The Saintess of Another World, Part 1
When Anton complained about how he had been dragged into the dad jokes in the first place, everyone burst into even louder laughter. Amidst the roaring laughter, Taerin wore a deeply serious expression.
"...My dad said it was really funny, though."
Recalling her father laughing as he muttered the word "Japan," she wore a somewhat bitter expression.
"Anyway, you have to be careful with your stockings when you get on an elevator," Yunjae said, his tone suddenly turning grave.
"Hmm? Why all of a sudden?"
"Because they run."
The unexpected punchline made everyone flinch.
"Pfft..."
Aside from Anton, everyone present was female, so the joke struck a bizarrely relatable chord. Combined with the lingering laughter from before...
"Ah, no."
Laughing meant defeat. It was a matter of pride! Even Lupinus squeezed her eyes shut, determined to protect her dignity as a goddess.
"Pfft."
Suyeon, who surprisingly had a soft spot for dad jokes, was the first to break.
"Eee! Why are you laughing, Suyeon?!"
"How could you laugh at that!"
"Exactly!"
"I feel a strange sense of defeat."
Even Rosamy, the former Saintess, couldn't hold it in. With Suyeon setting off the chain reaction, everyone else burst into laughter, admitting defeat one by one.
"Ugggh..."
Lupinus was the sole holdout, resisting with everything she had!
"Ah! You don't have to hold it in, Lady Lupinus!"
"I refuse to laugh at such garbage! The pride of a goddess won't allow it!"
"Ah, then what do you get when a married couple climbs a mountain?"
"Urgh!"
"Ppyut."
At that exact moment...
"Khh!"
Lupinus finally crumbled.
"What on earth is 'ppyut'?! Ppyut! This is so humiliating!"
She had completely broken down at the ridiculously cute sound.
"I did it! I succeeded!"
Yunjae, who was strangely ambitious about his jokes, looked incredibly proud, while the others covered their faces in shame as they laughed.
"Ppyut, of all things..."
Meanwhile, Anton, who had also been infected by the humor, bowed his head and chuckled quietly to himself. At first, he had thought the jokes were terribly unfunny, but before he knew it, they were soaking into him like a gentle spring rain.
I should tell this to Ileyna when I get home.
It wasn't that the joke itself was funny, but watching everyone's reactions was hilarious. Wasn't that the real charm of dad jokes?
Leaving the secretly amused father behind...
Wroooooooong!
"Huh?"
A loud alarm suddenly echoed throughout the entire Blast Guild headquarters.
"What is that?"
Everyone's laughter died instantly, replaced by flustered expressions.
"Akemi!"
"On it!"
Akemi vanished on the spot to investigate.
Flash!
She reappeared almost instantly, her eyes wide with shock as she shouted.
"A portal! Monsters are pouring out of a portal!"
"What?"
Yunjae, Lupinus, and Rosamy widened their eyes.
"Could Mamon have made a move already?!"
But isn't it far too soon?
"We need to go check."
"I'll take you, Oppa!"
"Yes, please, Akemi!"
In an instant, Akemi grabbed Yunjae and teleported away.
Despite his constant claims of hating hunting, he seemed to have accepted this as his duty before he even realized it.
"But this is far too fast!"
While Lupinus and Rosamy looked on in bewilderment...
Flash!
Yunjae and Akemi arrived at the Jonggak Portal in the blink of an eye.
Roaaaaar!
Akemi gasped in shock at the sight of the rampaging monsters.
"What on earth are those?"
They were monsters she had never seen before. They had gray skin, sharp horns protruding from every joint, and tentacle-like hair whipping in all directions!
Keke.
One of them sent a parked car flying and cackled, suggesting it possessed some level of intelligence.
"...I've never seen those before either."
For the first time, Yunjae looked genuinely bewildered.
"What?"
"They weren't in Mamon Saga!"
A monster unknown to Yunjae, the walking strategy guide!
"Then what the hell are they?"
As Akemi stared in disbelief, a scream pierced the air.
"Kyaaaah!"
"We'll think about it after we get rid of them!"
Knowing there was no time to lose, Yunjae dashed forward like a bullet.
Crack!
With a swift kick, he shattered the head of the unfamiliar monster.
"Are you alr—"
He froze the moment he looked down at the black-haired woman who had screamed.
"Ears...?"
Long, pointed ears poked through her jet-black hair. Her attire wasn't from this world either; it looked remarkably similar to the outfits worn in Mamon Saga.
Thud.
Perhaps from shock, the woman collapsed. Yunjae caught her and looked around.
"What is going on..."
An unknown monster and a non-human woman had appeared. A race with ears like that could only be Elves. How could another fantasy race, one that wasn't a monster, appear here?
Squelch!
Right then, the head of the monster Yunjae had just destroyed began to regenerate.
"Regeneration?"
Before Yunjae could process his surprise, another scream echoed from a distance.
"Save me!"
There was no time to ponder. Saving people came first.
"Taunt."
He activated his skill.
Roaaaaar!
The new monsters immediately turned and rushed toward Yunjae.
"It doesn't matter what kind of new monsters show up, the result will be the same!"
Cradling the black-haired elf in one arm, Yunjae called out.
"Ifrit."
He summoned the Fire Spirit King.
"Burn them all!"
The moment his command rang out, a massive wave of fire erupted.
Fwooooosh!
The colossal flames engulfed the new monsters.
Following the movements of the giant Ifrit, the flames spread rapidly.
Roaaaaar!
The new monsters shrieked in agony as they were consumed by the fire.
"Incredible!"
Akemi, who was evacuating the citizens, and the fleeing crowd watched in awe.
And...
"..."
From a great distance, a girl looked down at him with a smirk.
Astonishingly, she looked exactly like Rosamy. The only differences were her silver hair and emerald-purple eyes.
"Welcome to the grand design."
"I don't even know how to process this..."
Following the global offensive, ten percent of the world's portals had vanished. This had sparked hope that monsters might eventually disappear entirely, but it also raised widespread concerns about how rapidly the world would change.
Yet, less than a week later, monsters were pouring out of the portals once again.
"Another race..."
The problem was that this invasion was fundamentally different from anything they had faced before.
"Is the demi-human rescued by Lim Yunjae the only one we've found?"
"No. Aside from the elf Oppa saved, we also recovered the bodies of other elves. Judging by their gear, they were definitely trying to protect her."
Akemi, who had deployed to the portal with Yunjae, reported the situation.
"Monsters that even Lim Yunjae doesn't recognize, and now another fantasy race..."
Taejun's expression turned deeply complex as he synthesized the information.
Ever since the portals first appeared, the pattern of monsters emerging to harm humans had remained consistent.
Hmm...
But this time was different. Not only had monsters appeared, but so had demi-humans from another world who looked remarkably like ordinary humans.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
First, Secretary Trumpkin's death, then the sudden reappearance of the portals, and now the emergence of another race...
"What about the other regions?"
"It seems only monsters appeared elsewhere. This is the only place where another race was spotted."
Since the rescued elf had not yet regained consciousness, they hadn't been able to gather any information. However, the fact that this phenomenon had occurred exclusively here weighed heavily on Taejun's mind.
Trumpkin's death, the return of the monsters, and the arrival of another race.
"Things are about to get very complicated."
Though not directly responsible, there was no denying that Yunjae was at the center of all of this. After all, he was the only one capable of saving this world.
"What is Goddess Lupinus's stance?"
"She's certain Mamon is plotting something. But even that dummy goddess doesn't know what it is."
It seemed even Lupinus couldn't fathom Mamon's schemes under the current circumstances.
"We don't have enough certainties yet. In any case, make sure the news of another race's appearance is strictly classified. It must not leak to the public."
"I know!"
Given the gravity of the situation, it was best to keep information sharing to an absolute minimum. Taejun nodded at Akemi's reassuring reply.
"How is Lim Yunjae doing?"
"He left the elf in the care of the dummy goddess and Rosamy, and he's back to doing his office work. He's keeping an eye on the news from other countries, but he hasn't left the office."
"Does he believe the current defenses are sufficient without his intervention?"
Yunjae had already stated he would minimize his involvement. He must have judged that the other awakened hunters were more than capable of handling threats of this level on their own.
"Yeah. And he said the elf is more important right now."
That made sense. Since even Lupinus didn't understand the situation, Yunjae, who acted as her sword, wouldn't have all the answers either.
"Keep close to him and report any developments."
"Got it!"
Once Akemi vanished via teleportation, Taejun leaned back in his chair.
"The situation is truly unfavorable. This will only give more weight to Trumpkin's claims."
He still hadn't heard back from the 'Hyena,' whom he had hired to investigate Trumpkin's death. But the sequence of events—Trumpkin dying in an accident right after accusing Yunjae of being the mastermind, followed by the reopening of the portals and this new variable—was practically begging for public suspicion.
Even if Trumpkin's death had officially been ruled an accident, those who feared Yunjae would never believe it.
Anyone thinking rationally would realize that a near-omnipotent being like Yunjae had absolutely no reason to resort to such petty methods, but the public was rarely rational.
A conflict with the existing world...
The thought crossed Taejun's mind that all of this might be orchestrated to drive a wedge between Yunjae and the human world.
If the Hero fails, the world will ultimately face ruin.
If a horde of Great Demons appeared, entire cities would be reduced to ashes. The reality was that no one but Yunjae could even stand against them.
Even if Lupinus regained her full power, the one who ultimately had to fight Mamon was Yunjae, the Hero she had raised.
A way to win without fighting?
What if they could make Yunjae abandon humanity? What if they could isolate him completely?
Of course, it was still impossible to tell what connection lay between the appearance of this other race and these events. But Yunjae was a man who instinctively sought to protect anyone who was weak and innocent.
If the enemy knew of this trait, they might be planning to orchestrate situations that would force a conflict between him and humanity.
If that's why they staged Trumpkin's death as an accident to sow seeds of doubt...
An outright murder would have directed suspicion toward Trumpkin's many political enemies. But an accidental death at such a perfect timing?
Even if people had to accept the official ruling, they wouldn't be able to shake their unease regarding Yunjae, a transcendent being fully capable of staging a flawless accident.
A little rational thought would show there was no motive, but the world was not rational. People were easily incited, and they eagerly ostracized anything different from themselves.
And if similar incidents continued to occur?
Doubt would harden into certainty, and fear and hostility would grow.
Are they planning to use us as a poison against him?
Though it was still just a hypothesis, Taejun smirked as he caught a glimpse of the enemy's potential design.
"How intriguing."
"Mari, how is Tokyo doing?"
"They struggled due to a shortage of personnel, but they're wrapping things up now. They asked me to convey a request for backup."
"As expected, now that the portals are active again, the workload has piled up."
Just a moment ago, they had been worried about losing their jobs, but it turned out to be a needless anxiety. The portals hadn't disappeared, and new monsters had begun to emerge.
As a result, requests for assistance from various countries were flooding into the Blast Guild once again.
"But is this really okay? Yunjae, shouldn't you go check it out?"
Yunjae, however, didn't seem to have any intention of going.
"They might be new monsters, but they weren't particularly strong. They have regenerative abilities, but nothing unmanageable. Any place with a proper defense system should be able to hold them off."
He had already declared that he would leave things to others if they could handle it.
"Besides, if I step in for every little thing, it will only cause other problems!"
His reasoning wasn't simple laziness.
His intervention would inevitably disrupt the established order of the world. There were already people like Trumpkin who suspected him of being the mastermind despite receiving his help, and some hunters had even complained that they would lose their livelihoods if the portals disappeared.
If Yunjae kept stepping in to solve every crisis, acting as the world's ultimate fixer, his influence would grow exponentially, whether he wanted it to or not.