Chapter 169 - Chapter 169 (2/2)

"She says she's got no appetite."

Jin-Woo's hand suddenly stopped before it finished pulling out his chair.

"Even now?"

"She couldn't get a wink of sleep last night. She only fell asleep not too long ago."

"..."

Jin-Woo hid his presence and cautiously opened the door to his sister's room.

"Mm... Mm....."

Jin-Ah was rolling around in her bed, struggling to fall into a deeper slumber. She normally maintained such a bright appearance, but it seemed that she hadn't gotten over her mental trauma yet.

'Then again.... She had to go through such an experience, didn't she.'

His rage towards monsters boiled over whenever he saw how much his sister was struggling like this.

Why were those things endlessly tormenting humanity?

It was then, Jin-Woo recalled the sight of those silver-clad winged soldiers pouring out from the Gates in the sky to sweep away the monsters. The army with its unfathomable size, burning with clear animosity against the horde of monsters. If such an army actually existed, then....

'Are they our allies?'

Wasn't there an old saying about an enemy of an enemy being a friend?

Jin-Woo studied his sleeping sister quietly for a little while, before closing the door behind him.

*

"Thank you for the meal."

After finishing his dinner, Jin-Woo headed off to the Association's gymnasium to get a little bit of exercise in. It indeed proved to be really convenient to have a Shadow Soldier stationed inside the gymnasium.

Sweating a lot was the best cure when one's head became clogged full of complicated thoughts. And so, he wanted to sweat buckets for the first time in a while.

Jin-Woo summoned Beru out.

As he began to lightly loosen his body, the former king of the ants politely knelt before him and lowered his head.

"Oh, my king..."

Beru was the sole soldier among Jin-Woo's Shadow Army that could withstand his attacks, at least for a little while. But even he flinched grandly after sensing the extent of Jin-Woo's change and shuddered where he stood.

"I offer my unreserved congratulations, my king. I sense from you a far greater amount of power than ever before."

Beru sensed an electrifying shiver run down his body after sensing that incredible amount of magic energy oozing out of the 'Black Heart'. His head, still lowered to the ground, was trembling noticeably now.

Jin-Woo didn't summon his Shadow Soldier out to boast of his growth, though. He gestured to Beru to stand up.

"....??"

The former ant king tilted his head after picking up Jin-Woo's worried eyes, which would be the first time he had sensed such a thing ever since becoming a part of the Shadow Army.

Jin-Woo spoke under his breath.

"Attack me with everything you have."

"Oh, my king. How dare I even....."

"It's fine. I just want to shed some sweat for a little while. And you know no one else besides you can do that."

"I... I am truly honoured...."

Feeling touched, Beru was about to kneel down again, but then, Jin-Woo glared at him with a pair of very sharp eyes.

"Hang on a minute. You know, your vocabulary seems to be increasing every day. You haven't devoured someone else somewhere, have you?"

Beru's shoulders flinched somewhat, but Jin-Woo soon let go of the matter. He clenched his fists and issued his order again, instead.

"Remember to hit me with everything you have."

"If my Sovereign's wills it, then I shall follow...."

Beru raised his head as his claws lengthened.

"Kiiiieeehhk-!!"

There was no burden on Beru as he knew that his claws would never touch his Sovereign. Jin-Woo grinned after seeing that and nodded his head. This was what he wanted, anyway.

"Kiiieehhk!"

Along with the thunderous roar that shook the interior of the gymnasium, Beru pounced on his master.

*

Boom!

Beru slammed down on the floor and was laid out flat on his back.

"K-kiiieck...."

127 times fought, 127 times defeated.

Indeed, even though he threw everything he had, he failed to touch even the hair on his master's body. In the last few days that Beru didn't see his king, Jin-Woo had become far stronger than ever before.

The display of power today only deepened the level of respect and loyalty Beru held towards his king.

While the former ant king remained sprawled on the floor unable to move, Jin-Woo settled down next to him. There were a few strands of sweat on his forehead. But this was as far as he could take it.

If he moved any harder than this, then this gymnasium would have been demolished in no time at all.

Jin-Woo remained seated and stared into the far distance.

Beru silently sat back up and knelt down before asking him.

"Oh, my king... Is there a matter that's troubling you?"

"Troubling me, is it?"

"A portion of our consciousness and the Sovereign's are connected as one. The king's troubles are transmitted as pain to us, the subjects."

"..."

To think, he'd get consoled by a Shadow Soldier. Not only that, from a dude who originally was an insect, too. Jin-Woo couldn't help but form a wry smirk.

Now normally, he'd simply chuckle and put the matter to bed, but this time, things were a little different.

"There's something I want to do, but I'm not sure how I should go about doing that."

The events taking place in Japan were, strictly speaking, someone else's troubles.

Who knew what kind of dangers were in hiding and waiting for him there? Besides, it wasn't as if he could resolve every single incident that happened in the world, either.

And not to forget, there was that resolved emotional baggage between the Korean Hunter's Association and its Japanese counterpart to consider, as well.

All these thoughts only served to make the inside of his head more complicated than ever before.

It was then, Beru suddenly raised his head.

"Oh, my king!"

Jin-Woo looked at Beru with surprised eyes. This was the first time this guy expressed his thoughts this strongly ever since becoming a Shadow Soldier.

"Nothing must become a hindrance in the path of my king."

Beru's voice filled with conviction made him sound more like a close aide that stayed by Jin-Woo's side for a long time rather than a monster that got turned into a Shadow Solder recently.

"The one that does what he wants to. That is what it means to be a king."

"Hold on. I keep telling you, I'm not a king."

Indeed, the Class he got coincidentally through the System just so happened to be the Shadow Sovereign. That was all.

However, Beru strongly denied Jin-Woo's assertion.

"That is incorrect, my king. My king, you possess the power to achieve anything you desire."

Jin-Woo's eyes shook around heavily.

Ba-thump.

For some reason, his heart began pounding away rather violently.

"You are, without a doubt, a king."

'That stuff about being a king again.'

However....

However, his heart that began racing on its own didn't want to calm down that easily at all.

'Anything I desire, is it.....'

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze back to the distance, but his eyes were gleaming with a cold light now.

***

Next day.

The United States of America made her announcement, and the Association President Goh Gun-Hui also clarified the position of the Korean Association.

"We will not get involved in Japan's matters."

Click, click, click, click!!

Camera flashes ceaselessly exploded all around him.

The Association President then proceeded to reveal every little detail of what the Japanese Hunters were trying to do back then to these reporters. The proofs he presented only solidified the inscrutable truth even further.

The CCTV footage of the President of Japanese Association, Matsumoto Shigeo, brazenly yelling at the top of his lungs at his Korean counterpart even after he put into motion such a dastardly scheme left a serious shock to all the reporters watching on.

And the Japanese reporters, hoping for South Korea to come to their aid, could only watch the footage with utter devastation.

Before long, their hands holding the cameras were pointing down to the floor.

Only a short moment ago the Americans said that they couldn't help Japan. In such a situation, the explosive revelations from the Korean Hunter's Association were no different from passing a death sentence to the Japanese people. Thick, burning tears began falling from the eyes of the Japanese reporters.

".....This is everything I wanted to say."

The Association President Goh Gun-Hui finished saying what he came to say.

Normally, this would be the time when countless questions started inundating him, but no reporter present here could unshackle their mouths from the nasty shock and astonishment to do so.

The poor atmosphere of the press conference was broadcast live to the rest of the country through the various TV cameras. Only then did the viewers watching on realise why the Koreans had maintained their silence over the crisis unfolding in Japan.

But then....

"However...."

Goh Gun-Hui looked as if he'd be turning around to leave as the press conference had come to an end but then, he continued to speak on.

"This is the decision of the Hunter's Association, and ours alone. We won't stop any individual Hunters from doing what they wish to do."

What was he even talking about now?

Noisy, noisy....

Like animals lazily waking up from their winter hibernation, the reporters still frozen in shock began slowly exchanging glances with each other again.

"There is one such person. There is one Hunter who wishes to go to Japan and get rid of the Giant monsters."

Who could that be?

Who wanted to head to Japan under the current situation all by himself?

The bottomed-out atmosphere of the press conference venue suddenly began boiling over. Even the Japanese reporters shedding tears raised their cameras with their trembling hands.

'Please... Please....!'

The lone strand of hope was busy hammering away in their hearts now.

One of the Korean reporters raised his hand up. The Association President pointed to this man. Perhaps fearing that his turn would be snatched away from him, he quickly asked his question.

"Just who is this Hunter?"

The attention of everyone present in the venue was directed to Goh Gun-Hui. He took his time for a moment or two, before pressing his lips as close to the mic as possible.

"It's Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

Click, click, click, click, click, click!!

That one sentence caused hundreds of cameras to explode in a wall of blinding flashes.

< Chapter 169 > Fin.