Chapter 90
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Hero, Please Rise
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Tatatak—
The black dual-wield knight tore through the battlefield.
Weaving between the trash mobs with dazzling gear and flashy skills, the knight fell back momentarily to recover when his stamina ran low.
Swoosh—
A shadow fell over the knight.
Looking up, a vicious-looking orc loomed above him.
With the orc's brute strength, it could deal a fatal blow to the defenseless knight.
The knight's health and stamina were both depleted.
It was a do-or-die moment.
The orc, who stood at least two meters tall, slowly lifted a thick book.
—Brother, rise!
—Truly grateful!
A green light enveloped the knight's body, followed by a grateful macro voice line.
"Nice heal."
Brüel spat it out with a look of disdain.
"You're such a nuisance. Don't you realize how much precious mana you've wasted on me?"
"...Hey, Elf lady, I appreciate the heals, but can you stop trash-talking me every time you cast one?"
We were at an internet cafe right now.
Me, Junhyeok, and Brüel.
It was a weekday morning, so Minji wasn't around.
"Because of your sloppy control, I've had to waste mana. What if I can't use a skill when Su-hyeon is in danger?"
"No, I've got it all calculated.... And it's not that I couldn't dodge—it was intentional trading to push through."
Junhyeok tried to explain amid the harsh criticism, but Brüel just snorted.
"Hmph, lame excuses. Always so full of pointless pride."
"......"
Brüel and Junhyeok kept bickering nonstop with me in the middle, all while manipulating their characters.
"Brüel, I'm a damage tank, so it's fine."
Junhyeok's character was a dual-wield knight with solid DPS but low health—a glass cannon optimized for damage through cash investment, relying on heals or control to cover its fragility.
Brüel was still using the orc priest account I'd lent her.
I was playing a sword-and-board knight suited for solo play.
That meant Brüel's heals should focus on Junhyeok, which made sense....
"Su-hyeon, there's always the what-if scenarios. No matter how much you hold a shield, you can't guarantee you won't get into a pinch."
"No, before that, you two usually die first."
The raid we were running as a trio had reached its final stretch.
—Kuhahaha! There's no place for you here...!
"Speaking of which, your methods... They're kinda weird, you know?"
Junhyeok said it while frantically dodging attacks.
He didn't pinpoint it exactly, but I knew he meant my protection detail right away.
"What's so weird about them? We haven't let a single hair on Su-hyeon's head get hurt so far."
Brüel asked in an even tone.
But her slightly quickened speech felt like a challenge: point out the flaw if you see it.
"No, it's too clean. Anyone who looks even a little would notice something's off."
Junhyeok recalled the moment he'd first sensed it.
Right now, the area around Su-hyeon was impeccably clear.
"Even if they notice, it doesn't matter. In fact, that's what we want."
It was a kind of warning.
Something beyond their level was watching over her, so don't even think of approaching.
And any small fry too dumb to get the message could be erased without a trace.
Just like that time when Su-hyeon's info briefly leaked among the reporters.
A quick trace showed they weren't real journalists, and the info source had just been probing around Su-hyeon carelessly.
In other words, Lee Jae-hyeok and the reporters were small-timers who couldn't even grasp how things worked around Su-hyeon.
'...Utter trash.'
It would have been warning enough to whoever pulled their strings.
The lack of real threats since then was proof.
"That's... Whoa, dangerous! If we're splitting hairs, you're more suited for offense than protection."
"Hah."
The heals to Junhyeok cut off abruptly.
His hands moved even faster.
"Are you saying you're better suited to protect Su-hyeon than we are?"
"Well, that wasn't my intent, but if you think about it, we'd probably do it better.... Hey, no heal?"
The elves excelled at elite guerrilla ops, while the guild was built for group combat from the start.
When weighing purpose and scale, Camellia Guild was the better fit.
Plus, elves had the penalty of not operating openly in the light.
"How unpleasant. Care for a mock battle with us?"
"No, that's not what I meant. Besides, you said you don't even have a proper base."
"Of course. No assets to protect means we can rampage freely."
"...? Isn't that the opposite of what you said earlier?"
"You two, cut it out. What kind of talk is this in a PC bang?"
—All your struggles are meaningless!
The boss entered its final phase and unleashed an instant-kill pattern.
Players had to hide behind the stone pillars scattered around the map's center—where the boss stood—to dodge the flames.
The dual-wield knight, who'd been pumping damage into the boss up to the last second, headed for the nearest pillar.
But the orc priest already there blocked his path with her bulky frame.
"W-Wait...! What are you doing?!"
"Su-hyeon and I are already here, so you go that way. It's cramped, and it's annoying."
The orc priest used an emote to shove the knight aside repeatedly.
A stern expression as she kept thrusting her palm out.
"No, it's too late already...! Stop pushing!"
"Brüel, stop! You're out of range too!"
"Oh."
Otherworldly Orc Evangelist has died.
Strongest Dual-Wield has died.
"......"
"......"
—In the end, you will meet your doom!
Engulfed in flames, the boss wrecked the map, signaling the game's final phase.
"......Are you two elementary school kids or what?"
"...Sorry."
"No, but why am I...?"
It was impossible for my slow, tanky sword-and-board knight to save both alone.
In the end, Su-hyeon had to solo the boss for nearly ten minutes of grueling effort to clear it.
A boss that three of us could've downed in under three minutes.
Knock knock knock—
"Come in."
A slender old man gazing out the window responded in a low voice to the polite knock.
Click.
With permission granted, Hunter Mun Jeong-hyeon—the one summoned by the council chairman—cautiously opened the door and entered.
He'd only recently succeeded in his A-rank promotion.
His confidence was sky-high.
But the man who'd called him wasn't someone he could eye lightly.
This person's support had been key to his A-rank ascent in the first place.
Mun Jeong-hyeon bowed toward the old man's back.
"You called for me, Chairman?"
As Mun Jeong-hyeon greeted him, the white-haired elder turned.
"Ah, Mun Jeong-hyeon."
Even past eighty, the old man's frame rippled with solid muscle.
'This is... one of the old guard heroes...'
Jeong-hyeon shuddered slightly, catching a glimpse of the man's prime in his piercing gaze.
"I stopped by Camellia the other day and saw something curious."
"...Something curious, sir?"
Mun Jeong-hyeon raised an eyebrow.
"A child wearing a fully bloomed camellia flower."
"...Pardon?"
A fully bloomed camellia flower.
It was a kind of mark.
A sign that the wearer was Camellia VIP—handle with care.
Kim Ye-rin, who handled most operations, was the prime example.
But Ye-rin was an A-rank powerhouse in her own right, and her humble nature made the badge's weight hard to feel.
"You must have misseen.... No, forgive my impertinence."
Jeong-hyeon started doubtfully, but the old man showed clear displeasure.
"I saw it with my own two eyes, so it's certain."
"My apologies."
Bowing his head, Jeong-hyeon quietly probed.
"......Could it be Gu Junhyeok's child, or someone else's?"
"Curious, are you?"
"......Yes."
"Well, so am I. If you find out, let me know."
Only then did Jeong-hyeon realize.
This was an order.
Investigate and report back.
"Understood."
"Good. Now that you're A-rank, it's time to swim in deeper waters, no? There's an opening in Strategic Planning...."
"...! I'll do my best."
"Heh, doing your best is a given, you fool."
As Jeong-hyeon left the room beaming, the chairman slowly turned.
Passing the desk, a ornate nameplate caught the eye.
Korean Hunter Talent Development International Council
Chairman Jang Tae-won
Jang Tae-won turned his gaze to the window.
Seoul's skyline stretched before him—the city and nation he and his comrades had once defended with their lives.
But now, that city was forgetting them.
"Time is truly merciless."
He stared at his reflection in the glass.
Snow-white hair and beard. Faint scars etched between the wrinkles.
Yet his eyes remained as sharp as ever.
"No point dressing it up with pretty words."
The old guard hunters once hailed as heroes, but those days were gone.
Their flashy-titled organization mirrored their plight.
Of course, Jang Tae-won and his peers had secured elite status with the wealth and fame from their youth.
They'd lived lavishly, and their grandchildren's grandchildren would too.
But ambition didn't stop there.
He yearned to stand above the people once more.
"We deserve to enjoy far more."
Beyond reclaiming past glory, greater greed burned in his heart.
To forge a stratified hunter society and reign at its pinnacle. For that dream, he'd spare no means.
Even deliberately neglecting gates to plunge the world into chaos again seemed fine.
Awakeners would scramble to become hunters, while the unawakened losers looked up to them in awe and desperation.
Being hailed as heroes didn't make one's heart heroic.
"...Hmph, S-ranks. Tsk tsk. Bunch of kids playing at ranks."
Jang Tae-won especially despised S-ranks.
Brats born into peace who'd never known true hardship, lording it over others just because their power was big.
Undoubtedly clueless about real combat.
If the chance came, he'd flatten their noses.
"I hope that kid is that greenhorn's weakness."
Jang Tae-won pulled an old photo from his drawer.
A picture of him and his comrades in their youth.
The resolute eyes of back then had twisted into jealousy and craving for power.