Empty House Raid (5)
Incheon International Airport, in front of the arrival gate.
Executive Director Jeong Gyu-han sat inside the limousine parked right outside the gate, listening to his secretary’s report.
“……As you ordered, I’ve secured firm confirmations from every Z-Team member that they will not be swayed by Jang Lee-hyun. However,”
“However?”
Executive Director Jeong had been watching arriving passengers exit the gate through the window, but now he narrowed his eyes.
The secretary bowed his head slightly.
“We have not yet received definite answers from two individuals.”
“Two? Does that include the person Team Leader Lim recruited, or is it two excluding her?”
“Excluding her. These are the two.”
The secretary respectfully handed over a tablet PC displaying personnel files.
“Seo Ae-ri and Eom Gi-seon. I’ve heard those names before. My son used to grumble about them all the time.”
Executive Director Jeong’s gaze settled on the second photo—Eom Gi-seon’s.
Even though it was an official company headshot, the man had bleached his hair pure white and was wearing flashy earrings.
“Especially this guy. I remember Director Ho taking quite an interest in him.”
“Yes, sir. He’s the very employee who once turned the company upside down after Director Ho personally handed him a sword.”
The backbone of White Burn consisted of twenty-six raid teams under the Dungeon Conquest Division. These teams operated both domestically and internationally, piling up enormous achievements.
Most of the team leaders were rankers. Quite a few had shot to stardom after receiving countless offers from outside organizations.
But if you asked whether they were White Burn’s true main force, the guild’s high-ranking officials would usually stay silent.
The real monsters were hidden much deeper inside.
Over the past forty years, Guild Master Mo Jeong-gyeon—the Mountain Deity—had traveled the world gathering old freaks. This group even included high-rankers so rare that only a handful existed in each country. Other guilds, factions, and agencies knew better than to send them casual recruitment offers.
They understood all too well how deep their loyalty to Mo Jeong-gyeon ran.
‘If we’re being technical, I’m one of those old freaks myself.’
The regular employees called them the “Executive Board.”
And among them, Director Ho was an extremely unusual figure.
His loyalty to Mo Jeong-gyeon was profound, but his personal martial prowess was also among the very best.
He could be described as a natural-born warrior—one rarely seen in the modern era.
He almost never appeared in public, always busy with personal training.
Yet even someone like Director Ho had shown deep interest in company affairs for a very brief period.
That interest had been directed at Eom Gi-seon, who had been forcibly discharged from the American ASTRA unit under mysterious circumstances and then headhunted to Korea.
From what Jeong had heard, Director Ho became intrigued by the way Eom Gi-seon walked while drunk with friends near the company building.
‘At the time, that crazy bastard Eom Gi-seon supposedly threw a fit, yelling about how the guy ruined his drinking party. I still don’t understand it. How could anyone overlook something like that? If it were me… Hmph. Director Ho really does have a strange weakness.’
A clash had broken out between Eom Gi-seon and Director Ho on the spot. Naturally, Eom Gi-seon had been forced to his knees.
The problem was that even after being beaten, Eom Gi-seon refused to accept defeat and kept charging in.
Only after every one of his swords had been broken and he finally passed out did the fight end.
Director Ho compensated for all the broken furniture and damages, left behind a single sword for Eom Gi-seon, and departed without another word—saying it was payment for having fun playing with an old man for the first time in a while.
Yet the very next day, Eom Gi-seon showed up for work as if nothing had happened.
With that very sword Director Ho had given him hanging at his waist.
‘This isn’t some martial arts novel. What the hell. I don’t know if he thought it was romantic or something… but there are way too many insane people on the Executive Board.’
Executive Director Jeong knew very well that the incident was still being gossiped about among the regular employees.
He also knew that a group of people who worshipped Director Ho had formed because of it.
But from Jeong’s perspective, it was all pointless behavior that only damaged their own dignity.
‘Dignity isn’t something that can be built so easily. It only reveals itself when one truly reigns.’
Executive Director Jeong had always held firm values, both then and now.
However,
“Still… this one I’d like to keep close.”
Tap. Tap.
Executive Director Jeong tapped Eom Gi-seon’s photo with his index finger.
“If I could tame a hunting dog like this, it would be as good as when Yeopo obtained the Red Hare.”
He knew the value of people who possessed eyes like Eom Gi-seon’s.
They were treasured blades.
Blades that had to be handled with extreme care and swung with razor-sharp precision…
“The same goes for this Seo Ae-ri. Their value is far higher than those useless husks.”
Executive Director Jeong closed the tablet PC and handed it back to his secretary.
“Arrange separate meetings with these two. Tell them I want to see them personally.”
“Personally…! Yes, understood.”
The man who had summoned the other Z-Team members as a group to his own location was now willing to move himself.
It meant he considered these two talented enough to raise personally by his side.
‘You fool… You had talents like these right beside you and never even noticed. Was it my mistake for raising you so poorly?’
He was organizing his thoughts about his dead son when the secretary spoke again.
“They’re coming out now, sir.”
“Let’s go greet them.”
Executive Director Jeong composed his emotions as if nothing had happened and stepped out of the limousine.
Right on cue, the gate opened and people in neat suits appeared.
But they couldn’t hide the sharpness in their eyes.
Executive Director Jeong knew exactly who they were.
They were members of the special task force recently created—no, “evolved”—in China after importing training methods and systems from the Cheongroe unit.
And at their head stood a middle-aged man.
It was Wei Gangning, the person in charge of Pingsin. He was far more famous by his alias, “Maryong”—the Magic Dragon.
(I sincerely welcome you to Korea, Director Wei).”
Executive Director Jeong smiled and spread both arms wide in greeting.
‘Beat Mukesh? What the hell is he talking about?’
Kim Min-jung found Jang Lee-hyun’s indifferent expression far more striking than Eom Gi-seon’s annoying face—especially after hearing such an outrageous statement.
For a moment, the conversation she’d had with Lim Won-young over dinner two days ago flashed through her mind.
“You look incredibly tired, Team Leader.”
“……Kim, when exactly are you coming back to our team?”
“It must be hard handling all the work I used to do by yourself. Should I return to Team A right now?”
“No, no. What am I even saying? The Z-Team cleanup isn’t even finished yet… Just finish everything there and come back. Everything.”
“Is the work from the prestigious families really that much? What kind of offers are those raid captains making?”
“That side isn’t really the problem. The real issue is somewhere else.”
“The real issue?”
“You know about Gwiroe, right?”
Kim Min-jung had nodded.
Who in Korea’s media-saturated society didn’t know about Gwiroe—the man currently causing the biggest uproar?
The revelation that he was an apostle of Zeus had created an absolute storm.
People had wondered if Korea had finally gained an apostle of one of the famous chief gods.
The already noisy public opinion grew even louder.
“Apparently he showed up a few days ago too. That’s when Mukesh Ambani died.”
“……You mean India’s Vajra Son, right?”
“Yes. That Mukesh Ambani.”
“……!”
“And do you know where he died?”
“……No way?”
“It was inside a dungeon.”
“……!”
“Something like that happened right in the middle of one of our own dungeons. Why didn’t we know about it until now?”
Kim Min-jung had felt a strong sense of unease.
During the dungeon raid, Lee-hyun had disappeared into the underground waterway to hunt the hidden boss, but he had never explained what happened afterward.
Then Team Leader Jeong had died, so there had been no chance to ask.
“Because of that, intelligence has come in saying Pingsin is trying to enter Korea. In Mexico, Arachne immediately booked a flight to Korea.”
“……”
“There are rumors that other countries like the United States are moving too. It’s on the verge of chaos. Just who is Gwiroe?”
“……I don’t know either.”
Thinking back on it now, Lim Won-young had also seemed to suspect Lee-hyun.
But she hadn’t dug any deeper because she judged that the power gap was simply too large for Lee-hyun to possibly be Gwiroe.
Kim Min-jung had thought the same.
The current public estimate of Gwiroe’s strength was high-ranker level.
In Korea, there were only seven people at that level.
But Lee-hyun had only begun recovering his body a month ago.
Even at his peak, he had only approached high-ranker status without ever crossing that threshold. It couldn’t be him.
Still, she had thought he might have some connection to Gwiroe…
‘Is Senior really Gwiroe himself?’
But Lee-hyun simply maintained an expressionless face, neither confirming nor denying anything.
“Hey, Eom Gi-seon! What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Someone could have gotten hurt!”
Kim Min-jung shoved her doubts aside and exploded in anger.
Of course, it had no effect on Eom Gi-seon.
“You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
“How can you even say that right now…!”
“Aww, come on. You think I’d do something like that without calculating the distance? Noona, you’re way too sensitive.”
“Who are you calling noona—”
“Or should I go back to calling you ‘baby’ like before? I’d actually prefer that.”
“Hey!!”
In the end, Kim Min-jung couldn’t hold back and screamed.
But Eom Gi-seon just kept grinning slyly.
Thankfully no one else was using the training hall, or she would have died of embarrassment.
Still, it was incredibly annoying.
Kim Min-jung’s trembling hand looked ready to pull out her magic gun and put a bullet through his skull at any second.
At the same time, she wondered what Lee-hyun would think and was about to offer some kind of excuse when—
“You’re not speaking with any real conviction.”
Lee-hyun’s gaze, still impossible to read, remained fixed on Eom Gi-seon.
Eom Gi-seon twisted his lips.
“What are you—”
“No. You weren’t there. Because I was the one at that place.”
“Oh, so you’ve decided to be completely shameless about this? Well, I get it. You’re trying to hide the fact that you’re Gwiroe, right? If your identity gets exposed, you might get treated like a demon, cause trouble for the company, and normal life would become impossible.”
Demon.
It was the term used for hunters who had lost their sanity after being consumed by the power of legends and stories.
“I figured you had those kinds of circumstances, so I was being considerate. I made sure no one was around when I spoke, didn’t I? And the CCTV over there doesn’t record audio, so don’t worry. Since you seem close with Min-jung noona, you probably know how tight-lipped she is too.”
“……”
“So anyway, how exactly did you do it? I’m genuinely curious. Both Mukesh and Qingxiao were there—how did you overwhelm them so completely…!”
“What color was Gwiroe’s lightning?”
Lee-hyun cut him off with a question.
“……Why are you suddenly asking something so random?”
“You said you were there. Then you should also know that the lightning color of the Thunder God differs for each person. Didn’t you see what color the lightning was when Gwiroe cut off Mukesh’s head?”
Eom Gi-seon rolled his eyes for a brief moment before laughing awkwardly.
“It was white, obviously. Or maybe closer to transparent? That was reported in the news—”
“Wrong. You should have said brown. Or dark brown.”
“That’s Mukesh’s lightning color! That doesn’t even make sen—”
“You didn’t see Gwiroe forcibly absorbing Mukesh’s lightning before killing him?”
“……!?”
“And earlier when I said Gwiroe ‘cut off’ Mukesh’s head, you should have said he ‘burned’ the body instead. Mukesh died from burns.”
“That’s… Hahaha. I must have gotten a little confused. Yeah. His body was charred by dark brown lightning—”
“As I thought. You weren’t there. The truth is, he really did cut the head off.”
“……!!”
Only then did Eom Gi-seon realize he had fallen for Lee-hyun’s trap. His face filled with panic.
Kim Min-jung was equally stunned.
“Haha, hahaha… To fall for wordplay like this. Damn. How could my read on you be so off? I thought I was pretty good with words, but I’m nowhere near your level, Team Leader.”
Eom Gi-seon laughed as he ran a hand through his hair.
Both of his eyes gleamed with madness.
“But it is true that I was in the underground waterway. I saw you overwhelming the curse casters by spraying lightning everywhere. I also saw you walking out casually from the spot where Mukesh and Qingxiao had appeared. I lost my way in the middle because the waterway was too complicated, so I didn’t see everything clearly, but…”
Eom Gi-seon lightly rested his sword on his shoulder.
“Still, since you came out of a place like that, I figured you could handle lightning too and that your skills were outstanding. So I took a guess. Tsk.”
“So what exactly do you want to say?”
“Ah, whatever. That stuff doesn’t matter. Let’s just have one proper fight.”
Eom Gi-seon’s lips twisted into a grin.
“Honestly, whether you’re Gwiroe or not doesn’t really matter to me. I just want to fight you once. I’m kind of into this sort of thing. If you think it’ll damage your reputation as team leader or if you’re scared, I’ll let it g—”
“You should have said that from the beginning.”
Swish.
Lee-hyun smiled faintly as he pulled the Demonic Blade of Blazing Heat from his inventory.
And then—
Pure Lightning Eye
Crackling blue-white lightning surged upward.
The corner of Lee-hyun’s mouth lifted, revealing his fangs.
“I was just thinking it was about time I beat some sense into one insolent team member.”