Cheon Sa-yeon, who felt disturbing energy from Kali, raised his senses sharply after that and was alert to his surroundings.
There were a lot of things that felt uncomfortable to dismiss what Kali said to Cheon Sa-yeon as just crazy nonsense. All his senses, which were more developed than the average person, convinced him that Kali was a dangerous person.
However, nothing happened for over a month, disregarding what Cheon Sa-yeon was prepared for. The peaceful daily life continued as before.
「What is it?」
At this point, the person who became anxious was rather Cheon Sa-yeon.
Kali, whom he met at that time, showed confidence that her plan would be carried out without fail. He didn’t feel like she was going to back down so easily.
However, even that anxious heart began to fade as time passed. Above all, Cheon Sa-yeon was the master of the No. 1 guild in Korea. He had a lot of work to do and a mountain of problems to deal with.
Meanwhile, in October, an incident that I knew very well happened. It was an explosion gate at the C12 Area.
「Sis, sister. Even just my sister… please…」
「……」
Cheon Sa-yeon narrowed his eyes when he heard Han Yi-gyeol’s plea, who was seriously injured after being chased by a monster. A narrow alley with soaring flames, the smell of thick smoke, and thick blood.
Cheon Sa-yeon looked at Han Yi-gyeol as he crawled hard towards the girl who had fallen not far away and he remembered when he had awakened.
「If he survives here, there’s a high probability of his awakening.」
Cheon Sa-yeon thought so and ordered the arriving staff to rescue Han Yi-gyeol and his younger sister.
「Master Cheon Sa-yeon. You know, I didn’t know about this. Oh? Please give the explanation well to the management headquarters!」
Kang Seung-geon, the master of the Blun Guild in charge of the C12 Area, ran up late and made excuses for himself in cold sweat.
He used to say that he was an orphan when he met him from a long time ago. It was then that Cheon Sa-yeon, who laughed inwardly, was about to say something.
「It is a lie. You came here a week ago and just left!」
「Wha, what…」
「You said that you don’t have to take care of a place like this, uh… I heard you said to postpone it because it’s troublesome!」
「Shit, what kind of bullshit!」
Kang Seung-geon, who was embarrassed by Han Yi-gyeol’s cry, and the reporters pointed the camera in front of them, and the surrounding area quickly became a mess. In it, Cheon Sa-yeon looked at Han Yi-gyeol.
「He has a bit more personality than he looks.」
I thought he was weak and timid. Cheon Sa-yeon, who changed his impression of Han Yi-gyeol, thought quietly.
「If he really awakens, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to bring him to the guild.」
However, two days later, as soon as Han Yi-gyeol heard the news that his sister had died, he used his ability to kill himself.
As Cheon Sa-yeon expected, Han Yi-gyeol succeeded in awakening as an A-rank wind ability, but that turned out to be poison. Well, he decided to commit suicide, so even if he hadn’t awakened, he would have died in the end.
「If it was the wind ability, there would have been many places to use it.」
「It’s a pity, but there’s nothing we can do.」
Cheon Sa-yeon, who confirmed the end of Han Yi-gyeol with the documents delivered by Woo Seo-hyuk, forgot their existence after a brief regret. To Cheon Sa-yeon, Han Yi-gyeol was just one of the many victims of the gate explosion.
So time passed again. In mid-December, just before Christmas, two months after Han Yi-gyeol’s death, a new gate appeared.
「It’s called the N19 Area.」
「Hm…」
If it was a new gate in the N19 Area… it was the first SS-grade gate I entered with Han Yi-gyeol’s body.
Cheon Sa-yeon, who was worried as he touched the corner of his mouth, shook his head.
「It would be better to skip this one.」
「Are you all right with that, Master?」
Park Geon-ho, who came to the representative office with Woo Seo-hyuk, asked with a puzzled expression.
「There’s a lot of talks that the new gate might be SS-grade. It’s all bullshit without a source.」
「The highest grade among gates that have been released so far is an S-grade, so there’s a good chance that an SS-grade will also come out. Roheon knows that too, so they’ll probably take this gate.」
「And you’re still giving up?」
「There’s no need to forcefully increase the number of gates in this situation. Safety comes first, Team Leader Park Geon-ho. And…」
Cheon Sa-yeon, who thought of something for a moment, spoke soon.
「Now that Roheon has an SS-rank talented person, it’s okay to trust him and pass it on to them.」
Woo Seo-hyuk coordinated the schedule with the decision he made.
「I understand. Then I will pass on the answer to the guild management headquarters that we won’t attend the meeting that day.」
Watching the conversation between the three, I realized later that Cheon Sa-yeon didn’t know that this gate was SS-grade.
‘It’s because the current Cheon Sa-yeon was before he was trapped in time.’
Neither did he know about the SS-grade gate nor the SS-class swords Lilith.
Then, Cheon Sa-yeon only took the gate to get away from Kali, but he originally handed it over to Roheon.
Cheon Sa-yeon cherished the guild, but what he valued more than that was the safety of the world.
The more guilds stably divide the gates and the more SS-rank awakeners, the safer the world became from monsters. So Cheon Sa-yeon was quite satisfied that the second SS-rank awakening in Korea was Ha Tae-heon, who was upright and honest, and that he belonged to Roheon.
‘But if he did that then…’
I frowned as I recalled the inside of the SS-grade gate I had personally experienced.
Roheon without any information… could they clear it and come back safely?
* * *
As I guessed, Roheon couldn’t clear the SS-rank gate neatly.
No, the clear itself… didn’t succeed.
No one came back. Many guild members of Roheon, including Lee Joo-ha and Ha Tae-heon, died without even finding… their bodies.
「There’s nothing we can do.」
「……」
「I’m sorry, Master Cheon Sa-yeon.」
Choi Mi-jin, with a more tired face than ever, handed over the documents to Cheon Sa-yeon in a black suit. It was the ownership of the new gate, which was officially identified as SS-grade.
Since Roheon, the second-largest guild in Korea, didn’t succeed in clearing the gate even with an SS-rank talented person, all guilds refused to take over the new gate.
In the end, Requiem, who was number one in Korea and had SS-rank talented person, had no choice but to carry this gate.
Roheon, who lost strong awakeners, including the guild master and Ha Tae-heon, who might have become a deputy master, quickly collapsed without being able to balance itself.
Some shouted that the Requiem should absorb such Roheon, but Cheon Sa-yeon did not touch Roheon in the slightest.
‘I believe you will come back.’
It had already been three weeks since Roheon entered the gate… but he still believed it. They would be back.
The world, where Roheon came down from the second place in Korea, quickly lost its peace.
The gate of the C13 Area, which the Blun Guild was in charge of, ran into an explosion again. Blun received strong criticism from the media and the public because they had already poured oil on the bad atmosphere and Kang Seung-geon stepped down from the master position himself.
From that point on, ability supremacists began to appear everywhere, arguing that ‘Talented people are superior beings who have achieved evolution’. They, the talented people, despised the common people and quickly expanded their power by gathering numbers.
「It is said that this terrorist attack is also the work of a supremacist group.」
「Haa…」
Requiem, known as the most outstanding guild, also became a target of terrorism. Dozens of times a day, they attacked buildings or started fighting their employees.
Naturally, the internal condition of the guild was the worst and complaints erupted from various places. Even though Cheon Sa-yeon tried to solve it, it was impossible to stop the terrorist act of a group that couldn’t even estimate the exact number.
Cheon Sa-yeon couldn’t hide his tiredness even in front of Woo Seo-hyuk.
From the shock of Roheon’s collapse overnight, whom he believed in their come back, to the situation in which his guild had to deal with the aftermath, support for the restoration of the C13 Area that had been managed by the Blun Guild, and terrorism.
Among them, the thing that Cheon Sa-yeon was most concerned about was the second clearing schedule of the SS-grade gate that was approaching day by day.
It was the infamous gate that the clear team that first entered didn’t return. Who would want to go to such a gate? Although he worked hard to post the announcement, he didn’t support any team other than the special operations division that Park Geon-ho was in charge of.
But he couldn’t leave it like that. If that happened, the gate would run rampant without being able to handle the increasing number of monsters. Three months was the limit if they postponed the schedule as much as possible.
「Are you all right?」
「…yeah.」
When Woo Seo-hyuk, who knew what he was thinking, asked with a worried expression, Cheon Sa-yeon barely answered.
「If you ask for help from another guild…」
「Well.」
The guilds, who trembled, were avoiding them as soon as they took the SS-grade gate. That wasn’t funny. It was sad though.
「Everyone is doing their best in their respective positions, Secretary Woo Seo-hyuk. Just because we are in a difficult situation, we cannot put more burdens on others.」
「However…」
「Wait.」
Cheon Sa-yeon, who stopped talking to Woo Seo-hyuk, blinked for a moment and then stood up.
「Something… the noise…」
「Pardon?」
He hurriedly opened the window. Then the screams of people, the sound of breaking and exploding, and the siren sound intertwined and roared.
「Master?」
The street in front of the building that stretched out under the window had already become a mess.
The wrecked cars, dozens of fallen civilians, and people wearing white masks using their abilities to run away as if it had happened in a multi-collision accident. The scale itself was different from any terrorism he had ever seen.
「…I have to go. Secretary Woo Seo-hyuk.」
Cheon Sa-yeon was about to order Woo Seo-hyuk to find the whereabouts of Park Geon-ho, Min Ah-rin, and Kim Woo-jin.
Knock, knock.
A brief knock rang out in the representative office. Like Cheon Sa-yeon, Woo Seo-hyuk, who realized that the situation was unusual, said with his face hardened.
「Please wait. I will open it.」
Woo Seo-hyuk, who stopped Cheon Sa-yeon from taking the lead, slowly walked closer to the door. He paused for a moment with his hand on the doorknob, then opened the door.
「Team Leader Park Geon-ho.」
「Hi.」
Woo Seo-hyuk and Cheon Sa-yeon relaxed slightly at the unique greeting.
But I immediately noticed that Park Geon-ho had a different smile than usual.
I felt goosebumps actually when I read this chapter in the first time…
And the sad part in the last scene… QAQ
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