The Hero Returns

Now that was a deeply meaningful question.

Kim Do-ui hurriedly scanned his vicinity from the barista working on the next brew to the waitress receiving the order and the customers at the next table.

He focused his attention on all of their ears.

"You don't have to worry. No sound will leak outside of this," said Su-hyeun.

A nearly-imperceptible thin magical barrier was currently blocking out sounds. Not just the noises coming from outside the cafe, but the conversation between the two men would not leak outside with it in place.

Kim Do-ui felt cold sweat trickle down his back. If he had known beforehand, he'd have suggested not meeting in a public cafe but instead somewhere slightly more private.

"You're surprisingly mischievous, aren't you?" asked Kim Do-ui.

"I didn't choose this place as our meeting spot, though."

"If I knew we were meeting to discuss such matters, I'd have chosen another place."

"Should we go somewhere else, then?"

"...No, it's fine. Now, I just want to finish this quickly and go back to the office."

Kim Do-ui signed grandly and took a sip of the coffee.

A short while later, Su-hyeun opened his mouth. "You asked me how much I know. It's probably as much as the association knows, actually, so just about everything."

"If I asked how you found out….You won't answer me, am I correct?"

"Of course."

"Let's hear it then. How much do you know?"

"The drug ring and awakeners choosing to stay there. Illegal trading of points and smuggling of drugs through the dimension order forms."

"...So, you do know everything."

"It began as a small-time criminal operation, but it now has ballooned into a massive scale that can't be easily dealt with. A large amount of achievement points being funneled to that side is a problem, yes, but the bigger issue here is with the drugs being smuggled back to the outside world using the dimension order forms purchased through those points."

The achievement points could be traded only within the Tower of Trials.

The current racket worked like this: drug dealing between awakeners took place with those points acting as their currency, and when further points were acquired afterward, those were then used to bring the drugs to the real world outside.

The drug dealers working with awakeners proved to be a huge headache for the association, too.

"We just don't have any good ways to prosecute them. Awakeners on the floors higher than the 31st can't go back there, and when we try to do something from out here in the real world, they sniff out our attempts to close in and quickly run off back to that place," said Kim Do-ui.

"That means there is no other option but to hunt them down on the 31st floor."

"But the issue with that is a bastard who had passed through the 9th level trials to get there decided to call that place his home."

A "monster" was living on the 31st floor, an awakener who definitely didn't belong in that place yet still decided to call that world his base. For some reason, this awakener also decided to try his hand on drugs peddling on the 31st floor's world and became the middleman in smuggling narcotics into the real world.

"We tried to catch him through sheer numbers, but that didn't pan out. No one wanted to take on the risk. So, basically, an awakener on the 31st floor that could possibly catch such a monster is..." Kim Do-ui spoke up to there before staring at Su-hyeun, his hand frozen in mid-air with a coffee mug still in his grip. "...Eh?"

"What do you think?"

"W-wait, but, but..."

Su-hyeun had reached the 31st floor.

Kim Do-ui reflexively shot up from his seat and asked. "Could it be you...?"

"You and I are on the same track," replied Su-hyeun while nodding his head. "That person needs to be apprehended."

Kim Do-ui's expression brightened instantly.

The criminal of the 31st floor who evaded capture until now by relying on the restrictions of one being unable to come back to the floor once they went further up.

Petro.

And now, a lead that could potentially result in his arrest had finally made an entrance.

"For that purpose, I have a favor I need to ask of you," said Su-hyeun.

Act 3

While massaging his pulsing migraine, Kim Do-ui decided to return to the association.

Su-hyeun's offer was definitely something to celebrate. The problems of the 31st floor remained a big source of headache for the longest time, after all.

Not to mention, this wasn't just a South Korean problem, either. No, it was a headache that every awakener association in the world had to experience together. And Su-hyeun was potentially the lead, the cure, that could solve this problem.

<<And so, it's him again this time, too?>>

It didn't matter how Su-hyeun came across this information.

The thing was, Kim Do-ui didn't even know how the world found on the 31st floor even operated or looked like. From what he heard, it was structured closest to the real world, a city where drugged-out junkies could be spotted quite commonly.

If it was such a city, then it'd not be a stretch of one's imagination to think that Su-hyeun found something wrong with the 31st floor's world and decided to investigate it in detail.

<<Regardless of what, I'm grateful that he wants to help us, but...>>

The issue at hand was, as expected, how to locate Petro.

After parting ways with Su-hyeun, Kim Do-ui immediately called someone on the phone. A few seconds later, the other side answered the call.

"Director, it's me, sir. Yes. Yes, that's what happened. Looks like we might have found a solution." Kim Do-ui looked behind him at the cafe with Su-hyeun still sitting inside and continued on. "However, sir, there's a slight problem."

* * *

Su-hyeun returned to the 31st floor immediately. The noisy, lively street and the familiar sweet scent greeted him.

He stepped onto the street and observed the people walking by. One out of every ten passersby had those unfocused, glazed eyes of a junkie.

<<They are completely out of it.>>

Their irises were abnormally small and the whites of the eyes were very prominent, while their focus was blurry, messy. That was the symptom of addiction to the 31st floor's as-common-as-grass drug, Blending.

"Excuse me."

Su-hyeun stopped a woman in her late twenties. Although her irises were outwardly fine, the focus within those eyes seemed just a little unstable, which was an early sign of addiction to Blending.

"Eh? Me?"

"Yes. Is it okay if I asked you about something?"

"Okay?"

"Do you know a person named Petro?"

"Petro...?" His question caused the woman's brows to furrow quite deeply as she made her reply. "Why are you asking me about that criminal scum?"

Su-hyeun watched the displeased woman spinning on her heels to walk away, and scratched his head.

<<As expected, that didn't work.>>

Petro's name was rather well-known on the 31st floor. This criminal had his hand in almost every illegal activity you could think of, like drugs, human trafficking, and gambling. On top of this, people had high expectations of him, anticipating that he'd become a world-renowned awakener one day — before he ended up on the 31st floor.

But now, the name Petro belonged to the darkly-stained hands that dealt in drug smuggling. He was now the headache of the entire world.

<<If I can, I need to find a junkie who looks normal on the outside.>>

Blending could only be purchased through dealers connected to Petro. Although the drug itself was commonly found, that guy tightly regulated Blending's flow through a powerful organization he had created around himself.

A junkie high as a kite might know the direction that could lead Su-hyeun towards where Petro was hiding, or he could even meet someone who directly purchased the drugs from Petro himself.

"...Mm?"

It was then that Su-hyeun's eyes discovered a rather familiar face.

When their eyes met, the man walking past him froze up right on the spot. Su-hyeun slowly studied this man's face before smirking rather deeply.

The man tried to walk past, pretending to not know anything, but Su-hyeun still caught his shoulder.

"We've met each other before, haven't we?" Su-hyeun asked.

"I-I-I don't, uh, think so...."

"Your name was...." Su-hyeun dived into his memories for a little while, before finally recalling this man's name. "It's Gwon Jang-hyuk, isn't it?"

* * *

The profession called awakener was a really nice one. It granted a wonderful physique, special skills and abilities, and people's gazes of envy and respect.

Gwon Jang-hyuk had become an awakener about one year ago, and without even giving it a moment's deliberation, chose the lowest difficulty for his trials.

He really hated anything dangerous. And so, that's how he reached the 31st floor.

But now…

<<Why is this punk even here?>>

Gwon Jang-hyuk couldn't even dare to look at Su-hyeun's face standing right before his eyes.

Meanwhile, Su-hyeun was inwardly thinking about how small the world could be sometimes. He never imagined running into Gwon Jang-hyuk in a place like this, after all.

<<Isn't this the third time already?>>

The first thing Su-hyeuk saw after opening eyes in his new body was the text messages from Gwon Jang-hyuk.

—Hey, I heard you got hospitalized?

—When are you getting discharged? I wanna talk to you.

—This big bro of yours is in a need for some quick cash, you see. It's fine, right?

Back then, he found it rather amusing.

Before he closed his eyes, he was busy fighting against Fafnir. But after receiving texts from a neighborhood punk threatening to kill him, he gained a renewed appreciation of how much his situation had changed.

Of course, the necessary moral education was carried out swiftly.

The second time they ran into each other was during the outbreak of Anyang city's green-colored dungeon. That happened so fast that his face was a bit of a blur back then, but still, that counted. And so, this would be their third encounter.

"Been a while, hasn't it?"

Su-hyeun dragged Gwon Jang-hyuk to a narrow side street. The latter still didn't dare to meet the former's eyes even now.

Never mind what happened in the past, the current Su-hyeun wasn't someone Gwon Jang-hyuk could do anything about. You could easily run into Su-hyeun's name while watching a TV broadcast or the browsing internet.

<<If I knew this would happen, I would've treated him better during high school...>>

The youngest ever S-rank awakener.

The conqueror of the blue-colored dungeon.

The man who utterly stomped America's Dump Guild out of existence, and currently estimated to be the strongest awakener in South Korea.

Even if they were on the same floor, that didn't mean they were similar in their skill level. The difference between Su-hyeun and Gwok Jang-hyuk was as wide as heaven and earth.

"So, then. When did you get here?" Su-hyeun asked, and Gwon Jang-hyuk replied, his eyes skittishly looking around.

"It-it's been a m-month, sir."

"A month? So quick?"

"Y-yes, sir..."

"The level one difficulty?"

Gwon Jang-hyuk nodded at Su-hyeun's question. He then abruptly realized that he was talking in honorifics until now. Regardless of what happened, they were still from the same year in high school.

"T-that's right."

Smack!

"Where's 'sir?'"

"...Sir."

Gwon Jang-hyuk rubbed his forehead smacked by Su-hyeun's finger flick and replied in a small voice. Trying to get smart here would only result in him getting killed off or get beaten up even more.

<<Goddammit. But you aren't even using any honorifics.>>

Sounding as if he heard that internal monologue just now, Su-hyeun looked down at Gwon Jang-hyuk and spoke up. "That's why you should've been a nicer guy in the past. If you were going to grovel before someone stronger than you, well, you should've treated people weaker than you much better."

"I-I'm still reflecting on it as we speak, sir."

"That's enough of that." Su-hyeun pointed to what looked like a cigarette currently held in Gwon Jang-hyuk's hand and asked, "That thing. Where did you get it?"

"...Eh? You mean, this?"

"That's right."

Gwon Jang-hyuk alternated his gaze between the cigarette and Su-hyeun before asking a question. "W-would you like to have a go? This tastes really gre...."

Smaaack—!

"OUCH!!"

"Hey, you. Are you smoking that while knowing it's a drug?"

"Well, that..."

Judging from his expression, it seemed that Gwon Jang-hyuk knew.

Su-hyeun frowned and raised his hand again. "You knew, yet you wanted me to smoke that?"

"H-hold on a minute, sir! Y-you're saying that because you don't know the truth!"

"I don't?"

"Y-yes! Sure, it might be a drug, but it's as common as grass in this place. If a drug is cheaper than water, what's the difference between it and actual cigarettes?"

Gwon Jang-hyuk seemed to have his own "persuasive" reason for smoking Blending. Unfortunately, everyone who tried it had a similar train of thought as he did.

It was cheap, and it wasn't as addictive, either. And if you wanted one, you could find it quite easily, so in the end, it was not much different from a regular cigarette.

That was Blending in a nutshell.

"And that's what makes it truly dangerous," said Su-hyeun.

"...Eh?"

"A drug that lulls you into thinking that it's not harmful. You gradually begin to think it's only obvious to use it, and eventually, you won't be able to survive a single day without it."

Su-hyeun was well aware of the true dangers of Blending. He knew what would happen to the 31st floor's world in the future because of this very drug, after all.

"And also, it looks like you're not being upfront with me about something here..."

Fwhoosh—

Riiiip—

Su-hyeun reached towards the backpack on Gwon Jang-hyuk's back and tore it open.

Tumble, drop—

Bundles of "grass" wrapped in white cloth tumbled to the ground. Gwon Jang-hyuk's complexion paled instantly and he tried to avoid Su-hyeun's glare.

"And where were you planning to sell those?"