Chapter 129   – Liah

A woman with a black mask and sunglasses covering her face exited the arrival gate. There were a large group of people gathered there.  Each of them held a camera in their hand, and at a glance, there were over 50 of them.  However, not a single one of them paid attention to her.

They were like meerkats.  They had their heads raised, and they kept looking at the arrival station.

‘Again?’

The woman frowned as she walked past the reporters.  When she got on the waiting van, she took off her mask.

“Uh whew.  Is it Kahng-woojin again?”

“Uh, Cindy. It seems so.”

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Cindy let out a sigh at the manager’s words.

“Why does he always come back from out of country when I’m coming back?”

“Ha ha.”

The manager could only laugh.  Cindy wasn’t being entirely truthful. Woojin wasn’t scheduling his trips to foreign countries to coincide with her schedule.

It just happened to be that her schedule required her to visit China a lot.  This was why she used the airport frequently, and occasionally, her homecoming coincided with Kahng-woojin’s arrival.

“Uh whew. Are these reporters unable to learn from their past experiences?”

How many times had Kahng-woojin used the the arrival gate to exit the airport?  Most of the time he used different routes to exit the airport.  She felt sorry for the reporters, who was waiting for him at the arrival gate out of stubborness.

“That is why reporters are lining up at every corner.”

“…….”

Cindy’s mouth dropped opened at the manager’s words.

If reporters were covering every exit out of the airport, then how many people were out there?  At the very least, there would be almost five times the number of reporters compared to the ones gathered at the arrival gate.  It was a competition in coverage for a single person…

“They are all simply here to take a picture? I heard he was infamous for not giving interviews.”

“Simply?  He is the king of Alandal.”

“King….”

Cindy swallowed a groan. There was a kingdom within Korea now.  It was ridiculous, since this wasn’t a manhwa or a novel.

“Huh. For real.”

Celebrities lived in a different worlds compared to civilians.  However, Kahng-woojin had transcended beyond the celebrities.  She was a popular celebrity, yet Kahng-woojin looked as if he was from the stars.

“I wonder if he will come to the school reunion.”

“Huh? What school reunion?”

Cindy had mumbled to herself, but her manager asked her a question when he heard her. She shook her head as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“I didn’t know about it before, but we went to the same high school.”

“Huk. Really?  I doubt he’ll go.”

“I thought so too.”

Cindy cleared her palate as if she felt something was lacking.  The previous school reunion had been rescheduled when the large-scale Dungeon Breaks happened in Seoul.

Afterwards, a large part of the population had left Seoul.  There were some empty neighborhoods that made Seoul look like a ghost city.

“Uh-whew.  I have no idea.”

If they were fated to meet, she will meet him at least once…  Cindy leaned backed into her seat, and she closed her eyes.

***

“Uh uh? He’s coming out!”

They hadn’t held high hopes, but the appearance of familiar faces from the arrival gate made the reporters go into a frenzy.

Chal-kahk chal-kahk!

A group of people walked out as they were serenaded by the flashes of the cameras.

It was Alandal’s Hong-sunggoo and Woo-soonghoon.  The group also included Baek-jungdoh and his secretary Jung-chansung.  They were being escorted by the security.

Amongst the group, Sunggoo was the one, who had a wide smile on his face.

“Heh heh.  I’m also famous now.”

“If we exclude the president, director Hong is probably the hottest Roused around.”

Sunggoo kept giggling as Woo-soonghoon kept trying to prop him up.

Before Woo-soonghoon got off the plane, he had put some BB cream on his face.  Soonghoon was overdressed even for airport fashion.  Soonghoon’s appearance was what caused Sunggoo to laugh.

“Chief Woo. You look good.”

“Ha ha ha.  Thank you. However, I’m not the chief of the secretary office anymore.  I’m the minister of foreign affairs.”

“Heh heh. Now that I think about it you have come a long way in your career.”

“Ha ha. Isn’t it the result of dedicating my body and soul to the president?”

Sunggoo laughed inside when he heard Soonghoon’s words.

Well, the first meeting hadn’t been that pretty, and Soonghoon had suffered a lot.

Soonghoon put on a big smile as he took in the gazes of the reporters. He started waving his hand as if it was time for them to take his photos.

‘You’ve succeeded, Woo-soonghoon!’

He had pumped up his own self-worth in his mind.

He was Alandal’s minister of foreign affairs.

The eight years worth of memories he spent as a phone salesman flitted across his mind like a kaleidoscope.  He never would have dreamed he would be this successful in life. He was filled with new emotions.

“I’m Jung-shinyoung from the KB Media. Please talk to us.”

“I’m Lee-hosahn from the Today’s Newspaper. Is it true that there is some friction with China?”

The reporters kept talking, so Woo-soonghoon excused himself from Baek-jungdoh.  Woo-soonghoon stopped for a moment.

There was something he always wanted to do before.

“I’ll take three questions.”

The reporters swarmed Soonghoon like bees when they heard his words. A very pretty female reporter was earnestly looking at him with earnest eyes, since she wanted to be picked.  He pointed at her with his finger.

“I’m Lee-sheyun from the Jaeoong Media. Where is Mr. Kahng-woojin….”

“He is the king of Alandal, so calling him Mr Kahng-woojin is a bit…”

Soonghoon frowned as he stopped her from speaking any further.  For a moment, she was taken aback, but she continued to speak.

“…where is the king of Alandal right now?”

Was it because they had lived in a country where the monarchy had disappeared for a long time?  No, this person wasn’t descended from a royal line.  He had established a new country, and he had proclaimed himself to be the king.  No one had expected such a person to appear in the modern era.

Of course, they were having a hard time getting used to it.

“He is at the Dungeon.”

“Is he in a Dungeon in the US?”

“No.”

Soonghoon’s answer put the reporters into a state of panic. Did Kahng-woojin go somewhere else, while the rest of his party came back home?

“Then when is he scheduled to come back?”

Soonghoon smirked.

“I have no idea.  He might already be back in Alandal or he might come at a later date.”

“……?”

The reporters fell into a state of confusion when they heard Soonghoon’s nonsensical answer. This was worth seeing. Soonghoon felt happy inside.

‘This is the feeling.’

How many times did he want to imitate Kahng-woojin?

Soonghoon spoke his last line in a cool manner.

“This is at an end.  That was three questions.”

“E…excuse me.  I want to ask one more question.”

The bummed out reporters rushed in towards Soonghoon, but the security guards cut them off immediately.  After saying their goodbyes to the KH guild members, Sunggoo and Soonghoon headed towards the car sent by Alandal. Both of them looked at each other, and they laughed.

“Soonghoon hyung.  Did you just copy hyung-nim?  You said you would only take three questions.”

Sunggoo started to imitate how Woojin spoke. Soonghoon laughed in a bashful manner.

“Haha.  I always wanted to try it once.”

“Do you really think hyung-nim is back at Alandal?”

“I have no idea.  He said he’ll be there, so I just assumed it to be true.”

Soonghoon had gained the ability to speak 10 languages thanks to Woojin.  Therefore, Woojin’s words was the law to Soonghoon.  If he said sweet beans could be made into fermented beans, Soonghoon would believe it.

“Let’s go see. He really might have arrived there before us.”

“Yes.”

The car with Sunggoo and Soonghoon onboard headed towards Alandal’s territory.  To be exact, they headed towards the Seoul Station’s 1st Exit.

***

The day before.

It was after he cleared the LA Dungeon, which had been the last destination on his schedule.

<Level Up!>

‘Hoo.  I just have two levels left.’

He just need to level up twice to reach level 80. It was hard to call some of these Dungeons as being 6 stars.

There had been 5 Dungeons, where 7 star quality monsters had appeared.

If it wasn’t for Woojin, they would have had the very first 7 star Dungeon Break on earth. It could have happened five times. The stationed army would have held the monsters in check, but the damage incurred would have been massive.

‘A war of attrition is too dangerous.’

If earth became a battlefield, it would be dangerous.  If they wanted to fight, they had to attack the Dungeons before the Breaks occurred.  They had to end the fight at the Dungeons.

If they wanted to carry out this plan, they would need a large number of Roused.  However, the quality of the Roused on Earth was poor.

The Rank AA or the 7th Circle Roused had only started to show up recently.  They were appearing in ones and twos.

There had to be a lot of Roused on earth to be able to clear the Dungeons before the Breaks happened…..

Woojin wouldn’t always be able to travel around the world to stop the Dungeon Breaks.

In the end, it had to be stopped with the help of everyone.

‘Well, in the end, I might have to let them fend for themselves.’

He had cultivated a weed like Sunggoo. It wasn’t as if he needed a flower that could only be grown inside a greenhouse. He’ll personally grow guys like Blanka, who showed great promise.  The rest could grow on their own.

Each person should protect themselves.  It was too dangerous to rely on others.

‘It’ll be dangerous if I take on the role of a nanny.’

There were already chatters proclaiming Woojin as the savior.

That was most definitely a dangerous signal.

If he wanted to foster the abilities of the Roused, he would have to trot them out by themselves.  Of course, he had to stop Trahnet from swallowing the entirety of earth, so he would have properly control a force of Roused.

They would have to become the vaccine for the occasional Dungeon Breaks that would happen.  Woojin would only have to take care of the serious monsters.

“You guys head towards Korea first.”

“Yes? What about hyung-nim?”

“I’ll travel using my own means.  You guys head back first.”

Woojin had to be present when a Dimensional Battle occurred in his Dimensional Domain.  He immediately opened a portal to his Domain.

His base was the Seoul Station’s 1st exit.  It didn’t matter where he was on earth.  He could travel immediately back to his Dungeon.

He would be wasting a lot of time by crossing the Pacific Ocean on an airplane.  He had traveled around the earth clearing Dungeons, and now his Dimensional Domain’s Protection Period of 4 days was about to end.

After he left his party, Woojin immediately opened a portal.

Zzeeeeeng.

He was pretty much used to the queasiness now. He could see the hall containing his throne in the Dimensional Domain of Alandal.

“Master!”

Bibi ran towards him, and she jumped into his arms.

“Nothing eventful happened?”

“Yes. Heh heh.  Also, I’m confident in my Dimensional Battle skills now.”

“Huh?”

“I received a surprise private lesson.”

“Private lesson? From whom?”

“Heh heh.  It’s a secret!”

Did a refugee with knowledge about the Dimensional Battle filter in?

Woojin checked the status of his Domain as if the task wasn’t that important.

“The population has increased a lot.”

“Yes. Rumors has spread that we don’t charge resettlement fees. On the other hand, we haven’t opened up the Dungeon for them to use, so most of the battle-capable refugees are gone.”

Woojin refused to open the only Dungeon he possessed.  He hadn’t lifted the restriction placed on the Seoul Station’s 1st exit.

The Domain residents couldn’t hunt humans or gather Bloodstones. These activities were only possible if they could pass through the Dungeon to Earth.  Since they weren’t able to do that, the warlike refugees just passed through Alandal.

The refugees that had settled down in Alandal were travelers, who were tired of wandering. They had the propensity of being peaceful.

Even if the Dungeon wasn’t released, it wasn’t as if they couldn’t profit from gathering Bloodstones.

It just couldn’t be earned all at once.  One could gain some profit by farming for Bloodstones.  One could also hunt or rear the monsters.

“We have only 2 minutes left.”

“Heh heh.  I’m confident this time.”

The confident Bibi smirked as she looked at Woojin.  If she won, he would get penalized with a 4 day Protection period.

The Dimensional Battle was a strategic battle fought using the power of one’s Domain.

Duel was a battle using the Domain lord’s martial prowess.

The end result was the same for both battles.  One would get a 12 day Protection Period only if one lost.

If one won, one would only get 4 days of Protection Period.  During this time, if one requested a battle to another force, the protective barrier around the Domain would disappear.  The only exception to these conditions was when one conducted a Revenge after a loss.

The best case scenario was for Bibi to lose, so he could gain the 12 days Protection Period.  Then he would conduct his Revenge, and he would regain his stolen Points and Items.

“Heh heh.  It’ll be great if we can start soon.”

Bibi had high expectations for herself.  He could imagine her being sad in her defeat.  He felt sorry for her, but he had no choice.

Woojin didn’t want to go through the frustrating Dimensional Battle again. He wouldn’t subject himself to that torture.

<The Protection Period has ended.>

<You will be able to receive Dimensional Domain Battle requests.  You will be able to receive Duel requests.>

<You can refuse up to three times.  Afterwards, it will proceed forcefully.>

Woojin sat on his Throne for a brief moment when he received numerous requests for Dimensional Battle.  He just picked one at random.

<The Dimensional Battle with Liah has started.>

Woojin sat on his throne, and his vision widened.

At a glance, he could survey a large stretch of land.  He was able to take in the progress of battle between Bibi and the other Dimensional lord at the same time.  During the battle, Woojin checked the profile of his opponent.

“She’s a human?”

The race of his opponent was listed, but there was no way to find out what abilities or forces she possessed. The only thing he could find out was limited to her records.

<Dimensional Domain 102W 542L>

<Duel 640W 230L>

“Ho! This looks like it’ll be fun.”

It seemed this person operated in a similar style as Woojin.  This person had more Duel wins than Dimensional Battle wins.

It basically meant his opponent was a battle type Dimensional lord.  There was no reason why he should get scared by looking at his opponent’s record.  He wasn’t afraid of death.  Even if the 72 Thrones came after him, he wouldn’t hesitate to carry out his Revenge.

“Bibi seems to be holding out.”

Even after a long time passed, the battle wasn’t ending, so Woojin checked his map.

“Huh.”

Woojin looked as if he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He had an odd expression on his face.

Did she really get a lesson from a well-known private tutor?  The flow of the battle started to head towards an odd direction.