24
Chapter 24
Coming out of the Water Tank, they were back in Xiao's residence.
Whir- Parang and Xiao silently watched the Floor close.
A table rose from the Floor, and Xiao brought a basket filled with Lotus Biscuits and placed it on the table.
But Parang was in no mood to touch them.
One of the massive factions dividing the World into three had dispatched a Strike Team to kill her, and another had mobilized dozens of personnel to stop them.
The fact that the two groups fought each other was, well, somewhat understandable.
They had always been anxious to tear each other apart anyway.
Had it not been for the issue of maintaining the World's order, the globe would have already entered World War III.
Since no faction wanted to rule over a World shattered by war, they merely engaged in covert struggles beneath the surface.
The problem was that Parang was at the center of it all.
Parang's mind was more chaotic now than ever before.
Of course, she had a conscience. Knowing what she had done, she had remained calm even when the highest echelons of the World Government or the Hunter Association reached out to her.
But what if their goal wasn't a simple recruitment or sponsorship offer, but assassination?
Parang had already received an invitation from the World Government.
She should probably give up on expecting anything good to come out of going there.
But what if she didn't go?
She still wouldn't see a good outcome. It was a dilemma.
Before her reincarnation, she was an ordinary citizen, and even after reincarnating, she had only ever fought Sea Monsters.
The sensation of someone targeting her life with malicious intent was entirely new to her.
It was quite unpleasant for Parang.
To be honest, she was a little scared.
She might be fine since she had obtained Departure, but what about the other members of Oceanus? Hunter Shin Yuna? The orphanage? The village Elders?
This was the World Government, who had mobilized nine S-Rank Hunters just to kill Parang. Since their painstaking operation had failed, it was almost certain they would reach out to the people around Parang. It wasn't just a high probability; it was safe to say it was 100%.
No, it wouldn't be strange if they had already made a move.
Huh.
Wait a minute.
Parang's thoughts paused for a moment.
'Why is everyone around me still perfectly fine?'
No one around her, including Oceanus, had suffered any harm yet.
She had been texting the orphanage Director and Hunter Shin Yuna until this morning, and the village Elders were perfectly healthy.
If the World Government had made up their minds to eliminate Parang, they would no longer exist in this World. At the very least, it would only be normal for them to share a gruesome story about how they barely survived an attack the other day.
Then there could only be one answer.
Someone was secretly protecting them from the World Government.
It was highly likely—no, almost certainly Cylo.
Because the only ones capable of blocking a full-scale attack from the World Government were Cylo and the Hunter Association.
Perhaps the two were cooperating. No matter how powerful Cylo was, they couldn't perfectly block the World Government's attacks on their own.
The assumption that the World Government was going easy on her or deliberately holding back made no sense.
Sending a Strike Team meant the World Government's intentions were clear. If they had firmly made up their minds, they wouldn't do something so soft.
Parang had no idea what in the world was going on around her.
She never expected the Departure worn on her ear to be this reassuring. Without it, she would have been too scared to even step outside.
Xiao awkwardly approached Parang and spoke.
"If you want, you can stay a few more days... is what I'd like to say, but."
"Yeah. I know."
This level of Bodyguards wouldn't be enough to block the World Government's serious punch.
If anything, it could just end up dragging Xiao into this mess.
Parang absentmindedly fiddled with the Departure on her ear.
'If push comes to shove....'
There was also the option of taking this and directly invading the World Government.
She could just wipe them all out!
She could slaughter them so thoroughly that they wouldn't even be able to utter a single word.
Parang was confident she could storm into the World Government's Seoul General Headquarters right now, leisurely kill everyone inside the building, and walk out.
That was the kind of existence Parang was in the water. The moment she obtained Departure, she was already the strongest.
But would the ones who ordered Parang's assassination really just sit still?
Unless Parang launched a surprise attack and sliced them up instantly, they would use internal warp lines to flee to another city the moment they saw her appear with Departure.
At the same time, it would become impossible for Parang to find them.
How would she know if they moved to the France Branch or the Argentina Branch?
Even so, she couldn't just travel to every country on Earth and ransack the Government.
'So it comes back to Cylo in the end.'
Cylo Corporation. They were the most insidious bastards after the World Government, but it was also true that they had protected Parang.
The Hunter Association... to be honest, she wasn't sure. However, they probably hadn't called for Parang for a normal reason either. Still, if worst came to worst, she had Departure, so she could at least protect herself and escape.
Having roughly organized her thoughts, Parang packed her bags and prepared to leave.
Cylo had secretly formed a dispatch team of dozens to help her. She knew they had a building in Hong Kong. She planned to go there and at least knock on their door.
Since they approached her first, she had the justification to barge in on them.
As Parang was about to head out the door, Xiao quietly offered a word.
"I'll help out as much as I can on my end too."
It was essentially just empty words, but she was still grateful.
"Yeah."
And so, Parang left the residence of Xiao.
She braced herself and took a large step forward.
Even though there was no particular sense of duty or obligation.
And right at that moment.
Bzzzt-
A text message arrived for Parang.
Caller ID restricted.
cylo.co.kr/maps/@rtfk...
Looking at the link, it was an address on the Cylo Map.
Clicking on it set a path to an incredibly tall skyscraper.
If the predictions Parang made based on the circumstantial Evidence so far were correct, Cylo was the one reaching out to her.
She wondered if she should go or not.
Just a moment ago she had talked about barging in and slaughtering them, but invading on her own terms was entirely different from being summoned.
'Still, I guess it would be right to go.'
Parang made her decision.
After all, Cylo was the organization that had protected her, and contacting them was the right thing to do if she wanted to grasp the current situation even a little.
The chances were slim, but she also had a backup plan in case an unpleasant situation arose.
Parang was about to head to the location marked on the Map... but then paused.
'Hmm, should I not test it out at least once before I go?'
She needed to make sure it was working properly.
So, for now, Parang moved to the Pier.
#
Splash- splash-
At the Pier, the irregular sound of waves crashing echoed from all around.
Parang stood right there.
Knowing she would get wet later, she placed her clothes and a towel far away in advance.
'Departure!!'
As she shouted loudly in her mind,
Whoosh-!!!
A hemispherical space with a radius of ten meters centered around Parang filled with water, as if a bomb had gone off.
'Hmm, as I thought.'
Naturally, the surroundings were completely devastated. The oil drums scattered about were blasted far away into the sea, and a shipping container that was not far enough away was crushed.
'I cannot use this in daily life.'
In fact, there was no reason to use it in daily life anyway.
It seemed better to use it as an emergency escape device or a hidden ultimate move.
It couldn't be helped if she was in a situation where she had to run for her life, but she couldn't go around completely wiping out a ten-meter radius on a regular basis.
For a model citizen like Yoo Parang, it was an unimaginable nuisance to others.
Moreover, unlike a Skill, it was impossible to adjust the power of this kind of activation-type Artifact. It was the same logic as a person not being able to decide whether to shoot a gun softly or forcefully.
Of course, a Production Hunter on the level of Hunter Han Siwoo could make an Artifact with adjustable output. In fact, he had made a few in the original work.
However, Departure was a piece created in his early days. Hmm. What a shame.
Parang smacked her lips and deactivated the Artifact.
Then, she trotted over to where she had left her clothes earlier, dried herself with a towel, and roughly threw on her clothes.
And now, it was really time to go. It was time to face Cylo, those insidious bastards.
#
"Wow...."
This building is seriously huge.
Parang craned her neck almost at a right angle to look up at the building in front of her.
Even so, she couldn't see the top.
It was a skyscraper that truly looked like it could pierce the clouds.
Parang dealt with Monster Fish larger than this building every day, but looking up at such a high-rise building outside of the water felt different.
To be honest, it felt a little intimidating. Part of it was because she was slightly self-conscious about being out of the water.
Parang took a deep breath and stepped inside the building.
The people around her kept glancing at her. Bright blue hair wasn't common.
Perhaps because it was Hong Kong, no one recognized Parang yet, but even if they didn't recognize her as a Broadcaster, people naturally stared at a uniquely beautiful woman.
On top of that, Parang was wearing that form-fitting suit from before.
It wasn't easy to look away even if they tried.
Anyway. Unintentionally receiving everyone's gaze like a superstar, Yoo Parang entered the Cylo office building.
"Are you Hunter Yoo Parang?"
"Yes, that's me."
As soon as she entered the building, an Employee in a similarly stylish suit naturally guided Parang somewhere.
Since Parang was fully prepared to activate Departure at any moment, she followed along without any particular Resistance.
"You just need to go up to the top floor."
Parang stopped in front of an Elevator in an ambiguous location, seemingly in a corner but also not quite.
Surely they wouldn't pull any tricks with the Elevator just to catch me.
Parang firmly pressed the button for the top floor.
Whir-
And with a soft sound, the Elevator began to ascend.