Chapter 170

[Shooting Star, the third member is Elemental B-rank Kim Taeeon]

The next day, Shooting Star’s third member was announced.

The third teammate revealed was Coffee King Kim Taeeon.

His choice became a major topic among the public.

Because Daehan and Pluton, two of the Big Three Guilds, had been openly courting him, everyone assumed he would choose one of them.

Even experts all said in unison it was “the best package in the industry,” so it was obvious how high the offer must have been.

Yet he turned all of that down and chose the Awakeners’ Management Department.

Taeeon had already had the image of a steady, upright young man, and his choice landed with the public like a heartwarming story.

After all, the Detention Bureau is a state agency that uses a step-grade pay scale with no room for salary negotiation.

Of course, as an Elemental B-rank Awakener his starting grade would be high, but even so, you can’t compare it to the Big Three Guilds.

Thanks to that, Hojin’s image among the younger generation had recently settled into the “very likable” zone—and then he went and did this:

He showed up at Seoul Awakeners High School.

“Hey, hey. Isn’t that Coffee King at the front gate?”

“You idiot, you finally snapped after studying hard for once? Coffee King is a college student. Why would he come to our school.”

“No, look, right there!”

It was right as the break after sixth period ended and seventh period was about to start.

A student sitting by the first row window, getting ready for the last class, turned his head without thinking and spotted a luxury sedan stopped in front of the main gate.

And the face of the figure getting out was way too familiar.

He squinted. He scrubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. No matter how he looked, it was Coffee King.

He was a diehard fan of Star Hero. There was no way he wouldn’t know.

He rapped the desk of the friend sitting behind him and jerked his chin toward the window, but the response that came back was icy.

“Moron. With that brain you think you’ll ever get into the Bureau? Tsk.”

He laid into his friend, sneering that there was no way Kim Taeeon, who’d entered Korea National University, would come to their school—but only for a moment.

Before long, the student who’d been mocking his friend opened his eyes wide.

“Coffee King?!”

At that shocked shout, every gaze in the classroom swung the same way.

“Huh? Coffee King?”

At the sudden commotion, even Roy, who was taking out his textbook for the next class, lifted his head.

Of course, at that point Roy only thought, Huh, must be another article about the Bureau.

But the shout that followed made his expression turn sour.

“Coffee King’s right there! He’s coming inside!”

“What?!”

At the one line—Taeeon’s here—students surged toward the windows.

“Whoa! It’s really Coffee King!”

“Hyung! We love you!”

“He’s so handsome!!!”

Hit by the hot wave of adoration pouring out the windows, Taeeon, who had been quietly crossing the field, came to an abrupt stop.

He couldn’t hide his fluster as he looked around. With the chanting swelling, he finally ducked his head and hurried into the building.

At the same time elsewhere—

A short distance from the gate, Han Gyeol stopped and hid his body behind a pillar, scouting the situation inside.

The ridiculous crowd chant booming from within triggered a primal danger sense.

“Coffee King! Coffee King! Coffee King!”

He was bundled up in a cap and mask, but he’d been told in no uncertain terms not to get recognized until the Bureau’s article went out.

Judging that now wasn’t the time to go in, Han Gyeol crouched by the wall and leaned back against it.

He decided to wait for that frenzy to die down before going in.

✧

[rattle-]

A little later, safely inside the building, Han Gyeol opened the music room door. Roy had designated it as Shooting Star’s temporary office.

As the door swung open, Taeeon, sitting alone on a chair, flinched and turned his head.

The tips of his ears were still red. The scene from moments ago must have been unbearably embarrassing.

“...Hello.”

“Yes, hello.”

An awkward greeting passed between them.

They’d become aware of each other long ago, but only recently had they actually started exchanging words face-to-face.

Sitting across from Taeeon, Han Gyeol only rolled his eyes in silence.

No matter how he thought about it, he wasn’t sure he belonged in this room.

Wasn’t it kind of that situation?

AkX, ParkXshin, AiX... and NCX127.

And he was in charge of that last one.

Han Gyeol had quick meta-awareness. As an actor he was Seo Han Gyeol, but in the Awakener game he was a newbie among newbies.

His rank was low on top of that.

The moment an article went out that he was joining Shooting Star as the final member, he was certain the one getting roasted wouldn’t be the Bureau—it would be him.

Doubtless it’d be a storm of accusations about connections and money.

Roy had said he just needed to prove it with skill, but what skill did he have to prove?

...Should I just run now?

Yeah. Run.

The instant Han Gyeol sprang up, resolved to bolt, the bell signaling the end of class rang.

Damn it.

He remembered that walking out now would be the same as self-destructing. He sat back down.

Meanwhile Taeeon had been side-eyeing Han Gyeol’s odd behavior.

He felt like he was dying of awkwardness, but as the eldest he kept waiting for the right moment—he should be the one to make the first move.

But Han Gyeol kept his eyes closed, leaving no natural opening to speak.

Then suddenly he opened his eyes, leapt to his feet and startled the life out of him, and as soon as the bell rang, sat back down and shut his eyes again like nothing had happened.

...What is he doing?

He’d heard there were plenty of eccentrics among celebrities—maybe it was true.

Just then, the music room door opened and a familiar face appeared.

“Man~ Coffee King, you’re at the point you could start your own country.”

Grinning with mischief, Yeonwoo came strolling in; behind him, Hojin bowed his head.

And not long after, Roy appeared as well.

“When did Han Gyeol hyung get here? Didn’t hear the door.”

“...Just now.”

Having missed his window to escape, Han Gyeol rubbed his palms on his knees to wipe the sweat.

It was because of the people and the atmosphere he still couldn’t get used to no matter how many times he saw them.

But unaware of Han Gyeol’s state of mind, Roy quickly dropped interest and moved on.

“About that guest teammate I mentioned last time. I tried to bring them today, but they said they already had plans.”

“Who is it, someone famous?”

“If famous counts, then yeah.”

“For real. Sounds like the real deal. But besides you, do we even have anyone like that at our school?”

Yeonwoo knew the person well, and yet he had no clue.

Hiding a laugh, Roy walked up to the lectern and faced the team.

“So, the guest teammate intro will have to wait. Let’s start with our team’s first meeting.”

It was a little ridiculous—some in uniforms, some in street clothes—sitting across from each other in the music room.

Even so, Roy picked up a piece of chalk with a rare serious look.

He stepped to the board and, with emphasis, scrawled four characters.

[Blood Fiend Investigation]

Setting the chalk down, Roy shrugged off his blazer onto the chair, loosened his tie, and looked back at the team.

Was it the gravitas of S-rank, or the weight of being team leader?

Yeonwoo and Hojin, Taeeon and Han Gyeol, all held their breath and waited for what came next.

“First off, what’s on the board is going to be our team’s primary assignment. And everything we discuss from now on is classified. Be careful.”

“...Blood Fiend investigation?”

Everyone present carefully read the words on the board.

And at the same time, the same question rose.

Were Blood Fiends ever the kind of thing you could investigate in the first place?

In the Wasteland, Blood Fiends were like unpredictable traffic accidents.

You never knew when or where they’d appear, and nobody had figured out how they were even born.

And it wasn’t just Korea’s problem.

But there was one odd thing. Recently, the number of Blood Fiend incidents had been rising sharply in Korea in particular.

And of course it had. The one who was practically the father of the Blood Fiends was hiding in Korea.

Roy was the only one in this world who knew that.

“You all know Blood Fiend accidents have spiked these past few months, right?”

At Roy’s question, a heavy hush fell over the music room.

Everyone here had faced a Blood Fiend directly, and a few had nearly died. Of course they knew.

“Upstairs doesn’t think it’s just coincidence. I agree.”

Above all else, Roy had certainty.

He just didn’t need to dump the truth he knew as-is, so he decided to lean on the Bureau as a ready-made excuse.

“Remember the cult church people called the Awakening Sanctuary a few months back?”

It was the incident where a mysterious bio-thing appeared at night and turned the whole world upside down.

Because of the flames that suppressed the scene, talk drifted off into “didn’t that otherworld kid swing by,” but even so, governments around the world were still watching that incident closely.

“These are compiled materials: evidence found at the scene that night, victim statements, and interrogation records from the researchers arrested there.”

Roy handed out the packets he’d prepared and continued.

“First, we need to focus on the black-market drink on the cover called ‘Power Ping.’”

“Power Ping? With a name like that it sounds like you’d go bankrupt if you picked a fight with the wrong company...”

Yeonwoo frowned and flipped the papers back and forth, muttering. Then Taeeon’s eyes widened and he parted his lips.

“Don’t tell me this is Jegal Biotech...?”

“Correct.”

Roy snapped his fingers and pointed at Taeeon.

Bee had once followed Roy to infiltrate the cult site and secured the decisive evidence.

For that contribution, he’d even received a commendation from the Bureau.

“According to the researchers’ confessions, they said the drink was a drug that turns ordinary people into Awakeners.”

“Are you kidding me. There’s no way something like that exists. If there was, every dog and cow would be an Awakener.”

“Oh.”

For once, Roy was impressed Yeonwoo had said something sensible.

If even Park Yeonwoo knows this, why doesn’t everyone else?

As Roy thought of the legions of fools who’d been bewitched by the cult and called themselves believers, he happened to spot Hojin next to Yeonwoo with his head bowed, and his brow twitched.

Come to think of it, their team had one of those people too.

“...!”

Whoops. His mistake.