Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Black Land Over Vladivostok
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Dark clouds hung over Russian airspace.
No, calling them mere dark clouds was putting it mildly—they were pitch-black clouds of utter foreboding.
—Everyone, evacuate…
As the evacuation order went into effect and the citizens of Vladivostok began their exodus.
Boom!
An aura poured from the clouds, enveloping the entirety of Vladivostok.
“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!”
The citizens, trapped by an invisible wall, screamed and pounded their fists against it, but the wall refused to yield.
The silver lining—if it could be called that—was that those trapped included guilds and players based in Vladivostok, and even the Russian Association itself.
Kwaaang!
The misfortune was that even they failed to shatter the wall.
Over 400,000 people were instantly sealed inside a single city.
And beyond the faint wall.
Ripple.
Hundreds of red lights began to flicker.
What emerged were red orcs, their entire bodies a vivid crimson.
They materialized amid the citizens crowding desperately toward the wall in hopes of survival.
Snort.
Snorting, they swung their crude weapons.
In a single blow, Russian players were swept aside, and civilians burst apart.
“Kyaaak!”
The scene was being broadcast across the world.
Yet Russia undoubtedly had its share of ranker-level powerhouses, including none other than world ranker Alexander, known as the Brown Bear.
Rallying the players, he finally launched an assault.
Kwajik!
He was bisected by a strike from a black-skinned orc and died.
“P-Please… spare me…”
The city of despair.
The wall held firm.
Kwaang!
From inside.
From outside.
“You must authorize nuclear launch!”
Humanity’s ultimate strategic weapon—the nukes—had to be fired en masse, countless voices cried.
“Where? At Vladivostok?”
“Yes!”
“And if even that fails to breach the wall?”
Nuclear weapons had served their purpose thus far and had even succeeded in destroying A-rank gates.
“Are you saying we should unleash a second Chernobyl—no, a catastrophe beyond comparison? If it can’t even crack the wall, where do you think the blast and radiation will go?”
Russia’s players had mobilized, but no answer came.
They appealed to neighboring countries.
—Gate breaks are occurring worldwide.
The black land that had appeared in Russia was affecting gates across the globe.
Monsters pouring out as gates shattered one after another.
Nations with vast territories like China strained every resource to defend their lands, while player superpowers like the United States fared little better.
This was the worst catastrophe since gates first appeared.
“Korea.”
The Russian president declared.
“No—contact ‘them’.”
They were the only lead to resolving this crisis.
*
*
*
One didn’t need TV or a phone to know.
‘Black Land.’
The upheaval unfolding in Russia right now.
It resembled what had happened in Travania long ago.
Ten million orcs had overrun three kingdoms in a mere three days, using the corpses and souls of the fallen to perform a ritual.
The land stained by that rite became the orcs’ sanctuary: the Black Land.
A ‘true’ Black Land, distinct from the Black Gate before, was now manifesting.
Vrooom.
A massive airliner began to shudder.
Russia had requested aid from Korea.
Korea might not rank high in the player world, but it held a tremendous edge over other player superpowers.
Thud!
A tiny landmass.
Yet a disproportionate number of players—disproportionately skilled ones.
Mediocre in aggregate, perhaps.
Whirr.
But in times like these, South Korea was one of the few nations with capacity to spare.
“Most gate breaks we can handle without issue.”
The voice came from beside him.
“Probably. The problem is…”
Ding.
At the landing chime, Go Yohan rose.
“It’ll be demons.”
This time, ‘orcs’.
Go Yohan had arrived in Russia.
The Black Land warped space itself, thwarting Yoon Seung-ah’s teleportation—that was one reason.
“Really.”
It was due to Russia’s desperate plea.
“It’s too damn similar.”
In the midst of crisis, they wanted to broadcast to the world that salvation had reached Russia.
Russian stocks were in freefall; rumors swirled that the nation itself might collapse.
A single move to silence such talk.
Hiss.
The door of Russia’s provided private jet slid open, dim light spilling in.
The Black Land had opened in Vladivostok, yet its influence blanketed most of Russia’s territory.
Outside stood countless soldiers and players…
“…It’s an honor to see you again.”
The Russian Defense Minister and Association President were there as well.
“Sloth.”
They greeted Yoon Seung-ah.
They twisted their lips in wry, incredulous smirks at the absurdity of it all.
Just days earlier, they’d paid a king’s ransom for help raiding the Black Gate—yet here they were, calling them back.
‘This is insane.’
The Defense Minister and others couldn’t wrap their heads around it.
Russia had requested rescue from South Korea.
No—precisely, from ‘them’.
Bypassing hotlines with the Korean government, ignoring their top politicians.
A single call through the Player Association President.
Essentially dispatching Russia’s private jet.
‘Who the hell…?’
Sloth, who’d provided crucial aid in the Black Gate raid.
Her details were classified.
But as defense chief, he’d glimpsed the truth.
‘This woman essentially soloed the Black Gate?’
They expect me to buy that?
And.
“…Yohan of the Saints.”
Everyone’s faces filled with puzzlement as the next man descended.
“Sword Ghost, Lee Jae-kyung.”
Two players formerly tied to Sanctum.
Or so public knowledge claimed—they were no longer affiliated.
“Ha.”
Russian Defense Minister Mikhail barked a hollow laugh at the next to descend.
“Uuung!”
Stretching languidly, weary from the long flight, was a boy who looked barely mid-teens.
These Easterners were the sole key to resolving the crisis?
These green kids?
“Not a Saint—New Star… no, just Sanctum. And no ties to them.”
To summon such people.
“…Heh.”
Pledging part of the defense budget…
And unspeakable concessions besides—it was utter madness.
‘They’ve lost it.’
Mikhail was convinced in that instant.
Russia’s president had gone mad.
The ex-KGB strongman who’d seized power years ago in a near-coup, ruling like a dictator—he’d snapped completely!
“You people…”
Mikhail couldn’t hide his disgust as he spoke.
“Are the ‘Sins’?”
*
*
*
Mikhail thought in that moment.
At their request, reporters had been kept at bay; the announcement merely stated that capable players had arrived to save Russia.
“The ‘Sins’?”
If reporters learned these were the saviors.
Crunch.
Russia’s already cratered prestige would have nosedived into oblivion.
“Mikhail!”
Russian Association President Anton shouted at him.
“This is… fucking insane.”
Mikhail wasn’t a player.
But he grasped the basics.
Players called geniuses existed, their growth absurdly faster than the rest.
Yet a player’s true strength boiled down to.
‘Time, experience.’
Such things.
No matter the hidden class or skills, strength showed through level.
And levels stemmed inescapably from time and experience.
“…My apologies. It’s just… incomprehensible.”
Ultimately, Mikhail backed down with an apology.
They were summoned by the president and Association President, after all.
And he was a soldier—orders were to be followed without question.
“Ended quicker than I thought.”
Go Yohan remarked fluently in Russian.
Yoon Seung-ah’s magic erased language barriers.
“I apologize.”
Anton stepped forward.
Unlike Mikhail, he’d witnessed Yoon Seung-ah’s power firsthand.
Moreover.
Gulp.
He knew a fraction of the ‘Sins’’ might.
The shadowy force wielding vast influence across America and Europe.
Russian intel even whispered that Goldian had joined the Temple.
‘…Liberty.’
America’s No. 2 guild was rumored under Temple’s sway.
Their power defied imagination.
‘Use this chance to forge ties with Temple,’ the president had ordered.
He hoped to leverage the crisis—find ways to harness Temple’s strength, or at least gauge a sliver of it.
Temple could project immense sway over the potential adversary, America.
“But, Sloth—is it true there’s no link between Sanctum and Sins?”
Unlike Mikhail, Anton asked cautiously.
“I heard those coming are Sins’ elite members.”
Sword Ghost was a longtime famous player; Anton, as Association President, knew him well.
Go Yohan was another story.
His name had only recently surfaced, shadowed by equal mystery and suspicion.
Russia’s assessment.
‘Hero making.’
They’d suspected Sanctum and the Korean Association were grooming Go Yohan into a hero—yet here he was, inexplicably with Sins.
“Anton. Show some respect.”
Yoon Seung-ah said.
“Yohan is the captain of our ‘Sins’.”
“……!”
It was then.
Boom!
A sudden shockwave hit.
Kwaaaaah—!
A ferocious gale whipped around them all.