62.
Knowing Leon’s purpose put his mind at ease. He seemed to have come prepared, but he probably didn’t think that Hyeon-woo would be defeat him in the first place.
Fortunately, Hyeon-woo had yet to meet someone stronger than him since coming back.
If he included non-human beings like demons, there may be strong people like him, but they were an exception because they couldn’t come over here in the first place.
“I refuse.”
So he flatly refused without hesitation.
“Even though you can have power and wealth that are incomparable to now?”
“I don’t really need it.”
Silence fell between the two. All he could hear was the sound of Two-eyed crunching on cookies. Of course, there was no serious atmosphere. Hyeon-woo unknowingly raised his hand and slapped the back of his head.
“Eat quietly!”
The sudden action made Two-eyed’s eyes tear up and tremble. However, instead of confronting Hyeon-woo, he chose to eat more snacks. This time there was no gurgling sound.
“Well, alright. You can’t force someone who doesn’t like it.”
Leon backed off easier than expected. He wondered why he appeared here. Hyeon-woo took Su-jin and left and continued to be wary of the surroundings, but nothing in particular happened.
‘A strange person.’
He thought they would fight, but Hyeon-woo licked his lips and continued walking.
Looking at Hyeon-woo becoming smaller as he walked further and further away, Leon asked.
“How did it go?”
“I don’t know.”
The sound was coming from the air.
“Didn’t you say that you can recognize him just by meeting him?”
“That’s true, but he’s so different from the guy I know. He would have clenched his fists and attacked by now. Above all, he is not a tamer.”
“Hmm.”
Leon tapped his chin with his finger.
“Shall I go after him and keep an eye on him?”
“No, you leave. There’s no need to waste any time. Either way, we’ll see each other anyway.”
Leon turned around and walked away. When he got out of the outskirts, a prepared helicopter would be waiting for him.
“Then, that’s what will happen next.”
“Yes, the time has come for the need for the World Awakened Alliance.”
“Until now, we have not been able to properly unite because of the interests of each country. But aren’t we supposed to stick together?”
“There is no such thing. Even if a World Awakened Alliance were formed, each of them would have their own thoughts. We will never work together as closely as we think.”
“I see. Humans are always stupid.”
“Humans act like that.”
Leon responded with a smile.
***
After some time had passed, the monsters that popped out of the gate-type portal were also mostly cleaned up. They hadn’t dealt with the monsters hiding in sparsely populated places yet, but since they were looking after them diligently, it would soon be completely taken care of. However, that did not mean that there was no damage.
Because it was an unpredicted disaster, the loss of life and property was quite large. Although efforts were being made in various places to rectify it, it hadn’t been easy. In this situation, other countries began to pay attention to Korea. They were aware that the gate-type portals that suddenly opened simultaneously across the country might happen to them as well.
At least Korea was a small country and there were many Awakened people, so it was solved fairly quickly, but what if the same thing happened in the United States?
Clearly, it would be difficult to rectify. For this reason, it was decided to dispatch an investigator to Korea in exchange for support. If they knew a little bit more, they would be able to prevent what was coming in the future.
There were also new signs.
World Awakened Alliance.
Opinions were emerging to stop the action of not leaking the Awakened for the sake of their own country and to build a global alliance. The main axis was the Guardian Guild of America. It originated from Leon, the Guild Leader.
“The World Awakened Alliance is needed now.”
At that, the reporter asked.
“Haven’t we gathered together out of necessity until now, even if we didn’t have to create a worldwide alliance? Do you really need to put a name on it?”
“Yes. Do you know what it was like when we got together out of necessity? We tried to gauge each other’s strength by hiding information for the benefit of our own country. They say it was selfish. However, continuing to do so cannot preserve world peace. That’s why I want to say it boldly. The World Awakened Alliance is necessary.”
Leon said. They must support countries with relatively few Awakened people and share information with each other. They should get away from selfish attitudes and come together with a broad mind.
At first people thought that no matter how powerful the United States was, it wouldn’t happen just because they wanted to. However, the dream started becoming a reality as other countries, including South Korea, Russia, Japan, and the United Kingdom, promised to join.
Of course, everyone had hidden motives, but surface-level things seemed to be going well.
***
“Ah, I’m home!”
Hyeon-woo entered the house while singing hurrah. As a result of wandering around like crazy, Hyeon-woo completed all the tasks assigned to him. He didn’t know how many days it took him to get here. In the end, because of the excessive movement, Su-jin became a half-corpse, but now that she could rest, she’d be fine.
Because Seon-woo and Do-jin hadn’t yet returned, the house was empty. He heard that they would be back around dawn, so there was still time. As soon as Hyeon-woo returned home, he pushed the monsters in and went outside again. Next to him was Chan-young, who had also arrived a little earlier.
“Is it too late?”
He went to the nearest bakery, but it was already closed.
“Let’s try to find a hotel nearby.”
“Isn’t it time for them to rest too?”
“That’s true, but money can solve everything.”
While Chan-young was talking snobbishly, a convenience store close to Hyeon-woo entered.
“Shall we go over there?”
It was because he remembered that sliced cakes were sold at convenience stores. And the memory held true. There were two pieces of sliced cake left in the refrigerated section. But with a lot of people, that wouldn’t be enough.
After paying for the cake, Hyeon-woo ran out again. Like that, he went around several convenience stores for several hours. He finally succeeded in making a cake! Because it was a collection of sliced cakes, the sizes were different, but even if they were uneven, they were still cake!
After somehow getting the candle, it turned out to be quite cake-like.
“Have you prepared a present?”
“There is something I was going to give him at the original party.”
At that time, he couldn’t give it to his brother because Two-eyed appeared, but he thought he could give it now. He even brought out a present for his birthday, but he felt that something was missing.
“I have Christmas lights in my room.”
He didn’t know why it was in the guild room, but thanks to that, the atmosphere had brightened up a bit. And at that point, Chan-young separated. He returned to the guild to finish his work; he had a lot of paperwork to catch up on.
‘And the guild leader seems to want to have a party with his family.’
It was sweet. All that was left was to wait. With a pounding heart, Hyeon-woo sat in front of the cake and waited for his brother. How long had it been since? He felt a presence in front of the front door. It was Seon-woo.
Beep Beep.
The door opened and he heard the familiar voice of his younger brother.
“I’m back.”
Hyeon-woo delivered the words of congratulations he had prepared in advance.
“Happy birthday!”
At the same time, he quickly pressed a button to light up the Christmas lights. Seon-woo, who had just entered the entrance, saw everything, and put on a surprised expression. But after a while, he smiled broadly and went inside and stood in front of the cake.
“Hold on!”
When he lit the candle and lifted it up, a light flickered right in front of Seon-woo’s nose.
“Happy birthday~. Happy birthday. Happy birthday dear brother!”
As the song started with applause, Spotty and Kero, who were hiding in the corner, jumped out and spun around. Both were wearing clumsily pointy birthday hats.
“Wang, wangwang!”
“Kirrrk!”
Fortunately, Two-eyed was not here. He handed him a bag of snacks and put him somewhere else for a while. The cake couldn’t be eaten before the birthday party even started.
Seon-woo energetically blew out the candle.
“Happy birthday! Your birthday ended so abruptly, so I wanted to celebrate it again like this.”
“Thanks.”
The smile did not escape from Seon-woo’s lips.
“Did you prepare everything yourself?”
“I got some help from Chan-young ssi.”
Hyeon-woo laughed out loud. Actually, he wanted to invite more people and prepare a reasonable party, but everyone was too busy, so he decided to keep it simple. He thought Seon-woo would like it even more.
“Here’s a gift I got for you.”
Hyeon-woo held out a small box to Seon-woo. It was a gift chosen with Do-jin’s help.
‘I shouldn’t mention that.’
Seon-woo carefully opened the package and found a tie pin and a set of cuffs. It wasn’t a great item or a very expensive luxury item. But to Seon-woo, it was a more heartwarming gift than anything he could’ve gotten.
“Hyung.”
Because the person who prepared all of this was his Hyung.
“Wang wang!”
“Kirrrk.”
After roughly reading the atmosphere, Kero and Spotty quietly sat down on the floor.
“Then shall we eat the cake? Which one do you want to eat first? There are all types.”
“I’ll have whipped cream cake then.”
“Then I should eat it with chocolate.”
Hyeon-woo placed the cakes one by one on a previously prepared plate and handed over a fork. Even though it was a convenience store cake, it felt unbelievably delicious because the two of them ate it together.
“Thank you very much. Hyung.”
When Seon-woo again expressed his gratitude, Hyeon-woo smiled shyly.
“Of course, it was something I had to do.”
Even so, the unexpected birthday party was enjoyable.
“Let’s skip the birthday party we were supposed to do again.”
“Is that okay?”
“Unn, I’m still satisfied, and I think it would be better to donate the money to those who were affected this time rather than having another party like this again.”
Hyeon-woo covered his mouth with both hands.
‘How can it be, my brother is so kind!’
Kero, who had come closer before he knew it, was flicking his tongue, coveting the cake, but he didn’t even notice because he was so moved. When Hyeon-woo finally came his senses, the clear lick marks had already appeared on the cake.
Support on KoFi:
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Credits:
Translator: Hoshi Miya
Editor/Proofreader: Davine, YaagRabRag
HM: That’s so sweet! OMG! Leon seems to know that HW is not a tamer. How interesting.
Davine: Atleast Seon-woo got the birthday he wanted.
YRR: it took him hours to get a few slices of cake? Then it sat out for a few more hours while HW waited for his brother to get back? We all thought monsters would take someone out . . . Turns out it’ll be food poisoning🤣
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