The People Trying To Stop His Dropout

Seoul, South Korea.
There, the power players who moved Awakener society had gathered in one place.

“So everyone’s here.”
“Assemblyman Kim. It’s been a while.”
“Minister, have you been well too?”
“I’ve been well enough. It’s been a long time since all of us gathered like this.”
“Doesn’t that just mean this matter is that important?”

Besides the President of the Awakener Association, the Minister of the Otherworld Management Department, and the members of the Otherworld Countermeasures Committee, high-ranking figures connected to Awakeners exchanged greetings as well.
Once everyone had taken their seats, the conference began at once.

“Let’s assign the S-rank passage that appeared in Gangneung to the Parang Guild.”
“Hold on. Isn’t that passage outside the area Parang is currently responsible for? Yewon can clear an S-rank passage as well.”
“Yewon, you say. I heard they recently recruited an Awakener with an S-rank trait. In that case, perhaps it would be fine to give it to Yewon.”
“Wait. I heard that young man still lacks experience. He hasn’t cleared an S-rank passage yet, has he? Let’s leave this one to Parang, who has more experience.”

They looked over the state of the passages that had appeared in South Korea and distributed them among the guilds.
This had originally been something the Awakener Association should have handled on its own, but because so many competing interests had become entangled in it, at some point the three institutions had ended up deciding it together.

“The A-rank passage that appeared in Gyeongsang-do is…”
“A high-grade item from the Jeju passage…”
“There’s been a report of an anomaly from a passage on the Hamgyeong-do side… the Association should investigate…”

The drawn-out process continued.
Too many boatmen, and the boat ends up on a mountain.
Management of South Korea’s passages was now being swayed entirely by each side’s interests.

“Now we’re on the final agenda item.”
Those who had been arguing over their own interests just moments before now became of one mind and leaned in together with grave expressions.
Only the most important agenda item of this meeting remained.

“I’d like to hear everyone’s opinion regarding Lee Ro-un’s dropout.”

An Awakener of an SSS-rank trait possessed by South Korea.
The owner of , a top-tier healer trait said to be possessed by only two people in the entire world.
The matter of Lee Ro-un was raised.

“What on earth is Jiri Academy’s chairman doing? Wasn’t Lee Ro-un’s management under their control?”
“They sent in an urgent report. That’s why it was raised as an emergency agenda item for this meeting.”
“We can’t stop a decision made of his own free will.”
“That applies to other students. Since when was Lee Ro-un an ordinary student?”
“Exactly. Do you have any idea how much budget Lee Ro-un brings in every year?”
“And how much in annual support the World Awakener Association sends each year for Lee Ro-un’s growth.”
“With that many people waiting for ‘health checkups,’ what are we supposed to do if he suddenly says he’s dropping out of school like this?”
“Even if Lee Ro-un drops out, he can still conduct ‘health checkups.’”
“That’s not the point. Surely no one’s forgotten, have they? Until Lee Ro-un comes of age, all legal procedures are handled by his proxy, the chairman. But if Lee Ro-un drops out, all of that becomes useless.”

They were discussing neither national security nor the safety of the people, but only the ‘massive profit’ Lee Ro-un would bring them.
Their argument, treating Lee Ro-un not as an Awakener or a citizen but as a resource that would bring them money and power, was hotter than ever.

“Let’s be precise. Dropping out does not automatically strip him of his qualifications. Surely you’re aware that under the ‘adult’ clause, there is also an explicit exception for ‘if he is active as a professional Awakener.’”
“Once he leaves the academy, where else would Lee Ro-un go besides a professional guild?”
“No, who on earth wrote a clause like that?”
“Ahem. Every academy has something like early graduation, doesn’t it? Back then, no one expected Lee Ro-un would try to drop out, so it was included as a general clause.”
“What if Lee Ro-un really does drop out and the World Awakener Association sweeps him up? What about the ‘health checkups’ in the meantime?”
“Do you even realize how much money will come through him by the time he graduates…!”

Birds of a feather, they were. The people who saw Lee Ro-un as nothing more than a golden goose babbled on red-faced, making no effort to hide what was really on their minds.
Even though the Otherworld was still linking passages and sending advance parties to invade Earth, they were thinking only of how to profit from the passages and Awakeners, as if the current situation were one of peace rather than wartime.

Tap tap!

“This is a world where a saint-class healer holds more power than a combat-type Awakener.”

The President of the Awakener Association rapped the desk with a grim expression to draw everyone’s attention.
As if this damned country were some kind of warrior race, most of its Awakeners had combat aptitude.
The next most common category after combat-types was production-types.
Even so, that only made up around fifteen percent of all occupations, but regardless, South Korea had an abnormal Awakener structure compared to other countries.

“The weight carried by Lee Ro-un alone is no small thing. You all know it, don’t you? That our country suffers from a healer shortage. And how important Lee Ro-un is.”
“Hm.”

<SSS-Rank Trait ‘Caller of Miracles’>

In South Korea’s Awakener society, where healers were already scarce, Lee Ro-un’s appearance had been a ray of light to Awakeners who always had to live under the threat of injury.

“Even among the four great guilds, healers of A-rank or higher were few enough to count on one hand, weren’t they?”
“That’s why every time there was a critically injured person, they’d call Lee Ro-un in to handle it.”
“And that was a pretty nice side income too.”

The power players clicked their tongues as if it were a real shame.
One of the means by which the state could keep in line the guilds that rampaged around arrogantly or had major corporations backing them was precisely the existence of Lee Ro-un, a healer with an SSS-rank trait.
Thanks to Lee Ro-un, who had devoted himself ‘for the country’ from the moment he awakened, the Association had earned quite a tidy profit.
Perhaps thanks to his trait, Lee Ro-un’s [Healing] was no worse than that of most A-rank Awakeners.
Now, years after his awakening, when considering his [Healing] skill alone, it would hardly be an exaggeration to call him an S-rank healer.

“Why is Lee Ro-un suddenly saying he wants to drop out?”
“Could another country have contacted him?”
“What shameless bastards would dare go after such a valuable human resource of our country!”
“Healers are valuable manpower everywhere outside Europe too, so of course they would.”
“Haha. That’s exactly why we kept such close control over him from the very beginning.”
“Look into who Lee Ro-un has been in contact with!”
“Lee Ro-un absolutely must not be allowed to go to another country. Until it is certain that he will remain in Korea, his dropout must absolutely not be processed!”

It was the moment when the opinions of all those people, who had been fighting over different interests, became one.

“Absolutely. Under no circumstances can Lee Ro-un be allowed to drop out.”

Dark clouds gathered over Ro-un’s dropout plan.

After safely reuniting the imugi family and returning to the academy, Ro-un received a message.

[Secretary to the President of the Korean Awakener Association]
[‘Health Checkup’ March 17, Awakener Association Conference Room]

It was the first message he had received in quite a while.
And it was also the one message Ro-un had been waiting for.

“As expected, it came.”

He had said he would never let himself be used again, but this was one summons he absolutely had to answer.

‘The Association President’s greed ended up causing South Korea serious damage.’

It had not been a matter of massive physical destruction, but it had been an even greater loss than that.
There had been someone sacrificed to the Association President’s greed, and because of that, the Awakener Association would end up becoming enemies with one of the most influential clans on the Korean Peninsula.

“Now that I’ve gotten the message, should I head over right away?”

Last time, he had missed the moment because he went according to the time set by the Association President, but this time was different.
Ro-un hurriedly booked a train ticket.

‘By the time I get there, the Association President should be in the middle of talking with his guest.’

And just as Ro-un expected, the Korean Awakener Association in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, was receiving a distinguished guest.

“Hahahaha. I trust your journey here was not too inconvenient?”
“It was fine. There were no people around, so the trip over was rather comfortable.”
“I had people cleared out beforehand so there would be no inconvenience.”

Smiling, the Association President guided the guest to his seat.
To receive this guest today, no one was allowed onto the floor where the Association President’s office was located, and a small number of skilled people stood guard around it.
Under such severe security that it seemed anything would be suppressed at once, the Association President offered precious tea to the distinguished guest seated across from him.

“This is precious tea gathered from a passage that opened in China.”
“I’ve heard of it as well. I was told there are tea leaves in Sichuan that trade for more than gold. So this must be that.”

The man, whose fearsome tiger-like eyes were hidden behind glasses, lifted the teacup without much expression.
His pupils, slightly sharper than a human’s, were enough to hint at his identity.
The distinguished guest merely wet his lips lightly before setting the cup down.

“So when will I be able to see young Lee Ro-un?”
“Hahahaha. He’s on his way here. I’ve prepared tea you would never be able to taste in the domain of the Tiger Clan, so please feel free to savor it a little longer.”

The Tiger Clan.
This man from the closed-off Tiger Clan was the king’s envoy.
The envoy’s eyes gleamed as if he were eyeing prey.

‘Even so, as long as Lee Ro-un is on this side, he’s still just a tiger in a painting.’

The envoy’s gaze made his body want to tremble, but the Association President barely managed to hold it back.
Even if it was a tiger in a painting, a beast was still a beast.
Even as he feared the beast before him, he also shivered with the thrill of having caged it and yanking it around by the leash.

‘When else would that lofty Tiger Clan ever bow this low? If they’re stooping this far, then the Tiger who needs help must be one of fairly high standing. As expected, no matter what, I have to stop Lee Ro-un from dropping out.’

The thrill of wielding a treasured blade and taming a beast!
That was why he could not afford to lose Lee Ro-un under any circumstances.
The moment Lee Ro-un graduated, the Association President intended to bring him into the Association.
Painting a rosy future in his mind, the Association President forced down the corners of his mouth that were trying to rise and took a sip of the precious tea brought from China.
It tasted like sweet power.

“This is an urgent matter, so please pardon me for being unable to properly savor the tea.”
“Ah. About that.”

At that uneasy preface, the envoy’s brows twitched.
What was this old, greedy human about to say now.
Beyond the lenses of his glasses, the tiger’s eyes gleamed viciously.

“I believe the patient will need to be moved to the hospital within the Association.”

He wants us to bring the patient here?
Is he trying to see just how low we’re willing to bow?
Whose life does he think he’s weighing on a scale right now?

‘If it weren’t for the Princess, I would never have had to face a lowly old human like this.’

The envoy swallowed the curse rising in his throat.
After the , the Tiger Clan had begun exerting real influence over the Korean Peninsula.
The moment the King, who had done nothing but watch in tears of blood while his kin were slaughtered by traitors and the Japanese, was finally able to act, the Tiger Clan reclaimed its place as the lords of the mountains.
And so that their kin would never again be trampled by humans, they had lived in seclusion, thoroughly rejecting relations with humankind.
Since there were no humans who dared offend the King’s will, the Tiger Clan had spent peaceful days after the era of upheaval.

‘If it weren’t for Lee Ro-un, I’d have torn a disgusting old human like this to pieces on the spot.’

It was an unequal bargain, but in this matter, no matter the cost, they had to bring Lee Ro-un.
That was because the patient was both their precious Princess and a shamaness of great importance to the Tiger Clan.

‘And yet he dares tell us to bring her here?’

Suppressing his killing intent, the envoy replied,

“That is impossible.”
“Student Lee Ro-un is also an extremely valuable asset on our side, you see. Please understand that we cannot send him to a place where his safety is not guaranteed.”

Twitch.

“Are you saying that we would pose some sort of threat to young Lee Ro-un?”
“There have been times when patients, or their families, were dissatisfied with the results of treatment and threatened student Lee Ro-un.”

Creak.

The envoy clenched his teeth.
Who exactly was treating whom as dangerous here?
Do you have any idea who we are!
How dare he treat us like this, we who restore the spiritual veins thrown into disorder by the , govern the mountains, streams, plants, and trees, and protect the barrier?
The envoy clenched his fist tightly, suppressing the urge to snap the man’s neck where he sat.
Without his noticing, sharp claws had sprouted and dug into his palm, drawing blood.

“At present, moving the patient is not feasible. If anything goes wrong, there could be serious trouble on the way here.”
“My apologies. As a representative of the Awakener Association, I cannot allow treatment by student Lee Ro-un, an Awakener of South Korea, in a place where his safety is not guaranteed.”

As humiliation and fury surged all the way to the ends of his limbs, the envoy’s pupils narrowed thinner and thinner.
His murderous glare was enough to make even the greed-blinded Association President flinch and avoid his eyes.
Fear rose at the feeling of tugging on a rope with a beast right in front of him, but at the same time, a base thrill seized the Association President’s stubbornness even tighter.
Without the slightest clue whose tail he was stepping on.

‘We will never forget this humiliation. Right now, what matters is bringing Lee Ro-un over at once. But the Princess’s condition is not good, so rather than moving her, we need to make Lee Ro-un come to us himself. It seems that I must report this to the King first.’

The envoy’s eyes gleamed.
A tiger does not let prey it has set its sights on escape.
Even if he had to bow his head to this old, greedy human for now, he would remember this matter to the bitter end.
At that moment, noise rose from outside the door.