CH 25

“I haven’t done that much.”

Hyeon-woo protested with his voice, but it was after the broadcast had already aired.

“It’s well done.”

After seeing everything, Seon-woo shared his impression.

He had already seen the final edit but looking back at it again, it was perfect. Provocative stories were cleverly avoided while stimulating people’s emotions.

“I know.”

Once he had taken the first step, he would continue to appear on TV for a while. Of course, he never intended for it to be like that forever.

‘You have to cut it off at the right time.’

Of course, the process would not be easy. The people around him were still aiming for his First-Generation Hyung. He would go out of his way without hesitation to lose the public’s interest in his Hyung.

***

After the documentary was aired, the reactions were divided into two. Positive and negative reaction. Of course, the positive response was overwhelmingly high. The negative reactions were buried. With the favorable situation, A-yun released the information.

‘You did a lot of good work.’

Seon-woo did a lot of good things by putting forth himself and the Seon-Hyeon Guild. She was aware of it when researching it roughly, but when she dug into the guild, some myths poured out.

‘He set up a foundation to help others.’

The foundation was helping the families of the missing and at the same time supporting children in difficult circumstances. The children who grew up with such support had no choice but to think that the Seon-Hyeon Guild was good.

Day after day, the story of the Seon-Hyeon Guild and his Hyung continued to be on the news.

“I don’t know if he only did good things for others.”

A-yun grumbled and entered the Seon-Hyeon Guild. Tomorrow was the day of the conversation with the families of the missing persons. Before that, she heard the story in advance and had to see Hyeon-woo to keep his mouth in line with the script.

“Hello!”

As she actively entered the conference room, those already inside the room turned to A-yun.

Ji Seon-woo, Ji Hyeon-woo, Han Do-jin, Seo Chan-young.

‘It’s a gorgeous composition.’

Of course, A-yun wasn’t the type to be pushed anywhere.

“Come here and get this first.”

As soon as A-yun arrived, she handed out a bunch of papers one by one.

“This is a list of expected questions. By the way, isn’t this included in the number of pre-arranged meetings? As needed, other small questions can also be asked.”

“I know.”

“I’m glad you know. So, please take a look at the questions first.”

「Is there anyone else who survived? 」

「What was the environment like there? You seem to have no power; how did you survive there? 」

「Do you remember anyone? 」

Such questions like that filled the space. Seon-woo’s eyes frowned as he looked at the questions that could be said.

“Do they really have to ask something like this?”

“The other party is the family of a missing person. Imagine that your family is gone. They’ll ask for more.”

Seon-woo knew that too. Still, he had no choice but to speak. Because his Hyung was precious to him.

“There is nothing I can do about it. Now, let’s get started!”

The questioner was A-yun.

“Is there anyone else who survived?”

“There isn’t.”

“How did you survive alone?”

I’m just lucky, and strong. But he couldn’t say it all outright. So, he needed an excuse to respond. Hyeon-woo picked up Kero, nodding at his feet, and placed it on the desk.

The puppy was cute and looked like a chubby Pomeranian. A-yun let out an exclamation without knowing it.

“Cute!”

Last time, she was busy filming, so she couldn’t see it properly, but when she looked closely, it looked very lovely. Unknowingly, A-yun approached him and stretched out her hand. Because she wanted to touch it.

At that moment, his round eyes sparkled and wrinkled the back of his nose.

“Growl.”

At least it was just a little puppy. But strangely, she couldn’t move any more. An unknown fear engulfed her body. About that time, Hyeon-woo tapped the dog’s head.

“Stop it, Kero.”

As soon as the introduction was over, little Kero’s body began to swell in an instant. Even though it was a fairly large conference room, it felt cramped.

“Uh, huh?”

A-yun pulled out the chair and leaned back. She thought she was going to open the door and run away.

“It’s fine. It’s safe.”

Hyeon-woo smiled and said to A-yun,

‘It doesn’t look safe!’

The moment Kero stopped growing, a terrifying monster appeared. The three-headed monster with a muscular body stood there and stretched his body. As a result, the desks and chairs in the conference room were pushed and fell.

“Stop, stop!”

Hyeon-woo then slapped Kero’s leg.

‘What if I were to get bitten by that!’

A-yun was terrified, but what she thought didn’t happen. The giant monster quietly folded its legs and crouched down on the spot.

“I will introduce you again. This is Kero. When I was in another world, I got a lot of help from him.”

“Are you a tamer?”

“No, I’m not a tamer.”

“But how do you deal with monsters?

In response to A-yun’s question, Hyeon-woo told the story he had prepared in advance. The Demon Realm was a difficult place for humans to live, but it was not an easy place to live as a monster either. You had to fight all the time to survive. Therefore, even monsters were often injured.

Cerberus was such a monster. Cerberus, who was injured by someone, collapsed, and Hyeon-woo healed Cerberus. Afterwards, Cerberus began to protect Hyeon-woo. It was such a joke.

Of course, what actually happened was different. Hyeon-woo was the one who beat Cerberus to the point of losing his mind, and it was Hyeon-woo who dragged him around as soon as he barely recovered and used him as a vehicle. It was just the sad death of Cerberus who tasted hell after touching a human to try having a special meal.

“That is possible.”

A-yun looked at Kero with curious eyes. Although it was a play, Kero took on a good role and raised his head proudly.

“Keep your head down! The ceiling will collapse.”

The result came back to being slapped again, though.

“Now that I’ve confirmed it, I think you can make it go back to the way it was.”

“Yeah.”

“By the way, didn’t you say his name is Kero? How strong is he?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know all the types of monsters that appeared here yet.”

“Oh, I suppose so. Then how about experimenting? Monsters can be provided here. Wouldn’t it be nice to know how strong you are?”

A-yun was excited by the added information. However, before he could proceed any further, he was interrupted by Seon-woo.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to do that.”

At the resolute words, A-yun looked down at the questionnaire again with her regretful face.

“Okay then, let’s move on to the next question. Do you remember anyone?”

“Some I remember. But I can’t remember them all as there were so many other people.”

It was because there were many people who died before they could even have a conversation. Later, there were fewer people and they got to know each other. It was possible to leave behind their last words before but after everyone else died, it was impossible.

Hyeon-woo’s shoulders shook slightly as he recalled the past. He tried to forget everything, but not everything was forgotten. Although time is medicine, the medicine did not completely cure everything.

Seon-woo wrapped his hand around Hyeon-woo’s shoulder, hoping that his own warmth could reach him even a little.

The questions continued. Hyeon-woo answered all the questions sincerely. After such a long practice session, he was exhausted.

“I want to rest.”

“Then shall we go up?”

“Unn.”

Hyeon-woo naturally reached out to Seon-woo as he answered. Then Seon-woo hugged Hyeon-woo. As he left the conference room, Kero followed him.

Do-jin watched it all quietly. He wanted to wrap Hyeon-woo’s shoulders, which was shaking the whole time he answered. How hard it must have been for Ye-won, who was 18 at the time of her disappearance. And Hyeon-woo was only 15 years old at that time.

He was a little younger than his younger sister, Ye-won. What had he gone through to survive on his own and return after 10 years?

He thought he would protect him to pay for the sins he had committed, but everything was starting to change little by little.

“Aren’t you going to follow them?”

A-yun, who had also been left alone, asked Do-jin.

“I had something to think about for a moment.”

“Well, now that Ji Seon-woo is attached to a monster called Kero, I think it’s safe. I can’t wait to see how many crazy people will attack the Seon-hyun guild headquarters in the first place?”

A-yun tapped the questionnaire on the desk and spoke again.

“I think it’s great.”

Do-jin didn’t answer, but he started talking to himself.

“At such an early age, he fell into another world alone and survived. I used to go out with my friends at that age. I can’t even imagine.”

No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t. A-yun sighed and got up from her seat.

“Once the preparations are over, let’s prepare for tomorrow.”

All possible questions have been drawn up, but they were only hypothetical questions in the end. When do people, who have lost their families, only ask sensible questions?

‘No.’ A-yun thought.

So, they had to be more prepared. They hadn’t really become close yet, but she didn’t want to see Hyeon-woo ruined.

‘I’m not usually this weak-minded.’

She stretched a bit and left the conference room. While A-yun was leaving, Do-jin was still immersed in thought.