To Hell With Being a Hero!

Chapter 306. Merak

Education, Transportation, Employment, Environment, and other aspects of a society. Places with well-established systems in these regards were often characterized as good places to move to and settle down. The same was true for the holy city, Shalyh. The more influential an organization was, the more importance it put on its symbol and how it was viewed by others. For example, taking root at a prominent location and demonstrating its power could be seen as one of the ways to showcase an organization’s influence.

In fact, all the organizations established by the Celestial Lights were located near the center of the city, where administrative agencies were gathered. In that sense, the location of Chi-Woo’s district, which was located in the vicinity of the central square, was comparable to theirs. No—rather, it could be said that his location was the best among all the organizations. When they first moved to Shalyh, Ru Amuh was the only hero at gold tier, so he was able to gain special privileges faster than anyone else and occupy the best location among all the organizations. As a result, many passed by his zone often as they went around Shalyh. And today, those who usually walked right past it all stopped and did a double take with an expression of curiosity.

“Hey, punk! Why aren’t you working properly? Do you know how much it costs per sheet?” There was a loud cry amid the cacophony of hammering.

Anyone could see that this area was under construction. They all looked up and gaped. The scale of the construction was no less impressive or even more so than Ho Lactea’s zone, and news about this new construction quickly spread to every corner of the city. People’s reactions were on the positive side, since this was the only existing organization not established by one of the Celestial Lights.

“It’s really amazing. I can’t believe he’s competing with the Celestial Lights on the same level when he doesn’t have any backing.”

“Yeah, it’s making me change my perspective. There’s nothing even us normal heroes can’t do.”

Ordinary heroes heard the news and got motivated, thinking they might be able to compete with the Celestial Lights as well.

“By the way,” then someone suddenly became curious and asked, “What was that guy’s name again?”

* * *

The renovation started. It was a large-scale construction project that completely renovated the entire area. As a result, Chi-Woo had to leave and live in an inn. Thanks to Chi-Hyun lending him sufficient funds, Chi-Woo didn’t have to live in the streets. Now, everyone was sitting in the same room and were in the midst of a heated discussion.

“Thus senior spoke. I say we go with this. Sentence titles are the trend these days! Come on, doesn’t it sound cool and unique?” Ru Hiana said enthusiastically.

The current meeting’s main topic was to decide on the name of their group that would soon become an official organization.

“Ruana. That name is a bit…”

“What? Then Ruahu, why don’t you give your opinion?”

“Well…”

“You don’t even have anything in mind!” When Ru Amuh couldn’t say anything, Ru Hiana scolded him.

“Is there a reason why it has to be unique?” Byeok, who had been listening silently, gave her two cents. “Since it’s a group name, shouldn’t it have some dignity? In that sense, a simple name with sufficient gravitas would be good.” She exhaled a couple puffs of smoke and quietly continued after a pause, “For example, god of war.”

“Hahk!”

“A true hero should respect—” Byeok stopped and turned around mid-sentence because she heard someone burst out laughing before quickly swallowing the sound. The fenrir cub swung their head and quickly dropped down in a hurry, looking into the distance while doing their best to hide their face.

“Why don’t we just use Choi?” Evelyn couldn’t stand their ridiculous debate any longer and stepped forward.

“…Yes, that’s the best suggestion so far.” Eval Sevaru had been praying silently, ‘God, please save these idiots’, and he replied to Evelyn as if she was the lone ray of hope. “Since all the other organizations just used the name of their families.” For example, Alice used Ho Lactea, Emmanuel used Eustitia, and Apoline used Afrilith. Their intention was clear. The Celestial Lights were already so famous that they could gain significant promotional effects for just using their names.

“Boss, if you have any intentions to do that, we won’t have to worry about recruiting people in the future, but…” Eval Sevaru glanced at Chi-Woo and trailed off. It would be a lie if he said he didn’t feel regretful. He had heard there was a special circumstance why Chi-Woo had been keeping his background hidden, and this was a matter that shouldn’t even be brought up, let alone dig further into. “What about you, do you have any opinions?” Eval Sevaru immediately changed the subject and shifted the focus to the woman talking to the air.

“Hehe. Ice…”

“Ms. Salem Eshnunna?”

“Why don’t you come…ah, yes?” Eshnunna managed to come to her senses and looked around. She was flustered when everyone stared at her, but she answered, “Uh…um, what about Salem?”

“Ha.” Hawa snorted. “Then let’s go with Shahnaz.” She quickly retorted, and her gaze clashed with Eshnunna’s.

Overwhelmed with grief, Eval Sevaru lowered his head. Then he saw a white slime-looking fellow tugging at the hem of his pants at his feet.

“Pyupyu.”

“…What.”

“Pyupyu.”

“What do you want, punk? What? You want our organization to be called PyuPyu?”

“Pyu!”

“Stop with the fucking nonsense, for real.” Eval Sevaru scowled immediately.

“…Pyu…” The sullen Steam Bun crawled back to Chi-Woo and began crying as if it got seriously hurt.

“Boss…” Eval Sevaru called out desperately to Chi-Woo while brushing his hair back. If Chi-Woo gave similar suggestions as the rest, Eval thought he might really fall into despair.

After some time, Chi-Woo, who had been lost in thought with his arms crossed, said, “Chilsung…” He recited briefly and shook his head right away because he suddenly thought of soda. [1]. If his brother heard this, he’d make fun of them, saying they’re a cider organization. Chi-Woo wondered how he should phrase it, and after a short contemplation, he said something that suddenly came to his mind, “Seven Stars.” [2]

People’s reactions were hard to decipher; it wasn’t good or bad, and they seemed curious about the meaning.

Chi-Woo continued, “I got the idea from the Big Dipper. In my home, the Big Dipper is an extremely famous religious figure that people pray to. The Big Dipper consists of seven stars and can be seen in the Northern Hemisphere, and it holds a significant amount of historical, cultural, and religious value to many countries. Of course, you can’t see it on this planet, but…”

Although Chi-Woo added more information to his explanation, he didn’t really have a special reason for suggesting this name. Seven stars made up the Big Dipper, and the number of ‘stars’ that his special privilege allowed was also seven. When Chi-Woo recalled the message that Ru Amuh had become his first ‘star’, he thought of using this name. After all, he planned to bring all seven of them under this organization. And the name Seven Stars naturally came to mind.

“Ultimately, it’s a message hoping for Liber’s salvation, but it’s still related to a very personal purpose… Is it not suitable?” Chi-Woo scratched his head and asked carefully.

“No, not at all,” Eval Sevaru immediately replied. “That’s great, boss. Seven Stars. Let’s go with that.” Although he couldn’t say it was a very good name, it was at least 100 times better than names like Thus Senior Spoke and PyuPyu. “Does everyone agree?” He asked out of formality’s sake and glared at everyone as if he was determined to kill any who dared to raise an objection.

“I think Thus Senior Spoke is really cool and good, but…” Ru Hiana mumbled in disappointment, but she didn’t object either. And like this, the name of the organization led by Chi-Woo was decided—Seven Stars.

* * *

While making various preparations, Chi-Woo obtained a new hobby. To be exact, it was more of a habit than a hobby, and it was trying hard to pay attention to the news circulating in the city. Knowledge was power, and they no longer needed to fight purely for survival. As his brother said, he needed to learn how to read the flow of how things were going.

“So boss, you’re saying that the Celestial Lights know your identity?” Talking to Eval Sevaru about his relationship with other people was also a part of this process. There wasn’t only one organization in Shalyh. Excluding Ismile, who kept to himself, and Yeriel, who lived as a houseguest in Eustitia’s zone, there were four organizations in total. Currently, the minimum condition for receiving a zone was to be gold tier, so more organizations would probably emerge in the future. After a certain period of time, they might explode in number. So in a way, the present might be a golden opportunity to fully enjoy the preemptive advantage as one of the early organizations, just as the tenth reinforcements were about to arrive.

However, the problem was that there were four such organizations even now. Considering the timing, they couldn’t help but be wary of each other. Although they had all entered Liber under the same purpose, political interests were at stake since the different families wanted their family to lead Liber’s salvation. Furthermore, they were in an environment with scarce resources to grow, so just because they had the same purpose didn’t mean that they’d get along all fine and dandy. In other words, there may be a situation in which allies kept each other in check.

Of course, it was possible for them to hold hands and aim for a constructive relationship without being antagonistic. Therefore, one of the things Chi-Woo needed to consider as the leader was how he was going to handle the organization’s relationship with other organizations. And this was where the importance of whether the leaders of the other three organizations knew Chi-Woo’s identity came into play.

“Normally, we’re supposed to go and suck up to them, but…” The situation wasn’t cut and dry since Chi-Woo was keeping his identity a secret. The Celestial Lights would have a hard time coming up to him first out of pride, but they couldn’t just sit still and wait considering his identity. “They’re probably having a headache by now. They probably want you to come to them first, but…there’s no reason for you to move according to their wishes.”

Chi-Woo listened to Eval Sevaru and vowed to pay attention to his each and every action in the future. Such was the life of a celebrity. Even their smallest actions and movements were scrutinized and given meaning, and no one knew how their actions would be reinterpreted among those who loved to talk.

“If there’s something people want, it’s only right for them to give something first. Let’s wait for now. Besides Ho Lactea and Nahla, the other three’s circumstances are different. If they’re desperate, they’ll come to you, at least because of the Hala Forest matter.” Eval Sevaru confidently said they should wait and see, and his prediction was proven true.

“Hello.” A woman wearing a veil on her face visited the inn where Chi-Woo was staying. “I’m Alice Ho Lactea.” The head of the Ho Lactea, who was rapidly increasing the value of her stock price these days, came to visit him in person. “I heard you registered as an organization two days ago.”

Chi-Woo looked flustered meeting her in such a humble place.

Alice continued, “To congratulate the official launch of the Seven Stars and for the sake of Liber, I look forward to your cooperation with Ho Lactea in the future…”

She was being neither negative nor antagonistic, but her attitude and tone were extremely businesslike. She seemed to be emphasizing that she came here purely out of courtesy. Then Alice appropriately finished her pleasantries and held out her arms after some hesitation. “…Will you accept it?” Her slender hands were holding a bouquet of flowers.

Chi-Woo didn’t exactly know why she visited, but since she had gone out of her way to seek him out, he accepted the bouquet without much thought. “Ah, yes. Thank you.” At that moment, Chi-Woo was clearly able to see Alice’s lips slightly open and close under her veil—as if she was shocked.

“I will treasure the bouquet as a token of our friendship. I look forward to your cooperation as well.”

Then he heard a sharp intake of breath at his following words. Alice, who opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish, shut her mouth tightly in the end. And this was the end of their meeting. Alice quickly left like a slightly deranged person.

Chi-Woo thought, ‘What’s up with her?’

Eval Sevaru, who had been in a tense state, also had a blank look on his face. He stared at the floor and seemed to be thinking extremely hard. ‘What just happened?’ Eval Sevaru was also confused. He had expected someone to come, but he had never imagined that person would be Ho Lactea in his wildest dreams.

The Ho Lactea were authoritative and unrivaled in their arrogance, and someone from such a family, especially a promising talent like her, would certainly know the meaning of her actions. However, she had come to visit Chi-Woo in person and handed him a bouquet of flowers herself. Flowers were used to signify celebration in many worlds, so her intention was clear. It was further supported by the way she acted. Chi-Woo must have thought she was being businesslike and formal, but Eval Sevaru, who relatively knew the relationship between the Ho Lactea and Choi Family well, could not believe his eyes. She might as well be a peacock spreading feathers and rubbing against Chi-Woo while saying, ‘Hi? Are you Seven Stars? I’m Ho Lactea. Why don’t we become friends?’

Considering their surnames alone, this was something that could never happen, since it was an open secret that the Ho Lactea’s long-cherished desire was to surpass the Chois and rise to the top. Thus, he was curious about her intentions. Unless there were some complicated circumstances, she must have some other hidden motive. While Eval Sevaru was struggling to figure out what was going on, Alice was trudging back to her zone with one hand on her frantically beating heart.

Since she was a member of the two parties involved, she knew better than anyone of the hostile relationship between the Choi and Ho Lactea family. Chi-Hyun hated the Ho Lacteas, and he abhorred anyone who had the last name. It would be a lie if she didn’t think this was cruel, but Alice could understand him; even she thought the elders of her family provided more than enough reason for him to hate them. Anyway, she had thought his younger brother would not be much different.

In fact, when she first introduced herself after the meeting they had both been part of, his reaction had been rather closed-off. At that time, she was disappointed, but not surprised. Still, she was curious. She wanted to see him again and talk to him a bit more.

Her sister, Elrich, had managed to raise their always second-place family to almost the Choi Family’s level by leading the Ho Lactea to a new golden age, and she’d made various legendary achievements. She was someone Alice deeply admired. And he was the youngest son of Elrich.

Alice hadn’t expected much when she visited Chi-Woo today, and she was fully prepared to get the door slam on her face like when she went to visit Chi-Hyun. Even if that happened, she was determined to relay this message: since we’ve all come to Liber, let’s cooperate without fighting each other regardless of the interests of our family. But…

‘He accepted it.’ He even let her in and accepted her bouquet and thanked her. She had expected him to chase her out but received a polite welcome instead. Alice had been shocked to see his reaction, and his smiling face still lingered in her mind. All kinds of thoughts passed through her head. Did he just accept it out of courtesy? Perhaps? Maybe? Although her face was hidden under a veil, she was daydreaming all sorts of scenarios. ‘Maybe he…he doesn’t hate or detest me that much?’

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If that was the case… ‘Maybe…he might be different from oldest oppa.’ By the time she came to this conclusion, Alice’s steps became cheerful and light enough to fly in a gentle breeze.

1. There is a drink in Korea called chilsung cider ?

2. Chilsung can also mean seven stars in Korean or an abbreviation of the Big Dipper. ?