Chapter 270: Look at the State of This House. Huh?
Chapter 270: Look at the State of This House. Huh?
"Hyun-seok! Issue me an unlimited Official Duty Permit!"
"Explain the situation, Lee Ha-ram."
After perfectly drafting the Librarian modification plan with Oxymoron, I burst into Hyun-seok’s office and threw out my greeting, only to receive that blunt response.
Thinking my explanation might have been too brief, I added more.
"It’s too hard to track down the retired ones, so I’m going to go around and check on the S-Ranks who are still registered with the Management Bureau. Oh, and that Yellow King fellow too."
Of course, the participants of that meeting weren't just the ten old-generation S-Ranks. If I couldn't get information from them, I’d have to shake down others.
People like Thunder God, other retirees, or even the A-Ranks.
Despite my explanation, Hyun-seok didn't budge.
"You know very well that's not what I'm asking, don't you?"
Park Hyun-seok pushed the monitor in front of him aside and looked at me with a serious expression.
"What I am asking is why you want to see them. Especially the Yellow King."
Hmm. That’s a bit awkward to talk about.
I can't exactly go around shouting that I'm investigating a traitor, and since Hyun-seok wasn't a participant back then, he’s also out of the loop.
What excuse could I use?
I pondered for a moment, but no good answer came to mind, so I just blurted out the first word that crossed my mind.
"Uh... a reunion?"
Perhaps because of those words, a look of pity began to seep into Hyun-seok’s eyes.
"...It seems your brain suffered damage from your trip to the Otherworld. Go see Oxymoron. Also, I haven't seen your report yet, so I suggest you handle that first."
He was basically saying, 'Are you insane?' in a very sophisticated, roundabout way.
But unfortunately for him...
"I've already seen Oxymoron. But more importantly, how did you know I went to the Otherworld?"
Technically, I went without permission. Why did both Oxymoron and everyone else seem to know?
Of course, while there’s a rule that entering a Bureau-controlled Hole without permission is a problem, there’s no specific rule against going to the Otherworld without permission, so it wasn't exactly a punishable offense.
"As for that, Oxymoron asked the Librarian at the Dining Hall why you hadn't been seen lately, and the Librarian just mindlessly blurted out, 'Oh, he went to the Otherworld.'"
...That little brat, Librarian?
No, wait, now isn't the time to settle that. Oxymoron will surely deliver a 'judgment of justice' upon him anyway.
More importantly, if the reunion excuse didn't work, maybe I should try being serious.
"Jokes aside, there's something I absolutely have to do by meeting them."
"Something so important you can't tell anyone?"
Hyun-seok countered seriously.
However, I could sense the hidden meaning behind his words.
‘Not even me?’
And that was likely the most important point of his question.
"Yeah. Because it’s likely something darker than most of the Management Bureau’s own shadows."
That was as much as I could tell him.
Any more, and even Hyun-seok might be in danger.
"I see."
Having received his answer, Hyun-seok simply uttered those words and pulled the monitor back in front of him.
It was a sign that he wouldn't push the subject any further.
However, I didn't leave my seat.
The fact that he hadn't told me to get out meant there was still something left.
I waited for Hyun-seok to react, my mind wandering with idle thoughts.
‘Come to think of it, he was 1st Generation too. Should I ask him?’
‘Does he know the truth behind the health checkups?’
‘Is it okay for a Branch Manager to waste time like this?’
Before five minutes of these idle thoughts could fill my head...
"Read this."
Park Hyun-seok turned the monitor toward me.
Black text on a white screen.
What was written there was simple yet powerful.
*
The following Hero is granted these authorities:
*
Below that were my name, Hero number, the issuer's name, and a very generous expiration date.
But the two main points were what mattered.
This was the highest level of Official Duty Permit, second only to the 'unlimited' class usually issued to O-Ranks—something even I had rarely received.
I hadn't expected something this grand.
I just wanted something like 'Bureau covers 60% of costs' or 'Priority booking for official business.'
"Is it okay to just issue something like this...?"
"A Branch Manager has this much authority. Though it's not something to be issued lightly."
I see.
He always seemed like he was in a low-ranking position because he was a Branch Manager, but if you think about it, he’s basically at the level of a national leader...
I only just realized that I’m also a bit of a madman for barging in on him without an appointment.
While I was deepening my inner self through this sudden introspection...
"So, is this sufficient?"
"It feels a bit excessive, but hey, the more the merrier."
"Right. I'll issue it like this, so pick it up on your way out."
Hyun-seok said this, tapped the keyboard a few times without even looking at the monitor, and then pushed it aside again.
"A permit of that grade takes some time to process, so let's talk until then."
Hyun-seok leaned back in a posture that looked comfortable even to me, making no effort to hide the fact that he intended to listen to what I had to say.
Actually, the permit wasn't the only reason I had come to see him, so I continued.
"Well, talking is fine, but I have one more favor..."
Even I thought I was being incredibly shameless.
"No money. And just in case, if I hear news that you requisitioned a civilian aircraft and made an emergency landing in Siberia using that permit, I'll revoke your authority immediately. Just so you know."
...What exactly does Hyun-seok think of me? And I don't think I've ever proactively done something like that.
"It's nothing personal like that. It's just that I don't think this is something I can do alone. It's more of a proposal for the entire Management Bureau."
"A proposal? This is the first time you've brought something like that up. If you're telling me, does that mean you want me to raise it at the Bureau meeting?"
"Something like that."
Because this would likely hint at the direction all of humanity should take.
"Let's hear it."
Hyun-seok asked casually, but inside, I felt something entirely different.
A strange pressure.
It felt like it was emanating from Park Hyun-seok, but that wasn't quite it.
It was a pressure that felt like the world itself was intervening, much like when I faced The Queen.
It was radiating out, using my friend Park Hyun-seok as a catalyst.
I didn't know why I was feeling this.
All I knew was that I had become aware of it.
So, I swallowed hard.
After reconsidering my thoughts one last time...
I made my decision and spoke.
"I'm proposing that we sequentially open up the training methods held by Martial Artists and Mages to the civilian population."
* * *
That proposal led to a very long discussion.
Long enough for the report written by the Librarian to be uploaded in the meantime.
What I had seen and experienced.
What thoughts I had gained from it.
And the final conclusion.
Hyun-seok didn't express any approval or disapproval, but he gave me one response.
'If you're going to argue for that, you'll have to go and persuade them yourself. Until then, let's consider this conversation as having never happened.'
Heavenly Sword, the leader of the Martial Alliance.
Macbeth, a member of the Mage Council.
In the end, I had gained a reason to go see them regardless.
My head felt even more complicated now, though.
So, I had to persuade them to release the basic curriculum to the public.
And in the process, I had to find out if they were suspicious and what they had done back then.
What a headache.
I had planned to take it slow since it didn't seem like something that would end quickly, but to have a burden dropped on me in such an unexpected place.
Nothing for it, then.
Slow and steady.
With that thought, I finally reached home and reached for the Auto-lock.
Beep.
But my hand stopped in front of the buttons.
...What was the password?
It had only been a month in this world's time, and maybe two or three months in the Otherworld, but the very existence of a house password had evaporated from my mind.
Was it my birthday?
I punched in the four digits that came to mind, but the response was...
Beep. Bee-bee-beep.
Just a notification that the password was wrong.
...Let's give up. If I keep pressing it, it'll lock down for security.
Instead, I chose a simpler and faster method.
I hammered on the doorbell.
"I'm home!"
I shouted.
I expected the door to open soon, but...
The only thing that returned was the faint sound of the doorbell ringing inside the house and an overwhelming silence indicating that no one was responding.
At that, something cold slid down my spine.
The chill of overwhelming foreboding.
I kept pressing the doorbell every thirty seconds, praying for a response.
But only the cold, mechanical chime of the doorbell answered me.
And soon, I understood the situation I was in.
"Is... no one home?"
I had no wallet.
I didn't need one in the Otherworld.
I had no phone.
I didn't need one in the Otherworld.
Un-ho wasn't here either.
I had sent him home ahead of me.
Thinking this couldn't be happening, I immediately went to find my last resort.
I always left one door or window unlocked somewhere in the house.
This time, it was definitely the warehouse window.
The warehouse was on the opposite side of the entrance, so I ran quickly and reached my target. But the warehouse window also drove me to despair.
It was high.
Perhaps because a warehouse didn't need large windows, there was only one small window installed high up on The Wall.
Left with no choice, I began to climb, digging my fingers into The Wall.
I couldn't trust my current control abilities to jump and reach the window, as I was in poor condition lately.
And as for just grabbing The Wall, the unnecessarily high-quality finish meant The Wall was smooth and devoid of any handholds.
I couldn't exactly blast my noisy boosters in the middle of a residential neighborhood. Damn it.
With that thought, I crawled up The Wall.
It only took a few seconds, but I prayed no one was watching this pathetic sight.
Reaching that small warehouse window felt like salvation.
I reached out with all my heart.
Rattle.
Rattle.
That salvation was an illusion.
Why the hell is it locked?
Which damn disciple of mine cared so much about warehouse security?
Of course, such a thorough sense of security was worthy of praise.
But why did it have to manifest when I was in this state?
Unable to give up, I shook the window a bit more.
But all I got was a loud rattling.
There was no sign of the window opening.
So, I returned to the ground.
And all I had to show for it were strange black holes left in the pristine white wall.
Hahaha. Dammit.
Now there was only one thing left.
An adventure to find an unlocked window somewhere.
Surely, there had to be one.
* * *
Come to think of it, there was no way a window would be left unlocked.
If my disciples were thorough enough to lock the warehouse window, there was no way they would leave a visible window unlocked.
And so, I sat in the clean garden, staring blankly at the living room window.
As if to prove that this house provided by the Bureau was expensive, it had a massive floor-to-ceiling window. Since the curtains weren't drawn, I could see directly into the living room.
What I wanted was so close, yet I couldn't grasp it.
However, it wasn't like there were no options.
A window lock was a fragile thing that I could rip out, frame and all, with a single blow of my strength.
The security company would probably show up.
But if I explained that the homeowner couldn't get into his own house, it wouldn't be a big problem.
So, that was the most rational choice.
However, having already devoured the chicken I bought, with only the cardboard box and bones rolling around me, all I had left was stubbornness.
The stubbornness that a disciple would arrive soon, and that I wouldn't break anything until then.
So, I sat in the neatly maintained garden that no one seemed to be tending to, staring at the living room.
Waiting for my disciples.
‘I should’ve bought beer too.’
With that trivial thought in mind.