SERIES: Awakening with the Power of the King [Revised Edition]
CHAPTER: Awakening with the Power of the King [Revised Edition] Episode 1
PROLOGUE
Human Baek Seung-chan.
Demon Egrit.
Demon King of the Middle Realm.
King of the Lower Realm of the Three Thousand Worlds.
And.
A Demon who defies the fate of the Constellations.
Though called by many names.
My roots were always one.
EPISODE 1
“That child knows nothing yet. Please, I beg you, spare him at least.”
She struggled to save Seung-chan by any means necessary. However, the response that followed was cold.
“You know that’s impossible.”
“……!!”
“A creature that should never have been born has been born, so it must be killed.”
The man looked at the woman and grinned.
Terrified.
Seung-chan trembled, but he could not run away.
The strange pressure radiating from the man kept his body frozen.
He struggled to roll his eyes.
It was a man in a white suit with long hair.
A scar running across his upturned lips caught his eye.
A moment later, the woman attempted a Demon Transformation as a final act of defiance, but.
*Slash.*
It happened in an instant.
He hadn’t even seen where the man drew his sword from.
In the blink of an eye, a scream echoed.
*Thud.*
The woman collapsed.
A terrified Seung-chan burst into tears and screamed.
Wiping his blood-stained blade with a handkerchief taken from his pocket, the man approached.
“Little one.”
“*Sob*…….”
“What is your name?”
“Baek…… Seung…… chan…….”
A trembling voice.
Sobbing, Seung-chan spat out his own name.
“You’re still so young.”
Crushed by the overwhelming pressure.
All Seung-chan could do was cry.
“Do you want to live?”
The man wore a sinister smile.
The scar that stretched with his grin made him look even more malevolent.
“Let me live…… please…….”
He was sincere.
Because he truly wanted to live.
Because he was afraid of dying like the woman.
“Please…… let me…… live…….”
He begged for his life.
“Oh dear. That’s a shame.”
“……!!”
“I’ve been ordered to kill you.”
The man’s eyes turned blue.
He thrust his sword toward Seung-chan.
“Return to where you belong.”
The blade glinted.
An artifact imbued with the mana of a top-tier Hunter flashed.
There seemed to be no way for a mere five-year-old Seung-chan to stop it.
Or so it should have been.
*Whoosh!!*
Suddenly, flames soared.
*Rumble.*
The flames formed a barrier.
And.
*Crack!*
The sword, unable to pierce the barrier, snapped in two.
“What the……!!”
The man’s relaxed face stiffened.
[You insignificant bug.]
A voice that sent shivers down the spine of anyone who heard it.
It was Seung-chan’s voice, yet it was not his own.
[This brat is my prey.]
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.*
The flames became a pillar.
The pillar of fire, with Seung-chan as the medium, annihilated everything around it.
Along with the sensation of his entire body burning, the man’s shouts faded away.
And Seung-chan knew that he always woke up from his dream here.
This wasn’t the first time he’d had this dream.
It was a recurring nightmare that had repeated countless times over the last twenty years.
*Brrr, brrr-*
Seung-chan opened his eyes at the sound of the alarm.
It felt like he had just closed them, but it was already seven o’clock.
“Ugh…….”
Seung-chan groaned at the unpredictable flow of time.
He turned off the blaring alarm and rolled out of bed.
“Ha…… a first-period class on a Monday…….”
How did his course registration end up like this?
‘If I dawdle, I’ll be late.’
Cursing himself, he finished a quick shower and changed his clothes.
[I’m leaving first. Eat the toast before you go.]
There was a note left by Hyun-ah on the dining table.
Hyun-ah had become a high school senior this year.
Under the guise of mandatory night study sessions, she lived a life of coming home late and leaving early.
Though they were siblings, her concept of time was entirely different from Seung-chan’s, whose habits were irregular.
“Hmm…… what a hassle…….”
He wanted to skip breakfast and leave, but Hyun-ah’s note weighed on his mind.
In the end, confirming he had a slim margin of time, Seung-chan brewed coffee and toasted bread with practiced movements.
“Strawberry jam is a must for toast.”
After finishing his breakfast of jam-covered toast and coffee, he stood in front of the entryway.
“I’m off.”
Even knowing no answer would come.
“…….”
After waiting for a moment, Seung-chan left the house.
* * *
If one were to name the most famous university in South Korea today, Chamberlain University would be mentioned.
Full tuition waivers for all admitted students. Tuition waivers for graduate school. Internship support at leading global companies.
These were just a few of the various benefits provided.
All of this was possible because Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, considered the wealthiest man in the UK, served as the chairman of the foundation.
The reason he established a university in this small corner of Asia was unknown, but the response was certain.
Over the past twenty years, astronomical sums of money had been invested in the university.
By hiring world-renowned scholars as professors and offering exceptional benefits to students, it had emerged as a world-class university that countless applicants vied for every year.
That was why it had taken Seung-chan four attempts to finally get accepted.
“Baek Seung-chan, third year, Department of Human History.”
“Yes.”
Seung-chan, who had arrived just in time for attendance, sat in an empty seat in the center.
Despite it being a first-period class, quite a few seats were filled.
‘That’s an incredible attendance rate.’
It was a three-credit elective course, not even his major.
‘Alien Ecology Report’ was unexpectedly popular among students from other departments.
It wasn’t because of the professor’s fame or because it was an easy grade.
On the contrary, for a general elective, it was known for having an excessive amount of assignments and study material, and the exams were notoriously difficult.
Even so, countless students.
No, countless male students were desperate to take this class because of two female students.
Lee Ji-eun, a member of the popular idol group Girl Crush, and Han Jae-hee, the campus goddess of Chamberlain University.
Coincidentally, both of them were taking this class.
Lee Ji-eun and Han Jae-hee.
It wasn’t hard to find the two women.
‘Their eyes are all wrong.’
Most of the male students in the lecture hall were staring at them.
‘They badmouthed her behind her back, yet now they’re falling for her?’
He recalled the news that Lee Ji-eun had stepped down from an entertainment program due to a conflict with a senior and was currently in self-reflection.
Ultimately dragged down by a witch hunt from public opinion, she had announced a hiatus and returned to school.
The returned Chamberlain University goddess, Lee Ji-eun, and the unofficial campus goddess, Han Jae-hee.
The male students were ecstatic at the miracle of seeing both of them in one lecture hall.
‘Quite a spectacle.’
Shaking his head once, Seung-chan focused on the lecture.
Alien Ecology Report.
This course, which seemed to deal with absurd content at first glance, was a subject opened by Professor Kang Jin-woo, who was famous in the domestic field of cloning biology.
“Let us view and evaluate unknown entities from an objective perspective.”
These words revealed Professor Kang Jin-woo’s values.
That was why students from other departments insisted on taking his lectures.
“Those of you who took my class last semester will already know.”
He wrote a single word on the blackboard.
Demon (妖魔).
“Weird Demon. The dictionary definition states, ‘A mysterious, malevolent spirit that possesses or devours humans.’”
Responses that were neither positive nor negative erupted from here and there.
“As you all know, Demons are integrated into our daily lives. The easiest way to distinguish those who are indistinguishable from humans in appearance is through food.”
He paused here for a moment and looked around at the students. Fortunately, no one was dozing off from the start.
“Human food. Even chicken, often called ‘God-Chicken’ to us, would be nothing more than chewing on a rubber tire to them. That’s how different their dietary habits are from ours. So, I’ll ask a basic question. What is their staple food?”
When Professor Kang Jin-woo asked abruptly, answers of “Humans” popped up here and there.
Even though the response seemed playful, Professor Kang Jin-woo smiled and nodded.
“Correct. As the dictionary definition suggests, Demons sustain their lives by eating humans. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say they cannot eat anything but humans. Because their DNA is structured differently from ours.”
The students began to murmur at his words.
“Is it really certain that a life form called a Demon exists?”
“Weren’t they born from genetic cloning experiments?”
“There’s also an opinion that it’s just a way to express fear of psychopathic serial killers.”
Even the students taking the class were doubting the existence of Demons.
Unlike zombies, whose existence had been proven through drug experiments, Demons floated around as urban legends with no clear physical evidence.
“Couldn’t we just call them zombies or vampires instead of Demons?”
“Now, now, I know what you all want to say.”
Professor Kang Jin-woo seemed accustomed to such reactions from students.
“I am approaching this strictly from a biological perspective, so I would like you to momentarily forget perspectives from other fields while you listen. In my class, a detective’s sharp eye will be more helpful than a critical one. Let’s exercise our imaginations.”
As the atmosphere in the lecture hall began to settle, Seung-chan let out a small sigh.
This was Chamberlain University, considered the best in Korea.
‘Is this the only level of lecture available regarding Demons?’
An undergraduate elective, not a graduate research lab class.
Perhaps it was strange to expect more.
It was also the moment it became clear that the majority of them had registered for this class just to see Lee Ji-eun and Han Jae-hee.
Professor Kang Jin-woo calmly continued.
“Since the topic of diet has come up, let’s talk about the recent serial murder cases.”
He projected several photos on the screen, stamped with the logos of newspapers and broadcasting stations.
Photos, neatly mosaicked, were flipped through one after another.
“There was an announcement that the corpses found at the scene had traces of being ‘torn apart by something.’”
“Professor. Are you suggesting that is also the work of a Demon?”
One of the students asked, but Professor Kang Jin-woo only offered a faint smile.
“The police have announced that it’s the sadistic nature of a serial killer, but I am certain that this incident, too, is the work of a Demon.”
The lecture hall began to buzz with murmurs once again.
“After all, it is biological common knowledge that genes and hormones affect human reason.”
Professor Kang Jin-woo posed a few additional questions.
After Seung-chan and a few other students provided answers and follow-up questions were exchanged, the class finally came to an end.
“Doesn’t this class give you the creeps?”
Sang-hyuk, who had approached while Seung-chan was packing his bag, asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You know. From the morning, it’s been zombies, vampires, Demons. And now, even a serial killer.”
Sang-hyuk made a look of utter disgust.
“It’s enough to kill my appetite completely.”
“Mr. Sang-hyuk.”
“Yeah?”
“Then why on earth did you sign up for a class that doesn’t even suit you?”
“Well, obviously…”
Sang-hyuk looked past Seung-chan and flashed a devious grin.
Seung-chan didn’t need to turn around to know he was looking at Ji-eun and Han Jae-hee.
“You lunatic. You know that with the recent serial killings, stalking is being punished quite severely, right?”
“I’m a pure fan, as far as I’m concerned.”
“…….”
“As a fellow student, I’m just admiring their beauty. Heh heh.”
“I don’t know why the serial killer hasn’t snatched up a guy like you yet.”
“Hey, can you really say that after looking at my build?”
Seung-chan shook his head, and Sang-hyuk flexed his thick arm muscles.
“Serial killers are just cowards who attack from behind because they aren’t confident enough to face someone head-on. If one ran into me, they wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Despite his indifferent response, it wasn’t entirely wrong.
For all his lighthearted behavior, his body was conditioned by constant weightlifting and mixed martial arts.
‘He’s certainly not the size that an average person could threaten.’
If anything, it was Seung-chan’s appearance that made him an easier target for others.
Standing 178cm tall with a light frame of 65kg.
Sang-hyuk always teased Seung-chan about his slender build, claiming he lacked any muscle.
He’d say that Seung-chan wouldn’t even be able to beat a local high schooler, let alone a serial killer.
“If you ever get beaten up by some high schoolers, call your big brother, okay? You know, the law is further away than you think.”
Every time, Seung-chan would just laugh it off.
“Still, that serial killer needs to be caught soon. If things keep up like this and our ladies decide to take a leave of absence…”
“And then?”
“I’ll die of heartbreak.”
“You lunatic.”
Despite the sigh he let out, Seung-chan couldn’t help but agree with Sang-hyuk.
* * *
Past midnight.
Seung-chan was walking through an alleyway alone.
Perhaps it was because of the many gruesome incidents lately?
Not a single person was to be seen in the alley.
Only the moonlight from the night sky faintly illuminated the path.
“I think I’ve walked quite a bit.”
Seung-chan, who had been walking with his hands in his pockets, muttered softly.
He had already been pacing the surrounding alleys for three hours.
“…….”
Just then.
He stopped in his tracks, sensing a murderous intent.
The corners of Seung-chan’s mouth curled upward.
“Finally found you.”
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