NOVEL NEXT Chapter 296
Chapter 296. Grudia (2)
“Is it really true that Yoo Ji-han is coming today?”
“I told you it’s true! Didn’t you see the reservation list earlier?”
“I thought it was just someone with the same name.”
“Wow…”
The restaurant staff, dressed in white uniforms, gathered together and whispered quietly.
It was because the names of Yoon Do-ha and Yoo Ji-han were written on the VIP list today.
“Can I guide them?”
“You’re going to ask for a photo, right?”
“Maybe just one shot by the end of their meal…”
The visit of two heroes drawing the most attention recently.
Even the staff, who would usually accept the visits of any politician or celebrity without much thought, were buzzing with excitement today.
“Keep your mouths shut. If it gets noisy, they might never come back.”
“Especially you, Hye-ji!”
“Me?!”
“If you spill anything on social media, it’s an instant uniform return for you.”
“What do you think of me?!”
Hearing the reprimand made the staff member sneakily hide her phone behind her back.
Then, when evening rolled around…
“They’re here.”
“…!”
A handsome man revealing his forehead with a stylish hairstyle and a broad-shouldered figure who wouldn’t let attention slip away from him.
Yoon Do-ha and Yoo Ji-han walked into the restaurant’s entrance.
Without a doubt, they were the heroes whose names were mentioned daily in the news.
The waiting staff approached them with pounding hearts.
“Welcome! Thank you for visiting our restaurant!”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Right this way, please.”
Yoo Ji-han and Yoon Do-ha followed the staff down a long hallway.
The restaurant was quiet, seemingly soundproofed.
“Uh?”
“Whoa?!”
As they walked, those who made eye contact with Yoo Ji-han widened their eyes in surprise.
People of all ages and genders showed similar reactions.
“I-I…!”
Some were even frozen in place, dumbfounded!
When Yoo Ji-han waved at a distant admirer, he gasped and bowed his head deeply.
“Do you know him?”
“Not at all.”
“Wow, you’re really popular!”
Sensing the atmosphere inside the restaurant, Yoon Do-ha whistled.
He had always been the standout in a crowd wherever he went.
But today was different.
All the attention was being stolen by Yoo Ji-han.
“Did you know? This is the first time I’ve been overshadowed while hanging out with someone else.”
“Uh… s-sorry?”
“Sorry for what? Just enjoy it.”
Shaking his head, Yoon Do-ha looked like he was having the time of his life, rather than feeling upset.
That was how much Yoo Ji-han’s presence was growing in prominence.
It was a realization that his previous judgment of character was not mistaken.
“I’ll bring your food right away.”
“No, make it in about 15 minutes.”
“Ah, yes!”
Once they arrived at their reserved room, the two sat down.
At that moment, their spirits appeared.
—Whee! How have you been?
“Of course, I’ve been great!”
Mumu responded to the Sylph’s greeting.
Yoo Ji-han poured water into an empty cup and said, “You’ve been super busy since you got back.”
“Most of my backlog is cleared. Raekyung worked really hard, though.”
With the Guild Master’s absence, the tasks at Dice had piled up.
Yoon Do-ha had handed over some of his authority to Vice Guild Master Park Jae-kyung to help clear out the work.
“How was Japan? You just prevented a major incident over there.”
“I met with the Minister of Hero Department and Cassandra. It was quite fun.”
“And you also visited Raiku, right? I hear the rumors are already spreading.”
“I spent a week training Nam Ho-yeol, and the Tamura representatives referred to him as their teacher.”
“What?! Hahaha! Those guys are truly something else!”
Whack!
Yoon Do-ha laughed heartily, slapping his knee, as he was familiar with the Tamura brothers.
“So Ho-yeol must be quite something, then. They’re tougher than they look, with discriminating tastes.”
“He said he was just lucky.”
“What about those who lack luck? Poor things… By the way…”
Gulp!
Yoon Do-ha finished off the water in his cup and reached down to the floor.
Thud thud thud!
An object emerged slowly from the ground—a brown paper bag.
He handed it to Yoo Ji-han.
“This is the info about the woman you sent me.”
“Thank you.”
Yoo Ji-han took out the documents inside the envelope.
The very first page had a photo of a woman looking just like the drawing the Sylph had made.
“Her name is Ji Ye-in, 33 years old. She’s a single woman working as an accountant in a small company. Both of her parents are elementary school teachers and her family has been agnostic for generations. She didn’t have many friends during her school days, and her hobby is hiking. And…”
“…Is it okay to investigate this thoroughly?”
Yoo Ji-han couldn’t help but click his tongue as he read about the many details, including her name, age, education, and personal relationships, all packed into the documents.
With just a slight exaggeration, one could summarize a person’s life within these pages.
“Isn’t this what you wanted?”
“I didn’t want to know her favorite color or anything!”
“More is always better, isn’t it?”
“Is that even appropriate to say here?”
“I got mad when I heard about the airplane and kicked some info out. By tomorrow, she’ll officially be under arrest.”
Yoon Do-ha dug through all the guild’s information sources.
Unless you were a Mage like Jung Young-wook who had gone completely underground, it was hard to escape the outreach of a large guild.
“Flip one page back.”
Flip!
Yoo Ji-han turned one page filled with dense text.
As he looked closely at the next page, a particular bold word caught his eye.
“An IUPC member, huh?”
“Yeah. Ever since the IUPC Korea branch disappeared, she hasn’t been very active.”
The woman’s true identity was a member of the International Creature Protection Association, which had vanished in Korea.
Yoon Do-ha found that particularly suspicious.
‘Is the IUPC behind Jung Young-wook?’
It was Jung Young-wook who had provided the magic to blow up the airplane.
And it was the IUPC that had hidden him and given him that opportunity.
It was a troubling thought that these characters were in cahoots.
A combination that looked pretty suspicious too.
“Jung Young-wook was a guild member I personally recruited years ago. There’s no way I can ignore that problem he’s involved in.”
“Understood.”
“Once you leave for Grudia, an investigation into the IUPC will kick off again. It will be a large-scale investigation with the government getting involved directly.”
“What if they are behind this…?”
“Without a doubt, it would lead to war. Next time, it won’t just be Korea disappearing, but the entire Earth.”
Yoon Do-ha, who had suffered immense hardships due to the IUPC, spoke chillingly with a smile.
Just like when he had destroyed more than three guilds, becoming known as the Troublemaker, as he resisted unjust oppression long ago.
He had no intention of letting his enemies go.
“You’ll help me out, right?”
“Just that won’t satisfy me.”
“Then?”
“I’ll take the lead.”
Yoo Ji-han had similar thoughts in mind.
*
The night before Yoo Ji-han’s party headed to Grudia.
Nam Ho-yeol was kneeling before his wife, the vampire Siriodin.
“Get up; it’s cold on the floor.”
“Okay.”
Upon hearing his wife’s words, Nam Ho-yeol quickly stood up.
At his demeanor, Siriodin chuckled and said, “Why are you acting like this when it’s already decided?”
“I still feel bad about it…”
His expression revealed complex emotions as he looked at Siriodin’s notably bulging belly.
—I need Ho-yeol.
According to the information provided by a woman in crisis in Grudia,
A blacksmith was essential to escape Grudia.
Though he didn’t know why a blacksmith was needed or what he had to do there,
—Please accompany me.
Yoo Ji-han had entrusted the role to Nam Ho-yeol, the blacksmith he trusted the most.
Thus, Nam Ho-yeol was set to move to Grudia, leaving his pregnant wife behind.
‘There’s a chance I might not return.’
No hero had ever returned from the other nine worlds besides Kallem.
It was a risky operation, truly stepping into the unknown.
Seemingly resolved, Nam Ho-yeol spoke.
“Siriodin, if I don’t come back…”
“Why say something like that to me? Do you not trust them?”
“Of course I trust them!”
“Then don’t worry; just go. Be a great dad to our child.”
“S-siriodin…!”
Nam Ho-yeol felt emotional at his steadfast wife’s words.
Around the same time, in the office of the Sweet Fun guild borrowed from the Hero Academy.
Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu were conversing with Lee Hyun-jae, who was in charge of talent recruitment for the guild, and Jang Sa-im of Mongdang.
“While I’m away, please take over the representation of Sweet Fun, Mr. Hyun-jae.”
“I’ll do my best, even if I’m lacking.”
Despite saying that he was inadequate, Lee Hyun-jae, with his wealth of experience from Keroes, could definitely handle the role.
As Kim Si-hu conversed with Lee Hyun-jae, Yoo Ji-han turned to Jang Sa-im.
“Mr. Sa-im, you’ll assist Mr. Hyun-jae for the time being.”
“Yes!”
“What about Baek Jong-eon?”
“He quit his job at the restaurant and is waiting at home.”
“Jong-eon needs to handle the meals for our guild member Fran Fager. From there, we will be developing the guild’s menu going forward. Since we’ll have to use monsters as ingredients often, please prepare for it.”
“Oh! Jong-eon will love that!”
That would certainly be exciting news if Baek Jong-eon heard it.
Jang Sa-im was pleased that his longtime friend was getting closer to his dream.
“Mongdang will be taking a break for a while.”
On the other hand, without Yoo Ji-han’s party, there would be no heroes available to hunt monsters in Sweet Fun.
Jang Sa-im temporarily set aside monster disposal, his primary duty.
“The newcomers will surely make things much busier.”
“Hehe! I’m looking forward to that time.”
With a smile on his face, Jang Sa-im gazed at Yoo Ji-han with admiration.
Currently, ominous rumors were circulating online regarding those who entered other worlds.
Tales that once you go to another world, you can never return to Earth.
Yet there was no sign of fear or worry from the man right before him.
Rather, he seemed to be envisioning the future after he returned.
‘I’m truly lucky.’
If he hadn’t had the courage to conduct business at the Giant Monster hunting grounds when he couldn’t even make a deal with any customers, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to be with such notable figures.
Remembering that moment, Jang Sa-im praised himself.
*
“Is Yoo Ji-han’s party departing tomorrow?”
“Yes! Based on the information passed from Grace Wolf of Black Harts, we adjusted the dimensional magic and it should not be repeating the previous incidents…”
They heard about an accident happening when they were transferred to a region full of hostile Dark Elves.
Minister Jo Du-jin of the Hero Department closed his eyes as he listened to his subordinate’s report.
“How about Red Hole?”
“They’re hesitant to step forward.”
“Thought so.”
The disappearance of Baek Kang-cheon, the top magician of South Korea and Guild Master of Red Hole.
To find him, a large number of second-class parties from Red Hole had plunged into the Grudia expedition, but no substantial news had come back.
They didn’t just lose any heroes but a large number of skilled individuals who led their guilds, and multiple other guilds turned down the calls for additional manpower for various reasons.
In the end, only Yoo Ji-han’s party would be embarking on this operation.
“Do you think they have a chance of success?”
“…To be honest, I think it would be in the country’s best interest to stop Yoo Ji-han’s party even now to protect its talents.”
Even legendary heroes like Baek Kang-cheon and Sian Pierce had failed to return from that dimension.
No matter how much credit Yoo Ji-han earned for rescuing Yoon Do-ha, the employee thought it was hard to give him high odds of success.
But Jo Du-jin’s thoughts differed slightly.
“I see it very differently.”
“Why is that?”
“That party, especially the leader, has a strange talent for instilling expectations in others.”
Jo Du-jin recalled Han Seo-in, who had been his bodyguard when he was younger.
Despite being a soldier without much magic, she consistently impressed everyone.
That same woman had trained her nephew, Yoo Ji-han, since he was a child.
The hero who boldly took Drimium as his reward and made it his own!
On top of that, the party members beside him were no average folks either.
‘Gambling is not really my thing.’
Even if it was a gamble with low odds,
They were individuals that made one want to dare to hope.