“What’s this…?”
There was a wound that had turned pitch black on a part of his body that was hard to see because it was covered by his clothes.
Jaehee felt strange and lifted Jeongwoo’s clothes.
Had he been swarmed by the undead to the point where he sustained injuries like this, even with Jeongwoo’s skills?
The fight against the undead had been left entirely to Jeongwoo alone, so Jaehee had no way of knowing how difficult it had been for him. He had only assumed it had been manageable based on the casual messages Jeongwoo had sent.
As Jaehee took out a potion, he checked various parts of Jeongwoo’s body just in case. Then he found bruised wounds on his arms that had been hidden under his sleeves, and he could find similar wounds around his ankles as well.
“What the hell, why are you this badly hurt… You said you were fine, but was it actually hard?”
It would have been fine if he had just applied or drunk a potion, but had he not even had the presence of mind to do that?
The messages were always casual, so he’d thought it was manageable, but had it all actually been bravado?
Jaehee glared at Jeongwoo for a moment, then took out a potion.
“Hurry up and wake up, Woo Jeongwoo.”
He would pour that expensive potion on himself even if he just sprained something slightly, surprising people around him, so why was he indifferent to his own wounds? He knew very well that Jeongwoo cared about him terribly. And just as much as Jeongwoo did, he also hated seeing Jeongwoo get hurt.
After thoroughly applying the potion on the wounds, Jaehee deployed King’s Veil around Jeongwoo. It would be better to rest during the day since he had to deploy the veil every night for 100 days, but seeing the wounds remaining on Jeongwoo’s body, he couldn’t not deploy it.
Normally wounds wouldn’t even appear, so if wounds remained to this extent, how painful must it have been? Even if there were more wounds he didn’t know about, they would heal if he was inside King’s Veil.
Since there was nothing else to do but wait for Jeongwoo to wake up on his own, Jaehee took out his phone.
There were several messages on his phone. Among them was a message from his father.
[Jaehee, we waited for you to wake up, but we’ve departed for home first. We’ll gather the things we need and come back, so contact us when you wake up. You’ve worked hard in many ways. I love you, my son.]
Jaehee stared blankly at the message from his father for a moment. Seeing his father write ‘I love you, my son,’ his heart suddenly welled up.
What is this? He didn’t know why his emotions were churning like this. Jaehee stared at his father’s message for a while before finally sending a reply.
[Father, I’m awake, and there’s no problem, so don’t worry. I’ll contact you again.]
Actually, he should have explained the current situation to his father too, but instead of doing that, Jaehee just sent a message saying there was no problem. It was because there was no way to do anything about it right now even if he told him everything, and it seemed like it would only cause unnecessary worry.
What kind of son had he been to his father? If I were in a situation where I could never open my eyes again, how would my father remember me?
In this restless mood, strange thoughts he didn’t usually have came to him.
Then suddenly his mother came to mind.
Mom.
Now he clearly remembered his mother’s last moments. Jaehee hesitated, then picked up his phone again.
He sent a message to that number he had been calling and texting all this time, thinking it was his mom.
[Aunt. I’m sorry and thank you for many things. I think you must have had a hard time because of me. Now all my memories have returned. If you ever need my help, please contact me anytime. Thank you.]
After sending the message to his aunt, a long sigh escaped.
I had been turning my head away from my mother’s death. With shallow guilt, I called my aunt mom, and had believed all this time that my mother was alive. Now that I think about it, my aunt must have had a very hard time too. My aunt is married and has a family, but I kept calling her mom, so it must have been difficult for her. On top of that, a sister who committed suicide and a nephew whose mind wasn’t completely sound. I suddenly felt sorry for my aunt.
I should tell Father that my memories have returned too.
I belatedly thought that I had done terrible things not only to my aunt, but also to Father and my stepmother.
Jaehee glanced at Jeongwoo lying down. In the mission ‘Manifestation of Nightmares,’ my mother must have definitely appeared. Jeongwoo must have entered the dream and helped me like that. Though I have no memory of the dream, I could easily infer this much.
Now that I properly remembered about my mother and escaped from the nightmare, seeing Jeongwoo still lying down, I kept feeling like I had forgotten something important.
“Jeongwoo, what the hell did you do in my dream?”
Like the ticklish feeling when you’re about to sneeze but can’t, the events in the dream felt like they were about to come back to me but didn’t.
It seems like something important. Should I ask Jeongwoo when he wakes up?
Just then, the phone rang loudly and buzzed. Startled, I checked and it was an emergency disaster message.
[Emergency Message: State of Emergency Declared! A state of emergency is currently occurring worldwide. Major damage is occurring from indiscriminate dungeon breaks. In addition, chain natural disasters, earthquakes, typhoons, floods, tsunamis, forest fires, etc. are occurring worldwide.
This is not an advertisement or a fictional situation, and is being delivered by the National Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters.
Citizens, let me say this again, this is not a drill or fiction. This is an actual situation, and all citizens must evacuate as soon as possible, paying attention to their own safety.
We recommend that all citizens select a King who can deploy a veil and evacuate so that they can reside within the veil.
Dungeon breaks and disasters cannot be resolved with current military force or other countermeasures, and the only preparation is King’s Veil.]
“Wh-what? All of a sudden…?”
Jaehee was shocked while reading the message. Similar messages continued to come in after that. They were all sent from places like the national government or the Awakened Ones Management Bureau. The content was similar—major disasters were occurring worldwide, so they recommended quickly selecting a King and receiving the protection of a veil.
“This doesn’t make sense. There wasn’t even any system notification?”
Jaehee glanced at Jeongwoo, but Jeongwoo still had his eyes closed. If Jeongwoo were here, they could discuss it together, but since he was alone, there was nothing he could do.
Just as he was about to try calling up the system window just in case, the phone rang. It was Section Chief Yongtae Lim from the Management Bureau.
“Hello?”
– Jaehee-ssi! Ah, you’re safe!
“Yes. I’m fine. I heard that Yumi-ssi went to the Management Bureau…”
– Have you checked messages or the internet right now?
“Ah, I saw the disaster message that came, but I haven’t checked the internet yet.”
– If you’ve seen the message, it’ll be quick to explain. Right now, dungeon breaks are happening worldwide. Even dungeons that had already been cleared and deactivated have all been reactivated.
“All of them? H-how could such a thing…”
– First, we informed each country about the information you told us about dungeon amplifiers, but since the dungeons that have already been activated can only be cleared again, dungeon breaks will inevitably occur.
“H-how can that be…”
– Someone must have intended this. Not only that, but twenty-seven Kings in the country died last night.
“What…?”
Jaehee’s head went blank at Section Chief Yongtae Lim’s words.
Twenty-seven people died…? And only targeting Kings…?
At first, he thought Lee Shinhoo of Guild Sahae had killed Kings to become a King himself since he wasn’t a King. He thought the first murdered King and the other victims were crimes that occurred to confuse who the culprit was, but Lee Shinhoo’s intentions seemed completely different.
His head became dizzy.
“Section Chief… then what on earth…”
– I know this isn’t something to talk about over the phone, but the situation is urgent right now, so I had no choice. The remaining combat personnel from the Management Bureau have all been sent to Eternal Guild with Yumi.
“What?”
Didn’t everyone know about the Management Bureau’s manpower shortage? But in this situation, they pulled out Management Bureau people and sent them to Eternal Guild?
– I also want to go in person and see you, Jaehee-ssi, but since we can’t leave the Management Bureau empty either, I have no choice but to tell you this over the phone. Jaehee-ssi. Listen carefully.
Jaehee gulped at Section Chief Yongtae Lim’s words. His palms became damp with tension.
– The Management Bureau doesn’t know the number of all Kings, but looking at the situation that’s progressing now, it seems most Kings were murdered last night.
“…That doesn’t make sense! Who would do such a thing…!”
He felt dizzy. A situation where Kings are needed more than ever. But most Kings have been murdered…?
– I think there are two reasons for committing such an act.
“What reasons? What crazy bastard would do something that could kill this many people, and for what reason?”
– One would be to become a King themselves. It wouldn’t be difficult to take in people who lost their King, after all. I’m rather hoping that’s the reason. If it’s not that…
“…W-wait. S-surely… that can’t be. That doesn’t make sense. There’s no reason for Lee Shinhoo-ssi to do that!”
The words ‘surely not’ came out first. His stomach churned and his mouth went dry. However, Section Chief Yongtae Lim continued speaking calmly.
– If what the person who committed this act wants isn’t to become a King themselves, then it would be the end of the world. I also don’t know who’s doing this. Right now Guild Sahae is the most suspicious, but there’s no clear evidence. Also, as you said, Jaehee-ssi, I think there’s no reason for Lee Shinhoo to want human extinction either. However, for now, the only King I can trust is you. Jaehee-ssi. That’s why I sent all of the Management Bureau’s combat personnel there. Right now, you’re the only hope we have. So please don’t block the automatic registration of subjects. When the Management Bureau combat personnel arrive, the Management Bureau plans to send a message telling everyone to register under King Shin Jaehee. You’ve now become at least the King of South Korea. Though I don’t know what will happen from here on.
