Episode 66
He thought his wrist was going to be grabbed again, but Geum Myeonggyeol merely took the empty cup. Han Chasu had been about to pull away unconsciously, then stopped short.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah… nothing. And there’s no need to treat me. It wasn’t anything so grand.”
“Even so, I don’t feel right about it.”
Geum Myeonggyeol continued, his face visibly crestfallen.
“Mr. Han Chasu, you don’t hate me, do you? If not, why are you trying to turn me into someone who takes things and then acts like nothing happened?”
“Of course not. I’m simply grateful that you came all this way out of concern for me.”
“Ah, so you prefer meeting often over material things? Hmm… all right. I’ll make a special effort for you, Mr. Han Chasu.”
At Geum Myeonggyeol’s meaningful smile, Han Chasu furrowed his brow. He’d tried to refuse, but somehow it felt as if things had become even more troublesome.
“Do as you please.”
Until he went into hiding, it would be enough to exchange greetings a few times. Han Chasu answered halfheartedly and moved among the medical staff. As if they had been waiting, people surrounded him.
“Why don’t you head back now, Exilis Master?”
“I think our Mr. Han Chasu has entertained you enough by now.”
“Well, this is a problem. It’s not like I can sweep you all away at once.”
Geum Myeonggyeol muttered with a leisurely smile, then turned his gaze toward Han Chasu and continued.
“Ah, I wasn’t talking to you. How could I ever lay a hand on you, Mr. Han Chasu?”
I get it, so please just go home. Amid the curses spilling from the medical staff, Han Chasu murmured tiredly.
“Please head back now.”
“It hasn’t even been an hour. How cruel. It took me three hours just to get in here.”
You said you’d come again anyway. Just as Han Chasu was frowning—
“Shall I call the Chief?”
A man wearing glasses drew close and asked. His gaze was cautious, as though seeking permission from a superior.
“Were you not uncomfortable with the Exilis Guild Master?”
“I can hear you over here.”
Beyond the crowd, Geum Myeonggyeol muttered as if dumbfounded. But the man paid him no mind. It was an impressive amount of nerve.
“The closest place from here is the Security Office, but at this hour he’s probably left his office… If you only say the word, I’ll go to the research building immediately.”
“No, it’s all right.”
Han Chasu flinched at the words Security Office and quickly shook his head. Gi Taeyeon was working hard on the final maintenance of the training system. He had no desire to interrupt him.
“I couldn’t impose on him like that.”
“…
You’ve changed.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s nothing. Then will you return to your hospital room as you are?”
“I’d very much like to, but…”
That man looked as though he would cling to him all the way to the end and follow. When the man saw Han Chasu’s gaze land on Geum Myeonggyeol, he frowned.
Words like impudent and such slipped from his mouth. It was rather bold language, but Han Chasu did not pay it much mind. This was after he had become aware of the medical staff’s excessive protectiveness toward him.
“Exilis Guild Master, your visiting hours should surely be limited.”
“Was there something like that?”
The moment Geum Myeonggyeol shrugged and smiled—
From far away, the murmur of people swept through the air like rippling waves.
“Hm?”
At the same time, Awakeners who were clearly combat personnel popped out here and there. Then a booming voice rang in his ears.
“I have come to meet a person named Han Chasu—!”
It was a heavy voice that tore through the air.
***
The guard at the front gate of the Bureau thought that today, too, should have been an ordinary day—noisy as always, but uneventful.
Although in five hours alone the number of times someone picked a fight with him exceeded both hands, and although he had to catch people trying to climb over the wall every single day, that much was bearable.
Compared to this situation!
“Please turn back!”
“I don’t understand why you’re on guard. I clearly said I merely came to meet someone.”
Figures with long sleeves landed one by one around the enormous object. Each and every one had an extraordinary appearance, but the plaques hanging at their waists were the same.
[Haetae]
The true leader of the Liberal Alliance and the rival of the Awakener Management Bureau.
Haetae had appeared.
‘Did they come to wage war?’
The many great and small bloodbaths that had taken place between Haetae and the Bureau. All of them were old stories. Incidents that had not occurred since the peace agreement was signed.
But there was no guarantee they would not happen again now.
‘Especially now, when the Director is stirring up the Liberal Alliance…!’
The guard’s eyes went rigid. Squeeze. The dagger in his hand sharpened his senses.
It was then.
Step.
The person with their hair braided into one long plait took a step forward. Tension climbed from the ground and up through his blood vessels.
‘I pressed the emergency button. By now, the combat personnel inside the Bureau should have received the call.’
And there were CCTVs on this side too. Just as the guard tightened his grip on the dagger, thinking of the colleagues who would soon come running—
A powerful aura surged from behind him like a wave.
Whoosh—!
And a sharp trajectory grazed past his cheek like an arrow.
Tap.
Upon strands of ink-black thread woven like a spiderweb, a man landed, the hem of his black coat fluttering.
“I was wondering what bastards were calling my man’s name so carelessly… and it turns out a bunch of big fellows came in a herd.”
Eyes like the sun flickered beneath the sunlight.
***
Han Chasu hurriedly took refuge in his hospital room. The atmosphere truly suited the word “refuge.”
All the way down the corridor, people’s voices erupted sporadically from here and there.
“Haetae came? Why are those guys here?”
“I don’t know. If it were Icarus, maybe, but the higher-ups wouldn’t have called those people directly.”
“Still, seeing as they stopped at the front gate, I guess they’re not here to start a war. That’s something, at least.”
“What do you mean, something! It’s bad enough that those unregistered ruffians act like they’re important, but just where do they think this place is…?”
The commotion soon ended. Through the speakers, an announcement rang out saying the emergency had been lifted and everyone should return to their positions.
“Something still feels off.”
“Haetae isn’t a place that moves for no reason.”
Han Chasu quietly listened to the medical staff’s conversation. Even after returning to the hospital room, they did not leave. No, rather, they stuck excessively close to him.
The man with glasses was especially like that. After placing the others at the window and the door respectively, he himself stood directly beside Han Chasu and guarded him.
“Mr. Han Chasu.”
“Ah, yes.”
Han Chasu, who had been eavesdropping on the others’ conversation, reacted a beat late. Beyond the clear glass lenses, the man’s eyes were looking at him.
“What on earth do you think Haetae came looking for you for, Mr. Han Chasu? Do you have any idea?”
His voice was very low. It was a whisper, as if asking for his true thoughts without the others knowing.
Han Chasu slowly blinked. Who knew.
He did not know much about Haetae. No, it would be fair to say he knew almost nothing at all.
‘When did Haetae first appear in the original work again?’
The early part of the novel was practically Jeong Iheun’s solo performance. The protagonist, driven mad by his younger sibling’s death. He destroyed everything that blocked him, killed it, and burned through it endlessly.
No matter how one looked at it, his actions could not be defined as good. Jeong Iheun’s cruel methods inevitably brought him into conflict with the Bureau.
In that process, the guilds belonging to the Liberal Alliance appeared only on the sidelines.
In fact, if one were to be precise, the banner raised by the corrupted protagonist could be said to be closer to liberalism. So they, too, had no reason to step forward and provoke Jeong Iheun first.
“I don’t know either.”
“I see…”
However, the question was resolved faster than expected.
Because Haetae’s errand runner came to visit.
***
“It’s a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I’m Gwon Seohong of Priol.”
His hair, which was dyed red toward the ends, was striking. After neatly finishing his introduction, Gwon Seohong grinned and revealed the reason he had come.
“I came to deliver a gift from Haetae.”
Priol was a guild that served as the bridge between the Liberal Alliance and the Bureau.
In truth, it was only neutral in name. It was no different from a branch Haetae had separately established for collusion with the Bureau.
Han Chasu took the hand Gwon Seohong offered, shook it halfheartedly, and went straight to the point.
“This is burdensome. I have never done anything worthy of receiving a gift from Haetae.”
“Yeah, so he’d like you to get lost.”
At some point, Geum Myeonggyeol had taken his place standing guard beside him and sneered with a smiling face. Han Chasu’s elbow jabbed him in the waist.
‘Please stay still.’
Han Chasu said it with the shape of his mouth.
Driving Haetae away was one thing. He did not want to get on their bad side separately.
Fortunately, Gwon Seohong looked unconcerned. Well, unless one was usually shameless, there was no way to survive between two forces.
“What do you mean, you have done nothing worthy of a gift? We know everything about what you did, Mr. Han Chasu.”
“What did I do…”
“You personally stopped Baekdam, that long-haired lunatic, from torturing Awakeners through some strange method, didn’t you?”
Ah, an exclamation escaped Han Chasu’s mouth.
‘He must mean when he tried to torture them with the training system.’
He had forgotten that the culprits had been unregistered Awakeners.
‘But they sent a gift personally just for that?’
This treatment was excessive. Wariness began to rise stealthily.
“By the way, just as the rumors say, you really are humble.”
Gwon Seohong’s two eyes sparkled as he smiled brightly. The person who had swept a cold gaze over the medical staff the moment he entered the hospital room was nowhere to be seen.
“How about meeting the people of Haetae directly later? Unfortunately, this time, those inflexible public officials got in the way, so I had to volunteer as the errand runner again…”
“I don’t think that will be possible.”
“I knew it.”
The sight of him sighing was rather mischievous. His hair swayed along with the gesture of shaking his head.
Then, suddenly, Gwon Seohong looked straight at him and asked.
“By any chance, do you have any siblings?”
I’m sure I’ve seen that face somewhere. The murmured voice brushed past his ears.
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