Chapter 94

Chapter 94

The chicken he'd ordered had gone cold. But Kim Taehyun couldn't tear his eyes away from the monitor.

Jung Dahyun wiping away her sweat was maddeningly beautiful. So this was how beautiful a woman could be when she gave something her all.

What was she working so hard for?

The Jung Dahyun in Kim Taehyun's mind was a woman who had everything. Gorgeous looks, genius-level talent, even a gift—the thing they called a blessing from the gods.

She'd walked the elite path as a member of Shinseong Guild, and even after transferring to the National Guard Bureau, she kept breaking youngest-ever records and going from strength to strength.

So shouldn't she be satisfied by now? Shouldn't she be able to rest on her laurels?

"Don't tell me what she said in that interview was actually true…"

Jung Dahyun had stated that her goal was to build a world where every citizen could live safely.

At the time, he'd scoffed and dismissed it as an act—but watching her throw herself into the spar with such seriousness, he wanted to believe it was genuine.

The Jung Dahyun he'd seen on screen didn't seem like the type to lie.

If anything, she didn't seem like the type to put herself forward. Not once since the spar began had her gaze turned toward the camera.

"…I have no choice but to admit it."

Jung Dahyun was the real deal. He felt all the negativity that had filled him vanish completely.

Just because he was lazy didn't mean everyone in the world was lazy.

Everyone was living their own fierce lives, and even Jung Dahyun—whom he'd assumed had nothing lacking by his standards—was pressing forward with a firm goal in mind.

"Choi Junho must be the same."

Without effort, he never would have become a transcendent.

No matter how hard you tried to deny the world, in the end you were the only one standing still while everyone else quietly walked on ahead.

Even his urge to post malicious comments faded, so he stopped chatting and just watched the video. Her form had gone to pieces from the brutal sparring, but he couldn't take his eyes off Jung Dahyun.

It'd honestly be better if Jung Dahyun were the one streaming instead of Choi Junho.

It was around the time he felt that pang of regret.

"What's this guy's problem?"

A comment that grated on his eyes grabbed his attention.

**Bassakhan**—Hehe, she's grown quite a bit. But still lacking. There's excess in her movements. It means she's thinking before she moves. She needs to rely more on instinct to speed up her movements. It's a shame Choi Junho went easy on her. He should have roughed her up more like usual.

"You son of a—!"

Criticizing Jung Dahyun when she was working that hard?

Bassakhan was a named user Kim Taehyun recognized.

They usually posted malicious comments about Choi Junho together, so he'd thought of him as a comrade—but at the critical moment, they'd turned out to be on opposite sides.

Eyes blazing, Kim Taehyun fired off a chat.

**LaundrySucks**—Who are you to judge? You're obviously some loser in his room. Stop critiquing and go live your actual life.

**Bassakhan**—Are you talking to me? You used to agree with me all the time, and now you're showing no respect, you little brat.

**LaundrySucks**—And you have manners, old man? Just leave a thank you and be done with it.

**Bassakhan**—I'm offering a direction for Jung Dahyun to grow further. Someone who knows nothing should stay in the back.

It was absurd. To give Jung Dahyun advice, you'd have to be at least Level 7 or a transcendent—and a high-level awakener like that was sitting around chatting?

Even a passing dog would laugh at that.

"Everyone and their mother's a transcendent these days."

**LaundrySucks**—Yes, yes, of course, everyone's a transcendent in their own room. Congratulations, sir.

**Bassakhan**—How did you know I'm a transcendent? Don't tell me my identity's been exposed. I thought I was keeping it thoroughly hidden. Have you been tracking me? Who are you?

"This is priceless. Absolutely priceless."

The more he watched, the more his exasperation gave way to disbelief.

At this point, the guy had to be fully consumed by his own bit.

Pity soon turned to mockery.

**LaundrySucks**—Sir, please come out of your room and face the world. Transcendent, my ass lol. You'd better get out there before you lose your job. Oh, wait—don't tell me you don't even have a job, and that's why you've got all this free time?

**Bassakhan**—The nerve of this little brat.

**LaundrySucks**—And what are you gonna do about it? You gonna meet up and teach me a lesson? But you probably couldn't take a single punch in person, huh? Old man, you should be grateful I'm busy. You clearly can't take a punch, lol. Wanna go?

**Bassakhan**—……

"All that talk for nothing."

Having subdued the room-dwelling transcendent, Kim Taehyun wore a satisfied smile.

The internet was full of room-dwelling transcendents like this.

But in reality, they were nothing but losers.

"……"

The fact that it was no different from himself sent him into a brief despair, but even that didn't last long.

Without exceptional self-justification, you couldn't live this kind of life.

A short while later, when the stream ended, Kim Taehyun wandered the internet searching for material on Jung Dahyun.

And only after joining a fan café did he finally wear a smile of satisfaction.

There was an abundance of information about Jung Dahyun—exactly what he'd been looking for.

"Team Leader of the National Guard Bureau's Villain Task Force. Quite the elite. Well, I suppose that's why she's got that kind of skill."

That day, the spar between Choi Junho and Jung Dahyun generated an explosive response, becoming a chance to shed new light on just how hard Awakened trained.

In turn, criticism of the Equal Application Act—which sought to indiscriminately bind Awakened—began to escalate.

* * *

"Great work, everyone!"

You could gauge the success or failure of a broadcast by looking at Jin Sejeong's face.

From her beaming smile, he could tell today's stream had been a success.

What part of it had landed, exactly? The sparring intensity had been lower than usual. It would have been more effective if he'd roughed her up more, so it was a shame he'd held back.

Not that it mattered—Jin Sejeong's expression had been full of shock the entire time the spar went on. From where he stood, a spar like that was barely worth showing.

Meanwhile, Jin Sejeong had gone over to Jung Dahyun and was chatting with her.

"You really spar like that?"

"It was weaker than usual. Normally, limbs get broken."

"Oh my goodness! So that's really how it's done. That's truly amazing."

"I'm still lacking in so many ways. That's why I get injured. Every time I spar, I realize just how inadequate I am."

"If this is what you call inadequate… Goodness! People really need to understand just how hard Awakened work."

Jin Sejeong shook her head. Well, Jung Dahyun was a gutsy woman—even he acknowledged that.

Without that grit, she never would have achieved what she had.

"But was today's stream really okay?"

That was something he was curious about too.

"Yes! It was a massive success! No—it's the biggest success in Transcendent Choi Junho's streaming history! It's all thanks to Team Leader Jung Dahyun!"

"……"

What about his contribution? Jin Sejeong avoided his eyes. All thanks to Jung Dahyun, not him—that stung a little.

Still, he was glad it had gone well.

There was one thing that worried him, though.

These days, rigging had become a serious topic of discussion in internet broadcasting.

His match with Jung Dahyun was different from usual—what if people thought this was rigged too?

It needed more reality to it. He'd have to ask Jin Sejeong about it later.

"After-party! Let's have an after-party!"

At Jin Sejeong's words, all the team members raised their heads. But they were looking at Jung Dahyun, not him? He knew a great soybean paste stew place nearby.

Surely she wasn't telling Jung Dahyun to pick.

Would it even make a difference?

Jung Dahyun, unaware of Jin Sejeong's inner thoughts, smiled.

"I'll take you somewhere good."

"Woohoo!"

Jin Sejeong cheered at Jung Dahyun's words.

And thirty minutes later.

"……"

Jin Sejeong fell silent upon arriving at the mushroom soybean paste hot pot restaurant.

Well, at least it was an upgrade from soybean paste stew to soybean paste hot pot.

Jung Dahyun, by contrast, wore a radiant expression she hadn't shown even during the broadcast.

"This is my favorite place!"

"…I feel like my breath is gonna smell like soybean paste."

Watching Jin Sejeong lament, he was struck with admiration.

That's an enviable ability, all right.

Though she'd only said that, she ate heartily enough.

"Before today's stream started, pressure came in from several places."

Partway through the meal, Jin Sejeong brought that up. There was considerable controversy surrounding the Equal Application Act currently being drafted, and they'd gotten flak over the content of sparring with Jung Dahyun.

Was there any reason that should be strange?

From what he could see, other places did the same thing.

There were already countless documentaries showing how hard Awakened worked.

Some had even caused considerable stirs in the past.

"The impact is on a different scale."

Jin Sejeong said the reach of his channel couldn't be underestimated.

As a sitting transcendent with the most outstanding achievements, he had an enormous audience not just in South Korea but overseas as well.

If a high-level Awakened showed themselves working hard as usual here, the thinking went, it would interfere with the legislation.

"Funny people. They can't even say it to my face."

"They'll be flocking to you soon enough, Transcendent. Reporters will want to hear your thoughts directly."

They wanted to know what he thought?

He knew this bill was one trying to put a leash around Awakened necks.

If old man Franz had heard about it, he'd have been furious. Ah—right, he actually had thrown a fit after seeing the reporters' attitude.

Honestly, he didn't have much of an opinion. A single law couldn't dramatically change the world. But if this was aimed at him, he had no intention of playing along.

If they wanted to pass this law and put collars on Awakened, they'd better put up something of equal value themselves.

Wasn't that how the world worked? You give one, the other person gives one. Sometimes you cheat and give a hundred while the other gives a hundred too.

Since he'd be the one negotiating, it had to be a fair trade. Otherwise, they could put their necks on the line.

In any case, there was talk that the Blue House had exercised its veto, so there wasn't much to worry about.

"It's a bad law."

Jung Dahyun, who'd been eating quietly, added her thoughts.

She expressed concern that it could drastically shrink Awakened activity and let villains run rampant.

When even going all-out wasn't enough, making them shrink back was something that should never happen, she argued firmly.

"And this content interferes with passing that bill?"

"Yes, because it directly refutes the pro-side's claims that Awakened have been reckless."

Seeing even a high-level Awakened like Jung Dahyun desperately striving did have an inspirational appeal.

When he asked whether he couldn't do the same, Jin Sejeong answered readily.

"No, I can't picture you struggling at all, Transcendent. To make that happen, we'd need to bring in at least another transcendent, which isn't realistic either."

There was Berserker, but even he couldn't make him struggle.

For a moment, he considered putting the guy on a stream, but gave up on the idea.

Having killed Red Snake Kim Younghwan, he could no longer shed his villain image.

"Ah! But I feel like I've been getting ahead of myself without knowing your thoughts, Transcendent."

As Jin Sejeong took a step back, Jung Dahyun looked at him and asked.

"What do you think, oppa?"

"Me?"

He didn't have any particular thoughts.

"If you want something, you should show the effort to match."

* * *

Sure enough, Go Yejin requested an interview with him regarding the Equal Application Act.

There wasn't much to say, so he briefly stated his thoughts in an interview conducted on a live broadcast.

"It sounds right when framed as protecting more of the weak, but it looks like the opinions from the field weren't reflected at all."

"So you oppose it, Transcendent?"

"I think if it's refined a bit more, a bill suited to the field could be drafted."

Go Yejin wore a puzzled expression.

Well, this law made Awakened shudder, so she must have assumed he'd oppose it too.

"So here's my proposal. I recommend the fourteen members of the National Assembly who first submitted the draft accompany monster hunts and villain arrests in person. If their minds still haven't changed after that, I'll support it."

From the comfort of a room, even he could write something like *99 Ways to Capture Someone Without Killing Them*.

The problem was that it didn't work in reality.

Realizing the meaning behind his words, Go Yejin's expression hardened as she asked.

"Um, isn't that scene incredibly dangerous?"

"It is. You could die."

"And yet you're telling them to go…"

"It means they should put their lives on the line. That way they'll have plenty to realize, won't they?"

Surely they hadn't drafted the bill half-heartedly without even experiencing the field.

If they died, it'd be a shame, but nothing could be done about it.

Though from where he stood, it seemed like about half of them would need to die before they came to their senses.

Go Yejin swallowed hard.

"That sounds like you're saying accidents could happen."

"Unexpected accidents happen in the field all the time."