Chapter 134
Chapter 134
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 134
Chapter Title: A Full Disclosure
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"Welcome back, Big Brother!"
"You've been through a lot, Big Brother!"
"Congratulations on your safe return, Big Brother!"
In front of the Guardian Guild headquarters.
Ten men and women bowed ninety degrees to Do-jae.
Their booming voices were loud enough to echo between the buildings.
"What is all this?"
Do-jae stopped in his tracks and looked at the new guild members.
Every single one of them was wearing the same outfit.
Guilds often had uniforms to foster a sense of belonging or pride, but the ones these members were wearing were... unique.
*Thump, thump—!*
An Tae-geun strode forward confidently and bowed his head.
He was one of the new guild members who had been trained by Briareus.
He took Do-jae's luggage himself and spoke.
"If you're Do-jun's big brother, then you're our big brother, too. Eldest Brother, did you have any trouble on your trip?"
"...Haa. Did Bri... Did Do-jun tell you to do this?"
"Not at all! We are celebrating our Eldest Brother's safe and healthy return from the bottom of our hearts..."
"Enough. Just leave the bags there and all of you, go inside..."
"Yes, sir!"
Do-jae pressed a hand to his forehead and waved the other dismissively.
The new guild members, who had been lined up at the entrance, bowed ninety degrees to Do-jae once more before vanishing into the building like a shot.
"Wow... Brother, when did you get promoted to Eldest Brother? That's amazing!"
Young-jin, who had been watching from the side, said, desperately trying to hold back his laughter.
Knowing that Do-jae didn't enjoy being the center of attention, Young-jin could guess exactly how he was feeling.
It was a rather provocative and childish performance in the middle of the street, something you'd expect to see in a noir film.
It drew the attention of everyone passing by. Seeing Do-jae hang his head, Young-jin knew he was incredibly embarrassed. And indeed, Do-jae was mortified.
"Shut up! More importantly, go find out what's up with those clothes."
"Yes, sir."
Do-jae quickly disappeared into the building.
Young-jin gathered the remaining luggage and followed him inside.
***
*Ding-dong—.*
- Fifth floor.
Do-jae headed straight for Jeong Hoon-hyeon.
He needed to see Briareus, Eun-hee, Ji-yoon, and Ha Tae-seong, but there was something he had to say first.
*Knock, knock—.*
"It's Lee Do-jae."
Do-jae opened Jeong Hoon-hyeon's door and went inside.
Jeong Hoon-hyeon was talking with an old man.
"Oh? Vice Master, you're here? Just a moment. Well then, I'll be in your care..."
"What is there to entrust to an old man like me? I'm just doing as Hwan-soo instructed."
Jeong Hoon-hyeon and the old man shook hands, and the old man stood up and left the room.
He made eye contact with Do-jae on his way out but simply smiled warmly and left without a word.
"Did you get done what you needed to do?"
"Yes, I took care of it."
"Congratulations, but... I couldn't ask before because that man was sent by Hwan-soo... but what exactly are you, Vice Master?"
"What do you mean...?"
"I mean, it's strange that someone of your caliber is holed up in our guild, and you always go out to clear dungeons alone and sweep through them... I mean, thanks to you the guild has grown this much, but... I'm just curious."
"Ah..."
Come to think of it, he had never told Jeong Hoon-hyeon about Gellahan.
Kim Se-hoon of Great Tiger, Gwak Ji-hyeok of Taebaek, Bang Han-soo of the Suppression Corps, and Song Jeong-eun of the Association.
And Kwon Ran-hee of Manseong were the only ones he had told.
The information had most likely—no, almost certainly—been passed on to other leaders through them, but no articles or news reports had appeared anywhere yet. From that, he could tell that their agreement to prevent chaos was still in effect.
Monsters, dungeons, Awakeners.
It was impossible to predict the public's reaction if it were announced that all these phenomena were caused by Gellahan.
Even in this changed world, the fact that 'God exists' was still a difficult truth to accept.
"I apologize for not telling you sooner. I should have told you, Master..."
"No, no! I'm not demanding you tell me... It's just... I mean... we haven't been together for long, but we're like a family now... It's hard to worry and carry such burdens alone, isn't it? Haha... I don't know if I can be of any help, but at least I can listen..."
"Yes. Actually, I had something to tell you related to that, so this is perfect. Let's bring the others in."
"Let's do that."
Do-jae decided to explain everything to Jeong Hoon-hyeon.
And everything about himself as well.
At the very least, Jeong Hoon-hyeon, Young-jin, Ji-yoon, and Eun-hee were people he could trust, and they needed to be told.
***
Ten minutes later.
Jeong Hoon-hyeon's room was packed with people.
They had moved, and the new Guild Master's office was larger than before, but with seven people crammed inside, it felt a little tight.
"What's going on?"
Young-jin was the first to speak.
With all of Guardian's core leadership gathered, he couldn't contain his curiosity.
"Right? A sudden meeting. Did something happen in America?"
Ji-yoon asked Young-jin.
Young-jin tilted his head and shook it.
"Alright, alright, since everyone's here, let's get started. The Vice Master has something to say. Find a seat, everyone."
Jeong Hoon-hyeon had the standing guild members sit down.
The guild members found empty spots and gathered around Do-jae.
"I've gathered you all here because there's something important to discuss. It's about the fundamental reason you've all been fighting monsters until now..."
Do-jae began his story carefully.
Seeing Do-jae's unusually serious demeanor, everyone leaned in and focused.
"First, hearing my story won't drastically change your lives. You'll keep fighting monsters, surviving them... It's just that from now on, that life will become more difficult..."
*Trilling- tring- trilling-.*
The sound of someone's smartphone alarm cut Do-jae off.
"Who is it? We're in the middle of something important."
Jeong Hoon-hyeon asked, his voice laced with annoyance.
Then, a man turned off the alarm with a bright smile.
It was Briareus, Do-jun.
"Ah! Can't miss hot time."
And with that, Briareus launched a mobile game and started playing.
Jeong Hoon-hyeon and Young-jin stared at the scene in disbelief, but the others looked as if this was normal.
"Hey, come on now. Playing a game in the middle of a story is a bit much."
"It's fine. Don't mind Do-jun. He's always like that."
Do-jae calmed down the displeased Jeong Hoon-hyeon.
In Briareus's case, he didn't even need to be here. While Do-jae was gathering the other guild members, Briareus had seen the guild's key figures assembling and insisted on taking a seat himself.
Besides, Briareus already knew of Gellahan's existence and had no interest in any living being other than himself, so it didn't matter if he paid attention or not.
Of course, for Young-jin and Ji-yoon's sake, he also had no intention of revealing that Briareus was the dragon from the Busan Suppression.
"Then I'll continue. In the not-so-distant future, South Korea will face a massive, extinction-level monster invasion."
"......?"
"......!"
Everyone's expressions changed dramatically at Do-jae's statement.
Young-jin and Ji-yoon's eyes went wide, Eun-hee covered her mouth in shock, and Ha Tae-seong clutched his severed arm.
Do-jae's words were that shocking.
"The Vice Master and I went to the Association last week, remember? This came up then. And to prepare for it, the guilds are in close discussion under the Association's lead. They're even investigating based on the images described by a prophet named Helen Lopez."
Jeong Hoon-hyeon added this explanation to soothe the guild members' troubled minds.
But the unsettled atmosphere didn't calm down easily.
"Don't worry too much. What I'm about to tell you is about myself and that destruction. Whether you believe me or not is up to you."
Do-jae took a long sip of his iced Americano.
Then he slowly began his story.
How he became a Golemancer, the Sealed Memory and the Transcendence Stone, the other world, the Ascetics, and the Apostates—everything.
***
"I'm not doubting you, Vice Master, but... this is really hard to believe..."
After hearing all of Do-jae's story.
Ha Tae-seong was the first to speak.
He couldn't process the incredible story that went so far beyond his common sense.
No, it was a story that was impossible to process.
"No, I believe him. When I first met you, Brother, you were an F-rank."
"That's right. When I first met him, he said he was an F-rank!"
"I saw it with my own eyes. How hard Mr. Do-jae worked back when he was an F-rank..."
In contrast, Ji-yoon, Young-jin, and Eun-hee showed their complete trust in Do-jae.
Eun-hee, in particular, knew of Do-jae's past before he became a Golemancer, so she had no choice but to believe his story, no matter how fantastical it was.
"So you're saying the monsters we've been hunting all this time, they're all intelligent beings? The Hoe-in?"
Jeong Hoon-hyeon asked, a look of discomfort on his face.
Until now, he had thought of them as mere threats to humanity with animal-level intelligence.
But according to Do-jae, 'Hoe-in' was just a name given by humans, and they were a race just like humans, called Gray Elves.
"No. In that world, there was a clear distinction between monsters and other races. Not intelligence, but sapience. Beings with sapience live in social structures, just like us humans. The Gray Elves were also fighting for survival against monsters. However... Gellahan's power turned them into monsters and is now affecting our world."
"Sapience..."
"Monsters and other races..."
Jeong Hoon-hyeon and Ha Tae-seong were lost in thought.
This was the part Do-jae had been most worried about.
Their feelings upon realizing that the creatures they had hunted without guilt, assuming they were just monsters, were in fact beings capable of thought, just like humans.
Do-jae himself was still conflicted and agonized over this point, so he had wondered how to phrase it, but in the end, he told them the plain truth.
"But that doesn't change the fact that they're our enemies right now, does it? I... I almost died because of those Hoe-in."
Young-jin said, clenching his fists.
Back when he first joined the Suppression Corps, Young-jin had a near-death experience at the hands of the Hoe-in.
As such, to Young-jin, the Hoe-in were no different from any other monster.
"If I think of them not as Hoe-in but as humans, then I... it's difficult..."
"Eun-hee! Whatever they are, they kill us without mercy! Think of the comrades we lost to them!"
Ji-yoon snapped in response to Eun-hee's hesitation.
It was understandable that Jeong Hoon-hyeon and Eun-hee would feel that way about the other races.
This was the difference between Hunters and the Suppression Corps.
Hunters enter dungeons specifically to hunt monsters.
The Suppression Corps, however, hunts monsters that attack people when a dungeon break occurs.
It was a difference in perspective born from the difference in their jobs' objectives.
The conceptual gap between those who strike first and those who fight to prevent any loss of life.
"That's right. Ji-yoon's thoughts and Ms. Eun-hee's thoughts are both valid. That's why I've decided to focus on just one thing. Gellahan. I'm going to focus only on eliminating Gellahan."
When things get complicated and difficult, you just have to simplify them.
Focus on a single, clear goal and move forward.
"And there's one last thing I have to say."
Do-jae drained the rest of his Americano.
He had intended to tell only Jeong Hoon-hyeon, but it ended up with him telling all the core members everything about himself. In any case, this was his final point.
"In two weeks, I will be returning to the other world. This was the promise I made to the Ascetic during the Busan Suppression."