The Hero Returns

Act 8

Su-hyeun went to the Authority building to meet Bak Yun-gyu. Two cups of warm tea waited for him in the reception room. When Su-hyeun saw that Bak Yun-gyu was prepared for him, he grew concerned.

"…Are you okay?" Su-hyeun asked.

He asked because of the awful look on Bak Yun-gyu's face. He was an awakener, not an ordinary person, so he must have good stamina. But he had dark circles under his glassy eyes.

"I'm okay."

"Work too busy?"

"Yea. It's not easy to hold down a job and climb the tower at the same time…"

Bak Yun-gyu usually didn't show it when he went through a hard time.

<<I guess he really is exhausted. He looks like he hasn't sleep for a while, too.>>

"Anyway, the case you called to ask about…" Bak Yun-gyu said.

"Yes."

"I don't think this is a big deal that you have to take care of. It looks like some vicious awakeners made trouble, so the Authority is investigating now."

Crimes by awakeners went on constantly. Although the Dump Guild had gone, and the crime rate was quite low, it was impossible to prevent all crimes from strong awakeners.

"I know, of course, you're interested in the crimes of awakeners like the Dump Guild—"

"Are you sure it was a crime of awakeners?"

"Yes?" Bak Yun-gyu tilted his head as if he was puzzled. He looked at the record on his tablet. "A group fight in Paris, France. People showed aggressive tendencies, such as wielding their fists or fired weapons at other people. It's assumed that some sort of mind control skill was involved."

Bak Yun-gyu briefly explained the case, then asked again. "Isn't it hard to see how this was related to the dungeon?"

Su-hyeun nodded at the question. Indeed, this incident didn't seem to relate to any dungeon. There was no monster, and the sudden aggression of the citizens was much closer to a mind control skill, as Bak Yun-gyu said. That was why everyone missed it. Everyone had missed the early signs in his first life, too.

"I'll go check it out," Su-hyeun said.

"But, as I said earlier, it isn't anything big. You don't have to do that…"

Bak Yun-gyu stopped talking and shook his head. He knew that Su-hyeun wouldn't listen to him even if he tried to stop him. There was no reason that Su-hyeun had to listen to him. Also, he thought there might be a chance that this was something serious, as Su-hyeun said. There was nothing wrong with believing in Su-hyeun's idea. If it wasn't a simple crime committed by awakeners, then things might get worse.

"Okay," Bak Yun-gyu said, "then, I'll take care of the process."

"Good. And—" Su-hyeun asked for a few other things as well.

Bak Yun-gyu listened to all of Su-hyeun's requests, then asked with a confused face, "Mr. Su-hyeun. Are you saying that—"

"You know. Just in case. If there's anything that happens related to it, please let me know as soon as possible. Even a minor case is fine."

"…Okay. I will."

"I'll leave for Paris tomorrow. I have people to meet with today."

"If you have any additional information or requests, please contact us immediately."

Su-hyeun and Bak Yun-gyu got up from their seats after that. Bak Yun-gyu lent Su-hyeun his tablet that had the information about the case. Su-hyeun rechecked the record and made a few phone calls.

"Hey, Hak-joon. It's me. You picked up really quickly."

The first person he contacted was Hak-joon. Then, Su-hyeun contacted Thomas, Gordon Rohan, and Lee Ju-ho.

***

Su-hyeun met Lee Ju-ho first. They met in a small cafe in Yeouido. This place was Su-hyeun's favorite.

"Is Hak-joon going to be late?" Lee Ju-ho asked.

"It looked like he was meeting Yun-seon. I told him it's okay to take his time. So, he'll come after dinner or something."

"Thomas won't be here today, will he?"

"I guess not, since he's in Japan now. In fact, Gordon, Thomas, and you are doing all of the work of the Paragon Guild."

"Yea. You and Hak-joon leave a big gap."

"But I can't stop climbing. If you really need my help, leave me a message."

"It's fine. There's nothing that serious, yet. Well. There shouldn't be anything serious."

The two drank their drinks and had a small chat. Of course, the topic got to their main subject quickly.

"So, why did you call? I heard you even called Mr. Rohan."

"Yes, I did."

"Why? Is there anything wrong?"

"Not yet."

"Not yet?"

"Yes."

Lee Ju-ho could sense a hidden meaning in Su-hyeun's words. Lee Ju-ho, who was stirring his drink with a straw, took a big gulp from his cup.

"Sigh— Just tell me now."

"Why are you drinking so quickly?"

"Because! Big things always happen when you act like this. Let me get into the right mindset first."

Su-hyeun laughed at his reaction. Lee Ju-ho even corrected his posture to sit upright and opened his mouth to say, "Ok. I'm ready. Tell me."

"Check out this incident." Su-hyeun held out the tablet that he had borrowed from Bak Yun-gyu.

Lee Ju-ho quickly read the record of the incidents on the tablet. And soon, when he finished reading, he looked very confused.

"Isn't it just some awakener's crime? Why? Do you want to catch this person?"

"Yea, I'm thinking of catching them. But I feel like this isn't just a case from an awakener."

"What do you mean? If it isn't from an awakener, is this because of monsters or something?"

"It doesn't look like it's because of monsters."

"What are you trying to say?"

"But it could have happened because of a dungeon."

"…?"

As Su-hyeun went on, Lee Ju-ho became more confused. He had no idea what Su-hyeun was trying to say.

"Look at this. Significant points," Su-hyeun said.

"You mean, no magic was detected?"

"Yes."

"Even if there was no magic detected, it didn't mean that it wasn't the act of an awakener, wasn't it?"

"Yes. Actually, I think the same thing."

"Then, why?" Lee Ju-ho asked in frustration.

"But what if this is about emotion?"

"Emotion?"

Lee Ju-ho was still confused. Su-hyeun turned the page and showed it to Lee Ju-ho again. That page was about another case. There were clips of overseas news and records.

"…Beijing, the capital city of China, was paralyzed. Half of the citizens didn't go to work, as if they had decided collectively. Shops on the streets are closed even on weekdays…economic damage… What the hell?"

It was an absurd case. More than 20 million people lived in Beijing, and, according to the news, half of them didn't go to work. It sounded like a funny and nonsensical story, but it was actually a significant case because the capital of China was paralyzed.

"It happened this morning. I'm sure the internet is busy talking about it right now."

"Ok. But what about this?"

"Wrath and sloth."

"Wrath… sloth…?"

"Pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, lust."

The seven deadly sins. Lee Ju-ho blinked his eyes a few times and looked over the tablet again. When he read again about the first and second cases, he could see what Su-hyeun was trying to say. In Paris, people recklessly attacked each other. It was wrath. In Beijing, half of the people didn't go to work. Sloth.

"Are you linking the cases to the seven deadly sins?"

"Doesn't it make sense?"

"It does…but…"

"Yes, I know. I'm overthinking it," Su-hyeun shrugged and went on, "But anyway, this isn't something to just overlook."

"If it affects the whole of Beijing, it isn't something small, for sure, whether it's because of dungeons or awakeners."

There was nothing bad to worry about. If they were related to dungeons, as Su-hyeun said, they could figure out. Even if they were crimes of awakeners, they could take action.

"Our first destination is Paris, then Beijing. And please find more related incidents," Su-hyeun said.

"Something related to the seven deadly sins?"

"Yes, please." Su-hyeun nodded and got up from the seat. "Maybe those two aren't the only ones."

***

Beijing, China. Wang Shuian, an ordinary office worker who lived there, was confident that he had been very busy. He was born in an impoverished family, but he had been studying hard and working without rest. He finally had managed to enter a major Chinese company in his late twenties. He thought he had made his success in his own way. He never spent a day meaninglessly. But…

<<I don't want to do anything.>>

Wang Shuian frowned at the sunlight, lying in bed. The alarm from his phone continued. Usually, he turned off the alarm as soon as he heard it and got out of bed. But today he felt too lazy to even turn off the alarm. He had been lying in bed and doing nothing like this for the past couple of days already.

<<Everything is bothersome.>>

He even didn't want to think, so there was no way he could move an inch. 'Bothersome' came to him as if it was his reward for his entire busy life so far.

Rumble—

He was hungry. It was natural, since he hadn't eaten for two days. He thought about making instant noodles or something, but the same thought crossed his mind again.

<<I don't want to do anything.>>

He really didn't want to do anything. Laziness suppressed his hunger. And so many people in Beijing were in the same situation as him.

***

Paris, the capital city of France, had been paralyzed because of countless recent accidents. An accident from a dungeon would be better, since the government could ask for an overseas guild to help. But what had happened there were just simple assault cases. The problem was that there were so many of them.

"It drives me nuts!"

Benoît, the director of the Awakeners Authority of France, sighed. The only thing he could do these days was just sitting down in his office and sighing.

<<Everyone is crazy…>>

He could catch the criminals. But the problem was that there were so many of them. And these weren't one-sided assaults, either. It was always a two-sided fight. At regular intervals, when people met each other's eyes, they began to swing their fists or weapons at each other. Numerous people had died because of it.

<<Even policemen are acting violently.>>

Even the police who tried to stop people used violence as well. In the process, some of them used guns, and the situation got worse and worse. It was certainly not an ordinary case. It was evident that something was causing this. And it must have seemed like it was related to awakeners.

The National Police Agency asked for help from the Awakeners Authority as soon as they figured that out. But the problem was that even the awakeners who had been dispatched by the Authority showed the same symptoms.

<<I wish Adel Castle could help us…>>

Adel Castle was the best awakener in Europe. This was the time that people really needed his help. But Adel continued to refuse even the Authority's requests for cooperation. He said the price was too low and demanded an outrageous fee.

<<I guess we have to empty the budget to hire him…>>

Ring, ring, ring—

The phone rang as Benoît was trying to figure out a solution. He knit his brow and reached out to the phone.

-Sir! We have good news.

"Good news?"

Benoît, who had been wallowing in sorrow, opened his eyes wide. Right now, there was only one piece of good news possible.

"Can we get help from Adel Castle?" Benoît asked in a loud voice, starting to rise from his chair.

He thought if they got help from S-Rank awakeners, even if not Adel Castle, it would be good news.

-No, sir. It was the Paragon Guild.

The reply that came back to him was very different from what he expected. But the Paragon Guild sounded familiar.

"Paragon Guild? What's that?"

-It is the guild formed by Kim Su-hyeun and Gordon Rohan.

"Kim Su-hyeun…? Gordon Rohan?" Benoît opened his eyes big.

His eyes were filled with joy and surprise. He remembered that there had been an uproar when Kim Su-hyeun and Gordon Rohan formed a guild together.

"So? What about them?"

-The Paragon Guild contacted us… They said they would handle the situation.

Benoît sprang to his feet. "Where are they? Where should I go now?"