Chapter 157

I doubted my eyes.

'He's here, again?

By coincidence, I met the Great Explorer Jackson in front of a rather special location, the Gwanghwamun Dungeon. I did have a hunch that our chance encounter wouldn't be the end of our acquaintance, but I didn't think we would be meeting again so soon.

Seeing as he hadn't been able to come into the field, he must have arrived sometime during the scenario.

'No matter how I think of it, it's weird.'

I couldn't shake off that feeling.

'Who was the one who created the Guardian Tower here in the past?'

It was at this point in time that the Guardian Tower appeared between Complex 1 and 2 of the DMC Riverview Xi. Who was the mysterious person who created the Guardian Tower that would later grow into the 'Megalodon'?

'It's true that Megalodon is a lower grade than Tintin.'

Megalodon and Titan were slightly different types of Guardian Towers. Titan had a 'turret tower' form, while Megalodon had a 'magic' form. They certainly differed in utility. But if you were to ask people which of the two Guardian Towers was more outstanding, the majority would pick Titan.

'Even if we presume that Megalodon is a lower grade Guardian Tower…'

It was still a pretty high level tower. Who could have created such a tower here, at this time?

It was right about this time that the early version of Megalodon, 'Melo', appeared. Not long afterwards, Melo's power was revealed, and the price of land around the DMC Riverview Xi skyrocketed.

'It's weird.'

That meant someone had to have been diligently collecting Guardian Gems from Gajwa Station. And then, another person with remarkable enhancement talent summoned the Guardian Tower here.

'Was there any Player like that in Korea at this time?'

Korea produced a lot of great Players. The '8 Heroes' of Korea were neck and neck with other heroes worldwide. But the sphere Korean server Players particularly distinguished themselves in was 'combat', specifically 'direct combat'. The country produced many 'direct combat' class Players.

'We were comparatively weak in other types of Playing, like enhancement or production.'

Some called this a server trait, and others called it a 'racial characteristic'.

'Anyway, I don't think there was anyone from Korea who could have created a Guardian Tower—and the starting version of Megalodon, even—at this time, right now.''

No matter how much I wracked my brain, I couldn't come up with a name. But now, I knew: Jackson had been here at that time.

He walked up, clapping. "I had a good time watching from afar. You use quite a mix of techniques."

State: Surprise / Admiration / Thrill

Jackson came up to me. There was a big smile on his face as he took my hand to shake it.

"I've never seen a Player of your level, not even in England. I simply regret that I wasn't able to watch from up close."

Sunhwa tilted her head. "A foreigner mister?"

"Oh, hello there, little miss. My name's Jackson."

Jackson held out his hand. Sunhwa took it after some hesitation.

"Hello. I'm Kim Sunhwa."

"Ah. You're Mr. Kim Hyukjin's little sister?"

From their trivial conversation, I instantly realized.

'He's investigated me.'

He was able to dig out my information so fast? The only people who were interested in me were the Sungshin family. He seemed to be meeting Song Kiyeol for the first time, so it was either CEO Song Kiyoung, the Blood and Iron Queen Song Junghye, or the spoiled brat Song Jinchul.

'It's probably not CEO Song.'

So it was either Junghye or Jinchul. But Jinchul was still too young, and he didn't have much intel on me.

'It must be Song Junghye.'

He got my background info from Song Junghye. He had met her. I was sure of it.

'Well, it's not a bad thing.'

Did Jackson think I wouldn't be able to figure out his relationship with her from what he said? No. He probably knew. He knew and said it anyway. I didn't know what he was intending. It could be that he was showing off his access to a powerful intelligence network, or was telling me that he was very interested in me. Or it could also be that he didn't think at all, though that was very unlikely.

Sunhwa's hesitating face brightened a little.

"You're super good at Korean, mister."

"Spare me the mister. Oppa. Call me Oppa, little miss."

He was even clear on the difference between mister and oppa.

"I'm not little."

"Oops, sorry," Jackson said, before bending into a respectful bow. "Please call me Oppa, my lady."

Jackson intentionally put on an exaggerated air with a sly expression, but he himself seemed to find it cringey. "Eurgh, so cheesy. Sorry. I'll make my apology quick."

The entire time, he spoke with such fluent Korean that anyone would believe he was a native. In any case, Sunhwa seemed to have relaxed a lot around him.

"How did you end up here, Jackson?" I asked.

"It's because of my scenario. Somehow, your path and my scenario keep coinciding."

Jackson's bearing was extremely natural. He didn't really seem to be lying.

"May I ask what kind of scenario it is?"

Jackson smiled brightly. "Sorry, no comment."

That was fine, I hadn't expected anything. I heard Yeonseo murmur, "Wow, that's one good-looking guy. Though he isn't my style."

'A blond-haired handsome man with a stocky physique.'

Standing before the gray, 5-meter-tall Guardian Tower was the blond-haired, handsome man, the twelve-lane road underneath him reduced to ruins. He cut a pretty dashing picture.

'It looks natural.'

He looked just like a hero from a western disaster movie, and it felt like I was seeing a scene from the movie. Was this heroic-looking Jackson connected to the puzzle of the past?

I didn't know. I asked again, "By any chance, do you have comrades?"

"I am in the process of making them. I would also like to build an amicable relationship with you, Mr. Kim Hyukjin."

"I see."

"But I won't rush things. You seem to be very busy."

Like a true explorer, Jackson closely examined the Guardian Tower, which could be considered a new relic. Then, he said some more amusing words.

"It seems like an extremely innovative tower, but… something is missing. It's not quite there." Coming closer to me, Jackson grinned. "I don't think it's in its complete form yet. Though I'm sure you already know."

"..."

Jackson held out his hand again.

"I think we'll be seeing each other again shortly."

"..."

After shaking my hand, Jackson scrambled away. As I watched his receding back, I spoke.

"Guildmaster Song Kiyeol. This is just a personal request, but…"

"Please go ahead."

"I'd like you to find out if there are any British people traveling with Jackson, and if there are, what class they are."

Kiyeol nodded, his eyes burning bright with determination.

"Understood. It shouldn't be hard to find out if I look at Jackson's entry record. I will investigate every British person who entered the country at around the same time as Jackson."

The residents of the DMC Riverview Xi were forced to accept a new fact.

"Have you heard? That something weird popped up between our apartment complex 1 and 2?"

"Is it a monster?"

"It's not a monster. It seems to be called a Guardian Tower or something."

Guardian Towers were still unfamiliar entities to people.

"Won't the prices of our houses fall with something like that around?"

"That's what I'm saying! The world's chaotic as it is because of monsters."

And plus, the road was nearly reduced to ashes.

"Taeguk Shield apparently had some kind of scenario there and will be repaving the road."

"That's good, at least…"

"Don't you think there might be some compensation for damages we can claim?"

"But only the road was destroyed."

"Still, maybe we can get psychological compensation or something. Or at least compensation for our house prices falling from the eyesore they've put in our neighborhood…"

The residents formed the core of a lobbying group that loudly demanded that Sungshin pay reparations.

"Are you going to take responsibility if our house prices go down?!"

"Take down that eyesore at once!"

It looked as though the people weren't yet ready to accept these structures called Guardian Towers. They didn't know what they were, and even if they were told, they wouldn't believe it.

Song Kiyeol came to Hyukjin's house.

"...Things are going the way you thought."

"Yes. They must be demanding reparations."

"A few people are claiming that they saw Players who aren't part of Taeguk Shield. They say those people need to pay reparations as well. There are also people who say they saw So Yoohyun."

It wasn't just Taeguk Shield that was there, but Hyukjin and his team. People were arguing that they should get reparations from Hyukjin's teammates as well.

Hyukjin already knew people would make such claims, and that those claims would soon disappear. He shrugged. To put it one way, the current situation was a side effect, and it would be greatly overshadowed by the main effect.

"Taeguk Shield must utilize the current situation very well. We've made the world's first Guardian Tower, and it's even one capable of growth. This is your chance to spread the name of Taeguk Shield far and wide."

They didn't know right now, but not long from now, people would come to know everything about Guardian Towers.

"You will become famous." How well that fame could be utilized was up to the Guildmaster of Taeguk Shield, Song Kiyeol. "And the clamor for reparations will soon disappear."

Because very soon, the Guardian Tower's true worth would be revealed for all to see. By the quickly approaching break of the Gwanghwamun Dungeon.

"Understood."

"Also, there's a high chance you will be contacted by guilds from around the world. They, too, will soon summon Guardian Towers."

They would move quickly to get information from Sungshin, no, Taeguk Shield. And if they were Players capable of summoning Guardian Towers at this point in time, they could certainly be called geniuses. Taeguk Shield would be able to effortlessly make connections with such people. For Taeguk Shield, it was a winning transaction.

Kiyeol nodded. "We'll take the fame, and you'll take the practical benefits."

That was Taeguk Shield and Hyukjin's relationship. Their mutual interests aligned perfectly.

Hyukjin asked, "Has the Precognitive Dreamer, Ham Sohyun, said anything?"

"That is actually the reason why I am here."

Kiyeol had gotten a message from Ham Sohyun before, one that he showed CEO Song. He shared it now with Hyukjin.

Three doors. A king walks the King's Road.

In front of the king's path, he shall suspect the 'river of baptism'.

"Sohyun had a precognitive dream related to these words in the past."

"That was when I met Jackson in front of the Gwanghwamun Dungeon."

The dream happened to coincide with the time when Hyukjin met Jackson. And Hyukjin knew Jackson's class.

'Exploring Baptist.'

Which meant there was a very high chance Ham Sohyun's precognitive dream was related to Hyukjin.

'If we suppose the king here is me, then in front of the king's path… I will suspect the River of Baptism?'

In some ways, it wasn't wrong. He was indeed feeling a sense of strangeness he couldn't describe from Jackson.

Hyukjin examined the note again.

Three doors. A king walks the King's Road.

In front of the king's path, he shall suspect the 'river of baptism'.

After thinking about it further, he noted that the divination was divided into two notes. That meant it was possible the subject of the top note and bottom note were different.

A king walking the King's Road.

A person standing before the king's path.

Were they the same person?

'This is complicated.'

Hyukjin decided not to think about it too hard. They were glimpsed by a Precognitive Dreamer as illustrious as Ham Sohyun, so these two revelations were definitely not easy to figure out.

Kiyeol passed him more notes.

"There's more."

Hyukjin took them.

Three fire demons shall descend.

It could have been written on one note, but the contents were written on different notes.

One fire demon and---.

One fire demon's---.

At the crossroads of---.

It seemed Ham Sohyun was unable to see more of the future than that.

"I have a feeling something's written there… but strangely enough, I can't comprehend it."

It was set so that the rest couldn't be comprehended. There were words on the paper, but he couldn't understand their meaning. His brain couldn't recognize them. This was, of course, a phenomenon that science could not explain.

Hyukjin observed the notes for a long time.

"Can you see something more?" asked Kiyeol.

He could. But it was fuzzy. Something was subtly different between the past Hyukjin knew and the future that was to come. Each and every tiny puzzle piece was ever so slightly different.

'That I've changed the future is already a done deal.'

That in itself wouldn't make him lose his nerve or get scared. Why? Because Hyukjin was making the now, and that now would turn into the future. So all he had to do was do his best in the 'now'.

From here on out, what he said was important.

"Guildmaster Song Kiyeol. Please listen to me very carefully."

Hyukjin's special eye, the Observer's Eye, was staring at the note, not Song Kiyeol, as if to bore a hole through the paper. Almost as if he were transfixed.

____

Chapitre 157: Chapter 157

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Chapitre 157: Chapter 157

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