Chapter 167

[KWAANG!]

Even the Boss, who had stayed perfectly calm through the news of Han Gyeol’s awakening, slammed his desk and shot to his feet.

“You signed a contract? With who! No, you—”

His face flushed in an instant—less rage than the look of a man stung by betrayal.

At that ferocity, Han Gyeol reflexively hunched, pressing back into his chair.

“That scared me. I mean, I’m an awakener now. And I got a really good offer at the perfect time, so... I signed...?”

The “really good offer,” of course, was simple: they would cover his penalties.

If he was leaving all of a sudden, he at least wanted to lighten the load his departure would dump on the company.

Even if he sold his Hannam-dong place and his stocks, he couldn’t actually cover the penalties with what he had.

From what he’d skimmed, it was two or three times the signing fee—great if your market value was sky-high.

“So who did you sign with?”

The Boss fired back. Han Gyeol answered, voice small.

“The Awakeners’ Management Department.”

“What?”

The Boss’s eyes went round.

Since when was the Bureau the kind of place you could just stroll into overnight?

He’d assumed, at most, some mid-sized guild chasing clout had scooped him up for PR. This was... not that.

His knees seemed to give; he dropped into his chair.

“You okay, Boss?”

“...No. I’m not.”

The moment their eyes met, the Boss reached across and smacked him between the shoulders.

“Ow!”

“You ungrateful brat. You could’ve at least talked to me first!”

But Han Gyeol bristled.

He was an awakener now. It wasn’t like the agency was about to pivot into a guild to match his new line of work—so why was he being yelled at?

And hadn’t the Boss just congratulated him...?

“It covers my penalties—how was I supposed to say no to that!”

“Penalties?”

“Yeah! They gave me a week to cleanly settle every contract in that time.”

Then Han Gyeol pulled out a card.

Even at a glance, it wasn’t ordinary—an “Amex X” black card, the status symbol of global wealth.

“...Amex X?”

“Amex X? What is that.”

Unlike Han Gyeol, the Boss recognized it on sight.

Granted, Han Gyeol knew it wasn’t normal—black, for one thing.

A childhood drilled-in superstition that “credit cards are bad” had kept him using debit-only.

He did know a black card wasn’t something just anyone could have.

He simply didn’t know the one in his hand was the “First Emperor” of black cards.

But the Boss was a company head with more than enough means to know better.

He recognized the Roman legionary face—the American Express mark—engraved at the center.

“First time seeing a black card too, huh? I guess if you’re a Bureau team leader they hand these out. Power’s insane, right.”

The Boss said nothing.

Because that wasn’t some government-issue plastic they could spit out like a license.

You couldn’t even apply for it.

It was invitation-only, extended by Amex X to those who cleared brutal criteria; the issuance fee alone was around 13 million won.

Rumor had it candidates needed a minimum net worth north of 21 billion won.

And money wasn’t enough—you needed impeccable public standing for the brand’s image scoring.

Who would’ve imagined an Amex X black card would show up here.

“Where did you... get that?”

“They gave it to me.”

“Who did.”

“Our team leader.”

Already saying “our team leader,” Han Gyeol slid the card across the desk as if Roy were someone to be followed.

“He said it wasn’t of any use to him anyway, so I might as well take it.”

“It... wasn’t of any use?”

Legend had it this card could get a plane wheels-up on request.

A dedicated concierge stood by 24/7, and there was that famous true story: a billionaire swiped once at auction for a 180-billion-won artwork, then flew his family first class for life on miles alone.

And that... wasn’t useful?

What on earth is Roy, really?

What sort of titan stood behind him, that he could hand something like this to someone else like it was nothing?

The Boss’s face didn’t relax.

And he was right: the card was Jun Dragon’s.

A minor like Roy couldn’t get a credit card issued, obviously.

Even if S-grade awakeners were another story, money spends best in practiced hands.

Born the son of Jun Dragon, he’d been handed his father’s black card—but every small purchase was declined, so to Roy it was completely useless.

On that Sokcho trip with Hojin, even street pancakes had gotten declined; the black card had lived in the back of his wallet ever since.

“Anyway, Boss. Let’s use this and get everything squared away.”

A minute ago he’d sulked, asking why the Boss wasn’t more regretful about his forced retirement... but that was gone.

Somehow he’d made his peace; now he just smiled, oblivious to the Boss’s whiplash.

And just like that, First lost its flagship actor to the country overnight.

✧

[Title: Seo Han Gyeol Awakening—What Even Happened]

So awakening is... this easy...?