Chapter 125
Chapter 125: The Hero's Funeral (1)
I rose from my seat.
In my hand was a single bamboo flask filled with cool, sloshing water.
"Omar, translate."
"Yes."
Glug glug—.
As I tipped the water in front of them, the eyes of the severely dehydrated human cattle immediately locked onto the bamboo flask.
Drip—. Drip—.
I had formed Gu Poison using the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art and placed it inside the bamboo flask.
"Want to drink?"
Goes without saying.
Their minds and souls were entirely fixed on the water inside that bamboo flask.
"Open your mouths."
The kneeling men opened their mouths like baby birds waiting for their mother.
Glug glug—.
As I trickled the Gu Poison-laced water down their throats, I embedded my commands.
"You are my slaves. You will obey Omar and me absolutely. Abandon any thought of resistance, and discard any thought of escape."
Along with the Absolute Command, the cool, life-giving water flowed down their throats.
"Haaah."
Their eyes overflowed with ecstasy.
【The human cattle are moved, exclaiming that the water tastes like a 3-star meal. +1,000 Happiness】
……So that works too.
That was more than I'd expected.
The joy these men were feeling right now—it would not be the negative feeling of having become slaves, but the sensation of their burning thirst being quenched through submission.
"Omar. Try giving them a command."
"Pardon?"
"Say anything."
Omar hesitated, then instructed,
"Bow down."
All 10 human cattle prostrated themselves immediately, pressing their foreheads to the ground.
"H-how is this—"
"Don't ask."
Omar stared at me with an utterly dumbfounded expression.
Then he spoke to me.
"Thank you. Boss."
I already knew without being told.
That I hadn't fed him the Gu Poison.
"Give me one of your belongings. I'll take it to your little sister and set her at ease."
"Are you planning to go outside?"
"Yes. As you know, you can't yet."
"I understand."
Omar smiled and pulled out a worn photograph from inside his clothes.
A family photo with him, his parents, and his little sister.
"I'll be back."
* * *
I stepped out of the poisonous herb field.
There were still many people conducting investigations, but no one could spot me with my concealment arts and Dark Moon Mask in use.
Except for one—a man pressing some large piece of equipment against the scene suddenly tilted his head while staring at his monitor.
That was the only one.
"Let's go to the hotel first."
I stopped by the hotel first.
Fortunately, I had already extended my stay for a month in advance, so there was no issue.
Just to be safe, I paid through the end of December as well.
A large sum had gone out, but I couldn't even begin to estimate how much I owned at this point, so it wasn't a burden.
I entered the room and combed through it thoroughly.
"No signs."
I had wondered if Chief Han might have come to this hotel while investigating Kim Tae-yang and Kim Bo-reum, but nothing had changed.
"Seems like they really think Nameless Hero is dead."
When I searched the news, the world was in complete uproar.
[Shocking! Nameless Hero Confirmed Dead]
[Following statements from heads of state and President Park Jae-yeol, it has been confirmed that Nameless Hero was present at the site of the French Black Market explosion.]
[Investigation into the reportedly deceased Nameless Hero continues, but it is reportedly facing difficulties as even DNA cannot be confirmed due to the powerful explosion.]
[Meanwhile, the French government saw its president personally acknowledge and apologize for Nameless Hero's death.]
[While they maintain their position that they were unaware Nameless Hero was at the scene during the rescue operation and that the explosion had nothing to do with the French government, waves of condemnation and mourning are sweeping through France.]
"Just as I thought."
Searching through more articles, there were pieces about Chief Han as well.
That she was currently at the Korean Embassy, and that the evidence she had gathered had played a decisive role in this investigation and France's acknowledgment.
The internet was flooded with condolence comments as well.
└ Nameless Hero ㅠㅠ
└ R.I.P Nameless Hero
└ Rest in peace.
└ I don't believe it. Nameless Hero is alive!
└ Let him go.
└ My deepest condolences.
└ ▶◀ My deepest condolences.
└ ▶◀ R.I.P
└ ▶◀…….
Black ribbons—condolence emoticons—filled the screen.
Comments written in Korean, English, and all manner of languages I didn't recognize.
"I'm perfectly fine, though."
I washed up and changed clothes while thinking.
"Nameless Hero's death. Maybe leaving things this way is fine?"
I turned it over in my mind—whether it would be more convenient to keep Nameless Hero declared dead, or to bring him back.
Even without Nameless Hero, there were still the identities of Kim Tae-yang and Ghost.
The Nameless Hero identity had its conveniences, but declaring him dead had one very clear advantage.
Me—the one who had introduced myself as Nameless Hero's disciple.
It seemed like I could quietly bury Kim Tae-yang along with him.
Honestly, this was something I'd been mulling over for quite a while.
There were ties I'd built with Chief Han and Gukmubon under the name Nameless Hero, but I was also a little disappointed, and having seen the French Black Market incident, I was starting to think perhaps I didn't need to go through Gukmubon at all.
Operating in the shadows under the Ghost identity to leak and distribute information, and scaling Kim Tae-yang down to an ordinary person who sells Bungeoppang and chocolates.
"Should I finally introduce Ghost now?"
I left the hotel and headed toward Min-jeong's house, where Bo-reum was staying.
* * *
"What's with you? Not a word for days."
"I was a bit busy."
Bo-reum was alone at the house.
She looked like she'd been well taken care of by Min-jeong's mother—her complexion was good and her nails had a healthy sheen to them.
She said Min-jeong's mother had gone grocery shopping, and that Min-jeong was continuing her classes at the École de Cuisine.
A special admission into a one-year program—which she'd already agreed to shorten further, so it wouldn't be long before she received her certificate.
An unprecedented result in the history of École de Cuisine, apparently.
They said Michel Renaud had used his influence.
I handed White Night over to Bo-reum and scolded her.
"Look after White Night properly! This one was wandering around outside."
"Oh my! White Night!"
Bo-reum pulled White Night into a tight embrace.
"Where did you go? Hiing—. Do you know how much I searched for you after you disappeared without a word? I even filed a police report!"
On the way to Min-jeong's place I'd seen posters on the street offering a reward for White Night.
"If you lose it again, next time I'm really taking it with me! If you're the owner, you have to take responsibility."
"Hiing. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, White Night……."
【Bo-reum lets out a sigh of relief at the return of 'The Renowned Dog White Night'. +300 Happiness】
Bo-reum was genuinely sorry, enough to burst into tears.
Somehow it seemed like she was welcoming White Night more than me.
Apparently she'd filed a missing report with the police, but because of the unprecedented situation of Nameless Hero's death, the police hadn't even launched an investigation.
She must have grown quite attached in the meantime.
My apologies.
White Night seemed happy to see Bo-reum again too, wagging it tail.
Bo-reum immediately pulled a good cut of raw meat from the fridge, chopped it up, and fed it to White Night.
Chomp chomp chomp—.
"White Night, were you hungry? There, there. Where were you playing? Your fur and paws are covered in dirt."
She took out her phone and started filming White Night.
"To celebrate us meeting again, I have to put this on my NuTube channel."
Thwap.
I grabbed her phone.
"Hey, what are you doing."
"Don't film White Night."
"Why can't I film it?"
Bo-reum might not know, but someone with a sharp eye might notice that White Night resembled White Night Black Wolf.
Besides, I'd heard her channel had over 100,000 subscribers—there was no reason to take that risk.
"White Night doesn't like it."
"What?"
"Right, White Night?"
"Woof!"
"See?"
"Oh please!"
She raised her phone again.
Wink.
I gave White Night a subtle signal.
Thwap.
White Night raised it cute front paw and lowered her phone.
"Oh, White Night."
The genius wolf shook it head side to side.
"It really doesn't like it, does it."
Bo-reum tucked her phone into her pocket.
"Alright. Let's just play without filming."
"Wise choice, Bo-reum-parte."
"Then can I at least film Oppa?"
"No!"
"Just once. The comment response is surprisingly good, you know."
"You've gone mad for view counts."
"Isn't it an honor? I've blown up and I'm at 200,000 subscribers now."
……Already?
"It's thanks to you, Oppa."
Hm?
Apparently, a video Bo-reum had filmed during a vlog where she ran into me on the street and shouted ‘Shit!’ had gone viral.
Under the title ‘What if you run into your real Oppa while on a Paris trip?’, it had gone massively viral and built a cult follower.
It made sense now why Chief Han and Im Ye-rin had come looking after seeing the video.
"Did I say you could upload that?"
"That's on me. Want me to take it down now?"
"If I said take it down, would you?"
"……."
She didn't answer.
I knew she wouldn't.
"Anyway, Oppa, you're pretty famous."
"What are you talking about?"
"Comments are calling you the Handsome Bungeoppang Guy."
"Ah."
My heart nearly stopped for a second.
"I actually thought you might be bothered by it, so I put a mosaic filter over you in the next video. Don't worry."
Now what was this?
"After blowing up, I filmed Min-jeong's chocolate competition and uploaded it. That's basically a drama! I got Min-jeong's consent, and I put mosaics over you and everyone else."
"Well, look at that."
"I must have been chosen by the algorithm gods, because those videos already have over a million views! At this rate, I might hit 300,000 before the year's out?"
At this level, it was genuinely a matter of talent.
"This is a problem."
"Why?"
"Just let me see it once."
"Don't look! Don't look, I said!"
I picked up her phone, opened NuTube, and searched École de Cuisine chocolate.
Bo-reum squirmed and tried to grab the phone from my hands, but there was no chance.
Then the NuTube channel she'd been hiding from me this whole time appeared.
[Bo-reum TV: 250,000 Subscribers]
"250,000?"
"It was still 230,000 as of this morning."
Bo-reum's videos had explosive view counts, to put it mildly.
The 3 separate videos had each surpassed 800,000 views, and the video of me clapping had exceeded 1,000,000.
She'd placed a mosaic filter over me just as she'd said, but anyone who'd seen that viral video would clearly be able to recognize that I, the one who'd made a memorable clap in it, was the lead figure here.
"Haah. Take it down."
"……Okay."
Oh?
Bo-reum agreed to take it down without a second word.
What's gotten into her.
While she was operating her phone, the channel name description caught my eye.
[Sparkling! This is Bo-reum's channel, shining again today in the light of the sun :)]
"……."
My chest suddenly tightened.
【Kim Tae-yang smiles quietly, thinking, ‘My little sister has really grown up’ +100 Happiness】
Grab.
I took hold of Bo-reum's phone.
"Why? I'm taking it down right now."
"Leave it."
"Huh?"
"Leave it. I'll let it slide just this once."
"Really?"
She broke into a wide smile.
"Don't film White Night. That's a warning."
"Of course. Aye aye, sir!"
It struck me that stopping her from filming White Night had been a stroke of luck.
‘Good work. Our Japan Branch Manager.’
I got up from my seat.
"Take good care of White Night. I'm going."
"Where are you off to again?"
"I'm busy. And Kim Bo-reum."
"……What?"
"Someone says you've really grown up."
"What are you on about?"
"They say thank you for growing up well."
"What a thing to say. Are you coming back for dinner?"
"No."
I closed the door and left.
【Kim Tae-yang asks, ‘I didn't say thank you, did I?’ +1 Happiness】
‘You little—.’
I know, even without saying it.
【Kim Tae-yang quietly murmurs, ‘Thank you…….’ +100 Happiness】
* * *
Omar's little sister was admitted to a police hospital in Paris.
"In name only—this is basically a prison."
The security and surveillance were intense.
"Chief Han is truly remarkable."
I had my Dark Moon Mask plus exceptional concealment arts, so infiltrating was no great difficulty, but the fact that Chief Han had come inside this hospital and obtained a facial composite still astonished me whenever I thought about it.
"I should compliment her."
I entered the hospital room.
Omar's little sister stood at the window with an IV line in her arm, staring blankly outside.
I thought about approaching and saying something, but stopped.
I wasn't certain the language would get through, and I worried about what might be caught on the CCTV in the hospital room.
Instead, thinking it would be good to give Omar one piece of proof that his sister was safe, I looked around.
‘That will do.’
I picked up a memo she had written something on.
Then, I placed the photo Omar had given me on the pillow beside her bed.
On the back, Omar had written a short note in Arabic.
I had actually thought of translating it on my smartphone before coming here, but it felt too intrusive, so I'd left it as is—and through the message that immediately appeared, I could infer the contents.
【Omar's little sister murmurs, ‘I'll be waiting to meet you soon too, Oppa’. +10,000 Happiness】
……So that's what it said.
That guy.
* * *
[In Front of the Republic of Korea Embassy in France]
Night had fallen.
The police presence around the embassy was still heavy.
Noticeably fewer in number than when I'd checked the news a few days ago, but even so, over 100 officers were still stationed around the embassy for surveillance and—effectively—containment.
On top of that, surrounding the barricades the police had erected, what appeared to be at least several hundred Paris citizens and Korean expatriates had gathered.
Each of them holding signs and shouting.
"Bring Nameless Hero back! Bring him back!"
……Bitter.
I considered climbing the wall to go meet Chief Han.
"Forget it. I don't have anything particular to say."
Just as I was turning away—
Whoosh!
Sensing something approaching with a strange instinct, I grabbed a wrist.
A woman in a hoodie.
"Ow!"
It was Im Ye-rin.