Mr. Choi glanced at him and asked, "What's that?"
Lee Seung replied, not taking his look off the phone, "It's just the name that people have given my 'team'."
Lee Seung watched the video over and over again. As he wanted, his face wasn't captured clearly which meant that people didn't know his identity.
The clones' cases were different; they wore nose masks and caps.
Meanwhile, at the gym where Lee Seung trained, a slim lady with long golden hair and a curvy figure lifted the hundred-pound barbell with one hand. And placed her phone on the other hand, watching the video posted online.
The gym manager stared at her and he rubbed his chin. "I am still wondering how a slim lady can lift this barbell. Besides, it's not like she has big muscles."
Placing the barbell on the floor, the lady navigated to the comment section of the video and commented that, 'Nice work, fellow Hunters.'
Later on, she walked to the manager's side.
"Merry Christmas in advance, Miss Eunji," the man said, smiling widely.
The lady, Kim Eunji, didn't say anything to him and left the gym. Meanwhile, the man didn't feel embarrassed since that's how she does always.
"Let me resume watching the video of Neuro Disruptor. That lady made me pause it earlier," the man said and chuckled, sitting before his laptop.
* * *
Mr. Choi parked in front of Seung's house. Before Seung got out, he said, "Mr. Lee, Merry Christmas in advance."
Lee Seung's face turned sadly immediately. He cleared his throat and got out of the car, leaving Mr. Choi bewildered.
The man asked, somehow feeling guilty, "Did I...did I say anything wrong? I am-"
"That's not the matter, Mr. Choi," Seung said with a wry smile. He raised his brows, sighing loudly. "It's just that Christmas is an unforgettable day for me. I just...I just prefer not to celebrate it."
Later on, Lee Seung walked up the stairs to his doorstep. His heart felt extremely hot as though it was on fire. He clenched his fist as he grappled with the memories of the past.
Seung said to his clones, frankly, "I want you guys out of my sight. Go work out at the gym."
The clones complied, running down the stairs.
'Oh man, why did he make mention of the festival?'
Lee Seung entered his apartment and laid flat on the sofa, facing the ceilings. He switched on his phone, and saw a broadcast.
He decided to watch it; but in the end, it was all about Christmas as well.
The broadcaster was a woman. She said, "Five years ago, on December twenty-fifth, humanity began war against monsters and a lot of people lost their family to it. Therefore, tomorrow is an unforgettable day for us. However, it's still-"
Out of anger and frustration, Lee Seung flung his phone to one side of the couch.
He groaned, rising to his feet, "Not in the world am I making this year any different! It's on that kind of day my parents got killed by monsters!"
Anger surged through him as he uttered that statement.
"I lost my family, home and happiness to the war! I lost everything at the time I needed them most! Why...why the hell must the godforsaken festival be honoured?!"
In that moment, the screen opened involuntarily. Lee Seung was bewildered but at the same time, interested in what it displayed.
[An external mana flowed into your body and has been blocked. Please check it out in the 'Residue' icon.]
Seung was more surprised. It later came to him that the mana was the one he felt when savouring the monster's head earlier.
He calmed himself and said, "Okay, navigate to Residue icon."
The screen switched to the icon, and the image of a reddish stone was shown there. Lee Seung knew right away that the AI stopped the energy from flowing in him and moulded it into that stone. What an extraordinary thing!
"My stats would have increased if the mana flowed into me," Seung said. He asked out of curiosity, "Why then was it blocked? Can't I get powerful with an external material?"
[The mana of monsters can corrupt an Hunter's special abilities and turn them completely powerless.]
"Oh, I didn't know it's that dangerous."
[Subject can't utilise it, likewise his clones.]
[However, the mana can be used to upgrade weapons.]
'Maybe my dagger will feel more lighter if I upgrade it,' he thought. He then took the weapon out of his backpack, placed beside his monitor. He said, "Upgrade this for me."
[Weapon scanning complete.]
The dagger turned into smoke and vanished into the screen. Seung's mouth was agape as he saw that, completely flustered.
A few seconds later, the dagger reappeared in his hand. Then the screen displayed that Seung could keep the weapon in an icon called Inventory and summon it when he needs it.
"Really?" He mumbled and later decided to do so.
The screen displayed that,
[Please designate a summoning statement.]
This made him remember the day he was asked to do the same to summon his first clone. Thankfully today, he wasn't in a rush so he would choose a fancy statement.
"Uhnn..."he racked his brain, rubbing his chin. On thinking of one, he grinned and said, "Shadow Blade!"
[Saved.]
[Shadow Blade has been assigned a skill — Shadow Manipulation]
[Shadow Manipulation: A skill capable of absorbing and channeling shadows for stealthy attacks.]
Seung was excited to realise his dagger had became stronger too. Later on, he kept it in the Inventory and decided to take a nap, unaware he would fall into a deep sleep.
* * *
The sun shines brightly. Birds chirped in all directions, waking Seung from his sleep.
As usual, he drank a cup of water and brushed his teeth. It was another day yet his clones hadn't returned from the gym. He placed a call to the first clone, ordering them to come back home.
Afterwards, he packed his clothes and put his monitor in a large bag, already leaving the house.
Seung called Mr. Choi and said, "Good morning, sir. Could you please come to my house? I need your help with something."
A few minutes later, the man arrived and Seung told him he was moving to another apartment. Mr. Choi offered to give him a lift.
As Mr. Song promised a day ago, he joined them too. And then, the three of them and Seung's clones headed to the new apartment, situated at an estate called Starfall.
Seung's new house was a single-story duplex, having two rooms and a relatively small-sized compound.
He intentionally rented a house with two rooms because he wanted to have a personal gym.
In front of his house was a condominium with a large rooftop.
A week later, it was finally Christmas day. Of course, he doesn't celebrate but he had somewhere he usually visit on a day like that.
He got into a brown leather jacket and ordered a flower from a store.
Knock....knock...
"I'm coming," Seung said and opened the door.
"Good morning. You are Mr. Lee Seung, right?"the delivery man asked him and he agreed. "This is your package."
"Oh, thank you, sir," he said as he collected the flower bouquet from him. As the man left, he exited the house as well, locking the door.
Just at the moment, he heard sirens and countless revving of cars.
"What's going on?"
A powered bike sped so fast down the street that he couldn't even see it moving. Seung immediately knew that the driver was a metahuman like himself.
Consequently, five police cars revved after the bike, driving as fast as they could.
'So metahumans are using their powers in an illegal way now? That's bad,' Seung thought as he walked towards another bike parked by the side of the road.
He knew there wasn't a chance the police men could catch an awakened criminal — they won't ever match the incredible speed.
Seung jumped on the bike, tightly gripping the flower bouquet in his hand. He said, "Thankfully, I am here at the moment."
'Activate Light Speed.'
[Light speed activated.]
Mysteriously, the wheels rolled at a very fast speed. Lee Seung then accelerated forward.
In no time, he got ahead of the polices and then, closed the distance between the criminal and himself.
"Hey, buddy!" Seung said to the strong-bodied man. If he got it right, the man was in his 40's.
"What?!"the man yelled at him. "In case you don't know, I ain't scared of -"
Seung cut in, "I'm sorry, old man. But I am going to hand you over to the police now."
The man cackle, mockingly. "Haha, how can a frail-looking kid like you do that? Let's see if you can catch up with my speed first."
After saying that, the man sped fastly ahead.
Seung smirked, and said, "That's too easy."