CH 241

The ‘Another League’ Guild was established less than three years ago, but their impact on society rose steadily during that time. For example, thanks to them, if someone wanted to be a hunter, but did not have any talent for superpowers, they could try walking the path of mugong or magic.

There was also Another League’s new technology; a product which was created by combining ether engineering and magic engineering and was constantly developed by the magic engineers belonging to the ‘Matop’ built in the name of Yekaterina.

They also reorganized mugong and magic to make it more suitable to deal with monsters. Even at this moment, countless aspiring hunters from all over the world were gathering to learn from them.

The Another League, which produced numerous inventions and many talented people in a very short period of time, had only one purpose, and that was to attack Hell Gate. No soul on Earth was unaware of this fact. This was due to the fact that ‘Must be prepared to attack Hell Gate’ was written as the first condition for joining the guild.

Thanks to that, one of Yoo Seodam’s nicknames circulating on the internet was ‘Hell Gate’s survivor’ or ‘Hell Gate’s crazy man’, and his obsession with Hell Gate was so famous that even a kid on the other side of the world would know about it.

But no one who joined the Another League took that condition seriously. It was due to the fact that the Hell Gate subjugation would only happen in the far, far future.

-As Another League’s guildmaster, Yoo Seodam, announced that he would attack Hell Gate, the United Nations announced that they would actively support his endeavor.

-Dr. Jang Young-wook. Is it really possible to successfully attack Hell Gate?

-In fact, it is considered as close to impossible. However, for the UN to support the action of one guild in Korea, there must definitely be a reason.

The media pounced on the topic like hungry sharks, but the opinions of experts they interviewed were mostly negative. Thanks to that, the atmosphere inside Another League also began to stir.

“You really don’t want to go, do you?”

“I don’t know. In the past, my friends envied me for joining Another League, but now they pity me.”

“Ah. I’m really going crazy!!! Should we just run away?”

“Are you crazy? Do you know what will happen to us if we run away from the battlefield which was chosen by the guild for us?”

“But, isn’t that still a lot better than dying?”

However, even though there was constant unrest among the guild members, Yoo Seodam never had any intention to take the members who had just joined the guild. The personnel he was thinking of bringing were the 50 swordsmen and magicians growing up under Yekaterina.

“I will go.” Kang Hyuk-do said. He had been training kendo for 30 years and had been called a master of swordsmanship to this day. Since he was a man who excelled in only one technique, the moment he realized how to practice mana and how to strengthen his body with mana, his growth, which had halted for a long time, finally raged like a storm. Thanks to that, his status rose in an instant, and now he has surpassed the level of S Rank, and he’s already looking at the gateway of SS Rank.

“If Kang Hyuk-do is going to go, I will also follow.”

“The grace I received from the guild is not small by any stretch. On top of it, if you have the strength you need to fight, but decided to run away from a fight because of fear, you don’t deserve to call yourself a martial artist.”

The growth that was experienced by Kang Hyuk-do was also experienced by other swordmasters. The moment they learned how to accumulate mana, they showed a terrifying growth, like water which had finally burst from the dam that had been closed for years. 

On the other side of the coin, the magician of the Another League did not have the privilege to experience what the swordsmens was experiencing.

The magic engineers in the tower were all excellent enough to combine magic with science, but it has only been about two years since they first encountered magic and mana, and with that amount of time, it was simply impossible for a magician to achieve a high enough circle to be useful in a fight.

It might be possible if they had witch blood mixed in their blood like Yekaterina. However, in general, after studying for about two years, they could only achieve 1 to 2 circles while the talented ones would go up to 3 circles.

That kind of power was nowhere near enough to fight in A rank dungeon, let alone in Hell Gate.

But…

“This is the ‘Chomana Ether Collapsing Cannon’ that we developed. Theoretically, it could kill an A rank monster in a single blow, and if it’s compatibility is good, it is also possible to kill an S rank monster…”

“This is ‘Mulun High Radar’. The rune word ‘mulun’ means to lick the ground, and this device will keeps you from getting lost even in dark and unfamiliar places, and automatically records the terrain within a 100m radius on a map……”

“This is a healing capsule. If you put it in your mouth like a pill and eat it, your wound will be healed in an instant. However, serious lethargy might follow as a result, so please use it only in case of emergency.”

“If you attach this suit to the existing ether suit, it can withstand any environment, even in space.”

“This gas mask can easily overcome moderate high and low temperatures, and when a poison is sprayed nearby, the built-in supercomputer immediately interprets it and will filter the poison within 3 seconds. . . .”

“Also, this thing….”

Immediately after the discovery of the new energy called ‘ether’, the level of human science developed rapidly beyond imagination. And when ‘mana’ was founded, the technology once again developed at a breaknecking speed. It was a proof just how extreme humans can develop once they can handle monster energy ‘ether’, as well as natural energy ‘mana’.

Another League was blessed to be able to advance the technology without burden with the support they received from numerous investors from around the world, and now it was finally time to put them to use.

“We are sorry. If we had had a little more time, we could have provided better equipment.”

“Don’t be. All of these things are great.”

Yoo Seodam could not help but admire Yekaterina and the magic engineers as well as the researchers who had worked hard to this point. Regardless of how short the time period was for Lacanthal, someone who came from a world where magic engineering had reached its peak of perfection, to join the Another League, Yoo Seodam never thought that this much equipment would be developed to use. 

In addition, it seemed that most of them were equipment for combat, so it seems that Yekaterina had ordered them to prioritize development of combat equipment.

The next place Yoo Seodam visited was the Murim Alliance. 

In fact, he had no intention of asking for help from the Murim Alliance. It was due to the fact that he couldn’t help them at all recently even though he held the position of their military advisor.

However, the Murim Alliance was the one who first brought the Hell Gate-related agenda towards Yoo Seodam.

‘Murim Meeting’

Originally, Yoo Seodam was required to participate in this meeting as a military advisor. However, because he had been busy hunting for protagonists, he had not been able to do so. Thus, right now he was feeling extremely uncomfortable.

“Ummm…”

In the conference room, the 10 elders of Murim Alliance, the head of seven main family of Murim as well as all head of the the sects, were sitting in the same space. It was something which never happened in the original Murim.

And what was odder was the fact that the current head of Murim Alliance was the very same person who used to be the head of the infamous evil sect in Murim–Cheonma sect. “My lord. Everyone is here.” 

Seol Jungyeon nodded when Shin Hye-ji, who had dark circles under her eyes since she was acting as the military advisor while Yoo Seodam was away, said so.

In an instant, the air froze and became heavier as she scanned the whole room.

‘Isn’t she really majestic?’

When Yoo Seodam called for a meeting at Another League a few days ago, he felt greatly burdened as he had to make decisions for a lot of people. He only managed to calm his nervousness thanks to Taylor’s help before proceeding with the meeting.

However, Seol Jungyeon was different from him. She did it as naturally as water flowed. She summoned all the higher-ups of the Murim, who were said to never obey someone else, and dealt with the major issues.

Yoo Seodam had never known before, but as he had experienced sitting in the same position as her, he was able to re-evaluate just how great she was.

“You’re probably familiar with the fact that our Military Advisor is preparing to enter the Hell Gate.” 

She deliberately emphasized the word ‘Military Advisor’ and Yoo Seodam was grateful for it, but also felt sorry at the same time.

“We have been greatly blessed by him. If it wasn’t for him, we would still be living in hiding at the edges of the world, losing all our strength and will.”

At that, everyone inside the meeting room nodded their heads. In Murim, people dedicated their whole lives to train their martial arts to the limit in order to pass them onto their descendants. In other words, for people of Murim, their mugong means everything. When they lost mugong, they lost everything, and when they regained mugong, they regained everything.

For them, who spent their time day by day without even having a reason to live without their mugong, the grace they received from Yoo Seodam meant as something they had to pay back even with their lives.

So, there was no need for Seol Jungyeon to persuade them. They were all willing to help Yoo Seodam in the first place.

“From the beginning, I was going to follow him.”

“Recently, what is it called… e-mail? I wrote it myself and sent it to Another League…”

“Sigh… Senior, it’s too late for you to learn something new. Just ask your son to write it for you…”

“Hey! Writing your own words reveals the sincerity!”

So, the Murim meeting ended sooner than Yoo Seodam and Seol Jungyeon expected. And after everyone left, Yoo Seodam stayed alone with Seol Jungyeon to spend some quality time.

“I had said before that since it was the purpose of your life, I won’t stop you. But, I will also follow you, so don’t overdo it.”

“Okay…”

Actually, Yoo Seodam used to think like this: ‘Can I really drive those I love into the battlefield for my own purpose?’

And since he thought that he wouldn’t be able to do it. He made a grand plan.

‘I will be stronger.’ 

Stronger than Lee Dong-joon, who has reached the state of a demigod, and stronger than White Witch, who has reached the state of godhood.

If he holds strength that no one dares to surpass, he will be able to achieve his goals on his own without sacrificing his loved ones.

But now things have changed.

A new race of ‘Grey Humans’ inside the Hell Gate invaded the Earth and even began to absorb the Earth’s energy.

The situation was getting worse day by day, and even now, news about some city in some country had collapsed and how many people were killed in the process continues to pop out.

If there was one saving grace, the news about the ‘Grey Humans’ defeat reached 10, and as Hell Gate’s movements became more intense day by day, there was no time to wait any longer.

“Keep in mind. What you have gained while traveling to another world is not only life and strength, but also a lot of relationships.”

“I always keep that in mind.”

Yoo Seodam said so firmly.

“No, you do not.”

“What?”

Seol Jungyeon shook her head. The bewildered Yoo Seodam tried to examine her expression, but it was impossible because she had turned her head slightly and looked at her floor.

“I never treat people I have met with this power I have gained lightly. If it wasn’t for the guild’s opposition, I was originally going to attack Hell Gate by myself.”

He hurriedly tried to make excuses for her, but Seol Jungyeon remained silent. Then after a while.

“I… no, we.”

Raising her head, she barely met his eyes. Somehow, Yoo Seodam was worried about her slightly red eyes.

“I want you to know that I think of you a lot, and I want you to think about me too…”

She first finished her speech and then left her conference room.

Yoo Seodam, who was left alone in his seat, just stood there with a stoic expression planted on his face.