Disciple of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 249

“Thank you for your help.”

A heartfelt thank you.

Not only that, her face was flushed red.

“We wanted to see you!”

She said again.

“You’re really Lee Rowoon.”

She wiped her awkward hand and composed herself, speaking.

“Do you know me?”

At Lee Rowoon’s question.

“How could I not!”

She shouted loudly.

“Ah, excuse me. My name is An Sara.”

Her name was An Sara.

“Though I’m not much… I’m leading the resistance in Zamboanga.”

Indeed, she exuded the power of an extraordinary Player. [A Player is someone who has gained special abilities after the world changed.]

She seemed to be at least a Ranker. [A Ranker is a Player who has achieved a high level of power and recognition.]

“It would be a lie if our resistance didn’t know about Lee Rowoon.”

“……?”

“We’ve heard many stories about you.”

It was Lee Shinwoo who spoke then.

“There’s a community among the resistance.”

A community for the resistance forces operating within Eun’s territory. [Eun is the name of the invading force.]

It was a place where they shared information and found like-minded individuals.

“You’ve been famous there for a while.”

Why?

He was neither a resistance member nor anything else.

“You don’t give up.”

An Sara said.

“You’re relentless.”

What she was talking about now was the past.

“Dank was a great inspiration to the resistance. He showed that it was possible to coexist with the Murim, even without being hostile to them.”

Dank, Lee Rowoon.

Back then, he was relentless.

There were many dangerous situations, but he remained neutral, not siding with anyone.

That made both Players and Murim feel a lot. [Murim refers to martial arts practitioners from another world.]

To be immersed in something.

To be true to the essence.

There was something beyond understanding and language.

“Actually, when we heard that Lee Rowoon had betrayed Dank and was imprisoned in the volcanic corpse disposal site….”

An Sara said.

“I thought there was no hope.”

They were exhausted.

Something they had relied on had collapsed.

“But when I heard you had returned….”

When what had collapsed regained its form.

“I was able to stand again.”

They gained courage.

After Lee Rowoon’s imprisonment, the resistance activities, which had been stagnant, became active again.

Not just here.

Many resistance activities were being detected within Eun’s territory.

Knowing that.

“You are hope.”

Lee Shinwoo smiled.

“Trying to resist isn’t always the answer.”

Provocation only leads to more provocation.

It could create a sense of rejection.

But Lee Rowoon did not resist the world.

He was just being true to himself.

That was also a form of resistance.

His endless efforts within the limitations of being a Player and a resident of Earth.

Unlike the large guilds or other high-rankers who grew with Eun’s sponsorship, Lee Rowoon, who had almost reached high-ranker status solely through his own power, reminded them that Players and residents of Earth were not losers.

“Let’s stop talking about this.”

Lee Shinwoo mediated.

“I showed you an unsightly side.”

An Sara also nodded, looking embarrassed.

She was just too surprised by Lee Rowoon’s appearance.

She was the one who was most aware of the seriousness of the situation.

The great disaster that had occurred in her area of activity.

“We have information about the enemy forces.”

Lee Shinwoo said to An Sara.

“I’ll give it to you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And I’ll also provide the enemy’s supplies and hideouts.”

“Ah…!”

An Sara’s face brightened.

“Will that be enough?”

“It’s, it’s more than enough!”

An Sara said.

In this battle, most of Eun’s forces stationed in Zamboanga were annihilated.

The problem was that many resistance members and civilians were also included in that.

The biggest problem was.

‘Gates.’

The gates that appeared at any time.

The Philippine association and government were practically in a state of collapse.

Because it was made up of thousands of islands, the influence of Players and the association was minimal, and the gates that opened in the meantime caused a chain reaction, pouring out monsters.

It was no exaggeration to say that more than half of the Philippines had already become a world of monsters, and the rest could become like that at any time.

The biggest problem was protecting.

Protecting the civilians, protecting their country.

If they had what the enemy forces had.

If they had what the lost sects had.

“At least until the association gives aid, we can hold out.”

They could hold out.

“Waiting for the association’s aid?”

Lee Rowoon said, as if he didn’t understand.

They were the resistance.

Then they should be rejecting Eun, yet they were waiting for them.

“Because it’s reality.”

An Sara said.

“What we want is a life without discrimination, not death. There are still not enough Players, and the monsters are powerful.”

From the Murim’s point of view, monsters were targets to be hunted, but for Players, it was a war where they had to fight for their lives.

“What we want is….”

An Sara said.

“To coexist together, not the destruction of Eun.”

Certainly.

“They’re different.”

They were completely different from the enemy forces.

* * *

-Though I’m not much.

Thump!

-I’ll help you with transportation.

Lee Shinwoo and Lee Rowoon were traveling in a car provided by An Sara’s consideration.

Looking at Lee Rowoon, who was gazing out the window with drowsy eyes, Lee Shinwoo said.

“Are you worried?”

“I don’t understand it.”

Lee Rowoon’s answer was immediate.

“Calling themselves the resistance, yet waiting for the association’s help.”

He was Dank’s Lee Rowoon, but even then, he couldn’t be called a resistance fighter or a righteous soldier.

An Sara had said.

-You were hope.

But.

“You know that’s not what it was, right, hyung?” [Hyung is a Korean term used by a male to refer to an older brother or a close older male friend.]

He didn’t do it to become hope.

“I was just trying to survive.”

He knew that if he didn’t have power, he couldn’t do anything, so he just tried his best.

Not siding with anyone was because he thought that the Murim, the residents of Earth, were all the same to Lee Rowoon.

‘There is discrimination even among humans.’

He had seen it countless times in the orphanage.

Even in that hell, humans were desperately trying to look down on each other or establish a hierarchy.

And when they established a hierarchy.

-Go get me water.

They acted like they were the masters.

That was humanity.

Looking at history, it was the same.

-War.

They expanded their territory and spread their ideologies through war.

Winners and losers were divided, and the winners had all the rights.

They had already experienced it among themselves.

What would be different just because the target was an alien, or rather, an invading world?

He was just disappointed, and he just didn’t expect anything.

He just wanted to protect those around him.

And.

“No matter what your intentions were, that image became hope.”

Lee Shinwoo said.

“Actually, with the invasion of the world, the appearance of gates, and monsters, people felt endless despair.”

Even before they were dominated.

“Those things that humans couldn’t do anything about. Their own powerlessness. Who would have thought that they, who had been boasting as the top predators, would become prey, waiting for the day they would be hunted?”

Players were born.

But even that didn’t apply to everyone, and not all Players had the immense power to fight against monsters.

“They conformed.”

People conformed.

That this was reality.

“They accepted it.”

They accepted that they were prey, not hunters.

And so they were dominated.

So.

“You were hope.”

Lee Shinwoo said.

“You made us realize that we are not weak, that we can do it. You made us ignite our will.”

Lee Rowoon had even fought with the Murim.

“You didn’t discriminate against anyone. You didn’t discriminate against or pity the residents of Earth like the Murim did. You didn’t think that the Murim were superior to us like the residents of Earth did.”

Also.

“You didn’t think that ordinary people were failures who hadn’t evolved, like the enemy forces or some Players did.”

It wasn’t something that had to be said.

There were things that could be felt through actions.

Lee Rowoon’s actions looked like that.

And Lee Shinwoo made it look like that.

“So you are hope.”

“Shut your mouth. It’s cringey.”

Lee Shinwoo laughed.

“But.”

Lee Rowoon said.

“Hyung’s way is just being slowly dominated in the end.”

His head leaned against the window.

“It’s just making them realize the opponent’s power slowly, very slowly, after trying everything they can.”

What Lee Shinwoo truly wanted.

That was resistance.

To fight.

Not to give up and be defeated without doing anything, but to fight and accept the result.

“It will be the same in the end.”

The conclusion wouldn’t be different.

“To be dominated by Eun.”

Even An Sara was like that.

Calling themselves the resistance, yet they were waiting for the association’s help.

“I am….”

Lee Shinwoo said.

“A flawed person.”

Since childhood.

Since that time in the orphanage.

It was something he always felt.

“All I can do is make it so that we can at least try to fight. At least to resist without crossing the line.”

That was all.

“That doesn’t mean Kwon Cheol is right.”

It was different from waging war with force.

Death and blood.

There was no noble sacrifice or meaning in it.

Only the primitive act of dividing ranks existed.

“So….”

He stepped on the accelerator.

“I was waiting for you.”

The person Lee Shinwoo always acknowledged.

A person who was far superior to him, a person who did what he couldn’t do.

Hope.

Lee Rowoon was hope to many people.

Lee Shinwoo made Lee Rowoon look like that.

But the reason that was possible was.

‘Because you are my hope.’

It was because Lee Shinwoo actually thought of Lee Rowoon as hope.

And finally.

“Thank you.”

Lee Rowoon moved.

Now the world would have to wait.

For hope.

For a spark.

Even if the result was everything being reduced to ashes in the fire.

This was the only thing Lee Shinwoo could think of.

* * *

Davao, Philippines.

A city in the Philippines a little away from Zamboanga.

Even among the many areas of the Philippines that had become wastelands due to the gate break, it was maintaining its safety.

[Yusan Sect]

Because a fairly large mid-sized sect was located there. [Sect refers to a martial arts school or clan.]

The Yusan Sect was a secular sect of the Jeomchang, located in the Philippines, and it had absorbed Players to become a huge force.

“Zamboanga has been attacked by the enemy forces!”

They were now deeply immersed in a sense of defeat.

“Again…!”

“The Blood Han Sect and thirty other sects have been annihilated….”

The report was shocking and devastating.

“Six other areas have also been destroyed by the enemy forces!”

Clang!

In the end, unable to contain his anger, the one who broke the desk was the head of the Yusan Sect, Yoo Shin-haeng.

“How many….”

He said, spitting out the words.

“How many died?”

“Thirty-some sects….”

“Not them.”

Yoo Shin-haeng said.

“How many civilians died?”

“It seems to be over a hundred thousand.”

Thud.

A vein popped out on Yoo Shin-haeng’s forehead.

Once again, corpses formed mountains, and blood formed rivers.

It was when Yoo Shin-haeng closed his eyes tightly in despair.

“……!”

A strong energy was felt.

Whoosh!

Everyone’s gaze moved.

“What…!”

The Yusan Sect’s guild house.

Outside, a huge energy was calling out to them.