Ch.192192. Hwarang (1)

It didn’t take long for Gyeon Gwan-im to earn Governor Heo Jin-ho’s trust.

Befitting a warlord with the leadership and decisiveness to have usurped the Daegu Provisional Government, he successfully executed several difficult decapitation operations and managed to eliminate warlords who invaded Seorabeol’s territory.

Yes, in just these few days, he had accomplished great feats by subjugating warlords who had been targeting Seorabeol.

“I’ve reported your achievements to Seorabeol. You’ll soon receive permission to use magical weapons.”

Given these circumstances, Seorabeol had no choice but to increase Gyeon Gwan-im’s value, and the Seorabeol government quickly granted him permission to use their magical weapons as a sign of respect—something they had previously denied him.

In reality, this situation created a structure where Governor Heo Jin-ho could exploit Gyeon Gwan-im by claiming his accomplishments as his own.

‘My pride won’t allow that.’

‘Well, well. The results of gently stroking his pride are finally showing.’

Heo Jin-ho felt he couldn’t bring himself to do that, so he reported all of Gyeon Gwan-im’s accomplishments to Seorabeol without changing a single word. Though it pained him inside, he clearly distinguished between public and private matters. Gyeon Gwan-im thought that this pride was both Heo Jin-ho’s strength and weakness, and he was relieved that his loyalty to Seorabeol had been proven.

“That’s fortunate. Still, to think that I, who once fell victim to those powerful weapons, would now be subduing enemies with them.”

While he was now able to use Seorabeol’s prized magical weapons, he wore a bitter expression at the irony that he, who had once been on the receiving end of those weapons, would now be wielding them.

“What? Are you suddenly scared?”

“No. I just feel something like fate at work.”

“There’s no such thing as fate.”

Fateful, one might say.

He seemed to be experiencing some kind of sensitive feeling.

Heo Jin-ho merely sighed, giving Gyeon Gwan-im a look of contempt for spouting nonsense. Yes, this was just how this guy was, so he thought he should be patient and thoughtfully let it slide.

“That’s harsh. So, what’s my next mission, Governor?”

Gyeon Gwan-im simply said that Heo Jin-ho’s cold remark was too much, but didn’t argue back. Instead, he urged him to tell him about his next mission, as if he was waiting for it, and Heo Jin-ho, as if he had been waiting for this:

“Deploy outside and monitor the undead’s movements. We don’t need to worry about wild undead since we can track their movements from here. But the undead controlled by the Cult of Immortality move irregularly, making them difficult to track. So we need someone to monitor their movements in real-time.”

He issued an extremely dangerous mission just like that.

And it was an order to monitor undead under the control of the Cult of Immortality. If they were under the cult’s control, they would be stronger than wild undead.

Facing such undead required the courage to hide among them without fear, as well as the stealth to avoid their detection.

It was essentially an order to die, but:

“A difficult mission indeed. By the way, the Cult of Immortality… weren’t they a force equal to the Balhut Cult?”

“Drop any thoughts of defecting to the Cult of Immortality.”

Gyeon Gwan-im merely commented that it was a difficult mission, without protesting that it was impossible.

After all, secretly infiltrating was a specialty of raiders, and Gyeon Gwan-im, a former warlord and raider, had already learned through practical experience how to monitor undead without being detected.

So he jokingly mentioned information about the Cult of Immortality, instilling anxiety in Heo Jin-ho, who warned him not to entertain such rash thoughts.

“I have no intention to, and with this collar, even if I defected, I’d be nothing more than a living sacrifice to them.”

“I want to forcibly shut that mouth of yours.”

“Oh, how scary, Brother Governor. Though you say that, your little brother must say what needs to be said and then follow orders.”

In response to the warning, Gyeon Gwan-im mentioned the collar, proving he had no intention of betrayal.

It was a deliberate provocation to tease Governor Heo Jin-ho, and when Heo Jin-ho gave his final warning, he finally stopped teasing and moved on to the next topic seriously.

“Anyway, since it’s a difficult mission, is there any additional support?”

“Seorabeol can provide developed magical items. I’ve prepared a catalog here.”

“You’re thorough, Governor. This, this… To prove my competence to the world, I must succeed in the mission even if it costs me my life.”

Though it was a raider’s specialty, it was indeed a difficult mission.

He said that such a mission required appropriate support, and in response, Heo Jin-ho showed him a list of magical items that Seorabeol could provide immediately.

Numerous magical items and their effects caught Gyeon Gwan-im’s eye, and as he began checking the list one by one:

“There’s something I’d like to ask, Governor.”

“What is it? If it’s personal chatter, I won’t entertain it.”

“No, not our usual WWE-style banter. It’s about the purpose that you… no, that Seorabeol is aiming for.”

After seeing the prepared magical items, Gyeon Gwan-im questioned Seorabeol’s intentions.

Faced with such a serious question, Heo Jin-ho set aside his personal feelings and opened his mouth toward Gyeon Gwan-im.

“Purpose?”

“Yes. My mission itself is being reflected in Seorabeol’s policy, right? If so, what is Seorabeol’s current goal, and what means should be used to achieve it? I need to know that to perform my mission smoothly, cleanly, and sensibly.”

It wasn’t just a plausible statement, but the truth itself.

In conclusion, depending on how Gyeon Gwan-im performed his mission, Seorabeol’s movements would also change slightly. In that case, from Gyeon Gwan-im’s perspective, directly aligning with Seorabeol’s intentions could lead to a positive personnel evaluation.

If he could recreate exactly what Seorabeol had initially envisioned, he could not only achieve greater merit but also, if he cleared his contract and gained freedom, he could secure a promising career by joining Seorabeol.

It was a blatant expression of ambition, but Heo Jin-ho didn’t find fault with it:

“You’re not wrong.”

Instead, he nodded, agreeing with Gyeon Gwan-im’s words.

After all, as Heo Jin-ho began to make his mark, Daegu could also pursue its interests within Seorabeol. To pursue more benefits, it was indeed easier if Gyeon Gwan-im moved according to Seorabeol’s intentions without going rogue.

In fact, as Gyeon Gwan-im’s achievements increased, so did the support coming to Daegu, so from the governor’s perspective:

“What Seorabeol needs right now is time.”

The correct answer was to inform Gyeon Gwan-im of Seorabeol’s intentions in advance to prevent him from going rogue.

In essence, public sentiment had won over personal feelings, and Heo Jin-ho truthfully told Gyeon Gwan-im that Seorabeol needed time.

“Time, you say.”

“Yes. Seorabeol needs time to reorganize its military.”

“To think such a powerful force needs time. Are they planning to create a special unit or something?”

What current Seorabeol lacked was none other than time.

Considering that military reorganization itself was a time-consuming task, it wasn’t particularly strange. However, given that Seorabeol had already established itself as the second most powerful force on the Korean peninsula, the question naturally arose: was military reform really necessary?

Most warlords, upon encountering Seorabeol, would surely be hit by an 8-ton truck and reincarnated as heroes in another world. Wasn’t Gyeon Gwan-im himself hit by the 8-ton truck that was Seorabeol, reincarnated in another world, and become Seorabeol’s slave?

“Yes, they’re going to create such a special unit. Time is needed.”

“That’s scary.”

But Seorabeol couldn’t be satisfied with just that, and they planned to use Gyeon Gwan-im to buy time while establishing the Hwarang, a unit directly under the Dragon Priestess.

They needed time to gather all the Awakened within Seorabeol’s territory, select them, train them as Hwarang, and transform them into an elite unit that would satisfy Seorabeol.

For that purpose…

“Even using a police officer like me as an examiner?”

“It’s essentially a test to select officers who will represent Seorabeol. If Jin A-yeon, currently the strongest Awakened in Seorabeol, doesn’t supervise, who will?”

Even for the selection test, they were using Jin A-yeon, renowned as Seorabeol’s strongest.

Jin A-yeon was suddenly summoned from her law enforcement duties at the military’s request and was currently involved in the Hwarang selection process along with Jeong Dong-geon.

Jin A-yeon wore an annoyed expression at being appointed as a test supervisor when she was already swamped with law enforcement duties, but Jeong Dong-geon countered with the logic that if Jin A-yeon, Seorabeol’s strongest Awakened, didn’t supervise, who would?

“But there’s also Uncle Jeong Dong-geon, right?”

“I’m busy overseeing the entire test. That’s why I asked Police Commissioner Han Seong-geun to borrow you.”

In fact, Jeong Dong-geon was also one of Seorabeol’s strongest Awakened, but he stated that he was busy overseeing the entire test and had asked Han Seong-geun to borrow Jin A-yeon.

That’s how important this event was.

“Uncle Han Seong-geun did? Is it that important?”

“Yes. It’s a monumental event where those selected as Hwarang will receive equipment personally crafted by Lord Bahamut through the Dragon Priestess. All Awakened throughout Seorabeol… no, even those within the military have set aside their positions to participate in the Hwarang selection test.”

“Really?”

The scale of the event matched its importance, making it arguably the largest since the founding of the nation of Seorabeol.

Jin A-yeon looked at Jeong Dong-geon with a surprised expression upon hearing that the Hwarang would receive equipment personally crafted by the Dragon God Bahamut.

Indeed, not only all Awakened throughout Seorabeol but also those in the military were giving up their current positions to challenge for a place among the Hwarang.

“Yes. Thanks to this, the redistribution work will be easier, but… even after filtering, a thousand people have been selected.”

“…Is that a large number?”

Thanks to this, they could use the vacated positions for military recruitment redistribution, but even after such filtering, the number of people challenging for Hwarang selection was a thousand.

A thousand might be a subtle number from the military’s perspective, but:

“Currently, the military maintains an army of about 3,000, so it could be considered a lot.”

“Wow, the response from civilian Awakened is incredible. Then…”

Considering that Seorabeol currently maintained a standing army of 3,000, it meant that one-third of the military was participating in the Hwarang selection test.

And this was after filtering, suggesting that even more people had initially challenged for the Hwarang.

“Even excluding those who gave up their military positions to participate, more than half are Awakened who were working as freelancers. They’ve finally moved their precious behinds.”

“You seem to be looking forward to it?”

This meant that there were surprisingly many Awakened within Seorabeol who operated freely without being affiliated with the government.

They were a kind of mercenary or guild members, and Seorabeol wanted to make them part of their forces. However, these freelance Awakened were a faction that asserted a kind of non-interference principle, claiming that the government couldn’t interfere with civilians.

“Yes. They’ve been subtly annoying.”

“To that extent?”

Moreover, it would be wrong to say they didn’t involve themselves with Seorabeol; they were a group that subtly operated in civil society or influenced policies by recruiting lawmakers to reflect their opinions.

From Seorabeol’s perspective, they were a force that needed to be regulated and managed, and they had created this large-scale content to weaken the scale of such forces.

“Secretly, I’ve been waiting for those damn faces to contort.”

To be frank, unlike Seorabeol, which as a government could utilize all the nation’s resources, mere guilds or mercenary groups couldn’t create content that rivaled Seorabeol.

The violence and administrative power available to a nation were virtually limitless if desired, and all these groups could do was complain and somehow try to prevent Awakened from leaving their guilds or mercenary groups.

Jeong Dong-geon was thinking of the leaders of each faction, anticipating their faces contorting, and:

“Then, if we select the strongest among them and transform them into Hwarang, they will surely become Seorabeol’s strongest unit…”

He was working hard to make this plan successful.

However, Jeong Dong-geon paused momentarily as he looked at Jin A-yeon:

“Would you like to participate in the Hwarang selection test?”

“Why suddenly?”

He suggested to Jin A-yeon, who had come here as an examiner, to participate in the Hwarang selection test.

“No, I just thought that with you, we could truly call the Hwarang the strongest unit. Hmm.”

“Director Nam, I’m already exhausted with just police work. And now Hwarang? Are you trying to work me to death?”

He thought that if it was to be Seorabeol’s strongest Awakened unit, it should include Jin A-yeon, one of Seorabeol’s strongest.

But Jin A-yeon had no intention of agreeing with that opinion.