Moving forward, Talon jumped on top of the railings as he stared down at the people. At first, nobody noticed his presence, but it didn't take long for someone to point it out.
"Hey, is that someone standing there?" One asked confusedly.
"Oh, yeah, he's walking on the edge. Isn't he scared of falling off?"
Gossip spread throughout the masses as they naturally grew wary of Talon. They didn't know who he was and they could easily see that he was abnormal.
"No need to run away, I'm not going to harm you." He declared loudly.
"What?" One person asked.
"Is he serious?"
"I don't know. He seems really off to me."
Many were confused while others were skeptical from what he said. After all, as far as they're concerned, this man could be another monster that was there to kill them.
"I'm sure you're confused as to why you suddenly found yourself standing there. You also probably don't remember anything between the time you were doing your own thing and waking up here." He said. "But, fear not, I'm going to explain everything."
His words made everyone focus on him. After all, the way he accurately described what they went through meant that he knew what happened.
'Tsk, I'm not accustomed to having this many people stare at me. But, oh well, I gotta just get this over this.' Talon thought to himself.
With that, Talon explained what happened. From Hyun-Ki's ability to what he did yesterday and everything else that would make the people realize how horrible he was. He left some details that he didn't want them to know of and only kept things that would work in his favor.
He knew that it was a little manipulative to do that. But, he needed every favorability point he could garner if he wanted them to accept him as the new leader.
By the time he was done with the story, the masses were already in a fit of rage and panic.
"All of that... happened yesterday?"
"What?!"
"Where is my dad?!"
No one was able to accept it all instantly. After all, in their eyes, Hyun-Ki was the hope of humanity. He had promised them to build society again and bring them the peace they longed for. Yet, all of that hope came crashing down on them rather quickly.
"Why...?"
"To think he would do such a thing..."
"I can't believe it..."
Exhaling a small sigh, Talon continued. "I know that it must be horrible to take all of that in. But, I had to be truthful with all of you. Bang Hyun-Ki wasn't a good man and neither did the people who followed him blindly without realizing what kind of consequences they brought on innocent lives."
For a second, everyone felt a stinging guilt in their heart. They remembered everything they did for Hyun-Ki. The fact that they worked for a bloody criminal... It was gut-wrenching.
Out of all of them, one particular person had it the worst. Looking up at Talon, Evan could only bend his head down in shame. He didn't even dare to stare at Talon with how embarrassed he was.
Balancing himself, he turned around and looked at the group standing behind him. "No, I didn't do it. We all did it."
'Ok, that sounds a lot like what a hero would say. Bleh, I don't know why I don't like that.' Frowning secretly, he tried to swallow the bitterness down.
His words garnered many smiles and a whole lot of cheers.
"Way to go, leader!"
"You did most of the work!"
"The leader is the best!!"
Nodding his head awkwardly, Talon turned around once more as he stared at the people. "Thank you very much. I don't know what the future holds for us. But, with your help, I can definitely feel that it will be way brighter than before."
***
The rest of the day passed rather quietly. Apart from exploring the city and getting settled in, Talon decided to give everyone some time to rest as they had been working hard non-stop for the past few days.
The next day was going to be very busy since they would have to immediately start working on their next steps. They also had to go back to Seoul quickly after that which would take a few days on its own.
"Wow, I can't believe I finally could get a room of my own," Talon said tiredly as he jumped on top of a bed. "Ugh, this feels good."
"It's quite cozy in here," Acrypha said as she sat next to him.
"Yeah, this is a hotel room, after all."
"Hmm, I don't mind staying here. Better than that warehouse."
"Me neither, ugh!" Stretching his limbs, Talon closed his eyes.
"Are you going to sleep?"
"Probably."
"That sounds good..." Acrypha murmured as she seemed deep in thought.
"Is something wrong?" He asked.
"No, I was just wondering what you're going to do next."
Her question made Talon open his eyes again. "Sigh, well. I want to make a trip to my hometown and find my parents. Then, I want to link the Seoul base with this one to make sure that we can move back and forth from there reliably. After that, I'm going to leave things in Hyun-Jae's hands and finally get into the first gate. I can't postpone that any longer." He said.
'If I get too busy with this world, I will just hinder my growth. I need to unlock my levels again.'
"That sounds like a good idea."
"Yeah... But, first, I gotta make sure my family is fine. Although I'm not too worried since I trust they can take care of themselves just fine."
"... Well, let's hope so," Acrypha murmured as she rested her back against the wall while Talon slowly drifted to sleep.
A//N: Don't forget to support the book if you enjoyed reading :D