CH 269

The grotesque city seemed to have been deserted after the destruction of the light pillar. All the buildings were damaged except for the city hall in the distance. There were only around nine thousand survivors, so if Bale was the guild leader here, he would have gathered troops and supplies in one city in preparation for the invasion of other forces.

Bale’s henchman advised, “You’d better look around.”

Bale had also been thinking the same thing. Although it was an abandoned city, there could be documents left inside the city hall. It could be an opportunity for them to figure out the internal situation before meeting with people from Revolucion (12).

Right as Bale led the attacking team into the city, something happened.

Bang!

A toy doll rushed toward Bale at formidable speed and landed. No one had noticed where it flew from. A huge hollow appeared where it landed, and the shock wave that was created ended up pushing the entire group away at once. Bale managed to balance himself and stared ahead, then he stretched his arms to the side to stop the attack squad from running away.

The man was an Asian who resembled a brown bear. The ability he had just shown and the equipment on his body proved that he was a powerful Awakened. Although Bale knew that there was only one resident in the city, he didn’t expect the person would be this strong. He was there to annex Revolucion (12) peacefully, so he shouldn’t have had a conflict with one of their leaders yet.

Bale spoke in short and easy English sentences, hoping the Asian would understand him.

“I thought this was an abandoned city. We are from the center stage. I want to meet with the guild leader.”

However, the Asian man didn’t respond in English, and he glared at them fiercely before responding in an alien language. It seemed to be his native language, but Bale, of course, couldn’t understand.

One of Bale’s group members interjected, “It’s Korean.”

Bale swore, “Fuck. Is there anyone who speaks Korean here?”

Bale’s words had a sting in them as he didn’t have a good impression of Korea. That Group had not only disrupted the ecosystem of his home country, France, but also caused him to become so stressed out that he developed hair loss. Of course, it was the Jamie Corporation, which was an offshore independent company of Jeonil Group. Not a single day went by quietly since they had entered France while the Goldsteins were down.

There was a flood of work, so he and his accountant colleagues were able to earn some money. However, France's economic situation had been invaded by the Asians, and it was a serious problem. Some simply enjoyed the circumstances, claiming nothing had been confirmed that Jeonil was an Asian capital.

However, Bale wasn’t one of those fools. Since nothing had been checked, he thought he had to assume that Jeonil was Asian. Therefore, the Jamie Corporation was the invader sent by the Korean Jeonil Group!

“Are you Korean?” Bale asked.

“No English. No English,” the man replied testily.

Bale had a feeling that the words that the guy rambled afterward were clearly Korean swear words. Also, the man’s face was filled with hostility. It was obvious what the man wanted: if they didn’t get out of the city right away, he would destroy them all. The Asian wasn’t afraid to be alone, but he should have known the situation even if he was confident in his ability. He should have behaved more wisely since he had gone through Act Two, Stage One.

The Asian’s attitude was dangerous. If Bale hadn’t been trying to recruit them, then he would have sliced off the guy’s head instantly and shared the spoils with his subordinates.

“What should we do?” one of the attackers asked after reading Bale’s cold gaze.

Bale grimaced. “We are not here to fight.”

He had decided to avoid a conflict, but it was just his decision. A brown bear-like Asian had no intention of allowing outsiders who had come in without permission off the hook. When Bale and his crew turned around, the Asian stood in front of them.

***

How long had it been since he had last seen such awful looking eyes? These were the eyes that looked down on people and were usually only found on men in ‘suits’. Well, no. This intruder’s gaze was much worse than that. Since Seong-Il had carefully studied Odin’s eyes ever since he became teammates with the other man, it wasn’t hard for him to read Bale’s thoughts.

Seong-Il snarled, “You guys are just leaving after making me angry here? Is this your bedroom or something?”

The big nose rambled back in some kind of western language.

Seong-Il hollered, “I told you not to use English. Shut up if you can’t speak Korean, you motherfuckers. You guys made the decision to come in, but you guys don’t get to decide when to leave. You should have considered that before coming in.”

Crack.

The sound of bones cracking came out as Seong-Il clenched his fist.

“I already gave you a warning, okay? Don’t cry if you get hit in the face.”

Seong-Il blew a punch at Bale’s face while the other man was speaking in English.

Slam!

Although Bale had raised his Sense as much as possible, he couldn’t escape Seong-Il’s fist. Bale’s head bent backward, and his protective barrier fluttered. Then, Seong-Il snatched up Bale’s ankle and shouted, “Come on! I’ll teach you exactly whose master bedroom this is!”

***

The World Awakened Association (3) was likely to be a fake who borrowed the fame at will. Revolucion and Tomorrow belonged to the association, but the other groups were titled by their names. Only Joshua was promised to use the title ‘World Awakened Association,’ and the force that he would have built might have been considered the top stage and swept away by Doom Kaos’ last prank.

Realistically, it was difficult to survive there. I just had a vague hope that the Second Virtue[1] would have realized his true ability and passed through Act Two, Stage One, then join me to help with the Final Stage of Act Three later.

When I returned to the city after meeting Lee Tae-Han and Ji-Ae noona, the street was soaked in blood. There were traces of someone dragging bodies from the entrance of the city toward the back of the building that was on the verge of collapse. Apparently, the Frank Guild from the central stage had visited while I was gone. Other than the traces of Seong-Il, there was only another sign. The tracks they had left while they were being killed by Seong-Il indicated that they were in one attack squad. They were unlucky.

“They fooled around by trusting their items too much,” Seong-Il calmly said while he eyed a man who was barely alive and breathing.

The white guy’s abdomen was extremely swollen due to excessive bleeding, and his ribs seemed to be broken. On the other hand, Seong-Il wasn’t injured at all.

He continued, “They came in not long after you left.”

The guy pleaded in English, “Ple… please… spare… ugh... Huff… huff… I… regret.”

Seong-Il replied, “See? You are using English again. You should use Korean when you are in Korean land. Ah, you should learn basic manners again.”

“What is that?” I asked.

On one side, their items were piled up in disorder. The man alive only had his underwear on.

Seong-Il explained, “These were the items that they were armed with.”

There were three. They must have obtained one master box each on the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh floor of the trap. One of the four must have been a skill, and the other three were items. Having this much proved the man’s identity as there was only one position that could occupy the first completion rewards. He must have been on the mayor level of the city in charge of the district. In other words, he was the commander of one corps.

I remarked, “You shouldn’t treat A-class items like that.”

“You should pick first, Odin. You are carrying me…” Seong-Il scratched his nose and mumbled the end of this sentence like a shy adolescent teenage girl.

I turned my eyes to the dying guy, then made eye contact with him.

“You must be a commander on the central stage,” I said in English.

His swollen eyes shone as if he had found hope.

“Is there a Korean in your city?” I asked.

He sputtered, “N...no… Indra…”

“What?”

“I… Indra, you… then… he forgive…”

“He has been repeating the same thing over and over again. It’s to the point where I could memorize that now. What the hell is he saying?” Seong-Il asked.

“If we ask for forgiveness from Indra, he will spare our lives,” I replied indifferently.

Seong-Il smirked and raised his voice, “Indra?”

I explained, “It must be the name used by their guild leader.”

I asked the guy again. I was going to go around and check the World Awakened Association (3) camp anyway.

“I asked if there are any Koreans in your city.”

He responded, “N…no…”

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

I asked another question, “Have you heard about Revolucion and Tomorrow?”

“No… It’s not… too… late… I won’t… won’t bear… a g…grudge… if… you keep me… alive…”

He struggled to connect each word.

“Saving me… is saving… your lives… Indra… will…”

“Oh gosh, I’m gonna hear his stutter in my nightmares, right? Why the fuck are you looking for Indra so much?”

Seong-Il stood up and shrugged at me.

“Why?” he asked.

I glanced at him. “There must be a reason why you kept him alive.”

Seong-Il responded, “Oh. It’s the first time we have met another force. I was waiting for you to finish him. Except for that… there’s no other reason. Should I end him?”

I shrugged. “There is no need to wait for me from now on, especially to those who have come into my city without permission.”

[You have used Devi’s Sword.]

Swoosh-

After the red solid line was drawn, the man’s severed head rolled to the side.

“You should have considered the name of the city to be a serious warning. Your body suffers when you are stupid. Tsk, tsk,” Seong-Il chided while dragging away the guy’s body.

I turned around. “Then, I’ll be back.”

“You just came here, though. Where are you going?” Seong-Il asked.

“The World Awakened Association (3).”

“You might be able to see old faces, right? Probably Mary noona…”

I shook my head. “It must be fake.”

“If it’s fake…”

Seong-Il carefully opened his mouth while studying my face.

“Then, is it okay if I go this time? You can take a break.”

I replied, “But you don’t speak English.”

Seong-Il cheekily responded, “There is no need for me to speak another language, right? Odin? Odin. Odin! I can communicate with your name alone. Hehe. My armor Krong wants to get some fresh air.”

“I’ll tag along.”

“What about here?” he asked.

I replied off-handedly, “Change the name.”

[Guild: Your guild member Kwon Seong-Il has re-named the city (No Entry) to ‘Death Upon Unauthorized Occupation.’]

1. Remember, Joshua used to be the Second Virtue in the past. ☜