Chapter 216
Chapter 216: An Unexpected Grudge (1)
The empty Training Grounds, all guests having withdrawn.
Dong Bong-soo stood quietly in the very center of it, gazing at the moon.
"A proper Founding Ceremony is supposed to last three or four days…… why did you insist so stubbornly on finishing it in a single day?"
He lowered his gaze and shifted his eyes toward the direction the voice had come from. Jeon Ra-hwa, apparently having only just finished the hectic tidying up, was approaching him while patting her shoulder with one hand.
"One day is enough."
"Well, true. Hero Gate isn't exactly a major sect, and it's not like notable outside figures were particularly going to come anyway."
"Did you properly put out the recruitment announcement?"
"Ah, yes, well. I did. After all, since Hero Gate has a firm grip on Gangdo as it stands now, and the people who gathered today were impressive too, gathering around twenty people wouldn't be any trouble at all."
"What's the scale of applicants?"
"Don't be surprised."
"That kind of thing doesn't surprise me. How many?"
Jeon Ra-hwa, eyes wide as saucers, spread one hand open wide.
"This many!"
"Fifty?"
"My, how can the Guild Master be so timid? It's five hundred. Five hundred!"
Five hundred.
'25 to 1, huh.'
With a competition ratio like that, it seemed they'd be able to draw in quite decent personnel.
"Of course, I already went through the documents and cut about half, so you only need to see two hundred and fifteen people."
She'd already narrowed it down by half?
"Good. You worked hard."
"Tch. Always just words."
He raised his hand to pat her on the head, and Jeon Ra-hwa quickly dodged away.
"Ah, I said don't do this? Am I a child? Huh!?"
But she couldn't ultimately escape Dong Bong-soo's persistent hand.
"Haa—, it's all a mess again. I'd just barely tidied it."
Dong Bong-soo gave a light smile toward Jeon Ra-hwa, who was grumbling while fixing her disheveled hair, then turned his body away.
"Good work."
In the direction of his room.
As he walked, Jeon Ra-hwa's voice, now considerably brightened, came and reached his back.
"Tomorrow we'll be interviewing all those people, so you need to wake up early. You know that, right?"
Dong Bong-soo waved a hand backward in light affirmation and continued walking toward his room.
The Founding Ceremony speech, entertaining distinguished guests, dining with Yo Han-myeong, a light intelligence briefing with Bae Dal-pae, confirming the children were put to bed, and so on.
He had completed without a gap the kind of schedule a Guild Master would carry out on a Founding Ceremony day.
A considerable portion had been handled by Jeon Ra-hwa, so it had been manageable.
'I'd thought she was growing remarkably—.'
He hadn't expected her to grow this capable. One might well call it genuinely extraordinary. A truly talented individual not only in martial arts ability but in administrative capacity as well.
She just hadn't yet gone through much actual combat; otherwise she could already be called a master.
'The time has come to put her into actual combat for real.'
Clatter, thud.
The room door closed.
Dong Bong-soo leaned his back against the door and wiped both hands across his face.
The warmth that had been woven across the surface of his skin was peeled away, strand by strand. It was closer to evaporating on its own rather than being deliberately torn away. The kind of expression that, once there was no reason to maintain it, simply ceased to be maintained.
A few seconds passed, and what remained in the room was a single man with no expression at all.
Dong Bong-soo sat on the edge of the bed and reviewed the day's data.
The speech. For something hastily improvised, it was quite appropriate. The reactions too were within the predicted range.
'Eom Bi-ryeong.'
The applause had been noticeably late. But it had been the longest. An emotional type. The kind of disposition that, once won over, falls deeply. Put the other way, it also meant that until she was won over, she'd test him to the very end. For now, it was closer to the latter, perhaps.
'Myo Jin-heo.'
He had closed his fan. When it was open, it was observation; when closed, it was judgment. That he closed it meant he had reached something close to a conclusion. The more rational a person, the harder it is to reverse their own judgment. For better or for worse.
The children, Yo Han-myeong, Bae Dal-pae. All moved exactly according to their predicted lines. No anomalies.
The brief review was done.
Dong Bong-soo slowly closed his eyes once and opened them again.
The young Guild Master who had spoken of Chivalry and declared the Middle Path in the Training Grounds today was nowhere to be found. The man who, under the gaze of thousands, had sworn with a voice full of conviction to preserve what was good—had evaporated the moment the door shut.
What remained was a single emotionless calculator processing data.
One who became 'Kim Rae-won' when being observed, and reverted to 'Dong Bong-soo' when not—like a quantum mechanical human, that was precisely what he was now. Of course, even that guise could be switched at any time at will, like flipping a palm. It was simply that for now, the current way held far greater advantage.
Dong Bong-soo climbed onto the bed and sat in meditation.
There was something he hadn't checked for quite a while, which was why.
Various matters had bitten onto other matters, and yet another incident had bitten onto the tail of those, erupting in a chain—to say there had been no room to check would be half-true and half a lie. It wasn't that there had been no room; it had simply not been urgent.
The system operates on its own. Rewards accumulate, numbers rise, and quests progress. There was no need to check every single time.
'Now that the Founding Ceremony is over—.'
It was a point worth pulling out the ledger and looking over the scoresheet of recent results, at least once.
Click.
A translucent window opened before his eyes.
────── Hero Status ──────
Name: Kim Rae-won
Title: [None] Class: Fallen Hero
▣ Hero Metrics ◆ Hero History: 48
└ Current Rank: ★ (Rising Star) ◆ Fame: 32 ◆ Infamy: 0
Dong Bong-soo's gaze stopped at the Hero History figure.
48.
When he had first opened this window at the inn, it had been 5. Back then, Nameless (☆). Now, Rising Star (★).
And the figure remaining until First-Rate (★★)—
'2.'
Almost there.
When the environment changes drastically, the speed of evolution must also accelerate for survival.
Strength in the Martial World, no matter how great it grows, is always found lacking.
The sign that advancement was imminent was always a good thing.
The corners of his mouth rose ever so slightly.
▣ Ability Stats │ HP │ 350/350 │ MP │ 280/280 │ Stamina │ 320/320
Strength (STR): 10 [+5] Agility (AGI): 12 [+5] Intelligence (INT): 17 [+5] Wisdom (WIS): 13 [+5] Charisma (CHA): 8 [+5] Luck (LUK): 6 [+5]
※Remaining Points: 30
Dong Bong-soo's finger bent once in midair.
30.
The fruits of every manner of affair carried out in Gangdo had been quietly accumulated here.
The subjugation of the Iron God Society, the annihilation of the Seven Star Immortal Assembly, the disbandment of the Red-Red Alliance, the battle against the Eight Trigram Leaders of Formation Tower, the annihilation of the Sword Patrol Corps, and the various quest completions that had been carried out both materially and spiritually over the past several months.
The system would have assigned rewards for each of those, and they had been silently accruing to become this number now.
Should he allocate them?
A momentary thought.
'No.'
The judgment he had made before was still valid. If it wouldn't bring any meaningful change, it was better to hold them in reserve.
30 was undeniably different from back when it had been 5.
'When something worth pouring it all into at once comes along, that's when I use it.'
Next.
▣ Trust Relationships ◈ Jeon Ra-hwa Trust Level: High Friendliness Relationship: Companion (Deputy Administrator) Status: [Trust], [Worry]
◈ Dong Mu-toe Trust Level: Vow (Subordination) Relationship: Subordinate Status: [Curiosity], [Obedience]
◈ Eom Bi-ryeong Trust Level: Slight Friendliness Relationship: Staying Guest Status: [Wariness], [Interest]
◈ Myo Jin-heo Trust Level: Slight Friendliness Relationship: Staying Guest Status: [Observation], [Debt]
◈ Yo Han-myeong Trust Level: Friendliness Relationship: Collaborator Status: [Caution], [Expectation]
◈ Bae Dal-pae Trust Level: High Friendliness Relationship: Intelligence Collaborator Status: [Respect], [Loyalty]
◈ Ho-ae Trust Level: Very High Friendliness Relationship: Household (Eldest) Status: [Reliance], [Admiration]
The list that had once held only Jeon Ra-hwa.
'The retainers have grown considerably.'
He scanned it dispassionately.
Seven.
One Subordinate, two High Friendliness, one Friendliness, two Slight Friendliness, one Very High Friendliness.
His gaze moved to the status columns for Eom Bi-ryeong and Myo Jin-heo.
[Wariness], [Interest].
[Observation], [Debt].
'These still need further changing.'
Opportunities were plentiful.
Now that they seemed to have decided to stay at Hero Gate.
His gaze lingered a beat longer on Dong Mu-toe's [Curiosity], [Obedience].
The strange pulling sensation unique to the 'Vow' was still pointing north. Even without opening the map, he could tell well enough that the fellow was at Formation Tower.
'Hero Gate's worth will be rising.'
Since sending the whisper, nothing had come back—naturally, since it was a structure that couldn't return anything—but as long as [Curiosity] was clearly ahead of [Obedience], Dong Mu-toe would perform his role to perfection and beyond, so there was no reason to spend excessive attention on it, for the time being.
He folded the system window temporarily.
What numbers can convey is only state. They do not show the texture of that state.
Dong Bong-soo's Super True Energy Field spread naturally.
A body without meridians. The sensation unique to the Holeless Body—operating the flow of energy not confined to channels called meridians, but through the entire body. The flow of energy in the surroundings poured in as though being drawn inside him.
The energy of the entire Hero Gate compound read as clearly as though it had been placed in the palm of his hand.
The Training Grounds side.
There were subtle True Energy fluctuations. Someone was training. At this hour.
'Eom Bi-ryeong, perhaps.'
The formation technique of the Mountain Formation Division Trigram Leader was leaving subtle lines in the air. The pattern of those lines caught in the Super True Energy Field was not offensive. A boundary formation. It seemed she had a habit of laying a detection net around herself even while training. A characteristic habit of a warrior who had weathered many real battles.
'To have such severe emotional fluctuations yet be so thorough in vigilance.'
He added a line to the data he had reviewed earlier. Late applause, long applause, boundary formation. The outline of a person called Eom Bi-ryeong was gradually taking shape.
The guest room side.
The energy was still.
Either asleep, or pretending to be. No trace of Circulating Energy, no surging True Energy. The stillness of someone training and the stillness of someone asleep have different textures. What was being read now was closer to the latter, but if it were this person, she might be capable of concealing that difference.
'If it's Myo Jin-heo…….'
The rhythm of opening and closing the fan came to mind. When open it was observation, when closed it was judgment. By now he'd be organizing in his head the things he'd seen today. The Founding Ceremony speech, the scale of Hero Gate, the width of my stride and the direction of my gaze and the intervals at which I drew breath.
'Whatever it is, he'd be deliberating by now.'
About Hero Gate, and about 'Kim Rae-won.'
Near the children's quarters.
The energy was stable. It seemed Jeon Ra-hwa had already fallen asleep. The children's faint breaths were steady as well. Ho-ae, and all the rest.
[Wariness], [Interest]. [Observation], [Debt].
The system's text came to mind.
Numbers and flesh are still different. But the direction is readable.
Click.
He opened the system window again.
▣ Skill List ≪Possessed Skills≫ • [Faith Arrow (Faith Arrow) Lv.1] • [Hero's Aura (Hero's Aura) Lv.1] • [Shield of Faith (Faith Shield) Lv.2] • [Faith Sight (Faith Sight)]
≪Unlockable Skills≫ • Faith Judgment (Faith Judgment) Lv.1 └ Required History: 50 (48/50) • Hero's Blessing (Hero's Blessing) Lv.1 └ Required History: 50 (48/50)
Two new names were hanging at the 50 threshold.
Faith Judgment. Hero's Blessing.
From the names alone, the contents were unknowable. What effects, what conditions. It had been that way before too. He only knew exactly what Hero's Aura was after unlocking it.
That was because Kim Rae-won's memories were still riddled with defects.
Like ink text dissolved in water, one might say. The outline remained, but the boundaries of the strokes were smeared in places, making it impossible to read precisely. On top of that, it was text written in someone else's handwriting, so it was like having to interpret even familiar characters in one's own way—something closer to reminiscence than memory.
The kind of thing where, no matter how one tried to draw it out, misreading couldn't be avoided.
In any case,
48.
This side too had barely 2 remaining.
When Hero History exceeded 50, the rank would also rise to ★★ First-Rate, and one of the two skills would become obtainable.
Next.
▣ Hero Ranks ☆ Nameless (0~9) ★ Rising Star (10~49) ← Current ★★ First-Rate (50~99) ★★★ Hero (100~499) ★★★★ Legend (500~999) ★★★★★ Myth (1000+)
He scanned the rank list once. His gaze lingered briefly on ★★★ Hero. The reward for Jeon Ra-hwa's Salvation Quest was History +100, wasn't it. Finishing that one alone would catapult him straight to Hero rank in one leap.
But still at 18%.
'It's too much of a reward to leave sitting around, admittedly.'
Click.
He closed the stat window and switched to the quest window.
▣ Active Quests
【Main】 Salvation of Jeon Ra-hwa
├─ Progress: 18.18%
└─ Reward: History +100, Trust Level MAX
The Seven Star Immortal Assembly, presumed to be the third evil entanglement, had been handled.
But there were still several evil entanglements remaining.
'Jeon Ra-hwa…….'
He had deliberated for quite a long time.
When should this be dealt with?
But in the end, he could only reach the conclusion that for now, the best course was not to touch it. There was a mountain of urgent matters to be managed at present.
He closed the quest window and skimmed through the inventory.
Approximately thirty corpses of the Sword Patrol Corps, including Corps Leader Sang Gwan-hwi's.
This card had the potential to be quite a useful card. Informationally, in terms of justification—by any measure, it was bound to be an enormously powerful hand.
The Evil-Warding Sword. 3% effect increase against Evil Demon types. No use for it at the immediate moment.
But it might change once war breaks out.
Five Spirit Root Stones. Unopened. An item for which the timing of use was crucial. Same logic as the 30 stat points. Held in reserve until the right moment to use them came.
Click.
He closed the inventory.
With all the system windows closed, the room was dark.
Dong Bong-soo looked out the window without closing his eyes.
Night.
Moonlight lay evenly over the grounds of Hero Gate. The Training Grounds, which had been swarming with people during the day, stood empty, and faint traces of light seeped out from beneath the eaves of the guest quarters and the training hall.
Dong Bong-soo, without withdrawing the Super True Energy Field's awareness from the compound, extended his thoughts outward.
Or rather, attempted to.
'……!?'
Foreign energy was felt.
Ten of them, no less.
And one among them was…… formidable.
A being possessing energy powerful enough to make the Super True Energy Field quake from the mere act of perceiving it.
Ding—
【Sub】 Encounter with the Heavenly Yin Sect
【Sudden】 : On the path of saving the world, grudges always follow. Grudges stacked and layered pour down without warning, like a midsummer downpour. But if you are a hero, you must make even that into your own path. Whether to sever it with a sword or resolve it with words—that choice is entirely yours.
· Resolve the matter with the Heavenly Yin Sect party.
├─ Progress: 0%
└─ Reward: Hero History +3, A bond with the Heavenly Yin Sect formed