Chapter 380: A World-Class Prospect
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 380: A World-Class Prospect
“...Where am I?”
When I lifted my heavy eyelids, an unfamiliar ceiling spread into view.
I couldn't muster much strength in my body.
As I forced my stiff body up, electrodes fell off me one by one.
Beeeeeep—
The noise from the monitor and the strong smell of medicine tickled my nose.
It was clearly a hospital.
The facilities were so nice that at first, I thought it was a hotel suite.
“...How many days has it been?”
I took out my phone from my inventory to check.
It didn't take long for me to realize what a mistake that was.
[Missed Calls: 999+]
[Choi Hyena: I heard there was a terror attack in London, are you okay?]
[Choi Hyena: Why aren't you answering!]
[Choi Hyena: Kang Hyun-woo!!]
[Choi Hyena: Hey!!!]
[Noel: Master? The news just said something about a terror attack, what's going on?]
[Noel: Nothing happened to you, right??]
[Noel: Please answer!! Seoha is about to get on a plane!!]
[Jeon Seoha: ...Hyun-woo, just wait a little longer. I'm coming.]
[Han Lael: Hyun-woo, you weren't caught up in the attack, were you? I'll be waiting for your call.]
[Han Lael: I heard from the Blue Magic Tower that you're receiving treatment. Please contact me when you wake up.]
[Shin Yuna: A terror attack, are you okay?!]
[Shin Yuna: Answer your phone!! If you don't, I'm flying to England right now!]
[Shin Yuna: If it's a real emergency, run to the US embassy and tell them you're my fiancé. I've already contacted them, so they'll do their best to protect you.]
[Unknown Number: I'm borrowing Minha's phone to text you. I don't know what this is about a terror attack, but whatever you do, don't get hurt. This is a warning.]
“...”
The moment I saw the countless missed calls and texts that had piled up over three whole days, a heavy sigh escaped me.
After calmly collecting my breath, I decided to reply.
If I turned off my phone now to avoid my responsibilities, all that would await me was a heavier punishment.
The moment I opened the chat and the '1' next to the message disappeared...
Rrrrring—
[Choi Hyena]
A call came from Choi Hyena.
“...”
For a moment, I was speechless.
In that brief instant, not even long enough to drink a glass of water, I agonized over it dozens, no, hundreds of times.
But my choice was already made.
I straightened my posture and cautiously pressed the call button.
“H-Hello...”
—Explain.
“It's not that I intentionally didn't reply...”
—Not excuses. Explain.
“...I went to a party at the duke's mansion, got caught in a terror attack, and just woke up after fighting off one of the terrorists. Oh, and of course, I won.”
Her voice was colder than I'd ever heard it, so I explained what happened as concisely as I could.
But the conversation didn't continue.
A heavy, uncomfortable silence hung between us.
—...Were you hurt badly?
“Huh?”
I could hear Choi Hyena's voice trembling faintly over the phone.
It was like a splash of cold water to the face, snapping me back to my senses.
I could imagine just how worried Choi Hyena must have been, waiting for me while I was unconscious with no way to contact her.
“I was a little hurt, but aside from being a bit stiff, I'm all better now.”
—That's a relief. So when are you coming back to Korea?
“Uh... I think I can be discharged today, but I'm not sure what the situation in England is like right now, so it's hard to give you a definite answer. And like I said before, I'm going to stop by the White Magic Tower before I leave.”
—Is that so?
Thankfully, Choi Hyena seemed to have calmed down a little.
Freed from the tense atmosphere, I let out a silent sigh of relief and smiled to myself.
“I'll be back as soon as I can, so don't worry too much—”
—Then I'll be looking forward to it.
Click—
“...Huh?”
I stared blankly at my phone screen.
But the call had already ended.
I cautiously tried calling back, but all I got was the cold, mechanical voice telling me I'd been connected to voicemail.
I instinctively sensed that I was fucked, but there was nothing I could do in this situation.
All I could do was desperately hope that Choi Hyena's anger would cool down at least a little over the next few days.
“Haaa...”
Letting out a sigh deep enough to make the ground sink, I flopped onto the bed and picked up my phone to contact the other girls.
Just then—
Slam!
The door to my room burst open and someone came in.
“Hyun-woo!”
“...Delia?”
It was Delia.
With a bright smile, her pure white-silver hair flying, she ran to me.
And threw herself into my arms.
The pleasant feeling from her light weight, the soft touch of her body, and the faint, sweet scent that tickled my nose was short-lived, as Delia's body began to tremble.
“Sob, sniff...! Thank goodness...! I thought you'd never wake up...!”
Delia burst into tears in my arms.
My hospital gown was quickly soaked, but I just gently patted her back to comfort her.
Immediately after, doctors and nurses rushed into the room.
It seemed the emergency alarm had gone off when the electrodes fell off my body.
And so, having woken up after three days, I spent nearly half a day undergoing all sorts of tests.
It felt like I'd been stuck with a needle at least eight times.
More than anything, perhaps because she had been so worried for three days straight, Delia followed me around like a mother bird while I was being examined.
There was even a small incident where she tried to follow me into the bathroom when I went to give a urine sample.
*
After all the tests were done, I returned to my room and went over what Delia had told me.
To get straight to the point, the terror attack had thankfully been resolved.
Apparently, recovery efforts were now in full swing.
Of course, that didn't mean the damage was minimal.
The current tally was thousands of casualties, with tens of thousands seriously injured, and the number of minor injuries was said to be too high to even get an accurate count.
Most notably, the property damage amounted to tens of billions of pounds.
Objectively speaking, the attack itself had been handled well.
Compared to the Cairo Incident, the number of casualties was noticeably lower.
However, because so much manpower was diverted to suppressing the attack, gates managed by various territories had dungeon breaks, leading to secondary damage.
Furthermore, the large-scale magic used by mages to stop the undead army destroyed surrounding buildings, causing significant additional damage.
“...What a mess.”
The news and social media were all buzzing with talk of the terror attack.
Well, it was an expected reaction.
It wasn't just any country; it was Great Britain, known as the strongest nation in Europe, that had its capital and major cities toyed with by a mere terrorist group.
The shock and horror must be on a completely different level than Cairo.
“Belmoras... Who the hell are those guys?”
For a group of demon worshipers, their executives were far too strong.
And the fact that they managed to win over two Knights of the Round Table was also suspicious.
Historically, there have been many villainous groups dedicated to demon worship, but none had ever caused damage on this scale.
“Indeed. I wonder where those bastards crawled out from.”
“...?”
Hearing a familiar voice from a corner of the room, I slowly turned my head.
Just as I expected, it was Duke Winchester.
“...Can't you just use the door like a normal person?”
“The reporters are swarming the place downstairs.”
“...”
Just as he said, the first floor of the hospital was in an uproar, packed with reporters from all over the world.
Somehow, the information had leaked, and in just three days, the story of how I defeated a Belmoras executive and saved the lives of the nobles had spread across the globe.
Of course, there was some dramatization.
First, the fact that Lancelot and Tristan were traitors was not made public.
Instead, it was announced that the two had died in battle against the members of Belmoras.
The British royal family and government must have deliberately hidden the truth to protect the image of the Round Table.
It pissed me off that traitors were being treated as heroes, but since the higher-ups had already made their decision, there was nothing I could do about it.
For now, I just had to accept it and move on.
Anyway, I became known as the hero who defeated the Belmoras executives alongside the Knights of the Round Table.
For the record, Delia's name was also on that list.
The appearance of a new King Arthur sent massive shockwaves around the world, but since Delia herself had been staying in my hospital room ever since I woke up, it was only natural that the reporters trying to interview her would flock to me instead.
“You're the one who leaked to the reporters that I defeated a Belmoras executive, aren't you, Duke?”
I sat down across from the duke.
Thinking about all the trouble I went through because this man was late made me want to rip his beard out.
“I once dreamed of being a film director. I think I did a rather good job with the adaptation, don't you?”
“I doubt it would even break even.”
I rummaged through the paper bag the duke had brought.
I found an elixir that was good for recovery, so I immediately opened it and chugged it down.
“Tsk... It's too bitter. You could've brought something more expensive. A rich man like you.”
“That bottle costs two million pounds.”
That's about 4.2 billion won.
“Well, it's not bad... but it feels a little lacking as a treat for the benefactor who saved your only granddaughter's life.”
“...”
Duke Winchester gave me a look that said, 'What kind of person are you?', but in the end, he said nothing.
It was obvious.
If I hadn't been there, his only granddaughter would have been kidnapped, and the nobles and servants at the party would have been massacred.
'Well, they probably wouldn't have resurrected Zerkishinia if I wasn't there... but I stopped it, so that's what counts.'
I leaned back on the sofa and took a bite of the bread the duke had brought.
It must have been from a famous shop because it was quite delicious.
But personally, I think pizza bread is the GOAT, so I could only give it a 9 out of 10.
“...Thank you.”
As I was washing down the bread with a drink, the duke suddenly stood up and bowed his head to me respectfully.
“Thanks to you, this old man was able to fulfill a long-held wish before his life is over.”
“A wish?”
At my question, Duke Winchester gave a bitter smile.
“Five years ago, while I was away, Zerkishinia broke through its seal and took the lives of Ophelia's parents. That is, my daughter and son-in-law.”
“...”
This was the first I'd heard of it.
I knew they had died in an unfortunate accident, but I never imagined something like this had happened.
“Are you planning to thank me with just words?”
I threw out a joke with a playful smile, trying to lighten the slightly heavy atmosphere.
“Of course not.”
But as if he'd been waiting for this moment, the duke took something from his pocket and placed it on the table.
Thud!
It was a small bottle filled with a crimson liquid.
Ting—
[New item information is being collected.]
[True Blood of the Vermilion Bird (眞血)
Grade: Unique+
This is the true blood of the Vermilion Bird, the guardian god of the south.
Upon consumption, you will acquire the 'Immortal Body (不死肢體)'.
※If your body fails to accept the true blood, you will be engulfed in flames.
※When consumed with the true blood of the Blue Dragon, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise, you will acquire the 'Blessing of the Four Guardian Gods'.]
[Immortal Body (不死肢體)
Grade: Epic
Your lifespan will increase dramatically, and you will gain powerful regenerative abilities.]
!!!Male Character Warning!!!
