The Hero Returns

"Okay. Good," Su-hyeun thought.

It was important from now on that he slowly drew his magic to maximize the effectiveness of the catalyst. If he drew his magic too quickly, the catalyst would evaporate. At the same time, he felt the pain. It was as if his body was burning.

"Focus. I need to focus."

It was a pain he had been prepared for in the first place. Su-hyeun clenched his teeth and raised his magic.

Rumble, rumble—

The magic, which reacted to the catalyst, gradually grew—the size and concentration began changing.

"Good."

The magic wasn't done growing yet, but suddenly it stopped. Su-hyeun was embarrassed and pulled down the moving magic.

"Did I try to make it grow too quickly?"

He had been thinking of increasing the Magic Level at the same time as the catalyst, but it did not work well.

"Then... I have to confine it first," he thought.

The catalyst was worth two million points. He didn't want to blow this in vain. He decided to keep it in his body before it started to evaporate.

Whoooshh—

Rumble, rumble—

The catalyst that was evenly spread through his body began to move to one side. He led it to the edge of his heart. The blood circulation would help the magic spread faster.

Zip—

Then, he encircled the area to prevent oxidizing the catalyst. With this, he did not have to worry about the catalyst disappearing.

"I wanted to finish it quickly...Oh well."

It seemed hard.

"Since this is what happened... I guess I will melt it for a long time."

***

John, who was the owner of the inn, Makdallum, went to room 301. A customer was staying there who paid to stay for a week but had been there for 10 days without paying extra!

The guest had mentioned ahead of time that he would stay longer than a week, so John didn't worry at first. But he couldn't stand it anymore. Not just because he was behind on the payment but because also other customers started to complain about the strange smell from that room.

"What is this smell?"

John came up on the third floor and frowned. It smelled like something sour got rotten. He felt like his stomach would be turned inside out.

"Oh my god. What is this...?"

It smelled much worse than he thought. He had no idea what this customer was doing in the room.

"Seriously…!"

Bang, bang, bang—

John knocked on room 301 roughly.

"Hey, man! What are you doing inside? You haven't paid for your extra days!"

Click—

Creak—

The old door slowly opened. John made a wry face. He was ready to nag. But soon, his frown deepened. He wanted to say something, but he could not open his mouth.

"O, oop…"

The smell in the room was more putrid than in the hallway.

"Y-yuck…!"

John shut his mouth with both hands and hurriedly went down the stairs. He had no time to argue at the moment. He had to find a restroom before he threw up.

"Umm…"

Su-hyeun looked at John's back. He expected this, but he felt sorry.

"How long has it been?"

The process of absorbing the catalyst took a long time. He thought it would take a week at most, but he concentrated so much that he could not figure out how much time had passed. The reason why John came to his room was probably the smell.

"I guess I should pay him some extra money."

He did not want to run away after he made the inn smell this bad. Su-hyeun scratched his head and headed for the bathroom. First, he had to shower.

***

Su-hyeun paid the money he owed to John after John vomited until nothing was left in his stomach. Although he had spent two million achievement points before, the remaining points were more than enough to use on the 21st floor. When he paid extra 3,000 achievement points, John's face lighted up quickly. That amount was equal with what he earned running the inn for a month.

"10 days…"

Su-hyeun checked the remaining time after he came back to the real world.

"Now, only 18 days left," he thought.

There was not much time left. More time passed than he had expected. Since there was a result, the time spent was not meaningless. Now, it was time to find a way.

"Should I persuade the director again?"

If he would meet him in person, he might be able to make up more plausible reasons to persuade him.

"No... Probably not."

It didn't take long to shake his head for that idea. He knew the director. He was not that kind of person. As Lee Ju-ho had experienced, the director concentrated all his thoughts on his comfort. It was a wonder how he could manage to rise that high position. He was not a person who could risk it.

"Now, what I only have..."

There was only one way he could think of. Although he told Lee Ju-ho confidently, he knew his plan was stupid and ignorant. But this was the only way.

"I guess my secluded life will be over," he thought and scratched his head. "It doesn't matter, though."

It seemed too early to reveal himself, but he had done so many things. He achieved his goal, so there was no reason to hide anymore. Above all, there was no other way he could think of.

"When things are complicated, it is best to face them directly."

Rattle—

Su-hyeun pushed the chair back and turned on the computer. He logged on Abyss Online and left an anonymous post.

Click, Clack—

***

On January 17th, a new post on Abyss Online went viral. At first, everyone ignored it. But the writing posted repeatedly, and it included detailed content. It started to have many recommendations and became a sensation. Hak-Joon was looking at the thread on his smartphone.

[Title: Anyang, January 31st.]

*On January 31st, 6:00 p.m, there will be a terror over Anyang City. Dump Guild will create this terror. What is Dump Guild? This is the guild of terrible awakeners. It is a gathering of the worst killers. They are just hiding in the shadows now... I am writing it here, risking my life. If you live in Anyang, I recommend not being in town on that day. I hope you don't risk your life. That would be very stupid.

"…"

It was clear how this article became popular. It was because of the Dump Guild.

"What do you think?" Jung Dong-Yeong asked Hak-Joon.

He was looking at Hak-Joon's smartphone next to him. The question was so obvious.

Hak-Joon replied, turning off the smartphone screen. "I think it is fifty-fifty."

"You mean the possibility?" Jung Dong-Yeong asked again.

"Yes."

"Well. I guess this person is not just a grandstander since he knew about Dump Guild."

Dump Guild was a group that was recently mentioned among the high awakeners. They were a large guild who secretly committed crimes. Originally, the gang hid in the shadows, but as it grew, it was gradually exposed to the world. But, there were only a few awakeners who knew of its existence.

"But... Why would Dump Guild will do such things? Isn't there a reason?"

"Yes. I think that evidence is pretty lacking," Hak-Joon answered.

He turned his phone screen back and started to read the comments of the post. Not surprisingly, many people seemed to think the same.

-Dump Guild? What is that? I have never seen or heard of it before.

-Dump? I know them. It is not a fiction of an attention wh*re.

-Right. This is true. I think we should watch out.

-Will this writer be okay to write something like this? If it is true, watch out for black cars and walking in the night.

-But why would Dump Guild do such thing? If they're a secret society like this post says, why would they create terror?

└Yea. That is true.

"What people think is all similar. Right?"

"I guess so."

"At this point, I think some people will try to figure out who the writer is," Jung Dong-Yeong said.

At Jung Dong-Yeong's words, Hak-Joon turned his head and looked at him. He grinned dreary as if he was up to something.

"Are you…" Hak-Joon was about to say something.

"I just wonder who found these things and wrote the post," Jung Dong-Yeong said.

Hak-Joon was with him for quite a long time. He could tell Jung Dong-Yeong was not smiling because he felt good.

"Why…?" Hak-Joon thought, "Why does he feel so bad about this writing?"

He couldn't tell why. It was a just post he shouldn't think twice about. Jung Dong-Yeong would not be interested in other people's lives. He probably didn't have a connection with...

"Wait… Is he?" He had a light bulb moment. "Dump Guild, Ares Guild, and Jung Dong-Yeong…" The worst thought crossed his mind. He shook his head. "No, it couldn't be."

***

Jung Dong-Yeong sent Hak-Joon to the next dungeon attack site. He also adjusted his physical condition for his trial. Jung Dong-Yeong, who came back to his office, sprawled on the sofa. He did not feel good. It was even worse recently.

"I don't like it."

Jung Dong-Yeong brought Hak-Joon to raise him like a loyal dog. He saw his weaknesses and treated him well enough to forget that he was caught. He treated Hak-Joon better than other henchmen who had been together for a long time. But…

"What the hell is this fellow doing?"

Jung Dong-Yeong turned on his smartphone. On the screen was the post he saw before. It was the same post that Hak-Joon read. He was surprised to see this article for the first time. He could not believe there was someone so openly speaking about Dump Guild.

He investigated and found who the writer was; it wasn't difficult. He just needed to track the IP address and figured out the owner of the ID. Although it was illegal, it didn't matter. Now that he knew who the author was, there was no turning back, illegal or not.

"Kim Su-hyeun," he mumbled.

Jung Dong-Yeong received a report from the guild members and came to think of Hak-Joon.

"I am sure... I saw them contacting each other often... Is this a coincidence?" he thought.

The noise was increasing in his brain. Jung Dong-Yeong thought about asking to Hak-Joon directly, but he could not do that now. He decided to watch what would be going on first.

"Kim Su-hyeun," he said again.

It was urgent that he found out what his purpose was.