By Zephyria “Give me all the information you have on Prometheus and Lee Sa-young.”
Silence fell. In the cool dawn air, only the chirping of insects filled the stillness. Jung-bin stared blankly at the black mask.
He had so much he wanted to say to J. So many questions he wanted to ask. How he got out of there, when he got out, if he was okay, why he hadn’t contacted him sooner if he was alive.
He carefully chose the words buried in the past eight years. What to say, what to ask, and what to swallow. He had agonized over what kind of conversation to have all the way here, but it was all a waste of effort. His one request had emptied his head. Instead, a strange sentence came to mind.
‘How should I deal with a former colleague (a.k.a. a hero) who I thought was dead, who shows up after 8 years and demands classified information?’
Jung-bin came up with a title that he had never thought of in his life, one that would explode with comments if posted on an anonymous bulletin board. He felt like an AI answering a question. He looked up at the dark sky without realizing it. The guilt and relief he had felt as soon as he saw the mask had long since disappeared like scattered ashes. Instead, his mind was filled with unease.
Jung-bin thought.
‘Didn’t you say it was nothing much?’
Nothing much, my ass. It was a big deal. A very big deal.
J, who he thought was dead, had returned safely. He was truly grateful. He looked to be in good health, with all his limbs intact. He was so relieved. However, the amount of information hidden in that short sentence was too much.
‘Information on Prometheus and Lee Sa-young.’
As expected of the number one ranked Hunter, he had an extraordinary knack for pinpointing top-secret information. How did he know about Prometheus, and what connection did he have with Lee Sa-young that he was asking for his information?
‘Could he have contacted Prometheus?’
No. Jung-bin directly refuted his own thought. Prometheus was being tracked by several forces. He wouldn’t have the ability or reason to contact J. Rather….
‘It’s more likely that Lee Sa-young was involved….’
In the dark interrogation room, Gyu-Gyu’s meaningful words came to mind.
“Dig into Lee Sa-young.”
“All information is cut off by Lee Sa-young and the Wave Guild. That crazy brat is spreading false information and making people annoyed.”
Gyu-Gyu was clearly suspicious of Lee Sa-young. That he was cutting off all paths to J. And Lee Sa-young, who he met in front of the West Sea Rift memorial on the day J appeared in the rankings… yes, it was strange.
Without even trying to hide the suffocating, surging, ominous energy and eerie aura,
“Everything that comes out of the Rift….”
He clearly…
“Is mine.”
Was smiling.
“So get lost.”
So brightly, it was chilling.
At that time, he was claiming an absurd ownership of J, who had escaped from the Rift, as if he was his. However, Lee Sa-young was an Awakened who had Awakened quite some time after J entered the Rift. There should be no point of contact with J. But why….
“Um, is this that difficult? Like, do I have to think about it that much?”
What cut off the endless chain of thoughts was the distorted voice. Jung-bin quickly raised his head. J, with his hands in the pockets of his black jacket, was tilting his head with a crooked stance. He asked innocently.
“That’s strange. Didn’t we not have secrets or anything back in our day?”
That’s because you had the highest security clearance to see anything. Jung-bin swallowed the words that were about to come out. Well, the data that J accessed with that high clearance was only information related to Monsters, Dungeons, and Rifts. J muttered.
“I think Hunter Song kind of ostracized me… but whatever.”
He shrugged.
“It would be nice if you could organize it into data… but if you’re worried about leaks, you can just tell me. I can memorize it. And Jung-bin, you’re very busy, right? I saw you in a earthquake evacuation drill advertisement the other day.”
It was a light tone, as if doing him a favor. When did he even see the earthquake evacuation drill advertisement? Jung-bin covered his face with both hands and roughly washed his face. He was good at hiding his expression and extracting information, but it was impossible to maintain his composure in this situation.
After a while, Jung-bin raised his head. Unlike his tired face, his mouth moved mechanically.
“I recommend searching for information about Lee Sa-young through the internet, J. It’s very well organized on the internet wiki.”
J retorted in a lukewarm tone.
“Who’s asking about his personal information? I’m asking because I’m curious about something else, so I called you out here to ask. Why are you acting like that when you know everything?”
“It’s a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act.”
“I didn’t ask for his ID and password.”
“What can’t be done, can’t be done, J.”
“Even if Lee Sa-young is, Prometheus shouldn’t be subject to that law.”
“Prometheus is top secret, J. I can only tell you with Director’s permission.”
A sharp look could be felt beyond the black mask. But Jung-bin’s attitude was firm. He didn’t know why he was asking, but both were matters that he couldn’t easily tell him. And….
‘There must have been a reason why he hasn’t shown himself until now.’
The Rift where countless Hunters had entered and never returned. The only person who survived from there. The former strongest and the current strongest. The moment J officially revealed himself, everyone’s attention would be focused on him. Whether it was good attention or malicious attention.
He didn’t want to expose him defenselessly in front of it.
“…….”
It might be self-satisfaction and greed. It might be something he’s doing now that he couldn’t do before. But Jung-bin wanted to protect him. It was different from the past when he had no power. It was his own consideration.
However.
Hoo, a long sigh escaped. J had already lowered his head. He leaned on the forehead part of the mask and muttered gloomily.
“I didn’t want to do this….”
“Yes?”
“…I have no choice.”
It was an ominous warning. Then, thud, the slipper touched the green floor. His posture and momentum were unusual. Jung-bin looked at J with uneasy eyes. J, standing like a gangster with his legs crossed, shouted.
“You can’t even tell a hero who saved the country that!”
It was an unblockable move!
Jung-bin opened his mouth wide. It was a shocking statement that made him doubt his ears. Wasn’t he the one who waved his hand, saying he was no hero? Yet now he was wielding his authority to his heart’s content. No matter how much time had passed, enough to change the landscape, Jung-bin, who had not expected this situation, stammered.
“Wh-what did you say?”
“How many Monsters did I catch, how many Rifts did I destroy!”
“Wait a minute, J!”
“How many Dungeons did I go through, I!”
“Please calm down!”
“It’s not like I’m asking something I shouldn’t! It’s not like I’m asking you to summarize everything that happened in the past 8 years! I’m conscientiously asking just two things! And a former colleague won’t even tell me that!”
“I was wrong, please calm down!”
Fortunately, J’s tantrum ended with ‘Back in my day, I went to Dungeons and Rifts without a break, and then went back into Dungeons and slept with Monster corpses as pillows…’.
Jung-bin, who had been tormented for a long time, staggered to the bench and sat down as if collapsing. J also staggered and slumped down with his head bowed at the exit of the slide. Silence fell again. This time, even the insects didn’t cry. 8 years was enough time to turn a young man into a stubborn old man. Jung-bin suddenly had that thought.
After the war that was nothing but defeat.
“…….”
“…….”
The two were silent for a long time. It would be more accurate to say that no one dared to break the silence. J, who he glanced at, was twisting his body a lot.
After a while, Jung-bin, who had lowered his upper body and covered his face with both hands, muttered weakly.
“…I’ll tell you.”
“…….”
“But, before that… can I say one thing?”
“…Yes.”
A similarly weak answer came back. Jung-bin wiped his mouth and sighed.
“J, if you officially start your activities, people’s attention will inevitably be focused on you. Honestly, I…. I hope you don’t show yourself. I’m saying this as Jung-bin personally, not as the team leader of the Awakened Management Bureau.”
“…….”
“People are sometimes cruel. At that time….”
What was he thinking when he saw J’s tired back, staggering through the Management Bureau building without even thinking of wiping off the blood he had covered himself with? People pretended not to notice his back, and ignored his young appearance that he couldn’t hide even with a mask. Because that’s how they could survive.
Jung-bin muttered.
“Didn’t you experience it a lot?”
“Oh my, I wondered what you were going to say….”
Jung-bin quickly raised his head. J was looking at Jung-bin with his chin resting on his hand. A confident answer came back to the words he had hesitated for a long time.
“I’ve already finished that worry a long time ago. I’ve also come to a conclusion.”