Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 117
#117. Moment of Choice
2022.11.25.
Seoul S Hospital, Basement.
Lee Hagyun, Wolf's Vice-Guild Master and Gwihoon's undisputed right-hand man, 'Black Sawtooth', looked at the young man before him from behind his thick mask.
Wolf's young master, Baekrang Shin Siwoo.
"They say he doesn't have much time left."
Contrary to Hagyun's heavy words, the reply that came from Siwoo was very light and monotonous.
"Really?"
Still with an earphone in one ear, he wasn't even looking this way.
Hagyun spoke again.
"Even at best, he won't last more than 3 months."
"..."
This time, no answer came back.
Siwoo, resting his chin on his hand, silently gazed into the air.
The sound of music faintly leaking from his earphones drifted over the silent air.
A face too indifferent for a son facing his father's impending death.
It wasn't that Hagyun hadn't anticipated this reaction from Siwoo.
It was rather fortunate that he didn't just get up and leave, saying, 'So what?'
'No, more than that...'
Hagyun stared intently at Siwoo opposite him from behind his mask.
This was, to his memory, the first time Siwoo had responded immediately to Hagyun's summons.
Siwoo, who usually ignored his calls to the extent that he might meet him once out of ten calls, had, for some reason, appeared right away today.
Perhaps there had been some change of heart in him.
Hagyun had to cling to that slim chance.
"Young Master, quite a few guild members are in turmoil."
This year alone, nearly 200 guild members, including those from the headquarters and regional branches, had left Wolf.
Though the executives still held their positions, it was evident they were inwardly anxious.
Some were cautiously observing, looking for a chance to transfer, while others were even arguing that a new master should be elected from among the executives.
A silent internal division was beginning within Wolf, which had firmly held the top position in the Korean hunter world.
It was a natural phenomenon for a group that had lost its leader to experience internal strife or division.
It was said that even mere worker bees, no more than insects, would seek a new queen if they lost their queen bee.
If they failed in that, the hive would become empty.
In other words, at this rate, it was only a matter of time before Wolf, which had reigned over the Korean hunter world, would fall.
There was only one way to prevent that.
"Now is the time for Young Master to step forward."
—To place on the throne someone whom no one could deny.
Srrk.
Siwoo, who had maintained his silence, leaned back loosely in his chair.
And asked lowly.
"Is Wolf that important to you?"
At the unexpected question, Hagyun was momentarily at a loss for words.
Siwoo spoke again in an uninflected tone.
"Or is it just 'Baekya' that's important?"
"..."
Hagyun didn't answer readily.
Siwoo, his gaze fixed on him who had clammed up, rested his chin on the armrest of his chair.
"Decades ago, Father picked you up when you were buried in gate debris and raised you, right? Are you planning to repay that kindness?"
"...I believe I owe Master my life. But Wolf is a little different."
Hagyun, after a short sigh, soon lifted his head and looked directly at Siwoo.
"Wolf is my entire life."
Tick-tock...
After the second hand of the clock had swept past several times, Siwoo nodded shortly.
"I see."
Whether he was pleased with Hagyun's answer or not, Siwoo once again showed such a monotonous reaction.
It was impossible to read any inner thoughts from his expressionless face.
But in fact, Siwoo was quite satisfied.
'Wolf is his entire life, huh.'
...He might be more useful than I thought.
Siwoo thought, staring blankly at Hagyun.
Strong will becomes obsession, and obsession soon becomes fixation.
If there was one thing Siwoo had learned from his father, it was just that.
After Gwihoon's death, if Siwoo were to uproot or completely change Wolf, and Hagyun, the existing Vice-Master, opposed it, his influence would be considerable.
If Hagyun's devotion to Wolf was utilized well, perhaps he could become an incredibly good card for Siwoo in the future.
'Shall I test him?'
Siwoo, tapping the armrest of his chair, lifted his gaze again to look at Hagyun.
"Did you hear the news?"
"If it's news."
"South Coast Gate."
The moment their eyes met, Siwoo smiled faintly.
"I decided to participate."
"..."
Hagyun closed his mouth.
Decided to participate? Who? Young Master?
Such questions flooded his mind like a rising tide.
Siwoo had hitherto extremely avoided hunter activities.
He had postponed even the tutorial again and again, only to be pushed into it this year.
Such a person had decided to participate in a massive operation proposed by the Association on his own...?
"Young Master, by yourself... you mean?"
"No."
Siwoo tilted his gaze upwards.
"The participants from Wolf have already been selected. Well, about 200 or so."
"...Yes?"
A foolish voice, uncharacteristic of Hagyun, escaped his lips.
He gathered 200 applicants without my knowledge?
—Absurd.
At the present moment, with Gwihoon bedridden, Hagyun was acting as the Master's deputy.
It was impossible for him not to know what was happening in Wolf.
Unless those 200 had deliberately avoided Hagyun's eyes and ears and kept their mouths shut—.
"..."
At that moment, Hagyun's slightly parted lips pressed firmly together.
The 200 guild members who had left the Wolf Guild this year.
That thick register came to mind.
...I see.
So that's what it was.
He looked at the young wolf before him with newfound eyes.
Siwoo, leaning loosely against his chair, was staring directly at Hagyun.
A faint smile playing on his lips.
"There's a meeting tomorrow regarding the operation. I'd like you to accompany me to the Association."
"..."
"..."
In the heavy silence, Hagyun's Adam's apple moved slowly up and down.
Lee Hagyun was Shin Gwihoon's loyal dog.
Siwoo couldn't possibly be unaware of that.
However, Siwoo had told Hagyun that he had decided to participate in the South Coast Gate, and that he had secured 200 personnel for it.
He even asked him to participate in the meeting at the Association tomorrow.
The reason for readily extending a hand to someone untrustworthy.
Come to think of it, the answer was simple.
'He's asking.'
Which side will you choose?
Will you protect the future of Wolf, or will you protect your old and sick master?
—Choose here and now.
"What will you do?"
Siwoo, not very patient, spoke again.
Hagyun slowly lifted his head and looked at the young man, the young wolf, before him.
Dark blue hair, falling obliquely along his slightly tilted head.
And beneath it, piercingly blue eyes, directed this way as if to see through him.
Hagyun had seen eyes similar to those for a very long time.
'Hagyun.'
Though old and sick now, once like the heavens, Korea's first S-Class and strongest hunter, Shin Gwihoon.
'In life, you see, a moment of choice comes to everyone.
At such times, always prioritize Wolf.
All your choices, at their end, must be Wolf. Understand?'
Hagyun's one and only, his one and only master.
"I—"
Finally, Hagyun slowly parted his lips.
'Remember, that, and only that, is how you repay your debt of gratitude.'
The next day. Korean Hunter Jurisdiction Association.
"President, it seems everyone has gathered."
Gwanghyun, visiting the president's office, knocked on the door a couple of times.
However, no answer came back.
"President?"
He knocked a few more times, but no response.
Since this wasn't a one or two-time occurrence, Gwanghyun said, "Excuse me," and opened the door.
Sure enough, Daeyoon was sitting on the sofa, staring intently at a large monitor.
"Ahem. President?"
"Oh, you're here."
Only when he coughed right beside him did Daeyoon finally lift his head and look at Gwanghyun.
What had he been watching so intently?
Gwanghyun glanced over and checked the monitor.
What was displayed on the monitor was...
'Princess of Dark Flare?'
It was the Princess of Dark Flare, fiercely brandishing her parasol amidst dense trees.
It seemed to be a recorded video downloaded from the Colony of the Dead CCTV.
Thwack—!
As the Princess of Dark Flare swung her black parasol widely, a skeleton shattered with a dull sound.
Almost all skeletons literally turned to bone dust and crumbled in a single blow.
In a typical case, even an E-Class hunter could handle Level 5 monsters without much difficulty.
However, in the case of skeletons inhabiting the Colony of the Dead, they were difficult to dispose of because they regenerated infinitely unless considerable destructive power was applied.
Meaning, they weren't opponents that could be shattered just by brandishing a parasol adorned with so many laces.
Thwack! Fwip! Crack!
However, as if ignoring such common sense, the Princess of Dark Flare on the monitor was very easily shattering... no, annihilating (滅殺) tens, hundreds of skeletons with just one parasol.
Gwanghyun, who had been staring at the monitor blankly beside Daeyoon, "Ah," belatedly snapped back to his senses.
"President, everyone has gathered. It's about time we went down."
"Hmm. It's already this late."
Beep.
Daeyoon, turning off the monitor with the remote control, started to get up but then froze.
The mountain of documents piled on his desk had caught his eye.
All of them were the latest data sent from the South Coast Regional Gate Management Bureau and reports related to this Colony of the Dead dungeonization.
Daeyoon, staring at the desk with heavy eyes, finally left the president's office with Gwanghyun.
Soon, they arrived at a special conference room located on the top floor of the annex.
Daeyoon, sitting at the very end of the long conference table, lifted his head and glanced at each of the faces there.
Keum Roje, master of Rose and the nation's top healing hunter, 'Doctor Plant'.
Yoo Hwan, master of Immortal and a grandmaster of physical enhancement, 'Monkey King'.
Bae Junhwan, Vice-Guild Master of Corps, attending in place of 'Trickster' Song Minju.
And... Lee Hagyun, Vice-Guild Master of Wolf.
'He actually came.'
Yoo Hwan, his thick arms crossed, stared intently at Hagyun.
Though Yoo Hwan's blazing gaze must have been palpably felt, Hagyun didn't flinch and stared straight ahead.
There was no way someone like him wouldn't have noticed such a heated gaze.
Meaning, he was ignoring it.
Twitch.
A thick vein bulged on Yoo Hwan's forehead.
This was why he detested Wolf.
There wasn't a single thing he liked about them, from one to ten.
Anyway, that was that.
'So the secret unit the Association President mentioned was Wolf. Why didn't he tell me sooner.'
Yoo Hwan's gaze now sharply turned towards Association President Daeyoon.
The atmosphere instantly became murderous.
"Hey, President. I didn't hear a single word about Wolf coming here—"
Yoo Hwan, who had been growling lowly, suddenly clamped his mouth shut.
It was because Roje, sitting beside him, had lightly placed her hand on his.
"Yoo Hwan."
"...Hmm."
Just that alone made Yoo Hwan relax his expression.
Though it was a very quick change of demeanor, it was possible because it was Roje.
Yoo Hwan, his ears reddening, cleared his throat and averted his gaze elsewhere.
Anyway, with this, the possibility of a fight breaking out here, at least, had lessened.
Though the atmosphere wasn't particularly good, this gathering was truly a collection of the nation's top-class hunters.
Those gathered here were individuals who would become the so-called captains (隊長) representing each unit in the upcoming South Coast Gate operation.
Daeyoon, after confirming their faces one by one, glanced at Gwanghyun and asked with just his eyes, without saying a word.
'What about Trickster and Phantom Thief?'
At that, Gwanghyun shook his head with a troubled expression.
It seemed they were absent as expected.
'Can't be helped.'
Though their absence wouldn't be small, this much was something.
He felt sufficiently reassured.
—Moreover, he still had a trump card up his sleeve.
"To all of you who have participated in this gathering today in preparation for the impending disaster, I offer my thanks on behalf of the Association and the government of Korea. First, before we proceed with the main meeting, there is someone I would like to introduce to you."
Having said that, Daeyoon slowly spoke towards the closed conference room door.
"Come in."
Click—
The door slowly opens.
Through it, clack, the clear sound of heels echoed.
"The Princess of Dark Flare, who will take command of the support unit."
