Ch.115Past Connections Are Dangerous (2)

In a dark underground space where not even light could enter, a man was intently staring into the void, communicating with someone.

“…I see, understood.”

The person he was conversing with was Fabio, an S-rank hunter from Italy known as the Butcher.

The man had been having Fabio keep surveillance on a certain individual.

“As expected, their power hasn’t fully returned yet.”

However, considering recent events, it was clear they were rapidly regaining their former strength.

Thinking of Baek Eunha, the fearsome necromancer known as the Lord of Death in Thebes, the man slowly rose from his seat and approached a mysterious altar.

“If there’s an opportune moment, it would be now.”

Though not certain, it was speculated that the current Baek Eunha would experience a sharp decline in condition for some time if they overexerted their power.

Additionally, according to Fabio’s report, they likely fell into a similar state during the resolution of the recent S-rank dungeon.

The ritual to summon an ancient being had already entered its final stage.

Now they were just waiting for the day to take direct action.

“At last, the time has come to face each other again.”

Recalling the despair he had tasted before Baek Eunha, that arrogant and insolent tyrant, the man solemnly steeled his resolve.

Then he delivered instructions to all remaining members of Hades.

“Everyone, regroup. We will execute the ritual soon.”

It was a moment when chaos was about to descend once more upon a world already expending all its energy just to confront dungeons.

#

“Brother? Why are you like this again these days?”

“…Just have nothing to do.”

In response to Seoha’s concerned words, I just lay sprawled on the sofa, constantly flipping through TV channels.

Normally, I would be deeply immersed in gaming in my room at this hour, so it certainly might seem strange to anyone else.

But quite unusually, I had lost interest in games at the moment. The reason wasn’t particularly complicated.

Ding!

[Not playing today? If you were around, matchmaking would go more smoothly.]

“Ah, seriously. I told you I’m quitting.”

Xavier, one of the hunters known as the Seven Stars and also the master of S-rank hunter Esiel.

To be honest, I had just felt an insurmountable wall in his gameplay.

“…Talent monster.”

He kept sticking around giving useless advice, so I gave him one of my spare diamond accounts to get rid of him, and in just two days he climbed to the highest rank and was competing for rankings.

It was fair to say he had already surpassed me.

“It’s all pointless…”

I couldn’t run dungeons due to the aftereffects of necromancy, and there weren’t any games that particularly interested me either.

So now I was just idling around, only making sure to eat three meals a day.

“Want to exercise at the park on the way to the grocery store?”

“Too bothersome…”

“Alright. Then watch the house.”

As Seoha went out to run errands, I was left completely alone in the house.

After aimlessly loafing around for a while, my phone suddenly rang loudly.

The caller was Joseph, my gaming friend and an information broker from Europe.

Click.

“I quit gaming though.”

[What are you suddenly talking about? That’s not important right now, I have urgent information to deliver.]

“Don’t tell me it’s Hades?”

Speak of the devil. They couldn’t even stay quiet for a week as I asked and have already begun activities.

I clicked my tongue, sat up from the sofa, and began to listen attentively to Joseph.

However, Joseph’s answer was quite unexpected.

[That side seems to be showing signs of movement too, but what I wanted to talk about is something else.]

“Something else? What is it?”

If not Hades, there weren’t many possibilities. Either a new S-rank dungeon had opened, or some incident related to me was about to happen.

What Joseph conveyed turned out to be the latter.

[Just yesterday, I received news that a Russian secret military base was attacked.]

“Russia?”

[There weren’t many casualties, but several high-rank hunters were quite injured during the armed conflict with the intruders. Naturally, Russia is furiously angry.]

“I understand, but what does that have to do with me?”

I thought hard about it, but I hadn’t done anything against Russia. At most, I had beaten up Ivan, Russia’s S-rank hunter, in an American dungeon.

But that didn’t seem related to this incident.

Joseph’s answer was honestly far beyond my imagination.

[Well, I’m not entirely sure, but I heard the two intruders mentioned your name?]

“What are you talking about?”

Someone mentioning me while attacking a Russian secret military base? That’s nonsense beyond a certain point.

Among those on Earth with that level of military power, I know only a handful, and none seemed likely to do such a thing.

“It must be a misunderstanding, or they’re just trying to frame me.”

[I think so too. Not to brag, but you’re one of the hottest stars these days, so they might have dragged your name in to confuse the investigation.]

“What a hassle.”

The problem here is that whether it’s true or not, my name has been mentioned.

From our perspective, it’s just nonsense to ignore, but from Russia’s perspective, who directly suffered, it’s not.

As if confirming my thoughts, Joseph nodded and continued.

[As I said earlier, Russia is furious about this. Whether you’re actually involved or not, they’ll want to contact you first to get your testimony.]

“It’s fine. If I inform the Association, they’ll handle it.”

[…I thought so too. Until two hours ago. But now it’s not such a simple matter.]

“Come on. Stop being so suspenseful and get to the point. What exactly is the problem?”

No matter how angry Russia is, honestly, they can’t hold me excessively responsible when I’ve been quietly minding my business in a distant country.

Korea, which includes me and Chae Hwa-in, is not an easy target, and recently Esiel and his master Xavier have been staying in Korea showing goodwill.

It meant the stakes were too high to touch based on mere pretense.

However, Joseph opened his mouth with a troubled voice, suggesting even that wouldn’t be enough.

[About two hours ago, new information came in. It seems the same thing happened in a classified area in the United States.]

“Again?”

[The intruders were most likely the same pair, and this time your name was mentioned more definitively, I heard. Now, how do you think the situation will develop?]

“People will start suspecting I actually did it?”

[Correct. That’s exactly the reaction both countries are showing in real-time. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?]

There’s discord with Ivan on the Russian side, and the United States is a country that directly conflicted with me previously.

In fact, I’m not entirely without motive, and my name was reportedly mentioned at both scenes.

Now I’ve gone from being the subject of baseless claims to a plausible suspect.

I frowned and asked Joseph.

“Who are these guys anyway? At this point, it seems they’re determined to pin the blame on me.”

[Judging by their specific targeting of these two countries, I’d say so.]

The timing is also bad. Currently, I can’t use my powers for about 4 to 5 more days.

If I need to defend against an attack or make a show of force, there’s absolutely nothing I can do.

“Gordon, come out.”

[Yes, Master.]

Whoosh.

Slide.

In the middle of the call, I immediately summoned Gordon from my necklace and materialized him.

Right now, I’m as weak as an ordinary person; if I let my guard down, I could really end up dead.

[The US is still cautious after the last incident, so Russia will likely make official contact with Korea soon.]

“I’d like to buy a few days if possible.”

[A day or two might be possible, but after that, you might actually have to face them. That depends on Korea’s upper echelons. Don’t cause trouble until the misunderstanding is cleared up.]

He doesn’t need to tell me that; I don’t have any other options anyway. I just need to behave for now.

“…This is annoying.”

Click.

Bang!

Thud.

After ending the call, I frowned deeply and kicked the back of the sofa with my foot.

It’s genuinely quite displeasing.

I don’t know who’s playing this prank, but once my power returns, I’ll destroy them all, I thought as I viciously bit into the Pepero stick in my hand.