Chapter 303. True Loyalty is Earned

“Yo! Boss!” Eval Sevaru raised his hand and greeted him brightly. “It’s been a while. I heard that you did something big again…”

Eval was saying with a smile when he suddenly trailed off. For some reason, Chi-Woo was staring intently at him, and Eval turned around and ran without warning. He ran as fast as he could, pushing his legs to the limits. He didn’t even know why he was running. He had simply felt chills all over his body the moment his eyes met Chi-Woo’s, as if he wouldn’t be able to get anything off Chi-Woo as he usually did. Instead, he got a foreboding feeling that he would be the one forcefully dragged away to do Chi-Woo’s bidding.

That was why Eval had made a quick run for it. He thought even if he ran into Chi-Woo later, he could just say something urgent had come up suddenly. Thus, Eval was running as fast as he could when he heard:

“Mr. Eval Sevaru?”

Eval looked sideways, and his eyes almost popped out to see Chi-Woo running right beside him. Though he was running as hard as he could, Chi-Woo looked as if he was on a light jog.

“Are you going somewhere?”

“…”

“If you aren’t busy, can we talk for a bit?” Chi-Woo asked.

In the end, Eval had no choice but to stop running. Sometime later, Eval found himself following Chi-Woo to his house. He gritted his teeth and obediently followed Chi-Woo even while feeling that something horrible was going to happen to him. As long as he kept his mind alert, Eval thought he would find an opportunity to escape the worst dangers.

“How important is the matter you want to discuss that you are bringing me all the way to your house?” Eval asked in a slightly nervous tone.

“Did you see the tower at the square?” Chi-Woo asked.

Eval was taken aback, but he still answered, “Oh that? Yes, I did. It seemed the legend really went all out to make that.”

“Not Mr. Zelit?”

“Come on, who do you think I am?” Eval said with a frown. “Does Zelit even have the means and capabilities to build a tower that could affect a whole city by himself? I’m not looking down on him, but just stating facts.”

While saying that only the legend could establish a structure like that, he shook his head. Chi-Woo also nodded. It sounded like Eval knew considerably about the tower.

“What do you think about the tower, Mr. Eval?”

Eval’s eyes opened slightly wider when hearing this question. “What do you mean... Isn’t it obvious?”

“What is?”

“There’s nothing much to say because the intentions are too obvious.” Eval yawned widely and continued, “Whether we like it or not, they are telling us to work in groups and not act out on our own or in cliques.” Eval smacked his lips and added, “Well, people around me are saying all sorts of things, but if you are asking me how I personally feel about it, I don’t have any complaints. Everything the legend had implemented so far was very fair. Of course, we will only know for sure once everything unravels, but I don’t think it will be any different this time.”

Chi-Woo looked curiously at Eval.

“Anyways, I don’t know why you are asking me this question… What’s going on on your end these days?” Eval asked, unwilling to be the only one answering questions. “You all are residing in a zone. The Ho Lactea’s side seems to be going all out, but this place is quieter than I expected it to be.”

“…We have to start too, but…” Chi-Woo hesitated. “It’s a bit difficult.”

“…Huh? What’s difficult? Is there some kind of problem?” Eval asked like he couldn’t understand. “Even if the Ho Lactea found and established a new god, I still think you are more amazing considering the merits you earned from the recent expedition.”

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“It’s not something I did on my own.”

“That’s not what I heard. You went with an expedition group, but it sounded like you did everything on your own again.”

Chi-Woo stared at him. There wasn’t really anything wrong with what Eval said, but it was surprising how certain Eval sounded. How could he be so sure when he hadn’t even witnessed what happened in person?

“Why do you think that?”

“…You’ve all raised humanity’s name and prestige after conquering Hala Forest. It was an incredible feat that even the Cassiubia League, which is one of the four factions on Liber, failed to achieve. Yet everyone who came back from the expedition is dead quiet. This is strange considering that the Celestial Lights were so hell-bent on expanding their influence before.”

What was the reason the Celestial Lights were keeping so quiet after their success?

“It’s obvious what the reason could be. Gods must be fair according to contracts.” In short, the gods who had a contract with the Celestial Lights didn’t acknowledge the results of the expedition at the Hala Forest or rewarded them only a very small amount of merits.

“Otherwise, there would’ve been many talks about how they rose in ranks and so on all over the city. But the fact that they are so quiet means that those guys haven’t done jack shit this time,” Eval said and leaned into the chair.

“But the expedition was a success, so who could’ve done the work and gained the merits? Besides the Celestial Lights, there were four others in the expedition, and among them, the hero with the highest possibility of achieving such a success is—” Eval tapped on the table they were sitting at and said, “You. I’m not the only one who would come to this conclusion, boss. Anyone who knows you would say the same.”

Chi-Woo’s mouth gaped slightly. He was a little surprised, while Eval looked offended. He looked like he had been mocked because nothing he said was that impressive, but Chi-Woo looked so astonished. Eval wondered how lowly Chi-Woo had been thinking of him that he would be impressed by this. Yet all these grievances evaporated the moment he heard Chi-Woo’s following words.

“Mr. Eval Sevaru,” Chi-Woo said, “Although we are making preparations on our end too before the completion of the tower, we are having difficulties because I am lacking in many ways. Thus, I want to ask for your help.”

Eval’s mouth opened and closed in shock. “No…but boss, this is so sudden. Besides, is there anything that I can even help you with?”

“I’m planning to put in place a system,” Chi-Woo said as he heard from his brother.

“…A system?” Eval said and settled himself. “You are having difficulty establishing a system…doesn’t that mean…how does that even make sense? Those who know your secret here…ah, hm…still...well, since it isn’t your zone…” Chi-Woo didn’t know how Eval had interpreted his words; he kept murmuring to himself in rapid-fire.

“But this is too much. He had always acted like a loyal dog… Well, nobody knows what will happen…no, no.” After a while, Eval shook his head. “Haha, boss. It sure seems like you’ve got some internal conflict on your hands.” Eval replied with an awkward smile. “But I’m not sure if I’m the right choice for you. It’s not right for you to grab any hero from who-knows-where again and recruit them.”

Though Eval was speaking with a smile, he was clearly turning Chi-Woo down. But Chi-Woo didn’t give up.

“I don’t think of you as any hero,” Chi-Woo said, and the smile on Eval’s face dropped slightly. Eval could tell by Chi-Woo’s tone alone that Chi-Woo was being serious.

“Hm…boss.” Sensing that he wouldn’t be able to easily pass over the matter, Eval looked more serious than usual. “I don’t know how I should say this…no, I should tell you outrightly. I’m not the type of person to be tied to one place.” He fixed his posture and sighed. “Don’t ask me why; that’s just how I was born. Maybe you can call me immature, but I can’t serve somebody else, and I’m a hero who acts alone for the most part. I don’t work well in groups, nor do I want to stand above anyone. That’s too bothersome.”

Then Eval shrugged and said, “That’s how it is. Do you know the reason I came to Liber in the first place?”

Chi-Woo shook his head.

“I came because I was curious. So, so curious.” Eval chuckled. “I can’t help it. It’s a world that even stumped the legend. How could I not come to check it out?” It wasn’t for some noble cause, nor had he come to sacrifice himself. Eval crossed his arms after saying what he had to say. It seemed he was asking Chi-Woo if he still wanted to recruit him after all this.

Yet Chi-Woo responded, “So? That’s understandable.”

Eval’s face hardened, but Chi-Woo was serious. He could understand Eval because he had been in the same position, and he could empathize with Eval as someone who used to live an ordinary life most of his life.

“…Boss,” Eval asked Chi-Woo. “I’ve already said that I don’t want to do this twice.” He sounded a bit exhausted at this point.

“I know,” Chi-Woo said. “Still, I am asking you again.”

Eval smirked and leaned his forehead against his palms. “I don’t know what you are expecting from me…but I’m not such a great hero that you would need to work so hard to recruit me.” He shook his head and sighed. “You will surely be disappointed even if I join you as a subordinate. Rather than seeing me work, you’ll see me playing most of the time.”

“It’s fine.”

“That’s fine for you?” Eval let out a humorless laugh like none of this was making sense. Seeing his response, Chi-Woo went for a different approach.

“There’s a famous athlete named Muhammad Ali in my world. Though he was a great blabberer, most people, including me, liked him. Do you know why?”

“…Why?”

“Even though he’d done all sorts of eccentric things, he always proved his worth once he entered the ring.”

Eval raised one of his eyebrows. He took Chi-Woo’s words to mean that he wouldn’t meddle in anything Eval did as long as he did what he was supposed to do.

“Haa….” Eval didn’t know how many times he had sighed during this conversation. He was very conflicted. He had run away because he thought something like this would happen. Eval organized his thoughts after licking his lips. Since Chi-Woo was acting like this, he only had two choices: it was to accept his offer, or clearly reject it even if he had to go a bit far. It wasn’t that hard to come to a decision.

After a long stretch of silence, Eval finally answered, “You said it’s fine for me to play. Okay, fine. Let’s play. We can do it together.”

Chi-Woo looked happy. “Are you saying that you will help?”

“I want to go all out since I’ve made up my mind,” Eval said. “But I hate having to pay attention to what others think while playing.” Then he glanced at Chi-Woo and smirked. “And I suppose I might cause some incidents here and there while going all out, but I never like it when parents scold their children for causing trouble and apologize in their stead.”

Chi-Woo tilted his head and asked, “What are you trying to say, Mr. Eval Sevaru?” It sounded like Eval was laying down some conditions. “Are you telling me to clean after your mess?”

“Hey, that’s too straightforward. I don’t mean it in that way.” Eval shook his hand. “Rather than going through so much struggle and working from the bottom, I prefer to come out with a bang. It’s more fun that way, but…” Eval frowned and raised his clenched fist. “In order to do that, I need strength. But I know that’s hard to carry out in reality.”

Though Eval was talking in a roundabout way, Chi-Woo could generally get what Eval was saying.

“Then…”

“I’m saying that I want someone strong backing me up.” Eval cleared his throat. Eval needed a backer who didn’t outrightly step forward but watched him from behind. In other words, Eval wanted steadfast support so that he could do the things he wanted to do. It couldn’t just be Chi-Woo. That wasn’t enough; he needed a stronger backing than that.

“Who are you talking about then?”

“Who else? There are very few heroes who have more influence than you if you put your mind to it,” Eval said. And if they needed to pick one among this handful of heroes, there was only one answer.

“The legend.” The peak of humanity—he was the king among heroes who all heroes respected and admired. “If you can get the legend’s backing, what is there to be afraid of? I feel like things would get a bit more fun then.” If a hero got the Choi’s name backing him, most incidents would be resolved without causing a stir, and he would even get to look down at the Ho Lacteas.

Chi-Woo looked baffled, and Eval smiled inside his mind seeing that. He thought there was no way Chi-Woo would be able to accomplish what he asked. The legend wasn’t just a regular Joe in town. Furthermore, there were many rumors that said the legend was a very serious man, bordering on cold-blooded. Even with all the achievements under Chi-Woo’s belt, it seemed impossible the legend would accept his request based on the rumors Eval heard about the legend’s personality. Eval thought Chi-Woo would’ve gotten the message now.

Eval smiled faintly seeing Chi-Woo snort. He knew how ridiculous Chi-Woo must’ve found his request. ‘Who told you to keep going on when I said no?’ Eval murmured to himself. Then he raised his head again and asked, “Can you do that? If you can, I will give your offer another thorough consideration.”

“…Does that mean you’ll do what I ask if I bring Mr. Choi Chi-Hyun here?”

Eval burst out laughing. Was he really suggesting that he could bring him the legend—whom so many had a difficult time even meeting in person? Right now, right here?

“Ahahaha! You’ll go that far? Fine by me! That’s great! Why don’t you bring him over! Then I swear that I will crawl under your legs and bark like a dog. Are you really…”

And while Eval exclaimed and clapped, Chi-Woo tapped on his left wrist and said, “Give me a moment.”

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Some time later.

“Uh, you came immediately.”

“Where’s the lunchbox?”

“Why don’t you sit down first?”

“Where’s the special lunchbox?”

Since coming to Liber, Eval had never made such a stupidly shocked and astonished expression. The man had come in while looking around. Eval’s jaws had dropped to the lowest they could drop as he stared in a daze at the man who soon took a seat next to Chi-Woo.