The Hero America Claimed

When word first began to spread through Seattle's Korean community, the major outlets stayed silent. Park Gyeongtae's backing was formidable enough that they could not ignore the pressure that came with it.

But the sky cannot be hidden beneath a palm. A rumor that someone was clearing the mutated dungeons now striking fear through the entire world—and the bombshell that this someone might be Korean—could not be buried to the end.

Korea, at that moment, could not properly handle even a small dungeon, let alone a large mutated one. Dungeon breaks were poised to erupt in every corner of the country and throw the nation into chaos, and the public was seething.

Not everyone, though, was defending Shin Haneul and cursing the Korean government. There were still people turning the arrows of blame back on him.

One in particular was a named user of considerable standing in the Awakened community.

When Shin Haneul was dishonorably discharged, AwakeningStudiesPhD had stepped forward to tear him down more loudly than anyone. He had already crossed a river from which there was no return. To protect what little pride he had left, he kept driving the same line to the bitter end: Shin Haneul had been thrown away because he deserved to be thrown away.

The moment one man stepped forward, people eager to tear Shin Haneul down came bursting out in a rush. They, too, had cursed him to their hearts' content. Loath to admit they had been wrong, they chose to deny reality. And online, most of them were each a match for a hundred. Every one of them could shout down a crowd, so opinion on the internet looked dead even.

But.

The fact that they were plainly wrong came out almost at once. An official release from the White House. Once the situation left no room to suspect fabrication, it became a fight that stubbornness alone could not win.

Mutated dungeons were, at present, a crisis the world over. Even the most celebrated Awakened teams on earth were failing their clears in droves. For large dungeons in particular, the success rate—Seattle's case excepted—was zero.

Those who had given up, telling themselves it was an unavoidable natural disaster, were a breath away from going mad with rage.

The materials Shin Haneul had once put forward in his own defense were rising to the surface all over again. Public opinion toward the military—and toward Park Gyeongtae—plunged to its worst.

Under circumstances like these, the mood in the conference room of the Republic of Korea's Awakened Special Forces could not possibly have been good. Papers lay across the table. Laptop screens were crammed with headlines.

The titles alone were enough to explain what had befallen them.

"Colonel Kim. How are you going to clean this up?"

Someone broke the silence first. As if they had been waiting for it, voices came pouring out.

"See? We never should have let Shin Haneul go, should we?"

"Right. Even if it bent the law a little, we should have held on to him somehow."

"Why didn't you know sooner that he was a talent of this caliber? And you still call yourself the officer in charge?"

Every superior in the Awakened unit spoke as one, condemning Colonel Kim Yongun, the officer responsible on the ground. They seemed already to have forgotten that they themselves had chosen, in the disciplinary committee, to throw Shin Haneul away. The claim that they ought to have secured his person—thrown him in the stockade, say? No one had made it. And had anyone raised the idea, the only reply would have been that kicking up too much noise would leave them at a disadvantage.

From where Kim Yongun stood, it was a bitterly, wretchedly unfair position. But he did not shove back at them outright. There was no need to.

"In any case, we were never given a choice, were we? You know whose son Captain Park Gyeongtae is."

This much was already enough to shed the blame.

"And I understand entirely the concern you all feel over the present situation. Even so, there is no need to worry. The public are dogs and pigs, are they not? Let them rant as they please. Once we succeed in clearing a mutated dungeon, we will be able to steer opinion once again."

"That's the point. That's talk for after the dungeon breaks are dealt with!"

"Clearing the mutated dungeons, you mean? We can do that as well. No. We can do it better."

The conference room fell quiet for a moment. That silence was not awe. It was suspicion.

"......Colonel Kim."

"Yes."

"Are you saying we will do what no nation besides America has managed? What Russia failed to do, and China, and Japan?"

"That is correct."

"You talk well enough! Then what have you been doing until now? More than ten mutated dungeons have opened in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Korea. You cannot even handle a single small or mid-sized one—!"

His superiors' reaction was cold. Kim Yongun answered without a ripple.

"We have merely been waiting, because Captain Park Gyeongtae has been injured. That is all."

"Even if the injury heals, I don't see one man's strength changing the situation all that much."

"You are correct. Under ordinary circumstances. But what if he alone absorbed the colossal mana stone obtained together with Second Lieutenant Shin Haneul on the last operation?"

"—!"

The superiors traded a brief glance. This was not an answer any of them had anticipated.

"You gave that to one man? Didn't you say it was a mana stone of historic scale?"

"Yes. But under the regulations, that was proper. The entire unit was wiped out. Aside from him, the only survivor was Second Lieutenant Shin Haneul."

"......"

Every one of them had a great deal they wanted to say, but the air was one of restraint. Solving the problem bearing down on them came first.

"Well. To think he absorbed that much mana in so short a time. Captain Park Gyeongtae's talent really is remarkable."

"Then his mana figure is..."

"11,321. It should be the highest level in the world."

A chair creaked.

Someone slowly settled back against the rest. Shoulders that had been drawn tight eased a fraction, and a similar shift followed from the seat beside them.

"If that figure is accurate..."

"Then a mutated dungeon may well be worth the attempt."

"Let us set a clear schedule within the next few days. And brief the press across the board."

The temperature of the room changed. Fingers that had been leveled at Kim Yongun quietly came down.

Meanwhile, Captain Park Gyeongtae—having absorbed every last dreg of the mana stone Shin Haneul had cast aside—stood alone at the center of the training room, slowly opening both hands and looking down at them. He gathered mana above his palms. There was no end in sight.

Right now... I could wipe out those dungeon monsters from back then all by myself.

Not long before, he had erased from memory the moment that wounded him, and the moment he had been made to feel inferior to the existence called Shin Haneul. Confidence brimmed in him, as full as the mana.

America was not a country one could call paradise on earth. But it was, without question, better than Korea in at least one respect: it paid properly for results.

It had been that way from the first mutated ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dungeon he cleared for them. When Shin Haneul named what he wanted, they did not stop to argue whether it was possible. They only considered how to see it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠done—even when the request sounded absurd at a glance.

They also strove to treat him better than the bargain itself required. A ceremonial reception, offered of their own accord, was one such effort. It came after he cleared the dungeon immediately following Seattle.

The President of the United States invited Shin Haneul's family to the White House. A red carpet ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lay waiting, and between ranks of soldiers in full dress uniform, the family walked that path.

The military band struck up. Ba-bam! Bam-ba-ra-bam! Minwoo's eyes sparkled.

"Whoa! Whoaaa—!! Dad's seriously the best!!!"

His parents were no different. Neither of them spoke, but there was no mistaking what their faces held.

A reward like this. Not bad.

No—if he was honest, he liked this better than any price America had set before him. The spacious house, the farm, the money: none of it had ever put expressions like these on his family's faces.

Even if we put down roots, I thought it would only ever be a foreign land in the end.

A small sense of belonging toward America seemed to be taking root in him. And so he could turn down a rather unreasonable request with some gentleness.

"Mr. President. Even so, I can't clear every mutated dungeon in the United States for you."

"I know. Yes. Of course I know. I only hoped, even a little..."

Ethan Brown. Sweat beaded on the middle-aged president. But the sight did not look wretched.

By Shin Haneul's reckoning, he himself was still worth little more than "the only man who could handle a large mutated dungeon." Hardly someone a President of the United States ought to be floundering before. President Brown's manner, then, was the setting aside of personal pride for the sake of his people. Shin Haneul rated a man like that well above the fools who knew only how to hold their noses in the air.

If it had been the president before him, or the one after... I doubt things between us would have gone this smoothly.

That President Brown's term happened to cover the very moment Shin Haneul arrived in America was luck for them both. So he laid down a friendly card of his own.

"Instead. I'll raise a few Awakened for you."

"—!!!"

President Brown shut his mouth and held his gaze, looking entirely satisfied. Of course, Shin Haneul had aims of his own.

"In exchange for teaching them, I intend to charge those Awakened with my family's protection."

"Understood."

"And I'll be the one who chooses whom I raise. They're the ones I'll be trusting with my family's safety."

Drawing on the memories of his past life, he would select the finest talents to keep his family safe in his absence.

And—

There are people I need to find for other reasons, too.

The Shin Haneul of his previous life had been strong, overwhelming enough to fight alone. But he had not grown strong by himself. This life was no different. There were people who would help him grow faster, and further, and finding them early could do no harm.

All the more so because he had no intention of succeeding as he once had, a late bloomer biding his time. This time, he meant to sprint the Tower from the very start.