Chapter 36
Part 35
“Haa, seriously... How many times have I told you to call me Guild Master when we're at work? This is exactly why the employees keep talking about us!”
Hwang Mingu put down the documents he had been reading and rubbed his forehead.
How many times did he have to say it before his younger brother would at least pretend to listen?
“No, that's not important right now! We've got a serious problem!”
“What is it? What kind of trouble did you cause this time?”
“Kang Woojin.”
“?”
“Kang Woojin disappeared.”
“What about the boss?”
“They said the boss is dead.”
“Then search the hospitals! Some kind-hearted bastard probably found him collapsed and took him there!”
Hwang Mingu shouted in frustration.
According to the guild member's report before leaving the scene, Kang Woojin had been steadily losing against the boss.
Then Woojin must have used the trump card he had always bragged about.
Overclock.
That would have overloaded his brain, leaving him unconscious.
If the boss was dead, then Woojin had probably defeated it by pushing himself into overload.
Do I seriously have to explain every little thing to him?!
Hwang Mingu frowned.
“I already searched the hospitals! Do you think I'm that stupid? I checked every nearby hospital to see whether an Awakener had been admitted! Of course, I didn't search beyond the metropolitan area. There's no way he'd suddenly end up in some hospital in Gangwon Province.”
“...Don't tell me he wasn't there.”
“That's why I said we have a problem! There isn't a single patient registered under the name Kang Woojin.”
“You sure you didn't overlook him?”
“Hyung, are you stupid? Kang Woojin is the son of Seonghwa Corporation's CEO. How could anyone overlook him being admitted to a hospital?”
“...”
A vein bulged on Hwang Mingu's forehead.
Being called stupid by this idiot of all people...
No. That's not important right now.
Then where the hell did Kang Woojin go?
A guild member had definitely confirmed Woojin fighting the boss.
They had even taken photographs.
The boss was dead.
So where had Woojin disappeared to?
“The guild members who went to inspect the scene said the boss had been cut apart in a single strike.”
“The boss?”
“Yeah. They said the cut was so clean that whoever did it probably used a sword. But the level of skill was completely absurd. They said it was beyond anything they could even imagine.”
Hwang Mingu clenched his fist.
“Someone interfered...”
“That's what I think too.”
Kang Woojin did not use a sword.
He could create things like Wind Blades with magic, of course.
But they were nowhere near powerful enough to kill the boss in one strike.
“Who the hell showed up?”
“That's exactly what we don't know.”
“Could it have been the Elves?”
Someone capable of using a sword and killing the Lizardman King in a single strike.
Elves naturally came to mind.
“Elves don't usually come to Sector 4, though.”
Hwang Youngjun tilted his head.
Except when newly Awakened Elves were clearing the sector for the first time, they rarely visited Sector 4.
Apparently, they hated the strong smell of water.
“They might have been escorting new Elves. Did you check?”
“Yeah. There aren't any new Elves in this cycle.”
Hwang Youngjun shook his head.
He had asked an Elf who traded information.
Apparently, no Elves had entered Sector 4 recently.
“Haa... This is irritating. Everything's getting messed up.”
Hwang Mingu hated when his plans went wrong.
His original plan was simple.
Retrieve Kang Woojin after his brain was damaged by overload.
Then turn him into a puppet.
Woojin's ability was extremely powerful, but his body could not handle it, constantly placing limits on his power.
So they planned to remove that limitation entirely.
Turn him into a puppet.
Then he could use his ability freely without worrying about overload.
“Tch... Have some people watch Kang Woojin's house.”
“Our people?”
“Do you think I mean our actual members?! I'm talking about our tail!”
Hwang Mingu slammed his fist against the desk.
The Flame Guild.
A guild that carried out secret jobs for them.
Tasks like this were better left to those bastards.
“Haa. Stop getting irritated over everything. You're always losing your temper.”
Bang.
Hwang Youngjun sighed, complained under his breath, and left the Guild Master's office.
Creak.
“Huh?”
Woojin returned home and stared at the shoes near the entrance.
“Hyung, I think my parents are home.”
His father's shoes.
His mother's shoes.
They were not supposed to return from their overseas schedule for another three days.
Then...
“Woojin, is that you?”
A gentle woman's voice came from inside.
Elegant yet warm.
“Yeah, Mom. It's me.”
It belonged to Kim Sunyoung.
Kang Chankyung's wife.
And Woojin's mother.
Step. Step.
“You didn't get hurt in the Tower again, did...”
Kim Sunyoung walked toward the entrance.
Then she saw Yugeon and stopped.
“Who...”
Yugeon silently bowed in greeting.
Her complexion is definitely much brighter at this point.
He was not talking about wrinkles caused by age.
He meant the look on her face itself.
There was still a shadow over her because of Kang Yena's condition.
But compared to Yugeon's memories from his previous life...
She looked far brighter.
Well, back then she'd already lost both her daughter and son.
Yet even through that unbearable grief...
She had continued relief work.
