Chapter 55 – Topic (3)
(TLN: This is a sponsored chapter. Thank you ThatGuyWhosEpic and John for the donation. Queue is cleared. I tried hard to get this out. I edited it, but there might be mistakes since I’m tired. If you see any awkward phrases/mistakes please point it out. I’ll get to it tomorrow. Please turn off the adblockers if you are able to. Thank you and enjoy~)
“Ah, I’m tired.”
He had driven back from Daegoo. He also had to drive Do-jiwon to Sahdahng, and it had tired him out.
Moreover, he had been really nervous about the passenger next to him.
She was none other than Kahng-woojin’s woman.
Even Woo-soonghoon, who had a lot of experience dealing with pretty women, had never seen such a beautiful woman. He was in a constant state of nervousness as he shared the same space within the car.
Woo-soonghoon massaged his sore shoulders. He took a shower then he opened a can of beer as he sat on his sofa.
“Ha-ah. Is there anything fun on tv?”
As he was flipping through the tv channel, he stopped when he saw the press conference held by Alandal and the Hwarang guild. Since it was his guild, it caught his eyes.
“Ha. They are trying to bite him like dogs.”
Soonghoon saw the reporters ask a torrent of questions, and Woojin looked at the reporters indifferently. It made him feel a weird sense of incongruity.
“His temper is really dirty…”
Even kings were cussed at when they weren’t present. Soonghoon knew better than anyone that Woojin had a really bad temper.
He had set up the events to be considerate of Woojin. Woojin hadn’t even thanked him. Instead, Soonghoon was given punishments…
“At this rate, isn’t he going to flip out?”
He was worried, but Soonghoon doubted Woojin would act that way in front of the camera. He had a bad temper, but he couldn’t be that ignorant.
Soonghoon was drinking a single gulp of his beer, when Woojin stood up from his seat inside the screen. He became nervous in spite of himself.
“He…he’s going to make an accident. He’s like a crazy wild horse.”
When he saw Woojin’s expression, he knew Woojin was in a really bad mood. Soonghoon was an experienced salesman with 8 years of experience, so he was quick to pick up such tells. With just one glance, he could understand what the other person was thinking.
Sure enough, Woojin kicked the president of the Hwarang, who had been tormented by grief.
“Waaah. Fucking awesome.”
Before he knew it, Woo-soonghoon yelled.
He knew his president was a crazy bastard, but he didn’t realize the president would show his crazy side to the public.
“Wahh. Fuck. It’s like the time when I was almost beaten.”
His chest turned cold even when he thought about the it right now. He had sold a mere Galaxy to such a person. His cheeks still throbbed when he thought about that incident. Sweat ran down his back as he saw Woojin kick Lee-sahngho, who was trying to get up, again, . It automatically made Soonghoon feel some empathy towards Lee-sahngho.
“Wahh. Wah-ah… Wahh..”
He was too surprised and shocked. He couldn’t think of anything to say.
Wahhh.
A human can act like that. A person can live without not giving a fuck about what other people think.
He was someone who lived by his temper.
[Hweeek, Zzwahhk!]
The camera audio picked up the sound. Soonghoon’s body flinched when he heard the graphic slapping sound. He couldn’t look away from the TV. Will Woojin make a bigger accident?
“M…maybe this is already a big accident?”
Korea’s 3 great guild.
He was the guild master of Hwarang.
The Hwarang guild’s president was being held by the back of his neck, and he was being slapped. He was well aware of Woojin’s personality, so it probably won’t stop at one blow…
[The wild gazelle meets a female as he attempts to mate. The female gazelle….]
The tv screen changed into two gazelles trying to mate, and a calm older voice accompanied it. Soonghoon blinked his eyes.
“What..what the hell?”
The urgent news had interrupted a drama, and now the programming changed into an animal documentary.
As expected, president….
“I bet everyone is in an uproar right now.”
Wouldn’t this be a hot issue maker?(TLN:trending story) Soonghoon took out his hand phone. When he opened the webpage, it was as expected. The real time search ranking was dominated by Kahng-woojin.
Kahng-woojin Assault Press Conference Slap of AngerNew. Holy Maiden
Kahng-woojin’s WomanNew. Holy Maiden’s Miracle
On-air Accident Hair Loss Medication“Uh? What is this?”
Woo-soonghoon clicked on the Holy Maiden link. The search result expanded, then he clicked on the first video.
BBS station’s anchor was speaking, but he was speaking English. Soonghoon couldn’t understand what was being said. Soon the video resolved into a very beautiful blonde woman stepping forward.
“Huh. It’s an elf. An elf.”
He had thought Do-jiwon was pretty, but this was… It was a beauty that made one doubt if it was real or not. It felt like he was seeing a CG. He felt a sense of dissonance.
The more surprising thing was the people in front of her.
The elf woman made some kind of prayer towards the person in the wheelchair. Light swirled around the patient in the wheel chair, then the patient suddenly stood up.
“W…what the hell?”
That wasn’t the only surprising thing. A man missing an arm stood in front of the elf woman. She prayed once more. The light swirled around the man, and his arm was regenerated.
“T…this is crazy. Isn’t this fake?”
There were a lot of opportunist Roused out there. They tried to sell medicine that was considered to be miraculous. Even the Regeneration Salve could regenerate a missing part of a body.
However, there weren’t any medicine or ability that could fix a congenital deformity.
Even if the medicine existed, it was incredibly expensive. They were items one couldn’t attain even if one had a lot of money.
This woman had the ability execute a miracle.
“Jeez.”
The search ranking that was plastered with Kahng-wooin was replaced by the search words like Holy Maiden, Melody BBS, Miraculous Regeneration and Titan guild.
The Miracle Maker. Holy Maiden Melody.
Her appearance in the US shook the whole world.
Treatment beyond medical science.
The treatment of incurable diseases caused massive waves across the world.
Mrs. Hamilton had a congenital deformity that had prevented her from using her legs. The healing of this famous patient was only the beginning.
She had healed a man who had lost an arm 20 years ago during a war. She allowed a patient who had never walked before to stand on his two feet.
The miracles were surprising, and a big crowd gathered at the Titan guild to wish for a miracle. There were numerous people from various nationality and class gathered there. However, they all weren’t able to experience the miracle.
It was only for those who believed.
It was for those who wanted to become the servants of Aria.
While the Holy Maiden Melody from the church of Aria displayed her miracles, she revealed the existence of the goddess Aria to Earth.
As the number of believers increased, voluntary offerings started to be given.
“It’s pointless to stop her now.”
The Titan guild master Deacon searched for Melody, so he could meet her. An entire floor of the Titan guild’s head quarter was assigned to Melody and her followers.
“President. Are you really going to agree to her request?”
“Look over there..”
Ath his secretary’s words, Deacon pointed towards all the people worshipping the goddess Aria. Many people had converted to the church of Aria. The first step to receiving the Holy Maiden’s miracle was to convert.
She was only able to exhibit her powers to those who believed in her goddess.
“She already has followers… It doesn’t matter if we like it or not. Our guild has to agree to the request if we want to continue our relationship.”
The secretary agreed with Deacon’s resigned words, so he shut his mouth.
“We need her precognition ability.”
He was right. Her foresight allowed the Titan to possess five 5 star Dungeons, and two 6 star Dungeons in just one week.
Moreover, she had requested only one thing.
Aria’s Holy Knight Order.
“Isn’t there already a lot of volunteers?”
“That is why I am worried, master.”
He understood why the secretary was worried. Within the Titan guild, there was a significant number of Roused who had joined in worshiping the goddess Aria. There were those who had been surprised by her miracle, and many of their family had received benefits from her.
“We have no choice. Since we can’t stop it, we have to make the best use of her.”
Deacon spoke in a sour manner. He felt bitter inside since it felt like his leadership role had been passed on to her. He had no choice, but to minimize the damage. He had to look for a way to gain something out of this.
Anyways, she was the greatest Roused in existence right now.
She had the ability of an SS Rank.
“Lee-hyunhwee tried to kill me. Don’t ask me why I killed her. Ask this bastard who is trying to assassinate me from behind the scenes.”
Kahng-woojin voice thundered towards the reporters, then he left the press conference. The reporters were busy with activity, and Lee-sahngho was lying idle on the floor.
No one asked any questions, and no one spoke.
Silence.
Woojin left after he threw a grenade. After receiving the grenade, Lee-sahngho, who was lying still on the floor, suddenly got up. His face was swollen, and he looked ridiculous.
‘Fuck.’
His brutish behavior didn’t have a limit. He would have never guess Woojin was this stubborn.
“President. What do you think happened?”
“What do you think! He probably made that shit up!”
Lee-sahngho gave an angry reply as he left the press conference room. Shit. There was a limit to how embarrassed he could be. Lee-sahngho asked a question towards the Hwarang guild members following him.
“Kooh-ook. Twehh.”
He dirtied the clean hotel hall by spitting a loogey mixed with blood. The inside of his mouth was numb, and he couldn’t feel anything. His vision was fuzzy. It seemed a blood vessel had burst in his eye.
“Fuck. How many times did he hit me?”
It was ridiculous. Lee-sahngho had fainted mid-way. He was a Rank B Physical type Roused yet he had fainted from being slapped.
“He hit you s…seven times..”
“Son of a bitch.”
Lee-sahngho let out a string of cuss words. Brute asshole. Crazy bitch. Even if he attributed all the cuss words to Woojin, it wasn’t enough.
“Ready my car. Gather all the lawyers at the headquarters.”
“Yes, president.”
Lee-sahngho used the back door of the hotel to slip out quietly.
“You were too harsh.”
“It is a massive incident now. The public sentiments will be up in arms against you.”
At Jung-michan’s words, Woojin stopped walking. Woojin looked straight at Jung-minchan.
“Hey, Minchan.”
“Yes, president.”
He didn’t think of Woojin as someone younger than him. Kahng-woojin looked larger than life to Jung-minchan.
“Those bastards were trying corner me. They were trying to paint me as a murderer.”
“But it isn’t the truth, right?”
“It’s the truth.”
Jung-minchan was so surprised that he could only blink his eyes. Haemin and Sungoo had been trailing behind. Even their faces froze.
“She tried to kill me, so I killed her. I was stronger. Is that going to be a problem?”
Of course, it’ll be a problem. How could it not be? Still, Minchan didn’t know how he should answer that question. If someone tried to kill him, wouldn’t it be more strange to let the person kill him?
“Do you know what the schemers ,who plot in the background, fear the most?”
“It is making a big mess out in the open. In public.”
“It’ll cause a big problem for that person. He won’t be able to easily conspire from behind the scene.”
Jung-minchan was about to give a retort to Kahng-woojin’s words, but he stopped himself from speaking.
What would be the result of this?
The narrative would change from ‘Why couldn’t Kahng-woojin prevent Lee-yunhwee’s death?’ to ‘Was Hwarang really behind the assassination attempt of Kahng-woojin?’
There weren’t any evidence. It was something that had happened within the Dungeon.
He thought Woojin had acted without thinking through the ramification, but it seemed Woojin had made some plans of his own. Jung-minchan’s face was filled with admiration as he looked at Woojin.
“Indeed, you are the president. So how are you planning to pick up the pieces?”
“Why would I do that?”
Kahng-woojin shrugged his shoulder.
“That’s your job.”
He acted without a plan! This asshole of a president.
“If you think your salary is insufficient, then increase it..”
It seemed Woojin still had a conscience.
“Kmmmm. I’m going to go to the Dungeon, so you pick up the pieces. Let’s see Director Jung’s skills. Let’s go Sunggoo.”
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
Woojin was basically doing a hit and run after a major accident.
Kim-haemin put his hand on the devastated Jung-minchan’s shoulder. An indescribable sense of kinship was formed, and their wet eyes met.
Kahng-wooin and Sungoo exited the hotel, but they weren’t able to go straight to the Dungeon.
“Wahh. It’s Kahng-woojin!”
The road in front of the hotel was filled with people.
One could see such a large crowd at a fan signing event for a famous celebrity.
The reporters who weren’t invited to the press conference was busily pressing the shutters to their cameras.
“What the hell.”
Why is there so many people gathered here in the middle of the night? When Kahng-woojin took a step, the people made way for him. He was such an amazing Roused that the people watched from the surrounding as they didn’t dare to approach him.
Their eyes were filled with a mixture of thankfulness, happiness, and novelty.
“Thank you. I am very thankful that you protected our house. From this day on, I’ll always cheer for you no matter what.”
“Oppa. You are so cool. Thank you.”
“I lived in this neighborhood for 70 years. Thank you very much. Thank you.”
“Hook hook. Thank you. Thank you very much.”
There were old people, newly married couples, students in uniform, and even stern faced older men.
6 star Dungeon Break.
The residents had given up on their neighborhood, and they had to evacuate. Now they were all here to express their thanks to Kahng-woojin. They hadn’t gathered here to see a celebrity.
They came to see their benefactor, who had protected their home.
Kahng-woojin grinned.
He had been able to level up by monopolizing the EXP to himself. Moreover, he had protected these people’s home.
Every step Kahng-woojin took the crowd parted to make way for him. Hong-sunggoo, who was following Woojin, was choked up with emotion. His chest automatically puffed out in pride.
“Ahjushi. Thank you very much.”
A small child ran out from middle of the crowd, and she pushed out a bouquet of flower towards Woojin. Kahng-woojin stopped for a moment, and his eyes met the child’s eyes. The child’s eyes were laughing.
It was a crystal clear smile.
‘Well, this is….’
Kahng-woojin received the bouquet of flower. He lifted the child with his other arm as he raised the bouquet of flower into the air.
‘Not too bad.’
The people cheered at Kahng-woojin’s action.
“Wahhhhhh!”
“Hurray for Kahng-woojin!”
Jung-minchan came out when he head the loud noise made by the people, and he shook his head. Maybe picking up the pieces of this incident might be much easier than he had thought.
The Alandal leader might be a Janus… (TLN: Roman god Janus, he has two faces)
Minchan and Haemin looked on as the Alandal’s president headed towards the Dungeon while receiving cheers from the crowd.
Kahn-woojin was a hero, who had saved this city.