Chapter 110: Coup d'état (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 110: Coup d'état (3)
Villon shared Kang Tae-sung's location with me.
I timed my warp to arrive there.
The heart of downtown Pyongyang.
I was a little off course, but I borrowed the Demon King's power to fly the rest of the way.
In the distance, between the low-rise buildings, I could see a gathering of military hardware and people.
It was North Korea's new leader, Park Gwang-jin, and his climbers.
‘...?’
Something about the atmosphere...
I watched the scene from a nearby rooftop while in Stealth, then entered the Tower.
I went to the 5th Floor and waited, loitering around Zone 0.
The area was more crowded than usual, with people who seemed to have come to watch the spectacle.
At the appointed time, I saw Kang Tae-sung emerge from the portal with the Security Force. Section Chief Shin Su-jin was there too.
I remained in Stealth and moved to Kang Tae-sung's side.
He exchanged farewells with the Security Force members and exited the Tower.
I followed right behind him.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
...What the?
The moment we were outside, Park Gwang-jin shot at Kang Tae-sung.
It was an attack that wouldn't even scratch him.
Was he trying to break his promise?
But Park Gwang-jin didn't attack again. He just tossed the gun aside.
Then, the two men began to talk.
Kang Tae-sung demanding the reason for his betrayal, and Park Gwang-jin answering with a sneer.
From what I could hear, Park Gwang-jin was no different from any other dictator.
As I listened, the conversation took a strange turn.
"Cut the bullshit. You have no intention of letting me go, do you?"
"You noticed?"
...Son of a bitch.
No wonder the atmosphere felt so strange. I had a bad feeling, but I didn't think...
From the very beginning, North Korea had no intention of letting Kang Tae-sung leave safely.
Was the gunshot meant to trigger a Combat Status to prevent him from returning to the 5th Floor?
"I won't let you get away twice. Let's end this here."
Park Gwang-jin and the North Korean climbers radiated killing intent.
Just as a battle was about to erupt...
I stopped time.
‘What should I do?’
What do you mean, what should I do...
Isn't this the exact reason I came all this way, in case something like this happened?
Should I reveal myself and intervene?
The guy already broke his promise; I doubt he'd listen just because I showed up.
There was no need to take unnecessary risks.
I should probably just subdue everyone except Kang Tae-sung first. And that military equipment, too.
‘Demon King, could you freeze all of them except for Kang Tae-sung?’
Rather than using my own skills, having the Demon King freeze them all would be a clean, one-shot way to neutralize them.
-You rotten bastard. I give you an inch, and you keep trying to order me around.
‘Please, I’m asking for a favor. Just don't kill them.’
I handed over my body to the Demon King and released the time stop.
The Demon King grumbled but moved.
He flew into the middle of the area where Kang Tae-sung and the other climbers were...
Fwoooosh—!
And unleashed a blast of cold air in all directions.
The people, the tanks, the drones flying in the sky.
Everything was frozen solid. Everything except Kang Tae-sung.
While the Demon King's magic wasn't a skill, using his power so intensely did break my Stealth.
"Wh-what..."
"What is this..."
The North Korean climbers fell into a panic.
Since I'd asked him not to kill them, he'd left their heads unfrozen.
I took my body back and landed on the ground below.
Kang Tae-sung stared at me, his face a mask of shock.
Of course, I was wearing my mask.
Before I could say anything, he spoke first.
"Are you... Saram123?"
I nodded.
Kang Tae-sung let out a gasp.
I turned my gaze to Park Gwang-jin.
"S-Saram123...?"
Park Gwang-jin was also staring this way, his expression one of utter bewilderment.
"You didn't keep your promise."
At my words, he seemed to snap out of it. His eyes darted around before he spoke.
"...That can't be. There must be some misunderstanding."
He was a quick thinker.
In any case, I had no desire to complicate things further.
‘Demon King, when will they thaw out?’
-I froze them lightly. They'll thaw on their own in about an hour.
As infuriating as they were, I had no intention of doing anything more to them.
Let's just get Kang Tae-sung out of here.
"I will escort Mr. Kang Tae-sung myself. I trust that's acceptable?"
"..."
Park Gwang-jin slowly nodded.
Warping him back would be simple, but the Warp Device was for one person only.
I'd have to fly with Kang Tae-sung to somewhere near Panmunjom.
The distance from here to Panmunjom was about 100 kilometers, so it wouldn't take long. It wasn't far enough to cause an overload yet.
"Let's go, Mr. Kang Tae-sung," I said to him.
But Kang Tae-sung was staring at Park Gwang-jin with a strange look in his eyes.
He opened his mouth.
"...I will not be leaving."
What?
"I must kill that man, Park Gwang-jin."
What is this now...
As I stared at him blankly, Kang Tae-sung spoke urgently.
"I! I will kill Park Gwang-jin here and now and seize control of the Republic's government. If only Park Gwang-jin dies, I can do it!"
"..."
"If we leave things like this, nothing in this country will change. My only wish is to execute the corrupt rulers and save the suffering people. I will change things. Please, believe me, Saram123!"
He looked desperate.
...Well, this is unexpected.
Kang Tae-sung was asking me to stand by and watch.
Execute the corrupt rulers and save the suffering people.
Recalling the conversation the two had just shared, I had no reason not to believe in Kang Tae-sung's sincerity.
I stopped time and thought for a moment.
...Is there any reason to stop him?
Whether he could truly change North Korea was anyone's guess.
But at the very least, it promised a much better future than one with a man like Park Gwang-jin in power.
To be honest, leaving things as they were felt a bit unsettling.
What if a disgruntled Park Gwang-jin, offended by my interference, decided to harbor animosity toward my country?
I released the time stop.
I asked Kang Tae-sung, as if for confirmation.
"If Park Gwang-jin dies, will you be able to seize power?"
Kang Tae-sung answered immediately.
"The military has long been reduced to a puppet, and all power within the Party is now held by climbers. If we eliminate Park Gwang-jin and his close associates gathered here, I can become the new focal point and rally the remaining climbers. I can guarantee it."
"...Nonsense!"
Park Gwang-jin, who had been listening, hastily interjected.
"Saram123! You're not actually believing this bullshit, are you!"
"..."
"Wh-what do you think was the first thing I did after my revolution succeeded? I secured the former Chairman's nuclear briefcase, of course. If I die, a nuke will be launched at Seoul."
...What did he say?
My brow furrowed at the word "nuke."
"Don't meddle in another country's affairs. Just take Kang Tae-sung and go. That was our agreement, wasn't it? Then nothing will happen."
Kang Tae-sung spoke up.
"He's lying. It's true he secured Ri Hyeok-cheol's nuclear briefcase, but he had to kill Ri Hyeok-cheol immediately, so he couldn't have had the authority transferred. Technicians are working on resetting the briefcase's codes, but that will take ages. The top cryptographers in the country all agreed that resetting the codes and fully transferring the authority would take at least three months, minimum."
"...Heh heh, can you be so sure, Tae-sung? It's been a long time since you were stuck on the 5th Floor."
Park Gwang-jin looked at me and said, "Saram123, you're a South Korean, aren't you? If you're curious whether I'm telling the truth or not, feel free to test it. Bet your country's fate on it."
The Demon King asked.
-What's this 'nuke' you're making such a fuss about?
‘...It's like a bomb that can easily wipe out an entire city.’
It seemed like he was just bluffing...
But there was always a 'what if'.
-Give me the body again.
‘Huh?’
-All I have to do is make that little shit confess whether he's got the guts to back up his words or not, right?
‘Well, yeah, but... what are you going to do?’
Is he going to torture him?
‘Don't kill him.’
The Demon King told me to just hand it over without any more lip, so I did.
The Demon King walked up to Park Gwang-jin.
"What are you..."
He placed a finger on Park Gwang-jin's forehead.
His head began to tremble violently.
"Gaaahhh...!"
Park Gwang-jin's eyes rolled back as he let out a scream, as if having a seizure.
The Demon King removed his hand.
Park Gwang-jin gasped for breath, as if on the verge of suffocating.
It had only been a few seconds, but his eyes were filled with terror and dread.
"Tell me if you were telling the truth."
"Uh, ah..."
Park Gwang-jin shook his head as if he'd lost his mind.
"N-no, sir. It's not true... It was all a lie...!"
The confession came pouring out.
‘What did you do?’
-I touched his soul a little. The terror of one's very soul freezing over is not something a mere creature can withstand.
That's terrifying...
In any case, this meant there was no risk of a nuke being launched at our country.
I looked at Kang Tae-sung.
Kang Tae-sung, who had been staring blankly this way, spoke.
"...During his time in power, Ri Hyeok-cheol never even completed the protocol to pass on nuclear authority in the event of his death. Currently, no one in the Republic has the authority to launch nuclear weapons. I swear it."
"I understand."
I asked one last time.
"You can really do this?"
Now that it had come to this, Kang Tae-sung had to seize power in North Korea for certain.
Kang Tae-sung nodded firmly.
"Please, trust me. I will see it through."
I nodded as well.
As I stepped back from Park Gwang-jin...
Kang Tae-sung immediately strode toward him.
The shock must have been immense, as Park Gwang-jin still hadn't regained his senses.
Kang Tae-sung raised his fist.
He stared at Park Gwang-jin for a moment with a complex look in his eyes...
SPLAT!
And blew his head apart.
Kang Tae-sung looked around at the remaining climbers.
They cried out, terrified.
"C-Comrade Kang Tae-sung! Please spare us...!"
Kang Tae-sung didn't kill them right away.
After extracting some general information about the current internal situation, he killed them all without mercy.
"I will head to the Central Committee Headquarters immediately. I was told they are all gathered there. I will rally the remaining climbers and purge those who need to be purged."
Kang Tae-sung, holding Park Gwang-jin's head in one hand, bowed to me.
"Thank you, truly. You have done me a favor I can never repay in my lifetime."
"I'll go with you."
"Pardon?"
"You never know. Since I'm already involved, I'll help you see it through to the end."
Now that things had come to this, Kang Tae-sung absolutely had to secure power in North Korea.
I had to see for myself that it was wrapped up properly.
*
US intelligence was watching the situation unfold in real-time via surveillance satellite.
They had fully anticipated the possibility of the North Korean side breaking the agreement.
But they had never imagined the sudden appearance of a third party.
"What in the world happened?"
"Well... it seems everything has been frozen, sir..."
The video feed transmitted from the satellite.
With the appearance of a single figure, a wide area including the North Korean climbers and their military equipment seemed to have been frozen solid.
A climber.
There was only one person they could think of who was capable of such an absurd feat.
"...Saram123."
Saram123 had appeared.
The staff grew frantic.
Although it was a satellite feed with limited resolution, this was the first time Saram123 had revealed himself directly in the real world.
The Defense Minister, who was watching, swallowed hard.
‘What in the world is that...’
What kind of skill was it?
An Ice-Type magic skill?
It had neutralized that much military power in an instant.
Predicting Saram123's capabilities had long been a pointless endeavor, but to think he had a wide-area attack like that in addition to his black line of destruction.
No... more importantly, how did he suddenly appear in the middle of Pyongyang?
Just like during the Branch Tower incident, was Saram123 truly capable of global teleportation?
The figure presumed to be Saram123 and Kang Tae-sung seemed to be conversing.
Then, Kang Tae-sung began to kill Park Gwang-jin and the other North Korean climbers one by one.
"..."
The onlookers held their breath.
What on earth was happening?
Kang Tae-sung and Saram123 soon moved quickly somewhere.
"...They're heading toward the Seonmin Party Central Committee Headquarters."
The heart of North Korean power.
Something extraordinary was happening.
They could only guess.
It seemed the head of North Korea was about to change once again.