Chapter 157 (2/2)

Although he was apologetic about leaving the mop-up to Lee Ju-ho, there was no doubt the older man was far better suited than Su-hyeun when it came to dealing with other people.

Creeaak, thud-

After Su-hyeun left, Lee Ju-ho inwardly took a deep breath, making sure that it didn’t show on his face.

<< The stage is set. >>

Complete mayhem.

The reason why Su-hyeun even came to the conference venue was to display the extent of his powers to these people.

Things got lucky when Jung Yoon-ho retreated first, causing the rest to lose their fighting spirit in an instant.

And now, there was one more thing Lee Ju-ho needed to do.

<< With the tiger on his back, a fox will rule the mountains. >>

* * *

After walking out of the conference venue, Su-hyeun spotted Hak-joon and Thomas sitting together on a bench in front of the Jongno Tower.

“Are you done, bro?”

“He’s here!”

Hak-joon and Thomas were each enjoying a cone of ice cream. Su-hyeun joined them on the bench with a tired expression.

“Was it that tough?” Hak-joon asked.

“I always find dealing with such a group of people quite tiring.”

Su-hyeun was never really talented in dealing with people, even back in the past.

Sure, if the occasion asked for it, he could step up to the plate, but it was still so tiring that he’d rather fight monsters, instead.

While leaning against the bench, he raised his head and stared up to the sky. But, when he closed his eyes in this position, the faces of all the awakeners inside the conference venue floated back up in his mind.

<< If only every one of them was good people. >>

This world was filled with all sorts of people.

A world filled only by kind people was an impossible ideal. Even then, a world where good people were rewarded and bad ones were punished was the ‘right’ one, was it not?

The strength of the association, its manpower, was definitely needed. But, since not every one of them was a kind, righteous person, someone with power and smarts was needed to control them.

<< I do have the necessary power. >>

Su-hyeun’s eyes slowly opened again.

<< As for the smarts… >>

He recalled what Lee Ju-ho said to him before coming here. After observing the older man for a long while, it became evident that he was a rather smart guy.

Su-hyeun was thankful.

Thankful that Lee Ju-ho chose to walk on this difficult road. Even though it’d be a very arduous and the path ahead, fraught with far more difficulty.

The three of them sat on the bench and passed the time. After about an hour of waiting, the smartphone went off.

Rrrrring-

The call came from Lee Ju-ho. Su-hyeun was waiting for it, so he quickly answered it.

-Hello? Hey, Su-hyeun.

The voice on the line seemed fatigued. Su-hyeun smirked at the tone of voice, though.

“Sounds like things went well.”

-What the hell, are you a mind reader or something?

The tone of voice suddenly changed.

Su-hyeun chuckled softly to himself.

He knew what Lee Ju-ho’s personality was like. If things hadn’t gone as hoped, then he would’ve used a brighter voice to reassure him that everything was peachy.

As his chuckles gradually died down, Lee Ju-ho spoke up again.

-The Hahoetal Guild will be expelled from the association, and everyone agreed to change the regulations to something fair and more strict. Also, if more problems crop up in the future, they all agreed to either expel or punish the troublemakers, too.

“They agreed far easier than I thought?”

-All because of your massive rampage earlier. Besides, we have a pretext, too. It was a confrontation between right and wrong. Don’t forget, there are reporters here, so they couldn’t push back against the suggestions that are basically meant to safeguard what’s right.

Many factors had favored Su-hyeun and Lee Ju-ho’s cause.

The end result wasn’t bad at all. Of course, not everything had unfolded in the way Su-hyeun had predicted.

-And also, I agreed to join the association. Looks like I’ll have to get directly involved in its administration.

“Eh? You will, bro? You’ve never said anything about that before.”

The unexpected revelation caused Su-hyeun’s sit up straight on the bench. Unlike him, though, Lee Ju-ho sounded calm as he continued.

-Without agreeing to that, this result wouldn’t have come about. And even if it did, the new rules would be like a sandcastle, waiting to crumble.

“What are you talking about?”

-Look at the long term, not the short term. Using strength to scare people and make them submit is no different from delaying a bomb ready to go off by a little bit. At the very least, we have to make them recognize that we’re not their enemies.

“And that’s why you joined the association?”

-You don’t have to sweat over it. I’ll be the one making all the decisions, after all. This is for the best, actually. By being in the same organization, it’ll be easier to control them and make sure that problems don’t rear their heads again.

It wasn’t as if it was a big issue. No, just like Lee Ju-ho had said, this situation turned out to be even better. Indeed, he’d be able to go beyond stopping the association’s issues and control the matters within its membership, too.

This was probably done to grant the sense of security that came from being on the same side as Kim Su-hyeun, something the association wished for.

There was only one reason why Su-hyeun’s reaction was so vocal like this, though.

“Won’t it get too hard?”

That would be—the amount of work Lee Ju-ho had to perform would increase by a lot.

He had rolled up his sleeves, instead of Su-hyeun. He now had to wade into the huge crowd made up of countless people, assess whether something was wrong or not, and then do something about it.

Su-hyeun had never expected Lee Ju-ho to go to such lengths.

-I always found you to be an amazing person.

But then, Lee Ju-ho said something completely out of left field.

-Every single day, you advance forward like crazy, never even taking much of a break in the process. And, sometimes, when I’m talking to you, it’s like I’m talking to an old man. You’re always worried about something, and you give it your best to lighten that worry.

That was the ‘Su-hyeun’ Lee Ju-ho had been observing until now.

-And I think I figured out what you’re so worried about. When I first met you, I sometimes wondered if you were worried about nothing, but… Lately, I understand where you’re coming from.

“Bro, can it be….”

-You’ve asked me this in passing before. You said, do I find the dungeons appearing in our current world normal or not? Didn’t those dungeons look as if they would eventually swallow our world whole?

“….”

-I’m just now beginning to agree with you. So, how can I watch you crazily push yourself and do nothing? Anyone would try to help you out, in that case.

Su-hyeun suddenly recalled something Kim Dae-ho told him in the past.

[The whole world is expecting you to help them, so shouldn’t at least one person help you out in return, too? Don’t you agree?]

Those were pretty much the same words.

‘I shall help you’.

Nothing could make Su-hyeun’s heart grow more excited than that.

-You see, I’m not overflowing with talent like you, Hak-joon or Thomas. Well, I fall way behind in that aspect compared to your trio of monsters, but…

There was a hint of mirth mixed in Lee Ju-ho’s voice coming out from the speaker.

-I’m your ally, Su-hyeun. So, let me carry some of the weight, okay?