Ch.5757. Cleaning Up the Aftermath

Dokgo Jun was dumbfounded.

[Please calm down. Everyone feels the same way about monsters. But this is too indiscriminate.]

“Chairman, you shouldn’t be like this. We’ve all witnessed and experienced those atrocities; we can’t just hesitate like this.”

He was angry at the scene of carnage his subordinates had caused.

Then he glanced at the blood-covered Oh Juhwan and Eun Serin who was supporting him.

Eun Serin had appeared to help Oh Juhwan when he was in mortal danger, outnumbered 3 to 1.

Baek Jinhyuk had slipped away tactfully and went to look for Do Jonghyun, which was his real task.

After that, they fought 2 against 2, and when Oh Juhwan fainted, the fighting stopped.

That’s how the remaining person went after Do Jonghyun.

“Could someone explain what’s going on here?”

“Is the White Dragon Guild pretending not to know? I didn’t expect the great Dokgo Jun to be so careless.”

Eun Serin was giving him the typical glare of an angry female teacher.

Dokgo Jun coldly analyzed her expression.

“I truly don’t know what’s going on here. Really.”

“I’m sorry, but I’ll have to hold someone accountable for this. Innocent Instructor Oh was injured, and the children were severely traumatized. Surely a leader doesn’t disown his subordinates.”

“…”

After Eun Serin left, Dokgo Jun went over to the bodies of his dead colleagues.

“Both had their throats cut.”

All of his subordinates had been slashed by something sharp.

He began to hear the circumstances with the police. And he became furious.

“Don’t talk nonsense! My subordinates attacked people? What rubbish is this!”

He grabbed the police officer by the collar and barely managed to calm down after Ri Chaerin intervened.

“Guild Master. With all due respect, this attitude isn’t recommended in the current situation.”

Dokgo Jun finally relaxed his expression at Chaerin’s cold advice.

“I apologize. Things have been quite chaotic lately.”

“So there were three attackers in total, and those two were the ones we sent to protect Eun Serin and Do Jonghyun… They committed the attack. We’ll need to identify the remaining person.”

If this matter becomes public, Dokgo Jun’s forceful actions would be heavily criticized.

“This is too perfect.”

“What is?”

“The Monster Apocalypse Group comes at us with lawsuits, and coincidentally, the very people we were protecting get attacked? It’s absurd. An obvious ploy.”

Dokgo Jun knows from veteran instinct that this isn’t normal.

But both the National Assembly and the Association are currently restraining him from taking aggressive action.

And now attacking the very people they’re protecting?

Public opinion was at its worst.

Whether it was a setup or not, as the leader, he naturally had to take the blame and endure it.

That’s the mindset a leader of an organization should have. This incident had already happened, and it was clear they were at a disadvantage.

“Chaerin. Clean this up and prepare for a press conference. Also, withdraw our personnel from Eun Serin and Do Jonghyun.”

“Is that okay? There might be more attacks.”

“Now you’re saying the opposite. It’s fine. The risk is too great for us, so we need to step back at this point. Setting up countermeasures is the priority. And…”

Dokgo Jun’s gaze pointed to a circular ‘vanished’ area near the mountain lodge.

“It wasn’t Eun Serin or Oh Juhwan. Something created that. If I’m right, we need to eliminate anything that could be used against us right now.”

“We’ve been played. Just my intuition.”

“With all the fighting lately, we need to approach this more carefully. Look, our Chairman’s phone is ringing.”

From today, the White Dragon Guild ceased their surveillance of Do Jonghyun and Eun Serin.

*

A day later, we first called our parents and arrived home under the protection of another guild.

“Oh my, Jonghyun!”

“Are you two okay? What on earth happened?”

I comforted my worried parents and entered the living room.

I did my best to reassure them about what had happened, using some verbal gymnastics.

“We’re Yeagers after all. We escaped in an orderly fashion.”

In reality, we fled in complete disarray. But anyway, that’s what I told them.

The most shocking news I heard after returning home was that Lee Miyeon had died.

She was definitely alive before. What happened?

Did someone kill her? Why?

While I was pondering these questions, my parents were watching TV in the living room. A press conference was being broadcast.

[As the leader and person responsible for the White Dragon Guild, I apologize for the current situation.]

On TV, Dokgo Jun was holding a press conference and bowing his head.

With the lawsuit from the Monster Apocalypse Group and this incident, he was apologizing.

[Is it true that you were monitoring academy students and instructors?]

[It was protection. However, since guild members who were protecting them committed the crime of assault, we will be undergoing reorganization in the current situation.]

[So you admit you were monitoring them. There are rumors that your recent aggressive treatment of the Monster Apocalypse Group was intentional.]

“Wow, the reporters are really tearing into him.”

My father comments while watching TV. He’s right.

Right now, the White Dragon Guild was being attacked from all sides. They’re the most hardline among the three major guilds, and Dokgo Jun is the most famous Yeager in Korea.

But I was secretly relieved. With them backing off like that, I’ve gained freedom.

Although there are only 8 days left in the vacation, there’s no problem going to the gate.

I could go as early as tomorrow… but what if it’s a trick?

What if they’re saying this to lure us out? What if they’re still watching? Better safe than sorry.

“It’s the first time Dokgo Jun has apologized like this since the Seo Jinhun incident.”

“Seo Jinhun?”

“There was a famous person long ago. He held up a collapsing apartment building but was killed by a monster… Don’t you know? You were too young?”

I know he’s someone Han Minwoo respects. Come to think of it, were those two at the same scene?

“That man is only merciless to monsters, so he went to kill the monster instead of saving people. I understand his reasoning, but since people died… he must have cried a lot back then.”

“Hmm.”

Dokgo Jun crying? I should look that up sometime.

For the remaining vacation period, I was excited about going to the gate to earn lots of points.

And I had also been given a new mission.

[Monster Daily]

Mission: Capture the monster Destroyer!

Reward: 2 Monster Points, 0.7% reduction in extinction risk.

Duration: 7 days

“This one’s tough.”

The Destroyer could be considered an upgraded version of Slime+Living Armor.

This enemy has a special gimmick. Like the others, physical attacks don’t work on it.

It lets water-attribute attacks pass through, regenerates, and then attacks, with each attack being powerful.

This new species, as soon as it appeared, wiped out the Neptune Guild that faced it and swept away an entire village. It even gets stronger by using other people’s blood or bodies, and it was only stopped when Jo Seonghui from the Magician Guild finally intervened.

I went to my room and organized my schedule.

Until tomorrow, I’ll test the waters and check if anyone is still watching.

But as a human, I have no way to catch anyone from the White Dragon Guild if they’re hiding.

“I need someone to help me with this.”

And there’s only one person related to this.

“But I wonder if the instructor will come out.”

Eun Serin. She’s skilled and the only one who can check if the White Dragon Guild is still monitoring us.

Hiring private Yeagers would cost too much.

In the end, I had no choice but to ask Eun Serin for help.

And Eun Serin readily agreed to my request.

[I’ll help you with that. I need to confirm they’re really gone too.]

“Great! When are you available?”

[Since we both want to confirm quickly, how about tomorrow?]

As expected, Eun Serin thinks the same way. This is killing two birds with one stone, right? I’ll spend a day with Eun Serin, then hunt in the gate from the next day. Then I’ll hunt the Destroyer and return to school.

“Sounds good. How about 11 AM?”

[That’s early. Are you that eager to see me?]

A seductive voice hits my ears. I just want to confirm quickly if we need to.

[I’m looking forward to our date.]

The call ends with that casual flirtation.

“It really is like a date.”

But it is a date in a way. We’ll be walking around together to check.

“Well, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

It might be awkward for an instructor and student to meet often, but without this, there’s no way to escape the White Dragon Guild’s surveillance.

Anyway, since it’s a date, I should dress nicely.

I rummaged through my closet for the first time in a while.

*

[Is my son going to meet a girl?]

My mom, who has an uncanny sense for these things, looked at me with a pleased expression as I was leaving.

“I’m just going out.”

“Then why are you dressed up like that?”

“It’s just a brand-name outfit, that’s all.”

I adjusted my casual jacket and took my phone instead of my smartwatch.

After casually touching my hair one last time, I headed to the meeting place.

A date that’s not really a date to confirm if the White Dragon Guild has really stopped monitoring us.

Since I invited her, I’ll take the lead in this date.

The course is perfect. I deliberately called her before lunch and will avoid greasy foods that women find burdensome.

Men might go to a meat restaurant for lunch and have a drink, but not women.

If we eat, it’ll be dinner. By then, it’ll be natural to eat something greasy before parting.

So right after meeting, we’ll walk around while eating light finger foods.

In other words, we’ll eat light foods several times rather than a lot at once.

Now I’m at the meeting place, calmly waiting for Eun Serin.

There’s a high probability she’ll become an enemy from the second semester, but it’s good to know her in advance.

She is beautiful, after all.

“…What am I imagining?”

Don’t get confused. If Eun Serin turns out to be helpful, great; if not, I’ll deal with her.

Just as I was steeling my resolve…

“You’re dressed up nicely.”

“Instructor, you’re here…”

And as I looked up, I saw a ribbed long dress that revealed her figure with every sway.

It’s what’s commonly called the “mature look.” A dress that explicitly shows off her figure with the slightest breeze.

On top of that, Eun Serin was waving at me, wearing a short cardigan.

“Wow.”

“Ahem. Could you look at my face?”

I quickly adjusted my gaze that was sharply falling.

Face to face with Eun Serin, I’m newly struck by how beautiful she is.

Adults are different in many ways. Let’s check first.

“Instructor, is the White Dragon Guild around?”

“I don’t see them right now. They might have really withdrawn. But let’s walk around a bit just to be sure. Now, may I have your escort?”

“Yes, leave it to me, Instructor.”

“Wait.”

At this point, Eun Serin stopped me.

“What is it?”

“I’m not your teacher right now, am I? Call me ‘noona’.”

“Uh…”

“I’ve always wanted to be called that once.”

She asks with a smile, and how could I refuse?

“Noona…?”

Eun Serin covered her face with her hands and seemed extremely pleased.

“Did you not have a younger sibling?”

“I did, but not anymore.”

“…”

Eun Serin turns her head with a bitter expression.

Wait, why is the mood getting heavy here? This shouldn’t happen.

But soon, Eun Serin pulled me along.

“Anyway, let’s have some fun. There’s a lot to enjoy here.”

The place I chose has many stores and mini-games that are good for couples to enjoy.

We’re not a real couple, but we started going around from place to place.

“Is the child growing well? I hope we’re not wasting time.”

“I was feeling a bit stifled under the guise of protection too. To be honest, it felt like I was under suspicion.”

Eun Serin put a lemon ade straw in her mouth. Then she looks at me with a wink.

“Suspicion…”

“Both you and I have been through a lot. If ‘coincidentally’ that incident hadn’t happened, who knows how long it would have continued.”

Eun Serin pats my shoulder.

Well, I’m glad the surveillance is gone, but I’m uneasy. Who killed them?

Despite these questions, we spent our time faithfully.

To be honest, I don’t particularly enjoy it, but Instructor Eun Serin, as a school memory, took sticker photos, walked around together eating snacks, and more.

We looked at the sunset in the sky and talked about all sorts of things.

I learned about her hobbies and that Eun Serin is skilled at tennis and has a hobby of collecting weapons.

Everything was fine, and there was no sign of guild surveillance.

Until we met some strange guys at the end.

Following a scream from one corner of the park, we moved to a secluded area where we saw a group of about 10 men and women beating up a couple.

“They’re crazy.”

“To think people still do this nowadays. Some things never change.”

“Noona, I’ll handle this and be right back.”

Yeagers are much stronger than ordinary people. Even I, without a summoning spirit, can easily beat up a few high school delinquents.

I shouted at these troublemakers.

“What are you doing?”

“What’s this now?”

“You want to get beaten up, crazy bastard?”

Their responses were as expected. But so what?

Then one of them approached with a sneer.

“Beating up guys like you is my pleasure…”

And like lightning, my fist connected with his jaw. One down as he fell to the ground.

But in a situation where he should have been knocked out, something surprising happened.

“Huh? That punch really hurt! Stronger than that guy who bragged about working out last time. Hey, you know what?”

The guy who got hit was getting up, rubbing his jaw.

His eyes were shaking as if they had lost focus.

Strabismus? Or…

“Ugh!”

Suddenly there was a flash, and I felt pain in my face. The opponent was already withdrawing his fist.

I just got hit. Even though I’m a Yeager? Aren’t they ordinary people?

In this puzzling moment, I sensed an ominous energy from them.

But feeling angry and with Eun Serin watching, I gave it my all against him.

I may not have grown properly, but I’m still a Yeager.

I kicked him hard in the side, and he showed an opening.

Now’s my chance.

I delivered a front kick to his jaw. With a satisfying impact, he fell backward.

“Are they not ordinary people but Yeagers? What is this?”

But that’s when things got busy around us.

“This bastard’s a Yeager! Everyone, attack!”

At that moment, they started eating something.

Honestly, I don’t remember what happened after that. I fainted from the pain all over my body.

When I woke up, the police were talking with Eun Serin.

“Noona? What happened? Did I…?”

“You fainted.”

“What? I fainted? To ordinary people?”

“They’re ordinary but not normal. To think such things are being distributed… This could be a big problem.”

In my line of sight, I saw Eun Serin holding a bag containing powder with a reddish tint.