#41 There It Was.
It had already been a week since the Phantom incident exploded onto the scene.
King sat there with a sullen expression. In front of him, Theo stood with arms crossed, acting all high and mighty.
[Why so sullen? I'm offering to pass down my family's secret arts, you know.]
"Huh? Ah..."
King blinked up at Theo. There were two reasons for his hesitation.
"It's Phantom. I'm starting to doubt if we should even be chasing them..."
The more he investigated, the more suspicious things piled up. It was a thought that had struck him while looking into the items Phantom had stolen.
There was some secret the Napa Guild's leadership was hiding.
And the second reason...
'Can I really learn some secret art or whatever from this guy?'
It was a perfectly valid concern. To King, Theo seemed a bit... lacking. Honestly, he even felt weaker than himself, and as much as he hated to say it, Theo came off as a little dumb. Mana cultivation methods were a big deal—kind of scary, even.
King glanced at Kang-ho with uneasy eyes. Kang-ho stared back with a stern expression.
Then—
Pfft—he let out a slight chuckle before clearing his throat with a hem-hem.
"......?"
"Learn it."
Kang-ho gave the simple answer, then sat back in his seat.
"......"
King trusted Kang-ho. So, from now on, he'd trust the guy in front of him too—the one who couldn't wait and had already pulled out his smartphone, fiddling around with it like a kid mesmerized by a toy.
[First, focus your mana into one spot.]
Theo opened his mouth to speak.
* * *
"How's it going?"
[He's got talent—his mana control is impressive.]
Kang-ho nodded lightly.
In the penthouse, King had gone to a secluded room. Sitting cross-legged, he was compressing his mana in the mana hole at his heart.
[Start by practicing gathering it into one mass like that. Next, you'll learn purification. Basics from the ground up. It's actually better that he hasn't learned any prior mana cultivation methods—makes building a solid foundation easier. But—]
Theo glanced at Kang-ho.
[What do you use, exactly?]
"Huh?"
[I told that mage last time, remember? That you're defying the natural order.]
"Yeah."
[On you...]
[There's an incredibly natural energy swirling around.]
"......"
[What mana cultivation method did you learn? You must have your family's secret art too, right?]
Kang-ho gave Theo a wry smile.
Kang-ho didn't have anything like that. Or rather, he'd never even thought about it.
He'd grown strong through countless wars. By cutting down hundreds, thousands of enemies a day, living that way for twenty years—he'd grown strong.
Of course, even Kang-ho had his secrets.
"Who knows."
Thump—
Thump—
Thump—
Inside Kang-ho's heart, an immense mana breathed.
[Hmm... fine.]
Theo glanced over to the side, then walked toward King.
Kang-ho let out a soft sigh and closed his eyes.
Hummm—
Mana began to move at Kang-ho's will. Thick mana, like a deep blue sea, flowed heavily through his entire body.
In the midst of it, he sensed something at the source of the mana.
Thump—
Thump—
Thump—
Something lurking quietly, as if asleep. He could touch it if he wanted.
But—
Kang-ho felt a warning rising from his instincts.
'This has been there from the start.'
It had been there since Daybreak, fifty years ago, when he'd awakened while serving in Cheorwon.
It was like a magic stone. Hard-shelled, but if it cracked open, the energy inside would unleash tremendous power.
Could he handle it? The thought crossed his mind.
Fear. Every time he confronted whatever lurked within him, Kang-ho felt an inexplicable dread.
Whoosh—
Mana coursed through his entire body in a full circulation. Racing through his veins and muscles, it returned to the mana hole.
"Hoo—"
When he opened his eyes, Theo and King stood before him, faces pale with shock.
"......?"
[Monster...]
"In-incredible! Uh...!"
King spun around in a panic and rushed off to grab medical supplies.
Only then did Kang-ho realize his arms and legs were tearing open.
[Mana overload...!]
Theo ran his fingers curiously over Kang-ho's skin.
[Your body exceeded its mana capacity.]
"......"
It was something he'd felt back in the raid dungeon where Theo had appeared. Kang-ho's mana had kept growing even after the war ended thirty years ago.
[Your body surpasses even demon lords'. But your mana is growing enough to overwhelm it. Hmm... first time seeing this.]
Theo poked and prodded Kang-ho's body with genuine interest. Annoyed, Kang-ho smacked the back of his head.
[Ow!]
Kang-ho reined in his mana. As it all returned to the mana hole, his torn skin healed back to normal.
At that moment—
Bzzz—
King's smartphone began to ring.
"Ah, another call."
King looked down and his eyes widened.
After a moment's hesitation, King answered. His eyes widened again.
He hung up and turned to Kang-ho.
"Kang Tae-hoon wants to talk for a bit."
"Kang Tae-hoon?"
"Should I call him over?"
"Do whatever you want."
"Hmm......"
King crossed his arms and stared out the window for a long while.
After much deliberation, he asked Kang-ho,
"Hyung-nim."
"Yeah."
"You might already know, but my contract with Napa has about a quarter left."
"I see."
As an SS-rank Awakener, King was employed by Napa as a mercenary. Once the contract ended, guilds would line up with better offers.
He repeated slowly.
"Still, Kang Tae-hoon looked out for me when I was a kid. I'll at least hear him out."
"Yeah?"
"If he brings up renewing the contract..."
King's eyes sparkled.
"I'll cut ties without a second thought."
. . . . . .
Kang Tae-hoon stared at King across from him. His face was utterly haggard. Dark circles hollowed his eyes, and his complexion looked deathly.
"What's up?"
King's voice was cold.
Kang Tae-hoon stared back intently, then bowed his head politely to King.
"......I'm here to say I'm sorry."
"Sorry?"
"Yeah."
"For what?"
"For everything."
Kang Tae-hoon kept his head bowed as he continued slowly.
"For our direct lineage's horrific actions, for Tae-wang's incident, and... for enabling all of it."
King stared at him and retorted.
"Now you say this?"
"I'm not asking for forgiveness."
"Then? Renew the contract?"
"No, nothing like that. I just wanted to say I'm truly sorry. I felt like I'd regret it forever if I didn't."
Kang Tae-hoon stood.
He bowed to King again.
"I'm really sorry. I was sorry. That's all I wanted to say."
There was a grim resolve in Kang Tae-hoon's voice, like a warrior heading into battle or someone prepared to die.
"Later."
"......"
"Later, when I..."
Kang Tae-hoon swallowed hard, trailing off.
He shook his head.
"Sorry for wasting your time."
He turned slowly. Whatever torment he'd endured, his exhaustion was unnatural.
King watched his back and let out a small sigh.
'What the hell.'
Penthouse.
Leaving King's penthouse, Kang Tae-hoon shuffled along until he spotted, off in the distance—
"......!"
Kang-ho, sitting beside the Shabel Tiger on the rooftop, gazing at the sky.
When Kang-ho glanced his way, Kang Tae-hoon slowly bowed his head.
Kang-ho offered a wry smile without a word.
Kang Tae-hoon returned a self-deprecating one.
"Hero 5? They're our family's enemies."
"All the wealth and honor they built! It should have been mine...! Especially Choi Kang-ho... that bastard..."
And then, Kang Tae-hoon recalled the horrific scenes from his father's secluded training chamber.
Deep inside the chamber, corpses! Dozens stacked neatly, and his father stood in the center, arms raised wide.
A strange object in his father's heart glowed, drawing eerie energy from the bodies around him—flowing straight to his heart.
With it, his father grew slightly younger. His mana richer, his smile laced with deeper madness.
What had his father obtained? Those corpses...
And among them, Kang Tae-hoon spotted a familiar pendant on one body.
'That's...'
Kim Myung-joo. An A-rank Awakener, member of the supposedly wiped-out Team 3.
The necklace he'd personally gifted on Kang Tae-hoon's fifteenth birthday.
Seeing it, his heart sank.
"Father..."
"All those disappearances. The mysterious wipes. It was all Father..."
Father muttered in a mad voice.
"Choi Kang-ho... heh, hehehe... I'll kill you..."
Maybe his father had gone insane.
"......"
Now, Kang Tae-hoon looked straight at the man before him: Choi Kang-ho.
Blood is thicker than water. Raised under such teachings, he couldn't claim immunity to their influence. Unconsciously, he'd harbored negativity toward Hero 5 and Choi Kang-ho.
But now, that had changed.
'Father... is wrong.'
Terribly wrong. Blinded by revenge.
He had to stop it.
But Lebadon was an ultra-closed group. No way to intervene. No one to ask for help.
What could he even say? "My dad's gone crazy killing guild members—fix it?"
What would become of Lebadon? Daejeon, sustained by it? The countless guild members under them?
'I have to resolve it myself.'
He had to take responsibility. That's what being guild master and vice master meant—leading all those people.
If he couldn't bear it, he shouldn't have taken the seat.
The weight on Kang Tae-hoon's shoulders was crushing. Beyond what he could handle.
But sometimes, humans must do the impossible.
Even staking their lives.
"Excuse me."
He forced out the words to Kang-ho.
"Yeah."
Kang-ho replied indifferently.
"You've had experiences like that, right?"
"......"
He felt Kang-ho's gaze on him.
"Times when you know it's a path to death, but you have to go anyway."
Kang-ho met his eyes calmly and nodded.
"Yeah."
Memories from thirty years ago, heading to Incheon. He'd lose Seolhwa, and likely die himself—
But he had to go.
"It... must have been worth it."
Kang-ho nodded slowly again.
"Turned out that way."
"......Thank you."
Kang Tae-hoon bowed deeply.
Kang-ho spoke again, slowly.
"But you know, when you try it."
"......Pardon?"
"If there's someone around who can help."
"......"
"Asking for help is an option too."
"......!"
Kang-ho scribbled something and tossed it to Kang Tae-hoon. A note with a phone number.
"Go on, then."