NOVEL NEXT Chapter 51
Someone else caused the problem, but I’m the one who has to clean up the mess.
“Mr. Ha Cheongwon, we’ve been waiting for you.”
A C-rank hero, who was sitting alone in front of the gate, quickly rose up from their seat. At Ha Cheongwon’s gesture to sit, they returned to their seat.
“Are they still inside?”
“Yes, yes. They’ve been inside for about 30 minutes now. The gate color is still red.”
“What about the monsters?”
“No monsters have appeared. It’s strange how those creatures that were constantly coming out suddenly vanished without a trace. It’s baffling.”
“I’m the one who has to deal with these baffling things.”
Because of those guys.
Ha Cheongwon tightly gripped his work phone that had been buzzing until just now. The more he thought about it, the more irritated he became. Seeing the veins popping on Ha Cheongwon’s forehead, the C-rank hero took a step back.
– S-rank heroes are national assets, Mr. Ha Cheongwon. You should know this now that you’ve become an S-rank yourself. How could you let such people enter the gate?
– I’m planning to go to the site now. Besides, how could I have stopped them from entering on their own?
Ha Cheongwon was originally a B-rank hero. Despite now being a fellow S-rank, the condescending tone remained. They couldn’t act this way towards Yoo Hwashin, given his notoriety.
They probably thought they could manipulate the office hero who had been working like a dog until recently.
Suppressing his anger, Ha Cheongwon continued calmly.
– In any case, we will handle this ourselves.
– Yes, of course you should. Don’t think the Ministry of Defense will sit idly by if this goes wrong.
– Yes, please don’t sit idly by. Before I hang up, let me add one more thing.
– …
– I’m also S-rank. I trust you’re well aware of the rights the state guarantees to S-rank heroes. Let’s end the call here. When you contact me again, I hope you’ll be more polite.
– …Urgh. You—
Frustration surged within him. As if he didn’t have enough on his mind already. Ha Cheongwon looked at the photo of his younger sister on his phone background and took a deep breath. Right, stay calm. Stress was the root of all diseases. He needed to live long enough to see Yoojin go to college, date, and maybe even marry… Did she have to get married?
Enough.
The first task at hand was to assess the situation.
What was the biggest change at this point? The color of the gate and the fact that the entire SH1 unit had entered it.
What was the meaning of Yoo Hwashin’s last words? There was something inside. He intended to resolve it.
‘Why do monsters come out of the gate in the first place?’
No one had questioned this initial premise.
What was described in books was happening in reality, and monsters emerged from it. Awakened ones killed them.
That was the end of it. No one thought of entering the gate.
The reason was simple.
‘It’s too dangerous.’
They didn’t even know if they could come back out. Who could make such a decision lightly?
‘But that man did.’
What on earth was he thinking when he went inside? In this frustrating situation, Ha Cheongwon’s ability didn’t activate again. The S-rank ability of foresight, it only sounded great in name. He never knew when it would activate.
“Hah.”
Ha Cheongwon sat cross-legged in front of the gate. The C-rank hero moved to sit beside him.
“Will you be staying here too, Mr. Ha Cheongwon?”
“What else can I do? That bas– I mean, that guy made the decision, so I have to trust it.”
“Are you talking about Mr. Cha Jaeha?”
“No. Not him, the other guy.”
***
“A mistake, you said?”
“Mistake?”
Question marks appeared on the faces of the two brothers.
“Yes, a mistake. Even gods make mistakes sometimes.”
At Hwashin’s outrageous statement, Yoo Jian whispered to Cha Jaeha.
“What is he saying now?”
“Rubbish.”
I can hear you, kids, but I’ll let it slide.
In the first place, Hwashin had pretended to be a god to aim for this scene. He didn’t expect such a tense situation though.
“I’ll change the prophecy now.”
“You’ll change it?”
In Arbion, oracles or prophecies were never overturned. Because in their world, gods didn’t make mistakes.
“Yes. Don’t be trapped in old thoughts, my children. Now, watch my finger carefully.”
Among the grand rules of karma, Hwashin, or Elric, liked the rule of ‘now’ the most.
A white light floated in the air. His finger moved through the air as if dancing. Following its end, a character was formed. These characters reassembled into the language of this dimension.
‘A true leader is one who carves their own future. The lone tree in the desert reaches only for the sky.’
“…What is this?”
The fifth prince’s expression was indescribable. Rodi jumped up and down with joy.
“Dongsaeng, it’s done! Now there’s no reason for you and me to fight.”
The fifth prince was silent. After making a complicated expression, he quietly nodded. The royal soldiers guarding him also murmured at the unfolding situation.
“…Let’s go up for now.”
The fifth prince said this and turned around. Rodi hugged his fiancée in joy.
Yoo Hwashin stood beside Cha Jaeha, who was quietly observing the scene.
“Don’t you think it’s funny?”
“What is?”
“That this huge fight ends with just a single act of pretending to be a god.”
The defeated fifth prince seemed filled with regret despite achieving what he wanted. Understandably so. If it was going to end so easily, why did he sacrifice so much?
But in the end, he fulfilled his desire. Though, unlike the simple-minded Rodi, he likely had many conflicting thoughts.
“God! Thank you so much. Please, follow my brother upstairs. We would like to honor you again properly under the sunlight.”
As they left the underground prison, another line of text appeared before them.
「 What Rodi desired most was simply love. To live happily with the one he loves. Today, Rhodi achieved that wish. 」
“So that prince’s name was Rodi.”
At Jeong Mueum’s words, Yoo Jian’s questions exploded as they climbed the stairs.
“So what happened in the end? We found the princess like Hwashin said, but I don’t understand the rest. What was the prophecy, and how is fulfilling that crybaby prince’s wish related to closing the gate?”
“It will end soon. I’ll explain everything afterward.”
As they climbed the spiral staircase made of black stone, soon a lavish interior came into view. The palace interior was decorated with gold intricate carvings even on door handles. Arbion was quite a wealthy kingdom.
‘This wealth is important.’
In the original plot, Rodi, having lost the princess, couldn’t get his act together and ended up ascending to the throne. So there was no opportunity to go to the treasure room.
There was definitely a passage like this in the book though.
「 The treasure vault of Albion was not just dazzling; it was a place where one could hardly open their eyes due to the brilliance. It overflowed with riches that could never be seen in other countries. Even a god would covet it. 」
Even a god. This was undoubtedly a phrase aimed at the members of Unit 1, who were treated as god’s guides.
“Ah, God! Is there anything you desire? You changed the prophecy, saved me like this, and even saved my fiancée, so I want to do something for you. As expected of a god, from us lowly beings-“
“Isn’t there a treasure room here?”
“Huh? Ah, yes, yes. Of course, there is. There’s a treasure room that has been passed down for generations. But how-“
“Because I helped you. I want to see if it’s still there. While we’re at it, I’ll also retrieve something I left there a long, long time ago.”
Hwashin’s eyes curved downwards. At that holy smile, Rodi nodded vigorously and guided them to the treasure room.
‘How on earth did he manage to manipulate people like this?’
‘How would I know.’
‘His skill at deceiving people is growing by the minute.’
Only the members of Unit 1 standing nearby shook their heads.
***
“This is the place. Now, I’ll go to my fiancée and my brother. Could you please wait here for a moment?”
“Yeah, yeah. Go ahead.”
Waving his hand casually, Hwashin sent Rodi off and turned his head. The vast treasure room filled his vision. It glittered with gold and silver treasures, and and was also stocked with weapons of war.
“It’s incredible.”
“This is amazing.”
“But didn’t we scam them? You don’t have any real connection to this vault, do you?”
“Haha, let’s put aside the minor details. For now.”
Hwashin found the equipment he wanted based on the descriptions he had seen in <YHH>.
“Here, Jian, this is for you. Mueum, wear this on your chest.”
“Huh? You want us to take these? There’s a really fancy axe and some chains over there.”
“Ask San Ihyeong to appraise them later.”
“…Well, okay.”
With a disgruntled face, Jian put on the old leather boots Hwashin handed to her. Mueum also pinned the teardrop-shaped badge to his chest.
“Cha Jaeha, this is for you.”
“Gloves…?”
This was what he regretted most while reading <YHH>. Things that appeared in the descriptions but the protagonist never obtained. Without this kind of peaceful development, they wouldn’t have had the chance to enter the treasure room.
“Let’s each take a look around with the remaining time. Besides what I gave you, there probably isn’t anything useful.”
Hwashin smirked, but everyone ignored him and went about their own business.
Shrugging once, Hwashin also looked around. Pii finally poked its head out again. Now that he thought about it, Pii had gone through a lot recently.
“Pii, take a look around too.”
At those words, Pii scurried off somewhere. Following behind Pii, Hwashin found ‘it’.
“A… crack?”
A ‘crack’ only formed when dimensions distorted. How could there be a crack here? Hwashin approached the crack. Pii, who had arrived first, stuck its head into the small space. Struggling inside, Pii wriggled and eventually bounced out holding something.
“Are you okay?”
Holding Pii, who had landed on its backside, Hwashin saw a piece of paper in its mouth.
“You know, even if you eat all kinds of stuff, you can’t eat something like this.”
He took the paper that Pii held tightly. It wasn’t even parchment, the paper texture was similar to Korean books. Hwashin read the name written on that paper.
“…Yoo Hwashin…?”
Why was this name here?