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Chapter 198: The Gathering Heroes

“So you’re saying…” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as he tried to organize the information he had heard from Fenrir, “Although Sangun died, he’s still alive inside of you, right?”

“Yes.”

“So then that means…”

Unlike before, Fenrir had conveyed his thoughts with clear pronunciation.

‘But I still can’t seem to figure out what he’s talking about.’

However, apart from the pronunciation, it was difficult for him to understand what the little brat was saying.

Sangun was dead but also alive.

‘Is it similar to drinking, but not being drunk when you drive?’

As if he had noticed Lee Jun-Kyeong’s confusion, Fenrir explained again. “So… Sangun, the ruler, is dead. But Sangun is still alive.”

“Oh.”

It was only then that Lee Jun-Kyeong understood Fenrir.

‘Those who have the power of the Ruler cannot return to how they once were.’ That was the information that Hel had extracted from Elfame’s soul.

That was why Lee Jun-Kyeong had no choice but to kill Sangun, and the Ruler Sangun had died.

“You’re saying that the original Sangun is now living inside you?”

“Well…”

“Or is he not?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong was filled with confusion again.

“So…”

Fenrir seemed to have a hard time getting Lee Jun-Kyeong and Ungnyeo to understand. Eventually, something else interjected, “So, Fenrir has given me time to reconstruct my body. I’m going to give up everything while in here and be born anew. It\'s going to take me some time.”

“W…wait a second.”

“Sangun?”

The voice was definitely Fenrir’s, but the way that he had spoken was that of Sangun. Fenrir closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them up again.

“Sangun needs to rest. Don’t worry. He’s not dead.”

“Ha…”

“Something is just…”

Although they were left with more questions than answers, there was one thing that was certain.

“So this means that Sangun really is alive.”

“Yeah… Sangun is alive…”

As soon as Ungnyeo bowed her head as if she was about to burst into tears again, Lee Jun-Kyeong quickly changed the subject.

“Dear dear… So, Gleipnir? What happened with Odin’s chains? You…are you still tied up by it right now?”

“Yeah. That’s right,” Fenrir answered casually again. “I didn’t think I would be able to break through it. So I just took it with me.”

“... then why didn’t you do that sooner?”

“Because I couldn’t then. It\'s only because of Ungnyeo. She made Gleipnir weaker. Also, I became stronger too.”

It was a simple answer, but his next words were some that were enough to shock them both, “It’s alive.”

"What?"

“Gleipnir isn’t just a chain. It’s alive.”

“...”

Fenrir shook the rattling chain slightly. Surprisingly, the chain moved almost as if it was dancing, wrapping itself all over Fenrir’s body. It was only after being fed some mana did it relax and droop toward the floor again.

“This keeps trying to consume me. I have to find some way to throw it off, but it’s still a little difficult for now.”

“What happens if you don’t take it off?”

“I won’t be able to use my powers properly, and…hmm…” Fenrir continued with a bright smile, “And I guess I’ll die?”

“You…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s brow furrowed as he looked toward Fenrir, who was casually saying that he would probably die.

However, Fenrir just responded calmly, “I’m fine, Jun-Kyeong.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong couldn’t understand any of it. What the hell happened? He tried to guess at Fenrir’s condition as he poured out his mana. Odin may have put something on the boy, or he could have cast some sort of spell.

But no matter how much he searched, he couldn’t find anything. All he could feel was a burning rage and madness from the boy.

Rattle.

“Thank you for letting Odin go,” Fenrir said, the chain around him rattling again.

***

“People are making a fuss about executing the Hunters.”

“…”

“Or at the very least, they are saying we should kick them out near the veil…”

“Isn’t that the same thing as just telling them to die? There are monsters continuously appearing near the veil right now. The cataclysm is still underway.”

Against his will, Lee Jun-Kyeong had become the current head of Gyeonggi-Do. Around him, his party and the Hunters that had been with Sangun at Mt. Cheonma were leading a meeting.

‘Their rage is deeper than I had thought.’

The hatred of the Hunters who had been with Sangun at Mt. Cheonma was greater than he could have ever imagined. Those who had lost their families to the Hunters who had followed Odin, those who had been kicked out, left to survive in the wilderness, and even those who had lost their children because of Odin’s actions–Lee Jun-Kyeong understood them all, understood their anger.

“However, there’s no way we can just kill all of them or let them die.”

The issue was that there were too many among the defeated, more so than they had expected. If there was only a small amount of them, it would be possible for them to kick them out and be done with the issues.

Unfortunately, since the battle had been decided by a clash between Apex Hunters, the impact of the other Hunters had been inevitably small, and many Hunters on both sides had survived as a result. It would be impossible to kill all of them or banish them all.

“But… If we just leave it like this, something is going to happen. But that doesn’t mean we can punish those who fought alongside us for taking any action, either.”

It was a dilemma. Lee Jun-Kyeong normally wasn’t interested in dealing with politics or people, so he was in a very disconcerting situation. However, that didn’t mean he had anyone by his side that could solve this issue either.

Whenever something had happened, Yeo Seong-Gu would always step in and take care of things like this. However, he wasn’t here, and whenever Lee Jun-Kyeong thought of him, it would only bring about an indecipherable sigh.

“Whew…”

‘But…’

There was also another option too. Another expert to solve this tricky situation.

"In my opinion…”

Zeus had begun to speak. His presence had been too great to exclude him from this meeting. However, Lee Jun-Kyeong had no intention of letting him have a say.

“Please, let me.”

“Well, whatever you like,” Zeus shrugged.

Lee Jun-Kyeong slowly spoke his mind. “Please select those who have committed the most heinous of crimes, those who have directly killed any non-Hunters, and those who can clearly be identified as criminals.”

“...”

“I will execute them as an example.”

“But…that doesn’t seem right, either. Korea isn’t some kingdom, and you aren’t a King.”

“No matter how heavy their sin, we can’t just kill them so easily.”

Not everyone who was present at this meeting were those full of rage. There were those who had simply been kicked out or those who had just needed someone to fight with. There were even those who had just wanted freedom.

“We could create a prison and imprison them…and once everything settles down in the future, we can leave them to the government too…”

“Can you really just sit there and watch that happen?”

“Imagine if they had killed your children, and see if you’d still say the same!!”

The atmosphere grew heated.

“Please be quiet,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said, opening his mouth once again.

Suddenly, the atmosphere chilled, leaving one emotion in the meeting room: fear.

Lee Jun-Kyeong was sitting still, calm and composed, but everyone here knew that he was a terrifyingly strong Hunter who could incinerate the entirety of Gyeonggi-Do.

“There is nothing that the government can do for us in the current situation. Moreover…” Lee Jun-Kyeong ran through his memory and continued, “We cannot depend on the government to be able to do anything even after the cataclysm ends.”

“Oh ho.”

“The fight hasn’t ended yet. Odin has fled and our enemies are scattered.”

“And who was it that let Odin run away…” Zeus interjected, trying to tease Lee Jun-Kyeong once again. However, the timing wasn’t good, and seeing Lee Jun-Kyeong’s steely gaze, Zeus closed his mouth once again with an inexplicable smile.

“If we had lost, those who had survived might have killed all of our families. This is a war. Moreover, this isn’t some war between nations, no…” Lee Jun-Kyeong continued, “This is a war for our survival. I cannot just ignore everyone’s rage. We won’t be able to fight to the very end if we do that.”

“...”

“Just like that person said, imagine that your family, your wife, your children were murdered. Would you still really put them in some prison and leave them till the end, sharing our already insufficient food with them?”

“But…”

“And finally,” Lee Jun-Kyeong raised his hand and said, refusing to accept any further objections. “This is a prison that can confine a Hunter. Can any of you build something like that? Moreover, a prison that can confine a Hunter that has been strengthened by the cataclysm.”

“...”

There was only silence in the room. Lee Jun-Kyeong was right, and none of them had any intention of trying to present any counter arguments.

Flicker.

While if they really wanted to find something to pick at in his logic, they could, none of them had the courage to speak while looking into Lee Jun-Kyeong\'s burning gaze. At that time, someone’s sudden applause broke the tension in the room. Even if anyone hadn’t said who it was, Lee Jun-Kyeong already knew who would do such a thing.

‘Zeus.’

***

“You did well,” Jeong In-Chang said, approving of his decision.

On the other hand, Won-Hwa questioned his judgment, “Is this really the right move?”

“Ha…”

Amidst the two conflicting reactions, Lee Jun-Kyeong let out a deep sigh.

He hadn’t wanted to get involved in this. No, he had just wanted to complete the mission.

“It was an inevitable issue and a tough decision.”

“Wouldn’t it have been better to vote, though?”

Unlike Jeong In-Chang, Won-Hwa seemed to be slightly dissatisfied with Lee Jun-Kyeong\'s choice.

Lee Jun-Kyeong wondered, since the Hunter had lived in a communist country for such a long time, could this be an instinctive reaction to such a dictatorial choice?

“If we had just voted, maybe…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong finally opened his mouth, “Things wouldn’t have progressed quickly. They would just fight each other back and forth, taking up a lot of time.”

“But…”

“We don’t have time for this right now.” Lee Jun-Kyeong\'s voice was firm. “That cataclysm is well underway, Odin has fled…and a new enemy may appear.”

“You mean the one that Odin follows?”

No, or at least that was what he wanted to say.

But, at the same time, Lee Jun-Kyeong couldn’t answer no, or that the new enemy that Lee Jun-Kyeong was thinking about may actually be someone they had been close to for a long time.

“We need to stick together.”

So, he just pivoted back to the previous topic.

“We have to prepare for a battle and combine our forces. If that feud were to continue, they would be unprepared for the coming battle and be annihilated. For now, survival. That’s all we should be focusing on.”

Eventually, Won-Hwa understood and didn’t ask any more questions.

“Understood.”

But it wasn’t as if Won-Hwa was wrong.

‘Is this really the right thing to do?’

Won-Hwa’s dilemma had also been on Lee Jun-Kyeong’s mind all along.

Could he really just make a decision like this by himself? Decide on someone’s life or death just because…

‘Just because I’m strong?’

There was nothing different from what he had just done and the actions of Hunters in the future. Just having power had given him the qualifications to choose. He had done the same as the Hunters he had hated so much. Seeing himself walking down the illusion of the same path as they did, he questioned the world of the future.

‘Did they also have their own reasons?’

He thought back to the world where everything was in complete chaos, a world that he had thought had to be changed. However, for the first time, he considered that there may have been something he didn’t know about. Just because something had been done to protect everyone, did that really make it right?

However, Lee Jun-Kyeong soon put an end to his worries.

“I won’t worry about it anymore.”

He was already an unstoppable, rampaging train. In order to stop, the only answer would be to fall over and die. After everything had ended, only then would he go back and think about this dilemma.

And, if he would have to pay for his decisions then, he would pay whatever he had to. That was why he wouldn’t stop now.

He would end the cataclysm, kill Odin, and find that person. Moreover, he would also find out the truth about the one who was complicating everything in his mind the most too.

‘Seong-Gu Hyung…’

He had finally organized all of his thoughts, and there was no reason for him to worry too long. Then, at that time, a welcome voice was heard, “Ho, there.”

It was Heracles.

“I’m back from my mission. As Lord Zeus had said, it would have been better for me to be the one to go.”

A man resembling a gigantic bear, no different from how he had appeared before, was approaching him. Next to him, as always, stood Odysseus.

“I’m here too.”

Today, Park Yu-Jin was also alongside them as well.

“...!”

But Lee Jun-Kyeong couldn’t help but widen his eyes in shock when he saw the next person standing by their side.

“Jae… Mr. Park?”

“This was our mission,” Heracles said, smiling at the Hunter.

From Today I’m a Player Volume 8 Chapter 24