Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 009
Chapter Title: The Value of a Single Gold Coin
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A heavy silence hung over the living room.
Even the bizarre construction noise from outside the window felt faintly distant.
Lee Jung-woo said nothing more.
As if his role was over, he turned his gaze back to the TV and idly flipped through channels.
On the screen, an emergency debate was unfolding about the Suwon incident he had caused.
Se-ah sat blankly on the sofa.
She tried desperately to ignore her blurring vision, but she couldn't stop the hot sensation trickling down her cheek.
Three seconds.
In that brief moment, the alien sensations etched into her mind coiled around her body like a snake.
The stench of blood, the damp feel of soil, and her little brother's desperate eyes as he threw everything into surviving.
She had no idea how to cope with any of it.
As Se-ah sat there in a daze, a memory from long ago suddenly flashed through her mind.
The day her parents died in a car accident, leaving her and her young brother alone in the funeral hall.
Her relatives had only eyed each other, scrambling over the inheritance.
Back then, Jung-woo—barely an elementary schooler—had gripped her hand tightly and said,
"Don't worry, sis. I've got you. I'll protect you."
He had never once broken that promise.
From that day on, Jung-woo had been her only family, a steadfast presence like a parent.
But now, that brother had returned as something entirely different.
With a trembling voice, Se-ah asked,
"Mom and Dad said before they passed... No matter what, we have to stick together. You're really my brother Jung-woo, right?"
Her question carried a primal fear that her brother might have truly become a monster.
"It's me, Lee Jung-woo, sis."
For the first time, he replied in a slightly softer tone.
But his next words were anything but gentle.
"And even if Mom and Dad saw me, they'd be proud. Their son came back like this—so incredible."
"Ha..."
Se-ah let out a hollow laugh.
They weren't connecting.
No, they couldn't.
The chasm of three hundred years was a gulf too deep for mere sibling bonds to bridge.
"What are you going to do from now on? Keep living like this? In this apartment with those monsters?"
Her question wasn't about the emperor's plans.
It was about her brother's life.
Jung-woo paused, lost in thought.
Plans for the future.
In Arkea, there had only been one: conquer, rule, stabilize the empire.
But this place was different.
To him, it was a new territory to conquer, yet also home after three centuries.
"Hmm. Well, first I'll swallow up this country. Then the whole world. Ultimately, maybe head into space. Opening a café on the moon—sounds good, right?"
"......"
Se-ah gave up on the conversation.
This guy was hopeless.
She clutched her throbbing head.
Everything felt like a dream.
No, a nightmare.
Even in this nightmare, her mind began circling back to utterly practical matters.
She clung desperately to the threads of reality.
Yesterday's normalcy, everyday worries.
Then, the most immediate problem struck her.
"But what about me?"
Her voice cracked weakly.
"What about you?"
Jung-woo replied halfheartedly.
"I have to go to work tomorrow."
That trivial-sounding remark—so detached from reality—finally pulled Jung-woo's gaze from the TV. For the first time, he looked properly at his sister.
He seemed to mull it over.
"Oh, work."
A word that felt like a relic from centuries ago to him.
In a state of resignation, Se-ah continued,
"Today they issued a citywide shutdown advisory because of the emergency, so I didn't go. But how am I supposed to go from now on? With your face all over the news. Everyone will know I'm your sister."
She couldn't finish.
Terrorist's sister. Calamity's family.
The stares and blame headed her way were as predictable as fire burning.
Her normal life was over.
Jung-woo watched his sister's despair for a moment.
Then, as if struck by a simple solution, he said lightly,
"Then just quit."
"Quit? Hey, you know we took out a loan for this place's deposit, right? What about next month's credit card bill? If I quit, what are we gonna eat?"
"Ugh, you're such a pain."
Jung-woo sliced through her practical worries with one stroke.
He spoke to the empty air behind him.
"Belial."
The 2nd Legion Commander emerged silently from the shadows and bowed.
"Convey my concerns to that company president."
"Concerns, my liege?"
"Yes. The emperor's sole blood kin is deeply troubled by workplace issues. Tell him to grasp the gravity of troubling my sister with such petty mortal worries—and show his sincerity accordingly."
It wasn't an order.
It was an irrefutable threat, wrapped in polite words.
Belial understood perfectly and vanished back into the darkness with a eerie chuckle.
"Kekeke. As you command, my liege."
At the same time, in a Gangnam officetel in Seoul.
Kim Jin-tae, president of design studio Feeling, watched the TV screen anxiously.
The unprecedented incident in Suwon.
His mind swirled with chaos.
Worries about its impact on the economy—and worse, his own company—crushed him.
"Ha... what's happening to this country."
The moment he stood to grab a cigarette,
Every light in the office flickered.
Black smoke billowed from thin air before his eyes, soon forming a robed figure shaped like a skull.
"Gah! W-what is that?!"
President Kim forgot to breathe.
The cigarette pack slipped from his hand to the floor.
Belial tilted his head toward him and spoke in a voice that chilled the soul.
"Are you Kim Jin-tae?"
"Y-yes! Y-yes, that's me."
As Kim stammered in terror, Belial flicked a finger lightly at him.
Invisible force bound Kim's body, dragging him into the air.
"Gah! H-hek!"
His body slammed against the wall, fixed there, feet dangling helplessly.
He struggled with all his might, but it was futile—like a butterfly in a spider's web.
Gazing down at the terrified man suspended in midair, Belial continued softly,
"My liege expresses deep concern for his sister, Lee Se-ah, who works at your company."
Red light flashed from Belial's empty eye sockets.
"The emperor's blood kin is tormented by the petty worries of insignificant mortals. Can your tiny mind fathom the weight of this sin? My liege expects you to show appropriate sincerity."
With that, Belial released the force holding Kim.
He dropped to the floor like a ragdoll.
"Kek. Cough, cough!"
Belial dissolved into smoke and vanished without a trace.
Only silence remained in the office.
President Kim sat slumped on the floor, gasping for breath for a long while.
His body trembled like an aspen leaf.
Emperor's sister, Lee Se-ah.
The words echoed in his mind.
It wasn't a dream.
He looked down at his hands.
The cigarette he'd held moments ago had turned to white ash, crumbling between his fingers.
And where Belial had stood, the floor was covered in white frost—impossible for a midsummer office.
He fumbled madly for his phone.
With shaking hands, he dialed employee Lee Se-ah's number.
He had no choice.
Se-ah opened her mouth to protest her brother's absurd actions.
"Hey, what the hell did you just—"
Right then, her smartphone blared noisily.
The screen showed President Kim Jin-tae.
Her heart sank. Hesitating, she pressed the call button with trembling fingers.
"H-hello? President?"
"H-hek. Ah, L-Lee Se-ah. Are you okay? How's your health?"
The voice on the other end wasn't his usual self.
It was laced with fear, almost on the verge of tears.
"Pardon? My health? I'm fine, President. What's this about?"
"No! How could you be fine?! We've been so thoughtless! I'm sorry!"
"President, calm down."
"I can't calm down! So, Lee Se-ah, starting tomorrow—no, from today, take indefinite paid leave! Until you're fully recovered—or if you want, rest for life! I'll deposit your salary, full pay!"
"President, I'm really fine!"
Se-ah couldn't continue this absurd call.
She hung up hurriedly and turned to her brother beside her with blank eyes.
Jung-woo, eyes fixed on the drama, sipped cola like it was popcorn and murmured,
"Problem solved."
A faint smile played on his lips.
And just like that, Se-ah's ordinary daily life came to an end.
Exhausted, she retreated to her room for some thinking time and shut the door.
Left alone in the living room, Jung-woo glanced at his sister's closed door before quickly losing interest and sinking back into the sofa.
To him, the reunion and talk after three centuries was like checking off a chore.
He turned his gaze to the window.
The Necropolis construction site was a spectacle.
What had only sounded like eerie noise before now struck his attuned ears like a grand symphony.
Tyrant Skeletons hauling massive obsidian foundation stones moved in sync to the 'clack-clack-clatter' signals from what seemed like squad leaders clicking their jawbones.
Those foundation stones would form the base for a new tower facing the central obelisk.
In the plaza inside the walls, Steel Skeletons performed delicate groundwork with precise movements.
One paused, tilting its head as if dissatisfied with the level of its laid stone slab,
then scraped the soil with sharp steel claws and realigned it meticulously.
It was like a stonemason with centuries of experience.
Lich floated in the air, silently directing it all.
One spotted a delayed section and gestured; a squad of Skeletons carrying materials from elsewhere immediately rerouted.
No human construction site could match this efficiency and perfection.
Watching it all move organically like living beings under his will was, to the emperor, utterly natural—and deeply satisfying.
"Th-this is insane."
About 2km from the Necropolis walls, on a hill.
YouTuber Go Se-gu panted as he finally settled into position.
Right after the Shroud of Death appeared, he'd grabbed his broadcasting gear and rushed to the nearest high point to capture this historic site.
With shaking hands, he assembled his high-end drone and launched it.
Moments later, the feed from the drone left his jaw on the floor.
"Everyone, are you seeing this? Those monsters are still building something!"
His drone skimmed perilously along the Shroud of Death's edge, capturing the massive obelisk and spires.
The chat was paralyzed by influx of shocked viewers.
[Built that in one day? Insane.]
[Right next to my house. Hands still shaking.]
To get better shots, Go Se-gu edged the drone closer to the shroud.
That instant.
"Huh? What?"
The feed crackled with noise.
The drone's altimeter and battery flickered wildly.
"Drone's glitching! No, this thing's expensive!"
As he screamed, the drone lost signal, spinning like a leaf before plummeting.
It hadn't even touched the shroud—just the ominous aura around it turned cutting-edge tech to scrap.
Go Se-gu despaired at the falling drone, yet a strange thrill curved his lips.
Ruined? No, jackpot material. Real life-on-the-line broadcast! His dream of 1 million simultaneous global viewers!
Hearing his bank balance grow in his mind, he clenched a fist in ecstasy.
Unable to contain his excitement, he yelled at the crew,
"You see that? Did you?! The drone didn't just fall—it got wrecked by that barrier's aura alone!"
As he gestured exaggeratedly for the stream,
Rustle.
A dry twig snapped behind him in the hill's scrub shadows.
The terrified crew shone lights there: a Steel Skeleton in ragged leather vest stood.
In its bony hand: a shattered propeller from the crashed drone.
"H-hiiik!"
Go Se-gu yelped instinctively.
But the Skeleton showed no hostility.
Ignoring the others, it clacked toward him alone.
It tossed the broken propeller at his feet.
Terror-struck and speechless, Go Se-gu watched as the Skeleton clacked its jaw and rasped in a eerie, cracked voice,
"You're... kinda loud."
It pulled something from its chest and tossed it too.
With a clink, it hit the ground: a single gold coin, impossibly intricate and ornate.
Its surface bore a menacing dragon crest.
"Drone money. Take it and scram."
The Skeleton turned to leave, then paused as if remembering something and looked back.
Staring with empty sockets, it said,
"Oh. And... the liege likes you. Come alone next time."
With that, the Skeleton shot back into the scrub shadows.
Silence fell over the site.
Go Se-gu stared alternately at the shattered propeller and the gold coin gleaming ominously beside it.
"....."
Terror, absurdity, and uncontrollable maniacal thrill twisted across his face.