novel
| ← Ch.091 | Ch.093 → |
Translated by: ShawnSuh
Edited by: SootyOwl1"
The door opened shortly after Sia arrived at the doorway. After that, a man she had never met before came out to greet her. It was Ho Sung. Seeing the dazed look on his face, Sia became even more disgruntled.
"Is my grandpa in there?" she asked.
"Y-yeah! Come on in! You're Sia, right?" Ho Sung asked with some delay.
"What? Are we friends already?" Sia said, scoffing and walking past Ho Sung and into the house."Grandpa, I'm here!"
Hearing his granddaughter's voice, the chef came out from the living room and greeted her."There you are, my princess! You made it!" he said, hugging his granddaughter tightly and rubbing his cheek against hers.
"Ow! Grandpa! Your beard! OK! That's enough!"
Then, noticing the champion and Ho Sung looking at him, the chef let his granddaughter go, coughing.
"Say hello, " the chef said, and Sia, nodding haphazardly, greeted Min Sung and Ho Sung, "Hi. Sia Jang."
"You can do better than that. Again, " the chef said sternly. At which point, she reluctantly bowed to Min Sung and Ho Sung at a ninety-degree angle. Noticing the champion staring intently at her, Sia couldn't help but be intimidated by him.
'That guy's scary... '
Never had she seen anyone's eyes as cold as the champion's. Growing up, her beauty had always made her the favorite of her friends and family. Because of that, receiving a cold, heartless glare from another person was something she had yet accustom herself to. She felt like she was shrinking just by looking at the champion. Then, Min Sung put his empty coffee mug down quietly and returned to his room.
At which point, Sia breathed a sigh of relief, turned to her grandpa and begged desperately, "Grandpa? Do you think I can just live on my own instead?"
However, with a warm, gentle smile, the chef kneeled in front of his granddaughter, patted her on the shoulder and said, "These gentlemen will keep you safe. I trust that you'll get along with them."
"Yeah, yeah..." Sia muttered, shrugging, pouty-lipped. Stroking her hair, the chef laughed heartily.
—
After a brief stretch, Min Sung sat on his bed, feeling drowsy despite it being midday. Luckily, he was no longer in the Demonic Realm, which meant he could sleep in peace. Upon putting a blanket over himself, Min Sung felt his body becoming even heavier. Aside from eating, there was nothing like being able to sleep when he wanted and however long he wanted. Soon, the champion fell sound asleep.
—
With flaring nostrils, Ho Sung sat on the couch and stole a glance at Sia, who was watching the TV with her pale legs resting on the table. While the beauty of Ji Yoo Kim, the Great Lord of the Central Institute, was more western, the beauty of Sia, who was just as slender and voluptuous, was much more eastern. It was almost impossible not to look at her. In addition, she was just the type Ho Sung was looking for.
'She was... Twenty-four, was she? OK. So, she's seven years younger than me. I guess that's a bit of an age gap... But then again, it's not like I'm twelve years older than her or anything either... '
"Uh, Mister? I can totally tell that you're checking me out. Gross."
"W-what are you talkin' about?!" Ho Sung replied, his face flushed red. Looking at Ho Sung, disdainfully, Sia shook with disgust and changed the channel on the TV.
'I get it. You're not easy. I like that, ' Ho Sung thought while glancing at Sia. At that moment, taken aback by what was on the news, Ho Sung told Sia, "Wait, wait! Don't change the channel!"
While Sia gave Ho Sung a disgruntled look, the chef, who had since come out to the living room after having finished cleaning the kitchen, also watched the news with his arms crossed.
[There's been a strange phenomenon taking place across the globe. Dungeon Gates are disappearing into thin air. Let's hear it from our reporters who are on the scene. ]
Then, the screen transitioned to the reporter, who delivered the news that dungeon gates were disappearing while pointing toward the dungeon gate nearby. Sure enough, when the camera turned toward it, the dungeon gate started to turn translucent. It was similar to the time when the dungeon gates started appearing for the first time. At that mind-boggling sight, Ho Sung, Sia, and the chef stared at the TV in shock.
"That dungeon gate's disappearing in plain sight!" Sia said, overjoyed. However, contrary to her, Ho Sung and the chef couldn't share in her celebratory spirit. To them, the sudden change in the dungeon gates meant something much worse was about to happen.
With that, Ho Sung sprung up from his seat, startling Sia. Wearing a similar look to the one on Ho Sung's face, the chef also looked intently at him. Shortly after, Ho Sung made his way to the champion's room, knocked, and opened the door. However, there was something unusual about the champion.
"... ?"
Unlike his usual tendency to wake up at the sound of Ho Sung opening the door, Min Sung was still fast asleep. Getting closer to the champion, Ho Sung called for him in a slightly louder voice.
"Sir? Sir?"
The champion still remained sound asleep.
"Man, he's sleeping like a rock. Oh, I'm sure going all the way to Japan for a super-relaxing vacation was exhausting, " Ho Sung muttered sarcastically. Then, after some brief contemplation, Ho Sung breathed a small sigh and reassured himself that the phenomenon on the news had been bound to happen sooner or later.
'I'll just wait till he wakes up, ' he thought, coming out of the room quietly. While Sia gave him a puzzled look, the chef looked at Ho Sung as if asking what happened. To which, Ho Sung smiled bitterly and said, "He's sleeping like a rock. I say we give it some time."
Looking at her grandfather nodding with a serious look on his face, Sia furrowed her brow and asked, "Isn't it a good thing that dungeon gates are disappearing? Why's everyone so serious?"
Walking up to his oblivious granddaughter, the chef held her tightly, his eyes shaking like candlelight.
"... Grandpa?"
—
'Why isn't he waking up?' Ho Sung said to himself, scratching his eyebrows. Although the Sun was starting to set, Min Sung was still sound asleep.
'Did he come down with something?' Ho Sung thought apprehensively. Without the champion, it would be safe to assume that there would be no way to fight off the horde of demons that was about to sweep through the nation. Assuming that the demons were as strong as the champion had described, that is. Biting his nails anxiously, Ho Sung looked toward the champion's room, his apprehension growing more and more. Eventually...
'I have to wake him up. This is serious news. I have to wake him up even at the cost of getting beaten to death. He's not gonna wake up any time soon. '
Thinking that, Ho Sung went into the champion's room. Of course, the champion was still sound asleep. Having made up his mind to wake him up, Ho Sung grabbed Min Sung by the shoulder and shook him. However...
"Sir? Sir!"
Despite Ho Sung shaking him rather violently, the champion still remained fast asleep.
"What the hell's going on? It's not like I can kick him either. Agh! This is driving me nuts! Is he really sick with something?" Ho Sung asked, placing his hand on Min Sung's forehead to check for a fever. However, it felt neither hot nor cold. After that, Ho Sung placed his finger underneath the champion's nostrils. Min Sung was breathing just fine.
"Why isn't he waking up? Is he hibernating or something?" Ho Sung asked, sighing with frustration while brushing his hair up."Not good. Not good."
With a frustrated and apprehensive look on his face, Ho Sung looked down at Min Sung, who was in a deep sleep and appeared more peaceful than ever. In the end, Ho Sung, clicking his tongue, walked out of the room.
"Is he still asleep?" the chef asked as he came out to the living room.
"Yep. I'm starting to think that he'll never wake up again."
"Young man, you do not joke about things like that!" the chef said sternly, At which point, Ho Sung rubbed his nose awkwardly.
"Where's your granddaughter?" he asked.
"She wanted to go out with her friends. I told her not to, so she just stormed off into her room."
"Right."
"I think your phone has been going off for a while."
"Oh, my bad, " Ho Sung replied, searching for his phone in a hurry. Then, finding the phone on the living room table, he turned the screen on. At which point, a series of unread messages appeared.
[Boss! All the dungeon gates are disappearing! What do we do!?]
[Are we gonna be jobless?]
[Nobody's telling us anything! Not even the government or the Institute! I'm going insane here!]
[Boss, we're gonna be begging on the streets soon, aren't we?]
[Do you think I should look into getting a certificate... ?]
...
In the clan-exclusive group chat, the clansmen were expressing a great deal of fear and apprehension. Seeing that, Ho Sung wrote in the group chat:
[As long as dungeon gates are still around somewhere, people WILL have a reason to be afraid. So, don't do anything rash. Keep your head down and stay neutral. ]
After that, the panic in the group chat started to die down. Putting his phone on silent, Ho Sung put the phone in his pocket and sighed heavily. Even if the Tower of Demons were to turn up, he couldn't possibly drag his clansmen there with a clear conscience. Should he choose to do so anyway, Ho Sung knew that it was going to be equivalent to leading them into a slaughterhouse.
The fact that hell was about to break on Earth made Ho Sung's heart race with apprehension. In the midst of that, Min Sung was still showing no signs of waking up, which only added to Ho Sung's worries.
'He can't sleep forever. He'll wake up, ' Ho Sung said to himself, trying to stay optimistic. Walking out to the front yard, Ho Sung lit a cigarette. It was unusually chilly that day. Perhaps, the summer was coming to an end, or it was his fear of the impending future that made him feel cold. Looking out at the dusk-lit sky, Ho Sung smoked his cigarette.
| ← Ch. 091 | Ch. 093 → |