Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Warp Gate Announcement
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Announcement hall.
A warp gate stood behind the crowd.
The symbol of a new era, the birth of new civilization.
Many had visited South Korea just to stand in that spot.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Sacred Guild Master Go Jaehan.”
“…It’s an honor to meet the King. I’m Ivan.”
Sacred Guild Master Go Jaehan.
Ivan, head of the Russian Independent Players Association.
“South Korea will grow even richer.”
Richard of Goldian.
“I’m Yoo Baek.”
“Hahaha! Kim Cheonseok!”
Yoo Baek of the Sanctuary Alliance and Kim Cheonseok.
Countless other guild leaders and powerhouses were gathered here.
Even Japan’s Prime Minister Sawaguchi and others were present.
South Korea now enjoyed smooth relations with Japan after a long time, so they had come to witness the demonstration of the warp gate installed right next door.
That was when it happened.
“…….”
Silence seemed to blanket the hall.
It was because of a man and a woman who had entered the announcement hall.
Silver-white hair, sky-blue eyes.
“…….”
Quiet gazes poured toward him.
But no one approached him or spoke.
Nod.
Only people like Ivan and Richard gave him a nod of greeting.
Not too many had come to this event today.
The warp gate wasn’t fully complete yet, and it was essentially a domestic affair.
Russia and America had sent representatives because they were the hosts of the installation sites.
“…That’s the one.”
Japan had simply been invited separately.
Go Yohan headed first to Sacred.
“You’re here.”
“Yes. We got an invitation too.”
“I see.”
“Long time no see.”
Ivan greeted Go Yohan, but that was it.
They had a separate meeting scheduled after this anyway.
They were remarkable people.
The kind who came in person despite knowing they could all die if something went wrong.
No.
“I talked them out of sending more.”
This place was undoubtedly a holy site that Temple and countless shadowy forces yearned to visit.
Go Yohan found a seat off to the side.
As always, Yun Seunga sat beside him.
Nod.
Min Junhyeok nodded toward Go Yohan from afar.
He seemed to think he now belonged to Go Yohan.
‘He sold out his country.’
The old Go Yohan would have torn him apart.
How many powerhouses had sold their souls and their nations to demons, stirring up chaos?
“Lucky guy.”
As Yun Seunga said, he was lucky.
Because Go Yohan himself had extended the hand.
“…I have no choice but to acknowledge it.”
It wasn’t about Min Junhyeok.
“Human nature.”
Richard and Ivan were the same.
They had handed everything over to Go Yohan for their own greed.
In their countries, they would surely be branded traitors.
But what could be done?
‘We can only be grateful he’s not a demon.’
Weeds couldn’t be stamped out.
He knew now that they had to be grown and managed.
“Preparations?”
Go Yohan asked.
“No issues.”
He could trust Yun Seunga’s word.
That was when it happened.
“South Korea’s new era.”
Min Junhyeok stepped onto the stage and said.
“No—the warp gate that will usher in a new era for the world.”
The curtain was pulled back, revealing the shimmering warp gate.
*
*
*
“The warp gate activation has already been completed, and the results are….”
Truth be told, Min Junhyeok had gained more glory than he deserved, even without this deal.
Just because Go Yohan had begun his activities during his term.
“Complete success!”
South Korea’s international standing was changing, and Min Junhyeok stood at the center.
“Ooooh!”
“The warp gate will be installed experimentally in the US and Russia first. This heralds the dawn of a great history—a revolution in logistics and security.”
Excitement boiled over at the prepared presentation.
“That’s the guy.”
In the front row of the hall sat a National Assembly member.
“Yes.”
He was the one wielding the knife in this incident.
Cha Seonggyun.
The bloodline of one of South Korea’s former Big Three conglomerates, a man deeply tied to the political world.
But he had been pushed back by the tide Go Yohan created—his company bankrupt, his political footing shaken.
He had lost everything.
“Fool.”
Yun Seunga said.
His failure was entirely his own fault.
Their downfall was inevitable because they were linked to Japanese yakuza forces and shadowy organizations in South Korea.
When needed, they mobilized people to break up protests and drove powerless employees to hang themselves.
South Korea had been that kind of country just a few years ago.
The public didn’t know anyway.
They’d just assume suicides, and even if the truth came out, there was nothing they could do.
That was power, the way the world worked.
“I hear they promised to help his family and company establish themselves in Japan after this.”
The public still didn’t know that most of that had vanished thanks to Go Yohan.
“And that they’d help them regain a foothold in South Korea afterward. Seems like they plan to hand over some remnants of the broken Sanctuary Alliance.”
“Doesn’t matter—they’re still being shoved aside.”
Would a guy like that throw his life away for such a reason?
No way.
“Yeah. He’s not the type to give up his life for others.”
That made him the real country-seller.
Simple.
If he’d sold to me, he’d have lived.
Wrong buyer, that’s all.
“He doesn’t even know about the bomb.”“…….”
“Just.”
That was when it happened.
“Total bullshit!”
Cha Seonggyun shot up from his seat and shouted.
The hall plunged into panic at the sudden outburst.
Given the venue, only people of verified status were present.
“You think yelling louder makes you right!”
“Warp gate? Who knows how that’ll be used! If Russia sends players through it—no, an army—what then!”
“No trouble at all. It’s what they’ve always done. Just more eyes on it now.”
With Cha Seonggyun, the party’s vice representative, raising his voice, chaos was inevitable.
“It was all because of Go Yohan!”
Cha Seonggyun screamed, glaring this way.
“Go Yohan….”
That was when it happened.
Srrk.
His eyes grew hazy.
“Defame Go Yohan—that’s the order I got….”
“Cha Seonggyun! Do you know what you’re saying?”
“Kwon Mun Cheol…, Park Kyung-ho…, Keysin Guild’s Jin Ai…, they’re the ones….”
With hazy eyes, Cha Seonggyun shouted.
“There’s a bomb in this place…!”
That was when it happened.
Kwaaaaaang!
Blue flames erupted.
*
*
*
In a distant secret hideout from the hall, several people had gathered.
Party leader Kwon Mun Cheol, opposition leader Park Kyung-ho, and their allies.
Keysin Guild’s Jin Ai and Japanese representatives were there too.
-South Korea’s new era!
On the large TV screen, Min Junhyeok shouted with fists clenched like a triumphant general.
“Haha.”
Park Kyung-ho finally burst out laughing.
“How does he know what a mess it’ll become?”
These people here had also been invited to the announcement.
But they’d made excuses to stay away.
Who would go to a place about to blow up?
-No, a new era!
“Is Cha Seonggyun reliable?”
Kwon Mun Cheol asked.
He was a long-time colleague as vice rep.
But the key wasn’t that he had to be sacrificed—it was whether such a man would really stake his life on this.
“Cha Seonggyun doesn’t even know about the bomb.”
Jin Ai said.
“He just rails against Go Yohan. Thinks he just needs to wreck the hall.”
“I see.”
If that was the case.
“The moment he stands and says Go Yohan’s name, the bomb goes off.”
Nod.
They had bet everything on this.
“Many will die, but….”
Park Kyung-ho said.
“Sacrifices are necessary.”
The twenty or so gathered filled their glasses.
“Everything will be a mess. South Korea will regress decades at least. But as long as a strong nation rises from the ashes.”
It was a plan they never would have joined otherwise.
“If South Korea’s already in someone’s hands, we have no choice but to crush it and rebuild.”
But with not even scraps left for them, they thought they had to raze it and start over.
“Now!”
-Success!
Kwon Mun Cheol stood and said.
“To the new era—cheers, everyone!”
Clink!
Glasses clashed.
“To the new era!”
They downed their full glasses.
-Total bullshit!
The planned actor, Cha Seonggyun, rose and shouted as scheduled.
Whoosh!
Chills ran down their spines.
Truly, something impossible in the old days.
A new era forged through absurd acts.
‘Go Yohan.’
The massive shock and fear from that name faded, replaced by chills at the future ahead.
They would be at its center.
In the wrecked South Korea, they’d move fastest to secure aid from China and Japan.
-Go Yohan!
They’d achieve that feat and become heroes who rebuilt the devastated nation.
Demons?
Who cared what those things said.
Players would hunt them diligently, as always.
If they were too strong, they’d just get help from Chinese and Japanese players again.
Fail!
Even total ruin meant a bright future for them.
That was when it happened.
“You idiots.”
Clatter!
As Jin Ai spoke, the glasses fell and shattered on the floor.
“Did you think I’d let you live?”
Jin Ai’s sinister smile.
“Y-You….”
They couldn’t leave witnesses to this madness.
The hall reduced to rubble, South Korea itself collapsing.
To achieve that, these people here had to be erased too.
That was exactly what Keysin Guild and Jin Ai wanted.
“A new history. South Korea without you will become its old ruined state again….”
And then.
Beeeep!
A grating noise.
Kwaaaaaang!
Blue flames erupted.
Not the hall.
Right here.