Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: The Treatment Room
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Three weeks had passed since he’d had dinner with Eun-hee’s family.
Thanks to Eun-hee’s mother’s kindness, she had offered to look after his younger brother until he graduated from elementary school.
Even though Do-jae had insisted it was fine, she had taken him in, saying it wasn’t good for a child to grow up without an adult around.
And behind her offer was the overwhelming support of Jeong In-gon.
He’d always said he wanted a son and was eager to have the boy stay with them, but it was clear that wasn't his only motive.
In any case, Do-jae was relieved that his brother could grow up in a good environment.
"Vice Master, come to my office for a moment."
Jeong Hoon-hyeon called out to Do-jae, who was sitting in his own office.
Screech—.
"What can I do for… you?"
Heading into the office, Do-jae was surprised by Jeong Hoon-hyeon’s appearance.
He looked neat and tidy, a stark contrast to his usual self.
His hair was cut short, the gold accessories he always wore were gone, and his clothes were smart.
"What do you think? Look pretty sharp, don't I? I clean up well."
Jeong Hoon-hyeon spun around, showing off to Do-jae.
Do-jae had to admit that dressed like this, he looked much more respectable.
"It's a huge improvement over your usual look."
"Hehehe. I can't keep acting like my old self. Our guild's made quite a name for itself, hasn't it?"
Jeong Hoon-hyeon opened his cabinet and pulled out a tea set he must have bought somewhere.
Then, he tore open a new bag of tea leaves from a fancy package.
But it seemed he hadn't studied how to brew tea, because he fumbled with what to do next.
"I'll just have coffee."
"Really? Alright, then."
In the end, they settled on instant coffee in paper cups.
While Jeong Hoon-hyeon made the coffee, Do-jae looked at his desk.
It was a complete 180 from how it used to be.
Piles of various documents were stacked up, and it looked like he had just been working on something.
It was finally a desk worthy of a guild master.
"Thanks to you, Vice Master, I've gotten incredibly busy."
Jeong Hoon-hyeon said with a sigh as he brought over the coffee.
But from his bright expression, it was clear he didn't really mean it.
Since the dual dungeon incident, the guild had grown at an explosive rate.
Requests for dungeon raids they couldn't handle before were flooding in, and they were also conducting interviews to recruit new members.
They were scheduled to move offices soon, having already signed a contract for a building several times larger than their current one.
On top of that, their alliance with Manseong was in progress, and word had already spread, further elevating the guild's prestige.
It was truly meteoric growth.
"Honestly, I'm so swamped I could use ten pairs of hands. I'd love to dump it all on Manager Shim, but he seems just as exhausted."
Just as Jeong Hoon-hyeon said, Young-jin was also having a busy time.
Young-jin and Jeong Hoon-hyeon had great synergy when it came to running the guild. Of course, this led them to take on more and more work, so he had brought some of it on himself.
But the bigger reason for Young-jin's fatigue was Do-jae.
Twice a week, Do-jae would take Young-jin aside and slowly increase his mana.
Whether you called it a procedure or a treatment, the process was so draining that it left Young-jin completely exhausted, and Do-jae also consumed a significant amount of stamina each time.
Therefore, twice a week was the most they could manage, and they spent the rest of their time raiding dungeons or sparring together.
Juggling all of this, Young-jin was probably so busy he barely had time to sleep.
"Seeing the kids gain confidence little by little makes me so grateful I could bow to you, Vice Master."
The other guild members were also growing day by day.
Whenever he had a spare moment, Do-jae also trained Ji-yoon and the Ha Tae-gong trio to the best of his knowledge.
He focused on sparring since their bodies likely couldn't handle mana infusions like Young-jin's.
Teaching someone was incredibly difficult, but Do-jae himself learned a lot from the experience, so he called the younger members for training whenever he found time.
Gong So-eun's growth, in particular, was dazzling; she absorbed everything he taught her and made it her own.
"It's all thanks to your hard work, Master. I haven't done much."
"Just as I thought. You always know the right thing to say, Vice Master. You're the treasure of this guild, a real treasure!"
"I'm just doing what I want to do. But, why did you call for me?"
"Right. Here."
Jeong Hoon-hyeon handed him a slip of paper.
Do-jae took the note and read it.
It was an address quite a distance from the office.
"Gangwon Province? What's this for?"
"It's not for me, it's for you. I just got off the phone with Hwan-soo."
"Captain Kim Hwan-soo? Why does he want me to go there?"
"I'm not sure myself. He just said to have you come."
Do-jae wondered what connection Kim Hwan-soo had to Gangwon Province.
If he had to guess, the Chilgok Unit's main base was in Cheorwon, but the address on the note said Hwacheon County.
Then he wondered if it had to do with the three conditions he had set.
Free time, and an unlimited supply of dungeons.
Those two were being honored.
That left the request for a teacher.
He guessed that perhaps they were bringing him a teacher from Hwacheon.
"Should I go right now?"
"Hwan-soo said to come as soon as you're free, but to make it as quick as possible. So yeah, you should probably go now."
"Understood. I'll leave right away."
Do-jae downed the rest of his coffee in one gulp and stood up.
"Have a safe trip. And put in a good word for me with Hwan-soo!"
Jeong Hoon-hyeon called out in a hushed voice as Do-jae left the room.
***
'Is this the place?'
After leaving the office, Do-jae headed straight for Hwacheon and arrived at a secluded house.
Aside from being a little distant from the neighborhood, it looked like an ordinary house from the outside.
Do-jae pressed the doorbell next to the large gate.
A moment later, he heard the sound of a lock disengaging, and the gate opened.
Clank—.
Creeak—.
'This doesn't seem like an ordinary house.'
Stepping through the gate, he found a spacious yard.
What was unusual was that not a single blade of grass grew in the yard, and multiple tire tracks indicated that vehicles frequently came and went.
Do-jae walked along the gravel path to the front door.
He was about to ring the doorbell again, but the door was already open.
"Is anyone here?"
Do-jae asked as he stepped inside.
His first impression of the inside was that it was so desolate, he wondered if anyone actually lived there.
The living room had nothing but a table and chairs—no other furniture or appliances—and the view down the hallway was just as bare.
It was so empty that a model home would have felt more lived-in.
"You're here."
Just then, Kim Hwan-soo appeared at the end of the hall.
He was wearing a pure white protective suit, which he began to take off as he approached Do-jae.
"Well, I can't treat you like I used to anymore."
Kim Hwan-soo said with a broad smile, offering a handshake.
Wondering why a man who should be at the Suppression Corps headquarters was here, Do-jae shook his hand.
"I didn't expect you to be here in person."
"Shouldn't I be here myself to greet the Vice Guild Master of Guardian?"
"Are you making fun of me?"
Do-jae frowned slightly, and Kim Hwan-soo let out a hearty laugh.
"I'm serious. I called an S-rank Hunter all the way out here. Of course I had to be here."
"I'm still a C-rank."
"Is that what's important? What's important is how much flak I'm getting because of you."
"Excuse me? You're getting flak because of me?"
Do-jae's brow furrowed once more.
This time, Kim Hwan-soo's expression hardened as he replied.
"For letting someone like you go. After all, I was your superior, and I was the one who approved your discharge. So all the blame is falling on me."
Still, the faint smile playing on Kim Hwan-soo's lips suggested he didn't mind it all that much.
"I apologize for that. It was my choice."
"No, I'm the one who allowed it. And there are ways you can be of more help outside the Suppression Corps."
"Is that so? Then did you call me here to ask for one of those favors? I came thinking you'd found the teacher I requested as part of our conditions."
Kim Hwan-soo's face showed a flash of realization.
"My apologies. I'd completely forgotten…."
Do-jae wondered if he had truly forgotten and checked with the Eye of the Golem, but Kim Hwan-soo was being completely sincere.
"...Did you take my conditions too lightly?"
"Absolutely not. I was just so focused on finding a teacher you'd approve of that it slipped my mind for a moment."
Kim Hwan-soo apologized, patting Do-jae on the shoulder.
Do-jae understood, so he simply stood there.
He knew he was partly responsible for making Kim Hwan-soo so busy.
"I'll find someone and send them to Guardian as soon as possible. Just wait a little longer."
"I'll be counting on it."
"And this."
Kim Hwan-soo handed Do-jae the protective suit he was holding.
Then he spoke in a very serious tone.
"Follow me."
***
Following Kim Hwan-soo to the end of the hall, they came to a door.
Kim Hwan-soo opened the narrow door, which was only wide enough for one person to pass through at a time, and went inside.
And beyond it was not a room, but a staircase.
It wasn't a simple staircase leading to a basement storeroom, but one that descended much deeper.
Thud, thud—.
How far down had they gone?
Do-jae descended vertically to a depth that seemed at least five stories underground.
There, a vast, open space unfolded before him.
Only then did Do-jae realize the house had been built to conceal this facility.
"Change into this."
As soon as they reached the underground space, Kim Hwan-soo pulled his protective suit all the way on.
Seeing this, Do-jae also began to put on his suit.
He was adept at it, having worn one frequently when Do-young was hospitalized.
"Is this a research lab…."
The space before him was filled with people and equipment of unknown purpose.
Everyone was wearing the same kind of protective suit as Do-jae, bustling about as they operated computers or compared graphs and charts on monitors.
"No, it's a treatment room."
Kim Hwan-soo walked deeper inside.
Small, glass-walled compartments came into view.
Inside the roughly thirty compartments, people were hooked up to all sorts of devices.
None of them were conscious; they lay on their beds, so still it was impossible to tell if they were dead or alive.
"A treatment room… What kind of treatment?"
As they moved between the compartments, people in protective suits hurried past.
All those they passed saluted Kim Hwan-soo, indicating that this was a facility related to the Suppression Corps.
"Well. To be honest, it's less about treatment and more about finding a cure. In that sense, I suppose your term, research lab, is more accurate."
Kim Hwan-soo and Do-jae passed several more compartments before stopping at the one at the very end.
"Come over here. It's someone you know."
Having stopped, Kim Hwan-soo pointed through the glass.
"Take a look inside."
Do-jae moved closer and peered into the compartment.
And inside, just as Kim Hwan-soo had said, he saw a man he knew well lying there.
"Team Leader Kang Young-chan?"