Chapter 55 (2/2)

As the hero who played the most important role in stopping the S-Class dungeon collapse, he had come to the media’s attention around the world and expressed disapproval, saying that it became a bigger fuss than he thought it would be.

In a few days, Bill Russell would flip the media again.

He would be announcing his retirement.

‘We’ll need to be on the same page, so I should inform him.’

Bill Russell had to know what had happened in the dungeon in preparation for further interviews, so information on that part was completely conveyed. In the meantime, there was news as big as Bill Russell in Korea. It was about the Celestial Dragon Guild.

“I heard that Han-Seol, the Assistant Guild Master, is dead, too? After Park Chang-Hee Hunter, the bad news only continues.”

“But this time, things have been a little weird. Many of the top-notch hunters are showing signs of leaving the Celestial Dragons.”

“They believe in Han-Seol and follow her, so does that mean they don’t want to continue working under Seo Gyu-Cheol?”

“There was a rumor going around among the hunters about the internal situation. Guild Master Seo Gyu-Cheol has long lost his internal support. They said his guild operational capability is actually worse than that of Han-Seol’s.”

“The saying that it is the best guild in Korea should soon become history.”

Just as she completely captured the heart of the original Seo Jin-Wook, Han-Seol was considered a true leader who could be trusted and was followed by other guild members. I clicked my tongue at the news brought about by her death.

‘It’s a talent to hold the people’s hearts this far without brainwashing skills.’

Internally, Han-Seol’s status was strong and mighty. However, it had been enough to push Seo Gyu-Cheol behind.

“In the meantime, there are rumors that his son, who Seo Gyu-Cheol was pushing him to be his successor, is also missing.”

He desperately wanted to hide an internal situation, but words seemed to leak out as the guild had been shaken to its core. The media’s reaction was divided. While praising Celestial Dragon Guild as they contributed greatly to the attack, others presented a dark analysis of the future prospects in a subtle tone. And, as it began to show that the hunters were actually leaving the guild, Senators called for me. It had been a long time since I saw him face to face.

*

“They were parasitic alien kinds? I’d like to hear more details.”

With a much darker expression than I had ever seen before, I delivered everything I could say in front of him. Some of them were more detailed than what I had reported to the government. It was unlikely that another immortal being would appear in terms of circumstances, but it would be helpful enough to broaden the scope of information about alien races.

When the talk was over, Senators remained silent for a while. Then, he breathed in deeply as he lit his cigar. I watched the smoke spread through the room, and he spoke with a lot of sorrow infused in his tone.

“Losing Nicole hurts my bones.”

I nodded. Nicole also seemed to be a person worthy of Senator’s attention. She could have been dispatched to Korea even though she was only an SS-class hunter because of his help. The U.S. government may not have wanted it.

“We were able to successfully clear by your help of sending her with us.”

I had to admit this fact, since I didn’t have any skills to replace that unique skill.

“In case a dungeon collapses, the judgment that it doesn’t matter since it doesn’t direct one only shows that he only knows one but not the other. We have yet to experience a collapse of the S-Class dungeon. No one can guarantee how fast the fire will spread.”

That was the Senator’s belief. Human beings should make all-out efforts to prevent disasters beyond the borders.

‘He tends to measure risk as conservative as possible. His direction of lobbying people in Washington is also focused on deregulating Hunter and Dungeon items because he believes that humanity’s preparation for unknown threats is still absurd.’

Considering what would happen in the future, the Senator’s judgment was right.

‘Making a black market so that if anyone needs to, they could circulate items outside the boundaries of the law, was of the same intention. Our thoughts coincide in this aspect. As expected, it was good to make ties with him as soon as possible.’

This was to not underestimate future risks. It was a mindset that proved to be the most necessary for humanity now.

“But then…”

He glanced at me.

“Are you going to continue your major career in the U.S.? I’d like to recommend you to do so, too.”

He may not have been saying this out of patriotism when he had just expressed the need to go beyond selfishness among nations.

The following words were just what I had expected.

“The U.S. is one of the countries that gates are mostly discovered in the world. No matter how much power we have, we still don’t have enough.”

He was recommending, for realistic reasons, that the U.S. needed a lot of hunters.

“What do you think about maintaining a state of a freelancer like now, but signing a loose contract with my agency? I don’t want to tie a leash on you, so you don’t have to worry.”

“You’re asking me when you know I’m going to reject it, right?”

Tsk, he clicked his tongue. He spoke once more in a disappointed tone.

“Tell me whenever you change your mind. I’ll take care of you a lot more than one would take care of a freelancer.”

No matter how loose the leash may be, the leash was still a leash. Considering what would happen in the upcoming days, it was only natural for me to choose to belong to the group that would move according to my own will.

And I had already decided where the group would be.

“By the way, I’m not a freelancer.”

The Senator’s eyebrows wiggled.

“I thought I understood that the relationship between the father and the son was dreadful? That the family situation is a mess, too.”

I was sure he already got the details of the Celestial Dragon Guild.

The Senator spoke once more. “Are you going to keep the enemy around as you live as a runaway child?”

I smiled lightly.

“It’s about time that runaway kid returned.”

The Siheung 8 dungeon entered a precarious status much faster in this life than in the future.

Was it a butterfly effect that I had made? Questions still lingered over this assumption.

To make a wild guess, did I influence the Siheung dungeon, simply because I cleared the dungeon that was supposed to be removed later in my previous life?

‘There may be some system behavior that I don’t know, so it’s too early to say …’

Anyway, if one event was advanced, the others could be, too.

One couldn’t just wait to see disasters, such as the collapse of the SSS-class dungeon, to occur simultaneously as in the past.

‘From now on, I can’t do it alone.’

Because of this, I was thinking of using the Celestial Dragon Guild as my stepping stone.

The person who planted the curse could not be identified, but I couldn’t always live while keeping my head down.

‘I will rebuild the Celestial Dragon with my own hands.’

It would be a waste to start at the bottom to prepare for the future. There was no need to give up the items, capital, and reputation that Celestial Dragon had already accumulated. As a first step toward the acquisition, I was going to make Seo Gyu-Cheol come down from his spot soon.

‘Of course, I have to show them that I deserve it.‘

I was going to put an end to moving around with another identity. From now on, I would prove my worth as Seo Jin-Wook.