Chapter 33
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Chapter 33
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: 32. Black God Cult (2)
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This little kid was the one opening the gates.
In the original story, the reason Choi Si-woo struggled against the Black God Cult—which was barely a handful of people—was this blonde twerp.
Every time the cult stirred up trouble and used her to slip away, he was left helpless.
"What's the condition for opening gates?"
"Anywhere I've been once, I can go back anytime."
Places she's visited must get automatically memorized in her head or something.
The Black God Cult sure raised a gem.
I couldn't recall her name. Apparently, she was an experimental subject the executives secretly nurtured. Her functions were limited; she was purely a dimensional teleport gate device meant as a shuttle.
With this ability, releasing monsters into Seoul wasn't out of the question.
"So, you can teleport continuously?"
"Um, not exactly. It needs demonic energy."
"Must guzzle a ton depending on the distance."
It wouldn't cost the same amount every time.
"Yes."
"What about the distance between Songdo and Hansung Academy?"
"Twice a day is doable."
Perfect for round trips to the academy twice daily, then.
"You're a fiend, right? You."
Handling demonic energy meant she was one.
"Yes. It's the power I got after becoming a fiend."
"So, with magic stones, you could do it almost infinitely?"
Magic stones, known as pure mana crystals. Fiends could consume them to recover demonic energy.
Demonic energy and mana were separated by a paper-thin difference, so it made theoretical sense. Unlike regular people, only fiends could eat magic stones to replenish their demonic energy.
"Yes. But magic stones are hard to get around here."
"I'll procure the magic stones for you. You can manage then?"
"Yes, Azidahaka-nim."
Simple enough.
I stepped outside and gathered the thick demonic energy clustered near the church, crystallizing it.
High-purity magic stones formed.
Her eyes sparkled when I showed her.
"This enough?"
"More than enough."
"From now on, you're my personal shuttle. I could fly there myself, but annoyances are best handled fast."
If Yoo Jin-seok found out, I'd never cross the barrier again.
"Yes."
"Your name... Gate opener, huh. Let's go with Kate."
She looked Western, picked up somewhere, so Kate fit nicely.
The moment we hit Songdo, I absorbed all the demonic energy and converted it to magic stones.
I could have taken it all in, but it was too much to handle right away.
Besides, these stones were goldmines for cash. Cores fetched good prices too, but magic stones outpriced cores from monsters even desperate civilians could hunt.
Lately, they were fueling all sorts of research, driving up demand.
I summoned a few executives and flashed the stones. Their eyes widened in shock.
"Can we sell these magic stones? You need capital to get anything done."
"That's a pie in the sky for us."
One executive muttered awkwardly.
"Spill the details. What've you been using for money so far?"
"The isolation zone's abandoned by the government anyway. Usable loot's everywhere."
Makes sense. Amid that chaos, nobody hauls scraps to Seoul.
That's why some idiots online plotted secret expeditions into the zone.
Most never came back.
They died en masse—either poisoned by miasma or torn apart by fiends or monsters.
Even I'd shred intruders poaching my turf.
"So, no buyers even with magic stones."
"Exactly. The isolation zone's pure law of the jungle."
Biting, clawing, plundering—like ancient savages.
With me around, the Black God Cult's fortunes would turn.
Songdo's miasma was purified now; civilians could thrive here. We could round up normals hiding elsewhere in the zone.
"Fiends at least don't need food, so you're better off?"
"Yes."
"I'll take the magic stones to Seoul and sell them."
I knew just the buyer. Cheonsan Group's heir—Lee Yoo-jeong's older sister, Lee Yoo-jin. In the original, she got brainwashed and handed an ancient legacy to villains, but she was no slouch.
She was scheming a magic stone venture on the sly.
Explains her secret villain contacts.
"Then, what should we do next, Azidahaka-nim?"
Hmm, nothing jumped out.
Ah, perfect—delegate the crap I hated.
"Incorporate nearby civilians into Songdo first."
"Yes, Azidahaka-nim. And the villains?"
Yeah, villains were the headache. Ideally, I'd subjugate and fold them under me.
To hurl them at the China war, I needed them alive and loyal.
Luckily, isolation zone villains were weaklings.
"Negotiate if possible. If it turns violent, signal via magitech gear. I'll mop them up."
"Yes, Azidahaka-nim."
"And shorten that. Too long."
"Azi-nim."
Azi? Overkill. Sounded like a damn pet name.
"Too doggish. Dahaka-nim's better."
"Yes, Dahaka-nim."
"Warehouse the magic stones then."
"We'll fill a whole room."
The association needed a report on my haul anyway; handing over a few stones was smart.
But first things first.
On the way back to Seoul, I detoured to Onsu Station.
Onsu was the Black Dragon Society's stronghold. Had to crush it before they pushed into Seoul proper.
I'd claimed the ancient legacy, but better safe.
"Come to think of it, why no heads-up on the Black Dragon Society earlier?"
Black Dragon Society is a group Master designated as an enemy from the start. Naturally.
Their HQ was no different from the Black God Cult's church.
A few container units and a gas station building.
I went for a blatant frontal assault.
"Hello? Hey there? Konnichiwa? Ni hao?"
"Who the hell are you?"
"Your Grim Reaper~."
The Black Dragon grunts burst out laughing at my words.
Makes sense. One lone nun playing reaper.
"You alone against all of us?"
"We're nobodies, sure, but can't we grab one bounty bitch? Even hunters'd struggle."
"Prime meat—fuck her first, then sell or kill."
They seemed more keen on capture than kill, clenching fists and closing in slow.
Guns'd be too merciful.
No need for White Flame.
Just a dash of Chaos would do.
Snap!
I flicked my fingers, lightly seeding their heads with Chaos.
"What psycho bitch—"
Slash!
The boss-looking thug's throat parted under his own man's blade.
Exhilarating.
Lower your guard on a girl, charge in—and bam, instant backstabs. Never gets old.
"What the fuck, moron!"
"You with that bitch? Gurgh!?"
"Told you. Grim Reaper."
The Black Dragon Society wasn't huge, but they'd make useful troops.
Still, couldn't spare human traffickers and rapist murderers.
One original villain group down.
Karma? Screw it. Anything in my way dies.
"M-monster!"
"Oh dear. Not words I'd expect from human traffickers and rapist murderers."
A few survivors, gravely wounded, begged for mercy.
"S-save us."
Heh heh heh.
That rare rush of euphoria. Guess I hadn't fully shed my old self.
But I wasn't heartless.
I smiled down at the villain clutching my ankle, begging—then planted my foot on his head.
Crunch!
Korean Hunter Association
Chairman Choi Cheol-sik sighed at Jeong Na-yoon's report.
"Recap that. I'm old—brain's sluggish."
Either his brain or ears were shot.
A cadet-turned-temp-hunter crossed the barrier mere hours ago, returned with pure magic stones, and subjugated villains? Even Yoo Eun-ha couldn't pinpoint magic stone veins or Black Dragon bases without detectors.
The unknown zone had been sealed forever. She mapped it all in hours?
Impossible.
He'd braced for days of searching—or empty hands.
"Hansung Academy cadet temp hunter Yoo Eun-ha hit Incheon, mined magic stones, detoured to Onsu Station on the way back, found Black Dragon Society, wiped 'em out."
"No way that's real."
"Not getting it 'cause you're old? It is. She purified their miasma too—coordinates marked."
Choi hung his head as Jeong Na-yoon snapped.
Old folks get no pity.
Once the immortal man who felled monsters with Sun Fist alone—now taking lip from his seat-sniping subordinate.
Still, he had a point.
"Black Dragon aside—common sense? Magic stones were undiscovered."
"Maybe scout teams pocketed 'em, reported zilch."
Not impossible.
Risk life outside, surrender stones to the association? Resentment brews; sell on the sly instead.
But no trails till now.
Or purify and condense miasma into stones—but the cost was brutal.
Choi wracked his creaky brain and concluded.
'Only Yoo Eun-ha could've.'
One more convert to the Yoo Eun-ha faith.
"Hmm. With this, Han Jeong-seok might back the isolation purification plan."
"Could be Eun-ha lucked out. Incheon only, say. Report to the president?"
"Nah. Spare the shouting match."
Han Jeong-seok was his rival—opinions forever parallel. Better draw lines than bicker.
"Yes, sir."
"Keep it from Yoo Jin-seok. Fetch the stones. I'll verify, then to the association's magic stone lab."
"Yes, sir."
If her little sister hit the isolation zone, hauled stones, crushed villains? Total meltdown.
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