Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: 9th Subjugation Unit (2)
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Mobile Team 4's office.
"His name's Lee Yoo-jin?"
"Nice name. Wonder who came up with it."
"His big bro, obviously."
"Nah, could be his big sis."
Just like in front of the elevator earlier.
I was surrounded by the members of Mobile Team 4—or more precisely, the 9th Subjugation Unit—and fielding all sorts of questions.
"Yoo-jin, how've you been holding up all this time?"
"School... you went okay, right? No one bullied you or anything?"
"You've grown up so well... so well. Sniff... this big sis could die happy right now."
The male members were on my left.
The female members were on my right.
The barrage of questions coming from both sides had me beyond awkward—I was straight-up exhausted.
Then Terra sent me a message.
[Is this what you mean by chaotic?] Even though it was just plain text.
It felt dizzying, like it was empathizing with my emotions.
'...Yeah, this is chaotic.'
[I see.] [Then I'm dizzy right now.] [(ｏ﹃ ｏ)...] I couldn't even muster a laugh at the drooling emoticon.
If incorporeal Terra was feeling it this bad, then flesh-and-blood me was way worse.
And above all, what was really wearing me down was...
"By the way, did your bro and sis leave you any money?"
"They must've, right? No way you scraped by without a dime."
"Yoo-jin... you really did okay, didn't you?"
...the fact that they kept asking questions I couldn't answer.
"Haha... yeah, of course I did fine."
Sorry, but I don't know.
Or maybe I didn't do fine at all.
For starters, possession kicked off in a rundown old officetel.
And when I was buying stuff for the entrance exam, I barely had any cash, so it seems like I didn't inherit jack from my biological folks.
Or maybe pre-possession me blew it all somewhere stupid.
'Eh, doesn't matter if I didn't inherit it or blew it—who cares? Not me.'
I'm a whole different person now anyway, and loaded from recipe royalties registered with the Pension Workshop.
So I couldn't care less about whatever the past was like.
As I was thinking that, someone clapped a hand on my shoulder.
"Hey, quit bugging our Yoo-jin and watch the news or read some articles already."
It was Gray, who'd stepped out briefly for work.
"Aw, sis, you know that's not happening. We don't have time for news when we're busy hunting down and smashing Fallen scum."
Gray clicked her tongue in pity at the male member's words.
"Listen up, you idiot. I've told you over and over: these days, gathering intel beats running around blind. It's faster."
She pointed at the big TV in the office and her smartphone as she continued.
"Just poke around TV or the net a bit—they tell you where Fallen or villains popped up. So quit charging around like headless chickens. Use your head, got it?"
"Ah... sis. I changed my name to Skull ages ago, but you're still calling me Duk-bae."
"Skull my ass—you look like the Hulk. Anyway, everybody, back off Yoo-jin. I said back off."
Gray was waving her hands to shoo away the clinging members when a younger-looking male member approached her, smartphone in hand displaying a portal article.
"Sis, these articles lately are kinda weird."
"Weird how?"
"Check this out."
Gray looked at the screen he held out.
And just like that, her face twisted in a scowl, like she'd spotted something.
"...What the hell? Why's it so biased?"
"Right? Super biased. All the news and articles these days are like this."
[It's definitely strangely biased, just like he said.] 'What's it say?'
[Hero Chasing Villain Destroys Building] [Citizens Critically Injured in Fallen-Hero Clash] [Heroes: Are They Really Protecting the People?] 'Whoa...'
All I could do was marvel.
How could it be this slanted?
I swallowed the curses bubbling up and kept scanning the streaming headlines.
By the time political, celebrity, and star superhuman stories popped up, the guy showing Gray the article spoke again.
"Like you're seeing, sis, most news and articles these days are hostile to heroes and certain superhumans."
Just as he said, everything in the news was anti-hero clickbait.
Not that Fallen, villains, or rift outbreaks were absent entirely.
But even those were twisted to trash someone's rep, or academies, associations—any institution's authority. All negative.
Sure, some straight-up legit articles did post.
They just vanished a few days later like they never existed.
"So I was thinking... what if Fallen worshippers have infiltrated the major organizations? Like, a ton of them."
Sharp kid.
I inwardly praised him as I glanced his way.
Sure enough, outside academies and associations, the big orgs were crawling with Fallen cultists.
That's why after 'Duel Season' ends, the Martial God leads guilds like Miri, Guardian, Crimson Light—big and small—plus the Superhuman Association in a full purge of cultists.
Government, media, broadcasters—places lousy with them—get bombed flat, massive shakeups.
[So the country gets cleaned up in 3 months?] 'Nah, no way.'
If so, I'd have said 'total' purge, not 'massive'.
'Fallen cultists are like cockroaches.'
Kill 'em all, and more crawl out somewhere.
'Only one way to wipe 'em out for good.'
Exterminate the Named they worship, the Apostles, and the outer gods.
That's it.
"...Makes sense."
"Yeah, maybe the big orgs are infested with cockroach bastards, like the maknae says."
"Sis, should we bring this up with the captain?"
Gray, who'd been gravely reading articles, nodded at Skull's—formerly Duk-bae—suggestion.
"Yeah, probably should."
"Then let's call the captain right—"
"Nah, she's busy interrogating some trash bitch right now. Later."
"Oh... right, the interrogation."
Skull nodded in understanding and stepped back.
"Alright, I'm taking Yoo-jin to base. Be back soon."
"Sure thing."
"Yoo-jin, see ya in a bit."
"...Yeah, see you soon."
[Won't we get hit with more question bombs when we get back?] '...Probably.'
[(⊙﹏⊙)] Ah, I wanna go back to the dorms.
&
Ding.
[Basement Level 3.]
The elevator doors opened.
Revealing a parking lot packed with cars.
"Yoo-jin, from here on, stick close and follow where I go, okay?"
"Got it, sis."
She grinned at my reply and stepped out.
I followed her out.
Bzzz—
And suddenly, countless gazes locked on.
[Master, something's off about this parking lot.] [Every car here has 'mana'.] 'Obviously. They're all 'golems' parked here.'
[Golems? Like the rock golems or black knights you took down—magical constructs?] 'Yep, exactly.'
I explained to ease Terra's curiosity and eyed the nearby cars.
The golems' stares intensified.
Like they'd drop the disguise and pounce at the slightest funny move.
At their reactions, I chuckled and glanced up.
'There it is—the beholder.'
The ceiling should've been shrouded in darkness.
But thanks to Demon Slayer (S)'s 'unaffected by darkness vision' effect, it was crystal clear.
And in that darkness, a bat-like eyeball dangled upside-down, surveilling me like a CCTV.
That beholder was the 9th Subjugation Unit's sole alchemist and base guardian... er, the base brat Winri's surveillance alchemy lifeform.
FYI, every golem here was her handiwork too.
[Incredible skill.] As Terra said, Winri was a top-tier alchemist, second only to the anemic hope of alchemy, Midas.
Problem was... she was one massive weirdo.
[Weirdo? Aren't alchemists all like that?] 'Sure, but... Winri's a weirdo even among weirdo alchemists.'
[How so?] 'She's...'
"Yoo-jin, we're here."
'...better to see for yourself.'
I put off answering Terra and looked where Gray had stopped.
Her foot was on a spot marked 'P3'.
Her gaze was fixed on... a blank wall.
"Yoo-jin, watch closely."
She pressed somewhere on it.
Clunk.
Something unlocked.
Whirr.
A small panel opened beside her hand, revealing a Morse code transmitter.
"Once the transmitter pops out, you input the Morse code right away. Otherwise..."
No sooner had she said it than—
- First warning.
A flat mechanical voice emanated from the device.
"You get a warning like that. Three warnings, and emergency mode kicks in—alerts go to all unit members, lot seals off."
Gray hurriedly tapped in the Morse code.
Which decoded to: "The avenger's blade knows no bloodless day."
In Morse: .-- .- .-.. --. .... .--. . -.- -.. ..- / -..- . ...- ..-. . ...- -.- -.. ..-. / --- ..- / -- . ...- -.. ...- / ..-. . ...- -.- ..- / -.- - .-- --. -... . .-.-.-
- Input complete.
The mechanical voice returned after the code.
Whirr.
This time, a '-' shaped slot appeared for insertion.
Gray drew a dagger from her bosom and slotted the blade into it.
Then, not the mechanical voice, but a frail, pre-pubescent girl's voice spoke.
"Our grudge is..." "...with hatred." "Our hatred is..." "...with vengeance." "Our vengeance is..." "...with death." "Evil is..." "...met with the blade." ⟨ Oath of Vengeance ⟩
With that, Gray twisted the dagger like a key.
Clunk. Something opened.
Whirr!
The wall to her right split apart, revealing a steel door.
"Yoo-jin, let's go."
She pulled the dagger free and approached the door.
It slid upward automatically, exposing another elevator.
"Just take this down."
As she said, this elevator led straight to the 9th Subjugation Unit's base.
But I couldn't act like I knew.
"Isn't there more steps?"
I tossed out a pointless question.
"Nope, just ride this down."
She pinched my cheek fondly and stepped in.
I followed her inside.
The steel door closed, and the outer one slid back down.
Reversing the security sequence.
"......"
"......"
Awkward silence.
Only the hum of the descending elevator.
But it didn't last.
"Yoo-jin."
After a beat, Gray called my name seriously.
I turned to her.
"Don't you miss your big sis, big bro... I mean, your parents?"
"......"
She'd asked about longing for my folks.
"Dunno... hard to say."
I really didn't know what to say.
But she took it differently.
"I see..."
Sadness clouded her face as she looked at me.
She'd totally misunderstood.
But I didn't bother clearing it up.
No reason to, and I wasn't sure how anyway.
"Here, Yoo-jin. Take this."
She pulled something from her bosom.
A faded photo and a key.
"Sis, this is..."
"A pic from way back with your parents. We shouldn't keep stuff like this by unit rules... but I held onto it. To show you someday."
I looked at the photo.
In the faded image, a beaming 10-ish Gray stood between a young man and woman.
I eyed the woman.
Chin-length bob, staff in hand... wait.
'Huh...? Isn't that one of the usurpers the principal showed me?'
I checked the man next.
Yep—the guy matched the usurper called Chaser.
'...What? So my bio parents were usurpers... outer gods?'
No way, that made zero sense.
Confusion flooded my mind.
No—flooded? It was overflowing.
[Master, you okay?] 'Yeah... okay, just super confused.'
[How about clearing your mind for a bit?] [Think again once the confusion settles and you're calm.] Following Terra's advice, I took a deep breath and nodded.
'Good call. No answers gonna pop pondering like this.'
The chaos cleared fast.
I let out a short sigh and looked at Gray.
Asked about my parents' names.
She said Dad was Lee Sung-jin, Mom Kim A-ra.
"Lee Sung-jin... Kim A-ra..."
I etched the names in my mind when—
Ding.
We'd arrived—the doors opened.
"Welcome to the 9th Subjugation Unit base."
Following her greeting, I stepped out.
Taking in the massive game-like space, countless rooms, bleeding-edge gear and facilities filling it.
"Normally you wouldn't see the gear, but with only one person here right now, everything's in visible mode except one room."
As she said, base rooms toggled between 'visible' and 'invisible' modes.
The invisible one? Base brat Winri's room.
She never left it...
"You? The son of Sung-jin oppa and A-ra unni?"
...So why's she out here?
I stared, flustered, at the tiny girl shuffling over, dragging a white lab coat.
Yep.
Silver-haired, twintails like Asuka.
Not a kid, though.
A full-grown 25-year-old woman.
Anyway, this pint-sized golem only came up to my solar plexus.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Winri, the mechanist in charge of this base."
The 9th Subjugation Unit's weirdo alchemist I'd meant to tell Terra about.