Chapter 3
Setting Things Right (2)
His conduct was deplorable. His eyes were set on the highest heights, yet he was lazy, indolent, and refused to put in any effort in everything he did.
The product of that mindset was his performance: at the age of nineteen, he had barely reached the 1st Star of the Hwancheon True Qi. That was the extent of the eldest son’s skill.
Yet, a fellow like that was suddenly demanding to raise his realm and learn other martial arts.
The look in Jeong Hyeon-su’s eyes—completely unlike his usual gaze, which had been filled only with jealousy and envy over suspicions that his father was secretly passing down the Five Sovereign Martial Arts to the second child behind his back—radiated a pure, unadulterated longing. It was completely unfamiliar.
“It is impossible right now.”
At Jeong Cheol’s answer, Jeong Hyeon-su simply nodded calmly.
“Then I suppose it can’t be helped.”
With that, he trudged over and sat on the edge of his bed.
“…Are you not going to ask why?” “If you say no, it’s no. What else can I do?” “There is a Gate raid immediately ahead.” “Yes. You always work hard, Father.”
He had changed far too much.
“Is that all you have to say?” “Pardon?” “See? Look at him! That’s definitely a doppelgänger. Reacting like that to a Gate raid?” “Young lady, doppelgängers are incredibly intelligent. Therefore, they act exactly like the person they are mimicking.” “I know that too!” “…But this is still strange. This is the same person who used to constantly complain, asking why you always pick Gates that don’t bring in money and that nobody cares about….”
There are many types of Gates.
Among them are Gates where one can acquire treasures, and others where one can capture the public’s attention and build fame.
On the other hand, there are Gates that are usually shunned because they offer nothing but hard work and a mountain of risk. The Garam Guild had always volunteered to handle precisely those kinds of Gates.
Ever since the Age of the Gate Cataclysm, they had focused primarily on large-scale Gates that manifested near small, remote villages on the outskirts.
If a Gate is not cleared within a set period, monsters pour out from within.
When that happens, ordinary people in the vicinity are completely wiped out. High-ranking hunters are limited in number, and since the system is ultimately driven by market logic, the outskirts are inevitably neglected.
Garam was the one that shouldered that responsibility.
Silently.
He was a father who walked a grueling path that went largely unrecognized, stifled by the checks of the other Top Ten Guilds and the machinations of the Association President lurking in the shadows.
‘I should have just kept my mouth shut….’
Jeong Hyeon-su regretted those days. His past self, who had complained about why they didn’t run Gates that could make them famous, just like the scions of the other Top Ten Guilds he used to follow around….
“By any chance, is the place you are going this time the Gate in Asan?” “It is.” “The boss there will probably be an absurdly massive water buffalo. If you pierce the core inside its hind hoof, it won’t be able to budge.” “What…?” “Take care of yourself, and please be on your way.”
Immediately after, Jeong Hyeon-su closed his eyes as if he had no further business.
It was an explicit request for them to leave.
Considering how he usually tried everything to escape whenever he was confined, this was truly a succession of unbelievable events.
“Let us step out.”
Faced with a Jeong Hyeon-su who was paradoxically dignified despite being suspended, and utterly confused by his completely unprecedented behavior, the family shut the bedroom door and stepped outside for now.
“What on earth is wrong with him?” “Isn’t it a good thing that a change has occurred?”
At the butler’s words, Jeong Hyeon-ah snorted.
“It’s just for show anyway. A guy like him won’t last long.”
The old butler wore a bitter smile.
Naturally, he thought the same.
Even so, if they could have a few days of peace, wouldn’t that be quite nice in its own way?
Though the storm that follows a silence is bound to be just as fierce, a period of quiet was always welcome nonetheless.
Haengbok-i licked his lips with a satisfied expression and went out for a walk with Jeong Hyeon-ah.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
“H-Haengbok-i! Wait for me!”
It was a walk so fierce that even Jeong Hyeon-ah, a cadet of the Cradle, struggled to keep up while sprinting at full speed.
With the passage of time, some things fade into blurry memories, while other events remain so vivid that they flash before your eyes the moment you close them.
How could he ever forget this day? The day he foolishly smirked, thinking everything had been smoothed over with a simple suspension, only to end up standing in the media photo line after taking the entire fall for both illegal artifact distribution and Awakened drug sales.
Jeong Hyeon-su spread the mana of the Hwancheon True Qi, dodging the presences he sensed as he slipped out of the mansion.
If he got caught wandering around, making excuses or explaining himself would become exhausting.
For now, achieving results was the most important thing.
Stepping outside and scanning the streets, his eyes caught sight of towering skyscrapers piercing the sky, instead of the familiar ruins pushed to the brink of destruction.
He saw people passing by.
The people, who once would have been trembling in fear while watching the doomsday countdown, were now glancing at billboards or moving busily toward their respective destinations.
Beyond them stood a colossal tower.
A tower so massive that it made the buildings of Songpa-gu sitting beside it look laughable.
If humanity did not properly and definitively conquer this mysterious tower—which imposed trials upon mankind and tossed them rewards upon completion—Earth would once again suffer an invasion by otherworldly races.
‘People right now don’t know.’
They didn’t realize that simply climbing it wasn’t what mattered.
Of course, they feared the collapses that occurred if a floor wasn’t cleared within the time limit, but since a proper collapse had yet to occur and they remained ignorant of the hidden implications, it couldn’t be helped.
Only Jeong Hyeon-su knew.
He knew the strategies, the rewards, and the methodology of how to make this world survive in the most efficient way possible….
‘Including the strategies that come out of the tower and the Gates.’
Since leveraging that advantage to survive was his ultimate goal, Jeong Hyeon-su first set out to find the Cradle.
It was a hot summer day.
Because his mana realm had not deepened, Jeong Hyeon-su, unable to reach his former state of being impervious to heat and cold, was sweating.
It was truly hot.
As he walked along the road under the blazing sun, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
Honk!
The cars passing by on the road right now. In the ruined world, they had ceased to function, and honestly, once you reached a certain level, moving on your own two feet was faster. But seeing these products of civilization that he hadn’t thought about in ages, Jeong Hyeon-su immediately boarded a bus.
Beep! Beep!
[It is a transfer!]
“Ah….”
A sigh escaped him instantly.
He had completely forgotten a piece of common sense native to this era: to use public transportation, you had to use a card with transportation card functionality!
“Student, what are you doing?” “My card is….”
At that, the bus driver smirked. Jeong Hyeon-su also managed a slightly awkward smile.
“Get off.”
He was the worst criminal of the hunter world, the Dark King. In the Western world, he was an absolute being called by the cringe-inducing moniker of the Night King, but in this situation, there was nothing he could do.
Even the degenerate Jeong Hyeon-su who lived in this era wouldn’t have pulled a “Do you know who I am?” just because he was told to get off for lacking a bus card….
Surprisingly.
“Ah….”
The trial did not end there.
Bowing his head politely as he stepped back down, Jeong Hyeon-su locked eyes with a very familiar face.
Not one of his enemies, but the owner of the photograph he used to keep by his bedside.
Why on earth was Ji Min-jeong, whom the Jeong Hyeon-su of this era had been so deeply, unrequitedly in love with, here of all places?
Of course, Ji Min-jeong, who loathed delinquents, didn’t give him so much as a glance and simply walked right past him.
Jeong Hyeon-su didn’t have a single shred of those past feelings left either. He was just deeply embarrassed.
Because the memory remained.
No matter the circumstances, she was his first love and crush, yet his first encounter with her after traveling back across a vast stretch of time was getting kicked off a bus because he didn’t have a bus card.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
As Jeong Hyeon-su scratched his head, he happened to cross paths with a group of girls walking toward him wearing the cadet uniforms of the Cradle.
They looked quite youthful, but then….
“Omg, did you see the group chat?” “The group chat? What went up?” “No way! Apparently, Chae Seung-jin went to find Jeong Hyeon-ah just now and dragged her away? Gasp!” “J-Jeong Hyeon-su?”
Jeong Hyeon-su’s eyes, which had been reminiscing about better days, instantly shifted.
“When.” “Uh. What…?” “The time Chae Seung-jin dragged my sister away. When was it?” “…A-Apparently just now?”
The moment he heard the answer, Jeong Hyeon-su began to sprint at full speed.
“W-What makes him so fast?” “Were Jeong Hyeon-su’s physical abilities always that good… Huh?” “No, from what I know, he’s at the very bottom tier…?”
Exploding his Hwancheon True Qi to boost his instantaneous speed, Jeong Hyeon-su even shot past the bus that had been momentarily stopped.
“…?”
Sitting by the window, Ji Min-jeong tilted her head in confusion as she watched Jeong Hyeon-su streak past.
Jeong Hyeon-ah had been in a foul mood since morning due to Chae Seung-jin and his lackeys, who had barged in grinning like idiots.
“Ha, our Hyeon-ah. That look in your eyes is truly thrilling no matter when I see it.” “Shut up and just state your business.” “My business? Ah, right. I happen to have some very special business that will absolutely blow our Hyeon-ah’s mind.”
Chae Seung-jin, who held a tight grip over the third-year students at the Cradle, scanned Jeong Hyeon-ah with eyes dripping with desire.
Although Jeong Hyeon-ah was the daughter of the Guildmaster of the Garam Guild, one of the Top Ten Guilds, Chae Seung-jin was likewise the successor to Songgwang, another of the Top Ten.
“Speak.”
Chae Seung-jin chuckled and pulled a USB flash drive from his pocket.
“Hyeon-ah. Do you know what this is?” “How should I know?” “A major accident caused by my friend, Hyeon-su. If this gets released, it’ll be quite a spectacle.”
Jeong Hyeon-ah’s face twisted completely.
“What?” “Your brother is going to get slapped with handcuffs. It contains footage of him delivering illegally distributed unregistered artifacts.”
Artifacts were items possessing bizarre powers that came as rewards from clearing Gates or climbing the tower.
If an Awakened equipped one, they could exert immense power, so the Association strictly monitored and enforced accountability regarding their distribution.
For the successor of a Top Ten Guild to be caught illegally distributing artifacts?
‘No wonder he was acting so strangely affectionate yesterday!’
To cause an accident like this!
Honestly, she didn’t care at all if Jeong Hyeon-su went to prison. However, Jeong Hyeon-ah absolutely despised the thought of Garam being dragged through the mud because of it.
“If it were just that, honestly, it’s a Top Ten Guild, so would it really take that much of a hit? But you see.” “What else… is there?” “Well, it turns out Hyeon-su also threw in Manasia.”
Jeong Hyeon-ah’s mouth fell wide open.
“Mana… sia?”
The power wielded by Awakened hunters is mana. It was a type of drug, named by combining the word ‘mana’ with the ‘sia’ from Fantasia.
When an Awakened used it to channel mana, it induced massive hallucinations, but its side effects included the eradication of humanity and violent rampages, meaning mere possession carried severe punishment. Why would that be…?
“Don’t make me laugh. Jeong Hyeon-su is a piece of trash, but he’s too chicken to touch something like that.” “Is that really so?”
Chae Seung-jin’s smirk was dripping with confidence.
Moving openly like this would be difficult without definitive circumstantial evidence.
Chae Seung-jin was a thug, but he wasn’t reckless enough to blindly strike at Jeong Hyeon-ah, a direct bloodline of the Garam Guild, without a plan. Rather, he was closer to a hunter who set a flawless trap before going after his prey.
“…What do you want.”
Chae Seung-jin licked his thin lips.
“There are three things, so why don’t you pick one?” “Three… things?” “First, you and I start dating. As in, starting today, we become very, d.e.e.p.l.y. i.n.v.o.l.v.e.d. Shall we say?”
His thoroughly obscene gaze swept over Jeong Hyeon-ah.
“Stop playing around and speak properly.” “If not that, then starting today, you don’t even breathe in the Cradle without my permission. And lastly, deliver a message to your father—tell him to quietly pay a visit to our Songgwang Guild.”
Every single option was humiliating and horrific.
And the guy’s primary objective was undoubtedly the last one.
After all, Songgwang and Garam were ultimately locked in an inevitable rivalry.
‘Jeong Hyeon-su…….’
The smirking sounds of Chae Seung-jin and his lackeys echoed in her ears.
“Now, choose. Surely I can grant a simple favor for my girlfriend? He might become my older brother-in-law, so I should definitely look out for him. Hehehe.”
It was the exact moment Jeong Hyeon-ah tightly squeezed her eyes shut, preparing to make a choice.
“It’s all utter bullshit, so there’s no need to listen.”
The voice of the person she hated like an enemy rang out.
When Jeong Hyeon-ah snapped her head around, she saw Jeong Hyeon-su, drenched in sweat, walking right into their hideout.
