Chapter 229
Chapter 229
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 229
Chapter Title: Retaking the Han River (1)
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“Here, you too.”
“…I'm scared of blood.”
“What do you mean, scared of blood? You're the one who's always crossing the line between life and death on the battlefield! Stop lying and hurry up!”
“Ah, seriously! I'm making excuses because I know what you're trying to do and I don't want to! You're a king, can't you even tell that!?”
“I'm doing this because I know, you brat!”
[…What are they doing.]
After bickering for a while, we were both exhausted.
It would have been nothing in the game, but this was reality.
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't help but feel reluctant.
“Just drink it once. Squeeze your eyes shut.”
Cheon-ryang said with a newly solemn face.
I peered into the gourd bottle with a sense of unease.
Wine mixed with blood.
Isn't this something they did back in the Spring and Autumn period?
It's what Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei did when they took the Oath of the Peach Garden.
A highly symbolic ritual.
Still, in this day and age…
“Ah, seriously.”
But I couldn't just let this opportunity pass, so I squeezed my eyes shut and tilted the gourd.
Only then did Cheon-ryang show a satisfied expression.
“With this, you and I are now sworn brothers. From now on, if anything happens to you, I will help you as much as I can, and if you wish it, I will point my sword at your enemies.”
[You have become sworn brothers with the Dokkaebi King, 'Cheon-ryang'.]
[If you request help and Cheon-ryang responds, he will manifest and assist you in every way possible.]
One of the few ways a Dokkaebi could bypass the rule of not harming humans.
However, this method was not preferred as it somewhat diminished the Dokkaebi's own power. More importantly, after being summoned to the real world, many restrictions were attached, offering little benefit to the Dokkaebi.
Despite this, Cheon-ryang had been the one to propose the ceremony of brotherhood.
“…Since you're the one who suggested it, I'll be sure to work you to the bone.”
“Hahaha! If I get to see the outside world after so long, I can certainly put up with that much!”
Cheon-ryang let out a booming laugh.
“And another thing, we Dokkaebi never take a debt of gratitude lightly. We repay it even at the cost of our lives. Little brother, you helped not just the Dokkaebi, but this entire world. It's only natural that I, the king, step forward. That is what it means to be a king.”
So I'm the younger brother, naturally.
I gave a wry smile.
Then again, the image of me being the older brother would be a bit strange.
“You can only be summoned within Korea, anyway.”
“Well, that can't be helped. This reverse world we live in is based on that place. If we go too far, the connection is severed, and I wouldn't even know you're calling. Unless it's somewhere nearby, or if there's some kind of passage.”
Cheon-ryang suddenly pulled something out.
“What's that?”
“This is this, but I have to properly repay you for helping us. Here.”
My eyes widened.
A Dokkaebi Invisibility Cap.
One of the three great treasures of the Dokkaebi, which grants an invisibility effect when worn.
“Are you sure you can give me this?”
“Who said I'm giving it to you? I'm lending it, just lending it. Even I can't just give it away unless you're a hero who saved the nation. The old geezers who are already dead and exist only as spirits would come nagging, clacking their dentures.”
“Then…”
“But hey, I get to decide when it's returned. You can bring it back after you die. Hey, Mandeuk! Is there a problem with this?”
“Lending it is no problem, sire.”
“There you have it. Hahahat!”
A laugh escaped my lips.
It felt like watching a bunch of old guys who couldn't be honest with their feelings.
“Then I'll use it well and return it.”
“Of course. You should.”
Cheon-ryang smiled and waved his hand.
The gatekeeper, his expression completely changed, bowed politely and stepped aside, opening the gate back to the real world.
It took longer than I expected, but it was well within an acceptable range.
The sub-quest… there were no clues, so I guess I'll clear it next time.
I also need to find out who 'The Most Forgotten One' refers to.
Such a being was never mentioned in the game.
'Busy, busy.'
I sighed inwardly and stepped through the gate.
***
The residential area was quite bustling.
I could see quite a few civilians who usually didn't come out for safety reasons, so much so that it felt new, making me wonder if there had always been this many people here.
[Aren't you curious why they're all out and about?]
“Not really.”
[Aww, you're curious. You want to know, don't you? Itching to find out, aren't you?]
Besial made a very annoying face and covered his mouth with a smirk.
He looked like he was dying to explain.
He's going to get his administrator privileges revoked if he keeps that up.
“I'll find out eventually anyway.”
[I'm a devil, you know. Spoiling things is my favorite pastime.]
I see.
If that was the reason, I could understand.
“Too bad for you, then.”
[Why?]
“It's not a spoiler if you're telling someone who already knows.”
The faces of the civilians walking the streets were filled with joy.
Their status windows, seen through Extreme Eye, showed they were ordinary civilians, but there was only one reason for their reactions.
“Because, just like when you first appeared, another mass awakening has been announced. The reason is that the Heaven-Defying Disaster that appeared last time prompted even the gods who were just watching to lend their power, increasing the amount of 'power' that can be distributed, right? That means more people can awaken as players. It'll probably happen around sunset today.”
[…Huh. What. How do you know that? There's no way you could know in such detail unless you eavesdropped on a system meeting or something.]
“Of course I'm one step ahead of you. In fact, should I give you a spoiler? The gods getting involved is like a regimental or battalion commander starting surveillance in the military. If you keep forgetting your position as an administrator and try to pull something, your superior devil will chew you out immediately. You'll probably get reamed out right around the time the players awaken.”
Besial's face turned pale.
He was still only an intermediate-rank devil, so he was in a position to receive various orders from the high-rank devils above him.
In other words, he had superiors to report to and be monitored by.
His blatant attempts to leak information to me while here on Earth would have already been discovered.
[Y-You should have told me that sooner!!]
Besial opened a subspace and hurriedly disappeared.
Now it should be a bit quieter.
I didn't want to show this to Besial, either.
I took out the Dokkaebi Invisibility Cap and put my hand inside.
A neatly folded piece of traditional paper came into my hand.
'There's no way he would have specifically given me the Dokkaebi Cap out of the three treasures for no reason.'
The Dokkaebi Cap was called a treasure, but its performance wasn't that exceptional.
In terms of item rank, it was about C-grade.
So, Cheon-ryang's reason for giving me this must have been something else.
[Hong Gildong's National Map of Earth-Shrinking]
The map said to have been used by Hong Gildong to perform his earth-shrinking technique.
Point to a desired location to consume mana proportional to the distance and move to that area.
Limited to the Korean peninsula. As it is an old map, it differs greatly from the present, so caution is required when traveling.
“Is this an unlimited warp scroll limited to Korea?”
It was an item whose existence I knew of, but I had never obtained it in the game because I didn't know how.
How could I have known, when it was hidden inside the Dokkaebi Cap like this?
I was feeling sorry for constantly asking Jun Bo-ra for help, so this was perfect.
Before anyone could see, I put the map into my inventory.
“Stop dawdling and move quickly! The more we delay, the more people will get hurt!”
A familiar, booming voice rang out.
Turning my head toward the sound, I saw Kim Ji-hyeon commanding a large group of players.
“What's going on?”
“Kim Se-hyeon? Hmm. I suppose it's fine to tell you. We're going to help Busan. A request for support came in, saying that the drug cartel's activities there have suddenly intensified, and their counterattacks have grown fierce. These are the troops we've gathered for that purpose. Due to the number of injured from the last incident, it's not a large force, but…”
Kim Ji-hyeon's voice trailed off.
There were, of course, players from the Jamryong Guild, but the rest were a bit strange.
Hongryeon and Donghae were nowhere to be seen, and I could only spot players from the Silver Hawk and Taegeuk guilds.
Even then, the number of Silver Hawk members was small.
If nothing else, since Jeon Do-jin, who was holding off the drug cartel in Busan, was a member of Hongryeon, that guild should have been the first to step up.
“It doesn't seem to be just because of the injured.”
“You have a sharp eye, as expected.”
Kim Ji-hyeon smiled bitterly.
“The Hongryeon Guild is absent, as they're completely wiping out the remnants of Tarwi. The Silver Hawk and Donghae guilds… are retaking the Han River basin.”
“The Han River… you say?”
“Apparently, several A-rank gates appeared there simultaneously, causing quite an uproar. The reason hasn't been identified yet… The most plausible theory is that because the West Sea was in chaos during the last Heaven-Defying Disaster, the Han River basin, which is connected to it, was affected.”
Indeed, that was a plausible inference.
The duration of the Heaven-Defying Disaster's activity was by no means short, and it was long enough for the entire area to become contaminated.
Above all, the S+-rank monster sleeping in the Han River basin.
'Leviathan.'
It was strange that the beast had remained quiet until now.
It wouldn't have been the least bit strange if it had appeared during the Heaven-Defying Disaster.
If it had, the difficulty would have been truly hellish, but thankfully, that wasn't the case.
[A Main Quest has been generated.]
[Ch.19 – Sea Breeze of War]
The sea breeze of that day was bitingly cold, and its scent was salty as if it had dissolved countless sorrows.
That place was a tomb where many hearts slept.
※Upon failure, the 'Busan' area will turn into a lawless zone. In the lawless zone, monster activity will become more frequent.
My mind was a mess.
The chapter name and content were the same so far, but the reality would surely be different from what I knew.
The fact that Jeon Do-jin was still alive, and the variable of 'Pentagon Eagle's' other potential forces.
Some members of L-Team might even still be around.
I wondered to what extent my original knowledge would still be effective.
“Your face is dark. That's not like you.”
“Did I look that way?”
“I've been seeing your face for quite some time now. I can tell that much.”
Seeing Kim Ji-hyeon's strange expression, I remembered the first time I met her.
The school where I went to rescue the twins.
The sight of her struggling alone, drawing the aggro of countless Death Bites to protect the other students.
So this Kim Ji-hyeon was now getting involved in the Busan storyline.
This, too, could become a variable.
“Ah.”
Right, the twins.
Choi Yeon-soo knew I was planning to go to Busan, so she probably sent the twins along with this procession.
'As I thought.'
Just as I expected.
Spreading my mana to detect theirs, I found the twins loitering around.
“Oh, hyung!”
“Oppa!”
As I approached, the twins spotted me and came over with bright smiles.
If the Hongryeon Guild had gone on a large-scale operation to wipe out Tarwi, then its member, Jeong Ha-yeon, would have gone with them.
In effect, the only members of 'Rebellion' left here would be me and the twins.
“I heard Lee Min-hwa-nim looked after you from time to time while I was away.”
“Yes. Lee Min-hwa unni taught us a lot!”
“Look, hyung. I can do this now!”
Jo Min-woo, who was performing some kind of martial art with flames wrapped around his feet, soon screamed that his clothes had caught on fire.
…He still has a long way to go.
I gave a small, bitter smile.
“Are you taking those kids with you?”
“It will be a good experience for them.”
Kim Ji-hyeon nodded.
The twins were a significant force.
My standards were just too high; Jo Min-woo was at least top-tier B-rank, and Jo Min-ah was at a level that would be considered high among A-ranks.
“It will take quite a while to get to Busan. Will we make it in time?”
“We'll be using this to travel.”
What Kim Ji-hyeon took out were the 'Banner of Marching' and the 'Horn of Victory'.
Items that greatly increased movement speed when a certain number of people moved together.
'Then, in that case…'
After a moment of thought, I said to Kim Ji-hyeon.
“Did the operation to stabilize the Han River basin also start around the same time?”
“Not long ago. They've probably just arrived and are starting to clear out the monsters.”
“Then we'll join you later. I think it would be better to ensure the safety of the residential area first.”
After all, it was Leviathan, ranked high among S-ranks, practically an S+.
If that thing was on the move, it would be rude not to at least say hello.