TRPM 179

chapter 179

“Ugh… my shoulders are stiff….”

“Wait, you basically carried a whole airplane, and all you’re complaining about is stiff shoulders…?”

When I rolled my shoulders and muttered that, Rachel replied in disbelief.

She had flown straight from England to Africa on the fastest flight she could find the moment she realized Arthur’s mana had run dry.

Thanks to that, Arthur was able to recover after receiving Rachel’s mana supply, and while he did, I was resting on a temporary bench prepared by people dispatched from the Korean embassy in Egypt.

By the way, the reason embassy staff came was that, technically, I had entered Egypt illegally. They had to issue me a temporary passport and travel documents.

‘It must’ve been because Yeon Mirae or the Iron-Blood Guild contacted the embassy here. The whole process was quick.’

After all, it wasn’t like I came to Egypt with terrorist intentions. I only ended up here because I happened to rescue people.

‘And not just the Korean embassy—other embassies seem to have sent people too.’

Chloe Greenwood and her bodyguards, plus the rescue team members who had been dispatched to save the plane, all had representatives sent from their respective embassies.

Oh, and by the way…

“Excuse me, would you be available for an interview?”

When the embassy made a move, it looked like reporters had tagged along behind them. Probably a correspondent sent from a Korean broadcaster.

“Hold on a moment….”

Doing an interview itself wasn’t a problem.
In my previous life, I’d done plenty of them thanks to my title as the world’s only awakened martial arts ability user. So I knew how to handle them, and more importantly, what not to say.

“Hello? Mirae noona?”

But now, my public image was being managed by the Iron-Blood Guild, which Yeon Mirae belonged to.
So, it’d be better to ask her how to handle the interview.

I called Mirae, but—

[“…Call your mother immediately.”]
Click.

“…?”

She hung up before I could say anything.

Thinking something must’ve happened, I did as she said and called my mom.

“Hello, Mom?”
[Son! Mirae told me! She said you suddenly went to Africa—what’s going on!?]

“Uh… well, about that….”

Ah, right. I left without telling her anything, didn’t I?

As I thought about that, I checked the time on my phone.

‘… 2 a.m.…’

It was 7 p.m. in Egypt, but back home, Mom must’ve stayed awake, worried sick because I hadn’t come home.

“Sorry. I forgot you can’t make calls on a plane.”

Also, my smartphone had been stashed in subspace until just recently, so it hadn’t been able to receive any signals anyway.

I explained my situation and why I was in Egypt now.

[Haah… son. I know awakened people often come home late at night—or even in the morning. But you’re still a minor. Couldn’t you have left it to the rescue team from Europe instead of going yourself?]

She asked if it wasn’t enough to just let them handle it.

After a pause, I answered.

“Honestly? If I hadn’t gone, not only would the people on that hijacked plane be dead, but even the rescue team would’ve been wiped out.”

The hijackers were bad enough, but the real problem was the Oracle operatives who attacked afterward.

Even Arthur, the strongest among the rescue team, got taken down by their equipment. Without me, saving them would’ve been impossible.

[…I see. If that’s true, then fine.]

Mom must have sensed I was being serious, not arrogant.

It wasn’t like I’d done something bad—I’d saved lives. It would’ve been hard for her to scold me for that. Especially since, without me, those people might have been massacred.

[So, son? When are you coming back?]

“Hm? Coming back…? Well, before school starts, of course.”

Of course, if I took a plane from Egypt to Korea, I wouldn’t make it back in time for class.
But if I flew myself, I’d have more than enough time.

[Then I’ll call the school in the morning and let them know. Just rest up and come home later.]

“Huh? But…”

[You’re not going to disobey your mother, are you?]

“…No, ma’am.”

After that, Mom asked me to hand the phone to Rachel, and told her to take good care of me while I was in Egypt before ending the call.

“Yes. I’ll make sure Gunwoo gets a nice hotel, proper rest, and maybe even some sightseeing before sending him home. Even if I don’t, the elves will probably look after him.”

“…Why is everyone so eager to make me rest…?”

All I’d really done was fly across the Mediterranean after school, subdue terrorists, defeat Oracle operatives, and physically stop a plane from crashing when no one else could move because of Oracle’s equipment.

‘…Okay. I guess that does sound like a lot.’

Since nobody knew my exact limits, of course they’d tell me to rest. Especially since they probably thought I’d overexerted myself stopping that plane from crashing.

Not that I actually had.

Anyway.

I decided to turn down the reporter’s interview request.

He looked disappointed, but since I was publicly known as an Aura Master—soon to be confirmed as an Artist—he didn’t push further.

When he finally left, I thought I might as well catch up with Arthur, and asked Rachel—

“Rachel noona, where’s Arthur hyung?”

By now, his recovery should’ve been finished.

After all, Arthur was just a doll—once you supplied him with mana, he should be as good as new.
In fact, the whole “recovery time” thing was probably just to maintain his human disguise.

But Rachel gave me an awkward smile and pointed at her suitcase.

“…?”

“I did supply him with mana, but with all the mana in his body gone, his internals got wrecked. I’m going to take him apart and repair him at the hotel.”

“……”

So that device Oracle used wasn’t very effective against Aura Masters, but for Arthur, it had been devastating.

For normal people, aura and mana weren’t essential to life. But Arthur, being a doll that ran purely on mana, couldn’t survive without it.

“Is there anything I can help with…?”

“It’s fine. Even if you made a doll stronger than Arthur, no one knows him better than I do. So just rest.”

Rachel insisted she’d handle it.
Not because she doubted me, but because she genuinely wanted me to rest.

I didn’t argue.

That’s when—

“Gunwoo, are you resting well?”

Chloe Greenwood walked up to me.

As a famous actress, she’d been swarmed by reporters earlier. How did she get away?

When I glanced over to where the reporters had been—

“(Ms. Greenwood, what do you think about this incident?)”
“(Were you afraid during the ordeal? Please answer.)”
“(Is it true Han Gunwoo came all the way from Korea just to rescue you?)”

They were… talking to thin air.

A group hallucination?

‘…Ah. That woman’s doing.’

The one who’d bragged on the plane about being the youngest team leader, and never failing a bodyguard mission.

Not magic, though.

‘…A dual ability user? Illusion projection plus spirit magic? Impressive.’

Illusion projection created false images, but usually left a sense of wrongness that gave it away.

But she was covering that with water and light spirit magic, making it feel like a true illusion.

‘No wonder she calls herself an elite.’

With abilities like that, spiriting away her charge unharmed would’ve been easy.

I turned my attention back to Chloe, who had addressed me.

“I’m resting fine.”

“Good. Then, how long are you planning to stay in Egypt?”

…Originally, I’d intended to return to Korea as soon as the plane landed.

But since even Mom told me to rest, I’d probably be here for a while.

“Well, at least until tomorrow.”

“Then want to hang out with me tomorrow?”

I looked at her curiously.

Was she inviting me to visit the natural landmarks she’d originally wanted to see?

‘Not a bad idea.’

Some might think she was just trying to use me as a bodyguard, but I could tell—she genuinely wanted me to relax and enjoy the scenery.

That alone was reason enough to accept. But there was another reason, too.

‘Considering Africa’s security, it’s unsafe to leave her alone.’

Sure, her bodyguards would be with her. But remnants of the hijackers, Oracle, or even some other faction could try to kidnap her.

I doubted her guards alone could handle such a threat.
Even back on Jeju Island, without me, her guards would’ve been slaughtered and she kidnapped.

‘Besides, it’s better for me to stick with someone I know.’

Rachel was here, but she had to fix Arthur. And once Arthur was repaired, it’d be awkward to tag along with a married couple.

So, all things considered, being with Chloe made more sense.

I agreed to her proposal.

The hijacking incident ended in the early hours of the morning by Korean time.

Still, news of it spread rapidly overnight across the internet.

Articles were already being published overseas, and Korean netizens were busy translating them to figure out what had happened over the Atlantic.

Naturally, Han Gunwoo’s role became known as well….

‘Wait, the sword he used against the fighter jets isn’t the same as the one he used against the jetpack guys, right?’
‘That one sword looks kind of familiar….’

Videos of the battle—no one knew who had filmed them—were also circulating online.

And the thing people discussed most was Gunwoo’s sword….

‘That’s an Artist’s sword, isn’t it?’
‘Until now, everyone suspected it, but it was still just speculation.’
‘Looks like he’s not even trying to hide it anymore.’

And so, it was officially confirmed: Han Gunwoo was an Artist.

Korean broadcasters, realizing this, immediately began preparing a special morning program.

A special broadcast all about Artists.