Chapter 44: Kang-Woo's Tears (1)

"S-Something I have to do?" Kang Seong-Soo looked at Oh Kang-Woo fearfully.

Kang-Woo lightly patted his back and let out a laugh. "Now, now, you don't need to be so scared. First, there are some things I want to ask you."

"U-Urghhh…"

"Who ordered you to pick a fight with me?"

Kang-Woo didn't think that Seong-Soo had made those provocations of his own volition. Seong-Soo had no real reason to do that to Kang-Woo.

Seong-Soo lowered his head with his mouth closed.

Then, Kang-Woo kicked Seong-Soo's head as if it were a football.

Smash!

"Kurgh!!" Seong-Soo groaned in pain.

His front teeth broke from the impact of the blow, and blood dripped from his mouth. Then, Kang-Woo placed his hand on the shoulder of Seong-Soo, who had fallen and was now trembling on the ground.

"Now, let’s try this again. Who gave you the order?" Kang-Woo asked.

"K-Kim Yeong-Hun…"

"Kim Yeong-Hun?"

That was the name of the Mir Guild's vice guild master. Seong-Soo's party had mentioned him before.

'The handsome and capable second-generation chaebol?'

Kang-Woo didn't understand why someone like that would try to pick a fight with him.

"Y-Yeong-Hun was once coldly turned down by Cha Yeon-Joo. He has resented the Red Rose Guild ever since that day."

“So, he made you pick a fight with me because I’ve been getting support from the Red Rose Guild?”

"T-That's not all. He said that… we need to make sure people think that the Mir Guild is superior to the Red Rose Guild."

"Hah, he's more pathetic than I thought."

Kang-Woo stood up while laughing.

He had been wondering what kind of person Kim Yeong-Hun was since the woman in the blue robe had spoken so highly of him, but he turned out to be nothing impressive.

"Do you have a picture of him?" Kang-Woo asked.

"I-I do."

Seong-Soo took out his smartphone and showed Kang-Woo a photo of a handsome young man.

'Huh?'?

Kang-Woo tilted his head.

Even though it was the first time seeing Yeong-Hun, he reminded Kang-Woo of someone.

'Kim Si-Hun?'

The person in the photo reminded Kang-Woo of Kim Si-Hun.

'Is it because they're both good-looking?'

Based purely on looks, Si-Hun was the more attractive one.

Kang-Woo didn't think about it too deeply and returned the smartphone to Seong-Soo.

"So, what you’re saying is that I just happened to be dragged into the middle of this pathetic guy’s revenge plot?" Kang-Woo questioned.

Seong-Soo bowed down and said desperately, "I-I'm sorry! I-I had no choice either since I was ordered to!"

Kang-Woo burst into laughter while looking at him. "Even if I take that into consideration, you seemed like you were really into it."

"Th-That’s…"

"Oh, it’s all good. Life is all about helping others, right? I don't mind, as long as you do exactly as I ask you to."

"I-I will do anything you ask!"

"Hahaha. Don't worry. It’s not too difficult. Rather, it might actually be good for you."

"…?" Seong-Soo gazed at Kang-Woo confusedly.

Kang-Woo, on the other hand, had a big smile as he looked down at Seong-Soo.

* * *

Mumble.

"Everyone, quiet! Quiet down, please!"

Many reporters had caught the emergence of some breaking news and gathered in front of the Gate where the variant monster had appeared. The soldiers shouted at them and asked for silence several times, but the commotion didn't subside.

There was a new existence, a variant monster that hadn't been seen before… and to catch it, the Red Rose and Mir guilds had joined forces!

The reporters were thirsty for more details about this breaking news, so they were waiting and staring intensely at the Gate.

"Huh?"

"Th-They’re coming out!!"

The reporters suddenly saw two people walk out of the Gate. To be precise, Kang-Woo walked while supporting and carrying Seong-Soo out.

"That’s…"

"Kang Seong-Soo and the person named Oh Kang-Woo!"

"What about the other party members?"

"Did they defeat the variant monster?"

A murmur arose among the crowd as they saw the pair exit the Gate.

"Wh-What happened in there?" the reporters asked Kang-Woo, shoving mics into his face.

Kang-Woo just ignored them and shouted hurriedly, "C-Call an ambulance, please!"

He then laid Seong-Soo down.

"

Gasp!

"

Some people screamed in horror after seeing the horrible state that Seong-Soo was in. His face was covered in so much blood that it was hard to recognize him, and his body was full of wounds as if a group of people had beaten him up.

"Ah, gah, h-help me…" Seong-Soo groaned in agony.

He reached out with a trembling hand, asking for someone to save him.

"H-How did this happen?" someone asked.

.

The people who saw Seong-Soo were stunned by his terrible state. The only way to describe it was that it was horrifying.

Everyone looked at Kang-Woo for answers.

He clenched his fists in frustration and explained, "He was hurt while… fighting the variant monster."

"Th-Then, are the rest of the party members…"

"That’s right. Only Seong-Soo and I survived… Everyone else… is dead," Kang-Woo said while biting his lips with a stiff expression.

The crowd talked among themselves after hearing that everyone except Kang-Woo and Seong-Soo had died.

"D-Don't tell me… the subjugation failed even after the rookies of Red Rose and Mir joined forces?"

"Just how strong is the variant monster?"

"W-We have to quickly call the Hwarang Corps and have them dispatch their elite force!"

Some people began panicking after finding out that two rookies who were being supported by large guilds hadn't been able to defeat the variant monster. It was obvious what sort of atrocity would occur if the variant monster were left alive and allowed to emerge from the Gate.

Kang-Woo answered softly, "You don't have to worry about that. We’ve defeated the variant monster. It's just that… many people had to be sacrificed in the process."

"Wow!"

"Were you the one to defeat it?!"

Everyone around Kang-Woo exclaimed excitedly upon hearing the news that the variant monster had been defeated.

"No, I'm not the one who killed the variant monster," Kang-Woo stated, shaking his head.

"Then…"

"The hero who killed the variant monster and saved my life was Mr. Kang Seong-Soo."

"Ah!" the crowd gasped.

Kang-Woo placed his hands on top of Seong-Soo, who was breathing with great difficulty.

"After watching his entire party get wiped out in the fight against the variant monster, he shouted at me to escape while he stayed behind to fight," Kang-Woo continued with a heavy voice. "I couldn't bring myself to escape and witnessed his battle to the very end. He ultimately defeated the variant monster. It was truly a heroic and desperate battle."

"…"

"After killing the variant monster, Seong-Soo kept mumbling the names of his deceased party members until he lost consciousness."

The crowd looked at Seong-Soo with tearful expressions while Kang-Woo told the story of the Player who had risked his life to fight off the variant monster. Hearing that Seong-Soo had mumbled the names of his party members before he lost consciousness was enough to move the crowd to tears.

The reporters who loved heroic tales had bright eyes.

"Could you give us a bit more detail?"

They pushed their mics even closer to Kang-Woo. Their attention was no longer on Seong-Soo, who was panting painfully on the ground. For them, it didn't matter if Seong-Soo was about to die. All that mattered to them was the news; they wanted a story that was capable of moving people.

"Right from the moment we entered the Gate, we felt a suffocatingly powerful bloodlust."

"Meaning…?"

"Yes, the variant monster was roaming around near the entrance."

The reporters gulped.

"A chill ran down all of our spines the moment we saw that monster. It was so strong that it was hard to believe it had appeared in a B-rank Gate."

"What did it look like?"

"Just like the government described it. It was a monster with a lion's head and five legs. One of Seong-Soo's party members was killed with just one blow."

"What… O-One blow?"

"How could that be?"

The other party members might not have been as strong as Seong-Soo, but they had still been fairly strong Players. After all, they had been a party of talented people whom the Mir Guild had gathered and supported.

"As soon as we realized that we were no match for it, we wanted to flee. But if we escaped through the Gate, there was a chance that the monster would follow us out and wreak havoc out here, hurting hundreds of innocent people."

"…

Gulp

."

Kang-Woo had spoken at a low volume, and the tense and desperate tone he'd used made the reporters so nervous that they gulped. They gripped their microphones tighter and listened to Kang-Woo's story even more carefully.

"Seong-Soo stepped up and shouted that innocent people could be hurt if we didn’t stop the monster here."

"Ah…"

"Then Seong-Soo and I fought against the monster with everything we had, but… the losses were too great. After that, everything went as I previously mentioned. In the end, Seong-Soo risked his life to deal the finishing blow to the variant monster."

"Ohhh…"

The reporters were in awe at the heroic attitude of Seong-Soo.

However, one reporter asked Kang-Woo a question, "But Mr. Kang Seong-Soo was quite aggressive toward you in the beginning. What do you think about that?"

That question completely killed the awe-inspiring mood.

Nevertheless, Kang-Woo easily answered, "Seong-Soo explained to me the reason for that after we entered the Gate. After hearing that it had not been long since I’d begun receiving support from the Red Rose Guild, he was worried that I was entering a B-rank Gate too soon. What was even more worrying than that was that I had to fight against a variant monster. So, he had acted like that on purpose to discourage me from going."

"Oh! I see."

"I had no idea about the deep meaning behind his actions…" Tears dripped from Kang-Woo’s eyes. "He is my savior, as well as the true hero of this era."

* * *

[A hero defeats the variant monster!]

[A dramatic battle, and the reason why he fought until the end…]

[Mir Guild's rookie Kang Seong-Soo was immediately taken to the hospital but still has not regained consciousness. People have donated over 30 million won for…]

[The hero fails to wake. In a vegetative state due to internal hemorrhaging… The Mir Guild announces that they will pay for Kang Seong-Soo’s medical bills.]

[Yet another star loses its light.]