Chapter 253
Chapter 253
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 253
Chapter Title: 56. Great Ethnic Migration (8)
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Boom!
Somewhere in the sky, there was a sound like space itself splitting apart.
And then.
―Raaargh!
―Arrrgh!
―Grrr!
Youngwoo’s alter egos and squadmates—Youngtae, Taejun, and Youngheum—came plummeting down one after another.
Straight from the dizzying heights within the sky.
And the one most shocked by the sight was none other than.
「W-What is that……?」
Heo Geumhwa, the sixth-day variant from Gwangjin-gu.
According to Supreme Sword Jeong Youngwoo, she would soon have to do that very “thing” herself.
Kaboom!
Soon, Youngwoo’s three friends crashed to the ground, kicking up clouds of dirt. Moments later, General Kim Youngheum emerged from the hazy dust cloud, his eyes gleaming fiercely as he spoke.
―There’s a lot of them today. We just need to chase down those guys, right?
“Yes. Just take care of the people fleeing right now. It won’t be too hard.”
The “friends” who entered the Returnee’s Room had their stats boosted to match the first reset cycle, so unless they were a Supreme Sword themselves, no one could handle them.
Thus, the fleeing mutants at best on the level of monster hunters posed no threat at all to the three friends.
―These guys today are kinda boring.
Upon hearing Youngwoo, General Kim Youngheum let out a massive presence for an instant, then burst through the dust cloud.
Whoosh!
The sight was just like a tiger from childhood tales mauling people, making the Joseonjok suspects—who had stayed put claiming innocence—instinctively back away.
―Kyarrng!
With a roar like thunder, General Kim pursued the Joseonjok suspects.
Then Youngtae, excited, leaped out to the general’s opposite flank.
―Stay right there, you bastards……!
Meanwhile, Kim Taejun, the most moderate of the three friends, departed last, his expression a bit uneasy.
He knew full well they were murderers, but the idea of chasing and killing fellow humans still weighed on him mentally.
And it seemed Heo Geumhwa—whom Youngwoo was considering as the next “friend” candidate—felt the same.
「D-Do you mean… a murder squad?」
“Very occasionally, yeah. But we don’t harm good people, so don’t worry too much.”
Youngwoo said this as he reequipped the gear he’d tossed on the ground, but Geumhwa’s face remained dark.
The three ridiculous variants chasing them right now were her own ethnic kin, after all.
Of course, she knew they’d tried to kill not just Koreans but her too, a fellow Joseonjok variant. Still, it didn’t sit right with her.
“We mostly fight variants or alien monsters, but sometimes we have to fight people like this. If you really can’t do it, then you’ll just have to die today.”
As Youngwoo shot her a cold glare—now fully geared up, including his “Aerial Ethics”—Geumhwa shuddered, her broken wings trembling as she shrank back.
Youngwoo quickly softened his gaze and proposed in a gentler tone than before.
“If attacking people bothers you that much, you can just patrol the perimeter in flight and keep watch. But you must join in when fighting variants.”
When battling foreign experts, he could always use the other three—who were proper combat veterans anyway.
‘And there’s plenty to do even outside of combat. Pedaling, assembling prows…’
Youngwoo stared at her, waiting for an answer. Geumhwa glanced at her wing joint, shattered by her own kin, and muttered.
「T-That’s… better than dying, I guess……?」
Truthfully, she had no other choice—unless she calmly accepted death.
“Whew, way better.”
The thought of gaining one more laborer brightened Youngwoo’s expression considerably.
“If you contract with me, you’ll be sent straight to another space. Even the wounds you have now will heal completely, like they were never there.”
He was referring to the Returnee’s Room.
But instead of delight, Geumhwa looked terrified.
「Sent away? To where exactly……?」
Then she realized something on her own and widened her eyes.
She was recalling the moment those three terrifying variants had appeared.
Where else would they have been staying until summoned, suddenly dropping from the sky like that?
「I-I’ll end up in the same place as those people earlier?」
“Yes. There’ll be stuff to pass the time, and once you meet the others, they’re all good folks—you’ll be fine.”
As he spoke, Youngwoo shifted the Child of War to his left hand.
Thud!
He extended his right hand toward Heo Geumhwa.
Offering a handshake to seal the friendship.
However.
“Hmm…….”
From the start, Heo Geumhwa—who had returned in a harpy’s body—had no hand suitable for shaking.
“Did you hear about the return method before coming here?”
「Huh? Oh, that……?」
As expected, even Heo Geumhwa knew it.
The function prepared for variants who regretted returning to this world or judged their mission complete.
It was none other than.
「T-This?」
As Heo Geumhwa stared at some point in the empty air, a palm-sized, door-shaped mark appeared near the nape of her neck.
Shaa!
For harpies, the return button was located at the back of the neck.
“Uh… looks like I’ll need to grab your nape, Geumhwa. That okay?”
「……?」
Geumhwa looked startled at Youngwoo’s words, then drooped her head.
“…Then, excuse me for a moment.”
As Youngwoo slowly approached the unarmed Geumhwa, he spotted General Kim Youngheum running back from afar—having finished off all the escapees.
His mouth and forepaws splattered with human blood.
―Oh……?
In the Returnee’s Room hiring order, General Kim was actually the youngest, so he couldn’t help but get excited at witnessing a new “friend” being recruited.
―What’s this, someone else joining?
Flash!
Excited, Kim Youngheum approached at high speed, his silver-white fur fluttering.
And then Youngtae and Taejun, having finished their tasks, began returning from different directions.
―Huh?
―Oh……
Sure enough, the two widened their eyes at the return mark floating on Geumhwa’s nape.
Youngwoo introduced the friends approaching from three sides one by one.
“This is General Kim Youngheum from Army HQ. And over there is Kim Taejun, CEO of VC Soft…….”
Now it was Geumhwa’s turn to gape.
She’d thought they were total thugs, but they turned out to be fairly upstanding people before the reset.
“Oh, and this is Hong Youngtae. The details might differ a bit, but… anyway, Youngtae’s an internet streamer too.”
As Youngwoo pointed to Youngtae last, the guy bowed his head with a greeting.
―Heh heh, basically same line of work. Nice to meet you!
Youngtae grinned brightly, and Geumhwa seemed to relax just a tiny bit.
Of course, she had no idea that the moment she contracted, she’d be spatially and temporally cut off from this world—pedaling away and assembling products without even knowing the time.
“Alright, then… let’s do the handshake… sorta.”
As Youngwoo took one more step and reached for Geumhwa’s nape, the three friends surrounding them watched the birth of the fourth friend with eager eyes.
Tap.
Youngwoo’s palm finally touched Geumhwa’s return mark.
Then her body began to glow white.
Fwaaash!
「Wha—what?」
As Geumhwa looked startled at the sudden change, Youngwoo quickly informed her.
“You might have some light labor in the Returnee’s Room. That okay?”
「…Huh?」
And with that brief retort.
Fizzle!
Her body turned into a massive orb of light and shot up into the sky.
Bang!
It had probably been transported to the Returnee’s Room, somewhere beyond our galaxy.
―Squad’s got one more member.
General Kim shared a short sentiment.
Meanwhile, CEO Kim Taejun voiced some concern.
―She didn’t seem all that aggressive… Depending on her mindset, death might’ve been easier for her.
“…You’re not talking about yourself, right, sir?”
Youngwoo teased playfully, but Kim replied seriously.
―I push hard because of my personal motivations, but even I get scared sometimes.
“…….”
He was probably referring to being summoned to alien planets.
Indeed, if even Kim Taejun got scared occasionally, then for Heo Geumhwa—who’d tried to flee the moment she arrived in Gwangjin-gu—it might truly be hellish.
“Well… if it really doesn’t work out, she can hang back a bit during combat.”
This was the cost Youngwoo had to bear for recruiting someone not ruthless enough.
‘I don’t want all my friends to be villains. Combat’s one thing, but they need to get along in the Returnee’s Room too, right?’
This was for his friends’ constant welfare—and for Youngwoo himself.
Tasks like Toma’s supported laser barrages or assembling prows of unknown exact purpose could only proceed smoothly if relations between friends stayed harmonious.
―Oh, looks like time’s up.
Youngtae glanced at the sky, feeling his toes start to fade bit by bit, and muttered.
CEO Kim Taejun looked up at the sky as well.
―Guess we should go say hi to Geumhwa.
And finally.
―See ya! Kinda curious who’s enlisting next?
General Kim Youngheum arbitrarily used the term “enlisting” and melted into the air.
What remained were.
“…….”
The Joseonjok, standing rigid, awaiting Youngwoo’s judgment.
After a moment’s thought, Youngwoo pulled out his ring “Wave” and called Gwanak First Sword Jo Sangik.
《Deputy Minister Jo, please come to Daelim-dong right away. Bring as many personnel as possible if you can.》
* * *
2:48 PM.
Youngwoo had clearly only called Jo Sangik and the Seoul University inspectors, but who actually showed up in Daelim-dong were Supreme Swords from no fewer than eight regions.
They were using Youngwoo’s request to “bring as many personnel as possible” as an excuse to come gawk at the Korean Peninsula’s top title.
“Whoa, what’s this.”
“…No region name?”
Even Songpa’s Oh Yeonhui—who still prided herself as a Seoul powerhouse—and Dongdaemun’s Jang Jeongho—who’d had a tussle-not-tussle with Youngwoo—couldn’t hide their stunned expressions.
『Supreme Sword』
They instantly recognized the title’s true value upon seeing it.
A supreme title on the Korean Peninsula that didn’t even need a region prefix to flaunt its might.
Once one reached a certain realm, there was no need to embellish its grandeur.
Yet unlike the dignified title, its bearer was still Jeong Youngwoo07.
The same weirdo who’d unilaterally started a war with North Korea before and only notified afterward.
“Aigoo, what brings you all here with such trouble.”
Youngwoo came out barefoot to greet them, and Jo Sangik spoke on everyone’s behalf.
“Long time no see. So, what did you need us for?”
Youngwoo pointed to the Joseonjok lined up behind him.
“These people—we’re sending them back to China. Drop them in Shandong Province, and they’ll handle it from there.”
“Ah……? I see.”
Jo Sangik looked briefly flustered but quickly regained his composure.
Compared to Jeong Youngwoo’s past actions, this was nothing.
“Then… you’ll head back and rest off the fatigue now, right?”
Jo Sangik looked at Youngwoo hopefully.
But Youngwoo’s gaze was already fixed somewhere northwest.
“…….”
“Uh… where are you looking right now?”
“Beijing.”
“Huh?”
“They were plundering our money from Beijing. You gonna let that slide?”
“……?”