Chapter 596

Just because the sun had set and the second hand had passed midnight didn’t mean the day was over.

As long as people were awake and there was an interesting story to follow, their day went on.

That was how it happened on a bitterly cold, windy afternoon in mid-January.

[Breaking News] S-Rank Hunter Jin Taekyung Launches Solo Assault on Ares Guild Headquarters

The breaking news threw Korea into an uproar. No—the entire world was shaken.

Almost as soon as it broke, posts and comments flooded websites everywhere.

└ Hey, what is this?

└ What is?

└ I got a sudden alert and checked it out, and… holy shit, Lord Fuck¹ supposedly stormed Ares Guild headquarters alone?

└ ???

└ ??????

└ Quit talking bullshit, lol. I was watching the news just now, and they were looking for Lord Fuck¹ because he disappeared from Pyeongchang. So why is he suddenly storming Ares Guild headquarters—

└ Fuck, it’s real. What the hell is this?

└ ?? What is this, The Truman Show? You’re not doing this to fool newbies like me, are you?

└ If it were The Truman Show, at least the ratings would be good. Why would we bother fooling you? It’s real. Turn on WBS—they’ve got an exclusive report. The Capital Defense Command² has been dispatched and everything’s going crazy;

└ Why would the fire department be involved?

└ Not the fire department. The Capital Defense Command²;

└ I get that Lord Sibu-leol¹ went to Ares Guild headquarters, but isn’t saying he “stormed the place” a bit much? Maybe he went to have tea with Go Jun.

└ Probably not. There were more than a thousand witnesses, and apparently Jin Taekyung punched the Ares headquarters building right in the solar plexus before going inside. Even if he went for tea, I bet every teacup in there got smashed.

└ Got proof? If more than a thousand people saw it, someone must’ve taken a video. Post a link.

└ The thousand witnesses part is real, but apparently nobody took a video or even a picture. They said they only came to their senses after Lord Fuck¹ went inside. Before that, they just watched like they were possessed.

└ ?? Lol. That many people and not one piece of evidence? Sounds like a false report.

└ Yeah. Why would Lord Fuck¹ go there after disappearing for a while? Even if he did go, the rest sounds like rumors. Feels like the media’s using rumors as kindling.

Immediately after the media began broadcasting the breaking news on a massive scale, most people refused to believe the shocking report.

A hero who had put down two monster waves in succession and then vanished had supposedly stormed Ares Guild, of all places, alone. It made no sense.

But within minutes, Jongno was designated a temporary disaster zone. Hunters and troops from the Capital Defense Command² began evacuating civilians and establishing a defensive line, and the mood changed completely.

└ I think this might actually be real.

└ Damn, what the hell is going on?

└ Why all of a sudden…

└ I’m living in the United States. They’re broadcasting breaking news here, too. Every major news program, including CNN and FOX, is monitoring the situation.

└ Seems like it’s the same all over the world, not just the United States. Korea and the foreign media are both going crazy;

Everyone who heard the news, at home and abroad, felt the atmosphere grow heavy.

President Baek Hanseong delivered an emergency letter concerning the current situation to the media, while experts in every field busied themselves analyzing the situation and its causes.

But before a complete answer could be found, the person at the center and beginning of everything revealed himself.

“Hunter Jin Taekyung.”

President Baek Hanseong stepped forward despite his aides’ attempts to stop him. At his call, the young man raised his head. Cameras carried both their faces across Korea and around the world.

Jin Taekyung. It was him.

Red and blue blood—human and monster—covered him from head to toe. He looked exhausted, and his eyes held a sadness no one could name.

His voice came out bleakly through dry, cracked lips.

“I… only did what I had to do.”

That was all the people staring at the screen, having forgotten even how to breathe, were allowed to see.

The live broadcast was cut off immediately at the Blue House’s request. For some reason, reporters from around the world who had been at the scene said nothing more.

At the end of that day, one enormous question remained.

Jin Taekyung and Ares Guild. Ares Guild and Jin Taekyung.

An unprecedented clash between one man and an organization.

No one could say for certain what had happened inside. But the effects of a battle lasting roughly an hour had swept through Jongno, and Jin Taekyung had walked out on his own two feet to stand before them all.

Two names with enormous influence in Korea and across the world had collided for reasons unknown. The individual had won.

That was shocking enough when the organization in question was Ares Guild. But what everyone wanted to know most was why.

Why had a man in his twenties, newly established as both a powerful Hunter and a young hero, gone to Ares Guild alone?

That night, a major news outlet broke the guidelines agreed upon in advance and set fire to the powder keg.

[Exclusive Report] Hunter Go Jun (Current Ares Vice Guild Master) and 25 Others Confirmed Dead; Total Casualties Around 500

[Chief Editorial Writer Lee Kanghee—Jin Taekyung: The Hero’s Hidden Side. The Devil’s Face.]

It was a bombshell.

Two monster waves unlike anything seen since the Great Cataclysm had struck in succession. Before the shock of them could fade, this new explosion shook everything again.

The whole of Korea boiled like a furnace beneath a bed of charcoal, and the heat spread throughout the world.

Midnight passed. The hours before dawn wore on. Still, the uproar showed no sign of subsiding.

The barrage, once begun, seemed as if it would never end.

Some condemned Jin Taekyung as a devil. Others submitted formal petitions demanding that he be executed.

But not everyone pointed a finger at him. In fact, most people still held a mixture of belief and doubt.

The belief that Jin Taekyung, who had accomplished so much, couldn’t possibly have done such a thing.

The suspicion that media reports without an official announcement were nothing more than nonsense.

Those unbelievable hours passed, and morning came.

[Close Aide of the Late Hunter Go Jun, a Mr. Go, Turns Himself In]

[Official Blue House Press Conference at 10:00 a.m. Draws Worldwide Attention]

Then came a downpour that dampened the fierce flames of condemnation.

And through the rain that fell without pause for two full days—from the media and from the sky—one person finally woke.

Drip. Drip-drip-drip.

At the sudden sound of rain, I blinked blankly.

As my vision cleared, the first thing I saw was an ornate, magnificent painting.

I knew that ceiling. I knew the painting. I’d heard about it so many times that it would have been strange not to recognize it.

Michelangelo’s The Creation (The Genesis).

Only then did I realize I was lying in Team Leader Choi’s mansion.

I turned my head. Raindrops tapped against the window that took up an entire wall.

No way.

A single thought flashed through my empty mind, and my heart began pounding violently.

What if—against all odds—it had all been a nightmare? What if nothing had happened yet, and I had only just left Henan and logged out?

The absurd hope burst like a bubble a moment later.

“You’re awake. I’d just come to check on you. I’m glad.”

A smooth, low voice. Younger than Butler Kim’s, and impossible to read.

How had I failed to notice him until now?

I clenched my teeth when I saw the face of the unwelcome guest who had broken through my deep thoughts and approached me.

President Baek Hanseong.

It was him.

And if the President was here instead of at the Blue House, then everything that had happened was real.

“Ah…”

“Hunter Jin Taekyung?”

What more was there to say? I felt hollow.

Instead of answering, I sank back into the bed from where I’d half risen.

He pulled a chair close and spoke with concern.

“You still seem unwell. The doctor will be here soon, so please wait just a moment…”

I didn’t need a doctor or a Healer. Perhaps because I had gotten such deep rest, my body had completely recovered. My physical condition was not what mattered right now.

“How long… how long has it been?”

“Hmm.”

President Baek Hanseong paused at the sound of my hoarse voice, then held out the newspaper in his hand.

“This morning’s paper. It’ll be quicker if you see for yourself.”

I took it and checked the date first.

Two days had passed since the day I remembered. An enormous photograph of my face covered the front page, accompanied by a bold headline.

The Truth of That Day, Sullied by Countless Misunderstandings. The Hero Who Has Not Awakened.

I could tell from the headline alone. It told me how much the media had talked about me and about what had happened that day over the past two days.

But I felt neither irritation nor anger. Only a heavy, numbing sadness.

So it was true. It really was true.

Butler Kim—Kim Hwajong—was dead.

Weighed down by that reality, I stared blankly out the window. President Baek Hanseong spoke carefully.

“One news outlet acted rashly and broke the agreed guidelines, so public opinion was against you at first… Fortunately, the misunderstandings about this incident have been cleared up. Go Se-won stepped forward at just the right time. Thanks to him, matters were resolved sooner than we expected.”

“Go Se-won?”

I turned from the window at the unexpected name. President Baek Hanseong met my eyes and nodded.

“Yes, the same Go Se-won you know. The closest aide who served as Head of Security for the Vice Guild Master—no, for the late Go Jun.”

“…”

“He turned himself in first. The executives from Go Jun’s faction who resisted until the end had already been subdued by him. His testimony was very conclusive as well.”

When I’d spared him, I hadn’t expected this kind of help.

I looked at the newspaper again. My face wasn’t the only one on the front page.

Halfway down was a photograph of Go Se-won before a crowd of cameras and microphones, wearing his usual calm expression. Beside it was his testimony that Go Jun had caused the two monster waves two days earlier.

“It was decisive testimony. And furthermore…”

President Baek Hanseong frowned before continuing.

“It also corroborated the evidence concerning Go Jun’s body, which had been discovered earlier.”

Go Jun had died as a hideous blend of human and monster. His corpse alone was clear physical evidence.

President Baek Hanseong shuddered, as though he had seen the scene with his own eyes, and continued.

“Go Se-won played a very important role. Thanks to him, Hunter Jin Taekyung was able to clear himself of most of the charges.”

I nodded, feeling nothing.

Charges. Judgment under the law. Words everyone feared, but right now they meant little to me.

“I see.”

“Yes. He’s being held in a special detention center for now… but he’s asked to see you as soon as possible. He says he has a debt to repay.”

A debt to repay.

I repeated the words to myself and shook my head.

I had no objection to seeing Go Se-won, but something more important was on my mind.

Butler Kim. And Team Leader Choi.

Had the old butler’s funeral begun? Had Team Leader Choi regained consciousness?

That was what I wanted to know most.

I was just about to part my dry lips when the door flew open without a knock.

A blond foreigner ignored President Baek Hanseong entirely and spoke with a grave expression.

“That human. No—he’s awake.”

“…!”