The core members of Alandal sat around a table within the president's room. They were arguing about whether they should pour the sweet and sour sauce over the fried pork.
As the president, Kahng-woojin had the final say, but this horrible situation developed because he had said, 'I don't care.'
At Soonghoon's insistence, they started doing rock-paper-scissors, and the Dip the Pork Sect won. Woojin, who had watched this all unfold, yelled at them to 'just pour the sauce', so the sauce was poured over the dish of fried pork. This elicited a yell of victory from the Pour the Sauce and Eat It Sect.
Woojin was mixing his jajangmyeon when he saw Minchan just sitting there doing nothing. He pointed towards the bowl of jajangmyeon with his chin.
“What are you doing? The noodle is going to get soggy.”
Instead of picking up his chopsticks, Minchan let out an aggrieved sound.
“President. Why do you always have to do this to me?”
“Do what?”
“Do you know what breaking news is on right now on CCB?"
“What?”
Woojin mixed his jajangmyeon, then he took a big bite.
“They are saying the US government, Titan, and Alandal are forming a joint counter-terrorism unit.”
“Is that so?”
Woojin picked up a piece of fried pork soaked in sweet and sour sauce. He dipped it in soy sauce and ate it.
Mmm. This place was quite delicious.
“Even the people over there have cheap lips. It hadn't been too long yet they are already talking about it on TV.”
“President. You can't be so laid back right now.”
“What? What's the problem?”
“People from the media are calling to request an interview. The quantity of calls is enough to paralyze our business.”
Currently, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say all the employees outside the president's room was holding a phone.
“Just pull out the phone cords.”
“That….”
What kind of nonsense answer was that?
“In the end, aren't we going to turn them all down? Why do we have to answer each call?”
“But our other work...”
“Didn't you say the phone calls were already paralyzing our business?”
Why was the president being like this? Did the president attend some logic class?
Minchan wanted to argue with him, but no words came to his mind.
“But….”
“Do you receive the application papers through the phones?”
“No, but….”
“Then stop using the phones.”
Ah, that's…. Still, no matter how one looks at it...
Did it make sense to not answer the phones, when the phones were the source of the problem? Minchan calmed his agitated heart, and then he started talking in a calm manner.
“Whew. President. If we do that then the public image of our guild and the trust of the other guilds we are working with...”
Woojin smirked.
“Can our reputation get any worse?”
“That's….”
Ah-ha!
Our company's image was already bad from the start.
Woojin was his own lord throughout heaven and earth.
They were the Korea's best, unreasonable guild.
They were a guild that would immediately close down if their skilled master, who could close consecutive 6 star Dungeons, was absent.
Minchan wore a blank expression, as if he had just been sucker punched. Woojin nodded his towards Soonghoon.
“Go pull it all out.”
“Yes, sir.”
After becoming the Chief Secretary, Soonghoon followed Woojin's orders as if there was a fire chasing after him. He immediately exited the president's room and started pulling out all the telephone plugs.
“Now you don't have any problems. Just relax and work.”
“…….”
“You don't have to respond to everything.”
Sometimes ignoring people was the right answer.
Woojin put another sweet and sour pork inside his mouth and he chewed.
“Hey, the food from here is really tasty. What is the name of this place?”
“They are called Somoon-gahk.”
“From now on, order from here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Woo-soonghoon sucked up to to him, agreeing with whatever Woojin said.
“President's ability to handle work is on the level of Zhuge Liang.”
Woojin smirked as he watched Soonghoon flatter him.
Recently, everything he did was cute. He heard by chance that Soonghoon's family wasn't well off, and that was the reason why he was trying so hard. He felt a little bit of pity for him.
“Dude…. You should take home a larger salary starting from today.”
“President's kindness is boundless like the sky.”
Broken. This was a broken business.
Minchan let out a sigh inside.
At the unexpected instruction, Soonghoon let out a ridiculous praise. At least, he reacted in a normal way.
Di-ri-ri-ri.
Minchan's handphone, as well as several handphones of the employees, rang almost simultaneously.
Even Haesol, who had joined recently, was getting a call on her phone.
The media attempted any method that would give them a chance to make contact with those in the Alandal guild.
“Turn it all off.”
“Yes, sir.”
Everyone started to turn off their hand phone, and Minchan also grabbed his hand phone.
“Huh huh.”
Minchan realized something as he pressed the power button.
He decided to give up. As he thought about it more, he realized there would be no complications. They weren't some government entity. They didn't need to explain their decisions.
The government will take care of the aftermath.
Well...
Ddi-ri-reek.
When the screen on the hand phone went dark, he felt the extreme stress he had been feeling decrease rapidly.
However, there was one issue they had to resolve.
“President. How are you going to do the interview when you are heading towards the Middle East?”
“What about it?”
What about it...
Minchan would be picking the employee for the Support Division, but Woojin's participation in picking the Roused was a must.
“We have no idea when you will come back from the Middle East. Won't we run into a problem if a fixed schedule is set?”
“It shouldn't take too long.”
If one could quell the terrorists in couple days, then the world would be rid of the terrorists by now.
“Let's just choose them in one sitting.”
“What? Is that possible?”
“Yes. Let's do it in one go. Try renting a big gym.”
He just had to filter out the bastards with evil souls, then pick people with high potential. Those qualities couldn't be seen through documents. He had to do the interview by using all of his Sensing and Observation Type Skills.
“So when should we schedule it?”
“Mmm.”
Woojin ate another bite of the jajangmyeon, then he turned to look at Haesol. He had planned on giving Haesol the command, so Haesol had to grow up to a certain point. At the very least, she had to be Rank B….
“Let's schedule it in 3 weeks. Until that time, I want you to hire the employees for the Support Division, then find a location where he will hold the interview.”
“Mmm. Understood.”
After getting the answers to big problems that needed solving, Minchan opened his jajangmyeon to mix it. The noodle had gotten soggy, so it wasn't mixing well. Woojin clicked his tongue when he saw this.
“See. You should have mixed it before the noodles expanded.”
“It's all right.”
Jajangmyeon wasn't the important issue right now.
Minchan asked as he mixed his jajangmyeon.
“How about joining up with the Titan in 3 weeks time?”
“What are you talking about?”
“What?”
Woojin grinned.
“I'll be returning before that.”
“Do you mean after 3...3 weeks?”
“It won't take 3 weeks. It'll be about 1 week.”
“…….”
Woojin hadn't meant he would be leaving after 3 weeks.
He planned on returning within the 3 weeks...
“So when are you are going to leave?”
“Call the Titan guild for me. Tell them to pick me up when they leave for the Middle East.”
“…….”
If someone saw him, one would think Woojin was calling for a taxi.
However, Minchan soon conceded the point. Woojin was worth such troubles. No, they should be the ones escorting Woojin.
“Understood.”
“Then I'll be going home now.”
“I'll take you there.”
Woo-soonghoon, who was Woojin's personal assistant, immediately stepped forward.
He had to protect Woojin from the reporters.
“I want you to make an appointment tomorrow at a suitable 6 star Dungeon. Before the plane comes, I want to teach you as much as I can.”
It would take him long to return from the Middle East, but he had to lay down the groundwork for Sunggoo and Haesol so they could clear the Dungeons together.
“Yes, sir.”
Woojin ate all of his jajangmyeoun and left work thinking about his plans tomorrow. Minchan started composing an e-mail he was going to send to the Titan guild.
*
Titan Guild Headquarters.
Master Deacon couldn't help but labor over this incredible offer.
‘He was going to ferret out and exterminate the terrorists.’
The previous missile terrorist attack was a horrible nightmare from the perspective of Americans. It was a disaster committed by a fellow human being. Some might find his stance amusing, but he hated terrorists more than the unpredictable Dungeon Breaks..
Woojin knew who was behind Al Assad.
Moreover, he had taken the initiative to ask Deacon. He was going to extract his revenge, so should Deacon go along with him?
He held an incredible amount of hatred towards terrorist organizations, but there were several issue that made him hesitate.
‘Several American businesses are involved in this.’
This was one of the evidence found during the investigation.
In the case of the artificial Dungeon and Rashmode, they had learned much from the gang members they had caught. They were receiving support from an unknown company…. The identity of the company was only known by the boss, but unfortunately, he was killed in the Rashmode incident.
Moreover, several scientists that were found on location were confirmed to have ties with several companies. Still, they were only at the early stages of evaluating the evidence.
The investigation was still well under way.
They were stealthily and quietly….
Then Woojin's offer came in.
If they moved too rashly, the enemy could cut off their own tail and deny everything. Then they wouldn't be able to hold the culprits accountable. Was it the right move to just go ahead and move against them?
There was another worry.
‘Will the government move?’
Of course, the companies would have ties to some in the government. Maybe this would be all for naught if the government didn't want to retaliate against these terrorist. This still meant Korea's Alandal Guild would be heading towards the Middle East regardless of what they did.
A terrorist attack had occurred on US soil, but a Korean guild would be heading towards the Middle East to exact revenge instead of the US government and a US guild.
‘This isn't good.’
If the Titans didn't participate in this, they won't suffer monetarily from it, but they would lose something important. No, the damage from losing this would be incalculable.
It was the Titan's reputation, and what they stood for.
They were portrayed as the best guild in the US, and part of their image was the fact that they protected the US. This image would take a hit.
It might not seem like a big deal right now. However, if the Holy Maiden's prophecy was true, it would be fatal for them when the great catastrophe hits earth.
The Titans must have symbolic value.
When the catastrophe comes, people must not lose their moral compasses. The Titan guild had to be their hope and shield. This is why they had to accept this offer.
They had to risk the government disagreeing with them.
Moreover, they had to make the decision soon...
Deacon pressed the intercom button and paged his secretary.
“Contact the CCB.”
[Yes, master.]
He'll start the fire and see what happens. If they don't act now, then they won't be able to guide world as the lighthouse that will light the way in the catastrophe.
They will have sufficient justification to do this. Americans wanted this.
The government won't be able to block this.
He didn't know who worked behind the scenes, but their hearts will soon be filled with worry.
*
Hwarang's Guild Master.
These days Lee-sahngho was in a foul mood.
He was always in a bad mood before, but it had gotten much worse these days.
When he turned on the tv, listened to the radio, and surfed the internet, it was only full of stories about Alandal.
Kahng-woojin, Kahng-woojin, Kahng-woojin.
Everything was about him. Even the gossip section was overflowing with his story.
[Hello. This is MBS reporter Jung-sooyun and we are at the Chinese restaurant. They are the only ones that has been able to speak over the phone with the Alandal Guild. We are going to interview the owner of the restaurant.]
[Ah, jeez. Bee- Bee- You are driving away the customers Beep- Bee- Go away Bee- Bee- ] (TLN: Beep = swear words being censored)
[Yes. As expected of the restaurant that has the last working phone connection to Alandal, they are quite violent and aggressive. They...]
The owner of the Chinese restaurant was angry as he got into it with the crowd of reporters gathered around his restaurant. Lee-sahngho turned off the TV with the remote.
“They are making a fuss out of nothing... Hoo….”
Hwarang guild's master Lee-sahngho let out a sigh.
Recently, he felt as if he was suffering from neurosis.
The world had gone crazy, and everyone only talked about Kahng-woojin.
“The best in the industry. Bullshit...”
It had been a long time, since the terrorist organization in the Middle East responsible for the assassination had contacted him. In the first place, they had used an untraceable number and they initiated the contact. Unless they called him, Lee-sahngho had now way of contacting them.
Director Kim ignored his call, and even congressman Che avoided meeting him.
After losing the only Rank A Roused Lee-yunhwee, Hwarang guild's power was in a free fall, and Alandal Guild’s influence was shooting up into the sky.
They were up so high that he didn’t even dare to plot against them from behind the scenes.
He felt as if everything was closing in on him.
It was at that moment when a white cloud of smoke suddenly formed in front of Lee-sahngho to create an apparition.
“W...who is it? What are you?”
He was a Rank B Roused. Lee-sahngho was surprised, but he calmly glared at his opponent. One could see glimpses into the smoke, but he couldn't tell if the apparition was male or female. The unknown entity laughed.
[Do you want revenge?]
He had never heard of these words that rang inside his head, yet he could understand its meaning. It was an unfamiliar language, yet the meaning was being conveyed.
“Who are you?”
[Don't you want revenge against the bastard, who killed Lee-yunhwee?]
The bastard who killed Lee-yunhwee….
What did this person know?
“Kahng-woojin?”
[Kook kook kook. I'll give you the power that will allow you to get your revenge. Go to the Dungeon where your dongsaeng died.]
“What?”
Why should he follow orders from some unknown person? No, what is the identity of this thing?
Lee-sahngho let out a yell, and his eyes suddenly opened.
“What the hell? Did I faint?”
Did he momentarily lose consciousness because of his stress? The vision was so vivid that it hadn't felt like a dream. Lee-sahngho tilted his head in confusion.
At that moment, his eyes opened wide when he saw the sword placed at the spot where the apparition had appeared.
It was the sword his dongsaeng Lee-yunhwee had used.
He quickly approached it to check the grip. It had Yunhwee's initial engraved on it, so he was sure this was her sword.
“H...how?”
His dongsaeng had perished inside a Dungeon, so how could this sword still exist? At the time, Kahng-woojin had come out by himself and he didn't bring out any of his dongsaeng's possessions. This didn't make any sense.
After the Dungeon is cleared, the Dungeon is reset on the next visit.
This didn't line up with any modern theory about the Dungeons.
He suddenly recalled the words spoken by the apparition.
“Revenge, power...”
A greasy light shone in Lee-sahngho's eyes.
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