The Hero Returns

Act 3

"One, two, three, four…"

Lee Ju-ho was sitting inside the office of the Awakener Association located in the Jongno Tower, busy counting something displayed on the monitor.

The higher his count got, the more ashen his complexion became. If this happened a few days ago, he would have been stunned silly by what he was seeing, but he currently had no energy left having been stunned constantly for the past handful of days.

BANG—!

"Bro! What is going on here?!"

Hak-joon shoved open the office's door, hurriedly rushed inside, and then shouted at Lee Ju-ho.

The office had been deathly quiet until then, so the commotion he raised prompted all the workers inside to focus their attention on him for a moment there.

Even then, Hak-joon ignored all that and, unlike his usual self, hurriedly strode over to where Lee Ju-ho was.

The latter knew the younger man would be coming to pay him a visit anyway, so he got up from the chair and said, "For now, let's go outside and talk. We're making a noise."

"But, bro. Right now, it—"

"I get it, so let's get out of here first."

Lee Ju-ho patted Hak-joon's shoulder and stepped outside the office.

He got a can of instant coffee from the corridor's vending machine and settled down on one of the bench seats placed there and then, finally, addressed Hak-joon. "Okay, so you know about the rough outline of the situation, right?"

"Is our world coming to an end or something?"

"I wonder about that myself. I'm scared that it might be true. Thankfully, we still have some time left, but…"

Lee Ju-ho let out a heavy sigh and shook his head.

He didn't even bother to open the canned coffee. His head was in too much of a mess, and the thoughts of drinking it didn't even enter his mind.

"I'm sure no one could've predicted that the dungeon generation speed would suddenly triple without any warning. We've sent out texts and official announcements to all the returning awakeners to ask for their assistance, and thankfully, quite a few have responded positively so far."

"That sure is a relief."

"If we get it right, it might be possible to raid everything somehow within the time limit. We've been raising the overall strengths of the awakeners just for an occasion like this one, after all. However, the real problem is—"

"It's Gangwon Province, isn't it?"

"That's right."

Click—

Lee Ju-ho finally popped the lid of the canned coffee in his hand as he replied, "The number of dungeons showing up in Gangwon is not a laughing matter. Not only there's one indigo and three blues, but we also have over 30 greens on top of that, and 20 of them alone showed up just today, no less."

"More…showed up?!"

Hak-joon was notified yesterday. He checked his phone's inbox after he finished his trial and then ran straight here to speak to Lee Ju-ho.

However, as it turned out, the number of dungeons written on the message was too low. In just one day, there was an explosive rise in the overall numbers.

"What should we do? Maybe we should request assistance from another country or—"

"They are also incredibly busy themselves, although maybe not as serious as our side. Assistance? We shouldn't expect one to come. Even if they have some wiggle room, they can't tell when their own countries would face a similar crisis."

"In that case, what should we do?"

"We have to wait."

They had only one option remaining.

"Wait for Su-hyeun."

Indeed, they had to wait for Kim Su-hyeun to return.

However, it was unknown whether or not this crisis could be averted even if he returned in time. No matter how amazing Su-hyeun was, could he deal with all these dungeons in time, especially when one of them was an indigo color?

"When is he supposed to return, though?" Hak-joon asked.

"He said that there's a good chance that no save zone exists inside his trial this time, which means, he probably can't return until the trial is over."

"But then…"

"We'll probably have to give up on Gangwon Province."

This was not an easy decision to make.

More importantly, it was not a decision Lee Ju-ho could make, anyway. Although the influence wielded by the Paragon Guild, and by extension Lee Ju-ho, on the Korean Awakener Association was quite substantial, he still didn't have the authority to make such a decision.

Unfortunately, the situation was developing at breakneck speed at the moment.

"Will that even be possible?" Hak-joon asked again.

"I'm sure our dear higher-ups understand the situation well enough. They simply have to consider it. Evacuate every resident in Gangwon. Then, it doesn't matter whether it's the military or the Awakener Association, we gotta gather enough people to cordon off the whole district where the cluster of dungeons is located."

Crush—

Lee Ju-ho unknowingly crushed the coffee can in his hand. The half-drunk bitter liquid trickled down his hand and dripped to the floor.

"If we don't do that, then well, we'll really all die."

"…"

The current situation gradually became starker to Hak-joon as he saw how grave Lee Ju-ho's expression was.

The world seemed to have changed literally overnight.

No, wait—the change had begun a long time ago if he was being honest. It was merely continuing even now. It was just that the changes took place so gradually that he or anyone else had failed to sense it.

"Bro, is this what you were talking about?" Hak-joon thought.

"Is this what you predicted would happen?" Lee Ju-ho inwardly mulled.

They were thinking of the exact same thing at that moment.

Su-hyeun had been saying for a while now that dungeons were not the treasure trove of resources for the convenience of mankind. He said that one of these days, they might end up devouring the entire world in an instant.

"Although Su-hyeun seems to hate the idea…"

This bleak situation caused Lee Ju-ho to close his eyes and recall Su-hyeun's face.

"There's no helping it in this kind of a situation, me hoping for a hero to step up."

The time a dungeon needed to become a full-on outbreak was, at its shortest, 15 days and about a month at the longest.

Lee Ju-ho fervently prayed that Su-hyeun would return within 15 days from his trial.

And so, while leaving his prayers as just that, prayers, the 15 days passed by in a flash.

<hr />

People descended on the empire's capital city.

Knights and swordsmen with some skills came to the city from all corners of the continent, all because of Emperor Wick Bradley's official announcement.

While standing on one of the imperial palace's balconies, Su-hyeun looked at the massive throng of people gathering from the distance.

Fifteen days had flown by so quickly, and during that time, he had been checking out and studying the crowd that continuously streamed into the empire's capital.

"At this rate, the city will burst at its seams."

The capital, which currently had no single civilian inside, was in a situation similar to a conflict zone because those who had gathered there at the empire's decree numbered well over hundreds of thousands.

It certainly was an incredible number.

Every single one of them possessed a skill level that rivaled a regular awakener, and several among them were individuals that easily matched S-Ranks.

Su-hyeun focused magical energy to his eyes and studied the appearances of these people in the distance.

They looked so human and realistic as they laughed and chatted away with their comrades and friends that he just couldn't see them as mere "illusions."

"They said that I should consider them as data of the people and their world that did exist."

The administrators, Su-hyeun felt that he could vaguely make out what they actually were.

But then, an event that was completely out of his scope of understanding and common sense would happen, just like the one before his eyes, and their existences suddenly felt like distant mirages.

It was as if they were saying, "You thought you saw clearly, but that's not true at all."

Su-hyeun shook his head to get rid of that thought that abruptly popped up in his mind.

"Let's not worry about that now."

Su-hyeun was always on guard against his mind wandering off toward unnecessary distractions during the trials.

Even if they were things he definitely had to uncover or would require later in the future, they were also not things he needed to take care of right now.

It didn't matter what the distraction was, there was no need for him to waste his mental energy on one during the trials. If he was in a trial, he needed to focus on clearing that first and foremost.

Worrying about something else should happen afterward.

"So, it's today."

Su-hyeun's gaze drifted upward.

In the past two weeks, the sky had always been clear and hinted not a single drop of rain, but today, it was heavily overcast.

Those dark clouds seemed like they would start raining down lightning bolts at any second now.

A little more time went by.

The crowd gathering from all corners of the continent had approached the front of the imperial palace. After seeing that, Su-hyeun began to pack his stuff.

Clang, clang, clang—!

Someone rang a massive bell in the distance.

The time had finally come.

Step, step—

Su-hyeun finished packing up, and while carrying his luggage, headed to the front of the imperial palace as well.

Many people had gathered there by now. Nobles and knights, plus renowned swordsmen from every corner of the continent, had filled up the large avenue as if they had come to lay siege to the capital.

"Huh? What are you doing here, friend?"

While on his way, Su-hyeun ran into Binladen.

Su-hyeun bowed slightly in greeting and replied, "I was just killing some time."

"Time, eh?"

"Yes."

"So you can play dress up and goof off, for that matter as well, I see. But friend, you need to keep your wits about you. I mean, today is an extremely important day, isn't it?"

Binladen looked deeply tense.

But that couldn't be helped.

"It's His Majesty the Emperor's abdication ceremony, after all, so we need to stay wide awake. Although it's only been a fortnight, you're still His Majesty's personal guardian knight."

"Of course," Su-hyeun replied while sweeping his gaze over not just Binladen but also the other people busily preparing some things around them. "That did happen."

Right now, the empire's capital was teeming with countless people to witness Emperor Wick Bradley's abdication ceremony.

The emperor had made an official announcement. Through magical means, he played the video footage of himself in every corner of the continent to declare his abdication ceremony and a festival to go along with it, which could only be attended by talented and powerful individuals.

This world was a land of the strong—a world where only the strong were treated well, and only they could survive.

And this was the abdication ceremony of the emperor who popularized this idea of the strong. Therefore, rather obviously, countless people had gathered to witness his abdication.

On top of that…

"Today, the next emperor will be decided as well."

Tap—

Binladen lightly patted Su-hyeun's side and brushed past him. "You need to watch carefully who'll become the new emperor since you'll be guarding that person starting tomorrow."

"…"

Su-hyeun watched the back of Binladen as he got further away before sighing deeply under his breath.

The abdication ceremony of the current emperor, an announcement ceremony for the next emperor on top of that, and then a coronation ceremony of the new emperor to follow soon after—those things had been advertised to take place today. However, they were all part of Bradley's plan to attract people to the capital city.

"There's no war, so it would have been difficult to attract people with something that sounded normal, after all," he thought.

The current emperor, Wick Bradley, was the symbol of strength, as well as the living history of the empire itself. The abdication of someone like that would naturally interest anyone with some connection to the empire, regardless of how loose it might be.

However, that alone would not be enough.

People who only possessed a simple desire for more political power and not pure respect and awe for their emperor would not necessarily feel all that compelled to attend the abdication ceremony.

And that's why the emperor also mentioned that the announcement and coronation of the new emperor would take place at the same time as well.

Then, he issued a summons that said everyone with stations higher than a "knight" must gather in the empire's capital city.

On the other hand, he ordered anyone who didn't even meet the minimum qualifications of being a knight to leave the capital.

And so, under the pretext of the new emperor's coronation, powerful individuals from all over the continent had gathered in one place.

Woaaaaaah—!

Your Majesty—!

The loud roars of the crowd resounded.

Maybe they were truly excited because some unrestrained energy spikes could be felt amid all the roaring. Something like that was inevitable when so many people had gathered in one place.

Su-hyeun walked to another spot and then shifted his gaze toward Bradley, who was currently standing on top of a tall podium located in front of the massive crowd.

"First of all, thank you all for traveling a great distance to witness our abdication ceremony. Also, we will borrow this occasion to…"

He began with a pretty nice-sounding speech.

Somewhat mysteriously, despite all these people standing around in one place, there was not a single hint of disorder anywhere. Everyone was razor-focused on Bradley's grand speech.

Blind loyalty and faith, and even awe and respect, were clearly visible in their eyes.

That made perfect sense, however.

Before they were nobles and knights, they were warriors who trained in the art of aura control.

The person before their eyes was the creator of aura control and was also a true living legend. He was also the sole existence that stood on the peak of the path they were walking on.

It would be far weirder for them to not respect the man.

"Is this why he divided the social classes via one's abilities?" Su-hyeun thought.

He observed the crowd that was fervently listening to Bradley's speech.

They most likely had no idea of what was about to transpire in this place.

Su-hyeun slowly raised his head.

"I guess it's…"

The dark and gloomy clouds thickly spread over the skies were slowly and gradually splitting apart.

"About time."