Snake Raid Strategy and the Light Sword's Fiery Rebirth
Same time, Yeouido Cheonghwa-dan headquarters.
"Ga-eul, do you know the story of the frog that lost its mom?"
"The one where the rebellious frog cries? Why?"
"Just popped into my head."
Phoenix fidgeted uncomfortably, shifting her body. But Ga-eul refused to loosen her grip around Phoenix's waist, squeezing even tighter.
"Um, Cheon Ga-eul?"
"What."
"Can you let go now?"
Phoenix twisted her head to point at the arms wrapped around her waist. Ever since they'd come down to the lounge, Ga-eul had plopped Phoenix onto her lap like a teddy bear and hugged her tight. Phoenix had gone along with her subordinate's clinginess at first, but as more executives trickled in, she'd grown increasingly antsy. In the end, Phoenix was stuck in Ga-eul's grasp until every last one had arrived.
"No way. Tell me why. You hate it when I do this?"
"It's not that I hate it, but... as leader, my dignity..."
"Your dignity's lower than Haneulseong's and Kim Ji-hwa's anyway, so don't sweat it."
Deok-bae's snide remark made Phoenix bristle. But not a single executive in the lounge called him out on it.
Phoenix hung her head. Ga-eul stroked her hair with a tentacle.
"This is making me feel like I've totally devolved into Cheonghwa-dan's mascot."
"You're already just the public face anyway, with Ji-hwa as the real boss."
"Agreed. I think the boss should stick to being a figurehead. Pull her out only when we need a tactical nuke."
Phoenix ground her teeth at the tag-team from the two eldest members.
"Hmph, fine. Enough already."
Ga-eul tightened her hold again, but Phoenix snapped her fingers and blinked a short distance away. In an instant, the mini-Phoenix on the chair burst into flames, and the full-sized Phoenix plopped down in her seat. Ga-eul shot her a sulky glare, but Phoenix cleared her throat and drew everyone's attention.
"Ahem. Eyes up here. Time to get into operation prep. Haneulseong, how many people have left Seoul?"
"Steadily increasing since day one. Even after we told them we couldn't help much, they bailed anyway. 2,714 got out of Dongjak."
Gwanggeom's death hadn't just rocked New Seoul—it rippled across the entire Republic of Korea. Nearly 100,000 had fled overseas during his national funeral. How many would actually come back? Just like New Seoul, Seoul was seeing the anxious start to trickle out.
"Ji-hwa. Overseas reactions?"
"Nothing special. China's still blacking out info, Japan's watching closely. Online sentiment in both is mourning Gwanggeom while pushing to send their own heroes."
"As expected."
Ryu Cheon-seong nodded.
"Pressure through the Association, and they'll have their pretext. He's been rejecting Association support all this time with his 'Gwanggeom faction' crap."
"Still too scary to start a war without justification, with global opinion and all. Plus the US and Russia."
The world might measure national power by hero quantity and quality now, but the old superpowers still held sway. Korea had nearly joined their ranks—until Pyongyang blew and it all went up in smoke.
Clap.
Phoenix clapped her hands.
"So if war breaks out, we need to fill our power gaps pronto. Alright, operation overview."
Phoenix projected a screen in front of the executives. Everyone was floored by the meticulously organized plan and individual assignments. As they sipped their drinks and scrolled through, Deok-bae—the first to finish—turned to Phoenix.
"You didn't make this, right?"
"Which part? The outline? The details?"
"Both."
Ga-eul and Ryu Cheon-seong looked up. The Architect quietly lowered his screen. Ji-hwa was still reading.
"I did the framework. Eun Yu-ha helped with the fine details and setups. The key to this op is, of course..."
"Me, right?"
Ji-hwa's eyes lit up. Phoenix nodded with full trust.
"The Seoul City Hall snake. We raid that S-rank monster to prove Seoul's safe. Architect sets up the field to trap it, everyone else follows Beacon's orders to take it down. Participants—"
"Everyone except Phoenix. Cheonghwa-dan's full force."
"Exactly."
Cheonghwa-dan had no true S-ranks. That's why Eun Yu-ha wanted to test their strength without Phoenix.
"I'll handle any monsters outside Architect's walls. Beacon, use the snake's weaknesses I gave you—every trick in the book—to make the hunt a success. Got it? No civilian deaths."
"Then..."
Ji-hwa's eyes flicked to Deok-bae and Ga-eul.
"Kaijin can die? They revive anyway."
"What?"
"Hey, you're a Kaijin too?"
Deok-bae and Ga-eul glared, but Ji-hwa kept his eyes locked on Phoenix.
Phoenix nodded stiffly, then sighed.
"...I'd rather not, but Beacon's call. This hunt assumes I'm out, so improvise. If it's hopeless, I'll step in. Clear?"
All eyes turned to Ji-hwa. He pushed up his sunglasses with a grin.
"I'll take down the snake with zero deaths and no help from you, Boss."
Ga-eul poked Deok-bae's waist with a tentacle. He grimaced but listened.
"What's with him? Ate something bad?"
"...He's pumped about getting command."
"I can hear you."
Ji-hwa thumped his chest smugly. Deok-bae and Ga-eul were a bit miffed at the posturing, but operationally, Ji-hwa was in charge.
"Screw up command, and I'll gouge your eyes out."
"No suicide squads. I've got bad memories of that crap."
Phoenix whistled, ignoring Deok-bae's glare. The other executives exchanged looks.
Ah, they pulled some shit back in the day.
"Hey... we haven't done that since, right? No need now anyway."
Phoenix scratched her cheek, then snapped her fingers.
"Take the Feathers too. No monsters near Dongjak anymore, so grab every guard unit."
"...You mean the Blue Feathers?"
"Yeah. Their leader too."
Shadow fell over Ji-hwa's face. The others, minus Architect, darkened too.
Ji-hwa pushed back.
"...Can't he stay? He's been handling Mapo Bridge monsters solo just fine."
"I said full strength. A-rank ability users don't grow on trees, Ji-hwa. More like him—and stronger—will join up, so consider this practice."
Ji-hwa bowed his head. Phoenix dismissed her screen.
"The City Hall snake is an S-rank we must catch—for our strongest ally. Get that core, no matter what."
"Hold up."
Ga-eul raised a hand, cutting Phoenix off.
"Quit saying 'ally' vaguely. Who is it?"
"Uh, surprise?"
"You told Eun Yu-ha everything."
Everyone nodded, glaring at Phoenix. Outnumbered 5-1 in a executive coup, she scratched her cheek and raised both hands, extending her index fingers.
"One plus one is?"
"Act cute and I'll eat you in your sleep."
Ga-eul raised two tentacles. Phoenix sweated bullets.
"...Two. So—"
Flames ignited on both index fingers. The steady blue flames twisted and swayed side to side.
"S plus S is obviously SS, right?"
* * *
"Funeral's over, miss."
Baek Sang-woo finished his phone report. On the screen, Eun Yu-ha was bundled in blankets, masked up.
[Good work. ...Atchoo!]
"Ability users catch colds too?"
Baek Sang-woo's innocent question earned a glare before she turned away, coughing.
[Do you have any idea how freezing it was for five days straight, Baek Sang-woo?]
"No clue. You suffered. Shall we start the op now?"
[Hurry up. Damn it, we can't fall behind them.]
"...Ma'am. Burning competitive fire like this is troublesome."
Eun Yu-ha yanked off her mask and yelled.
[Shut it! You know how much is riding on this deal? We need the upper hand!]
"......That girl's probably dropping something crazier than an S-rank core anyway."
[That's why we prep harder! Damn, can't even rest a day and now I've got a cold. What is this?]
Eun Yu-ha kept grumbling.
"That's why I said swap from the start."
[Harang's hawk eyes caught us—no window for a body switch. Sniff. She'd have noticed. Total chaos. Sniffle.]
She blew her nose miserably. Baek Sang-woo blinked, then checked the time.
"One minute to midnight."
[Atchoo! ...Let's go.]
"Yes, ma'am."
The screen went dark. Midnight struck on May 15th. In the tunnel, Baek Sang-woo hefted his shovel. Dirt caved in, revealing a wooden coffin beyond.
"Never thought I'd be body-swapping a corpse."
From the tunnel's far end, Eun Yu-ha's mech dolls emerged carrying an identical coffin.
Thud.
At Baek Sang-woo's signal, the dolls exhumed the buried coffin whole. It was wrapped in the national flag and Hero Association banner. Baek Sang-woo sighed as the swap happened.
"......Gotta do a full-body cleanse when I hit Incheon."
* * *
May 15, 2020, 3 AM, Gwanak Mountain outskirts.
"Here’s Gwanggeom's body!"
Phoenix hopped onto the coffin, announcing loudly. The executives' stares turned icy.
"Even for you, stepping on the coffin is a bit..."
Ryu Cheon-seong openly showed his discomfort, scolding her. Baek Sang-woo across from them nodded.
"Lightning from the heavens someday, for sure."
"So I should get hit too?"
Eun Yu-ha's eyes sharpened, grilling Baek Sang-woo. The executives' stomachs churned at their leaders' shameless inhumanity.
"...We're really doing this?"
Ga-eul alternated panicked glances between the coffin and Phoenix's hand. Phoenix held a gleaming golden monster core.
She levitated it with mana to chest height and spoke.
"Your Kaijin craftsman Phoenix here. After making over a dozen Kaijin, I learned something key..."
"When turning ability users into Kaijin, matching the core's rank to their old power level gives peak efficiency."
Eun Yu-ha cut in. Dark circles peeked from under her makeup.
Phoenix shot her a shocked look.
"...Eun Yu-ha? I was in the zone, perfect timing to explain!"
"Save it for the next victim. I'm sleepy."
Eun Yu-ha covered a yawn. She was fighting drowsiness from cold meds.
Phoenix slumped and opened Gwanggeom's coffin. Inside, Gwanggeom lay smiling serenely, iron sword at his side, eyes closed.
Phoenix crooked a finger.
"Deok-bae?"
"Hey. Even for you, making me do this is too much. Why drag me into trash-making?"
"......Suit yourself. Someone else then."
Phoenix scanned the executives, but none met her eyes. She fiddled with the core.
"Fine, we'll do it like this."
Phoenix stood straight before Eun Yu-ha, who was desperately fighting sleep. Phoenix handed her the S-rank core.
"Here. Your promised gift."
"Thanks. Now the commission?"
"Of course."
Eun Yu-ha offered the core back.
"Revive Gwanggeom with this core."
"...Let's reconfirm terms. Ji-hwa!"
Sunglasses-clad Kim Ji-hwa flicked a paper and read.
Condition 1: Gwanggeom's revival only as Kaijin.
"Accepted."
Eun Yu-ha nodded. Ji-hwa read on.
Condition 2: Kaijin Gwanggeom belongs to Cheonghwa-dan, long-term loaned to Eun Yu-ha's PMC Knight Order on paper.
"Accepted."
"And final, third condition."
Phoenix cut in. Ji-hwa flapped his lips like a fish before stepping back.
"Post-revival, you handle convincing Kaijin Gwanggeom. Fail, and if he refuses orders, he dies again. Remember?"
"Naturally."
The key reason Phoenix— who desperately wanted Gwanggeom dead—accepted his Kaijin-ization.
"Succeed, he lives on as Kaijin. Fail, you hand yourself over to Cheonghwa-dan."
"Miss?!"
Baek Sang-woo yelped in shock. He hadn't heard about failure clauses.
Phoenix snatched the core from Eun Yu-ha's hand.
"Fail, and I take no responsibility. No mercy. Reviving him's a huge gamble for me."
"Higher realms mean stronger resistance to orders... right?"
Deok-bae's eyes flashed, but Phoenix missed it.
"Good. Let's start."
Phoenix leaned into the coffin with the core. Gwanggeom's exposed chest bore the needle-stitched wound she'd inflicted.
Riiip. Squish.
Something tore inside. Everyone winced. Architect couldn't hold back and puked beer onto the dirt.
"Mana's good, core's good. Issue's the incantation..."
Phoenix straightened, grinning sheepishly at the group. Kaijin chants were too embarrassing to share.
"...Not essential anyway."
Reviving Ga-eul as Phantom taught her: those cringey executive chants meant squat for Kaijin-making.
Squelch.
Phoenix shoved the core into Gwanggeom's wound. The City Hall snake's golden glow burrowed into his heart, purified mana from the Cube seeping in after.
"Hey, craftsman."
Phoenix whispered in his ear, too quiet for others.
"Sorry for knocking up Harang."
Flash.
Gwanggeom's eyes snapped open. He lifted his lids, silently glaring at Phoenix.
"......"
"......"
Silent stare-down for seconds. His hair turned golden too. Then Gwanggeom spoke quietly.
"You're the priest bastard who impregnated my daughter?"
"......"
Phoenix mumbled incoherently. Gwanggeom rose silently, grabbing the iron sword atop him.
Phoenix waved frantically.
"J-Joke! Just a joke! Resurrection surprise!!"
"Father-in-law."
Gwanggeom stood from the coffin; Phoenix backed away. Ears perked, everyone retreated.
"You called me father-in-law back in Daejeon."
"Whoa..."
Eun Yu-ha's gaze at Phoenix soured especially.
Phoenix stomped in panic.
"It was a joke! Why would I marry Seok Ha-rang?!"
"Phew."
"Hmm."
Ga-eul sighed in relief; Eun Yu-ha crossed her arms, tilting her head. Gwanggeom raised a hand, erecting a light barrier.
"So you're saying Harang's not good enough?"
"No way! I love Seok Ha-rang tons!"
"Really? Then let's talk first."
"No, I said it's not!!"
Gwanggeom's ultimate engulfed Gwanak. Three hours later, only massive battle scars remained.