Chapter 100
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: The Coming Storm
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Before heading down to the engine room, there was something that needed to be taken care of.
“…We've finished securing the eighty-nine men who were on deck.”
The deck seemed to be more or less in order.
But a container ship is enormous. There was a high probability that someone was hiding somewhere on the ship, sending a distress signal to the mainland.
That's why I had prepared for this.
"Park Jun-mo, come here."
"Yes, sir!"
Lee Hyun-wook had called for Park Jun-mo to ensure a clean sweep.
And behind him, the 'Mace of the Thunder God' materialized.
"Fire it now."
*Crackle—zzzzzzzz—!*
The Mace of the Thunder God discharged its power across the deck, which had no discernible target. The bundle of azure electricity seemed to scatter into the air…
"Hyaaaah—!”
Park Jun-mo extended his hands to control it, and as he lowered his arms, the torrent of electricity seeped down into the ship.
*Crackle—zzzzzzzz—!*
In this way, Park Jun-mo controlled the current to crush the ship's interior. It would eradicate any hidden pests, just like an insecticide.
Watching the scene, Peng Tian clicked his tongue.
"Tch— You rotten bastards…"
"If you don't shut that mouth, I'll feed you a steel bead too."
"…What? Fuck, what are you talking about feeding me?"
At that, Xiao Jun, who had already experienced it once, stepped in to stop him.
"B-Boss! It's b-better if you just keep your mouth shut."
"Xiao Jun! Why did you give in so easily?"
"…Ahem, I certainly did not give in easily."
Lee Hyun-wook sighed and raised his left hand.
Instantly, Xiao Jun began to convulse.
"Gaaah—! Why m-me… *sob*—"
"If you don't shut that bastard's mouth, you'll be the one in pain."
Xiao Jun turned to Peng Tian, his eyes bloodshot.
"*Gasp*, Boss! Please, don't say anything!"
"What? You bastard, have you decided to start serving this damn Korean?"
"Ughhh… Just shut the fuck up, you idiot!"
"X-Xiao Jun, how could you— Ugh!"
*Thwack!*
In the end, Xiao Jun headbutted Peng Tian in the mouth.
"Hah— The camaraderie of thieves. What a sight."
Meanwhile, all the items the men had possessed were collected.
*'Good, the item farming is paying off nicely.'*
In particular, the items belonging to Peng Tian, the water elementalist, were extraordinary.
[Item Information]
- Name: Sage's Peach Blossom Bracelet (Heroic)
- Effect: Increases total mana (+1,000), increases control over nature (+10%), increases elemental affinity (+10%), increases elemental growth speed (+5%)
It was clearly an item suited for an elementalist.
*'Good. I can use this to upgrade Kim Se-hee.'*
But the real prize was something else entirely.
Lee Hyun-wook headed down to the ship's engine room.
*Whirrr— whirrr—*
A very dense wave of magical energy could be felt from the entrance.
And in the center of the engine facility, he found something.
*'It's the Mokwangpaljun.'*
Unfortunately, it wasn't metal, but a glass sphere the size of a fist.
Inside it were eight smaller spheres, and within them, tiny horses were encased like fossils in amber.
Even at a glance, it looked quite mystical.
*Whir— whir—*
For now, only one of the eight horses was moving as if running.
*'Still at stage one, I see.'*
- You have acquired 'Mokwangpaljun (Legendary)'!
[Item Information]
- Name: Mokwangpaljun (Legendary)
- Effect
1) Jeolji (絶地): Unleashes a powerful magic 'output'. When connected to a vehicle, its movement speed is greatly increased. (+50%)
[Stages 2-8 are currently unawakened.]
For now, it was just a high-performance mana engine, but if all eight horses inside the sphere were to move, it would unleash an absurd amount of power.
*'What should I make with this to really make a name for myself?'*
Lee Hyun-wook took it and went outside.
On the deck, Emilia Müller was perched on the ship's railing. Behind her stood Peter Clarke, the captain of the White Tree Guard. He gave Lee Hyun-wook a nod as he approached, then stepped aside.
"Wow, you've really… started the counterattack in earnest, haven't you?"
she said, as if freshly surprised.
"Don't tell me you didn't believe me when I suggested creating this team."
"No, I believed you… but honestly, this is all happening so fast, isn't it?"
It hadn't been long since Lee Hyun-wook had proposed creating a 'team' to fight the Villains. Yet here they were, already on the Villains' trail.
"You really are an incredible person. I made the right choice."
She took out a hip flask and took a sip. It was whiskey, as expected.
"Still, it's a long way from being ready to reveal to the world, right?"
Revealing the existence of the absolute evil known as Villains to the world,
was something that had to be done someday.
*'But… not now.'*
However, the idea that the world would readily believe in the existence of Villains was a foolish fantasy. As always, the world is cynical.
No matter how much fame he gained, suddenly shouting to the world that villains named 'Villains' were trying to conquer it…
*'…Some might support it, but the majority would just laugh it off.'*
That's why he needed to gather more evidence, more allies.
*'I'll create a ripple effect so powerful that the world can't possibly ignore it.'*
Lee Hyun-wook sensed that the moment was not far off.
"Emilia, I've made good use of the World Tree items you've provided so far. But… I have quite a few more things to ask of you this time."
At that, her eyes widened.
It wasn't out of shock or feeling burdened, but deep interest.
"…Huh? Don't tell me you're plotting something new already, without even taking a break?"
Lee Hyun-wook nodded.
"And this time, it's going to be on a much larger scale."
Another major event was approaching.
***
News that would shake the world continued to break.
The Hongdo Guild and the South Korean government had met to discuss administrative rights to Laputa, and a battle had broken out. That alone was shocking enough, but it was only the beginning.
Immediately after, the Hongdo Guild's headquarters in Nanjing exploded. The cause was unknown, but the Hongdo Guild was, for all intents and purposes, gone.
The next day, the South Korean government released a statement announcing that the Hongdo Guild had colluded with the Black Orc Kingdom in an attempt to conquer Laputa.
As proof, the completely shattered corpse of a Black Orc was revealed to the public.
It was only natural that the world was shocked by this insane series of events.
"Crazy, colluding with monsters? Is that something a sane person would do?"
"Wow— Those absolute pieces of trash…"
The world did not hesitate to point fingers at the Hongdo Guild for their atrocities.
However, with the Hongdo Guild—the party that should have been defending itself—gone, it was the Chinese government that strangely issued a direct rebuttal.
- Chinese Government Issues Unprecedented Proxy Statement: South Korea Fabricated the Incident!
- China: "The Great Wall is Solid." Insists No Collusion with Monsters
- Hongdo Guild Incident Sparks Diplomatic Conflict… Fears of War?
But almost no one believed them.
China, which had long been an international 'public enemy', once again became the target of criticism due to this incident.
Thus, international politics began to turn grim…
But amidst the chaos, Lee Hyun-wook focused on his own tasks.
*'…There's so much to do.'*
First, he received the <Shield of Achilles> as promised from the Gugwang Group. At that time, Goo Hyo-min came to see him in person.
"I wanted to come and pay my respects to the person who saved my life."
Lee Hyun-wook spent quite a long time talking with her about various things.
*'This woman will one day become a master of alchemy.'*
Therefore, he made an effort to win her favor…
"And I heard you're running a guild. If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know. I'll spare no expense in supporting you."
And so, Lee Hyun-wook did not miss the opportunity she presented.
"Ah, there is one thing I'd like to ask."
"Oh! What is it?"
"It's something only you can help with, Dr. Goo."
"Really? That's great!"
Her face lit up at the thought of being able to help. However, after hearing his next words, she couldn't help but look hesitant.
"Well… I'm planning to build an alchemy research lab."
Due to the last incident, the Gugwang Group's alchemy research complex in Gangdong-gu was temporarily shut down. The world's top-tier alchemy facility had come to a halt. As a result, the employees who worked there were suddenly jobless.
Lee Hyun-wook planned to take advantage of this opening.
*'The alchemy industry will soon become a goose that lays golden eggs.'*
If magic engineering was similar to mechanical engineering, then alchemy was bioengineering. Both were technologies that would lead the world in the future.
And to process the item Lee Hyun-wook had smuggled out, the divine drink Nectar… alchemy was needed to make it consumable by humans.
"I'm not trying to take a piece of the Gugwang Group's pie; it's just a lab for item research. But I don't know anything about it."
Goo Hyo-min couldn't refuse her savior's request.
"…Alright. I'll support you."
Just like that, he laid the groundwork for expanding his enterprise into alchemy.
Three days later, he received a call from Go Jin-hwa in Red Hole Village.
- Mr. Lee, we're finally starting to mine the adamantite!
*'Good, it's time to arm ourselves with adamantite.'*
The next day, one kilogram of adamantite arrived at the Hope Guild. Because adamantite was so hard, the daily mining output was less than one kilogram.
To distribute the adamantite, Kang Jeong-du's workshop and the Gray Dwarves met. At first, they were wary of each other as their domains overlapped.
"Hmph, the humans are decent… but so clumsy!"
"Tsk, these dwarves have no finesse! Things will break down in no time like this!"
Still, an atmosphere of mutual respect and cooperation began to form. The catalyst, funnily enough… was Kang Jeong-du buying canned beer from a convenience store and sharing it with the dwarves.
"Kh! Human beer is actually pretty drinkable!"
"Oh, so the dwarves know how to drink, do they?"
Kang Hee-seol often bickered with the dwarves…
"Ugh… These dwarf uncles talk too much!"
"You human girl, you're the one squawking!"
But as the woman who would one day create the greatest synergy with the dwarf artisans and be called 'Snow White', there was no need to worry.
Meanwhile, Lee Hyun-wook continued to focus solely on 'Absorption'.
- Time remaining until metal absorption is complete: (Unknown)
…It had already been eleven days since he'd swallowed it.
"Hoo— Now, is it tomorrow…?"
It would be great if the absorption finished before that incident occurred… but the <Magnetar Crust Piece> was, as expected of such an incredible item, silent.
And so, the final day passed.
And finally… the event he had been waiting for occurred.
- …This is breaking news! A giant dome has appeared in the southeastern region of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The dome is estimated to be a staggering ten kilometers in size, raising suspicions of a Fifth Wave.
Lee Hyun-wook watched the news from his office at the Hope Guild.
*'No, it's not the Fifth Wave.'*
- …The dome has been identified as the largest 'Unlucky Event' in history, with a staggering level 65 entry restriction, as reported by Japan's Sakura News. In response, the Japanese government has decided to deploy three S-rank Players to the operation to clear this Unlucky Event…
"Wow… They're sending in three S-rank Players…"
muttered Park Cheol-su, who was watching the news with him, in astonishment.
There were only thirty-one known S-rank Players in the entire world.
In other words, a full ten percent of them were being deployed.
However…
*'…That operation is doomed to fail.'*
What's more, one of the S-rank Players will die during the attempt.
*'I… know why they failed.'*
That wasn't all.
*'I also know why the next attempt will fail.'*
That was why he planned to step in the moment the first operation failed and the Japanese government requested aid from the rest of the world.
He had spent the last few days preparing for that moment.
*'Of course, it won't be easy, even for me…'*
Plunging into that little hell was an extremely dangerous endeavor.
But he couldn't afford to pass it up.
The rewards that came from that place were simply too immense.
*'It's where… Thor's <Mjolnir> drops.'*
And then…
- Metal Absorption complete. (Magnetar Crust Piece)
* Controllable metal weight has increased: 89kg
He had finally 'absorbed' that ridiculously overpowered item.
*'…Perfect timing, isn't it?'*
Following that, all sorts of system messages popped up one after another, filling his vision. It was a lot for having consumed just a single item.
Looking at them, Lee Hyun-wook was genuinely surprised.
"…This will make things even easier."
It seemed the time had come to bring a cataclysm to this world.