◈ Episode 532. You Will Fall into Hell (1)──────To Chief Lee.
Please understand that I am putting my feelings into writing like this because I do not wish to disturb your brief rest, Chief. Did you know? I, Nasrow, though I have not had many points of contact with you…….
──────Nothing more than chief and senior.
A business relationship.
From the seniors who had been nothing more and nothing less than that.
──────Are you resting comfortably?
I cannot sleep because the words you left behind weigh on my mind, Chief Lee. And so I have taken up my quill. Chief Lee, if by any chance you need someone to talk to…….
──────All the way to seniors I was close to, including Bellier.
Every single one of them had written me long, rambling letters?!
Even the contents were far from ordinary.
‘I slept like a log, woke up, and what is all this?’
There was only one thing I could guess.
—“Before long, I will fall into Hell.”
Ugh, Granfell-style speech……!!
Well, whether in reality or on the Arcana Continent, Hell was a place only the dead could go. The information that one could set foot in Hell while still alive was something only people on the level of Lorenzik or the head of the Explorers’ League would know.
‘Even so. Of all people, they think I’m terminally ill?’
Shall I be honest?
[Blessing of the First World Tree]
As long as I have this.
There probably aren’t many people in the Magic Tower who’ll outlive me, you know?
“I seem to have caused concern unintentionally.”
That’s right.
There’s a need to correct this properly even now, Granfell. To explain accurately that Hell is merely a special field one can enter through an item called the [Red Spider Lily Grown from Blood]!
‘Lorenzik said there was a gate.’
Since it can be entered while alive.
Doesn’t that mean that gate, too, can ultimately be conquered?
Besides, above all, there was the most reliable insurance.
[Class Quest: Are We Still Demons?]
Akshan, I ask you. We who became demons and fell into Hell in order to hunt demons; we who have continued to hunt demons even after falling into Hell—are we still demons?
—Encounter the Demon Hunters of Hell. (On Hold)
●Acknowledge Hell’s Akshan. (Select)
●Reject Hell’s Akshan. (Select)
—Enter Hell. (In Progress)
The system, which did not lie, was displaying a quest window telling me to enter Hell. At last, I reached into my inventory and took out a single spider lily.
“This must be knowledge you do not possess.”
Yes, now was the time to show kindness, not run my mouth.
“There is a saying: seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times.”
Through all my experience so far, I had come to know well enough what ripples Granfell-style speech could cause. In other words, if I tried to explain Hell with a hundred words for no reason, it might give birth to yet another misunderstanding.
‘So if I attach the spider lily as reference material…….’
Thud.
It was the moment I set the single spider lily down on the desk.
Bzzzt.
A short vibration came from the inner pocket of my jacket.
The moment I checked the message.
I had no choice but to flinch.
“!”
No, that very instant.
I stopped all movement.
And immediately had no choice but to draw up my mana.
[Hoyeol, are you busy? If you have time right now……]
In case she might disturb me.
My mother, who had been holding back from contacting me.
It was a message from our strongest lady, Choi Kanghee.
I don’t want to lose anyone anymore.
That was something I had realized through this Jeju Island incident.
So, in order not to regret anything.
I immediately manifested a portal.
……
Maybe it was fortunate things turned out this way, even now.
“We really got the full benefit of our son today, didn’t we?”
The reason our Lady Choi Kanghee had urgently summoned me was simple.
Right before she stamped the contract.
She had informed me.
President Lee Junuk kept shaking the hand clasped in his own.
“Thank you for helping us today.”
“Not at all. Rather, our Gaon received a great deal of help, Father.”
“Tell our President Nam I’m grateful too.”
“I will, Father. I’ll tell both Guild Master Nam Taemin and Chief Analyst Nam Cheolmin that President Lee Junuk expressed his gratitude.”
If you’re asking what sort of contract they signed for people from the Gaon Group to come to our “Harmonious Dumpling Shop”……. I will show you Lady Choi Kanghee shrugging her shoulders.
“I thought I’d only feel relieved, but it’s bittersweet.”
Created through the blood and sweat of the two of them.
‘Harmonious Dumplings.’
As of today, the shop was closing down.
‘When I told them to rest like that, though.’
They said they were still hale and hearty, that they could keep at it for another thirty years, that they had no intention of holding their hands out to their son already, and shut me down so hard I could never bring it up again……!
Seoul, the Land of Anomalies.
As I said, Seoul had become land the entire world was eyeing, so an explosive rise in real estate prices was only natural. On top of that, Harmonious Dumpling Shop was in a “Masegwon.”
What’s a Masegwon, you ask?
It’s a newly coined term meaning “Magic Tower catchment area.”
And what would that mean?
—Seoul is dangerous? Masegwon is different!
It meant the safest area from rifts that could form anytime and anywhere, and from the encroachment of the Arcana Continent. Thanks to that, the land prices in Masegwon areas exploded even within Seoul.
Our President Lee Junuk, as people often say, sold a commercial building whose value had shot to the moon to the Gaon Group. If you ask why he sold it to the Gaon Group.
‘They’re quick on the uptake with things like this, at least?’
It was because a special law had been enacted.
—Starting today, foreigners are prohibited from real estate transactions in Seoul.
As I said earlier, since Seoul’s land was what the world was eyeing, the government had implemented emergency measures to prevent Seoul’s land from being seized by enormous foreign capital.
‘Well, I guess it’s good for both sides.’
In truth, it wasn’t as if Gaon had anything to lose either.
This was Seoul, overlaid by the Arcana system.
Even a small commercial building like this would surely have its uses.
‘For example, it could be used in a siege war…….’
By the way, you’re quiet at a time like this?
‘Aren’t you going to say something about wealth and glory like usual, Granfell?’
As if my provocation had been answered, my loose tongue recited.
“This was a rest the two of you should have enjoyed long ago.”
……
What a filial son you are.
At times like this, you leave me with nothing to say.
Perhaps Lady Choi Kanghee was overcome with emotion at my words.
She turned slightly and wiped at the corners of her eyes.
“Thank you for saying that, Hoyeol.”
Sssk.
Father gently stroked my shoulder.
We hadn’t been able to talk in detail, but I had a guess.
Why the two of them had suddenly sold the shop.
‘It’s because of me.’
In case they might become an obstacle to me.
That must have been the judgment they made.
So I kept silent with a heavy heart.
‘Of all things, I had to run wild after turning dark…….’
Because, in Granfell’s words, I had shown an ugly side on Jeju Island.
Even this proud loose mouth had nothing to say.
However, the quiet emotion did not last long.
“As expected.”
Our President Lee Junuk.
“When prices have risen like this, you’ve got to sell without hesitation, see?”
Had regained the look in his eyes from the past.
“I always say this, but real estate is the same as stock investment. There’s no such thing as being invincible, that’s what I’m saying. If it rises, there is always a point where it must fall. So the current price of Seoul real estate is a peak that will never come again in history……!”
There was one fact that needed to be recalled around this point.
How had the businesses our father started ended?
I still can’t forget those red seizure stickers…….
Fortunately, it seemed Lady Choi Kanghee felt the same as I did.
“You! Don’t even think about anything useless.”
“……I’m not thinking about anything useless.”
“That’s enough. I don’t want to ruin my mood on such a good day.”
There was knowledge accumulated through countless experiences. When our Lady Choi was like that, she was truly furious to the very tips of her hair, so one had to simply keep one’s mouth shut quietly.
‘But…….’
I looked at the sign.
──────Harmonious Dumplings──────
I had no intention of refuting Father’s words that this was a peak that would never come again in history. Seoul’s current real estate prices had skyrocketed because it had become the Land of Anomalies and competition had begun over it.
‘If everything ends.’
It truly would become a peak that would never come again.
‘Because I’m going to end everything.’
It was the moment I made that vow.
Lady Choi Kanghee spoke gently.
“Hoyeol, you’ll stay for dinner, won’t you?”
“Yes. You worked hard on Jeju Island, so stop by.”
“If possible, it would be even better if you stayed just one night……”
One night.
‘I overslept, so I’m a little busy.’
But as I said just now. There was absolutely nothing good about talking back to Lady Choi when she was angry to the tips of her hair, so I politely bowed my head and answered.
“I will gladly follow Mother’s words.”
*
Garnet Hall.
“How strange……?”
The senior of Enchantment, Kiko Armin.
What she forced open her shadowed, heavy eyes and waited for.
Was Hoyeol.
She looked at the parchment.
It was clearly written there.
Kiko murmured again.
“He definitely said soon……”
When it came to punctuality.
Chief Lee was stricter with himself than he was with others. Whether at regular conferences or round table meetings, she had never seen Chief Lee arrive late. Even minor appointments had been no exception.
And yet.
“Senior Kiko, aren’t you going in?”
“You all go on ahead.”
“Ah, then excuse us……!”
The adept mages left Garnet Hall to get some sleep.
Even after she finished the senior duties that had piled up.
Chief Lee did not show so much as a shadow.
“Hm.”
Anxiety began to sprout inside Kiko.
‘Surely nothing happened to him……?’
Normally, she would have simply assumed something urgent had come up and let it pass.
It was surprising that Chief Lee had not kept a promise. But since she herself had once failed to complete Chief Lee’s request within the deadline, she would have considered it nothing serious.
But right now, the situation was not ordinary.
A clear voice rang in her ears.
The declaration that had echoed through Crystal Hall.
—“Before long, I will fall into Hell.”
Kiko, too, had guessed.
That Chief Lee must be living a life whose end had been determined.
That it must be the price of the mighty power he wielded.
“…….”
Kiko suddenly recalled something.
“He hasn’t shown himself since saying those words, has he?”
An entire day had already passed.
Considering Chief Lee’s usual schedule, she could not imagine that he was still resting. Why, to begin with, even the fact that he had sent those words through parchment…….
“It was only a few hours ago……”
A dreadful thought suddenly flashed through her mind. What if Chief Lee had left those words as his last message and collapsed……? Kiko had no choice but to rise from her seat at once.
Ssssk.
She had no choice but to pick up her quill and write in a rush.
And now.
Kiko and the Tower Master, Marcelo.
The two of them climbed the stairs of the Magic Tower.
“You say Sir has failed to keep a promise.”
No one else.
But Sir Hoyeol of all people.
That alone made it worth confirming.
At last, Marcelo and Kiko knocked on the door to Hoyeol’s office.
But there was no answer.
“…….”
They did not ask any questions.
Because he was not someone who would fail to answer if he was in a state where he could.
Soon, Marcelo cautiously placed his hand on the doorknob.
And saw it.
“……?”
The office.
On the desk.
A single red flower, lying there all alone.
If it had been any other time, he would merely have flinched.
Had someone in the Magic Tower gifted Sir even a single flower?
It would have been no more than a matter to think about and pass over.
“……!!”
However, the sensation coming from the flower was too subtle for that. Its intense red felt almost like blood. Going further, it felt almost like death itself.
Kiko spoke in a trembling voice.
“……I-It couldn’t be, but could it be a funeral offering?”
At that moment, scenes flowed through Marcelo’s mind.
Elder Mage Senios.
The Tower Master.
Elder Mage Yugweed.
To mourn their deaths.
He saw his own two hands setting down flowers.
Marcelo looked alternately at his hands and at the red flower on the desk, then opened his mouth.
“From this moment on, I will leave every possibility open, Senior Kiko.”
“……Pardon?”
His eyes were burning with unprecedented calm.
“Even the possibility that Chief Lee has fallen into Hell.”
*
……What is it?
My ears suddenly itch.
But now is not the time to dig at my ears.
“How nostalgic.”
Nostalgic, my ass.
This is your first time seeing it, Granfell.
My room, I mean.
‘Well, still, thanks for not calling it shabby.’
But there was no time for childish arguments.
Now that I had ended up spending the final night before going to Hell at my family home by chance.
What I had to do was simple.
I had to find it—my black-history notebook……!!!