Act 1
* * *
The raid on the blue-colored dungeons had ended
All of South Korea was thrown into turmoil. No, it wasn’t just Korea this time.
『The blue-colored twin dungeons, conquered by Korea’s strength alone!』
『South Korea, now the top awakener nation on Earth. Kim Su-hyeun’s entrance leads to meteoric rise of….』
『Solo raid of a blue-colored dungeon. Finally a reality.』
Sensational headlines dominated the front pages.
Everyone was paying attention to three things in particular: “The second-ever appearance of a blue-colored dungeon”, “Two appearing at the same time”, and “Kim Su-hyeun”.
And also…
『Hahoetal Guild, attempting to sabotage a blue dungeon? Kim Su-hyeun, “Will not stand still”.』
『Kim Su-hyeun Vs Hahoetal Guild. What is the Position of the Association?』
Yet more headlines that could potentially throw South Korea into even greater turmoil had been published.
“It finally showed up,” said Lee Ju-ho as he stared at the screen of his smartphone.
Su-hyeun also confirmed that the report written with the info he provided had been published, and, while taking out an apple from the fridge and biting into it, muttered, “That took a while.”
“Well, the folks from the Hahoetal Guild must’ve thrown a massive hissy fit, demanding that the article be blocked. And even though we have the actual video footage, the reporters will still need to verify it first, anyway.”
The clout the Hahoetal Guild enjoyed in South Korea couldn’t be underestimated. No, actually, one could even say that it was more influential than any other guild in the country.
Not because the Guild itself was seen as the unrivaled number one, but because Gwon Jae-hoon was the chairman of the association.
“Regardless of that, the article showing up like this is the important part,” said Lee Ju-ho.
“Of course.”
“Which is amazing, really. It means that there are some reporters who now consider you a bigger fish than the Hahoetal Guild. Well, Gwon Jae-hoon kicking the bucket probably helped on that one.”
The death of Gwon Jae-hoon wasn’t just a problem for the Hahoetal Guild. No, it was enough of a shock to badly affect the whole association.
And, it all depended on one’s own interpretation.
“How will it be interpreted, Gwon Jae-hoon’s sabotage attempt being the Hahoetal Guild’s problem, or will it be considered an issue for the entire association….” Lee Ju-ho turned his phone off and pocketed it. “It all depends on what you decide now.”
The die had been cast.
The moment Su-hyeun learned that Gwon Jae-hoon was preparing to sabotage him, he began filming everything.
This incident wasn’t just Su-hyeun’s problem alone. It wasn’t the Hahoetal Guild’s first attempt at sabotage. They had done it several times in the past, too. And that fact was more than enough to incite public displays of rage from both awakeners and regular citizens.
“Depending on your choice, you might end up in a full-on confrontation with the association. Or, you can become an enemy to the Hahoetal Guild only. No, wait. You should consider yourself an enemy of them already.”
“I did kill Gwon Jae-hoon, after all.”
“The response from the association might be an issue, too.”
Would the association abandon the Hahoetal Guild or side with them and become hostile toward Su-hyeun?
That decision determined the direction South Korea would have to walk in the future.
“What are you going to do now? If you keep fighting against the Hahoetal guild, there’s a good chance that you’ll clash with the association, too.”
Although he asked that, Lee Ju-ho already knew the answer. Su-hyeun wasn’t someone who’d get scared by the association and leave the Hahoetal Guild alone.
He wasn’t that kind of man.
Lee Ju-ho hesitated slightly, before cautiously opening his mouth. “You know, I’ve been thinking. And…”
“About?”
“How about you do it this way?”
At that unexpected suggestion, Su-hyeun paid close attention to what Lee Ju-ho said afterward. And his expression changed over and over again with every passing second while he listened to the older man.
* * *
The Jongno Tower.
Inside the top floor’s tower palace where the awakener association’s conference was normally held.
The atmosphere in the venue, which seemed to be buoyant and boisterous at all times, had never felt close to the gloomy funeral procession of today.
Right outside the conference venue, the vice guild master of Hahoetal, Gwon Ho-yeong was muttering to himself while holding his head. “This is driving me nuts, seriously now….”
Gwon Ho-yeong was Gwon Jae-hoon’s younger brother.
Although he was an A-Rank awakener himself, in reality, he was only the vice master position because he happened to be the younger brother of the boss man.
In all honesty, the position was largely ceremonial, to begin with.
However, the absence of the guild master meant that Gwon Ho-yeong was now saddled with the authority and responsibility of the guild’s leader.
“Bro, why did you have to go and piss off that bastard, Kim Su-hyeun….”
He was far more concerned with Kim Su-hyeun’s potential reprisal than avenging his brother’s death. Gwon Ho-yeong honestly felt that way.
In order to dodge Kim Su-hyeun’s reprisal somehow, he needed to win over other guilds affiliated with the association during this meeting.
<< I can do this. Yes. >>
Gwon Ho-yeong sucked in a deep, deep breath. Here he was, in the place of the previous association chairman Gwon Jae-hoon, making his first appearance in front of the others as the new master of the Hahoetal Guild.
Finally managing to calm his rough breathing, he took a step forward. He opened the door and stepped inside to discover a large crowd filling up the conference venue. He even spotted reporters and their cameras standing toward the back of the room.
The audience members numbered several dozen. Every single one of them was a master or vice master of the guilds affiliated with the association.
Gulp-
Gwon Ho-yeong was cowed by the pressure of the occasion and ended up staring at a specific man among the crowd.
<< Jung Yoon-ho. >>
An awakener in his mid-thirties, and blessed with a supermodel-like jawline. Not only was he the vice master of one of the top ten guilds in the country currently affiliated with the association, but he was also the second S-Ranker in it, too.
Although he never really did anything for the association other than having his name appear in its register, he still must’ve decided to show up today, the business at hand being what it was.
<< With my brother dead, he would be the next likely candidate for the vacant association chairman position. >>
Everyone was probably thinking the same thing. Judging through one’s abilities alone, then Jung Yoon-ho was undoubtedly the best candidate present. Besides, Gwon Jae-hoon became the chairman simply because he was an S-Rank, anyway.
<< Fine. >>
If that’s the case, do whatever you want.
Right now, Gwon Ho-yeong’s enemy wasn’t Jung Yoon-ho.
Kim Su-hyeun.
Their enemy was none other than the holder of that name.
Gwon Ho-yeong reached the platform and began addressing the crowd. “A truly lamentable event has occurred, everyone.
“You all must have heard the news by now, but… My older brother, no… The chairperson has passed away.”
“….”
So far, the conference venue remained quiet.
Gwon Ho-yeong was slightly flustered by the unexpected silence, but he continued with the prepared speech regardless. “I’d like to apologize. Please accept my unreserved apology on behalf of the Hahoetal Guild and the former chairman, for our wrongdoings. I’m truly sorry.”
The first thing to do was to apologize.
Gwon Ho-yeong bowed his head. A camera flash went off, causing an avalanche of more flashes to go off soon after.
<< Discard the previous image of when my older brother was still around. This must be a new beginning. >>
The acts of sabotage that the Hahoetal Guild had participated in were a truly malicious action no one could excuse them for if they were to be publicly lynched.
But the one who lead those actions, Gwon Jae-hoon, was dead. And dead men told no tales.
“Although it is true that I was not aware of the wrongdoings of the chairman, it is still undeniably my responsibility, as the vice master, that my guild has strayed from the right path. And so….”
“Did you climb up there just to apologize to us?”
That came from Jung Yoon-ho.
Gwon Ho-yeong stared right back at him. As expected of a man famed for his short fuse and no-nonsense personality.
“No, I didn’t,” said Gwon Ho-yeong.
“Okay, what then?”
“The reason why I asked you all to convene today is… because of Kim Su-hyeun.”
Kim Su-hyeun.
The moment that name was brought up, the conference venue finally became noisy. But the silence quickly returned after murmuring folks grew conscious of the reporters in the back.
Gwon Ho-yeong continued, “I’m sure you’re all aware that Kim Su-hyeun and my Hahoetal Guild are currently antagonistic.”
“Of course.”
“A fight between the Hahoetal Guild and Kim Su-hyeun, is it… Well, the end result is pretty obvious, though.”
“The story might be different if Gwon Jae-hoon was still around. That idiot, dying a dog’s death by doing something so stupid.”
“Hey, watch your mouth, man. Someone might hear you.”
Their murmurings could be heard more clearly than ever.
Gwon Ho-yeong had been listening in, hoping to gauge the reactions of the association members, so naturally, he was frowning deeply at this point. Even if it was noisy in the room, he was still an A-Rank awakener. No way he’d miss their voices like that.
<< Dammit. >>
He had never imagined that the Hahoetal Guild would be treated this poorly back when Gwon Jae-hoon was still alive.
He gnashed his teeth in anger, but there was nothing he could do about it. Indeed, he needed to hold himself back and continue on for the sake of his continued survival. “This isn’t just the Hahoetal Guild’s problem.”
“….What was that?”
“What are you on about?”
“Sh*t. So, that’s it, right?”
“I f*cking knew it. The Awakener Authority is….”
The clamor among the crowd rose up higher, so Gwon Ho-yeong had to inject magical energy into his voice and speak. “Kim Su-hyeun currently views us, the Hahoetal Guild as his enemy, and the association by extension. Please do not forget that he is still not affiliated with any guilds, and has formed a very close connection with the Awakener Authority, instead.”
“Kim Su-hyeun’s friendship with the Authority is what it is, but how does that translate to him being hostile to the association?”
Gwon Ho-yeong replied, “Everyone, it’s public knowledge that the relationship between the association and the Authority has been deteriorating recently. Also, Kim Su-hyeun has a prior history of refusing the association’s invitations several times.”
“Okay, so what?”
“Don’t you see the bigger picture now? He has consistently rejected our invitation, but when the Authority requested his help, he returned to Korea from San Francisco in less than a day. And, not too long ago, he even directly clashed against the Hahoetal Guild’s people, as well.”
“Even before the dungeon?”
“Well now, that… does present something of a problem.”
“Is that so? But, that’s not quite enough to say that he’s hostile to the association, no….?”
Opinions began splitting here and there.
If they accepted what Gwon Ho-yeong said at face value, then it looked like Kim Su-hyeun was in conflict with the Hahoetal Guild even before the sabotaging incident. And that, potentially, meant this whole thing might become more than just one man clashing against a guild.
The Hahoetal Guild’s master was the association’s chairman, after all.
<< I need to create conflict between the association and Kim Su-hyeun today, no matter what. It’s utterly impossible for the Hahoetal Guild to fight that man alone. Even if I have to make up some bullsh*t today, I must…. >>
Creaaak-
It was then that the door to the conference venue was pushed open. The sudden, unexpected interruption caused the attention of every audience member present to zero in on the doorway.
And right at that moment, the already-noisy conference venue was thrown into total disarray.
“K-K-Kim Su-hyeun?!”
“What is Kim Su-hyeun doing here??”
A man was strolling calmly into the conference venue. He was none other than the person at the center of today’s discussion, Su-hyeun.
Lee Ju-ho was following behind him. This occasion being what it was, he seemed rather uncomfortable, unlike Su-hyeun.
Gwon Ho-yeong had just been talking about Su-Hyeun, so understandably, he had to clamp his mouth shut from sheer surprise.
<< What is that bastard doing here?? >>
Su-hyeun was currently in a conflict against the Hahoetal Guild. Of course, they were at odds, since he was the one responsible for revealing the guild’s sabotage attempt to the media and turning them into the villains.
But, if he was thinking of fighting the Hahoetal Guild, he shouldn’t have shown up here. Because, this event wasn’t held by the guild, but by the association.
<< Wait, could he have heard everything I said? >>
With Su-hyeun, it was possible that he heard what was being said inside the conference venue while standing outside the door.
“Why don’t you continue with what you were saying?” Su-hyeun settled down on an empty seat and stared directly at Gwon Ho-yeong. “I’d love to hear the rest.”
The onlookers felt a bit uncomfortable as they looked at him sitting so nonplussed, as if this was his own living room. It wouldn’t be surprising if someone said something, yet no one dared to.
It was easy to see that no one here wanted to become publicly hostile with Su-hyeun today.
<< Damn this bunch of cowards… >>
Gwon Ho-yeong scanned the audience members, his eyes gleaming brightly. Regardless of what happened, today’s occasion was where the guild masters and vice masters affiliated with the association had come together for a meeting.
Even the high-and-mighty Kim Su-heyun wouldn’t be able to hold out for long by making every single one of these people his enemies.
So, this could be an opportunity, instead. Indeed, It might be an unmissable chance now that Kim Su-hyeun had willingly walked into the association, not the Hahoetal Guild.
“Mister Kim Su-hyeun. What is your reason for interrupting his conference?”
Gwon Ho-yeong didn’t beat around the bush. Instead, he confronted Su-hyeun directly.
And Su-hyeun made his reply.
