Step Aside, All of You
“You simply handed over a secret manual?!”
Management Bureau Director Kim Hyeongseok’s reaction was explosive.
“He truly is an incredible individual in many ways… Good, considering he handled the Leviathan and even provided a secret manual, we cannot just let this pass. Agent Lee.”
“Yes, sir!”
“I will allocate the budget immediately, so go and sweep up every single bottle of premium whiskey you can find. It’s just alcohol. Fill the entire safe house to the brim with it.”
“Understood!”
Rattle, rattle!
Holding a massive cart filled to the brim with liquor, Lee Seah finally arrived at the safe house.
Clack.
As she opened the door and entered, Black was casually sprawling on the sofa as always.
“I brought the liquor. I also plan to clean up a bit while I’m here.”
“Skip the cleaning, just leave it and go.”
“Pardon? But there are so many empty bottles, and the dust is…”
Lee Seah’s expression instantly stiffened as she naturally swept her gaze across the interior of the living room.
‘Huh?’
When she visited for the first time, she was so overwhelmingly crushed by Black’s terrifying aura that even breathing felt agonizing.
She simply did not have the luxury to look around…
‘What is that? What are those marks?’
The corner of the living room table was gruesomely corroded.
The leather sofa was melted down in various places, exposing its inner stuffing, and the walls were dyed a dead black.
It looked exactly as if highly lethal poison or hydrochloric acid had violently splattered everywhere.
“E-Excuse me, Mr. Kang Hyeon. The furniture is completely ruined…”
“Stop talking and just leave it.”
“Pardon?”
The moment Lee Seah asked again.
Kang Hyeon’s finger, still buried deep within the sofa, twitched lightly.
Swish!
“Hic!”
A deflated shriek leaked from Lee Seah’s lips.
Dozens of premium whiskey bottles sitting in the cart suddenly levitated on their own and soared across the empty air, safely landing right next to Black.
Kang Hyeon grabbed one of them and waved his hand through the air in sheer annoyance.
“Uh, wh-what?!”
Her entire body floated upwards.
She was forcefully pushed out of the entryway before…
Slam!
The door shut forcefully in her face.
“…”
Lee Seah stared blankly at the closed door with dazed eyes.
‘So this was it.’
The eviction order that her seniors had ruthlessly suffered through before she arrived.
Judging from the gruesome tragedy inside the room she had witnessed a moment ago, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
‘Was he afraid we might get hurt?’
Now that she thought about it, she recalled him letting out intermittent, pain-filled groans inside the car while traveling to the East Sea.
Could that possibly be the reason?
Was that why he desperately refused to let anyone inside?
Lee Seah stood there silently for a long time before belatedly pulling out a notepad from her pocket and beginning to scribble rapidly.
– It is presumed he is enduring agonizing pain while suppressing something.
– Severe damage within the residence. A review for replacement with special-material furniture is required.
* * *
One week later.
Black’s safe house.
Lee Seah had been dispatched there early in the morning.
‘Sigh, this is my destiny.’
She let out a heavy sigh.
The Director had officially designated her as Black’s exclusive manager, simply because she was the best communicator among the recent agents.
Her new duty was to manage Black’s every single move and cater to his every whim moving forward.
And today.
She had to wake this beast up, wash him, dress him, and forcefully drag him to the Academy.
“Mr. Kang Hyeon. Please come out.”
“Already?”
Click.
As the door opened, an utter wreck emerged.
“Didn’t you say it was until 12 o’clock?”
The Bureau Director was surprisingly competent.
Regardless of how he managed to sweet-talk the Dean, he had successfully secured a contract professor position.
However, the fierce backlash from the existing faculty was so intense that they agreed to undergo a minimal verification process, which was scheduled for noon today.
“It is currently 9 o’clock.”
“You can’t go looking like that.”
“What’s wrong with my condition?”
“…”
Lee Seah was utterly dumbfounded.
Was he asking because he genuinely did not know?
His hair had surpassed a magpie’s nest and reached the level of a full-blown bird’s nest, and his sweatpants were heavily stained with what could either be kimchi juice or spilled whiskey.
“Is appearance really that important for teaching kids? Absolute skill is what truly matters.”
He was not exactly wrong, but Black was taking it way too far.
“The Academy has its tradition and authority. If you go out looking like that, it’ll cause a massive uproar!”
“Authority means absolute dogshit with their pathetic skills.”
She could not refute this either.
He was the only entity in all of South Korea—no, the entire world—who could utter such words.
Ultimately, Lee Seah pulled out her hidden trump card.
“Mizuki 55-Year.”
“What?”
Black’s eyes instantly shot wide open.
Lee Seah cheered internally.
‘It worked!’
The legendary Japanese whiskey aged in a Mizunara (water oak) cask, renowned for its exquisite, unique aroma!
A highly sought-after liquor that was incredibly difficult to acquire even during a crisis!
At 55 years old, the auction price easily exceeded 200 million won, making it nearly impossible to find on the market, but the Bureau’s information network was more than capable of securing it.
“If you cooperate obediently, I will get it for you.”
“Haa.”
Letting out a heavy sigh, Black reluctantly stepped forward.
“Where do we need to go?”
* * *
“…”
The eyes of the shop staff lined up at the entrance trembled violently in unison.
They had been extremely tense since it was a VIP reservation from the National Management Bureau, so it was completely understandable that they panicked when a neighborhood beggar casually strolled in.
“Excuse me, Ms. Lee Seah? Is it really this person?”
The director whispered to Lee Seah with a highly troubled expression.
Turning this utter wreck into a proper human being was truly Mission Impossible.
“Please, Director. This is an extremely crucial national matter.”
Lee Seah pleaded, practically on the verge of tears.
“Just make him look somewhat human.”
“Sigh, understood. Sir, please step this way.”
The highly skeptical staff carefully seated Kang Hyeon in the chair.
“What kind of style would you like?”
“Whatever finishes the fastest.”
Kang Hyeon spat out bluntly while closing his eyes.
“No, Director!”
Naturally, Lee Seah was not going to let this slide.
“Make it as classic as possible, while simultaneously exuding a powerful charisma! Sweep it all back with pomade, and trim his beard neatly…”
Following Lee Seah’s stormy barrage of orders, the director’s hands began moving frantically.
Snip, snip.
The rhythmic sound of scissors echoed throughout the room.
As the bushy hair completely covering his face was snipped away, his hidden forehead and sharp nose bridge began to emerge.
Once the rough, untamed beard was cleared, his razor-sharp jawline finally saw the light.
‘Hmm?’
The director’s hands abruptly paused.
The appearance of the man reflected in the mirror was far from ordinary.
“Wow.”
The jaws of the assistants hovering nearby slowly began to drop as well.
However, the person in question was simply dozing off.
Even the heavy stench of alcohol could not be erased.
“We are completely finished. You may change your clothes now.”
Kang Hyeon staggered into the curtained fitting room.
Lee Seah bit her nails in deep anxiety.
Would it really be okay?
It would be a massive problem if he stood out too much, but he couldn’t look overly tacky either.
It was exactly at that moment.
Swish!
The fitting room curtain was pulled back.
“Ah, damn it. Do I really have to wear this thing called a tie? It’s suffocating.”
Along with his grumbling voice, Kang Hyeon stepped out.
In that instant.
“Gasp.”
Lee Seah unconsciously swallowed her breath.
The perfectly tailored suit flawlessly hugged his entire body.
His neatly swept-back pomaded hair exuded a chillingly cold aura, and the neckline visible through his slightly unbuttoned shirt collar was lethal.
What was most breathtaking above all were his eyes.
Although filled with heavy languor, when combined with his refined appearance, he looked as haughty as a noble.
“…”
Every single female staff member inside the shop abruptly stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at him.
Even the notoriously picky director was clapping her hands with a completely ecstatic expression.
“Sir, it is perfect! Absolutely perfect!”
Lee Seah’s heart pounded fiercely.
This was the nation’s secret weapon?!
This was a visual masterpiece that strictly needed to be widely broadcasted for the sake of national welfare!
“Hey, chick.”
“…Pardon?”
A chick?
‘Why did I suddenly become a chick?’
“What, would you prefer I call you rookie?”
“N-No. I think chick is actually better.”
“Why are you standing there blankly? Hand over the liquor.”
As Black held out his hand, Lee Seah snapped back to her senses.
“Ah, yes! It’s in the car, I have it in the car!”
She hastily turned her head away.
It was a desperate attempt to hide her face, which kept threatening to flush deep red.
‘Dangerous.’
Just now, it was genuinely dangerous.
She had almost briefly forgotten the horrific fact that this man was a severe alcoholic with a completely ruined personality.
“W-We must go immediately. The interview will start soon.”
The stage and the actor were fully prepared.
Lee Seah was slowly becoming incredibly worried.
This man.
He wouldn’t cause a massive accident once he got there, would he?
* * *
Smack!
The Head Professor, Jin Myeonghun, slammed the file folder onto the desk.
“Dean. This is absolute nonsense.”
His voice rapidly grew louder.
“Unknown educational background, unregistered Hunter rank, zero previous experience, and the recommender is the Bureau Director?!”
“Listen here.”
“Since when did the National Academy accept personnel requests strictly from the Management Bureau? Just look over there.”
Jin Myeonghun pointed straight at Kang Hyeon, who was dozing off in his chair.
“What kind of applicant confidently walks into an interview room reeking heavily of alcohol? This is a blatant insult to the Academy’s absolute authority.”
“Professor Jin, please calm down for a moment.”
The gray-haired Dean’s mouth was completely dry.
He knew the truth.
It was because the Bureau Director had handed over the highly classified information regarding Code Name: Black while persuading him this time.
However, the fact that it was classified was the very core of the problem.
He could not utter the horrific fact that the man sitting right in front of them was the very entity who had slaughtered the Leviathan.
“Still, the Management Bureau must have had a profound reason for inserting him. Besides, it’s merely a contract professor position, not a full-time one.”
While the Dean sweat profusely trying to mediate, the reaction from the other professors was equally freezing.
“Dean, Professor Jin is absolutely correct. We are educating the cadets who will carry the heavy burden of the nation’s future. We cannot possibly entrust them to an unverified individual.”
“That is correct. Furthermore, we must never set a dangerous precedent of the Management Bureau actively interfering in our academic operations. This is clearly parachute hiring, blatant parachute hiring.”
The air inside the conference room completely froze over.
Everyone’s piercing gaze shifted toward Kang Hyeon, who was still fast asleep.
Could he not grasp the heavy atmosphere?
Just as Jin Myeonghun, unable to hold back his anger any longer, was about to unleash his fierce aura.
Kwaaaang!
A deafening roar fiercely shook the entire building, violently rattling the windows.
“Wh-What is it?!”
“What’s happening?!”
While the professors panicked, the conference room door violently burst open, and a teaching assistant rushed inside.
“It’s a disaster! Qi Deviation!”
“What?!”
Jin Myeonghun violently jumped up from his seat.
“A student is on a massive rampage!”
“Lead the way immediately.”
The Dean and the faculty frantically rushed out of the conference room, and Kang Hyeon, slowly opening his languid eyes, ruffled his hair as he lazily followed right behind them.
* * *
The training ground was a complete scene of carnage.
“Kuaaagh!”
A male student was fiercely thrashing around in the center, shedding agonizing tears.
A violent, rampaging energy fiercely swirled around his body like a raging storm.
“My god.”
One of the professors checked his pulse and shouted urgently.
“It seems to be a severe issue with his energy core.”
“Where is Professor Hwang?!”
“She’s currently returning from a business trip, but it will take some time!”
Professor Hwang Yerim, the most outstanding expert in martial medical arts among the faculty, was absent.
“Then what do we do?!”
“Let’s deploy a Qi Net and suppress it forcefully!”
Professor Jin and the other faculty members hastily reached out, fiercely emitting their true qi to attempt suppression.
However.
“Kuaaagh!”
The student’s agonizing screams grew even more desperate as he began vomiting dark red blood.
The harder they forcefully suppressed it from the outside, the more the rampaging true qi within the student’s body desperately tried to tear through his skin to escape.
“N-No! What do we do?!”
“Damn it! His blood vessels won’t be able to withstand it!”
While the professors were running around in utter chaos.
Kang Hyeon, who had been watching the pathetic scene with sheer contempt, finally stepped forward.
‘That doesn’t even qualify as Qi Deviation.’
It was merely a highly basic symptom where the blood vessels became slightly twisted due to forcefully drawing upon too much energy.
If they continued treating it like that, it would undoubtedly escalate into actual Qi Deviation.
“Step aside, all of you.”
“Wh-What? This is not the time for you to interfe…”
One of the professors, intending to forcefully push him away for being a nuisance, suddenly froze in place.
It was because Kang Hyeon’s previously languid eyes had sunken into a chillingly cold state.
Despite having experienced all sorts of fierce battles, he had never once encountered eyes like that.
At the very least, they were eyes that should absolutely never be provoked.
“I said step aside. Unless you actually want to burst the kid’s heart with your own hands.”
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