The Hero Returns

Su-hyeun’s expression changed.

His somewhat convoluted and unhappy look had shifted into something a little bit brighter.

Su-hyeun also gravely disliked the term hero because whenever he heard it, his chest would feel clogged up, and his shoulders felt like they weighed a ton.

He didn’t even know why he detested the term “hero” so much, and not knowing only made him feel even more frustrated.

But now, he thought he had finally figured out the reason.

The one who discards “me,” the one who cared about other people more than oneself, the one who thought that sacrificing and devoting oneself was an obvious thing to do—Su-hyeun perceived the existence called “hero” as such.

That was why whenever the world called him a hero, he thought that he must answer their expectations of him because he didn’t want to let them down.

“I’ve been like this for a long time now.”

Was it his nature that couldn’t be changed?

“I found myself not wanting to betray anyone’s expectations of me. I guess it’s my mother’s influence to blame on that one.”

But it was not Su-hyeun’s mother but Kim Sung-in’s—that woman expected a lot from Su-hyeun. She expected her son to grow up into an excellent educator when he was still young, and when he got older, she expected him to become an excellent awakener instead.

After some time passed by and Su-hyeun was called a hero, she became so elated and proud of that as if it was happening to her personally.

“And that’s why I always felt it was just a burden to me. What if my actions disappointed those people, and what would I do if they started hating me and resented me…? That’s what I thought.”

“Do you still think that way?”

“It seems that a small part of me still does. After I said it—after I told them that I was different from the one they were expecting to see…Well, it still feels a little, you know, even now.”

“Does that mean you regret it?”

“No, I don’t,” Su-hyeun shook his head. There was no point in even entertaining that notion.

“No, I feel refreshed, actually.”

“Really?” Luslec whipped the coffee with the straw. “In that case, it’s all good, isn’t it? Why were you so concerned about it, then?”

“What do you mean, why…?”

“You asked me just now if I saw you as a hero, right? To my eyes, you are still you. It’s not like you’ve committed a crime serious enough to turn a hero into a villain, you know? And besides all that, it’s not like you wanted to keep living that way, right?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“In that case, it’ll be fine for you to just live the way you want to. I mean, what can be an issue or a sin if I wish to live my life how I want as long as I don’t harm anyone else? If anyone tries to argue that it’s wrong, then well, that person is an insane jerk-off, I tell ya,” Luslec spoke in an unconcerned tone as if one shouldn’t sweat over such things in the first place.

His attitude brought on a faint chuckle to Su-hyeun’s lips. Su-hyeun’s dilemma suddenly didn’t seem worthy of losing his sleep for, at least not anymore.

“Now that I hear you, you’re right. I guess I was overthinking it.”

If you wanted to undo your bad mood, then you needed to understand the reason for such a mood first.

And at this moment, Su-hyeun finally figured out why he detested the term “hero,” and why he had lived a life carrying such a heavy burden on his shoulders.

“Thank you. I feel a bit lighter, thanks to you.”

“W—well, glad to be of some use,” Luslec smiled sheepishly and turned his head when Su-hyeun thanked him.

He coughed to clear his throat and quickly changed the topic, “A discussion like this should’ve taken place over some good booze, you know? Don’t you agree?”

“Both coffee and alcohol taste bitter, anyway. Let’s just say it’s the same difference.”

“No, booze tastes sweet, actually.”

“Symptoms of an early onset of alcohol addiction include a similar response to yours.”

“Hey, calling it an addiction when it’s only this much, is a bit…”

* * *

There was an old Korean adage that said, “A limbless horse travels 1,000 leagues.”

It was a play on the Korean word for “horse,” which was pronounced the same as “human words.” It basically meant that rumors or bad news tended to travel really fast.

However, in the 21st century where the internet and mass media existed, that adage had become a bit outdated.

Never mind 1,000 leagues, the so-called limbless horse could now roam to every corner of the planet in an instant—literally in the blink of an eye, too.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Lee Ju-ho asked.

He had come to pay a visit to Louis Hesse once more.

The German minister was making a despondent face at the moment.

Lee Ju-ho’s visit was practically the same as a shot fired to confirm the kill in Louis Hesse’s perspective.

“Has the Paragon Guild’s stance changed?” the German asked.

“Like what we told you earlier, we at Paragon Guild do not have any reason to be sympathetic to your current situation. This matter can’t be chalked up to you making a simple mistake, after all,” Lee Ju-ho replied in a flat voice.

That was the Paragon Guild’s stance, which was also Su-hyeun’s, and it was also the same as a death sentence to not just Louise Hesse but even to the German awakener authority as well.

Lee Ju-ho continued, “Your press has turned their backs on you already. As far as your citizens are concerned, about half of them have already turned their backs on you, too.”

“About half, you say…”

“All of this happened in less than a few hours. I’m sure it won’t even take half a day for the rest to completely turn on you.”

The remaining half either hadn’t heard the news yet or were the kind of people who were doing their best to ignore the reality.

However, they should no doubt come to accept it in the end. The declaration of the Paragon Guild was directly linked to their own survival, after all.

Almost no one in this world wanted to die.

The matters of the German authority’s greed and their subsequent mess, and the Paragon Guild making an important decision out of their disappointment, were more than grave enough for the minister in charge of the Awakener Management Bureau, Louise Hesse, to lose his job. It was only a matter of time before that happened.

“Yes, I’m fully aware of it. I’m aware that I was being too greedy and that the German people are now in danger because of my greed.”

“It’s a relief that you understand.”

“Will this matter be resolved by my resignation?”

Louise Hesse had no choice but to make that decision. He was responsible for driving this event forward, so he simply had to step down from his role.

However, if he tendered his resignation now, then it wouldn’t be so surprising to see him meet his untimely demise one day after a stone flew in from somewhere and struck him dead.

That was how angry the German people and so many influential folks in the country’s political sphere were with Louis Hesse at the moment.

“The ratio will be 10 to 0. Nothing will change from this.”

“Of course, that belonged to the Paragon Guild from the get-go, after all.”

“You knew that, yet you still decided to behave this way?”

“I apologize. Still, I beg of you…The relationship between the Paragon Guild and Germany, please reconsider it. Please.”

Louise Hesse sounded rather desperate just then.

The part that the German media and the citizens reacted most sensitively to was none other than the declaration that the Paragon Guild would sever its ties with Germany. Rather obviously, the German citizens were trembling in fear at that news.

If another incident of similar nature happened to Germany in the future, then they no longer had the luxury of the final bastion called the Paragon Guild coming to save them.

“From now on, we shall demand more than double the normal request fee whenever we’re dealing with the German authority. We are willing to continue partnering with Germany only under that condition.”

More than double the normal fee—that was a type of a penalty.

If they wanted to keep working together, then this penalty would have to be applied to the German authority, as they had already set a precedence of doing something untrustworthy.

Although it was indeed a painful pill to swallow, Louise Hesse readily accepted this condition. If another incident of similar nature happened in the future, then forget about the doubled rate, the Germans would have no choice but to cling onto the Paragon Guild even if the price had shot up several times higher.

“This is all I have to say this time. Well, then.”

With their discussion concluded, Lee Ju-ho stood up from his seat. This incident was now more or less wrapped up. It turned out the way Su-hyeun wanted in the end.

“And with this, I’m sure we’ve warned the rest about all the benefits they stand to lose by doing anything unwise,” he thought.

Paragon was a mercenary guild. It was a for-profit organization that had set “making money” as its goal and exercise its influence through the completion of various requests.

On the other hand, the evaluation of Kim Su-hyeun on the individual level was somewhat different from the guild. He was seen as someone who didn’t get hung up over wealth, someone who chose to crush the Dump Guild early on for the other people, and as a hero who saved nations and cities.

As such, many other parties that made requests showed signs of planning to use Su-hyeun’s compassion, and in Germany’s case this time, they got blinded by the massive potential profit before their eyes and openly displayed their desire.

“Okay, next up is…”

Rrrrrrr—

Lee Ju-ho called someone on the phone.

The ringtone went on for a long while. Just as he was about to hang up, wondering if the other side was too occupied to answer, the call got through.

“Hey. Sorry for answering late. Been a bit busy here. What’s up?”

That voice belonged to Gordon Rohan.

Lee Ju-ho had heard that the American had returned from the tower, but chatting to the latter still proved to be difficult, as he was too busy running his massive company.

Now that the call got through, Lee Ju-ho directly went to the main topic at hand. “Have you heard the news yet?”

“Yeah, I have. Not sure which one you’re talking about, though. Germany or Argentina?”

“I’m talking about Germany.”

“Those punks. They were trying to do something stupid, but well, your response was pretty good in the end. Although, it was a bit lukewarm for my liking.”

“If you call this lukewarm, then what’s ‘hot’ in your vocabulary?”

“That kid Kim Su-hyeun has the Necromancer skill, right? If it was me, I’d have reverted everything back to how it was and then leave, telling the fools to take care of it themselves.”

“Isn’t that a bit too over the top?”

“We’re doing it for money, so, of course, we should be prepared to do something like that. What’s the difference between those people and some thugs telling you to enjoy dinner in a diner and then saying that you should slice up your own belly?”

Lee Ju-ho pondered that for a bit and then nodded in agreement.

Gordon Rohan’s assertion wasn’t wrong.

Just like how he alluded to, the way Louis Hesse and the German authority acted so brazenly was not that different from someone who didn’t want to pay the full price but still wanted to have his delicious cake and eat it.

“In any case, why are you calling me?”

“I have a favor to ask you, actually.”

“You what? Favor from me? About what?”

“It’s because of Su-hyeun. He’s high maintenance, you know.”

“Okay, shoot. I’ll do it as long as it’s not too difficult.”

* * *

Su-hyeun got a phone call while sitting inside the cafe with Luslec. The call was from Lee Ju-ho.

“It’s been decided that the provision of relief supplies and temporary places to stay for those who lost their homes during this event, as well as the city’s restoration work, will be handled by the Arena World Foundation. The relief supplies will be delivered right away, while the restoration project should get going in a few days.”

“The cost involved should be pretty hefty, though?”

“That foundation is a fairly well-known organization within Germany, apparently, and the plan is to sell off the Ether stones mined from the indigo-colored dungeon, and the proceeds from the sale will be sent from the Paragon Guild to Gordon Company first and then laundered through the Gordon Company and a few other foundations under its umbrella before being donated to the Arena World Foundation.”

“Paragon will do that?”

“That’s right. I mean, us helping out with the relief goods and the restoration projects wouldn’t look so good at this stage, after all. That doesn’t mean we can turn a blind eye, either.”

“Well, that—”

“Weren’t you feeling bad about it?”

“…”

“Was I being too tough? Maybe the people who might have received help now won’t be helped because of my decision. Isn’t that what you were thinking?”

“Well, uh…” Su-hyeun sheepishly scratched his head while pressing the phone to his ear. It seemed that Lee Ju-ho knew Su-hyeun a lot better than he thought.

Through Gordon Rohan’s help, Lee Ju-ho managed to cleanly deal with that one thing Su-hyeun had been worried about.

“Thanks, bro. I have one less thing to worry about now, thanks to you.”

“Next time, tell me if something is bugging you, okay?”

“I should be dealing with the mess I’ve created, you know. It won’t do if I ask for your help all the time.”

“Since you said that, let me ask you this, am I a combatant? But after being surrounded by monsters like you lot, I don’t even get a chance to beat up a real monster nowadays, so I might as well make myself useful and do stuff like this. Don’t you agree?”

At Lee Ju-ho’s joking tone, Su-hyeun ended up smirking as well, “I guess you’re right. Again, thanks, bro.”

“Alright, let me call you later. I gotta meet someone else now.”

“Okay. Talk to you later.”

Su-hyeun ended the call with Lee Ju-ho. Luslec, who was just sitting in front of him after having finished his coffee by then, playing around with the ice blocks with the straw, commented, “Your mood seems to have improved.”

“Ah, that. Yes, something nice happened, actually. Never mind that, though. Let’s continue from where we left off.” Su-hyeun warmed the coffee on the table with his hand and said, “Enlightenment of one’s abilities through the Sage Arts—you said that there’s a way to do that.”