Declaration of Extra Strike

A white limousine passed leisurely on the road wide open between the controlled cars. Seong San-ha looked out the window with an insensitive expression inside the car body that was not shaking the slightest bit. 

Long, light-colored eyelashes fluttered slowly and scanned the rapidly passing scenery.

Seong San-ha’s deputy, Lee Cho, who was sitting across from him, looked anxiously at Seong San-ha, who seemed to be in a low mood today, and then lowered his gaze again to the tablet. The hand that was quickly handing over new reports arriving one after another stopped at one. On the screen, there were pictures of countless stars stuck in the black night sky.

“Excuse me, San-ha nim.”

“Why?”

“It’s a Zodiac problem.”

Seong San-ha, who had been acting indifferently so far, turned his eyes. 

When Lee Cho pulled the picture up, a holographic round celestial sphere came up between the two.

“At present, Mauna Kea Observatory is the only place where you can accurately observe celestial bodies from the system aura. According to the number of people coming and going, only our Cheon Rang and a small number of overseas guilds have yet to notice the connection between the 12-star seat and the S-class awakening.”

Seong San-ha reached out to the screen. The celestial sphere spun half a turn along the white-gloved hand. Seong San-ha, who quickly scanned the celestial body, murmured.

“Nonsense. One more down.”

Unlike Seong San-ha, Lee Cho, who cannot read the celestial sphere, nodded as he looked down at the brief report that came with him.

“Yes. Starting with Sadalmelik, Algedi[/tnote], Antares lost their light, and in this report Aditya Singh of India died, losing its light to Akubens. Except for the abnormal Hamal and Castor, there are six alpha stars left.”

“Have you found a counterpart to the other stars yet?”

“We are sending guild members to each place to find the awakeners who respond to them as much as possible……. There is a strong tendency in each country to cover up the deaths of the top awakeners.”

“You’ll have to hurry. You never know when the light of Hamal and Castor will be extinguished.”

Seong San-ha looked at the flickering stars within the celestial body that looked as if they were going to go out at any moment, and blurted out his words.

“Yes. I will instruct you to speed up a little more.”

The hologram disappeared when Lee Cho turned the screen. At the same time, Seong San-ha also stretched again as if he had lost interest, and only his hands were casually raised. The sight of golden runes wrapped around the fingertips was so mysterious that anyone who saw it for the first time could not take their eyes off, but it was not the case for Lee Cho, who had been seeing it for years. He continued to report without looking.

“All three of the sudden gates were cleared within the estimated time. Among them, grade B has settled down and remains our regular dungeon. However, there are fewer Ma Jeong-seok or acquisition by-products than expected, so we plan to enter again as soon as the gate opens. “

“Which team is in charge of this?”

“Hunter Kim Yeo-jin as the leader…….”

“Oh, he took the trainees with him. It’s hard. Please put the support team on them.”

“Yes.”

Lee Cho, who was roughly contacting his subordinates, asked in a high voice whether he was worried about his superior’s atmosphere.

“What if your expression is so dark on an important day? Do you want to be controversial as soon as you reveal your identity?”

“What’s wrong with my expression?”

“If anyone gets caught, I’ll die,” he said. It’s like a dealer, not a healer.”

“It’s not exactly wrong, is it?”

Seong San-ha finally smiled and looked out of the window at Lee Cho’s exaggerated words.

Lee Cho, who looked at the tablet when the alarm rang, frowned.

“This…”

“What’s going on?”

“Even though we blocked it as much as possible, the rumors have already leaked, and reporters have already spread around the press conference building. Saying let us in, it’s Seong Hwa…….”

“It’s an honor… Any other route?”

“Fortunately, there is a teleport connected, so I think we can go there.”

Telling the driver to turn, Lee Cho sat down again and said.

“The press conference will focus on Mystic’s identity as we have discussed in advance. Reporters are appointed to ask questions, so the guild leader only needs to read the prepared script. You can’t say anything as strange as last time.”

“I don’t remember saying strange words. What’s wrong with being honest or being kind? Or both?”

“Guild Leader! It’s never going to work this time!”

“Yea, yea.”

In the end, Lee Cho continued to talk only after Seong San-ha waved his hand as if he was annoyed.

“The emphasis keywords selected by the public relations team are heaven and earth, dedication, and patriotism…….”

“Dedication? Why don’t you just say appearance?”

In spite of Seong San-ha’s ridicule, Lee Cho persisted in speaking.

“Also a series of…… requested to refrain from commenting on the Nox incident. After the press conference, we plan to reject all requests for interviews and then catch public opinion. Even within the public relations team, we are looking for suitable media outlets.”

Bringing up the topic of Nox, Lee Cho unconsciously looked at his superior. Sure enough, the sunken Seong San-ha asked helplessly.

“Have you still not found Tae Je-heon’s whereabouts? … … Like our will.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you the answer you wanted, but both of them are vague. Oh, but there is this one. Regarding Kang Eui-jin…… It might be good news? Eh, I just have one piece of news.”

“What. Don’t be shy and tell me.”

As soon as he mentioned the name of Kang Eui-jin, Seong San-ha’s attitude came back to life and urged Lee Cho as if he had been exhausted until now. Lee Cho hurriedly searched for something on the tablet and muttered.

“It’s a guide you look at that time.”

“Guide? Oh, that imposter.”

“You look so disappointed.”

“Don’t put the name of Kang Eui-jin on something like that.”

“Hey, aren’t you interested?”

“I’m tired now. Just roughly identify the location and send someone to collect the item if there is nothing unusual.”

Lee Cho smiled and turned the tablet to show the screen at the sight of Seong San-ha, who quickly lost interest.

“Well, there are no items to retrieve.”

“……what?”

“That day, I ran into the guild leader. There is no background, and the face is not an item, but really.”

Seong San-ha raised himself as if he could not believe the profile of one person on the tablet.

“This is……”

“His name is Joo Ho-hyun. A C-level guide and currently in the Seoul branch team Raven. What’s unique is that he’s been friends with “S-class Awakener Ryu Su-yoon” since he was a freshman.”

“Wait, if it’s Ryu Su-yoon…….”

“Yes. That’s right. An awakened man suspected to be Hamal. While Hamal survived, Ryu Su-yoon died and was excluded from the nomination……. Oh.”

Seong San-ha, who took the tablet like it was his, kindly expanded the picture that he would be most interested in. Seong San-ha murmured in disbelief.

“No way. No one can be so alike.”

“You wouldn’t have known because you were in the center. I don’t know if it’s Hunter, but if it’s a center team, there’s no need to be outside.”

“He looks like this, but there’s no rumor? It’s an item. Height, shoulders, and waist size received in the report are the same…….”

Lee Cho took the tablet back with a grimace at the sight of Seong San-ha, who measured and drew it by hand as if there was Kang Eui-jin in front of him.

“Don’t say such a thing anywhere. Please! If it becomes known that the head of the Cheon Rang Guild is a big fan of Kang Eui-jin……. Just the thought of it gives me goosebumps.”

People who admire Seong San-ha as the god of the sun and the incarnation of charity should see that. Seong San-ha, who did not lift an eye despite the reproach in his eyes, made a dignified expression as if there was no fault.

“If you know, find Kang Eui-jin then.”

“The team is trying. Anyway, Joo Ho-hyun is sure of his identity and he didn’t deceive his face. There’s something else that’s the outlier. Recently, he is suffering from memory loss due to an incident inside the Seoul Center.”

“There’s even bullying in the team. It hasn’t been revealed to the surface yet, but he fainted due to the Guiding Robbery…….”

“I’m not interested in such things……… What?”

“Yes, I understand.”

Seong San-ha stopped Lee Cho’s hand that was trying to cover the tablet.

“Tell me in detail.”

“You said you weren’t interested though?”

“What does that mean, Guiding Robbery?”

“It’s literally true. Esper forcibly took the guiding from the Guide. As for guiding, there have been so many incidents since long ago, so the case of Guiding Robbery is a serious crime. I haven’t found any more information about the team. It’s as if they were trying to shush and cover it.”

“……what’s the status?”

“Who, Joo Ho-hyun? I think he’ll be okay. If something happened, I would have heard the information……are you worried?”

“Worried? For that guy?”

Seong San-ha, who recalled Joo Ho-hyun, whom he met at the center, laughed crookedly.

“No way. If anything happens, the investigation will be disrupted. That’s all.”

“There’s nothing to investigate. I’m sure he’s identified……. Here, it says the hospital you were born in.”

Lee Cho, who was grumbling, looked out the window and opened his mouth slightly.

“Already almost there. After today’s press conference, you should meet Chairman Seong and visit Jeon Ju Gate after that. Seung-hoon ah! Turn right!”

Seong San-ha, who was sitting behind Lee Cho, who was hurriedly directing his direction to the driver, opened his mouth.

“Set a date to revisit the Seoul Center soon.”

“What…?”

At the sudden order, Lee Cho raised his head puzzled.

“Are you going to meet Joo Ho-hyun?” However, after today’s press conference, I’m really busy, so I don’t have time to visit the center…….”

“No, that Esper.”

Lee Cho sighed and opened his mouth.  Seong San-ha murmured when he lowered his eyes.

“It’s a piggyback.”

‘Which part?’ The question was all the way to his throat, but Lee Cho wisely chose to close his mouth.

“……I’ll try to make the most of the time.”