From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 112: White Tiger Clan Pt. 4

Some time had passed.

Although people had been curious about Lee Jun-Kyeong and the survivors he had brought back from China, he gave a single strong statement and refused to elaborate on anything.

–Please don't make them suffer anymore.

Alongside his single statement, the information on the North Koreans had been kept from release.

That was it.

–The Underdog has vouched for them.

–The Association has also given their assurances.

That was the only news that had been released to the public. Other information regarding the North Korean survivors was nowhere to be found. Furthermore, since there were no differences in language or even appearance, it was impossible to tell them apart.

.

They were melding seamlessly into the world.

As a little more time passed, the people’s curiosity about the Underdog and the North Koreans gradually faded away.

–Another Special Gate appears.

The people’s anxiety had increased due to the re-emergence of the special gates, shifting their interest from the North Koreans who didn’t directly affect their lives.

“What happens if things continue like this? Will something big happen?”

“What if things return to being as chaotic as they used to be?"

All eyes were on the unstable situation at the gates.

–The Heroes have been summoned.

However, due to the Association’s quick response and the quickly disappearing special gates, the people’s anxiety began to fade away little by little.

In the meantime…

“Whew. I think I’m going to die.”

“But didn’t you get a lot of sponsorship in return?”

There was an emerging force that was clearing the gates at high speed. They had been conducting their activities under the name of a guild, but they were closer to being a party that acted as one rather than a guild.

They called themselves the White Tiger Clan.

“You’ve all done a great job, White Tiger Clan,” said the staff of the Association, who bowed to them as they emerged from clearing a gate.

They had been going at a mad pace, and their compensation had been soaring these days in contrast to the guilds who were protecting themselves.

“Oh dear, you’ve also had a hard time waiting for us like this,” said someone from White Tiger Clan as they greeted the Association staff face to face.

The Hunters of the White Tiger Clan had great personalities to match their excellent skills, so the people of the Association were quite fond of the emerging clan.

“Sir,” the oldest Hunter of the White Tiger Clan spoke again. “Let’s go to the next gate right away.”

"What?" the Association staff said, flustered.

"Don't you have a few more reservations?” the Hunter asked.

The staff hesitated and said, “That’s true, but… don’t you think you should take a little rest… you don’t have to take care of everything today…”

Although the association staff tried to assuage them anxiously, everyone stated that they didn’t need a break.

“Oh dear, don’t worry, don’t worry. We’ll only be of help to you the more we clear, won’t we? Let’s go quickly. Please lead us there.”

Shhhhh.

Then, they moved on without a break with green mana shining down onto their bodies. A Wide-Area Recovery skill had been activated.

“Village Chief, would you like to take a rest?”

Out from the midst of their group came out a beautiful woman with long black hair.

The unusual thing was that she was holding something in her arms. It resembled a puppy but also a tiger cub at the same time.

The White Tiger Clan had referred to this woman as the Village Chief.

“Sorry, what? But I seem pretty okay for now,” she replied to the Hunters.

“Let’s set off right away,” she then said to the Association staff while smiling.

There was another reason why the Association staff were fond of the White Tiger Clan.

"Yes!"

It was because she was a part of them as well.

She was like a newly-born goddess.

The Association staff even called her the Heavenly Fairy of the White Tiger Clan.

“But by the way, will we not be able to see that kid anymore?” someone asked quietly.

“The Village Chief really was cute when she had that appearance though,” the other Hunters said as they looked at Ungnyeo leading the group.

“Misters!” she screamed, embarrassed.

***

“They seem to be doing well,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said. He had constantly been moving without taking any breaks. In fact, he was in the midst of finally hunting after having pushed it off for so long.

“Grahh!!”

"You must be doing well."

He was currently within a special gate.

Although Lee Jun-Kyeong had yet to receive a title, he had already surpassed people’s perception of power and exceeded the power of a Hero. Asgard had no intention of letting him rest a little, even if he had just returned from a difficult journey.

He had immediately been assigned a special gate, so he was currently moving around in order to clear one.

“I guess so!” Jeong In-Chang shouted, wielding a greatsword.

Swish!

“That’s a relief,” Won-Hwa said as he threw silver needles.

The three were speaking after having heard the news of the White Tiger Clan.

“Hmph.”

Fenrir followed behind them with the princess.

The hunt was going smoothly.

The monster they were hunting was a chimera, which was a monster that corresponded with an S-Grade Gate. Although it was a little more difficult to deal with, considering they were in a special gate.

“Ha-a-eup!”

Fortunately, it was still a reasonable level of difficulty for them, who had experienced all the hardships on their trip to China.

[<The Prince on a White Horse> has sponsored you an increase in stats.]

[<The Great Representative of the East>] has sponsored you an increase in medicinal skills.]

They were taking this time to continue training alongside the hunting, and most of them were growing rapidly through sponsorship.

“Oh! It’s another sponsorship!” Jeong In-Chang exclaimed excitedly.

“As expected… It seems as though our interest from the Sponsors increased, most likely because we’ve been hunting at higher-leveled gates,” Won-Hwa replied.

They chattered with each other, delighted at the repeated sponsorships.

As for Lee Jun-Kyeong.

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> yawns.]

He wasn’t able to fit into their conversation.

Soon, the monsters had been cleared out, and Lee Jun-Kyeong found himself staring into the sky.

“...”

If, if only one day, he could become incredibly strong.

If one day, he would be able to unlock all of the secrets.

‘I want to hit you at least once too.’

He couldn’t forget that sharp, crisp taste of the feeling of hitting Park Jae-Hyun.

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> mocks you.]

Crack!

Lee Jun-Kyeong frowned at the even more irritating response of the cheeky bastard, and an eerie sound rang out from behind him.

It was the sound of Fenrir and the princess clearing out all of the chimeras that had been approaching them from the rear.

Woosh!

Then, a water-storm-like deluge fell from the sky and killed the remaining chimeras around them. After undergoing continuous growth, even Hyeon-Mu had reached the point where he could be said to be a useful Familiar.

It was only then that finally, his level went up.

[Your level has risen.]

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked up at the sky again.

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> points down, as if gesturing you to look at something.]

This was why.

This was why he couldn’t hate it.

***

"Whew. I'm dying over here," Jeong In-Chang said after drinking water while huffing about. After returning to Korea, he had been a little stiff due to due to the continuous days of peace, but by this point, his little stiffness had turned into a more exhausting soreness.

His days had been a steady stream of hunting. Just like before he had gone to China, Jeong In-Chang had gone back to living within the gates.

“What was the point of us getting a nice house?” he moaned.

Jeong In-Chang and Won-Hwa had also decided to stay at the luxury villa on Bukhan River when they had been introduced to it with the others.

“It’s not like we ever get a day to stay home, either,” he continued morosely.

They had been happy at the prospect of living there, but, just as he said, by this point it was rare for them to even see the villa grounds.

Alas, their “house” was but a gate, and once that gate had been cleared, they would move again to the next one. That was the pattern to their current lifestyle.

“Hmph!”

“Goongje.”

However, Fenrir and the princess seemed satisfied with their life. Surprisingly enough, Won-Hwa seemed fully satisfied as well.

“But we have hope to go back at least, right?” he asked.

Lee Jun-Kyeong laughed as he looked at Jeong In-Chang.

“Well… I’m just complaining, that’s all. I know that too,” Jeong In-Chang mumbled embarrassedly while shaking his head.

“Also, I heard that the residents of Heaven Lake Village are also working hard.”

The residents had started their own activities under the name of the White Tiger Clan, trying to become stronger as Lee Jun-Kyeong had hoped.

Life in Heaven Lake Village may have been difficult, but it hadn’t been beneficial for their growth. The reason a Hunter could be strong was through the presence of the Sponsors, but the Sponsors wouldn’t offer any sponsorship to a Hunter who didn’t meet their expectations or fulfill their desires.

Therefore, the residents’ growth had been stagnant for a long time.

‘As expected, it was a good decision to bring Ungnyeo as well.’

Ungnyeo’s presence was immense.

While Ungnyeo’s combat power itself was also powerful due to the influence of Sangun, her own specialty was something different.

It was the seal power they had already come across and…

‘Buffs.’

…the power to amplify the abilities of many Hunters and to strengthen them.

There were many Hunters who had buffing abilities, but only a few of them would be able to keep up with her effectiveness.

With her help, the residents of Heaven Lake Village—no, they should be called the White Tiger Clan now. They had been stagnant for so long, but now they were able to grow continuously. They would grow and grow, to protect themselves and their loved ones.

“Everything is going well.” Lee Jun-Kyeong replied.

The corners of his mouth went up as if he was satisfied.

“I’m sure everyone is feeling it.”

But soon, his face stiffened, and he turned to look at the two of them.

They nodded in return. They knew what he was talking about, what everyone was feeling.

“The cataclysm is beginning soon.”

The stronger the Hunter, the more sensitive they would be to mana. Furthermore, the Hunters in front of him were those who had even trained in internal qigong and mana stream.

Although Jeong In-Chang hadn’t been able to fully learn mana stream yet, his ability to use its principles had increased because he was also learning internal qigong. As for Won-Hwa, the physician had already been a master of internal qigong in the first place.

They definitely were feeling that the mana of the world was seething.

“The special gates are appearing more and more frequently,” he said.

The special gates were gates that differed from the norm, and they were constantly popping up.

The Association, Asgard, had even summoned all of the Heroes, but even though they were all working their hardest, they were beginning to reach a situation where they weren’t able to close all of the gates that were appearing.

A gate break meant the appearance of monsters, which meant that ordinary people would die indiscriminately.

“Let’s all work hard,” he finished.

Jeong In-Chang responded with a question, “Are you going somewhere?”

For some reason, it felt as though Lee Jun-Kyeong was speaking as if he was leaving.

Lee Jun-Kyeong nodded in response.

"I'm thinking of going on a short trip around the world."

“World…vacation…?”

Jeong In-Chang looked at him with suspicion as Lee Jun-Kyeong, who had been giving various warnings with a serious expression, suddenly said that he wanted to go on a trip around the world.

Of course, he knew that Lee Jun-Kyeong also deserved to rest, and that rest was important as well.

“Oh, I understand,” he said, nodding with difficulty.

Lee Jun-Kyeong knew how he was feeling, but he still only smiled in response without saying a word. He didn’t want to be misunderstood again.

After all, he had a hunch that his companion was thinking something along the lines of: He’s probably going to go see a girl.

There wasn’t any need to give Jeong In-Chang any superfluous information.

Won-Hwa just nodded as a response.

“You should begin to move alongside the White Tiger Clan after this gate. I’ll be leaving Fenrir with you as well.”

“Snort?”

“Fenrir, go and protect the White Tiger Clan. They are going to be of great help soon in what is about to happen,” Lee Jun-Kyeon explained.

“Then, let’s clear this gate first.”

Once he finished, the party stood up with their weapons held in their hands.

Although he may have said it would be a vacation, in truth, it was his responsibility and duty.

He was someone who knew the future as someone who had come from the future. Thus, this was something that he had to take responsibility for head-on.

***

A vacation around the world.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had said it was a trip around the world, but in truth, he didn’t have many places to go. He had only expressed his trip like that because in terms of distance, he really was traveling the world.

‘Use it carefully.’

Furthermore, because he had to move quickly, he had borrowed Bifrost from Yeo Seong-Gu for a short time.

‘You’ve been granted Odin’s permission. For now, that means that the entirety of Asgard will cooperate with you as much as possible.’

It normally wasn’t an easy matter to use it, but Odin had decided not to spare anything in support of Lee Jun-Kyeong.

The Bifrost.

Yeo Seong-Gu hadn’t understood what had been so great of a problem for the secret organization that they had allowed Lee Jun-Kyeong to use it.

Therefore, Lee Jun-Kyoeng explained it to him.

‘It’s because we made a deal.’

‘A deal?’

‘I gave him what he had desired the most.’

Yeo Seong-Gu seemed curious about what he had given Odin, but Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t explain it any further.

‘The man in black.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong had made a deal with the president involving information regarding the man in black.

As it was expected of him to explain the various things that had happened during his trip after returning from China, Lee Jun-Kyeong had leaked a single piece of information to Odin.

Barring the stories involving the giants and the Chinese survivors, he had spoken about the existence of the man in black.

‘Someone is making moves behind the scenes. They call him the man in black, and he was the one responsible for causing the devastation in China and for destroying the home of the Heaven Lake village residents that I brought back.’

Odin had been interested in the information.

There was another hidden entity, and that had been enough to elicit curiosity from Odin’s inquiring mind. Thus, the older man had been satisfied with the information for the time being.

‘Identify the man in black,’ ordered Odin, King of Asgard and president of the society. ‘I will spare you no support.’

That was the whole story behind how Lee Jun-Kyeong had obtained the right to use the Bifrost.

“I request entry into the Round Table.”

Moreover, at this very moment, Lee Jun-Kyeong was in England.

Shhhh.

Standing near the front of an empty alleyway, Merlin’s necklace began to emit light.

1. Korean etiquette has varying levels of respect based on hierarchy. Considering that the White Tiger Clan is a high-level Gate clearing clan of Hunters, they are of a high enough status that they could theoretically treat these low-level staff like servants. Furthermore, no one would bat an eye, especially in such a world where Hunters are like kings.

2. I didn’t mention this earlier, but in East Asia, especially Korea, long black hair is seen as a sign of beauty. For a while, prior to the inclusion of Western hairstyles, shorter hair was seen as either masculine or promiscuous.

3. A Seonnyeo, or Heavenly Fairy, is a celestial being in Eastern Mythos. As a resident of the kingdom of Heaven, they are all minor goddesses that are dressed in flowing robes with floating ribbons around them, beautiful beyond compare. The most famous Korean Myth involving them is the Fairy and the Woodcutter.

4. The term here for both stiff and sore literally means (something) poking at your bones, and is a term for muscle pain that can either come from too much rest, or too much movement.

5. I forgot to mention this earlier, but this is a recurring piece of humor that is a play on words from the Author. Jeong In-Chang has it in his head that Lee Jun-Kyeong is a player, just not the right kind of player…