The Hero Returns

Rattle—

The sliding door opened at Geneva's answer, and Su-hyeun went inside the room. "Hi. How are you?"

"What brought all the way here? Oh, have you eaten?" Geneva asked.

"Yes, I already ate. You're eating pretty late."

"I usually do. Please, sit down." Geneva pointed to the seat opposite of him.

"Would you like some Sikhye, at least? I've never had this in my life and had it for the first time when I came to Korea, and I really like this sweet rice punch."

"I guess you like Korean food."

"I enjoy eating food from the countries I visit, but I especially prefer Korean food than any other countries' food. I would like to stay longer in Korea because of it."

Geneva smiled at Su-hyeun as if he had forgotten what happened in the previous day. The last time they met, Geneva had been red in his face with anger. But now, he treated Su-hyeun like an old friend. When they were almost finished with their drink, Geneva, who read Su-hyeun's face, brought up the real topic.

"So, Mr. Su-hyeun, what brings you here? I thought you didn't want to have business with me."

"People change their minds all the time, don't they?"

At Su-hyeun's response, Geneva narrowed his eyes. He lifted the empty cup to his lips to hide his distaste.

"Sure, they do," Geneva answered.

"I thought about the conditions you told me last time, and I think they were pretty good."

"Are you saying—?"

"I wasn't really thinking straight at that time. Sure, let's work together."

At Su-hyeun's word, Geneva finally put down the cup and let out a bellow of laughter

The loud laughter filled the room. Su-hyeun wondered if loudness was a characteristic of blacksmiths. Kim Dae-ho didn't laugh often, but when he did once, his voice was super loud.

Geneva laughed for a while and nodded his head. "I am so glad to hear that. Cool. Let's work together."

"What about the sword you showed me…"

"Oh, it's in the auction house right now. I was planning to submit it for the next auction, but don't worry. For you, Mr. Su-hyeun, I will bring it back."

"Thank you."

"So, if you don't mind, could you do me a small favor?" Geneva asked cautiously.

Su-hyeun put down the cup that he was holding on the table and leaned his body forward. "What is it?"

"It's simple. I want you to advertise that sword. I want you to let people film your raid. You know? The scene where you use my sword."

It was a sure way to promote. It could show not only the fact that the world's best awakener was using Geneva's equipment but also the vivid scene that he performed actively with it.

"What do you say?" Geneva asked.

Su-hyeun nodded, smiling. "Of course."

***

Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!

There was the usual clear sound of metal hitting in Kim Dae-ho's workshop. Having gone inside the workshop, Su-hyeun waited for Kim Dae-ho to finish his work. For another 10 minutes, Kim Dae-ho struck the armor he had been working on with a hammer and then got up from his seat, putting the armor aside.

"Did you wait long?"

"Aren't you tired? You have aged. You should take it easy."

"Hey. I was working on the armor you asked for. What? Do you have another request?"

Kim Dae-ho took a towel and wiped his forehead with it. With the used towels that were piled up on one corner, Su-hyeun could tell how hard Kim Dae-ho had been working.

"It's easy."

"You just told me I'm old. Why are you trying to take advantage of an old man? What is it?"

"I just want you to put your name on the armor. And if you can, engrave your name on this sword, too."

Su-hyeun took out the Balmung with the scabbard and handed it to Kim Dae-ho, who, in turn, frowned a little as if he could not understand Su-hyeun's request.

"My name? Why the hell do you need it?"

Kim Dae-ho did not like putting someone's name on equipment such as weapons and armor, especially his own name because there was no point in doing so. The reason was simple: it was not practical. A name on any equipment did not add to its function or something. Su-hyeun knew this as well. Nonetheless, he insisted.

"Still, please do it for me. You may remove it later, but I need it now."

"I mean, I can do it, if you need it. But…what is that?"

"Oh, this?"

When Kim Dae-ho pointed to another sword that Su-hyeun had, Su-hyeun grinned and answered, "I have to use it for something."

***

"Where the hell is Son Byeong-cheol? I told him to find information about the dungeon! We should make a briefing soon!"

"Writers! Don't be bothered about the direction. Things will go well anyway. Camera team, you guys are important today! Pay attention!"

"Hey! Hey! I thought we would broadcast exclusively!"

"No, there are other broadcasters, too."

At the foot of the Heukseongsan Mountain, located in Cheonan, more people were busily working than usual. There were many public broadcasters, as well as famous bloggers and personal broadcasters. They all gathered there for one reason.

"I will shoot Kim Su-hyeun's raid!"

"This is a scoop. Even if I shoot it poorly, my ratings will go up by more than 3%."

"I have to get an image that's better than other broadcasters'."

"Should I take close-up shots? No, things will move too fast. People usually record from a distance…"

Up to now, the video raids of awakeners had been released numerous times through broadcasts. Most of them were of famous A-Ranks or S-Ranks. Of course, the level of the dungeons was low enough to allow network staff. People had been recording high-rank awakeners' orange-colored dungeon raid, but it was different this time.

"A green-colored dungeon raid!"

"Moreover, Kim Su-hyeun will do it alone!"

"This is a super-exclusive scoop."

Kim Su-hyeun was the awakener who finished attacking the blue- and indigo-colored dungeons by himself. For him, the green-colored dungeon was just a piece of a cake. Thanks to this, the broadcasters had gotten the opportunity to shoot the raid under Su-hyeun's protection.

Even so, Su-hyeun was still just an individual, and there were several people from different broadcasts. An accident is possible. However, it seemed like Su-hyeun wanted to prevent any accident that he brought another awakener.

"Then, let's go now. Do you guys need more time?"

Hak-joon, who was being interviewed on one side, spoke aloud with a weary expression. In response, Su-hyeun immediately began to move.

***

"This is the inside of the green-colored dungeon. It is a cave-type, and it appears most in number after the forest-type…"

"Kim Su-hyeun is on the move. Next to him is Choi Hak-joon, the youngest S-Rank awakener and one of the members of the Paragon Guild…"

Su-hyeun turned his body and stared at the reporters who were busily talking in front of the cameras.

"Stop," he told the reporters.

The reporters who were following him closely instantly did so. Hak-joon noticed something as well. He pulled out his sword halfway and went forward.

Gyaong—!

Miru tore apart space next to Su-hyeun and stuck his head out. Some reporters misunderstood Miru as a monster, but some of them noticed that he was Su-hyeun's divine beast.

"It's a divine beast!"

"It's a dragon! It is the same as the one that Song Hyeong-gi has!"

"Take pictures! Take pictures!"

The reports hurriedly took pictures of Miru. Miru was confused with the sudden attention. He tilted his head and looked at Su-hyeun as if he was asking what was going on.

"Hey, Miru. Protect them, not hurt them, okay?"

Gyaong—!

Miru answered loudly as if telling Su-hyeun to trust him.

Whirl—

A thin translucent layer appeared around the reporters. Surprised, they knocked on the wall, making solid sounds. They realized that it was a barrier to protect them.

"Oh…"

"Wow…"

While they were marveling about it…

"L—look up!"

"Camera! Shoot up!"

Kiyaaaa—!

A scream came through the barrier. The monsters that had shells like crustaceans popped up from above the cave. These monsters were huge; each one was at least three meters in length. They looked like stag beetles with hard shells and claws that looked like deer horns. The reporters took pictures or filmed the monsters and turned their heads to find Su-hyeun.

"Where is he?"

Su-hyeun had disappeared. They could not find him, so they just continued filming or taking pictures of the insect-type monsters.

Splatter—

Crack, crack—

Splatter—!

The shells of dozens of the insect monsters, which attached themselves to the ceiling, were cut off. Green blood rained down. The startled reporters hurriedly turned their camera angles. Su-hyeun was standing upside down on the ceiling like the bugs did earlier. He shook off the blood on his sword.

"With just one blow…"

"He got rid of so many monsters?"

They saw everything with their own eyes, but they found it hard to believe. Just as the startled reporters were recovering to shoot Su-hyeun's face closely, another scream broke out.

Kiyaaaaaa—!

"Argh!"

A bug monster popped out from the ground. One reporter was too shocked and fell back, screaming.

Slash—

But it didn't take a second for the monster that came at the reporter to be cut off in half.

"There are plenty under the ground, Su-hyeun," Hak-joon said.

"I know."

Rumble—

The cave began to shake. No, more precisely, the ground under Hak-joon and other reporters shook. The field started to crack little by little and hot steam leaked out from underneath.

Swish—

Whomp—

Su-hyeun jumped back down from the ceiling. He stomped on the ground a couple of times and said, "They are gone now."

***

The raid went pretty fast. The dungeon was not that large after all, and they didn't take a break during the raid. In the course of the continuous raid, the reporters took turns in getting closer to Su-hyeun and Hak-joon to interview them.

"Did you get your equipment from the Tower of Trials? Or do you have any special blacksmith that you prefer?"

"I saw Geneva's seal on the sword you are using, Mr. Su-hyeun. Do you have any special relationship with him?"

"What changed your mind? You never allowed your raids to be shot before…"

Su-hyeun was asked questions as they moved, and he answered them thoughtfully one by one. He, of course, answered the questions about Geneva's equipment.

"The sword I'm using is one of Geneva's top 100 masterpieces. I got it recently, and the name of the sword is Aron. He said it was named after the sword that Lancelot used."

"What would you say about the craftsman Geneva?" One reporter asked.

"I don't judge people easily, but, fortunately, things are different."

"Are you saying that you judge the items, then?"

Su-hyeun grinned at the reporter's question. "I will tell you that with the result."

It was a very confident answer.

Crack—

Just as he answered the question, a small sound came from inside of the scabbard, but nobody heard it.