Chapter 565: The Continent After 1 Year (3)
“Are you sure you found them?”
-Yes, it is confirmed that Park Deokgu and Ahn Ki-mo had been sighted, facing monster waves at the 53rd construction site. Of course, we don’t know the specifics yet, but one of the area’s workers broadcasted the situation there. If you want it, I’ll send you the video right away.”
“Oh, yes. Please send it to me right away. I want to check it… But besides that, why are they there in the first place?”
-Nothing has been confirmed yet as to why. I’ll check the facts as soon as possible and let you know.
“The construction site manager over there is…”
-We can confirm that information with the Kingdom Union… The one in charge is Michael Wayne from the Western City Guild, for details…
“Oh, now I remember. He’s… Please tell the construction site manager right away that I’m looking for them. No, please give them a G.o.ddess’s Hand Mirror to use. I don’t know where they will go off again…so I think it will be better for me to contact them in person… Yes, that’s the best option.”
-Understood. We’ll make sure to follow those orders.
“And make sure to give some kind of incentive to the employee who found them. Who was it?”
-Well… they’re anonymous.
“It can’t be helped, then. We couldn’t find them for so long, but they must be coming this way.”
-Yes, Vice… No, chairman.
“You can call me Vice Guild Master if you want to, team Leader Kim Mi-young. Besides that… How is the situation over there?”
-Nothing, in particular, has happened. Sun Hee-young and Hw.a.n.g Jeong-yeon are leading the guild so well… Even though it must be unfamiliar work for them. Ah! Lee Sang-hee-nim is also helping with sharing the work burden. I think she’s thinking about going to the frontline.
“Ah, Lee Sang-hee-nim… that’s a little surprising.”
-She told us that she wouldn’t claim any shares or ownership of the Blue Guild. It seems she is worried that you both would take her return in the wrong way. She has repeatedly said that she thinks Guild Master and Vice Guild Master should have control over the ownership and operation of Blue Guild together. I’ve accepted it that way, too…
“…”
-If you are uncomfortable with the situation, I will take care of the matter separately.
“No, you don’t have to. We do need a little help, so there’s no reason to refuse it. And she’s not the type to be that greedy. Since she has operated a guild for a while, she’ll be very helpful to us. Anyway, I have another question to ask. Have you heard anything from Hyunsung-ssi?”
-I think he’s still there. He hadn’t contacted me separately. I think they’re progressing slower than expected. Cho Hyejin said that they would spend a little more time and come back. Also, Elena and Yoo Ah-young are coming North from the kingdom as scheduled…
“It’s been a long time since we’ve last seen each other.”
-Yes, Dialugia-nim also asked you to stop by the lair since it’s time for her to wake up…
“She can call me directly…”
-She says that the device is hard to use. Like her hands don’t fit them…
“…”
-Anyway, I’ll take care of everything, including what you had told me before.
“Yes, then please, Team Leader Kim Mi-young. And please send me the channel instead of the video. I want to log in and watch it myself.”
-Understood. I’ll put you through right away.
“Thank you.”
-…
‘Why is that b.a.s.t.a.r.d there?’
I tapped on the armrest of the chair I was sitting on. While waiting for the video that Kim Mi-young connected me to load, I saw a mirror sitting on the corner of my desk…
What I saw was a face that was similar from a year ago. The only difference was that I had a Protection and Management Committee badge attached to me instead of the Blue Guild insignia.
No, actually, I thought I lost a little weight. I skipped quite a few meals that year.
I thought I looked better before when I had some fat on my face. I also couldn’t help but notice the dark circles under my eyes.
It had been a year. One, simple year.
It was enough time for an individual to change. Seeing how much the world had changed in just a year, it didn’t feel like a short duration.
There had been so many changes in just one year.
The G.o.ddess’s Hand Mirror, which was the world’s smartphone, was commercialized, and adventurers from Earth became used to the new technology as if they had been waiting for it all their lives.
The people across the continent were a little bit confused, but they also adapted to it quickly.
When the G.o.ddess’s Hand Mirror was just released, users wrote politely and respected each other while commenting on each other’s posts, but after a while, trolls and insults against each other people’s families emerged.
[Castle Rock’s Coral Beads: No ID, Let’s not talk like that. This is a sacred place.]
The user, who had written like that, wrote exactly a year later:
[Castle Rock’s Coral Beads: You think you’re something sprouting bs like that? How’s your mother doing these days?]
It was a slightly exaggerated example, but it showed how the continent’s people had perfectly adapted to a s.p.a.ce of anonymity.
I was worried if I should try to create a healthier Benignore Net culture, but then, I thought that there was no need to control it from my side. Since it was a s.p.a.ce where anonymity was guaranteed, I actually wanted to embrace it.
Although it would be hard to cla.s.sify and organize it, there was no greater base to withdraw information and data from than a platform like that.
Of course, that wasn’t the only thing that had changed.
The Continental Protection and Management Committee had been firmly established, and the much-antic.i.p.ated construction of the Northern Forward Base was also progressing steadily. The walls and towers located in the front were almost finished, and other areas were also following along.
The farther out we went, the slower construction became, but we received an evaluation that it was still going faster than usual.
After leaving the Blue Guild and with the world having changed so much, I became curious about my guild members.
‘How much have they changed?’
Although there were people I kept in touch with, Park Deokgu and Ahn Ki-mo were among those I had completely lost contact with. Even when I had released the G.o.ddess’s Hand Mirror for them to keep in contact with me, they still wandered around and disguised themselves so that they wouldn’t get caught.
I didn’t know if they had gone to a dungeon exploration, met someone rich and famous, or died somewhere.
I thought it would be okay since the two of them went together, but after five months and nine months after that, I became more anxious. Who knew that they would be playing at the construction site at the North Forward Base?
‘No, why would they be working there?’
I couldn’t understand it no matter what. They had always been strange, but they seemed even more strange.
‘I didn’t think they would’ve run out of travel expenses and needed to make money on their way up to the northernmost point…’
I didn’t think so.
‘There’s no way that they couldn’t find monsters and were just too embarra.s.sed to contact other people for money, so they’re working there for wages.’
No matter how stupid that pig was, he couldn’t be that stupid.
I didn’t know what he was thinking, but perhaps, he went there because he wanted to experience the work himself.
He always moved in a way that I couldn’t understand, so it was a plausible reason. Soon afterward, the broadcast that Kim Mi-young had sent me began to play.
[No ID: How is that Park Deokgu and Ahn Ki-mo? lololol]
[Dirt Poor: I don’t think so either… Why would those two be here right now?]
[No ID: Nature Lover must have just thrown something and gone out after realizing they were wrong. Certification my a.s.s… Now that I check it, the certification post was deleted too. Nature Lover must have something they’re feeling guilty about. hahahah]
[Lindel_Village_Resident: The insignia was real. Something must have happened internally. The Blue Guild is sensitive about things like that. And those people are really Park Deokgu and Ahn Ki-mo. I see it now. I’ve seen him from a distance before, and I think he looked like that.]
[No ID: Here’s another delusional commenter.]
[Lindel Village Resident: What the h.e.l.l is your problem?]
‘It was heartwarming.’
That day, Benignore Net was lively as usual.
Someone dropped a lead, and the chat window argued about what was right or wrong.
I didn’t know why they were arguing about it, but everyone partic.i.p.ating in the debate was very serious. Some were coming up with some evidence about why those people were not Park Deokgu and Ahn Ki-mo, while some were fighting in opposition.
Many postings were cursing the broadcaster of the show and comments that went against them.
The Benignore Net that I hadn’t logged onto for a long time reminded me of human groups’ various natures.
Of course, the result of their debates didn’t really matter. It was only up to me to judge who those two men, fighting monsters on the battlefield, were.
I didn’t even have to open my eyes widely to check.
‘It really is them.’
Even from a distance, I was sure that those two were Park Deokgu and Ahn Ki-mo.
As I had spent a long time with them, I could tell who they were even by their small movements.
Looking at their size and height, they were both definitely Park Deokgu and Ahn Ki-mo.
‘Park Deokgu, did that b.a.s.t.a.r.d take some kind of growth promoter? I think he grew even taller.’
He was slightly taller and a bit wider in the side. He even had a beard on his face, but Ahn Ki-mo wasn’t that different from before. Also, I felt that their moves had grown sharper.
They weren’t bad from the first time, but at that moment, their sophisticated and sharp movements were incomparably better than before.
‘I would believe it if they told that they’re top-cla.s.s warriors…’
And Park Deokgu?
‘He has really grown.’
I didn’t know what his exact stats were since I couldn’t check it directly with my eyes, but some of his lacking stats seemed to have risen little by little.
He used his firmness to move efficiently.
They were both fighting moderately and effortlessly, and I wondered how intimidating they would be if they were to really fight.
‘They would be comparable to the eight seats in the continent.’
Because the guild was overflowing with monsters that went beyond standards, like Kim Hyunsung, Jung Hayan, and Cha Heera, it got demeaned, but the eight seats weren’t weak.
If they got together, they could easily break through a Semi-Mythic grade.
Ahn Ki-mo and Park Deokgu had reached that level, and I couldn’t help but applaud their achievements.
‘Park Deokgu, how did he level up so much?’
I couldn’t really determine how much his physical ability had increased. Rather than feeling that his stats had increased dramatically, I felt like he had grown a little more ferocious.
Since he knew about advanced magic operations, he must’ve learned to handle magic delicately and control his body.
He had eliminated unnecessary movements while making the right ones more concise.
It looked like he knew when to put in strength and when to stop it.
I wondered how a person could change so much in just a year. He even looked so different with that beard covering his face…
[Lindel Village Resident: I think he really is Park Deokgu. I don’t remember him being that strong… He’s no joke. I expected that much from Ahn Ki-mo since he’s from the Red Mercenary, but… Park Deokgu is really surprising.]
[No ID: The Blue Guild only has talented people in the first place. Kim Hyunsung gathered only those kinds of people… If you just think about how hard it is to join the guild as a party member, it’s obvious. If that’s really Park Deokgu, it’s obvious that he hasn’t been trying that hard.]
[Lindel Village Resident: What are you talking about? Park Deokgu is famous within Lindel for being a training addict. His daily routine was to get up early in the morning, swing a sword, and train himself. If you’re going to say nonsense, just keep your mouth shut. Ms. Kim, can’t you block him?]
As the number of monsters decreased, the chat window became more active.
Even I thought it looked pretty cool, so those people must’ve thought it was really exciting.
Eventually, the troops at the construction site of District 53 succeeded in driving out the horde of monsters. Truthfully, I kind of knew how those monsters had come to that part of the continent. However, I decided to bury that inside my mind at the moment.
While the surrounding troops were greeting and giving their courtesy to Park Deokgu and Ahn Kimo, my hand mirror started to shake a little.
“Ah.”
It proved to be Jung Hayan.