I’ll Retire After Saving the World

Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: KYSOIWDI
================
[ Chapter 18: Basement 5th Floor (1) ]

May 15, 2021.

11:10 PM.

Gyeonggi Province. An abandoned training center.

People dressed in black moved swiftly in the darkness.

“…Where on earth did you bring those people from?”

“Shh!”

“No, I mean…”

“Shh!!!”

They wouldn’t even let me speak.

I looked at Kim Chae-min, who was also dressed in black, raising a finger to me. Kim Chae-min, who repeatedly gestured for me to be quiet, frowned and glared at the unlit training center building.

The building, unused for a long time, looked far from decent. The first-floor walls and parking lot were in a devastating state, as if a dungeon had opened nearby. That wasn’t all. The windows, seemingly intentionally broken, and the doors wrapped in rusty chains… In horror movies, this was the kind of place where clueless kids came to play and ended up cursed and dead.

Kim Chae-min shivered.

“Oh, I’m really weak with these kinds of things.”

He wouldn’t even let me speak.

“I don’t even enter dungeons like this.”

“Is that acceptable for a Grand Mage?”

“Because I became a Grand Mage, I can choose my jobs.”

…That made sense.

No. This wasn’t the time for small talk.

I looked at Hong Seok-young, standing a bit away. He was talking on his cellphone.

I looked back at the training center.

No matter how nicely you put it, it was a ruin. There was no sign of life at all.

Even after hearing the location, Hong Seok-young confirmed it with me several times.

But this was the place.

This was the research lab I used to be in.

Well, to be precise, one of the research labs I was in. But this was the place I stayed the longest, until the end. It was one of the largest facilities in the Ark.

“Preparation is complete.”

Hong Seok-young ended the call and approached leisurely.

I looked at Hong Seok-young with suspicious eyes.

“Who are those people?”

“They’re employees of someone trustworthy.”

A strange descriptor.

“Sounds like someone you shouldn’t trust.”

“No. In such matters, they are thorough. You can trust them.”

“Who is it?”

If they were police, they wouldn’t be moving so secretly. Those movements clearly indicated they were Hunters. And trained ones at that.

Their coordinated movements weren’t for dungeon raids. They were more like a special forces team just before an incursion.

There was no Bureau either. Who in their right mind would use Hunters like this at this time? It was a waste of manpower.

Hong Seok-young’s cellphone lit up. He checked it.

“In 20 minutes, we go in first.”

Kim Chae-min and I nodded.

“The objective is to confirm the children. Block the escape routes if you can. It’d be good to obtain important information before they destroy it. And capturing anyone who looks like a leader in advance… well, that wouldn’t be bad either. After roughly doing that, let’s signal to overturn the lab.”

“Isn’t that basically saying to do everything?”

“These situations are all about improvisation.”

Hong Seok-young handed me back the sword. Yoo Ji-eun’s sword. It had been a long time since I held it.

Of course, the magic controller on my ankle remained intact. Hong Seok-young warned me.

“I’m giving this back because there might be combat. Though, there shouldn’t be a need to draw it since I’ll be by your side.”

Kim Chae-min looked at me and Hong Seok-young with a puzzled expression but didn’t say anything. I didn’t speak because it wasn’t the right situation to explain, and Hong Seok-young pretended not to notice.

We would find out once we went inside anyway. Or maybe, they already figured it out since they knew I had provided the location.

Alright.

Let’s get a grip.

From now on, I am Woo Hee-jae, the Ark’s whistleblower.

Ha… Have I fallen this low? After all the effort I put into climbing up to that position…

I might as well have founded the Bureau and taken the director’s position myself… No, that wouldn’t work. Then I’d have to endure all the grueling work the director does. If I’m going to wear a title, I should aim for something better.

One thing I learned while working under the director is that surprisingly, the headmaster of the Hunter Academy is a sweet position.

The headmaster is also a civil servant, so there’s a steady paycheck, and everyone recognizes and respects the Academy headmaster. How many outstanding Hunters come from the Academy? Just thinking about the gifts that arrived for the director on Teachers’ Day every year…

Yeah. I’ll become the headmaster. I’ll create the Bureau, oust that guy, and then take the headmaster’s position. I’m already teaching kids and even a Grand Mage, so becoming a headmaster shouldn’t be that hard.

“Hmm? Teacher Woo. You need to focus.”

“…I am focusing.”

“I know you’re nervous, but try to hold on a little longer.”

Hong Seok-young looked at me with a strangely sympathetic gaze. It sent shivers down my spine.

…What’s going on?

“It’s natural to worry about your sister. But we’ve come this far, haven’t we?”

“Oh, a sister?”

“A sister?”

Kim Chae-min was startled, and I, also shocked, stared blankly at Hong Seok-young.

“Yes. Your sister.”

Sister? I don’t have… No, maybe the unknown member of the organization whose identity I was temporarily using does.

Was that one of the pieces of information Kim handed over?

Not good.

“Thank you for trusting me. We’ll get your sister out safely.”

It was fortunate that Hong Seok-young misunderstood on his own without me having to say anything.

I quickly replayed the words I had said.

…Since I had spoken vaguely, there shouldn’t have been anything particularly suspicious.

However, I added the information about the insider Kim had mentioned.

Did he want to leave the organization to save his sister?

I thought pretending to know too much might backfire, so I changed the subject.

“Isn’t it time yet? Let’s go in.”

* * *

Sss…

Kim Chae-min’s vines crept along the floor.

Kim Chae-min’s vines had many functions beyond just capturing monsters. They could also explore the areas they spread into.

Kim Chae-min opened his eyes.

“There’s nothing detectable.”

“Nothing at all?”

“Yes. There are some insects, but no other life forms. No surveillance cameras either… Are you sure this is the right place?”

“It is.”

Kim Chae-min cautiously watched my reaction. He had been like this ever since the topic of my sister came up.

“Is there nothing detectable underground either?”

“No…”

I frowned. The Ark wouldn’t be so foolish as to have the lab facilities immediately visible upon entering.

The training center was isolated in the mountains and on private property, allowing them to secure space through illegal extensions. The children were in the deepest part.

I had never met Kim Chae-min in person during my lifetime. However, like other Hunters, Grand Mages had abilities that were hard to believe were human.

Although Kim Chae-min didn’t have a long experience as a Hunter, he was still a Grand Mage. For him to miss something…

Was the Ark’s preparation thorough?

“I’m going in.”

“What? Wait!”

Hong Seok-young grabbed me. He didn’t infuse his grip with magic. I smoothly slipped out of his grasp.

Kim Chae-min’s vines, still crawling on the floor, flinched and moved aside. I stood in front of the training center’s front door, locked with a thick chain and padlock.

I gripped the sword.

The padlock, though large, was crude. There was no need to use magic. I wasn’t fully accustomed to using a sword yet, but I wasn’t completely inept either. Besides, I trusted Yoo Ji-eun’s sword.

To be precise, I trusted its performance.

Yoo Ji-eun often used her sword more like a club. Even so, its edge never dulled. Yoo Ji-eun’s sword was always sharp.

If the weapon is good, half the job is done.

Swish.

Crack.

Just once.

The chain was cut. I caught it before it fell and made a noise, setting it down quietly. Hong Seok-young and Kim Chae-min approached and stood behind me.

Srrk.

I opened the door. Despite the thick layer of dust, the door opened smoothly.

The interior was a mess as well. Dust, trash, and stones were scattered everywhere. It looked like the training center was screaming into my ear that no one was here.

I wasn’t fooled.

I knew this place well enough to navigate it with my eyes closed. Hong Seok-young and Kim Chae-min followed me as I walked inside. We needed to find the elevator.

The training center was a building with one basement level and six above-ground floors. I heard that it was used mainly as a training center for large corporations when it was still in good condition. The elevators, designed for heavy use, numbered three.

I headed to the middle one. I inserted the sword between the doors and forced them open. Dust billowed out. I wasn’t fooled.

I stepped into the elevator. The numbers were visible. I pressed the buttons.

6.

6.

6. 5. 1. 2. 6. 6. 3. 4. B1.

“……”

There was no response.

“Damn it.”

Normally, the elevator should have power.

I dashed out of the elevator. If this one didn’t work, there were other ways to try. This was the outer entrance. If they knew we were here, this would be the first place they’d block.

“Teacher Woo!”

“Mr. Woo!”

I found the stairs. Dust billowed up with each step. The main stairs, once heavily trafficked, had no tricks. I was looking for the emergency stairs, the ones used mainly by staff.

Next to it was the freight elevator.

I forced the door open.

There were buttons here too. I raised my hand. If there was power, the numbers would light up when I touched them.

No response.

I pressed the buttons. The sequence was the reverse of what I had pressed in the entrance elevator.

Starting from B1. 4. 3. 6. 6. 2. 1. 5. 6. 6. 6.

“……”

This had to be the Ark’s research lab.

It had to be the Ark’s research lab.

The place where a much younger man than I last remembered rescued young Woo Hee-jae and other children.

It had to be that world.

There are many works dealing with time travel. Movies where people go back to the past to help their parents fall in love to avoid disappearing. Or changing the past and ending up committing suicide before even being born… maybe not that one.

Anyway, the protagonists of those works usually take one of two actions:

Preserve the past to maintain the future.

Or change the past to create a new future.

But another classic film presents a different possibility for the current situation.

A parallel world.

What if this wasn’t my past?

What if this was another world?

A world where I couldn’t use the information on my magic watch, where none of the future I knew ever existed?

No.

From the moment I woke up in Myeong-dong, I had already changed the past. So, was this the world that young Woo Hee-jae experienced? Or was it a new world?

…I couldn’t know.

I probably would never know.

But I believed this was my past. For that to be true, this had to be the Ark’s research lab. Because in my time, it was.

Ding.

A clear bell sound, strangely out of place, echoed. The elevator button lit up, blinking.

The elevator spoke.

[Wel come.]

I never thought I’d be so happy to hear that damned voice.