The Hero Returns
chapter-48

Chapter 48: Chapter 48

Gwon Jang-hyuk and other gangsters started to run away. They even didn’t look back. Their commanding presences were nowhere to be seen. Like old times, they were still weak to strong, strong to weak.

“Those bastards still did not break their bad habit,” Su-hyeun thought.

He almost forgot of them but felt pathetic because they still lived the same. He would like to break a leg or arm to teach them some lessons. But if he did, they would probably be caught up and die in the upcoming incident.

“I guess I will take care of them later when I have time.”

The firecracker, actually the Flame that Su-hyeun set off, was enough to attract people’s attention. Some might have thought it was a fireworks display, but as they had already been warned of terrorism, that would be their first thought.

Whoosh, whoosh—

“Ok. Let’s go,” Su-hyeun said to himself.

Su-hyeun stamped his feet and flew high. He headed to Beomgye, the downtown area, where most people gathered at this time. Of course, he did not forget to shoot firecrackers on his way.

Boom, boom, boom—!

The sound like thunder rang out loudly. A lot of people were confused, and they began to run.

A terror. By that word alone, people left their homes and started to flee. But they could not see where the explosion happened. All the explosions were happening in the sky, not on the ground.

“…Did you say there is a terror?”

The director, who had heard the news, jumped up. Kim Do-ui, an A-rank awakener, who belonged to the country, nodded his head and delivered the news.

“Yes, sir. An explosion occurred in Pyeongchon, the most populated area of Anyang City. As we heard, there are signs of terrorism, and people are evacuating.”

“Holy sh*t… What the hell is going on?” the director mumbled.

Today was January 31st. Terrorism was not planned. Even if Lee Ju-ho’s information was true, there should be no terror by the Dump Guild.

“But the terror began? How this can be happening?” the director thought.

“I don’t know exactly… But it looks like the act of one person,” Kim Do-ui said.

“One person?”

The director, who looked puzzled, soon crumpled his face. He soon muttered in a confident voice, “Kim Su-hyeun.”

“Sir?”

“He is Kim Su-hyeun. It is that guy!” the director shouted.

It was a play pretending to be a terror. Kim Su-hyeun was now pretending to be a terrorist to evacuate people.

“Do you think Kim Su-hyeun showed up?” Kim Do-ui asked.

Kim Su-hyeun was a person who had never revealed himself before. His name was famous but other information, including his face, was not revealed. He had been hiding in the shade thoroughly, but for some reason, he appeared to save people for the first time. And he appeared as a terrorist.

“Kim Su-hyeun is not important right now! The important thing is he is in a riot right now!” the director said angrily.

“But there is no loss of lives…”

“I don’t care!” he cut Kim Do-ui’s word.

Bang—

The director slammed his desk and Kim Do-ui closed his mouth. He knew well if he said something right at the moment, he would just lose favor in the director’s eyes.

“A Dungeon Outbreak? The devastation of Anyang City? That’s nonsense. Before it turns out to be true, he is just a freaking terrorist. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir. I know,” Kim Do-ui answered.

“Then what are you doing? Go get him! No, you don’t have to get him. Just kill him!” the director shouted again.

That was too much. That was too much treatment.

“He lost his block,” Kim Do-ui closed his eyes and thought, “Should I have to do that far? If the terrorist who appeared in Anyang City is Kim Su-hyeun and his information is all true… he should be called a hero. Even if it was not true, it would be the same. What he is doing right now is hard to see as a terrorist attack. There was no damage to life or any property. It’s just an evacuation of people in case of a natural disaster. Can that be considered terrorism? It might look like a terror to the people who have no idea…”

“Yes, sir.” Kim Do-ui said to the director. At least in his eyes, it seemed not to be terror.

Click—

Kim Do-ui bowed to the director and left the room. The director picked up the phone and called somewhere.

“Yes. It’s me. Do we have any men left?”

Boom, boooom—!

Whoosh—

The fire burned the building. People screamed and ran away. Su-hyeun, who stood in the middle of the city and watched it, scratched his head.

“I can’t feel familiar with this…” he mumbled.

He felt weird acting like a villain in a ridiculous mask and afflicting citizens. It felt like he was a member of the Dump Guild.

“I guess the Dump Guild will get angry about this.”

The Dump Guild was a group of murderers. It was a secret society, hiding underground. It had connections with some of the big guilds, but it still didn’t want to be mentioned. But Su-hyeun took its name and drew it to the surface. He even pretended to be a member of the Dump Guild and caused terrorism.

Whoosh—

The fire in the building disappeared. The fire from the Flame skill did not even blacken the building. As the level and his proficiency increased, Su-hyeun could selectively burn the stuff he wanted. He did not have to waste his magic burning all those buildings. Of course, those who did not know, ran away to avoid the fire that Su-hyeun created.

“I suppose there is no one around here anymore,” he thought.

Starting from Beomgye, Pyeongchon area was almost empty. News that the terror began had spread to other parts of Anyang, and people started to evacuate from there as well. Although there was only one terrorist, Su-hyeun was a high-ranked awakener. And since he had warned there would be a terror by a group named Dump Guild, his actions looked like the acts of an organization, not one person.

“It’s now 8:00 p.m.”

It had already been two hours since he started taking action. There was not much time left.

“I wish I could move a little more, but…”

He stopped where he was standing and turned his face.

“… I guess it would be hard.”

Whoosh, whoosh—

Crackle, crackle—

A lot of people appeared around Su-hyeun. Except for those who had come close, the number of people who were watching from afar was large. All of them were awakeners, not ordinary people.

“Huh. There was quite a lot came.”

Numerous awakeners were mobilized to attack the green dungeons and other dungeons all over the country. So, he had thought there would not be a lot of awakeners left. But still, in this short time, quite many of them gathered.

“Are you Mr. Kim Su-hyeun?”

Kim Do-ui was the one who stepped forward and asked. He was the closest aide to the director and was an A-rank awakener who was not mobilized in the green dungeon. He was the most talented awakener among the people who gathered now. Su-hyeun’s gaze turned to him. It looked like he knew enough since he mentioned Su-hyeun’s name.

“Yes, I am,” Su-hyeun answered.

There was no reason to lie now. He had been expecting his identity to be revealed from the time he started writing on Abyss Online.

“Kim Su-hyeun?”

“What?”

“Wait, wasn’t he a terrorist?”

“I heard this man is an awakener from the Dump Guild.”

“Aren’t they just the same?”

Except for Kim Do-ui, other awakens were frustrated and talked in whispers.

They had no idea this incident and Su-hyeun were connected. In a flash, the eyes of those who saw Su-hyeun changed. They started to take precautions. The meaning of that was…

“Was Kim Su-hyeun a member of the Dump Guild?”

“If that is the case, it would explain why he has not been revealed to anyone.”

“Oh, shit. That makes sense.”

It was a pretty logical conclusion. Su-hyeun was not revealed on the surface so far and neither was the Dump Guild. Moreover, at this point, when it was known that there would be a terrorist attack by the Dump Guild, Su-hyeun appeared. He was even making the fire. It was obvious to everyone. There was no room for an excuse.

“Wait. Everyone be quiet!” Kim Do-ui shouted.

Kim Do-ui, however, had information the others didn’t and had a different opinion than the other awakeners. As the leader of the national awakeners’ group, he quieted others and looked around.

“As I thought, there is no damage,” he thought.

Terrorism usually took on violent forms, such as murder, kidnapping, and looting. Naturally, damages such as vandalism and injury followed. But the path that Su-hyeun took did not have any damage. There was only a quiet street where people had left. There were no signs of broken buildings, not even a single dead person.

“Your purpose… Are you doing this to evacuate people?”

Su-hyeun’s eyes sparkled at Kim Do-ui’s question. Kim Do-ui heard of him from Lee Ju-ho several times. He was the only person who knew the relationship between Lee Ju-ho and Su-hyeun, except for the director.

“Maybe this can be solved easily,” Su-hyeun thought.

In that case, the situation would be solved much easier. Su-hyeun nodded and answered.

“Yes, that is right. I hope more awakeners come here,” Su-hyeun answered.

“More awakeners?” Kim Do-ui mumbled.

He remembered the story he heard from Lee Ju-ho. Su-hyeun was the one who told to Lee Ju-ho that there would be a sudden dungeon outbreak tonight. Perhaps Su-hyeun’s quest was to prevent it.

“Didn’t you guys come here to stop me?” But strangely, Su-hyeun said completely different. Looking around dozens of awakeners, Su-hyeun continued to say, “You guys will need more people for that.”

“What?”

“You little upstart…”

“You think you are something because people compliment you?”

A loud voice came from all over the place. This was what Su-hyeun wanted. This was better in this case. It was an intended provocation. The problem was cooperation from one person.

“And to make him cooperate…” he thought.

Whoosh—!

With Su-hyeun’s gesture, a huge Flame started to sweep all over the place. Dozens of awakeners were quickly caught up in it. But the Flame stopped in front of them without burning them.

“At least, I am the best here,” Su-hyeun said in an arrogant voice.

Thanks to the mask, the expression was not revealed. But the voice alone was enough to infer the expression.

“I need to bring as many as awakeners as possible,” Su-hyeun thought. He looked at Kim Do-ui. “How will he react?”

Kim Do-ui, who met Su-hyeun’s eyes, could grasp his intentions. “Does he mean we need more support, either prevent him or the possible monster attack?”

Su-hyeun’s ability was more than Kim Do-ui had expected. As he said, these people might not be enough. Of course, the situation might change if A-Rank himself joined here.

“It won’t hurt to listen to him now,” Kim Do-ui thought so and opened his mouth, “…Call more support.”

“Ok, cool!” Su-hyeun uttered yells of delight in his mind.