Legend of Legends

It was Wednesday, and the following day would be his last. That day, he decided to tell the others he was leaving. Eunseo had also told him to tell them, so there was nothing preventing him from doing it.

He went to the Administrative Department and saw the other employees answering the phones busily. One of them was not as busy as the others. Tsubasa was leaning casually on her chair and looking at her computer, so he approached her.

"What’s going on here?"

"Because of the conference yesterday, we are getting an enormous amount of calls."

"But you don’t look so busy."

She answered him matter-of-factly, "I’m only responsible for foreign calls, but I am getting them from foreign military."

With Guardians announcing the distribution of the monster decomposition liquid, she was probably getting enough calls from foreign military forces. Tsubasa had taken the language pill, so she could answer all of them.

The Administrative Department was working smoothly, and he thought they didn’t need him anymore.

He took a seat. The others were working very hard, so he didn’t want to distract them. He contacted Zaira instead.

"Zaira, can’t you come up with a prepared response for today’s calls?"

[I could standardize the answers to the calls coming through and generate responses based on that.]

"Then, answer the calls yourself, and let the others answer the ones you can’t."

[Will do.]

He heard Zaira’s answer and got up. Then, he waved his arms at the others to get their attention and used his hands to signal for them to hang up the phones.

Once everyone did, he said, "Zaira will answer the calls from now on. You’ll only get what’s necessary." Everyone was dumbfounded, and he continued, "Zaira can help a lot, so check your work against it first. Zaira has no reason to take the initiative."

"Yes, sir."

Everyone agreed, and he continued, "Drink some coffee and relax."

Soyeon got up, but he shook his head and said, "I’ll get the coffee. Stay here."

He went out, but Soyeon followed him.

"Let’s go together."

They went to a coffee shop near the building and ordered the drinks. HQ had a coffee machine, but he wanted to buy the coffee so that everyone could drink it without anyone having to make it.

Soyeon waited for the coffee to come out and asked, "You are going to let us know today?"

He nodded compliantly.

"I will let them know about my resignation."

"I haven’t learned much yet. Why are you quitting already?"

"You need Zaira, not me. I get help from Zaira as well. That’s the only advice I have for now."

In fact, he hadn’t worked for a long time at the Administrative Department either. There was nothing more for him to teach. They took the drinks back to work.

Tsubasa was the only one still answering calls because she only answered foreign calls. Zaira was taking care of most of the domestic ones.

He handed out the coffee and sat on Tsubasa’s desk. She looked at him while concentrating on the call, and he raised his coffee and said, "I am quitting tomorrow."

"What?!"

He had made his explosive statement calmly and smiled.

"You guys have assimilated all of my work," he continued. "The only advice I can give you now is get Zaira’s help. Do that, and your work will be much easier."

"What are you going to do now, after resigning?"

He shrugged.

"Because of my work as a model, I’ve saved some money. I want to do what I want to do."

"Can you tell us more about it?"

"It’s a secret," he said and shrugged again. "My announcement is over. Drink your coffee."

After that, he sat down. The others had more questions for him, but he saw the message on his computer and got up.

Junhyuk looked at everyone and said, "I have to go out for a while."

Right as he was about to leave, Tsubasa asked, "When is the goodbye party?"

He shrugged and said, "Maybe tomorrow?"

Then, he went to see Elise. She was freezing the poring pieces and turned to look at him.

"You’re here."

"Why did you want to see me?"

"Do you have time this afternoon?"

"I am quitting tomorrow. Should I skip work for rest of the day?"

Elise smiled and asked, "Should I talk to the CEO about this?"

"No, I have time."

"Then, let’s meet after lunch."

He nodded and went to see Eunseo. Her eyes were bloodshot, but she smiled at him. She offered him a seat, and he took it.

"May I leave early, after lunch?"

"Sure. Tell me your reason later?"

He nodded, and she smiled and said, "Good. You must have told your coworkers about your resignation. Make time for me tomorrow night."

"I will."

He got up, and she stared at him and asked, "How about dinner together tonight?"

After taking a moment to think, he said, "I have to check my schedule."

She looked disappointed, but he smiled at her and left.

---

After lunch, he went to see Elise. She handed him her car keys and asked him to drive her somewhere. He laughed loudly, but he drove.

"Just follow navigation," she told him.

Following the GPS, he asked, "Business in Seoul?"

"Correct."

He drove past Guardians HQ in Seoul, and the destination wasn’t far from it. He was getting more curious, but he kept going while Elise talked to Zaira through her tablet.

They arrived at their destination, and he frowned slightly.

"Where are we?"

"My private property. My house."

Elise touched her tablet, and the garage door opened. He drove car inside, parked it and followed Elise out.

She smiled and asked, "Do you like my house?"

Her house in downtown Seoul was bigger than his house in provincial Paju, which left him surprised.

"I’m jealous. How much was it?"

"Not very expensive. I bought it when they were redeveloping the area."

She must have bought the land from Guardians, and he smiled bitterly.

"Zaira has control here?"

"Of course!" She took the lead and continued, "I wanted to show you something today."

His curiosity increased.

Elise took him to her garden. Within it, there was what looked to be a glass greenhouse. It was a small arboretum. Inside, he saw a tree about his size, but it felt strange.

"Is this is what I think it is?"

"Correct."

She stood next to the tree.

"I planted the seed you brought me, and it’s already this tall."

"Isn’t that too fast?"

Elise shook her head.

"Zaira predicted the tree would grow only to ten meters."Elise pointed out to her garden and added, "I bought a hundred trees that will grow to be ten meters. They’ll be planted here."

"To hide this tree."

"Correct." Elise smiled and continued, "It’s different from ordinary trees. It’s similar to them, but this one is growing mana stones as fruit."

He walked over to the tree and touched the leaves.

"Does its leaf have the same effect as the leaf I brought you?"

Elise shook her head.

"It’s not the same. It won’t be the same, but I have to wait and see." Elise touched the leaves and added, "If you pull it out, it will only be effective for about a day. How did you know what to bring me?"

He touched his butt without noticing and said, "A hero gave it to me."

"Hm. Is there another way to pick it out? Can you find out?"

"I’ll ask."

After she heard his answer, she looked at the tree and said, "This tree will change the world."

"It looks that way."

She turned to him.

"But I’m not so sure if I can replant the tree from its seed."

"So?"

"Bring me some more?"

He nodded compliantly.

"I made deal with you, so don’t worry on that point. If I can get more, I’ll bring it to you."

"OK."Elise said, touching the tree and smiling. "This tree is alive, and it’s moving like this."

The tree moved along Elise’s hand. She touched the trunk and asked, "Are you resigning?"

"Yes."

"I relied on you during the monster attacks. I won’t be able to do that now."

"Can you come up with a defense plan?"

Elise laughed brightly.

"Don’t worry. I have plans of my own. If the monsters are like the ones we’ve seen, I’m prepared."

He smiled at her confidence. She was surely a character.

"Don’t be overconfident."

"Why?"

"The monsters so far have been weak, but stronger ones will come."

Elise heeded his advice and smiled, "Sure, but it will be something that I can endure." Then, she touched the tree and murmured, "Even though I have no idea of why they are attacking."

He smiled bitterly at what she said. If he were to tell her what was happening, what would she say? He was curious about it as he looked at the tree.

Elise was the tree’s owner, and the tree was almost dancing with her. He thought of what Nudra told him then, that things from the Dimensional Battlefield will accelerate the changes on Earth.

Junhyuk shook his head.

"Tomorrow is my going away party. Are you coming?"

"Of course!"