Chapter 85

Chapter 85

The next day.

Intelligence Operations Staff Chief’s Office, Expeditionary Force Headquarters.

Two men are talking.

One of them was former Chilgok Division Commander Kim Hwan-soo, and a nameplate bearing his name in Chinese characters sat on the desk.

“So Park Do-hwan ended up like that?”

“Yes, that’s correct. This morning, we seized all evidence, accounts, and call records.”

“What’s Park Do-hwan’s condition?”

“There was a bit of a struggle during the subduing process. His face is badly damaged, but it’s not life-threatening.”

“Well, he did stir up trouble despite lacking the ability.”

Kim Hwan-soo replied indifferently.

He and Park Do-hwan were classmates, but they’d never been particularly close.

Kim Hwan-soo didn’t pay much attention to it, but Park Do-hwan constantly compared himself to Kim Hwan-soo and harbored a strong sense of rivalry.

However, he was somewhat lacking in ability compared to him, so he had always been overshadowed by Kim Hwan-soo and was constantly jealous whenever they met.

“What are you going to do about it?”

“What do you mean, what? There’s no unit commander there. Promote the 1st Team Leader to commander.”

Kim Hwan-soo sat back down at his desk, wearing a faint smile.

‘Serves him right.’

In truth, when Kim Hwan-soo was appointed commander of Chilgok Unit, Park Do-hwan was the one who felt the most vindicated.

He didn’t show it, but Kim Hwan-soo felt his pride slightly wounded.

Even if Park Do-hwan was his subordinate, how could he not feel hurt when Park smirked and looked down on him every time they met?

Now that he had become the intelligence operations chief, a core member of the suppression force, while Park had become a mere criminal, Kim Hwan-soo felt quite pleased.

“I have more to say.”

“Go ahead.”

“While investigating Captain Park Do-hwan, the name Lee Do-jae kept surfacing.”

“Lee Do-jae?”

“Yes, sir. He was listed as the squad leader of Squad 3 in Chilgok before transferring to headquarters. Do you have any idea what this might mean?”

Kim Hwan-soo recalled Do-jae, who was currently on leave.

He knew Do-jae was interested in the Transcendence Stone and had brought him all the way to headquarters, intending to lure him in and place him under his command.

‘What did he get up to with Park Do-hwan?’

Kim Hwan-soo didn’t think Do-jae had done anything.

Even for a Grade A Awakened like Do-jae, meeting Park Do-hwan of MID wouldn’t be easy.

Therefore, he assumed Park Do-hwan must have approached him first, and that whatever scheme they hatched had led to this predicament.

“Are there any charges related to Lee Do-jae?”

“The investigation hasn’t properly begun yet, but currently, there’s nothing. He just returned from China yesterday, you see.”

“China?”

“Yes, his companion was Shim Young-jin, but no connection to Captain Park Do-hwan has been found either. Since he was formerly affiliated with Chilgok University, I’m asking this before the investigation begins.”

Kim Hwan-soo scratched his head with a pen.

He wondered why Do-jae and Shim Young-jin had gone to China together.

They didn’t seem close enough to go traveling together.

“Then I’ll meet with him. He’s part of our unit now. Make sure the investigation into Park Do-hwan is thorough.”

“Yes! Understood!”

The man saluted Kim Hwan-soo with restrained movements before stepping outside.

Kim Hwan-soo pulled out his smartphone and searched for Do-jae and Shim Young-jin’s contact information.

Just as he was about to dial, a knock sounded at the office door.

“Come in.”

The one who entered after the door opened was Kim Hwan-soo’s personal aide.

He looked troubled, but only spoke after Kim Hwan-soo nodded.

“I’m sorry, sir. Someone just showed up demanding to speak with the Chief of Staff, so I came to report it.”

“Who is it? Who would come looking for me without an appointment?”

“He says he’s Lee Do-jae from Chilgok University, where you used to be stationed. Should I send him away?”

“Lee Do-jae?”

Kim Hwan-soo immediately put down his smartphone and said.

“Send him up.”

“Yes! Understood!”

He had been planning to contact Lee Do-jae anyway.

Unlike before, the method of contacting him now that he held the position of Chief of Staff was somewhat rude, but Kim Hwan-soo decided not to make a big deal out of it, thinking it might be about Park Do-hwan.

Knock knock.

Squeak-.

“Long time no see, Captain Kim Hwan-soo.”

“Long time no see, Sergeant Lee. Did you enjoy your leave?”

“Thanks to you, it was great.”

“Hmm. That sounds a bit off?”

“Is that so? Then what I wanted to say was…”

“Sit down for a moment. I have something I want to talk about too.”

Kim Hwan-soo rose from his desk and headed toward the sofa.

Do-jae had questions about Park Do-hwan.

And also about Dojae’s completely changed demeanor.

‘He’s giving off the exact same vibe as Kang Young-chan, isn’t he?’

***

Click.

Do-jae placed his name tag on the table.

“Are you serious right now?”

Then he slid his expeditionary force ID card, bearing his name, toward Kim Hwan-soo.

“Yes.”

This was the reason Do-jae had come to find Kim Hwan-soo.

He no longer needed to be in the expeditionary force.

“Has something changed in your heart? Why suddenly want to quit the expeditionary force?”

“No change of heart. I’ve simply achieved my purpose.”

“Your purpose? Could it be related to Park Do-hwan?”

“Yes. I retrieved the Transcendence Stone from Park Do-hwan—no, from MID—and no longer need to be in the suppression force.”

Dojae confessed honestly to Kim Hwan-su.

The remaining half of the Transcendence Stone was already in his hand, and there was no way Kim Hwan-soo could take the Transcendence Stone stored in his sub-space.

“Hmph… This is a bit of a shocking story…”

Kim Hwan-soo stood up and began pacing around the room.

Dojae sat quietly and waited, unconcerned even if Kim Hwan-soo suddenly tried something over the Transcendence Stone.

After all, Dojae had already far surpassed Kim Hwan-soo’s capabilities.

“MID isn’t the kind of organization you could just take the Transcendence Stone from. But you didn’t annihilate the entire organization single-handedly either. How did you do it?”

Kim Hwan-soo asked, his face genuinely curious.

Dojae told him the truth again.

“I made a deal. I exchanged the half of the Transcendence Stone they possessed for a sample of mana accelerator.”

“Mana accelerator? Never heard that term before.”

Ask Team Leader MID 1 and you’ll find out. Simply put, you can think of it as a drug with slightly lower efficacy but higher stability.

“So that’s why you went to China? To get samples of the mana accelerator.”

“Yes, that’s correct. There was some trouble with Park Do-hwan during that process, and I simply made the best choice I could.”

Kim Hwan-soo returned to his seat and sat down.

He pushed the name tag that had been placed on his side back toward Dojae.

“Alright, then I definitely can’t accept this.”

“Huh? I have work to do. I don’t have the luxury of spending time with the expeditionary force.”

This time, Do-jae pushed the name tag even deeper toward Kim Hwan-soo.

But Kim Hwan-soo pushed it back even further, right up to Do-jae’s feet.

“What do you think the Punitive Expedition is? It’s not some place you can just come and go as you please. Don’t you have to fulfill your mandatory service days?”

“That’s why I came to see you, Captain. For someone like you, cutting one person loose should be no big deal, right?”

“That’s a scary thing to say. Is that how I look to you, Sergeant?”

“No, it’s not that…”

Do-jae felt awkward.

Being tied to the punitive expedition was becoming a hassle, yet Kim Hwan-soo kept refusing.

Whether he knew of my feelings or not, Kim Hwan-soo began explaining the current situation of the punitive force.

“Right now, the expedition force isn’t in a great situation, either internally or externally. It’s been quite some time since the expedition force was formed, so stagnant water is bound to form, and people like Park Do-hwan appear. In that situation, the association’s scrutiny is growing day by day. If that were all, it would be fortunate. Problems between humans can somehow find a solution. But the real important thing is the problems caused by monsters.”

Kim Hwan-soo retrieved several sheets of paper from his desk and spread them out on the table.

They contained diagrams, graphs, and maps.

“The number of dungeons over the past few months. This shows the number of dungeon breaks. What do you think? It’s increased dramatically, right?”

The graph Kim Hwan-soo showed traced a steep upward curve.

Compared to before, the rate of increase was clearly much higher.

“Meanwhile, the number of expeditionary forces keeps falling. We’re now at the point where we have to leave minor dungeon breaks to the guilds.”

The next graph he showed had a gentle curve.

While it still pointed upward, it was nearly horizontal compared to its starting point.

“Do you really think I’d dismiss someone like this squad leader in this situation? I actually consider him the future of the expedition force.”

“…Still, my mind hasn’t changed. I’d rather hunt monsters inside the dungeon beforehand than deal with the aftermath after a dungeon break occurs.”

Dojae wanted nothing more than to focus solely on monster hunting.

Dungeons had relatively fixed routes for conquest, and their scale and monster types were known.

However, once a Dungeon Break occurred, it was difficult to predict how widely monsters would be scattered or what kind of monsters would appear.

If he was with the extermination force during the time he should be hunting high-level monsters to gain experience, he might waste time hunting monsters like goblins or zombies.

“I do feel sorry toward the Captain. After all, he taught me a little swordplay and even brought me to headquarters. But I have no reason to remain in the extermination force.”

“Hmm…”

Kim Hwan-soo began to ponder.

Worried Kim Hwan-soo might grab him again, Dojae left his name tag where it was and stood up.

“Then I’ll be going. Please handle my discharge properly…”

“Hold on. So if I grant everything this sergeant wants, will he stay with the suppression force?”

“What I want is to leave the expeditionary force.”

“No, not that. Do you want free time? I’ll give it to you if you want it. Do you want dungeons? I’ll give you dungeons too. I want you to stay in the expeditionary force.”

Dojae stopped walking and looked at Kim Hwan-su.

Free time and dungeons.

Both were tempting offers.

Truthfully, leaving the expeditionary force to seek out dungeons alone wasn’t easy.

Not only did it cost a lot of money, but dealing with brokers was also incredibly bothersome.

But the idea of being given free time and even a dungeon provided made him feel a little tempted.

“Are you serious?”

“If there’s anything else you want, just say the word. I’ll grant it.”

“Hmm… I need a teacher. Someone who can teach me what I want to know.”

“There are many within the expeditionary force who excel in various fields. I’ll grant that too. If there’s anything else, speak now.”

“…Nothing else. I only hope the captain’s word holds true.”

“Is that so?”

Kim Hwan-su handed a sheet of paper and a pen to Do Jae.

“Write down all the minor details there, and the adjutant will handle everything. But since you’ve stayed with the expeditionary force, you’ll have to do some work, won’t you? Ah, don’t worry, it won’t interfere with this sergeant’s free time. Since I’m granting all your conditions, wouldn’t it be fair for me to ask for one in return?”

Kim Hwan-soo rummaged through a desk drawer and pulled out a business card.

He handed it to Dojae and said.

“Go here. Then I’ll contact you when the time comes.”

Do-jae accepted the business card as a sign of agreement to Kim Hwan-soo’s condition.

And written on it was this:

[Guardian]

[Guild Master: Jung Hoon-hyun]