As Seong-Il had stated, multiple buildings such as the Ilsung Hotel, Ilsung Department Store, and Ilsung Duty Free Shop were connected to one another. Even though there were signs everywhere to direct shoppers and hotel guests, it was easy to get lost.
Ki-Cheol took the wrong path from the hotel to the department store, so he barely made it back to the hotel. He asked people standing nearby for directions to the swimming pool. Among them, the pool reserved for VVIP members was at the ideal temperature for them to use until April.
This is awesome.
Ki-Cheol had thought that only k-dramas had people in a high enough class to enjoy such a life. The TV shows were fake, but this was the reality.
When a glamorous woman walked in front of him in a bikini, Ki-Cheol couldn’t take his eyes off her gorgeous back. His puberty hormones were at their peak, so he hurriedly settled on the sunbed as all his blood was drawn to his bottom.
Ki-Cheol swallowed and then turned on the messenger application on his phone.
<Caliber’s son: Do you know who I just saw?>
<Lee Yong-Joo: Who?>
<Caliber’s son: Kwon Se-Hee. She was in a bikini, and she was fucking hot.>
<Lee Yong-Joo: Stop lying.>
<Caliber’s son: No, I’m not!>
<Odin’s son: If your dad is Caliber, then my dad is Odin, you jackass.>
<Caliber’s son: You are going to be in big trouble, Yong-Joo. Hurry up and change your username back to your name... You should never use his name like that.>
<Odin’s son: Fuck you. Why not just Odin? You are using Caliber’s name like that.>
Ki-Cheol took a selfie that showed the swimming pool and the back of the famous actress Kwon Se-Hee. Then, he sent the photo to Lee Yong-Joo.
<Odin’s son: What is this? Where are you?>
<Caliber’s son: The pool at Ilsung Hotel. This one is only for VVIP. It’s unbelievable here.>
<Odin’s son: Wtf.>
<Caliber’s son: Come. My dad said I can hang out with my friends anytime here.>
<Odin’s son: Yo, for real?>
<Caliber’s son: You should’ve trusted me from the beginning.>
<Lee Yong-Joo: Hey, is it true? Is your father really the Caliber?>
<Caliber’s son: Lmao.>
<Lee Yong-Joo: WUT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!>
<Caliber’s son: I’m so bored by myself. Come, man. Don’t tell anyone else, though. Just you. I give you special permission lol. Tell the hotel lobby that you came to see me.>
<Lee Yong-Joo: Omg I have goosebumps now.>
<Caliber’s son: How long will it take for you to get here?>
<Lee Yong-Joo: Two hours?>
<Caliber’s son: Just take a taxi, and tell the lobby that it’s under my dad.>
<Lee Yong-Joo: Caliber?>
<Caliber’s son: Yea. Hurry up. I’m so bored.
<Lee Yong-Joo: Kk. See you soon.>
<Caliber’s son: Okay.>
Ki-Cheol enjoyed swimming while waiting for his best friend Yong-Joo to come. He deliberately moved to bump into Kwon Se-Hee while pretending that it was an accident. When she passed in front of him, his gaze naturally turned toward her butt.
Kwon Se-Hee in a bikini? In front of me?
From that, Ki-Cheol realized just how powerful his father was. The Internet had been talking about all sorts of things regarding the Awakened, but what remained unchanged was that Awakened were the heroes who saved the world. Just because a small number of Awakened caused problems, not all of them could be accused of murder machines. He knew it was true just by looking at his dad.
Those who know nothing about it are always like that. Idiots.
Thoughts like that ruined his initial excitement, so he came out of the pool. Looking at Kwon Se-Hee in a bikini wasn’t interesting to him anymore, so he went back to browsing the Internet and commented on articles that criticized the Awakened.
Ugh, you guys really don’t know how to be grateful. They saved you, and now you guys are telling them to fuck off. Tsk tsk.
No? Only two of them caused trouble, and now you are accusing the innocent ones.
Humanity will come to an end if you keep talking shit about the Awakened. They are the ones who blew away the monsters that the world’s armed forces couldn’t deal with. If the Awakened were out of control as you said, then the world would have been already over. How are you going to stop them then?
One of my friends is an Awakened, and he is hella nice. Shut up if you don’t know much about them.
Ki-Cheol had no good recollection of his father from his childhood. Back then, his father was always arguing with his mother, and Ki-Cheol was always nervous when Seong-Il raised his voice because he was so big. It was also difficult to understand why his mother kept fighting him back. He was constantly worried that one day Seong-Il wouldn’t be able to take it and end up hitting his mother. As a result, whenever they fought, Ki-Cheol cried and grabbed his father's pants to stop him.
Looking back, his mother was to blame for all of the household appliances that had gotten broken. Whenever they fought, his father would often stay outside for a few days, and when he returned, they would fight again because he was drunk.
However, his dad had actually changed. Not only did he treat his mother kindly, but he was also nice to the old guy, who Ki-Cheol didn't want to call stepdad. Even the old guy, who talked shit about his dad whenever his mom was away.
His ‘stepdad’ could be described as ‘someone who would work him to the bone until death and then sell waste paper to afford oneself.’ The old guy also scolded Ki-Cheol and mocked him, claiming that he would turn out to be as awful as Seong-Il since they were blood-related. Ki-Cheol didn’t tell Seong-Il anything because he thought Seong-Il would kill the old man, but he assumed his father was aware of it.
However, he didn’t punch the old brat. Instead, he thanked him for taking good care of Ki-Cheol.
Seong-Il had changed just like that, so all the bullshit that people said on the Internet was nonsense. If he was a murder machine, then he would have cracked the old guy’s skull open immediately.
“Here!”
Ki-Cheol found Yong-Joo from afar. It was quite fun to see Yong-Joo looking around in a hurry.
“Dang, you were right. You weren’t lying.”
“I told you, bro. My dad is the Caliber.”
Ki-Cheol wrapped his arm around Yong-Joo’s neck. Without Yong-Joo, it would have been hard to meet up with his dad again.
In fact, he had been ready to withdraw all the money from his account and join the Runaway Club in Busan before the Day of Advent. He had wanted to move as far as possible from Seoul. Yong-Joo was the friend who chased him to the bus terminal and stopped him.
“Hey, I’m not saying this because he is your dad, but the Caliber is the top of the Awakened. He must be really strong.”
Ki-Cheol responded proudly, “He is in the challenger section.”
“Dang… So, are you going to live here from now on?” asked Yong-Joo.
Ki-Cheol shrugged. “Maybe.”
“What about school?”
“I’ll think about it if school opens again. He said he will do whatever I want. We will probably move closer to school. I don’t want to transfer either.”
Yong-Joo’s eyes widened. “That’s amazing.”
Ki-Cheol offered, “So, come visit me anytime until then. I told my dad about you, and he said your parents are also welcome here. There are plenty of rooms, so just tell me if they want to visit.”
“Wow, your dad is so rich.”
Ki-Cheol shook his head. “Uncle Lee Tae-Han is super rich, not my dad. This hotel is also his. You know about Uncle Lee, right?”
Yong-Joo nodded. “Yeah, the Ilsung guy.”
“Yup, I had dinner with him last night.”
Yong-Joo’s mouth gaped open. “Wait, so Lee Tae-Han is your uncle now?”
“Stop calling him by his full name. He is my uncle now. You’d better show some respect.”
“Hey but… Are you not afraid of your dad?” Yong-Joo whispered.
Ki-Cheol frowned. “What do you mean? He is my dad. Don’t trust the assholes on the Internet because they know nothing.”
“Have you seen this? Oh… it’s gone. It’s okay. I downloaded it already.”
“What is it?” Ki-Cheol asked.
“Just watch it. It’s crazy.”
Yong-Joo handed his smartphone to Ki-Cheol. The video in there was different from the photos that were circulating on the Internet. It wasn’t a scene where alien monsters’ intestines were flowing out of their exposed stomachs or disgusting heads rolling around the ground.
Ki-Cheol’s heart started beating fast when he spotted something. There was definitely a crushed face of a person sticking out of the building’s wreckage. It was hard for him to properly watch the video as he couldn’t even stand seeing the smashed cat stuck below the car. He hurriedly turned off the phone and frowned.
“Ew. Why are you keeping this in the album?” he asked, grimacing.
“I wanted to show you.”
“What is this?”
“You don’t want to watch it anymore?”
Since then, Ki-Cheol glanced at it with his eyes half-closed. Just as Kwon Se-Hee in front of him was real, the pandemonium in the video actually existed too.
The main character in that video was a Chinese man who was clearly an Awakened. He was yelling in rage, and Ki-Cheol was able to identify him as Chinese because the road signs were written in Chinese characters. Every time the man walked around, blood splattered and limbs were thrown in all directions.
He was the most terrifying monster Ki-Cheol had ever seen. There were many soldiers in the chaotic city, but they were not enough to handle the monsters. One of the monsters ripped off the soldiers’ heads alive. As their decapitated heads were separated from their bodies, their spines fell to the ground.
Ki-Cheol stopped the video as he had somehow begun to feel dizzy. His pounding heart didn’t seem able to calm down and instead thumped against his chest. The adrenaline inside him soared. This was Ki-Cheol’s first time seeing such a horrifying sight in his life, so he couldn’t bear to watch anymore. He felt nauseous and knew that the video would remain in his head forever, just like when he had accidentally clicked pornography on the Internet.
Moreover, this video was…
He looked away and grumbled, “Ah, shit. You should have told me what it was. That’s so disgusting. Also, my dad is different from this guy. He is just normal. Do you want to say hi to him?”
“Really?”
“Yeah, my dad also wants to meet you. Come.”
***
Seong-Il gave Yong-Joo plenty of pocket money and told him to continue being friends with Ki-Cheol. He was willing to do anything for Yong-Joo, who had helped Ki-Cheol to stay on the right track.
“Could you show me your skills, please? Please?” Yong-Joo asked.
Seong-Il shook his head and laughed. “This hotel will collapse if I use my skills. Hahaha. I’m telling you only because you are Ki-Cheol’s friend. I don’t need skills because my fist is enough for everything.”
“Wow, but why are you called Caliber?”
Seong-Il scratched his head. “Umm… It’s supposed to be ‘Human Caliber,’ but if you put ‘human’ in front, it’s not that fancy.”
“Human Caliber?”
“Yes, it’s because I wield humans like weapons. That’s my main skill.”
“Wow…”
“Is there anything else you want to ask?” Seong-Il asked patiently.
“Then… have you killed humans?”
“Hey!” Ki-Cheol shouted instantly.
“It’s okay, son. Let me just say that I removed them rather than ‘killed’ them.” He continued, “I’ve broken the heads of traitors. Everyone was like that, so be careful if you bump into an Awakened. If you do, then just tell them that your friend’s dad is Caliber. Then, they will fuck off.”
“Whoa. I have another question. Have you watched this?”
Seong-Il cocked his head to the side. “What is it?”
“Are you stronger than this guy?” Yong-Joo asked eagerly.
Seong-Il watched the video Yong-Joo played and looked at Ki-Cheol. Tae-Han had once stated that it would be difficult to stop people spreading rumors about the suppression of monsters and prevent videos about them from being distributed on the Internet.
However, this was definitely a terrible video for middle school students to watch. Seong-Il got pissed at the person who distributed this clip, but he couldn’t reveal his rage as he was in front of Ki-Cheol and his friend.
Seong-Il shook his head in disapproval. “This is too violent for you guys to watch. Erase it.”
Yong-Joo nodded obediently. “Okay.”
“You asked if I’m stronger than this guy, right?”
“Yes.”
“He seems to be in the early gold section, but Ki-Cheol. Which section am I in?”
“Challenger,” Ki-Cheol replied.
“Yes. Even if hundreds of people like this guy try to take me down at once, I can defeat them with one fist. Also, I'm not going to just sit around and watch them doing things like this. I will make the world where you guys live very peaceful, so don’t worry and just grow up healthy. Being smart doesn’t really help you live in this world. You will find a way to live in the end, so just stay healthy. Okay?”
Seong-Il looked at Ki-Cheol and Yong-Joo with eyes that glistened with something wet.
When Ki-Cheol and Yong-Joo left the room, Yong-Joo said in awe, “Damn, your dad is dope.”
When their voices faded away, Seong-Il's face hardened. People said the System had vanished, but no matter how many times he blinked, a message that resembled the one from the Stage of Advent was floating in his window.
[You have been appointed as one of the four priests of Doom Man.]
[Chief Priest: Lee Tae-Han
The Four Priests: Mary, the King of Hell, Osiris, Caliber]
[You have learned the ritual of the human corps ‘Transition.’]
[You have received a command from the Almighty Doom Kaos.]
[Complete the ritual ‘Transition’ (Command)
The Battle between the Star Dragorin and the Seven Demon Kings' corps is coming to an end. There is not much time left until the human corps participate in the war. Get ready. The dungeons left by the Old One still remain on the mainland of the human corps. Through the ritual, you will have to move the exit of the dungeon toward the battlefield.
The ritual ‘Transition’ makes this possible.
Success: The exits of dungeons lead to the Star Dragorin. The user will acquire the ritual of human corps ‘Mammonism.’
Failure: Unknown]
“What the fuck is this…” he snarled.