Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: A Promise to Live
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"Let's take a break."
Wang-sik, who had been interrogating him all night, received a text and rose from his seat.
The mage's name was Viyax.
He was a 4th-circle mage.
He had been quite a capable mage, but his downfall began when he established a gate research organization.
To put it in Earth terms, he got involved in the loan shark market and was swindled by a vicious operator, leaving him with immense debt.
With his last bit of funding, he attempted to construct a gate, but the dungeon-type designer was killed in an attack, forcing him to switch to a standard gate, which ultimately led to his ruin.
The rest of the story was what Wang-sik already knew.
As per his contract with a loan shark named Demah, he was forced to hide inside the gate himself to fill it with Life Stones.
'Everything about Azelan is old news.'
Wang-sik couldn't help but feel bored, as he was just hearing information he was already familiar with.
'How much of this should I leave in the record?'
This was the bigger concern. After all, the moment it was recorded, this information would become known to many people.
As he mulled this over and left the interrogation room, someone happened to be walking down the hallway.
'What the...?'
It was a completely unexpected person.
"It's been a while."
The man extended his hand first, offering a handshake.
It was Smith, the Director of the American Hunter Management Bureau.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was formally invited. No need to treat me like an enemy, is there?"
Just as he was about to reply, a group of people emerged from the situation room.
The President led the way, followed by his bodyguards, with Kang Il-seop and the Chief of Staff behind them.
"Welcome."
The President approached Smith first and offered a handshake.
Just watching them laugh and chat was enough to grasp the situation.
"You've worked hard as well. Continue to strive for our country."
The President said, turning to Wang-sik belatedly. But Wang-sik didn't take the offered hand.
"Would you care to explain what's going on? Why is the Director of the American Hunter Management Bureau here?"
"Must I explain that to you? I don't believe you have the authority to hear it."
He was right; not being an agent of the Hunter Management Bureau, he lacked the authority. Wang-sik's role was simply to do his job and leave.
"Then I'm done here. Handle the interrogation yourselves."
The President's expression hardened, but Wang-sik paid it no mind.
He could just tell Kang Il-seop personally anyway. Besides, Wang-sik knew far more about Azelan.
"Bureau Director, let's just forget today ever happened. And from now on, I won't be involved in anything related to the South Korean government."
With that, Wang-sik turned and walked away. Kang Il-seop sighed and spoke.
"Mr. President, you've just driven away the world's greatest tanker. And I should also inform you that the American you invited has been trying to recruit him for naturalization for some time."
"What do you mean...?"
"I don't have the power to persuade him, so you can either convince him yourself, Mr. President, or hand everything over to that American. Do as you please."
In truth, Kang Il-seop hadn't placed much importance on this interrogation either, for the same reason as Wang-sik.
"Let's go."
Kang Il-seop left with his Chief of Staff.
'They probably planned to hand the mage over the moment Smith arrived.'
It wasn't something Kang Il-seop could have prevented.
'Damn it. They negotiated without me?'
The President wasn't a fool; he wouldn't have just handed over the mage for nothing.
He must have made some secret deal, but this was still unpleasant for Kang Il-seop.
It was because his independent authority had been completely ignored.
'He crossed the line.'
The President likely wanted to end the tedious power struggle with Kang Il-seop. That's why he took such a hard-line approach this time.
Kang Il-seop and the Chief of Staff went to a soup restaurant not far from the Hunter Management Bureau.
It was a typical chain restaurant, a place the agents often went after pulling an all-nighter.
As if by appointment, Wang-sik was there.
Kang Il-seop and the Chief of Staff naturally joined him at the table and ordered their soup.
"I see why you're fighting, Bureau Director."
"He's too proactive, that's the problem. Sometimes, you have to trust the person in charge, but he insists on checking everything himself."
"His attitude toward people is disappointing, too."
"You could call it jealousy."
"Jealousy?"
"He's jealous of how close I am with you. Same with Min Ha-na. Didn't you two keep refusing invitations to the Blue House?"
That was true.
"I never even got a call."
"Min Ha-na said she wouldn't go without you."
Since Wang-sik was in Azelan at the time, Kang Il-seop made an excuse, and Min Ha-na refused because she felt awkward going alone.
"That's when the President's obsession with the Hunter Management Bureau began. Because a member of a government agency wasn't obeying him."
Besides members of the opposition party, who else could refuse a summons from the President?
"Awakened are like that. Compared to Gregory, I'm a gentleman."
"Haha. That's true."
"Anyway, things like this are going to keep happening."
Wang-sik was frustrated by the President's actions.
"The president of a nation with an S-rank hunter and the world's best tanker handing over classified information in a single day... I can't understand it, no matter how I look at it. Especially without the consent of the Hunter Management Bureau."
"It's because the rift between us has grown too deep. Since becoming president, he's been powerless in all matters related to hunters."
"You keep defending him."
"He's the President of South Korea, isn't he? I don't want to see him falter."
"What is it you want, Bureau Director?"
"For him to acknowledge my position and trust me with it. I have no intention of defeating the President just to wield power as I please."
His words were filled with sincerity.
But the President he met today didn't seem like the type to leave Kang Il-seop alone.
"You're going to have a tough time, Bureau Director."
"Don't worry. My political skills have improved quite a bit."
At those words, the Chief of Staff's expression stiffened. Seeing this, a flicker of doubt crossed Wang-sik's face as well.
"You two need to have a little more faith in me."
Kang Il-seop irritably scooped up some soup and brought it to his mouth.
"Ah! Hot!"
"It's not just politics you're bad at. You're only human. Anyway, I'm out of this. You can use my existence however you see fit, Bureau Director. I won't be meeting with the President."
This was the most effective way to support Kang Il-seop.
Wang-sik and Min Ha-na were cards the President could never afford to discard.
"Thank you."
As the mood lightened and they were about to eat, Wang-sik's smartphone rang.
The early morning caller was Min Ha-na. But her voice didn't sound good.
"That girl... she's been declared brain-dead."
Wang-sik froze completely.
He had only exchanged a few words with her, but it felt like hearing news about a friend; his thoughts came to a halt.
"I'm coming over."
Wang-sik stopped eating and rose from his seat.
"What's wrong?"
"I'll explain later."
Wang-sik immediately left the restaurant and hailed a taxi.
After a long ride, he arrived at the hospital to find a woman weeping.
"It's Min-ju's older sister. The cafe owner."
The woman sitting on a chair at the entrance to the ICU looked as if her world had ended, completely drained of strength.
Her eyes were red and swollen from crying so much.
Wang-sik couldn't bring himself to approach her. There was nothing he could do.
"Haa, those sons of bitches. What did that girl ever do to deserve this?"
He was furious.
She was someone who could brighten the day of a complete stranger. Perhaps she was more essential to this society than any Awakened.
And that person died a miserable death.
Sorrow doesn't end with just one person.
The sister before Wang-sik now would live with guilt for the rest of her life.
What if she hadn't left her sister in charge of the cafe?
What if she had been there instead?
What if she had never opened that cafe in the first place?
This chain of regret might even lead her to deny her own existence.
That is the nature of grief.
Wang-sik, feeling helpless, was about to look away. But then someone approached the weeping sister.
A woman in her late 30s knelt on one knee, her gaze lower than the sister's, offering words of comfort as she held out some documents.
"She's donating her organs. She said she'd wanted to since she was a little girl..."
Min Ha-na's voice wavered as she explained.
Such a beautiful person.
The more he realized this, the greater Wang-sik's anger grew.
"Wang-sik, let's go."
For the first time, Min Ha-na was worried that Wang-sik might break.
He had always been so solid, but in situations like this, he reacted with intense emotion.
In the end, Wang-sik accepted Min Ha-na's comfort and left the hospital.
"Calm down. You have to stay level-headed."
Even as she said this, Min Ha-na's own voice lacked strength.
Wang-sik expressed his emotions with anger, Min Ha-na with sorrow, but the cause and effect were the same.
"I want to end this war quickly."
"Let's not rush. If we break down too, there'll be no one left."
"Right. You're right."
They decided to take some time.
They went to a place where they could see the rolling waves and watched the sea in silence.
How much time passed like that?
Their time of solace was shattered by a single phone call.
"Wang-sik!"
It was Gong Yeong-ji. Calling his name in a highly excited voice, she said,
"Seon-yeong can get her heart surgery!"
"What?"
"A heart donor appeared. This is great news."
Gong Yeong-ji spoke with a tearful voice, as if it were her own good fortune.
"That's great. That's really great."
It was truly comforting news. Wang-sik shook off his somber mood and stood up.
But he had a strange feeling.
"No way..."
Wang-sik looked off into the distance, toward the hospital.
Twelve hours later.
Wang-sik was in front of the operating room.
It was a hospital in Incheon, not Seoul.
For today, at least, he wanted to be there.
"I will go with you."
The family seemed to think Wang-sik was just a security guard called in by the hospital.
Min Ha-na had spoken to them beforehand, which was why Wang-sik was allowed to be there.
Amid the tears of her parents and sister, the surgery concluded. But it wasn't just one team that emerged from the operating room.
From that small body, five rays of hope were shared.
A heart, a liver, corneas, lungs, and kidneys.
"You're a better person than I am. I can protect, but I can't save lives."
"Let's go."
The medical staff who came with Wang-sik spoke, holding a medical transport box. Before leaving, Wang-sik bowed deeply to the weeping family.
After arriving by helicopter at a hospital in Seoul, Sa Seon-yeong's heart transplant surgery began immediately.
As long as the transplant went smoothly, Gong Yeong-ji's help would allow her to endure most of the aftereffects without issue.
Fortunately, the surgery was a success, and Sa Seon-gi secretly shed tears.
Wang-sik put everything else aside and waited for Sa Seon-yeong to regain consciousness.
With Gong Yeong-ji's special help, Sa Seon-yeong was moved from the ICU to a regular room in just three days.
All that remained now was her recovery.
Only then could Wang-sik finally see Sa Seon-yeong's face.
He was happy, first and foremost, but there was something he had to tell her.
"She was a nineteen-year-old high school student. Brighter than anyone I've ever seen, a person who gave strength to everyone around her. A precious, beautiful person. Someone who didn't deserve to die like that."
Hearing this, Sa Seon-yeong cried. Emotional changes weren't good for a patient, but no one stopped Wang-sik.
"She's the girl who saved five people, including you. Even in death, she gave everything she had."
Wang-sik then said what he truly wanted to say.
"Let's live gratefully. For her sake."
Sa Seon-yeong choked back her tears and nodded. Then, with great effort, she opened her mouth to speak.
"I promise everyone who saved me. I will always live with gratitude."
"Good. That's all that matters."
Everyone in the hospital room shed tears.
It was the process of turning sorrow into joy.