Chapter 427

It was a winter night in December, and snow was pouring down in thick flurries.

People hurried through the streets, trusting the forecast that had confidently predicted unusually clear weather. They were bewildered, and the Meteorological Agency was thrown into confusion.

“What the hell? What’s going on?”

“We’re analyzing it now. This definitely shouldn’t be happening.”

“Snow the size of hailstones is pouring down, and you’re telling me it shouldn’t be happening? Stop spouting nonsense and bring me the data. We have real-time observations, don’t we?”

“We’re checking them now, but… Ah, it looks like an abnormal phenomenon caused by a sudden surge in mana in China’s Sichuan region. The expected snowfall is no joke.”

“Sichuan? Damn it. Is that Arch Lich bastard controlling the weather now, too?”

After the Great Cataclysm, the Meteorological Agency had incorporated various forms of magic and begun issuing forecasts that bordered on prophecy.

An hour after hastily conducting another round of observations, the agency issued a heavy-snow advisory across the country. They predicted record-breaking snowfall, the worst in roughly thirty years.

But before long, the people hurrying home had no choice but to stop in their tracks.

A single sentence rang out from the massive screen at the heart of an ordinary commercial district.

“On a day like today, it is both my pleasure and my honor to bring you this news.”

An elderly East Asian man appeared on the screen.

Behind him sat the leaders of the nations on the United Nations Security Council. The Chairman of the People’s Republic of China addressed the countless microphones, his eyes red and his voice thick with emotion.

“The Arch Lich has been erased. We… have won.”

Victory.

That one word was enough.

For roughly a month—thirty-four days, to be exact—an unprecedented monster wave had raged without pause.

The news that the great war, which had spread unease throughout the world beyond Sichuan Province, had finally come to an end left people standing there with their mouths hanging open.

Then they erupted into thunderous cheers.

“Waaaaaaah!”

“Wait! Hold on! I couldn’t hear that. What did he just say?”

“…It’s over!”

“What?”

“The subtitles! Look at the subtitles!”

“‘The Arch Lich has been erased’… Oh, shit, it’s true! Waaaaaaah! I thought I was going to get called up for reserve duty¹!”

They heard neither Chairman Xiao Yang’s thirty-minute announcement nor the additional explanation given afterward by the spokesperson for the United Nations Security Council.

With the Arch Lich erased, its countless undead legions had lost their power and been annihilated as well. At last, the peace everyone had longed for had arrived.

“Mom, it’s me. Yeah. Did you see the news? You didn’t? Turn it on right now. Yeah, yeah!”

“We have to celebrate. Assistant Manager Kim, let’s go for a third round!”

“A third round? The server update is tomorrow. Manager Noh is going to lose his shit.”

“Manager Noh is coming too. He’s bringing the corporate card.”

“Ugh, I don’t want to see that bastard’s face. Fine. Let’s go.”

“Unity!² Yes, Battalion Commander. This is Captain Lee Junbeom. Could I extend my leave by just one more day—? No, sir. I’m sorry, sir.”

People who had been going back and forth outside while desperately ignoring their unease ran to the bars amid the cheers. Even those who had stayed home, anticipating a second Great Cataclysm, poured into the streets and joined the festive atmosphere.

The cheering did not die down even after midnight.

Nor the next day, or the day after that…

The entire world boiled like a cauldron over a charcoal brazier at the news of this monumental victory, and fresh articles appeared day after day in every language.

People even joked that the victory had generated more coverage than the heavy snow that fell across Korea for three straight days.

And… there was one name that appeared without fail in every one of those articles.

[The New York Times, United States: “A Great Victory, a New Hero.”]

[The Times, United Kingdom: “A New Star Rising in the East. Is He Close to Prince Felix?”]

[Asahi Shimbun, Japan: “Jin Taekyung Is Asia’s Pride. But Japan’s First-String Hunters Could Surpass Him!”]

[People’s Daily, China: “The Young Korean Knight-Errant Who Saved Countless People. And the Tragic Death of Zhonghua’s³ Genius, Wu Heixing.”]

[China Youth News: “Jin Taekyung Is a Descendant of Chen Lin, a Ming Dynasty General. The Blood of Zhonghua³ Unmistakably Flows Through Him, and He Will Surely Become a Chinese Citizen Before Long.”]

[Goryeo Daily, Korea: “Ares Guild Vice Guild Master, Hunter Lee Jungryong, Age 68. Presumed Dead…”]

[Daspatch⁴ Korea official: “We have devoted every effort to investigating Jin Taekyung for several months, but we could not uncover a single thing. His romantic history is astonishingly clean.” When a reporter asked whether that meant he had dated many women but parted with each of them amicably, the official cut him off: “No. I mean he’s never dated anyone in his life.”]

To the various media outlets, Jin Taekyung was nothing short of a Christmas present.

Every spotlight turned toward him, and all kinds of stories about him came pouring out.

The material was endless. Needless to say, there was plenty to cover about the monster wave now known as the “Winter War,” but his past actions on the way to his current position and even the most trivial details of his private life were considered newsworthy.

Even the trashy articles that would normally have been cursed out as gutter journalism attracted interest.

That was how much of the world’s attention had turned toward the new hero who had led them to this great victory.

But not all that attention was positive.

Information had begun leaking out bit by bit from behind the ironclad internal security, and people began raising questions.

[Four Days After the War. What Was Hidden Behind That Great Victory? The Questions Surrounding Jin Taekyung.]

[Lee Jungryong Presumed Dead. Wu Heixing’s Suspicious Death. The Deaths of Two S-Rank Hunters and the Rise of a New Hero.]

[Secret Testimony from Coalition Commanders Who Were at the Scene: “Considering the ferocity of the battle, Jin Taekyung’s body showed no significant injuries when he was discovered. We are investigating whether he used potions. Once he regains consciousness, the full circumstances will become clear.”]

Although they remained a tiny minority, conspiracy theories began surfacing, and fierce arguments erupted across the internet.

The trashy articles soon vanished beneath a barrage of malicious comments and reports, but they planted doubts in the minds of some members of the public. Eventually, everyone’s attention settled on one thing.

Jin Taekyung.

When, exactly, would he show himself?

Beep. Beep.

State-of-the-art medical equipment emitted mechanical sounds.

The people gathered in one part of the hospital room, which only a select few were permitted to enter, gazed worriedly at Jin Taekyung as he lay there wearing an oxygen mask.

“How is Mr. Jin’s condition?”

Choi Minwoo answered Chairman Xiao Yang’s question.

“It’s always the same. Everything is perfectly normal, but for some reason, he still hasn’t regained consciousness.”

“Did both of them say that?”

“Yes. They said they don’t know the cause.”

“Hmm. If both of them said so, there can be no doubt… Then why on earth hasn’t he regained consciousness?”

Chairman Xiao Yang sighed.

The two people he had mentioned were at the very top of their respective fields of medicine.

One was a civilian physician known as the reincarnation of Hua Tuo,⁵ while the other was one of the world’s foremost healers.

If the two of them, invited to serve as Jin Taekyung’s temporary attending physicians, had reached the same conclusion, there could be no doubt.

“I heard his family is here.”

“The Peace Guild is taking good care of them. Fortunately, they’ve regained their composure.”

“I see. Would it be possible for me to meet them, even briefly?”

“I can ask, but their wishes are what matter most, so…”

“I understand. Who could feel otherwise when a blood relative has yet to regain consciousness? I would appreciate it if you simply considered this the foolishness of an old man.”

“No, Chairman. We’re grateful that you even thought of it.”

“Don’t thank me. If not for Mr. Jin, an even greater catastrophe would have occurred. I may be an old man without many years left, but I will carry this gratitude with me to the grave.”

Chairman Xiao Yang was sincere.

Four days had passed since that day. During that time, an investigation team made up of countless experts from around the world had combed through the city that had served as the Arch Lich’s base and discovered traces of the Gate.

Based on the enormous amount of residual mana, the projected scale of that Gate was nothing short of catastrophic.

“If Mr. Jin had failed to stop the Arch Lich that day, not only our country but all of Asia would have become a battlefield. No… Perhaps the entire world could have become one.”

“It was certainly possible.”

It might have been a slight exaggeration, but most of it was true.

So Choi Minwoo did not bother denying it. He simply nodded.

The praise was not directed at him, so he had no reason to feel embarrassed. Nor did he see any reason to diminish the gratitude felt by the leader of a nation with a population of more than a billion.

A debt of gratitude had a way of returning as an even greater gift.

“But Chairman, I’ve been hearing some unfavorable rumors about Jin Taekyung lately… Were you aware of them?”

“Do you mean inside the country or outside it?”

“Inside. The leadership of the Communist Party—or, more precisely, the Crown Prince Party.⁶”

Chairman Xiao Yang nodded.

“I am fully aware of the matter.”

It concerned Wu Heixing’s death.

The investigation team had found his body severely mutilated, and conspiracy theories about it were gradually spreading both inside and outside the country.

“There are people who suspect Mr. Jin. They point to the fact that he had a minor argument with Wu Heixing during their first meeting, as well as the fact that Mr. Jin had no notable injuries when he was first discovered.”

There were two negative theories about what had happened.

The first claimed that Jin Taekyung, who had long harbored ill feelings toward Wu Heixing, had killed him and disguised it as the Arch Lich’s work.

The second claimed that Jin Taekyung and Lee Jungryong, who was now presumed missing or dead, had used Wu Heixing as a shield and seized the opportunity to kill the Arch Lich.

Chairman Xiao Yang knew about these theories and had already reached his own conclusion.

The old statesman spoke to Choi Minwoo in a firm tone.

“They are nothing more than absurd slander and conspiracy theories.”

“Thank you for believing him, but…”

It was a good response, but it was not enough.

Choi Minwoo continued slowly.

“The leader of the Crown Prince Party⁶ doesn’t seem to share your view, Chairman.”

It was a conspiracy theory condemned even within China as an embarrassment to the nation. But to a father who had lost his son, it sounded entirely plausible.

Wu Heixing’s father was the head of the Crown Prince Party,⁶ which constituted half of the Chinese Communist Party.

A political giant comparable to the Chairman himself, he had begun spreading the rumors in earnest. He had even formed an independent investigation team to dig into the matter.

“If Mr. Jin regains consciousness, the truth will come to light anyway. But for a high-ranking politician to take the lead in spreading such an absurd conspiracy theory…”

Choi Minwoo let his voice trail off, and Chairman Xiao Yang smiled faintly.

He has no qualms at all.

No matter how great a feat he had accomplished, the young man before him had lived a very different life and stood in a very different position from his own.

Yet the young man before him was pressing his point without hesitation, carefully controlling his pace and tone as he did so.

Was that information true?

As Chairman Xiao Yang suddenly recalled Choi Minwoo’s personal information, he tapped the armrest of his chair.

“Very well. It seems my explanation was insufficient, so let me say it again.”

“I’m listening.”

“My comrades and I already know everything about the matter, and we have completed all the necessary preparations.”

“All the necessary preparations…?”

“Before he can appeal to anyone about his son’s death, he will be standing trial.”

The Arch Lich was not the only one brought down by this war.

Corruption and embezzlement involving astronomical sums had been exposed, and dealing with the fallout would force the Crown Prince Party⁶ to tear out its own foundations.

Only then did a faint smile appear on Choi Minwoo’s lips.

“Does that answer your question?”

“More than enough.”

That was all he needed from today’s conversation.

A short while later, after exchanging a few more words, Chairman Xiao Yang left the room. Now alone, Choi Minwoo suddenly spoke.

“That’s what he says.”

And then one person’s eyes snapped open.

“Oh, fuck. I thought I was going to die from how stifling this was.”