Chapter 99
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: 97. Treason Plot
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After I kneaded Choi Si-woo's body over and over, Reina and Han Su-ji shot me dissatisfied looks.
"Hey, why are you only hugging Choi Si-woo?"
"Yeah. What about us?"
Are they seriously mad at me right now?
Is that even worth saying out loud? I glared at Reina and Han Su-ji.
I'd dodged the snake bath treatment last night, but in the end, these two had subjected me to all sorts of humiliations. Poor little Yongyong was utterly devastated.
"My tail's all shiny and slick like a snake's now. Need I say more? Reina? Han Su-ji?"
My tail was still rigid, sticking straight up like a startled cat's. This was all their fault.
"Alright then, time for some self-study, right?"
"You're plotting something weird again, aren't you?"
"Huh? Why do you always assume the worst of me?"
As if I'd run off and ditch the academy or something.
"You're a total sleaze."
"This time's different."
This time, I had to snag that healer Rosaria no matter what.
Do you have any idea how strong Rosaria is? She's got insane recovery power—enough to heal tens of thousands of scattered Hunter Alliance troops on the battlefield in one go.
And I planned to corrupt a woman like that.
"Um, I've got a question."
"Kotone-chan?"
What brought Kotone looking for me?
Kotone subtly pointed toward Rosemarie. For the record, Rosemarie looked completely dead to the world right now.
Ah, that Rosemarie's a doll. Not the real deal.
"Why's that Rosemarie like that? And she's even wearing gloves. It's hot out."
Why ask me?
I eyed Kotone steadily, but she didn't seem to mean anything by it.
Maybe she just thought Rosemarie and I were close? No point suspecting and prying. Better to brush it off.
"Good eye. Rosemarie awakened."
"Awakened? You mean her unique ability evolved?"
"Yep."
As long as she didn't leak any magic and acted normal, no one would ever suspect Rosemarie was a monster.
She could even show up in person. The gloves on the doll? Just blame that on her awakening too.
"How's that possible? Oh, wait. Don't tell me the trigger for her awakening was—"
Kotone snapped her fingers like something had clicked, nodding to herself in realization.
What? Had she lost her marbles? What was with that dopey reaction?
"Why?"
"Nothing."
Grinning slyly as she stared at me intently, Kotone turned away and headed back to her seat.
Pingtao was the same—both of them were on their best behavior today.
Kotone seemed a little suspicious, but whatever.
Right now, the urgent matter was Songdo. Time to round up the heroines and plan our countermeasures.
Slurp~
"Haah♥"
But first, I gave Choi Si-woo's neck a good lick. Damn this lustful bitch—ever since her personality shifted with her sex drive, she was hornier than ever.
The rooftop of Hansung Academy was off-limits to cadets.
It was stocked with all sorts of gear to prepare for monster attacks. But who am I? Baby Yongyong. I do what I want.
So, I'd tasked Lee Yoo-jeong—who I hadn't seen much lately—with monitoring everyone accessing the rooftop via the academy's magic-tech surveillance.
Like the student council folks, for instance.
And up on that rooftop, I'd gathered the heroines.
"But lately, it's been hard to see you around, sunbae."
"That's 'cause I've been holed up in my penthouse."
Wait, was she avoiding me?
"I wanna snuggle."
"Ah, but I've been pretty satisfied lately?"
"Huh?"
"I've got the whole penthouse under surveillance. Obviously, I see everything—you girls biting, sucking, and rubbing all over. It all works itself out with a little self-love."
I didn't miss how Lee Yoo-jeong's sleepy expression twisted into something sinister.
"Unnie, you into that kinda thing?"
Even Han Su-ji, the axe-murderer who got off on killing, looked shocked.
"And why's Si-woo in that state? She looks like a total bitch in heat."
"Because I am a bitch."
"Bet the old you would find it humiliating."
"That version of me was just an idiot. Why waste a body like this?"
Choi Si-woo let out an excited sigh, kneading her breasts with both hands.
What could you do? She'd turned into a female. And she was spot on.
Alright, time for our treason plot.
"The article says the news has already reached all the guilds. We need to come up with a plan."
"Think the guild masters will make a move?"
At this scale? Probably. Fifty billion wasn't pocket change.
"For now, they don't know the full story, so they'll probably assume it's villains and see it as a chance to wipe them out."
Which made sense—this was prime time to breach the barrier.
"If a guild alliance comes charging in..."
"The golems could all get wrecked."
Big trouble. We were short on firepower. Even if Choi Si-woo turned cadets into monsters, the guilds were on another level.
"What about villains from across the country?"
"I've already pulled the key ones from Incheon down below. Maybe target some further south?"
Sure, not a bad idea.
"Can they beat Yoo Jin-seok's generation?"
"No way."
No way some local villains could take down the forces that shone in the previous work.
And there was no guarantee they'd join up quick. Sure, numbers could mean swarm tactics, but if Shinohara got involved?
Korea wasn't like the late Joseon era—no way we'd get caught by Japanese strings. But the moment Shinohara backed Ha Jung-seok, it'd hinder building forces against the Sins.
"What about hiding?"
"That won't work either. Keep digging, and they'll realize Songdo's the only place Baekhwa could be hiding survivors. They probably already know."
Then international eyes would turn to Songdo.
"So fighting head-on is the best play?"
"Pretty much."
"So we're fighting? What if one of the Divine Sword holders shows up?"
Yoo Jin-seok? Nah, he wouldn't come.
"Doubt Yoo Jin-seok will show. He knows hitting Songdo ain't right."
Having met me, Baekhwa, he couldn't strike me down. The guy's a straight-up protagonist—won't take the wrong path.
"Guilds are the issue then?"
"The Association won't just sic the guilds on us outright. Might be all for show. Ha Jung-seok's the real problem."
The Association had Choi Cheol-sik, a guy with brains.
He'd heard from Yoo Jin-seok, and Seo Ji-yeon probably fed him the right lines too.
"Why Ha Jung-seok?"
"High chance Nolbu and Heungbu show up. Might even pull in Shinohara. The way he reacted to Baekhwa suggests it."
If Shinohara Kotone joined personally, it'd be a headache.
Not even Heavenly Sword level—just her White Sword retainers could wipe out Songdo's monsters.
Planting seeds of chaos in Kotone wouldn't take effect immediately. To make her team-kill, I'd need heavy chaos, but even a heroine couldn't handle that mentally.
What I'd planted in Seo Ji-yeon was just a seed of doubt.
"If it's Shinohara..."
"Japanese hunters might join too."
"What is this, some Donghak Peasant Revolution? Why would Japan butt in? No way."
Han Su-ji bristled. Choi Si-woo shook her head.
"Ha Jung-seok doesn't trust the Association. Even if he sends guilds after us, he's planning to rope in new forces."
Choi Si-woo's deduction nailed it.
She was the original protagonist, not a reader, so she wouldn't know the details, but Ha Jung-seok really was scheming with Japan's Shinohara to hold onto power.
"But Shinohara won't intervene directly. They want good ties with Ha Jung-seok first. No reason to tarnish his image by getting exposed."
So they'd join just enough to avoid detection by Ha Jung-seok.
Worst case, only Shinohara's vassals.
Japan's hunters. Specifically, the special forces under Shinohara were the threat.
Shinsengumi. Elite among Japan's hunters. In Japanese, Shinsen-gumi. Successors to the Edo-era Shinsengumi that fought for the shogunate against the imperialists, now reformed under Shinohara.
Today's Shinsengumi served and protected Shinohara's family head, just like their forebears.
Simple terms: Shinohara's special forces.
"He might deploy the Shinsengumi."
"Shinsengumi?"
"Shinohara's special forces unit."
Special forces are scary anywhere.
Korea's guilds were top-tier by default.
Like the mega-corps dominating the world, Korean guilds held serious sway globally.
"Scary stuff."
"They cherry-pick from A-rank and above. Rigorous training too, so treat 'em all as near-S-rank."
The Shinsengumi were why Shinohara was called the shogunate. Japan's top forces, backing her.
"Songdo's villains can't handle that."
"It's not set in stone they're deploying yet. We're in observation mode. Ha Jung-seok won't negotiate with Shinohara over something he can handle without the Shinsengumi."
Ha Jung-seok was an enigma.
He'd ally with Shinohara to cling to power—or avoid Japan entirely to keep it.
Post-Great Cataclysm, shared enemies had thawed even blood feuds between nations.
But Koreans still hated taking Japan's help, even if they'd aid Japan.
Hunter Alliance still had lingering bad blood between Korean and Japanese hunters, but better than China's superiority complex amid the chaos.
Ha Jung-seok, desperate to hold power, probably wouldn't risk Association exposure.
"What if Shinsengumi or Kotone come personally?"
"There's something you girls don't know. Shinsengumi's mostly women. Better for intel ops or lulling enemies—women over men."
Imagining the Shinsengumi yelling "Yamete!" and moaning in front of me had my mouth watering.