Chapter 248
Chapter 248
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 248
Chapter Title: ACT.49 The Embers of War (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
‘If I use the darkness to pull out the dimension stone again.’
*Vweeeeee!*
The warp gate returned to the state it was in before I dismantled it.
After I entered the password, the machine rebooted normally.
But looking at it properly like this, there was a small, unsettling detail.
‘It’s different.’
Warp gates also appeared in *End of Apocalypse*.
However, they weren't in this form, and they were scheduled to appear several chapters later when the game became an ‘open world.’
The basic operating principles and design were similar, but the core felt different.
‘If I had to pinpoint the cause…’
I stared at the faintly glowing power source.
It was unmistakably a dimension stone.
The one called the Master of Salvatio had used a dimension stone to create this much earlier than scheduled.
It was something even Min Gyeong-hoon had shaken his head at, saying it was impossible.
I couldn't do it, but there was a way it could be done if it was that person from the West.
‘Magic.’
The key to creating the original warp gate.
It would have been entirely possible for him to have met with mages beforehand and built this together.
But this created another problem.
A big problem: not only the Order, but another hostile force now had dimension stones they could freely manipulate.
Where on earth were they getting these dimension stones?
“Wow, it’s a real warp gate. I might lose my job at this rate.”
“You have a surprisingly good grasp of your own limitations.”
“I’ll kill you, seriously.”
Jun Bo-ra grinned brightly.
Perhaps because I’d grown used to teleportation, I wasn't particularly surprised by her sudden appearance anymore.
Or maybe I had just become more sensitive to the flow of mana.
Choi Yeon-soo was next to Jun Bo-ra.
“What about the Taegeuk Guild?”
“It was a situation I had to report in person. And I’ve hired brilliant people to keep things running even without me, so no worries. Let me get a break, too. My head feels like it’s going to split open from doing nothing but paperwork all day.”
Choi Yeon-soo grimaced.
The Taegeuk Guild had essentially established itself as an information guild.
That was one of Choi Yeon-soo’s strengths, and it was also easier to manage that way in my absence.
“Anyway, I heard everything. You barely killed anyone this time, either?”
There was no way the two of them knew about this place from the start.
They must have gone to the headquarters first, heard from Kim Ji-hyeon that I had come here, and then followed.
If they did, they would have naturally heard a brief summary of the incident.
I nodded.
“I’ve been curious for a while now. Leader, you really don’t kill unless you absolutely have to. Aren’t you too reluctant to kill?”
“That’s my choice. Would you prefer it if I went around killing everyone without mercy?”
“It’s not that, but it would be much easier, wouldn’t it? No loose ends. No need to hold back. In a world like this, no one would blame you for killing someone you met as an enemy. Of course, I’m not advocating for killing people indiscriminately. But… how should I put it? It feels like you’re conscious of someone’s gaze. Unlike Hwang Chan-jin.”
I glanced over at Jun Bo-ra.
She also hadn't killed a single person when she took over the eastern residential area of Seoul, opting for a friendly approach.
Hwang Chan-jin, on the other hand, seems to do it that way just because he knows.
Surely she wasn't planning on dumping the cleanup on me again this time, was she?
“Ah, are you an angel? Is it because of your sponsor?”
The time when I hesitated because of the angels’ eyes was long past.
It wasn't just for that reason.
Until recently, I was concerned about the power of the Disaster of Apostasy growing, but this time, there was a different reason.
I looked up at the sky through the hole in the ceiling.
Everything comes back.
In the worst possible way.
“It’s better to have more allies than enemies, isn’t it?”
“Well, if that’s the reason…”
Choi Yeon-soo seemed to accept my generic answer and moved on.
As long as the angels' eyes were watching, I couldn't say what I knew out loud, so I quickly changed the subject.
“More importantly, what was so important that you had to come tell me in person?”
“It’s about Han Hyeok-jun.”
Jun Bo-ra answered instead.
“Han Hyeok-jun was captured by the Order.”
“…What?”
I asked again, wondering if I had misheard, but Jun Bo-ra confirmed that I hadn’t.
“He was captured by the Order. Fortunately, we seem to have rescued him before anything happened.”
“…”
I was at a loss for words.
Even in *End of Apocalypse*, though he often acted aggressively against the Order, Han Hyeok-jun had never once been captured.
What on earth had happened to him while we were apart?
“What’s Han Hyeok-jun’s condition now?”
“It’ll probably take a few days for him to wake up. Whatever they did, his mind is submerged deep in his subconscious, and it was a real struggle just to pull him out.”
Subconscious.
The moment I heard that word, I instantly knew who had captured Han Hyeok-jun.
Cromwell, that madman, was in Korea? Why?
Now it all made sense.
No matter how much of a psycho Han Hyeok-jun acted like when dealing with the Order, wrecking their plans left and right, he never recklessly risked his own life.
If there was an opponent who could push him to act so recklessly that he’d be captured, there was only one person.
Cromwell, who could be called Han Hyeok-jun’s mortal enemy.
“Anyway, the rest of the Order’s forces escaped. Our objective was to rescue Han Hyeok-jun, so we didn’t pursue them further and came back. Hwang Chan-jin is handling the cleanup to figure out what they were doing there. You know, if we had arrived just a little later, he might have been captured too.”
“That’s a relief.”
“And yet he glared at me like he wanted to kill me for bringing his little sister along! That ungrateful ice man!”
Jun Bo-ra fumed.
It seemed Hwang Chan-jin’s nickname had solidified as ‘ice man’ at some point.
I think he really hated it.
“Speaking of which, I have a complaint for you, too.”
“What is it now?”
“You. You gave Ciel my phone number, didn’t you.”
Jun Bo-ra immediately averted her gaze.
Unbelievable.
“Still, thanks to that, things were resolved easily, so I’ll let it slide.”
“Right? It was helpful, wasn’t it? I predicted it all.”
“…”
“You won’t make any friends if you glare at people like you want to kill them just for a joke.”
Jun Bo-ra stuck her tongue out.
It was true I didn't have any friends, so that stung a little.
“And we’re going to America soon, right? I came because I want to go too, and with a warp gate, we don’t have to worry about running out of space. You’ll take me, right?”
“I don’t think there’s any particular need to take you.”
“No, there absolutely is.”
Jun Bo-ra puffed out her chest confidently.
That’s surprising. Does she have some kind of plan?
“I lived abroad before coming back, so I know English. You can leave the translating to me.”
To say that so confidently, even knowing about the translation items, was impressive in a way.
“No, think about it. Those translation items don’t last forever, so you have to keep buying them. Isn’t that a waste of coins? We’ll be in America for days, and the coins you’d save by not buying them would be significant.”
“Leader, I agree with her on this. There’s no harm in reducing expenses.”
I grimaced reluctantly.
She wasn't wrong. Even if I had a relative surplus of coins, it was always best to cut costs where possible.
What I was worried about was something else.
If, as Ciel said, we ended up in an all-out war with Salvatio over there.
I could manage to get myself out somehow, but it would be difficult for me to ensure everyone else’s safety.
Jun Bo-ra’s teleportation was excellent for escaping, but I couldn’t be certain our enemies didn't have teleporters of their own.
“And I was asked to do something, too. So no matter what you say, I have to go.”
Jun Bo-ra said with a suddenly serious expression.
I’d seen her make that face a few times before.
When she was like this, she wouldn’t back down no matter what I said.
I didn't know who asked her or what the favor was, but she wouldn't do anything that would harm me.
“You just want a vacation, don’t you?”
“A vacation? Call it a business trip.”
“Sure.”
The moment I saw Choi Yeon-soo’s sly smile, a plan flashed through my mind like lightning.
‘Wait.’
Jun Bo-ra and Choi Yeon-soo.
Taking these two… might just work.
I knew Choi Yeon-soo well.
So, the one I needed to understand here was none other than Jun Bo-ra.
She had impersonated the Strategy King, gathered a considerable force, and possessed both the eloquence to attract people and the guts to back it up.
If so, couldn't I entrust her with ‘that role’ originally meant for Kim Ji-hyeon?
“Alright, let’s go.”
“That’s more like it.”
Jun Bo-ra grinned.
“So is this everyone going to America?”
“No. The twins and Cha Eun-ha are coming too. After we arrive in America, we’ll split into two groups.”
A diplomatic delegation for the official talks.
And the group for the ‘real objective’: to crush Pentagon Eagle and screw over Salvatio while we were at it.
The latter was, of course, my role.
“Why Cha Eun-ha?”
“I’ll explain later. For now, just know that she’s joined Rebellion.”
Jun Bo-ra nodded lightly.
She would probably be shocked when she saw Cha Eun-ha’s condition.
Just in case, I shut down the warp gate and returned to the headquarters.
The twins and Cha Eun-ha were in the same place I’d last seen them.
“Is the pecking order sorted out?”
“Gah. Hyung, you saw that?”
“You took quite a beating. I thought you were being a punching bag to help your sister relieve some stress.”
“…”
Jo Min-woo slammed his forehead onto the table with a thud.
He was sunk.
Then, Jo Min-ah muttered just loud enough for him to hear.
“If it were me! To bring Min-ah back to life, I’d go to heaven and hell! …I wonder where the person who said that so bravely went. I just can’t believe it now.”
“Kyaaaah!! Stop it! Stop iiiit!!”
Jo Min-woo squirmed and writhed all over the place.
I knew he’d react like that sooner or later.
Jun Bo-ra and Cha Eun-ha immediately jumped on the topic.
“Really? Min-woo said that?”
“This is the first I’m hearing of it. Could you tell me more?”
“He said it right in front of me. I was so embarrassed I couldn’t even lift my head.”
“Oh my, oh my. True love. That’s true love. I’m so jealous you have a brother who would say something like that. So jealous.”
“Jealous? I’m just embarrassed to have such a foolish kid for a brother.”
“Even as you say that, you have such a warm expression on your face.”
“I-I do?”
“Stop… just stop…”
As the conversation continued, Jo Min-woo couldn't lift his head.
“Looks like his blankets will be flying around at night for a while.”
Choi Yeon-soo sighed and shook her head.
He was at that age where cringe-worthy incidents happen a lot.
It was understandable in a way, which only made it more pitiable and hilarious.
“That’s a strange expression. Are you laughing or sighing?”
“Both.”
“Hmm. Could it be that a similar experience is giving you PTSD?”
At Jun Bo-ra’s words, spoken with narrowed eyes, my body unconsciously stiffened.
Of course I had them.
Several incidents too embarrassing to even speak of…
“…Everyone has a painful past.”
“See? You do have one. You do, don’t you?”
“What about you? Knowing your personality, there’s no way you don’t have one.”
“My personality? What’s that supposed to mean!?”
“You know your own personality best.”
I lightly dodged Jun Bo-ra’s ensuing punch.
“Who would get hit by a punch that slow? My ramen would have gotten soggy by now.”
“You, just you wait. I’m going to transcend my agility stat and hit you for real.”
“With your skill set, that won’t happen until you get it over 100 and learn Body Flicker or something.”
“Um, wasn’t there something you wanted to say?”
Cha Eun-ha raised her hand to speak.
The twins, who had been watching me dodge Jun Bo-ra’s punches with just a tilt of my head while my arms were crossed, agreed with Cha Eun-ha.
“That’s right. You came with Unni and Mister, so I thought something new was up.”
“Are we going back to Seoul already, Hyung?”
“No. We’re going somewhere else.”
*Thwack.* I caught Jun Bo-ra’s fist.
Three pairs of eyes focused on me.
“America.”