Chapter 296: Chapter 296 – Seoul (4)

Chapter 296 – Seoul (4)

The news that the Seoul Station’s portal had begun to function was not only heard by the guild but also by the association and the government . All of them were focused on the Seoul Station’s portal, so information was readily available .

Despite being caught off-guard by unexpected factors, the guild sent their members to meet those who’d return from the Tutorial .

The government had prepared a contract for the returnees and dispatched investigators to Seoul Station to find out what happened in the Tutorial .

The association was agonizing .

“Why did this happen now…”

Park Min rubbed his hands over his face . He wished it had come out a month later, or rather a month earlier .

What bad timing . It didn’t matter who came out of Seoul Station’s Portal .

Park Min thought that there were three possibilities for what would come out of the portal: first, was the returnees who had normally cleared the 100th floor of the Tutorial .

That wasn’t very good .

One of the reasons the media and the public were encouraging Pyongyang’s attack was that no more Awakened had been produced . The idea was that the G-class in Pyongyang should be hit when it’s weak .

If the number of Awakened were to start increasing again, giving up Seoul may be encouraged instead of planning an attack .

Besides, the media will be focused on a new topic . “A newly returned Awakened had appeared” . Just talking about problems within the Tutorial would be a big fish .

It was not good for the public’s attention to be diverted from Pyongyang . The second thing that could appear from the Seoul Station’s portal was monsters, making it like the other gates .

They knew that the guild had won the right to manage the Seoul Station’s portal from the government, and were warned of this possibility .

However, Park Min did not think that the chances of this occurring were high .

Of course, it would be wise to do so in this crazy world, but Park Min nevertheless believed that the second possibility would never happen .

The third possibility was Lee Ho-Jae . Not long ago, news of Lee Yeon-hee leaving the 60th floor made the guild restless .

The guild was closely related to the Order of Vigilance in the Tutorial . Kim Min-hyuk, the guild’s master, was the deputy head of the Order of Vigilance . The Awakened who had cleared hard difficulty had all been members of the Order of Vigilance .

And Lee Ho-jae was the one who formed such an organisation (referring to the Order of Vigilance) .

Park Min was also a challenger who’d entered the Tutorial in the early days, so he was well aware of Lee Ho-jae’s presence .

At first glance, it was Lee Ho-jae’s power that kept the Order of Vigilance stable, which was so bizarre that it was doubtful whether it’d last . The driving force behind managing all the challengers in the Tutorial was his power .

Lee Ho-jae’s strong powers and the fear everyone held of him were good . If there was one challenger who had to be asked to return grandly to the Tutorial that had come to a standstill, and if one of the challengers Park Min knew was to be picked as the returnee, he would pick Lee Ho-jae without hesitation .

The problem was that this was the worst situation ever . Everything would become a mess if Lee Ho-jae came out .

“What should I do?”

Park Min was annoyed by the team leader’s question . The one who needed to give directions was only asking questions . He knew that his recent silence had caused her to lose a lot of confidence, but this shouldn’t happen .

Lee Sung-eun should rely on herself . They didn’t have that kind of relationship . They had decided to deal with that matter later and settle the issue at hand right now .

“Send guides, provide training, and offer contracts, just like we did to the usual returnees . ”

When the returnees arrived, it was the association’s job to explain how the Earth changed and to help them adapt .

In the case of contracts, they were carried out by both the government and the association . The Awakened who rejected both the government and the association would have the status of a free contractor .

Usually, they belonged to the government of another country or Kim Min-hyuk’s guild .

“Tell the government to withdraw from the Seoul Station’s vicinity, and to start controlling the area . ”

The government also had a group of Awakened, but it was way smaller than the guild’s and association’s .

Most of the Awakened in the government were for the management of Awakened and police, for work, and not for combat .

When danger struck Seoul, the association would typically be in charge of suppressing the situation . It was quite well known that the guild had warned that the Seoul Station portal could be dangerous .

Even if Park Min didn’t consider the possibility, he couldn’t completely exclude it . It was not to prepare for one minor possibility but to leave no room for mistakes .

“I’ll dispatch six teams,” Lee Sung-eun replied .

The association could afford it . There were no recent emergencies in Seoul or other areas, and all of its troops were gathered at the headquarters in Seoul because of the attack on Pyongyang .

“No, don’t do that . ”

“What? But…”

“Team 3, Team 2, Team 6, Team 7 . Let’s put Team 1 on standby . ”

Lee Sung-eun complained about the smaller number of people, since that could become a problem later . Park Min was frustrated . It was pitiful for him to have such an idiot as his close associate .

“So we’re going to send Team 2? Don’t get upset later . ”

It was said that Team 2 was one step below Team 1 . Chances of them being criticised were high . The criticism that the association would deal with half-heartedly could be avoided .

“Tell Team 2 to come up, and get Team 6 and Team 7 out right away . Oh, and the reason is, team leader, you have a nephew on Team 6, right?

“…Yes, I do . ”

Lee Sung-eun’s nephew was not an Awakened . Not all members of the association were made up of Awakened .

Unless it was overflowing with Awakened resources like the guild, most of the organization’s members were non-awakened .

Of course, even though he was an Awakened, being a member of the association was a great help in society: from income to preferential treatment to social standing .

Thanks to that, some of the non-Awakened members of the association often asked for favors . Such was the case with the team leader’s nephew .

The position of the head of the association was enough to put some of her relatives into the association .

Park Min also knew but he pretended to be unaware . In some cases, he stayed silent and hired them . But in times like this, he had to use them without hesitation .

“There’s one thing that the team leader’s nephew should know . 21 years old . He’s young, so of course he knows social media well, right?”

Team leader Lee Sung-eun was forced to answer with a gentle nod . Park Min had even mentioned her nephew’s age accurately .

Park Min ordered the team leader Lee Sung-eun to relay what her nephew had to do and scrolled through contacts on his cell phone .

He called the number located at the top of the category of ‘Media’ .

* * *

“How do you feel?” asked Hochi with a tense look .

“I told you, it’s nothing much . ”

How did I feel about coming back to Earth? I couldn’t really feel anything . Some things I thought were worse, some were better .

“What’s good, what’s bad?”

“It’s good that we got teleported indoors . I heard that usually they teleported to the middle of the square, but if it was noisy from the start, it would have been annoying . ”

“And what’s bad?”

“The air is more polluted than I thought . ”

It didn’t have the environment of the 60th floor that I worked hard to create . It wasn’t even the size of the 61st floor of the Great Volcano or Snow Mountain .

The air I breathed in when I came back to Earth was really bad . I couldn’t help but wonder how I used to live in such a place .

“It’s cramped . ”

“It’s cramped . ”

The old woman and old man said in unison . They were resting in a small space, but they were peeking outside as if they wanted to see this new world .

Their giant figures weren’t fit for this place, so they had to crouch to keep the ceiling of the building from collapsing .

“If it’s cramped, you can just make yourself shrink . ”

“I’m already small . ”

“Reduce more . ”

The old man shrank his body while grumbling . He shrank a little, checked his body, and then repeated it again .

I think he wanted to reduce it as little as possible . On the contrary, the old lady shrank coolly .

“Hmm! I feel young!”

“Too short, Grandma,” I advised her, now that she was about the same height as Yong-yong .

“Isn’t it alright?”

“No, it’s not okay . The old man would be treated like a criminal, so you’d better make your body a little taller . ”

After a brief argument, I adjusted her height to that of an average adult’s . She looked very unhappy, but she didn’t know much about Earth, so she quietly followed my opinion .

While doing that, Hochi wandered around the interior of the building and found a large wardrobe .

“Can I wear this?”

“You can . ”

I didn’t know who it belonged to, but I guessed that he could wear it .

“Change your clothes . Don’t wear that weird outfit . ”

“Why, isn’t it fine?”

Hochi’s outfit now looked like he was going out on an adventure . It resembled the characters from a medieval fantasy novel .

“It’s not fine . Change . ”

“Can I wear one, too?”” Seregia, who had been quiet, asked .

“Sure . ”

It kept bothering me that I still didn’t know who the owner of the closet was, but for now, I told them it was fine .

“Daddy, what about me? Can I change too?”

“Well, if there’s anything that fits you, then yes . ”

Yong-yong had a lot of clothes and a good fashion sense, so I didn’t think he needed it . Still, he seemed to be interested in new clothes made by others .

Finally, I told the old lady to pick out her clothes . While we were examining the clothes inside the wardrobe, the door opened from behind .

Someone came in through the open door . It was a man who had been hanging around the building for a while . A face that I couldn’t recognise . There was a weak scent of Korean food on his body . He was not an ordinary person .

But he wasn’t strong either .

“Who are you?”

“Hey, I’m Cheol-min . ”

It was the first name I heard .

* * *

The man who’d opened the door and came in was an Awakened named Lee Cheol-min .

I had been a member of the Order of Vigilance before, but honestly, I didn’t remember seeing him anywhere .

Not that my memory had gotten poor, I just don’t think I cared about him even if I did ever meet him, given that I didn’t remember . Hochi, who shared the same memory as me which served as evidence, also failed to recognize Lee Cheol-min .

“Kim Min-hyuk is gonna come soon?”

“Yes . ”

This felt strange . Like I just got out of prison, and I heard that my friend was coming to meet me .

Lee Cheol-min said, “Kim Min-hyuk will be here soon, and by then, I will explain anything that you’re curious about . ”

Lee Cheol-min began to tell us things .

“This is the Seoul Station’s Portal? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it . ”

“Yes, it was recently built . Since there were many people who were confused after they returned, we built it so that they had a place to prepare their minds . ”

That’s nice . I liked this, no matter whose idea it was .

“Haha, cute . ”

Yong-yong patted Lee Cheol-min on the side and giggled . His innocent smile made it seem like he really did think that Lee Cheol-min was cute .

Once again, I was worried about Yong-yong’s aesthetic sense . Lee Cheol-min looked at Yong-yong, who was approaching him without hesitation and turned his eyes towards me .

“Is this Yong-yong?”

“Oh, you know him?”

“Of course . I participated in his naming contest before . ”

He was closer to me than I’d thought .

“The name I gave back then was Nafplion . ”

It was even one of the elected names .

“Oh, that’s my name!”

“That name was perfect,” Yong-yong and Hochi said one after the other .

I felt that they were a better fit than I’d initially thought . At that moment, the door opened again . This time, it was an acquaintance .

He was none other than Kim Min-hyuk .

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