Chapter – 19….
“Wow. You’ve grown a lot. You were tall back then, but now… whoa. But I called your dad, not you. Damn it, go get him quickly. Hurry!”
The seating arrangement made it hard to see Song Sin-woo’s expression.
Sin-woo, who was already big-built, probably wouldn’t be seriously hurt by just a little attack, but he seemed completely dazed by the sudden situation.
“How dare they hit my part-timer?”
Should I step in now?
“Sin-woo, what’s going on…?”
Just then, Sin-woo’s father noticed something suspicious and came out of the kitchen.
As he loosened his apron and stepped forward, his face immediately hardened when he saw the thugs.
“Oh, my friend. Long time no see. Or should I call you ‘boss’ now?”
One of the men in the group waved casually with a smile.
Sin-woo’s father briskly stepped forward, pulling Sin-woo back.
He seemed to notice his son’s face, swollen and reddened.
“Sin-woo, your face…!”
“Ah, Jae-hyuk hyung. He was spacing out and couldn’t focus. I guess he’s a college student now? Probably in the middle of exams, so I just tapped him lightly to wake him up.”
“That bastard….”
The timing for “this guy, that guy” to start showing up had arrived. I braced myself.
Sin-woo’s father frowned deeply and asked,
“Min-seok, why are you here? Isn’t it the guild’s rule not to acknowledge former members who left?”
“That’s true, but when I left, you didn’t pay enough. There was a miscalculation.”
“I already paid, Min-seok. Everything was settled cleanly and the guild leader acknowledged it. But years have passed and now… beating up an ex-guild member’s kid? If the guild leader knew…”
“Ah─ damn it, that damn guild leader is dead! He only passed recently, so things inside are chaotic. So for now, I’m the guild leader.”
“What?”
“Why the face like ‘why are you the guild leader?’ I’m a bit offended. I’ve been working hard, practically worshipping the old guild leader.”
The guy, who had no sense of duty, was talking nonsense with casual hand gestures.
Some of the men outside the chicken shop started watching the surroundings, and one locked the door from inside.
Sin-woo seemed uneasy and tried to block his father. Fully enraged, Sin-woo’s father raised his voice.
“Is this not a threat?! I already settled my past. I’m completely done with it.”
“No. It’s not over. Seeing old memories, I realized there’s still stuff I haven’t repaid you for, and some leftover interest on what you owe me.”
“Interest? What did you say? Interest?!”
Sin-woo’s father let out a knowing, bitter laugh.
“…So you did this on purpose. You knew I wouldn’t be able to fight back anyway!”
“I don’t get it. Anyway, you’ve calmed down a lot. You’d normally use your powers here, right? Why aren’t you? Worried a tiny shop might burn?”
The man’s smile vanished instantly, and the air around him felt suffocating.
As he reached out, the table in front of me was swept away by a short, strong gust of wind.
The four-person table hit Sin-woo and his father squarely, knocking them over.
BANG!
Now it begins.
In the vision I saw, Sin-woo’s father gets violently beaten and loses consciousness. Sin-woo is forced to watch.
[Father!]
The desperate scream echoed in my mind.
Unfortunately, too many people here couldn’t be affected by Sin-woo’s Awakened powers.
Moreover, this franchise chicken shop was the foundation of Sin-woo’s father’s long-time dream. His first step toward a humble daily life.
Sin-woo couldn’t fight back recklessly, knowing that even minor injuries were preferable to his father being forced out by former guild members.
But I could do something.
I slammed the table and jumped up, shouting,
“Hey, damn it, what are you doing ruining my appetite while I’m eating chicken─!”
Everyone in the shop turned to look at me.
The Constellation ‘Prophet of the Sun’ scolded me, wondering why I was causing trouble under the veil of night.
The Prophet of the Sun warned that if the contractor ‘Kim Eun-sol’ made a mistake here, everyone would die.
Sin-woo seemed to be the first to notice me.
Now, I could clearly see his handsome face, half of it swollen bright red.
His lips were possibly split; blood stained the corner of his mouth.
“Eun-sol, just…!”
“What? It’s already reported to the police.”
Hearing this, the thug hunters cursed and started watching me carefully.
Regardless, I quickly sent the chicken shop’s address to the authorities, reporting the guild causing trouble at someone else’s business.
Since I said “probably an ordinary civilian boss,” they would be extra sensitive.
I didn’t confirm he was a civilian, so it wasn’t a lie.
Now, my only task was self-defense.
“Beating up the boss in front of customers, what the hell is this?”
“Eun-sol, please, don’t say anything!”
“Don’t say anything? My customer’s rights are being trampled by these thugs!”
Sin-woo’s face turned pale instantly.
“Ha, ha! Customer rights! Wow…”
“Who the hell are you? If you don’t leave, you’ll wake up in jail soon enough, feeling very sad.”
“Ah, really? How scary.”
The hunters laughed at my words. Sin-woo grit his teeth and said to the temporary guild leader,
“She’s just an uninvolved customer, so let her go.”
“Not uninvolved, Sin-woo. She reported us to the authorities. And she’s your friend, right? Your girlfriend?”
“Just a customer.”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
The dutyless man approached me slyly.
Sin-woo, panicking, used his Awakened power to form a sphere of water in his hand.
“Sin-woo. Stand down.”
At my firm command, he hesitated.
Unlike Sin-woo, I now drew the Golden Sheep card, which seemed to wear a kind mask.
The Prophet of the Sun grew excited.
‘Release Golden Sheep (S)?’
Yes/No
I couldn’t back down now.
I had to do it.
“Go, Golden Sheep!”
At my signal, a brilliantly glowing, fluffy animal appeared in the middle of the shop.
No! Sin-woo’s cry rang out softly.
Golden Sheep
Golden-haired and seemingly gentle, the sheep looked cute and precious—but most sheep, contrary to popular image, have nasty tempers.
The constellation had urged me to use the Golden Sheep in emergencies for a reason.
Though it looked pretty, this Golden Sheep had a monstrously nasty personality. Worse than just “nasty.”
I’ve never faced a bear in the wild, but this seems just as ferocious.
The thug hunter who threatened Sin-woo’s father out of personal grudge became the sheep’s first target.
He tried to pet it, thinking it was cute, and ended up impaled by its horn.
The Golden Sheep, apparently angered, rammed the chicken shop’s entrance with him.
Crash! The glass shattered, yet it didn’t stop.
The sheep repeatedly stomped and rammed the thug until he lost consciousness.
Still not satisfied, it snorted and tore through the remaining hunters like a golden storm.
A full-blown golden typhoon.
“Ahhh─!”
“What the hell, a sheep!”
I watched the chaos gleefully.
Then, pulled by Sin-woo’s strong grip, I hid behind a table I had been thrown to earlier.
Meanwhile, Sin-woo’s father, clutching his side, said something memorable:
“…You’re Sin-woo’s friend, right? From now on, chicken is free for life.”
“Yay!”
They actually said that at a time like this? Sin-woo might have scolded me, but I barely noticed.
Then, sirens from the police arrived, drawing everyone’s attention.
The Golden Sheep snorted heavily, then vanished like smoke after causing just enough chaos.
Only my smoke remained.
With a unique SSS-class vision and a few loose threads of sanity, I faked innocence convincingly.
“I was just eating chicken! Why did those hunters come in and beat up the boss? So scary!”
“Boss Song Jae-hyuk is a B-rank Awakened. Did you make a false report pretending he’s a civilian?”
“Whaaa?! False report? No! I thought he was a civilian because he didn’t use his powers! Poor boss… maybe he still has ties to old guild members… sniff.”
Tears welled up in my eyes as I overacted, thinking of life’s hardships.
When the hunters mentioned seeing a golden sheep, I denied knowing anything, sticking firmly to the story.
With the Sin-woo family supporting my act, the authorities only checked my Awakened ID once and left.
“Wait, Sin-woo’s friend! Hold on!”
The next day, around 2 PM, I arrived late to check the interior progress. Sin-woo’s father urgently called me.
“Hello.”
“Ah, Sin-woo’s friend! Have you eaten?!”
“No, not yet…”
“Come here! I’ll fry some chicken for you!”
Yes! Free chicken!
I quietly cheered inwardly…
