Chapter 198
“Is it tomorrow?”
“They said there’s no change in the schedule. I called the Association three times today just to be sure.”
“Then, why is it so quiet?”
For the last few days, the South Korean reporters had been filled with anxiety.
It had been eight years since the National Treasure candidate exam had last been held in South Korea. Tomorrow marked the end of this dry spell, and the one responsible, the one challenging for the status of National Treasure candidate, was a sixteen-year-old minor with striking features and an even more striking background: he was none other than the Yaksha’s final son, Kang Jae-Hyeok.
Since the announcement of the exam ten days ago, the name “Kang Jae-Hyeok” had swept over Korea like a storm. The level of buzz was to the point that more and more media outlets had ignored the Association’s pressure and begun releasing segments on Jae-Hyeok every day.
However, the reporters wanted more. Scouring old news articles and writing speculative pieces was no longer enough. They wanted Jae-Hyeok in the flesh. But the boy’s whereabouts remained a mystery—he was last seen at Guardian’s headquarters, but that was already many days ago.
“Guildmaster Park Chang-Cheon said Kang Jae-Hyeok is inside a gate, but we’ve found no record of him visiting a checkpoint. And... ”
Having checked the public gate records and finding nothing, the reporters had thought that Jae-Hyeok was using a private gate. But after hounding the Association for an answer, the response they’d gotten was something no one had expected.
Another reporter in his mid-twenties shook his head. “And the Kang family has no private gates, yeah. It’s disgusting. They took everything except the house—do they even have the right to do that? This is one of the three ducal families we’re talking about. I always figured the government was looking after them.”
Similar conversations were taking place all across South Korea, especially among the younger generations, who’d grown up hearing the Kang family constantly criticized and rebuked in the news. The more facts that came to light, the less black and white the Kang family’s plight seemed. Even if they weren’t favorable toward the Kang family, many people were now questioning the government and the Association’s treatment of them, and this softening stance was thanks in large part to Jae-Hyeok.
Beautiful, talented, and with a tragic past as well as meritous achievements at Lion’s Castle—Kang Jae-Hyeok had the makings of a storybook hero. And as such, the public had singled him out as the tip of the spear for Korea's future glory.