What Jeongwoo said was truly shocking.
Lee Shinhoo had never once revealed what his awakening classification was. The public had merely speculated—some saying he must be a King, others insisting he must be a Combatant given his martial prowess—opinions were divided.
But Zero instead of King…?
“Zero has various privileges, but it has no awakening classification. So Lee Shinhoo couldn’t have been a King.”
“Wait a moment, that doesn’t make sense. During last night’s Night of the Dead Eve festival, Sahae Guild clearly used the King’s Veil. Does that mean Sahae Guild has a separate King besides Lee Shinhoo?”
At the executive’s question, Jeongwoo just raised the corners of his mouth and shook his head.
“No. Or at least, I don’t think so. That’s the problem. If you look at the statement Sahae Guild released this time, they openly revealed that Lee Shinhoo is a King. Unlike before. I believe Lee Shinhoo has now become a King.”
“What on earth does that mean? If you have something to say, just say it clearly.”
Someone impatient couldn’t stand it and burst out angrily. But Jeongwoo didn’t care and dragged out the time by taking a sip of water that had been prepared. Everyone sitting focused on Jeongwoo.
“There is a way to change one’s original awakening classification.”
At Jeongwoo’s words, people’s eyes widened.
Until now, they had thought that while awakening classifications could grow, they couldn’t be changed.
“Until now, most people probably knew that awakening classifications are absolute and cannot be changed. However, there are several cases where awakening classifications have been changed. And in the case of Kings, there is a clear method by which someone whose awakening classification wasn’t King can become a King.”
“Wh-what is it?”
“It’s not that difficult. You just need to take another King’s head.”
A soundless shock spread through the room. In an instant, the murder case that occurred last night came to everyone’s minds. Could a murder have happened for such a reason? And at this critical time, right before an important mission…?
“Until now, we hadn’t disclosed this information, judging that it wouldn’t be helpful and would only cause confusion, but now it seems better for everyone to know, so we’re making it public.”
“…Good Lord….”
“That can’t be….”
Jaehee looked at Jeongwoo standing in front with a somewhat unfamiliar feeling. Jeongwoo didn’t shout or get excited, but he was sharp and cutting like a coldly sharpened winter wind. It seemed like if someone misspoke even once, he would drop anyone’s head.
The conference room became noisy and chaotic. Jeongwoo didn’t seem to be lying, but even so, it wasn’t easy to believe.
While running Sahae Guild, the nation’s top guild, Lee Shinhoo had never abused his power or been involved in any scandals. When investigated, only good stories about Lee Shinhoo ever came up. Lee Shinhoo was Korea’s pride and hope. If you were a Korean citizen, everyone had expectations of Lee Shinhoo and relied on him. But to think that such a Lee Shinhoo had committed such acts and even declared war on Eternal Guild—they didn’t want to believe it, couldn’t believe it. It was so absurd their heads hurt.
“B-but, Vice Guild Master, how do you know all of this?”
“That’s right. Is this accurate information? Couldn’t you be mistaken?”
At someone’s question, the atmosphere turned cold.
Come to think of it, the information Woo Jeongwoo was talking about now wasn’t something you could know just by being Zero. To know such specific information…. People observed Jeongwoo with suspicious expressions. But Jeongwoo nodded with a nonchalant, innocent expression.
“For those hearing this for the first time, I imagine this story is confusing. I naturally understand. However, this information isn’t something I discovered. All the information was shared with us by the Management Bureau. It’s information that only some people at the Management Bureau know, but we learned it with the help of Manager Lim Yongtae.”
“Ah….”
Only then did sighs of relief escape from people’s mouths.
If it were the words of twenty-year-old Woo Jeongwoo, they’d be suspicious, but if it was Manager Lim Yongtae of the Management Bureau, that was different. Moreover, it was a well-known fact that Manager Lim usually showed special interest and kindness to Woo Jeongwoo and Shin Jaehee.
At that moment, Yang Yumi’s eyes met Jeongwoo’s. Seeing Jeongwoo slightly raise the corners of his mouth in a smile, Yang Yumi felt goosebumps rise.
Is he really twenty years old? It would be more believable to say his special ability was living life for the second time.
To say all of this was information from the Management Bureau. It was a ridiculous lie that wasn’t even funny.
She was the former information department manager of the Management Bureau, so when did Manager Lim share information she didn’t even know about!
Yang Yumi’s head was now pounding.
The Management Bureau hadn’t grasped at all that Lee Shinhoo was Zero. She herself hadn’t known until Jeongwoo said so. After learning that Shin Jaehee’s awakening classification wasn’t Whisperer but King, she had judged that Woo Jeongwoo must have also lied about his awakening classification. But she never imagined it would be Zero.
She also didn’t know that if a Zero killed a King, they could become a King. While it was embarrassing as a former Management Bureau information department manager, Woo Jeongwoo knew far more than the Management Bureau.
She wanted to ask how on earth Woo Jeongwoo learned such information.
Moreover, to lie so nonchalantly with herself, the former Management Bureau information manager, right in front of him. He really wasn’t an ordinary person.
Yang Yumi sighed inwardly, pondering how to report this. She should have known from the time that snake-like Lim Yongtae offered to get her out of the busy Management Bureau. While the work itself might have decreased compared to the Management Bureau, the stress was greater.
“Wait a moment, everyone. That’s not what’s important right now.”
Then Jaehee intervened for the first time. As people’s gazes gathered, Jaehee walked forward to the platform with a slightly flushed face.
“I also heard Lee Shinhoo-ssi reveal that he’s Zero. However, Sahae Guild has now declared war on us, claiming they were attacked. We need to prepare for Sahae Guild’s immediate attack, and we also need to defend against attacks on other Kings in the future. With this statement, Sahae Guild is subtly creating an atmosphere suggesting we attacked other Kings as well.”
“…Ah, future attacks? Don’t tell me, Guild Master, you think there will be continued attacks?”
“Yes. That’s right. Otherwise, I don’t think there would have been any reason for Sahae Guild to declare war on us specifically.”
“What reason does Sahae Guild have for doing this….”
“I don’t know. I don’t understand that either. But if Sahae Guild wanted to reveal the truth of the incident, they would have asked the Management Bureau for investigation and mediation. To declare war first without any evidence like this suggests it’s to cover up the facts. Isn’t that right?”
Sighs burst out one after another. Jeongwoo also nodded with a somber expression.
Through the two twenty-year-olds, the conference room’s atmosphere naturally flowed toward hostility against Sahae Guild. Looking at those who were hesitating, Jeongwoo drove in the final wedge.
“We must protect our King. If Sahae Guild attacks, they’ll surely try to do something to our King. Then we’d have to endure the Night of the Dead without the King’s Veil. Protecting our King is the way to protect all our Eternal Guild family.”
At Jeongwoo’s words, people’s expressions hardened.
Because the terror of last night came back to them. The dead, those abhorrent things would come again tonight, and without the King’s Veil, there was no way to stop them. For the Eternal Guild members who didn’t yet have trust or affection for their King, this was a more tangible persuasion.
“Now, everyone. If you all recognize that this is an emergency situation, let’s move on to a full-scale countermeasure meeting. I’d like to talk more in detail, but right now there are more urgent matters. First, please give your opinions on what we should do about the Sahae Guild issue.”
Yang Yumi shook her head inwardly.
She knew he wasn’t ordinary, but he really was something else.
What kind of parents raised their child like this—how could a twenty-year-old be like that?
The people gathered here weren’t to be taken lightly. Even Shin Jaehee’s father, a non-Awakened One, was someone who had risen from a regular employee to company executive, and the acquaintances he brought were also people with considerable influence in political and business circles. The Awakened Ones were even more so. Even she herself was a former elite soldier. Yet here was a mere twenty-year-old manipulating the conference atmosphere in a crisis situation.
If Jeongwoo hadn’t taken control of the atmosphere like this, Eternal Guild would have been in danger. Eternal Guild was still a new guild that hadn’t properly established itself. Internal cohesion was weak, but they had rapidly expanded their power, so there were various risk factors even without doing anything.
And in such a situation, a super-large guild had declared war, so internal division was as clear as day. Especially when they had to do a mission tonight. But Woo Jeongwoo had taken control of the atmosphere from the start, not giving people any gap to split and pushing forward. It was probably a scheme to prevent people from thinking other thoughts.
Moreover, Woo Jeongwoo’s attitude was confident and unwavering despite receiving Sahae Guild’s declaration of war. To others, it gave the impression that he was confident about dealing with Sahae Guild.
“Come on, everyone, please focus, focus. We don’t have much time. First, we plan to proceed with today’s mission similarly to yesterday. We’ll deploy as many combat-capable personnel as possible to confront the dead, but….”
At this level, there seemed to be no need to worry.
And before night came, meeting after meeting, and yet more meetings continued.
Before long, the sun was setting outside.
The time of the dead was returning.
