Chapter 128: I Don’t Want to Become Like That...
“Wow. You’re practically living inside that thing now, aren’t you? Huh, Ichang?”
Those were the first words Ju threw at me when I turned off the game and came out of my room.
He was a member of the secret organization fighting against the Chairman alongside me, so seeing me happily playing a game created by the Chairman probably irritated him.
“Ju! Leave Chang alone! He’s just dealing with the pain of heartbreak in a healthy way.”
“Healthy, my ass! That game was made by the Chairman! What are you going to do if the Chairman traces the connection and finds this place?!”
“Have you ever considered that the Chairman might already know where we are? If tracing us was that easy, he would’ve come here already.”
The two naturally turned to glare at each other, ready to start another argument.
Maybe it was because all of us lived together like we were in a dormitory, but fights occasionally broke out over the smallest things.
We might all be fighting against the same enemy, but that didn’t mean we all had the same personalities.
So friction between us was fairly common.
On top of that, this place was full of rebellious troublemakers gathered by Teacher Jin.
That only made things worse.
It was almost like an organization made entirely of leaders without a single subordinate.
I wasn’t happy about it, but the organization itself hadn’t existed for very long.
For now, I thought this was the time to endure it, wait, and slowly fix the problems.
“The Chairman lost all his arms and legs in that attack a few days ago. He’ll probably stay quiet for a while.”
“Chang, are you seriously using that as an excuse? What if the Chairman takes advantage of this opportunity?”
“And what exactly can the Chairman do right now?”
I knew that many of Teacher Jin’s disciples had personalities that made them solve problems with their fists first.
So provoking them unnecessarily was never a good idea.
But I also knew that if I acted too gently here, they would only look down on me.
And this guy in particular had an excessive sense of superiority simply because he was Teacher Jin’s disciple.
Teacher Jin even warned him to be careful, so why is he still acting like this? He’s not a child.
“The man who cut off all of the Chairman’s arms and legs is playing this game too. Even after fighting the Chairman like that, he still keeps playing it. Doesn’t that obviously mean there’s something special about the game?”
“That makes sense.”
“Hye! Shut up! Ha! So what if some damn gaming addict plays a game?! There are tons of losers like that! More importantly, I still don’t believe that bastard took down all of the Chairman’s people by himself!”
“Whether you believe it or not, that’s literally what happened...”
Crash!
Just as the atmosphere between the two of us grew hot enough that a fight seemed about to break out, a loud noise came from outside the door.
Noise itself wasn’t unusual around here.
But there was no way we would hear a sound like that first thing in the morning without someone shouting along with it.
“...”
“...”
Ju and I stopped glaring at each other and created some distance between us.
Then we prepared ourselves for whoever might be outside.
I really hated having to pick up a spear because of a possible fight first thing in the morning.
I wanted peaceful days more than anyone else.
And yet because I longed for peace, I somehow had to live a life that was less peaceful than anyone else’s.
What kind of irony was that?
Knock...
Knock...
Knock...
Three weak, dragging knocks sounded from the door with long pauses between them.
Nobody who lived in our dormitory bothered knocking before opening the door.
Hye carefully stepped forward.
She pressed her back against the wall beside the door and gave us a signal.
Knock, knock.
The second knock sounded slightly more irritated.
Hye slowly placed a hand on the doorknob while Ju and I carefully approached without making any footsteps.
“Hello? Is nobody inside?”
A drained voice, as though the speaker found everything unbearably annoying.
But...
I felt like I had heard that voice somewhere before.
Yes.
It was definitely—
“Wait! That person is—!”
Bang!
Before I could even finish speaking, Hye threw open the door.
Ju immediately rushed at the person who had been knocking from the other side.
Boom!
Without hesitation, Ju swung his fist.
But his fist cut through empty air and instead smashed apart the perfectly innocent staircase nearby.
“...Whoa, whoa... You scared me.”
“You bastard...!”
The door had opened so suddenly that it should have been impossible to avoid Ju’s attack.
Yet Kim Ingwang casually dodged it and appeared in front of us.
But...
How had he found this place?
None of us had ever told anyone where our hideout was.
“Hehe... Sorry!”
“You... got caught? You did?”
In was unmatched among us when it came to stealth.
How in the world had he managed to find her?
Still, In didn’t seem injured anywhere.
At least that meant the process of discovering this place hadn’t been particularly dangerous.
In other words...
Kim Ingwang had somehow convinced the tight-lipped In to reveal our location and guide him here without using violence at all.
That was impressive in its own way.
“...Hello. I’m Kim Ingwang. Is there someone here called ‘Zl존 최강 무투가’?”
“Aaaaaah! W-Wait a second!”
Damn it!
I never imagined I’d end up being embarrassed because of a name I made up without thinking!
I thought it was the perfect classic name for a game character!
The moment I shouted in panic, Kim Ingwang poked his head inside and looked directly at me.
Then he nodded as though he had expected exactly that reaction.
He already knew who I was...!
And in front of someone who already knew everything, I had been acting like I didn’t know anything at all...
This was embarrassing...!
“So, you’re that famous hero everyone’s talking about?”
“...Haah...”
The instant Ju spoke, Kim Ingwang seemed to understand exactly what kind of person he was.
With an expression that looked utterly fed up with the entire world, Kim Ingwang turned away from Ju, who was slowly getting back up, and casually tried to step inside.
Thinking about how he acted in the game, I expected him to say something back to Ju or at least settle the matter before coming inside.
Maybe he only became slightly more proactive inside the game?
Grab.
“Where do you think you’re going? Not just anyone can enter this place.”
Ju grabbed Kim Ingwang before he could walk inside.
With a growl, he stared at him, his fighting spirit blazing.
Kim Ingwang had already dodged his first attack.
And now he was openly ignoring Ju.
Perhaps Ju’s pride had been wounded by both things, because he was giving off an atmosphere dangerous enough to make it seem like he might start something immediately.
At that critical moment—
A moment where it felt like someone was definitely going to get hurt—
Kim Ingwang quietly took one step backward.
“...All right, then.”
That was all.
His voice was calm and cold.
Ju had been glaring at him as though ready to start a fight at any second, yet Kim Ingwang simply gave a casual answer.
He refused to indulge Ju’s childish emotions at all.
For someone who had suddenly gone to see the Chairman and caused complete chaos there, his behavior was unexpectedly calm and almost timid.
Even Ju seemed slightly confused.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Hey, are you really the bastard who took down all of the Chairman’s people?”
“Me? I don’t know. I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
“...Ha. Unbelievable.”
If it had been me, I probably would’ve just thought the situation was ridiculous and let it go.
But Ju was different.
He already seemed to have developed a strange inferiority complex because Kim Ingwang had accomplished something he himself couldn’t do.
And now Kim Ingwang was treating him like this.
Whoosh!
Ju swung his fist as though he were testing Kim Ingwang.
Kim Ingwang looked genuinely startled and stepped backward.
At the same time, he gently pushed Ju’s fist aside with his palm, easily avoiding the attack.
As expected of Teacher Dorfin’s disciple.
Ordinary attacks probably couldn’t even touch him.
I had heard that his absurd power could only be refined through pure talent rather than effort.
Just how talented did someone have to be to reach that level?
“No, seriously, what is wrong with you? Have you guys read too many comics? Since when is randomly punching people considered proper manners? That’s a crime!”
“Ha! In the world I come from, survival of the strongest is proper manners!”
“Wow. You really talk like an asshole. Your face looks like one too.”
Apparently, that attack finally managed to get on Kim Ingwang’s nerves.
He pulled one leg slightly backward.
Then he immediately kicked Ju in the shin.
CRACK!!
The movement looked light.
Yet the sound that followed was as though flesh had burst apart.
Ju’s body spun through the air before crashing onto the floor with a heavy—
Boom!
It had clearly looked like Kim Ingwang barely kicked him.
But apparently far more force had been contained in that casual movement than it seemed.
Even Ju failed to dodge properly.
He clutched his shin, cold sweat running down his face from the pain.
“Y-You...!!”
“...One of you stalks me, one tries to dig up information about me inside the game, and one starts speaking rudely and throwing punches the moment he sees me.”
Kim Ingwang looked at Ju, who was still giving off—
No.
