Kang So-yeon
Kang So-yeon. An non-powered employee affiliated with the Hero Association, serving as the aide to Jijeonggwan Yoo Yeong-ho. She was generally well-regarded for taking good care of the socially inexperienced Jijeonggwan at his side.
"It was all just a good-person cosplay. To make it easier for the Association to control each country."
"Why on earth?"
Lee Gi-seong asked. The other heroes in the lab shot her puzzled looks as well.
Phoenix had rescued Lee Gi-seong and the other kidnapped heroes, gathering them here. Their abduction locations had been spilled willingly by Kang So-yeon. Her fingers were broken.
"Even the President of the Republic of Korea knows about the Cube. You think the Association's headquarters doesn't?"
Phoenix shrugged and stomped on Kang So-yeon's fingers. Kang So-yeon had been furtively wiggling them behind the heroes' backs.
"Mmph! Mmmph!"
"This auntie's trying to draw a blood sigil, huh?"
She'd been trying to form some kind of pattern with the blood dripping from her hand, but Phoenix's gaze monitored her every twitch.
Phoenix burned away Kang So-yeon's mana again and explained to Lee Gi-seong.
"Even if the Association is an international organization, some of them want to influence individual countries. Kang So-yeon was sent by the Association to dominate this nation, propping up Seon Ui-cheol as president to make him a puppet."
"So in the end, you're saying Kang So-yeon is Cheongsong?"
"Huh? What's Cheongsong?"
Phoenix tilted her head. Lee Gi-seong hurriedly pointed at Kang So-yeon.
"The ability user who created the Pine Tree Unit. Seon Ui-cheol's right-hand woman."
"Oh, really? An old alias? Anyway, this woman's the spy the Association planted in Korea. She was set to become the shadow power broker."
Phoenix burned Kang So-yeon's mana again and continued.
"But at some point, she started playing both sides—Association and government—like walking a tightrope. Why? Because she secretly picked up a Cube. Right? You found it when they told you to look, but when it came time to report it, you got greedy."
"......!"
Kang So-yeon's pupils shook violently. It was a shock that some mere villain knew of the Cube's existence—a top secret even within the Association. But even more shocking was that Phoenix knew she had a separate Cube unknown to both the Association and the government.
Phoenix bent down toward Kang So-yeon, who couldn't meet her eyes.
"What, you thought no one knew you swiped it during the Busan dimension gate raid?"
How had Munsin-sa—no, Cheongsong—come to possess a Cube? Phoenix didn't know its exact location, but she had pieced together the circumstances of the theft.
"February 10, 2012. The day a dimension gate opened in Busan and the demon beast... the Su Mareong appeared. You know it, right?"
"Uh, that day...?"
Lee Gi-seong looked startled, as if recalling something. Phoenix clapped her hands in agreement.
"That's right! The day Seolhwa Gongju, Seok Ha-rang, first unleashed her ultimate skill! She froze the Su Mareong's tidal breath solid and made a flashy debut. And you were the one cleaning up after the dimension gate incident. Weren't you?"
"Urk."
Kang So-yeon squeezed her eyes shut. Gagged and unable to speak, but the heroes understood this as silent affirmation.
One hero asked, "Th-then, if you picked up something that dangerous, shouldn't you have reported it to the Association right away?"
Phoenix wrinkled her nose.
"Someone overflowing with justice like you heroes might not get it, but for a schemer like her? Imagine holding a blank check that could make any miracle come true."
"That's exactly why you should've told the Association! Something that dangerous needs to be sealed!!"
The hero argued passionately, and Kang So-yeon shut her eyes. Phoenix replied to the hero with pity in her gaze.
"What can you do? Different mindsets. Bluntly put, whoever finds a Cube could use it for world peace—or for personal gain like her. Or to destroy the world, like some people."
The heroes tried to deny it. But the circumstances all pointed to Phoenix telling the truth.
Lee Gi-seong pleaded with Kang So-yeon.
"Team leader! Answer us! Why did you do this?!"
Lee Gi-seong poured out his anguish. He'd been saved countless times on the battlefield by her support, rescuing numerous civilians. She threw histrionics now and then, but her face was always lit with a smile. If she weren't gunning for Jijeonggwan, she'd have been the sunflower drawing courtship from male heroes everywhere.
"This is a betrayal of Jijeonggwan-nim!!"
"Mmph!!"
Kang So-yeon shook her head furiously. Saliva dripped over the gag, but she denied it vehemently.
Suddenly, something flashed through the heroes' minds. Phoenix clicked her tongue and wagged her index finger side to side.
"Love? No chance. Tattooing doesn't work on the 'Commander.' So she tried winning his heart instead. She needed Seon Ui-cheol and Yoo Yeong-ho as shields until she reached S-rank and could wield the Cube freely."
"Mmph! Mmmph!"
"Ah, squirming again."
Kang So-yeon thrashed wildly once more, but Phoenix slammed her foot down on her back, pinning her. The rib-crushing impact knocked Kang So-yeon unconscious.
"Huh?"
Phoenix nudged her with her foot. No response.
"......."
Phoenix stood silently for a moment, then gently lifted her foot and stepped aside. She beckoned to the other heroes.
"...Let's settle your situation first. What'll it be?"
"What do you expect us to do in this mess?"
Lee Gi-seong glared at Phoenix, grinding his teeth.
"Association staff siding with the government, trying to mind-control heroes—and you're asking what we should do? Tell us to join the Pine Tree Unit or run and hide forever?"
"You've got a good option."
Phoenix drew her thumb across her throat. The heroes' faces darkened. Their eyes drifted to the fainted Kang So-yeon.
Phoenix had dragged out the assumption they'd been avoiding.
"Shut her mouth. Forever. Murder to silence her."
"You want us to kill Team Leader Kang So-yeon right now?!"
"Or you'll end up in the Pine Tree Unit."
The heroes fell silent. Neither choice was easy.
"Or we could all go to Seoul—"
"I'll."
Lee Gi-seong raised his hand first.
"...I'll just run away like this."
The other heroes were stunned by his words. Phoenix perched casually on the lab desk, looking relaxed.
"Mind if I ask why?"
"...I don't want to join the Pine Tree Unit and kill innocents. But I can't kill Team Leader Kang So-yeon either."
"What about joining us villains? We're always hiring experienced talent."
"I'd rather defect overseas than live as a villain."
Phoenix twiddled her fingers at his firm resolve. A quick glance showed the other heroes felt the same.
"You'll just leave like good little suckers, nothing done. Even if it means being hunted forever? The Association and government will chase you all."
"Yes. We're prepared. ...The moment Hellhound kidnapped us, we were dead anyway."
"No, that's... Sigh."
Phoenix sighed and tapped her smartwatch.
"Fine. You've gotten me this far, so I'll repay the favor. I can't touch the government or Association, but I can let you keep being heroes."
30 minutes later.
Phoenix sat primly in a shelter on a secluded mountain trail. Her devout posture, waiting for someone, resembled a priest awaiting a divine call.
Rumble, rumble.
A military truck climbed the pre-dawn mountain path without lights. A hulking man hopped out of the driver's seat and approached Phoenix.
"What brings our dear loyal customer all the way to Daejeon at this hour!"
The man spreading his arms in welcome was the Black Market chairman. Golden starlight twinkled in his eyes.
Phoenix smiled faintly and rose.
"Here for a job referral."
"Huh? Does our customer need a spot at Yuseong?"
The chairman's eyes scanned the surroundings. Sensing the huddled figures below, he crossed his arms.
"If you're thinking of laundering those villains' identities into our side, think again. With mana patterns in the database, they'll get flagged at every checkpoint. Unless they're fresh awakenings from the last month."
"Don't need that. These are gifts for you."
Phoenix smiled and beckoned. The hesitant figures shuffled into the shelter one by one.
"......Ho ho."
The chairman stroked his chin and grinned. His mechanical eye gleamed, instantly scanning the 11 heroes' profiles. His lips curled in a feral smirk.
"This is basically flipping off the government and Association double."
"Neither can say a word. Why? Don't think you can handle it? Didn't you want to start a PMC?"
The chairman's grin stretched ear to ear. He jabbed a thumb at the truck bed.
"Hey. Get in."
"Who the hell are you to—"
Lee Gi-seong grumbled suspiciously, but clamped his mouth at the chairman's hand signals. The star shape drawn by his fingers was enough for the heroes to gauge his backing.
The heroes climbed into the truck bed. Phoenix hoisted the woman laid out in the shelter.
Vroom.
The mana engine roared to life. The chairman in the driver's seat cracked the window and proposed to Phoenix.
"Dear customer. Hop in? After a gift this big, I should at least buy you breakfast. My treat."
"Pass on food. Tea sometime when you're free."
The chairman winked with his left eye. Phoenix ignored it cleanly, walked to the back, and tossed the woman onto the truck bed from her back.
"Don't forget to watch her."
"Got it."
The heroes' glares at the woman—Kang So-yeon—were fierce. Lee Gi-seong flung the mini-Phoenix from his palm at her.
The mini-Phoenix landed softly on Kang So-yeon's palm, then peck. It stabbed the knuckle with its beak. No blood, but azure flame flowed through the beak, igniting her internal mana once more.
Like Prometheus, stealer of divine fire, devoured eternally by an eagle—Kang So-yeon, Cube thief, would have her mana gnawed forever by the mini-Phoenix.
"Hey?"
Phoenix approached the driver's window and knocked. The chairman's face, glimpsed through the crack, looked sullen for some reason.
"What is it, customer?"
His voice was icy. Phoenix knocked like a door chime, smiling.
"I only have tea with people. Not machines."
She flashed a grin, dissolved into flames, and vanished.
The chairman stepped on the accelerator with a sour face.
"We'll see about that."
"Anyway...."
I returned to the lab and caught my breath. I'd accidentally knocked Kang So-yeon out, so no Cube location from her—but I had a way to find the nearby one.
Feels just like opening the boss room door.
The boss would come to me anyway, but the tension and thrill were much the same.
"Time to get back to the original goal."
I closed my eyes briefly, then opened them.
Whoooosh!
The mana I'd suppressed for half a day exploded outward, flooding the entire building. Like bursting a dam against a flood, mana surged through my body, roiling wildly.
Hummmm—
The overflowing mana swept the underground labs like ultrasonic sonar.
"Where could it be?"
Snip.
I felt a spot where the mana cut off momentarily.
"There!"
I clenched my right fist and slammed it down.
Boom!
Tiles shattered. The research wing shook like an earthquake. The floor beneath me cracked wide, collapsing downward.
First floor, second. Layers crumbled one by one until I plunged deep underground. Dust tickled my throat.
"Cough, cough!"
Sub-basement level 5. The secret space where Kang So-yeon had hidden her Cube. The very site of the chapter's final battle in the original story.
Incredibly, it connected directly below her lab.
Thought she'd hidden it elsewhere, but she kept it right here.
Normally, I'd have to wake her for passwords and such, but no need to bother.
"Should've checked here first."
I plunged my fingers into the massive buried concrete sphere.
Treasure found, at least.
Mana from my fingertips reached the sphere's core. At the center of the nearly 2-meter-radius orb, I sensed unpleasant mana.
No time to be delicate.
I thrust my hand in and detonated flames. The sphere cracked and shattered; I triggered more explosions, shoving my arm inside.
Twitch.
Got it.
My fingers hooked something repulsive. I yanked with force.
A sugar-cube-sized hexahedron. My second Cube since arriving in this world.
I stuffed it into my pocket.
"Now, boss appearance cue should pop any second."
I gathered mana throughout my body and looked up at the ceiling.
Rumble rumble rumblle.
As expected. No ordinary person.
The ground quaked harder than when I'd smashed down. And then,
A massive Light Sword pierced the underground, plunging straight toward my crown.