Ten days after the Pandinus guild's poisoning incident…
Ohjin was finally discharged and was able to escape his boring everyday hospital life.
'I thought I was going to die.'
As all he did was stay in bed with his respirator on, he was on the verge of madness from the feeling of stuffiness.
"Tch… well, I was able to increase my control over lightning thanks to it."
Since he didn't have anything to do, he had repeatedly controlled his lightning during his entire stay. He had focused on meticulously controlling very minor amounts of lightning that could be found in remote controllers, fans, and phones.
'It was harder than I thought.'
It was a feeling similar to handling a bubble that would burst with just the touch of a finger.
Because he usually discharged lightning with the intent to smash, the reduced output was instead more difficult to handle.
'I should train this regularly as well.'
He believed that there would be many more ways he could utilize controlling lightning with precision once he became more skilled.
"You could think of this as a strange coincidence, in a way."
If he wasn't in a situation where he was forced to sit tight at a hospital, it was possible that he wouldn't have come across the thought of increasing his skill in precise lightning control.
Ohjin cleaned up the hospital room he had stayed in for the past ten days and headed out.
Click—
"Will it really be okay to be discharged already?"
Once he exited the building, General Manager Han approached him.
"Yes. I've recovered completely."
With a stiff look on his face, Han Joonman bowed down deeply.
"Forgive me. As the one responsible for your safety, this is all my fault for being unable to prepare sufficient countermeasures."
Ohjin could see his clenched cauldron-lid-sized fist trembling.
He smiled lightly and shook his head.
"Why is that your responsibility? There's a separate person who tried to assassinate me."
"However…"
"I shouldn't have been in a rush and instead should have prioritized taking care of my body… It's my fault as well."
"Ohjin…"
General Manager slurred the end of his sentence as his eyes seemed to be deeply moved.
'Why is this old man like this…'
Ohjin felt extremely uncomfortable when he was sending those looks with that face of his.
"Anyways, what happened to Pandinus?"
"They continued to make excuses until the end, eventually split up, and ran away. The major guilds are currently chasing after them."
'Wow.'
'I did think they would collapse, but in just ten days?'
'Words really are amazing.'
A massive guild within Korea's top ten…
In just one scamming act, he blew away the apostles of Scorpio, which belonged to the 12 Zodiacs.
'Well, those bastards had a lot of bad rumors going on in the first place.'
Even before the incident, the Pandinus guild hadn't had a good reputation. You could say that their piled-up karma exploded all at once.
"Then what about the top ten guilds of Korea?"
"Haha. The Valhalla guild has occupied the empty tenth spot, though it is in the lowest seat."
"…That's incredible; their total guild member count doesn't even exceed twenty."
"It happened like that because each and every one of their guild members has preeminent skill."
Certainly, just thinking of Park Changhyun, who he had worked with, you could say he was a very skilled individual. No words were needed for Lee Woohyuk, who was their guild leader, either.
"Has any talk about the Black Star Organization arisen from this matter?"
"Hm… No. There hasn't been any separate talk about the Black Star Organization."
It seemed that the Black Star Organization immediately cut ties and walked away.
'It's a bit unfortunate I wasn't able to dig up more information about them this time.'
Black Star Organization and Pandinus.
He couldn't find out what exchanges the two of them had, nor how close of a relationship they shared.
'Should I be satisfied with eliminating their cooperator for now?'
Ohjin clicked his tongue.
"Ah, but there is something I've heard of about the Black Star Organization that isn't related to this incident."
"Hm?"
'He heard about the Black Star Organization?'
"Though I've heard of it, it isn't from Korea but foreign lands. Recently, a group known as the Black Star Organization around Italy is said to be increasing their influence with frightening momentum."
'They weren't just regular motherfuckers but international motherfuckers?'
'Well, gathering up in this small land when they possess that amount of forces would also be idiotic.'
It wouldn't make sense for those who said they'd turn the world upside down to reside in Korea alone.
'Foreign countries… I don't have the leisure to pay attention to that right now.'
When he couldn't even extinguish the fire in his own house, it wasn't the time to be concerned about the one in his neighbor's.
"For now, please contact me once you hear of other news."
"Yes, I understand."
General Manager Han nodded his head and turned around.
"Will you head back to your house immediately?"
"Yes."
'I'll need to see if Heun is doing well.'
Though she did tell him that she knew it was what he plotted, still, ten days had passed.
"Then I'll give you a lift home."
"Oh, I would appreciate it if you did."
"Please come this way."
General Manager Han headed not for the normal patient-use elevator but for the staff-exclusive elevator.
"Why here…?"
"Reporters are all over the place outside. Don't you have to rest comfortably because you're finally getting discharged?"
Joonman smiled as he raised his thumb.
"Really, there isn't anyone but you, brother."
"Hehe~ Brother? What do you mean, hahaha!"
"Then… uncle?"
"…But I'm still in my mid-thirties."
"Pffuhaha!!!! That's the funniest joke I've heard this year."
'A man should have some conscience.'
'Cutting off over ten years? He's in his late-forties, no matter how you look at it.'
Han Joonman's expression quickly turned dark.
'Oh, shit.'
'He's actually in his mid-thirties?'
"You were in your mid-thirties?! I thought you were in the same twenties as me, brother!!"
"Ah, i-is that so?"
Hehehe—
The gorilla laughed.
'Oh my fucking god. He's actually in his mid-thirties. Does that mean he climbed up to the position of Association General Manager at that age?'
'I guess Han Joonman really does have exceptional skills.'
Though, obviously, the decisive reason was that he had recruited the Star of the Weaver Girl's apostle into the Association.
"I do hear that I look young from others here and there! Hahaha!"
The muscles of General Manager Han swelled up as he had a hearty laugh.
Pop!—
A button on his shirt popped out from his expanding chest muscles and rolled on the ground.
'Hm. I understand the feelings of the ones who said he looks young.'
"Let's get on."
"Yep."
After exiting the staff-exclusive elevator, Ohjin got into General Manager Han's car.
It was a jeep fitting of his massive build.
Vroooom!—
With smooth movements that were completely different from its owner, the car took off.
Around 40 minutes later, they arrived at his house.
"Then I'll contact you at a later date."
"Yes. You should get plenty of rest as well."
After parting from General Manager Han, Ohjin returned to his home.
Creak—
The familiar scent of mold stimulated his nose.
"I'm home~!"
He entered while greeting Heun, who he expected would be waiting inside, however…
"Huh?"
There was nothing inside his house.
It didn't mean Heun was away.
Just like the phrase, whether it was furniture or groceries, nothing was left behind.
"Wh-What?"
Ohjin looked around with a dumbfounded expression.
'Did a thief come by?'
No way.
What would there be to steal inside that run-down house?
"If it isn't a thief…"
Ohjin called Heun with a stiff face.
An ominous feeling ran down his spine.
Beep, beep—
"Damn it!"
The call didn't connect.
Ohjin bit his lips with a nervous expression.
And then—
"…Hm?"
—he could see that there was a small piece of paper in the middle of the empty room.
'What's this?'
Ohjin picked up the paper.
[Come to Hapjeong Station Exit 9 as soon as you read this.]
It was Heun's handwriting.
"Phew."
Fortunately, it didn't seem like something had happened to her well-being.
"What's this, all of a sudden?"
Ohjin furrowed his brow as he sent Heun a message.
It was definitely marked as read, but a reply didn't come.
"Argh."
He had no option but to go there himself.
"What kind of dog training is this?"
He had gone through an hour-long ride from Yeouido to back home, but now he was forced to go back to Seoul.
Letting out a deep sigh, he went outside.
There was no difficulty in going there as he luckily had the car that the Association had given him.
After going through another hour-long ride, he arrived at Hapjeong Station.
"You're here."
He could see Heun, who was waiting in front of Exit 9.
"Why didn't you answer the call?"
"Huhu. I just wanted to tease you. Why?"
Heun raised her nose with a shameless expression.
Ohjin forced a chuckle as he looked at her.
"Let's stop the small talk; follow me."
Heun pulled on his arm.
Ohjin didn't know what was going on, but…
'I guess I'll know once I follow her.'
He walked following Heun.
Where she headed was a mixed-use apartment building located near Hapjeong Station.
It seemed to be quite an expensive apartment, as there were luxurious restaurants located nearby.
"…No way."
At this point, Ohjin also had a rough estimate of what Heun was plotting.
An empty house without any furniture…
Dragging him to a luxurious apartment with some kind of pompous look…
"When you said you had something to do before—"
"Shush. Stay quiet."
Heun, who stood in front of the apartment entrance, held out her keycard.
Beep—
With an electrical sound, the door opened.
They rode up the elevator to the 7th floor.
"It isn't that high up, but…"
Smirk—
Heun smiled as she opened the front door.
"Wow."
A short exclamation flowed out of Ohjin's mouth.
The house was around 90 square meters.
It wasn't that spacious, considering that it was an expensive apartment, but when compared to their original house that wasn't even 26 square meters, the place was no different from an empty palace.
Above all, there was no mold. There were no cracks on the walls and no unidentifiable mushrooms growing out either.
"Wh-What's this?"
He looked at her with a shocked expression.
"Kyahaha! Are you surprised?"
Heun poked him in the side.
"Well… there's this that you bought me, and being the only one receiving feels a bit unsettling."
She laughed bashfully as she stroked the eye patch on her right eye.
"…Where did you get the money?"
"Didn't I tell you? I haven't been playing around for the past three months."
She shrugged her shoulders as she continued.
"And I received a hefty amount of cash from the recent subjugation… I received a bit of a loan and bought it. Those bank bastards, they wouldn't even look at me five years ago, but they seemed to be willing to lend out their entire vault this time."
Even though she put it in that way, it seemed like she overdid it.
"Well, money can be earned from now on."
Heun smiled brightly and hit Ohjin on the back.
"Anyways."
Smirk—
With a bright smile stuck on her mouth—
"This is now our home!"
—she spread her arms wide as she stood in the middle of the wide living room.
"…Heun."
Tremble—
His voice shook.
A cluster of emotions that were hard to express with words soared up from someplace deep within his heart.
Of course, he did think that they would move to a new house someday ever since he had become a North Star's apostle, but he hadn't imagined that he would obtain a new house in this way.
"Kyahaha! Do you see this amazing view? Since the Association and the sanctum are nearby, it's also much more comfortable to go around! And there are—"
"Heun! Heun! Hueeeeeeen!!!"
"Kyaaaaa!"
Snatch!—
He embraced her.
"Wh-What? What is it?"
He couldn't express the emotions that drew him crazy.
Burning passion…
Endorphins that stimulated the peripheral nerves poured out.
—He couldn't hold it in any further.
He left his body to the current of emotions that seemed to want to explode.
"O-Ohjin, wait, calm down—"
Pulling in her hips—
"Uuub?!"
—their lips overlapped.