Chapter 23 – Unleash the Hounds (4)

My brother was better at everything than me when I was young.

Studying, sports, even art and music.

My brother could accomplish with ease things I couldn’t do, even if I poured in all of my efforts.

My brother, three years older than me, was like a supernatural being; he was my superman.

However,

When actual supernatural beings called Awakeners appeared and shattered the fantasy of my young self, the situation changed.

The celestials of the 12 Zodiacs.

Unlike me, who was chosen by the celestial of Leo, my brother couldn’t get selected by any celestial.

‘I can beat him.’

The inferiority complex that had been stacking up from my childhood became my drive.

I put in more effort than anyone else, desperately sharpening and honing my power.

And then—

-Haha. You… you became an 8-Star? And with the stigma of Leo at that?

—I reached a distant realm my brother could never reach.

I did it all without understanding how my brother felt, I was unaware of just how appalling his despair was.

-Why are you being like this, brother?

My brother started to lose more weight day by day.

He didn’t have proper meals; he stayed shut inside his room in deep lethargy.

-No. It’s… nothing.

Although he said it was nothing, I soon came to the realization that I was the cause.

My brother couldn’t take it.

A world filled with fierce monsters.

The fact that he had to take protection from his younger brother in this gruesome world, rampant with blood and flesh.

A deep sense of shame that came from the fact that he was being protected by the existence he should be protecting became the cause of my brother’s disorder.

-Brother… Please.

I could understand him since what dragged me into this realm was my sense of inferiority towards my brother.

However,

Because I understood…

Because I could relate…

I also knew that his despair would not go away easily.

-…I’m sorry.

The distance between us gradually grew.

Reeking with a foul stench, our deep-rooted emotions gradually rotted away.

-Woohyuk!! I awakened as well!! I got the stigma of Pyxis!

And then, my brother awakened.

I was sincerely happy.

My chest thumped as I thought about returning to the times when my brother and I were close.

Of course, he remained distant from reaching the same realm as me, as I possessed a stigma of one of the 12 Zodiacs—but I was still happy.

I hoped that he could find at least a little bit of confidence.

—I bought him equipment and an expensive spear.

I couldn’t stay with him often since I was busy with guild matters, but it still seemed we were getting closer compared to before.

Just like that, I carried hope.

Just like that, I dreamed of the future.

But—

[I’m saying that we’ve taken Lee Shinhyuk.]

‘What… kind of nonsense is he talking about?’

[Nonsense? Hmm. Then I guess I’ll have to send this photo as evidence]

Ring—

One photo arrived.

An ominous feeling spread throughout his back.

“This photo is…”

A spear with subtle blue light flowing out of its blade.

The symbol of the Valhalla guild, a design of a roaring lion, was engraved in great detail on the shaft.

Thump, thump—

His heart thumped roughly.

A burning heat rode up the nape of his neck and into his brain.

‘This is…’

It was the spear he gave to Lee Shinhyuk as a present.

It was custom-made, with only one in the world—his brother’s very own spear.

“—You, who are you.”

His rage boiled to the point that he couldn’t focus on anything else.

As if exploding, a current that drove him crazy spouted out.

“I asked who you were, you bastard!!!!”

He shouted out as if howling.

[The name’s… Yujin, that’s what I’m called.]

Yujin, Yujin, Yujin.

He engraved that name into his brain.

Naturally, he knew that it wasn’t his real name to a certain degree, since there was no way a kidnapper would proudly expose their own name.

However, he was certain of one thing.

—Lee Shinhyuk, his brother, has been taken by him.

“What do you want.”

[By the 25th, prepare $3M in cash and come to the observatory located at Mt. Baekunsan’s peak.]

$3000000.

Was that why they kidnapped his brother?

‘No.’

That couldn’t be true.

$3M wasn’t a small amount of money, but it absolutely wasn’t enough to kidnap the brother of the ‘Black Lion’, Lee Woohyuk, one of the Seven Stars candidates.

‘Is what they’re aiming for not my brother, but me? That could be why they’re calling me towards the meticulously set ‘trap’.’

[Naturally, you need to come by yourself. If you bring anyone else… you know, right?]

A sunny laughter could be heard coming across the smartphone.

Kyaha!—

He clenched his teeth and barely suppressed the curses that were about to explode out.

“You… if you touch even the tip of his hair, I won’t leave you in one piece.”

[Iya~! I’m so scared, whatever will I do? Puhahahahat!!]

“……”

Lee Woohyuk gently closed his eyes.

Owooong!!—

The stigma of Leo engraved on his left chest started to pour out blue light.

Mana boiled up like a wild beast.

[Ah! I talked longer than planned! Well, you remember my words, right? $3M in cash by the 25th. Peak of Mt. Baekunsan. Hahaha! The time~ let’s see. Right. Since it’s the observatory, it’ll be nice to see the stars in the evening!]

“……”

[Then, let’s meet each other there!]

Beep—

The call ended.

Crunch!—

The grasped table broke apart.

“Yu… jin.”

Crumble, Bang! Bababang!!!—

The fluctuating mana spread across the surroundings and destroyed all the luxurious decorations placed around the office.

“Yujin, Yujin, Yuuuuuuuuujin…!”

His eyes burned.

The rage boiling up inside his mind burned away his rationality.

Knock, knock—

“Guild leader?” Kim Sunyoung carefully opened the door and entered.

Looking around the office that had become a mess, she took a step back, startled.

“…What’s the matter?”

The calm appearance of the Lee Woohyuk who normally led the guild members with a cold personality couldn’t be seen.

Instead, it was the appearance of an injured beast.

Shiver—

Kim Sunyoung’s two legs shook from the suffocating killing intent.

“……”

With his mouth shut tight, Lee Woohyuk bit his lips.

-If you bring anyone else… you know, right?

The voice of the kidnapper surfaced inside his head.

“There’s nothing wr—”

“Wrong” was what Lee Woohyuk was about to say until he cut himself off and entered deep thought.

He repeatedly clenched and released his fists with his eyes gently closed.

“Guild Leader? Are you okay?”

“……”

Once the time for his long thought came to an end, Lee Woohyuk slowly opened his eyes.

“Contact the Association immediately.”

“The Association?”

“That’s right.” Nodding his head, he continued.

“And—”

His narrowed eyes shone.

“—Summon all guild members that aren’t inside dungeons.”

He didn’t have any plans on falling for the ‘trap’ as the man wanted.

“It’s war.”

His icy voice rang throughout the room.

* * *

“Now.”

Finishing the call, the ends of Ohjin’s lips tilted up.

He had set the bait. Now all that was left was to wait for the furious hound to rip apart the opponent’s throat.

‘What will be his move?’

It wasn’t hard to predict.

“First of all, he’ll contact the Association.”

The Valhalla guild and the Association were partnered.

Even if it wasn’t direct support, they would have no choice but to contact them to use the extraordinary information power of the Association.

A characteristic of a guild made up of a small number of elites was the fact that they lacked in the information department.

‘And, once that happens…’

He would naturally find out about the Awakener named ‘Yujin’.

‘He’ll also hear about the Black Star Organization.’

He would certainly realize who the opponent he had to rip to pieces was.

“Well… he’ll suspect why the kidnapper named ‘Yujiin’ exposed his name on his own, but…”

It didn’t matter.

It wasn’t like he could sit still just because it seemed suspicious. This matter had his brother’s life on the line.

A lion driven to a corner would have no option but to feast on what’s given.

‘They’ll contact me as well.’

The one who handed information about the Awakener called Yujin to the Association was himself. Although there was no way of knowing if the Association or if Lee Woohyuk would personally contact him, there was simply no way they wouldn’t contact him.

‘They’ll probably ask about Yujin’s approximate appearance and impression.’

And once that happened, it was simple.

It would simply end once he explained the appearance of Yujin that he had personally seen in the dungeon.

Then…

“They’ll meet.”

On the afternoon of the 25th, Lee Woohyuk and Yujin would have their first meeting at Mt.Baekunsan.

In a form worse than any meeting possible.

‘And next—’

Smirk—

Laughter flowed out.

“—A war will start.”

Although he told Lee Woohyuk to ‘come alone’, there was no way he would actually come alone.

‘He won’t be stupid enough to fall for an obvious trap the opponent set up. Summoning all his guild members, he’ll gather his might.’

There was no way that he wouldn’t know that it was the most sensible method in saving his brother.

“Well then, should I finish things up?”

Crack! Crackle!!—

sending an electric current into the smartphone he used to call Lee Woohyuk, he completely destroyed it.

‘One should always make sure to destroy evidence.’

Crunch! Crunch!—

After throwing the smartphone onto the ground, he thoroughly stomped on it until the shape could no longer be recognized.

It would be over once he divided the rest of the fragments and disposed of them into different manholes.

Even if the dead Steve Jobs came back to life, he wouldn’t be able to recognize it as a smartphone.

“What’s left is the spear and…”

Slightly turning his head, he lifted the corpse of the Black Star Organization member hung over his shoulders.

“Hm… First of all, his body shape is similar.”

There weren’t any physical characteristics that stood out either.

“Alright, let’s take this as well.”

The corpse had a use.

He turned his body after grabbing the corpse and spear.

‘I should visit a weapon shop tomorrow and buy a moderate spear.’

Even though he planned on placing orders on custom-made equipment other than spears, he didn’t have the spare time to wait for them to be completed.

“Now… when will they contact me?”

He moved his feet with a deep smile on his face.

* * *

—Late in the afternoon.

Bzzzzt!—

“Mmh.” He woke up from the sound of his smartphone ringing.

Lifting the blanket, he raised his body from the floor of the small room.

“…Hmm. What’s that at this time?” Mumbled Song Ha-eun, who was having a sound sleep on the bed while covering herself with a blanket.

Rub, rub—

“Don’t worry about it and sleep.”

Click—

He wore his slippers and headed outside.

“Hello?”

[Sorry for contacting you at this time, Ohjin. I contacted you because there is something I need to ask urgently.]

Team Leader Han’s voice was stiffer than usual.

“What’s the matter?”

[It’s a matter that’s difficult to explain over the phone…]

“Alright. I’ll head over to the Association right now.”

Ending the call, he returned inside the house and wore his clothes.

“Huh…? Where are you going at this time?” Ha-eun asked as she raised her body.

“To confirm if the unleashed hound is doing his job.”

“…Ang? What nonsense are you talking about?”

“I’ll come back soon.”

“Tell me…”

Click—

He closed the door and went outside.

‘It didn’t even take a single day.’

Smirk—

The edge of his lips went up.

“I think I’ve obtained a good hound.”

Cackle—

Shaking his shoulders up and down, he headed towards the Association.