Disciple of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 61

The Three Kings’ Disciple (62)

061

Attacks came in rapid succession, without any delay.

Ten people’s combined martial arts were truly extraordinary.

Seeing them, I can confidently say that no one could claim players are inferior to martial artists.

The experience they’ve accumulated through countless real battles was evident in each strike.

Clang! Bang! Clang!

Each of their attacks carried and conveyed that.

Yet, Lee Ro-woon remained unscathed.

He deflected every attack with the black flames swirling around his hands.

“It seems you didn’t intend to kill me.”

At Lee Ro-woon’s words, some of the Righteous Army members bit their lips.

“We… are not murderers.”

Indeed, their attacks felt more like they were trying to capture him rather than kill him.

Of course, the intent to kill grew stronger as the fight continued, but that wasn’t the main issue.

“Rankers who can’t be Rankers.”

That’s why they are Unranked.

That designation wasn’t just about not being able to register as a Ranker with the Association.

‘Gate intrusion.’

And the absence of delay, which is usually an incurable weakness for players.

They were definitely free from it.

Free from the shackles of the system.

‘Yet, they are the ones who use the system’s abilities.’

The confirmation was complete.

They were members of the Righteous Army, specifically a faction with special abilities.

“Bug players.”

Those who find and exploit the loopholes in the system, or rather, create and use them.

And their uniqueness comes from the one who leads them.

A hidden job.

‘Intervener.’

A being with a unique special job.

“How long are you going to just watch?”

At Lee Ro-woon’s voice, the Righteous Army members briefly hardened their faces before stepping back and clearing a path.

Zzzt!

Noise crackled, blurring the air.

From within it, a man revealed himself.

A man with messy hair and thick-rimmed glasses, giving off the impression of a scholar.

He was the leader of the Righteous Army who led them.

“Excuse me.”

The Intervener, Lee Shin-woo.

“We had many reasons to be extremely cautious, but I apologize for the rudeness, martial artist.”

A polite and gentle voice was heard.

***

Lee Shin-woo.

Kang Cheol-woo also seemed surprised by his appearance.

He didn’t seem to expect that he would show himself in person.

It was only natural.

‘Intervener, Lee Shin-woo.’

He was a big shot among big shots.

Although he was an Unranked player not belonging to the rankings, rumors circulating in the world said that he already possessed skills comparable to a high ranker from long ago.

Also, various media speculated.

‘Heavenly Grade.’

He was a skilled individual who deserved the title of Heavenly Grade, which was only given to a hundred people in Asia.

Lee Shin-woo’s appearance.

A strange tension seemed to linger in the air.

Then, he slowly opened his mouth.

The eyes shining behind his glasses.

“Dank, Lee Ro-woon.”

Lee Ro-woon could tell that countless emotions were swirling in those eyes.

“So, that’s what you said.”

“That’s right.”

“Why did Eunha’s special martial artist mention that name?”

Dank, Lee Ro-woon.

Upon hearing those two names, the leader of the Righteous Army, Lee Shin-woo, showed himself in person.

The leader of the Blue Army, one of the two factions of the Righteous Army, himself.

If the fact that he was here was revealed, the Hwasan [a major martial arts sect], the Association, and the martial artists of the Council would immediately come running, and he would be captured and subjected to unspeakable torture.

Yet, he showed himself in person.

“Do you have something to say about the dead guild leader of Dank?”

“Isn’t that why you came all the way here?”

Lee Ro-woon and Lee Shin-woo were in a strange standoff.

Only a few words were exchanged, but the heavy atmosphere made the Righteous Army members and Kang Cheol-woo tremble.

“If there’s information, I should listen.”

“What is he to you?”

Twitch.

“What is it that made the Blue Army leader show himself in person?”

“If you tell me the information you’re going to give me first, I’ll tell you.”

He was clearly drawing a line.

Only then did Lee Ro-woon shrug his shoulders, lower his fist, and speak.

“Lee Ro-woon of Dank.”

Following those words.

“Is alive.”

Lee Shin-woo’s eyes began to shake more than ever.

“That can’t be…”

Lee Shin-woo said.

“He was clearly on the list of the deceased from the Hwasan’s corpse disposal site.”

“Are you just believing a list?”

Lee Shin-woo trembled.

“You confirmed it.”

Lee Ro-woon’s answer.

Lee Shin-woo was a man who was extremely suspicious of everything due to his circumstances.

For him to simply believe a list and be certain of Lee Ro-woon’s death?

It was absurd.

That firm attitude meant that he had clearly confirmed it himself.

“The incident at the corpse disposal site was thoroughly concealed, but I heard that Lee Ro-woon’s death occurred before the accident at the corpse disposal site.”

As expected.

“So, did you see the body?”

“……”

Lee Shin-woo didn’t answer.

That’s why Lee Ro-woon confidently said.

“Lee Ro-woon. Is alive.”

“Really, is it really true?”

Now even his voice was trembling.

It was a sight that didn’t suit Lee Shin-woo, who was usually as cold as a corpse.

That’s why Lee Ro-woon closed his mouth.

“……”

Returning, he had thought that this day might come someday, but Lee Ro-woon hadn’t been sure of the face Lee Shin-woo would make at that time.

The face in his imagination was so different from the face he was seeing now.

“What do you want? Are you going to capture me? Or is there something else you want?”

Seeing his anxious appearance, Lee Ro-woon bit his lip and spoke, unlike before.

“Let’s talk alone.”

“No!”

At Lee Ro-woon’s words, the Righteous Army members, who had been silent until now, stepped in front of Lee Shin-woo and shouted.

Lee Shin-woo also seemed conflicted and unable to make a choice.

In the end, he needed proof.

-It’s me.

Lee Ro-woon sent his voice to Lee Shin-woo through telepathy.

A face that seemed not to understand.

-It’s me.

Slowly, Lee Shin-woo’s face contorted.

-I’m Lee Ro-woon.

When his face contorted with an emotion like anger.

-Brother.

At Lee Ro-woon’s following words, his expression vanished.

“I’ll talk alone.”

* * *

Lee Ro-woon and the members of Dank were all orphans.

Orphans who had lost their parents to martial artists.

And it was an orphanage that took them in.

‘Saebom Orphanage.’

Lee Ro-woon met all of Dank’s brothers at Saebom.

And there was someone who had already been with him before that.

Lee Ro-woon and Lee Shin-woo, the only two left.

“Where did you hear that?”

Lee Shin-woo said as if he couldn’t believe it.

He probably thought that Lee Ro-woon had heard the truth somewhere and was using it to deceive him.

“From Ro-woon directly…”

“It’s not like that.”

Lee Ro-woon said.

“I’m really Lee Ro-woon.”

Of course, it would be unbelievable.

Only a little bit of his appearance remained.

More than that, he, who was said to have died in Hwasan, was alive.

Moreover.

“You… are a martial artist, aren’t you?”

Lee Ro-woon was now a martial artist.

A key guild member of Eunha.

“You can’t deceive me.”

Kang Eunha had already tried to pretend to be a player through Heukshi.

But Lee Shin-woo.

He couldn’t even deceive the eyes of the Intervener.

“You have a system…”

When his glasses shone and he was observing Lee Ro-woon.

Lee Shin-woo paused as if he had felt something.

“……!”

He looked at Lee Ro-woon with a rapidly changed face.

It was clear that his exclusive skill had been activated.

“Th-this can’t be…”

Lee Shin-woo said as if he had realized something.

“The traces of the system…?”

There was no way that a being who could see through everything in the system core and even distort it wouldn’t be able to see and feel it in detail.

The traces of the system core remaining inside Lee Ro-woon.

Just as his glasses were about to emit an even greater light.

“Stop.”

Lee Ro-woon’s cold voice stopped him.

“Excuse me…”

“It’s not like that.”

Lee Ro-woon said with a bitter smile.

“I’m telling you not to cause unnecessary danger.”

Lee Ro-woon, who knew Lee Shin-woo’s abilities better than anyone, stopped him because he was afraid that Lee Shin-woo might see a fragment of chaos.

“Do you believe me to some extent now?”

There was no way.

He spoke to Lee Shin-woo, who was still full of distrust.

“I didn’t expect you to act like this, brother. Because you were always uninterested in me.”

A man who was obsessed with the goal of liberation.

That’s why he was always a man who felt like a wall.

That’s why he didn’t form a relationship with the Righteous Army.

Apart from the danger, he didn’t want to get involved with him again.

He was a brother he had avoided so much in the past, but he had met him again like this.

A tingling of emotions he didn’t even know he had.

“You…”

Lee Shin-woo, who had adjusted his glasses, said.

“It’s Ro-woon.”

The deep resentment and bitterness felt in Lee Ro-woon’s voice.

It was not as if Lee Shin-woo wouldn’t notice it.

Brothers who had lost their parents on the same day and entered the orphanage.

But the paths of those brothers were so different.

Lee Ro-woon went to the light, and Lee Shin-woo hid in the shadows.

The resentment of the brothers who had drifted apart was deeply rooted.

“I’m sorry.”

One word from Lee Shin-woo, who felt all of that.

“For not being able to save you.”

When Lee Ro-woon was trapped in Hwasan, Lee Shin-woo had not saved him.

* * *

Lee Ro-woon of Dank.

The fact that he had committed the crime of betraying his comrades and was imprisoned in Hwasan’s corpse disposal site was news that shook South Korea.

Lee Ro-woon was not a member of the Righteous Army, but he and Dank had always acted for the people.

Because of that popularity and expectation, even Eun couldn’t treat Dank carelessly.

There was no way that Lee Shin-woo wouldn’t have heard the news about Lee Ro-woon.

‘Five years.’

The time he had spent in that hell.

Even though they were brothers who had drifted apart, he was in a state where he wanted to grab onto anyone’s pants leg.

But the result was no one.

No one came to save him.

‘Even my brother.’

That day, when even the slightest hope had burned away.

Lee Ro-woon had turned to ashes.

It had been five years.

Enough time to think that everything should be destroyed.

That’s why he didn’t come back to find his brother.

“At that time…”

The brother who hadn’t saved him.

The emotion he had felt at that time was betrayal.

“It’s okay.”

Lee Ro-woon said with a colder face and voice than before.

“I didn’t come to find you just to hear an apology.”

He had no intention of clinging to the fragments of fading emotions.

“Eunha has no intention of getting involved with the Righteous Army. I’ll let it slide this time, but next time…”

It was a chilling warning.

“……”

Lee Shin-woo was silent.

“I knew it.”

He couldn’t promise.

He was a member of the Righteous Army.

A lonely person who would be killed if caught in South Korea.

They always had to grab at straws to fight.

As it had been in the past, and as it would be forever.

“I clearly warned you.”

But not anymore.

After finishing his words, Lee Ro-woon shook off his seat and turned around.

He wouldn’t see him again in the future.

That’s what he thought until Lee Shin-woo spoke.

“Yoon Tae-sun.”

A single name.

It was a name that was enough to make Lee Ro-woon stop.

“I found out where Yoon Tae-sun is.”

“……”

Now Lee Ro-woon was completely turned around, looking at Lee Shin-woo.

“Jongnam! He’s in Jongnam.”

One of the nine major sects, a major force in the Council like Hwasan.

Among them, the place known to have the worst relationship with Hwasan was Jongnam.

“They have Yoon Tae-sun with them, and they’re in South Korea right now.”

His friend, a member of Dank.

“Where is he?”

It was the name of a traitor.