Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Access, Contact VER.C.DAWN
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Time passed and passed, until two years had flown by.
With Luyan's tacit support and Dun's management, Prim's army had steadily grown in size.
Disguised as Noah, Dun made rounds from the 1st to the 5th Divisions that Luyan had diligently built up, checking on the soldiers' conditions.
Everyone was diligently building toward the strength required for the plan they had laid out.
Thanks to Dun's thorough instructions on training methods and soldier conduct manuals given to every division commander, the system held firm even in his absence, allowing the forces to steadily build their skills.
On top of that, Dun had neglected his item-selling business over the two years due to Prim's affairs, so his name, once hot on the community boards, had faded somewhat.
He did appear occasionally as a merchant, but with no fixed location or schedule, spotting him was like chasing stars in the sky.
He rarely showed up in Genesis Village anymore because he was always with Prim, making it hard to even catch a glimpse of his face.
"Dun! Aren't you selling stuff anymore? Didn't you say you needed to make money?"
"Sell some items, please!!"
"If you're busy now, just tell us when and where you'll sell next!"
Players who luckily spotted him on the streets occasionally asked about his whereabouts.
"I've been busy lately."
"Why?"
"Prepping for a massive secret quest."
Dun's casual remark nearly caused a huge stir.
"Wh-when is it?"
"No idea. Maybe in 3 to 5 years?"
The absurdly long delay led to murmurs of "Dun's lying again" before it quickly fizzled out.
* * *
The unofficial Hunter Association, which everyone had treated as official anyway, began operating formally after receiving authorization.
Thanks to the Hunter Capsules that Yi Yu-hyeon had updated, many people successfully completed their first awakening via NinaPinta.
A path to awakening had opened without needing to risk life and limb in gates.
The association reached out to NinaPinta's top rankers, scouting them as hunters.
News outlets splashed related stories across their front pages.
「Korean Hunter Association Achieves World's First Simulated Awakening!」
「Shock! NinaPinta Revealed as Awakening Simulator for Gate Crisis Preparedness」
「[Exclusive] Association Aims to Recruit NinaPinta Rankers as Affiliated Hunters!」
「Kim Woo-sung's Grueling Life in the Wrestling Ring Finally Comes to Light...」
As the Hunter Capsules became a hot topic, more and more people flocked to join the association—since they were only available through the Korean branch. Some even offered premiums to buy them.
With crowds pouring in, the chairman moved the Abyss Project operations to a more remote spot, as planned.
A small abandoned cabin in the densely wooded back mountains. That was the new home for the Abyss children.
The completed second headquarters building.
Occasional shouts from the children leaked out, but deep in the mountains, no one could hear them.
* * *
Yi Yu-hyeon, the new handler for Abyss operations at the second headquarters.
Yi Yu-hyeon zipped up a black bag containing a limp child.
"Ah, that's three dead this week already."
"Yeah... uh-huh...."
Yi Yu-hyeon smiled as he moved the black bag to the trunk. The supervisor clicked his tongue watching him.
After fourteen years in the thug life, this was a first—even for a psychopath. He might be worse than Kim Woo-sung.
For some reason, after the move to the second headquarters, the children had become even more defiant. Except for Yi Yu-hyeon, who controlled them perfectly through fear, they ignored everyone else's orders.
Over two years of this, management of the children naturally fell entirely to Yi Yu-hyeon. The now-idle supervisors spent their free time playing billiards in the city.
"Then I'll head to the hideout for a bit."
"Sure, have a safe trip."
Yi Yu-hyeon closed the trunk, got in the car, inserted the key, started the engine, and rolled down the window.
"If any kids won't listen, let me know."
"Uh, yeah...."
The supervisor gave an awkward reply, unnerved by Yi Yu-hyeon's eerie smile.
He had no idea what Yi Yu-hyeon did exactly, but it seemed brutally harsh beyond imagination.
'And where's he taking that...?'
Probably for personal research. Rumors swirled about human cyborg chimeras or something—whatever it was, it was terrifying.
The supervisor clicked his tongue again as Yi Yu-hyeon's car drove away.
* * *
Yi Yu-hyeon, beaming with delight, turned on his phone's music playlist.
Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo~ Cute~ doo doo doo doo~
A children's song filled the car.
Click, click.
Rustling came from the trunk, then the back seat connected to it flipped open. A child crawled out, munching on snacks.
There were plenty of snacks in the trunk, so during the wait, the child had slipped out of the body bag to devour them.
"Ah, that must've been stuffy. You held out so quietly even though you couldn't breathe well—thank you. Come on out and buckle up!"
The child wriggled into the seat and fastened the seatbelt.
"Hehe, baby shark, baby sha~rk."
Yi Yu-hyeon checked the child's condition in the rearview mirror. This was the result of two years spent soothing the children and fooling the supervisors.
Having grown close to them through Dawn and Do-yoon's stories, Yu-hyeon had first smuggled out the most precarious kids, beyond the chairman's sight.
He'd faked their deaths and sought ways to give them new identities.
Already experienced in managing countless aliases for the underage Seol Do-yoon to evade tracking, Yi Yu-hyeon had naturally grown adept at staging deaths and forging new identities.
Yi Yu-hyeon punched "Human Rights Group 1" into the navigation that Seol Do-yoon had tampered with to avoid traces.
He'd already tipped them off about hiding some children there, and they'd prepared professional medical staff and warm homes. Now, the kids would receive various treatments and support to grow up like normal children outside the association.
Yu-hyeon was also scouting mental-type hunters for the deeply traumatized ones. He'd heard some overseas awakeners could manage dungeon trauma. Hard to find domestically in secret—maybe reach out abroad? He pondered briefly.
Then, a notification popped up from "Saemung," the messenger app Seol Do-yoon had made.
[Ra-hee: Hey oppa. I did my first awakening. Ra-hee is a hunter now.]
Yi Yu-hyeon deleted the message from the app right after checking it.
* * *
At the Korean Association authorization celebration hosted by Kim Woo-sung, applause thundered as he took the podium.
European Hunter Alliance members, top American hunters, and major corporations pledging investments to Kim Woo-sung Pharmaceuticals were in attendance.
Famous reporters crowded the back. CSK folks were there too.
To mend fences with CSK Media's CEO Yoo after recent troubles, he'd tucked thick wads of yellow paper into premium ginseng gift sets.
CSK was essential for going worldwide.
CEO Yoo's sociable nature had built ties with overseas corporate heads during his studies abroad.
Once CSK ran stories on his heroic saga, influential foreign media would pick them up from CSK.
He'd become a worldwide superstar.
Nervously, he wiped the sweat from the creases in his stubby fists with a handkerchief.
The moment a loach from a small Korean stream devoured the world and became a dragon.
Today, the dragon rises from the mud.
Here, Kim Woo-sung had to prove his true worth and stature.
Recently, he'd halted high-danger drug injections for the A-rank kids, ramping up training intensity instead.
"Ev-everyone, nice to see you! Ahem. Uh.... Personal matters delayed preparations, so the NinaPinta introduction comes late. But you'll see satisfying results, so please forgive the wait."
Association Chairman Kim Woo-sung projected a PPT onto the massive screen. 'NINAPINTA PROJECT' sprawled across it.
Following the speech script and lessons from Secretary Min Ji-cheol, Kim Woo-sung puffed his chest and steadily explained the NinaPinta simulator in his gravelly voice.
"...So with this Hunter Capsule and awakening simulator, you can awaken without risking your life in gates."
A translator followed each time Kim Woo-sung finished speaking.
The PPT behind flickered briefly.
「ABYSS PROJECT」
The slide switched suddenly, flashing another English word before vanishing.
Abyss? Abyss Project?
Listeners, engrossed in Kim Woo-sung's presentation, murmured at the text.
But the screen soon reverted. The brief glitch caused a short stir, easily dismissed as a mistake.
Faces of unofficial project investors who recognized "Abyss Project" twisted darkly.
Oblivious, Kim Woo-sung pressed on with his speech.
Abyss A-Class kids stood rigidly behind the podium, set to perform a gate circus for VIPs after.
"Dawn, your doing?"
Seol Do-yoon, standing straight with hands clasped behind her back, confirmed the text change and chuckled softly.
"No use pretending. Among the overseas VIPs, I caught the ones who looked like they'd eaten shit at 'Abyss.'"
"Yeah. Quite a few overlapped with the suspect list. High chance they're the foreign investors secretly funding Kim Woo-sung. Narrowed the targets down."
She memorized the names of those VIPs with the worst poker faces.
"By the way, once the chairman figures it out, the screen guy's toast."
"Ehh, that sneaky bastard was verifying second headquarters and reporting to the chairman."
"Good job—I admit it this time. Creative. Risky routes to get caught, though."
"Ah, yeah. Mr. JohnX is amazing. What would've taken you a month fussing over details, I cleared in a day."
"And in one day, all the Abyss kids get exposed and buried in the mountains?"
"...You asshole. Truce—thanks for watching my back. Knew you'd handle cleanup, that's why I moved."
Seol Do-yoon tilted her head at I Dawn's sudden peace offering, then smirked.
"...Nah, I'm grateful you cleared the fast path. You do love the flashy stuff."
Yi Yu-hyeon, who'd watched their constant one-upmanship, had proposed they end with mutual praise—and gotten promises. Dawn always twisted it like backhanded jabs, though.
"Ah, my heart's so big."
Dawn, who'd extended the olive branch first, tsked, turned away, and rolled her neck.
Petty banter had to end short. Time to play clown before the world's petty giants.
Kim Woo-sung, finishing his explanation to applause, gestured to the stage rear.
"...The pinnacle output of our Hunter Association! Our affiliated trainee hunters! These kids will enter the awakening simulator directly. We've prepped a little show—enjoy it before you go."
The A-rank association kids, paintball guns loaded, racked them with a click and advanced onstage.
Seol Do-yoon scanned the crowd. Mostly Kim Woo-sung supporters.
CSK Media, polished human rights groups—maybe include them?—Secretary Min Ji-cheol, etc.
Shifting gaze to remaining chairman backers: electronics conglomerate heads, foreign pharma giants, overseas associations needing his tech and products.
One, two, three, four, five...
Still way too many.
Before taking the stage, Seol Do-yoon winked one eye shut, covertly aiming her loaded paintball gun at Kim Woo-sung's head.
'Bang.'
The shot would just splatter paint on his head. A nagging itch, nothing more.
That was her current power level.
She needed to grow more.
* * *
The time had finally come to enter the awakening simulator.
〔Hunter Capsule Room〕
A long line of A-Class Abyss kids queued before the new room. Freed from lab rat status, their faces glowed healthily. More eyes on them meant better treatment.
"Hey, so how's the progress report to Chairman Kim Woo-sung going?"
"Yu-hyeon hyung somehow got a drug-making skill from his gamer days. It meshed with his awakening ability during pharma research, manifesting in reality. He can tweak the association's potions slightly."
"Then why's Abyss still around? Kim Woo-sung's experimental zeal? Wants to be a pioneer or whatever."
"Yeah, pretty much. Also taking dirty money from overseas and domestic groups for dangerous drugs. His network's filthy."
"Birds of a feather, science edition."
Seol Do-yoon and I Dawn queued quietly before the 'Hunter Capsule Room,' chatting.
Two years of navigating groups and corps for authorization had delayed the Abyss kids' entry.
"Alright, you all know how to make NinaPinta accounts from class earlier, right?"
"Yes!"
The kids stepped up to capsules in turn. When I Dawn and Seol Do-yoon's turns came, they opened the lids and climbed in.