The Hero Returns

The awakener of Chinese Dump Guild, Chao Feng, had come to Korea to see Jung Dong-yeong.

<<Kim Su-hyeun…>>

It was sudden news; Jung Dong-yeong was killed by Kim Su-hyeun.

<<He is encumbering.>>

Not too long ago, Su-hyeun forced Dump Guild into the glare of publicity. It had been spreading little by little, but the name Dump Guild had never been mentioned as often as it was these days because everyone hushed up and was cautious. In some countries other than Korea, Dump Guild was already firmly established.

<<A new S-Rank awakener…>> Chao Feng thought.

The opponent was not an easy one. Su-hyeun had not been properly reexamined yet, but he was under the spotlight as a new S-Rank candidate. Furthermore, considering the time when he first became an awakener, the potential for future growth would be endless. If he was already considered S-Rank, what would happen if he grew more?

<<Soon, he will be the top rank awakener.>>

Chao-Feng watched Su-hyeun through a telescope. He was in the middle of the crowd. If he got closer to him, he would notice the tail. If he used his skill to chase, he would sense the magic. However, there were numerous ways to monitor other people. Just like now.

<<I should talk about him to the boss soon…>>

While he was watching Su-hyeun, Chao Feng missed him among the crowd.

"Where did he go?"

Swish—

He turned his telescope and looked around the place where Su-hyeun was. But somehow, he could not find him at all. He disappeared in a short moment when he was blocked by another person.

"Did I make a mistake? Where the hell…" Chao Feng mumbled.

"Right? Where did he go?"

Swish—

In a surprise, Chao Feng turned his head in the direction where the voice came from. And what he saw was the face of Su-hyeun, who had stood afar just a moment ago.

Thump—!

***

Chao Feng felt dizzy as if he had been in a long sleep. But when he came to his senses, he realized he wasn't asleep.

"What the..."

"Did you wake up?"

It was fluent Chinese. Chao Feng opened his eyes widely. He tried to get up quickly, but his body was tied up. He could not move as he wanted.

"Ugh—"

"Don't struggle. It's a specially ordered item from a craftsman to bind the awakeners, so it won't be easy to break."

Su-hyeun was sitting in front of Chao Feng and looking down at his face. Su-hyeun was sitting calmly. Chao Feng looked up him. His eyes were shaking.

"How…?" Chao Feng asked.

"You are about B-Rank, aren't you? You looked at me from afar, but it was not strange for me to notice you. Well. This isn't the first time I've received tailing."

Not just the contents of what he said but also his fluent Chinese was something surprising. Chao Feng still did not understand the situation now.

"You are in Dump Guild, right?"

Silence.

"I guess I am right since you didn't answer the question."

Chao Feng bit his lips. Su-hyeun spoke in an almost certain voice.

<<What the hell is this guy?>> Chao Feng thought.

He had investigated him already. According to his investigation, he was an ordinary person who didn't study much. He didn't finish high school. Chao Feng could not understand how Su-hyeun spoke Chinese so fluently. He also could not understand how he knew so much about Dump Guild. Moreover, noticing the tailings and approaching in a moment was remarkable.

<<Also, how did he get the rope like this? How did he know about this and prepare?>>

"You... What the hell are you?" Chao Feng asked.

"I don't need any questions from someone who was tailing me. No, you just don't talk from now on."

"What?"

Su-hyeun sat up from his seat.

Crack—

Su-hyeun crushed Chao Feng's shoulder. His shoulder was shattered but Chao Feng bit his lips and put up with the pain. He even did not scream. Su-hyeun clicked his tongue at that.

"Wow. You are really dogged."

There were all sorts of guys in Dump Guild. He was sure that there were pretty used to the pain like this.

"Continuing what I said, you should not open your mouth before me. You have to only open your mouth when I ask you something. If you don't answer me, your bones will be broken one by one."

"Just kill me," Chao Feng said.

"I—"

Su-hyeun crushed Chao Feng's shoulder again.

"—will decide that."

Chao Feng moaned.

"Then, question number one." Su-hyeun bent at the waist toward Chao Feng and asked, "Which Korean guides are related to Dump Guild?"

Nothing.

"So, you won't tell me? Fine."

Crash, crash—

"U…g…h…"

"Let's see who wins," Su-hyeun said.

Su-hyeun broke Chao Feng's arm without hesitation. He broke it slowly to give him enough time to feel the pain. Chao Feng's eyes opened wide with pain. He tried to put up with it, so he bit his lips. His screams turned to moans.

<<Damn…it…>> Chao Feng thought.

Something went wrong, really wrong. It was not just a matter he had found where he was and tried to get the information. The real problem was in his question.

<<This guy…. Is he trying to fight against Dump Guild?>>

It was a full-scale war against Dump Guild. There was nothing else.

***

The interrogation lasted for quite some time. Su-hyeun cut off the sound using magic and continued the interrogation without worrying about the screams. Every time Chao Feng didn't speak, Su-hyeun broke his bones. He had some sort of background with interrogation because, a long while ago, he had encountered with Dump Guild many times.

<<He doesn't know as much information as I expected.>>

By the time the interrogation was over, Chao Feng breathed his last breath. Su-hyeun did not get much information.

"Dump Guild is trying to come into Korea, but I don't know what guilds they have contacted so far. And they used the Chinese guild to do that."

This was all he figured out. The useful information was only the fact that one Chinese guild was related to Dump Guild.

<<I guess I will leave this to the Authority.>>

It would come out when they were investigating more. And for this kind of work, the Authority would do better than him.

<<All the baits were thrown.>>

Dump Guild. The worst criminal group on record. It was made in the USA for the first time. It was the awakeners' guild that hid under the shade. It was gradually expanding its power and slowly entering Korea. They did not expand in Korea yet, so they did not pay much attention to Su-hyeun, but the recent incident and his work today would drag the attention of them to him. Su-hyeun revealed the name of the Dump Guild to the world. He also prevented their channel, Ares Guild, from expanding in Korea.

<<And I am welcoming that.>>

Since the first time he had seen the name of the Dump Guild and evacuated the citizens, he had been expecting situations like this; drawing the attention of the Dump Guild was the first and having a head-on collision was the second.

Su-hyeun would have to go to the dark to find Dump Guild. Dump Guild would come up to the bright side to find Su-hyeun. Then soon, they would meet each other. Su-hyeun was contacted and went straight home. At the entrance to his apartment, Lee Ju-ho was waiting him.

"Why are you so late?" he asked.

After protecting Yun-seon, he had come here to meet Su-hyeun. He left, as promised, but Su-hyeun came way later than they expected.

"Something happened in the middle," Su-hyeun said.

"What happened?" Lee Ju-ho asked.

"I met a guild member of Dump Guild."

"Dump...? Are you sure?"

Su-hyeun told him what had happened so far, about how he met the Chinese awakener of Dump Guild and that man had watched him. When Su-hyeun finished talking, Lee Ju-ho's face became dark.

"So, I guess Dump Guild is finally paying attention to you?"

"Probably not. When I interrogated him, he said he had found me in the middle while he was with the Ares Guild."

"With Ares Guild? Interrogating? How did you...?"

"That is not a big deal. But I got some information from him. Could you investigate it, please?"

Su-hyeun told Lee Ju-ho about what he had found. At the request from Su-hyeun, Lee Ju-ho nodded and sighed.

"I think I should change my career. I think I should be hired as your manager rather than working as an awakener."

"I can pay you well. If you would like that, just tell me."

"No, thanks. I am sure you can't afford it. I am pretty expensive," Lee Ju-ho answered.

Suhyeun smiled a little. Then, he found a text message from his phone and asked Lee Ju-ho again. "Was their meeting okay?"

In the text, there was a message: "Thank you." It was from Hak-joon.

"You mean Mr. Hak-joon?"

"Yes."

"I am sure they did. I waited until he came home. He was so sensitive! I almost lost my neck today."

Lee Ju-ho took his hand to his neck thinking about what had happened previously. Hak-joon's ability was several times higher than Lee Ju-ho's. If Hak-joon had decided to do it, it would not have been difficult to break his neck at that time.

"Please understand him. He had enough reason to act that way," Su-hyeun said.

"I do understand. But still, he should buy me a meal later. A very expensive one."

"He doesn't have much money. He was exploited so far..."

"That is that and this is this. You two have a bright future. He should pay later at least," Lee Ju-ho said and laughed loud.

Hak-Joon was obviously one of the most promising awakeners in terms of age and ability. Especially since Jung Dong-yeong had disappeared, he would grow much faster. Anyway, one problem was solved. Now, there was only one thing they had to finish urgently.

"By the way, you know about tomorrow, right?" Lee Ju-ho asked.

"Yes, I know."

"I asked to handle this as quietly as possible, but some guilds already had a scent. It's inevitable that the news will spread after the examination, though."

He was talking about the ranking reexamination. It was held once in a certain period. It was a screening where they checked awakeners' rank again. As he was convinced that he could get S-Rank, so there was no reason to keep delaying the screening.

"Yes. There is no reason to hide anymore."

S-Rank. It was a rank that meant the highest level of awakener that could be examined by the test. If Su-hyeun could get an S-Rank awakener mark, it would be much easier to do things. Lee Ju-ho, who was expecting the appearance of the new S-Rank awakener, shook hands with Su-hyeun.

"Then I will see you tomorrow at the Awakeners Accreditation Authority."