The Hero Returns

The S-rank.

The Awakener combat force was rumored to be quite close to the movers and shakers in the political scene, consisting of only five known individuals in all of South Korea.

Lee Ju-ho knew that Su-hyeun was an A-rank Awakener. Of course, he also knew of the latter growing even stronger in the last year or so.

But he still didn't expect the latter to become an S-rank after only two years.

The wall existing between the A- and S-ranks was simply too vast and thick to cross.

"Well... it somehow worked out that way," replied Su-hyeun, as he nodded his head at Lee Ju-ho's question.

This was the basis for an S-rank Awakener.

The Magic Level and Magic Factor had to be over seven and 70, respectively.

Su-hyeun had already satisfied those two conditions. After consuming the highest-grade potential catalyst not too long ago and digesting every bit of the liquid, he managed to advance to the next level.

"Why didn't you say something earlier? I wouldn't have been this anxious if you told me sooner," said Lee Ju-ho.

"It wasn't that long since I became one. If you were worried about this, then I can only apologize."

"Ah, well... no need to apologize or anything..."

Lee Ju-ho became sheepish and sighed when Su-hyeun apologized instead. It felt like he was in the wrong for sounding like he was accusing the latter of something.

While sinking deep into the chair once more, Lee Ju-ho tried to change the topic. "In any case, what will you do next? Everyone knows your identity by now and will report on the fact that you're currently registered as a C-rank pretty soon."

"I don't think that's going to be a problem. I can always say that I was C-rank one year ago."

"That's what I was mean. Aren't you going to get re-evaluated?"

There was the rank re-evaluation, an evaluation process that Awakeners could request once each year when they wanted to change their ranking.

It proceeded concurrently with the regular rank evaluation, and mainly the Awakeners hoping to receive a higher rank than their current ones requested for it.

Normally, people requested it to raise their rank by one level, but...

"From C-rank up to S. Well, now. I think it's going to produce a pretty epic spectacle, alright."

The appearance of an S-rank Awakener was more than enough to become a hot topic already.

If the truth became known that the very same S rank Awakener was the hero responsible for saving the City of Anyang and jumping three levels during his rank improvement evaluation, then the mass media would riot once more.

"Urgh...."

"Based on your reaction, I take it you're at least a little interested?" Asked Lee Ju-ho.

"I do need to get re-evaluated, that's for sure. Everyone knows that already, anyway. Remaining in C-rank like this won't benefit me in any shape or form, either."

"Is it because of money? Or..."

Lee Ju-ho realized that the question was unnecessary and immediately shut his mouth.

He could easily tell that it wasn't because of money, judging from how Su-hyeun had acted up until now.

Su-hyeun not even once used the money he earned in dungeons to live in luxury.

Excluding his purchase of a house to act more freely, he was someone who thought that having a meal wasted his precious time. He invested almost all of his time primarily on climbing the tower.

Lee Ju-ho was unable to just sit back and watch, so he gave Su-hyeun a sports car as a present. Even then, him turning its ignition remained a rare occurrence even now.

"What is all this for, anyway?"

So, Lee Ju-ho changed his question.

He suddenly became curious as to why Su-hyeun became an Awakener.

Normally, it'd be to chase after things like wealth, prestige, and power. Even Lee Ju-ho himself couldn't fully escape from that mold.

"Well, that's because...."

Su-hyeun avoided the question.

Regardless of whatever reply he came up with, it was likely that the other party wouldn't understand. He was the only person who knew the future, after all.

<< Could anyone even have imagined it? >>

The world was rapidly changing.

The rate of dungeon generation was rising quickly, and outbreaks were now occurring without warning.

Even then, society at large remained at a standstill. They all thought of it as a problem similar to the issues of pollution from a few years ago.

In reality, the number of casualties from the last event was quite low. There was no need to even mention the civilian deaths as there was almost zero loss of life even among the Awakeners this time.

Knock, knock!

The short bout of silence was shattered by someone knocking on the hospital room's door.

"Come in."

Creak!

The moment Su-hyeun responded, Hak-Joon entered the room carrying a fruit basket.

The former already knew that the latter had come to visit by sensing his presence, and waved his hand to greet the younger man.

"Been a while, isn't it?" said Su-Hyeun.

"Didn't we see each other two days ago?"

"Did we? The last time we got together was such a long time ago, so..."

"Both my bro and I had been way too busy lately, so it couldn't be helped. Although, I didn't know you were the real Kim Su-hyeun back then, bro."

Su-hyeun smiled awkwardly at Hak-Joon's words.

Lee Ju-ho observed the atmosphere before standing up from his spot. "Well, I'll be on my way now. Give me a call when you're about to be discharged, please."

Su-hyeun raised his upper torso from the bed to bade Lee Ju-ho goodbye, but the latter dissuaded him from getting up altogether and exited the room.

Not too long afterward, Hak-Joon settled down on the chair Lee Ju-ho had been sitting in earlier.

He even bought a small fruit knife as if he was planning to peel the fruits he brought along.

"How are you feeling?" Hak-Joon asked.

"It's already been a couple of days, you know. Feels like I'll be just fine getting discharged tomorrow."

"That's a relief."

"What's wrong? If something's on your mind, just tell me. Don't worry about it too much."

"It's nothing, just..."

Hak-Joon's hands peeling the fruit came to a halt as he closed his mouth after hearing Su-hyeun's words.

The pregnant pause persisted for a long while. Su-hyeun had been thinking that Hak-Joon would either be angry or disappointed by him, so the current reaction came across as a little strange.

Since he had nothing urgent to do anyway, Su-hyeun decided to patiently wait.

Eventually, he spoke up.

"Hyung, do you remember... what you told me earlier?"

"What did I say?"

Su-hyeun asked back, but Hak-Joon began hesitating again. After pondering for a while, he simply shook his head.

"Nah, it's nothing."

"Come on, what is it? I'm curious now. Tell me."

"It's nothing important. Besides all that, bro. Why didn't you say anything? We've known each other for over a year already, too. That hurt my feelings, you know."

"I'm sorry about that. Actually, I..."

Sure enough, the conversation with Hak-Joon went down the expected avenue. However, Su-hyeun was quite certain that this wasn't what he wanted to say to him.

<< What could it be? >>

His curiosity was rushing in.

He was thinking of uncovering more information about Hak-Joon once the current situation had settled down.

<< Already A-rank, is it... >>

It's only been two years.

That was not a short time. Out of the current batch of Awakeners, there have been only a few that managed to become A-rank within two years.

That was when considering the entire world.

Just from that alone, one could tell how talented Hak-Joon was. The more Hak-Joon's brilliance shined brightly, the greater Su-hyeun's curiosity grew.

Especially more so, when he openly carried a face that shouted out to the world, 'I have a secret'.

In the end, Hak-Joon didn't say anything particularly important and left the hospital after inquiring about Su-hyeun's wellbeing.

Su-hyeun immediately picked up his mobile phone afterward.

"Hello? Hi, can I ask you for a favor?"

Act 6

Hak-Joon exited the hospital room and slowly walked along the corridor. He came here after lengthy deliberation, but as expected, he just couldn't say anything.

<< I'm sure it won't happen. >>

He thought that he had grown quite close to Su-hyeun.

Despite this, he began feeling that the friendship between them existed only in his mind.

<< I don't have a choice but to do it alone, then. >>

It was too presumptuous to hope for Su-hyeun's help. In all honesty, the relationship between him and Su-hyeun only amounted to being acquaintances that didn't even meet each other all that often and just shared a few calls every now and then.

"Uh, we meet each other again?"

About eight months ago, he ran into Su-hyeun by sheer coincidence while heading towards the assigned dungeon to clear it.

He noticed a sparkling sports car and wondered whose it was, only to realize that Su-hyeun was behind the wheel.

"You lived around here?" Hak-Joon asked.

"Yes, I moved into the neighborhood not too long ago. I needed something so I was on my way to Yangpyeong just now."

"Aah, so you're now my new neighbor, then."

"Why don't we meet up again sometime and have a meal? Sounds good?"

Hak-Joon was in a dilemma when Su-hyeun approached and asked for the contact details in a friendly manner, but in the end, he gave away his phone number.

If this was any other time, he'd have ignored the request, but perhaps them coincidentally running into each other several times like this must've been to blame; he gave in and ended up swapping their contact details with Su-hyeun.

"Give me a call if you need anything. If it's something I can help you with, then I will," said Su-Hyuen.

It was unclear why he suddenly said that.

Indeed, that wasn't something you'd say to a person you're encountering for only the third time who you initially met through sheer coincidence.

His tone of voice also seemed to imply that he knew something about Hak-Joon, as well.

Although it concerned him somewhat, Hak-Joon decided to overlook it.

He took it as the other guy saying that out of courtesy.

For some reason, he just couldn't forget those words.

The day before, he felt like the inside of his head had been rocked hard after learning that the Su-hyeun he knew was *that* Kim Su-hyeun.

"Damn it."

<< As expected, I should just forget about it. >>

Hak-Joon spat out a long sigh.

He lowered his head and scratched it in irritation, and the next moment he raised it again, Hak-Joon's steps came to an abrupt halt.

"So, you came?"

"....Chairman."

Jung Dong-Yeong waiting for Hak-Joon at the end of the corridor, formed an ominous smile, and waved his hand.

* * *

Three days passed by since he was hospitalized.

Su-hyeun roundly ignored the doctor's recommendation of staying in the hospital for a little bit longer and discharged himself right away.

He wasn't horribly wounded anyway. All he did was to use up every bit of his magical energy until it ran completely dry, which in turn caused a sudden strain on his body.

"Yes, yes."

Su-Hyeun's eyes were withdrawn.

Lee Ju-ho's voice was coming out from the mobile phone pressed to his ear.

"...That's the current situation."

"How solid is this info?"

- I think whether it really happened or not needs to be verified first.

"I'll leave it to you, then."

"Don't worry about it. I'm also a bit pissed off, you see. In any case, I'll properly dig into it. Oh, and there's something unrelated I want to talk to you about... the director wishes to speak to you."

"Why didn't he directly call me for that....?"

"Well, he doesn't know your contact details, you see. He wanted me to give you his contact numbers. Are you willing to meet him, though?"

"Ah, I see. Well, I'll give him a call, at least."

It was rather obvious why that man wanted to speak to him.

After chatting some more, Su-hyeun ended the call with Lee Ju-ho. He wasn't sure why, but it felt as if things were going to get rather hectic from now on, even though he just got discharged from the hospital.

<< But then again, when did I ever enjoy a long rest? >>

It had been a while since the last time he saw that man's face.

In the past, Su-Hyeun used to meet the director several times in a month to growl at each other's throats in an uncivilized manner. They never saw eye to eye on their thoughts and values.

But now, that man had no relations to the current Su-Hyeun.

Tti-ring!

Lee Ju-ho's text message arrived.

It was the director's contact number.

A few somewhat random words were written just below it.

[Also, I heard that the Dump Guild has started paying you attention. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but it's still not a bad idea to stay vigilant, right?]

The Dump Guild...

He realized that he had momentarily forgotten about how he used their name and created this situation.

<< They must be pretty pissed off. >>

Those bastards enjoyed killing people so much that they even established a guild of their own. Out of all the incidents currently taking place behind the shadows, quite a few were likely to be related to them somehow.

But now, someone used their name and saved the lives of hundreds of thousands? They wouldn't be feeling good about that.

<< Although it's sooner than I thought... >>

Su-hyeun sighed loudly.

"It's going to get hectic soon."

He was destined to clash with them in the future, anyway. If he got to drag the ones hiding in the shadows out into the open, then he couldn't see that as an entirely bad result, either.

Tap.

Su-hyeun dialed the contact number as shown in Lee Ju-ho's text.

The ring tone continued for a couple of times, and the other side soon answered the call.

"Hello, director. It's Kim Su-Hyeun speaking."