Many people avoided making eye contact.
There were also those who didn't bother hiding their displeasure, shooting piercing glares.
Even Im Sayeol let out a dry, incredulous laugh.
"Our Imoogi... Looks like the Black Cloud Witch has gotten too full of herself, playing concubine and all."
"What? You son of a bitch!"
At that moment, the flustered Jeon Sujeong lashed out at Im Sayeol with a curse.
"Shut up, you whore!"
Im Sayeol hurled his horn-rimmed glasses aside and abruptly stood up.
Grade 12.
A power held by only five absolute Awakened in South Korea instantly pressed down on Jeon Sujeong's shoulders.
Her face went pale, and her whole body started trembling.
"How dare you throw around your guild's name in a place like this?
Guiding trainees means shaping the future of South Korea.
Beyond that, it's a glorious duty to protect the Earth. And you defile that with some petty affair? You filthy bitch!"
Im Sayeol's fury exploded.
"The Imoogi Guild, including Black Cloud Witch Jeon Sujeong, is banned from serving as instructors for the next three years."
"Who the hell are you to spout that kind of bullshit?!"
Jeon Sujeong screamed, nearly hysterical.
Being an instructor might seem insignificant, but it's actually critical—it's a chance to scout rookies like Yang Soohyeok or Lee Jungwook.
And now they wanted to take that authority completely away from Imoogi?
"I'm the general supervisor of the 56th trainee education program. I made the decision."
"Vote! We need a vote! This is—"
"Ah, right. South Korea. A democratic country."
Im Sayeol, his eyes bloodshot, looked around.
The other instructors quickly glanced at each other, reading the room in this suddenly tense situation.
Which side would they take?
"Let's go with the majority. Is it Baekdusan or Imoogi?"
"Th-that's…"
Jeon Sujeong stammered with a trembling voice.
This wasn't about Im Sayeol versus Jeon Sujeong.
It was Baekdusan versus Imoogi.
From the beginning, that's what this fight was really about.
And the answer was already clear.
Even among the Big Three guilds, not all were equal.
Baekdusan was at the top. The undisputed leader.
Imoogi was at the bottom of the trio.
"Why? Isn't this exactly what you wanted—staking it all on your beloved guild's name?"
Im Sayeol smirked coldly and proceeded with the vote.
Out of the ten instructors, excluding Shahar and Jeon Sujeong, seven sided with Im Sayeol.
This was not just a personal vote—it represented the stance of the instructors' guilds and the Association itself.
Jeon Sujeong, seeing the result with her own eyes, collapsed on the spot.
"Ugh... waaah…"
She sobbed uncontrollably, tears streaming down like a child.
Not a single person spared her a glance.
***
Awakened individuals are beings of power. And most of them gained that power suddenly, like hitting the lottery.
Of course, when someone suddenly gains wealth, they often act cautiously. It might be their only stroke of luck, so they wait for the right moment.
But what if you dug in the ground and found oil gushing to your height?
That's a whole different story. You find ways to protect that oil field, and once you think it's yours, there's no need to be cautious anymore. It's an endless source.
You start using it recklessly—because you can.
Now imagine how it feels to suddenly gain an overwhelmingly powerful ability you can use without restraint.
Put simply, nothing is off-limits in their eyes.
Just like someone striking oil, they want to use their power lavishly.
They want to boast.
But the state—and society—tries to restrain them.
Awakened individuals, by regulation, cannot casually use their powers on ordinary people.
Of course, there are exceptions—criminals who go rogue—but most meet a bad end. The global stance on Awakened crime is extremely strict, matching the severity of their powers.
That's why only South Korea's elite instructors train the trainees: they need to be able to recognize potential at a glance.
It's a warning.
No matter how strong you think you are, you're still a tadpole who hasn't even grown hind legs. Don't get cocky. Understand that the world is dangerous. They use fear to suppress reckless desires.
So how do those desires eventually explode?
If everything goes right—they explode outward—toward portals and monsters.
But sometimes, they explode in the wrong direction.
If humans could always be rational, they'd be perfect. But unfortunately, they're animals too.
So they justify it to themselves.
As long as it's not an ordinary civilian, it's okay.
A little conflict between trainees? That's only natural.
They're human, after all.
They want to show off. They want to feel superior.
It's a basic instinct.
So fights between trainees are surprisingly common.
The fight between Teams 3 and 8 was big, but it didn't get much spotlight—because it wasn't unusual.
Just another trainee squabble.
The only thing that made it different was the instructors' love affair scandal, which stained the institution's honor.
That's why the Association and all the affiliated guilds buried the incident.
Out of embarrassment.
But internally, there was another conversation.
Without making anything public, everyone focused on one person:
Team 8's Yang Soohyeok.
An Awakened with the class of a Warrior.
Far from ordinary.
A super rookie—or more accurately, a hyper rookie—appeared for the first time.
And his background was spotless.
Records showed he had been in a vegetative state since the Portal Impact incident until just recently—proving he had no affiliations or history with anyone.
Everyone wanted a piece of him.
Even with all eyes on him, real-world training continued without pause.
Team 8 was now confidently clearing not just Grade-2 but even Grade-3 portals.
Grade-3s were originally off-limits to trainees.
Only Awakened who had completed all training—and with sufficient talent—could fight monsters in such portals and survive.
But Team 8 was granted access.
Because Shahar pushed for it, and Head Instructor Im Sayeol and others highly valued the team's potential.
While Soohyeok stood out the most, both Jin Changhyeok and Baek Iyeon possessed talent that far exceeded the norm.
Strictly speaking, they were the true rookies.
Shahar had trained the three of them in his own way, doing his utmost—and just over a week later, the effects manifested most strongly in Soohyeok.
"It's time to begin the Geongon Hapil Divine Art."
It wasn't just the result of basic training—Soohyeok had grown stronger as his level rose, and much faster than expected, he reached the first milestone he had set for himself.
He had built the physical foundation required to become a first-rate martial artist.
That very day, Soohyeok returned home, closed the door to his room, and began practicing the Geongon Hapil Divine Art without delay.
"Heaven and Earth are linked by a line; thus, they are two and yet one. And they are three, yet also one."
Reciting the familiar incantation from the martial art engraved in his memory, Soohyeok calmed his breathing. With that, a flow of energy began to stir beneath his navel—at the lower dantian.
It was the solid internal foundation he had built through the Seongto Seoncheongong. The energy slowly made a full circuit around his body, as if inspecting it.
This was the so-called Great Circuit (Daejuchun).
Soon after, the energy began to split.
One became two, and two became three.
Two of the three streams broke off, not toward their origin at the lower dantian, but toward the heart and brain—the middle dantian and upper dantian.
Soohyeok's body, having already cleared the Ren and Du meridians and purged most impurities, was in near-perfect condition—even if not entirely flawless.
The internal energy, now split into three streams due to the Geongon Hapil Divine Art, first moved cautiously—then gained speed like a car accelerating on a well-paved road.
Whoooosh—!
The sound of energy rushing through him echoed in his ears like wind.
In an instant, the energy reached its destination and began to rotate in place.
Drawing circles, it started to build a new home for itself, like a swallow crafting its nest.
This was entirely different from using the naturally-formed lower dantian in the human body.
By all accounts, it was an extremely dangerous process.
If the energy forming the middle dantian in the heart exploded, the heart would rupture, blood flow would stop—and death would be instantaneous.
The upper dantian, located in the brain, was even more precarious.
One wrong move could lead to brain death or turn him into a lunatic.
This demanded immense concentration.
The Geongon Hapil Divine Art required the simultaneous formation of both the middle and upper dantians.
Its difficulty level was extraordinarily high from the start.
Mastery of internal energy at the very least required a martial artist at the pinnacle level—that was the minimum qualification to even begin learning it.
But Soohyeok was different.
He had experience—the memories of being the greatest martial artist on the Hwan Continent still remained with him.
That's why, with a stable physical foundation and the firm internal strength granted by the Seongto Seoncheongong, he was confident that simply seeing the wall that divided a first-rate martial artist from the top tier was enough to begin mastering the Geongon Hapil Divine Art.
And that confidence proved true.
First, a tiny speck, no bigger than a millet grain, took root in his heart—the middle dantian.
Then, in the brain, the swirling energy condensed into an even smaller core, forming the upper dantian.
His body drenched in cold sweat, Soohyeok calmly observed everything as it unfolded.
The condensed energy finally stabilized.
"It's done."
At that moment, blue streams of energy flowed from all three dantians—like thin threads—gently intertwining.
"Phew…"
As Soohyeok exhaled, the entwined blue threads scattered like mist into the air.
A smile crept onto his lips as he opened his eyes.
"Perfect."
At the same time, a now-familiar alarm sound echoed in his mind.
Ding—!
Legendary Discovery.
Divine Ultimate Martial Art!
You have mastered the S-rank technique: Geongon Hapil Divine Art.
This martial art is capable of evolution.
Physical transformation in progress…
Scanning…
"Oho?"
A glint of light flashed in Soohyeok's eyes.
It was a notification sound he had never heard before.
Legendary discovery, divine ultimate martial art, and the phrase "capable of evolution."
"Makes sense. It'd be a shame to rank Geongon Hapil Divine Art as just S-rank."
He could guess why.
The Geongon Hapil Divine Art, beyond mere mastery and stages of enlightenment, had its own breakthrough progression.
The current phase—where all three dantians are formed and linked into one unified body—was only the first stage.
After that came the second and third stages.
On the Hwan Continent, Soohyeok had been crowned with the title Martial Emperor for merely completing the second stage.
And now, given the speed of his progress on Earth, it seemed entirely possible to surpass the third-stage wall he hadn't been able to breach before.
Ding—!
New physical transformation complete. Unified body achieved.
Your internal energy has been divided into the upper, middle, and lower dantians.
Energy density increases with elevation toward the upper dantian.
"Leveling up, huh… Martial God, indeed."