Chapter 207
Chapter 207
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 207
Chapter Title: The Phoenix's Head, Xie (1)
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“The fact that they came like this means there aren't many skilled people left at the Bonghwang's main base in China. Plus, they'd never expect an attack from Korea.”
Jun Bo-ra listed her reasons one by one with a cautious expression.
There can't be three priestesses.
If there were several, Besial would have said so.
Besides, this is only possible because China borders the West Sea. A country farther away couldn't do it at all.
“So, if it's just me sneaking in alone to deal with the priestess, it's possible.”
My eyes met Jun Bo-ra's.
An impossible task for me, whose quest area was still limited to Korea.
Honestly, if she could do just that, nothing would be better.
“An A-rank's Teleport shouldn't be able to cover that distance.”
“Who said I'd travel like that? I'll have to use Teleport while chugging mana potions like water.”
“That's dangerous...”
Lee Min-hwa immediately tried to stop her, but fell silent after seeing Jun Bo-ra's expression.
Consuming too many mana potions causes a backlash on the body.
Like the rampage Jo Min-ah once experienced, or a state of depletion where mana actually drains from the body from drinking too much.
Lee Min-hwa's brow furrowed.
“You know what happens if you use that method, right?”
“Of course.”
“That's the same as entering the enemy's camp alone to assassinate a protected target. Even if you don't go that far, it won't be a major obstacle to breaking the Heaven-Defying Disaster.”
“I have to. No, I will.”
Even Hwang Chan-jin chimed in, but Jun Bo-ra's resolve was firm.
“It's something only I can do, right?”
Plus, stopping this would reduce the number of casualties.
Jun Bo-ra added with a smile.
I let out a faint smile as well.
“Jun Bo-ra.”
“What?”
“You sounded just like a protagonist just now.”
“Saying that makes me even more motivated.”
Jun Bo-ra gave an awkward smile, said she'd stop the Song of the Dead as quickly as possible, and vanished using Teleport.
In the strange silence that followed, Hwang Chan-jin spoke up.
“There's no Four Tiger Sword, nor the Four Dragon Sword.”
The Four Tiger Sword and the Four Dragon Sword were items that were originally supposed to be obtained and used at this time.
They were key items needed to face the Heaven-Defying Disaster.
Now that they were gone, the strategy had to be revised.
Hwang Chan-jin quietly met my gaze.
“I'll go find another way. Can you hold out until then?”
“I might even take it down.”
“...That's not a bad outcome either.”
Hwang Chan-jin let out a short laugh, then spun around and quickly disappeared.
A method to use without those two standard approaches, and considering Hwang Chan-jin's need to reacquire his main weapon... it must be that.
Is he planning to go from Incheon to the East Sea and back without even borrowing Jun Bo-ra's power?
I still can't tell if he's trying to mess with me or if he genuinely trusts me.
No. He might have made that judgment because he has the Mile-Shortening Method.
“...What on earth are you all talking about?”
Lee Min-hwa, unable to easily join the conversation, shook her head.
“If you have information, please share it. Don't just keep it to yourselves.”
“...It's about the evil god that Tarwi serves.”
“An evil god?”
“You could say it's the real reason the undead are appearing now. They're reacting because that being's descent is near. For convenience, we call that being the Heaven-Defying Disaster.”
At the word "disaster," the color drained from Lee Min-hwa's face.
The guild masters had yet to face a disaster directly.
The Disaster of Verdure appeared while the guilds were away, and I dealt with the Disaster of Solitude before it could become a bigger problem.
They must have received reports, but it probably didn't feel real to them.
The only thing they'd faced directly was the S-rank King of Disease, a lower class than a disaster.
But even then, the guild masters had a hard time.
“This Heaven-Defying Disaster... how strong is it compared to the previous two disasters? No, how does it compare to the King of Disease?”
“They aren't on a comparable level.”
Assuming it takes at least three to four players of the same rank to hunt a typical monster, facing a disaster means you need several players who have surpassed S-rank.
The very top among S-ranks.
Originally, it meant that several people on the level of 'Crow' would have to gather to win.
Come to think of it, I wonder if I'll be meeting that old guy soon.
“But Se-hyeon-nim, you defeated the King of Disease easily, didn't you?”
“That's...”
...Speaking from a gaming perspective, the King of Disease was so easy that if you knew the strategy, you could beat the game even if you used your feet to press the keyboard.
I probably shouldn't say that out loud.
Among boss-level monsters, one with a clear weakness like the King of Disease is child's play.
I swallowed those words and cleared my throat.
“In any case, it's not like there's no way. There's no monster that can't be beaten.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Lee Min-hwa's eyes were filled with complex doubt.
I answered with a faint smile.
“There's no opponent without a strategy to defeat them. It's just that it hasn't been discovered yet.”
“...?”
“Well, it's an old saying. The other two have gone to do their parts, so let's figure out a plan to stop the Bonghwang Guild.”
***
With nothing obstructing the skies, it was safe to use airplanes.
Just like in the video Besial had shown, the Bonghwang Guild had used airplanes to swiftly arrive near the western residential area, cleared out the monsters in the vicinity, and seemed to have set up a temporary base using barracks.
Immediately after, a confrontation arose: Korean players versus Chinese players.
With all sorts of undead and monsters mixed in, it was creating a scene of pure chaos.
Fortunately, I told Lee Min-hwa about the 'Cradle of the Dead,' so she placed it near the Bonghwang's base, causing the undead to swarm there. Now, they were in a stalemate, busy fending off the undead.
'Only one Cradle of the Dead can be installed per person.'
I wonder if the Bonghwang players know they're being played by a devil.
No, they probably would have gone along with it even if they knew.
Unable to resist the bait of 100 coins for every Korean player killed, regardless of rank.
'Liang Xie.'
The master of the Bonghwang Guild and a facilitator belonging to Salvatio.
She probably wouldn't bother telling people the devil's true intentions.
Because Salvatio's goal is to annihilate Korea's players.
There are likely people in Korea who would agree with them.
Still, it's so extreme that it's unsettlingly hard to understand, but as long as I don't know what the head of Salvatio is plotting, there's nothing I can do.
“Have I kept you waiting?”
“A little?”
“You have no sense of tact.”
“If you were a woman, I might have said something more tactful.”
“...I really don't like you, Kim Se-hyeon.”
Seon Woo-jin approached, his face scrunched in a deep frown.
By quickly pulling out during the Paradise War, he avoided the complete collapse of the Taegeuk Guild, but having lost all its connections, Taegeuk had become an empty shell.
The Taegeuk Guild was just a balloon, bloated in size with no real substance.
With its ties to its backer, the Bonghwang Guild, severed, it was practically impossible for it to remain one of the five major guilds.
Even though Seon Woo-jin himself was an S-rank, the majority of the A-ranks who made up their main force had been supported by the Bonghwang Guild.
'More importantly, the Bonghwang Guild wouldn't just leave them be.'
That same Bonghwang Guild had led its elites here under the pretext of attacking Korean players.
Seon Woo-jin must have felt like his feet were on fire.
That's why he wanted to meet and talk with me like this, to break through the situation.
“You said you wanted to make a deal?”
“Yes. A deal.”
“Just so you know, I don't trust you much either. Just as you don't trust me.”
Seon Woo-jin bit his lip slightly.
Seon Woo-jin, along with Kim Hyo-jong, had taken an openly hostile stance toward me.
He probably thinks he's reaping what he sowed.
Though the real reason is that I know what kind of person Seon Woo-jin is.
“The Bonghwang Guild came here targeting us, Taegeuk.”
'...Huh?'
I was waiting to see what Seon Woo-jin would say, but his words were unexpected.
“We used to have a friendly relationship with Bonghwang. But due to an unfortunate incident recently, it turned hostile. It's presumed they hold a huge grudge against me in particular.”
A friendly relationship, he says.
He cleverly packaged it with plausible words to make it seem like it wasn't a lie.
“So you're saying this is your fault.”
“I won't deny it. Anyway, there are many guilds in China. Among them, Bonghwang is at the top, but there's another guild just as large and on bad terms with them.”
“Shaolin.”
“...Did you hear that from the other guild masters? That's right. Shaolin. They will definitely follow Bonghwang here.”
The quest created by the swindler devil isn't limited to just the Bonghwang Guild.
It was given to all players in China, so anyone who could find a way to cross over to Korea would try to come.
Among them, due to various factors, only Shaolin could quickly pursue Bonghwang.
Seon Woo-jin emphasized his words as if this was the key point.
“We have to make them fight each other.”
“How are you going to make them fight?”
“I can't go into details, but there's a reason Bonghwang and Shaolin are on bad terms. It's because Bonghwang stole something important from Shaolin.”
He's talking about the Soshindan.
The Soshindan was originally an elixir that could only be produced by Shaolin.
The story goes that one day, Bonghwang swiped the recipe, started selling it themselves, and conversely, Shaolin became unable to produce it.
The person who had been making it died suddenly, making it impossible to fully restore the recipe, and because the timing of the death was so suspicious, it was naturally assumed that Bonghwang was behind it.
However, there was one drawback to using this.
'It's all just circumstantial evidence.'
The suspicion was strong, but there was no proof that Bonghwang had stolen the recipe from Shaolin.
Nowhere.
From Shaolin's perspective, it must be maddening.
Not only did they lose a source of income, but they couldn't even corner the likely culprit for lack of evidence.
“And I have that proof. Clear proof that Bonghwang stole the Soshindan recipe from Shaolin.”
Seon Woo-jin held out a rolled-up scroll.
When I looked skeptical, he readily used a Crystal Ball of Truth to confirm it again.
'Bonghwang had always insisted there was no such proof.'
To think Seon Woo-jin of all people had it.
No wonder they couldn't find it no matter what they did within Bonghwang.
It also lends more credibility to the claim that Xie came to kill Seon Woo-jin.
This was enough to be believable, but I wasn't buying it.
“You left out something important.”
Because there was one point of suspicion in all of this.
“If you were just going to use this, you wouldn't need my help. You could pit the two factions against each other on your own. Why did you specifically say you needed my help?”
“That's...”
Seon Woo-jin couldn't answer right away under my gaze, and then let out a deep sigh.
“Bonghwang isn't stupid; they'll know why Shaolin's behavior has suddenly changed. They'll immediately conclude that I told Shaolin, and Xie herself will come to kill me. If that happens, I'll never survive.”
“So you want me to protect you?”
“That's not it.”
Seon Woo-jin shook his head firmly.
“You don't want the Chinese players running rampant here either, right? I'll make sure Shaolin is satisfied with getting their revenge and recovering what they lost, and then they'll leave. You... you take care of Bonghwang.”
Seon Woo-jin's gaze, fixed on me, trembled slightly.
From Seon Woo-jin's perspective, this was the gamble of a lifetime.
'What a funny guy.'
A dry laugh escaped me.
After spouting all that nonsense about Xie being a monster, he wants me to take on her and the rest of Bonghwang?
Isn't he just looking for an angle to eliminate both me and the troublesome Bonghwang Guild without getting his own hands dirty?
'From Seon Woo-jin's perspective, it would be best if I, the one he's told all his secrets to, also disappeared.'
If rumors spread that he was the cause of this whole mess, the other guilds and players wouldn't look kindly on him.
A cunning personality never changes.
“Seon Woo-jin.”
“...!”
Seon Woo-jin, who had been watching me nervously as I let out a low laugh, flinched and shuddered.
I stopped laughing as if it had never happened and spoke with a chilling tone.
“Do you take me for a complete pushover?”