Chapter 310
Chapter 310
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 310
Chapter Title: Busan (4)
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The highway connecting Gyeonggi Province and Busan.
"Wizard, that bike—doesn't it look like it's chasing us?"
Vrooooom—
Jet-black bikes closing in tight on our tail.
"You're right. Looks like enemies."
"Kim Shin-hwaaaa!"
"Stay right there!"
"I'll kill you!"
Biker gang members screaming my name.
"Pretty gutsy bunch. Let's see..."
I turned my head toward the bikers—then quickly ducked down.
"Hyeon-deok! Hyeon-deok! What the hell are those guys!?"
"Huh? Wizard? What's wrong?"
"No, what the hell are they!"
"Hmm?"
Jang Hyeon-deok, who had been looking puzzled for a moment, glanced at the bikers in the rearview mirror and said,
"Ah, Hellhounds. Every driver's heard of those crazy biker punks."
"Hell..."
Ah, I shouldn't have asked.
It's not just the name that's the problem.
They're all wearing helmets modeled after some specific beast in perfect unison.
Not quite enough to trigger my phobia, but it's an uncomfortable sight. I want to floor it out of here at max speed.
"Kim Shin-hwaaaaa!"
One of the bikers pulls ahead, spreading his arms wide.
Whoosh—
A massive blaze rising like phoenix wings.
Pyrokinesis?
"Whoa, it's Mad Dog."
Jang Hyeon-deok casually dropping that horrific name.
Shouts of "Mad-" something from outside.
"Get lost! You punk! I'll rip right through your back!"
Fwoosh—
Flames wrapping around the Kolvan.
But thanks to the new protective gear I added, the car takes no real damage from his attack.
"I heard he got beat down by some wizard a few months back and retired, but his powers seem stronger than before?"
"Ah, whatever. I'm not curious about those punks' backstories. Shoot! Blast 'em quick!"
"Got it!"
Jang Hyeon-deok pulls the lever under the steering wheel.
Clunk—
Gatling guns rising from the Kolvan's sides and roof—cute little things that fire 4,000 rounds per minute.
Rrrrattle—
The vehicle shakes from the vibration.
"Gyaaaaah!"
The bikers scream and scatter.
They're really nothing much...
Squeeeee—
A sharp whistle from somewhere.
"Wizard, that whistle... what is it?"
"Hmm, probably calling their buddies."
Biker trash like this can't stop me to begin with.
"Stay right there!"
"Stop!"
Shouts from the bikers outside.
"But they don't seem to think so. Those guys are just spotters."
Guarding every road out of Paju, calling in the real assassins when they spot me.
"Huh? Then?"
"Guess a bunch of them will show up today to stop me from reaching Busan."
Looks like Cure Medical Care came prepared.
"Kraaaaa! Kim Shin-hwaaa!"
Mad-something guy charging in with a berserk expression, like he popped some drugs.
"First things first... gotta shake these guys."
There are plenty of spells I can cast without looking at them.
Whirrrrr—
[Earthquake Strike]
* * *
Rumble—
A sudden earthquake.
Busan has been hit by big and small quakes lately. No casualties or property damage yet, but they're too frequent.
Conspiracy theories are even popping up that Cure Medical Care is behind them.
Fwooo—
Golden cigarette smoke billowing from Seo Cheon-seul's mouth.
"Guess it'll come down to this."
"Come down to what?"
Park Gwang-rim's question.
Seo Cheon-seul, squatting in a thuggish pose in the alley behind Songjeong Port, tapped the ground with his long pipe and said,
"Didn't this body tell you a few days ago? There's a dragon's lair down here."
'A few days ago?'
It was more like a few minutes ago, but with goblin-like time sense, Seo Cheon-seul throws out the wrong unit.
Confusing, but not enough to mess up the meaning. Whenever he said it, he did mention the dragon's lair.
"Demons from the Land of the Rising Sun are digging underground. To deliver gold to the Dragon King."
"Then—"
"This body was fighting on orders from the Great King of Ten Thousand Gold to stop those demon bastards' scheme. It would've been fine if it was just them, but those Kim bastards using weird sorcery got involved, making it a headache."
Park Gwang-rim had seen them too.
The Wild Guns Security fixers getting roughed up by Yang Seo-ho.
And the veteran fixer Night Owl tagging along with them.
An odd combo, but heavy hitters in the fixer world.
Seo Cheon-seul grinned, putting the pipe in his mouth and inhaling smoke.
"That last quake wasn't normal. The demons are probably still digging right now. Before those bastards find the dragon's lair under this land, that Kim bastard—"
Fwooo—
More golden smoke from Seo Cheon-seul's mouth.
"No, Kim Shin-hwa has to get here, or we're in trouble."
* * *
Rustle rustle—
Jet-black shadows racing along the sound barriers and lane dividers.
"Whoa! Those guys are actually running?!"
"Now the real fun starts."
These aren't ordinary punks.
Superhuman speed to catch up to a car maxing out on the highway—on foot.
"Uh... no way that's..."
"Yeah... it is."
Faces hidden by metal masks, wearing what you'd call traditional—or distinctive—clothing.
Those are...!
Shurikens flying in from all sides!
"Wizard! Ninjas?! Why?! Ninjas?!"
Jang Hyeon-deok's scream.
"Ninjas, so stay calm and keep driving!"
Whirrrrr—
Flashy magic circles lighting up around the car.
[Gale]
Boom!
A magical whirlwind deflects the ninjas' shurikens.
"Speaking of, ninjas?"
Cure Medical Care is run by a Japanese C.E.O. and it's a global corp, but they don't have a ninja theme.
"Changwol Society?"
Yakuza from Japan, an ancient ninja clan, and cultists worshiping the abyssal entity [Hermit of the Sleeping Forest].
Cure Medical Care must've roped them in to stop me.
"Hiii-yah!"
A signature freakish yell from afar.
Yakuza ninja cultists charging in with ninja swords before I know it!
"Where do you get off?!"
[Burning Thunder]
Kraroom!
Lightning blankets the highway.
"Ninjutsu! Lightning Rod Jutsu!"
One yakuza ninja cultist shouts something fancy and hurls a copper rod—
Zzzap!
Most of the lightning veers off into the distance.
"Ah, elite ninjas."
Ninjas are a bad matchup.
"Hyeon-deok, don't stop, keep going."
"Huh? What about you, Wizard?"
"These aren't the type to fight from inside a car!"
Clunk—
I open the car door, activate [Flight] to hop up briefly, then stand on the Kolvan's roof.
"Nice to see you! Heo Sang-hyeon!"
One ninja calls out to me. Who's that?
When I don't answer quick, he laughs "Hahaha!" pulls a bird-beak mask from his coat, flips it on, and says,
"Remember now?!"
"Ah, you. That yakuza clowning around at the Masquerade?"
"Yeah! Now you remember!"
"You're a mid-tier ninja. Scram."
"After you beat me, I devoted body and soul! Through bone-grinding training, I became an elite ninja. Hiyaah!"
He forms hand seals mid-sentence and flies at me. Flying Dragon Kick!
"Doesn't seem like your patterns changed much."
I float magic circles everywhere and cast.
[Extreme Flame]
Fwooooosh!!!
Golden flames whirl toward the yakuza ninja cultists.
* * *
"Kim Shin-hwa will never set foot in Busan."
Akiyama's firm declaration.
"Why?"
Yang Seo-ho snaps back sharply.
"Officer. No, aren't the fine folks from the Foreigner Management Agency and Busan's brave police guarding it well?"
With that, Akiyama points to the Foreigner Management Agency's special task force HQ.
"Ha, thanks for the vote of confidence."
"We've stated officially multiple times, but that weirdo—Shin-hwa—and Cure Medical Care have zero connection. His smear campaign has us in a truly nightmarish spot. Didn't you see the protesters? Stock's tanking, shareholders are rioting."
Akiyama looks genuinely troubled.
"Then you should've laid low. Didn't I tell you a few days ago, if you're innocent, act like you're dead?"
Yang Seo-ho says that while picking up the stack of documents on the desk.
Cure Medical Care's report on the Songjeong Port incident.
Seeing the papers she's holding, Akiyama smiles awkwardly.
"We apologize again for the unintended disturbance. Who knew it was such a shady item... We got scammed too."
Contrary to Yang Seo-ho's expectations, the smuggled goods at Songjeong Port were gold bars of dubious origin.
He swiftly admitted 'negligent oversight,' turned over all the gold bars to Busan Customs.
He'll pay a hefty fine, but the big crimes fell on the middleman.
'Damn.'
From the Foreigner Management Agency's position, there's nothing more to do.
Yang Seo-ho glares at Akiyama's slick smile and recalls what Shin Woo-jin said earlier.
"Team leader, this isn't the end. No proof, but at least twice what we seized is probably already in Cure Medical Care's hands. What the hell are these bastards planning with the gold bars?"
Seo Cheon-seul knew they were using the gold for a ritual to awaken the [Source of Life], but to Yang Seo-ho, unaware, it was just some shady, irritating scheme.
'Should I just accidentally kill him?'
Yang Seo-ho is cautious of her excessive strength, but her patience and leniency vary wildly by the opponent's nationality.
"You seem pleased thinking you slipped this one, but if we meet again in the wrong way—you, watch it, or I'll rip your nose off."
"This insolent... (Kono buれい-mono...)"
Yang Seo-ho sets the papers down on the desk.
Boom!
She just smacked it with paper, but the heavy desk collapses.
"Don't yap in Japanese. Foreign languages make it hard for me to control my strength."
'Mongrel monster' or whatever he mutters under his breath, but Akiyama doesn't dare say it aloud.
"Anyway, we've explained everything we can. Please arrest that lunatic wizard and make him pay."
"Yeah, get out."
Akiyama bows politely and leaves.
Yang Seo-ho, scowling at his retreating figure, glances out the window and mutters,
"Then Kim Shin-hwa..."
What happens to him?
"This punk didn't get stuck in some half-assed trap and fail to show, did he?"
* * *
"Whoa, seriously! What next?!"
I couldn't hold back and shouted.
Something enormous is rising from the Geumgang River, which had been flowing peacefully.
A shark-like head and deadly layered teeth.
Eight tentacles writhing ferociously.
And a rocky carapace with brutish claws... a crab?
Each part clearly from real creatures, but no single creature should have them all.
Jang Hyeon-deok's pupils shake wildly.
"Gyah... what is that?"
"No idea."
A massive thing three stories tall rising from the Geumgang: shark head, crab body, claws and tentacles.
First time seeing this for real. Hidden piece? Secret data that only existed in files?
"What do we even call it? Crab-shark-octopus?"
"Grraaaawr!"
The shark-crab-octopus thing roars and leaps.
Boom!
Road's completely blocked. Damn.
Screeech—
Jang Hyeon-deok slams on the brakes.
"Look! There's a guy on it! Hahaha! Wizard! There's a person riding that shark head! Hahahahaha!"
Jang Hyeon-deok starts cackling hysterically in mild delirium. Nice vibe.
"Ah, seriously, not a class reunion or anything. Come all at once why don't you."
I glance up at the sky.
Full moon hanging high.
The day [Source of Life] mentioned is almost here.
Wonder what time that 'event' kicks off?
Worst case, midnight when the date changes.
"Tch, can't waste time."
I finally get out of the car—and yell at the weirdo standing on the monster's head.
"Hey, Yong-su! Long time no see! You raising that thing?"
The shaman of In-su Village, last survivor, his green scales gleaming as he shouts back at me.
"Grrawl! Kim Shin-hwa, good to see you! Time to pay for your sins from before."
"Yeah. Everyone I've met today says the same? Should've confessed back then, I might've said yes."
"Kraaak! Shut your mouth! Today is your last day!"
Boom!
With a roar, the massive monster charges.