The Hero Returns

"A guild?"

Su-hyeun thought that Lee Ju-ho's proposal had come from nowhere.

It wasn't a bad idea, though. A guild consisting of Su-hyeun, Hak-joon, Thomas, and Lee Ju-ho would instantly become South Korea's top guild, after all.

But that would be nothing more than gilding the outwardly-visible lily. It might be the center of attention for a while, sure, but it was also hard to say what the real purpose of it would be.

Su-hyeun asked. "Is there a good reason to tie all of us together under the banner of a guild?"

Lee Ju-ho made his reply. "Well, I'm sure nothing much will change for us. But, think about this for a sec. As you said, the world is changing rapidly, right?"

"Yes, it is."

"And the problem's not just limited to Korea, either. From the nearby countries like Japan, China, and even further away in places like the American continents. What will you do if a dungeon that's even harder than the blue color pops up there?"

"Well, we..." After hearing that, Su-hyeun finally understood what Lee Ju-ho was alluding to. "...We should be helping them."

"Right, I knew you'd say that. And that's why."

"You're saying that we should establish a guild and then operate like mercenaries, yes?"

"You're always quick on the uptake."

Mercenaries. One of the reasons to establish a guild was to supply awakener manpower after receiving an appropriate sum of money.

<< Hak-joon, that guy. Is he already thinking of such things? >>

The concept of a mercenary guild was supposed to first appear in the distant future.

The thing was, there had been mercenary-like awakeners that lent their aid to guilds before, but it was extremely rare to see awakeners from another nation being brought in to assist with a seemingly-impossible dungeon raid. That was why the concept of the mercenary guild first appeared only after the year 2030, when it became harder and harder to handle the generated dungeons with available awakener manpower.

<< Things aren't so bad, for the time being. But it's not that far off, either. >>

By that point in time, awakeners would stop obsessing over dungeon raids, and petty squabbles over the rights to them, like they were doing these days. Indeed, the number of dungeons needing to be raided would grow far too much, and they would have no choice but to prepare a more systematic raid schedule, instead.

The concept of a mercenary guild came about precisely because of that.

The ones that raided dungeons after getting paid for it. Their existence alone provided the necessary pretext to bring in awakeners from other countries without needing to go through tangles of red tape, as long as the price was right.

"Since you're not interested in making money, you sit this one out. Once we establish our guild and start our activity as mercenaries, we should be able to ignore most of the complicated bureaucracy," said Lee Ju-ho, before frowning somewhat awkwardly. "Well, strictly speaking, this isn't that urgent, anyway. For the time being, most of the countries out there aren't all that keen on awakeners from other nations taking away their Ether stones. In fact, they seem rather hell-bent on holding onto whatever resources that are found in a blue-colored dungeon if one happens to show up in their backyard."

"For the time being, that is."

"Right. For now," said Lee Ju-ho, his expression darkening.

He and Su-hyeun paid close attention to the rate of dungeon generation, perhaps more than anyone else. And that's why he could tell.

He could tell that the danger to humanity was clearly visible. Plain as day.

Lee Ju-ho continued, "They won't be so territorial soon. Even now, nations with less awakener manpower have to rely on the aid of stronger nations and split the resources half and half. The stronger nations are overflowing with manpower as we speak."

"But, if all the manpower is focused on only one area..."

"Eventually, something big will go off where people aren't looking. Like with India."

Su-hyeun nodded his head.

The catastrophe in India had resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Recalling that incident made Su-hyeun think that, maybe, the establishment of a mercenary guild needed to happen sooner rather than later.

"It's not a bad idea. No, wait. It's a good idea, actually."

It was a bit hard to welcome the advent of the concept of a mercenary guild. Because, it also meant that the rate of dungeon generation had sped up, as well.

That didn't mean the entrance of the mercenary guilds should be postponed, either.

Su-hyeun spoke up. "Let's do it. Create a guild."

"Okay. What about the name?"

"We should take our time and mull it over, together. As for the guild master..."

"It should be either you or me."

"Let me do it."

"You don't have to force yourself, you know. It isn't gonna be too tough to manage a guild with just a handful of people."

"Bro, you're already swarmed with work...."

"In that case, should I be doing manual labor alongside genuine monsters like you three? That's gonna be even harder on my bones."

Lee Ju-ho made a fed-up expression and waved his hands around dismissively.

He wasn't wrong there. Of the four of them, Lee Ju-ho's abilities suffered quite a lot in comparison to the rest.

If they were to divide the labor, then Lee Ju-ho perfectly suited the task of overseeing and managing various negotiations and business contacts.

"In that case, I'll leave it up to you, bro."

"Alright. Oh, and also this." Lee Ju-ho finished with what he wanted to say, then pulled out a tablet PC from a bag at the corner of the bench before handing it over. "Read this on your way. Trying to meet your demands meant that the size ballooned a bit. It'll take a bit of time to send it through."

"I see. Thank you."

After bidding Lee Ju-ho goodbye, Su-hyeun immediately headed over to Shin Su-yeong's shop next.

She had successfully extended the shop floor through a famous jewelry brand, which allowed her to declare, "Let your mother splurge for once!" and dine out with Su-hyeun in an expensive restaurant.

He really got to enjoy this break, a first in a long while.

* * *

The next day, Su-hyeun finally woke from his slumber around the lunch hour.

His head pounded a little. His excessive drinking the day before was to blame.

While recalling the events of the previous day, he drank some water placed on the bedside table and thought to himself.

<< We sure drank a lot. >>

Rather unexpectedly, Shin Su-yeong was a very keen drinker. He couldn't quite remember her touching any booze in the past, but from the stories she told him, it seemed that she had begun enjoying knocking back a few shots lately.

Was it because she found some leeway with herself?

He was impressed by how someone like her, who enjoyed alcohol, had to stop and live a frugal life up until not too long ago. At the same time, he was kind of relieved, as well.

Because it meant that she had finally started enjoying her life now.

Su-hyeun checked the messages on his phone.

[It's morning and Thomas is already throwing a big tantrum because he wants to see you. Come over and do something about this kid. I can't stand this anymore.]

The text came from Lee Ju-ho. He actually sent two.

[And I sent word out to the reporters. Sponsors will be Song-il Group and the Gordon Company, and I've finished discussions with the authority, too. Come to the Jongno Tower's 20th floor before five o'clock today.]

"....He sure made a big splash, alright."

Su-hyeun did ask for this favor, but Lee Ju-ho had exceeded his expectations.

Song-il Group.

And then, the Gordon Company.

Two corporations—one the representative of South Korea while the other, the United States—had become their sponsors.

<< Two corporations that rank in the top ten of the financial world have joined us. >>

Unlike the Song-il Group, the Gordon Company wasn't just another corporation. For one, Gordon Rohan's family started off as oil barons, so it was wrong to treat them like any other regular corporation.

The thing was, though, Song-il Group was the oldest family-run business empire in South Korea, and was widely renowned throughout the world as well. The number of foreigners who knew Song-il Group's name but not South Korea was probably greater than the other way around.

Of course, Su-hyeun wasn't all that interested in Song-il Group. He was interested in someone else.

<< Looks like I'll run into him sooner than I thought. >>

Gordon Rohan. The top representative of the Gordon Company, and one of the ten most influential people in the whole world. Before Su-hyeun's appearance, he used to be seen as the world's strongest awakener, too.

Su-hyeun thought that they wouldn't have a chance to meet again until the next Ranking Wars, but they should be encountering each other pretty soon in unexpected circumstances.

He sent a text message to Lee Ju-ho that said he got it and walked into the shower.

In a slightly different way than usual, it seemed that his day was about to get real busy.

And then...

Whether it was a big or small one, the world was about to experience a change on this very day.

* * *

Jongno Tower.

A skyscraper located in Jongno-gu, where the South Korean awakener association could be found alongside various malls, a hotel as well as a fancy restaurant.

The world's attention was currently focused on that very building.

"Now that's a lot of people."

The famous landmark of the Jongno Tower, the Food Buff.

If you wanted to eat in the restaurant-cum-buffet boasting floor space of over 6600 square meters, it cost $175 per head. Just a single day's revenue for the Food Buff easily reached several hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the yearly revenue alone was something like $40 million-plus.

Such a place was packed to the brim with people today. Not only that, all the tables had been taken away, as well.

"Well, yeah. That's a lot of people, alright."

"Looks like almost five hundred or so have shown up?"

"Every single one is a celebrity of some kind, too."

"Senior, have more confidence in yourself. You're our station's most famous reporter, after all."

"Gimme a freaking break. How many really famous reporters do you think are present in this place right now? Even the awakener authority people are here."

The reporter from Joongsim Daily, Goh Myeong-gyun, felt as if he couldn't breathe at all. Just how long ago was the last time he sensed such a heavy atmosphere?

No, wait. The atmosphere wasn't solely to blame here.

<< Am I too tense? >>

He had already met most of the usual big fish-types before, and had experienced tense situations often as well. But today was an exception. As a matter of fact, he felt rather amazed by the fact that so many folks of such caliber had gathered in one place like this.

<< Dozens of S-Rank awakeners, the biggest broadcasters and newspapers of their respective nations, the real movers and shakers of politics, and even the CEOs and presidents of various corporations, too. >>

And they had all gathered in this place today?

Just the cooperation of the Song-il Group and the Gordon Company alone wouldn't be enough to bring about such a result.

<< Kim Su-hyeun. >>

Indeed, this event was only possible because of that name. All thanks to him declaring that he'd talk about the awakener raid manual, as well as making an important announcement.

<< He's going to reveal his know-how? But why? >>

There were countless books written by awakeners chronicling their know-how on how they leveled up. It was just that the majority of them were no use once one reached about B-Rank. In fact, stories of people experiencing losses due to the incorrect information being shared happened all the time.

Awakeners with high rankings, like the S-Ranks, were too busy keeping their know-how away from the public.

But now...

<< A raid manual written by not just any S-Rank awakener, but Kim Su-hyeun himself. >>

Meaning, this event would certainly be interesting to the whole world's awakener population.

That wasn't all, though.

<< Johnny Brad's virtual dungeon. >>

That system was just as shocking as Kim Su-hyeun's raid manual—a system that created a virtual dungeon so that people could train in the methods of dungeon raids ahead of time. Such a thing would no doubt aid in rapidly increasing the survival rate of the awakeners in future raids.

<< Gordon Rohan, Kim Su-hyeun, and Johnny Brad. >>

Today, the world's top awakeners would gather in one spot. And Goh Myeong-gyun was there to report on it.

Goh Myeong-gyun thought to himself, << A lot of things are about to change, aren't they? >>

* * *

There was a platform in the middle of a rowdy crowd.

Behind it was Su-hyeun, frowning, currently fiddling with the ends of his formal business suit.

"Looks like you're uncomfortable in those clothes?"

A man walked up to him and spoke with a smile. It was Gordon Rohan.

He spoke pretty fluent Korean. He said he had found some free time in the past few months and tried to learn it, but he was too good for just a few months' practice.

Su-hyeun replied, "It's been a while since the last time I had to wear clothes like this, you see."

"But, surely your suits of armor are more cumbersome than this?"

"I'm used to them, though."

"That's true." Gordon Rohan nodded his head in agreement, before scanning the room. "Besides all that. Don't you think it's a bit wasteful to make your announcement in this building? It would've been even better if you did it in the Gordon Tower."

"The location isn't important, you know. The content is."

"That's true, too."

Gordon Rohan continued to sweep his gaze around their surroundings. Off to one side, Thomas was glaring at him with piercing eyes, while Hak-joon was muttering something to himself with a nervous look.

He opened his mouth again. "I heard that you're forming a guild with those guys. Is that true?"

"How did you find that out?"

"A man I met earlier told me. He said the name was 'Paragon', is that right? To be the role model, an example to follow. The meaning behind it was so amazing that it gave me nasty goosebumps."

'Paragon'.

That was the guild name that Lee Ju-ho came up with after a whole day of agonizing over it. It didn't have any other deeper meaning.

"Doesn't that word describe you the best? I mean, you said that you completely detest the name Hero Guild, didn't you?"

The name was chosen simply because it suited Su-hyeun pretty well. Thinking that it was still many times better than the 'Hero Guild', he agreed with the choice.

He also thought that he might as well do what Lee Ju-ho wanted, at least with the naming of the guild, after considering the hardship the older man would have to go through in the future.

"A guild with only four members in it...." Gordon Rohan chuckled as if it was quite amusing somehow, and then placed his hand on Su-hyeun's shoulder before continuing, "I'm sure you have a lot of openings in your guild, so why don't you let me join you, too?"