Chapter 73
Chapter 73
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Episode 27. Apocalypse, The Ball Where Death Dances (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Wei Lian called for his chief assistant, Kwak Pan-wi.
"Yes, Professor. Did you call for me?"
Kwak Pan-wi clasped his trembling hands together.
With "Melishia's Masquerade" right around the corner, Wei Lian had become extremely sensitive.
There was so much to do. Kwak Pan-wi had to carry out Wei Lian's orders several times a day.
But today's atmosphere felt a bit different.
"I have a few people in the International Superhuman Alliance. You know that, right?"
"Yes, of course, Professor..."
"One in personnel. One in logistics. Three in combat. Two in command... My ears are everywhere, so I hear a lot."
"...Yes."
"But the reports I get are boring. Stories from the oil-slicked bellies are always so trivial."
Kwak Pan-wi rolled his eyes.
The preamble was longer than usual. What on earth was he getting at?
"But... today, there was something interesting."
"...?"
"A confidential official document was sent to the Japanese royal family."
Kwak Pan-wi's eyes widened.
The Japanese royal family?
If it was that, it was probably an official notice related to the Melishia Masquerade venue with high certainty.
"Well, even we Mines aren't perfect beings. Ever since Prototype X failed, completely binding spirits has become impossible. So I understand if the Alliance's rats are sniffing around."
"..."
"The Alliance sending an official document to Japan? It could happen. They must know something. But if it's not just any guild but specifically the 'royal family'? That's not something that can happen. The Alliance and the royal family aren't on greeting-card terms, are they? So the Alliance probably knows everything down to the ink stains on our operation plans. Oh dear. What are we to do?"
"..."
Wei Lian's face twisted like a demon's. Kwak Pan-wi felt like his breath was stopping.
"I don't know the contents of that 'official document.'"
"..."
An information gap had opened.
The Alliance had begun preparing against Invisibility's movements.
Invisibility hadn't grasped the Alliance's intentions.
"Go find that rat. If you can't find it, bring back its tail at least. If you can't even find the tail, find its footprints."
Things hadn't gone smoothly since the appearance of the nonsensical Entity X. The chief assistant had been scolded multiple times.
He knew he had been branded useless to Wei Lian. But this time, a different kind of anxiety washed over him.
"If you can't even find footprints... why are you here?"
Kwak Pan-wi moved. He pored over the Invisibility lab access logs, nearby CCTV footage, and security artifact records day and night. He frantically searched anything that could leak information.
Yet he found no traces of outsiders anywhere.
Then, something occurred to Kwak Pan-wi.
"This crazy... no way..."
With a rigid expression, he called for his assistant, Hashimoto.
She knew one of the biggest secrets of Melishia's Masquerade. He had told her himself.
The petite Japanese woman in her twenties entered the office. Kwak Pan-wi shoved her against the wall.
"Ack! W-Why are you doing this?"
"I didn't expect this from you, you bitch."
"W-What...?"
"We've spent years together, and you betray me? What bewitched you? Did the Alliance offer money? Promise a better life? Say they'd make sure no one knows you're a Mine? How dare you! How dare you betray me!"
Kwak Pan-wi raged like fire. It was less certainty of Hashimoto's betrayal and more anger born from anxiety.
So when the fear washed away from Hashimoto's face in an instant, Kwak Pan-wi felt his rage cool instead.
A chill ran down his spine.
The clone waited for Yoo Ji-tae's instructions amid this sudden situation. The response was 'Handle it yourself.'
Kill her. As the clone raised her hand to snap Kwak Pan-wi's neck—
Kwak Pan-wi's expression turned bizarre.
"It was real..."
"..."
"Hashimoto. When did you... No. No, I can't even believe you're Hashimoto anymore. Damn it..."
Muttering, Kwak Pan-wi released his grip on the clone's body.
Then he asked in a sly voice.
"...So, what did the Alliance offer in exchange for the info? Money? Or a new life?"
His eyes had changed.
Look at that.
A faint smile crept onto the clone's lips.
This clumsy Mine was trying to abandon Mine society.
"I'm not Hashimoto. That young Mine girl is no longer in this world."
"..."
Kwak Pan-wi's expression shifted rapidly: surprise, anger, resignation.
Then he pushed the clone into the storage room. The clone let herself be pushed.
"What is it?"
"L-Let's talk business."
"Business? It's laughable for a Mine like you to talk about a 'new life.' What use is a wretch like you?"
"I-I'm still the chief assistant."
Kwak Pan-wi's face twisted.
"We met as seniors and juniors from the same Beijing Academy. I've wagged my tail under Wei Lian for ten years. You wouldn't know since you're not Hashimoto. I barked when told to bark, buried when told to bury. I know most of what happens behind the scenes."
His desperate expression carried an indelible servility.
"I'm sick of crawling like a dog in a place where I could die any moment. If I can survive, I'll even rot in an Alliance underground prison. Please relay my words well. I'm begging you..."
The situation was turning ridiculous.
The clone closed her eyes. The lord left it to her judgment.
If this were the 6th round. If Melishia's Masquerade was child's play and he wanted to see Wei Lian publicly humiliated in the media, which he trusted so much.
This clumsy Mine's life might have been spared a bit longer.
What Yoo Ji-tae had originally planned was for Wei Lian to lose everything to the media he trusted so blindly.
But the 7th round was different.
"You don't seem to know how the board is turning."
"...!"
"You don't understand why Wei Lian uses you as a guard dog. Narrow field of vision. No instincts. Cowardly."
At the clone's words, Kwak Pan-wi's eyes rolled back. "You crazy bitch!" Suddenly switching stances, Kwak Pan-wi lunged to strangle the clone.
It was futile. The clone grabbed his neck and slammed him into the storage room wall.
Thud—!
"Guh, guk...!" An unbelievable grip strength from her slender wrist choked off Kwak Pan-wi's breath.
In the 7th round, the masquerade venue had become far too big a stage. There was no room for a mere guard dog to bark.
"At least a dog is loyal."
With a squeeze, his thick neck snapped.
Undercurrents.
While a very small change in the virtual world was growing its body.
A slightly larger change was beginning under the sky.
"Royal Guard Special Forces... Well, well. What brings such esteemed guests here?"
The Japanese Hunter Central Committee had requested special protection for the "Melishia Masquerade攻略 Team."
Half the forces guarding the royal family were to protect the cadets. It was something to welcome with open arms, but Lair's principal Ha Seok-mu, who sensed something off half a beat late, tried to refuse their proposal.
If not for the call on the Alliance's VVIP hotline, Ha Seok-mu would have not only rejected them but canceled the "Melishia Masquerade" event itself.
However, "Lair" was under the International Hunter Alliance's command structure. Due to structural issues, Ha Seok-mu could only stand by helplessly.
Thus, the Japanese royal family's superhumans were assigned to protect Lair's cadets.
Meanwhile, Yoo Ji-tae went out with Yoo Bom.
Bom didn't ask for the destination or reason at Yoo Ji-tae's sudden summons. She naturally adjusted her hair color and face, as if she knew what was coming.
Thanks to that, no tedious explanations were needed.
"A letter of recommendation?"
"Can you write one?"
Yoo Ji-tae asked BM for a recommendation letter.
"You're indebted to me now. Repay it including those guys' rent."
"Got it."
BM readily wrote the recommendation.
The two headed to the Japanese Royal Guard Special Forces office and found a woman in her late thirties in the underground command center.
"..."
World Superhuman Ranking 13th.
The royal family's sword, Minamoto Ai.
She eyed them with a tense expression.
"I'm Minamoto. Who are you?"
"Mine hunter."
"Hello. I'm the assistant."
Yoo Ji-tae and Bom answered. Minamoto's brow furrowed.
"What the fuck, did you come to mess with me? Names. Affiliation. Relation to BM. Reason for coming here!"
Women in the military who hated being treated as women often developed rougher speech after long battlefield time.
This woman was exactly that type.
Yoo Ji-tae looked at Ai with distant eyes.
She had been his comrade in the 3rd and 4th rounds. Especially in the 4th round when he was in the Total Natural Assembly, she was a woman who respected and followed him.
Back then, Yoo Ji-tae had spent considerable time on the warfront with Minamoto and other "Total Natural Assembly" members, showing great valor.
Of course, those days were gone.
"Affiliation is the Alliance. You would've seen BM's recommendation, but I came because I have something confidential to discuss with you."
"..."
Minamoto frowned at the lack of info but didn't press due to the "Alliance affiliation." The Alliance was a massive organization with shadows as big as its public face.
"Fine. Then tell me why you're here."
"I have something to say about Melishia's Masquerade."
"Figures for the Alliance. What is it?"
"'Izell Halifa' and 'Noah' are coming there."
Ripples spread across Minamoto's stiff expression.
Collapse-level Mine. Magic engineer Izell Halifa.
Catastrophe-level Mine. Noah of No Return.
Names no East Asian war veteran could forget.
"...What?"
"Source is my eyes. Doubt it, and I'll leave."
"Wait."
A soldier's response in this situation was singular.
Don't trust, but hear the info.
"Continue."
"One-fifth of Invisibility's Mine forces will infiltrate Melishia's Masquerade. The goal is to sacrifice 700 selected elite cadets to create around 100 new Mines. In that process, Wei Lian, who will become master of 100, passes the abyss trial and ascends to vice seat."
The absurd story began.
"...Go on."
"The venue is a dungeon, completely isolated from the outside. Perfect for the Mines' ritual. We can annihilate them there. If things proceed as is."
"The event would cancel if the scale grew, so you came to me personally?"
"Yes."
The masquerade was like a dragnet.
A place where scattered Mines gathered in one spot.
"..."
Caught in the momentum, Minamoto Ai had no choice but to go there, like it or not.
"Bring a ranker you can trust and rely on, who can act independently. If you go alone, you'll definitely die."
Words that scratched a ranker's pride.
"...We'll see when we clash. It's different from the Great War era."
Yoo Ji-tae shook his head.
No difference.
Regrettably, among the world's rankers, only about three could face a catastrophe-level Mine 1:1. But none could guarantee victory.
Even so strong, Mines stayed quiet due to numerical inferiority. The world's superhuman regular army exceeded 2 million, while Mines barely topped 1,000.
"No need to worry. I'll kill the catastrophe-level."
"What? Ha ha..."
Minamoto scoffed incredulously.
Soon, faint mana rose from her body. A very subtle, delicate control. It tried to scan Yoo Ji-tae's body but was repelled by the regressor's flesh.
The mana bounced off directly, the backlash striking her heart. "...!" Minamoto let out a groan.
The playfulness vanished from her face.
"...Are you the one who tipped off the Alliance?"
"Yes."
"Unbelievable... What's your goal?"
"Goal?"
"Fine, suppose you're as capable as you claim. Why tell me? Can't you handle it alone?"
He couldn't.
<Planet "Earth" enters abnormal status "Apocalypse.">
The message that appeared every time the world's time rewound.
Strictly speaking, the rewind wasn't due to dragon deaths.
When baby dragons died, adults rampaged. That led to humanity's end.
Humanity's extinction caused the rewind.
What Yoo Ji-tae sought in the 7th round wasn't killing Mines.
Dragons' happiness took priority.
The more Mines he killed, the more he knew he'd succumb to slaughter's pleasure.
The longer he held the knife, the farther everyday life slipped away. That couldn't happen. Everyday life was finally within grasp—something he absolutely couldn't lose.
He'd handle dragon matters. Preventing apocalypse required sharing the burden with humanity. And to share it, rankers mustn't die. They could bear the most.
That was why the regressor planned all this before Melishia's Masquerade.
"Because you can't die."
Not knowing his true intent, Minamoto narrowed her eyes, then smirked.
"Flustered on first meeting... You into curvy older women?"
"...I don't think so?"
The response came from Bom.
"..."
"..."
They fell silent briefly.
Bom remained her usual enigmatic blank expression, nonchalant.
"Anyway, I get the situation. Meet here same time tomorrow. I'll bring people."
The conversation ended there.
The next day, she returned with two people.
Rankers free from international entanglements, whom she could request to accompany privately.
"Never thought it'd come to this..."
The sunglassed man grumbled, downing vodka.
It was BM.
Behind him came an old woman's voice.
"Eh? What help can a granny who can barely walk be..."
"Argh, seriously, granny. Just come out first."
"You brat. Not getting scammed, are ya?"
"Who do you think I am to get scammed!"
An affable-looking old woman who appeared in her 80s entered.
Ostronesian. White hair. Hunched back. Limping on a cane.
"Who am I? A naive girl. You only know how to punch, but thin ears mean you gotta filter men's words—I told you that a million times."
"Argh, I said no."
Yoo Ji-tae knew this old woman.
A Total Natural Assembly member. During the East Asian Great War, the world's 6th-ranked superhuman. Known as the best at the rare psychokinesis blessing.
"Nice to meet you. Ri Hwa."
Light flickered in the old woman's eyes.
Her face had changed from severe war injuries. Post-war, she was reported missing, so few recognized her now.
"Oh, you like bad boy types?"
"Not really?"
"Well... you're no empty-handed conman. Nice to meet you. Let's hear the story."
Bom gave a light bow in greeting.
The old woman chuckled softly and sat beside BM.
"How's this? Good enough?"
Minamoto asked.
"Yes."
BM, Ri Hwa, and Minamoto were sufficient.
"Let's begin the next talk."