A kyeol (knot, seam, or grain) is a path where things are tied together.
Generally, it's strong, but it can also be a vulnerable point that's easy to break.
Usually, life moves fast with the flow of the world, and keeping up with that pace is already hard enough.
But when a person comes to a complete stop, their body becomes like a target etched with countless kyeol.
"Even a thousand-year-old rock crumbles when the smallest kyeol is misaligned. So the reason I'm saying this is…"
Soohyeok's body scattered like a shadow, striking Lee Woojin's body with a rhythm like a dance.
Fifteen times in total.
Soohyeok burst several visible kyeol in Woojin's body and deactivated his martial descent.
"Aaaah…"
A groan laced with sobbing was the first sound to come.
Crack—!
Then the sound of stone breaking began.
Shattering like pieces of glass, breaking apart like grains of sand, his body spilled to the ground.
"Aaaaagh—!"
Lee Woojin screamed and collapsed, rolling on the ground.
Soohyeok looked down at him with cold eyes and spoke.
"It seems like the core of an awakened one's power also lies in the kyeol."
"..?!"
Seriniel, who had been unable to speak properly toward Soohyeok due to the oppressive aura, showed a shocked expression.
"Looks like your days as an awakened one are over. You damned criminal."
****
6.
Soohyeok never really liked the word mercy.
Mercy shown to the enemy becomes a dagger that returns under the name of revenge.
He had experienced this countless times in the Hwan continent.
To act half-heartedly while carrying such a past?
He didn't want that.
That's why he always aimed for overwhelming victories.
Even in hard fights, he carved his strength deep into the minds of his enemies.
He trampled them so they wouldn't dare crawl back up or even dream of resisting.
Unlike the Hwan continent, though, you couldn't just go around killing people in the modern world.
But just now, Soohyeok had acquired another powerful weapon.
"W-why… Why is it really not working?!"
As soon as Woojin came back to his senses, he shook his head and tried to activate his power.
But his body didn't change at all.
He tried several more times—but there was no difference.
Powerless.
Stripped of his awakening, Lee Woojin—now just an ordinary criminal—looked not only devastated, but downright pitiful.
Soohyeok looked at him and realized his hunch had been correct.
There was a unique kind of kyeol that started from the heart of an awakened one and stretched through the entire body. He didn't understand it at first.
But once he stood completely still, he noticed a similar pattern etched in his own unmoving body—and made a guess.
"Could this be a system-related kyeol?"
That guess turned into certainty.
The moment he unraveled and destroyed the intricately tangled kyeol, far more complex than any ordinary one, Woojin's powerful body collapsed. He lost everything he had built as an awakened one.
"Uaaaah…!"
With eyes rolled back in rage, Woojin leaped up and charged at Soohyeok.
"You bastard! Give it back! Give me my power back! Guh—!"
He shouted frantically, swinging his arms, but all he did was flail through empty air and stumble over Soohyeok's outstretched foot.
"Ugh, urgh!"
He groaned, sobbing uncontrollably, but Soohyeok's gaze held no sympathy.
After interrogating the surviving subordinates from the earlier incident, he had learned about Magnus and their operations.
Woojin had launched a preemptive attack, destroyed an ATV worth 800 million won, and even tried to prey on Seriniel with lustful intent. There was nothing to forgive.
So Soohyeok had made a bold move, and he didn't regret it.
"Uwahhh…"
He silenced the crying Woojin by striking his vital blood points and then turned to face his trembling subordinates.
They, too, were criminals affiliated with Magnus's Korea branch.
Most of them weren't even registered with the Awakened Association.
"Magnus…"
They recruited and raised awakened ones while avoiding the eyes of the Association.
They could even extract members from the Association and erase or suspend their records.
"That's not possible unless there's a mole…"
Soohyeok organized his thoughts and stood in front of them.
Like Woojin, they had also been struck by Soohyeok and lost their powers. He silenced them by pressing their blood points as well.
Later, as expected of Dwarven craftsmanship, the 7-seater SUV had survived even a near-tip-over crash against a stone wall. Soohyeok crammed them into the backseat like luggage.
He briefly considered handing them over to Oh Shinwoo first, but shook his head.
They were criminals, after all. They deserved to suffer.
As said—he wasn't particularly fond of mercy.
"Ah… Will this make Seriniel uncomfortable?"
She might not be happy about having to share space with them.
Thinking that, he glanced at Seriniel, now seated in the front passenger seat.
"Let's head out."
She spoke calmly, her eyes wide but composed.
"Um… to the Blackfang Mountains?"
"Yes. We need to find the Cosmo Energy."
"Ah, right, but still…"
"Scum like them deserve to suffer to the brink of death."
Seriniel, speaking even more coldly than Soohyeok, looked straight ahead.
Well, she had always been cold—cold enough to be compared to the icebergs of Antarctica.
In the end, his concern had been completely unnecessary.
"Heh… Alright. Then let's head out like this."
"Yes."
Rumble—!
With the ATV lost, Soohyeok's newly acquired SUV drove into the Blackfang Mountains.
At the same time, as Soohyeok entered the Blackfang Mountains, a state of emergency spread across the entire Awakened Association.
Chaos also erupted at the Tranon Dimensional Outpost.
Having stayed reclusive for some time at the Baek family residence after entering the country, Universal 8, Andreyev Vladimir, made a personal move to the Tranon dimension.
"Hmm-hmm~"
He set off humming a light tune, but rumors of his actions spread instantly.
That was how famous Vladimir was—and he enjoyed the attention.
He didn't mind people knowing about him. In fact, he relished flaunting himself.
"I've heard rumors he came to this dimension… but how am I supposed to find him?"
Still, he hadn't forgotten his true objective.
Contact with the No-Named—Yang Soohyeok.
What came after would be Vladimir's own decision.
Persuasion or assassination—it didn't matter which.
"Though, I'd prefer the one that entertains me more."
The problem, as he himself admitted, was that finding Soohyeok in this vast Tranon dimension was no easy task.
"Should I just wait for him to return?"
That might be the best option for now.
With that in mind, he headed for the outpost's inn.
He had heard that until the elves' magical artifact was activated, cleaning up the Tranon dimension would be difficult. So he figured the right time would come if he simply waited.
The moment Vladimir stepped into the inn, silence fell over the area.
Gone was the noisy first floor that Soohyeok had seen earlier.
When Vladimir had set out toward Ansan, word had already spread through guild members stationed outside. And when he arrived, those watching passed on the news.
And now, Vladimir was here.
"Everyone, relax. Please, relax. Why so tense? You're making me uncomfortable."
Vladimir, smiling as he spoke, casually headed to the second floor.
No one stopped him.
No—more accurately, no one dared to stop him.
No one even dared to approach or speak to him.
Clad in a white suit, he looked almost carefree—but for some reason, his presence felt heavy.
An invisible pressure overwhelmed everyone in the room.
The same thing happened on the second floor.
"S-Sir Vladimir!"
And then on the stairs to the third floor, a voice called out to Vladimir, who was ascending at a leisurely pace.
"Hmm…?"
He turned his gaze and saw Kim Jiwoon hurrying up the stairs from below.
Vladimir's eyes sparkled.
"Wrath, greed, and envy… Truly, humans are fascinating. To break free of control through sheer emotion—fascinating indeed. Fufu."
"P-Pardon?"
Not understanding the cryptic comment and feeling the weight of the growing pressure, Kim Jiwoong trembled slightly as he asked again.
"No, never mind. It sounds interesting, so let's hear it. What brings you to me?"
With that, the oppressive aura vanished.
Strangely enough, Kim Jiwoon began to open up like an excited child—pouring out his emotions, secrets, and inner thoughts right in front of Vladimir.
"Those damned Magnus bastards! They think people are idiots… Anyway, that elf girl? She was something else. I thought Sir Vladimir would like her too!"
"Hmm…"
Vladimir let out a long hum after hearing everything.
In front of him, Kim Jiwoon beamed with pride and yearning—giddy from having spoken with the Andreyev Vladimir of Universal 8.
No doubt, Jiwoon would have bragged about this encounter for the rest of his life…
If only his head hadn't exploded like a smashed watermelon.
"Ah, how unfortunate. I almost got blood on me."
Vladimir stepped past Jiwoong's corpse on the stairs, wrinkling his nose as if he had just witnessed something disgusting.
"I was curious where his greed would lead… but what a filthy piece of trash. And he's connected to Magnus, no less."
With clear revulsion, he shook his head and quickly climbed to the third floor.
There, two large men who had already been informed of Vladimir's arrival stood tense and watchful.
Even as Vladimir casually opened the door himself, they made no move to stop him.
"By the way, there's a piece of trash on the stairs. Kindly clean it up."
He said this casually before stepping into the room.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : http://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]