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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 6
The bodyguard stopped in his tracks at the sound of a voice oozing fake sweetness.
Click— Clack—
A middle-aged woman, eerily similar in appearance to Seo Min-chae, approached Dojun with a friendly façade.
‘Hong Hee-joo.’
Min-chae’s mother. Dojun’s stepmother. The wife of his biological father and the one who had made his life hell for 12 long years.
“Mom! Do you know what that bastard just said to me? He—he had the nerve to—!”
“Min-chae, that’s enough.”
Hong Hee-joo cut her daughter off coldly.
“Even if no one’s listening, that’s no excuse to speak so crudely. What kind of manners is that?”
She turned and gave the store employees a pointed look.
Even though they were clearly standing there watching and listening, the unspoken message was clear: Pretend you saw and heard nothing.
“But Mom! He started—!”
“Watch your mouth!”
Her tone snapped like a whip.
“You’re a grown woman. Have some class.”
Min-chae bit her tongue, shooting Dojun a look of pure injustice, but stayed silent under her mother’s sharp rebuke.
Hong Hee-joo then turned her gaze to Dojun.
Her face wore a smile, feigning warmth—but her eyes betrayed her. The same look she always gave him. As if she were looking at filth. Like something crawling on the bottom of her shoe.
“Dojun, it’s been a while. Have you been well? Your father worries about you constantly. Even if you’re busy, it wouldn’t hurt to come home once in a while, would it?”
Honestly? Min-chae was better.
At least she didn’t sugarcoat things. Her emotions were messy and childish, but real.
But Hong Hee-joo? Everything about her was fake—smiles, words, the concern. Dojun had no interest in playing along.
“You’re good at saying things you don’t mean. It’s more nauseating than I expected.”
“……!”
Her carefully painted expression shattered for a moment—genuine shock breaking through the mask.
“What… What did you just say to me? How can you speak to me like that—?”
“Let’s not pretend, yeah?”
Dojun cut her off mid-sentence, not even bothering to hide his disgust.
“It’s not like we’re ever going to smile and exchange pleasantries. Why bother faking it?”
Hong Hee-joo faltered.
She tried to steady her voice, but the sharpness slipped through.
“…So this is the real you. I guess trash can’t help but show its roots.”
Dojun let out a dry scoff.
“And people obsessed with pedigree are usually the ones scraping the bottom themselves.”
Was this really the same Dojun?
The boy she remembered never talked back. Even when she slapped him for no reason, he’d just lower his head and say nothing. That image was burned into her memory.
But this Dojun—this boy who stared her down and threw her own words back at her—felt like a stranger.
And yet, it was undeniably him.
“…I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but this isn’t the time or place. Let’s talk later.”
She cast another sharp look at the store clerks, and as expected, they quickly bowed their heads, pretending not to have seen or heard a thing.
She didn’t have to say a word—her VVIP status spoke for itself.
“Min-chae, let’s go. Don’t just stand there.”
Realizing Min-chae would only further humiliate herself if left behind, Hong Hee-joo pulled her daughter away.
“…Just you wait.”
Min-chae hissed, glaring daggers at Dojun.
But he wasn’t the least bit intimidated.
As the two women disappeared into the distance, Dojun’s eyes narrowed coldly.
‘You’d better wake up soon. The old Seo Dojun—the one who kept his mouth shut and took the abuse—is gone.’
It had been an unexpected run-in, but Dojun felt no fear. He had no reason to back down anymore.
“…Oppa, I need to pee.”
Completely oblivious to the toxic undercurrents between the adults, little Eunyeong tugged his sleeve.
Dojun clicked his tongue softly.
And went to find the restroom.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Mom! Why did you just leave like that? You should’ve crushed that bastard!”
In the car, Seo Min-chae complained bitterly to Hong Hee-joo.
“Do you know what that jerk said to me? He… he said…”
She couldn’t bring herself to say the word “orc” out loud, and instead, tears of frustration welled in her eyes.
“Manager Lee.”
At Hong Hee-joo’s call, the man seated in the passenger seat immediately responded.
“Yes, Ms. Hong.”
“Why is Dojun still alive?”
“As far as we know, Kang Cheol-woo took him into the Gate and left him there alone.”
“Exactly! So why is someone who should be dead still walking around?”
“…I’m sorry. I’ll look into it again.”
“He should be dead? Mom, what are you talking about?”
Min-chae, who had been silently listening, looked at her mother in shock.
“You don’t need to know.”
“Mom! What are you even saying? What the hell are you doing? Were you seriously trying to kill Dojun?”
Hong Hee-joo let out a long, tired sigh—like she'd finally given up pretending.
“…You were really planning to kill him? But didn’t Grandpa and Dad both say to just treat him like he doesn’t exist? That we should just move on with our lives? What if they find out about this?”
“Treat him like he doesn’t exist? And you actually believed that crap? Do you even know what kind of man your grandfather is? If anything ever happens to Min-yul, who do you think he’ll come running to first? You wanna get thrown out again, just like before? You think we can live under the same roof and call that thing ‘family’? Call him your brother? Someone so low-born and filthy?”
Her voice, sharp and laced with resentment and rage, made Min-chae shrink.
“…But still, you didn’t have to go as far as to kill him.”
“Seo Min-chae! Don’t tell me you still…”
“No! It’s not like that! I’m just saying—if something goes wrong later, you might get in trouble! You know how Grandpa is!”
Hong Hee-joo glared coldly at her daughter as she babbled in panic, then let out another sigh.
“Anyway, this is something I’ll handle. You don’t need to get involved. If you’re really worried about me, then don’t go around babbling nonsense, no matter where you are. Got it?”
“…Okay.”
Min-chae replied quietly, turning her gaze out the window.
“Manager Lee, from now on, I want you to monitor everything Dojun does—who he meets, where he goes, everything. And tell Mr. Hwang to put more pressure on him. Does it make any sense that someone who owes us money is out shopping like nothing’s wrong?”
“Understood, Ms. Hong.”
Hong Hee-joo also turned to look out the window, unable to stop thinking about Dojun.
He’d always been a thorn in her side—but now that he was talking back and showing a different attitude, he was more irritating than ever.
‘You dare talk back to me? Filthy little bastard.’
＊ ＊ ＊
The Rifts, and the Gates.
This Earth was nothing like the one he came from—a world that had already fallen.
Originally, this place had no monsters at all.
Then, 10 years ago, Rifts appeared. From those tears in reality, monsters emerged and began slaughtering people.
It happened all over the world, all at once. Chaos spread rapidly. But not everyone was ordinary—those with special abilities, soon called “Heroes,” began to hunt the monsters, and the panic quickly subsided.
After countless failed attempts, humanity finally learned how to manage the Rifts. Once stabilized, these dimensional tears became hunting grounds for monsters—yielding valuable byproducts, especially Mana Stones, a seemingly limitless source of energy. With this newfound power, the world advanced at an astonishing pace.
Dojun knew one thing for certain: if you wanted to make consistent money in this world, you had to go through the Gates.
That didn’t mean he had any desire to become a Hero.
But money doesn’t make itself—and monsters don’t hunt themselves.
“…Guess I don’t have a choice.”
Prying himself away from Eunyeong, who was asking where he was headed, Dojun left the house.
He exited the alley near his place and caught a taxi on the main road.
“Take me to Yeongdeungpo.”
“Got it.”
Dojun had the driver take him to Yeongdeungpo. It wasn’t far from Mapo, so he arrived quickly.
After paying the fare, he headed to a building he remembered from Seo Dojun’s memories.
It was a seven-story building. Dojun went straight to the third floor—to HCS Capital.
“How can I help you?”
The receptionist, a pretty young woman, greeted him.
“I’m here to see Mr. Hwang. Is he in?”
“Did you have an appointment?”
“No.”
“Then may I ask your name?”
“Just tell him Seo Dojun is here. He’ll know.”
She tilted her head slightly, uncertain, then told him to wait a moment and picked up the phone.
“Sir, someone named Seo Dojun is here to see you… Yes, understood.”
She hung up and turned to him.
“You can go in. He’s expecting you.”
Dojun followed her direction and walked into the office.
Click.
He opened the door to find a well-dressed, heavyset man in his mid-fifties sitting behind an expensive-looking desk, wearing a relaxed expression.
“Did I misjudge you?”
Hwang Chang-seop eyed Dojun as he spoke, a hint of amusement in his tone.
“I was just about to send some guys after you, and here you show up on your own. You keep pulling these unexpected moves. I don’t know what to make of it.”
Dojun casually took a seat on the luxurious leather couch in the center of the office. Hwang watched him, amused.
“The more I think about it, the more I feel like I got the short end of the stick.”
“The short end?”
Hwang let out a scoffing laugh.
The guys he’d sent to collect the debt had come back beaten to hell. That alone was insane—but on top of that, they didn’t even bring the money back.
And now, the guy who caused all that had the nerve to waltz in and complain about being the one who’d been wronged? It was, in Hwang’s words, a total shitshow.
“So what exactly do you think you lost here?”
Hwang asked, clearly wanting to see just how far Dojun was willing to push it.
“I think I deserve compensation—for the physical and psychological damage you’ve caused me.”
“Pfft—Hahahaha!”
Hwang burst into laughter, then narrowed his eyes at Dojun.
“Oh yeah? And how do you want me to ‘compensate’ you?”
“I need Hero credentials.”
“…Hero credentials? Don’t tell me—you want me to forge you a Hero license?”
“I like how quick you catch on.”
When Dojun nodded, Hwang let out a dry laugh.
A fake Hero ID? Not just any forged ID—but a ‘Hero’ one? That was no small task.
Still, it wasn’t impossible.
After all, anyone could become a Hero these days, as long as they could prove some level of ability. And now that forced awakening had become possible, technically anyone could attempt it.
But even with forced awakening, fewer than one in a thousand gained enough power to actually hunt monsters.
Even so, people spent fortunes to awaken themselves, hoping for a miracle. And when the results were underwhelming, those people had no choice but to sell off their Hero IDs on the black market.
Hwang Chang-seop had been in the business of trading those identities for a while.
Those fake Heroes were known on the black market as Dark Knights—and the price for that identity was more than twice what forced awakening cost.
“So you want a Dark Knight ID? Do you even know what those go for?”
“Why should I care?”
Dojun’s tone made it clear—he wasn’t paying for it. As far as he was concerned, it was just part of what he was owed.
That actually made Hwang genuinely laugh.
He’d met a lot of people in his line of work, but this level of boldness? It was rare.
Especially from someone like Dojun, who just a few months ago hadn’t even been able to look him in the eye. The transformation was striking.
‘Even if he awakened, it shouldn’t have changed him this much…’
Hwang figured Dojun must’ve had his awakening inside a Gate.
That would explain how his collectors got wrecked. And how Dojun suddenly had the guts to come see him like this.
Still, to Hwang, Dojun seemed like just another naive kid who didn’t understand how the world worked.
He smirked at Dojun’s forced air of confidence, then glanced at the time.
“Where the hell are those guys…”
Before he could finish, there was a knock at the door.
A voice called out from the hallway.
“Boss, we’re here.”
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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