National Power Level SSS-Class 3
Choi Kang-in nodded, his expression grave, then turned to me with a solemn tone and extended an apology.
"First, I must apologize to you."
I remained silent. Sensing my lack of response, Choi Kang-in rose to his feet and bowed his head in genuine remorse.
"I sincerely apologize for the suffering you endured after being sold to a villain by people who would be ashamed to call you their own."
Choi Kang-in spoke as the guild leader of Kangin Guild, the organization that currently ruled South Korea.
To outsiders, it might have appeared that his high regard for my value prompted the apology, but if he had known the full truth, he would have extended it even if I were merely a weakling.
'However, that is as far as it goes.'
He would extend the apology and offer personal support.
But he would not go beyond that.
From his perspective, the world needed not the weak, but the Baekho Guild.
His top priority was to prevent the world's impending doom, and he had prepared to pass on everything he had accumulated to others who had not mixed blood for that purpose.
If it did not help avert the world's destruction, the voice of a weak person seeking revenge would be ignored after receiving personal support.
I had no intention of blaming him.
After all, one cannot ask a stranger to bear the burden of helping them.
Thus, his apology held no value to me.
"Your apology holds no value to me."
To the man whose expression stiffened slightly at my words, I added.
"Simply resolve the request I have made. After that, I will handle it myself."
I had almost no expectations of Choi Kang-in beyond this.
If there was one thing I hoped for, it was that he would not choose Baek Seo-jin as his successor, but that was a matter he would decide for himself now.
Once he knew the grudge I held against the Baek Hyeong-won family, he would not select Baek Seo-jin as successor as in the original work.
If he did, he would only witness Baek Seo-jin's miserable downfall.
He would also see the extinction of the Kangin Guild he had prepared to save the world.
***
Monster.
Choi Kang-in could only describe the boy before him as a monster.
'I never imagined this.'
Since the era of chaos when awakened ones first appeared in the world, he had been aware of the disaster that would one day destroy the world.
The Kangin Guild was the one he had founded to protect the world, and holding South Korea's power was also for the sake of saving it.
Yet, without his knowledge, a great threat had nearly struck from Somalia, and the one who had stopped it was the boy standing before him.
He had also possessed strength surpassing his own at the mere age of fifteen.
The boy possessed power so immense that the world's rules, such as SSS-class, held no meaning.
'Baek Seo-jun. His birth is confirmed.'
I would investigate further later, but his identity was certain.
The fact that he had been sold to the villain So Gang-seok by Baek Hyeong-won and Kim Yu-jeong was likely true.
There had been evidence videos, but more than anything, because Baek Hyeong-won had ordered his Baekho Guild members not to reveal anything about Baek Seo-jun and threatened revenge for disobedience.
He had also seen the interviews in which Baek Hyeong-won expressed sadness at losing Baek Seo-jun and evoked sympathy.
'I investigated more thoroughly than I expected.'
To be honest, the Baekho Guild was not one that entered his view.
Although it claimed to be one of the top ten guilds, it was merely a top ten guild in name.
In reality, because the guild master lacked even the ability of an SSS-class hunter, it barely scraped by at that level.
But Baek Hyeong-won, who was immersed in power struggles in his own kingdom, had crossed the line.
If he had continued such ugly games for long, he would have taken action against Baek Hyeong-won.
Even the identity of Kim Ho-jun, who had not revealed his true self, was far more valuable than Baek Hyeong-won as an SSS-class awakened.
"Baek Seo-jun, I will immediately carry out your request. By the way, is it all right to contact you later?"
"I plan to observe how you handle it from here."
"Haha, that is not what I meant. I mean, can you keep in steady contact with me in the future?"
Choi Kang-in's words made Baek Seo-jun show an expression of obvious reluctance.
"I'm busy spending time with the pretty girl waiting for me at home... Is there really a need to contact after today's events?"
Baek Seo-jun seemed to have no regrets on this side, but Choi Kang-in had grasped that he was deliberately keeping his distance.
The reason was probably to show that he had no regrets.
Instead, the one with the greater regret was this side.
I knew Baek Seo-jun's power was strong, but I was unsure to what extent. I also could not be certain whether I could trust him, and I was suspicious of how he had gained strength from the rift.
However, what was certain was that he was a talent beyond what I had expected.
'If it's this boy, perhaps he really can save the world!'
This boy might have been a problem after he grew up and saved the world. When that time came, the boy could become an absolute being that no one could resist, and if he wished, he could become a dictator ruling the world at will.
But that was a worry to be had only after saving the world from doom, and in reality, even now, that boy was a being who could become such a dictator if he wished.
Such luxurious worries could only be considered after the world became safe.
Recalling that the one with the regret was on his side, Choi Kang-in smiled subtly.
"You don't know if something like today will happen again? When that happens, it would be convenient for you to receive the help of the power I hold, this old man, wouldn't it?"
Choi Kang-in's words made Baek Seo-jun nod slightly.
"It might be. But, won't you stop pestering me with this?"
"There won't be such a thing. I will only share the necessary stories."
It was not a lie. Indeed, Choi Kang-in had intended to only share the necessary stories with him.
He was merely confirming whether he had hope to save the world, for the sake of saving the world.
"Well, good. If you handle it properly, if there's no urgent matter, I'll make some time for you."
"That would be sufficient."
Choi Kang-in thought that he should raise the importance of Seomun Ye-jin, his lover, to the highest level.
"Then, let's start right away."
***
The headquarters of Baekho Guild had just been struck by lightning.
"What is going on?"
It was evening, just after sunset, when suddenly Kangin Guild members burst into the Baekho Guild.
"The guild leader's order has been issued. The guild leader expressed deep regret over the incident the Baekho Guild caused towards Miss Seomun Ye-jin."
A man wearing sunglasses, speaking in a mechanical, stiff voice, exuded a fierce aura.
Baek Hyeong-won could only swallow his saliva and not act rashly.
After all, the person in front of him now was Pyo Jin-seong, the vice guild leader of Kangin Guild.
He was one of South Korea's SSS-class hunters and a figure in the position of right-hand man to Choi Kang-in, the guild leader of Kangin Guild.
Choi Kang-in surpassed SSS-class hunters in his own power, but he had several SSS-class hunters under his command.
Among them, Pyo Jin-seong's skill was particularly highly regarded.
In other top 10 guilds with SSS-class hunter guild leaders, they feared Pyo Jin-seong, but as an SS-class hunter like Baek Hyeong-won, he could only watch his step.
"Don't think of causing trouble. Stay still. If you stay still, the guild leader won't hold Baekho Guild responsible for anything big."
"Ah, I understand..."
Baek Hyeong-won, who acts arrogantly to the weak but becomes infinitely weak in front of the strong, could only speak in a small voice while watching his step.
He had been trampling on a girl's heart cruelly to make her his son's toy, exercising power, but when the power of greater force came upon him, he became a weak coward.
Baek Seo-jin looked at him in a way that he couldn't understand such a demeanor.
'What on earth is going on?'
He was clearly having a bright and happy dinner with his dad and mom as usual, and had promised to train together.
Yet, they burst into the place called the strongest guild in Korea, Kangin Guild, and were investigating the Baekho Guild arbitrarily.
Baek Hyeong-won, his personal items were seized, and Pyo Jin-seong, the SSS-class hunter Baek Seo-jin had seen on TV or internet, was treating him as if he were a criminal even though he was his father Baek Hyeong-won.