Chi-Woo was searching for the eighth recruits while running outside again when he got a message that prompted him to quickly return to the capital. After getting his bag from his house, he ran to the palace. There, he rushed through the corridors until he saw a familiar room.
Clack.
The door opened. A couple of people came out with a stretcher. It was covered with a white cloth blotted with blood everywhere. Chi-Woo stopped walking and watched as the stretcher passed by him. A thought came to his mind, but he decided to head to the room for now. When he opened the door, hot air rushed out, and a fishy smell assaulted his nose. Each of the familiar faces appeared downcast.
“…You are here,” Zelit said weakly after seeing Chi-Woo.
“The injured hero is…”
“He just passed away.”
Chi-Woo clenched the water bottle in his hands tightly. If only he had come earlier or been at the capital—such thoughts haunted him. A heavy silence followed.
“We didn’t gain any information, and there were no records left in his device,” Noel said while sighing and plopping down on the nearest seat.
“I’m sure that was how dire their situation was,” Zelit quietly retorted.
“Even the second, third, and fourth recruits didn’t recognize this person,” Noel said calmly and looked around her. “It’s the same for the sixth recruits, and although I am not part of the fifth recruits, I’m sure this person is not part of that group, either.”
“Neither have the seventh recruits seen him,” Allen Leonard added.
This meant only one thing. Noel spoke, “…Then, this person must be from the eighth recruits. He must be a recruit since the device responded to him.” The device was an exclusive property of the Celestial Realm, and the fact it responded meant this person was one of the recruits. The event they had feared occurred. Noel licked her lips.
“This is perplexing. The natives sighted him from only a few days’ travel from the capital… We have been exploring a wider range than that,” Noel said.
“I agree. The fact that this hero came here without being seen by us means…” Allen tilted his head sideways like he was having a headache.
Eshnunna spread out a large map on the table. “Could you tell us where this hero was found?”
“About here.” Noel pointed at one spot. Eshnunna’s eyes gradually dragged across the map from there. They couldn’t decipher the exact location the eighth recruits were transmitted to, but they could start from the location the hero was found and move away from the capital to determine the route he had taken… Little by little, Eshnunna’s gaze shifted, and her eyes narrowed. All surviving members of the seventh recruits and before were now at the former Salem’s capital. Each side of the capital bordered the territory of the Abyss and the Demon Empire. However, it seemed the eighth recruits were in neither of these places. They were closer to the Demon Empire, but a little below its land.
“It’s between the Demon Empire and the Alliance of Native Monsters.” Haa—Noel let out a long sigh. Chi-Woo was also disappointed. If the eight recruits were near the Abyss, he could’ve at least tried to get them through Evelyn.
“If they were making their way here from that location…I think they might have been attacked.” Noel looked up from the map.
It was no easy feat to track someone based on the trails they left if one wasn’t apt at sensing presences. The only exceptional cases were those who had species-related specialties like Nangnang, those whose class was an archer or an assassin, or those who had recovered a bit of their power as heroes. Furthermore, the direction where they now supposed the eighth recruits had landed wasn’t an area where the recruits had tread into until now; in other words, it was completely unexplored territory.
Since they didn’t know what kind of dangers could be lurking there, heroes had been reluctant to search the area. It seemed like a pointless risk to take for no reason and would put them in grave danger.
“There’s one thing that’s definite though,” Noel continued. “This eighth recruit had dragged their dying body all the way here—”
“He must have escaped or come here to request help,” Zelit finished the sentence for her.
“…It could be both,” Noel added.
“Is that a real possibility? How would they even know that we’re here?”
“They must have seen a hologram map. Laguel showed us the map before we were transmitted as well.”
“Ahh,” Ru Hiana said with her mouth open.
“We don’t have time to dilly dally here,” Noel raised her voice and said to alleviate the heavy atmosphere. “Since we have confirmed the eight recruits’ arrival, there are things we must do.”
They needed to check the eighth recruits’ mission and help them complete it. They also needed to bring the recruits safely to this place.
“We don’t know the prophecy’s intention yet…but it’s clear they have been brought there for a reason,” Noel said. And if they successfully wrapped this situation up, they would be able to gain many benefits like the seventh recruits. For now, there was one thing that was on their immediate to-do list.
“Following what Sir Choi Chi-Hyun told us,” Noel said while straining her voice, “I suggest we send a rescue team to help the eighth recruits.” When she saw the eight recruits, the first thing Noel Freya did was to gather all the recruits who had gone outside, as well as those who had gone to the fortress to use the yongmaek. Nevertheless, the capital was still quiet. They had all felt from the atmosphere that soon a great challenge would befall them, and they would need to overcome it. Thus, Noel had called a couple of people separately, including Chi-Woo, to discuss how large the rescue team that was going to be dispatched should be.
There were now about 2,000 to 3,000 recruits. They obviously couldn’t take everyone. They didn’t have the resources to do so, and success wasn’t a guarantee. They needed to prepare themselves for failure, making sure there would be enough forces left in the main base should the entire rescue team end up dead. Considering this, Noel said, “There will be many people who would volunteer themselves.”
It was a dangerous mission, but their current situation was different from before. They now had an active growth system, and everyone was eager to gain merits. Many heroes would want to seize this opportunity. Additionally, they would be moving together, and everyone was used to risking their lives.
“If we gather a group of heroes who are at least bronze level…” Zelit stated.
“Then there will be too few people,” Noel disagreed. “Even if we take everyone above iron level, it would be less than 10 percent of the recruits.”
“Is that why you also called back the people who had gone to the fortress?”
“Yes. Even if they hadn’t chosen a denomination, they would be a good support if they can use their energy.”
They narrowed down the criteria for selecting members for the rescue team somewhat. Now, the question was who would lead the team. Noel couldn’t do so because she didn’t even meet the criteria for joining the team; and if possible, they would like to choose one person from this group to do the job. This was extremely crucial. Every member of the rescue team would be a hero with exceptionally high pride in themselves. The leader of such an elite group must have the appropriate ability and reputation. ‘If Sir Chi-Hyun were here, there would have been nothing to worry about, but…’
Noel Freya scanned the three people in front of her one after another. The second, third, and fourth recruits were in a different situation compared to the fifth, sixth, and seventh recruits. The former was united under Chi-Hyun, while the latter…was a curious case. One hero did stand out from the group—‘Chichibbong.’
Noel Freya almost burst out laughing, but she managed to suppress it because people would think she was crazy if she suddenly laughed in such a serious atmosphere. In any case, Noel Freya recalled how the fifth recruits had reacted when she sought them out separately a few days ago. Originally, they had been sent to the central base from the Celestial Realm and thus should have seen Chi-Hyun as their leader. However, their stance changed after joining the later recruits. One of the seventh recruits had apparently captured their heart—and that hero was the young man sitting idly in front of her.
Despite the fact that the fifth recruits had the fewest survivors, it was certainly noteworthy that Chi-Woo was able to push back the legendary Chi-Hyun by at least a little bit and earn the fifth recruits’ trust and loyalty. Since the fifth, sixth, and seventh recruits followed Chi-Woo, and the second, third, and fourth recruits wouldn’t complain as long as she stepped forward, there wouldn’t be a problem if Chi-Woo was tasked to lead the rescue team. But…
‘What’s with him?’ Chi-Woo looked away from Noel Freya, avoiding her gaze. Noel didn’t know why, but he seemed reluctant to be the leader. ‘Since he’s a hero, fear must not be the reason… Is he simply wary? Or does he feel too pressured?’
It was hard to wrap her mind around the possibility; no matter what she believed in, he had fought a god one-on-one before. And she heard from someone else that he had also beat up a high-ranking devil and restored a World lost hundreds of years ago recently. There must be a different reason why he was reluctant to lead the rescue team despite the role having the highest potential to gain merits.
‘I should look more into this.’ A sharp glint appeared in Noel Freya’s eyes, and she said, “We’ll have to decide who’s going to lead the rescue team.” As expected, everyone’s gazes moved toward one person.
Chi-Woo blinked furiously and immediately replied with a smile, “Well, what about Mr. Ru Amuh?”
“What? Sir…you mean, me?” Everyone, including Ru Amuh, widened their eyes.
“Since Mr. Ru Amuh led the attack at the capital, I think we can trust him to do this job as well.”
A short silence followed. When Chi-Woo began to sweat, Allen Leonard nodded and spoke with a slight tone of disapproval, “…Well, if that’s your opinion...”
And like this, among the three people that Noel Freya had in mind, two expressed their intentions to give up, leaving only one candidate.
“I’m sure it’ll be all right.” Noel Freya didn’t like the outcome very much, but she didn’t openly oppose Chi-Woo’s suggestion, either. Ru Amuh was also not a bad choice. She had heard of his fame in the Celestial Realm, and he was the only one who had risen to silver rank among all the recruits. There was enough justification for him to be the leader.
Just like that, the leader of the rescue team was chosen. However, Ru Amuh was still looking at Chi-Woo like he couldn’t understand why Chi-Woo had chosen him to be the leader instead of himself.
* * *
After the meeting was over, Ru Amuh went to the temple.
–My child. You’re getting tested again.
Ru Amuh listened carefully to Shahnaz’s words with his head down.
–When you finish this work and return…you’ll probably be qualified to get promoted to gold.
Ru Amuh took a deep breath. When conversing with a god, every word uttered was of the utmost importance; since they couldn’t reveal heaven’s secrets, a god had to speak in riddles rather than plainly revealing information. As an example, Shahnaz was telling him in a roundabout way that the task he’d taken on this time wouldn’t be easy.
–However, you may reach gold rank as a result.
Ru Amuh was slightly surprised. To raise one’s rank from silver to gold, one needed to pass three promotion tests. If he successfully finished this task and returned, he had thought he would at most pass one promotion test, since he had already used up all the merits he had collected so far to reach the silver rank. However, Shahnaz suggested a way for him to pass the remaining two tests at once to raise his rank.
‘Goddess, what should I do?’
–Be acknowledged.
Shahnaz spoke clearly and continued.
–Stay by his side, assist him, and show your skills beyond his expectations.
Ru Amuh flinched.
–You must know better who I’m talking about.
True to her words, one person immediately came to his mind. He was already feeling conflicted about the conclusion of the meeting.
–Don’t forget, my child.
Shahnaz’s voice echoed in Ru Amuh’s mind.
–That apart from this matter, you’ve been given another test…
* * *
At the same time, Chi-Woo was celebrating the fact that he didn’t have to serve as the head of the rescue team. ‘Phew, what a relief.’
The only leadership experience he had was when he was a squad leader in the military. It was simply absurd for him to take command when a mistake could cost everyone’s lives.
–Hey, where are you going?
Philip showed interest when he saw Chi-Woo packing his bag.
‘You haven’t heard yet?’
–Yeah, I was getting some sleep.
‘Why do you even need to sleep? You’re a spirit.’
–Hey, don’t look down on me. Do I look like just any ordinary spirit? I’m a guardian spirit. It’ll sadden me greatly if you lump me together with those normies.
‘Fine, I’ll tell you. I’m going out to rescue people.’
–Rescue? Who?
‘The eight recruits.’
–Where are you going?
‘I don’t know. We’re following their traces for now.’ Chi-Woo pointed to one place with his index finger, indicating that he felt it was too bothersome to say more.
–Hmm.
Philip nodded; it was Chi-Woo’s decision to make.
–But what about her? Are you just going to leave her…?
Philip paused when he saw the short-haired girl quietly praying in the corner of the room. Then, after a while, he spoke again.
–…Hey, where did you say you were going?
‘South.’
Philip became quiet. The direction the girl prayed towards every day without fail coincided with the direction that Chi-Woo was heading towards. Of course, Chi-Woo might end up going in a different direction, and sometimes a coincidence was nothing more than a coincidence.
–…But.
Blink, blink. Philip looked at the glowing necklace drooping from the girl’s hand and spoke softly.
–I think you need to prepare yourself really well.