Jin Sahyuk observed the rabbit’s movements. Dark demonic energy gushed out of him like steam. At the same time, his fur, which was originally grey, slowly turned black. His crimson eyes that stood out starkly against his blackened body stared straight at Jin Sahyuk.
Jin Sahyuk watched the monster transform as she expanded her domain in silence. The 3rd Wall, which had stopped Gato from escaping only a few moment ago, expanded even further to encompa.s.s the entire area around them.
“…What is this?”
This magical phenomenon startled Gato as he had seen nothing like it before. Jin Sahyuk gave an arrogant smirk instead of an answer. With her domain fully formed, she was now sure that the monster stood no chance against her.
“Don’t make a fuss and just die.”
Jin Sahyuk said with her arms crossed. Gato became infuriated by her arrogant tone. The only being allowed to act arrogant in front of Gato was the ‘King’.
Guooo….
Gato’s demonic energy swirled like a storm, leaving thin scars across Jin Sahyuk’s cheeks.
“For my King—!”
Gato shouted as he jolted towards Jin Sahyuk. However, though he was precisely directed towards Jin Sahyuk, he wasn’t able to reach her. The distance between the two was not decreasing, no matter how hard he ran.
Looking at Gato running towards her from an unreachable distance, Jin Sahyuk declared, “…I’m also a king.”
The s.p.a.ce itself responded to her exalted voice. Iron bars shot up from the ground where Gato stood. He jumped up to avoid them, but a set of chains suddenly appeared and flew towards him. Gato made a circle in midair to shake the chains off. Then he darted towards Jin Sahyuk once again.
“So, consider yourself lucky.”
Only then did Jin Sahyuk unfold her arms, magic power gathered around her now freed hands. The concentrated magic power did not shoot outward but instead served to restructure her ‘domain’.
The ‘King’s Domain’ changed shape according to the King’s wishes. The ground was pulled apart and raised aloft to form fractals, which then changed into sharp blades and rushed towards Gato.
—Crack!
However, her fractals failed to penetrate Gato’s hide. Gato smirked. Surprisingly, so did Jin Sahyuk. Before Gato could even begin to contemplate about the meaning behind her smile, the fractals that clung to Gato’s hide exploded. The blades shcattered into pieces and Gato shrieked in pain amidst the burning heat and smoke.
“——!”
Enraged, Gato released his demonic energy. The swirl of demonic energy melted the fractals and heated the smoke away.
Gato then pushed himself up into the air.
His body gave off an ominous flow of demonic energy. Every blood vessel in his body was being filled up with demonic energy.
“…Come.”
Gato jolted forward with a single cry. The shock waves from his feet reverberated in all directions. This time, even the ‘King’s Domain’ wasn’t enough to stop him. In a flash, Gato arrived in front of Jin Sahyuk and swung his fist at her.
“Uuk—!”
Jin Sahyuk used her arm to guard herself from his punch. However, because her bone was much weaker than Gato’s, her arm easily snapped in half like a daikon. Immediately Gato’s kicks poured in. They carried the strength of a rabbit’s legs and crushed the lower half of Jin Sahyuk’s body.
“Keuk!”
It felt as if an atomic bomb had exploded inside her. Her eyes widened in shock, and a waterfall of blood spurted out of her mouth.
She had made a lethal mistake by allowing the rabbit to come near her. She never should have allowed this monster to attack her at close range. But how was it that a mere rabbit possessed this much strength…?
But it was too late to ponder such question.
With a radiant smile, Gato placed his hands around Jin Sahyuk’s neck, and, craaaack—! …tore her head off. The body without a head went limp and fell to the ground. There was no scream, no resistance. Gato let out a smile of satisfaction with Jin Sahyuk’s head in his hand.
‘It’s over.”
Gato thought.
However.
“…A beast is nothing but a clown in my domain.”
A voice descended from above. Startled, Gato quickly s.h.i.+fted his gaze to the sky. Jin Sahyuk was standing there, looking down at Gato with arrogant eyes.
“That was an interesting show, Clown.”
“You— d.a.m.n— little— human—!”
Gato exploded his magic power in a fury.
KWAAAANG—!
Jin Sahyuk didn’t seem to care that the explosion had damaged parts of her domain.
Tzzzzzt….
A spark of light emerged from the fake corpse of Jin Sahyuk that Gato had crushed to bits. The moment Gato turned around, the spark transformed into chains and wrapped itself around his neck. At the same time, spears, swords, arrows, and axes flew up into the sky. The weapons all pointed themselves at Gato.
“Now, it’s time for punishment.”
Jin Sahyuk waved her hands lightly. Her soldiers immediately responded to her command. The weapons poured down towards Gato like hail. When they reached the monster, they each presented him with a distinct kind of death. Explosion, penetration, freezing burst, necrosis, asphyxiation, paralysis, amputation….
“….”
It didn’t take long for the monster rabbit to collapse to the ground. Different kinds of wounds covered his body. Death was just around the corner and Gato was barely breathing.
Jin Sahyuk slowly walked over to him.
“…I’m the one who will kill Black Lotus.”
She said, with a sharp sword in her hand.
“So go tell your king…”
A smile spread across her face at the sight of the enfeebled foe at her feet.
“…to not interfere.”
Chwiing!
The blade penetrated Gato’s heart. Gato gasped for air a few times before finally meeting his end.
“…Ha.”
At that moment, Jin Sahyuk’s face stiffened.
Her ‘King’s Domain’ was released, and Jin Sahyuk fell to the ground.
‘That was close.’ She thought.
There was no strength left in her body. This was clearly magic power exhaustion. She thought humanoid monsters would be weak… yet they were much stronger than she expected.
She closed her eyes with a sigh.
The face of a certain someone sprang up beneath her sealed eyelids. Irritated, Jin Sahyuk opened her eyes again.
“…d.a.m.n it.”
Kim Hajin. Kim Hajin. Kim Hajin.
She couldn’t stop thinking about his name.
“How do you know?”
Jin Sahyuk wanted to ask. She was dying to ask. Just how did he know ‘Puharen’?
She resented herself for not being able to confront him.
“Haaa….”
Not long ago, he had driven her to the verge of death.
She had begged him for her life.
Everytime she recalled this traumatic memory, her body trembled violently. She was angry at herself for being so afraid of Kim Hajin even after all this time.
She closed her eyes in embarra.s.sment.
Jin Sahyuk blacked out.
This time, Kim Hajin did not appear.
**
Monsters around the world began to grow listless, turning more violent and aggressive.
It wasn’t just the 30-million-strong army of monsters marching north from Africa.
There was nothing I could do in the face of the sudden ‘monster mayhem’. I simply hurried to the Essential Dynamics’ underground workshop built somewhere near the southern sea, along with Yoo Yeonha.
“Take whatever you need.”
The workshop was filled with incredible machines, including drones worth hundreds of millions of wons each, stealth aircrafts similar to the F-22, small tanks, and even high-tech body suits found only in movies. What laid before my eyes was undoubtedly the epitome of magic and science.
“…All of these are your inventions?”
“Yes. We developed them, but never announced them to the public. These days, a lot of people are holding us in check, and they definitely aren’t going to allow our patent applications to pa.s.s. We’re only going to give others the chance to steal our ideas by making them public, so we figured it would be better to keep them hidden.”
My gaze s.h.i.+fted to the a.s.sault drones and stealth aircraft. I could make use of them both.
Yoo Yeonha noticed that I was interested and remarked.
“The codename for this drone is ESX-039. It comes with a pocket enchanted with s.p.a.ce expansion magic, so it can hold up to 5000 magic bullets. The AI also fires the bullets in the most efficient way.”
“Mm. Really?”
I could enhance machines I owned up to four times.
First with [Equipment Link], then [Random Consolidation System], then [Aether], and lastly [Algorithm]. With these, even the simplest gun could become as powerful as an artifact.
“I’ll just take these drones for now.”
These drones would probably become a great addition to the team.
I place my hand on top of the four drones. Then I activated [Equipment Link], one of the functions my laptop gained when it updated back in the day.
===
[Equipment Link] [5-streak consolidation]
—Links any machine owned by ‘Kim Hajin’ to Kim Hajin. (Max: 7)
—The linked machine can only be controlled by its owner. The owner is given the right to control the linked machine anyway he pleases.
—The output of linked machines will increase by 15%.
===
I linked myself to all four drones. Even without a power source, the drones moved as I commanded them.
“…Oh wow. Did your Gift advance by another level? It’s not only guns that are responding to you now.”
I handed the [Dwarven Supercar (Converted)] to the surprised Yoo Yeonha.
“What’s this?”
“I’ll lend it to you in exchange for the drones.”
"…Pardon?”
I personally unlocked the card for Yoo Yeonha, who was clearly confused. With a poof, the Dwarven Supercar appeared in the air.
“Oh?”
“Learn to ride it. With this you can go from Busan to Seoul in 10 minutes. It can even fly across the sky.”
“…Do you really expect me to ride something so conspicuous?”
“You’ll be fine at night.”
I infused my magic power into the vehicle. Thanks to the old enchant effect, the snowmobile turned transparent and blended into the darkness.
“It won’t be noticeable at night, but if you’re still concerned, use the Cape of Transparency. They’re pretty common these days.”
“I wouldn’t say they’re common. Effective goods from the Tower are all expensive…. Anyways, thank you, I’ll use it well.”
Yoo Yeonha’s eyes twinkled as she sat down on the Dwarven Supercar’s driver seat. She learned how to drive in the Tower, so she should be able to control it with ease.
I took my mind off her and turned my smart.w.a.tch back on.
—30,000,000 monsters are heading north. People living in Western Europe have been urged to evacuate the area….
—Monsters are rampaging throughout the entire world, not only Africa. Governments have declared a state of emergency, and….
The story had obviously moved onto the Orden Arc.
With this incident, humanity would lose ‘at least’ Africa and the entire Middle East, as well as the Iberian Peninsula, Greece, Italy, and other countries near the Mediterranean with the addition of Ireland and Scotland.
But this was only the beginning.
“Oh, also….”
I looked back.
Vroom— Vroom—
Yoo Yeonha was flying in the air on the Dwarven Supercar.
“…What happened to Essence Barrier?”
“Ah.”
Yoo Yeonha hurried back down.
“We s.h.i.+pped them to other countries already. I didn’t make as much I could have, but I figured now wasn’t the time to chase after money. I sent one to England a long time ago too.”
“Good. Then I’m leaving now. Don’t follow me.”
“Okay.”
I stepped into the elevator with the drones by my side. Yoo Yeonha looked at me and said:
“Oh, and I’ll clear things up with Nayun.”
“…How?”
“I’m thinking about telling her that you were seriously injured but recovered miraculously.”
Yoo Yeonha’s smiling face appeared behind the gap between the wall and the elevator door. But the door shut before I could answer her.
I was now back above the ground with the drones. Spartan clung to my side.
A view of the ocean by the workshop entered my eyes.
“…Hmm.”
I began to contemplate, with my gaze fixed on the wavering darkness above the southern sea.
The last segment of my story was about to begin. Soon, humanity would form an ‘expedition team’ against Orden, and not long afterwards, Earth would start to transform into the Demon Realm. The contamination would start from both poles. And after that… was a future I didn’t know.
Of course, I did have a tentative idea for how to end the story.
In the final arc, Jin Sahyuk would make a deal with a devil. Equivalent exchange. She would obtain peace for her homeland, Akatrina, in exchange for transforming Earth into the Demon Realm.
Jin Sahyuk would try to destroy Earth using the devil’s power before ultimately being defeated by Kim Suho and peris.h.i.+ng….
“Jin Sahyuk.”
But of course, the remake shouldn’t end so easily…
Ultimately, Jin Sahyuk was the one who held the most important key to the story.
“Huu….”
With a deep sigh, I began to think of Jin Sahyuk.
A wounded princess who ascended the throne of a fallen kingdom, only to meet a painful death in despair.
I would have to meet her someday and decide whether to kill her or not.
In the darkness of the seaside, I took out two [Communication Letters]. These two letters were effective goods I brought from the Tower, used to communicate with each other regardless of their locations. They could also be recycled by the repet.i.tion of writing and erasing.
I could probably deliver one to Jin Sahyuk by asking Rachel.
“Hey, Drone, deliver this to Rachel in England.”
I handed a [Communication Letter] to one of the drones.
The drone disappeared quickly into the sky.
**
[Hero a.s.sociation, Temple of Justice]
The Hero a.s.sociation’s most influential department— ‘Temple of Justice’.
A meeting was currently taking place in the office of the Heroes revered by all Heroes. For the first time in a while, all twelve members of the Temple of Justice had gathered together.
“An astounding amount of jewelry was discovered in the private vault of Yoon Younghwa, whom Black Lotus kill… no, a.s.saulted.”
Chairman Park Hanho put up the first item on their agenda. This was originally their most important topic of discussion before even more urgent matters emerged.
“First, Black Lotus.”
The overall appearance of Black Lotus, his arrow and the note he had left at the scene appeared as a 3D hologram.
“The note reads, [I warn the dogs of the Monster King].”
A number of Heroes showed interest in Black Lotus’ handwriting. It was so beautiful that Yi Yongha and Nicholas couldn’t hold back their exclamations of amazement.
“Monster King is most likely referring to Orden. Black Lotus is saying Yoon Younghwa received bribes from him.”
Park Hanho immediately pulled up a video recording of Yoon Younghwa’s interrogation.
“…Where did you get all the blood diamonds?”
—I don’t know.
“…Even though they were found in your safe?”
—I don’t know. Why are you interrogating me? I’m the victim, you hear me? The victim of an a.s.sault! I only came here because you promised me to fix my body. I won’t stand to be treated this way….
“What an annoying old geezer.” Aileen said, tapping on her desk. “He obviously took bribes from Orden. Blood diamonds without any identification number, and… what was it? There was one more thing.”
Park Hanho said instead, “Sorcery Mask.”
“Yeah, that. It’s an artifact only found in Africa; used to cast hypnosis and aphrodisiac spells. What exactly did this perverted old geezer need it for?”
“…Regardless, private prosecutions are against the law. Black Lotus’ actions would still be problematic even if he was a Hero. We’ll need to adjust the bounty on his head.”
“…Then do it.”
‘Why are we even having a meeting if he’s just gonna do whatever he wants?’ Aileen grumbled as she leaned back in her chair. “Do whatever you want, I don’t care~”
“….”
At her remark, Park Hanho studied the face of the other members. None of them seemed to object.
“It’s settled, then….”
[Grade-1 Black Bounty — Wanted Criminal: ‘Black Lotus’]
Black Lotus’ bounty increased, just like that.
The change was meaningless since it wouldn’t change the status quo, but there was nothing else they could do. The objective of this meeting was simply to review solutions presented to them by the lower echelon.
A Grade-1 Black Bounty was a.s.signed only to the most dangerous criminals, who required ‘a large number’ of Heroes to capture.
“The next item on the agenda is ‘Orden a.s.sa.s.sination Team.’ This is today’s most important topic.”
They were already moving on to the next item on the agenda.
This time, the topic was ‘a.s.sa.s.sination team’.
“In the face of recent events, different groups have suggested we should form a team against Orden. We plan on forming at least two teams….”
Park Hanho took a look around the room.
“Do you have any Heroes you’d like to recommend for the job? Of course, if none of them are strong enough, we’ll simply be forming teams amongst ourselves.”
It seemed everyone had a thing or two to say this time. The Heroes in the room began to either recommend Heroes or condemn the choices of others. Everyone, except Aileen.
AIleen sat still, yawning and smacking her lips in boredom.
“…Aileen?”
Chairman Park Hanho turned to Aileen.
“Wha?”
“And your opinion is?”
“…Well.”
Aileen stroked her chin as she contemplated. A minute pa.s.sed, and she suddenly jolted as though she thought of someone.
Everyone’s attention s.h.i.+fted to Aileen.
“What? Were you able to think of someone?”
“Huh? Ah, that’s….”
Aileen twisted her body in embarra.s.sment. The members of the Temple of Justice were certainly not used to seeing such a reaction out of Aileen. Curious, they focused even harder on what she had to say.
At last, Aileen spoke.
“…F-Fenrir~?”
Her cheeks were slightly flushed.
“….”
“….”
“….”
No one returned an answer. There was neither signs of support nor opposition. Everyone simply stared at Aileen in silence.
Fenrir.
A mercenary who used a gun.
His most famous nicknames included ‘Lotus Killer’, ‘Monster Wolf’, etc…
“I, I’m kidding. It was a joke! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.”
Aileen squeezed out laughter to fend off her embarra.s.sment but it only made the situation worse. The members either glared even harder or let out pitiful sighs. And so, AIleen was left with no choice but to resort to anger.
“d.a.m.n it, I said I was joking. I’m gonna pull your eyeb.a.l.l.s out. Hey, what’re you looking at? Hm? I said, what are you looking at?! Stop it right now….”
Aileen started to make a fuss. Even the Temple of Justice couldn’t stand her notorious tantrums.
“Is what I said that absurd? Huh?!”
She was someone who beat up even Cheok Jungyeong last time they fought on the 21st floor of the Tower. Magic power surged from her that was even stronger than in the past, and her Spirit Speech began to shake the room… until finally, the meeting came to a conclusion.
With Aileen’s strong recommendation, the name ‘Fenrir’ was placed on the top of the recruit list for the Orden a.s.sa.s.sination Team.
**
[8F - Crevon]
Meanwhile, four days after the ‘Orden Incident’.
“A letter? For me?” Jin Sahyuk looked at Rachel with a frown.
“…Yes.” Rachel answered.
“Someone has the nerve to send me a letter? Is it from a man?”
‘She barges into the Commander"s Office only to talk about a letter?’ Jin Sahyuk put on a surly expression.
“Yes, technically.”
“…I have no interest in some dull man who writes letters.”
“It’s from Fenrir.”
“…?”
Jin Sahyuk stared at Rachel in silence. Unable to grasp the meaning of the words that had just come out Rachel’s mouth, Jin Sahyuk sat in a daze. Only after some time did she finally speak.
“For real?”
“Yes.”
“The Kim Hajin?”
“…Yes.”
“Why would Kim Hajin, I mean, Fenrir, send me a letter?”
“I don’t know.”
Rachel simply handed the envelope to Jin Sahyuk.
“…Please take it. I have to leave quickly, because of the recent monster incident.”
Jin Sahyuk faked a look of discontent and looked down at the envelope before finally picking it up from Rachel’s hand.
“Well then.”
She carefully opened the envelope to check its contents.
“…Mm?”
Jin Sahyuk read the letter in its entirety.
“What the.”
But there was nothing written on the letter. She even flipped the letter over and checked inside the envelope, but her efforts were fruitless.
“What does it say?”
Suddenly, a voice flowed into her ears. Startled, Jin Sahyuk raised her head.
“Huh…?”
Rachel was staring at her. Jin Sahyuk a.s.sumed Rachel had already left since she said she was busy.
“Uh, um, well.”
Jin Sahyuk couldn’t tell Rachel that the letter was blank, so she chose to change the topic.
“Why are you still here? I thought you were in a hurry.”
“…Pardon? Ah, um… is it about the movie?”
“What?”
Jin Sahyuk found her response rather strange.
“Wait… are you jealous?”
“…”
Rachel flinched slightly but soon smiled as she normally did.
“Certainly not.”
“Then why are you so eager to know?”
“….”
In truth, it really could be jealousy. It wasn’t exactly fun to introduce two friends to each other and see them get closer with each other than with you.
Rachel couldn’t describe her feelings in words, but she hurriedly turned back and grabbed the doork.n.o.b.
“…Then, I’ll be off.”
Rachel disappeared.
“What was that?”
Jin Sahyuk nonchalantly watched her leave and looked down at the letter again. She realized something the next moment.
“…This is an answerable letter.”
The letter functioned just like a carrier pigeon. The two letters were linked to each other, so any text on one letter would appear on the other.
“That crazy guy.”
‘But why did he send me a blank letter? What, he’s too embarra.s.sed to write first, so he’s dumping it on me? Arrogant as always, that guy.’
Jin Sahyuk crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it in the trash can.
“….”
Tok, tok, tok, tok… Jin Sahyuk tapped on the desk with her finger and whistled.
Her gaze kept s.h.i.+fting towards the trash can.
‘Resist. Must resist. No matter how much I want to ask him….’
“Dammit.”
But she couldn’t even hold out for 10 seconds.
Jin Sahyuk picked up the letter from the trash can.