Chapter 25
I’m translating the chapter into publication-style HTML and preserving the special in-universe UI blocks with the required styled `
` format. Next I’m rendering the narration cleanly, then I’ll make sure the title and system messages are formatted correctly.CHAPTER_TITLE: The Beast’s Return
Creaaak.
Creeeeak.
Unknown sounds echoed through the space. The air was damp, yet somehow humid, hot, and cold all at once.
It was a place filled with strange, contradictory sensations. Through that place, a huge man slowly made his way down the corridor.
“Tsk.”
His face was full of displeasure. Irritation clung to him too, along with the unmistakable air of someone deeply dissatisfied.
The reason was probably the tiny phone in his hand.
The screen was packed with one article after another. As he checked them, the giant ground his teeth.
Crack.
The phone in his hand crumpled and shattered as if it were nothing.
“Damn it.”
He’d only bought it recently, and he’d gone and broken it again.
He’d thought maybe this one would last a little longer, but of course, that hadn’t happened.
The giant brushed his hands together as if annoyed, and the fragments of the phone scattered to the floor.
After shaking off the debris, he started walking again. The iron door ahead was his destination.
Standing before it, the giant spoke.
“Boss. May I come in?”
No answer came. Silence brushed past him. Sensing that, the giant tried again.
“Boss. May I come i—”
Creeeeak.
Instead of an answer, the door opened.
That was enough. The giant stepped through the iron door and entered on his own.
The inside was dark, lit only by a green glow.
“So? How’s the condition?”
As he spoke while walking in, something huddled in the center opened its eyes.
“...Who knows.”
“What do you mean, who knows? It looks terrible.”
He kept snickering. At that reaction, the being with green eyes turned to look at him. Under that gaze, the giant flinched.
“Whoops... Just kidding. I’m kidding.”
He raised his hands as if to calm things down, and the being shut its eyes again. Then it asked the giant,
“How is the clown?”
“His arm’s been completely treated after getting blown off... He looks pathetic, but his eyes are sharp as hell. Seems like he’s getting ready to move.”
“I see.”
“Do we really need to leave that idiot alone?”
The giant couldn’t understand the being’s choice.
“He lost to some brat who hasn’t even dried the blood on his head yet. He even wrecked the plan we’d been stacking up piece by piece. I don’t get why we’re keeping him alive.”
If it were him, he would’ve disposed of him long ago.
The giant swallowed those words.
But the being looked at him with half-lidded eyes, as if it already knew what he was thinking.
“The clown will be needed in the future. So he’s useful.”
“Mm... Fine.”
He didn’t press the matter any further. In the end, the being’s word was law.
“I’m not all that interested in what that kindling did. What matters is this.”
The displeasure that had been building all this time finally found its target.
“Why did you stop me from meeting that Musin bastard? That’s all I want to know.”
He had tried to head for the Colosseum Gate, an S-class gate, but the being had stopped him.
“Do you think you would have won if you’d gone?”
The being asked it seriously.
“Who knows. If I didn’t know, I’d at least have gone to test him.”
The giant lifted the corner of his mouth. Musin. A monster who had crushed even Wei Ajun. And yet the giant still wanted to fight him.
That response made the being tilt its head slightly.
“Great Mage. Even if he hadn’t gone, Kim Yu-jin and Wei Ajun did. You wouldn’t have beaten them.”
“So you’re saying I wouldn’t beat Musin either?”
“I’m saying it would have been a pointless expenditure. Do I need to say more?”
“Tsk.”
Green light flared in those eyes. At that look, the giant clicked his tongue. There was no point in arguing further.
“Follow the plan. What matters in the end is our objective.”
“Yes. I know.”
He knew, which was why he had obeyed without complaint when told not to go.
So then.
“...Then it’s all right if I run wild this time, yes?”
He’d held back once already. Didn’t that mean he could cut loose now?
At that, the being nodded.
“Yes.”
“Mm.”
Satisfied, the giant gave a pleased nod. Then, as if something had occurred to him, he said,
“Ah, but... I know we’re supposed to kill that Lee Jinwoo guy. But if we do, won’t the clown lose his mind?”
An old gaze surfaced in his mind — one that had once told him not to touch what belonged to it. It had been a long time since he’d seen that look.
Which was why he asked, almost eagerly,
“If he runs wild, can I fight him?”
If the clown came out, wouldn’t they be allowed to clash?
But before his anticipation could settle,
“I’ll handle the clown myself. You focus only on the mission.”
“...Damn.”
The being cut him off at once. The giant smacked his lips in disappointment.
“I’ll obey your orders.”
“There is a Great Mage in that space.”
Whoosh.
Perhaps the being felt cold, because it pulled a thick cloth nearby and draped it around itself.
“I’ll take care of that side as well. Keep your focus where it belongs.”
“Yes, yes.”
The giant turned his back and nodded.
“As you say.”
It was an assassination that didn’t fit.
That rankled, but the giant chose to simply obey.
“Then I’ll bring back that brat’s head.”
Lee Jinwoo.
He would kill the man who had interfered with their plan. For that purpose, the giant stepped out of the room.
...
Once he had left, the being closed its eyes again.
[Grrrrr.]
[Grrruurrr.]
Unknown sounds brushed past its ears.
A chill seeped in.
“...What in the world.”
Narrowing its eyes, it thought,
“...Who is it?”
Who could it be?
Who was it that had made the god it served suffer so horribly?
The being.
The priest of Korka, as it was commonly called, let out a low groan and fell into thought.
* * *
I rode in a black car. By now it was familiar enough to feel almost ordinary. The vehicle was armored, and the ride itself was remarkably stable.
The kind of comfort that made you sleepy if you let your guard down even a little.
Then—
“How are you feeling?”
Jeon Yuseon asked me a question.
“Me? Ah, I’m fine.”
“That’s a relief. Please don’t be too tense. Today is only a simple rank measurement.”
“...Haha.”
Don’t be tense? I gave a helpless laugh at the absurdity of that.
...How am I supposed not to be tense?
I’d already heard the news. Reporters were swarming the place.
The founding of a new knight order, and Hale Irene’s appointment as its commander.
That one announcement had drawn eyes from every direction.
And at the same time, attention had also landed on me, the only member of the current knight detachment.
Beep.
My phone rang. Checking it, I found a message from Jin Gyeongbeom.
[You on your way, lol?]
[Looks like the press is everywhere. Nice, huh?]
...This bastard.
Who was he mocking?
No, actually, he was mocking me. I held back the sigh that threatened to escape. Just then, Jeon Yuseon spoke again.
“Ah, right. Did you hear about what happened yesterday?”
“Yesterday, you mean—”
“The Colosseum.”
“Ah, yes. I heard.”
Heard? I had also participated.
“Thanks to that, the Association is in a stir as well. There were no real aftereffects, even though an S-class gate appeared.”
“Is there even anything to make a fuss about if there were no aftereffects?”
At my question, Jeon Yuseon smiled faintly.
“There is. Compensation was given to those who participated and won.”
“...Ah, compensation.”
“Yes. They say each person received one item from the opposing side.”
“...”
That was information I already knew. I had gotten one too.
“As you may have heard, all of the participants were S-class superhumans. Naturally, the items they carried were no ordinary things. Among them were...”
“...things the state would have to manage?”
“Exactly.”
Jeon Yuseon nodded.
Items that the nation managed directly and lent to certain ranks of superhumans.
S-class superhumans often used items suited to that level, and the ones who had entered the Colosseum likely had, too.
The problem was the premise that allowed this system to function in the first place. Namely:
“You could bring items into a gate, but they wouldn’t be lost.”
In theory, the consciousness was moved along with the item, and when the gate ended, the item was supposed to return as well.
That was why even state-managed items could be lent out so easily.
But...
“This incident has caused a problem.”
The borrowed items had been taken from their owners.
“...It’s the same in other countries, but Korea has also run into trouble. That’s why diplomatic schedules are being arranged in a hurry.”
“I see...”
I nodded as if I understood. At the same time—
“But is it really all right to tell me this?”
It sounded like pretty important information. Was it okay to just tell me all this?
“You’ll be one of the knights, after all.”
“...Ah.”
The superhumans under the government and the Association. Becoming a knight meant being one of them, so maybe I was entitled to hear things like this.
Just then, as if it had been waiting for the moment, the car stopped.
“Please get out.”
“Yes...”
When I opened the door and stepped out, light poured in again, just like last time.
Click, click—!!
“Lee Jinwoo, superhuman!”
“Please look this way!”
Cutting through the still-unfamiliar sound of shutters, I followed Jeon Yuseon’s guidance.
* * *
I entered the Association headquarters. The reporters were still there, of course.
So I crossed the lobby and walked for several minutes.
At the center of the building, I spotted a machine that somehow looked familiar.
“It’s the rank measurer.”
“Ah.”
It looked similar to the one I’d seen at the Incheon branch last time. Only this one was much larger.
So that’s it.
The machine that was about to measure my rank.
I was nervous.
...Right now, my state is...
■ Rank measurement is required. The System is determining the level of the Heavenly Demon. (92%... 93%...)
The percentage was still climbing. Around my neck, something dangled and swayed.
It was the sword that had originally appeared as the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword. I’d wondered how I was supposed to carry something that heavy around, but then, just as I was about to leave, the sword suddenly turned into a necklace.
Thanks to that, I could come out here comfortably.
“Strictly speaking, rank measurement is supposed to be handled in secret... but given the situation, we’re conducting it publicly.”
Was this some way of showing I was worth the parachute appointment?
Will this be all right?
As I worried a little—
“You ready...?”
A thin voice reached me. Turning my head, I saw Irene. She was walking in with Baek Hyeonho.
Irene looked at me with those usual, detached eyes of hers.
“...Go ahead.”
She didn’t seem especially interested. If anything, she seemed more distracted by something else.
Leaving aside her gaze, everything else in the room was fixed on me.
I was tense.
[■...97% ...98%]
The percentage kept climbing. Watching it, I reached out.
My hand moved toward the machine.
Click, click—! The shutter sounds kept flashing.
Finally, my hand touched the sphere attached to the machine.
Wooooooom——!!!!
The machine began to vibrate. At the same time—
■ The Heavenly Demon Divine Sword’s rank measurement is complete.
■ The System is adjusting the power of the divine sword.
■ The Heavenly Demon (A) is being overlaid upon you.
Fwaaaaaa—!!!!
The machine began to blaze with brilliant crimson light.