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nChapter 9. The Golden Glass of Napoleon, Part II

nTranslator: Khan

nEditor: RED

n3.

nKim had several habits. One of them was to check his left wrist as soon as he opened his eyes.

nIt was still true.

n‘Ah.’

nKim Tae-hoon first checked his left-hand wrist rather than the fact that he was in the passenger seat of a car when he opened his eyes.

nOf course, his eyes always came in with a watch on his wrist, and when he saw the watch, Kim Tae-hoon was surprised.

n‘Why?’

nHe saw a smartwatch.

n‘Why?’

nKim Tae-hoon did not use a smartwatch.

nThe features of a smartwatch, with its GPS function, could not go three days without charging, had the poor waterproof function, had weak durability, and even had the possibility of being hacked, were cuffs for Kim Tae-hoon.

nBut now the smartwatch was around Kim Tae-hoon’s wrist.

nIt was hard to understand.

nBut what was really hard to understand was that Kim Tae-hoon’s body did not listen to him.

n‘My body …’

nHe tried to move his arms and hands to touch the smartwatch, but his body did not listen to him.

nRather, his body moved of its own. Instead of moving his arms, he was looking at the man approaching him through the car window that went down.

n“Boss.” The man who approached him handed a paper cup to him, and he got in the car. “It’s coffee.”

nThere was lukewarm coffee in the paper cup.

n“The only thing left was mix coffee, and of course, I took out the sugar.”

nInstead of the bright black hue, the mixed coffee had a murky brown light.

nIt was also a coffee that Kim Tae-hoon really hated. Coffee was his only hobby, so mixed coffee was an insult to his hobby.

nHowever, the mixed coffee did not come into Kim Tae-hoon’s eyes. The face of the man who handed him the coffee did.

nHe was a man with a wounded face. The three slits across his face, in particular, were obviously done by the claws of a terrible monster.

nIt was fortunate that his face was not torn right off. On the contrary, Kim Tae-hoon was still able to recognize the owner of the face.

n‘Jang Sung-hoon?’

nJang Sung-hoon was the man in front of him. Jang Sung-hoon, who was older than Kim Tae-hoon knew.

n‘Jang Sung-hoon!’

nOf course, Kim Tae-hoon tried to call his name, but he was not allowed to either.

n‘Ah.’

nAt this moment, Kim Tae-hoon had to look at everything he did as an observer.

n“You’ve made your wish known to have a cup of coffee before you die. Isn’t mixed coffee, coffee too?” Jang Sung-hoon spit out and smiled lightly.

nAt that moment, a huge wind, an intense force that shook the world, passed through Kim Tae-hoon’s car and Jang Song-hoon.

nJang Sung-hoon turned his head around with a frightened look. “Damn it, it’s already here.”

n‘What’s come?’

nAt that moment, he talked. “Jang Sung Hoon. You’ve had a hard time.”

n“Boss.”

n“You go alone to Gyeongju.”

n“Boss!”

n“I want you to meet with Commander-in-Chief Lim Hyun-joon there and deliver my message.”

nThe door of the car he was riding in opened up.

nIn the meantime, Kim Tae-hoon, looking at himself as an observer, organized what he saw and heard carefully.

n‘Gyeongju? Alone? Commander-in-Chief Lim Hyun-joon?’

nWhen the door opened, Jang Sung-hoon took a step back, and Kim Tae-hoon got out of the car.

nAt the same time, the trunk was opened by itself. Various weapons came out of the open trunk like birds, and they began to hover around Kim Tae-hoon.

nSpear, knife, arrow, headstone…

nKim Tae-hoon looked at each of the weapons and finally said to Jang Sung-hoon, “If I fail this hunt, abandon Korea.”

n“Shit, this is ridiculous! Boss, you don’t have to die! You have no reason to die! You always told me! You fought to survive! Because of those damn bastards…”

nOOOO!

nAt that moment, he heard an eerie cry that could not be compared to any animal in the world.

n“Kuck!” The cry took the focus from Jang Sung-hoon’s eyes at once. He fell down like a broken doll. Kim Tae-hoon brought him up and sat him in the driver’s seat after supporting him.

nWhen the car door was closed, the car started to run on its own.

nAt the same time, a huge shadow fell over Kim Tae-hoon’s head.

nA wind strong enough to pull out the roots of a giant tree whipped around Kim Tae-hoon. Turning into the gale, he looked up at the owner of the shadow with his eyes widening.

nKim Tae-hoon, who was watching himself, also looked at the monster.

nIt was the dragon who had passed by that night.

nA huge dragon, with glowing blue eyes filled with anger!

n4.

nClatter!

nAhn Sun-mi confirmed Kim Tae-hoon’s pupil condition, and she got up from her seat by turning off the small flash she held in her hand.

nBehind her were Bang Hyun-wook, Jang Sung-hoon, and Kim Soo-ji, waiting anxiously for Ahn Sun-mi to talk.

nAhn Sun-mi said with a firm expression, “He is sleeping.”

nThe three of them cocked their heads, rather than be surprised by the answer that came out.

n“Yes?”

n“As I said, Kim Tae-hoon is sleeping, and he is sleeping very deeply.”

n“So he is… sleeping now?” Bang Hyun-wook made a ridiculous expression even though he said the words himself. It was not a situation to spit out cute, sweet words.

n“I’m glad, though, I thought he was going to die.” However, at the word ‘sleep’, Bang Hyun-wook briefly sighed relief.

nIt was not a strange reaction. Sleep was not a negative word for the public.

nOn the other hand, Ahn Sun-mi’s expression remained firm. “It’s not lucky to fall asleep suddenly, and we don’t know when this sleep will end,” she said to the other two after clicking her tongue briefly at Bang Hyun-wook’s words.

n“It looks like he’s asleep, but I can’t make any judgments more than this, because I can’t take MRIs or CTs. He is not sleeping because of fatigue, but he ate something strange, so we don’t know how long this sleep will last.”

nIt was a very serious situation to a doctor; someone eating an unidentified liquid and falling into a sudden sleep.

n“Excuse me.” Jang Sung-hoon changed the subject. “I am suddenly curious, but when there is no boss, who’s in charge? Is it Lieutenant Kim Soo-ji?”

n“Well…” As soon as Kim Soo-ji tried to answer the question, she looked at Bang Hyun-wook.

nThe general soldiers would follow Kim Su-ji’s words, but Bang Hyun-wook’s case was a little different. Bang Hyun-wook was not a soldier, and he had no military experience.

nIn addition, the absence of Kim Tae-hoon was a situation where all preconditions were different.

nExcept for Kim Tae-hoon, Bang Hyun-wook was the only one who could fight properly against monsters that could use fear.

nSo should Kim Soo-ji give such an order to Bang Hyun-wook, or should Bang Hyun-wook move independently?

nOf course, they had never agreed on this part.

nThat’s why Jang Sung-hoon brought up his words. If they had not agreed, it was time to make the agreement.

n‘If there is no big brother, then…’ Bang Hyun-wook also fully understood the situation.

nWithout Kim Tae-hoon, Bang Hyun-wook was now the most important player. In a sense, he was in the same position as Kim Tae-hoon.

n‘Am I replacing big brother?’ At that moment, Bang Hyun-wook turned his head slightly. At the end of his gaze, he saw a flame rising far away.

nIt was the flame of the survivors who were outside of the Mac Clan area.

nThey were afraid of Kim Tae-hoon’s warning, but it was impossible for them to completely abandon the lingering attachment.

nEven if Kim Tae-hoon was scary, it could not be denied that the Mac Clan was the only lamp of hope in the present situation.

nHow could they abandon their hope? When they turned their back on the lamp, only the darkness and despair would be left.

n‘I’m his substitute.’

nIn the mind of Bang Hyun-wook, even as he looked at the survivor group, the conversation that he shared with Kim Tae-hoon came up once again.

nIn the conversation, he added the assumption that if he replaced Kim Tae-hoon.

n“Wait a minute.” Ahn Sun-mi caught the wrist of Bang Hyun-wook, who had started to worry about the survivors.

n“I’ll talk to him.” Pulling his wrist, Ahn Sun-mi led Bang Hyun-wook away.

nAhn Sun-mi stopped at a place where the other two would not hear their conversation.

n“What are you going to tell me, sister?”

nAhn Sun-mi said to Bang Hyun-wook, with a stiff face full of freckles, “Recover your senses.”

n“What?”

n“I’m telling you because the situation is important. Bang Hyun-wook, wake up. Are you going to take the survivors?”

n“Of course…”

n“I’m the opposite.” At the word of ‘the opposite’, Bang Hyun-wook closed his mouth.

nOn the other hand, Ahn Sun-mi did not stop talking.

n“I don’t think you have understood the situation yet, but who do you think was most relieved when the boss told the survivors not to come?”

nThings had changed.

nIf Kim Tae-hoon did not wake up like this, the life and death of Mac Clan will be in the hands of Bang Hyun-wook.

nBang Hyun-wook was so strong. He consumed the most monster stones next to Kim Tae-hoon, and his Energy rank, which could be said to be the most efficient in battle with monsters, was higher than Kim Tae-hoon.

nThe only problem was that…

n“The soldiers, our soldiers were the most relieved.”

nBang Hyun-wook could only fight well, but he did not know how to control the people around him.

n“Will you accept the survivors? Then who will be in the most danger? Who will be harder to protect? To be frank, you and the boss aren’t going to get tough, because fighting is the same.”

nIt was the evidence that Bang Hyun-wook had lingering doubts about the survivors just now.

n“After all, the soldiers will be in charge of the minutiae. The risk is the same. The boss and you, who always deal with strong monsters, are in great danger. But the risk won’t be greater for the survivors, because you won’t mind the survivors when you have to kill something like a Black Orc.”

nKim Tae-hoon had relentlessly rejected the survivors. Even using the threat of his murderous spirit, he did not give any sympathy to the survivors.

n“But ordinary people are different. The soldiers will fight to protect survivors from a number of monsters. What if soldiers die? Will you regret it then? Or are you sure you won’t even regret it?”

nWhat Kim Tae-hoon did was not just for himself, but to increase the possibility of the entire Mac Clan’s survival, as well as himself. Therefore, the distinction between good and evil was not important in Kim Tae-hoon’s actions.

nThe important thing was that Kim Tae-hoon’s actions were the best for Mac Clan, and if he was a member of the Mac Clan, he should follow the best course of action.

nIf you do not like it, you can leave the Mac Clan, as Kim Tae-hoon said.

nBang Hyun-wook could not respond to any of these words from Ahn Sun-mi. Of course, it did not change his mind immediately or make him agree with Ahn Sun-mi’s words.

n‘Damn it…’

nHowever, Bang Hyun-wook was more a grown child, than a young man.

nAhn Sun-mi understood Bang Hyun-wook. He was not even twenty years old yet, a freshman in a society with not even a year of social experience.

nSo Ahn Sun-mi gave him advice as a senior in life.

n“We don’t need survivors to just open their hands and take something from us. Remember, we don’t need just survivors to protect.”

nJust then, Jang Sung-hoon shouted out, “Boss!” At his cry, Ahn Sun-mi and Bang Hyun-wook turned their heads at the same time.

n‘Ah!’

nKim Tae-hoon, was now standing.

n“Big brother!” The two hurriedly approached Kim Tae-hoon.

n“Major, are you all right?”

n“Boss, are you okay?”

nKim Soo-ji and Jang Sung-hoon, who were nearby, asked his condition first.

nHowever, instead of answering, Kim Tae-hoon gave a long sigh after checking his left-hand wrist, a G-Shock watch still there.

n‘It was a dream.’ The white mist from his mouth brushed through the darkened sky. But the breath was not long.

n‘No, it wasn’t a dream. Crisis… it’s a crisis I’ll be in someday.’

nHe couldn’t afford to breathe another sigh.

n‘That’s what it meant to make me dream of a crisis, which meant that I was dreaming of the day I would die.’

n“Boss! Boss! Wake up, do I need to I slap you?” Jang Sung-hoon spoke to Kim Tae-hoon again.

nAs soon as he saw Sung-hoon’s face, Kim Tae-hoon’s feelings began to get complicated. It was the sensation of feeling for someone else instead of himself filling his heart.

nBut when he thought of the dragon, they disappeared like a mirage. All emotions disappeared, and only feeling of fear and despair began to take their place.

nAt this moment, Kim Tae-hoon was more desperate than ever.

n“I’ll ask you one thing; I’d like anyone to get me a cup of coffee, whatever it is.”

nA cup of coffee…

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