Chapter 98 – Cataclysm (4)
[It cannot be said that the operation itself of Hunter Lee Hyun-woo and Hunter Choi Sun-hong was wrong. A manual has been created for how to deal with each A-rank monster, but when dealing with Chariot, two A-rank or higher players gather, one of them blocks the charge, and the other prepares a big technique from behind or induces evacuation. Cries.]
Choi Soon-hong of the Black Dragon Ark was sitting quietly in the middle of the hospital room. In his hospital gown, he looked more emaciated than ever. The light from the TV was reflecting off his face in the dimly lit room. The news on TV was dealing with the Gapyeong Chariot terror incident, and Jang Ji-wan, an S-class hunter from the Diamond Club, appeared as a guest and explained the hunters’ operations.
[Ah, so you’re saying there’s nothing wrong with the two of them sharing the work this time?]
The announcer asked a provocative question. Jang Ji-wan nodded his head and replied.
[Yes, no problem. This is because it is usually possible to block Chariot’s movement with one A-rank hunter. This is called a decoy, and the role of the decoy is to divert Chariot’s gaze to another place to attract attention or to prevent it from moving.]
[Ah, then why couldn’t Hunter Lee Hyun-woo go on the offensive together? If you look at the video at the time of the incident, didn’t it show that Hunter Lee Hyun-woo sliced Chariot’s body in one shot? Among netizens, there are many opinions that it would have been better if the two of them just jumped forward and removed Chariot before he ran.]
[In most cases, such skills take time or require certain conditions to be activated. Based on my experience of going to the gate together, Hunter Lee Hyun-woo’s skill takes quite a while to activate. For this reason, it can be seen that Hunter Lee Hyun-woo prioritized saving lives before using his abilities in earnest.]
Jang Ji-wan nodded and continued the story.
[Class A monsters are very dangerous. In the end, didn’t Hunter Choi Sunhong of the Black Dragon Room fail to stop Chariot? If Hunter Lee Hyeon-woo hadn’t saved people, there would have been more damage.]
[Ah, so are you saying that Hunter Choi Soon-hong is responsible for the loss of life in this case?]
Jang Ji-wan nodded at the announcer’s question. He pointed to the screen and said.
[Yes. You can see that. Looking at the video at the time, the first thing Hunter Choi Soon-hong had to do was to induce Chariot’s movement to the other side. But if you look here, Hunter Choi Soon-hong was facing him, giving him a chance to rush in, right? He probably did it because he thought he could defeat Chariot because he was a fairly experienced hunter, but this shouldn’t be the case. Isn’t there an S-class Hunter by your side? It’s impossible for an A-rank hunter to catch Chariot alone. In order to reduce human casualties, Hunter Choi Soon-Hong should have attracted attention.]
Choi Sun-hong’s face was white. His expression didn’t change, but his insides were rotting. Soonhong Choi hurriedly turned the screen. He did it to escape the guilt of the outcome he had created. He turned the channel to avoid the reality that everyone was blaming him.
[Hello. This is Kim Joo-seong from ‘3 vs. 500’. Now, thanks to your support, I am working hard on rehabilitation training, and I think I will be able to show you a good image soon.]
But there was no good news to reassure him where he fled. Turning the channel, Kim Joo-sung’s face was facing Choi Soon-hong. A young Hunter who became paraplegic due to his ‘mistake’. Choi Soon-Hong’s face was distorted.
He fought for the world all his life, but what remained was the stigma of being an arrogant old man. There were people who brought up the theory of responsibility, saying that people died because of him. Indeed, there were victims of his weakness. Soonhong Choi turned off the TV. He felt like his stomach was constantly burning while watching TV.
[Stop messing around and retire.]
I heard Lee Hyun-woo’s voice. Every time his voice echoed in his heart, Choi Soon-hong felt his insides boil. Hyunwoo Lee was right. He had to retire. But he didn’t want to.
The thought of giving up the nickname of the Heavenly Demon and retiring had long since disappeared.
Couldn’t admit it. I couldn’t believe that everything was my mistake and that the time to retire was really coming. He couldn’t understand the fact that he hadn’t even been given the name of the Heavenly Horse yet, and now he was becoming a degenerate.
There was a newspaper by the bed. It was a morning newspaper. Soonhong Choi carefully got out of bed and stumbled. As he got out of bed, he realized that he had put his hand on the bed handle, and he frowned once more. Every little thing he did seemed to tell me that he was old.
The front page of the newspaper article was about the terrorist incident. The pictures decorating the main screen were not Chariot’s raid or a montage of criminals. It was a picture of Lee Hyeon-woo walking in a nice posture and himself lying flat on the floor.
Chariot’s body was splitting in front of him, and the Black Dragon Ark was extending his hand in the other direction. The headline was:
[A class A monster appears in Gapyeong and causes a riot.]
And underneath the picture was written in small letters:
[Hunter Lee Hyeon-woo (center) and Hunter Soon-hong Choi (bottom left) defeating monsters]
“Aaaaa!”
Choi Sun-hong screamed and threw the newspaper away. Newspapers flying to the wall shattered the wall neatly and ricocheted off. He couldn’t stand it It was an insult. Everyone was insulting themselves. It was as if he was simply holding down the life he had lived and his pride as a hunter.
“No… No… !”
But even if he shouted no, nothing changed. He is old He now has nowhere else to go up. He was an ignorant hunter who recklessly threw himself in front of A-class monsters, and he was only responsible for increasing the damage of the terrorist incident.
[Soonhong Choi. This is all nonsense. Nuisance.]
But just because he did, he couldn’t retire. He kept thinking of Lee Hyun-woo’s face, who was smiling at him. Just thinking about that face made it impossible for him to retire. He did not want to give up the name of the Heavenly Demon. Strength. I needed strength.
If he had been S-class, he would have killed Chariot in one shot. If he had been in the S class, he would have been able to proudly name the Heavenly Demon and show generosity to Lee Hyeon-woo.
I wanted to gain strength. Having gained power so strong that he could defeat even S-classes, he proudly wanted to become the Heavenly Horse. He wanted to live a better life. No matter how much he denied his desires and tried to live like an ascetic, he was just a human being.
There is nothing left for high-ranking hunters. It was because it was too strong for mediocre pleasures. So they cling to honor and cling to trifles.
The Black Dragon Ark sat down on the floor. I wanted to do anything. I wanted to gain strength, smash Lee Hyun-woo’s head, and regain the name of the Heavenly Demon. He wanted everyone in the world to call him Heavenly Demon. I wanted to be recognized.
He wanted everyone to recognize the life he had lived, his achievements as a hunter he had accumulated, and his skills. The name of ‘Cheonma’ was not just a character name. To Choi Soon-hong, everything in life was a condensed word.
A name that cannot be given up.
“No… No… I… I wanted to…”
The Black Dragon Ark began to sob. He sat down on the floor and began to cry, feeling himself unable to gain strength or overcome the situation. Please he wished he could gain strength from anything.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Then, a knock was heard on the door of the hospital room.
*******
“Is everyone here?”
Lee Jun-hyeok’s face hardened. It was because the fact that the Ark of the Black Dragon Room was hospitalized twice in a row was not very good news. Furthermore, this time, even the theory of responsibility and the theory of retirement that the responsibility of the Black Dragon Ark was large were rising to the surface.
Lee Jun-hyeok, as an executive in the Black Dragon Room, thought he had to show unshakable solidarity even in this situation. Under his direction, all members of the Black Dragon Bang gathered in front of the hospital were wearing uniforms. Seong Ha-yeon was sighing deeply with a displeased expression on her face, and Kim Yoo-jung was also staring at her hospital room, stroking her arm.
At the end of the party, Jung Soo-hyeon and Ichi also stood. The two of them had a relationship with the Black Dragon Room in their own way, so they were visiting the hospital like today. Even though they had a bad start, anyway, they owed a lot to the Black Dragon Room during the Shininwangjeon. In the case of Ichie, he had even received formal contract consultation with the Black Dragon Room.
He said that he would think about changing his name to ‘Miyamoto Musashi’ until the end, but Lee Jun-hyeok thought that if Ichie came in in this chaotic situation, the ark would be able to control his mind even a little bit.
Even if the world turns like a harsh wind, the Black Dragon Room is one. Lee Jun-hyeok thought so and nodded his head again. Although it is difficult now, he believes that one day the day will come when Black Dragon Ark Choi Sun-hong becomes S-class and changes his nickname from Pa Cheonwang to Cheonma.
“Let’s go!”
So Lee Jun-hyeok walked in the lead and thought about what to say to the Black Dragon Ark. Aren’t the guild members only looking at themselves like this? We believe in you. So, don’t listen to petty bad comments and cheer up.
But.
When Lee Jun-hyeok opened the door to his hospital room, satisfied with his encouragement,
There was nothing but an open window and a chilling breeze blowing shards of broken glass and torn newspapers. Jung Soo-hyeon and Ichie, who were at the back, could only hear Lee Jun-hyeok’s voice.
“Ark?”
