Resurrection Chapter 123 - I Don’t Know If He’s Alive

Kang Cheoljun stared expressionlessly at the mountain of concrete.

Outwardly, he appeared calm, but inwardly, he was conflicted. He had brought Kim Yitae here instead of spiriting him away, and somehow managed to defeat Yaksha, but the damage was severe. The number of injured exceeded three digits, and the number of deaths surpassed two digits.

Even that was thanks to Imae delaying the building’s collapse as much as possible. Taking advantage of that window, Kang Cheoljun, along with the special operations agents on site, entered the Grand Temple and evacuated people as best they could. Still, there wasn’t enough time to rescue everyone. The fact that the majority of the dead were civilians left an even more bitter taste in his mouth.

Kang Cheoljun shook his head, thinking what good would it do to regret the past. The rescue operation was over, and the accident site was as noisy as a construction site as the area was being cleared.

Kang Cheoljun was walking, avoiding the thudding golems, when someone grabbed his shoulder. When he turned around, a young woman with an action cam and a microphone attached to her chest was looking at him.

“You’re Mr. Kang Cheoljun, the Mugunghwa Special Ops Team Leader, right?”

“…Interim, yes. Who are you?”

“I’m Seo Sooji from Daily Hunting. I heard that you, Mr. Kang Cheoljun, the interim leader of Mugunghwa, accompanied Kim Yitae and Seo Heesoo in Dungeon 77 where they appeared. Does that mean the IAC was already aware of Kim Yitae’s Resurrection?”

From the barrage of questions, Kang Cheoljun recognized the woman as a reporter. She was ignoring the fact that reporters were forbidden from entering the accident site.

Kang Cheoljun sighed and gestured for the police officer controlling the area to come over. He was about to tell him to escort the woman out when the woman, on the verge of being dragged away, spoke urgently.

“Yoon Younghyun, the raid leader of A-Team, was also in Dungeon 77, right? Is Yoon Younghyun also acting under the IAC’s orders? Including the fact that he’s going around taking over werewolf clans right now?”

The last thing the woman said was something he didn’t know, so Kang Cheoljun turned back to her without realizing it. The woman’s face lit up and she was about to say more, but the police officer grabbed her and dragged her away from the scene. As he stared blankly at her retreating back, a familiar voice came from behind him.

“It’s true that Yoon Younghyun is swallowing up the werewolf clans. The vampire side is also unsettled. I heard the guild masters all left their posts at once. There’s a story that the Unknown guild’s headquarters was attacked.”

Kang Cheoljun turned around. A perfectly symmetrical yet harmonious face came into view, and he let out a light sigh.

“Have you decided to go around with your face completely exposed now?”

It was a fact no one knew, but the raid leader of Imaemangnyang, the famous S-rank Awakened known as the Magic King, and Kang Cheoljun had been friends since childhood. They had lost contact before the Divine Era began, but their paths crossed again when Kang Cheoljun became a special operations agent.

His real name was Do Jiheon.

The reason he went around hiding his handsome face and perfectly fine real name was largely due to his ability. He served a god who had no particular name and only called himself the Archmage, and in this god’s case, almost all of his abilities were concentrated in magic. To use proper magic, a large amount of magical power was necessary, which meant his MP had to be high.

Do Jiheon boldly devoted all his efforts to becoming stronger through magic. As a result, he became one of the few S-rank Awakened in South Korea and was called the Magic King, but physically, he was pathetically weak. This was a flaw that Yaksha also had, a dilemma commonly faced by non-combat type Awakened.

That was also why Do Jiheon hid his identity and even made all his raid members wear masks. Of course, it wasn’t just to hide his weakness. Since Awakened enjoyed more fame than celebrities, having their faces exposed would inevitably lead to many restrictions in daily life.

Especially in Do Jiheon’s case, he had several bad habits. It wouldn’t do any good for a person of his stature, an S-rank Awakened, to be known for loitering around Oleander Road looking for a one-night stand.

I’d prefer it if you kept your identity hidden in the future, if possible, Kang Cheoljun thought as he glared at Do Jiheon’s bare face. He shrugged nonchalantly at the displeased gaze.

“My Imae mask broke, and I haven’t been able to get a new one. These days, there are no Hahoe mask makers, so I have to special order it.”

“Don’t you have a spare?”

“Besides, no one knows my face anyway. Oh! That’s right. Kim Yitae does.”

“Kim Yitae does?”

“The mask happened to break right in front of him.”

Just as he was about to scold him for being so careless, Do Jiheon quickly added.

“We’d met before anyway, so I probably couldn’t have hidden it for long.”

“You’ve met before? When?”

Instead of answering, Do Jiheon gave a slick smile. Kang Cheoljun understood the meaning of that smile and furrowed his brow.

“Just how long are you going to keep doing dangerous things?”

Kang Cheoljun had told him to be careful several times before, but Do Jiheon had paid him no mind. If one were to describe the man named Do Jiheon in one word, it would be recklessness itself. He didn’t know if it was that personality of his, which easily gambled with his own life, that had made him an S-rank, but watching him from the side was endlessly precarious. But for some reason, today Do Jiheon meekly accepted Kang Cheoljun’s advice.

“I was planning on stopping my visits to Oleander Road anyway. I’m in an awkward relationship with Park Gyu because of Kim Yitae, so it’s a bit uncomfortable to go there for a while.”

“Because of Kim Yitae? Did something happen?”

“It’s nothing big. Park Gyu will probably cool down after some time. More importantly, I’ve become interested in Kim Yitae.”

At the words Do Jiheon casually let slip, Kang Cheoljun’s expression changed completely. He stared at Do Jiheon with cold eyes and warned him.

“Please, don’t you start making a fuss about having Kim Yitae too. Now that the whole world knows he has Resurrection, there’s going to be a huge uproar, and if you get involved in that, it’ll be a disaster.”

“Are you afraid I’ll throw a tantrum and demand Kim Yitae, like Yaksha did?”

“Kim Yitae has already chosen Seo Heesoo. Pestering him to reverse that decision will only make the situation worse. We need Kim Yitae.”

“Is that your thought, or the IAC’s thought?”

Kang Cheoljun was about to ask if they weren’t obviously the same, but he was lightly shocked by what Do Jiheon said next.

“If I were the IAC Chief, I think I’d just want to kill someone with an annoying ability like Resurrection.”

Kang Cheoljun was too stunned to speak. Kim Yitae was the only person with the ability of revival. He was necessary for humanity to reach the max level, yet he was talking about just killing him. He wanted to retort, asking what kind of nonsense that was, but his mind raced.

The IAC Chief, contrary to his public image, was a pessimist who was closer to despising Awakened than protecting them. He would be more likely to conclude that Kim Yitae’s revival skill would be misused, rather than envisioning a future where Kim Yitae’s Resurrection would make Seo Heesoo reach the max level and defeat the Black King.

The kind of chaos Kim Yitae’s very existence could cause was crystal clear just by looking at the current situation. Since there was no guarantee that another madman like Yaksha wouldn’t appear because of him, the IAC Chief might try to eliminate the source of trouble by just killing Kim Yitae, rather than keeping him alive to prepare for a future that hadn’t even arrived.

Looking at it coldly, Resurrection itself was an ominous ability that went against the laws of nature. Knowing that Do Jiheon’s words had a certain degree of persuasiveness, Kang Cheoljun closed his parted lips.

If the IAC Chief wanted to kill Kim Yitae, it was obvious who that mission would fall to. It would come to him, the one who had been marking Kim Yitae all this time.

Kang Cheoljun’s expression remained blank, but Do Jiheon seemed to notice that his mood had soured. He deliberately changed the subject in a light tone.

“For now, both Kim Yitae and Seo Heesoo have gone into hiding, so finding where they are would be the priority. Do you have any ideas?”

“Even if I did have an idea, I don’t see any reason to tell you.”

“If you’re going to move alone, you’ll need my help, won’t you?”

At Do Jiheon’s words, Kang Cheoljun frowned.

“I’m a public official. Do you think I’d ignore orders from my superiors?”

“You’ve already ignored them once. You brought Kim Yitae here instead of putting him in a safe place.”

Kang Cheoljun was at a loss. He didn’t know whether he should save Kim Yitae or kill him. If he wanted the former, he would have to hide his actions to some extent. In that case, he wouldn’t be able to use the IAC’s resources, so as Do Jiheon said, he would need his help.

Kang Cheoljun decided to think about Kim Yitae’s life or death later. It wasn’t as if an order to kill Kim Yitae had come down from the top right now, and as Do Jiheon said, he needed to find out his whereabouts first.

“A place I have in mind…”

Kang Cheoljun stroked his chin, lost in thought. No particular place came to mind, but he had an idea of who might know his whereabouts.

None other than Min Gongchan.

Kang Cheoljun mulled over what Do Jiheon had said earlier. If Yoon Younghyun was taking over the clans, then Min Gongchan was probably taking over the guilds. He had just decided to go find him and ask about Kim Yitae’s whereabouts when…

Beep—

Beep—

At the loud warning tone, Kang Cheoljun took out his phone. The warning tone was also ringing from Do Jiheon’s phone. As soon as they turned on their screens, a message popped up that every Awakened knew, but could never welcome.

It was a summons.

And it was a general summons, for all Awakened over the age of 20 in the entire country.