The afternoon sun was shining brightly. Today was the day of the high school selection competition.
Students stood outside in a long queue. Teachers and staff were busy with the preparations for the event. Some of the students in the line were wiping the sweat off their faces. The heat was unbearable and the line was moving forward with difficulty.
One of them started complaining that the registration was taking far too long. He felt as if they would be stuck here forever.
Another student said this was exactly how it should be. His death had lit a fire in everyone's hearts. That was why so many people today felt that they could become the next Yan Hanu. Today's competition seemed much more intense than usual.
Some of the students nearby were even more excited. One of them said confidently that Yan Hanu had come into his dream last night, as though to encourage him. The others nodded solemnly, as if they really ought to believe it.
They did not realise that the real Yan Hanu was already there.
At that moment he was sitting comfortably on a nearby bench. In the fierce heat, he watched the crowd around him and drank slowly from a bottle. Students passed by him without a second look. Obviously, nobody knew who he actually was.
Woojin was thinking that getting himself registered early in the morning had been the right decision. At least he had not had to stand in that long line outside.
But another problem was troubling him. There was only a little cash left in his pocket. Today he might be SSS rank, but that did not mean he would immediately receive any cash or reward. His financial situation was not going to improve soon. Lately he had genuinely been afraid that he might have to sleep on the road tonight.
He sat quietly, and while he was eating, a group of students passed by, talking loudly. The conversation soon turned to Yan Hanu.
Their so-called leader made fun of him, blowing him off as somebody who had just liked being cool in front of everyone. He kept complaining that the news was saying the same thing again — that another Yan Hanu was expected to appear in this competition. As if not enough people had died already.
One of his tall, broad friends immediately agreed. They had no idea that the real Yan Hanu was eating quietly a few steps away from them.
The group kept talking. One said that Hanu had only seemed powerful because of his equipment. If we had the same equipment, he said, we would have broken heaven and earth too.
Another student said that to use that equipment properly you needed SSS rank ability and strength. But a third immediately stopped him. Friend, do not defend a traitor.
And now, because of the lies spread by his group, the public had really started believing that story. The older student laughed and said something more insulting. Did that man think he was some kind of saviour? Maybe it was main character syndrome.
The whole group burst out laughing.
At that very moment another student suddenly came forward. A blond boy wearing big glasses. He looked nervous, but he was clearly angry. He asked them to stop defaming Yan Hanu.
Hearing this, Woojin raised his head a little and began listening with attention.
The boy kept defending him. Before Yan Hanu came, humans had been losing constantly to the fierce beasts. The city had lived in fear of space-time gates opening at any moment. Since the arrival of Yan Hanu, all of that had changed.
Several students stopped nearby and began listening to him.
The leader of the group got irritated. He abused the boy and called him a bastard. It was clear that he could not tolerate anyone who dared to challenge him.
Then the thug smiled and began speaking in a sarcastic tone. Of course Yan Hanu was a great hero of humanity. Then the question was, how had most of the Divine Rhino Corps' SSS rank equipment come into Hanu's hands alone? Why had he so often gone into dangerous areas without any regard for the safety of his colleagues? Because he considered himself very powerful.
Another student jumped in. In the end, Hanu had been a villain who exploited his own team. Someone else said that society needed to break out of this individual hero mindset.
The blond boy began to grow restless. It looked as if he was the only one there who was going to defend Yan Hanu. The crowd around him seemed angry at the subject.
Then the thug leader's eyes fixed on the blond boy. I recognise you, he said. You are the famous Yong Kajun. The son of the SS rank hunter Yong Wui.
Then he said with a smile that it was a great misfortune that such a powerful father had given birth to an F rank waste of space.
Kajun tried to do something. At that the first thug kicked him hard. I will teach you a lesson, he said, so that you stop dreaming about becoming a hero.
The kick was so hard that Kajun fell to the ground. Some of the students standing nearby nodded in agreement. That was what he deserved. And they watched in silence.
Another student felt bad seeing him beaten like this, but he could not afford to be careless. If his identity were revealed, many problems would follow. Especially now, when he was completely penniless and trying to stay unknown.
Meanwhile the thug kept talking. It made no difference to him whether Kajun's father was SS rank or whether the family was wealthy. It did not change the fact that Kajun himself was F rank.
Kajun slowly picked himself up off the ground. He admitted that maybe he really was worthless. But that still gave them no right to insult Yan Hanu.
With determination, he took out his weapon: a wooden stick. Holding it tight, he readied himself to fight. Whatever happened, he would not allow the hero whose biggest fan he was to be insulted.
The leader of the group laughed loudly and pulled out his own weapon. A silver axe.
The difference between the two was absolutely clear. The thug grew even more excited. If you want to fight with a cheap weapon, he said, then today I will lay your foolish dreams to rest.
The students nearby gasped in surprise. Their leader was an actual D rank challenger, and at fifteen years of age that level was very unusual.
The thug began preparing his attack on Kajun. And as he struck, something suddenly hit him. A powerful flying kick landed on him.
Kajun froze in shock. He had not done it.
It was Woojin.