Chapter 288
Chapter 288
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 288
Chapter Title: 66. Metal Forbidden City (1)
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Bwoooom!
A laser beam fired straight from the Forbidden City slammed into him.
It came flying in so fast that he didn’t even have time to block it with Saesaeng-a, sending Young-woo tumbling backward once more.
“Are you insane?! Im Du-pyeong…!”
Even as he shouted, he desperately tried to jam Saesaeng-a into the tower’s surface.
Whoosh!
But he was already too far from the tower, so his attempt to brake ended in vain.
“Shit!”
In the end, Young-woo began plummeting at high speed, pulled by gravity.
The Besedel armor was so sturdy that he hadn’t suffered any external or even internal injuries, but he couldn’t guarantee what would happen if he smashed into the ground hundreds of meters below.
His flying greatsword, the Golden Trajectory, was only programmed to stay by its master’s side, so it would crash just like him in this situation.
“This…!”
So right now, Young-woo’s options were limited to two.
The first was to read off the coordinates of the Forbidden City right in front of him.
That way, he could return the laser barrage and get some revenge.
But he couldn’t be sure Im Du-pyeong was even inside.
‘Then.’
His second option was to call a friend.
「Amber Whistle」 - Legendary Necklace
【Calls a friend.】
|Young-tae, Tae-jun, Young-heum, Geum-hwa
Geum-hwa, the newest addition to his four friends, was a flying mutant.
So if he called her before it was too late, she could rescue him.
And “before it was too late” was right now.
Taat!
Young-woo immediately grabbed the whistle and blew into it with all his might.
Preeeeee!
A clear, ringing sound echoed across Beijing’s skies, and suddenly the saturation of the area dimmed.
Fwaaaah…!
The Forbidden City must have sensed something was happening, because it fired another laser beam.
Zing!
“No, how many damn lasers do these bastards have?!”
As Young-woo spat out those words, a crimson laser hurtled toward him. This time, he didn’t just take it.
Tssshaaaak!
Even with his body’s center of gravity unstable, he swung Saesaeng-a precisely, cleaving the laser in two.
“Huh? Why’d that work?”
Young-woo’s eyes widened as he watched Saesaeng-a slice through the laser.
It defied Earth’s laws of physics.
And right after.
「Yaaahhh!」
Starting with the shout of his first friend, Hong Young-tae, Tae-jun, Young-heum, and Geum-hwa appeared one by one.
Since the summoner was hundreds of meters in the air, they materialized much higher up than usual.
「Wha—what’s this? What’s going on?」
「Why are we so high?」
Businessman Kim Tae-jun and General Kim Young-heum gaped as they realized they’d been summoned several times higher than normal.
Meanwhile, Heo Geum-hwa, who had regained her harpy body, was.
“Geum-hwa! Over here! Hurry!”
She was too busy high-speed diving toward Young-woo’s plea from below as he plummeted.
「Wh-what’s all this? You okay?」
Despite her chilling appearance, Geum-hwa’s voice was incredibly gentle.
“Not okay. I got ambushed.”
「Ambushed? You got ambushed, Young-woo?」
Geum-hwa had watched Young-woo’s rampages on TV, so she found it hard to believe.
It was shocking enough that someone had dared to ambush this unparalleled monster, but for it to succeed? Unthinkable.
“Yeah. If I’d been just a little more underhanded… I could’ve seen an ambush like this coming.”
「……?」
Geum-hwa tilted her head at the oddly twisted emphasis.
She wondered if saving this guy was really the right call.
But they were already quite close to the ground, leaving her no time for deep thought.
So in the end.
Taat!
She grabbed Young-woo’s cape—which had been spread wide like a parachute—with both feet.
「Where should I drop you?」
As Geum-hwa glided and asked, Saesaeng-a pointed straight ahead.
Toward the spot where that problematic laser beam had originated: the Metal Forbidden City.
“Let’s deal with that first.”
「That thing……」
Geum-hwa followed the tip of his blade with her eyes, then shuddered, her feathers bristling all over her body.
「What the hell is that……?」
She had finally spotted the Metal Forbidden City.
She could watch Young-woo’s live exploits on the TV in the Returner’s Room, but she’d spent the morning assembling her Athlete Statue and hadn’t had much time to watch.
“What, you didn’t know?”
「Who the hell would know about something like that?」
While the two conversed, the other three friends—who had been free-falling below—crash-landed in Beijing.
Kuguung!
A massive boom rang out, kicking up a cloud of dust, but thankfully, their bodies didn’t seem crushed.
Huge silhouettes soon rose from within the dust.
‘Oh, do friends get some kind of invincibility right after summoning?’
Makes sense—they always spawn in mid-air, so broken legs on arrival would be a problem.
“Set me down over there.”
Young-woo pointed to a massive gate in the distance.
It was Tiananmen Gate, the south gate enclosing the Forbidden City.
「Over there? But there’s already people……?」
Geum-hwa double-checked.
The plaza before Tiananmen was packed with black statues resembling soldiers.
Even from dozens of meters up, their size looked impressive—no ordinary statues.
“The guy who turned old folks into mutants. So he’s got other tricks up his sleeve.”
As Young-woo spoke, the statues guarding Tiananmen Plaza began slowly raising their heads toward him, one by one.
Just as expected—they were Im Du-pyeong’s army.
‘Moving guardian beasts made of metal.’
Classic China.
Visually, they seemed made of the same material as the ‘Metal Forbidden City,’ so Young-woo guessed they were another gift from Im Du-pyeong’s sponsor.
‘Who the hell is backing Im Du-pyeong? Too crude for Remu, but not Mara either….’
Young-woo had indirect dealings with both factions.
Yet in this bizarre city of Beijing, he couldn’t detect any familiar traits.
A steel-reinforced fortress, living metal guardians.
And laser artillery support to boot.
What faction backed this style…?
‘…Huh?’
The moment Young-woo realized something and his eyes widened.
Zing!
The previously quiet Metal Forbidden City emitted its signature energy charge sound.
And then.
「Eek!」
It fired a laser beam straight at Geum-hwa, who was holding Young-woo.
Shuuuaaa!
Young-woo swung Saesaeng-a just like before to block the laser, but he couldn’t shield Geum-hwa from the shock. Her combat experience was limited.
「Gasp!」
Startled, she reflexively let go of him.
Seeing this, the guardian beasts charged toward his predicted landing spot.
Kukugung!
The ground shook like an earthquake.
The beasts stood at least 7 meters tall, some up to 10.
Im Du-pyeong had prepared genuine Colossus Soldiers.
‘Did he plan to conquer all of China? When the hell did he….’
Young-woo, flung to the ground, gripped Saesaeng-a as massive shadows loomed over his feet.
Metal guardian beasts posed no real threat to someone who’d raided alien dungeons.
What gave him a bad feeling was.
‘If Im Du-pyeong’s backer isn’t Remu or Mara, isn’t that worse?’
It meant even non-official developers could meddle heavily in Earth’s civil war.
They couldn’t reshape the planet like road construction, but backing specific factions could shift the power balance.
‘When am I gonna exterminate all these cockroach bastards?’
There was so much to do to devour this planet.
Chwaat!
Young-woo extended Saesaeng-a to a full 6.6 meters and stood, but the approaching guardians swung their massive weapons without hesitation.
Whoooosh!
The air compressed with a whoosh, black arcs slashing like ink brushes, and at the same time, Young-woo’s Saesaeng-a cleaved the air twice in rapid succession.
Chwaat, kuaaa!
The first strike severed their outstretched weapons, the second bisected their bodies entirely.
Tatat!
“Is this how you welcome guests with mere fodder, Im Du-pyeong?! Come face me yourself!”
Young-woo massacred an entire unit of guardians in seconds and charged fiercely at the firmly shut Tiananmen Gate. Shockingly, his name echoed from inside.
—Hero Jeong.
“What…?”
The unnatural, mechanical tone.
But Young-woo knew instantly.
This voice belonged to China’s President and First Standing Committee member, Beijing’s tyrant, Im Du-pyeong.
—It seems you’ve achieved something truly remarkable. I underestimated you, hero.
The tightly locked gates of Tiananmen unlocked with a clank, and the massive iron doors began parting left and right.
Trrrrumble!
Im Du-pyeong had opened the path to the Forbidden City.
“What’s your game?”
Unsure where to direct his words, Young-woo looked up at Tiananmen’s roof. The voice shot out from the now-wide-open interior.
—I apologize for not greeting you personally. My body is somewhat indisposed.
“Indisposed…?”
Young-woo furrowed his brow, and far inside Tiananmen, another gate slowly creaked open.
The Forbidden City’s main gate: Wu Gate.
He’d really opened the way inside.
“…….”
Was this another trap, or was Im Du-pyeong truly too unwell to come out?
Swoosh.
Young-woo scanned the still-suspicious exterior of the Metal Forbidden City.
Then he asked Im Du-pyeong again.
“Is your backer Mara?”
If Mara had built this fortress, he needed to call his brothers right now.
He couldn’t break that promise.
But.
—No.
“…Not Mara?”
According to Im Du-pyeong, Beijing’s backer wasn’t Mara.
“…….”
Young-woo felt veins bulging in his neck.
If China’s backer wasn’t Mara, where were his brothers supposed to go?
No—where should he tell his brothers to go?
Brother Jeong’s disappointed face seemed to float before his eyes.
“Then who remodeled the Forbidden City like this?”
Young-woo glanced back as he spoke.
The desolate Tiananmen Plaza came into view.
Geum-hwa and the other three friends had already returned once their summon time expired.
“Not Remu, right? Doesn’t seem their style.”
By now, Young-woo had the Forbidden City’s coordinates displayed.
According to his reasoning, Im Du-pyeong’s backer was probably.
“Earth, 084! 360! 6251! 061! Fire immediately!”
As Young-woo rapidly read off coordinates directly above the Wu Gate, Im Du-pyeong’s mechanical voice betrayed panic for the first time.
—What are you—?
And simultaneously.
Kuaaaaa!
A massive laser beam pierced the clouds from above.
The instant it touched Wu Gate’s roof.
Paat!
The huge beam vanished without a trace.
‘These shitheads, just as I thought!’
The system message appeared before Young-woo’s eyes next.
「Physical collisions between our products are not permitted.」
Toma, the pan-galactic arms dealer.
The firepower artisan who’d turned to neighboring China after losing the main sponsor spot to Dogo.
‘This planet got that much food? Why are all these bastards showing up?’
Young-woo lowered Saesaeng-a to the ground, ready to punish them personally, when Dogo’s new ad request dropped right on cue.
[Dogo] “Heavenly Capital”
<Mission> Secure the Forbidden City’s remodeling core and designate Earth’s new capital.
<Special> During this mission, you must disclose Dogo’s support.
<Reward> 30 million karma
‘Huh? What’s this? New capital? Designate Earth’s capital?’
Young-woo blankly read the mission before realization dawned.
“Oh… you don’t mean… Metal Seoul…?”