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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 38
Right after Dojun’s group left for Brazil.
“They boarded a plane?”
Kang Yeong-pyo spoke, a look of total disbelief on his face, to Gwak Jung-cheol—who was practically his right-hand man.
“Why’d they leave so early? You think there’s something going on with the Association Chairman?”
“I couldn’t find out the reason, sir, but what’s certain is that even Chairman Na Taehwang seemed caught off guard by their sudden move.”
“You sure about that?”
“I’m sure.”
Hearing Gwak Jung-cheol’s confident reply, Kang Yeong-pyo shook off any suspicions about the Association.
“I just can’t make sense of it. There’s still plenty of time left in the schedule. Did they suddenly get offered something too good to pass up? Anyway, what about that other thing I asked you to look into?”
“I actually just got the report a moment ago, sir. Here it is.”
Kang Yeong-pyo skimmed the document Gwak handed him.
“Santarém?”
“That’s a real headache of a region, even for the Brazilian Association.”
“And Hyun Jooyeon managed to secure it first?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
Again, Gwak’s answer came back brimming with certainty.
“Ha—this is just… unreal.”
Kang Yeong-pyo let out a hollow laugh as he tossed the report onto his desk.
“Anything connected to that bastard Seo Dojun is impossible to predict. Jung-cheol, you think the same, don’t you?”
“Well… yes, he’s always beyond any range of expectations.”
“Exactly, see? Everything that guy touches is weird. No clue what he’s after, no clue why—I swear I’ve never met a guy like him in my life.”
“I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
“So what, you’re saying we just give up now?”
“Honestly, sir… I’d rather. Every time I ignored a bad feeling, it always ended badly.”
Kang Yeong-pyo nodded, but spoke the opposite of what he felt.
“Yeah, I’m not exactly comfortable either. But what choice do I have? I finally got my hands on a solid partner, and I’m supposed to bail just because my instincts are acting up? Think how pathetic that’d make me look. You see what I’m saying?”
Despite Kang Yeong-pyo’s words, Gwak Jung-cheol’s expression didn’t relax one bit.
“And besides, it’s not like I’m the one getting my own hands bloody. It’s perfect, actually. I was worried there’d be too many eyes watching, but if they’re crawling off to some remote spot on their own, it just makes the job easier. Get in touch with Takashi’s side.”
“…Understood.”
It was an order he hated with every fiber of his being, but Gwak Jung-cheol had no choice but to follow it.
＊ ＊ ＊
“People who get needlessly busy only end up being a nuisance.”
The man, who looked to be in his early forties, couldn’t hide the frown on his face, clearly displeased by how the schedule had been moved up.
Just making it all the way to Brazil was no simple feat, but now they had to take another hours-long flight within Brazil, and then travel by vehicle practically day and night, always on the move—how could that NOT be frustrating?
“That’s true, Master, but honestly there couldn’t be a better opportunity to handle the matter.”
“Once we’re inside the same Rift, there won’t be any eyes watching or ears listening, no matter where we go. If it weren’t for my close friend’s earnest request, I wouldn’t have bothered coming this far.”
The other man clicked his tongue at the surroundings, where you couldn’t see a single living soul if you tried.
“If the blessing that landed here had been given to us, we’d have become the strongest in the world, no question. It just goes to show, even a treasure needs to find the right master.”
“You are absolutely correct, Master. If Rifts this good had appeared back home, you would already have the world at your feet.”
He flattered him smoothly, like a tongue serving the mouth, and the man’s expression finally began to relax, even if only slightly.
·
·
·
Not long after, they arrived at their target location.
“Master, are you really planning to go in like this?”
“It’s only been three days since they entered. Even if they’re here for a preliminary survey, they wouldn’t have made it through even half of the Rift yet. The reason we pushed through all the way here without rest was to deal with them while we had the chance—there’s no reason to delay.”
“Understood!”
Without further objection, the man began directing the others who had traveled with him, his voice dripping with practiced flattery.
Just as they finished their preparations and were about to enter the Rift, someone began to emerge from within.
“S-Stay alert! Someone’s coming out!”
At the man’s order, dozens of people spread out like a single, unified body, ready to respond to any threat.
Then a person stepped out of the Rift.
“…Hyun Jooyeon?”
It was none other than Hyun Jooyeon, a name so famous that virtually anyone in the world would recognize her.
She looked just as startled as they were. She had expected no one outside the Rift, but instead found a group in formation, clearly on guard, surrounding the exit. Her face froze in shock.
“…Japanese?”
Her surprise lasted only a moment before she quickly recognized them. There was only one nation on earth that proudly displayed a red circle on a white field, with rays of red lines radiating out from it.
’Why the hell are they here?’
Hyun Jooyeon’s expression twisted ever so slightly.
She wasn’t exactly some banner-waving patriot, but she was still from the family line of independence fighters.
She might not have gone around bragging about her nationalism, but she’d at least had the basic sense to throw herself wholeheartedly into the “NO Japan” boycott movement back when Japan’s reckless economic retaliation had triggered it like a wildfire.
’Of all the people, it had to be the most disgusting ones among Japanese heroes.’
Not every Japanese person was bad, of course, but there were those among them who were so shameless, so lacking in sense or conscience, that you could talk to them until your throat bled and they still wouldn’t understand a thing.
The Imperial Guild.
They were a group that practically worshipped Japanese militarism, so malicious they could only be described as vile. That was the Imperial Guild.
And leading them was—
“You’re even more beautiful than when I saw you in London.”
The man’s snake-like eyes crawled over Hyun Jooyeon from head to toe, making her skin crawl.
It was Ryouma Takashi, the Leader of the Imperial Guild.
“…I never imagined I’d run into you in a place like this.”
It was basically her way of saying ’What the hell are you doing here?’—and Ryouma Takashi replied with a grotesque smile.
“I heard there were heroes who moved out before us, so I thought we might be of some help if we came by. And as luck would have it, you’re the one here.”
Typical, brazen scum—lying without even bothering to wet his lips first. Hyun Jooyeon frowned, even as she forced her brain to start turning quickly.
’There’s no way that snake of a man came here by coincidence. He must have known we were here…’
For a moment, the face of Kang Yeong-pyo, who had spoken so kindly with her back in London, flashed through her mind.
’No way…’
The instant she thought of Kang Yeong-pyo, a chill ran down her spine.
“Why do you look so serious?”
At that moment, Dojun approached and asked quietly.
“Huh? Serious? Who’s serious…?”
“Who are these people?”
Dojun’s sharp gaze swept over the Imperial Guild members.
Just from their clothes and bearing, he could tell they were a rough Japanese hero guild, but he couldn’t quite recall the name.
“And who are you?”
Ryouma Takashi locked eyes with Dojun, staring him down.
’Look at this guy…’
It’s not easy to show hostility toward someone you’re meeting for the first time. There usually has to be a good reason. But Takashi was glaring at Dojun from the very start, without a word or a move exchanged.
“What… What are you doing?”
Hyun Jooyeon was startled when Dojun suddenly placed a protective hand on her shoulder, but she didn’t push it away. There was no reason to embarrass him, and besides, Dojun’s gesture didn’t exactly make her uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, Dojun clearly saw the killing intent flare up in Ryouma Takashi’s eyes the moment his hand touched Hyun Jooyeon’s shoulder.
No matter how skilled a hero Ryouma Takashi was supposed to be, his appearance was a total disaster.
He was short, his face so wrinkled you’d never guess he was in his forties, and his eyes—cold and slit like a snake’s—were downright repulsive.
His nose was a pitiful, bulbous mess, even tinged red, and his thin lips gave off an unmistakable air of slyness and meanness.
His looks alone were bad enough, but even worse was the feeling he gave off.
That Ryouma Takashi had set his sights on Hyun Jooyeon?
Dojun could swear it wasn’t some noble or affectionate kind of love.
It was nothing but a perverse sense of ownership.
“Is it your filthy habit to just lay hands on women because you think your face is enough?”
Seo Dojun, in another life, might have become the successor to the country’s second-largest conglomerate.
But because he’d been an illegitimate child, he’d endured harsh training from a young age, and as a result could speak not just English, but conversational Chinese and Japanese as well.
And since he had inherited all of Seo Dojun’s memories, he could fully understand what Ryouma Takashi was saying.
Hearing Takashi’s words, Dojun let out a small, dismissive laugh, as if they weren’t even worth answering.
That arrogant reaction made Takashi’s expression turn cold and hard.
Seeing this, Shunike flared up on Takashi’s behalf, like fire.
“How dare you act so rude to the Master! Bow your head and apologize at once!”
“Apologize?”
Dojun snorted, and Shunike stepped forward.
“No matter who you are, this person is of Great Japan—”
“I don’t see any reason I should care.”
Dojun cut him off, folding his arms in a blatant show of disrespect toward Ryouma Takashi.
In the meantime, the members of the Silken Lily Guild began to emerge one after another, and finally, with Jeong Injoo at the end, everyone had made it out of the rift safely.
It was an awkward standoff, but no one seemed tense.
After all, the Imperial Guild was known for having enough power to rank among Japan’s top five,
whereas the Silken Lily Guild barely made it into Korea’s top thirty.
So from Imperial’s perspective, Silken Lily was laughable.
At any other time, Silken Lily would have been on high alert in front of such an opponent. But with Dojun, that immeasurable monster, standing at the forefront, they could stay calm.
The tension that should have been palpable simply wasn’t but Shunike’s rage only grew.
“You arrogant wretch! Are you so desperate to die?!”
At his harsh shout, regardless of whether they knew Japanese or not, the Silken Lily guild members all had the same thought.
’That Japanese monkey has lost his mind.’
’We have to stop this!’
Jeong Injoo quickly stepped up, seeing that if things went on like this, there would be an inevitable clash between Dojun and the Imperial Guild—or worse, Ryouma Takashi himself.
“Everyone, let’s calm down first.” Jeong Injoo tried to intervene, but Shunike glared at her.
“A lowly wench like you has no place butting in!”
“…Wench?”
At that over-the-line remark, a vein pulsed on Jeong Injoo’s forehead.
Still, she wasn’t so emotional that she would lose control and make an irreversible mistake over a moment of anger.
“I’m Jeong Injoo of the Silken Lily Guild.”
She introduced herself formally, thinking it might change their attitude. No—it HAD to change their attitude.
What she didn’t realize was that these bastards weren’t the type to understand reason in the first place.
“Silken Lily? Was there even a guild by that worthless name? Heh, with a brainless wench like you in its ranks, I suppose it wasn’t even worth remembering!”
The insult was aimed squarely at their own guild master, and the Silken Lily guild members couldn’t stand by any longer.
Even the ones who didn’t understand Japanese had their anger fired up after hearing the translation from their teammates, cursing back in Korean with blazing eyes.
“What the hell did that monkey just say!”
“Hey! Monkey! Come over here, I’ll rip every single corn kernel off you!”
“Isn’t it you monkey bastards who never know your place? Claiming other people’s land as your own, doing all kinds of rotten things and then denying it!”
“They always told us never to deal with those island monkeys! Damn unlucky bastards! Ptoo!”
One by one, the Silken Lily guild members started spewing curses with murderous expressions, and naturally the Imperial guild members, faces turning bright red, shot back in kind.
What started as personal insults was soon spiraling into a barrage of historical grudges, both sides ramping up their venom.
At that moment, Dojun, who had been standing calmly with his arms folded, moved.
“Dojun.”
Hyun Jooyeon urgently grabbed his arm.
“What? You scared?”
At his question, Jooyeon shook her head.
“No… it’s just… Don’t kill anyone.”
She hadn’t said a word until now, but seeing Jeong Injoo—a woman she looked up to like an older sister—get humiliated beyond measure, and their Silken Lily Guild, practically her own life’s work, get trampled on, was simply intolerable.
“Depends on what he does.”
Dojun replied, then started walking straight toward Shunike.
“What do you want?”
Shunike, who didn’t know the first thing about Dojun, felt no caution at all as the man strode up to him.
If anything, he looked down on him, mind already scheming how he might rough him up under the guise of self-defense.
“Hey, monkey.”
“What?”
“I’m going to hit you now. Try to dodge. Block if you can. Show me every trick you’ve got—I don’t care.”
“Tch! I’ll kill you!”
Shunike threw the first punch.
Wham!
His fist landed square on Dojun’s face.
A perfectly clean hit, right in the middle of Dojun’s face—and knowing better than anyone how strong Shunike was, the Silken Lily guild members went dead silent, as if someone had doused them in ice water.
Meanwhile, Shunike sneered with sudden relief, convinced that Dojun—who’d been acting like some big shot—was actually nothing special.
“Hah! Koreans really are all talk!”
But Dojun, straightening his head, calmly answered him with a glint in his eyes.
“Legally speaking, I took the first hit—so from here on out, it’s self-defense, right?”
As he spoke, his eyes flashed like a beast ready to strike.
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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