The Hero Returns

A request truly out of nowhere.

Su-hyeun didn't usually get taken aback by many things but still, this was more than enough to leave him speechless.

"Mister Rohan, you want to join our guild?"

"What's the matter, you don't like the idea? Forget about it, then."

"That's not it, but why... Didn't you say you aren't interested in things like guilds?"

Countless guilds had tried to entice Gordon Rohan into joining. In the United States alone, there were as many big-name guilds as there were trees in a forest, and not to forget, plenty of foreign guilds were in a business relationship with the Gordon Company. They all wanted him to join.

With Gordan Rohan on their side, becoming the world's greatest guild wouldn't be a pipe dream anymore.

But Gordon Rohan had rejected all of their advances. He always said the same thing. "I never really liked the idea of going around in a big crowd."

He always followed through with whatever he said. And, to follow through on his declaration of never joining a guild, he had been acting on his own up until now.

"But, well, five people don't really qualify as a crowd, do they?"

"Do you even know what we're trying to achieve here?"

"I've heard the gist of it, and that's why I want to join you. It's a mercenary guild, right?"

"It is."

"I'm not all that interested in raiding dungeons. Only weakling monsters ever show up. Rather than wasting time with them, I might as well climb one more floor in the tower."

"If that's the case, then why...."

"Even then, it's not so bad to fight sometimes, isn't it. That guy, Lee Ju-ho, he said this to me. He said that sooner or later, dungeons that even we would find hard to deal with will show up."

It seemed that Gordon Rohan had a rather extensive conversation with Lee Ju-ho at some point. And, to reel the American in, the latter told him about the things he had discussed with Su-hyeun.

"Surely, there will be monsters worth fighting by then. And also..." Gordon Rohan continued with an uncharacteristically somber expression. "I don't exactly want the whole world destroyed, either."

Lee Ju-ho was one of the few people who had accurately grasped the state of the world, perhaps better than anyone right now. On top of that, he was also in possession of the data on the dungeon generation situation in many countries throughout the world that the Awakener Authority had compiled.

Gordon Rohan was a smart man. He had already grasped how the world would end up if the current state of affairs continued.

"It's impossible to change the world alone. Which means you need someone next to you, but to my eyes, those folks outside all look like small fry."

His words were filled with confidence. He labeled the S-Ranks from various countries, bigwigs of the political world, and the leaders of corporations as 'small fry'.

Despite that, it didn't feel out of place. Only Gordan Rohan could say such a thing and have it not be the height of arrogance.

"But you're different from them. So, how about it? Is that reason enough for you?"

"Well, for me...." Su-hyeun quietly extended his hand toward the American. "Obviously, I'm glad to have you join us."

"Good."

Squeeze-

Gordon Rohan smirked and shook Su-hyeun's offered hand. "I'll be in your care, friend."

After ending the light hug with Gordon Rohan that followed the handshake, Su-hyeun stepped onto the platform outside.

On to the platform, where the attention of countless people, no, the entire world, was focused.

Act 10

Click, click, snap-

Once he climbed onto the stage, Su-hyeun ended up reflexively frowning a little because of the flood of camera flashes.

He wasn't really used to this sort of atmosphere, and he felt a bit tense.

"It's Gordon Rohan!"

"Rohan's really here..."

"Since when did those two become so friendly?"

Reporters took pictures of Gordon Rohan relaxedly resting his arm around Su-hyeun's shoulders. Unlike the South Korean, he didn't seem any different from how he did normally. He had plenty of experience meeting celebrities the world over, as well as countless reporters. Plus, he even hosted the Ranking Wars too, which was arguably a far grander occasion than today.

Lee Ju-ho quietly observed Su-hyeun climbing up on the platform from the back. Although the latter seemed outwardly calm, Lee Ju-ho could read him well after spending so much time together.

<< He's feeling nervous. >>

A guy who didn't even feel one iota of anxiety during a dungeon raid was tensing up in front of a crowd.

As he thought, it seemed that Su-hyeun wasn't quite suited to dealing with people. This was exactly why Lee Ju-ho held the meetings instead of him and got everything started.

He was far better at doing such things, after all.

But....

<< You're the main character today. >>

He couldn't help it this time. The world wanted Su-hyeun, not him.

His role had always been to lay out the platform. Su-hyeun's face was essential when delivering their message to the rest of the world.

And, a short while later.

Su-hyeun lightly sucked in his breath and opened his mouth. "For me, today is a very important occasion."

His introductory speech wasn't long.

He said only what needed to be said. And that was to reveal everything about the dungeon's risk factor based on the data compiled so far to the rest of the world.

It all sounded rather believable.

No one raised a commotion. Only Su-hyeun's voice and the constant camera flashes echoed around the massive hall.

"...I hope that this raid manual will become a solid foundation for the development of awakeners yet to awaken their powers, as well as the current crop."

A reporter threw out a question. "Are you saying that your reason for publicly unveiling your know-how is all for the advancement of the awakener profession?"

"No, not for the advancement, but..." Su-hyeun looked at the reporter and replied, his voice sounding more powerful than before. "...for survival."

Survival.

That was a completely different topic from 'advancement'. It meant that the manual was indispensable if you wished to live.

And that single word imparted a sense of sincerity, truth, to everything he had said so far.

"Translations into various languages have been completed and we've entered the printing stage as we speak. I believe that in less than a month's time, you shall be able to grab a copy in your local bookstore throughout the world."

"If it's a book for awakeners, surely there won't be much of a demand, so what about the revenue generated by the business of...."

"We're not doing this to make money," Gordan Rohan said sharply.

His eyes, locked on the reporters, were arched rather scarily. Unlike how they were when listening to Su-hyeun, the reporters all tensed up as they focused on the American's words.

"The Gordon Company, the Song-il Group, as well as many other sponsors, are all betting our everything on this. Because, survival is our utmost priority, after all. Did any of you listen to what Kim Su-hyeun said with holes beside your ears?"

His straightforward jab caused the reporter who asked the question earlier to sneakily lower his head. Only then did some of the reporters who had failed to recognize the severity of the situation finally realize how grave the atmosphere was right then.

Gordon Rohan managed to seize the control of the venue's atmosphere in one breath, then continued with what he wanted to say. "As for the virtual dungeon system created by the awakener affiliated with my Gordon Company, Johnny Brad, it will be distributed to every country on Earth as soon as possible. It's to decrease the number of awakener deaths that might occur during dungeon raids or during the trials."

"How does the virtual dungeon system operate?"

"You know about virtual reality games, don't you? The ones that operate via capsules? Johhny Brad's illusion skill will be inserted into those capsules. You'll probably experience a far more vivid dungeon than in those VR capsule games."

"What about the pricing?"

"We're thinking of renting them out. The pricing will be set according to the tier of the dungeons, and, as for the operation methods...."

The virtual dungeon system.

This was one of the main topics of today's announcement. The issue was as important as Kim Su-hyeun's raid manual. Maybe even more so.

To awakeners, the fact that they could experience raiding a dungeon without risking their lives was the same as bringing along one or two extra lives just for a rainy day.

When Gordon Rohan's explanation came to an end, the crowd began thinking—that all of these were planned for events several years ahead in the future in mind. Maybe dozens of years, even.

"And lastly..." Once Rohan was done talking, one of the three men standing on the platform, Lee Ju-ho, began raising his voice next. "By borrowing this occasion, we'd like to announce the establishment of a new guild."

"A guild?"

"Wait, could Kim Su-hyeun be...?"

"Wasn't Kim Su-hyeun a part of the Authority??"

"No, I think he's still independent. Sure, he's really friendly with the Authority, but..."

In an instant, the venue grew noisy.

The establishment of a guild. They all realized that, maybe, Su-hyeun who had stayed independent until now would finally go under someone's banner.

"Although I'm lacking in many regards, I shall take on the role of the guild master. As for the members...."

The moment Lee Ju-ho spoke, the venue fell into complete silence instantly. None of them could afford to miss out on the names of the guild members.

"....Kim Su-hyeun over here, and..."

Hak-joon and Thomas, standing at the rear of the platform, stepped forward into the light.

"Thomas and Choi Hak-joon, both of whom are known as S-Rank awakeners. And finally..."

Lee Ju-ho sneaked a glance at Gordon Rohan next.

Right at that moment...

"Me, too."

"…!"

"G-Gordon Rohan, too?!"

"In Kim Su-hyeun's guild....??"

The crowd in the venue had been forcibly suppressing their speculation, but at this, their control slipped. The commotion grew louder and louder.

Cooperation between Gordon Rohan and Kim Su-hyeun!

Not only that, two more S-Ranks plus Lee Ju-ho, too.

"The guild will be called Paragon." Su-hyeun's voice loudly and clearly dug through the noisy venue. "And it'll be a mercenary guild."

* * *

A big storm had swept by.

From the for-awakeners raid manual, the virtual dungeon system, and, finally, even a guild that Gordon Rohan and Kim Su-hyeun had created together.

Just one of these was enough to become breaking news worldwide. But all three were announced in one fell swoop.

And so...

-Isn't this too over the top? In the end, they're just trying to hawk a book and some capsules, so why say the world is in danger or whatever?

└ Kim Su-hyeun is already rich without selling books. Same for Rohan. Besides, it's not completely baseless either, is it?

└ ㅇㅇ Methinks they're onto something. Honestly, accidents from dungeons have increased a lot compared to a few years ago. Did you miss the Indian incident on the news or something?

└ If Kim Su-hyeun wanted money, he'd be busy doing the dungeon raids all the time.

└ Same to you. If he really wanted to serve the community, forget about writing a book, he should be raiding dungeons right now.

└ Be honest, will you? Didn't Kim Su-hyeun take care of that blue-colored dungeon all by himself? Stop trying to shift goalposts. ㄴㄴ

└ More than anything else, a truly insurmountable guild has been created now. Kim Su-hyeun and Gordon Rohan! By the way, which country does this guild belong to? Is it a Korean guild, or an American one?

For the first time in a long while, Su-hyeun logged on to Abyss Online and browsed through the comments posted to the forums. He wanted to see people's reactions to the events of the day before.

The response was better than he thought, actually.

"Looks like the public is getting more aware of the danger," said Hak-joon.

Su-hyeun shifted his gaze over to Hak-joon, lying lazily on the couch, munching on snacks. Hak-joon too was looking at the comments appearing on Abyss Online through a tablet PC.

"Well, it'd be odd if they couldn't sense it by now."

"True that. It just goes to show you how the world has changed so fast, and then, there's the objective data, too...."

The speed of dungeon generation was getting faster at an almost exponential rate.

Starting in the year 2020, the rate accelerated even further. For one thing, incidents related to dungeons, both large and small, were happening constantly everywhere.

Indeed, it'd be strange if they couldn't sense the danger.

And now, the man considered to be the world's strongest awakener, Su-hyeun, had added his two cents, so it was inevitable that the flames would only get higher.

"It kinda feels like we're the Power Rangers or something. Gather your strength and save the world! You know, something like that." Hak-joon giggling for a second, then his face hardened. "Lately... I'm beginning to see the future you've been telling me about, bro. That's why... I'm worried."

"Really?"

"Yes. You, Ju-ho, and even Yun-seon... I had a dream where the world we were living in was destroyed. We were all dead and buried under a pile of corpses..." Hak-joon turned the tablet PC off and put it down. "And that's why I can't take it easy anymore. I understand why you've been running forward so crazily like this, you know? And, by the way, bro."

"Yeah?"

"You've been living like this until now, haven't you?"

"...."

Su-hyeun couldn't reply.

But Hak-joon didn't seem to be expecting an answer, because he was already standing up from the couch. "I'm gonna bounce now. I'll be entering the 70th floor's trial, by the way."

"I see. Do your best."

"You too, bro."

Hak-joon left Su-hyeun's residence. Thinking that the younger man looked different from his usual self for some reason, Su-hyeun rubbed his forehead. Then he stood up from his chair.

<< I shouldn't be resting like this either. >>

Most of the complicated stuff had been taken care of now.

Hak-joon was already on the 70th floor. Although their level of difficulty and their accomplishment rates were different, regardless of that, Su-hyeun had only managed to pass the 40th floor recently.

<< It sure took a while. >>

He was stuck on the 40th floor for a long time. He was rewarded for it accordingly, but still, there's nothing he could do about this feeling of being too slow.

Compared to Hak-joon going through the eighth level of trial or the other awakeners progressing through lower difficulties, Su-hyeun's speed in climbing each and every floor was just too slow.

<< No, let's not be hasty about this. >>

His methods weren't wrong. He might be slower, but he simply had to diligently climb up each of the floors. His current state was the end result of his methods, proof that he was on the right track.

<< Besides all that.... >>

It had been a couple of days already. Before he was to challenge the next floor, there was one other matter he needed to sort out first.

<< I wonder, have the elixirs arrived yet? >>