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92. Further Growth Is Unnecessary (2)
“I’ll get straight to the point with this question….”
The moment Yoon Jong-sun opened his mouth, it seemed as though time stopped.
I was fearful of what he would say next.
The only relation we had was that we had met one another while hunting 5 months ago with Jong Ho, but here he was suddenly.
Perhaps he was going to ask if I was the cause behind the explosion of the portals.
With a serious look in his eyes, he spoke.
“Did you stop them?”
“… What did I stop?”
“Hm…. The portals.”
“Why do you think it’s me?”
“Well…. I don’t know why, but I can feel that you’re strong. It was the same when we first met, and even now so. Can you answer my question?”
Before, I could sense a strong aura just by looking at him.
He was saying that he felt the same aura from me.
He asked again.
I answered.
“As you can tell from the data or the files on me, I am no longer active as an Awakened.”
“……”
“Due to personal reasons, I’m not going to school either.”
“Is that so.. But despite not going to a dungeon for over a month, your sword and armor are well maintenanced to the point where it looks like you could equip them right away to take down monsters.”
“….”
“On top of that, in my near 40 years of Awakened work, I’ve never seen equipment such as those……”
Both of us looked towards the artifacts resting in the corner of the room.
I had enhanced and maintenanced them just a few hours ago.
He was able to tell with ease.
However, maintenance could be done on equipment even if you didn’t hunt.
“Even though I do not hunt, I maintenanced them since I’ll never know when I’ll need them.”
“Yes. That’s true…..”
I knew that Jong-sun was a man of justice.
However, if he found out my true identity, it was obvious that annoyances would crop up.
That was the reason for hiding the truth.
Looking into my eyes, he spoke.
“Thank you for your time.”
“……”
There wasn’t any solid proof, but he seemed convinced that I was the one who defended against the portal.
I didn’t know what his basis was for thinking that.
I also looked directly into his eyes and spoke.
“Do you remember what you said before?”
“Hm….”
“You said that if we meet again, you hoped that I was on the same path as you.”
“Of course. I remember.”
“The answer I can give is that I am on the same side as you, and that conviction won’t change.”
“…….”
“The side I am on is the same, but I don’t think I can stand by your side. I hope this is good enough of an answer.”
“Thank you. I understand what you mean.”
“Thank you very much.”
“If those that cannot be stopped even with the combined might of the association….”
“If something like that does happen, I’ll need to mobilize as well for those around me.”
“I am sorry. I shamelessly plead for your help.”
“No worries. Also…”
“Ah. You do not have to worry about your identity being revealed. I swear it on my honor.”
“Thank you. One more thing.”
“What is it?”
“Commander, I’m sure that you’re also aware of the radical faction.”
“….. Scum that’s difficult to get rid of with the current corrupt and rotten government and the association.”
“Could I get some information on them?”
“……”
“I shall also put everything on the table. Out of the 3 leaders of the radical faction, I have already taken down 2 of them.”
“Huh! What are you saying!”
“Joker. Ghost. I’m sure you’ve heard these names before. The faction has lost them, so this is the ideal time to pull the radical faction out by the roots.”
“I won’t ask for details. I shall give you all the information I can get from my position.”
Only now did Yoon Jong-sun smile.
However, his phone started to ring.
My first thought was that it was a call from the association.
Receiving the call, his face became serious again, and he hurried prepared to leave.
“Did another portal explode?”
“Thankfully in this time of dire crisis, it was just a level 12 portal. I know this is rude, but it seems I must leave at once. Please give my apology to your mother for not being able to give my proper farewells.”
“Yes, will do.”
Finishing what he had to say, he went through Warp that he casted.
I wasn’t friends with him.
However, I felt that I didn’t need to hide my identity from Yoon Jong-sun.
Also, I had no information regarding where the rest of the leaders and overboss were.
I wasn’t able to obtain information from Ghost or Joker, after all.
A new route of information where I could find that out was formed now.
Until now, I waited until they moved.
It came down to letting them have the first move and then dealing with it.
However, it would different now.
Now, I was the one who decided whether they lived or not.
The one to attack would be me, and they wouldn’t be able to stop me.
****
One week later, a call came from Yoon Jong-sun.
It was information regarding the radical faction.
On top of that, it was an Awakened in the association.
He said that it was rather difficult to obtain the information due to how rotten the higher ups were.
According to his information, the last leader by the name of Dark Lady had her base located in Incheon.
She was the sole female leader, who had both the tanker and assassin classes.
They were probably out for me as well.
I planned to annihilate them once I obtained more detailed information on the location of her base.
Until then, I needed to continue preparing for battle.
There wasn’t any point increasing my levels any further.
12,000 strength and 25,000 stamina points.
On top of that, very powerful artifacts were in my posession.
What I needed now were skills and using the Essence of Transcendence on useful skills.
The first thing I obtained was the highest ranking skill of healers, Status Denial.
It was the skill Park Hyun used previously, and the same skill that was used on my finger that was chopped off after the battle with Joker.
The one downside was that it had a 24 hours cooldown.
However, I would have effectively 2 lives by using this skill.
I also obtained the healing skill, Mega Cure.
Being a S ranking healing skill, the amount recovered couldn’t be compared with the skill called Heal.
I obtained it since it was difficult to heal my massive health pool with a C ranking healing spell.
With my fight with Joker and Ghost, the one thing that had bothered me was the healing skill I possessed.
Just like that, I spent time covering up my weaknesses one by one.
****
Early before dawn, I met with Jong Ho and Ho Jin.
Even though it was the weekend, they were both working hard by hunting.
From that day onward, they had been hunting for over 12 hours a day without missing a single day.
Due to the Balrock ring that was filled with powerful magic and the equipment they received from me, they were able to grow at an amazing rate.
With the Blood’s Craving, the stats they had obtained were above what I had predicted.
They had nearly obtained 500 stats.
That was nearly worth 100 level ups.
Originally, there were no stats attached to it, yet now they carried the stats they had chosen.
Their levels weren’t 300 yet, but they had the power of those beyond level 400.
With this much, while they cannot go against the radical faction leaders, they should be able to stand against their members.
On top of that, they could use the copied abilities of both physical and magic attacks I possessed with the ring.
Our conversation continued as I charged the ring with skills.
“I heard that the commander visited you.”
“Yes.”
“How did you handle it?”
“I spoke vaguely, but it seemed that he already knew everything I’ve done.”
“Is that so….”
“I also asked for the information regarding the radical faction. I wasn’t able to get the exact location, but I was able to obtain the general location of Dark Lady’s base.”
“If it’s the commander, you can definitely trust and rely on him.”
“I only told him everything precisely because of that reason.”
“Min-Cheol. Since we’re hungry, let’s talk over food.”
Just like that, I was sharing the information I’ve received recently.
We were heading towards a restaurant.
It was then.
-ring
-ring
-click
While we were walking, all of our phones buzzed at the same time.
A bad premonition came over us.
We were sure that it was a text from the association regarding defending against a portal explosion.
It was the same situation with the 4 portals exploding in Yangpyeong at the same time.
However, the information on the text was far more grave than before.
-Current time 08:00.
- Gamman-dong Busan area level ?? portal explosion.
- Incheon Wolmi-do area level ??, ?? portal explosions.
- Jeonnam Gurye-eup area level 31 portal explosion.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- Gyeonggi Province area level ?? portal explosion.
*Civilians nearby are to immediately evacuate to the nearest Awakened association building.
*Awakened are to gather to designated locations nearby.
Looking at the text, Jong Ho had a look of disbelief.
“It’s a mistake, right?”
“Those crazies really started, didn’t they?”
“To think that 11 portals exploded in different places at the same time. It’s definitely artificial. I’m sure it’s their work!”
“When the 4 portals exploded in Yangpyeong, at least they were close to one another… But now, these portals are exploding all across the country. At this rate, the damage will be insane.”
“Mister, what’s the levels with the question marks next to them?”
“Ah….. The association’s portal explosion detectors can only detect up to level 32. On top of that, it’s a guess at best, since they used the vibration data from the level 28 portal explosion to make the devices, since portals beyond level 28 haven’t exploded before.”
“Hyungnim. Does that mean that the portals are beyond level 33….”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“It really is the worst case scenario.”
They really started to move in earnest.
The radical faction had lost 2 of their leaders.
However, it was a mistake to think that they would falter.
Almost as if mocking that idea, they had blown up 11 portals at the same time, all in different locations.
On top of that, all of them were above level 30.
“We have no choice but to move. I’ll go to Incheon where two portals exploded.”
“How about us? What should we do?”
“First, Jong Ho hyungnim should put the Balrock ring on. You are slightly stronger than Ho Jin hyungnim, after all.”
“Let’s do that.”
Ho Jin immediately passed the ring to Jong Ho.
I continued to speak.
“Jong Ho hyungnim, please go to the level 30 portal explosion in Changwon. Since magic attacks work there, you should be able to easily stop it by yourself.”
“R…Right.”
“And mister, I want you to contact the commander and help them. If it’s the commander, he should able to direct you to a suitable location.”
“Understood. I’ll also let them know that they do not need to send anyone to Changwon and Wolmi-do, since you two will be heading there.”
“Yes, please do that. You two already know, but your safety comes first. Don’t go hastily into the portal right away. Even if it takes a while to suppress, it’s safer to stop the portal near it if you can avoid damage to the surrounding areas.”
“Alright. You take care as well.”
“Yes. Once I take care of the Incheon area, I’ll call you. I’ll discuss the next locations for defense with the commander after.”
“Yes.”
“Then let us be off.”
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