Chapter 102 – Chapter 25. The Curse.
The carriage stopped briefly in front of the inner gate. Jihyeok only opened the wagon window to check his face and the warrior’s plaque. Soon the door opened and the carriage passed. Of course, the carriage stopped at a stop near the entrance. Unless you were a member of the imperial family, it was the imperial law to walk in the inner city of the capital. Even the Duke of Balkan could not be free from that law.
Jihyeok got off the carriage and started walking. He headed to the Hall of Fame building. There was a beautiful garden on the way he was going so that he would not be bored. The warrior approached the majestic building, looking at the neatly arranged flowers and trees.
He climbed the high marble stairs. The building supported the roof with dozens of stilted columns standing sparsely at a certain distance. It was like seeing a magnificent temple.
Jihyeok bowed lightly at the huge stone statue standing above the entrance with his sword drawn, then entered the building. When he headed to the counter, an employee who had already received a word quickly came out and gave directions to the warrior.
“How long have you arrived?”
“There are three of you. Including His Excellency, there are four of us.”
“… Okay?”
There were two conference rooms inside the Hall of Fame. One large conference room accommodating more than 100 people, and the other small conference room accommodating less than 30 people.
Naturally, the staff escorted Jihyeok to the small meeting room. The staff only guided me to the entrance of the meeting room, bowed, and went back to the staff room. After taking a quick glance behind the departing employee, Jihyeok opened the conference room door with both hands and entered.
Even though it was a small meeting room, the inside was quite huge. There was a huge round table in the center of the conference room, around which about 30 chairs were placed in a circle.
As the staff said, there were three people in the conference room. Two were sitting on chairs, and one was standing by the window with his hands behind his back. Their eyes simultaneously turned to Jihyeok, who entered the meeting room.
An awkward silence passed. Since everyone didn’t know Jihyeok, they seemed to be more reserved. Of course, he had no intention of making a fuss about it.
Jihyeok went to a suitable seat and sat down. Only the sound of a chair being dragged quietly echoed through the large meeting room.
Jihyeok glanced at the two sitting and the one standing. All three were familiar faces. But there was only one name I remembered. A female orc sitting on the table over there with both feet resting on her chin.
Class A Hero Zura Shuja.
I’m not sure if it’s Class B or Class A right now, but looking at that cheeky little girl, it seems like she’s at the end of Class A. Even taking into account that he was a bad-tempered orc, he wouldn’t dare do something like a B-class. Otherwise, I’m going to go nuts.
Of course, Ji-hyeok can also destroy that bitch right now, but he stayed still, considering that the hero group was not a very normal group. In the 14th episode, the temper that was called the incarnation of fire suddenly went woozy and tried to come out. It’s a bit old-fashioned to say, but if it was like that time, I would have started punching you in the face for being arrogant as soon as I saw you.
– Where the fuck is that bitch putting her feet on her cheeky?
While saying … Of course, he didn’t even put it into action, and only cut his face three or four times in his imagination.
After some time passed, the warriors began to enter the meeting room one by one. We even exchanged a few words of greeting with each other. However, the bloody atmosphere underlying it did not disappear, but rather intensified.
Soon after, a face very familiar to Jihyeok entered. It was Hero Gunda. It seemed that he, who had been promoted a while ago, was also called to attend the meeting.
Still, it was the first meeting, so he seemed to give a lot of energy. However, unlike Jihyeok, who is full of composure, he is clearly nervous and has already become a target for rookies.
It started with an ugly orc cub first. The way he spoke was just insolent.
“Hey, hey you, yes, you, is this your first time here?”
“Yes? Ah… , Yes.”
“Then go and stand over there.”
The orc pointed his finger towards the corner. Stupid Gunda, knowing that he really had to, went there alone and stood there. When the warriors saw it, they were split apart.
Jihyeok, who was watching at that moment, jumped up. The eyes of the warriors were focused on him. He went straight to Gunda.
“… Uh? Kang Ji-hyeok Warrior… !”
It was quite nice to see a familiar face in this bloody place. Jihyeok greeted her lightly and took Gunda by the arm and brought her to the seat next to him.
Jihyeok didn’t want to see a brave man like Gunda being teased by such idiots. Of course, since the fun game was overturned, bloody eyes poured out here and there. In particular, that orc just gave the most shit.
“Ah… , Are you that Kang Ji-hyeok or something?”
Kang Ji-hyeok.
It was a name that the warriors present here had heard at least three or four times. A great genius unprecedented in history who is said to have won the S rank—. Of course, I couldn’t help but be interested. Those who wanted to see the face of the rumored human bastard were all over the place.
Jihyeok just stared at the orc talking to him and didn’t open his mouth.
“Look at that bastard.”
The grinning man pointed at him with his finger and glanced around. But he had no one to sympathize with. Just looking at it, you guys should try it once, these were the eyes.
Only then did the orc realize that he had made a mistake. But he couldn’t back down from here. His strong pride wouldn’t allow it.
“Why are you interfering with me and that bastard?”
“Day? … Ah, some orc kid was playing house, so I told him not to hang out with me. It seems I was slightly mistaken.”
Jihyeok smiled crookedly and said bebe sarcastically. As the atmosphere turned violent, Gunda quickly stopped Jihyeok.
“It’s okay, Warrior Kang Ji-hyeok. I’ll take care of it.”
“No, just stay. Because it’s okay.”
It was a bit awkward for Gunda to give Jihyeok as if it were his own business. But strangely, he was not very reassuring, as if he had won thousands of horses. … It was a bit of a strange feeling.
The orc got angry at the word ‘playing house’. He banged his fist on the table and got up.
“This bastard doesn’t see anything in his eyes when people around him give him compliments, right? … Do you know who I am?”
Jihyuk smiled mischievously.
“How do I know Jomulaegi? … So why? To attack?”
There, the orc man’s top turned. The guy jumped up and leaped toward Jihyeok at once. His huge fist aimed at Jihyeok and flew away.
… Cheeky bastard.
Jihyeok lightly dodged his fists and thrust his clenched fists straight into his face.
—-!
The guy tumbled across the table. But the big guy straightened up again like a fox. His nose was completely broken. Tw-. However, the orc spat out the blood in his mouth as if it was nothing and clenched his fists again.
At that time, the Lizardman, who was watching it with his arms crossed, threw a heavy word.
“Now don’t do that. The meeting will begin soon.”
“It sucks. I got hit once, but I just can’t finish it, Mr.”
“… What are you talking about, you bastard?”
Lizardman laughed at the orc.
“Fucking bastard, don’t you know what he saw? … Sick bastard. That’s why you get hit and run around.”
“… What?”
“If you don’t have a dick, you’re screwed, you bastard. … Or do you really have to be beaten by me to come to your senses?”
Aaaaa!!
The orc screamed and gnashed his teeth while glaring at Ji-hyeok as if he were going to kill him, then got nervous and left the conference room. Only then did Jihyeok sit down again. Gunda felt awkward in this bloody atmosphere, and her posture naturally stiffened.
In the first place, I couldn’t adapt to not using respect among the warriors.
… Weren’t we mutually respectful? If that’s the case, what’s the difference between a hero and a fucking mercenary… !
“Don’t be too nervous.”
Jihyeok smiled kindly at Gunda. Gunda found his kindness awkward. … It’s probably because of the memories of fighting each other to death.
However, this incident has changed my thoughts about the other person a lot. If Ji-hyeok was in trouble due to a change of position, would he have come forward and helped him as if it were his own? … To be honest, it was a bit negative.
Gunda thought maybe Kang Ji-hyeok might be a much better person. … No, I knew it before, but I must have tried to ignore it. He was ashamed of his narrowness.
After a small commotion, the atmosphere calmed down again. Thanks to the stupid orc just now, everyone roughly recognized Jihyeok’s skills. … Skills exceeded expectations.
Clearly, the orc’s fist was excellent. He was neither strong nor fast, and he had very few flaws. However, the person named Kang Ji-hyeok showed near-perfect evasion and counterattack. He honestly couldn’t believe it was human skill.
The A-class Lizardman warrior, Malzar, did not take his eyes off Jihyeok. He wasn’t entirely sure he was as great as the rumors were, but at least he was sure it wasn’t just bullshit. He still looks young, but with that level of skill, the future certainly looked very promising.
While everyone was guessing Jihyeok’s talent in their heads, someone burst open the door to the meeting room and entered. This time it was a pretty amazing titan.
The S-class hero, Byorgon.
Björgon was a troll. He was a head taller than an orc, and much larger. He was very terrified at the thought of combining a troll’s regenerative power with such a body.
… It’s a bit funny, but actually he was a healer, not a tank or dealer. That famous body healer was this guy, Björgon.
Jihyeok even thought that if it was that guy, even if his lower body was cut off, he would somehow be able to stick it together and survive. Since the troll’s regenerative power was combined with a high level of healing, he could probably recover from having his limbs cut off while laughing.
He went to the highest seat as if it were natural. Anyway, he was the only S-class here, so he had nothing to do after counting his contribution.
Björgon, the troll, took off the armrests on both sides of the chair with his hands. It was so big that it was a bit cramped to sit on.
The troll sat down in a chair and rested his chin on the table with his hands lightly together. That single action was enough to overwhelm the crowd.
It was definitely a presence that made me think that S-class is S-class.
Björgon took a quick glance at the warriors sitting around him and said in a solemn tone that the meeting would begin now.
Two staff members standing by the window quickly moved and put the papers down in front of the warriors one by one. The guy with bad hand habits even sneaked a bite at the female employee’s bottom.
The employee politely placed a piece of paper in front of Jihyeok. He skimmed through the scribbled text on the paper.
There were a total of four items to be dealt with. Among them, the only thing that stood out was about the crow army.
The army of the Demon Church was often called the Crow Army. It was because the Devil Cult considered and worshiped the crow as an alter ego of the devil, and wore a crow mask on his face as well. On Earth, it was very similar to a plague doctor’s mask.
Anyway, it was said that they raided several villages and even rioted in the city, but they disappeared. The paragraph ended by saying that the Count, who asked for help, suspected that it might be related to the alley master. The source is Pesonomia, a middle city in the southern continent.
Seeing this, Jihyeok’s eyes burned intensely. I hope you will see this here.
This… , I eat-.
This was the reason I narrowly missed it in the 14th car. Since I couldn’t attend this regular meeting in the first place, I have no choice but to know about this agenda.
It would be more correct to say that it was luck. Strangely, in the 15th episode, it felt like it was working well, as if a poisonous mouth was firmly engaged.
Midtown in the Southern Continent, Pesonomia and the Crow Army.
… And one name naturally came to mind in a chain.
Cursed human.
… Jihyeok, whose head was complicated, couldn’t hear the contents of the meeting well.
