Chapter 143. Kagoshima Dragon Raid (6)
It was really a minute riddled with lies.
As I stepped out of the gate, the air felt so refreshing.
Click click click click click!
But it seems like the smoke needs to linger a bit longer.
“I’m out!”
“Is the gate cleared?”
“It’s Kim Gi-ryeo!”
Reporters were already gathered at the exit.
*
Moritake Ito.
Former stockbroker, now an S-Class Hunter.
Left tied up and abandoned on the ground, he realized this was an experience he’d never faced before in his life.
Life truly doesn’t go as planned.
Once freed, he hurriedly tried to follow Kim Gi-ryeo, but by then, a crowd had already gathered at the exit.
Feeling cornered like this, he found himself not even thinking about what to do next.
Click click click click.
“Ugh.”
Foreign correspondents had swarmed the area, so would the world soon know every detail of the crime?
“Moritake-san!”
“Please say something!”
“Oh my, Japan really has an S-rank dungeon…”
Yet, strangely enough,
Contrary to his worries, Kim Gi-ryeo didn’t utter a word in front of the people.
He just gazed intently at the Japanese who followed him before disappearing into the crowd.
Seconds later, it seemed the opponent was responding to reporters’ questions in Korean, but even that was just short words. In other words, Kim Gi-ryeo hadn’t mentioned the incident that occurred inside the dungeon.
‘Uh…?’
Could it be that he’s letting this slip by?
Is he really covering for his mistake?
Ito thought fleetingly, but it was merely his misunderstanding.
Gi-ryeo had meticulously calculated to remain silent – or rather, he had fled because he couldn’t gauge how powerful the Imabari Guild was in their country. If they had such power to control the media, he figured snitching wouldn’t matter – and by the time that Korean boarded his plane on the runway, the true price for all mistakes had begun to show up.
*
“I will quit that guild.”
Inside a hospital room wrapped in white cloth.
After some time, the fainted Japanese Hunter regains consciousness.
However, as soon as the wind-element Awakened recovered his health, he announced to those gathered by his bedside.
Setting aside the fact that they had harmed him, they had essentially made a choice that should never be made by a person.
“Iori…”
“This can’t end merely with an ‘I’m sorry.’ Moritake-kun knows that too.”
“I was just…”
“How could you dare to hesitate over the price of Legendary after thoroughly studying the cases from Hawaii?”
The patient sitting on the bed shot a contemptuous glare at his former companions.
“How can you now belittle the help from Kim Gi-ryeo? If that boss had rampaged inside the dungeon, we should have all been pronounced dead by now!”
Just like the Nukelavi was the one who killed the most S-class in America, it was obvious that the dungeon’s boss would have mercilessly slaughtered the Japanese Hunters had it not been for someone’s binding magic.
“We wouldn’t have even a record of zero deaths; at least half of us would have been dead by now…!”
The person tending the injured nearby nodded in agreement with Iori’s words.
With a deep blue bob, this was another S-Class Hunter from Japan possessing electric-element Awakening abilities.
“At that time, I was quite injured, so I had no choice but to pretend to follow Ito’s words. But, honestly, I also want to quit the guild.”
“What?!”
“Honestly, I don’t care if they hit a Korean or not, but you laid your hands on Iori too, right?”
At this remark, the expressions of the Hunters gathered in the hospital room grew strange.
“If this continues, you might end up harming your comrades for a good item later. How can you trust someone like that?”
“…”
“I’m going to become independent now. If you don’t send me off, I might even consider immigrating.”
“…”
“…If you have a mouth, say something, Ito. After hearing this from me, don’t you have any thoughts?”
The Imabari Guild.
When this group was first established, unlike other countries, we aimed to unite S-Class Hunters.
Even in this era of individualism, we believed there were values that wouldn’t fade away in this world.
We had aimed for long-term cooperation.
“Hah…”
The peace built over years, almost like a second family, shattered in an instant.
Iori and the Lightning Sorcerer’s sharp glances clashed.
But their eyes soon showed signs of surprise.
Before long, the silent Guild Master knelt on the hospital floor.
“Ito?”
“Moritake…”
Their representative had a naturally strong pride.
Perhaps because he worked in the fierce finance industry, his desire to win was higher than most.
Yet suddenly, this man kneels down. Lowering his head in a humiliating manner, he said this.
“I’m really sorry.”
He truly didn’t plan to be in this situation.
Looking back, he felt like he was possessed by a ghost at that time.
Blinded by a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he even attempted to betray the one who had only extended a helping hand.
But was that behavior solely due to greed?
Ito didn’t think so.
This was, in a way, a crime stemming from emotions that had been bottled up for years.
“Because I thought with this, I’d be on par with Ha-seong…”
Inferiority complex. Inferiority complex. That damn inferiority complex.
“Was that really the cause?”
Moritake Ito was originally quite a promising talent on a global scale.
Blessed with abnormally high magic power but lacking a global ranking for a while, he found himself stuck being A-Class.
As standards changed, he quickly got readjusted to S-Class, essentially being one of the first to reach it.
When he awakened, there were few countries with S-Class Hunters, so Ito naturally garnered the country’s hopes.
East Asia’s pride and son of the sun.
In this era of Dungeon Shock, he received treatment comparable to the imperial family.
“I told you many times not to worry about Hunters from other countries. Just focus on yourself!”
But if he had known the future would turn out like this, he would have rather been born simply as a mediocre B-Class at best.
Jeong Ha-seong.
His life changed completely after that young man appeared.
[【Urgent】 The first S-Class from the neighboring country confirmed as Fire type!!!]
Same attribute.
Same rank.
And both being the first S-Class of their respective countries.
By coincidence, Jeong Ha-seong shared many common traits with Ito, but there was one characteristic that wouldn’t change.
[Is the machine broken?]
[Wutww That Hunter’s Awakening Level has so many zeros.]
That neat looking young man was, after all, gifted with talent so profound he could not be caught up with even if he died and was reborn.
Life teaches that the pain of falling from above is greater than a life spent wandering at the bottom.
Moritake Ito had been tormented with unimaginable comparisons ever since Jeong Ha-seong’s arrival.
Initially, the domestic news celebrated Ito while belittling Ha-seong, but…
[“Kim Gi-ryeo singlehandedly dismantled the White Tower, an incredible achievement” … Swept through three dungeons including A-Class.]
That too had quieted after some gate clearings.
[“They say Jeong Ha-seong can easily clear three dungeons in a day, and what’s Ito doing? Return the building I lost, you incompetent! (｀Д´）”]
Endlessly comparing with his peers took a toll on his mind, and now with the entire world weighing him against that young man, Ito felt he would burst out of frustration.
But amidst all this, the issue of the fabled treasure suddenly arose.
‘I must have truly lost my mind. I swore to protect citizens and yet how could I be swayed over just a sword…’
The media’s malicious reports became more rampant since the beginning of last year when a Korean ranker incidentally obtained the Legendary.
Now that the dragon of Jeong Ha-seong has grasped onto the Legendary, commoners in Japan would never catch up to him, such belittlement surged everywhere.
However, contrary to expectations of a tremendous increase in power, Ha-seong hadn’t uncovered the abilities of the tool until this moment.
‘If I can interpret the Legendary first in this period, I thought surely I could finally defeat him.’
Ito deeply regretted his actions.
However, this wasn’t accepted by others.
“How ironic. If Gi-ryeo Hunter wasn’t that strong, you wouldn’t even get a chance to repent.”
In that instant,
Other Japanese Hunters who had been backing up the Guild Master couldn’t understand how they could be so harsh among fellow countrymen, questioning whether they thought it was okay for such a dangerous item to be handed over to the neighboring country.
“Shut up!”
But the wind-element Hunter grimaced and criticized them.
“Don’t you all realize the situation? You’ve just stirred up a Hunter who can incapacitate three S-Class Hunters at once!”
The ensuing statement raised the fearful question of whether Kim Gi-ryeo would really keep quiet about this.
They flinched at Iori’s loud voice and thought.
Well, considering this, was the entire Imabari Guild not in a precarious position?
Perhaps it was simply because they misused a tool. Or perhaps they recognized the contribution of the S-Class Gate adventure.
Even though Kim Gi-ryeo generously spared them the Legendary and even saved their lives, he had never once promised to keep this a secret.
“Now you understand? Imabari is in a position where it wouldn’t be strange to be blackmailed at any time. No matter what transpires inside the dungeon, if he speaks in front of [Justitia]…”
The young-looking Hunter clenched the blankets so tightly that the veins on his knuckles bulged.
“If it were up to me, I would expose what you all did in front of everyone right now and clear my name!”
“I-Iori.”
“But the reason I can’t do that? It’s clear we would all be devoured by the Management Bureau!”
“Ah…”
“Just as we see a yearly increase in Hunter hatred, why on earth are you all acting like this at such a time?”
Awakened committing murder!
Iori poured out all he wanted to say and slapped his forehead.
They couldn’t recklessly confess their crimes, even for the sake of managing the image of the Awakened in Japan.
But at that moment. Ito, who had been kneeling all this time, said in a serious tone.
“…First of all.”
Eyes were inevitably drawn to the Guild Master’s voice.
“Don’t worry about the second witness. It was Kang Chang-ho. He told me before leaving the dungeon while speaking into my translator.”
“What did he say?”
“This matter, he will also overlook, so don’t worry. Since Kim Gi-ryeo was so generous in his kindness, how could the elder interfere, right?”
“……”
“…There was certainly no atmosphere for a revelation beforehand.”
Kang Chang-ho forgave us.
But the biggest concern in this situation was the blond man. What’s he planning?
“And about Kim Gi-ryeo… No matter how much I think, we have no choice but to bow before his mercy.”
“Ito-san.”
“Of course, I cannot do this alone. So I intend to borrow a little strength from all of you moving forward…”
Upon Ito’s words, a bobbed-haired Guild member sneered.
“Are you saying I have to listen to Moritake’s orders again?”
Yet the Guild member’s expression quickly changed at the following words from the Guild Master.
“Right. It must be hard for you to trust a leader who gave a wrong order. Moreover, I’m already displaying my ugly greed.”
“No, I just…”
“I don’t think this will restore any broken trust, but as an act of contrition, I intend to relinquish my authority over the Legendary.”
That was a bombshell statement.
“So, the ownership of the item will be evenly distributed among you as the conquerors. Please cooperate with this as a form of apology.”
“A public good, you say.”
“And about what was mentioned earlier; I will use the [Knight’s Pact] to assure my loyalty so that I will not betray you in my lifetime.”
“Are you serious?”
“I promise that I will never betray you. So please, don’t just leave the guild…”
Ito’s declaration changed the expression of the lightning-user awakened. However, only Iori in the hospital remained unchanged.
“Even if you say that, I still cannot forgive you, Guild Master.”
Perhaps more than anyone present, he was the one who struggled to remain steady.
“But depending on how you treat Kim Gi-ryeo, the future relationships could change.”
“……!”
“First, I’m tired, so hurry and tell me. How do you plan to apologize to him?”
