Dullahan Night
Late in the evening, the roughly 60,000 Seoul citizens had completed their resident registrations. The government decided to compile the list and release it publicly on their departmental websites at 9 a.m. the next day. Shin Seoul was in a frenzy—for all the right reasons. What if their family, friends, or lovers, who might have seemed lost to death, had somehow survived in Seoul? It was only a 0.6% chance out of a population of ten million, but people clung to that sliver of hope, desperate for the list as soon as possible. Raw data would do; they just needed confirmation first.
In the end, those who had gone to Seoul wrapped up by 8 p.m. and prepared to head straight back to Shin Seoul. They departed with the resident registry lists for the 60,000 survivors. Among them, only about a thousand refused registration, a tiny fraction who chose to forgo restoring their Republic of Korea citizenship. Separately, another 200 or so humans never even showed up at the registration sites. Unlike the underground refugees, they wore uniforms centered in blue and proudly declared themselves outlaws.
Cheonghwa-dan. A criminal organization modeled after the mysterious ability user rumored to have defeated the Snow Flower Princess, symbolized by roaring azure flames. The government classified them as an A-rank high-risk group under special surveillance. And their leader was...
May 7th, 10 p.m., Cheonghwa-dan Hideout.
"Congrats on becoming deputy leader, Mr. Kim Ji-hwa."
Kim Ji-hwa trembled with rage. Fury boiled over at losing his target, but no one here could shoulder his wrath.
Jo Deok-bae grumbled, "You think they'd make a non-executive like me the boss?"
Cheon Ga-eul chimed in, "You, me, and Haneulseong handled the special envoy greeting. Maybe they figured I'm number two?"
Ryu Cheon-seong laughed, "Looking forward to your monster sweeps in Seoul, Boss. Kahahah!"
James Lee added, "The only ones known outside are me, you, and Haneulseong—and me and him got amnesty. You're the one getting a bounty now, Beacon."
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Ji-hwa exploded. Once just an ordinary new hire at a major corporation, he had somehow become the head of a criminal syndicate.
I pulled up the criminal registry Eun Yu-ha had secretly sent me.
◈ Presumed leader of criminal organization Cheonghwa-dan
"Congrats. Work hard from now on."
"L-Leader! This makes no sense. How could they mistake someone like me for the boss?!"
"It's plausible enough."
Deok-bae cut in. "I'm out of the running. Cheon Ga-eul's listed as dead, Phantom's identity is murky. And mentioning that in Shin Seoul? The villain who beat Snow Flower Princess as Cheonghwa-dan boss?"
"...It'd cause an uproar."
They'd be branded a national subversion force, public enemies worldwide.
Eun Yu-ha suggested leveraging the misunderstanding. "It's a collab between Beacon and Haneulseong. Beacon cedes Guro for underworld dominance, Haneulseong goes legit as Cheonghwa-dan's backer."
"Why make me out to be some terrifying monster?!?!"
I covered Ji-hwa's eyes with my hands and grinned. "Boss, take a look in the mirror. Anyone would peg you as a mid-tier demon lord."
"Even you, Leader? You made these eyes like this!"
"You said they were cool last time."
Deok-bae's jab sank Ji-hwa. His fist swung aimlessly through the air.
I patted his shoulder encouragingly. "Don't worry, Mr. Kim Ji-hwa. You're just inexperienced now, but you've got the talent. Polish up a bit, and you could take on a Hero Association commander."
"...R-Really?"
Beacon's eyes wavered. I squared my shoulders and thumbs-upped with my other hand.
"You showed it during the Seoul reclamation op. Taking down villains and remnant monsters in these three weeks. If you keep it up..."
"Keep it up...?"
Ji-hwa swallowed hard.
"I'll put you in command for the Seoul City Hall snake assault."
"I-I'll do my best!"
Kim Ji-hwa: timid, indecisive, gossipy, but weak to praise. Plus, as a corporate hire, his mind turned quick.
"Good. Now, onto the main topic?"
Before he fully grasped his bounty, shift gears. Luckily, he was still dazed.
"May 9th, midnight. Operation name: Dullahan Night."
May 9th, 00:00
"...The name's kinda iffy?"
Ga-eul fiddled with her neck. The kaijin's eyes naturally drifted to Yu I-sin behind her.
Yu I-sin typed swiftly. His smartwatch AI read it in an electronic tone.
"I think Blue Feather Knight sounds good."
"That's not the point right now!"
Ga-eul tore at her hair. Pine Tree Unit heroes were bad enough, but Yu I-sin was uniquely off-kilter.
"Hey, what do you think of your squad leader?"
"I think he's a good man. Chosen directly by the gods, unlike us."
"Wow. If that guy's the pope of the Phoenix Church or something?"
"Yeah, even that's a stretch."
I waved him off, and Yu I-sin froze like he'd taken a huge blow. Honestly, "Blue Feather"—whatever else, "Knight Commander" was the cringiest. No wonder I chant goblin spells in empty spots. Terra's sensibilities were lethal to modern folks.
"Ahem. Anyway, the core of this op is the ex-Pine Tree Unit, now Blue Feather. As soon as the 'countdown' ends, show yourselves and wreak havoc."
"If any die, you sneakily recover the cores, right?"
Ga-eul raised her hand; I nodded yes. Kaijin don't truly die. As long as the core returns to me alive, I can revive them. They'd lose built-up mana like Deok-bae, but for disposable squads like Blue Feather, no biggie. They were mass-murderers turned this way anyway. Grateful just to be revived as kaijin.
"Declaration of war? How're we handling that?"
"I'll set the alarm."
I snapped my fingers, birthing a flame. 5.9.
"May 9th."
"Yes. Wanted tomorrow but settled on the 9th. Could've done it today..."
Eun Yu-ha had objected. The 7th had eyes on Seoul residents, no big splash. The 8th? Parents' Day. She insisted no pinning white chrysanthemums eternally on Seok Ha-rang's parents while giving carnations to hers. I conceded. One day wouldn't kill us, but it was her line in the sand.
"Good thing Snow Flower Princess is handling herself, so I just mind Busan."
"Boss going solo for real?"
Architect's voice held worry. I shrugged one shoulder.
"Pull aggro at Gwanak Mountain, I 1v1 Gwanggeom in Busan. That's the plan, right?"
"Blue Feathers swarm Anyang like dimension gate zombies, get repelled. Heroes focus on Seoul, Leader kills Gwanggeom."
Ji-hwa summed up; all nodded. Eun Yu-ha proposed blaming it on the Hwagmaru dragon dimension gate aftermath. Unresearched, so azure flame ripples? Dimension gate and fire dragon fault for now.
"Hellhounds revived as zombies already primed Seoul for anything. 'Shadows of Hwagmaru dragon linger,' they'll say."
"Research teams might come, but later."
"One issue left, then..."
"Don't worry. I'll kill clean."
I clenched a fist in a fighting pose. The kaijin sighed in unison.
"Sending off Korea's hero like this..."
"...Leader, one question?"
"Sure, go ahead."
Ji-hwa hesitated, then spoke.
"That spirit, Snow Night Rusalka. How strong is she?"
"Yeah, curious too. Six of you, all your level?"
Spirit hierarchy? Hadn't thought much.
"Under me, they're all middling..."
Spirits fundamentally mana-born, so matchups matter, but raw power's even. Differences? Matchups. Earth > Water > Fire > Wind > Earth > Light > Dark > Light cycle. Illusion separate. By original work...
"After me?"
"...Second in combat power? Whew, reassuring."
Ji-hwa patted his chest. Deok-bae tsked agreement.
"After Gwanggeom falls, we hit Seoul and Chinese forces. That helps big."
"Right. Personal combat? SS-rank at least."
"...What's that scale?"
Ga-eul eyed me suspiciously. I sparked a flame, tracing the formula.
"Affinity 90+ is S-rank, but steps to 99. 90-95 standard S, 96-99 SS. Round Table's mostly S-SS line now."
"New fighter Round Table tier? Good enough."
Kaijin relaxed. I swallowed the rest.
'Might have to fight that water power too.'
Spirit awakening or Dark Legion cadre? Either way, I might clash—against water affinity.
'Say it, and they'll block me.'
Especially Ga-eul, overprotective since becoming kaijin.
I approached and stroked her hair.
"......What're you doing?"
Ga-eul tentacled my wrist. I grinned, smoothing her locks.
"Just. You're doing great."
"......."
Grumpy eyes, but no real resistance. I tidied her slightly tangled hair with both hands, ordering the executives.
"Alright, everyone fulfill your roles till D-day. Op starts May 8th, 23:00. Full prep by then. Got it?"
Twenty-four hours from now. The candle signaling the great event—a pivot in Korean, world history—Killing Gwanggeom—burned low.