Chapter 427
Chapter 427
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 428
Chapter Title: The Demon King's Provocation
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Chapter 428
January 1, 2034.
The midnight bells announcing the start of the new year had rung out, and fifteen minutes had passed.
Seo-jun's group had gathered at Young-jun's apartment—registered under his parents' names—to celebrate becoming adults.
"Eventually, this day comes too."
"Yeah. Twenty years old. It's somehow hard to believe."
Ha-young gave a bitter smile as she muttered.
"Why the gloomy vibe? Becoming an adult is great. Come on, everyone. Happy New Year!"
Young-jun shouted brightly to change the mood.
Seeing that, Ha-young finally cracked a small smile, following his lead.
"Yeah, Happy New Year to you too."
"Oh, right! We're adults now, so we should drink. Booze."
Young-jun grinned mischievously and mimed raising a glass.
Seo-jun shook his head.
"We'll drink next time. Seo-yoon's here."
"No, don't mind me! Enjoy yourselves."
Seo-yoon waved her hands frantically.
Seo-jun stared at her blankly before shaking his head.
"No. If we're drinking without you, you'll feel left out. We'll drink another time..."
At that moment, Young-jun cut him off.
"What are you talking about? We can all drink together. Seo-yoon, you drink too. I'll keep it secret. Okay?"
Seo-yoon shook her head at his words.
"No. I have someone else I want to share my first drink with..."
"Aw, don't be like that."
In that instant, Ah-ra pinched Young-jun's arm.
"Ow!"
"If you're an adult now, shouldn't you act more mature?"
"Ow, ow, ow! It hurts!"
"Heh heh."
Laughter finally erupted among them after a long time.
Seo-yoon watched them with a small smile and spoke.
"Really, don't worry about me. You'll just make it awkward if you do."
Seo-jun pondered for a moment before nodding.
"...If you put it that way, I have nothing to say. So, should we drink?"
At Seo-jun's words, Young-jun jumped to his feet.
"I knew it, so I bought some in advance."
"What? Dude, you just turned twenty. How did you buy booze?"
"Ahem. Knowing is dangerous."
"...This guy's insane."
"Hey, don't you know buying booze underage docks points from the Special Task Force?"
Young-jun came under concentrated fire from everyone for buying alcohol as a minor.
Watching that, Seo-yoon recalled a similar old memory and gave a bittersweet smile.
Young-jun headed to the fridge, while Ah-ra absentmindedly changed the TV channels.
[...Come on, listen up. A month has nearly passed since Kim Sun-woo predicted Cruas's descent, but no mana reactions from the beast have been detected.]
An heated debate was playing on the TV.
Whether Cruas would really descend on Seoul, as Kim Sun-woo claimed.
And how humanity should respond to his baseless assertions.
At the same time, seriousness settled into everyone's eyes.
Ah-ra spoke up then.
"You think Cruas will really come to Seoul?"
"You all know. Sun-woo warned about Cruas's existence half a year ago."
Seo-jun muttered while staring at the TV screen.
And simultaneously, everyone recalled the 'Abyss Exploration,' the midterm exam at the Wizard Academy.
Everyone here had seen 'Cruas' in Sun-woo's unconscious vision.
Half a year before Cruas became known to the world, Sun-woo had already predicted this.
"...Sun-woo knew everything already. Far earlier than the Association. So this warning must be based on full knowledge too."
As everyone fell silent, Young-jun let out a small sigh.
"The problem is no one's believing Sun-woo right now."
"...Yeah."
Sun-woo had lost all human trust upon becoming the King of Demons.
Seoul might end up a sea of flames because of a magical beast.
Right then.
The debate screen froze, switching to a news program.
The anchor stared into the camera with a stiff face.
[Breaking news. A video uploaded to the multinational streaming platform UTB has shocked netizens.]
News exploded right at the start of the new year on January 1.
What could possibly be happening?
Seo-jun stared blankly at the screen.
[This shocking video contains a short message of about one minute. Let's take a look.]
The TV screen changed soon after, and a video appeared.
In the video, a man with dark brown hair gazed at the screen with somewhat arrogant eyes.
Everyone's eyes trembled widely at once.
"...Kim Sun-woo?"
Wizard Association.
Shortly after the new year began, the executive meeting room was holding another heated discussion.
"...To reiterate, I'm convinced Kim Sun-woo is human. And he has abilities akin to precognition. We absolutely cannot ignore what he says."
Jin-cheol was strongly asserting his opinion.
But the executives, who flipped out at the mere word 'demon,' weren't listening to the chairman.
"Let's say you're right and Kim Sun-woo is human, as you claim. Then how do you explain the berserk transformation?"
Jin-cheol fell silent at the executive's rebuttal.
......That's.
That was the focus of the current meeting.
Whether Kim Sun-woo was human or not.
Whether a human could truly use a demon's 'berserk transformation.'
Right then.
The meeting room door burst open, and an agent rushed in.
The executives frowned at once.
"Can't you see we're in a meeting?"
"It's an emergency!"
......An emergency?
Doubt appeared on the executives' faces.
From the atmosphere, it seemed like a sudden terrorist attack might have happened.
"What's going on?"
At the executive's question, the agent shouted.
"Kim Sun-woo has publicly declared war!"
......Huh?
Everyone wore confused expressions for a moment.
Declared war? Kim Sun-woo?
And the most shocked was Jin-cheol.
"...Kim Sun-woo declared war?"
The agent nodded and touched the hologram in the center of the meeting room.
A video lit up soon after, revealing Kim Sun-woo, the dark brown-haired man, on the screen.
[All humans, listen. On January 2 at 1 PM, I will randomly bomb three buildings in Seoul's District 3. The next day, three buildings in District 4. The day after, three buildings in District 5.]
.....Huh?
"Did I hear that wrong?"
The shocking words made everyone in the meeting room doubt their ears.
Even though they'd heard it clearly, the absurd claim was too hard to believe.
"...What the hell is that lunatic saying?"
"...Is he publicly announcing a terrorist attack?"
Even executives with decades in the Association were stunned by the unprecedented situation.
No sane person would publicly threaten terror in Seoul, where the Association's eyes were everywhere.
[And that's not the end. After District 5, District 6... From then on, I'll randomly select districts in Seoul and bomb three buildings every single day without fail.]
......Is he doing this because of Cruas?
As if answering the executive's mutter, Kim Sun-woo on the screen spoke.
[...If you're asking my purpose, there is none. I simply want to test the Association's capabilities as the enemy of the new Demon Council. Though, I already know your incompetence, so I have no expectations.]
"Ugh!"
At those words, Yeom-je clutched his nape, feeling his blood pressure rise.
The guy was provoking the Association.
Even Jaun, called the worst criminal organization in history, had never openly provoked the Association!
[I'm looking forward to it. I wonder if you can stop me.]
With that, Kim Sun-woo stood and vanished.
"...Is that bastard serious?"
"Nah, a lunatic like that is just trying to scare us."
Then Kim Sun-woo reappeared on the screen.
[Oh, right. In case some don't believe my warning, at 12:20, I'll blow up one random building in Seoul.]
Everyone checked the time at his words.
12:19:57.
And moments later.
KABOOOM—!
A powerful vibration echoed from somewhere.
All the executives' faces hardened at once.
Just as he'd claimed, a bombing had occurred somewhere in Seoul.
Jin-cheol, who had just argued Sun-woo was human, covered his face with both palms.
"That idiot."
[...At 12:20 AM, an explosion terrorized a building in Seoul's District 2. The cause is suspected to be an installed mystic bomb, similar to those used in the Two Kings of Demons incident.]
[Fortunately, no one was inside the building, so there are no casualties. However, residents of District 3, announced as the next target, are currently gripped by fear and anxiety.]
"Kuhahaha!"
In a luxury hotel at Seoul's center.
Eun-seong was clutching his stomach, cackling.
"Wow, is that guy for real? Seriously? I'm laughing so hard I can't breathe."
Eun-seong wiped tears from his eyes as he spoke.
Jin let out a hollow laugh.
......He's a mad one. First time I've seen someone provoke the Association like that.
Back when Jaun's influence, centered on Jin Cheon-woo, spanned the world.
Even then, they'd never provoked or pre-announced terror against the Association.
Though recent terror incidents had tarnished the Association's image to that of a punching bag, their raw power was undeniably real.
"I'm seriously losing all my grudge against Kim Sun-woo and turning into a fan."
"Heh heh. Yeah, he's got some real flair."
Ska chuckled while munching snacks.
Then Jin turned to Berth.
"Berth. He's doing this because of Cruas, right?"
Berth nodded at the question.
"Probably. He's ramping up public anxiety to give them justification to prepare for Cruas. Even so, I never imagined he'd go this extreme..."
Berth, who had maintained a blank expression throughout, burst into laughter for the first time.
"Is he really in his right mind?"
......In a ruin shrouded in deep darkness and sinister energy.
A bespectacled man leaned against the wall, looking down at his smartphone.
[All humans, listen.]
On the screen, Kim Sun-woo's provocation against the Association was playing.
Only twenty minutes since upload, and views had already surpassed ten million.
The man smirked at the sight.
"...Kim Sun-woo. I didn't expect you to pull something like this."
The man soon began shaking with shoulders hunched like sobbing.
"Kuh ku... huh huh?"
Heh heh. Heh heh heh.
After laughing for a while, the man seemed to calm and stopped.
"...This will plunge the whole world into massive chaos. Did Cruas just take a huge L?"
Muttering to himself, the man—Chang-hyun—continued.
"I should step it up too, following his lead. ...For that one's complete return."
He gazed out the window.
At the end of his gaze burned a building, bright enough to pierce the darkness.
It had been perfectly fine just twenty minutes ago but became the first sacrifice of my plan.
Then Ha-ryeong appeared behind me.
"My king. According to the Association's report, there are no injuries or fatalities."
"Good."
I'd planned it carefully to avoid involving others.
The goal was simply to instill fear, not to harm anyone.
And the Association must now realize what I want.
I'd given them justification.
Not to act on a demon's baseless warning, but justification to move against me.
"...My king. May I ask one thing?"
I answered Ha-ryeong's follow-up without turning from the window.
"Yeah. Ask."
"Is there a reason you're going this far?"
At that, I turned to look at Ha-ryeong.
She met my gaze and bowed her head.
"...If it was just to scare them, I felt there was no need to reveal your face and provoke them so openly."
I nodded at her words.
"You're right. If it was just to scare them, there was no need to show my face."
"...So, does that mean revealing your face served another purpose?"
I nodded.
"Yeah. Another purpose. One to ensure I survive facing Cruas."
I activated Outsider's Benefit.
Countless messages filled my vision at once.
[You have achieved the 'Declaration of War' feat.]
[Reward: 10,000 points acquired.]
[You have achieved the 'Public Terror Announcement' feat.]
[Reward: 10,000 points acquired.]
[You have achieved the 'Ten Million Views' feat.]
[Reward: 10,000 points acquired.]
[You have achieved the 'Iron Heart' feat.]
[Reward: 5,000 points acquired.]
[Countless people feel fear toward you.]
[Reward: 50,000 points acquired.]
[Countless people are enthralled by you.]
[Reward: 50,000 points acquired.]
Endless messages continued...
And even now, feats and reputation points kept piling up nonstop.
The simple reason I so recklessly turned my back on the Association with this public announcement?
With my confrontation against Cruas right around the corner, this was the fastest shortcut to getting stronger in the shortest time.