Every member of the Choi family was stubborn, so there was no way any of them would listen to someone else’s advice if he or she had their mind set on something.
“Alright.” Baek Chul solemnly nodded.
“Oh, by the way, Captain Baek, do you remember your promise?” Ji-Ho turned his gaze toward Baek Chul and smiled.
“Hmm?”
“If I should ever die…”
“Don’t say such things!” Baek Chul shouted loudly as his eyes turned bloodshot.
Baek Chul had a bulky figure and exuded a very masculine presence, but he was a man with a surprisingly soft heart.
Ji-Ho smiled and said, “Please, I’m counting on you.”
Seeing that Baek Chul was not able to answer, Ji-Ho nodded and started to move around with his wheelchair. “I should head in and get some rest. If I don’t want Captain Baek to worry, I have to manage my health a bit more diligently.”
“…There must be some way.”
“There could be, but I don’t see it.”
After calmly prophesying his own end, Ji-Ho entered his room.
Silently watching Ji-Ho’s receding figure, Baek Chul lowered his head while clenching his fists.
***
Time passed, and the bright morning of the day of the raid soon came.
The start of such a day could be quite tense, throwing one off one’s routine, but Yu-Seong spent the morning in the same way he spent most mornings. He broke into a sweat with his early morning training session, took a shower, and finished with a diet-conscious protein-rich breakfast.
After that, Yu-Seong arrived at Gimpo airport with his party members using a rented van. They then head to Busan on a private plane provided by the company.
‘I heard that Bernard Yoo and Meghan have already arrived in Busan…’
Ah-Rin had already arrived in Busan as well; however, the problem was that she did not come with Do-Jin, nor was anyone able to get in contact with him.
But Yu-Seong was not too worried. He was certain that Do-Jin would eventually appear at the designated raid site.
‘He’s not someone who won’t follow through on his promise.’
Yu-Seong arrived at Busan’s Gimhae airport with a relatively light heart and got into another van to head to Sasang Terminal in Busan, where the Rank 7 dungeon appeared.
The new dungeon entrance had arisen aboveground on a busy road where buses and cars would have normally traveled. Thanks to the considerable amount of time afforded to them, the entire site had been neatly organized.
‘It’s a mess…but it’s a mess in a different way.’
From inside the van, Yu-Seong saw a swarm of foreign and domestic media reporters and personnel flocking to the site; this was to be expected, as Kim Jin-Young and Park Jin-Hwan had already spread the news of what was to happen.
‘The first raid to be led by a B-Rank attack leader,’ Yu-Seong thought.
Among his party members, there was only one S-Rank member. When accounting for all the party’s attack members, the party’s average rank was B.
If Yu-Seong and his party was successful, it would be a monumental event that would destroy the traditional outlook that, in order to attack a raid dungeon of Rank 7 or higher, an attack party needed an average party member rank of A + or higher and needed at least 3 S-Rank members.
‘On the other hand, if I fail… it’ll be a great disgrace.’
If the dungeon raid failed, many would come out and state that the raid group was too arrogant and greedy, that the Comet Guild was too full of itself, and that the entire Comet Group was overstepping its boundaries. Hence, it was understandable that everyone’s attention on this current raid.
‘I also see quite a few people from other guilds.’
As if they had no intention of hiding their identity, the gathered people from other guilds each wore their guild badges, and there were also some hunters who were wearing their gear. Among them, there were probably many who wanted to participate in the raid.
‘Whether they succeed or fail, they’ll benefit unconditionally as long as they make it out alive.’
On the other hand, there were those who were waiting to laugh at the Comet Guild’s failure.
‘For example, the Daehyun Guild.’
Normally, the Cheon-Ji Guild, which was created by the Cheon-Ji Group and was currently ranked second in the guild rankings in Korea, would have joined the Daehyun Guild in wishing for the Comet Guild’s raid to fail. This was so that they could ridicule the Comet Guild’s failure.
‘But the situation is different now.’
This was because Bernard Yoo, although not a member of the Cheon-Ji Guild but belonging to the third generation of the Cheon-Ji Group, was included in Yu-Seong’s raid party.
Even though the Comet Group and Cheon-Ji Group were fierce competitors, there was no need to hold a knife to each other’s throats in such a situation.
Rather, the Cheon-Ji Guild had publicly wished for the raid’s success and offered their support, sending out supplemental gear and supplies through its support team; they even went as far as to offer potions, which were difficult to obtain.
Since things had publicly progressed in this fashion, it meant that the two sides would be standing shoulder-to-shoulder.
‘Just because we were enemies once doesn’t mean that we need to remain as enemies forever.’
The working relationship between Yu-Seong and Bernard could become a bridge that connected the divide between the Cheon-Ji and the Comet Group, the two leading conglomerates in Korea.
Of course, there were bound to be people who would kick up a fuss about this possibility. However, taking other factors into consideration, this potential budding relationship had a chance to turn out a positive result.
‘The future has already changed a lot anyway.’
When he had first arrived in this world, Yu-Seong had been quite afraid of potentially changing the future. However, his thoughts were different now.
‘Since things are how they are, I’ll take the initiative and change things to my advantage.’
This frame of mind was also the reason why he had taken the initiative to form this current raid party.
Inside the van, Yu-Seong turned and looked at the other Comet Guild’s Hunting Team 8 members, who were looking out at the gathered crowds with slightly nervous or excited expressions on their faces.
Feeling Yu-Seong’s gaze upon them, every member turned their head toward him.
“Let’s go.”
With Yu-Seong’s brief command, everyone got up from their seats and slowly headed for the van’s door, which opened automatically.
“Wow!”
“The Comet Guild is here!”
“The main character has arrived. Everyone, get ready!”
Once the van door opened, a cacophony of loud voices, at a much higher decibel level than when the van’s door had been closed, was heard as spotlights started turning on.
Of course, Yu-Seong was the first to get out of the van.
“Choi Yu-Seong-!”
“The Comet’s scion!”
“It’s the Prince of Reversals, Choi Yu-Seong!”
Yu-Seong slightly blushed after hearing the various nicknames that he didn’t even know existed and calmly walked past the glaring spotlights.
“Wow, no matter how I take a picture, Choi Yu-Seong’s image is immaculate.”
“Before, he was just a handsome troublemaker, but now, he looks like a real prince.”
The comments were a little bit embarrassing for Yu-Seong, but on the whole, the situation was not too bad.
‘My Star Factor is continuously growing.’
The attention and the people’s cheers were aspects that Yu-Seong needed to learn how to enjoy.
With his head raised and his shoulders straight, Yu-Seong set aside his initial feeling of embarrassment and confidently walked amongst the reporters who had opened a path for him to walk through.
Yu-Seong was followed by Do-Yoon and Yu-Ri.
“It’s Black Shadow, Jin Yu-Ri!”
“That’s the Beast of the Moonlight, Jin Do-Yoon!”
“They’re siblings, and they’re also the Prince’s guardians!”
It had not been long since the Jin siblings first publicly revealed their skills for the world to see. However, it did not take them long to establish a public reputation, as they were already known amongst the top performers in the A-Rank; thus, it was only a matter of time before the public got to know them.
‘I can understand Jin Yu-Ri being used to this, but I actually thought that Jin Do-Yoon would have shown a bit of embarrassment…’
Both did not show even the slightest signs of embarrassment, which Yu-Seong had shown, but Do-Yoon appeared to be slightly nervous.
‘He’s on edge, like he’s expecting someone to jump out of nowhere.’
With him being so on edge, Do-Yoon probably did not even register the many eyes and loud voices around him.
“The two super rookies are here, too!”
“The Comet, no, Korea’s new future!”
“It’s the couple! The Demonic Beast Tamer and the Water Fairy!”
“Who said we’re a couple?!” Ye-Ryeong shouted angrily after hearing the reporters’ shouts.
“Huh? I heard news that you two are dating. Do you have anything to say about this?!”
Right when the reporters, whose eyes seemed to widen at the same time, saw an opening to rush at the new arrivals, Jin-Hyuk said, “Don’t link me with such a snot-nosed shortie; it makes me annoyed.”
Jin-Hyuk, who spoke in a lower tone than normal, stared at the reporters icily. Surprised by the sudden standoffish aura that he exuded, the reporters were left speechless.
Although Jin-Hyuk was still relatively young and small, many people found it hard to approach him because of the unique air that he exuded around him.
‘Jin-Hyuk seems like a person who would be able to kill others if he got angered.’
Considering Jin-Hyuk’s notoriety in the original novel, this sort of scenario was a possibility, but the current Jin-Hyuk had changed.
Thinking this, Yu-Seong glanced back at Jin-Hyuk with a somewhat proud gaze.
Sensing Yu-Seong’s gaze, Jin-Hyuk’s icy demeanor disappeared, his face turned red, and he soon dropped his head.
‘Cute kid.’
To Yu-Seong, Jin-Hyuk was just a cute kid.
From the other side of the area, five familiar faces slowly approached Yu-Seong and his party.
“It’s the Burning Hero, Bernard Yoo!”
“It’s Death Dancing Meghan!”
“The Saintess, Baek Ah-Rin, is here, too!”
Bernard, Meghan, and Ah-Rin looked relieved and happy once they found Yu-Seong and his party.
‘It looks like they’re familiar with this sort of thing.’
Right when Yu-Seong was about to feel a sense of envy at the calm and natural expressions of the approaching party, Bernard quickly approached Yu-Seong and whispered in a small voice, “Damn, this is such a burden. Why are there so many people here? Did you call them over here, you psycho?”
“…Wow, you’re really good at saying the most awful things without the slightest change in your facial expression.”
“He’s quite used to standing in front of a camera while secretly moving his lips,” Meghan answered when she saw that Yu-Seong was surprised by Bernard’s crass language and facial muscle control.
“Actually, I don’t have a very good personality. But knowing that I’d cause a scene if I just went out in public with my natural manner of speaking, I practiced speaking with the least amount of facial movement.”
Bernard did not deny the fact that he was using some secretive way of speaking his mind; he smiled at the people around him while he slightly moved his lips to talk to Yu-Seong. His slight lip movements were not picked up by the people around them.
“But where is that rotten Kim Do-Jin? Didn’t he come with you?” Bernard asked.
“I haven’t been able to reach him.”
“Wait, is he possibly not coming?”
“He’ll come.”
“You seem to be very confident of that, no?”
“Because I believe that he’ll keep his promise.”
“What about me?”
“…?” Yu-Seong made a puzzled expression as the two were walking among the reporters toward the dungeon’s square. He stated, “But you’re already here.”
“No, I’m asking if you believe in me, man.”
“Of course I do. We’re friends.”
After Yu-Seong responded with an exasperated expression on his face, Bernard had a satisfied smile on his face.
As for Yu-Seong, who had responded without much thought, he was surprised by his own choice of words.
‘Friend.’
Did the original Choi Yu-Seong, an employee of a game company, have a friend? In his own world, he had been naive and not particularly talkative, so in truth, he probably never had any true friends. Sure, he had colleagues and had been a boss to others, but that was the extent of their relationships.
However, in this world, he genuinely felt like he had friends. Furthermore, it was not just restricted to his immediate family.
This world, which only existed in a novel, had given him so many things.
‘My friends.’
Bernard, Meghan, Yu-Ri, Do-Yoon, Ye-Ryeong, and even Jin-Hyuk…were all of different ages and genders, but they were definitely all his friends. Yu-Seong was confident that they would have his back during a fight, which was why he had asked them to participate in this raid as his party members.
‘Then, I guess Kim Do-Jin is also…a friend.’
Once Yu-Seong calmly organized his thoughts, a question suddenly popped up in his mind:Would Do-Jin feel the same way?
Right when he had such a thought, the shouts of the reporters rang out twice as loud as before. Hearing their shouts, Yu-Seong gave a faint smile as he slowly turned to look and made his way through the crowd.
‘It’s as if he knows he’s the main character; he’s the last to arrive.’
Do-Jin had arrived.