Chapter 4
Awakening (2)
Sehyun closed his eyes and focused his consciousness.
“They say every person carries a star within their heart.”
It might sound like a simple metaphor, but for a Player, those words had an entirely different meaning.
At the center of his imagination, something was shining. A star.
A star that should have been sparkling in the night sky was instead seated inside Sehyun’s body.
Becoming aware of his own star somewhere in the cosmos, and using it as the driving force to wield supernatural power—
That was Awakening.
The unique privilege of Players had finally happened to Sehyun.
“But why… did I awaken?”
The question didn’t last long.
When the reality of his situation set in, he could only feel horror.
“…I’m screwed.”
For him, Awakening was poison.
“To craft artifacts, I need to stay unawakened.”
An Awakened Player cannot create artifacts.
The stellar energy that is the source of a Player’s power repels other stellar energies.
Artifacts, too, contain their own stellar force.
Thus, if a Player attempts artifact crafting, the energies collide.
At best, crafting fails; at worst, the results are dangerously unstable.
“That’s why Ha Ilhwan sought me out.”
Of course, the former Sehyun had no stellar energy.
That was why he could craft artifacts.
“But now… I’ve awakened??”
That fact meant only one thing—
Sehyun could no longer create artifacts.
In this regressed life, his only trust had been in artifacts. And Awakening had just taken all of that away.
A misfortune beyond words.
Grrrrrrr—
Weak from despair, his stomach growled.
Just then, Inha appeared with tteokbokki in her hands.
“Were you waiting? You must be starving.”
“…Yeah. Something like that.”
Sehyun’s dazed reply made Inha tilt her head in confusion.
After a late meal, Inha quickly fell asleep, exhausted.
Meanwhile, Sehyun’s expression grew darker and darker. Head lowered, he could only sigh again and again.
“Every time things look like they’re going well… it ends up like this.”
It had only been two days since his abrupt regression.
He had finally thought he’d gained a method to craft artifacts.
But all his effort had evaporated into nothing.
Every artifact he had envisioned passed through his mind like a mirage.
Now, none of them were within his reach.
“What’s the point of imagining Poseidon’s trident splitting the seas… if I can’t make it?”
Sehyun let out a hollow laugh.
Then, something strange caught his eye.
A faint blue engraving flickered across the fork lying on his plate.
“…Was that an illusion?”
He shook his head and looked again.
But the fork was ordinary.
“Right, just my imagination.”
Blue engravings only appeared when bestowing a Unique Myth.
Something you only ever saw on artifacts.
“God, how broken am I, mistaking a fork for an artifact?”
He scoffed at himself.
A fork wasn’t Poseidon’s trident just because it had a similar shape.
“A fork that parts the sea. That’d be hilarious.”
Even if this fork were an artifact, what good would it be?
At best, it’d scoop broth and skewer rice cakes…
“…Huh?”
Absentmindedly, he touched the fork to the remaining tteokbokki.
Then his brain froze.
Ssshhh—
The red sauce split apart left and right.
Like a miniature Moses parting the sea—right on his plate.
“……”
He recalled the absurd thought he’d just had—
That the fork was an artifact like the Trident That Splits the Sea.
The realization hit him like a bolt.
“Don’t tell me… my awakened ability is…!”
Countless possibilities flashed through his head. His appetite suddenly returned.
He speared a rice cake and popped it into his mouth, smiling brighter than he had in ages.
Late that night.
A group of masked thugs gathered in a dark alley.
“Where is this place?”
“You know that model? The one who posts cosplay on Stargram.”
“Oh, she was on New Quiz too, right? Guess the boss got his eye on her. Poor girl.”
“I like the boss for this. Beating the crap out of those wannabe celebs feels great.”
“Heh, he’s a straight-up psycho, isn’t he?”
Armed with makeshift weapons, the punks wrapped up their chatter and got ready to move.
“Hold up.”
A hand stopped one of them.
Through oversized sunglasses, Egyptian-style tattoos peeked out.
Yoo Taehun.
He pointed at the iron door ahead.
“You dumbasses trying to get caught on purpose?”
On both sides of the door hung CCTV cameras.
“Guess they care a bit about security.”
Taehun snatched a slingshot from a punk’s belt, pulled it back, and—
Thwip! Pop!
White paintballs splattered across both cameras.
Looked like bird droppings from a glance.
Now, whatever happened inside would look like nothing more than an accident during downtime.
“That should do for a cover story.”
“Don’t worry about cleanup. Just smash everything.”
“Yes, sir!”
The punks broke the padlock and stormed inside.
Moonlight streamed through windows, illuminating tools and equipment.
“Damn, looks like a whole museum in here.”
“Whatever, we just smash it all, right?”
“Didn’t he say rough up some guy too? Guess he already ran off.”
They searched around, eyes roaming.
One spotted a Zippo lighter on a desk.
An ivory case—looked valuable.
“Nice. I’ll fence this.”
But as he picked it up—
Whiiiirrr—
“Huh?”
The lighter vibrated violently, glowing with blue engravings.
“Hot, shit!”
He dropped it in alarm.
“What the hell are you doing? Trying to wake the whole neighborhood?”
Another thug scooped it up.
Aside from the eerie blue glow, it looked ordinary.
“First job or something? Stop freaking out and—”
Click.
The Zippo lid flipped open on its own.
“Hey! What are you doing!”
“It’s not me, it just—”
The flint sparked, flame burst—
BOOOOM!!!
CRASHHH!!
“Gyaaahhh!!!”
The entire workshop exploded, blasting punks and debris out the iron doors.
Outside, Taehun dropped his cigarette in shock.
“What the… the hell was that?!”
Amid smoke, a calm voice rang out.
“No open flames in the workshop. Didn’t you know?”
A man emerged, hefting a large duffel bag.
Taehun recognized him instantly.
That jerk always hanging around Chae Inha.
Sehyun twirled the ivory Zippo in his hand, and Taehun ground his teeth.
“You little shit… you knew we were coming?”
“Your moves are predictable. That’s why you walked straight into the trap.”
Taehun shot a glare at his battered subordinates.
“Still lying there?! Get up, you idiots!!”
“Y-yes!!!”
Groaning, the punks staggered upright and gripped their weapons again.
Everything was still going according to plan.
But—
This is where it gets real.
Though Sehyun pretended calm, he was far from confident.
He could craft, sure. But fighting? He had no talent for it.
The punks, though, lived for this. Picking fights, hurting people—
They’d done this countless times.
Weak against the strong, but ruthless against the weak.
Classic bullies.
And now, they had the numbers.
Sehyun had only one hope—
The artifacts. I have to rely on them.
And he would have to get used to this, too.
Sehyun drew a bat from his bag.
Wooooom—
Blue engravings lit up.
CRACK!!
“?!!”
SMASH!!
The bat swung faster than eyes could follow, cracking across a punk’s skull.
Shatter—
The bat splintered apart immediately.
Damn it. Single-use, huh?
“What… what was that?!”
“One hit and he’s out cold?!”
“Is he even human?!”
Sehyun pulled another bat. Again, it gleamed blue.
He had inscribed it with a Unique Myth:
The desperate yearning of a batter who never got to stand at the plate.
An unshakable will to land a perfect hit.
Anything I recognize as a “ball”… I can strike swiftly and unerringly.
CRACK!
And skulls made perfect targets.
“Guhh!!”
Another punk dropped, bleeding from his nose.
“Sevens!!”
“You bastard!!”
Despite hesitation, the punks tightened their circle.
Some had helmets, too.
A flimsy artifact bat wouldn’t drop them all instantly.
He was outnumbered, and his bats wouldn’t last.
But whatever.
There were other “balls” besides heads.
Like those two dangling targets between their legs.
CRUNCH!!
“Uggghh… ahhh…!”
The sickening crunch silenced them.
Fear spread fast.
High or low?
A lose-lose choice.
SMASH!!
Guard the groin, and the skull gets crushed.
CRUNCH!!
Guard the skull, and their dignity gets destroyed.
One by one, their “balls” were shattered.
Soon, Sehyun’s bag held only a single bat.
Huh. Thought some would run by now.
After witnessing that brutality, anyone else would’ve fled.
But they stayed—terrified not of him, but of Taehun.
CRACK!
Another one fell.
Now only Taehun remained.
Should’ve packed more bats.
Sehyun pulled his last one.
Taehun clicked his tongue and stepped forward.
“Pathetic bastards… can’t even handle one guy.”
Even seeing his men sprawled out, he didn’t flinch.
“Well, I admit, it’s a surprise you’re a Player.”
…What’s he saying?
“From the looks of it, all you’ve got is some weak strength buff. You really thought you could win with that?”
He lit another cigarette, smirking.
“Normally, Players are off-limits. But I’ll make an exception for you.”
He blew out smoke, rolled up his sleeve, and drew in power.
His arm, covered in tattoos, began to bulge—
Crack! Crack!
His right arm twisted, growing unnaturally, hardening into stone.
Sehyun’s eyes widened.
That energy, that ability—he knew it well.
But Taehun shouldn’t have it.
“…The Golem’s Arm?”
That was the ability of one of Ha Ilhwan’s comrades.
