The Hero Returns

The news of Kim Su-hyeun's participation in the upcoming Ranking Wars caused yet another massive stir around the world.

The news began circulating about three days before the tournament.

However, in this age of instant communication, breaking news didn't even need half a day to reach almost everyone on the planet.

"Well, we already have our winner, then."

"His ranking doesn't matter to him, anyway. It's all symbolic to him."

"The question now is who will be in the second place..."

The Ranking Wars' participants all reacted one way to the Kim Su-hyeun news.

"If I'm lucky, I might get to fight him this time."

"It's true that I'm kinda curious. Just how amazing is he really for everyone to talk about him?"

And that was their wish to fight Su-hyeun.

But that didn't mean they wanted to win. All of them knew that they didn't even have a snowball's chance in hell against Su-hyeun in the first place.

That was how "deified" Su-hyeun's existence was even among the awakener community.

Even so, they still anticipated fighting against Su-hyeun because...

"Even if I lose, it's not gonna be a loss for me, anyway."

"By putting on a good show, I'll still make a good impression even if I lose."

They wouldn't have to worry about criticisms or other problems even if they lost.

If they managed to last a few exchanges, it might even serve as an opportunity to overturn the evaluation they had been getting until now completely. As such, the other participants greatly welcomed the news of Su-hyeun deciding to enter this year's Ranking Wars.

Of course, none of them were even remotely aware of an unknown participant who was about to make all of their calculations useless.

"Whoaaaa'”!"

Currently, within the Ranking Wars arena built under San Francisco, a loud cry suddenly reverberated.

"Holy cow, it's so big down here! Who on earth would've thought about building something this big underground?"

From the sound of it, today was this individual's first time to pay a visit to the arena.

Also, judging from his shabby, worn-out clothes or a featureless staff tied to his back, he must have been a low-ranking awakener coming to spectate after hearing about the Ranking Wars.

"Tsk... Standards are dropping lately, aren't they?"

"I thought they stopped any old trash from entering here, so what's this?"

"And I sank a ton of money to get the first look, too. How uncouth for a punk like him to'”"

A group of men was murmuring among themselves while staring at the noisy individual. They weren't trying to make themselves heard, but they also didn't bother to lower their voices.

The five of them were scions of some important American families. They had come today to take a tour of the Ranking Wars arena.

"Hey, you lot!" At that moment, the man stopped looking around the arena with wide eyes and yelled at the group, "I heard what you were saying just now. Were you talking about me by any chance?"

"He heard us?"

"Well, he sure does have a good hearing."

"Hey, dude, your voice was too loud."

"Oh? What about you, then?"

They cackled at each other's jokes.

They didn't seem disconcerted by the fact that the person they were making fun of had heard them.

After checking out their reactions, Sun Wukong walked up to them while scratching his head.

"Okay, so, let me get this right," he snuck a glanced around the arena. "You were picking a fight with me just now, weren't you?"

They were scions of important families. Unsurprisingly, each of them had two bodyguards following them around, for a total of 10 security personnel. And they happened to be awakeners around the B-Rank.

They swiftly surrounded Sun Wukong. After making a circle around their supposed target, they openly began raising their auras and bloodlust as if to threaten the one and only Sun Wukong.

"Can't you tell already, dumbass?"

"Your hair is all grey and stuff, too. Not sure which backwater country you came from, but if you're here as a tourist, why don't you just stay quiet like a good little mouse?"

"It's too late for you to walk away unscathed now, so... Hey, why don't we make a bet? He looks like an awakener, so let's see how long he will last."

Instead of shrinking away, Sun Wukong began nodding at all the jeering laughter, "So I was right. You want to fight."

The corners of his lips curled up.

Although he was told not to start an incident, his personality wasn't so nice that he would brush aside someone openly being hostile to him.

Maybe Sun Wukong's relaxed attitude pissed them off?

A blond man among the five scions opened his mouth, "Kick his ass."

"Uraaaah'”!"

Whoosh'”!

The two bodyguards nearest to Sun Wukong pounced on him.

A "B" rank was not low for an awakener. Even so, Sun Wukong smirked profoundly and tried to reach out to the incoming awakeners.

But right at that moment...

Grab, grab'”!

"Kugh!"

"Kuh..."

The two bodyguards' figures were suddenly raised in the air. Someone had suddenly jumped in and grabbed them by their throats to hold them up.

"There, there, let's not get into a fight, everyone."

One person's sudden interference caused everyone to stop laughing and talking immediately.

Even those sitting on their chairs and treating Sun Wukong as a clown all shot up to their feet.

"Huh?!"

"W'”why is Kim Su-hyeun showing up here?!"

"D'”dammit..."

They began making troubled expressions at Su-hyeun's intrusion.

However, one of them let out an excited cry as if he was meeting a famous celebrity or something. Maybe he still didn't find the current situation that serious.

Step'”

"Why are you suddenly getting involved, Mister Kim Su-hyeun?"

"Well, he's my older brother, you see."

"Your older brother?"

The gazes of the bodyguards and the five scions all shifted over to Sun Wukong right away.

What they saw was a man with fairly long white hair wearing some shabby clothing.

From his expression to how he behaved, he came across as an uneducated country bumpkin. Seeing how no one recognized his face, he couldn't have been an S-Rank, either.

But someone like that was Kim Su-hyeun's older brother?

"Dammit, this is bad."

This bumpkin actually had a backer.

The scions all thought it was easy enough to figure out if someone came from a significant background or not solely by their attire. At least this time, they were wrong.

"What about you? Why are you attacking the other side without any warning?"

Plop'”

While asking that, Su-hyeun let go of the bodyguards. He raised his brows in disapproval and walked up to the group of scions, causing the blond one in the middle to flinch a little and say something, "I think there's been some kind of a misunderstanding here."

"Misunderstanding, huh?" Su-hyeun scanned the surroundings.

Ten bodyguards were present, including the two panting heavily while getting back up, and they had been emitting thick bloodlust until now.

"Do you think I'm blind or deaf? It has to be that."

"What do you mean?"

"You all came here to watch the tournament, right? In that case, you should quickly go back home. While taking care of the injured, of course."

"Injured? Who'”?"

Pow'”!

Su-hyeun kicked the jaw of the nearest bodyguard. It all happened in an instant, causing the victim to pass out right there and then. The remaining nine bodyguards reflexively got into combat stances.

Su-hyeun quipped, "You'll have some now."

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Pow'”!

Another bodyguard's jaw was kicked away again. The assault was happening right before their eyes, but the scions weren't awakeners, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

"Two down."

"This is insane!"

"Oh, you want me to count all 15, then?" Su-hyeun stared pointedly at every bodyguard here.

None of them dared to even think about fighting back. The five scions trying to pick a fight with Sun Wukong realized that the number 15 also included them and began shuddering in fright.

"H'”hey, maybe we should just leave now."

"H'”he's right. We'll just come and watch next year or something..."

"Can't you read the mood?"

The murmurings of his friends caused the blond man's face to redden up instantly. It seemed that he was deeply displeased that Su-hyeun threatened them to leave, and they had no choice but to heed it.

The blond gestured at the bodyguards with his hand, then walked past Su-hyeun, "We will speak again someday. I swear it."

"But that's not going to be something good for you."

Tap, tap'”

Su-hyeun lightly tapped on the blond man's face a couple of times. The latter's face became even more livid at the kind of humiliation he had never experienced before. Without saying anything else, he led his group and left.

"Wow, little bro, your personality sure has changed a lot."

"You think so?"

"The old you would have resorted to diffusing this whole thing by talking, you know?"

"Do you find it weird?"

"Nah," Sun Wukong raised his thumb. "That was some cool stuff, little bro."

Su-hyeun smirked a little. He then turned his head toward where the group had disappeared, "You mustn't kill, though."

"Eh?"

"Murder isn't something I can resolve somehow, you see. And it leaves behind a sour taste, too."

"Wait, I never said I'd kill them, you know?"

"You weren't going to control your strength while fighting them, were you? Third Brother, one flick from you is more than enough to break every bone in a regular person's body."

"What? Why are they so weak?"

"Not everyone in this world is like me, Third Brother. Even if they are awakeners, from your standards, they are no better than regular, powerless people."

That was the reason why Su-hyeun decided to interfere in the first place.

Sun Wukong was not very good at controlling his strength, so things would have escalated rather quickly if he mistakenly killed someone today. Never mind losing his qualification to participate in the Ranking Wars; even Su-hyeun would have found himself in hot water since he was the chaperone in this case.

"That's why you gotta control your strength properly when you scold them again later, you know."

"Eh?" Sun Wukong's eyes went round for a moment before arching like a pair of new moons. "I was wondering why you were letting them go, and this was the reason, eh?"

"Make sure it's done quietly. However, no killings," Su-hyeun said while turning around. "I still need to go talk to someone first. I'll see you later."

He was worried about an incident breaking out and followed Sun Wukong. Sure enough, something did happen.

But after observing the situation from the closest vantage point, he came to a decision.

"I'm sure he'll keep it to a moderate level."

And that was to leave Sun Wukong be.

* * *

It didn't matter how, but when a group of people gathered, a leader was bound to be found. That rule remained true even among friends in the same age group who knew each other for a long time.

The guy with the most enormous physique, the best fighter among the group, the wealthiest one among them, or the smoothest talker was among some of the factors. Still, regardless of what, the central figure of a group had to exist, and that was the leader's role.

The leader of this group of wealthy scions, who were trying to pick a fight with Sun Wukong, was Michael.

"Dammit, man, that's some crappy luck."

"Still, isn't it way more amazing to meet Kim Su-hyeun instead of getting a tour of the arena? I mean, we now have something to brag about when we go back home."

"Heh, you're right. I never imagined that we'd get to see him before the tournament even started. Got lucky on that one."

Step'”

Michael abruptly stopped walking after listening to his group's chatter. He turned his head and addressed them, "You goddamn idiots. Are you actually happy about this crap? He openly looked down on us, yet you think we got lucky?!"

"Well, that's that, but... Honestly, we were lucky that things didn't get out of hand, right? We indeed tried to touch Kim Su-hyeun's acquaintance and all."

"But, yeah, it didn't feel all that good, now that you mention it. Some random nobody lucked into acquiring power, and now he thinks he's the hot sh*t or something? Hey, did you watch the documentary about that punk? About how he grew up and all that stuff?"

"I'm telling you, his mindset is all wrong. He's some dirt-poor bastard at heart, so he shouldn't be playing the role of the Apostle of Justice or something. But like an idiot, he doesn't know it."

The overall vibe naturally flowed in the way Michael wanted to. That was the power afforded to the group's leader.

A leader could direct the conversation's flow however he wanted to, then gradually create a common consensus that suited him. Whether they were aware of it or not, the group began minding Michael's mood while badmouthing Su-hyeun.

"Tsk... Whatever. I still don't like it." Michael started walking again while muttering to himself.

His considerable pride got chipped after colliding with Su-hyeun, but that did not mean he could take care of this thing like he always did in the past.

"It's too difficult to get back at Kim Su-hyeun directly. If it's possible, that punk who's supposed to be his older brother..." Michael thought.

It meant that the only option left was to hurt the people around him.

"Mm?"

It was right at that moment Michael's eyes caught the sight of a familiar face in the distance.

Currently, they were in the middle of a deserted avenue.

As for the familiar face, it belonged to a man wearing shabby clothes and carrying a thin but long staff on his back.

"Hey, isn't that punk from earlier?"

"How did he get ahead of us?"

The group murmured among themselves after recognizing Sun Wukong.

However, things like why he was there or how he managed to overtake them didn't matter that much to Michael.

"Actually, this is good."

To him, the only thing that mattered was that Sun Wukong was not with Su-hyeun right now.

"Go and show him the world of hurt," Michael issued a new order, prompting the bodyguards to step forward again.

It was also at that moment that Sun Wukong began muttering to himself, "Mustn't kill... must not kill..."

"Huh?"

"What's up with him?"

"What is he even muttering about?"

Sun Wukong's muttering could be heard so vividly and somewhat ominously, too.

Must not kill, he said.

Despite not emitting any special aura, what Sun Wukong said was enough to send shivers down their spines.

And a short while later...

Pow'”!

"Alright, got it.." Having repeated the same thing over and over again as if he wanted to memorize important homework, Sun Wukong suddenly smacked his fist on his other palm, "I've memorized it now."