Chapter 786: The Last (19)

-Vice Guild Master?

“…”

-If what you said is true, wouldn’t it be better to inform the Guild Master?

“…”

-Vice Guild Master? Vice Guild Master?

“That conversation ended yesterday. It’s early in the morning…”

-Oh, sorry. You must be tired…

“No… You don’t have to apologize.”

In fact, I wasn’t that tired.

-After yesterday’s conversation… I thought about it a little. If Jihye really is being used by a demon, as you said, and the continent is in danger again, wouldn’t it be better to let the guild take the job?

“I don’t want Hyunsung to know.”

-…

“…”

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

-Is there any reason he shouldn’t know?

“Is there any reason for him to know? Are you really hoping for that? Don’t make someone upset. Let him do what he wants to do. Instead of talking about this kind of thing, let’s start with the business as soon as possible. We can’t do anything about financial problems right away, but we still have to stop what we can. You said the guild is on the verge of going bankrupt.”

-The guild is indeed busy with work but in this situation…

“What I’m saying is that there’s nothing we can do right now. I told you to think of it as a chess rule. Lee Jihye is white, and we are black. It is her who has the right to make the first move. We need to focus on what we can do at this moment.”

-Then… What should I report to the Guild Master? He will learn of this anyway. If the situation you told me about really happens…

“I’m telling you that you don’t have to worry about Hyunsung. We can just go with the resurrection bait.”

-Guild Master will never close his eyes to this problem.

No, he definitely would.

I would send him somewhere out of reach of news. Around the time the situation exploded, Kim Hyunsung would probably be busy trying to solve my fake quest.

Of course, he wouldn’t ignore continental crises, but the whole continent wouldn’t be engulfed by war anyway. Hence, I judged that it was only proper to solve the problem before it could reach its peak.

I didn’t think there would be a situation where Kim Hyunsung would intervene and slit Lee Jihye’s throat open, but I didn’t know how things would unfold.

The masked hero wasn’t just a single person.

What would happen if he knew that Lee Jihye was the brigade trash?

‘If he just becomes hostile, it will be fortunate.’

The moment Kim Hyunsung caught wind of the second regression operation, it would be difficult to predict how he would react.

The possibility was slim and unlikely to happen, but maybe he’d try to find a way to join the brigade.

I didn’t know if Lee Jihye would approve of it, but who knows.

‘Brigade Hyunsung would be too much.’

Doom Hyunsung, Greyskull Hyusung, Corrupted Doom Hyunsung. I had seen all kinds of transformations, but Brigade Hyunsung would be too much.

Considering he wanted to regress at the expense of his own life, that might have meant he was really going to make extreme choices.

“You need to limit the information.”

‘We need to limit the information that Kim Hyunsung can gain. He may be acting that way because he still hasn’t realized he could get up here.’

Kim Hyunsung had already become a deity at this point. If he took a few steps towards it, he might find a way to come up.

It didn’t matter if it was about regression, about Lee Jihye, about divinity, or godhood. If Kim Hyunsung learned about those, he might complicate things even more.

Just being a strong supporting character was already enough.

‘I’ll take care of all the rest. You just keep earning tons of divinity…’

The expression ‘limiting information’ seemed a bit cruel after pondering about it.

It would be a little more appropriate to express that we were just helping him with all we could to focus on his work. If such information reached him, he would walk a different path, making him susceptible to falling into temptation easily.

I saw it as an unavoidable choice for the continent and the Blue Guild.

-Still…

“I would’ve reconsidered your words, but we really have no choice. I’ll instruct Hyunsung to do something else. Don’t bother. Oh, and come to think of it…”

I heard someone knocking on the door.

-Hyejin. It’s me.

‘This bastard came too early.’

I thought it was fortunate that he didn’t come over at dawn yesterday. He had probably already heard the news from the guild staff…

Cho Hyejin and I had a short talk and sent a message to him, after all.

It was just a brief report, though, since it couldn’t be hidden anyway. Considering it was late at night, he probably didn’t come running right away, but I guessed he could no longer stand it.

-Yes. I’ll be out soon, Guild Master.

-Okay.

Cho Hyejin couldn’t see Kim Hyunsung, but I could. He was pacing around impatiently. It was fun to look at him like that in front of the door.

It was a small clue that came out after the word soulmate. He was probably thinking about a lot.

“Don’t be nervous, just say what we agreed on.”

Cho Hyejin nodded. Hesitating in front of the door and checking herself on the mirror behind her, it seemed that she still liked Kim Hyunsung.

She looked like she got embarrassed for a moment because I might be looking at her. She opened the door after fixing her hair.

-Guild Master.

-Hyejin. Sorry for coming here early in the morning.

-No. It’s fine, Guild Master. I was just about to contact you. Like I said yesterday…

-Ah… Yes. Let’s go outside first.

-Yes.

His gaze was fixed on the spear.

‘Why are you staring at it like that? You’ll burn a hole through it with your eyes.’

He constantly glanced at it while they were walking.

-So…

-It happened yesterday evening. The spear suddenly fell from the sky, and I heard a voice saying that I was chosen as the Vice Guild Master’s representative.

-Is that so? If it’s okay, can you tell me what you said in front of the statue?

-It was just the same prayer as usual. I was telling him what happened in the day…

-I see. Did he say anything else?

-Maybe little by little, the oracles will come.

-I see…

-It probably has something to do with the clue.

-Yes. I was thinking the same way.

They didn’t seem to have a specific destination.

Usually, they would go into the office and talk, but they moved away from it as they conversed instead. It would be nice if they talked while eating breakfast, but they were busy having a serious conversation.

In the end, the place where Kim Hyunsung and Cho Hyejin stopped was the outdoor training ground of the Blue Guild. I could see them talking after sitting down on a chair.

‘Cho Hyejin has a talent for lying.’

The way she said the words we had prepared was no different from Jihye or me. She was so natural at it that it was probably why we felt connected with Cho Hyejin.

She was spitting out the prepared lines without hesitation, and there was no disturbance in her breathing.

-Perhaps he responded to our voices. I’m not sure of it yet, but I think the Vice Guild Master might be looking for a way too. No, to be precise, I definitely felt it. He also wants to come back.

-Can you feel that too?

-Ah… Yes. It’s a difficult sensation to explain in detail. But being a representative of a god…

-Can I touch the spear for a minute?

‘Somehow, I just knew he would ask that.’

Usually, such a statement would be rude, considering the continent’s basic etiquettes. However, in the Blue Guild, it was a request that wasn’t that hard to ask for. Cho Hyejin gently nodded and slowly passed him the spear.

Kim Hyunsung’s face seemed to be noticeably tense. Swallowing hard, he reached out to it. However…

‘It won’t work, right?’

Baaaang!

With that sound, waves began to spread out around it. Cho Hyejin’s hair and Kim Hyunsung’s cloak fluttered profusely.

The spear was refusing to be touched by anyone other than the owner.

If he were an ordinary person, no, even if he were a strong adventurer, it would’ve been enough to throw his body away.

The bastard was visibly holding on with all his might. I felt his will to never take his hand off of its shaft.

With a crackling sound, the ground on which Kim Hyunsung was stepping began to sink.

I couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to let go of the spear despite its resistance. Honestly, there was no way he couldn’t know that it was rejecting him.

-Guild Master?

-Wait… I’m looking at it.

‘I don’t think you’re just looking at it.’

In the end, he was even using magic power and divinity. One problem was…

‘What? Fuck, why does it hurt? Why does it hurt? Why…’

I felt a tingling pain all over my body.

‘Wait, stop. Fuck. You can’t try to force it like that. Fuck. Stop. Stop.’

“Ahhhhhh!”

He was biting his lips tightly as he tried to suppress it somehow. No, fuck, he wasn’t just suppressing it. He seemed to be trying to push it down.

‘No, fuck, don’t do this. Son of a bitch! Fuck… gosh…’

The ridiculous event ended only after Cho Hyejin reached out to it again.

‘Fuck… Fuck…’

-…

-It’s a good… spear.

As if nothing had happened, he quietly walked and suddenly picked up a spear on one side of the training center. I didn’t know what he was trying to do, slowly pointing it at her. Why did he look like he was protesting?

Hyunsung seemed to be saying that he could use a spear, too, and that he was only a bit less familiar with it than a sword, that he was quite good at it.

‘What can’t this bastard do?’

In fact, he looked adept with it even though his stance was simple. Cho Hyejin, who had a deep knowledge of spearmanship, acknowledged Kim Hyunsung, and I didn’t know much, but based on her expression, he probably was good at it.

-I used to use spears in the past. It’s been a while, so I’m no longer used to it.

-Ah… I see.

-Wait… Can I touch it again, just for a minute?

“Don’t give it to him.”

-I-I’m sorry, Guild Master.

-Just once more… please. I have something… to check…

-It looks like the spear doesn’t want to. I’d love to let you, but…

-That’s a shame.

-I’m sorry.

-No. Rather, I am…

The situation had become really awkward.

Kim Hyunsung seemed to have a sense of what he was trying to do. Besides regret, embarrassment and shame were evident on his face. Elena, approaching from far away, broke the awkward silence that lasted for a while as both avoided each other’s gaze.

‘Oh, she’s coming.’

I didn’t know what news she brought, but I didn’t think it was good news. Of course, I got the gist of it.

‘Has it started?’

At this point, Lee Jihye had begun to act.