Chapter 159 - God of Earth (2)
“Woojin-ah....”
Jiwon’s voice was filled with worry and misery. However, she couldn’t console Woojin. No, it wasn’t a situation where she needed to console him.
The unconscious Sooah had just woken up.
“I’ll talk to you later.”
“All right.”
Woojin walked past the people, and he entered the room. His mother’s face was filled with tears, and her nose was running. She feebly turned her head towards him.
“Woojin-ah... My Sooah... Sooah doesn’t recognize her mother. Hoo-oohk.”
“It’s all right.”
Woojin patted his mother on the back.
She had temporary amnesia?
She had become a Priestess that will deliver the divine words. However, he had never encountered a situation where the host’s memories were erased.
It wasn’t an amnesia. Some being had borrowed her body, and its aura was surrounding the small girl.
A god was manifesting itself by borrowing the body of the priestess.
Currently, this girl wasn’t his dongsaeng, Sooah. It was literally the unknown god itself.
“Please leave for a moment.”
Lee-soogyung’s feet was heavy from worry, but they weren’t going to get anywhere by her staying here. She exited the room.
When the room was occupied by the two of them, the being opened her closed eyes.
A blinding light was leaking out of her eyes. It was almost impossible to face her. Woojin frowned as he asked a question.
“Shouldn’t you at least give an introduction?”
[.......]
“You don’t know your name? Try picking one. Jesus, Shakyamuni, Allah... Mmmm. What else is there?”
Woojin made invidious remarks. She opened her lips when she heard him.
However, the sound wasn’t delivered to his ears.
[I was born from the Seed when this planet went through the Quickening recently. Why would I have a name?]
“Hoh. You are a nameless god. The Quickening happened recently?”
Was there no other gods on earth? This might be the first god to arrive....
[I met you when I took my first step. However, I’ve known you for a long time.]
The smile on Woojin’s face disappeared.
“Why don’t you speak intelligently, so I can understand what you are saying?”
[I’ve been watching your deeds.]
“.......”
The light being emitted by her eyes dimmed.
“Ha-ah. The gods are all the same.”
The gods he met on Alphen was like this. He didn’t know why they spoke in such a transient manner.
“Mmmm.”
Accompanying a moan, the falling little girl returned to being his dongsaeng, Sooah. The oppressive magical energy surrounding her had disappeared.
Woojin hugged her as she was about to fall to the floor.
“Ooh-ook.”
Sooah’s eyes were half-closed, and her vision flickered. When she saw Woojin, she labored to part her lips.
“Oppa....”
“Yes. It’s your oppa.”
She had suffered a lot. If she hadn’t been able to endure the process, she would have died. She managed to endure, and she had delivered the god’s voice.
<Lv 50 Kahng-sooah>
In a flash, Kahng-sooah had gained the power of the 5th Circle. In earth’s Rank, she was already a Rank B Roused.
“Oppa. In my dream, I....”
Woojin gave Sooah a tight hug.
“You did good.”
He was thankful she was able to endure the process, and he was thankful that she was still alive. Sooah blinked her eyes at Woojin’s uncharacteristic gesture.
“So what is the name of the friend that appeared in your dream?”
“Huh? I don’t know its name....”
“All right. I’ll call mother. You should rest a little bit.”
“Yes.”
She had the ability of a 5th Circle Priestess.
She would be able to use her abilities through her prayers. Sooah will grow up to be a special existence. She would be like the current priestess of the Aria Church, Melody.
When Woojin exited the room, an employee with a panicked face ran towards him.
“S...something terrible has happened. Kim-kahngchul has run away."
“.......”
Woojin wrinkled up his forehead.
He turned his head slightly to look into Sooah’s room, which he had just exited.
“Woojin-ah.”
When Jiwon called his name, Woojin’s gaze landed on her. Her pristine soul was shaking a little bit.
“I’ll see you later.”
“Yes. All right.”
Woojin mussed Jiwon’s head once, then he walked down the corridor. Cindy was by Jiwon’s side, and she asked in a small voice.
“Whew. Woojin is incredibly busy.”
“Yes, he is.”
“Are you ok with that? It was announced that you are his girlfriend, but in truth, you don’t get to see him often....”
“Ha ha. I’m all right.”
She wasn’t lying. Do-jiwon really didn’t mind.
Kahng-woojin was busy, and she completely understood it. He had saved her life. How shameless would it be for her to complain to get attention from him?
Jiwon was just thankful that she was able to watch him from closeby.
He was a dangerous and busy person.
He was the hero that was saving earth.
“Eh-ee. Did you even kiss him yet?”
“Huh?”
At Cindy’s question, Jiwon’s face turned bright red. Then she looked around her surrounding, and she spoke in a small voice.
“We shouldn’t speak about such things here.”
This was the room where the unconscious Sooah had just woken up. It wasn’t the place to joke about such stuff. Jiwon led Cindy by her hand as they exited the room.
“Uh-whew. You have it pretty rough.”
Cindy let out a sigh.
She was the lover of the most famous man in the world, yet it looked to be a hard life to be loved by him.
“So when are you going back home?”
“Uh? A...am I a bother?”
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
Cindy was surprised by Jiwon’s sudden question. When she replied back, Jiwon shook her head.
A couple days ago, Cindy had called her out of the blue.
Cindy seemed to have suffered lingering trauma from the reunion, and she had halted all her media activity. She was on a break. However, it seemed she still had anxiety attacks, so she had asked Jiwon for help. Cindy had wondered if she could recuperate in Alandal.
Do-jiwon received permission from Minchan, who was the Prime Minster, and she had invited Cindy over.
Cindy had already lived with her for 3 days, and Jiwon had a feeling that this living situation would last for a long time.
“Eh-whew. It seems not everyone can be the lover of a hero.”
“.......”
“I don’t think I could do it even if it cost me my life.”
Jiwon didn’t have a retort for Cindy’s words.
***
Woojin looked out the broken window as he surveyed the bustling training ground. Then he turned his gaze towards the fallen Woo-soonghoon.
“He isn’t conscious, but he is still alive.”
At the security guard’s words, Woojin plucked a soul that was hovering around him, and he let it absorb into Soonghoon.
“Ooh ooh.”
Soonghoon had regained his vigor. He let out a moan as he got off the floor.
“P...president. No, my king.”
“What happened?”
“He was talking nonsense when he suddenly threw something at me. Afterwards, I....”
“What did he say?”
“I can’t remem... Ah! He was saying something about whether coincidences can happen in this world.”
“Coincidence.”
Woojin let out a bitter laugh.
Was it called the Moon World? Toppler was part of this organization, and they were supporting Kim-kahngchul.
Those bastards wanted to talk with Woojin. However, they wanted to do so while hiding their real identities in the dark.
“You should take care of your body more. You should exercise a little bit.”
“.......”
How could he face a Roused just from doing some exercise? In the first place, there wasn’t anyone in Alandal right now that could keep Kim-kahngchul aside from Woojin.
It was partially Kahng-woojin’s fault. He had thought Kim-kahngchul was in a defenseless state.
“Well, you should get some rest. You over there. Tell Minchan to come to my room.”
“Yes, sir!”
Before the secretary could exit, he started to backpedal. It seemed Jung-minchan had already heard the news, and he had come running to this location. It wasn’t necessary to call him.
“What happened?”
“What do you think happened? Put Kim-kahngchul on the wanted list.”
“What? For what crime.... If one objectively looks at the circumstances, the president.... It looks as if the king had kidnapped Mr. Kim-kahngchul.”
Kim-kahngchul had appeared for the interview, and Woojin had abruptly fought with him. Woojin had dragged a half-crippled Kim-kahngchul into Alandal. As if troubled by Minchan’s words, Woojin stroked his chin. Then he looked towards the damaged window.
“Just say he committed vandalism.”
“.......”
He just had to make up a crime.
“This won’t hold up in Korea.”
“I’m not trying to catch him. Just do it.”
“Understood.”
Minchan was quick on the uptake, so he understood the purpose behind Woojin’s order. If a bulletin on his wanted status was sent out, the suspect will have to constantly look over his back. He’ll be extra careful as not to be found, and this will restrict his movements.
Woojin wanted to suppress Kim-kahngchul’s activities.
“Tell me if the preparation for the general guild assembly is going well. I’ll be out in 3 days time.”
“Yes. People from numerous guilds around the world are arriving in Korea. We’ve provided them a place to stay at the KH Hotel.”
“You take care of those details. What about the newly chosen employees?”
“We are doing a background check, and we have to gauge each of their abilities...”
“Send them into my room. I’ll return after training them for about 3 days.”
“.......”
He said three days, but it was 12 days time inside the Dungeon.
They had just joined an hour ago, yet they would be going into a Dungeon with Kahng-woojin. Will they be able to quickly adapt?
“Isn’t it too early? Maybe we should prepare them a little bit more before deploying them. The problem is whether they’ll be able to adapt...”
“Minchan.”
“Yes, sir.”
Woojin’s single word stopped Prime Minister Jungminchan’s words in its track.
“The ones that adapt well will survive the battle. Right?”
“Yes.”
“If they are to adapt well to the situation, they need to be trained well.”
“You are correct.”
“I’m not taking them to a war zone. It is only a hunting ground.”
Depending on the person, it wasn’t a hunting ground. It was a place where one had to fiercely compete for one’s survival.
However, Minchan did refute his words.
“I’ll immediately prepare them, and I’ll send them up.”
“I won’t wait long. Ready them quickly.”
“Yes, sir..”
As if he had said all he needed to say, Woojin exited the room to go up to his office.
“Whew.”
Jung-minchan let out the breath he had been holding. He didn’t know if it was Kim-kahngchul’s escape or Kahng-sooah’s recoveredd consciousness, but Kang-woojin’s mood was sharp. It was different from his normal mood.
Minchan immediately went to the conference room where the new recruits were waiting for him. They were going through the contract with a fine-toothed comb. When they signed it, they’ll gain citizenship to Alandal.
They would become citizens of Alandal, but business were conducted like any other guild.
They had to clear and maintain Dungeons. Moreover, they had to suppress the monster when Breaks occurred.
The only thing different was that no country held jurisdiction over this guild. Moreover, Alandal operated with the world as its stage.
No, they even operated in planets located in different dimensions....
“I want all your attention.”
“.......”
The twenty three pairs of worried eyes headed towards Prime Minister Jung-Minchan.
“Everyone will be following the king into a Dungeon right now.”
“What are you talking about? We haven’t even signed the contract yet.”
“That’s right. We haven’t even decided if we are going to join, yet you suddenly spring a Dungeon run on us.”
Minchan shook his head from side to side as if he was in a difficult spot.
“That isn’t important right now. I want you all to engrave my words into your heart. It will increase your chance for survival. When you enter the Dungeon, do not stray far away from the King, and this includes the Death Knights....”
“Look here! Don’t we have any rights here?”
“Isn’t this too forceful of a method?”
“I don’t want to join this guild. I’ll be leaving. Please let me out.”
“.......”
The people, who passed the interview, continued to complain. Minchan’s complexion darkened.
It seemed these people were under some kind of a delusion.
At that moment, the conference room’s door opened, and Kahng-woojin entered.
“Everyone’s gathered.”
It seemed Woojin hadn’t planned on waiting. He immediately came looking for them.
“If everyone is here, we’ll go.”
Zzeeeeeeng.
Woojin opened the portal heading towards Alandal.
Nervousness appeared on the faces of people when the portal was suddenly formed.
“I’m out.”
“...?”
Woojin looked at the person, who spoke, as he tilted his head.
“Says who?”
“What?”
Woojin looked at every single face once before he opened his mouth.
“I want to protect earth. What about you guys?”
“.......”
Why was he talking in such grandiose terms? Everyone was having a hard time answering the question.
Woojin continued to speak.
“If you are here for a free ride, you can leave.”
“R...really? We can leave here?”
“Of course, you’ll have to leave earth.”
“W...what kind of....”
Woojin smirked as he stood in front of the portal.
“If you want to pass through this portal as a dead Skeleton, take a seat. If you want to be alive when you leave, get in a single line. Start.”
“......!”
Koo-da-tahng!
Before Wooijn’s words could end, people pushed aside the desk. They scrambled to form a line in front of Woojin.
“Tell me your numbers.”
“One.”
“Two.”
.......
“Twenty three. I am the last number.”
Woojin put on a satisfied smile.
“I want to welcome all of you for becoming members of Alandal.”
Woojin’s voice sounded like the voice of a devil guarding the entrance to hell. In fact, the red portal looked like the entrance to hell to the newly recruited Roused. They had on an agonized expression as they passed through the portal entrance.