Chapter 192 (1/2)
Act 8
Su-hyeun went to the Authority building to meet Bak Yun-gyu. Two cups of warm tea waited for him in the reception room. When Su-hyeun saw that Bak Yun-gyu was prepared for him, he grew concerned.
“…Are you okay?” Su-hyeun asked.
He asked because of the awful look on Bak Yun-gyu’s face. He was an awakener, not an ordinary person, so he must have good stamina. But he had dark circles under his glassy eyes.
“I’m okay.”
“Work too busy?”
“Yea. It’s not easy to hold down a job and climb the tower at the same time…”
Bak Yun-gyu usually didn’t show it when he went through a hard time.
<<I guess he really is exhausted. He looks like he hasn’t sleep for a while, too.>>
“Anyway, the case you called to ask about…” Bak Yun-gyu said.
“Yes.”
“I don’t think this is a big deal that you have to take care of. It looks like some vicious awakeners made trouble, so the Authority is investigating now.”
Crimes by awakeners went on constantly. Although the Dump Guild had gone, and the crime rate was quite low, it was impossible to prevent all crimes from strong awakeners.
“I know, of course, you’re interested in the crimes of awakeners like the Dump Guild—”
“Are you sure it was a crime of awakeners?”
“Yes?” Bak Yun-gyu tilted his head as if he was puzzled. He looked at the record on his tablet. “A group fight in Paris, France. People showed aggressive tendencies, such as wielding their fists or fired weapons at other people. It’s assumed that some sort of mind control skill was involved.”
Bak Yun-gyu briefly explained the case, then asked again. “Isn’t it hard to see how this was related to the dungeon?”
Su-hyeun nodded at the question. Indeed, this incident didn’t seem to relate to any dungeon. There was no monster, and the sudden aggression of the citizens was much closer to a mind control skill, as Bak Yun-gyu said. That was why everyone missed it. Everyone had missed the early signs in his first life, too.
“I’ll go check it out,” Su-hyeun said.
“But, as I said earlier, it isn’t anything big. You don’t have to do that…”
Bak Yun-gyu stopped talking and shook his head. He knew that Su-hyeun wouldn’t listen to him even if he tried to stop him. There was no reason that Su-hyeun had to listen to him. Also, he thought there might be a chance that this was something serious, as Su-hyeun said. There was nothing wrong with believing in Su-hyeun’s idea. If it wasn’t a simple crime committed by awakeners, then things might get worse.
“Okay,” Bak Yun-gyu said, “then, I’ll take care of the process.”
“Good. And—” Su-hyeun asked for a few other things as well.
Bak Yun-gyu listened to all of Su-hyeun’s requests, then asked with a confused face, “Mr. Su-hyeun. Are you saying that—”
“You know. Just in case. If there’s anything that happens related to it, please let me know as soon as possible. Even a minor case is fine.”
“…Okay. I will.”
“I’ll leave for Paris tomorrow. I have people to meet with today.”
“If you have any additional information or requests, please contact us immediately.”
Su-hyeun and Bak Yun-gyu got up from their seats after that. Bak Yun-gyu lent Su-hyeun his tablet that had the information about the case. Su-hyeun rechecked the record and made a few phone calls.
“Hey, Hak-joon. It’s me. You picked up really quickly.”
The first person he contacted was Hak-joon. Then, Su-hyeun contacted Thomas, Gordon Rohan, and Lee Ju-ho.
***
Su-hyeun met Lee Ju-ho first. They met in a small cafe in Yeouido. This place was Su-hyeun’s favorite.
“Is Hak-joon going to be late?” Lee Ju-ho asked.
“It looked like he was meeting Yun-seon. I told him it’s okay to take his time. So, he’ll come after dinner or something.”
“Thomas won’t be here today, will he?”
“I guess not, since he’s in Japan now. In fact, Gordon, Thomas, and you are doing all of the work of the Paragon Guild.”
“Yea. You and Hak-joon leave a big gap.”
“But I can’t stop climbing. If you really need my help, leave me a message.”
“It’s fine. There’s nothing that serious, yet. Well. There shouldn’t be anything serious.”
The two drank their drinks and had a small chat. Of course, the topic got to their main subject quickly.
“So, why did you call? I heard you even called Mr. Rohan.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Why? Is there anything wrong?”
“Not yet.”
“Not yet?”
“Yes.”
Lee Ju-ho could sense a hidden meaning in Su-hyeun’s words. Lee Ju-ho, who was stirring his drink with a straw, took a big gulp from his cup.
“Sigh— Just tell me now.”
“Why are you drinking so quickly?”
“Because! Big things always happen when you act like this. Let me get into the right mindset first.”
Su-hyeun laughed at his reaction. Lee Ju-ho even corrected his posture to sit upright and opened his mouth to say, “Ok. I’m ready. Tell me.”
“Check out this incident.” Su-hyeun held out the tablet that he had borrowed from Bak Yun-gyu.
Lee Ju-ho quickly read the record of the incidents on the tablet. And soon, when he finished reading, he looked very confused.
“Isn’t it just some awakener’s crime? Why? Do you want to catch this person?”
“Yea, I’m thinking of catching them. But I feel like this isn’t just a case from an awakener.”
“What do you mean? If it isn’t from an awakener, is this because of monsters or something?”
“It doesn’t look like it’s because of monsters.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“But it could have happened because of a dungeon.”
“…?”
As Su-hyeun went on, Lee Ju-ho became more confused. He had no idea what Su-hyeun was trying to say.
“Look at this. Significant points,” Su-hyeun said.