Kill the Hero

Chapter 268 – Return (3)

Translator: Seven

Editor: Ana_Banana

The eve of the storm.

The atmosphere in the place in which Park Shin-hye and the other executives of the Messiah Guild gathered was just right.

The atmosphere was brighter than ever.

The people gathered were talking and smiling so cheerfully with each other that there would be nothing strange if they brought out champagne.

No one believed that they had just discussed their plans to dominate the world.

“Forget everything we just talked about.”

After explaining her plan in more grander than anyone else, Park Shin-hye turned her words to trash.

“I will now brief everyone on the current situation. Isaac Ivanov has come back alive. And Kim Woo-jin is dead. At the same time, Isaac Ivanov has noticed Kim Woo-jin’s betrayal.”

Suddenly.

“And…”

A man interrupted Park Shin-hye’s words.

Normally, if this happened, Park Shin-hye’s gaze would have become cold.

“He requested to join the Messiah Guild.”

However, no one would dare to glance coldly at the one who said those words.

Because it was none other than Lee Se-jun who spoke.

At that moment, everyone’s gazes turned to Lee Se-jun, and with their attention, he continued.

“I’ll accept Isaac Ivanov’s request to join the guild.”

There were no questions or objections.

Because Lee Jin-ah would never allow anyone to question him directly.

“Before that, I intend to create an elite to eliminate Isaac Ivanov.”

Even when he said that, there were no questions.

“And we’ll take as long as possible to do it.”

As expected, there were, once again, no questions.

More importantly, Lee Se-jun’s words were reasonable enough to convince everyone gathered there.

It was impossible to refuse Isaac Ivanov’s entry into the guild.

Still, it was also impossible for them to let Isaac Ivanov live.

Eventually, Isaac Ivanov would have to be eliminated, and in order to do that, they would have no choice but to gather the best talents in the Messiah Guild who knew their true goal.

All of that took time.

Therefore, everyone there began to think about how they could carry out what Lee Se-jun said.

Among them, Park Shin-hye was the first to offer a suggestion.

“First, we can blame Isaac Ivanov for murder.”

“Murder?”

“There is no real evidence, but we can be certain that he killed Kim Woo-jin during that broadcast. We can use the media and claim he broadcasted the murder live to the world, I’m sure that would be able to stall him for a while.”

“Then I can meet with Park Yong-wan.”

As if to compete with her suggestion, the Bow God spoke out.

“Park Yong-wan will definitely surrender to our side. As a condition to accept him, we can make him drag out the Saviour Guild’s disbandment process.”

“What about if we carried out another terror attack to divert the public’s attention for a while?”

One by one, each of them began making their own suggestions on how to stall for time.

This discussion continued for a while.

“Alright. Let’s stop for now and get up.”

After a while, fatigue began to set in from their long discussion, so Park Shin-hye concluded the meeting appropriately.

“We don’t know when we might need to call you urgently, so everyone please stay on standby in case of an emergency.”

Following that, everyone got up from their seats and began leaving one by one.

Finally, Lee Se-jun and Park Shin-hye stood up.

The conference room, which had been noisy before, was now quiet.

Suddenly.

At that time, the atmosphere in the room became a bit stiffer. (TL: This transition felt strange to me, but it didn’t seem like anything was missing from the raws…)

“Everyone, please have a seat.”

Everyone who had disappeared outside once again sat back in their seats with serious expressions on their faces.

Then Park Shin-hye spoke to them.

“We received urgent news. A 9 Floor dungeon was found in Iraq. Additionally, the 9 Floor dungeon didn’t have a rank.”

This news was the reason everyone had returned to their seats with serious expressions.

However, the faces of those seated were much harder than the weight of this news.

No, it could be said that they were so firm they were almost dark.

“And the discoverer was…”

The reason for that was simple.

“Isaac Ivanov.”

They had confirmed that they didn’t have much time.

“If this 9 Floor dungeon is really the last dungeon, then it’s impossible to stall for time with a clumsy media play.”

As Park Shin-hye said, if this 9 Floor was the final dungeon, the world would pray for the Messiah Guild to attack it.

And they would hope that they’d join forces with the great hero, Isaac Ivanov, as soon as possible in order to do it.

If they were to clumsily try to do a media play in order to prolong the time, it was highly likely that they would be caught in the headwind.

“I will confirm the existence of the 9 Floor dungeon.”

One person spoke up after hearing Park Shin-hye’s words.

“And if that truly is the final dungeon, then I will accept Isaac Ivanov on the spot,”

It was Lee Se-jun who said those words with a cold expression.

“One month. We have to create a team to kill Isaac Ivanov in that time.”

The hunt began.

…

People tend to believe what they want.

Objectively speaking, it was possible for them to believe that didn’t make sense as long as they wanted to believe it.

That’s why mathematicians thought that they could win the lottery even when they often said the odds of winning the lottery were not fair.

[Isaac Ivanov requests to join the Messiah Guild!]

Therefore, when Isaac Ivanov requested to join the Messiah Guild, people did not doubt that the Messiah Guild would accept him.

Because that was exactly what the world wanted.

[A 9 Floor dungeon has been discovered!]

[The discoverer was Isaac Ivanov!]

That’s why, in the situation where a 9 Floor dungeon was said to have been found, the world chose to believe it and didn’t doubt it even a bit.

-Together with Isaac Ivanov, the Messiah Guild will definitely be able to attack the 9 Floor dungeon.

-If Isaac Ivanov, who can attack a B rank 8 Floor dungeon alone, joins the Messiah Guild, the 9 Floor dungeon will not be much work.

-They will definitely clear the 9 Floor dungeon!

No one doubted that the Messiah Guild would be able to clear the 9 Floor dungeon with Isaac Ivanov.

[Is the 9 Floor dungeon the last dungeon?]

[The 9 Floor has no rank and no level restrictions!]

And when it was discovered that the 9 Floor dungeon might be the last one, the world no longer demanded trust.

-Is it the last dungeon?

-Has the final dungeon really appeared?

-It has to be!

-No matter how many people it takes, we have to finish it!

Finish the game!

The world was not asking and praying for the saviours to grant their wish.

Of course, Kim Woo-jin knew.

‘Those guys will never attack the 9 Floor dungeon.’

The Messiah Guild had no intention of attacking the 9 Floor dungeon.

He knew that the Messiah Guild had no intention of being a Saviour.

‘And the world will not tolerate that fact.’

However, as he’d said before, the world had no intention of accepting this fact.

In such a situation, the Messiah Guild only had one option.

‘It would take a shocking sacrifice to calm the world’s desires. Isaac Ivanov’s sacrifice.’

And that was calming the world by sacrificing Isaac Ivanov.

They would claim that it was still too early to target the 9 Floor dungeon.

‘They would make up something else. Whether it’s the King of Undead, the King of Extreme Poison, whoever.’

After that, they would create new enemies in order to postpone the attack on the 9 Floor dungeon even further.

‘They’d keep doing that until the real competitors disappeared.’

And the moment they became convinced that they’d taken complete control of the world, the moment when no one but them would be able to attack the 9 Floor dungeon, they would take off their saviour masks.

‘That’s why they will try to kill me.’

In other words, the Messiah Guild had no choice but to kill Isaac Ivanov.

That was why Kim Woo-jin waited.

‘Lee Se-jun will do it himself.’

For Lee Se-jun to personally make his move to kill Isaac Ivanov.

And to his waiting, Lee Se-jun responded.

[The Messiah Guild checks the existence of the 9 Floor dungeon.]

…

Most of the large guilds developed their power through close cooperation with their respective governments.

Therefore, their field of activity did not exceed that of a national sports team.

Of course, the Messiah Guild was an exception.

They were supported by the world and worked around the world, and in return, the governments around the world had no choice but to open their doors to the Messiah Guild who demanded to attack dungeons around the world.

But there were naturally exceptions to this act by the Messiah Guild.

For example, South America.

With the loss of government function, this place, which had become a land of outlaws, was difficult to operate in for many reasons.

Another such place was none other than the Middle East.

“The Messiah Guild is not the saviour!”

The Middle East, which was filled with scriptures from the Quran and kneeling people crying out to Allah with their hands in the air, called the Messiah Guild’s actions heresy and ostracized them.

Some Muslim countries made friendly gestures to the Messiah Guild, but it was only a small portion of them.

None of the great religious leaders made any friendly gestures towards the Messiah Guild.

That was why radical Islamists were the most likely suspects when the Messiah Guild was attacked.

[The Messiah Guild checks the existence of the 9 Floor dungeon.]

Therefore, the world was surprised when the Messiah Guild claimed they would be going to Hilla, the capital of Babylon Province, Iraq, where the 9 Floor dungeon was discovered, to confirm the existence of the dungeon.

-Isn’t that dangerous?

-What if there’s another terrorist attack?

-Will they act like bastards again? (TL: bad sentence, I had to change it)

Some feared that there would be an act of terrorism that might spark something akin to war.

However, no one thought about stopping them.

-But there’s nothing we can do about it. If the 9 Floor dungeon is the last dungeon, they have to attack it somehow.

-If it’s confirmed that the 9 Floor dungeon is the last dungeon, then the Messiah Guild has to attack it, even if it means going to war with the Muslims. (TL: Author favorability: -100)

The dungeon had to be attacked.

In any case, the world responded to the Messiah Guild’s actions,

[The US Military promises to support the Messiah Guild!]

[China and Russia also promise to support the Messiah Guild!]

[Attacking the Messiah Guild means going to war with the entire world!]

They promised the best support so that no one dared to interfere with the Messiah Guild.

Thus the Messiah Guild’s team reached the location of the 9 Floor dungeon with a better escort than anyone else in the world.

And on this stage, where Babylon had been located in the past, people gathered in front of the enormous dungeon gate that soared into the air like an obelisk.

Those gathered were naturally reporters.

Reporters who were set to attend the press conference that the Messiah Guild would hold to discuss their thoughts after confirming the 9 Floor dungeon.

“Who will be the representative?”

These reporters were interested in who the representative of the Messiah Guild in the press conference would be.

Of course, there was only a certain number of people who could do such a thing.

“It’s most likely that Park Shin-hye would be the representative.”

“It could be the Bow God.”

“Maybe they will send the right person who wouldn’t provoke the Muslims. Players like Cho Sung-woo would be appropriate. The type of player who has a brilliant career but not much of a presence.”

There certainly weren’t many people who could stand on such a stage.

That was why they were greatly surprised.

“Lee Se-jun?”

“It’s Lee Se-jun!”

Because it was none other than Lee Se-jun who came out to represent the Messiah Guild.

‘Oh my God, Lee Se-jun came personally.’

‘Unbelievable!’

‘Something really crazy has occurred!’

All the officials gathered, including the media, were shocked at the unannounced and truly unthinkable situation.

And in the face of such shock, Lee Se-jun carried out his task perfectly in an elegant manner.

He stood in front of the dungeon and stretched out his hand.

[King of Kings]

– Floors: 9

– Difficulty: None

– Maximum number of Entries: 999

– Requirement: None

– Challenge Conditions: Defeat all the monsters on the floor.

Then the information of the 9 Floor dungeon appeared before him.

The stage to save the world had appeared in front of the saviour.

After confirming this, Lee Se-jun immediately turned around and walked to the microphone in front of the prepared podium.

And he said to everyone gathered.

“This 9 Floor dungeon is the final dungeon.”

The moment this confirmation came out, all the reporters stiffened.

They didn’t even think about asking any questions.

No, they never thought about doing that.

In the first place, all the reporters gathered there were selected by the Messiah Guild and were followers of the Messiah Guild who were ready to write whatever the Messiah Guild told them to.

They were those who unconditionally supported Lee Se-jun as their saviour.

That was why it was impossible for these people to even think about asking Lee Se-jun questions.

“Then do you plan to attack the 9 Floor dungeon?”

But in such a situation, a reporter wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses asked a question without hesitation.

“Are you going to accept Isaac Ivanov into your guild?”

And before Lee Se-jun could even answer, he asked another question.

‘Psycho.’

‘Who the hell is that?’

It was like blasphemy.

If it was a reporter from a company controlled by the Messiah Guild, they wouldn’t dare to do such a thing.

So those gathered there were certain.

‘He isn’t a reporter on the Messiah Guild’s side.”

‘A different person?’

This person was not someone who’d passed the Messiah Guild’s screening process.

And they were not there with the intention of assisting the Messiah Guild.

‘A terrorist?’

Thinking that it could perhaps be a terrorist, the other reporters couldn’t help but step back.

On the other hand, the real reporter held his camera high.

He expressed his determination to properly record the events happening even if it meant risking his life.

In such a situation, the reporter who asked the questions and Lee Se-jun silently faced each other.

The reporter didn’t avoid Lee Se-jun’s gaze.

And Lee Se-jun didn’t ask the reporter about his identity or affiliation, nor did he gesture for the reporter to leave.

“The moment I am confident I can attack this dungeon, I will come here again.”

Instead, he answered easily.

“And that’s when we will end this game and save the world.”

It was a saviour-like answer that one had come to expect from Lee Se-jun.

To that answer, the reporter said.

“Then what about Isaac Ivanov’s addition to the guild? Is it set? Or is it on hold?”

He once again asked questions.

‘Oh my God…’

The atmosphere in the clearing froze.

In this atmosphere, Lee Se-jun spoke calmly.

“I made a promise to the world. I will do everything to save this world that transformed into a game. If attacking this 9 Floor dungeon is the way to end the game, then I will definitely do it somehow. And if this means joining together with Isaac Ivanov, I will do so happily.”

After giving his answer, Lee Se-jun continued in Russian instead of English.

“Is this answer enough, Isaac Ivanov?”

In response to that, the reporter raised his head, removed his sunglasses, and responded in Russian.

“It’s enough.”

(TL: Sorry for the delay, I wasn’t feeling very well, hope this chapter was worth the wait.)

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