How Unknown Absorbs an Organization (2)

The quest had begun.

The entire area around Gwanghwamun Plaza erupted into chaos.

"What's going on?"

"It's a terrorist attack! Villain terrorists!"

An Association alert blared out instantly through amplification magic.

Even underworld organizations had been drafted in as security personnel. Seoul City and the Hunter Association had finished their preparations. And yet, now that the terrorism had actually started, not only the civilians but the security officers nearby looked rattled.

The rain's only making it worse.

Choi Hana scanned the surroundings with tense eyes. I, on the other ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hand, spoke calmly.

"Stay composed. It doesn't look like any villains have shown up yet."

"Yes. Understood!"

My high mental fortitude played a part, sure — but more than that, I already knew every beat of what was about to unfold today. I also knew exactly how to move to claim the greatest advantage for myself.

It's the first quest, so the damage won't get too severe.

Crimson Teeth might have been a den of raving lunatics, but even they couldn't openly assassinate the Saintess. Their goal was simply to sow mass chaos at today's event. The explosions just now marked the start of Phase One.

Just as the announcement said — for now, it was a bomb attack.

Well, this much shouldn't cause any real damage.

The venue had prepared in advance, after all. There didn't seem to be any major casualties. The tricky part of this quest, though, was that it required protecting civilians.

So I have to minimize the damage in our assigned sector.

The people of Blood Jaguar moved in a hurry.

"Do not let civilians approach anything or anywhere that looks suspicious!"

At Choi Hana's words, Hwang Yonggyun barked out orders of his own.

"You can all defuse a bomb, right? Hurry — before the chaos gets worse!"

Jeong Noeul answered at once.

"Yes, Vice-Boss! Ah — Junwoo, you be careful too! If something looks like a bomb, tell me!"

Blood Jaguar was small in scale, but they were still an underworld syndicate through and through.

Looks like they all know their way around disguised bombs.

In the underworld, terrorist attacks against rival organizations were a near-daily occurrence. Especially for a lower-tier group like Blood Jaguar — under orders from their superiors, they even had to patrol the area around their own headquarters. They knew the prime spots for planting bombs by heart.

Leaving useless bombs lying around will just get in the way later.

The plaza was littered with decorative pieces set up for the event — perfect hiding places for explosives. Of course, I remembered exactly where the villains had stashed every single one. I'd cleared this content to death. It wasn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hard.

I carefully scanned the area. A statue of a cherub stood nearby, its shape familiar. Sure enough, a wad of gum was stuck to the base.

"Watch out! That might be a bomb!"

Jeong Noeul, who had been near me, shouted the warning.

She knows her stuff.

I scraped the gum free with the tip of my Holy Knight's Sword.

"That's dangerous!!"

Jeong Noeul spoke in a rush.

"Even if it's a time bomb, forcing it off might set it off!! Wait...?"

But nothing happened.

Puff—

There was an explosion, yes — but quieter than a party popper going off.

Crackle-crackle-crackle—

The new authority created through the Barrier Pendant — Serenely Rippling Wall of Water. Its skills completely nullified the flame-attribute explosion. And the passive skill Humidity Enhancement had another effect as well.

With the rain falling, I was actually receiving a buff. I looked at Jeong Noeul.

"No problem like this, right?"

"Wow, you're right. If it's a bomb packed with flame-attribute magic stone powder, it can be dangerous... Did I overreact for nothing? Heehee."

Jeong Noeul lightly bonked her own head with a fist and made a cute face.

What kind of reaction is that.

If I hadn't known her real identity, it might have been a little cringey — but once I thought of it as a VTuber bit, it made sense.

"Theia cadets really are something else. No — I mean you're something else, right? Completely calm, using your authority on a bomb like that. Anyway, I wasn't ignoring you, so don't feel too bad about it~!"

Jeong Noeul was wearing a thin rain poncho because of the weather. The way it clung tightly to her body only emphasized her figure in those snug leggings. A little — no, honestly speaking, a pretty lewd figure. But her voice was pure cute-girl energy, which created a bit of a gap. That voice alone was enough to pin down exactly which member of the Underdolls she was.

I never would have guessed Jeong Noeul was Yunori.

Her real-life image and her VTuber persona were completely different. When she streamed under the handle Yunori, Jeong Noeul was an otaku beyond imagination. Her concept was a magical girl, and on stream she came across as timid rather than the social butterfly she was now. Probably the quiet-on-the-inside type. It felt strange to me. That otaku streak and shy streak made Yunori the member Naharing teased the most — and yet in reality, Jeong Noeul was older than Choi Hana.

Twenty-three, she said.

Even her hair color was different from the character — blonde. In every way, her real self and her VTuber image refused to line up. Still, now was the time to focus on the quest.

"Let's move. There might be more bombs."

I continued helping the organization members clear explosives. Choi Hana, who had returned to my side at some point, spoke up.

"Whew. You've worked hard, Mr. Lee Junwoo!"

As she said, the chaos across the plaza had settled a little — but I knew better.

Phase Two is about to start.

The real trouble was only beginning. Phase Two: once a Gate opened, a flood of monsters and villains would appear at the same time. Creating mass chaos through that terrorism was part of the villains' plan, yes — but their true objective was something else entirely.

Not the terrorism or killing the Saintess. The real goal is seizing the holy relics.

This was the Pure White Festival, a religious event. Multiple holy relics normally kept in the Goddess Church's papal vaults had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠brought out and placed around the venue.

Same goes for Mad Knife's sector.

Mad Knife was Blood Jaguar's superior organization. Naturally, their sector also held a holy relic — and that relic was important. If this were just a security detail for the event, there would be no reason for it to be underworld-side content. The core of this quest was building legitimacy as an underworld organization. In the original story, Mad Knife lost the holy relic in their sector to the villains. If Blood Jaguar reclaimed it, that would become a solid achievement.

And that achievement becomes the justification.

The justification to turn around and swallow Mad Knife whole.

A moment later, things unfolded exactly as expected.

Crackle-crackle-crackle-crackle—

Above the rain-soaked air, space warped and the sound of atmosphere tearing apart rang out. A Gate opened over Gwanghwamun.

"A Gate! A Gate just opened!"

"Goddess above... Saintess!!"

I gripped my Holy Knight's Sword tight.

In Blood Jaguar's sector, even the slightest damage cannot be allowed.

This was different from Hell Week. For the sake of legitimacy, civilian casualties had to be kept to an absolute minimum.

Which means I'll have to run around a lot myself.

Unlike my other stats, which had grown over time, my Speed was still at 10. With ordinary-person-level speed and reaction time, today's quest would have been overwhelming. Of course, that was before.

I had stockpiled a full 13 SP. For Phase Two, I poured every last bonus point into Speed without holding back. The way my body moved was completely different now.

"Everyone stay sharp! Monsters have appeared!"

Hwang Yonggyun shouted. No — before the words even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠left his mouth, my body was already reacting to the monsters.

Crimson Teeth had carried out the attack.

Civilians gathered for the Pure White Festival. Naturally, massive confusion broke out among them — but for a crowd of hundreds of thousands, the venue's security personnel were handling things surprisingly well.

The Saintess shouldn't be in any real danger.

Hwang Yonggyun looked toward the center of the venue, near the stage where the Saintess was positioned. A soft green sacred power was continuously pouring out from that area.

With that much sacred power, no additional Gates will open.

Judging by the Gate's scale, fairly high-rank monsters seemed to be pouring out — but elite hunters from major corporate guilds were stationed near the Saintess. The real problem was the outer zones, not the central sector of the venue. Those were the areas assigned to underworld organizations, of course.

As for the sector assigned to our organization... this is relatively manageable, I suppose.

It wasn't the center, but a small-scale Gate had still spawned near their assigned zone. And then there were the lunatics charging indiscriminately at civilians — the villains were visible too.

One of them spotted Hwang Yonggyun cutting down a monster and suddenly lunged at him.

"You bastard! Some washed-up underworld fossil thinking he can act tough—"

The look in his eyes was completely gone. He'd already downed Chaotic, no question. Not that he was worth a response.

Thud—

Hwang Yonggyun smashed a fist into the villain's face. A clean straight punch. The man crumpled to the ground almost immediately.

Not even C+ rank.

Whether he was unconscious or dead, Hwang Yonggyun didn't care. His eyes were already hunting for the next enemy.

The hostiles who broke into this sector aren't much... but there are countless civilians inside the zone.

At the very least, within the sector Blood Jaguar was responsible for, not a single civilian could be allowed to come to harm. Honestly speaking, though, the organization's fighting strength was insufficient. He couldn't protect every civilian alone.

"Hm?"

Then his gaze stopped on one spot.

"Noeul unnie! Watch your back!"

"Got it! Leave it to me! I'm a magical girl— wait, no, a mage!"

A young man came into view. Clearly the male cadet named Lee Junwoo. He was working with Jeong Noeul to take down monsters.

Noeul's great for entertainment value, but as an Awakener she's not particularly outstanding.

Her toolkit as a mage wasn't bad, but she was the type to get far too worked up for a mage. As an older man, Hwang Yonggyun couldn't even make sense of the "magical girl" talk she spouted mid-combat. That was why he'd recently assigned her to the entertainment side of the business — another critical operation for the organization — rather than dungeon raids.

But right now was different. The two of them had clearly only met today, and yet Lee Junwoo and Jeong Noeul were showing excellent coordination.

Noeul's fighting remarkably well here too.

He could tell. It was thanks to that Lee Junwoo. The young man seemed to be continuously giving her precise, well-timed instructions.

Lee Junwoo. Theia Academy — the Boss's classmate, wasn't he.

As expected, this Lee Junwoo didn't seem like an ordinary cadet. Hwang Yonggyun recalled the disorientation he'd felt just hours earlier when they'd shaken hands.

Why did I feel that...?

It was hard to believe. He was a veteran underworld operative who'd been grinding through this world for over twenty years — worn smooth by the life. He carefully studied Lee Junwoo's eyes. But those eyes were different again from just a moment before.