Chapters 522: Revenge Companion (1)

“So… What happened after that?”

“Well, I don’t really remember. It happened so long ago, but I’m starting to remember some details while we’re talking. After that… I wandered around that area for a while and was found by the Blue’s guild members. At that time, by the attacking team… I mean…”

“Was there an attack team back then as well?”

“Yes, I don’t know if you remember, but it was led by a man named Jung Jinho…”

“Oh, you mean that lunatic killer?”

“Yes, it seemed as if a few people, including Lee Kichul and Jung Jinho, formed a special group to complete the tutorial dungeon. Of course, it wasn’t through a standard method. It was revealed later that they took some of the people hiding and used them as scapegoats. This is not going to happen anymore, but… In fact, Jung Jinho never got into any guild after that but started to work independently. As the leader of a notoriously murderous brigade, he caused a lot of negative impacts on the empire. However, I remember that he met a miserable end.”

“So…”

“So that’s why when I went down to the basement of the tutorial dungeon, I thought I had to finish him. That’s why I was happy to go down there with him. As a result, you were hurt by Yoo Seokwoo. However, if we hadn’t finished off Jung Jinho in the dungeon, he would have caused a lot more damage. Because he was basically born to be a psychopath.”

“I’m a little curious about how that kind of person would have died. So, what happened in the 1st Timeline?”

“He was betrayed.”

“What?”

“He was betrayed by his colleagues, driven into a trap, and died a miserable death. It was Lindel’s guild that killed him, but it was probably the masked man and woman who orchestrated the situation. To add more to that, the devil summoner Jin Qing… was also a member of the murderous brigade. I don’t know what exactly happened, but it’s probably because of a power struggle inside the group. I guess even a notorious criminal like Jung Jinho was also merely a puppet for the demon summoner.”

“It’s hard to understand because I’m listening to so many stories at once. Jin Qing, he is…”

“Yes, he is also one of the worst humans in the world… No, I think it will be better to talk about him later. Because Jin Qing only began to reveal himself after Jung Jinho’s miserable death…anyways, serial killer Jung Jinho died after being hit by hundreds of arrows. He screamed, cried out tears of blood, smiled at the sky, and then finally died. It was a horror to look at it.”

‘Damn, this punk suddenly starts talking about himself and then quickly changes to talking about Jin Qing, even though he said himself that Jin Qing comes out way later in the story.’

“I’m sorry. I’m not good at talking, so I feel like I’m going all over the place.”

“No, I have no problem understanding it at all.”

In fact, it was an interesting story.

Although I knew that there had been a deep connection between demon summoner Jin Qing and the lunatic psychopath Jung Jinho through Yuno Kasugano, I didn’t know that it was Jin Qing who backstabbed Jinho in the end.

He really did seem like the villain who drove humanity to damnation in the 1st Timeline.

Who else could be the cold-blooded trash that trusted no one and would sacrifice his comrades in a heartbeat?

‘Good thing I dealt with him early on.’

I felt good for quickly eliminating the two villains that would bring so much destruction to the empire early on in my journey. If they were still alive, I wouldn’t be able to relax like that.

‘Let’s stop thinking about them, whatever.’

I had to keep hearing about them later anyway. What was more interesting was hearing Kim Hyunsung’s experiences during the First Timeline.

‘He is definitely talented.’

I didn’t know if he was bragging, but being able to cut through dozens of monsters in the first and second position could only be explained by talent.

Even if knowledge came through his head, who would be able to fight like that? Perhaps, the danger and death of that hyung helped Kim Hyunsung evolve into who he was at the moment.

I was glad to whoever he was that heroically died there. He had been very useful for increasing Kim Hyunsung’s experience points.

The one thing that I found strange was why Kim Hyunsung wasn’t looking for that person… If not…

‘He already looked for him…’

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

However, he was not able to find him.

In the first place, there was so little information. He never saw that hyung and only knew him by his voice. And even that memory of his voice might not be accurate.

Even if Kim Hyunsung wanted to find him, he probably couldn’t. Perhaps he couldn’t even think that it was a possibility in such an unexpected situation…

If not, he might have forgotten about him altogether.

“Then he… That hyung person is…”

“I tried to find him while continuing the tutorial, but as expected, it wasn’t easy. I was also running around like crazy and was stuck in a cave. Hence, I couldn’t remember well either.”

‘I guess he did look for him.’

“I think he’s probably alive. I’m sure he’s alive somewhere. I’m not certain, but I think he’s not a person that would die easily. Moreover, we’ve reduced the number of monsters greatly compared to the First Timeline.”

“So, there was a reason why you went out alone.”

“Yes, but that wasn’t the only reason why I went around the dungeons every time. That aside, after I got out of the dungeon, I joined the Blue Guild. I was relatively less noticed because I wasn’t able to get into the assault team, but…”

‘Well, there is a saying that sharp fangs are bound to pierce through pockets. [Note: *means hidden talents cannot go unnoticed]

I was sure that while he was training at the training center, people realized he was a hidden gem.

“I got an offer from Cha Hee-ra and Park Yeon-joo, but I chose the Blue Guild for many reasons. The biggest reason was that I couldn’t afford to compare the different offers. I received a lot of help from Lee Sang-hee, who is now the guild advisor. As you probably expected, during that time, the Blue Guild’s finances were in a bad situation, so we went through some hard times. The situation got even worse when Lee Seolho brought in the demon worshipper, Ito Souta. That was the first war.”

“What?”

‘Man, what a mess it was.’

“The battle between the cities of Celia and Lindel was my first war. Of course, the war didn’t last too long, but… I thought the church would mediate somewhat, but they didn’t.”

‘That’s understandable.’

At that time, the devil worshipper Ito Souta had a tight grip on the church.

Considering that Ito Souta was influential not only in politics but also in the Vatican, he would have tried to minimize the church’s involvement.

From the church and the empire’s perspective, it made no sense to just watch a conflict between two cities with strong forces occur.

However, considering that reducing the entrance of adventurers could be solved without their involvement, it wasn’t a bad choice for the church to just watch. However, because of this, I was not sure if emperor Sharlia, with his thick head, could have calculated so far ahead…

As a result, that choice brought on the war against the Republic, like a butterfly effect.

For the Republic and Jin Qing’s commanders, that trash, how would they miss such a perfect opportunity to attack the empire?

Considering the overall flow, the 1st Timeline was basically hell, with never-ending wars occurring one after another.

Civil wars between cities against Celia, the emergence of a murderous brigade, the war against the Republic, and it was probably around that time that the mask trash would have begun to make his entrance.

I could bet that the next story would probably be about Kim Hyunsung making a comeback as a regressor.

I was a bit curious about when Park Deokgu died, but based on the flow of the story, I think it might’ve been between the civil wars and the emergence of the murderous brigade. Since I didn’t want to miss any details, I wanted to hear Kim Hyunsung continue his story a little longer, but contrary to what I wanted, the morning sun was beginning to appear.

‘We stayed up all night.’

“The only thing I am really sure of is that a lot has changed since you joined the Blue Guild.”

“Ah…”

“The civil war with Celia didn’t occur, and there was no power struggle between the Vatican and the Empire. We were able to defeat the demon worshipper Ito Souta quickly, and as mentioned before, we were able to finish Jin Qing. We were also able to get different countries to unify and join forces much faster. If it were the First Timeline, we would be in the midst of a war with the Republic now.”

“I didn’t know that, but I guess it turned out like this.”

“You don’t know how thankful I am to you.”

“Then after the war with Celia…”

“Yes, I took over the Blue Guild.”

‘I guess that’s when it all started.’

That was when Kim Hyunsung’s administration began.

“I’ll explain a little bit more about the war between Celia and Lindel, but I’ve been the Guild Master of the Blue Guild since then. Many guild members died, and many deaths occurred on both Lindel and Celia. The empire tried to mediate the situation, but it was after too much damage had already been sustained. The war would have probably lasted longer if Ito Souta didn’t die. More people would have shed their blood.”

“Ito Souta.”

“I killed him myself. I could have been beaten, but… I was lucky.”

‘Ah, I want to listen to this part in detail.’

I wanted to hear the specifics of what the end of the devil worshipper was like.

‘This punk is pretty amazing too.’

Even the war could have led to his rapid growth, and he probably wasn’t stronger than Ito Souta during that time.

Back then, Ito Souta’s agility stat was 99. Even considering how fast Kim Hyunsung grew in the war, he probably wouldn’t have exceeded 80 by then.

I was more surprised since I saw Ito Souta’s stats with my own in the judgment room.

By saying that he was lucky, Kim Hyunsung was probably not exaggerating. Of course, his luck was only possible because of his strong foundation.

The more I listened to his story, the more curious I got about what the situation was like, how that battle went, and how Kim Hyunsun strengthened the Blue Guild and turned it into one of the top 3 guilds.

My prediction was that Kim Hyunsung was able to gain a reputation after the war and was probably able to get a lot of support and investment. On the other hand, Kim Hyunsung was an icon of incompetence in terms of guild management.

Lee Sang-hee, who was the Vice Guild Master at the time, was likewise incompetent… However, after thinking a little bit more, I couldn’t help but nod. I didn’t know how long the war went on, but if the timing was right…

‘Cho Hyejin must have come into the Blue Guild.’

Cho Hyejin, who must’ve failed to stop Castle Rock’s internal strife between the guild and clan, would have entered the Blue Guild during that time.

It would’ve taken some time because there would’ve been no competent administrative managers like manager Kim Mi-young. However, Cho Hyejin and Kim Hyunsung would’ve slowly raised the guild to a position similar to the Three Big Guilds.

‘Well, emerging victorious in a hero’s dungeon even once also guaranteed success.’

Because it would’ve easily gained attention, as I expected, Kim Hyunsung began to mention Cho Hyejin.

“Of course, I had a lot of difficulties, but just in time, Miss Hyejin came into our guild, and we were able to grow thanks to her.”

“I see. That’s why you appointed Hyejin as an advisor as soon as she came into the guild…”

“I’m s-sorry for what happened then.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“It was to relieve your burden, but it was also because she was a trustworthy person.”

“Then was when Ye-ri and Hayan joined the Blue Guild as well?”

“No, Miss Hayan wasn’t in the Blue Guild. At that time, she was in the Magic Guild… and during the war, she was tricked by the demon summoner Jin Qing. She killed herself…”

I saw that Kim Hyunsung was gauging my reaction while he continued to talk. I was sure he saw my shocked expression.

“That scumbag.”

Again, I noticed Kim Hyunsung becoming restless as if he didn’t know what to do.