Junhyuk arrived in New Delhi and told the officers to gather all of the powered people who had been waiting for him. He had arrived late due to his visit to South Korea, but that had allowed his team to rest and re-energize.

They were ready, and their eyes beamed with enthusiasm.

Looking at them, Junhyuk said, “Sorry, I’m late. I’ve gathered you here today because I have something to tell you.”

He was speaking calmly.

“Our reward money has arrived. As a thank you for destroying the j.a.panese monster area, they paid us $1 billion. On top of that, as payment for mana stones, bloodstones, monster bodies and other monster materials collected from the area, we’ve received another $2 billion.”

Once he had spoken those words, their eyes widened.

Junhyuk continued evenly, “As a thank you for destroying the Chinese monster area, they paid us $1 billion. However, the Chinese government insisted on giving us a bonus, so they’ve given us another $1 billion for a total of $2 billion.”

The powered people got agitated and started talking among themselves. Junhyuk raised his hand, and they quieted down.

“The Americans are also paying us $2 billion for destroying the New York monster area. So, we are getting a total of $7 billion.”

Looking at the group, he continued, “Pay will be distributed according to your powers. It depends on your level: hero, champion, expert and novice. Novices will get base pay; experts will get twice that; champions will get three times base pay; and heroes will get four times base pay.”

Junhyuk gave them tickets and said, “Those novices who partic.i.p.ated in the j.a.panese monster area destruction will received $420 thousand.”

Everyone’s mouths were agape, and he continued, “Those who became comatose during training will still be paid.”

People were relieved. Even if they died, if their families could receive the money, it would be worth it.

Junhyuk continued quickly, “Those novices who partic.i.p.ated in the destruction of the Chinese monster area will each get $320 thousand. If you partic.i.p.ated in both tear destructions, you’ll be paid for both.”

Everyone gulped. They were making an absurd amount of money in a very short time. Everyone was speechless.

“Those novices who partic.i.p.ated in the destruction of the New York monster area will receive $320 thousand. Those who died in that battle will get the same amount.”

Staring straight at the group, he added, “Don’t die.”

If one didn’t die, one would continue to make money. Instead of thinking about dying, they should be thinking about making more money.

He continued calmly, “We need to train harder, but we also need new members. I’ll recruit more. If we get more, we’ll be safer.”

Looking at Lucy, he said, “Now, we’ll be briefed on the New Delhi situation. Attack Chief Lucy, come forward.”

Lucy stepped forward, gave him a light bow and started explaining the area. While listening to her, he learned about the monsters in India. They were elephants and cows.

Isa Khan’s Tomb in New Delhi was the center of the monster area. An eight-armed, A-ranked elephant monster was stationed there. It reminded him of Ganesha, the Hindu G.o.d.

Junhyuk looked at the photos and said, “We’ll take it easy today, only advancing into the area for light training. We’ll attack on Sat.u.r.day.”

He couldn’t attack on Friday. Some of them might be afflicted by abnormal narcolepsy and never wake up.

Everyone was in agreement, and they all got in the vehicles provided by the Indian government and advanced into the monster area.

The training was easier than he had expected. The powered people had already been to battles, so they had gotten better at reading monster patterns, so n.o.body got hurt.

Junhyuk didn’t push them deep. The Indian government’s task was to lure the monsters to a side of the border, like with other monster areas, and killing those monsters would be his job. He would work hard to make it safe for the rest of the team.

The eight-armed elephant felt like an A-ranked monster, but Junhyuk didn’t know about its powers.

When he returned to the hotel, he showered and ate. The next day, everyone would rest. They had to destroy the monster area as quickly as possible, but they all might die in the Dimensional Battlefield.

Junhyuk couldn’t enter the training facility anymore, so he lay in bed and inspected the core. When he held the core, it responded to the mana within his body.

The core felt like a more powerful energy source than mana, and he had to learn how to use it.

“When will I be able to use it?”

—

As he rested, he focused on the core, but he didn’t learn anything new. Now, it was Friday. Junhyuk had been waiting for that day. His heart raced as the bright light pounded against his eyes.

When he opened them, he saw Ariel.

[Nice to see you again.]

Junhyuk laughed and raised his hand.

“Let’s talk later. I want to meet my team.”

Ariel opened her mouth a few times as if she were about to say something, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she wished him well, [I wish you victory.]

Junhyuk smiled, and as he crossed the threshold, Ariel shouted, [Hero Junhyuk Lee Deployed!]

He quickly walked out. Junhyuk wanted to meet his team. He kept his real appearance in front of the crowd of humans. It was the last round of team selections, and he did not want to hide himself.

The minions whispered among each other, but he ignored them and stepped forward.

Far away, he saw Layla and Sarang. They were greeting each other, and he walked toward them.

“You are already here!”

Sarang smiled and locked arms with Layla.

“I met Layla.”

Junhyuk turned to Layla, who said, “She called me her big sister.”

Layla looked beautiful, and Sarang liked her a lot. Junhyuk laughed and turned around.

“What about the other two?”

Nodding, Layla said, “Someone is coming out now.”

The minions were whispering among themselves instead of making way, and they all heard shouting.

“What the h.e.l.l?!”

“If you want to die, KEEP TALKING!”

With a loud boom, a minion splattered against the ceiling. Junhyuk recognized that voice, and he was very happy to hear it.

“Gon!” he shouted, and Gongon appeared. He used the minions’ heads as footholds, quickly moving forward.

Gongon gave him a big hug, and Junhyuk smiled.

“We meet again.”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha! We are finally on the same team!”

Layla knew how strong Gongon was. Junhyuk was glad to see the hatchling, and he searched his Spatial Bag, pulling out Gongon’s pieces of equipment and giving them to him.

“Take ’em.”

Gongon was a little surprised.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m giving these back to you. You would do the same for me.”

Gongon stared at him and said, “Hm. This won’t make me like you more.”

Gongon took some of the pieces and returned two items to Junhyuk.

“I only need the set items. I brought new items with me to replace the others.”

Junhyuk realized something about Gongon then. Gongon could also make his own items, and his items were probably better than Elise’s.

He wasn’t worried about the dragon.

“Then, I’ll take these.”

That’s when Gongon saw Sarang.

“You are a hero already?!”

“Gon!”

Sarang ran to him and hugged him, and Gongon sighed, looking at Junhyuk.

“We are a team right?”

“Yes.”

Junhyuk looked at Layla and said, “We’ll make a good team.”

Layla laughed.

“My teacher told me about her. She’s special.”

Halo had to have told her about Sarang.

Looking around, Junhyuk asked, “What about our fifth?”

Then, he saw someone else. The man had droopy eyes with huge, dark circles around them. His hair was messy, and he did not look like a hero. On top of that, the man was wearing a suit, which did not suit him.

The man walked toward them. He was about two meters tall. Junhyuk thought he didn’t look like a tank, but he couldn’t guess at the man’s powers.

The man stopped in front of them and smiled, saying, “You are all here already! Sorry, I’m late. I was doing some fortune-telling.”

“Fortune-telling?”

The man extended his hand, and a card showed up. It was the size of a deck card, and when it floated into the air, ten magical runes appeared. The man showed them that he was carrying a hundred cards.

Smiling, he said, “Today will be a good day. My name is Abel.”

Junhyuk didn’t know anything about Abel, so he wanted to find out if he would make a good team member.

“I’m Junhyuk Lee.”

Gongon crossed his arms and said, “I’m Gongon.”

“Layla.”

Abel looked at Sarang.

“Sarang Kim.”

“Oh! The lucky girl!”

Abel seemed to know her, and Sarang was surprised.

“What?”

“I bet on you and got five times my bet! It was very cool!” Smiling, Abel added, “Tell me if you need new equipment. I’ll buy you a piece. I’m willing to spend 200,000G.”

Sarang smiled.

“I won’t refuse your offer!”

She wouldn’t refuse a 200,000G item.

Junhyuk looked at Abel. He couldn’t see his items, which meant that Abel could hide his appearance like him. Junhyuk couldn’t tell anything by Abel’s items, but Abel had bet a lot on Sarang. Even he had not expected her to win.

“Let’s move out.”

Then, Junhyuk heard a familiar voice say, “Wait!”

He turned to look in its direction and saw a woman standing there.

“Elise!”