Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Avatar List
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Killing the avatars directly would never end.
There wasn't even the leisure to do that.
Their vacancies would just keep getting filled anyway.
How could you exterminate pests that kept crawling out endlessly?
'I need to make use of them.'
It was better to leave them be.
But not without doing something first.
At the very least, Park Sang-min needed to recognize them as 'avatars'.
Who was friend and who was foe.
Who to use and who to help!
If it was the Park Sang-min that Park Chan-woo knew, he had more than enough ability for that.
But the problem was 'how to make him believe it'.
He couldn't just pop up in front of Park Sang-min and say, "The ones I've marked with paint are avatars, so watch out for them."
"Did you hear the news?"
"What news?"
"That Lee Hyuk-soo applied to our 'Safety Bureau'!"
"What's that out of the blue?"
"Da-yeon saw him coming in through the entrance this morning, clear as day."
It was then.
Park Chan-woo, who had infiltrated the Abyss Management Bureau by scaling the wall and hiding his presence, focused on the conversation drifting over.
'Invisibility doesn't work on people from Earth.'
He couldn't strut around openly.
He had no choice but to move carefully, using blind spots in CCTV and people's vision.
Park Chan-woo wore the Spectacles of the Radiant Sovereign and pulled his hat low over his face.
From a quick glance, the two women walking down the corridor weren't avatars.
"He was handsome, right?"
"Like a sculpture, she said."
"Wow... But isn't he just stopping by? The Minister's sent love calls so many times, but he's never come even once. Probably just being polite."
"Seems like the issue's pretty serious this time. Maybe something he can't handle alone?"
"So he's here to collaborate with the Safety Bureau?"
"That's the gist."
"Where do you even hear this stuff?"
"My kinda-sorta boyfriend told me."
"Oh, that Planning Department team leader?"
The conversation flowed naturally.
'Lee Hyuk-soo is here right now?'
Park Chan-woo stroked his chin.
Then he slowly nodded.
'...Things might work out better than expected.'
"I'm sorry, but we can't collaborate."
Inside the Minister's office.
Park Sang-min stood from his seat and bowed his head.
At the same time, Lee Hyuk-soo furrowed his brow.
"Why not?"
"We don't have solid data on the threat level of these avatars."
"I know you've compiled a separate list of them. And didn't you say that list leaked to the avatars?"
"They're a very special type of Awakened. We classify and manage lists for all Awakened—super-Awakened, quasi-Awakened, special ability users, and so on. I don't know how it leaked, but that's for us to handle."
Park Sang-min answered calmly.
His expression didn't waver in the slightest.
Lee Hyuk-soo felt frustrated.
He'd seen the avatars gathering at Bukhansan.
They were starting to form groups.
He had to stop them before it was too late.
"...Avatars are monsters who've sold their souls to devils."
"What have they done?"
"They massacre people inside the Abyss, clearly..."
"Is that only them? Do non-avatars never commit murder?"
But Park Sang-min wasn't wrong.
Right now, avatars were only causing issues inside the Abyss.
At least on Earth, there'd been no problems because they were avatars.
How could he justify targeting them separately when they hadn't caused any trouble?
Moreover, murders happened even among non-avatars.
People killed, committed even worse atrocities without hesitation.
So this wasn't an avatar-only problem.
It was a disaster born from humanity's moral decay.
"Minister. Once they start forming groups, it'll spiral out of control. The leak means there are avatars right here in this building. We have to resolve it before they grow stronger and reveal themselves."
Lee Hyuk-soo didn't back down.
He'd been repeating the same points for over five hours now.
Like a hamster on a wheel.
But Minister Park Sang-min was just as unyielding.
"...Lee Hyuk-soo. The 'avatar list' isn't definitive. We can only speculate. Unless they outright admit it, there's no way to know for sure."
"So you're saying you won't add the avatars I saw at Bukhansan to the list?"
"We need evidence. Proof they could be avatars. Certainty. Something conclusive that avatars exist in this building. And besides—"
Park Sang-min let out a sigh.
"I just got a call. The people you mentioned seeing as avatars at Bukhansan—their whereabouts are all unknown."
"...What do you mean?"
"A few were identified via sketches, and they were people we were tracking. But they all vanished from Bukhansan completely. There's an unidentified Abyss open midway up the mountain."
It was bizarre.
All those avatars just evaporated?
"There should have been bodies."
"It was clean. Just some traces of battle left."
"......"
Lee Hyuk-soo naturally frowned.
The thirty-odd avatars he'd killed—their bodies should still be there.
The place they'd died wasn't the Abyss; it was Bukhansan, on Earth.
Yet they were all gone.
Even the monster called 'Balzac'.
Had they all entered the Abyss and self-destructed?
Or had they yet to emerge?
"Lee Hyuk-soo. We want to work with you, humanity's savior. But these are sensitive times. Neither I nor the Abyss Safety Bureau can act rashly."
Park Sang-min sighed again.
In truth, he knew it too.
The dangers of avatars were already being shared internationally.
In some countries with weak law enforcement, avatars were becoming a social issue.
Their rampages were so severe that gangs and mafias seemed laughable by comparison.
But.
The 'evidence' was still thin.
Avatars hadn't caused problems in Korea yet.
And they didn't even have firm proof they were definitely 'avatars'.
'If there's even one in the higher-ups, it'll be a bigger mess.'
Moving hastily would just invite backlash.
The list was managed in strict secrecy.
Only a tiny handful had access.
If it leaked, it meant avatars were already here—with significant positions.
One? Multiple? Nothing was confirmed.
His hands were tied.
He couldn't move.
Not on just Lee Hyuk-soo's word alone.
He wanted to join forces with the savior Lee Hyuk-soo, but the risks were too high.
Park Sang-min finally offered a parting courtesy.
"Bring concrete proof. Then I'll do what I can."
'Damn it...!'
Lee Hyuk-soo's face hardened sharply as he left the Minister's office.
He hadn't dreamed it would be this convoluted just to handle a straightforward matter.
But reality was cold.
As Park Sang-min said, willpower alone couldn't solve things.
Still, it was frustrating.
He'd witnessed countless atrocities by avatars.
Even if it was the lawless Abyss, their evils were too horrific to witness with open eyes.
'Avatars vanishing from Bukhansan. An Abyss opened midway up.'
It was full of mysteries.
Nothing was going his way.
'If they won't help, I'll handle it alone.'
Avatars were humanity's evil.
The Prophet's words held no falsehood.
If Park Sang-min and the Abyss Safety Bureau washed their hands of it, Lee Hyuk-soo planned to resolve it solo.
It was at that heated moment, as he headed out of the building.
"Lee Hyuk-soo."
"...?"
Was it his imagination?
An oddly familiar voice rang out.
But scanning around, the owner wasn't there.
"...Prophet?"
"Warp over quietly."
Ziiiing!
In an instant, a golden glow bloomed before Lee Hyuk-soo's eyes, forming a round portal.
A warp gate.
Beyond it lay familiar terrain somehow.
Gulp!
Lee Hyuk-soo swallowed and stepped through.
Soon, before his eyes—
"What...!"
The territory of the 'Second Night' unfolded.
Even more shocking was what followed.
"It's been a while."
"Y-Yes, Prophet!"
The Prophet was suddenly at his side.
Park Chan-woo stood fully geared.
Lee Hyuk-soo repeated in disbelief.
"Isn't this where the 'Second Night' took place?"
"It's mine now."
"Gah!"
He said the craziest thing so casually.
Even if the Prophet was godlike, stealing another Creator's land?
"That's not the issue, Lee Hyuk-soo."
"...Why did you summon me?"
"You saw the avatars organizing at Bukhansan."
"...Yes."
Lee Hyuk-soo was greatly surprised.
He hadn't expected the Prophet to know that far.
But Park Chan-woo had quietly eavesdropped on Lee Hyuk-soo and Minister Park Sang-min's conversation from beyond the wall.
"I handled it."
"...!!!"
"A bigger problem than them is the 'Abyss Safety Bureau'."
It was astonishing, but the man was the Prophet.
A being whom a hundred avatars, Balzac included, couldn't even scratch.
Calming himself urgently, Lee Hyuk-soo asked back.
"Is there a problem with the Abyss Safety Bureau?"
"98 confirmed avatars inside today. Probably more."
"...That many?"
Insane. Lee Hyuk-soo nearly cursed.
He'd never dreamed so many lurked in the government building.
"Prophet. Is there a way to identify avatars?"
"Only I can distinguish them directly."
"...We must eliminate them."
"No. We use them."
Park Chan-woo's resolve was firm.
Killing wasn't the best option.
They needed to stay vigilant of other avatars through them.
Killing them would just bring new ones.
Park Chan-woo pulled a pair of glasses from his pocket.
"This is...?"
"Special paint on their necks. These glasses will reveal it. Won't wash off."
Special paint and glasses procured from the devil merchant Dagon.
Of course, no normal method could remove it.
They wouldn't even know.
Lee Hyuk-soo carefully took the glasses.
Glasses to identify avatars.
He trusted the Prophet, so it was certain, but would Minister Park Sang-min believe him?
"Thank you."
Park Chan-woo didn't hold back advice for Lee Hyuk-soo, who accepted them.
"Lee Hyuk-soo. Using avatars is simple. Just gather them together. They'll bite each other's tails and destroy themselves."
"...Put them all in one department."
Simple enough.
If he could just convince Park Sang-min.
Of course, doubts lingered.
"But Prophet, at Bukhansan, the avatars were clearly organized. Will grouping them really work?"
"'Balzac' wasn't human. Forced into demonhood by a Creator. Half-human, half-demon can brainwash avatars into packs. But there are no half-breeds here yet."
Half-human, half-demon.
A new term, but Balzac indeed wasn't fully human.
Anyway, unless it was that special case, avatars would never trust each other.
Lee Hyuk-soo nodded heavily.
"...Yes. Leave it to me."
He'd make it happen.
Especially since the Prophet requested it personally.
His sudden appearance on Earth, at Korea's Abyss Safety Bureau, was unexpected.
But it showed his sincerity for humanity's salvation.
Watching him, Park Chan-woo thought:
'Lee Hyuk-soo is trustworthy.'
With Minister Park Sang-min, they'd at least keep Korea safe. He had no doubt.
Their synergy was unseen before, but within Korea, they were the most reliable.
Two heroes united— no more worries about the Abyss Safety Bureau.
Park Chan-woo nodded.
"I leave it to you."
One urgent issue resolved.
The rest was for Lee Hyuk-soo and Minister Park Sang-min.
That was all he could do.
Now, one thing left.
...That young man in the distance.
'Han Min-oh.'
That was Han Min-oh.
Han Shin's younger brother, second son of Han Yeon Group!
All Park Chan-woo had to do was wait right beside Han Min-oh for the 'massive sniper Abyss' to open.