Junhyuk had come back to the hotel, but before he was able to get into his room, he received a call from Guardians. Major Jiro picked up the call and told him about it. So, he went to the hotel’s conference room and saw a large TV screen inside.
On the screen, were Eunseo and the delegates of five other countries. Junhyuk spoke up first, “What’s the matter?”
The delegates were agitated over something, and Eunseo replied, “We got the video of you killing the A-ranked harpy.” She gulped hard on her saliva and asked, “Did you activate a new power?”
All were expecting an answer with beaming yes.
Junhyuk nodded calmly and said, “I’ve activated a new power.”
Then, Eunseo asked evenly, “Then, the Dark Knight is a champion now?”
He laughed hard, but quietly. They couldn’t see him laugh through the disguise, however. Junhyuk nodded heavily.
Everyone cheered, and he analyzed their eyes. The American, Chinese and Russian delegates’ eyes were beaming even more, and seeing that, he was sure of one thing: they knew he was a hero now. They all had intelligence networks that had done their jobs.
Junhyuk raised his hand and said, “Right now, the Japanese dimensional tear is without an A-ranked monster. I’ll analyze it further as we continue with training.”
Steve asked carefully, “Considering your powers, couldn’t you destroy the tear now?”
Junhyuk had already destroyed a tear, and now he was even stronger. They knew that, and their expectations were high. The three delegates were passionate people. They had received information on what it meant to become a hero. They were well informed.
Junhyuk could understand their expectations, but now wasn’t the time. He was still unsure of whether he could destroy another tear. Meanwhile, the others still couldn’t guard the monster area.
Junhyuk answered confidently, “Not yet. I need people to guard the dimensional tear from both inside and outside.”
Everyone remained silent, and he continued, “When I’m ready, I will tell you. We aren’t ready yet.”
He got up.
“Don’t rush!” Eunseo looked left and right and said, “Don’t mess things up by rushing. We’ll provide all the support you need.”
The delegates all nodded, and Junhyuk gave them a slight bow and left. Outside, he spoke to Major Jiro.
“Don’t bring me any more calls until tomorrow.”
Jiro nodded, “I’ll make sure of that, sir!”
“I trust you will.”
They wouldn’t be able to find him anyway. He’d be training in the facility.
When Junhyuk entered his room, he went into the bathroom. After a quick shower, he changed clothes. Still, if anyone were to see him, he’d still be wearing Bebe’s Black Armor.
The shower was hot and refreshing, and after it, he summoned his amor and entered the training facility.
“Enter.”
Junhyuk looked around. If something had gone wrong, he wouldn’t have been able to enter. Agenchra was looking out for him.
He pulled out a communication crystal orb and, after thinking about whom to contact first, he heard a voice.
“What is going on?”
“Artlan, I’ve become a hero.”
Artlan was silent for a moment, but then, he laughed very hard.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha! You are something! You are a hero already?!”
Junhyuk also thought he had been too fast in becoming a hero. He had died many times, crawling back from that empty darkness every time. However, when compared to other heroes, he had evolved quickly.
“What is your new power?”
“A spatial power.”
“Just like I had guessed.” Without asking anything else about it, Artlan said, “Then, we may become enemies.”
Thinking about Artlan, Junhyuk shook his head hard.
“Well. Can we even actually meet?”
“Keep on fighting, and we’ll meet again. Congratulations on becoming a hero!”
“Thank you!”
“May you have energy and luck.”
Artlan disconnected, and Junhyuk called someone else, two people actually: Gongon and Sarang.
Gongon was all sweaty, and Sarang was wearing a school uniform and drinking chocolate milk.
“Why are you so happy?”
“Yeah, big brother. What happened?”
Junhyuk smiled and cheered suddenly after. He could share his joy with those two.
“I’m a hero now.”
Gongon’s and Sarang’s eyes widened.
“Really?!”
“Are you sure?”
He laughed and nodded. Sarang was very happy for him.
“Congratulations!”
Gongon, looking sad, said, “Congratulations. I’ll pay you the 100,000G when we meet again.”
Junhyuk laughed, “I’ll make sure to collect it.”
Gongon’s neck twitched, and he fired back, “You just wait! I’ll soon become a hero!”
Junhyuk smiled. Once Gongon became a hero, Junhyuk wanted him on his team.
“Join my team when you do.”
The hatchling smiled at him.
“I will. I want to be on your team.”
Gongon knew how strong Junhyuk was.
“Work hard,” Junhyuk said and smiled.
“Of course! I’m hanging up now.”
Gongon and Sarang disappeared, but Sarang showed up in person soon after.
“Big brother!” Her eyes were filled with excitement. “What’s your power?”
He looked at her and asked, “Where were you?”
“At school.”
“You came here from school?!”
She shrugged and said, “I told them I had a stomachache and went to the bathroom.”
He shook his head.
“Fine. I also want to check on my new power.”
Junhyuk got up. He did not need a weapon to kill space. He wanted to check on both the activation range and the territorial range, as well as the power’s cooldown. Junhyuk had to practice hard.
He place Sarang behind him and willed the death of space.
Crraack!
Junhyuk watched as space died and checked on the range. It wasn’t that long. He had tried to shoot for very far, but the range was only forty meters. Junhyuk smacked his lips at that. The spatial death had a radius of ten meters, and it lasted for three seconds.
Sarang’s eyes were beaming as she said, “Interesting development!”
“Right?”
“It pulls things nearby to it, but how much damage will it do?”
“I’m not sure.”
Junhyuk didn’t know, and he couldn’t use it on regular people.
“Can you use it on organic beings?”
“I don’t know. I can only kill space, but I may need to use it on enemies at the Dimensional Battlefield.”
Looking at him, Sarang asked, “Can I go with you?”
“Well. I’m not sure. I think you’ll be with Artlan’s team, maybe?”
“Really?”
Junhyuk nodded.
“That’ll also be better for you. You’ll have Vera.”
Sarang smacked her lips and replied, “That’s true, but I still want to join you.”
Junhyuk caressed her hair and said, “You’ll become a hero someday, and we’ll make a team together.”
“So, we’ll be together again?”
Junhyuk nodded.
“I don’t know for sure, but you won’t be my enemy under any circumstances. I’ll find a way to get you on my team.”
Sarang tried to hug him, but he pushed her forehead away with his index finger.
“Big brother?!”
“I’m tuning my body.”
She rubbed her forehead.
“What’s the name of your new power?”
Junhyuk took a moment to think and said, unsure, “Black Hole?”
“Hm. I thought you would call it Sarang.”
He laughed and said calmly, “Nice joke. I feel like it’s different though, so I’ll call it Spatial Collapse.”
“It’s better than Black Hole.”
Junhyuk continued, “It has a forty-meter range, and it pulls everything within a ten-meter radius of it for three seconds. The cooldown lasts…” Sighing, he added, “Shit! It’s four minutes.”
His force field’s cooldown used to be the longest, but four minutes was twice that. Junhyuk sighed again.
“Is it because it’s a high ranking power?”
He didn’t know much about it. If he could use it on an enemy and damage it, it would work out. Without realizing, he was feeling overwhelmed.
“Whew! Should we train?”
“Train?”
He nodded and pulled out his swords.
“You can exit for now. I still want to check on a few things before I leave.”
She smiled.
“I have to go anyway. They must think I’m constipated.”
He waited for her to leave and swung his swords. His movements were quicker, incomparable to before his evolution. It was like he had acceleration triggered at all times.
Then, Junhyuk actually triggered acceleration, and he was shocked by the speed of his swords. Swinging them lightly, he murmured, “I’ll be restrained on the battlefield.”
He was glad he was not restrained on Earth. If he died on the battlefield, he simply dropped an item, but on Earth, if he died, he died.
Junhyuk smiled as he swung his swords.
“It’s the first time I actually want to go to the battlefield.”
The battlefield was overwhelming in many way, but now he wanted to check out his new power. He was a hero now, but his powers would be restrained on the battlefield, and he wanted to find out how.
The first time he went to the battlefield, he never imagined being in his current position. Junhyuk swung his swords again and felt every part of his body. He had to know his own powers before going to the battlefield.
—
Jiro had kept his promise. It was now Friday morning, and because he did not know when he would be summoned, Junhyuk waited.
He did not have to move around to train, so he was lying on his bed while focusing on the mana flow within his body.
It was eight o’clock.
When the needle of the clock struck eight, the world turned white. Time stopped, and he was transported to the Dimensional Battlefield.
Junhyuk closed his eyes when it happened. The bright light was gone, and thinking that he would be in his old white room, he slowly opened his eyes.
He was shocked.
“Who the hell are you?”
