Chapter 57 – Director Hong-sunggoo (2)

(TLN: Hey. I decided to release another regular chapter this weeks just to thank everyone for the interest/support. Next week regular chapters will be Elqueeness/SSN. Please turn of adblocks if you are able to. Thank you and enjoy~)

“That’s enough. Come over here.”

“Huk, huk. Thank you for your hard work.”

His mind and body was very tired, but Sunggoo still bowed first. Woojin grinned when he saw this. This is why he liked this guy.

Sungoo was hurt in various locations, and blood was coming out of the wounds.

Woojin sent one soul that was part of his Spirit Armor towards Sunggoo to heal his wounds.

“Hoo. Thank you.”

Sunggoo’s wound was healed. As his stamina returned, a little bit of color returned to his face.

Woojin brought out two Skill Books.

“Just learn these first.”

“Yes?”

Sunggoo received the two books. His eyes widened when he felt the quiet magical energy being emitted by the books.

“Hyung-nim. Aren’t these Skill Books?”

“That’s right. It’s Accelerate and Steel Skin.”

Accelerate increased one’s quickness for a brief moment. He already possessed the armors with the Skill, yet he was lucky enough to pick up the Skill Book within the Naga Dungeon.

Then he found the Steel Skin inside the Temple of the Giants.

“Thank you. Hyung-nim.”

It seemed his dream of becoming a Flame magician was slowly drifting away from him, but somehow he had already learned several abilities….

“Excuse me, hyung-nim. Wouldn’t it be better if I focused on one or two abilities?”

Sunggoo was asking an obvious question. As a Roused, there was a limit on how much energy(magic, vitality) he possessed. Even if he had numerous abilities, it didn’t guarantee he’ll be able to use all of it well.

“It’s ok. If you want to live then you’ll eventually learn how to use them..”

“…….”

“Hurry up and learn it. Let’s go for another run after we sell the blood stones.”

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

Sunggoo injected his magic into the Skill Book. The Skill Book disappeared as it dissolved into light, and it was absorbed into Sunggoo. The knowledge and the sense of the Skill came into his head, and it made Sunggoo’s body shiver.

“Ha-ah.”

“Try using it.”

Sunggoo immediately moved his body. The sudden movement was so fast that it would be hard to track the movement with the human eyes. The consumption of magic was much lower than using an Artifact, so Sunggoo’s face was filled with surprise.

“Learn this too.”

“Yes, sir.”

When Sunggoo learned the Steel Skin, Woojin spoke.

“How is it?”

“Yes?”

“Give me your arm.”

When Sunggoo raised his arm, Woojin summoned a Bone Spear. Sunggoo’s eyes widened in surprised.

“A…are you going to hit me?”

“Try activating the Steel Skin.”

When Sunggoo activated his Steel Skin, it felt as if his entire body had stiffened. Moreover, it felt as if he was in a dream floating in mid-air. He had a harder time controlling his body. It was a temporary sensation one felt when one’s senses became duller.

Ggah-ahng.

Woojin swung his Bone Spear, and it rebounded when it hit Sunggoo’s arm. Woojin smiled in satisfaction.

‘At the very least, his survival will be guaranteed this way.’

Woojin dismissed all the Skeleton Soldiers in the surrounding as he spoke to Sunggoo.

“Let go out then come back in again. This time you are in charge of getting rid of all the goblins.”

“What?”

“You’ll be fine. Stop being such a baby..”

It had merely been a month. No. It felt longer since he had spent a lot of time within the Dungeon. However, it had been only 1 month in real time since Sunggoo had met Woojin.

He had been a Rank F Roused, who had almost died from a single Electric Shock from a Hobgoblin. Now he had grown enough to take care of those caliber of monsters on his own.

“You’ll be a Rank A within one month.”

Sunggoo didn’t think of Woojin’s words as a joke. Sunggoo suddenly felt some emotion surge up from his chest. Large guild? He didn’t need them any more. The place he will bury his bones was in Kahg-woojin’s guild.

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

Woojin and Sunggoo continued to clear the Dungeon for 2 days.

*

They were heading back to Seoul in Sunggoo’s car.

There were large dark circles underneath Sunggoo’s eyes. His hair was a mess like a magpie’s nest. Two days… No, he hadn’t slept for 8 days. The accumulated fatigue pressed down at his shoulders, but his eyes were overflowing with confidence.

He had learned several Skill Books given to him by Woojin. Kim-haemin, who had been on standby in Daegoo, was ordered to acquire Skill Books as he was sent back to Seoul. It was to aid his growth.

Every one of the Skills would be learned by Sunggo. The Skill Books had already been purchased for Sunggoo yesterday, and it would be there when he arrived at Seoul.

This was why Sunggoo had personally grabbed the steering wheel.

He felt full even if he hadn’t eaten anything. However, he couldn’t help becoming sleepy. Earth was unlike the Dungeons where he had to fight with his life on the line. As the tension disappeared, the sleepiness he had been holding at bay came to him all at once.

“Hahhhhm.”

Woojin was laying down in the passenger seat with his eyes closed.

He couldn’t blame Woojin either.

Woojin didn’t have a driver’s license, so he wouldn’t be able to drive the car even if he wanted to. So it was all up to Sunggoo….

[Seven Valley Rest Stop 5km Ahead]

Sunggoo tried to shake off his sleepiness by making the rest stop his destination. He drove as he forcefully opened his eyes. When Sunggoo’s car entered the rest stop, Woojin eyes opened as if he was some ghost.

“You weren’t sleeping, hyung-nim?”

“I was just closing my eyes.”

Sunggoo had thought Woojin had been asleep… Did he guess wrong?

“Are you sleepy?”

“Yes. I am a little bit. I’ll go buy some coffee.”

“Ha-ahm. Let’s go together. Let’s eat something.”

It was middle of the night, so cold breeze blew across the rest stop.

The stores outside was closed since it was deep into the night. However, the rest area’s convenient store and the restaurant was open for business. Woojin and Sunggoo ordered udon and ramen. They waited for their orders for a brief moment.

Sunggoo kept nodding off, so he separated a single soul from his Spirit Armor. He sent it towards Sunggoo to recover his vitality. It immediately banished Sunggoo’s tiredness, and it made him feel refreshed.

If it wasn’t for Woojin’s Soul Extraction Skill, Sunggoo wouldn’t have been able to last for 8 days within the Dungeon.

“Thank you. Hyung-nim.”

His physical fatigue was gone, but Sunggoo’s mental fatigue was still there. Woojin took a big bite of the udon. He spoke after he swallowed the food.

“You physical fatigue is gone. You won’t fall asleep. Your weak mind is the one wishing for rest. I don’t care if you use hypnosis or another method, but you need to overcome this at any cost. If there is a protracted war, it is common for one to not be able to sleep for 10 days.”

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

Was there some reason why he would have to spend over 10 days awake inside the Dungeon?

Most Dungeon Breaks were resolved in one day using strong weapons to overwhelm the monsters.

Woojin drank the udon soup, and he burst out laughing when he saw the tv mounted on the wall.

“She really resembles someone I knew before.”

“From where?”

Sunggoo turned around to see the tv, and his mouth fell open when he saw the elf woman.

“Hee-yah. She is really pretty. She really is an elf.” (TLN: I’ll use lower case e if elf is used as a compliment.)

“She isn’t an Elf.”

“Isn’t she beautiful?”

“Not all Elves are beautiful.”

“…….”

In Korea, a pretty woman is sometimes called an elf. Sunggoo was going retort, but he swallowed his words. He looked at Woojin’s expression, and it seemed Woojin didn’t know about the term elf.

Or maybe he knew a lot about the Elf.

While Sunggoo was swallowing his words, Woojin was busily moving his chopsticks. He ate the rest of the noodle then he downed a cup of water.

“Hurry up and eat. The guys are waiting for us, so we have to get their quickly.”

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

Ah. His title included being a Roused and a Director yet… He didn’t receive any help from the Support Division, and he had to drive himself. The Support Division only had 3 people, so they were short on working hands.

Even when supporting just two Roused, it required a decent number of employees from the Support group. Also, the Guild Alandal could afford to hire these employees.

“Hyung-nim. Let’s hire some employee when we return.”

“Just eat the ramen.”

“Yes, sir.”

Even if Sunggoo hadn’t said it, Woojin had been thinking about it. If it’s the Support Division, he would leave it to Minchan. However, Woojin thought about gathering the Roused, who might potentially become his comrades on the battlefield.

‘I’ll pick several promising candidates, and I could teach them.’

Then those Roused could teach the next new batch of candidates. Sunggoo will probably be the only one he had to attentively teach. The rest could be taken care by Sunggoo.

Woojin grinned as he saw Sunggoo hurriedly slurp down the ramen.

“Eat slowly.”

“Heh heh. Yes, hyung-nim.”

Silly guy.

Was he too kind to become tenacious? Now that he had tried teaching Sunggoo, Woojn was a bit surprised at how well Sunggoo moved. Sunggoo had a good sense for battle.

Woojin retracted his gaze from Sunggoo then he looked at the rest stop’s TV. The woman he had observed before was using magic. She made a cripple stand, and she gifted an arm to an arm-less man….

“Uh?”

This woman was quite similar to the woman inside Woojin’s memory, and she took similar actions to that woman. He stopped himself from unconsciously murmuring. Then he let out a sigh when he read the caption located on the lower half of the screen.

“Huh. Melody?”

What? Why was she here?

Did she come here through the Dimensional Guardian like him?

If she had surrendered to Trahnet like the orcs and cyclops, then she might have come over to earth to…. To him, she was merely a monster.

Numerous questions started to fill the inside of Woojin’s head.

Then he came to a single decision.

“I guess I’ll have to go ask her?”

It seemed he would have to go to the US.

*

“Good job.”

“Hoo-ah. Thank you for your hard work.”

When Sunggoo parked at the office building, Woojin gave him another soul for energy. It was 2 AM, but all the guild members were waiting for them.

“Welcome back.”

Jung-minchan greeted Woojin, and it seemed Minchan had been waiting to say something to him. However, Woojin was quicker in telling Minchan his request.

“Find out about airplanes heading towards the US..”

“Ah, how did you find out about it?”

“Huh?”

What nonsense is he spouting again?

Minchan read Woojin’s expression, and he spoke in a puzzled voice.

“Weren’t you talking about the invite to the consortium?”

“What? Give me the details.”

“The Titan guild rescued a person from inside a Dungeon not too long ago. She is called the Holy Maiden Melody. Not long after president when into the Dungeon the video of her showed up on the internet. It has started a big conversation. The Titan guild revealed this information.”

Woojin already knew about it. He had seen it on the rest stop’s TV not too long ago.

“The Titan guild is requesting the guilds of the world to head towards this consortium to discuss this matter. I was going to ask you if you are going to accept the invitation, but it seems you are planning to go already?”

“Well, just purchase me a ticket. I’ll have to go meet Melody.”

When he heard Woojin’s words, he was worried Woojin would make another accident again. However, he couldn’t do anything about it. He just had to pray that nothing would come out of this.

“So, did anything unusual happen? Did you acquire everything I asked for?”

“Yes, we acquired everything. Mmm. There are also several things I have to go over with you.”

Jung-minchan hadn’t gotten off work even around dawn, since he had information he had to tell Woojin as soon as he arrived at Seoul.

“What?”

“Your mother knows now. I tried to block it from her, but it was such a large incident…”

“What does she know now?”

“She knows president had successfully cleared the 6 star Dungeon.”

“Ughh. What did she say?”

“She worried a lot. Why don’t you go to your home instead of student Jaemin’s house? Ah, we finished the move yesterday.”

That was the best news he had heard of late. He won’t have to share a small one room with his family. He wouldn’t have to unnecessarily show himself being tormented by the evil spirits. He was a little bit worried about distancing himself form the amiable Jaemin, but he would be able to live with his family again.

“So, is there anything else?”

“There is.”

“What is it again?”

At Woojin’s question, Minchan handed him a single A4 paper.

“What the hell is this? Is this a summons?”

Woojin frowned as he read the words to the request for attendance, then he looked towards Minchan.

“What is this?”

“They want you to come to the police station..”

“Why?”

“The Hwarang president reported you for assault.”

Oh, that mother fucker.

Woojin frowned.