When the Nation's Hero Wears Wedding Guest Attire
In the middle of Gangnam, inside the lobby of a top-tier hotel's wedding hall. My reflection stared back at me from the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the hall—a horrific product of my mother's tyrannical dress-up games.
A pastel-toned dress made of the finest silk, adorned with frills. White Mary Janes with heels on my feet. Anyone could see it: the perfect wedding-guest outfit for the pampered youngest daughter of a wealthy family.
I shook out the hem of the skirt and swallowed a deep sigh. I never imagined that showing up to drop off some wedding cash would cost me my dignity as a thirty-two-year-old man.
"Holy shit, Kang Tae-ho. You actually showed up looking like that?"
I turned at the familiar voice. There, in one corner of the lobby, holding congratulatory money envelopes, stood my old middle school buddies Jae-hoon and Chang-ho. Their eyes were trembling like aspen leaves.
"Laugh and I'll punch through your solar plexus. Take the cash."
I replied indifferently, pulling a thick envelope from my inner pocket and tossing it over.
"Dude, no way. Even if it's your mom's taste, this is... pfft. Come on, just one photo. Strike a pose."
"You wanna die for real?"
As Jae-hoon smirked and shoved his smartphone camera in my face, I snapped my fingers, sending the phone flying into the air. He freaked out and grabbed the hem of my skirt.
"Aigoo! Hero-nim! My bad! It's on installment—three months left!"
Mindless, nutrient-void chit-chat. Stories about life, bitching about bosses at work.
That's when the groom-to-be, sweating as he shuttled between the bride's waiting room and the lobby, spotted us and approached. Jin-su, the timid klutz from middle school days.
"Tae-ho, you made it!"
"Congrats on the wedding. Your bride's too good for you."
"Haha, everyone says that. Anyway, thanks. With you here, the whole venue feels secure."
He chuckled and patted my shoulder lightly. Just then, Jin-su's parents emerged into the lobby, spotted me, and froze. Back in middle school, I was the big buddy who wrecked their ramen pot at home and crashed there overnight.
"Oh my, you're really Tae-ho...? Goodness. I never believed it every time I saw you on the news."
"Congratulations. I came to see Jin-su tie the knot."
I bowed politely in greeting, and Jin-su's mom approached cautiously, grabbing my small hands in hers.
"Aigoo, you've suffered so much saving the country, and you still came all this way—thank you. And that skirt look... it's, um, pretty on you, our Tae-ho."
"......"
His dad cleared his throat awkwardly, averting his eyes from the frilly dress. A wave of searing shame washed over me. I swallowed another internal sigh.
Still, the warm welcome from these folks I hadn't seen in ages created a heartwarming vibe. I'd snagged my meal ticket too—now if I could just watch the ceremony quick, raid the buffet for some yukhoe, it'd be a perfect weekend. That's what I was thinking as I leaned back onto the sofa.
—WEE-OO-WEE-OO!
A disaster siren blared outside the wedding hall, from the eight-lane intersection. At the same moment, a heavy shockwave rattled the entire lobby's glass walls.
—BOOOOM!
The empty air outside split open, a massive black hole of mana tearing through. The size alone screamed at least A-rank gate or higher.
"Kyaaah!"
"G-Gate! Evacuate!"
"Save us!"
The peaceful lobby turned into pandemonium in seconds. Guests screamed and bolted for the emergency exits. Wedding hall staff, faces drained pale, activated evacuation broadcasts.
"We're screwed... my wedding..."
Groom-to-be Jin-su collapsed to the floor. From the bride's room, his bride in her pristine white gown rushed out, hugged him, and burst into tears.
A once-in-a-lifetime day. A festival they'd poured tens of millions into, inviting countless people—it was crumbling before a pitch-black hole spewing monster spawn.
I stared impassively out the window. Police were setting up barricades, fully blocking the roads. In the distance, armored vehicles and helicopters from major guilds arrived with sirens wailing.
It'd take them at least three or four hours to form up and safely raid the gate. Roads paralyzed in the meantime, late guests couldn't enter. Naturally, today's wedding was toast.
"Ah."
A short groan escaped me. Irritation surged. I'd come all the way to central Gangnam in this goddamn frilly dress.
And now no food, friend's wedding ruined? Worse, if it got postponed, I'd have to drag myself back here later in this humiliating skirt. No way. My dignity wouldn't allow it.
I extended my mana sense long toward the gate, scanning the spatial waves beyond. Not the irregular wave type spewing endless monsters.
"Hey, everyone calm down and listen up."
I spread a thin layer of mana underfoot, letting my voice boom through the hall. Panicking guests fleeing froze in place.
"Don't go outside—stay gathered in the lobby. It's not a wave gate dumping monsters, so it's not dangerous. No need to evacuate."
With the crowd instantly soothed, I nudged the shoulder of the dazed groom-to-be slumped on the floor with my toe.
"Hey. Stop crying and wait here exactly three minutes. I'll calm the guests."
"Huh? T-Tae-ho? Where are you—"
No reply—I turned and strode out. The wedding hall's automatic doors slid open as I headed into the controlled intersection.
"Civilian control zone! Step back... G-Gasp! K-Kang Tae-ho Hunter?!"
The police holding the line freaked and parted. A guild master from the major guild, just disembarking an armored vehicle with weapons, rushed over desperately.
"Hero-nim! Our elite squad will clear it safely in three hours, so..."
"Move. I'm busy."
I waved him off irritably, cutting him short. Before the guild members could stop me, I slipped straight into the churning black portal.
Vision inverted. Acrid sulfur stench. Barren land with boiling red lava.
"Damn, sweaty already. If this stinks up the dress, Mom'll smack me."
Grumbling to myself, I looked up. In the center of the wasteland, a wyvern the size of a mountain coiled. A beast with red explosive scales covering its body, savage eyes gleaming.
—ROOOOAAARRRR!!!
Spotting me, the wyvern bellowed ear-shatteringly and spread its wings. Lava sprayed as an overwhelming A-rank mana wave vibrated.
"Shut up. I gotta hit the buffet."
I raised my right index finger to the air. The surrounding atmosphere twisted grotesquely, emitting a scream-like rupture.
—WHIIIIIINE!!
Pure mana gathered, shredding the air, sucked into my fingertip and compressed. A red orb the size of a ping-pong ball.
But packed inside that puny thing was insane mass—like cramming a whole mountain range. Gravity inverted around the orb in a 10-meter radius; red rocks on the ground floated weightlessly. I flicked it with my thumb.
—BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!
The instant the orb streaked out, everything ahead ceased to exist. Tough explosive scales, boiling land, deafening roar—all gone.
Mana swept through, vaporizing without trace. The wyvern didn't even scream—its upper body erased clean.
Except for the red mana stone embedded in the boss's chest. In the split-second of firing, I'd mana-scanned its position and twisted the trajectory to shave it off.
The glistening mana stone dropped from empty air. I extended telekinesis, pulling it into my hand. An A-rank mana stone—tens of billions on the market.
Pocketing it, the gate space—now boss-less—shattered and collapsed.
—CRASH!
The black portal fragmented, revealing Gangnam's clear sky. Outside on the intersection, guild members forming ranks with shields up and buffs chanting gaped at the sudden sky—and me—alternately.
Three minutes since entering. News helicopters zoomed cameras on me. I brushed dust off my dress and nodded at the stunned guild master.
"All clear. Dismantle the barricades and reopen the roads."
"Y-Yes...? Ah, yes sir!"
After issuing the order, I walked back into the wedding hall lobby. Guests who'd been in panic moments ago parted like the sea, eyes mixed with awe and fear.
I approached the shell-shocked groom-to-be Jin-su. Tossed the red mana stone into his lap as he sat on the floor.
"T-Tae-ho? What's this... the g-gate...?"
"Dishes done. And this—extra wedding gift."
"Wha...? Holy shit! A-rank mana stone?! Dude, this is too much! Tens of billions—you take it back!"
He scrambled to return it. I waved lazily, shoving his hand away.
"What's a friend for? Sell it, pay off your newlywed home loan. Guild's fixing the roads outside—late guests'll flood in soon. Go calm your bride. Makeup's all smudged."
"Tae-ho..."
His eyes welled up, looking ready to hug and sob. I recoiled in horror, stepping back sharply.
"Don't get sappy—hurry up and start the ceremony. I'm going for yukhoe."
I turned crisply and headed to the banquet hall.
Moments later, controls lifted outside, late guests arrived, and the ceremony proceeded smoothly. Under dazzling pin lights, I clapped as my buddy grinned like an idiot, walking with his bride.
And now. At a round table in the corner of the banquet hall. I crunched through a mountain-high plate of frozen yukhoe.
"Yo, Kang Tae-ho. That was badass just now. Beer?"
"Ah, too much foam. Pour it right."
Jae-hoon and Chang-ho, seated across, filled my glass in admiration. My body was a 140cm beauty in a dress, fresh from smashing a national disaster in three minutes. But they treated me like the middle school PC bang buddy.
I downed the crisp beer in one go. The fizzy burn sliding down my throat. No need for this humiliating guest outfit again—perfect defensive victory. And the sweet, nutty buffet yukhoe.
What could've been a lifelong tragedy for my friend's wedding wrapped up in boisterous, joyful chaos. A deliciously languid, peaceful weekend afternoon.