102 Lagusang Itim

Combine that stereotype with the so-called 'Sasaeng Fan.' This guy was that. Hayden hated these types of people. Who wouldn't?

"Here's one." Hayden sighed in dismay. This one in particular was a 16-year-old that was looking for a basketball match against him. 'Well, I wouldn't respond to his challenge. It'd be below me.'

In all honesty, Hayden didn't care for the opinion of the world. One challenger provoking him for this little of a reason was nothing. As long as they don't go too far with their insults, he wouldn't respond at all.

Hayden ignored the guy, going away from the post. What's there to gain by winning an argument against him? If he won, what would he gain? Satisfaction? He's not that kind of person. And if he lost, the blow it'd bring his reputation would be nothing to scoff at.

'Well, even if I did, with all of the skills I acquired, I'll be able to get back up.' Hayden shrugged off the man. He threw this guy at the back of his mind. 'I'm sure many more like him would pop up sooner or later.'

Eventually, the clock struck 5:00 PM. The fansign concluded with a performance of My Love to You by CHORUS. However, the rollercoaster of events was not done.

Amidst the curious gazes of people, Eun-ha moved towards Hayden. Her face was slightly blushing. She didn't restrain the volume of her voice when she boldly asked, "Do you want to come with us to the back?"

Hayden reddened. His eyes went wide. And he couldn't utter a word. Needless to say, he was acting. "W-what?"

"Oh, come on." Eun-ha twisted around. Under the cameras and watchful eyes of the people, Hayden followed Eun-ha with a thoughtless expression.

'She's good.' As he walked, Hayden internalized how much Eun-ha can improvise. She didn't even hear any part of his plan, yet she improved upon it. Some might say that this was a risky one, but the world didn't work that way anymore.

As one of the almost always world-trending celebrity that rattled the world with his every move, it wasn't suspicious at all that CHORUS would want to make friends with him. If anything, it was typical.

Regardless, Hayden was worried of one thing. And that was people from the White Canary village gossiping of him and Eun-ha. They did see him there flirting with Eun-ha. Disregarding his insecurities, Hayden was aware that his own face was too memorable.

Hayden was led by Eun-ha to the preparation rooms. The CHORUS members were in front of them, talking among themselves.

When Hayden was sure that nobody was able to see him anymore nor following them, he dropped his act. "Can't believe that you expanded upon my own plan."

"Wow." Hayden had a wry smile. Her people skills were remarkable. He can't help but find her more attractive now.

"Anyhow, do you grasp why I invited you?" Eun-ha's countenance shifted into that of someone clearly up to mischief. Her eyebrows bobbed up and down. "Guess."

"You want to read my letters to you guys in my presence." Hayden figured this out the second Eun-ha invited him. "To tease me."

"Bingo." Eun-ha tittered, poking Hayden on the nose. Luckily, they were merely at the hallway by this point in time. Otherwise, he'd definitely be teased more. "Come in. Don't worry, we won't actually read it aloud. We'll just sit next to you when we read it."

"Sure." Hayden nodded his head dryly. "Please do so. All the contents of that letter is my personal expression of gratitude to each of you. It's exclusive to you guys' eyes."

Hayden went ahead inside the private room. They all sat on the floor with their legs curled to the side. They were arranged in a circular pattern. There were blankets sprawled over the openings of their dresses.

As per usual, Hayden was sandwiched between Eun-ha and Sayuri. Hayden was used to this, hence, he sat without uttering a word.

"What's this?" Eun-ha inquired, pointing to the wax seal. By this point, Sayuri has already started clinching Hayden's arm. "Does it mean something?"

"It's a personal symbol." Hayden thought of the best way to summarize the meaning of the insignia. "Let's say it's an encapsulation of all of my ideals."

"Why a wolf though?" Sayuri queried.

"It symbolizes a lone wolf." Hayden said with a countenance radiating grief. "It reminds me that, even if I have all you guys, I am alone in the journey of life. Sometimes, I must face things with my own power. All that cheesy lonely stuff."

What he didn't know was that he was emitting an aura of loneliness and solitude, causing the CHORUS members to sympathize with Hayden. It was reminiscent to that of a hard-working and caring king yet misunderstood as a tyrant.

Eun-ha was the one most affected by Hayden. She can't imagine how much Hayden has put into everything to get what he has in the present. Sure, this may have been circumvented by his Divine Perception, but hard work was still irreplaceable.

"Okay, you can tear it off." Hayden's aloof face transformed into that of a cheery one. "Your music and your videos have accompanied me during my pre-wielder times. Times that I was secluded. All of my gratitude for those times are written in your letters."

The CHORUS members all ripped the wax seals off of the letter. They all sighed in admiration, "This is long. Are all of these printed or handwritten?"

"It's handwritten." Hayden chuckled. Even he liked his own handwriting. It was easy on the eyes and was similar to a printed letter. "I practiced this many a time. Beautiful, huh?"

"Damn, sometimes you're like a machine." Eun-ha knowingly smiled. The two locked eyes. Hayden could tell that she was implying pertaining to his prowess in bed.

"Go ahead, read." Hayden ignored that remark as they were surrounded by her friends. If not, well, we all can visualize what would have occurred. "All joking aside, be warned that the contents of those are pretty cheesy. I'm seriously a huge fanboy. Especially yours, Gonjunim. That letter is… You'll see."

Perceiving them genuinely being solemn, Hayden's lips curved upwards. They all started to read the handwritten letter for Hayden. Whilst reading, Sayuri and Eun-ha both leaned on Hayden's shoulders.

Hayden's phone vibrated in his pockets. Fishing it out, Hayden saw that it was from Daniel. Daniel informed him that they'd go now, wanting to eat somewhere in Grande Mall. He responded with a plain 'okay, enjoy yourselves.'

Subsequent to this, Hayden tapped on his social media account. And there it was, a video of Eun-ha asking Hayden to come with her. Hayden pecked Eun-ha on the head. "You made quite a scene."

"Yeah." Eun-ha didn't move her eyes away from Hayden's letter. She was too absorbed in reading Hayden's letter for her. "Wow, you really liked me that much prior to even meeting me, huh?"

"Yep." Hayden admitted. "I don't understand it myself. There's something about you. Not your passive or anything. There's something…"

Eun-ha didn't respond to that, raising her head to gaze into Hayden's eyes. She pinched Hayden's cheek. "You're so cute."

She returned to reading. In the midst of reading, the CHORUS members would laugh, say aw, smile warmly, or blush terribly. It was a lovely sight. Meanwhile, Eun-ha was somber all the way of reading, simply smiling at best.

When they completed perusing the letter, they all had this sparkle of happiness and appreciation in their eyes. This included the tsundere Chung-hee. They all ogled Hayden.

"What?" Hayden acted scared. "Your gazes are passing through me. I feel so violated."

That roused them up by making them laugh. Hayden spent a few minutes with them, chatting here and there.

In the middle of that, he accidentally looked at Shu-Ching, whose every action contained poise. Even her raucous laughter carried immense grace. She was therefore described as royalty by her fans.

The thing is, Shu-Ching was held as the most beautiful person in CHORUS, on par with, or possibly surpassing, Eun-ha. However, her charm wasn't the same as Eun-ha's. Hers was more of that elegance and raw beauty, unlike Eun-ha's aura of gentleness.

Thus, when Hayden and Shu-Ching's eyes met, the world slowed down a bit. She had that effect on anyone she locks eyes with. The eye contact felt like a staring contest for Hayden, with time slowing down immensely.

The slowing down of time wasn't equivalent to that of his Divine Perception's. It was more of a 'brain that stopped functioning.'

It was a new experience for him. There was something about her. It was not attraction or love at all. It was something else. It was bizarre for him. The eye contact went on for what felt like an eternity. Shu-Ching was the first to break the eye contact.

For the remainder of the time, the two didn't converse about this one eye contact at all. 'I guess that has no meaning. If we're not going to have a dialog of this, then I should not overthink it too.'

…..

It was already 6:00. Hayden was back in his car. Hayden was held up by the CHORUS members, asking him personal questions, which he answered without much thought. They also made him promise to meet them at the hotel and stay.

To not incur suspicion, Hayden had to travel separate from them. Moving out of the basement parking, Hayden was texting Eun-ha and Sayuri.

In the middle of his drive, he was added to a group message. It was the CHORUS' group chat. Not a group chat that was created with him. Their actual group chat.

"What?" Hayden couldn't believe his eyes, rubbing it in bewilderment. He texted: "What is up with this?"

"We all thought that creating another group chat was too bothersome." Jin-ae was the one to reply to Hayden's message. "So we added you to our group message. You're a friend of our group."

Hayden's shoulders collapsed to his seat. This was absolutely unbelievable. Preposterous even. He muttered incredulously, "Wow… To think this day would come."

He checked the members. It was only the 12 of them. His heart nearly couldn't take it. "Having her as a girlfriend. Sayuri being the one courting me. Cuddling with the two of them in bed. Now, they trust me enough to add me into their group message. What a streak of good luck."

This mindset ended when a blast of sound originated from in front of him. The blast contained such immense force that his SUV practically did a flip. Good thing Hayden was able to get out and touch the SUV to store it in his new Space Ring before it got any damage whatsoever.

Landing on his feet, Hayden stared at the source of the blast. His vision suddenly darkened. He whispered in horror, "Lagusang Itim!"

Making his Origin Crystal resurface, Hayden quickly moved. If he was going to be in the middle of this Lagusang Itim and wanted to survive, he better be disguised. What if a Level 3 cognizant came out of this Lagusang Itim? He'd die.

His best chance of surviving was to use his Indestructible Devil. Which is why he needed to be disguised. At least in that way, if someone saw him, he wouldn't be found out.

In a jiffy, Hayden's suit-up was his soldier get-up. As a Level 2 wielder, he didn't have to use the light from his Origin Crystal any longer. Infusing essence energy into his senses was enough. Unfortunately, his Origin Crystal do have to be in the surface in order for it work.

Lo and behold, there it was. A gaping hole of darkness, the size of a building, was floating in front of him. It was just now that he perceived the sound that the Lagusang Itim produced. It was what you would imagine a black hole would sound like, the closest being an olden cooler or refrigerator's humming sound.

"Holy fuck." Being less than ten meters away from the Lagusang Itim, Hayden stepped away. There was some sort of energy radiating from it. It was neither evil nor good, but it was repulsing. As if it was warding Hayden away. "I better get a move on."

Thankfully, the road was desolate. Through his Heavenly Sense, Hayden sensed that there was no life at all within a 100-meter radius, at least that of human.

He moved away from the Lagusang Itim, distancing himself to be at least 80 meters away from it. As there was little to none known about this Lagusang Itim, or Black Tunnel, phenomenon, Hayden had to be careful.

"Last time, a single cognizant came out. An outlandish one." Hayden mumbled to himself. "Does a Lagusang Itim lets out a singular one at a time? Or can there be multiple? What if I go in? Will I die?"

His heart was beating fast. His eyes were darting around. His senses were in full overdrive. His brain was at max processing speed, able to trigger the time freeze at any moment. Hayden's cautiousness was at its peak.

As he was on edge, when his phone vibrated, he was startled. He was kind of jumpy as he didn't know what to anticipate. As a paranoid, what he detested the most was the unknown. Well, anybody should fear the unknown. It would be stupid if you didn't fear the unknown.

Hayden hid behind the building. His phone vibrated. Without letting his guard down, he read the message. It was from Eun-ha. She was asking if he was okay.

He informed her that he's staring at the Lagusang Itim and that they should come to him. In the process, he asked her if she was okay.

When all is said and done, he pocketed his phone. Hayden thought if he should call in Puting Araw. He decided against it. He was in his White Fox identity. It would be stupid to invoke Puting Araw.

Besides, he had backup. The strongest backup he can ever wish for. His girlfriend and her girlfriends. 'Guess we'll have to wait…'

A few minutes passed. Hayden had this foreboding feeling that he can't shake off. It didn't come from anxiety. Instead, it came from a resonation within him.

Abruptly, a loud wolf's bark… No, roar? Hayden couldn't distinguish even with his Divine Perception… It infiltrated his ears. It was loud and a bit disorienting.

The first one to come out was the hind legs of what appeared to belong to a black… Wolf? Canid. It's a canid. However, the size of those hind legs were long and slender, comparable to that of a tube man.

Through his Divine Perception, Hayden could see that the hind legs were tensing over. As if it was pushing something.

A yelp from a canid pervaded throughout. The canid was thrown backwards 30 meters, making the roads crack. The black canid was ginormous, able to easily tower over Hayden. The legs were much slender than your usual canid.

From his estimations, the canid's height was about six meters tall. And from his calculations, the body length of the canid was approximately nine meters long.

The canid laid down on the cement road oriented to the Lagusang Itim. Its sleek black fur was rustled by the wind coming from the direction of the Lagusang Itim. It also had a red fur line on its back, oddly resembling a mane.

Hayden was alarmed when a considerably smaller black canid, about half as big, came out of the Lagusang Itim. It was definitely the pup of the creature. As for whether the larger one was its mother or father, Hayden had no clue at all.

From the distance, Hayden observed. The canid's eyes were gorgeous, blue in color. Its body, beneath all that fur, was much slimmer and muscular than regular canids. The claws on its paws were ridiculously sharp. Simply looking at it made Hayden flinch.

The smaller canid whimpered as it limped to its parent. On its torso's side, Hayden saw gashes. It licked the face of the parent in sadness. The larger one licked back once. Thereupon, it struggled to stand up. An infernal aura reeked out from the larger canid.

'So that's what the resonation was.' Hayden's eyes narrowed into slits. Anybody that wasn't him would've doubtlessly run away from fear. As Hayden was technically a demon himself, he didn't.

Out of the blue, the growl of a bear came out of the other side. Exiting the portal was a towering white bear that had a standing height of 15 meters. Its eyes emitted a golden glow in place of actual eyes. Around the bear are these faint strings of light that exuded a holy glow.

'What?' Hayden was shocked. The resonation became stronger. He was resonating with the two cognizants. 'What is this sense of a connection with the two cognizants?'

For the second time, as Hayden had an Ability of the holy nature, he wasn't intimidated at all. On the contrary, his insides were bathed in warmth.

Nevertheless, this made his unease worse. He should be intimidated, not at all attracted to them. These two powerful beasts can irrefutably decimate him in an instant.

The canid stood up to the bear, snarling at it. In the process, all of the canid's fur stood on end. Red wisps, what appeared to be smoke, coming out of its fur. In response, the bear raised both of its arms and growled back.

In that instance, Hayden perceived a smaller bear going out of the Lagusang Itim. It was a bear cub with deep cuts. It was from a wolf.

'Ahh, so that's why they're fighting.' Hayden deduced. The two offspring most likely had a quarrel. Consequently, the two overprotective parents are fighting. 'How the hell did the Lagusang Itim open then? Is it a random occurrence?'

Hayden furrowed his brows in contemplation. As he did that, he rotated his body away and went on a starting running position. He continued to observe with his sense of hearing, touch, and smell.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the air. Jae-hwa was in her Winged Nightmare form. She has activated her cloaking power to not be seen. Atop her were the CHORUS members donning their respective hanboks.

"Those are two Level 4 cognizants!" Mi-sun exclaimed in surprise.

"That cub and pup are also Level 2 cognizants!" Eun-ha had widened eyes beneath her mask. "Envision what they will be capable of in the future."

"Let's observe for the meantime." Jin-ae's calm voice resounded as she viewed the four cognizants. "If we attack them, we will stand no chance. Look, they're going to fight. We'll pick off whoever is killed. As for those two young, we can't possibly leave them alive. They're too dangerous for this world."

The members concurred. The two parents started dishing out their powerful attacks on each other.