Chapter 605

“Jacob, how are things over there? You’re not hurt, are you?”

On the holographic TV, an East Asian anchor with heavy eye makeup put the question to a broad-shouldered Black reporter at the scene. He winked at the camera.

“Thanks for worrying about me, Jenny. I’m fine, and so is everyone else.”

“It looks unbelievably peaceful for the site of a Mutated Gate.”

“It is. No one was hurt, and the whole thing was over in no time. Besides, this is Texas. Everyone here is tough, men and women alike.”

“Haha. That’s a relief. But where’s the hero who saved everyone?”

“Jenny, I owe you and our viewers an apology. Magic Johnson, the hero we hoped to have with us today, has already left. I did my best, but I couldn’t persuade him to stay.”

“Oh, dear.”

“He said something urgent had come up and turned down the interview. He looked so desperate to leave, I thought he was off to meet a secret lover.”

“I see. Now, Jacob, about the exact cause of this Mutated Gate…”

Hmm. A secret lover.

I leaned back on the sofa, watching the holographic TV, and found myself humming.

“When Dad goes to work, Ppoppo. Magic Johnson comes to Korea, Ppoppo.”¹

Whoosh! Crash!

I ducked at the sound of something cutting through the air. A crystal glass skimmed the back of my neck and smashed into the holographic TV.

Shards flew everywhere, and water pooled across the floor. My eyes met Team Leader Choi’s. He spoke calmly.

“Oh. You dodged it.”

“…”

“In case you’re wondering, that was deliberate.”

“…You’re not even going to pretend it was an accident?”

“Because it wasn’t an accident. Still, it’s a real shame. If that had been just a little faster, it would’ve smashed Mr. Jin Taekyung’s skull…”

“Hey, you don’t call a person’s head a ‘skull.’ A skull?”

“I can when you won’t stop running that damn mouth of yours. Frankly, even ‘head’ is too good a word for a blockhead like you.”

“Whoa. ‘Damn head’? ‘Damn mouth’?”

“Don’t fall asleep in front of me from now on. If you sleep with your mouth open, I’ll pour cyanide down it.”

“…”

What the hell was that punchline?

He must have been furious. He practically spat the words, and the venom in them left me speechless for a moment.

I considered taking out the Myriad-Poison Ring, then politely waved a hand.

“Team Leader Choi. Calm down. This was all my fault.”

“Do I look like I can calm down?”

“I’m telling you, I had no choice. You saw the news. He was busy with a Mutated Gate. What else could I do? I had to get him here first.”

“By offering up my lips without asking me?”

“But I couldn’t offer up my own lips, could I?”

“…!”

Whoosh! Crash!

Whoa. That one was actually close.

I narrowly dodged again and shouted, “Stop! Team Leader, stop!”

Team Leader Choi picked up a third crystal glass.

“Shut your mouth and stick your head out. Right there.”

“I didn’t kiss him! I didn’t do it in the end!”

“You almost did!”

Team Leader Choi was just about to swing his arm with a roar that could rival a lion’s roar when—

Bang.

The door flew open without a knock. In the doorway stood the Skeleton King, brimming with anticipation, and Magic Johnson, looking dejected.

“The job’s done. Are we going to a club now?”

“Choi, I’m a romantic too.”

Team Leader Choi stared silently at the club-obsessed parrot and the pure-hearted Grand Mage. Then, with a sigh, he lowered his hand.

Before he was an outstanding War Mage, Magic Johnson was a Grand Mage capable of wielding most forms of magic.

He had come straight to Korea after our call, and we’d told him the truth as soon as he arrived.

“Mr. Johnson. There’s something we need to move…”

“Whatever the reason, I want my Ppoppo¹ first. Ready, Choi?”

“I’m not ready, I won’t be ready, and I never will be.”

“Then we have a problem. I don’t know what you’re trying to move in such secrecy, but…”

“Actually, it isn’t a thing. It’s a person.”

“What do you mean, Jin? A person? Are you helping someone escape?”

“I don’t know if ‘escape’ is the right word, but it’s something like that.”

“Who is it? Some heinous criminal? A secret lover?”

“My maternal grandfather.”

“Oh, shit. Sorry, Choi. I didn’t mean to—wait. Who did you say?”

Magic Johnson had remained silent for a long time even after hearing the whole story. He didn’t speak again until he saw Cheon Taemin’s face for himself.

“Damn it. What the hell happened?”

“As you can see, it’s a shitty situation.”

“There was a reason you couldn’t explain everything over the phone. All right, let’s take care of the urgent matter first. Choi, where are we moving him from this prison-like place?”

After that, things moved quickly.

Magic Johnson cast Teleport to the coordinates Team Leader Choi gave him, and we all—no, one of us, trapped in a deep sleep he could hardly wake from—returned to the mansion where he had once lived.

To the home he had missed.

It was a return more than twenty long years in the making.

“Space distortion, barriers, defensive magic, of course. I’ve set up humidity and temperature controls too. And…”

Magic Johnson rattled off spell after spell like a wanderer riding a beat, then finished in a breathless rush.

“In short, I’ve done everything I can for now. There’s still more work to do, though.”

The Skeleton King, sulking because he hadn’t gotten to go to a club, muttered, “I get that it’s impressive. How impressive?”

“The place will hold unless a Grand Mage on my level—or two or three S-rank Hunters—sets out to smash it.”

“That’s some serious performance.”

I agreed with the Skeleton King. Magic Johnson really had done everything he could for now, making it impossible for even most S-rank Hunters to detect Cheon Taemin or find his location.

Combat and magic are different disciplines.

There was no end to martial arts training, and the same went for magic. If I hadn’t opened my Middle Dantian, I wouldn’t have found Cheon Taemin so easily either.

“By the way, does anyone know who created that secret space? The magic in Area A and the spells installed there weren’t beneath mine.”

“This body has no idea, human.”

I gave the Skeleton King’s shoulder a courteous pat.

“He asked if anyone knew. Not if a monster knew.”

“You really are a fucking bastard.”

Hmm. His vocabulary was improving by the day.

Smack!

As a reward for his Vocabulary Improvement Quest, I struck the back of his head, then turned to Magic Johnson.

“I’ve been wondering about that too. Do you have anyone in mind?”

“Hmm. When you think about it, it would have to be another Grand Mage. Especially with magic at that level.”

“Then maybe…”

“You mean the other two?”

I fell silent, uncertain. Magic Johnson shook his head, his expression unusually serious.

“Probably not. Though I do have someone in mind.”

“You do?”

“Hmm.”

Magic Johnson let out a low hum and seemed to sink into thought before continuing.

“I’d rather not say more yet. It’s too early to be sure. But I should visit the other Grand Mages, just in case. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

It was welcome news. Magic Johnson had the insight of a Grand Mage, and he meant to find out for himself whether his suspicions were right.

There are currently only three Grand Mages in the world.

If one of them had accepted the job knowing full well what Lee Jungryong intended…

We couldn’t let that pass. Anyone who had helped imprison the hero who saved humanity from disaster as though he were a criminal would have to answer for it.

For the sake of one person, if nothing else.

“Team Leader Choi.”

He didn’t respond. Inside the cold, oval metal hibernation capsule, Team Leader Choi gazed endlessly at his grandfather, who lay in a deep sleep. Then, all at once, he spoke.

“I’ve waited for so long… but you still haven’t woken up.”

A clumsy attempt at comfort would have been worse than silence. We all knew it, and none of us spoke.

The Immortal Hero, Cheon Taemin, still hadn’t regained consciousness.

For more than twenty years.

We knew neither the cause nor the reason. Unfortunately, everything Team Leader Choi had heard from Song Cheonwoo had been true.

Lee Jungryong and Song Cheonwoo, those two ambitious men, had once tried every possible way to wake him, but in the end they’d failed. In this frustrating situation, there was only one thing we could say now.

“There has to be a way.”

“Jin’s right. An effect can’t exist without a cause. Neither can an illness.”

“Cheer up. He certainly isn’t dead yet. Even if he dies, I’ll find a way to bring him back as a Death Knight…”

Magic Johnson and I turned our killing intent on the Skeleton King. He stopped and stammered, “I-I was trying to comfort him.”

“You call that comfort, you fucking asshole?”

“Monster motherfucker…”

I was berating the Skeleton King in a voice no louder than a mosquito’s buzz so Team Leader Choi wouldn’t overhear when Choi spoke with a faint smile.

“It’s all right. We’ll find a way somehow. I’m grateful he’s alive.”

A smile didn’t mean someone was happy.

I could feel what Team Leader Choi was going through. So could Magic Johnson. Even the Skeleton King, who didn’t have a finger bone’s worth of tact, could feel it.

As though by agreement, we all fell silent. Team Leader Choi’s voice, sunk deep with emotion, pierced my ears.

“But… at least for today, I’d like to rest. Thank you all for your hard work. I truly appreciate it.”

He looked at us one by one, then bowed his head sincerely.

I understood the meaning of that gesture and was the first to walk toward the entrance.

This was a reunion that had come after more than twenty years. For a grandfather and grandson who could not even exchange a single greeting right now, it was time for us to leave them alone.

One of the most important things to Koreans was rice.

“Are you eating properly?” “Let’s get a meal sometime.” “What are you, jotbap?”²

Okay, that last one was a little strange. But even our insults have bap in them. That’s Korean culture for you.

Which meant that when Koreans finished a job, they ate together. And the best meal was rice in hot soup.

“Gukbap?³ What’s this?”

Magic Johnson eyed Mom’s homemade blood sausage gukbap³ with suspicion and put down his spoon.

“Hey, Jin. Got any toast?”

“Come on. Just try it.”

“No, thanks. I’m not hungry.”

Grrrrr.

“…You really don’t have any toast?”

“Even if there were some, there isn’t. If you’re that reluctant, just try the broth. The broth alone.”

“Damn it. Is this Korean soup? Why does it look so weird?”

Grumbling, Magic Johnson picked up his spoon and clumsily scooped up some broth.

The moment he tasted it, the game was over.

“Kheeeee. Fuck yeah.”

He polished off two bowls of blood sausage gukbap³, saying “Fuck yeah” over and over, then smiled contentedly.

“There were so many things going wrong today that I was busy all day. I feel like I can finally breathe.”

“I saw the news earlier, actually. You subdued the Mutated Gate and came straight here without even doing an interview.”

“A Mutated Gate? Didn’t you watch to the end?”

I couldn’t. Team Leader Choi smashed the TV with a crystal glass.

I shrugged. “Why?”

“Because you wouldn’t say that if you had.”

Magic Johnson picked up a toothpick.

“Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a Mutated Gate.”

“What?”

What the hell was he talking about now?