"Do you by any chance have a Hunter close to you? Or perhaps someone close to you that is waiting for their Awakening test results?"
The doctor asked a strange question. The chairman had asked if there was anything wrong with his body, so why was the man talking about Hunters? Yoo Myunghan asked,
"What do you mean? Why is the topic of Hunters being brought up all of the sudden?"
"Have you heard of an illness called the Eternal Sleep?" [1]
Hearing the words, "Eternal Sleep", even the normally calm and expressionless Yoo Myunghan quickly became shaken.
Eternal Sleep.
The sleep that you could not wake up from.
It wasn"t just falling asleep forever. The illness would cause the patient"s life to waste away quicker than normal. Life support devices empowered by magic cores were needed to maintain the life of the sick. It was a terrifying illness that appeared with the Gates. Many people who could not afford the life support devices succ.u.mbed to the illness and pa.s.sed away.
"You"ll continue to fall asleep periodically. Eventually, you will never wake up."
The doctor looked defeated. Until now, no patient had ever woken up from the Eternal Sleep. All that you could do was extend your life with support devices, but you would be no different than a lifeless doll.
"…"
When the doctor finished his explanation, Yoo Myunghan asked impatiently,
"So what does that have to do with Hunters?"
"It is known that the Eternal Sleep has a correlation with magic power."
Due to their nature, there were people in the world weak to magic power exposure. Among such people, one of the side effects of being exposed to a magic power for a long time was the Eternal Sleep.
"Aren"t the patients" lifespans extended with devices powered by magic power?"
"That is correct but,"
Just as nuclear power could result in both good things and harmful things, the doctor explained that magical devices empowered by magic power did not harm the body.
"What you have to watch out for are magic cores, magic ores and people with magic power."
"People with magic power…"
Yoo Myunghan thought of the sole Awakened Being in his immediate family, Yoo Jinho. The doctor carefully continued,
"I heard that… the chairman"s second son is a Hunter."
At the mention of Yoo Jinho, Yoo Myunghan"s face hardened,
"So… what you"re telling me is that I can never see my son again?"
"That is the only way for you to-"
"Don"t make me laugh!"
Yoo Myunghan firmly cut the doctor off,
"There is no way."
And with a wave of his hand, he dismissed the doctor.
"Chairman…"
At a loss for words, the doctor looked at Yoo Myunghan"s fierce gaze and left the VIP room. Yoo Myunghan continued to stare at the door the doctor left through with rage,
"Telling me to distance myself from my son because of an illness. Is that something you could ask a father?"
And let"s say that was the case. Just how would Jinho react if he heard the news? As a father, Yoo Myunghan could not burden his child with such a thing.
"Also…"
Everyday, the use of magic power spread throughout the world, and the number of Awakened Beings increased. In such a world, telling him that he was unable to withstand exposure to magic power was but a death sentence.
"This Yoo Myunghan received a death sentence?"
This would not stand.
"I will not lose."
He had managed to accomplish things that everyone else had told him was impossible. He inherited Yoojin Construction when it t.i.ttered on the 30th place among the business world and raised it to the #1 spot in the country.
"And do you think I will bow down before a mere sickness now?"
I will not lose.
Yoo Myunghan repeated that many times in his head.
Before leaving, Jinwoo carefully peaked into his sister"s room. Because it was so early, Jinah was still deep in slumber. Still, her older brother was worried.
"What if someone gets to her while I"m gone?"
Of course, people wouldn"t be stupid enough to harm the little sister of an S-rank Hunter, but at the same time, people were unpredictable. At the very least, he needed to plan a few contingencies.
"Wait, my soldiers can hide in someone"s shadow, right?"
Jinwoo recalled the soldiers he put up as patrol for the serial killer around the neighborhood. At that time, the shadows were moving while hiding in various objects" shadows. With that, he might be able to protect his sister without being noticed. In fact, there were few soldiers perfect for protecting someone.
"Come out."
Jinwoo called the magic beast soldiers that once acted as Tusk"s bodyguards.
shooo
Big even for a high orc, the three soldiers filled up the entirety of Jinah"s room.
Hold on.
"Wait. Why are there only three of them?"
Weren"t there definitely four bodyguards? Combing over his memory, Jinwoo silently exclaimed in realization,
"Ah."
He realized that he left one of the bodyguards nailed to the ceiling. He forgot to extract that one"s shadow.
"I"ll have to be more mindful next time."
With a smile, Jinwoo sent the three former high orc bodyguards forward. All three of them were Elite Grade. It was a step above the Normal Grades given to the ordinary high orc warriors. If it was those three, even an rank Hunter wouldn"t be much of a trouble. This wasn"t just a theory, Jinwoo recalled seeing the rank Son Gihoon struggling against ordinary high orcs. These three were much stronger than those enemies. Jinwoo raised a chin towards Jinah.
shooo-
The bodyguards melted into their shadow forms and traveled across the floor. They were absorbed into Jinah"s shadow.
"Alright."
Just quietly hide in her shadow. If she is in danger, no matter who the enemy is, eliminate them without mercy. With that order, Jinwoo carefully closed the door.
"Now I feel a bit better."
His worries were abated. After making sure the door was secure, Jinwoo went outside.
As promised, Yoo Jinho was waiting for him.
"Hyungnim!"
With a bright expression, the young man greeted Jinwoo.
"Was your room alright?"
"Yes, hyungnim. A motel isn"t that bad these days."
Since his little sister was at home, Jinwoo ended up letting Yoo Jinho stay at a nearby motel. Thankfully, it did not seem like it was that uncomfortable.
"Until we get a Guild office, stay there for now."
"Understood, hyungnim."
In a good mood for some reason, Yoo Jinho kept smiling. Jinwoo had heard the rough story from the young man. To think that he would actually refuse the Guildmaster"s position and come to him. When Jinwoo asked dumbfoundedly, Yoo Jinho replied as if he was wronged,
"Wait, so you really decided to come to my Guild?"
"Hyungnim told me to do so!"
And so, he could not scold or push away the young man who had thrown aside the Guildmaster"s t.i.tle and came to him instead.
"Alright, let"s go."
"Yes, hyungnim."
Yoo Jinho got in the driver"s seat, and Jinwoo got in the pa.s.senger side. The pair in the van headed to Daesung Tower. On the way, Yoo Jinho glanced over to Jinwoo.
"I wonder what he wants to do in this hour at Daesung Tower."
He was curious, but felt like it was out of his place to ask hyungnim too many questions.
screech-
When the van arrived at Daesung Tower, the young man finally gathered the courage,
"So hyungnim, why are we at Daesung-"
"I"ll be back."
"Huh?"
Yoo Jinho quickly turned his head. But the pa.s.senger door was already open, and hyungnim was gone. Yoo Jinho was reminded of something similar that happened in the past. The young man scratched the back of his head.
"Sometimes… I wonder if he"s a ghost."
You have entered the Demon Castle Dungeon. Jinwoo released his "Stealth".
"I"m finally back."
Translator"s Notes:
[1]: "Eternal Sleep" (익면증): Seems to come from the word "narcolepsy" (기변증), but no direct translation. Just called "eternal sleep" based on context.
[N/A]: I know, I know… Terrible place to end it… Sorry… Boo, Chestnut, Booooooo