The Hero Returns

***

The seventh test was a team cooperation defense mission. The time limit was 10 minutes. But even before the results came out, the audience watching the test were shocked.

"W-what a lunatic!"

"That's... very harsh."

Song Hyeong-gi and Hak-joon, who were watching the screen, frowned. The camera showed four people. The test had just begun, but three people were on the ground already. Their arms and legs were bent bizarrely. One man gave up the test when his opponent started to approach him. That man had defeated the three other participants. He broke their arms and legs with a smile.

"That bastard did that on purpose. They couldn't fight back," Su-hyeun said, eyes glued to the screen.

Hak-joon nodded. "Yea. You're right."

"I think everyone would agree. He's quite skilled."

"What's his name?"

"His name is Thomas Mathiras. He's from Germany. He just recently became a S-Rank awakener."

"Recently?" Ha-joon looked at Thomas who was alone on the screen.

He looked in his mid to late twenties. His hair was dyed red. He was a good-looking man, that was hard to argue with. He had been smiling through the entire competition.

"But he's really strong, isn't he?"

Counting Su-hyeun, Thomas was only the second awakener that showed such overwhelming power than other awakeners. They were watching his game through the screen, but they could feel his power. Hak-joon couldn't believe that he had become S-Rank just recently.

"I guess," Song Hyeong-gi said, "he was focusing more on climbing the Tower of Trials than on reputation, power or money as an awakener. I'm sure there were many people like him. They're just not well-known since they only stayed in the tower."

"Then why would he come to the Ranking Wars…?"

"I guess he became curious about his level. Like 'How strong would I be compared to other, famous awakeners?' That's just a guess, though."

"Hmm…Possibly." Hak-joon turned his eyes to the screen again.

Thomas, who had gotten rid of the other awakeners by this point, took the test alone. Since he was so talented and skilled, he completed the test alone without showing the slightest hint of strain. There was no need to watch more. Thomas would advance to the finals.

"Hak-joon. If you…" Su-hyeun hesitated for a moment, then said, "If you meet him at the finals, just withdraw from the match. Okay?"

"…Alright, I will." Hak-joon studied Su-hyeun's face.

His face looked calm. But Hak-joon had been spending a lot of time with him. He could tell what he was feeling. Su-hyeun was very, very angry.

***

Hak-joon took the 17th round test. He was able to advance to the finals without difficulty. The people of the 17th team actually cooperated, unlike the other teams. There was one awakener from the Middle East who was known for his sense of justice. He was competent, too. The two people who advanced to the finals from that team were that awakener from the Middle East and Hak-joon.

Hak-joon approached Su-hyeun, hopping. "Brother! Did you see me?"

"I saw. I saw."

"Yay! I'll call Yun-seon! Uh? What? Brother! I can't make a call here!"

"We're in Johnny Brad's hallucination. Of course, you can't make a call. Please, be quiet and sit down. You're distracting me."

The preliminary round was completed without any further problems. Song Hyeong-gi also passed the preliminary round without difficulty. Finally, Gordon Rohan passed the test by himself, like Suhyun.

"He's very strong, as I expected," Hak-joon said.

Gordon Rohan took the test with his bare hands, as if to show off to Su-hyeun. He even didn't use any special skills. He injected his magic into his bare fists and made them hard. He smashed the monsters with fists as strong as iron. His ability made the other four people in his round seem shabby.

"Well. That's Gordon Rohan," Song Hyung-gi replied as if it was an obvious thing.

And Hak-joon couldn't disagree with that. Gordon Rohan was considered to be one of the strongest awakeners in the world. Of course, he would be skilled like that.

After the preliminary round, people had a day to rest. 66 people entered the final round. Originally, 70 people were going to advance, but four teams had only one finalist. The finalists went up to the top floor of the Gordon Tower. The 190th to the 199th floors of the tower were a hotel.

"W-wow. This is amazing."

Hak-joon looked around the huge room. His mouth hung open. Hak-joon was far from ordinary hotel life. And Gordon Tower's hotel was one of the best hotels in the world.

"Yes. It's amazing. But what are you doing here? Your room is next door."

"I was bored all alone. And brother Hyeong-gi kicked me out of his room."

"...You're a real social butterfly."

Hak-joon, who Su-hyeun had met in his previous life, had been very cold and dark. But he was the complete opposite now. Su-hyeun even wondered if they were the same person or not. If he hadn't seen Hak-joon's level in this preliminary round, he might still wonder.

"Are you confident about the finals?" Su-hyeun asked.

"How can I be confident against people like you, Gordon Rohan, and Thomas Mathiras?"

"I'm not talking about winning."

"Hmm... If it's not about winning..." Hak-joon thought for a moment and nodded. "I already achieved my first goal. So, now I'll just go as far as I can."

"But, wasn't it easier than you thought?"

"Yes, it was. There were only a few people that I thought I couldn't beat."

Hak-joon was very talented. He had become an awakener at around the same time as Su-hyeun and had been climbing the tower continuously. There was a difference between them, but it wasn't a difference in talent. It was a difference in experience and knowledge.

Su-hyeun remembered his previous life. And it wasn't just memories. His body also remembered his experiences. That gave Su-hyeun a big leg up.

<<If I didn't have memories of my last life, I might not be able to get strong as fast as I did. I did help him a little, but he's growing faster than in my previous life.>>

Su-hyeun had seen how Hak-joon fought. His brilliant talent had begun to germinate. Hak-joon's abilities were clearly behind those of other S-Rank awakeners at the moment. But his head for combat was far ahead. Su-hyeun thought Hak-joon could be considered a pretty high-level awakener among S-Rank. And, in the next year or two, he would grow much stronger than he was right now.

"Stop playing. Go to your room and get some sleep. It's pretty late and you have to manage your condition," said Su-hyeun.

"Okay!"

Hak-joon, who had been chattering, left the room. Then, he called someone from outside. Su-hyeun assumed he wanted to talk with Yun-seon.

Flop—

When Hak-joon left, Su-hyeun lay down on the large bed in the center of the room, big enough for three or four people. He didn't turn off the light. He just looked at the ceiling, thinking many things.

<<Thomas Mathiras.>>

Su-hyeun thought about the man who he had seen on the screen before. Thomas broke the other's limbs even though he could easily beat them without injuring them. For that reason, he got a warning from the management team, but he didn't seem concerned. He looked very calm, as if nothing had happened. But it was violence, not competition. He'd probably do it again in the finals.

<<It would be better if he just kept himself shut up in the tower, like he had so far.>>

***

After a day for rest, the finals began. They started at 2 p.m. like the primarily round. It was nighttime in Korea.

"Brother! Did you look at the reactions to the Ranking Wars?" Hak-joon asked.

"No," said Su-hyeun.

"You're a star. Check this out."

As they went down in an elevator, Hak-joon showed his smartphone to Su-hyeun. It was the posting on SNS. Su-hyeun took the smartphone and checked it. People were arguing over the rankings on their own.

-I think Gordon is the best.

-That Gordon followed Kim Su-hyeun, you idiot. Didn't you see it? He fought without a weapon like him. That means Gordan paid attention to Kim Su-hyeun.

-How could he have followed Kim Su-hyeun? I know you're Korean. But I think you're letting your pride think for you.

-I think Thomas is one of the front-runners. He was a bit cruel, though. I think he's crazy.

-No, he's not.

-Yes, he is.

-To be honest, Thomas was cruel. He stabbed other people in the back first. But Kim Su-hyeun was stabbed in the back, and he just dealt with it. They're definitely different.

-Everyone shut up. Kim Su-hyeun is the best.

The title of the post was 'Ranking of Preliminary Round'. The publisher saw the preliminary round from a subjective point of view and listed the ten strongest awakeners in order. Obviously, the rankings hadn't been decided yet, so there was a lot of controversy. The most popular names were Su-hyeun, Gordon Rohan, and Thomas.

"According to this post, you're one of the three top-rank awakeners," Hak-joon said.

"Top three?"

"Yes. But most opinions think you and Gordan Rohan will be the best."

"It would be four, not three," Su-hyeun said.

"Four?" Hak-joon asked with a puzzled look. He wondered if there was another one that Su-hyeun was thinking as a top-ranks. "Who's the other one?"

"I won't tell you. But there is one more."

Hak-joon asked Su-hyeun who it was, but Su-hyeun didn't answer, just headed to the stadium.

"Hey. What's up?" Song Hyeong-gi was waiting for them, holding a potato chip in his hand.

Hak-joon, who had gotten sullen because Su-hyeun didn't answer him, approached Song Hyeong-gi. His mood changed and he got some chips from Song Hyeong-gi.

"The stadium has changed a lot," Hak-joon said.

"It's nice to be simple. The theme is easy to understand."

The stadium was white for the preliminary round, but it had been replaced with an arena for the finals. Of course, it was too large to be just a simple arena. As Lee Ju-ho said, it was a similar size to the Hangang Park.

"It'll be good to just fight."

"The whole stadium is protected with shock-absorbing magic. The ground itself is quite hard, too."

Su-hyeun liked the composition of the stadium. At least, it seemed that there would be no damage to the spectators in any way. Time passed and it was 2 o'clock to start the final match. Gordon Rohan appeared at the top of the arena at exactly 2 p.m., as if he had been waiting for it.

"As we've already announced, the first round of the finals is a one-on-one match. The winner will advance to the last round. The loser will be eliminated. Simple, right?"

"It's simple, but how do you decide who will play against whom?" Song Hyeong-gi raised his hand and asked.

Gordon Rohan snapped his finger and answered, "Questioning is a good attitude. But it'll be the same as last time."

"Randomly?"

"Yes."

"Can I point out if there's someone I want to fight?" Su-hyeun spoke for the first time at the official meeting.

Gordon Rohan looked down at Su-hyeun as if he didn't expect him to speak. Then, he shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but you can't. That wouldn't be fair," Gordon Rohan said.

"I don't think your way is fair, either."

"I told you last time. If you think so, bring it on. Challenges are always welcome." Gordon Rohan grinned.

It looked like he was confident that he was the best one there. At Gordon Rohan's provocation, Su-hyeun frowned a little and sighed. Su-hyeun could guess what Gordon Rohan was thinking. He didn't want to react to that. Above all, Gordon Rohan wasn't the one who Su-hyeun wanted to fight.

"Then, from now on, I will decide your opponent."

Snap—

Ding, ding, ding—

When Gordon Rohan flicked his finger, the names appeared next to him. The two names were paired up and down. Su-hyeun found his name. His opponent's name was below.

[Kim Su-hyeun.]

[Thomas Mathiras.]

The corners of Su-hyeun's mouth lifted in the slightest smile.