Chapter 257
Chapter 257
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 257
Chapter Title: ACT.51 Antiquity and the End (2)
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“Kim Se-hyeon should be in America by now.”
*Crunch.*
Ice formed in his empty hand, and he tossed it straight into his mouth.
That was Hwang Chan-jin's way of quenching his thirst on the battlefield.
*Ssss…*
The magical beast's corpse turned to dust and vanished.
Why were there so many bastards conducting experiments, one after another?
Hwang Chan-jin let out a faint sigh.
‘Well, that guy can handle things on his own.’
But something else was bothering Hwang Chan-jin.
He had captured Han Hyeok-jun but let the researcher named Cromwell, who was experimenting on him, escape.
The relationship between him and Han Hyeok-jun.
And the fact that, in the original EOA, Han Hyeok-jun had never been captured and used as a test subject by Cromwell at this time.
Knowing these two things, he had tried desperately to catch him, but the interference from the remaining members of the Order was too severe, and he ultimately failed.
“It seems there's nothing left here.”
Min Dan-ah appeared behind Hwang Chan-jin.
“Same here.”
And beside her was Min Ji-ah.
Hwang Chan-jin retrieved his sword and turned around.
“...Speaking informally so naturally.”
“Well, you're younger than me. Last time, the situation called for formal speech, but there's no need for that now, is there? It's not like we're strangers.”
“I've never told you my age.”
“I can just tell.”
Hwang Chan-jin's brow furrowed.
The chill that naturally emanated from him with his change in mood would have terrified an ordinary person, but Min Ji-ah didn't mind and even smiled.
“More importantly, let's head back. There's no point in clinging to something we can't pursue any further.”
“...”
He agreed with her, so Hwang Chan-jin nodded silently.
‘It's only been about a week.’
Hwang Chan-jin's meeting with the two sisters had been pure coincidence.
After rescuing Han Hyeok-jun and entrusting his transport to Jun Bo-ra, he was cleaning up the rest.
The two of them, who seemed to have been tracking the Order as well, had joined the fight.
They were incomparably more stable than when he'd last seen them.
‘Then again.’
Min Ji-ah, though aided by Madness, was an S-rank, and Min Dan-ah was someone Kim Se-hyeon had judged to be ‘talented.’
If they could properly control their Madness, they had the right conditions for rapid growth.
Neither of them was close to S-rank yet, but given enough time, the two sisters could make it.
“Aren't you coming?”
“...No, I'm coming.”
It was impressive enough that they had discovered the Order was backing Paradise in such a short time, but Hwang Chan-jin found their very existence quite fascinating.
Originally, one was fated to die, and the other to become the worst kind of murderer, fighting against the playable characters.
Yet here they were, laughing cheerfully together, suppressing their Madness, and fighting on the side of the players.
Hwang Chan-jin found himself unconsciously fiddling with the hilt of his sword.
Just a short while ago, he would have judged it better to eliminate any remaining risks to ensure absolute safety, rather than letting them live.
For some reason, the thought of watching over them now came first.
‘Kim Se-hyeon. Is this the result you hoped for?’
Restoring happiness to those who shouldn't have had to suffer—
Kim Se-hyeon himself had never said it, but Hwang Chan-jin vaguely thought that must be it.
The starting point must have been the twins.
After retrieving his sword, Hwang Chan-jin returned to the residential area, keeping a certain distance from the sisters, Min Dan-ah and Min Ji-ah.
“I heard something happened. This place has changed a lot.”
“It has...”
The sisters looked around the residential area as if seeing it for the first time.
“Ah, we're heading to the Hongryeon Guild. Do you need anything?”
“No, I don't.”
“Then I guess we'll part ways here. It was nice seeing you!”
“Goodbye.”
After the two left, Hwang Chan-jin started walking.
Since he'd decided not to go to America, he had to diligently earn coins through other means.
Just as he was thinking of checking if Han Hyeok-jun was awake, Hwang Yu-jin came running up, out of breath.
“Oppa!!”
A faint smile immediately appeared on Hwang Chan-jin's lips.
But it was fleeting. The moment he saw the stiff expression on Hwang Yu-jin's face, his eyes narrowed.
“Yu-jin. Is something wrong?”
“Th-those kids who hang out with Se-hyeon-ssi. The middle school girl and boy.”
The twins, you mean.
Hwang Chan-jin nodded.
“What about them? I thought they went to America with Kim Se-hyeon.”
“I can't reach them!”
“International calls are expensive, so they might have blocked them.”
“No, not their phones!”
Hwang Yu-jin shouted in frustration.
“I'm talking about the communication item! It's completely dead! We were talking just a few hours ago! Se-hyeon-ssi isn't answering either! That's an item that works anywhere on Earth, regardless of distance. If it's not working, doesn't that mean something happened!?”
Hwang Yu-jin's concern was natural.
Given that it used mana, there were only two reasons a communication item would fail.
Either the item was broken, or it was being blocked by some being with immensely powerful mana.
Either way, it meant they were in a bad situation.
But there was something in the middle of Hwang Yu-jin's words that he couldn't just ignore.
‘Kim Se-hyeon?’
Why is his name suddenly coming up?
Why is that slick bastard exchanging messages with my sister?
Since when?
As Hwang Chan-jin remained silent, Hwang Yu-jin called out impatiently.
“Oppa.”
“...I should go. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Okay. Go on. Don't worry about me. Oh, and they said Han Hyeok-jun-ssi is recovering quickly too.”
Hwang Chan-jin nodded and immediately set off.
Hwang Yu-jin scratched her cheek, looking perplexed.
“Something feels strange... but I guess it worked out?”
Hwang Chan-jin's reaction had clearly changed in an instant.
That point bothered her, but she assumed it was because he realized the gravity of the situation and let it go.
‘They said there was a warp gate in Busan.’
With a light step, the space around him blurred and shifted.
Thanks to his ground-shrinking technique, it didn't take Hwang Chan-jin long to reach Busan.
‘Is that it?’
He had only heard the general location, but finding it was easy.
He just had to look for the unusual source of mana.
Hwang Chan-jin's gaze fell on the few people guarding the warp gate, yawning.
Insignificant obstacles.
Making a quick judgment, Hwang Chan-jin instantly accelerated toward the still-active warp gate.
“Huh!? H-hey! Stop!”
The startled guards urgently tried to block him, but they couldn't even grab his clothes as he slipped past.
‘Kim Se-hyeon.’
You bastard. So you've finally gone and done it.
Hwang Chan-jin's eyes blazed.
***
“A way? What kind of...?”
“Mister Kim. Does such a method truly exist?”
“I'm going to use the Dragon of the End.”
There are a total of two hidden bosses in America.
One of them is the ‘Primeval Beast’ that is currently destroying everything here.
And the other is the ‘Dragon of the End.’
“Are you crazy!?”
Jun Bo-ra grabbed my shoulders in shock and shook me.
“That thing doesn't show up until much, much later! There aren't even that many players who have received divine power yet, so how do you plan to beat it!? I asked you how to defeat the Primeval Beast, so why are you trying to wake up another disaster!?”
It seemed she didn't know about the Primeval one, but she knew about the one of the End.
Simila, on the other hand, seemed to not know about the Dragon of the End and was listening to the conversation quietly.
She had a point.
Whether it was the Primeval Beast or the Dragon of the End, either one appearing at this point would present an incredible challenge.
It was hard enough to stop one, so her reaction to the idea of waking another was perfectly normal.
But this was the only way.
I could think of several other ideas, but none of them would work against the Primeval Beast.
Or they were simply impossible at this point in time.
Only waking the Dragon of the End was both possible and offered a chance of defeating the Primeval Beast.
“Mister Kim, are you perhaps planning to pit them against each other?”
“That's right.”
“The Primeval Beast and the Dragon of the End... From what I hear, the Dragon of the End seems like a formidable foe as well. If two disaster-class beings fought to the death, the survivor wouldn't be unscathed. Certainly, from our perspective, it's advantageous as it gives us a chance to take down both. If we can, that is.”
Simila slowly twirled her parasol.
Jun Bo-ra sharply disagreed.
“No, I'm against it. Even if we wake the Dragon of the End now, it will only be in its larval stage. By the time we wake it and bring it here, the Primeval Beast will have grown even stronger. And if that thing manages to devour the Dragon of the End's power, then we'll truly be out of options.”
“We're out of options right now, too.”
“When news of this gets out, the top-tier players won't just stand by. People like Crow...”
“And how long will it take for the news to reach them and for them to arrive? Can that happen in at least twenty or thirty minutes?”
The players who heard about the Primeval Beast's abilities were pulling back, but that was just buying time.
It would move on to other places, devouring everything in its path and growing stronger.
“It's okay. Trust me.”
I spoke with conviction and offered a gentle smile.
“...You.”
Jun Bo-ra's eyes widened, as if she'd realized something.
Before Jun Bo-ra could say anything more, I cut in.
“But let me ask one thing of you.”
I slowly opened my mouth.
After hearing the contents of my ‘request,’ Jun Bo-ra fell into a long silence.
“You're really...”
Jun Bo-ra, who was about to say more, clutched her forehead.
Sensing the strange atmosphere, Simila stepped away.
“Then, while Mister Kim carries out his plan, we will do our best to hold it off. How long do you think it will take?”
“Ten minutes at most. It should take about that long.”
“Ten minutes... If we fight like our lives depend on it, we might be able to manage. Oops, we can't actually die, can we.”
Simila smiled with her eyes.
Not just because of the Primeval Beast, it's best if people don't die if it can be helped.
The twins... seem to be with Cha Eun-ha, so they should be fine.
If there's anything the Primeval Beast dislikes, it's fire and lightning, which interfere with its regeneration.
In its current state, where it hasn't regained much of its original power, there's prey everywhere.
It probably won't bother attacking those three first.
“Jun Bo-ra. Let's go.”
As I spoke, I habitually took out Hong Gildong's Nationwide Teleportation Map.
The moment I took it out, I realized my mistake.
This thing only works on the Korean peninsula.
I'd only used it a few times, but I'd already pulled it out by habit.
I clicked my tongue briefly and was about to put the map away.
“Wait. What's that?”
“An item called Hong Gildong's Nationwide Teleportation Map. It has the effect of teleporting you to a designated point on the map, but I can't use it here.”
“Can I see that for a second?”
“I told you, it doesn't work.”
“No, just give it to me. I have a feeling.”
Jun Bo-ra snatched the map from me.
The place where the Dragon of the End sleeps is the Grand Canyon.
Considering Jun Bo-ra's teleportation can't cover long distances in one go, I don't have time for this...
“Hmm... Okay. I get it now.”
“You get it?”
“You'll see.”
Jun Bo-ra grabbed my arm.
And then, with a single teleport, we arrived at our destination.
A canyon of natural splendor.
In the blink of an eye, we had traveled from Washington to the Grand Canyon.
“Hmph. What do you think? Pretty amazing, right?”
“What did you just do?”
“I understood the principle applied to the map and just used it myself. If I use this well, I think I can teleport anywhere within a country without distance restrictions. This way, we can solve the only drawback of your plan: time, right?”
Crazy.
This wasn't something that could be explained away by just being smart.
“I went this far for you, so you'd better not fail.”
“That won't happen.”
“...I'll be counting on it.”
After Jun Bo-ra left, I turned my gaze toward a crevice where the light was unnaturally blocked.
Within lies the end that will sever the despair that has existed since antiquity.
The price for it will be nothing to scoff at.
And I, of all people, will have to bear the reason why its name is ‘the End.’
Even so.
This was something I had to do.