I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 247 : Corruption (2)

Hwang Yong-jae and Hwang Won-jae.

The two core figures and brothers leading the B&S Group sat facing each other, discussing the unprecedented situation.

"The victory achieved by the Execution Force this time is truly remarkable."

"Yes. It was admirable how much effort they put into it."

Chairman Hwang Yong-jae nodded and smiled.

"It's good for us. Not only crises can become opportunities."

"That's right."

"The stability that will come in the long term, or the expectation of that stability, will also be a good business prospect for us."

'The future will be completely the opposite, though.'

Hwang Won-jae sneered inwardly.

"The Execution Force will completely restore their shaky position through this incident."

Recalling the enemy who had inflicted his first major defeat, Hwang Won-jae nevertheless spoke with a pleased expression.

"Right. I think it would be good if we also showed some sincerity on this occasion."

"I've actually thought about that."

"What is it?"

"How about visiting the wounded in person to console them, and providing encouragement funds at the group level?"

"Oho."

Chairman Hwang Yong-jae rubbed his chin with interest.

"Such showmanship isn't bad. We can also slip in our Ji-su's name in the process."

"I think it's a good idea."

"Good. Shall we depart right after lunch? Is the time okay for you?"

"Of course."

Since this was exactly what Hwang Won-jae had hoped for.

"I should make time even if I don't have it."

"Haha. You're always so refreshing."

'The first stage has been easily accomplished.'

This time, there was sincerity in Hwang Won-jae's smile.

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The wound that Lee Cheong-myeong suffered from Ha Jin-su was incurable.

Awakened ones with healing abilities had each tried, but without success.

Left with no choice, they were prescribing strong painkillers to block the pain while buying time.

Whispers about whether the Sword Warrior would now follow the path to retirement continued to spread among the Execution Force members, even amid the gag order.

Because of this, there was a bitter aftertaste despite the great victory they had achieved to boast about.

In the midst of this, Su-hyeon had conveyed information that if they could find a mythical creature called "Caladrius," they might be able to heal that wound.

"It's a situation where we need to grasp at straws."

Chief of Staff Heo Sung-gyeom said during an audience with Commander Ju Taeyang.

"Although it sounds like a myth, in this world, the protagonists of such myths certainly exist somewhere."

"Right. There were rumors about such a mythical creature a few decades ago."

Ju Taeyang nodded.

"If we find it, it will certainly be a way to heal Captain Lee Cheong-myeong. If we find it, that is."

However, the problem was indeed manpower.

"Yes. It's not an issue that can be resolved by dispatching just one or two teams."

"That's right."

"So I was thinking of putting out a bounty to underground black market dealers or hunters who haven't been touched by Ma-in."

"Good. I'll make sure to acquire it even if I have to use my personal funds, so please arrange it."

"I will do so."

"Hmm."

Ju Taeyang nodded and said.

"It's an outrageous matter. To think that the Sword Warrior would lose to that prodigal."

"It was possible because he was a Ma-in. He only needed to land one proper strike to win, so they traded wounds. Strictly speaking, it should be considered a draw."

"Yes. That's correct. But who would accept that interpretation? Especially Captain Lee Cheong-myeong wouldn't agree."

Ju Taeyang sighed.

'...If I had gone along on that operation, such a thing wouldn't have happened.'

He might have been able to prevent [Sword of Belphegor] from escaping.

'What was I hesitating about?'

The last flame remaining in him.

The question of what if the time to burn it hadn't come yet made him cautious.

And there was a part of him that regretted that caution only after it was too late.

'The feeling that I can fight one last time. Was I too conscious of that?'

The name value of 'Dragon Spear' Ju Taeyang.

That overflowing majesty.

He thought this country still needed it.

However.

'Isn't it time to prepare to pass it on to the next generation?'

Such thoughts were circling in Ju Taeyang's mind.

"Come to think of it, that boy Jeong Su-hyeon performed remarkably this time too."

"Yes. I was convinced by this operation. Surprisingly, Su-hyeon's power is already at the level of a unit Captain or beyond."

"An extraordinary boy."

Ju Taeyang said.

"And it was that very boy who also prophesied the end."

"That's right. Of course, that would be the case if we take no measures and let things flow as they are."

"Yes. I wonder how much this victory has changed that future."

And if it's Su-hyeon.

'Perhaps he could give me an answer to my concerns.'

Ju Taeyang smiled.

"I'm sorry, but could I meet that boy?"

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After much deliberation, Sword God Lee Un-hak, who visited the hospital to see his son, met War God Son Ji-gwang, who was checking on his subordinates there.

"You came."

Son Ji-gwang greeted Lee Un-hak with a complicated face.

Robust physique despite his old age.

Eyes flowing with vigor and pressure.

But now, seeing his friend who seemed somehow lonely, as if all those things had disappeared, Son Ji-gwang smiled bitterly.

"I regret that it turned out this way. I was there with him, but I couldn't be of any help."

"How could that be your fault? Beyond the duty of fighting with all one's might in their respective battles as a unit Captain, what more obligation could anyone have?"

Lee Un-hak said.

"It must have truly been a difficult battle."

"That's right. This old man's neck nearly flew off several times."

Son Ji-gwang said, caressing his own neck.

"[Sword of Belphegor] was indeed strong. Ma-in don't age, and therefore they can continuously grow stronger. 'Asura' and the 'Vampire Queen' have now become opponents difficult for me to defeat alone."

"Growing weaker with age is the principle of living beings. It's evidence that they are sinful existences that have broken free from the shackles of biological life."

Son Ji-gwang sighed at Lee Un-hak's words tinged with anger.

"But you might be different. You've reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship, after all."

"The pinnacle of swordsmanship."

Lee Un-hak smiled bitterly, thinking this wasn't a compliment to hear from a man called the 'War God.'

"Listen, Ji-gwang."

"Yes. I'm listening."

"The fact that the pinnacle of swordsmanship is not the pinnacle of martial arts, that the realm I've achieved is not an almighty one without further progression, and that my body grows older day by day and my mind no longer flashes as it once did—these were certainly distressing to me. But."

"......."

Son Ji-gwang couldn't bring himself to look his friend in the eyes and lowered his head.

"There has never been a moment as painful as today. When I heard that my son, who inherited everything from me, was defeated by my fallen disciple who was also his own disciple, and that his path with the sword was broken, my heart was torn."

"......."

Looking sadly at Son Ji-gwang, who couldn't say anything, the Sword God turned his head.

"I'm sorry, but could you tell me about my son's condition?"

"Y-Yes!"

The young doctor, who had been quietly listening to the conversation between the two legends, answered in a fluster.

"The Sword Warrior is still asleep. He will probably wake up around nighttime, but......"

"I see. I can't trouble you all unnecessarily until late at night."

The Sword God turned his back.

"I'll come back tomorrow."

"Hmm?"

Leaving Son Ji-gwang and stepping out of the hospital doors, the Sword God spotted Chairman Hwang Yong-jae walking in the distance with his entourage.

"Elder Sword God!"

Chairman Hwang Yong-jae, walking unusually fast, bowed to him.

"What a surprise to meet you here."

"I didn't expect to meet Chairman Hwang here either."

The Sword God's gaze, having received the greeting, turned to the man standing beside him.

"And you are?"

Hwang Won-jae.

The second-in-command of [Sword of Belphegor] and the executor wielding the full authority of 'Him.'

He bowed his head with a respectful expression.

"I am Hwang Won-jae. It's an honor to meet the renowned Sword God."

Due to his usual quiet activities as an outside director, very few people knew Hwang Won-jae's face.

"I see you're brothers."

"Yes. My brother has been guiding his inadequate younger brother well."

"Not at all. I'm the one who relies heavily on my brother."

The Sword God asked Chairman Hwang Yong-jae, who was being modest.

"What brings you both here?"

"......While this operation fortunately ended in a great victory, I heard there were more casualties than usual. So we came to pay our respects......"

"That sentiment is truly appreciated."

The Sword God managed a smile out of courtesy despite his grief.

"......I'm sorry about your son, Captain Lee Cheong-myeong."

The Sword God likewise bowed his head to Chairman Hwang Yong-jae's consistently respectful attitude toward a hero and elder of the country.

"My heart aches, but I must find a way to treat him somehow."

"Please let us know if there's any way we can help."

"Your words alone are appreciated."

"Are you going home now?"

"They say he'll wake up at night, so I plan to return tomorrow."

"That works out well."

Chairman Hwang Yong-jae said.

"We're planning to spend today here and return early tomorrow morning. Under these circumstances, at least for dinner......"

'Things are going well.'

Hwang Won-jae, who had been quietly watching the scene, clenched his fist.

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Lee Cheong-myeong, who had fallen asleep after receiving a highly hallucinogenic painkiller, was endlessly swimming in the sea of his unconscious in his dream.

Everyone thinks of that man as a lofty sword.

'In truth, all my time of struggle and training was nothing more than a time of floundering, unable to let go of my inferiority complex.'

Lee Cheong-myeong muttered in his unconscious.

Shining talent, celebrated talent can become a curse.

When you learn that there is a sky above the sky.

When you realize that no matter how hard you try and struggle, you cannot reach that sky.

The innate blessing of "Unity of Sword and Person" possessed by his father, the Sword God.

That was always an insurmountable mountain for him.

Thanks to inheriting the sword his father had honed, his level up until his twenties always surpassed his father's realm at the same age.

But from his thirties, his growth began to stagnate.

His father had reached S-rank at the age of 40.

But even though he sat in the position of Captain, he couldn't break out of the edge of A+ rank for a long time.

He didn't want to admit that was the limit of the vessel of talent given to him.

So he wielded his sword endlessly.

His obsession finally bore fruit, and two years ago, he was finally able to reach the entry level of S- rank.

But that was it.

Breaking one's own vessel wasn't always possible.

In the end, he had to accept in his heart that he would never surpass his great father's sword.

But his inferiority complex couldn't be resolved just by acknowledging his father as an insurmountable wall.

Ahn Byeong-jun.

Unlike Lee Cheong-myeong or the Sword God, a dwarf who reached the realm of S-rank by pioneering his own style of swordsmanship.

Of course, his true strength comes from wielding a war hammer and a one-handed sword together.

During the few sparring matches he had with Ahn Byeong-jun, sword against sword, Lee Cheong-myeong never established a clear advantage against Ahn's sword, which was similar to his yet distinctly different.

It was a sword trained by talent and real battles, something he couldn't emulate.

Therefore, while Ahn Byeong-jun was inspired by his sword and evolved into another form.

He, who had followed the path of the sword learned from his father, could not do the same.

And Lee Ho-seung.

A fellow disciple who possessed the most brilliant sword talent among the Sword God's disciples along with himself.

When Ho-seung dived into a deeper world of unconsciousness than himself through consciousness acceleration, there were several times when he struggled to understand the path of the sword that Ho-seung cast.

How much sweat had he secretly shed to avoid falling behind his fellow disciple?

But from some point, Lee Ho-seung began to search for his own sword.

After advancing to the Execution Force, he honed a different form of sword through repeated real battles.

This growth rate was truly frightening, and Lee Cheong-myeong had to feel the pressure that he might be overtaken someday.

Therefore, when Lee Ho-seung decided to retire due to injury and became an instructor at the academy.

He mourned the halt of his comrade and fellow disciple who had walked the path together.

And perhaps, just a little.

He might have felt some relief at the dropout of a competitor, at slightly letting go of the pressure of being chased and having to run.

And two more people.

There were people who stimulated his inferiority complex.

The shining talents of the next generation, one of them being his niece Lee Yu-jin.

And his niece's classmate, the supernova Jeong Su-hyeon, who was building up unbelievable talent and military achievements.

Especially the size of Su-hyeon's talent was immeasurable even to his eyes.

And he filled that bottomless vessel like the sea at an amazing speed.

Thus, before he knew it, his niece, who had admired and yearned for him and looked up to his sword, was influenced by Jeong Su-hyeon, started to resemble his sword, and began to pioneer her own path of the sword.

At that time, he had to feel as if his heart had sunk.

Gradually growing doubt.

The path of the righteous sword.

His disciples and niece who had followed that path, but eventually branched off onto their own paths.

The path he had walked righteously, with the determination to reach the extreme of the realm of the sword.

Was that really the right path?

Might it be that one can only reach the end by not being choosy about means and methods?

Seeing that even his father still yearned for a realm he hadn't yet reached, such doubts grew stronger.

And yesterday.

Through the incurable wound inflicted by Ha Jin-su, who despite his negligible realm of the sword, had gained power beyond his vessel by giving up his humanity and becoming a Ma-in.

Through that wound, his doubts finally reached certainty.

That he had been too naive.

That he had lost everything he had built up and was now in a position where he had to let go of his sword.

If given one more chance, next time he wouldn't hesitate.

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"......I see."

A single room with the lights off.

In the early morning, in a space just for the two of them, where no one could disturb them.

Hwang Won-jae, who had been reading the mind of Lee Cheong-myeong as he slept under anesthesia, smiled.

"You, warrior full of anguish."

Sword Warrior.

"I'll give you the sweet gift of corruption."