it was just a civilian caught in the terrorism incident… just come see for yourself!”
Because the topic of the emergency meeting was none other than me.
Fantastic…
—
Out of all the abilities an awakened could have, what was “Gate”?
It was a power no one in Korea could forget if they’d watched TV even once.
A few years ago, a famously powerful hunter possessed that ability.
That hunter was Najin—stripped of his title and now officially considered a civilian after losing his hunter status.
He was the only awakened in Korea who could open and close Gates at will.
He had saved tens of thousands of lives with his ability and was once hailed as Korea’s last hope.
<Breaking News: Gate Break in Gangbuk, Seoul… Hunter Najin goes missing, search operation launched>
Until the Gate Break incident in Gangbuk four years ago.
<Breaking: Missing Hunter Najin revealed to have intentionally caused Gate Break as an act of terrorism>
<Breaking: Former Hunter Najin now has a bounty of 300 million won>
<Confidential documents found at Najin’s residence suggest detailed plans for the Gate Break>
<Profilers suspect Najin had planned this crime long in advance…>
…
…
[HOT Post] Najin spotted walking around alive in Chuncheon today
Someone posted this sighting earlier. Check it out. It’s a bit blurry—could be fake, but if any Photoshop experts are here, please confirm.
(Photo)
[Comments]
—Whoa
—????
—I’ve been a fan of Najin since I wanted to be a hunter. That’s definitely him… that gray bracelet on his arm is the one he always wore… man, this is hard to take
—Come on, that photo is obviously fake. You believe that trash? We still don’t even know for sure if the Gate Break was intentional or a mistake.
↳ LOL, people still defending Najin? Even after the Association and his friends said he betrayed them and became a villain?
—Wait, so he really betrayed all his childhood friends and ran off?! That’s insane. What about his fellow trainees?
—News is on now… looks like it’s real.
And just like that, in exactly one week, Korea’s symbol of hope turned into public enemy number one.
So when I heard the measurement results…
“‘Gate’… That’s the same ability as Najin!”
From the moment I heard that word, everything else faded out.
It didn’t matter if I was rank F or A. None of that mattered anymore.
“But if we think positively, maybe this ability could help stop Najin…”
“More importantly, are we sure those two have nothing to do with Najin? We can’t afford any risks…”
Wasn’t my life supposed to be hard mode? Let me correct that:
This is literal hell mode.
My brother is the protagonist. He got caught in the Gate incident as in the original story and awakened late. That much made sense.
But why me?
“Kwon Ah-sol would never do something like that!”
My little brother shouted in my defense.
For reference, this rude high school brat who blurted out my name had woken up about 20 minutes ago, completed his measurement, and been dragged here too.
But the meeting attendees were too busy arguing to pay him any mind.
“She was tested last year and came up as unmeasurable! The staff even said she had zero potential for awakening and would live as a civilian forever!”
“That’s exactly what makes late awakeners so dangerous.”
At Baek Mae’s words, the high-ranking officials around the long table nodded.
Kwon Seo-woo nudged me, silently begging me to say something. But even then, my eyes remained fixed on empty air.
More precisely, on a translucent window floating in front of me.
What… is this?
