Chapter 125
Chapter 125
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: What the Clairvoyant Saw
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As Helen Lopez finished speaking, the conference hall erupted with the voices of the representatives.
Some hunters reacted with outrage, while others were lost in thought.
Jeong Hoon-hyeon observed the reactions around them and whispered quietly into Do-jae's ear.
"What did she say? Why is everyone so angry? Something about 'this country'?"
"...She said that the Republic of Korea will be destroyed."
"Really? You're lying, right? You're just messing with me because I don't speak English."
"Why would I lie to you, Master?"
"Right...? The Vice Guild Master isn't the type to tell such a ridiculous lie... Judging by the atmosphere, it must be true..."
At Do-jae's words, Jeong Hoon-hyeon glanced around.
In response to Helen Lopez's shocking declaration, the representatives of each guild stood up and shouted in protest.
"What did you just say? What's going to happen to our country?"
"Hold on, Association President. Is that old woman really Helen? I thought she was dead."
"The Republic of Korea destroyed? Pfft, why not just say the whole world is ending?"
The agitated hunters unleashed a fearsome aura, causing Jeong Hoon-hyeon to break out in a cold sweat without even realizing it.
Just then, Kwon Ran-hee slammed her hand on the table and spoke in a booming voice.
"Everyone, shut up! Mrs. Lopez isn't finished speaking!"
At Kwon Ran-hee's fiery command, the representatives who had been voicing their complaints exchanged glances and, one by one, sat back down.
Kwon Ran-hee glared at each of the hunters who had been shouting, then swept her hair back, her expression shifting as she spoke demurely.
"Mrs. Lopez. On behalf of these foolish Koreans, I apologize."
"No, it's quite all right. This is a natural reaction... I came with you prepared to face their condemnation."
Helen Lopez withstood the waves of anger directed at her.
Considering her age and the fact that, aside from her 'Clairvoyance', she was no different from an ordinary person, she took a slow, deep breath.
After taking a sip of water, she spoke again.
"It's alright if you don't believe me. I am only here to tell you what I have seen."
"Explain yourself. How is it that our Republic of Korea... will be destroyed?"
Pyo Hoon, the Guild Master of the 6th-ranked 'Gong' Guild, asked.
His arms were crossed, his posture radiating disbelief.
"Four stars fall from the sky, and the cities are overrun by monsters. A sea of fire, corpses, screams... and a black tower."
"Are you talking about a Dungeon Break?"
"That is something I cannot say for certain... What I see is like a dream, unfolding like an illusion. However, I do not see an explosion like the Dungeon Breaks I know of."
"And you're saying this happens to the Republic of Korea, of all places? That's utterly ridiculous."
Pyo Hoon unfolded his arms and stood up.
While Gwak Ji-hyeok was large, Pyo Hoon was tall and broad enough to be called a giant.
He looked around the room and declared.
"What kind of country is our Republic of Korea? Despite this small patch of land, we have tens of thousands of high-ranking hunters! And is that all? Lower-ranking hunters and the Suppression Corps are everywhere, their eyes ablaze, protecting people from monsters! The same goes for everyone gathered here. Each and every one of these individuals supports the Republic of Korea, so how dare you speak of its destruction!"
Pyo Hoon's reaction was so intense that his long, dark eyebrows seemed to fly.
*Thud-!*
Kwon Ran-hee slammed her hand on the table, stood up, and pointed a finger at Pyo Hoon.
"Pyo Hoon! Madam came here at great personal risk! You're the one who should watch your mouth!"
"Hmph, what the hell do you know, you bitch? You abandon your own guild to go gallivanting around outside."
"You damned old geezer!"
"You wench!"
Kwon Ran-hee and Pyo Hoon glared at each other, growling.
A thick vein bulged on Pyo Hoon's forehead, while Kwon Ran-hee crushed the table she was holding.
*Crack-.*
It was a volatile situation, as if a fight could break out at any moment.
Fortunately, Song Deok-hoon and Pyo Hoon's Vice Guild Master, Kim Woo-yong, pulled the two apart, preventing a clash.
"Ma'am. Is that all?"
Just then, Nam Gang-ryul spoke for the first time.
His heavy, powerful question silenced the noisy hall, and even Kwon Ran-hee and Pyo Hoon sat back down, still glaring at each other.
"Yes, that is the limit of what I can see."
"Understood. Vice Representative Kim Se-hoon, let's go."
Nam Gang-ryul and Kim Se-hoon rose from their seats.
"Wait. Representative Nam Gang-ryul, Vice Representative Kim Se-hoon. We still have more to discuss. Please, take your seats..."
"Association President. Great Tiger will handle its own affairs. I'd appreciate it if you didn't call us for matters like this again."
With those final words, Nam Gang-ryul stormed out the door.
Kim Se-hoon also bowed his head to Jeong In-gon before disappearing from the conference hall.
"Great Tiger will handle its own affairs? Does he think the rest of us are here because we can't?"
"Vice Representative, let's go as well. We've wasted our time coming here."
As the Great Tiger Guild left, others began to rise from their seats, declaring they would also handle things themselves.
"Hey! Everyone sit down! Can't you see the Association President isn't finished speaking!"
Gwak Ji-hyeok bellowed at the representatives.
Those who had stood up were cowed by Gwak Ji-hyeok's presence and sat back down.
"My apologies, madam. Let's stop here for you. You may leave. The rest of us will continue the discussion."
Helen Lopez left with the help of a staff member, and Song Deok-hoon returned to the podium.
"I suppose I should have prepared snacks after all. This seems like it will be a long discussion. Well then, Representative Kwon, could you tell us the rest?"
"Of course. As long as that senile old man promises not to interrupt me."
"Master Pyo... please."
At Jeong In-gon's request, Pyo Hoon crossed his arms and scowled.
As Kwon Ran-hee walked up to the podium, she raised her middle finger at Pyo Hoon.
"You... you crazy...!"
"Now then, I will tell you what Mrs. Lopez saw!"
***
"Vice Guild Master, I think we just heard something incredible..."
"Indeed... But can we please go now?"
*Tap, tap-.*
Do-jae tapped his fingers on the table, expressing his frustration.
It had been ten minutes since the meeting ended.
Everyone else had left, and only Do-jae and Jeong Hoon-hyeon remained in the empty conference hall.
"Just a minute. I'm almost done."
Jeong Hoon-hyeon was carefully placing sheets of paper into a file he had brought.
On those papers were the autographs of the hunters who had gathered in the conference hall.
"I didn't know you had a hobby like this."
"Vice Guild Master, this isn't a hobby. It's a natural instinct for any person. It's about capturing the memory of meeting someone you admire in a single signature."
"I see..."
Do-jae silently watched Jeong Hoon-hyeon's incomprehensible behavior.
He couldn't understand what was so precious about a sloppy scribble on a piece of paper.
He could understand the kids who got his autograph, but this was different.
"It's such a shame I couldn't get the Great Tiger members' autographs... And that Gwak Ji-hyeok fellow is a real class act. He even took a picture with me."
Jeong Hoon-hyeon finally placed all the papers in the file and stood up with a satisfied look.
Jeong Hoon-hyeon, who found happiness in a mere piece of paper.
Thinking he would never understand it, Do-jae followed him out of the conference hall.
"But now that I think about it, I didn't get your autograph, Vice Guild Master. Could you maybe give me one now..."
"Would you mind going down first?"
"Huh? Why? Ah... go on."
"I'll be down in a moment. Well then..."
Do-jae sent Jeong Hoon-hyeon off in the elevator and turned back around.
He headed toward two women standing near the back door of the conference hall.
"What is it?"
The women waiting for him were Kwon Ran-hee and Helen Lopez.
Kwon Ran-hee spoke with a displeased look on her face.
"Madam wishes to see you one more time."
"...Why me?"
"I don't know. She says you're the only one she can't see."
Do-jae looked at Helen Lopez with a puzzled expression.
She took off her sunglasses and approached him.
But Kwon Ran-hee grabbed her arm and said.
"Madam, please think about it again. That eye... you don't have many uses left."
"Ran-hee, I know. That's why I must see this young man properly. Even if it means I can never see again."
Helen Lopez handed her sunglasses to Kwon Ran-hee and opened her eyes.
She stared intently at Do-jae.
As she focused, the wrinkles around her eyes and between her brows deepened.
"Ah..."
"Madam!"
Do-jae and Kwon Ran-hee caught Helen Lopez as she was about to collapse.
However, she shook off Do-jae's arm, clutched her head, and began to tremble and scream.
"Aah...! No! You... what are you! Please... please!"
"Madam! Get a grip! What did you see?"
"What... what I saw was neither the future... nor the past... He was always there...! Aaaah..."
"You! What did you do to Madam!"
"I didn't do anything..."
Kwon Ran-hee wrapped her arms around the shivering Helen Lopez and shouted at Do-jae.
But Do-jae was just as bewildered.
All he had done was stand still because she said she wanted to see him.
- That woman saw something she should not have.
'Altein? What do you mean?'
- It is as I said. How could her very being not crumble when she dared to follow the hidden footsteps of a god with mortal eyes? Tsk, tsk.
Altein clicked his tongue in pity.
Do-jae stepped away from the terrified Helen Lopez and spoke to Altein.
'The footsteps of a god... Does that mean she saw you, Altein?'
- No, what she saw was not Elatra or myself. If it were, I would have seen her as well. So, who could she have encountered? Let us pray it was not the other side.
'The other side... Are you talking about the Apostates?'
- Indeed. If what she saw was Ridirian, things will become troublesome. Through the connection of their minds, that fiend would have seen the future she has witnessed.
Ridirian, the name Havik had mentioned on the 7th floor of the sinkhole.
Recalling their names made Do-jae's heart pound, but he collected himself and spoke.
'But the Association has planned to formulate countermeasures based on Helen Lopez's story. In any case, the future she saw will not change, and we have time to prepare until the four stars—the Apostates—arrive.'
- And why do you think the future will not change?
'Even a changed future is still the future, is it not? Helen Lopez said that the singularity in the future she saw will happen one way or another.'
- That is only true if causality is not broken. The power to transcend and shatter causality is what divinity is. A fixed future is only possible within the framework of mortals.
'...It sounds like you're saying humans have no choice but to move according to your games.'
- I am on your side.
Do-jae returned to the spot where Helen Lopez had collapsed.
A clump of her white hair lay on the floor, torn out in her terrified struggle.
'The day of my promise with Havik is approaching. Before then, I must meet all of you—all the Ascetics.'