Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: 32. The Art of Deception (5)
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War with North Korea had arrived...!
This was an event as shocking as the reset that had upended everyone's lives just a few days ago in this very spot.
Most of the people here had clawed their way up like dogs to reach this position.
Yet overnight, they were once again thrust into a situation where their lives hung by a thread.
If there was any silver lining, it was that the peninsula's top demon was on their side.
‘Damn... why did we let a guy like this in?’
‘I knew he'd cause trouble eventually, but not today.’
‘Still, maybe he can handle three of them on his own? Could turn out better than expected.’
As all sorts of optimistic and pessimistic thoughts raced through the First Swords' minds dozens of times, someone unwittingly muttered aloud.
“Why not just have him stay here and block the North Koreans while we keep handling the mutants in our districts like always...?”
And the one who let that slip was none other than...
“...Gah!”
Yongsan First Sword Kim Do-ha.
The weak First Sword who had surrendered Yongsan Park as the meeting spot the moment he took a hit from former Gangnam First Sword Jung Hyun-sik.
“Jeez.”
“You call that an opinion?”
“Tch.”
The other First Swords jumped on him with criticism, but their eyes subtly glanced toward Jeong Yeong-woo.
Truth be told, they were all thinking something similar.
It wasn't an unreasonable idea, after all.
‘Yeah, North Korea's not gonna send ten First Swords at once, right? Sure, if ten really show up, that's bad news.’
Mutants were getting stronger overall, but that didn't mean every district's mutants were leveling up simultaneously.
Just yesterday, out of 25 districts, only three or four had issues.
On the other hand, North Korea's First Swords could show up anywhere, anytime.
‘At least on my level, or maybe stronger. Fifty-fifty odds. But that's only if one comes down alone...’
Two of their northern First Swords were already dead. Naturally, next time they'd send more numbers.
“Ugh.”
Mapo First Sword Yang Woo-taek, belatedly realizing his district was near the front lines, shivered.
And Eunpyeong District's Kim Hyeong-gyu, even closer to the north...
“W-Wait a minute. If war's suddenly declared like this, what about us?”
The ‘heavy’ persona he'd been maintaining was gone.
With North Korean blades incoming by the dozens today, who cared about face?
“You guys have to do something! Right? First Swords!”
As Kim Hyeong-gyu scanned the room and let out a shrill scream, Yeong-woo, who had been perched atop Negrig, hopped down to the ground.
Clank!
The First Swords in the area widened their eyes in unison.
“Huh...?”
“What the...”
“He got taller...?”
They'd thought Negrig's bulk was what made Yeong-woo intimidating, but his own frame had grown much larger too.
“Urk...”
Kim Hyeong-gyu, standing right in front of him, just gaped up at the man, mouth opening and closing.
Eunpyeong First Sword Kim Hyeong-gyu's height: 176 cm.
Not short by any means, but Yeong-woo now stood at a full two meters.
A literal giant.
Swish.
Yeong-woo then planted Dragon's Legacy into the ground and gently gripped Kim Hyeong-gyu's upper arms with his bare hands.
“It's true that this situation puts extra risk on Eunpyeong District in particular. I'm sorry about that. But if you hadn't come to this meeting today, you might've gotten hit out of the blue. Glad you made it.”
“...?”
Kim Hyeong-gyu looked puzzled at Yeong-woo's oddly shifted point.
In the meantime, Yeong-woo turned to the rest of the First Swords.
“Me handling Paju all day sounds like a great idea. I genuinely want to do that.”
He meant it.
He still had five more First Sword heads to claim, and he couldn't exactly pick targets from this room.
“But.”
Yeong-woo continued.
“I can't exactly leave Seoul empty all day. I've already got two districts under me.”
Gangnam and Gwangjin-gu.
Gwangjin-gu was sort of a shared zone with Songpa and Seocho keeping watch too, but it was essentially under the strongest guy in the room—Yeong-woo.
He had the highest chance of clearing his assigned mutants fast and rushing to Gwangjin first.
“Yeah. If you step away, we're in trouble too.”
Songpa First Sword Oh Yeon-hee backed him up.
She didn't want Gwangjin mutants slaughtering Songpa residents either.
And if Yeong-woo stayed in Paju, who would handle Gangnam's mutants?
“One Gwangjin is already a handful... Empty Gangnam too? No way.”
Seocho First Sword Choi Nam-hee nodded next.
Finally, Yeong-woo drove the point home.
“So my proposed backup plan is this: the moment Seoul's mutant hunt ends, I head straight to Paju.”
“I-Is that even possible...?”
Yongsan First Sword Kim Do-ha asked, then realized it was a dumb question and shut his mouth.
Hadn't they just seen it?
Jeong Yeong-woo single-handedly cowing everyone here.
A man who could wrangle eight First Swords wouldn't have trouble with two districts' mutants.
“Yeah. I can handle the mutants somehow. The real issue is if North Korea sends way more First Swords than expected.”
Which was why Yeong-woo added that he needed voluntary participation from the rest.
“You don't all have to come. Just a few confident in PvP would be a huge help.”
“Th-Then... shall we do a quick show of hands?”
Yongsan First Sword asked, hands dangling at his sides.
Seocho First Sword Choi Nam-hee raised hers first.
Swish.
“I'm curious how our Gangnam First Sword fights anyway. Gotta see it at least once.”
A tough yet humble reason to join.
Songpa First Sword Oh Yeon-hee followed.
Swish.
“If Yeong-woo dies, it headaches us too.”
Songpa and Gangnam were adjacent, a convenient excuse.
Then, no one else raised a hand.
“...Anyone besides those two?”
Yongsan First Sword scanned around like it was his last call, and only then did Seongbuk First Sword Lee Yoo-bin tentatively lift hers.
“Not sure if I can clear mutants that fast, but... I'll do my best.”
Her eyes were fixed on Oh Yeon-hee, who had volunteered earlier.
She was basically raising her hand out of worry for Oh Yeon-hee.
Yongsan First Sword wrapped it up like that was enough.
“Ah... three people. Solid.”
“So what about future meetings? We can wing it here today, but starting tomorrow...”
Dongjak First Sword Lee Han-uk voiced his concern.
Yeong-woo pointed to another First Sword rushing over from afar.
“She'll handle that for the time being.”
His finger aimed at none other than Gwanak First Sword Jo Sang-ik.
* * *
11:32 AM.
Temporary Paju meeting adjourned.
Yeong-woo headed straight for Gangnam the moment it ended.
Mutants would spawn in an hour and a half, and he figured North Korean First Swords wouldn't descend just yet.
Thud-thud! Thud-thud!
Negrig galloped along beside Gwanak First Sword, who kept pace at a decent clip, iron hooves clanging.
“It's been barely a day since you arrived in Seoul, but your influence is already bigger than your predecessor's.”
Jo Sang-ik said to Yeong-woo with a subtle smile.
Referring to the chain of events he'd pieced together arriving late.
“I'm causing you a lot of trouble.”
Yeong-woo had no real defense, so he went with a neutral line.
Jo Sang-ik grinned and changed the subject.
“Last night, Taewon sent someone over. Said they'd gather your colleagues and bring them to Gangnam.”
“Yeah. I requested it.”
“Figured. They're probably almost here by now. We attached some of our guys just in case.”
“Good. I was worried it'd overlap with the mutant spawn.”
Yeong-woo flinched, then cautiously asked Jo Sang-ik.
“Uh... how many colleagues?”
“...Pardon? Oh, five, I think.”
“I see.”
Yeong-woo finally smiled easily.
Five meant Jong-su, Tae-young, and Kim Tae-jun's wife with their two kids.
Jong-su and Tae-young had somehow tracked them down.
‘Now I can finally show some face to the boss.’
Yeong-woo fiddled with the whistle around his neck, then urged Negrig faster.
* * *
11:57 AM.
Yeong-woo rocketed into Gangnam and high-jumped Negrig to dodge the gathering crowds.
Whoosh!
Each time, residents exclaimed in awe and chased after Negrig's retreating tail.
To them, Gangnam First Sword was like a guardian spirit.
Sure, scary rumors swirled.
He'd decapitated the previous First Sword and played with the head, devoured the body whole—unbelievable tales.
But with zero public exposure, the new First Sword remained shrouded in mystery.
All anyone knew for sure was he rode some iron horse from outer space, like they'd just seen.
That surreal vibe paradoxically kept residents from fearing him.
“Whoa, it's like a plane.”
“Wonder where he's been since morning.”
“Heard today's meeting was outside Seoul.”
Whatever his ties to the community, everyone knew First Swords hunted mutants to hold their turf.
So today's Gangnam mutant would fall to the enigmatic First Sword too.
Residents couldn't help feeling one-sided affinity for Yeong-woo.
Meanwhile, Yeong-woo...
Boom!
Was focused on slicing through the air astride Negrig.
‘Head to the hotel I stayed at yesterday? Tae-won would’ve handled it that way. Only place I know in Gangnam.’
The Parnass Hotel—where he'd crashed—was now a kilometer away.
A few more leaps and he'd be there.
Boom!
Negrig launched again, and Yeong-woo spotted people at the hotel entrance hesitating at the sight of him.
Among them...
“J-Jeong Yeong-woo-ssi!”
His handler, Im Seon-ah.
He'd said he'd return at dawn, so she'd waited at the entrance.
And here too...
“...!”
Yeong-woo's trusted aides: Jong-su, ex-cop Tae-young, and who they'd urgently fetched.
“Eek!”
“M-Mommy!”
“Is that... Daddy...?”
Kim Tae-jun's family, out to greet them.
They'd probably been told to wait here to meet Director Kim.
Ex-VC Soft founder, current granite golem Director Kim Tae-jun.
‘Oh boy.’
Yeong-woo grimaced, noting the kids were younger than expected.
Then...
BOOM!
He landed, shattering the road in front of the hotel.
“...Nice to meet you. You're Director Kim Tae-jun's family, right?”
As Yeong-woo dismounted Negrig with an awkward smile, Kim Tae-jun's wife—trembling instinctively—asked half in fear, half in hope.
“W-Where's my husband...? Isn't he with you?”
All she saw was a two-meter giant, an otherworldly iron horse, and a greedily grinning golden goblin.
No trace of her husband anywhere.
“First Sword...?”
As she gazed at him desperately, Yeong-woo reluctantly fiddled with his whistle and confessed.
“Your husband... is here.”
“Huh? Where...?”
“...”
Seeing is believing.
Before starting, Yeong-woo first asked Im Seon-ah.
“Seon-ah-ssi.”
“Yes.”
“Mobilize all staff to control civilian access to Gwangjin-gu. I'd appreciate it.”
“Gwangjin-gu...? Mind if I ask why?”
“Need a spot with no people around. I hear it's already cleared out.”
“Oh? Yeah, but fully sealing off the whole district is tough practically. How big an exclusion zone?”
Yeong-woo replied.
“Usually, when a mutant spawns, how many meters do you clear around it?”