Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: Desperate Measures
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While Lee Si-woo was half-dazed from the message he’d received from Barathrum, his smartphone rang loudly.
*Click.*
As soon as he answered, Roben unleashed a torrent of words.
-Mr. Si-woo, where are you? The atmosphere here is grim. Tower Lord Kenyon has summoned all the mages of the Magic Tower and is heading for the slum. Lady Isabelle has requested cooperation from the Dongbanhoe to select humans whose economic status is below the middle class and is gathering them in some location.
At Roben’s report, Lee Si-woo squeezed his eyes shut.
A thought suddenly occurred to him.
What would he do in this situation if he were Kenyon?
‘If it were me… I would have eliminated all factors that threaten my foundation in advance.’
Kenyon’s words flashed through his mind.
-Thank you. Thanks to you, I think I can see a way forward.
It was a mistake.
He should never have told Kenyon about the virus research results.
He shouldn’t have painted a picture for him of how the virus emerged, which humans were infected by it, how it would become a threat, and how it should be prevented.
Yes, he shouldn't have given him the knowledge to distinguish between black and white.
‘Kenyon plans to kill every human who could become a threat beforehand.’
That must be why he led all the mages to the slum.
According to Lee Si-woo's research, the number one area to be eliminated first was the slum.
‘Kenyon, don't do something stupid. Do you think Black Night won’t know you’re on the move? You think they won’t know your scheme?! Why… why the hell are you doing something so foolish! Everything’s going to be a mess. Everything… all of it!’
It was clear why the White Disaster would break out in an hour.
Black Night, having sensed Kenyon's intentions, was making their move first.
So, he had to stop him.
Quickly, before he made an irreversible mistake.
‘But how do I stop Kenyon? No matter what I say, Kenyon will… ah!’
Just then, as if struck by an idea, Lee Si-woo used his smartphone to call Roben.
It was to ask him to arrange a meeting with the master of the slum, Karis.
* * *
“The Senior Magic Tower Lord, Kenyon, is leading mages toward the slum. Not only that, but the movements of the other Magic Towers are also suspicious. They are suddenly dispatching mages to the burial mounds on the plains.”
The Spider Matriarch, who had been splashing around in the middle of a hotel swimming pool as usual, cackled upon hearing her subordinate’s report.
“So, they’ve caught a glimpse of the White Disaster, have they? Hoho, it seems even this shabby backwater has its share of prodigies. For a mere beginner at the 6th Circle, that whelp is quite something.”
“What should we do?”
“What else? We start the project immediately. Well, it’s a shame we couldn’t gather more corpses… but since they’ve caught on, it can’t be helped. Disperse the awakening agent that will rouse the dormant virus.”
“Understood. We will begin the process of deactivating the virus’s dormant state.”
“How long will it take?”
“An hour will be sufficient.”
The Spider Matriarch exited the pool, showcasing swimming skills as sleek as a seal’s.
She lightly shook her long, wavy black hair to flick off the water and spoke.
“Good, then I suppose I’ll start making my move as well.”
* * *
Karis put a cigarette to his lips. Exhaling a puff of white smoke, he asked the uninvited guest who had come to see him.
“How did you know? That we were preparing *that*.”
To Karis’s question, the black-haired man, Lee Si-woo, answered.
“Aren't you underestimating the Magic Tower a little too much? When that many magical devices are in circulation, it’s only natural for them to be traced. And there’s no way such news wouldn’t reach me, a key figure in the Senior Magic Tower.”
“I wonder. We are aware of that much. That’s why we took sufficient precautions.”
Lee Si-woo nodded and said.
“You’re right. You moved so cautiously that there’s almost no evidence. The ones we did catch were just small fry. But the Magic Tower isn’t a pushover. We’ve disabled most of the incantations on the installed devices and even placed tracking magic on them.”
Taking a breath, Lee Si-woo continued.
“The moment you operate the detonator, they’ll instantly track your location and move in. The signal from a detonator is impossible to hide. So, you can consider this magical device terror plot to have outlived its usefulness. The Magic Tower is fully prepared.”
Karis, narrowing his eyes, said.
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“You’ll have to believe it, whether you want to or not. Because it’s the truth. And… why would I lie to you? Aren’t we both human?”
Karis chuckled and muttered.
“Both human… an interesting line. So? What is it you want from me?”
“The detonator for the bombs you prepared for the attack. Hand it over to me.”
Karis tilted his head and asked.
“Hmm, didn’t you say it had outlived its usefulness and was now worthless?”
“Yes. It’s worthless to you. But it’s different for me. Unlike you, who is merely the boss of a slum, I’m in a position with enough influence to turn lies into truth. No matter how competent the Magic Tower is, they couldn’t have found all the devices you installed, and the moment even one remains, if I start talking…”
As Lee Si-woo trailed off, leaving a meaningful nuance, Karis asked back with interest.
“Turning lies into truth… I can roughly guess how you plan to use it, but do you really think it will work? Your opponent is Kenyon.”
Lee Si-woo said in a confident voice.
“A talented elf reaching the 6th Circle in an optimal environment, versus a human who fell into a pit becoming a key figure in the Senior Magic Tower. Which of the two do you think is more difficult? Well, the answer may vary depending on one’s perspective, but at least I have never once thought that I am inferior to Kenyon.”
Karis let out a low laugh.
Meeting him in person, wasn't this man a real piece of work?
This man named Lee Si-woo.
The more he saw him, the more he liked him.
His thoughts, his confidence, his plans—all of it.
For some reason, he felt they were cut from the same cloth.
“After years of selecting the areas with the highest foot traffic and carrying out the work, we’ve completed 50 percent of Granada’s core districts.”
“Half… that’s a lot.”
“No matter how capable the Magic Tower is, do you think they found all those bombs?”
“They would have found at least ninety percent of them.”
“That still leaves ten percent. Ten percent of the magical devices remaining in the core districts… While it can’t be used as a means to defend human rights, it should be more than enough for you to work on Kenyon.”
Karis took a black remote from his pocket and tossed it to Lee Si-woo.
Catching the remote lightly, Lee Si-woo asked.
“What about the map with the bomb locations?”
“I’ll send it to your smartphone.”
*Beep.*
No sooner had the words been spoken than a text message arrived on Lee Si-woo’s smartphone.
As he scanned the bomb locations, Lee Si-woo inwardly clicked his tongue.
‘Huh, the Magic Tower only found eighty percent? That’s ten percent more than I thought. The slum’s resources are quite formidable. Hmm… this will be a great help.’
Putting away his smartphone, Lee Si-woo said.
“I understand there are firearms in the slum.”
Karis replied in a cold voice.
“Did Roben tell you that as well? My, my… ever since he became a mage, it seems any sense of belonging to the slum has vanished without a trace.”
“Don’t blame an innocent man. Roben never said anything. Why would I need to find out something so obvious through Roben?”
“Obvious?”
“Of course you’d need weapons. But magical armaments are too expensive… and among humans, there aren't many with mana, are there? Well, the answer is obvious, isn't it? There must have been more than a few people with knowledge of modern weaponry.”
“So you deduced we would have made firearms?”
“That’s the only way to effectively control and manage people. Well, I’m saying this as a human myself, but… honestly, our kind isn’t exactly the most obedient, are we?”
Lee Si-woo was right.
The slum possessed a considerable number of firearms for internal management.
Lee Si-woo sent his research journal to Karis via his smartphone.
“This is…?”
“It’s the research results on the new virus and the Stragglers. If you read it, you’ll understand why I asked if you had firearms. So, after you’ve confirmed, spread your people out as much as possible from now on. So that even if someone gets infected, you can respond immediately.”
After quickly reading through the research journal, Karis’s face was as stiff as a statue.
“…I received a report that the Magic Tower’s mages are coming to the slum. That’s why I was preparing for a bombing, just in case. But after seeing this… it seems they’re quite desperate on their end as well. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m just going to let them have their way.”
“Don’t worry. They won’t attack the slum.”
Lee Si-woo let out a deep sigh, steeped in frustration, annoyance, and a myriad of other complex emotions, then turned around and continued.
“Because I will stop them.”
Leaving Karis’s office with the uncomfortable expression of someone forced to do an unpleasant task, Lee Si-woo was swarmed by about ten children.
They were children from the slum, innocent kids who still didn’t know the harshness of a reality with no tomorrow.
“Are you Mr. Si-woo?”
“Are you really a human who’s a mage? Can you use magic too?”
“Do you ride a phantom beast? Where’s your phantom beast?”
“I heard you have a spirit too, I want to see it! Please summon your spirit!”
Lee Si-woo openly scowled at the children bombarding him with countless questions.
“Hey kids, sorry, but your big bro is too busy to deal with you. And don’t call me mister. It pisses me off. Also, yes, I can use magic. I have a phantom beast, but I haven't ridden it yet. I can’t use spirits. Got it? Now everyone, get lost. I’m busy.”
After firing off his words like a machine gun, Lee Si-woo pushed his way through the kids, but a few of them grabbed the hem of his robe and asked.
“Hyung. Can I become a great mage like you too?”
He averted his gaze from the child’s eyes, which sparkled with a burdensome expectation.
“Please take this. It’s a cross-stitch I made…”
He coldly refused a gift from a girl.
“I’m your fan, hyung. Whenever you do well, I feel so proud. So please, please be very successful. Mom said that if you rise really high later, our situation will get much better!”
“That’s right! Dad said that thanks to you, we got a soup kitchen in our slum!”
“Thank you. Thanks to you, we can eat lots of delicious food. I love chicken! Oh, and pork cutlets too!”
At that moment, as wretched as it felt, the words he had babbled to Kenyon echoed in his mind.
-If they’re not people whose faces I’ve seen and voices I’ve heard, I’m the kind of guy who couldn’t care less whether they live or die.
Lee Si-woo let out a curse without realizing it.
“Dammit…”
Enraged by the emotion rearing its head from deep within his chest, Lee Si-woo shouted.
“Everyone, get lost! Stop bothering me! I’m busy enough as it is, and you things blocking my way are just making me more distracted!”
The faces of the children, who flinched back like startled rabbits at his roar, came into view.
He didn’t want to see them.
“S-sorry. I didn’t know you were busy. Really… If I had known you were busy, I wouldn’t have bothered you.”
“Still, hang in there, hyung. You’re our pride.”
He didn’t want to hear it.
‘I hate children. I hate these brats who smile innocently and spew words that adults would never dare to say.’
He wanted to ignore it all, to be a bystander.
But why?
Suddenly, he remembered the day he fled from Yanbian.
His mother’s eyes, seen through the crack in the door.
Those eyes seemed to be asking him.
*Are you going to run away this time, too?*
*Are you going to look away, stand by, and abandon them again?*
Lee Si-woo clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.
The slum.
He’d felt it from the moment he first arrived, but this place was a shithole no matter when he came.
* * *
When Kenyon arrived at the slum, the first person to greet him was Lee Si-woo.
“…Lee Si-woo.”
Having no time for pleasantries, Lee Si-woo got straight to the point.
“Don’t do something stupid, Tower Lord. Killing these people is meaningless. In fact, it’s nothing more than a foolish act that will only speed up the timer on a time bomb.”
“It doesn’t matter. Even if the timer is sped up and it explodes, if I can reduce the amount of gunpowder, that in itself is not a bad outcome.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit.”
At Lee Si-woo’s curse, Kenyon’s eyes blazed.
“What? What did you just…”
“Cut the crap. If you understood the virus’s weak point thanks to me, you should be thinking about working together to implement quarantine measures. Shove that fucked-up plan of eliminating people who haven’t even been infected yet, just because they have a high probability of infection, into the trash.”
Kenyon let out a hollow laugh.
He knew very well what kind of man Lee Si-woo was.
How could someone of his stature not guess why Allen was being swayed by Lee Si-woo?
While backtracking Lee Si-woo’s trail, Kenyon had discovered that the man had kidnapped Allen’s younger sister and was blackmailing him.
And from Allen’s attitude, he knew it was still ongoing.
“That’s not something a vicious bastard who doesn’t hesitate to kidnap, blackmail, and even murder for his own goals should be saying to me. To be honest… what would you have done if you were in my shoes? Hmm, it’s just my gut feeling, but… I think you would have made a similar choice to mine, wouldn’t you?”
Lee Si-woo readily admitted it.
“You’re right. I might have made the same choice as you. No, I would have. Because it’s the best option. But… I’m allowed to, and you’re not.”
At Lee Si-woo’s absurdly unreasonable words, Kenyon asked back, dumbfounded.
“…What?”
“So if you’re going to do it, do it where I can’t see. Do it where I can’t see, where I can’t hear. Then I won’t give a damn whether you fry them or boil them. But… not where I can see you do it. Especially not with a fucked-up decision based on the research results I handed you.”
Lee Si-woo took a black remote from his pocket.
“If you saw my research results! If I gave you the clues, you should be grateful, shouldn’t you? You backstab me like this? Damn it, you can just kill everyone and be done with it. But what about me? Am I supposed to be tormented by some pathetic guilt because of something that happened thanks to the research I gave you? For something I didn’t even do?!”
When Lee Si-woo pressed the button on the remote, a massive explosion erupted from a high-rise building in downtown Granada, visible even from the slum.
In truth, it was a newly constructed building with no one inside, but that didn’t matter.
In this urgent situation, there was no way Kenyon would realize it was a bluff.
And even if he didn’t fall for the bluff, it didn’t matter. This was only a fraction of the magical device bombs Karis had installed; there were still many more left.
Kenyon, who had been staring in bewilderment at the building collapsing in a sea of flames, turned his head.
There stood Lee Si-woo, looking at him with an extraordinary gaze.
“Guilt for what I’ve done? I can carry that burden anytime. Yes, just like now.”
Since it was a bluff, there was no guilt to speak of, but as long as Kenyon was fooled, that was all that mattered. Lee Si-woo continued speaking in a suitably agitated voice.
“But not for what you’ve done. So don’t even think about pinning your sins on my contribution. Just cooperate with us humans. And let’s overcome this crisis together. Then we can at least avoid the worst-case scenario.”
Lee Si-woo waved the hand holding the remote and continued.
“You don’t want to? Then before this White Disaster or whatever breaks out, I’m going to blow this goddamn Granada to smithereens. You think I can’t do it? Kenyon, you know. You’ve seen me for what I am. What do you think I’ll do? To avoid taking a loss… how far do you think I’m willing to go?”
Kenyon let out a hollow laugh as he looked at Lee Si-woo, who was glaring at him with bloodshot eyes.
It was a fresh realization, but this man was out of his mind.
And in his judgment, the most dangerous kind of person in this world was a guy like that.
Yes, a competent madman.
Kenyon sighed.
A psychopath and a lunatic. But because of one capable man, the situation had devolved into uncontrollable chaos.
At that moment, though Lee Si-woo didn’t hear it, his phone chimed as a text message arrived.
*15 minutes remaining until the outbreak of the White Disaster.*