Chapter 7

Beginning of the War (2)

Kang-jun continued to explore the streets, looking for people with darkness drifting from them.

After some time.

Kang-jun found a group of men standing in front of a large building. They gave off a rough impression and Kang-jun instantly guessed what they were.

‘Gangsters!’

In particular, the man in his early 30s and wearing a red suit had eyes as sharp as a knife.

‘Expert!’

He knew not to mess with him. Kang-jun could instinctively feel the strong skills of the man in the red suit.

‘Hrmm.’

But he had nothing to fear from gangsters.

Black magic was invincible. If black magic absorbed energy then they would be too weak to stand. Kang-jun stared at the man and immediately used black magic.

‘······?’

But the man was strangely fine.

At the same time, some messages appeared.

[The target has resisted.]

[Black magic energy has failed to be collected.]

Unbelievable! Resistance!

[People with excellent mental and physical skills will be able to resist.]

[Then you can open the battle field and compete in a fight against the target.]

[Large amounts of black magic energy can be absorbed if you win. However, you will be deprived of a large amount of black magic energy if you lose.]

[Would you like to open the battle field? Yes/No]

[Opening the battle field will consume 1 black magic energy.]

‘Battle field?’

Victory meant collecting a lot of black magic energy while defeating meant losing a large amount! If so, he had to be really careful.

‘No! He is an opponent that I can’t beat right now.’

Fighting a losing battle was madness!

Kang-jun decided not to open the battle field.

At that moment.

He felt something strange? The red suited man was staring at Kang-jun.

‘Yikes!’

Kang-jun turned quickly like nothing had happened but the other man walked towards him.

“You over there. Look at me for a moment.”

Kang-jun stopped and turned his head.

“Me?”

“Yes.”

The man looked Kang-jun up and down before saying.

“Check his body to see if there is a weapon.”

“Yes, Hyung-nim.”

Some men ran up and examined Kang-jun’s clothes. They even made sure to remove his shoes.

“There is nothing, Hyung-nim.”

Then the man in the red suit frowned. He seemed uncertain about something before asking Kang-jun again.

“What did you want?”

“Huh?”

“Why were you staring at me?”

“I was looking, not staring.”

“So why were you looking?”

The eyes of the man were cold as Kang-jun replied without any embarrassment.

“I was just wondering if you were a celebrity.”

“Celebrity?”

“Your clothes are flashy and you have a handsome face. I apologize if I offended you.”

The man’s expression show that he thought it was absurd.

“Is that really the reason?”

“Yes.”

“You are a lucky bastard. Release him.”

“Yes, Hyung-nim.”

The man holding Kang-jun’s arms released him.

“You bastard! Today you are lucky.”

“If you do something like this again, your eyes will be pulled out.”

Kang-jun turned and limped away.

The man in the red suit laughed at the sight. He had felt an creepy yet worrisome feeling from Kang-jun.

‘I stressed over a cripple. I must have been over-reacting.’

Meanwhile, Kang-jun placed a hand on his chest.

The man in the red suit didn’t know about black magic but had obviously sensed something. As a result, he almost died. If he hadn’t said those words about being a celebrity then it was likely his eyes would be plucked out and then he would be beaten.

‘I need to be more careful about who I use black magic on in the future.’

This happened because he was too weak.

He needed to open the door to Hwanmong and raise his level. He would reach a level where he was strong enough to win again the red suited man.

‘You will see soon. Bullying me. What? Pull out my eyes?’

Kang-jun memorized the faces of the red suited man and his henchmen. He would make them aware of it in the future. Today he wouldn’t touch them.

Since then, Kang-jun only targeted those he was confident about as targets for the black magic.

He targeted the thugs and bullies as secretly as possible.

So after exploring the streets at night for a while?

[Black Magic Energy 100/100]

Before he knew it, all the black magic energy had been filled.

New messages immediately appeared in front of Kang-jun.

[Enough black magic energy has been gathered to open the door to Hwanmong.’

[The door to Hwanmong will open when you sleep.]

‘Huh?’

Kang-jun was puzzled by the unexpected words that appeared about the door to Hwanmong. What did it mean by the door opening when he slept?

Sleeping would open the door to Hwanmong. But why would it open when he slept?

‘Come to think of it!’

Perhaps in his dreams?

Hwanmong! (Empty dream)! It made sense when thinking of the meaning of the word. 

Kang-jun hurried back to his goshiwon. He washed himself and immediately lay on the bed.

But sleep didn’t come easily.

It was 3 a.m. His normal routine meant he usually went to sleep at 9 a.m.

‘It isn’t easy trying to force myself to sleep. Maybe I should take a sleeping pill.’

It might be helpful to falling asleep. However, there was no where to buy sleeping pills this early in the morning.

‘I don’t know. I will close my eyes and eventually fall asleep.’

He pretended to sleep for a long time until it hit 5 a.m.

[The door to Hwanmong is open.]

[Mission 1 has been accomplished.]

The door to Hwanmong opened and the first mission was complete.

Kang-jun was surprised as he heard a voice.

Was this a dream? Reality?

‘Then this place is…?’

Kang-jun instinctively felt like he was in his goshiwon.

A cramped room. But it was strangely empty. His single bed, desk and even TV couldn’t be seen.

What was going on?

He was even wearing unfamiliar clothes. The mysterious clothes had a rough feeling as he touched it.

‘What is this? Dream?’

Of course it was a dream.

Improbable things could happen in a dream.

Sure enough.

[You have to entered the world of Hwanmong.]