Chapter 124: Lich Jaenis (2) .
The two sat across the table, and they sat there for a long time without speaking.
Coffee had been brought in by a secretary, and enough time had passed that the steam stopped rising from the cooled beverage. The Holy Maiden was the first to speak.
"Did you know about Kahng-sooah-nim's condition?"
"I had my suspicions."
"......."
There was a silence for awhile as Melody searched for words she wanted to say.
Still, wasn't she a member of his family....
"What do you plan on doing?"
"What can I do?"
"......."
She was his dongsaeng.
If it was possible, he would have already made her better. However, this wasn't a matter of healing her or not. The only thing Woojin could do for Sooah was to pray for her.
"I'm not sure who will come... It is difficult even for me to even guess."
"I'm all right."
"......."
"Sooah is the one, who is suffering."
"......."
Woojin just felt bitter. He couldn't definitely say his heart was hurting or not. He just felt a sense of regret....
His mother was probably having a hard time.
Sooah was also having a hard time.
"I'm sorry for not being of any help."
"You don't have to be sorry."
Melody knew better than anyone else what kind of pain Sooah was going through. Melody also knew what choice lay in front of Sooah. She had gone also gone through it when she was young.
Sooah was a God's Seed.
He didn't know whose Seed it was, but when Sooah hears the god's voice, she would awaken into being a Holy Maiden.
Woojin had mixed feelings, but there wasn't any unrest in his heart. This surprised him. Was he drifting farther away from humanity...
"What did you want to talk about...."
Woojin's expression was so serious that the Holy Maiden asked her next question with care.
"Ah. I want you to call those in the US to put some pressure on the Korean government."
"What?"
"I raised Alandal, and these people are refusing to acknowledge it. How do you think that makes me feel?"
Melody had the eyes of a bunny. She got on her knees.
"Oh Immortal. Please have patience. As life as my witness...."
"Didn't I tell you to stop bowing so easily?"
"I'm sorry."
Woojin frowned. He was already having confusion about his own sense of identity, and it didn't help that the Holy Maiden was treating him like a god...
"I'm not saying our two country can't bother each other. I just need more freedom. However, Korea keeps trying to tie me up to a post."
She understood what Woojin was trying to say.
"So they are being like the Empire of Uruha."
"Mmm. It's a similar situation."
The Empire of Uruha tried to give the title of Duke to the Undying King Immortal. They even blathered on about marrying the princess to him. However, the hapless empire was destroyed eventually.
"I'll make it so that they'll never bother you again."
The Holy Maiden bit her firmed lips.
"All right. I'll see you in 3 days."
He had a Protection period of 12 days. He had to return to his Dimensional Domain in 3 days in earth's time. Alandal guild was already busy, and the Holy Maiden would also be busy now. Woojin's thought was racing with the thought of clearing as many Dungeon as possible.
"Three days...."
Melody quietly repeated those words.
She had three days to make Alandal a nation recognized by the world. If she couldn't, she had no idea what the Immortal would do.
Both Melody and Woojin felt a countdown of 3 days starting, and the weight of the 3 days differed for each of them.
***
Woojin was reunited with a welcoming person at the airport.
"Little brother Kahng!"
"Baek hyung!"
Baek-jongdoh had a big smile on his face when he saw Kahng-woojin also raise his hand in greeting. It felt as if an international celebrity had just acknowledged him.
"Ooh-haha. I get to see you again like this. This is great."
"I'll be in your debt for a little bit."
"Huh? This won't incur any debt. Of course, I'll help you!"
When Bake-jongdoh heard that Alandal requested the use of his private plane, he immediately came over here. His eyes twinkled as he looked at Hong-sunggoo, who was standing next to Woojin.
"So this person is Mr. Flame Sunggoo?"
"...what is up with that cheesy name?"
"It is quite popular on the SNS. Ooh-haha. Let's take a picture before we head out."
Baek-jongdoh put his arms around Hong-sunggoo, and he took a selfie.
In the background, the picture of Kahng-woojin with an expression of dismay was captured.
"Hoo hoo. This is a jackpot. I think I'll have no problem getting a million views."
"Heh heh. I'll help as best as I can, president Baek."
"Ooh-huh-huh. With the help of Mr. Flame Sunggoo, I think 10 million views might be possible?"
"Ooh-heh-heh. I am a bit famous around the world."
They immediately got along well, and it seemed they had found a kindred spirit. Woojin shook his head as he looked at the two of them, then he got on the plane.
Baek-johngdo and his personal secretary, director Jung-chansung, got on the plane. On Alandals side, Kahng-woojin, Hong-sunggoo and the chief secretary Woo-soonghoon got on.
"Where are we heading first?"
"We have to go to Japan."
Soonghoon placed a tablet PC in front of Woojin. There was a world map on the screen, and there were red dots all over it.
"How many in total?"
"There is 32. We've received 12 requests to clear them."
Woojin frowned.
"Why is there so few?"
"There is still some time left, so they want to take care of it with their own forces."
The 12 requests were sent from places where the Dungeon Breaks were imminent. The schedule was made depending on which Dungeon was closest to Breaking.
"So the blue dots mean they haven't sent out a request yet?"
Woojin expanded the map of Japan. There were two red dots and four blue dots.
Since there were so many subway stations there, there were 6 uncleared reset Dungeons. Amongst them, two were about to break.
One was in Osaka, and the other was in Tokyo.
"They saw the mess in Seoul, yet they want to take care of it on their own? Even if the top Roused of the world were gathered to make a special team, it might not be enough."
"......."
What could Woo-soonghoon say in regards to Woojin's bitter words? Baek-jungdoh and Hong-sunggoo had been involved in a rowdy conversation, but they quieted down as they looked at Woojin. Baek-jungdoh lowered his voice.
"Hmm hmm. What's wrong, lil bro Kahng?"
"No. I just find this situation to be funny."
"What is?"
"They are basically grabbing onto a reversed sword, yet they still want to be greedy. I find that to be funny."
"Hmm. There had been couple Dungeon Breaks, but they eventually defended against the Breaks. They've made a lot of investment to minimize the damage."
"Well, it isn't as if I hadn't expected it, but I still find it silly."
He already knew what would happen.
Eventually Woojin wouldn't be able to handle everything by himself, and a Dimensional lord with a successful link would appear.
Ignorance was bliss. This phrase didn't exist for nothing.
When he earned the Dimensional Domain, he started to learn a little bit about Trahnet's dirty little organization. As he learned more, the frustration inside him mounted.
He couldn't stop what was coming. Earth was falling into the pit of hell, yet the countries of earth was still squabbling.
Woojin was probably the only one here, who had seen the pit of hell.
This was why he wanted to alert everyone's attention to the coming end. This was why he asked the Hammer guild to prepared a Roused General Assembly, so why wasn't he hearing any feedback from them?
"Baek hyung. When did they say they are holding the Roused Assembly?"
"Huh? Don't we still have 10 days left? Also, why did you leave that to the Hammer guild?"
"Well, they said they'll take care of it."
"Eh-eeng. You should have put me in charge of it. Hammer guild is one of the 3 great guilds, but how could they hold a candle to our KH guild. Ah. Of course, I'm saying this since lil bro's Alandal isn't one of Korea's guild now. Hahaha!"
Woojin also laughed at Baek-jongdoh's words. Now that he thought about it he hadn't killed any financial magnates related to the KH guild.
At the very least, his guild wasn't related to the Dungeon business nor the backing of the terrorist organizations.
"Do you want to go into the Dungeon with me?"
Baek-jongdoh's eyes uncharacteristically got round.
"You really will let me to tag along?"
Kahng-woojin was famous for not teaming up with other Roused. Hong-sunggoo and Che-Haesol were the only teammates he took into the Dungeons when clearing them.
This was why Hong-sunggoo was known as being Kahng-woojin's man, and there was a terrifying amount of interest in him. The picture he put up on the SNS already had 20 thousand views.
"Well, I'm going on 3 day world tour, so let's travel together."
"Ooh-hahaha. I'm looking forward to this."
Woojin grinned when he heard the man's easy laugh.
He was a decent man.
He wouldn't have put his interests aside to bring his private plane if he wasn't a decent man.
"Hoo hoo hoo. I'll have to let all my friends in the world know about this. Let's take a selfie, little bro."
"......."
Baek-jungdoh stretched out his arm with a camera. Woojin sighed when he saw this.
"Why are we doing this?"
"What do you mean why? This is the information age. It's great to announcing everything."
"Huh. This isn't that important, so why do we have to live update everything? Are you going to tell everyone when you shit too?"
"Huh? How did you know?"
"......."
Woojin was dismayed, but Baek-jungdoh had a serious expression on his face. It seemed he really was someone, who would do that.
"Jeez."
Woojin smirked as he playfully made a V sign with his fingers towards the camera.
Even though earth had several dozen times the amount of Dungeons than any other planets, they were able to deal with the situation organically. The main reason was the high speed communication capability.
There weren't that many planets where a Dungeon break happening on the other side of the world could be identified within 10 minutes.
KH guild's private plane was getting ready to land in the Kansai Airport.
***
Kansai Airport's Waiting Area.
Sensei guild's Rank A Roused Taguchi frowned as he looked at the crowded airport. He was here to greet an important person, but there were too many people here. He worried there would be an accident.
"Why are there so many people gathered here?"
"The news that Mr. Kahng-woojin is visiting Osaka was posted on the SNS."
"Mmmm?"
Taguchi took the handphone from the employee from the support division.
There was a selfie of Kahng-woojin and the the president of the KH guild, Baek-jungdoh. Kahng-woojin had playful smile on his face. Moreover, there were words written below.
- I'm on a Dungeon Closing Tour with my close dongsaeng Kahng-woojin. The first destination is Osaka....
- Uh-muh. Mr. Kahng-woojin is coming to the Kansai airport!
He didn't have to translate the Korean words with childish emoticons interspersed within the text. The owner of the account, who had spread the photo of president Baek-jungdoh, had helpfully translated the words into Japanese.
"Whose account is it?"
"It's the account of Sakura Ai."
It took only several minutes for a famous idol in Japan to spread news on the SNS. In a short amount of time, several hundred people had gathered here.
There were a good portion of the crowd that were holding up large cameras.
"This is a pain in the ass.."
This was a request to close the very first Dungeon found by the Sensei Guild. They had come to greet him like a VIP, yet the information had already been leaked....
Taguchi started thinking of ways he could extract Kahng-woojin from the Kansai Airport.
"He's coming out. Uh uh?"
"......."
Taguchi was at a loss for words when he looked at the place his employee was pointing at. It wouldn't have mattered even if they wanted to escort him away like a VIP.
Kee-kee-keek.
There were 30 Skeleton Warriors.
Their bony collar bones were exposed, and they appeared with their Bone Swords raised. Everyone backed away from them.
Kahng-woojin was parting the crowd with his monsters escorting him, and he spoke to Woo-soonghoon.
"I thought they were suppose to be here to greet us?"
"Yes. They said they'll be here, but my Japanese is..."
"Uh-eego. I thought you wanted to be the minister of foreign affair."
"......."
Soonghoon had nothing to say. He pouted as his shoulder slumped.
"Come here."
"Yes?"
"Drink this."
"Yes, please give it to me."
"I'll feed it to you."
"......."
Why was the president being this way?
Soonghoon had several dozen thoughts pass through his head as he struggled to come to a decision.
Woojin grabbed his chin, and he forced Soonghoon's mouth open.
"P...president? Ggo-roo-roohk."
Woojin poured the Language Drug into Soonghoon's mouth, then he put the empty bottle away into his Inventory.
"Kol-lohk, kuhk!"
"Now go look for them."
Soonghoon coughed for a long time, then his eyes turned round as he surveyed his surrounding.
"T...this is!"
It was a miracle. A miracle had happened.
The words in front of his eyes were in Japanese, but he could understand it now.
"Ooh-oohk. Why did a Skeleton troop suddenly show up?"
"Does this mean Mr. Kahng-woojin doesn't want to talk at all?"
"Is he trying to look down on Japan?"
The conversation from his surrounding was heard through his ears.
He could understand everything.
"Holy shit."
While Soonghoon was in awe, Jung-chansung pointed towards a direction. As befitting a director of a major company, he was able to speak Japanese.
"Those people are from the Sensei guild."
He pointed to a group holding up a sign. Soonghoon was still mumbling to himself.
"Eh-whew. How about director Jung come to work for Alandal?"
"Haha. I'm thankful for your kind words, but I have to follow president Baek."
Woojin said those words for fun, so he just grinned. Then he walked towards the people from the Sensei guild.