Chapter 70
Chapter 70
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: 1+1 (3)
[Meanwhile, in a luxury apartment somewhere in Korea.]
"Damn it, that should've been the Turtle Ship."
A middle-aged man dressed in a white gown glared at the TV screen showing the battleship Illinois and the American hunters perched atop it, his frustration boiling over loudly.
"Even if it wasn't the Turtle Ship, just having a warship named after our generals would've been something. Look at America shaking in their boots and Russia flipping out. Damn it all to hell."
He couldn't help but be irritated.
Out the window.
-Jo Bok-pal, step down!
-Step down! Step down!
Even near this luxury apartment, a crowd had gathered in one spot, clutching mics and shouting at the top of their lungs.
-Jo Bok-pal, who proposed the Hunter Mobilization Act, step down!
-Master went to America because of you!
-The 13 villains of mobilization, resign from your seats and get lost!
"Rotten bastards. They cheered when it came to forcibly mobilizing hunters."
After Master left for America.
At first, everyone thought he'd bailed because he hated Korea. Then, as he kept tackling America's S-Rank Towers, people started wondering.
-Maybe he ditched Korea for America because of the forced mobilization law?
Setting aside whether America was some paradise, no country in the world forced hunters into six months of compulsory hunter service.
There had already been murmurs like that even before the Jeju Island S-Rank Tower was cleared. Now that he'd gone to America, what was the situation?
-Mobilization villain Jo Bok-pal, hand over your badge!!
The entire nation was on the hunt.
People flooded the National Assembly website, launching a full-on digital witch hunt against the 13 congressmen suspected of playing a key role in driving Master to America by proposing and co-sponsoring the Hunter Mobilization Act.
Is Korea okay like this?
In the era of hunters and towers, with the EX-Rank Awakener being the first to abandon the Korean Peninsula, many voiced their concerns.
Yet no one dared wield the scalpel against the festering tumor.
The ones who should were too busy getting cursed out by citizens to make a move—and they lacked the power anyway.
Beep beep beep.
Congressman Jo Bok-pal's phone rang.
"Yeah, what is it?"
[Sir. It looks hopeless.]
His secretary's gloomy voice came through the line.
Jo Bok-pal started to snap at him, but ended up letting out a hollow laugh instead.
"Hopeless how? The president's approval rating? My assembly badge? Or the Iron Blood faction's comeback?"
[...All three?]
"You little shit."
[I'm serious, sir. Why not activate that plan? Leak it as an internal whistleblower, gauge the mood, and bow out gracefully...]
"Hang up, you bastard!"
Jo Bok-pal cut the call before the conversation could even get going.
"This ingrate—I took him in as an aide after his connections dried up, and now he's using it to stab me in the back?"
Jo Bok-pal quickly pulled up SNS.
Not your average messenger app, but a special one guaranteeing secrecy and anonymity, impossible for civilians to access. He checked a particular chat room.
One video playing.
In it, a secluded hospital room on Jeju Island, decked out like a psych ward. A woman lay fully restrained on a bed.
[Mmph! Mmmph! Mmmph!!]
Even with a gag to prevent suicide, she thrashed wildly.
Figures in white gowns approached with what looked like syringes, but they couldn't get a clean stick in.
"Damn useless bitch."
Jo Bok-pal slumped into his chair.
With the lights off, the balcony windows let in a flood of light from below. He gazed down at the thousands of citizens gathered there and picked up his wine.
"Nothing's working. Shit, do I really have to join that?"
He chugged the wine straight from the bottle like soju and scratched his head.
"National emergency state..."
The massive tower hanging in the sky.
Internationally dubbed [Babel], its existence had already prompted some Third World leaders—presidents, prime ministers—to declare states of emergency.
No law said Korea couldn't do the same.
Some countries were mobilizing hunters, claiming S-Rank Towers were stairs for the SS-Rank beasts descending from Babel later on.
Others formed emergency committees to preemptively clear S-Rank Towers, fearing the U.S. would demand resources or hefty conquest rewards in exchange for their help.
-We might even get an EX-Rank Awakener!
Fueled by that hopeful delusion, some nations began scrutinizing every single awakener for hidden special abilities.
What about here?
"Damn it. If Master hadn't cleared every last S-Rank Tower...!"
Aside from Babel looming overhead, there wasn't a single situation worth yelling "Bisa-aang!" about.
As a result, unlike other countries, the Korean Peninsula's gaze had shifted from external threats to the internal rot.
"At this point..."
Having suddenly become the tumor himself, if he was going to relinquish power anyway—
Whirr.
"Huh?"
A shutting-down noise echoed, and every electronic device in the house powered off.
Fridge, the TV that had been dimly lighting the living room in the dark, even his smartphone.
"Wh-what the...?"
Blackout.
The moment Jo Bok-pal whipped his head around amid the sudden outage.
Crunch.
"!!"
Something—a massive hand—clamped onto his face.
"Guh, guh, graaah...!"
[Congressman Jo Bok-pal.]
A voice-modulated tone spoke from whoever held his face.
[For the 'Miracle of the Peninsula,' you must step down.]
"Y-you, what...!"
[We will forge a new order.]
The instant his eyes met the black-masked figure's.
He saw it.
Blue-glowing eyes beneath the mask.
"Y-you...! So this is...! A coup! Rebellion!"
[No. We have no intention of seizing the nation by force.]
"D-doing this and...!"
[We should have stepped forward long ago. Among the 300... it's only natural some represent the awakeners' voices.]
Crackle.
[From today, there's no more history of forcibly imposing political neutrality on awakeners.]
"G-graaaah!!"
[And.]
Beneath the mask.
[I will stand atop this peninsula, carrying his will.]
Lightning poured from the blue eyes, scorching Jo Bok-pal's body.
[First.]
As if.
[I'll claim your seat after you resign. With the rightful support of the citizens.]
Like tampering with something deep inside the body that should never be touched.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ BOOM!!
The roar of a missile exploding.
The Illinois unleashed a barrage of missiles, intercepting the approaching foes.
[Patrick! What the hell are you doing! Fire!]
[Ugh, guh, the sheer number trying to leap onto the deck...!!]
The path ahead for the Illinois stretched out long and narrow, like the Panama Canal.
Thankfully, there was enough space for it to pass, but the bizarre battlefield had everyone on deck on edge.
Whoosh!!
Like the top of a waterfall.
The Illinois raced across the water, but that water flowed off to the left and right at regular intervals.
[Aaaah! Sharp turn ahead!]
[M-Ma-Master! Speed!!]
The deck crew panicked, but there was no slowing down.
Instead, like kart racing, it calculated acceleration and drifted through the waterway.
Whoosh!
The current sprayed sideways.
The Illinois hugged the edge precariously and shot forward, but those on deck must have glimpsed the abyss alongside the cascading water.
The abyss.
A bottomless pit from which no one returned.
Without flight capabilities, one fall meant game over in this peculiar battlefield.
The Panama Canal S-Rank Tower wound along a channel as wide as the real canal, with nothing but sheer cliffs on either side—no protective walls or railings.
And it wasn't just cliffs; ghost-like entities rampaged, trying to knock anyone racing along the waterway off course.
[Aaaah!]
[Th-the path scares me m-more than the beasts!!]
It was only natural for the hunters to be afraid.
Entrusting your life to someone without a deep bond of trust crumbled at the slightest mistake.
'That's why I'm focusing even harder right now.'
Whoosh.
He poured his effort into steering the Illinois steadily along this narrow, canyon-like channel.
His body kept moving forward, but he controlled it meticulously to prevent any plunge into the cliffs below, no matter what happened.
"Commander. Sorry to interrupt mid-conquest, but have you found it yet?"
Dry sidled up beside him.
Having located the boss room fairly quickly in what was like a vast jungle terrain, they could afford a bit of leisure now.
"Should we call the bet off? No sign of the path to the boss room from the Panama Canal side right now."
Elaine joined him at his side.
"Is the Illinois not enough on its own?"
"Who knows... Well, a battleship thriving in a battlefield doesn't mean it can conquer the tower."
A 250-meter warship conquering all the way to the boss?
In the case of the Golden Gate, the battlefield environment and boss matchup had aligned perfectly for success.
But most S-Rank Towers, like Crater Lake National Park, were optimized for human-scale assaults.
If they had to go human-scale here...
"No choice. Elaine. Dry. Commence boss room conquest."
"What about Panama?"
"We can't skip this just because Panama's a mess. The world is praying for every tower to be cleared faster... Huh?"
For a split second, he spotted it.
"Whoa, the Panama Dungeon boss is a real punk, huh?"
The cliff, dark as the abyss itself.
"Darkest under the lamp, they say. Look at it—tucked right under the field?"
There, below, the transfer circle leading to the boss room glimmered faintly.
If you pictured this canal-like field as a cubic die, the transfer circle sparkled on the opposite face from the one the Illinois raced along.
"No helping it."
He paused control of the Illinois.
"Wall-climbing our way down is the only option."