Junhyuk listened to the wyvern debrief with his eyes closed. If the managers had sent dragons, they would’ve sent them to South Korea to activate more people.

However, the dragons hadn’t come. Instead, the managers had put waves of another monster together, and those waves had killed numerous people.

The estimated death toll was of over a hundred thousand people. Of the thirty-two cities, some had been late in receiving help, and those cities had practically vanished. Even when people were evacuated to shelters, they were killed.

There were countless dead.

“I’m looking for newly-powered people. More of them are showing up, and Guardians is getting more powered volunteers than ever,” Eunseo said.

“How many?”

“Right now, 122 novices and 12 experts have stepped forward.”

“That’s a lot.”

“I’ve only contacted eight cities so far. Once I get through more of them, we’ll get many more people.”

More than 100,000 people had died, but the number of people who had activated powers had also increased. More of them had appeared than expected.

Junhyuk thought he had thrown a wrench in Eltor’s plans, but things had happened just like the manager had wanted. To stop Eltor, he needed a change.

“We’ll train these new recruits. They are fresh, so they’ll need the training.”

Powered people could cause problems, and the consequences of that would be dire. He had to gather them all in South Korea to train them himself.

Aside from training them, Junhyuk also had to come up with ways to fight the monsters.

Shaking his head, he got up. Soon, the Champions’ Battlefield match would take place, and Junhyuk wanted to watch it.

“Today is Friday. A lot of our forces will be summoned. Let’s rest for the day.”

“Sure.”

Novices and experts were summoned every two weeks, and champions were summoned every week. For that reason, Junhyuk had divided them into active and inactive teams depending on the weeks they were summoned.

Junhyuk left, and Sarang followed him.

“Did you bet on Ling Ling again?”

“Yes. I listened to you and bet less than last time: 100,000G.”

“That’s good.”

Junhyuk had placed a larger bet than her, but everybody had to know their own budget and bet accordingly.

He waved goodbye at Sarang, and she said, “If you are going to watch the battle, I should go with you.”

“Where to?”

“Your room.”

“I have to shower first.”

“I’ll do that as well.”

Junhyuk sighed and said, “You can’t use my bathroom.”

“Hmm.. Can’t be helped. I’ll use Elise’s bathroom, but we should watch the match together.”

Junhyuk could do nothing but laugh. The viewing rooms were separate, so he didn’t have to accompany her. On top of that, time on Earth would stop. All he had to do was close his eyes and open them, and everything would be over by then.

He couldn’t understand her, but Sarang insisted.

“Do as you please.”

Sighing, he went into his room. Sarang contacted Elise through her orb and got permission to use her bathroom.

He took a quick shower and walked out. When he left the bathroom, he saw Sarang with her hair wet lying on his bed. Junhyuk simply laughed.

Sarang hadn’t slept in two days, and now, she was doing it soundly. Junhyuk sighed, covered her with a blanket and sat on a chair.

Elise had lain in his bed, and now, Sarang was lying on it.

While he chuckled, a bright light blinded him, and he arrived at the viewing room. Ariel was waiting for him there.

[Welcome! Shall I start?]

Junhyuk nodded and sat down. The Champions’ Battlefield appeared. The humans had won their first round, and he was sure they wouldn’t lose this one.

Jeffrey’s powers were superior to the others’. On the Champions’ Battlefield, items were incredibly important, but when both sides were even on items, individual powers tipped the scale.

The human champions were stronger than ever. Their items were much better now. They had survived through different battles, enabling them to earn gold and get new items.

They won easily. Aleksei died multiple times, but Ling Ling and Jeffrey were overpowering. Because Jeffrey could pull enemies during team battles, he became deadly. He was almost invincible in single combat. Junhyuk was sure that Jeffrey could kill heroes now.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t call Jeffrey to his team. Because Elise was a champion now, he could only add an expert to fight with him.

The humans won their battle, and Junhyuk smiled. He had won gold, which was a good thing.

He turned to Ariel, and she calculated his earnings, [You had placed a 150,000G bet. Minus commission, the net bet was for 142,500G. With returns at 1.5, minus the winnings commission, you earned 203,063G.]

Junhyuk hadn’t done anything but place a bet, and he had gained all that. Normally, he would have to sell items to earn that kind of gold. This time, however, he didn’t have to kill any heroes for it.

Looking at Ariel, he said, “I want to return now.”

[Sure! See you next week!”]

“Sure.”

Suddenly, the blinding light pounded against his eyes. When he opened them slowly, he saw that Sarang was still sleeping.

He looked at her calmly and noticed that she was snoring, but he didn’t believe it. He had just finished viewing the Champions’ Battlefield, and she had slept through it?

Junhyuk flicked her forehead.

“c.r.a.p!”

Sarang got up suddenly, and he told her, “Stop playing.”

“Mmm… I want to sleep in your bed.”

Junhyuk grabbed her by the ear and said, “You don’t have time for jokes. Go work on your project.”

“That’s too much!” she complained, but she got up from the bed. By finishing her project, Sarang would give them an even bigger chance.

“You know how important your project is.”

“Sure, sure.” She had given up on it, but her complaints continued, “We aren’t enjoying our lives.”

“You need to graduate from high school before you can talk like that.”

Sarang was known as a hero to the world, but she was still a minor, and Junhyuk pointed that out.

She left, complaining all the way out, and Junhyuk yawned. The champions’ match was over, so it was time for him to work.

He would keep training all through Sat.u.r.day and meet the newly powered on Sunday morning. They would come from all over the world: 212 novices and 32 experts.

While those people had activated powers, 132,000 people had died, and Junhyuk could sense the rage within their eyes, the rage toward the monsters.

They had lost family and friends, and many of them had volunteered to join Guardians. Looking at them, he said, “Nice to meet you. I’m the Dark Knight.”

Everyone stared at him.

“The most recent waves killed a lot of people, but also resulted in many people activating powers.”

Junhyuk felt their bloodl.u.s.t. It wafted from the group as a whole.

“Guardians will take the lead in the fight against monsters, but you will need training. Are you ready?” he asked, feeling the surge in their bloodl.u.s.t. To that feeling, he nodded slowly.

“I understand what you’re thinking. Today, you’ll begin training. Follow your instructors.”

They weren’t an army, but for training purposes, Junhyuk required instructors. They were all people Junhyuk had selected from the veteran powered.

As they left for their training rooms, Junhyuk turned to Lucy and asked, “Do you know about their powers?”

“Yes.”

“Can any of them stand up to a dragon with their powers?”

“None of them are capable of that yet.”

“Give me the report on their powers, and I’ll see if any are useful.”

Junhyuk took the report from Lucy and went to watch them train. He looked over the report on his tablet. A few powers had made him curious, but he knew none of them could stand up to dragons.

“We need teams to support attack teams.”

Travelling to thirty-two places with a single team had taken too long. He had hurried, but the team had still taken two days clearing everything. So, Junhyuk would divide them into more teams.

In the worst case scenario, he and Sarang could split. Thanks to her ultimate, Sarang wouldn’t die on Earth, and with two teams, they could respond to things much quicker.

The champions should also help out more. With enough time, Junhyuk would be able to kill any and all monsters, but he could be more efficient with the champions.

“I’ll get those ready. How many people should comprise each expert team?”

“At least four people, and give them all the equipment they need.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Take care of them.”

Lucy would handle it, which meant that Junhyuk would have free time for himself. He wouldn’t spend it enjoying life. Instead, he would work harder.

When he turned around to leave, he saw Sarang’s projection.

“Big Brother! I’ve finished it!”

She was holding a red orb with a dragon’s heart encased within it