Ch.195Chapter 8. The Syndicate Is Everywhere (1)

2025.

The date had already entered May, and there had been so many events since the beginning of the year.

Especially in April, there was the massive “Dueoksini Incident,” followed by some Zenros being kidnapped by an unidentified organization called the “Sephiroth Knights.”

Countless people died or went missing.

When people died, I couldn’t bring myself to speak about it, but now that this Dark Charisma figure has appeared and kidnapped people from a transport ship guarded by two S-class heroes, it’s impossible not to talk about it.

-Where did our monthly 10 billion kick guy go?

100 billion won per month.

A symbolic number.

It’s symbolic in many ways, starting with the number 1 at the front.

Moreover, since this 100 billion—amounting to 120 billion annually—comes from the national treasury as “taxes,” someone receiving this much money should certainly be worth it.

But where is that person now?

-Has anyone seen Lord of Radiant Wings since last Christmas?

Korea’s S-class hero and supposedly the world’s strongest man hasn’t been showing himself in public.

Even at official government events, only Snow White appears frequently, while Lord of Radiant Wings remains mysteriously secluded, not showing himself.

Of course, he did step up decisively when needed.

In 2024, when an S+ class demon appeared from North Korea, while other S-class heroes were being pushed back, he suddenly appeared and cut down the demon with a single stroke, showing his class.

Even earlier, in 2022, he easily defeated three foreign S-class heroes with just a golden sword.

So on the internet, there were both mocking comments like “Won’t Lord of Radiant Wings show up for this too?” and opposing opinions like “This isn’t serious enough for him to appear,” clashing with each other.

“Ms. Seol-hee. Do you keep in touch with Lord of Radiant Wings?”

“No, not really.”

“I figured. He doesn’t use smartphones, doesn’t wear a Taeguk Watch, he’s an analog human born in the millennium era. He still uses a feature phone, so he barely even texts.”

The Association President boarded the elevator inside the association building with Baek Seol-hee.

“I wasn’t sure if I could contact him either. It was like that before, and it’s still the same now.”

Beep, beep-beep, beep-beep.

“I always feel sorry for you, Ms. Seol-hee. Because Lord of Radiant Wings doesn’t appear in public, you have to keep doing public activities.”

“It’s fine. Well, as the number one, it would be nice if he attended national events more often.”

“…That’s a pointed remark.”

As if entering a password, he pressed various floor buttons on the elevator, and the color of the buttons changed as the elevator began to descend.

“Until last year, he just didn’t go out because he found it bothersome. You can criticize that version of Lord of Radiant Wings.”

“This year is different?”

“Yes. There’s a secret that other S-class heroes don’t know—only the President, me, and Lord of Radiant Wings’ executive secretary know.”

Clunk.

The elevator descends deeper than the building’s basement.

The Association President removed his sunglasses, wiping them with his sleeve, his expression hardening as if preparing for something.

“The world doesn’t know. Nobody knows. The reason I’m telling you this now is because I don’t know how the situation will develop from here.”

“…What do you mean?”

“It means you might have to publicly step up as Korea’s number one S-class hero.”

Clunk.

The elevator stopped.

As soon as the Association President stepped forward, lights began to illuminate the long corridor ahead.

Flash.

A long underground passage stretched out before them.

Baek Seol-hee wasn’t particularly afraid of being underground, but the Association President swallowed nervously.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Whew. Really, coming down here feels like hell every time.”

“…There’s no tomb or anything, right?”

“Well…”

The Association President gave a hollow laugh as he stepped forward.

“Perhaps it’s already the tomb of someone who died.”

“Mr. President. Stop beating around the bush and tell me directly. Don’t act like an old man.”

“……”

The Association President walking ahead froze in place.

“Damn it. You’re not that young either, so stop talking like these kids nowadays. Hmm? In my day, when you played games or whatever, village elders would leisurely tell you legends about the village.”

“Skip.”

“Damn, there wasn’t even a skip button for conversations back then.”

“Then tell me quickly. At 2x speed.”

“We didn’t have fast-forward either, we had to wait for all the voice acting to finish!”

The Association President pointed to the end of the corridor in exasperation.

“Fine, you want me to talk like the kids do these days? You want a simple three-line summary?”

“I’m glad we understand each other.”

“Tch… When you have a child someday, I’ll tell them everything. How their mother used to give their uncle such a hard time.”

“By then, wouldn’t you be more like a grandfather than an uncle, Mr. President?”

“You really… Sigh. You think you won’t age?”

“As an ability user, I’ll probably maintain this appearance even when I’m old.”

“Ugh.”

The door, built like some kind of bunker, was covered with numerous locks, and the Association President extended his Taeguk Watch toward it.

“Yes, aging would be fortunate. As long as you don’t get younger.”

“……”

“I’ll summarize Lord of Radiant Wings’ current state in three sentences.”

Creeeeak.

The several-inch-thick iron door opened.

“Lord of Radiant Wings was severely injured fighting a demon last December.”

“…No way.”

“And as a result.”

As the door opened, an ordinary house appeared inside the bunker.

“He ended up like this.”

“……”

Inside the bunker.

“…Uh, hello. I’m Lord of Radiant Wings’ son.”

“Lord of Radiant Wings is only 23, what nonsense is this? Hey, Kim Jin-ho. It’s you, right?”

“……Um, well.”

A small boy with golden hair and golden eyes, looking like a kindergartener, was holding a wine glass while wearing pajamas.

“Wait, why did you suddenly bring this lady here, hyung?”

“Sob… You’re the only one who still calls me hyung.”

“Stop with the weird melodrama and explain quickly. What’s going on here?”

When Baek Seol-hee’s voice turned cold, the boy—Kim Jin-ho—cleared his throat and pointed to himself.

“It’s nothing special, I just died and came back to life.”

“……?”

“This isn’t a human body anymore.”

Kim Jin-ho thrust his hand through his other arm.

“Eek…?!”

“I’m not a ghost. Something similar to a ghost, but I’m currently maintaining my form with magical power.”

“W-what? What on earth…?”

“What. I died and came back to life, that’s all.”

Kim Jin-ho casually sipped his wine as if it were no big deal.

“I’m now a jibakryeong—an earth-bound spirit—of the Korean Peninsula. That’s what happened.”

“……Is this also an ability? Whose ability is it?”

“Well, about that.”

“The head of Yimemangryang.”

The Association President pointed to the faintly ghost-like Kim Jin-ho with a complicated expression.

“The head brought him back to life.”

December 20, 2024.

Lord of Radiant Wings Kim Jin-ho died.

“The Goblin begged the head to save him, so he came back to life.”

“……Why would the Goblin do that?”

“That’s.”

He came back to life.

“I don’t know.”

* * *

“Lord of Radiant Wings Kim Jin-ho is dead. He’s gone. But he lives on as an earth-bound spirit.”

“Listen. Even though abilities can make almost anything possible, isn’t resurrection going a bit too far?”

As soon as I told her about Lord of Radiant Wings’ current state, Ymir immediately became serious.

“Teacher, that’s not funny. It doesn’t make sense that the world’s strongest hero died. Right now.”

“Saying it doesn’t make sense is….”

“It can’t exist in this world! I know!! I know, but there should be limits!!”

Ymir started getting angry.

“Then does turning a demon back into a human make sense?”

“That’s not what I mean! Death is final! When you die, that’s it!”

“Yes. Death is the end. You can’t come back to life. Usually.”

Reviving from the grave with a single magic card only happens in card games. If such a thing happened in reality, the whole world would be shocked.

“We can do it.”

“……”

“But we can’t resurrect just anyone. Even if we bring them back, they remain in a spirit state—it’s not a complete resurrection. It’s like an exorcist. Summoning a soul.”

“My goodness. What kind of organization is The Syndicate?”

“An omnipotent one that still lacks the physical time to suppress all the vile desires of people worldwide?”

Given enough time, The Syndicate would eventually unify the world.

Whether that time would be 1 year or 5 years remains to be seen.

And it’s physically uncertain whether it will happen before the year ends, or before someone’s mental breakdown causes them to crash a meteor into Earth.

“But why did Lord of Radiant Wings die? There must be a reason.”

“He was killed fighting an S-class demon on the opposite side of the Earth, where no one knew about it.”

“Why?”

“Due to magical power depletion.”

“When did this happen…. Why didn’t I know? I don’t think I even saw any hints about something like this.”

“Of course, because it was a quiet war that no one knew about.”

On the opposite side of the world.

There was a time when at least 17 S-class beings gathered in a place no one knew about, quietly killing each other in a bloody battle.

“Seven S+ class demons. Ten S-class ability users. Regardless of whether they were heroes or villains, they were determined to kill all the demons.”

“……I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“We handled it quietly, proceeding without anyone knowing. If it had become known, the world would still be in great chaos. Well, it was resolved well and it’s in the past, so it’s not that important now.”

“What were you doing then, Teacher?”

“I fought too. Smashed the heads of two S+ class demons.”

“……”

“Why are you looking at me like that? Oh, right. I almost died. But I’m alive, aren’t I? That’s what matters.”

It happened last year.

It might be important, but what matters now is its impact on the present.

“Anyway, Kim Jin-ho died then. He’s now living as an earth-bound spirit, and he can only appear when it’s truly ‘a matter of life and death.’ Using magical power means using his will, which means using his very existence.”

“Mana is life force?”

“Yes. If his mana runs out, he really dies. His soul will be annihilated.”

“……My goodness.”

Ymir’s expression hardened.

“So the reason he hasn’t appeared, and The Syndicate is operating like this in Korea….”

“We saved Lord of Radiant Wings. As a spirit, but still.”

“……”

“The Syndicate has infiltrated more places around the world than you might think. An S-class hero somewhere might actually be a member of The Syndicate. Not in Korea, but elsewhere.”

“You’re saying they exist in other countries.”

“That’s right.”

As expected of Ymir.

It’s rewarding when she immediately catches on to what I’m trying to subtly convey.

“Kim Jin-ho is the only one who died and came back to life though.”

“Why did you save him? You wouldn’t have any reason to save a man. Maybe a woman, but…”

“You think I would definitely have saved them if they were a woman?”

“Yes.”

This is prejudice and slander.

I’m not some kind of womanizer.

“You’re asking why I saved a dark-skinned man?”

“Yes.”

“I heard his last words. ……Hey, Ymir. You absolutely, never, ever can tell anyone about this. It’s an even more serious secret than Do Ji-hwan being the Goblin, or Lord of Radiant Wings being a spirit. Understand?”

“……What is it?”

Ymir perked up her ears, and I whispered the secret to her.

Whisper, whisper.

“……!!”

“He fought villains as a hero since childhood, lived his whole life like a dog for the country, and in the end, fought an S+ class demon one-on-one for Earth and humanity, dying in the process. When I heard his last words, I thought…”

The reason I asked the head to save Lord of Radiant Wings.

“Just.”

It was.

“He was such a good and kind guy. Full of justice. Even though he died.”

Simply because I felt sorry for him.

“He seemed so pitiful and tragic.”

That a hero who dedicated his entire life to his country and the world would die like that.

“Yes.”

“It was compassion.”