38. Alley Guesthouse (1)

When Jin-woo was in the middle of a meetup, the General Manager wiped his tears with a handkerchief at the JW Gate while looking at Jin-woo’s warm side.

“Sob.. I have no regrets even if I die.”

Master’s kindness was truly impressive. Look at that! That beautiful figure! The figure who showed mercy to his men was indeed the Great Emperor who ruled overall dimensions. The once young child had grown up and was now the Ruler of Dimensions. There was nothing more touching than this!

‘I should rewrite the Bible. I must describe this great scene as more sacred than anything else!’

The Great Emperor showed grace to the 20 disciples, and everyone cheered for the miracle. His twenty disciples were touched..

Inspiration came to his mind.

“Uuugh!”

Arcana came to her senses. General Manager turned his head and looked at her. The excitement in her eyes hadn’t subsided yet.

“Hmm..”

General Manager groaned. Arcana’s half-broken neck creaked. Then it turned around and found its place. General Manager took advantage of the opening when she tried to transform back to her original form and subdued her. However, her recovery speed was indeed amazing.

“Ugh! I have to go, too!”

“You stay here.”

“But..!”

“Oh my, you still have a long way to go.”

General Manager said so, but Arcana didn’t back down. The desire to visit Master’s mansion dominated her mind. Instinct had eroded her reason!

“Do you think that you, who cannot overcome even your nature, are fit for that position?”

“Kugh..! I lost because you caught me guard off, but not anymore.”

Arcana took a combat stance. General Manager took a long breath and folded away his laptop.

“Then I’ll have to teach you with this body.”

General Manager took black gloves out of his pocket and put them on slowly. He turned around and stood in front of Arcana, loosening his tie with one hand. Arcana took a step back at the pressure that approached her.

She knew General Manager was an amazing person. There was a lot to learn, so she asked him to teach her, but he was still human. She thought she had superiority over him with force until she felt this.

“If there is anyone giving Master trouble, no one can surpass me, no matter what being it is.”

General Manager raised his chin slightly and stretched out one hand. Arcana clenched her fist. She was planning to break through quickly. Her body faded, and she appeared right in front of the General Manager. A fist with enormous strength stretched out, moving at speed beyond human reaction.

However, General Manager had long exceeded human limits. He lightly hit her fist to the side with his stretched hand. When Arcana’s body lost balance and tilted, he hit her face with the back of his hand.

Pang!

Arcana’s body bounced sideways. After rolling a few times in the air, she managed to gather her balance and tucked her finger into the floor.

Dddrrrrrr!

The floor was cracked, and a long scar was formed, but her speed didn’t decrease. Arcana slipped away and crashed into the wall, causing it to collapse.

Ddddddrrrk!

The rubble that fell on Arcana shook. It began to float in the air after a magic circle formed. The General Manager still had only one hand out even though he felt unusual mana rising. Arcana could be seen among the huge rubble; her eyes slit like a reptile’s.

The rubble was fired at the General Manager like bullets, but he watched the scene leisurely.

Bang-bang-bang!

He crushed the rubble mid-air. The only thing Arcana could see was the afterimage of his arm bending like a snake. What she was aiming for was the moment when the General Manager let his guard down.

Tat!

Arcana appeared behind him. The moment General Manager’s eyes widened, she extended her fist. But her attack never reached. He grabbed her fist with his other hand.

Thud.

The General Manager’s body was pushed out of the castle with her. The trees were smashed, and the ground was turned upside down. The General Manager and Arcana disappeared, seen only by the flashes of their afterimages.

Bang! Baaaang!

Only a loud and violent roar could be heard as they exchanged blows.

Bang!

Arcana’s body folded, breaking through a tree and slamming into the ground. When it came to martial techniques, she was no match for the General Manager. From the beginning, she wasn’t the type to fight in human form.

“Ptooey!”

She spat out blood as a fang fell to the ground. A new fang sprouted again to replace it as the General Manager remained relaxed. He just nodded gently when he noted his slightly torn collar.

“Is that all?”

Arcana’s expression crumpled at his words.

‘If it’s this far, I can transform..!’

It took some time to transform into her original form, but it seemed that there would be no problem if it were this far away. It was when she burst out her mana and tried to transform to the original form.

“Huh?”

Her tail grew longer, and her horns grew, but that was all. She couldn’t change to her original form. General Manager approached her, walking leisurely.

“Your body is a little unique, but I’ve blocked your blood flow. It will be difficult to return to your original form for a while.”

“..That’s incredible. As expected of General Manager. But..”

Arcana gathered her mana and opened her mouth. The relaxed General Manager’s expression also hardened a little as he noticed what she was preparing. The General Manager looked at her with deep eyes.

‘It’s hot. So hot.’

He could feel her desperate feelings. But it wasn’t enough compared to himself! His loyalty to Master had already filled the vast universe.

Paatttss!

Dragon breath came out of Arcana’s mouth. Although its power was declined because she wasn’t in her original form, Arcana was still an Emperor. The space twisted, and the dimension shook. As soon as her breath reached him, the General Manager stretched out his hands.

Baaang!

His raised hands blocked the breath. The General Manager was gradually pushed back, and Arcana poured more mana into her throat.

Gggrrrrrrrrr!

The space was twisted, and the surrounding landscape was distorted. As the General Manager put more force into his hands, the dragon’s breath began to crumple and shrink. Arcana was perplexed.

‘To grow while fighting like this..’

She could feel it. The General Manager was much stronger than before.

‘Is he already at the level of Emperor..?!’

The power to break through his limits with loyalty and continue to grow stronger. He had exceeded the limits of his race and broken through the limits of his soul.

‘Monster..!’

That was the only word Arcana could think of. General Manager crumpled the breath and compressed it into small pieces. The breath, which had become smaller than the size of his fist, swirled in General Manager’s hands. However, even he couldn’t completely get rid of it. Like soap, it slipped out of his hand and fell into the middle of the forest.

An explosion was expected, but surprisingly, no explosion occurred. However, the space was torn. The fallen breath began to resonate strangely with the Sanctuary of Gold underground and the Maze. As the two fought, they found themselves on top of the Sanctuary of Gold. The General Manager and Arcana were embarrassed.

“Umm..”

“That’s..?”

The space was torn long, and a portal appeared. It wasn’t a normal portal. It was quite dark, and they couldn’t tell where it was going. Besides, it was so unstable that it began to suck in everything around it. It almost looked like a black hole.

Arcana’s body gradually rose and began to be sucked towards the portal alongside the General Manager.

“G-General Manager!”

“Hold on!”

The General Manager, who dug his feet into the ground, barely grabbed Arcana’s hand. Fortunately, the portal was growing smaller and smaller. Arcana’s body shook violently, but the General Manager clenched his teeth and held out.

Ddddrrrrr!

“Ah...”

Arcana’s expression blanked out. At that moment, there was a big shadow around General Manager. The moment General Manager turned his head, a rock the size of a hill hit him.

“Ugh!”

It hit General Manager’s forehead. The rock broke, but as a result, the General Manager’s body was lifted toward the portal. He was sucked into the portal without having time to say anything.

The passage of the portal was very long. General Manager and Arcana balanced themselves in the passage. They were falling, but it continued endlessly.

“Where is it connected to?”

“I don’t know.”

“We’re in big trouble.”

The General Manager nodded. They had crossed portals countless times, but something like this felt new. They had to stay in the passage for quite some time because it was going to a very distant place. The General Manager wore a serious expression all the while. He never left JW Gate without saying a word. He faithfully fulfilled his duties, worrying every second that he would trouble his master.

However, now he caused this kind of accident.

“I see the end.”

“Umm..”

A light was emitting from a distance.

Whoosh!

As they exited the portal, they could see clouds around them. The exit was connected to a high sky. The General Manager and Arcana started falling through the clouds. Arcana tried to cast her spells, but she couldn’t because she had used all her mana on the breath before.

“Sob, I can’t believe I’m causing trouble to Master like this.. how can I be so inadequate..”

“Master.. ugh, it was the best opportunity, though..”

The two weren’t even worried about falling. The ground began to appear below, surrounded by mountains. There were also houses in the mountains, but it was completely different from the style of the Middle World. Each had a tiled roof.

Baang!

They pierced the roof and crashed into the floor. Part of the roof was completely smashed, and debris was sent flying in all directions. The floor exploded with a roar, sending a thick dust cloud up.

“K-kugh! Wh-what is it!”

“People from the sky?”

The two fell among a dark crowd. General Manager and Arcana stood up, brushing off their clothes. They turned their heads and looked around.

“Where is this? And what kind of situation is it?”

“Umm..”

There were menacing men, and some people were bleeding. A girl, who was weeping, stared blankly at the two.

“W-who are you?!”

“S-suddenly, how the hell..”

The men pointed their knives and shouted. The General Manager glanced at them and nodded.

“Hmm, let’s get this sorted out first.”

“Yes.”

It didn’t take long to clean up those men. Something flashed, and the men’s bodies collapsed, torn apart. The General Manager looked at their weapons and clothing. It was a unique but familiar style. Arcana turned behind her and looked at the girl.

“Are you al..”

Boom! Bang!

A huge stone fell from the sky and destroyed the house. These were the stones that were sucked in with the two. The girl’s mouth opened, and her eyes became blank. Then, she fainted.

Bang!

The large pillar that remained was collapsing sideways.

“..”

“..”

The two were speechless. As they stood there helplessly, the space before them fluttered, and a small portal appeared and disappeared. It was an unstable portal. It was repeated, and someone came out.

“Hey, guys! This Bread Jam has finally found a hidden dungeon! The passage was very long. Ooh! There is a completely different open field. Can you see this? I think it’s something like oriental fantasy..? Maid..? Are you a maid?”

Arcana quickly tore off Bread Jam’s head while the General Manager destroyed his body. The girl, who had barely regained consciousness, fainted again when she saw the sight. The unstable space was completely closed, and the portal disappeared. Arcana shook her head as she tried opening a portal to the Sanctuary.

The distance was so far away that it couldn’t be opened with her power. The General Manager could intuitively sense it.

‘I-I have caused great trouble for Master..’

The General Manager closed his eyes tightly. The sin of disappointing Master was the heaviest of all.

“I have no choice but to apologize with my death!”

The General Manager picked up the sword that was dropped, and he put it to his neck.

“G-General Manager! W-wait!”

“I will bear this guilt alone. Please take good care of Master.”

“W-wait..! Please calm down!”

“Master, please forgive my disloyalty! Kugh..”

Arcana clung to General Manager and stopped him.

“G-General Manager, please!”

“Sinners deserve to die. Kugh.” historical

Crank!

The sword touched his neck, but it crumpled like a piece of paper.

The General Manager and Arcana were missing from the JW Gate. The news came a little late.

* * *

Jin-woo, who returned from the meetup, was resting. The main scenario was still in progress, so he needed to check it, but he could take a good rest because his work was drastically reduced.

‘It feels good!’

Kim Emperor’s avatar was entrusted to Dopplo’s competent subordinates. The first broadcast was aired right away, and it was much more like Kim Emperor than Jin-woo himself. As expected of Dopplo’s subordinates. Currently, it was running in 1st place, beating Maze & Luna TV. Honestly, it was more fun watching.

“As expected, unemployed with a lot of money is the best.”‘

He couldn’t have been happier than this. It was when Jin-woo was dawdling in his room like that all day that he received a call from Lee Min-woo.

[Ella..]

Lee Min-woo cried. He had become very sensitive these days. It made Ella feel braver. It seemed that their twins were finally about to be born. It was impossible to bring Ella to a general hospital because the body structures of elves and humans were different. That was why he called the elves to the building where their grandfather was staying to take care of Ella. It was said that Dellu was also there.

‘I should go.’

Jin-woo dressed and headed out immediately. As he drove towards the building, he could see a huge barricade had been installed around the block. Above the barricades, high-tech radars and huge unknown machinery were installed. Armed helicopters flew around in the sky.

“..”

Not only competent people but also bodyguards and special forces members belonging to the Frontline Groups formed a team to strictly monitor the surroundings. It was like there was some kind of war going on. As a moth approached the barricade, the device attached to the front moved and fired a laser to burn it. Not a single bug could enter. There was even a large-scale barrier hanging all over the main structure.

‘Grandpa, no, if it’s like this..’

The collaboration between the two was clear. As Jin-woo’s car approached, armed men blocked the car. They even had camouflage paint on their faces.

“..You’re working hard.”

When Jin-woo lowered the window and looked at them, they were startled and beckoned to the door. Then an alarm sounded as machines behind it began to rumble.

Gggggrrrrrr!

The huge door opened on both sides. When Jin-woo drove inside, everyone inside could be seen wearing a completely enclosed outfit and helmet that could only be normally seen in a biochemical laboratory. Jin-woo drove along the sidewalk and changed his clothes with a blank look. One of them scanned Jin-woo’s body with a mechanical device, checked the figure, and nodded.

Jin-woo was only able to enter the building after all of that.

‘Do they have to do this much? Really..’

Considering the commotion during his physical examination, it was fortunate that this was only at this level. Jin-woo sighed and got into the elevator. When he arrived at the top floor, he saw his grandfather and Lee Min-woo, both wearing the same clothes as him. The two were stamping their feet. As soon as they saw Jin-woo, they rushed over.

“Since you’re the Great Emperor..”

“Try something.”

Both of them looked desperate. They handed over the entire house to the elves and waited in the hallway. Jin-woo gave his blessing to reassure the two.

[The Great Emperor of Gold has blessed the soon-to-be-born children!]

It was the first time he tried it, but it worked. Jin-woo joined them in the hallway without leaving his seat. After a while of waiting like that, the door opened, and Dellu came out. Grandfather and Lee Min-woo rushed inside without another second of waiting. Dellu looked at Jin-woo.

“My Lord Emperor, you are using something strange. And other people, also..”

Jin-woo slowly took off his helmet. He went inside, too. The trees and flowers in the garden had grown large.

“Kuuugh! Sob-sobs..”

“Sob. Well done. You did well.”

Lee Min-woo and Grandfather burst into tears when they saw the children in Ella’s arms. They were a boy and a girl. They were very cute, even as newborn children. Fortunately, they seemed to resemble Ella a lot. Jin-woo couldn’t take his eyes off of them.

It was so amazing.

‘Hmm.. am I an uncle now?’

He, too, had some tears in his eyes. Jin-woo looked at his family with a happy smile and came out. As he stepped out of the building, his cell phone rang. It was a call from Yoo-na.

‘General Manager and Arcana are missing?’

Jin-woo wondered what this was about.