Broken Ranker Devours Myths - Chapter 96

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Broken Ranker

Devours Myths

Chapter 96

Apostle Trial (1)

While conversing with Lieutenant General Lee Gun-san, or talking with old colleagues including Oh Su-heon,

Lee Hyeon occasionally felt small, inexplicable feelings of unease.

A feeling as if he was missing something.

But since they didn’t mention it directly, he couldn’t tell what it was.

However,

-Even when he became a cripple after that, we should have dealt with him somehow like we did with Cheongroe.

-You take care of your four colleagues and juniors here. I’ll take care of this guy and get out on my own.

-You can feel it too, can’t you? That if this fight drags on like this, this volcano will just explode?

When he met Xu Changyou, the unease spread much larger.

On the surface, they seemed like nothing special,

but when examined one by one, they were things that couldn’t just be passed over.

The nuance that if the fight continued like this, he would regret it like with ‘Cheongroe’.

As if the dissolution of the Thunder Unit had gone according to someone’s intention,

or as if Xu Changyou himself had been involved.

At that moment,

one hypothesis flashed through Lee Hyeon’s mind.

―Could it be that external hands were involved in the dissolution of the Thunder Unit?

Until now, Lee Hyeon had only known that Cheongroe’s dissolution was because of him.

He thought it was naturally dissolved because the unit suffered near-annihilation damage at the , and with himself as the leader also retiring, it became difficult to replenish their forces…

But,

‘That was only what Jin-woo hyung told me, I never looked into the reasons myself.’

It happened because he was too busy taking care of his own body to have the leisure to look around.

But now, looking back, there were more than one or two strange points.

The dissolution of such a renowned special forces unit was decided too quickly, and even completed.

‘The Lieutenant General also took off his uniform too quickly at that time. As if he was driven out by something.’

So naturally, such thoughts arose.

Could it be that Feng Jinghao was involved in Cheongroe’s dissolution,

no, that the Central Hero Committee was involved?

Or, could there be something else even bigger?

And…

The moment Go Jin-woo and Kim Min-jeong hesitated without answering rashly,

“That’s right. My thinking.”

Lee Hyeon could tell that his speculation was correct.

* * *

Lee Hyeon, Go Jin-woo, and Kim Min-jeong moved back to Lee Gun-san’s mansion in Uijeongbu.

“Everyone worked hard. Running around here and there for days without proper rest. I prepared a big feast… Huh?”

Lee Gun-san, wearing a frilly apron, was smiling as he tried to greet the three people, but tilted his head.

He was about to say he had prepared a barbecue party in the yard, but the atmosphere wasn’t good at all.

Should he say that Go Jin-woo and Kim Min-jeong were watching Lee Hyeon’s mood?

Only Lee Hyeon had his lips pressed tight as if he was in a low-pressure state.

Lee Gun-san glanced at Go Jin-woo with his eyes, subtly asking for the reason.

-Why is he like that?

Go Jin-woo sighed.

“He found out everything, Lieutenant General.”

“Hmm? Found out what?”

“The reason Cheongroe was dissolved.”

“…!?”

“Those traitorous bastards must have been running their mouths carelessly. Sigh.”

Lee Gun-san scratched the back of his head with the hand holding tongs.

As if troubled.

Lee Hyeon asked.

“Could I hear the story, Lieutenant General?”

“Hmm… Originally I was going to bring this up slowly after this whole matter was finished. Can’t be helped. First, take a seat. I was just putting meat on the grill since you said you were coming.”

On the table, vegetables for wraps like lettuce, cabbage, sesame leaves, small peppers, ssamjang, as well as soju and beer of various types were already laid out.

Sizzle. Sizzle.

The pleasant smell of meat filled the yard.

“A former military general wearing a pretty apron full of frills, showing off his tanned forearms while grilling meat… That’s rare, isn’t it?”

At Kim Min-jeong’s joke, Lee Gun-san burst into hearty laughter.

“Hahaha! Is that so? Others would say I look like a complete fool, wouldn’t they?”

Lee Gun-san asked Lee Hyeon while flipping the meat.

Sizzzzle!

“Since talking about serious matters while eating this kind of food tends to cause indigestion, let’s finish before it’s all grilled. So, what are you curious about?”

“The unit’s dissolution, was it the Central Hero Committee’s doing?”

Lee Hyeon’s sharp question.

Go Jin-woo and Kim Min-jeong silently looked back and forth between the two men.

Lee Gun-san smiled bitterly.

“The Committee’s doing… Half right, half wrong.”

“Then,”

“It wasn’t just the Committee.”

“…!?”

Lee Hyeon’s eyes widened slightly.

He had expected the Committee or Feng Jinghao to be behind it.

Lee Gun-san smiled bitterly while waving his tongs.

“ASTRA, Zeus’s son, City Cartel, Underground Cult… Quite a few other forces were involved. The Committee and Feng Jinghao were just one of them.”

All of them were massive Hunter forces that could be said to lead the world.

Lee Hyeon looked at him with disbelief.

“…Why on earth?”

“Because you were too outstanding.”

“Outstanding… me?”

“Yes. Because you were outstanding.”

Lee Gun-san nodded and continued speaking.

“You too, and Blue Thunder too, were too outstanding. A mere military unit, not even a guild or faction, displayed formidable power that rivaled those who lead the world.”

“……!”

“What would happen if this unit grew larger? If Jet continued to grow even more? Or if another person like Jet emerged?”

“…….”

“Then it wouldn’t just end with closing 4-star dungeons, but they might conquer the world, don’t you think?”

Hissss!

In the white smoke.

Lee Gun-san’s deeply sunken gaze was unbearably heavy.

“If it’s the sorrow of a weak nation, then it’s sorrow, and if it’s a shrimp getting its back broken in a fight between whales among superpowers, then that’s what it is.”

“…….”

“They’re a thorn in the side of China and Russia who need to advance into the Pacific, and for Japan and the United States who need to use us as a shield, it means another concern to worry about after the Mountain God.”

A deep silence flowed.

Neither Go Jin-woo nor Kim Min-jeong spoke.

Only Lee Hyeon’s gaze remained calm.

“But neither side has justification to interfere, so how could they make a move? We are, after all, soldiers protecting our nation. To carelessly interfere with that would be meddling in internal affairs. However,”

Lee Hyeon spoke while taking a deep breath.

He now roughly understood what the background situation was.

“A good opportunity came at just the right time. With the Gangneung incident breaking out.”

“Exactly that.”

Lee Gun-san nodded.

His bitter smile deepened.

“Right when Blue Thunder’s power was drained. Everyone united to apply the same pressure.”

“…….”

“Well, the reasons each side put forward were different, but the content was all the same. ‘Disband.’ ‘Since it’s been decimated anyway, it would be better to disband.'”

The meat began to emit a golden-brown aroma.

Lee Gun-san neatly cut the meat and transferred it to plates.

“So that’s why you defied orders?”

Lee Hyeon’s gaze fell on the apron.

His mentor, who in his memories had always worn sharp military uniforms,

had now become someone who suited casual home clothes and everyday wear.

That was probably

the result of struggling to protect his disciples and subordinates somehow, but failing to achieve it.

“Defying orders… When I couldn’t even properly protect you all, what defiance would that be? I’m just at the right age, and having fallen out of favor with the higher-ups, it was a natural progression. Come now, eat up. It’s grilled perfectly.”

Lee Gun-san placed plates in front of the three people.

But no one could easily pick up their chopsticks.

Only Lee Hyeon picked up his chopsticks and took a piece of meat.

“It’s delicious.”

“Right? My regular butcher shop said some good meat came in. I hurried over to buy it.”

Lee Hyeon thought that the more he chewed the meat, the more delicious it became, just like his mentor’s heart.

“It’s as delicious as the first raw meat Su-chan hyung and I ate after leaving the orphanage.”

A completely different topic from what they had been discussing.

But all three people’s gazes focused on Lee Hyeon.

“Is that so?”

Lee Gun-san smiled faintly.

Lee Hyeon quietly put down his chopsticks and continued speaking.

“The orphanage where my brother and I lived had poor facilities, and the director was a mess, so before that, eating frozen meat or canned food was the best we could do. Then when we entered the military academy, we grilled meat on a grill for the first time.”

Though things had improved considerably recently, until Lee Hyeon was young, the world economy was in a poor state like a post-war economy due to dungeon appearances.

For orphans especially, this world was very harsh.

“While eating meat with my brother then, I thought: Ah, if I could eat something like this just once a week, I’d have no other wishes.”

“…….”

“The person who first bought us meat back then was you, General.”

“……Is that so. I didn’t know that.”

Lee Gun-san scratched his cheek with his index finger, looking embarrassed, and Go Jin-woo and Kim Min-jeong also widened their eyes at hearing this for the first time.

Lee Hyeon still vividly remembered that day.

Lee Gun-san, who had first extended his hand with a smile to them when they were barely getting by on government subsidies.

And

even the sight of the brothers who, after watching his expression carefully, devoured the meat hastily as soon as he said to eat comfortably, even before it was fully cooked on the grill.

“Now I can eat meat not just once a week as I wished back then, but whenever I want. And now I even enjoy the luxury of eating meat grilled directly by you, General.”

“Tell me anytime you want to eat. I enjoy taking care of someone like this too.”

Lee Hyeon smiled.

“I don’t like eating meat alone. I tried it for 4 years and it didn’t taste good. Eating together with someone like this is better.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. When I was young, it was when I ate together with my brother. And now, eating together like this with you, General, and my colleagues tastes the best.”

Lee Hyeon looked alternately at Lee Gun-san, Go Jin-woo, and Kim Min-jeong.

Lee Gun-san’s faint smile deepened. Go Jin-woo slightly raised his head to look at the sky, and Kim Min-jeong recalled memories.

Lee Hyeon etched each of their gazes into his eyes.

“But… the world seems to find the sight of eating together quite disagreeable.”

A warm wind blew from somewhere.

Lee Hyeon picked up his chopsticks again and took a piece of meat.

“The problem is that I’m a well-known rebel. When forced to do something, I get stubborn for no reason.”

Lee Hyeon smiled as he put the meat in his mouth.

“So perhaps because of that, now I want to share meals with even more of my people.”

At this moment, a new flame sparked in Lee Hyeon’s heart.

The spark called Blue Thunder.

A longing arose to continue once more from that time 4 years ago.

Indeed, while running operations on Ulleungdo, he couldn’t feel any gap in time at all.

Even though everyone’s positions had changed,

the direction they looked at each other had always remained the same.

“……Is that so? That’s good then. I guess I’ll have to work the grill more diligently? Heh heh heh.”

Lee Gun-san laughed as he placed several more pieces of meat on the grill.

“You said there’s a company dinner next Friday, right? Don’t go somewhere far, let’s have it at my house. I’ll pull some strings.”

“Would that really be okay? Maybe it’s because the kids have gotten older, but they’ve all become rascals and will make a mess.”

At Go Jin-woo’s casually thrown question, Lee Gun-san put strength into his shoulders.

“Heh. At worst, I’ll just get scolded more by my wife, right?”

“……I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, General. I’m scared of your wife.”

“This guy? So you want me to take all the blame alone?”

Watching Go Jin-woo grumble and Lee Gun-san, Lee Hyeon let out a quiet laugh.

Perhaps what he had wanted to see during those lonely 4 years was exactly this kind of scene.

And

probably at the company dinner, they could share even more stories.

‘Blue Thunder’s revival. Let’s try it once. Somehow.’

Not only the Committee but many forces would try to prevent this,

but Lee Hyeon intended to defeat them all, just as he had defeated Feng Jinghao and Xu Changyou’s evil schemes.

This time is different from back then.

He would protect them somehow.

Somehow.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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