Global Awakening: Only I Can Respawn

At first, YuWon thought he must have done something. But the more time they spent, the clearer it got. His stepfather just hated him for being his father's son. There was no other reason.

But his mother, afraid of angering her husband, never spoke a word in his support. That's when YuWon began despising his mother. Now the two were back, and it didn't seem the apocalypse had any change in their personality.

"What? Did you forget how to speak?" the stepfather retorted.

But then, YuWon couldn't hold back and laughed. Even the usually cold and stern stepfather had to take a step back when YuWon covered his eyes and kept laughing.

"Oh, man... it's been a while since I laughed that much," YuWon said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Kim Seok, did you forget what you told me before kicking me out?"

Seok was stunned to hear YuWon call him by his name. He gritted his teeth, his face turning red with anger.

"You should watch your mouth, boy."

"And you should be more aware of the situation," YuWon replied, staring straight into Seok's eyes.

Yeji couldn't help herself and rushed between them. Although it seemed she was trying to protect YuWon, it was the other way around. She didn't want YuWon to lose his temper and kill her father, or worse.

"Dad, please..." she pleaded.

For a moment, YuWon looked at Yeji and scoffed. Without saying another word, he turned to leave. But as he was stepping away, Seok called out to him.

"As expected... the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. You're a worthless bastard, just like your father!"

Yeji saw red and pushed Seok away. All the while, she kept her eyes focused on YuWon. As for him, he didn't turn and massaged his temple as if he was about to explode.

"Talk to your parents," he finally spoke to Yeji. "I'll wait for you ahead."

As soon as he said that, Seok grabbed him by the shoulder and growled loudly. "I did not give you the permission to leave!"

"Permission?"

YuWon snapped and pulled Seok's hand off his shoulder, twisting the old man's arm. Seok yelped in pain, but YuWon didn't care and kept twisting the arm.

"Has age caught up to you? Is that why you can't hear what I said?" YuWon snarled. "I told you to stop bothering me, didn't I?"

"Let... go..." Seok muttered through gritted teeth, but YuWon ignored him.

"Just because I am tolerating you, it doesn't mean I won't throw you inside that darn cage if I wanted."

With that, he shoved Seok back, sending him stumbling before falling next to Yeji. YuWon didn't even glance back as he continued to walk away. But sure enough, when he dealt with one person, someone else had to annoy him.

"YuWon, you can't talk to your stepfather like that—!"

"Shut the fuck up!" YuWon couldn't hold his annoyance anymore. "Kang Min-Ji..."

His mother, Min-Ji, looked stunned, her mouth opening and closing as she struggled to find something to say, but the words wouldn't come out.

"You were the one who said you didn't have a son like me, remember? So you have no right to lecture me now." YuWon continued. "Stay away from me, both of you. Because next time, I won't be so kind."

***

While YuWon was having a family reunion, the others were focused on the most important thing... the sleeping giant. They had made the obvious choice to feed the giant.

But the big problem was... how would they choose who should die and who should live?

"We should make it fair," someone suggested. "Let's draw lots. The five losers will have to enter the cage and we can continue it—"

However, while the man was explaining, someone else interjected with a crisp voice.

"Fair? Nah, fuck that. There's a much simpler way to decide things."

Everyone turned to see Joon and his gang joining the conversation.

"And what would that be?" the man from before crossed his arms.

"Logic," Joon smiled. "The strong get to live and the weak die."

Just like before, no one seemed to object. In fact, everyone had that thought in their head, but their morals didn't let them speak their mind. After all, it was plain oppression. Just then, a notification popped before their eyes.

[5 minutes till the giant wakes up.]

"We don't have much time left."

"How do we know who is the weakest?"

"There's so many of us! Five minutes isn't enough to know everyone's level!"

As the crowd panicked, Joon remained calm and took out a magnifying glass. But it wasn't an ordinary glass. If looked at someone using it, it would show their levels and highest stat.

Joon had used it to recruit some important people, including Hojin. Unfortunately, the boy had slipped through his fingers. But it also allowed him to take revenge.

"I can use this to look at anyone's level," Joon commented.

However, people were skeptical of him. Some people scoffed, while others exchanged worried looks. The idea of someone being able to see their level without permission was unsettling, and no one wanted to believe him.

"You don't believe me?" Joon shrugged. "Fine, I'll show it to you."

So he used the magnifying glass on the man standing in front.

"Level 18, not bad."

The man's eyes widened. Joon was telling the truth, but having his level out in the open was equivalent to him being stripped naked.

With their doubts quelled, Joon got to planning his revenge. One of Joon's girls began noting down everyone's level as Joon said.

Suddenly, Joon noticed a scuffle happening around YuWon and his eyes fell on Yeji. He smirked, having found his target.

Yeji wasn't the weakest among them by a long shot. However, since he couldn't target YuWon directly and say he was the weakest, he decided to pick someone close to YuWon to teach the brat a lesson.

"Her," Joon announced, pointing directly at Yeji. "She's the weakest one here. Let's capture her before it's too late."