Airen's voice cut the stale air. "Where am I? What happened while I was… asleep? And why am I shirtless?"
The man on the floor only stared. Sweat beaded at his temple; his jaw worked, but no words came. Instead, his hand darted for the knife strapped to his belt.
Airen moved like a shadow—slow and casual, but inevitable. The man lunged; Airen caught his wrist mid-stab as if he'd predicted it from a mile off. The blade clanged uselessly against empty air. With a single, hard slap Airen drove into the man's face. Bone shattered—teeth exploded outward, the jaw folding inward. Blood sprayed; the man crumpled, unconscious.
Airen dropped him like trash. He didn't bother to look troubled. He simply noted, almost idly, "I was holding back… that wasn't even one percent of my strength."
[You are very strong now. Even under one percent of your output will kill a normal man.]
He walked to the two women tied to chairs. One was clutching herself, hoodie pulled tight; the other sat rigid, eyes huge with fear. Airen crouched in front of them.
"How did I get here?" he asked.
The woman in the black hoodie swallowed, every breath shaking. "Please—free us, and I'll tell you. Don't—please don't leave us."
Airen glanced at the other woman. Her face was pale, guilt and terror mingling in her eyes.
He untied the ropes without ceremony. The instant the bindings fell away the sisters collapsed into each other's arms, sobbing like children. The smaller one kept whispering, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, sister. If only I had listened—"
Airen stood and watched them find breath again. Once they'd calmed, the older sister wiped her face and gave him names.
"My name is Seo-yeon," she said, voice rough. "This is Min-ji."
Airen's mind ticked for a second as if searching a distant filing cabinet. The names rang a faint bell he couldn't place. He didn't say so.
Seo-yeon went on, the words tumbling now she'd started. "That man—he was with my sister boyfriend, but I was suspicious. I followed them today. I was right—he tried to kidnap her. I tried to call the police, but I couldn't let him hurt her. I rushed in and—" her lips trembled—"he sprayed something at us. We fell asleep."
Airen's expression was unreadable. He didn't care about their romance or their family drama; he wanted facts. She continued.
"When we woke, we were in a car. We were tied in the backseat—hands, legs, mouth—and the man... his face—" She made a sour face. "He answered a call. He said 'Yes sir'—like he was taking orders. I don't know who the boss is.But after hanging up the phone He was angry; damn I was thinking of having fun with this two. He stopped the car. He brought a black plastic bag. Inside it—" she shuddered, "—was you."
Seo-yeon's voice dropped to a whisper. "He said the boss wanted you alive. But he panicked and sprayed something extra—even while you were sleeping—so you wouldn't wake. He told me the bottle had fifty milliliters of Nightfall Serum. One drop puts a person out for hours."
Airen's lips tightened. Nightfall Serum—cheap urban legend name, but the effects checked out.
"He put you in the backseat, then we woke up here. We don't know how he carried us in. He covered our eyes—I heard music. It sounded like a bar." Seo-yeon's hands clenched. "When he tried to wake you—he used needles… sharp things. He was poking at your chest. They kept breaking. He panicked."
Min-ji blinked, curiosity flickering through the fear that still lingered in her voice.
"How is your body so… strong?"
Airen paused. What should I even say to that?
He could lie, deflect, or just kill them and avoid the question entirely. But he sighed faintly, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Because I'm the first Awakener."
Both women looked at each other, confusion spreading across their faces.
"First what?" Seo-yeon asked cautiously.
"Awakener," Airen said, his tone calm but heavy. "I fight the hidden threats of this world. The things you don't see—the ones that crawl beneath reality itself. And from today onward… the whole world will start to know. Because I can't handle them alone forever."
The sisters blinked. For a moment, they looked at each other and—laughed. Nervous, disbelieving laughter.
Heh. Of course, they think I'm crazy, Airen thought. Can't blame them.
But when his sharp gaze met theirs, the laughter died instantly.
Their smiles vanished, replaced by something closer to fear.
Without a word, Airen lifted his hand—and from thin air, a gleam of silver shimmered into existence.
A sword.
It appeared from nothing, humming faintly with blue mana. The air around it rippled. The women's eyes widened, breath catching in their throats.
"H-how did you…?" Seo-yeon stammered.
"Are you… some kind of hero from a novel?" Min-ji whispered, eyes wide as saucers. "Is this really real?"
Airen tilted the blade slightly, letting the edge reflect the dim light of the hanging bulb. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he dismissed it back into his inventory—vanishing as smoothly as it came.
He crossed his arms. "Now do you believe me?"
They both nodded quickly. "Y-yes," Seo-yeon said. "We do."
Airen's expression softened—just a little. "Good. But don't tell anyone about this."
Before he could finish, Min-ji blurted out with a small smile, "Because you want to be a hidden hero who doesn't ask for anything in return, right?"
Airen blinked once. Then a faint grin crept onto his face.
"Exactly. You got it."
Well… if you open your mouth, I'll kill you both without hesitation, he thought casually, his smile never faltering. But no need to say that out loud.
He turned toward the exit. "Let's get out of this place."
The sisters followed closely behind, their fear replaced by curiosity. "What are those hidden threats you were talking about?" Seo-yeon asked quietly.
Airen's tone was matter-of-fact. "Dungeons. Portals that connect this world to something far worse. The monsters that come out of them are beyond what humanity can face."
Their eyes widened.
"Monsters? What kind?" Min-ji asked, half frightened, half fascinated.
Airen glanced at them over his shoulder. "Let me show you."
He reached into the air—and from the void of his inventory, pulled out the corpse of an Elite Goblin. Its green flesh was dull now, but the jagged armor and black blood still made the room's light flicker off its skin.
Both women gasped. Seo-yeon stumbled backward. Min-ji covered her mouth, eyes trembling.
They stared at the corpse as if it were something out of a nightmare.
"This," Airen said flatly, "is one of the weak ones."
Their disbelief slowly melted into awe. They weren't doubting anymore—they were seeing.
Then Seo-yeon spoke up suddenly. "Can you sell me this? I'll pay… any amount."
Airen's eyebrow twitched upward. Sell it?
When she said, "One hundred million won," his smile froze—then widened.
A hundred million for a corpse I don't even need? Damn… people really will pay for anything if it looks scary enough.
His eyes gleamed faintly. Looks like thee two are rich.
"Fine," he said easily, dismissing the corpse back into his inventory. "But first, let's get out of here. The smell of blood is… disgusting."
Seo-yeon nodded quickly. "Right. I don't want to stay here a second longer."
Airen stepped toward the door, the sisters following. The faint metallic stench of the torture tools still lingered—rusted saws, broken clamps, dull knives, all reminders of the man who once stood here.
Airen stepped toward the exit, the sisters trailing behind him.
The air still carried that sharp, metallic tang — the scent of blood and rust mixed together. Around them, the remnants of horror lingered: rusted saws, broken clamps, dull knives dulled by overuse — a quiet graveyard of suffering.
He stopped in front of a thick metallic door. Its surface was scarred with dents and dried stains, bolts embedded deep into the concrete frame.
The older sister's voice trembled behind him. "T-that door… it's made from shop-forged alloy. He said even sound couldn't escape through it. I-I think it's locked. The key must be with that bastard on the floor."
Airen glanced at the door once — then at the woman.
"No need for a key."
He planted his hand on the cold metal and pulled.
The entire frame screeched in protest before the wall cracked around it — bolts snapping, hinges tearing loose. The door ripped clean out of its frame, falling to the floor with a deafening clang that echoed through the room.
Airen dusted off his hand, his expression calm.
"Problem solved."
The sisters could only stare, speechless.