Chapter 251
Chapter 251
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 251
Chapter Title: ACT.49 The Spark of War (5)
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“I cannot take off my mask due to certain circumstances.”
“Then you cannot enter. Please leave.”
“However, I have something that can vouch for my identity.”
“I'm sorry, but we cannot make exceptions to the official procedure...”
I held out a letter to him.
The man, who had been frowning with one eye in annoyance, immediately recognized the letter I presented and his eyes lit up with interest.
“This is...”
A letter handwritten by Harrington, stamped with an executive's seal.
Unless he was a complete nobody, there was no way he wouldn't know it.
“I will deliver this to the Master. Could you please wait a moment?”
After he hurriedly disappeared inside the building, I recalled something from the past.
Harrington and his subordinates, who had come to the other world.
It would be good to know the circumstances of how Harrington was able to go to the other world, but Graham wouldn't tell me.
I'll have to find that out on my own through a different route.
After waiting for a few minutes, the man returned.
His posture was different from before, as if he were attending to a distinguished guest.
“The Master does not meet with just anyone. It is not possible right now, but he said he has time three hours from now. Is that acceptable?”
“Understood. I'll come back in three hours.”
That worked out well.
I needed to check if Jun Bo-ra had resolved her matter successfully anyway.
I replied that I understood and left the place.
‘Should I look around the residential area?’
First, I need to gather information.
What has changed from the information I knew, and what the current situation is like.
Especially the movements of factions hostile to the Pentagon Eagle...
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
My shoulder was knocked back by the bullet's impact. However, there was no blood.
Instead, a flattened bullet clattered to the ground.
“...To be ambushed the moment I enter the residential area.”
A dry laugh escaped me out of sheer disbelief.
In the direction the bullet came from, there were a few people with a strange aura.
When the gun proved ineffective, they began to whisper among themselves.
Looks like the effect of my translation item has already worn off.
I examined the spot where I was shot.
There wasn't even a scratch, let alone a wound.
‘It didn't seem to be imbued with mana, so I let it hit me just to check.’
When your total Vitality stat exceeds 80, your body's durability increases significantly, so an ordinary gun can't pierce it.
And that's not even mentioning that I have Diamond Body.
There was no way a normal bullet could damage me.
They don't seem that surprised, though...
[They said they saw you come out of the Pentagon Eagle's place.]
“Is that the reason for the attack?”
[How should I know? And this is another guy's territory, so I can't use my power here. Just so you know.]
Besial gave his warning and vanished.
I used a translation item.
Only then could I clearly hear what they were saying.
“At that level, he's definitely in the upper echelons of S-rank. Considering the special armor-piercing round we just used, it's safe to assume he either has a high Vitality stat or a high-rank trait related to it.”
“Hmm... To be that strong, could he be one of 'them'?”
“I'd say so. After all, the famous S-ranks are...”
“Are you having a pleasant chat after attacking someone without warning?”
I closed the distance in a single step and aimed my sword at them.
The two men, perhaps not sensing my approach, flinched and tried to get into a stance, but the woman raised a hand to stop them.
“You're right. I apologize for the rudeness of our sudden attack. We were testing you for our own reasons.”
Her apology was so clean and elegant that it made me feel awkward about getting angry.
If I didn't have Diamond Body, or if my stats were lower, I would have been injured by that shot.
I had intended to press the issue by pointing that out, but the woman before me had a strange power to command the atmosphere.
‘No.’
I immediately used Extreme Eye.
And her trait immediately caught my eye.
‘Embrace of Language’.
A trait that imbues her words with a power that draws people in.
Just as I suspected, she had been using her player power to subconsciously guide my reaction, preventing it from becoming too hostile.
Naturally, my words came out harsh.
“So you were testing me? Isn't it strange, no matter how you look at it, to test someone without their consent?”
“Umm, well...”
The woman touched a finger to her lips, pondering for a moment, then met the gaze of the man beside her.
The man's expression seemed to say, "Why are you asking me?"
The woman then turned her head back to me and smiled brightly.
“To see whether or not you were worthy of joining us. That was the first test.”
“...So if I had been injured, I would have failed?”
“That's right. You would have been too weak to join us, and if you weren't going to join us, it would have been a good chance to eliminate a potential enemy in advance.”
The woman said, twirling her parasol.
She says such things with a smile, as if it's nothing.
I was so dumbfounded that I let out a short laugh.
“Besides, I was fairly certain you wouldn't be taken down by such an attack. That weapon of yours, it was made by the blacksmith at Dongmyo Station, wasn't it? If you went to him for a custom order, then you must know about 'that game' too.”
The woman pointed at my sword, her eyes crinkling into a smile.
My grip on my sword tightened unconsciously.
“That craftsman engraves his symbol on the weapons he makes. It's easy to tell. Though it seems like there's another symbol mixed in as well.”
She knows Old Master Wang.
Which means this woman is also a ‘Progressor’.
Slowly, the surrounding sounds faded.
The woman's party consisted of three people, including herself.
Two of them were S-rank, and one was A-rank.
I had the strength to win if we fought.
The fact that they tested me to see if I was worthy of being an ally showed they weren't exactly friendly from the start.
Even more so if they were Progressors based in America.
“Hey, calm down. I admit we offended you. Simila apologized earlier, didn't she? But hear us out first. We don't want to be your enemy.”
“That means we could become enemies depending on the circumstances.”
“Well, that depends on who you are.”
The man—Raynald—stroked his chin.
The woman called Simila cut in with a bright smile.
“If you're with the Pentagon Eagle, then you're an enemy. Otherwise, you're not.”
“You idiot! Why would you say that outright!?”
“It's fine. I just got a feeling. He's not with the Pentagon Eagle.”
“You call that a reason... No, forget it. Your intuition has never been wrong. Still, this is... Ugh.”
Raynald scratched his head vigorously.
The other person beside them, Dread, spoke up.
“It should be fine. From what I can see, he is not an ally of the Pentagon Eagle either.”
“The two of you, relying on nothing but your feelings, huh?”
“Sometimes, one must trust their intuition, Raynald.”
“Aargh! You guys are going to be the death of me, I swear.”
These three were definitely not a hastily formed team.
They were comrades who had worked together for a long time.
And deducing from what they said earlier, they are.
“Are you a faction that opposes Salvatio?”
“Yes, that's right.”
Simila smiled gently and twirled her parasol.
“We also received an offer from Salvatio, but we didn't think the world they envision is a good one. I imagine you feel the same, don't you?”
“I did reject their offer.”
“A wise decision. We plan to weaken Salvatio by taking down the Pentagon Eagle. If you share our opinion, would you be willing to help?”
“Anyone with a bit of sense can see how insane their plan is. Joining them is like admitting you learned nothing in school. I can't stand them.”
Raynald openly expressed his disgust.
Is it really okay to say such things right near the Pentagon Eagle's headquarters?
I glanced in that direction.
There was some distance, but I doubt they failed to hear the gunshot.
“A gunshot is a daily occurrence, so they probably won't pay it any mind. Besides, using a normal gun like this is basically advertising that you're not a high-rank player. People around here will just think it's another squabble between nobodies and ignore it. They probably didn't even hear it in the first place.”
“Well, we should probably get going anyway. No good can come from them knowing our faces.”
Dread extended his hand forward and clenched his fist.
The air around us seemed to shift, and the familiar sounds of daily life slowly began to return.
They had been maintaining a sound-blocking barrier.
Even though I wasn't using Extreme Eye, they had deployed the barrier so stealthily that I hadn't noticed.
My wariness towards Dread naturally rose.
Despite what they said, with so little information, I couldn't know what they truly wanted.
I couldn't fully trust people who might turn into enemies at any moment.
“Take this.”
Simila held out a neatly folded note.
It was an ordinary piece of paper, with no trace of mana.
“Please think carefully about the offer we made earlier. If you're interested, come to the place at the time written here.”
The three of them vanished without a trace.
To my eyes, enhanced by Extreme Eye, I could see them moving away in the opposite direction.
Wide-area stealth.
That, too, was a skill possessed by Dread.
He's built his skillset for disruption in situations like this, rather than for his own combat power.
I put the note in my pocket, checked if anyone was watching, and then left.
***
“Ah, you're here. Leader, over here!”
Choi Yeon-soo waved his arm.
I could see the rest of the group looking excited, as if they had already ordered.
I walked over naturally and sat in the empty seat.
“I heard you almost got into a fight.”
I had been communicating with Choi Yeon-soo by having Zeta stick with him.
If a fight had broken out, the dark soldiers attached to Zeta would have immediately lent their strength, but things didn't escalate that far.
“Jun Bo-ra mentioned something about the Strategy King. The moment she said that name, their faces went pale and they immediately tried to avoid a fight. It's really strange. He didn't do anything that spectacular within our country, yet foreigners all get tense the moment they hear the name 'Strategy King'.”
“Nothing spectacular?! Hey, are you serious right now!?”
“Whoa. Why the sudden outburst? I mean, it's not like he didn't do anything. I'm just asking if he was famous enough for rumors to spread overseas.”
“Well... Ugh.”
Unable to explain in detail, Jun Bo-ra furrowed her brow and fell silent.
I suppressed a laugh.
It was still a bit awkward to explain to these three, and more importantly, Jun Bo-ra wasn't the real Strategy King anyway.
“Aish, when is the food coming?”
As Jun Bo-ra eventually directed her frustration elsewhere, Jo Min-ah gave an awkward laugh.
Should I help her out a bit?
“What did you order?”
“The recommended dishes. This place is supposed to be amazing. Oh, right. I ordered the number one recommended dish for you.”
“Pfft.”
Cha Eun-ha suddenly burst out laughing.
When I looked at her to see what was wrong, she avoided my gaze and turned her head.
I shifted my gaze back to Jun Bo-ra.
The constant twitching of the corners of her mouth was unsettling.
“What did you do.”
“It's fine. I ordered something edible.”
“...Where's the menu.”
“The waiter already took it.”
I looked for a call button, but there wasn't one.
I had no choice but to try and call a waiter, but my attempt was thwarted as they brought the food out at that exact moment.
“Here is your order. Ah, where does this dish go...?”
“Right there in front of him.”
“Understood.”
Something was placed in front of me.
It looked ordinary on the outside.
Feeling very skeptical, I picked up my spoon and took a bite.
“...!?”
A wave of indescribable flavor washed over me.
This was, yes.
If I had to describe it.
It was a taste that made me want to tell someone to come down and try it for themselves.