MTLNOVEL 71.
71.
“Yes. I was just a bit surprised.”
Hyunwoo smiled with relief at Jian’s words. The dark circles under his eyes showed how much he had worried in such a short time.
“Let’s get away from here first. It’s too dangerous.”
“Hyung, have you heard anything about that tower?”
“No, not yet. But one thing’s for sure. It’s the appearance of a dungeon we’ve never seen before. I haven’t actually seen an S-rank dungeon myself, but this is on a completely different level from A-rank dungeons. As far as I know, even S-rank dungeons have never appeared in this form before. They were all in gate form, just differing in size.”
A dungeon in a form never seen before. The immense magical power emanating from the tower was enough to evoke nightmares from the early days when monsters and dungeons first started appearing.
“Jian, quickly pack your things. We might not be able to come back here for a while. The government and Hunter Management Bureau will probably control at least a 1-kilometer radius around the tower.”
“Okay.”
Jian took out two large cross-bags from the closet. He handed one to Sehun, who had followed him in, and stuffed clothes into the bag, grabbing whatever he could. After packing all the valuables that couldn’t go into the inventory, the bag quickly became full.
Sehun also came out of the room with his luggage. Unlike Jian’s bag, his was slim, indicating there wasn’t much in it.
“I parked the car in front. Let’s move in my car.”
“Okay.”
Hyunwoo went down the stairs first, followed by Hyunsu and Sehun. Jian took a moment to look around the house. He remembered the day he first possessed this body.
The once empty house was now filled with objects holding memories of him and Sehun. It was hard to leave.
From now on, many events would swirl around them like a storm. The peaceful daily life they enjoyed here would feel like a distant dream.
Thinking it might be the last time, Jian looked at each object with lingering attachment before reluctantly turning away.
“Hyung.”
Sehun, who had stopped halfway down the stairs, called out to Jian as if urging him. Jian hurriedly went down the stairs, adjusting the cross-bag on his shoulder.
“You might fall like that.”
The weight on his shoulder lightened. Sehun held both bags in one hand and grabbed Jian’s hand with the other, slowly descending the stairs one by one.
“Are you sure you parked it here?”
“I’m telling you, I did. This is driving me crazy. I must have left the car key in it because I was in such a hurry.”
“…Then someone must have stolen it.”
When they reached the first floor, Hyunwoo was clutching his hair with both hands.
“What should we do? The car’s gone. We’ll have to move on foot for now. I’ll try contacting the guild members.”
Hyunwoo turned to Jian with an embarrassed smile. The surroundings were so noisy that it was hard to hear his voice even though they were standing close.
“Come to think of it, where did Leo and the others go?”
“They probably went near the tower. They said they were going to help people.”
“That’s just like them.”
Hyunwoo laughed helplessly at Jian’s answer. If the kids weren’t there, Jian would probably have done the same.
“I don’t think we could have escaped even if we had a car.”
Sehun pointed at the road with his fingertip. Several cars were tangled together less than 200 meters away. The smoke rising from the cars looked ominous.
With the road blocked, drivers were lowering their windows and shouting. Blood-covered people were barely escaping from nearly destroyed cars.
“Isn’t that your car, hyung? That black Benz.”
“Ah, you’re right.”
Hyunwoo’s car was stuck in the middle. It was so crumpled front and back that it looked like it should be scrapped immediately.
Ambulances and fire trucks that had arrived after receiving reports couldn’t enter due to the chaotic road situation.
Paramedics who had gotten out of their vehicles started running towards the accident site with stretchers and first aid boxes.
People supporting the injured were shouting everywhere. Seeing this, Hyunwoo walked in the opposite direction of the accident.
“Let’s go to our guild headquarters. We should be able to catch a taxi once we get a bit farther away.”
“Will it be okay? It seems like the surrounding areas will all be in chaos too.”
Jian asked, following behind Hyunwoo. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed they would just get trapped on the road if they took a car.
The sudden appearance of the unknown tower was enough to throw people into panic. Especially non-hunters were pale with fear, not knowing when monsters might burst out of the tower.
People injured from being pushed by those fleeing could be seen here and there. After hesitating, Jian finally took out a wound recovery potion from his inventory.
“I’ll just go check on that injured kid for a moment.”
Everyone stopped at Jian’s words. Nearby, a student in a school uniform had collapsed, bleeding from the head.
Other students in the same uniform were drawing attention as they paced around helplessly.
Unable to just pass by such a scene, Jian let go of Sehun’s hand and approached the group in uniforms.
“Kids, can I take a look for a moment?”
“Huh?”
“I have a wound recovery potion. The injury looks serious.”
“Really? Thank you…”
One student bowed repeatedly, sobbing. Jian knelt in front of the injured student.
Blood was continuously flowing from a wound on the forehead about two finger-joints long. The white shirt was a mess from the blood that had dripped down.
“Someone pushed past and he hit his head on a telephone pole. He collapsed and won’t open his eyes… We called 119 but they’re not answering, and we contacted his parents…”
“You did well. You must have been very scared.”
It was a situation where even adults could easily panic. Jian comforted the frightened student while applying the recovery potion to the wound.
Fortunately, the wound healed quickly. The students let out small exclamations of wonder as they watched the flesh knit back together.
“Ugh…”
Perhaps thanks to the recovery potion, the unconscious child opened his eyes. Jian sighed in relief and gestured to the students.
“There are paramedics over there. Can you support your friend and take him to them?”
“Yes! Of course!”
The students answered with spirited voices. As Jian was looking around to see if anyone else needed help, his eyes met those of a familiar man.
The man, who Jian thought would quickly look away, walked straight towards him, unconcerned about the chaotic situation around them.
“Hello.”
A man wearing half-rim glasses approached and stood in front of Jian. Jian blinked in surprise at the man who greeted him casually, as if they had met just yesterday.
Of course, Jian knew this man. He also knew that the body he possessed had some kind of relationship with this man, but this was the first time he had encountered him so closely.
At that moment, Hyunwoo, recognizing the man, frowned and approached Jian’s side. Sehun watched the man warily with calm eyes.
“Director, why are you here? You should hurry to the tower.”
“There’s something more important than that. The deputy director is already there, so it should be fine.”
Despite the sharp tone, the man’s expression remained calm. He smiled faintly at Jian and extended his right hand.
“Have you been well?”
Unable to answer promptly or grasp the outstretched hand, Jian was confused as to why Shin Yoonjae was suddenly acting familiar with him.
His face, not much different from 10 years ago, had only a few more wrinkles around the eyes. His fair skin and prim impression remained the same.
For the first time since his possession, he faced someone who knew this body well. There was a faint longing in the eyes looking at him. And an inexplicable affection as well.
He ended up confronting a part he had been trying to ignore, without any mental preparation.
No matter how much of a loner he was, this body must have had people it knew, but there was no one he contacted or who came to visit, so he had lived as if it was truly his own body.
“…Yes.”
Cold sweat broke out as he couldn’t understand why Shin Yoonjae’s behavior had suddenly changed. Jian barely managed to answer, unable to grasp Yoonjae’s outstretched hand.
He should have responded calmly, but his mind went blank. Noticing his confusion, Sehun grabbed Jian’s hand and pulled him to his side.
“It seems you’re in the middle of evacuating. Please come with me. There’s a vehicle waiting nearby.”
“Why should we move with you, Director? We appreciate the offer, but we’ll have to decline.”
Hyunwoo stepped in front of Jian, blocking him.
They had never found a definite connection between the research facility Sehun had escaped from and the Director. They had investigated thinking there must be a connection, but surprisingly, the Director’s background was clean. His relationship with the group conducting illegal experiments was also unknown.
Even Researcher Heather had disappeared, so the group they considered as enemies was far more formidable than initially expected.
And in Hyunwoo’s view, Yoonjae was cunning enough that it wouldn’t be surprising if he turned out to be the leader of a secret organization.
The bad blood between them started precisely because Hyunwoo had been fooled by that face and reputation, only to be betrayed later.
If things had gone wrong, he could have ended up in prison, leaving young Hyunsu behind. When problems arose after commissioning work, Yoonjae had withdrawn as if he had nothing to do with it.
As a result, only Hyunwoo had suffered greatly. When things went sour with Yoonjae, the Dark Net Guild had to build up its strength in the shadows for a while.