December (3)

At Kang-hoo’s words telling him to get to the point, December did not beat around the bush either.

He immediately began introducing Shinwol’s motto and course of action. But Kang-hoo had already heard this from his master.

“I already heard all of that from Master. Talk about the real point. Don’t give me self-promotion.”

Seeing Kang-hoo’s cold reaction, December cast a sidelong glance toward the Celestial Assassin outside the door.

It was because he thought, like master, like disciple. Of course, he did not mean it in a bad way or to disparage the two of them.

“Please join Shinwol. Mr. Shin Kang-hoo has been punishing evildoers like Ishihara Yuji and Vincent Meyer. In places like Osaka, you also saved civilians from terror. Besides, have you not also killed quite a number of Eclipse’s rotten bastards?”

“So?”

“That is the sort of thing impossible without an exceptional sense of mission. Our Shinwol can offer Mr. Shin Kang-hoo definite opportunities for growth and a safety net.”

“Heh.”

After hearing everything, Kang-hoo laughed. It was closer to a sneer or a scoff.

When December tilted his head slightly because he could not predict Kang-hoo’s true thoughts, Kang-hoo immediately asked back.

“A place that says it can provide a definite safety net kidnaps my retired master and tries to force him to recant?”

“That is…….”

“That’s enough. What I want to say is simple. I do not want to repeat myself twice, so listen carefully.”

A rather intimidating remark.

It was Kang-hoo’s calculated attitude.

It was true that Shinwol could be useful in many ways, but the moment he handed over the initiative, he would become a mere tool.

As for his future plans, Kang-hoo had no intention of becoming somebody’s supporting extra.

He had no interest in being a mere pawn on the janggi board. Being the owner of the big board that moved the janggi pieces would be different.

Kang-hoo continued.

“I am willing to cooperate strategically with Shinwol. In the larger sense, I am willing to share the same purpose.”

“Oh.”

Perhaps because he welcomed Kang-hoo’s positive response, December let out an exclamation. But Kang-hoo immediately drew the line.

“However, I have no intention of belonging to Shinwol. That means I do not have enough trust to join hands with you within your domain.”

“Hmm…….”

“The one that lost trust first was Shinwol. It is also Shinwol’s responsibility to try to restore it. If you want to recover the trust between me and my master even after that, then make the effort. Otherwise, it would be better to leave us alone.”

“What must we do for that trust to be restored?”

“If you think about how you lost that trust in the first place, then should you not simply do the opposite?”

He was not emotionally worked up, but Kang-hoo’s razor-sharp words made December’s expression harden as well.

Still, he did not take Kang-hoo’s reaction as something crossing the line. Rather, he regarded it as a response fitting for him.

From Kang-hoo’s history of acting alone without belonging anywhere until now, his personality was easy enough to infer.

He was someone who did not want to lose the initiative and who had a clear sense of personal conviction. A person like that was difficult to win over.

Perhaps thinking that his earlier words needed a bit more explanation, Kang-hoo laid out everything on his mind.

“An organization that sacrifices everyone for a single creed is not normal. It is an organization of fanaticism and blind obedience. I will not join an organization that wants tools it can order around just because it believes it is right.”

The Celestial Assassin, watching from behind, kept nodding. It was because that view aligned with his own thoughts.

‘As expected, the boy clearly has his own thoughts and plans. I do not know the basis for them, but there is definitely a reason in both the process of his thinking and its conclusion.’

The Celestial Assassin found meaning in the fact that his disciple’s words did not deny the direction Shinwol was facing.

The important thing was that Kang-hoo absolutely did not regard Shinwol as an enemy.

He simply did not want to be swayed. It was an expression of his will not to leave his fate in someone else’s hands.

December was about to reply with something, but apparently decided against it and soon shook his head.

Then, after coughing lightly twice, he shifted the topic in another direction.

“I understand. I did not come all the way here to be hostile toward Mr. Shin Kang-hoo, nor did I come to persuade you excessively.”

“Then that is a relief.”

“Still, there is something I very much wish to convey. It is a message from Lord Shinwol. May I deliver it?”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Lord Shinwol did not show interest in Mr. Shin Kang-hoo impulsively. He has watched you over a long period of time, and he is also sincerely grateful for the miracle you created for the Celestial Assassin.”

“Grateful…….”

What kind of gratitude that was would become clear over time.

Was it gratitude because a useful tool had not died and so could be made into a sacrificial lamb again?

Or was it sincere gratitude for preventing the death of a cherished member? Only that person would know.

“Lord Shinwol has declared it openly. He said there will never be a day when he makes enemies of the two of you. Of course.”

“Of course?”

“So long as you do not commit the foolish act of walking into the arms of the enemy of your own accord.”

A declaration and a warning.

To draw the conclusion.

It meant that it did not matter if they did not become allies, but they would not stand by and watch if he became an enemy.

Even if the sky split in two, Kang-hoo was certain that he too would never side with the Eyes.

The situation Shinwol feared would never happen. Unless his mind completely snapped, it was impossible.

“Then please deliver it that way.”

Kang-hoo rose from his seat in the first drawing room first.

He had informed them that he would only engage in “strategic cooperation” with Shinwol, and whether to accept that or not was Shinwol’s choice.

In any case, any contact would come through his master, the Celestial Assassin, so until a response came, he decided not to think about it.

‘Since they have taken an interest in me, Shinwol will have no choice but to do as I want. I would do the same in their position.’

Kang-hoo was certain.

If Shinwol had gone so far as to send one of its trusted subordinates to hold this conversation, that itself meant they were paying him a great deal of attention.

And if one was the head of an organization, one would not interpret only the emotions in another’s words.

Kang-hoo had told Shinwol to restore trust, not that he would make them an enemy.

Furthermore, he had not shown hostility. At this point, failing to understand his true meaning would be almost stupid.

Right now, he had no desire to walk around loudly carrying the name Shinwol like a giant signboard, when it was little different from being an underdog.

Thus ended the conversation with December.

December left immediately to return.

And Kang-hoo and the Celestial Assassin headed for the living room to eat the meal Ju Haemi had prepared.

It had been a long time since he had eaten Ju Haemi’s home cooking. Her delicious touch in the kitchen was welcome no matter when he tasted it.

After the meal.

Perhaps because the fatigue from travel had not fully left him yet, the Celestial Assassin fell asleep early.

It was also thanks to the tense meeting between Kang-hoo and December ending smoothly without any trouble.

Since it was also the outcome he had inwardly hoped for, the situation lacked for nothing.

As Kang-hoo, for the first time in a while, ended up taking a walk with Ju Haemi, he gently brought up a topic he had wanted to ask for some time.

“Ms. Haemi.”

“Yes?”

“If there were a way to treat your eyes so that you could see again right now, would you want to be treated?”

He phrased it as a hypothetical, but in reality it was possible with Call of Radiance, so it belonged to the realm of fact.

But because he wanted her to speak her true feelings without pressure, he hid the truth and asked her.

Ju Haemi saw the world with the Eye of the Heart, but that was surely different from seeing it with actual eyes.

“Would there be such a way?”

“If there were. Hypotheticals are something anyone can try without burden at any time.”

At Kang-hoo’s words, Ju Haemi looked up at the sky as though lost in thought for a moment, then soon shook her head.

He had expected her to think about it for quite a long time before answering, but she looked as if she had already reached her conclusion long ago.

“No. I do not want to be treated.”

“Why?”

“When I first lost my sight, there was a time when I desperately wanted to see the world. But now my thoughts have changed. I realized I do not necessarily need to take everything in this world into my eyes.”

“Because you do not have to see what you do not want to see…… is that it?”

“That’s right. I am satisfied with the life I have now, where I can see only what I want to see with the eye of my heart. Even if you were to gain such a method, Mr. Kang-hoo, I would politely decline.”

“I see.”

There were traces in Ju Haemi’s answer of long and careful thought.

It was not an answer born of impulse. It was probably connected to the philosophy by which she would live the rest of her life.

There would be no need to forcibly restore the sight of someone like that.

If it was something she herself did not want, then acting accordingly would be the way to respect her.

After that.

Kang-hoo rested thoroughly for an entire day.

It felt as though the aftereffects of relentlessly tackling the Forest of Nightmares in Australia without rest were only now hitting him.

If he had the will, he could have gone without sleep, but for the sake of perfect recovery, he gave his body true rest.

Since he had already asked for their understanding in advance, the Celestial Assassin and Ju Haemi, though staying in the villa, did not enter Kang-hoo’s room.

Given that he had not heard even the smallest sound all day, it seemed that both of them had actually left the villa altogether for Kang-hoo’s sake.

Before he knew it, dawn had arrived.

Kang-hoo, awakened from a deep sleep, examined the item he took from his chest, keeping company with the moonlight seeping through the cracks of the window.

Tears of Margarita.

It was one of the items he had obtained but still had not used.

What he had especially been feeling of late was that the world surrounding him was expanding without pause.

And in that process, various situations, worlds, and forces were naturally becoming entangled together.

In the original work, the life of Shin Kang-hoo had not even had a point of contact with an organization called Shinwol, but now the word “Shinwol” had been engraved into it. It was an indelible trace.

For that reason, his awareness of the Eyes, which were also Shinwol’s adversary, likewise remained together as a trace.

It was still true that Jang Si-hwan was his greatest enemy, but a reason had now arisen for him to look around at those surrounding him as well.

‘Should I talk to the Wind of the God? Or should I search for this mysterious place called White Paradise? Is White Paradise really a place? It could also be an organization like Shinwol.’

His desire to reach out into the unknown was growing stronger. Things were more intriguing because he did not know them.

Not only that, he could also use the charm Infernus to visit the gates of Hell. There was also the option of upgrading Infernus using the Core of Conflagration.

In addition, spiritual-body training at the Dark Sanctuary, where he could aim for dark-energy growth on his own, was always an open opportunity.

‘There are also still nothing but question marks surrounding the divine maiden Sperma. One way or another, I will have to open a path for investigation.’

It seemed the time had come to begin exploring White Paradise or the gates of Hell, which he had kept in a lower priority.

The Eyes and Shinwol.

These were not organizations that existed without reason.

They were beings in the vast world he, as the original author, had created, existing outside the text of the novel and beyond the thoughts in his head.

This was a world that could only be connected once he found a clue in its hidden links.

The environment around him was changing rapidly.

It now felt as though he had taken his place in the eye of a gigantic storm, too late to keep turning away from his questions.

If he did not firmly set the road he had to take, he might be swept into the storm and lost at any time.

Right then.

Bzzzzzz!

His smartphone suddenly rang.

Occasionally calls came at dawn, but lately there had been nothing urgent enough to fight over minutes and seconds.

The call that came precisely at 4:00 a.m., the very peak of dawn, was from someone Kang-hoo had never expected.

It was Hwang Gyo-seon, the trusted subordinate of Lee Ye-rin, whose number he had registered at her request just in case.

Kang-hoo immediately answered the phone.

“Yes.”

-Mr. Shin Kang-hoo. Heuksaja has begun an all-out attack against our Cheong-an. It is total war.

It was the very moment when the assassination request against Gwak Hyeong-seok and Gwak Hyeong-su was set into motion.