"So he lost," A man looking at a crystal inside a dark room said in a low voice.
The man wearing a red demon mask turned his head around with an emotionless look.
He placed his eyes on a group of priests wearing black robes.
"Congrats on the success in summoning."
"The Cult has promised to give us extra support."
"Now we can move on to fulfill our original goal."
The priests celebrated the success of the demon summoning in unison. The man wearing the red demon mask nodded.
"How are they planning to support us?"
"It's concentrated demonic energy. It will be enough to move on with our plan and increase the power of the Cardinal."
"Good," The masked man replied, satisfied.
You could feel the lust for the power that would be given to him in his voice.
Leaving the result aside, the summoning had been successful. He had fulfilled the conditions given to him by the Cult, so it was understandable for him to be rewarded accordingly.
'Although I never imagined he'd lose in such a way.'
He thought of the footage he’d seen through the crystal.
He frowned.
From the beginning, what mattered to him was making the summoning a success, but he’d never imagined that the demon would be defeated so easily.
'I was hoping he would at least deal considerable damage to the Hwarang Squad.'
The Hwarang Squad and the big guilds that didn't collaborate with the Demon Cult were beings that hindered their plan of devouring Korea.
He was hoping that the Hwarang Squad's forces would suffer a considerable amount of damage.
—But the result was the total opposite.
The demon had suddenly begun acting strange and had ended up dying.
'Why did the demon act so strangely?'
He couldn't understand.
The demon had acted all high and mighty only in the beginning, but then had suddenly become really scared.
It was completely different from the image he had in his head.
'Is it because of Chae YeonJoo?'
Chae YeonJoo, the leader of the Red Rose Guild, was clearly the strongest player among those who’d arrived at the cave.
"..."
The man shook his head.
He had met Chae YeonJoo a couple of times.
She was indeed really strong, but she wasn't strong enough to make a demon tremble in fear.
No. Demons were very prideful beings, so it made no sense that he had trembled in fear before even fighting.
'There's something I’m missing…'
He narrowed his eyes.
There must’ve been a reason he wasn't aware of.
The problem was that it was impossible to guess the reason just by the footage he had seen through the crystal.
'Is it because of the guy who attacked him with the scythe?'
He remembered the young man who had a sharp look on his face.
He had also heard about the young man named KangWoo.
There had been rumors going on about him that said that he was a really talented rookie that the Red Rose Guild was supporting.
"Hmm..."
A short exclamation came out of the man's mouth.
But still, a rookie was a rookie. It had been only a month since the Red Rose Guild had begun supporting him, so there was a limit on how strong he could have gotten.
'I have no idea.'
He wasn't sure why the demon had acted in such a strange way.
'I'll have to check it out myself.'
The man’s eyes shone sharply.
"Cardinal, we have other news."
"Say it."
"It seems like the world rankers have started moving."
"..."
The man frowned after hearing “World Rankers.”
He didn't seem angry by the news that they'd started moving, but he seemed annoyed by the words.
"Hmm."
But the anger was momentaneous. He leaned back on the chair.
That past month, the dimensional wall had gotten weaker, and with that, the Demon Cult had started actively moving.
So it was obvious that they would also begin moving.
"Did the Cult give any orders?"
"Not really."
"So there wasn't..."
The man's eyes shone with interest. The fact they hadn't given any orders in that situation meant one thing.
"We'll have to hurry up. We'll move on with our plans. Let's start with El Cuero."
He mentioned the name of the boss monster of Suwon's S-rank Gate.
"Yes!"
The priest's, who had their heads bowed down, answered loudly.
* * *
After the demon summoning incident got resolved, KangWoo climbed up on Echidna and flew home. Chae YeonJoo and Baek HwaYeon refused, so it was just KangWoo and Echidna.
* * *
When he got home, he saw Han Seol-ah, who had taken Kim ShiHoon to the hospital.
She wasn't alone…
EunBi and TaeSoo were also there.
They were sitting down with looks that showed they had many things they wanted to ask.
"I'll tell you tomorrow when we go and see Mr. ShiHoon."
He couldn't hide things from them anymore since they'd also gotten involved.
The next day, he began explaining when they got to the hospital where Kim ShiHoon was.
He told them that he was a player who was receiving support from the Red Rose Guild and that there was a mysterious cult called the Demon Cult active in Korea.
He also told them that Kim JaeHyun and Kim YeongHoon had been providing them with offerings.
"Then... Mr. KangWoo, you were watching over me for a week after hearing the rumor?"
"Yes. The moment I heard the rumor, I knew it was about you."
"How did such a rumor..."
"Well, the player's world is small, after all, and your party has many people with attention-grabbing looks. It would be weird if people didn't notice you," KangWoo answered calmly.
Obviously, he didn't mention that he had used Kim ShiHoon as bait.
He was just explaining things with words that came into his mind.
'I'm not saying anything wrong.'
The reason why that plan had ended up in success was that Kim ShiHoon's party was clearly different from others.
All Kim ShiHoon's party members were so talented that it would be weird if there hadn't been more rumors about them.
"Couldn't... You have told me before?"
Han Seol-ah looked at him with sad eyes.
She knew that KangWoo was hiding many things from her.
'He's probably hiding even more things.'
She felt that KangWoo was probably hiding an even bigger secret.
Even though he was right next to her and they lived together, she felt that KangWoo was at such a distance that she couldn't reach him even if she spread her hands.
Bitter emotions filled her heart.
"I'm sorry for making you worry."
"Ah..."
A short exclamation came out of Han Seol-ah's mouth.
After hearing him say sorry without putting out any excuses, she began feeling remorseful.
"N-no. I shouldn't have said that... You probably have your reasons."
"But it doesn't change the fact that I made my family worry. I can't promise that things like this won't happen again... But I'll try my best."
"T-try? Th-that..."
Han Seol-ah mumbled while her face was red. She felt her heart beating faster and that, if she didn't try hard, the tips of her mouth would go up.
The word he’d said, family, was filling her head.
"Thank you..."
There was a weird atmosphere between the two.
"KangWoo, peel this for me."
Echidna was on top of his lap while making a blank expression.
She handed him an orange they'd brought before visiting Kim ShiHoon.
KangWoo smirked and grabbed the orange.
"Hyeongnim. What happened with the members of the Demon Cult?"
"We weren't able to catch the leader."
"Oof... Do they really kidnap people and use them as offerings?"
"You also almost became a victim."
"Those bastards!"
TaeSoo stomped angrily. TaeSoo already looked scary enough, and seeing him frown made him look like a demon that appeared in nightmares.
'There's no way you're a human.'
—KangWoo resisted saying that.
"Anyway, take care while hunting. You never know when they're going to attack again."
"Understood."
"Also, each of you take one of these."
KangWoo gave each a crystal ball he'd gotten from Chae YeonJoo.
"KangWoo oppa, what's this?"
"It's a crystal that lets you communicate with others inside the gates. Call me if something dangerous happens."
"Thank you, Mr. KangWoo."
It seemed like KangWoo's gesture moved him—he grabbed the crystal tightly.
"Mr. KangWoo, I have a question."
"I'll answer as long as it's something I know."
"What happened with Kim YeongHoon and Kim JaeHyun...?"
"They're both going to spend the rest of their lives in jail."
"..."
"You don't need to worry. They won't be able to solve this with money."
They had kidnapped people and sold them to a cult.
Of course, they could try to destroy or change evidence, but it wasn't like KangWoo wouldn't be able to deal with that kind of stuff.
'If there's a lack of evidence, I can always fabricate it.'
KangWoo had the power to do that.
"Also, I heard about your situation."
"Ah..."
"It seemed like Kim JaeHyun forced her to take a huge debt. I already asked for enough compensation to cover that. Also, your mom seems to have health issues, so I'll ensure she gets treatment in the best possible facilities."
"Mr. KangWoo..."
Kim ShiHoon seemed to be lost for words.
His body began trembling. Tears dropped from his eyes.
"Th-thank you... Sniff, sniff. Mr. KangWoo, you're my savior."
'Don't say things like that. I'm starting to feel guilty.'
KangWoo smiled awkwardly while remembering that he had turned him into his familiar spirit.
"Mr. KangWoo, you're really a good person."
'Stop.'
"I was lucky to have met Mr. KangWoo."
'I'm sorry, I was wrong. Now that I think about it, I think that turning you into a familiar spirit was a bit too much.'
"Just like TaeSoo, I also want to serve you as my hyeongnim."
'Why are you doing this to me?'
KangWoo felt that he was about to burn because of guilt.
Even if he was someone very calculative and cold, it wasn't like he didn't have any emotions left.
'I feel like I'm absolute trash.'
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