Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: The Returnee's Madness
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Click—
[23:59:58]
Click—
[23:59:59]
Click—
[24:00:00]
Beeep———
[Master, you have now rested for 24 hours.]
The GM's alert brought his hazy consciousness back online.
[Alarms have been delayed until the minimum time for maximum rest.]
[Information has been gathered without disturbing your sleep.]
- Iimir (Yuri Granat) is heading from the Arabian Peninsula toward Russia. He shows no reaction to his surroundings whatsoever.
"I see."
Ju Gonghyeok opened his heavy-lidded eyes and issued a command.
"Monitor him down to the millisecond (0.001) level. The guy could freeze the entire Earth solid if he felt like it."
[Understood. Raising surveillance priority.]
An SSS-rank Frost Giant like Iimir could turn the world into a freezer ten times over.
Not many humans could survive the global temperature plummeting to -120°C in the blink of an eye.
[Marcus has made contact with the 'Reconstructed United States' government.]
"And?"
[He met with presidents and religious leaders from various nations just 15 hours after contact.]
"His patterns are so damn predictable."
Governments were one thing, but meeting religious leaders? Obvious reason.
To fulfill his lifelong obsession.
"Then I suppose I'll pay him a visit."
With his goal set, Ju Gonghyeok dispelled the blackout field.
As the darkness lifted, he saw not just the Graham family but villagers gathered, murmuring in confusion.
To their eyes, a black-hole-like orb must have loomed large inside the house.
A soldier they'd summoned stepped forward to explain.
"I'm Captain Thomas of the Colorado National Guard. And you are…?"
"Pleasure to meet you, Thomas."
Ju Gonghyeok pointed east with a finger.
"That's the direction of New York, right?"
"…Yes. More precisely, the New York Special District…"
"Goodbye, Thomas."
Ju Gonghyeok cracked his neck and bent his knees.
[Target: New York Special District Temporary White House.]
[Angle: 43 degrees. Estimated ground impact: 1.78 gigajoules.]
Boom!
The ground shattered as a single human launched into the air.
Ju Gonghyeok's body pierced the blue sky, reaching the edge of the atmosphere absent in Babel.
The pitch-black void of space and the blazing sun seared into his eyes.
"Much cooler than Babel."
His landing zone came into view: New York, teeming with buildings.
A single leap spanning 2,677 kilometers from Colorado National Park to New York.
Kwaaaang!
Anti-air weapons fired, and fighter jets scrambled, but it was already too late.
Crunch!
Ju Gonghyeok's body smashed through the roof of the New York Temporary White House.
Right in the center of the conference room.
Unlike the deafening crash of the roof, he landed lightly on his toes.
There sat stunned presidents from various nations and a relaxed Marcus.
"You seem to have come from quite a distance. You didn't harm any civilians on the way, did you?"
"That's not for the likes of you to worry about."
Ju Gonghyeok replied to the grinning Marcus.
A 70kg human leaping 2,600 kilometers would generate the impact of 400kg of TNT.
If he'd truly jumped without a thought, everyone nearby would have been obliterated.
'Just made it feel like a jump.'
If it had been a real leap, he'd be body-slamming fighter jets by now.
In reality, he'd used the Great Sage Equal to Heaven's muscle cloud for propulsion.
"Cardinal Marcus, who is this…?"
"Ah, Mr. President. No need to worry. This is my colleague."
Marcus introduced Ju Gonghyeok to the anxious president and greeted him again.
"Ju Gonghyeok, I am truly grateful to you."
He continued with evident pride.
"My mother overcame yet another trial, just as I intended. On the 39th floor, amid the deaths of countless people, she alone revived and displayed superhuman authority as the Daughter of God!"
Marcus clutched his swelling chest.
"Ju Gonghyeok, that was the power of the Destruction God you defeated! Truly destructive and mighty, undeniable proof of her as the Daughter of God! No matter how strong you were, it was futile before the firm blessings of the divine! Holy Father! Hear Ju Gonghyeok's testimony here!"
"Hmm, Ju Gonghyeok, was it? As Cardinal Marcus says…"
"Aaah!"
Marcus's exclamation cut off the Catholic Pontiff.
"Just as Jesus's death divided the Old and New Testaments, we must write a new Bible with Christina as the divide! When the Second Messiah, Christina, returns, a new world will open! Erect her statues and inscriptions of her deeds across the globe…"
"Ahem, Cardinal Marcus. Mind your words."
The Pope cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"Writing a new Bible and calling her the new Messiah is premature."
"Are you doubting me now, the apostle of Christina?"
Marcus's demeanor shifted.
His ecstatic eyes clouded with rage.
"How dare the Pope question divine authority!"
"M-Marcus. Do you realize what you're saying?"
"I do! A mere human without spiritual experience persecutes the chosen one, me! Marcus Gottfried!"
The room gaped in disbelief.
"I am the colleague and apostle of Savior Christina! You, who merely inherits the name of the old apostle Peter, have no right to judge!"
"Cardinal Marcus, what in the world…"
"Lies! All lies! You're a false faith clinging to past glory! And now you oppose my word, fresh from the holy war and trials in Babel! Ah! The corruption of the church has reached its peak!"
Marcus frothed at the mouth in frenzy.
"Foolish priest! Behold the power I gained from Babel's holy war!"
A brilliant light filled the room as Marcus's avatar, the Serpent of Eden, coiled around the conference hall.
"Guns won't kill me! Fire won't consume me! Swords won't pierce me! This is the might of Michael, repelling demons at God's right hand…"
Ju Gonghyeok smirked at the enraged man.
"What a fucking lunatic."
The textbook returnee breakdown.
Returnees soaked in Babel's violence and extremes weren't right in the head.
They suffered endless paranoia, impulses, and conflicts.
While they threw their lives into Babel, Earthlings reaped the rewards in comfort.
Since they saved the world, Earthlings owed them compensation.
They were different from others.
Superior in strength and ability, deserving of commensurate treatment.
'These retarded fucks always cause trouble.'
Violent, half-mad hunters always crossed lines.
In Babel, they cleaved house-sized monsters and killed people without hesitation when needed.
Even among hunters, they couldn't regulate violence and bloodshed.
So what happens when such hunters drop into the world of ordinary humans?
Hunters could crush normals like ants.
Could ants and humans ever stand as equals?
If humans fought and died for ants, but the ants refused to acknowledge it…
Could humans ever value ants?
"Ahh, Christina! Until she returns, I will spread true faith across this land! Until the true Messiah conquers Babel and descends to Earth, I…"
Stab—
A broken sword jutted from Marcus's chest.
An improvised prosthetic Ju Gonghyeok had jammed into his knee.
"Khuk, Ju Gonghyeok. What are you…"
"Quit the fucking show."
He slashed the prosthetic upward.
It tore through the heart and emerged from the shoulder blade.
Marcus staggered, clutching the table.
"Why, as a fellow hunter and colleague…"
"When were we ever colleagues? I said Christina's betrayal was the last job."
Their relationship had always been a transaction.
And their final promised task was done.
"You have no reason to kill me here!"
"Afraid there's one."
Ju Gonghyeok flicked the blood from the prosthetic blade.
"I'm not leaving trash like you on Earth."
His impassive eyes bored into Marcus.
Eyes utterly businesslike, as if performing a routine chore countless times repeated—Marcus flinched.
But he soon glared back, igniting his resolve.
"Ju Gonghyeok! This is the devil Satan come for Christina and me! You can't match me! For I no longer doubt the trials the Lord gave me!"
"What the fuck are you babbling about, retard."
"Come at me! This body is the apostle chosen by Christina! Just as the Lord's authority revived her, scum like you is but a breeze…"
"Keep yapping, why don't you."
Thud—
Marcus's head fell.
His lips twitched, bloodshot eyes glaring up from the floor at Ju Gonghyeok.
Ju ignored it and took Marcus's seat.
A cigarette dangled between his fingers.
"Let's reset the board."
[Avatar 「Apocalypse Machine God Vulcanus」 is summoned.]
White smoke rose as a crude, rugged steel lifeform materialized.
= 912 orbital satellites hijacked. Complete control.
All Earth's satellites, regardless of nation, fell under the Machine God's command.
"Zeus."
= What do you want, human!
"Hijack every broadcast signal on Earth. GM will assist."
= Broadcasts!? Ah! Like arrow letters!
Crackle!
Sparks flew, and Earth's magnetic field rippled.
Transmission towers, every frequency—communications and signals worldwide came under Zeus's grasp.
Ju Gonghyeok's voice and image appeared on TVs, monitors, even earbuds across the globe.
"Greetings, ordinary people of the world."
Some retched at the sight of him.
His severed eye socket still oozed sticky remnants, and his right face hung in tatters like a shredded rag.
"I'm Ju Gonghyeok. A hunter returned from the 39th floor."
White teeth and grotesque red muscle visible through the torn cheek moved unnaturally.
"Now, shall we begin?"
The camera panned to the severed head and headless body.
Marcus's head rolled on the floor, lips still flapping.
"Whew~"
Smoke leaked from his exposed white teeth.
Reconstructed United States President Mike Pence hid the sweat beading on his palms.
"Mr. Ju, what have you done?"
"Hijacked every satellite and broadcast on Earth."
"…In under 10 seconds?"
"It's a god. Has to handle that much."
Bewilderment crept into the president's eyes.
"You're calling yourself a god now?"
"I'm not a god. The ones I command are."
Plain fact.
But the room's reaction was just another lunatic had arrived.
"Fine. Say you hijacked global broadcasts. Luxembourg's, your homeland China's…"
"No China or Russia here."
Ju Gonghyeok cut him off.
"Hm, they're pursuing independent paths from us…"
"Summon the missing nations."
President Mike Pence faltered.
This man was incomprehensible in a whole different way from Marcus.
The Colombian president glanced around and summarized.
"The President of the New Republic of China, Russian Federation President, Israeli Prime Minister—all absent due to the Arabian Peninsula conflict. Pakistan and India heads are in active war…"
Dark clouds gathered over the White House.
Rumble—!
Five bolts of lightning ignored lightning rods and struck precisely into the conference room.
Where they hit: scorched carpets and dazed heads of five nations.
"What… the hell…?"
"Brought them running."
"Brought them?"
The leaders couldn't grasp the literal meaning.
Beyond imagination.
Even the strongest hunters had stayed within human bounds.
Superhumans, yes—but just stronger, faster, tougher than average. That's what they knew.
'But he transcended that dimension.'
'Not even comparable to past Christina or Code Name Iimir.'
A hunter back from Babel's midpoint, the 39th floor, at this level?
Mike Pence muttered unwittingly.
"Not human."
"Maybe not."
At least the three who descended to Earth weren't.
Monsters broken somewhere.
"All here now?"
The conference room held heads of state from every nation still maintaining governments.
Precisely: every nation with nukes.
"I have something to tell you."
"What is it, Mr. Ju?"
The leaders swallowed hard.
Ju Gonghyeok raised a finger on his auto-repairing prosthetic hand.
"One: All nuclear and biochemical weapons on Earth are mine as of today."
…
Silence blanketed the room.
"Two: Every nation here will provide Ju Gonghyeok with all needed cultural heritage and holy relics, regardless of religion or culture."
The Pope pressed a hand to his forehead and shook his head.
"Mr. Ju."
Mike Pence sneered openly.
"Do you think the nonsense you're spouting makes any sense?"
"Not asking your opinions."
Drip—
"Huh?"
The heads of state clutched their necks.
An unfamiliar red sweat oozed out.
Rip—
Next came the sharp pain of neck muscles tearing.
Dozens of heads thudded onto the table.
"That's a warning."
The headless leaders looked up in horror at their own bodies.