Between Heaven and Hell
Inside Incheon International Airport, chaos reigned.
Yesterday, Woojin and his group had not bothered watching television, but today the media was already broadcasting the news far and wide: Eileen Benedict’s promised Asian subjugation operation was about to begin.
“Kyaaaaaaah—! Eileen, I love you!!”
Watching the women screaming at Eileen, Yu Jihyun let out a snort.
“You’re popular, aren’t you, Eileen? With women, I mean.”
Eileen tilted her head, grumbling. “Strange people. Why do they make such a fuss about loving a woman?”
Even on the community boards, Eileen was wildly popular with women; in fact, she had more female fans than male.
That was because her unmistakable femme fatale charm was just as seductive to women as it was to men.
Yu Jihyun, on the other hand—
“Y.O.U.R.E.V.E.R.Y.M.O.M.E.N.T. Yu Jihyun! Y.O.U.N.O.W.A.N.D.F.O.R.E.V.E.R. Yu Jihyun!! Unni, I love you!!”
With her pale skin, cute and refined looks, and perpetually expressionless face, she drew the adoration of men everywhere.
“You should be happy too. There are plenty of men to choose from, even if it isn’t Woojin oppa.”
“I-I absolutely don’t want that!!”
“And what exactly are ‘YourEveryMoment’ and ‘NowAndForever’ supposed to mean?”
“I-I’m not quite sure, Miss Eileen.”
Catherine was hesitating as well, having never heard those names either, when Sangjin cut in and whispered in Eileen’s ear.
“It means ‘I love every moment of you,’ and ‘Yu Jihyun now, Yu Jihyun forever,’ big sister-in-law.”
“Oh… As expected of you, young master. Quite capable.”
“You flatter me, big sister-in-law.”
Watching them, Woojin gave a faint laugh.
They really are enjoying themselves…
“Aren’t you nervous, Brother Chulsoo?”
Kim Chulsoo looked almost haloed in a soft glow.
“What is there to worry about? All things flow of their own accord, and in that process, each finds its proper place. Our expedition is but a part of that greater current.”
“…You’re not planning to shave your head and become a monk, are you?”
Kim Chulsoo jolted in alarm.
“Could I possibly do such a thing to Catherine? Never. My own existence, too, is at its rightful place only when it stands beside Catherine.”
“……Ah, yes….”
Then Kim Chulsoo gave a small smile.
“I was jesting. Did I sound somewhat monk-like?”
“Only if you shaved your head….”
And so Woojin’s party—no, more precisely, Eileen and Yu Jihyun—boarded the private jet amid a storm of fervent cheers.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Hoo, I’m drained.”
At Eileen’s words, Yu Jihyun nodded.
“Agreed. Smiling at cameras isn’t easy, either.”
The ultra-luxurious aircraft, worth nearly a hundred billion won, was practically crackling with a strange tension, on the verge of erupting.
“Then why are you two… sitting on either side of me…?”
“Isn’t that obvious? Oppa always sits in this seat.”
“Right, what a strange thing to bring up.”
Jo Ayoung tried to join the complaint, but…
“How unfair!! What about me!! They’re always just the two of them!!”
“Aren’t you familiar with the proper order of things? Children have more chances, so be generous.”
“You could just not tease me about being an old maid!!”
“You’re the one acting up like a genuine twenty-year-old.”
Not a chance.
The seat beside Woojin belonged to only two people, and Jo Ayoung, who was still outmatched in sheer force, wasn’t in a position to claim it.
Just you wait! I’m going to level up like crazy this time!
Normally, Eileen and Yu Jihyun would have started watching some trashy melodrama the moment they sat down on the plane, but today they were different.
Clinging to Woojin on both sides, their brazenness was even more shameless and far more blatant than yesterday.
“…Hey, could you maybe scoot over a little? The seats on this plane are plenty wide, so why are three of us crowding onto one spot?”
At Woojin’s words, Eileen snorted and tugged his arm deeper against her chest.
“Why be so coy, Woojin oppa? By now, after yesterday… we’ve already seen everything. Or rather, done everything, haven’t we?”
“T-That’s right. I can’t look at oppa the way I used to anymore.”
Even as her face reddened, Yu Jihyun buried her head against his shoulder and whispered.
The look in their eyes said they were utterly convinced they were already no different from wives.
That was because the heat of that time in their dream had burned itself into their minds more vividly than reality ever could.
“No, I’m telling you, that was just a dream! The bed skill activated on its own!”
Woojin shouted in despair, but the two women had already fallen into their own little world.
“Hmph. You handled me so boldly, and now you’re trying to deny it? I had no idea Woojin oppa had such a beastly side.”
“That’s right. You even lifted me up and—”
Woojin barked back, horrified someone might hear. “W-When did I ever do that?! What the hell?! If I had, I wouldn’t even be this annoyed! Do you know how much I suffered yesterday…!”
Eileen’s fingertips traced lightly along Woojin’s neck.
“Heh… That sounds less like denial and more like regret. Don’t be disappointed. There’ll be another chance, oppa.”
“What chance?! What chance are you talking about!!”
Yu Jihyun didn’t even bother to hide it.
“I don’t mind right now….”
“I mind a lot!! Get a grip, Jihyun….”
Fortunately, with other people around, Eileen and Yu Jihyun’s teasing stopped there.
Woojin suddenly thought of that “lucid dream” bed from yesterday.
If he’d known it would cause this kind of disaster, he never would have enhanced it in the first place.
“That bed… I’m deleting it the second I get back from Singapore. I’m burning it down right away.”
At Woojin’s declaration, Eileen and Yu Jihyun screamed at the same time.
“No! It’s mine!”
“What are you talking about? Sell it to me instead!”
“Like hell I will, you two filthy little perverts. I’m getting rid of it first thing when we’re back.”
When it looked like the two might actually come to blows over the bed, Woojin made up his mind.
That bed absolutely had to be erased from the face of the earth for the sake of humanity’s morality.
Then Sangjin, seated behind them, laughed and called out to Woojin.
“Hyung, there’s a post about you on the community boards.”
“Yeah? What’s it say?”
“Take a look yourself. Heh heh.”
Sangjin had been so busy checking Hunter Gallery that he hadn’t even noticed the squabbling trio beside him.
The boards were already flooded with news of Woojin’s departure.
“What the hell is wrong with these idiots?”
“Puhaha, hyung, you’re about to get smaller now. Heh heh heh. Hundreds of people are cursing you.”
“Damn it….”
Then Woojin heard Eileen and Yu Jihyun muttering very quietly.
“It was big….”
“…….”
Woojin smiled bitterly and handed the phone back to Sangjin.
The world either envied him or doubted him.
But the quicker ones would already know exactly who he was.
Woojin’s goal on this expedition was to achieve his second awakening.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A few hours later, the private jet entered Vietnamese airspace.
As the plane crossed above Vietnam on its way to Singapore, the playful expressions on the group’s faces vanished in an instant.
Ayoung murmured softly, “……My God. Look at that….”
Eileen had ordered the pilot to drop their altitude a little on purpose.
She wanted the others to see this sight for themselves.
This was the current state of Asia.
The monster swarms that had spilled over from Cambodia were now devouring Vietnam as well.
Vietnam had been cut in half.
Gates kept spawning more Gates, and the ground below looked like a paradise for monsters and a hell for human beings.
“That’s… the Asian Gate cluster?”
At Woojin’s low murmur, Eileen nodded.
“Yes. The Asian nations have joined forces and built a defensive line, but the situation is still dire. At this rate, there’s no telling how long they can hold out.”
“This is even worse than I thought….”
But Yu Jihyun smiled brightly.
“Don’t worry, oppa. Those are all one-shot kills.”
“That’s only true for you….”
Sangjin seemed fearless as he watched the scene, his eyes shining.
“Whoa. Wouldn’t it be fun to turn all of that into undead?”
Eileen agreed with him.
“If young master levels up a bit and gets stronger, he may end up handling the field. After all, necromancers shine in large-scale battles like this.”
“Is that so…?”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The plane crossed Vietnam and arrived at Singapore International Airport.
Perhaps because this was a key stronghold, they hadn’t seen a single Gate on the way.
Around the airport runway, camps of the global hunter coalition stretched endlessly into the distance.
Armored vehicles, tanks, and massive artillery pieces stood there in imposing ranks.
“Wow… so this is the real deal….”
As soon as the plane landed and the door opened, hot, humid air surged in like a wave.
“We’ve arrived. This will be our headquarters in Singapore.”
Eileen narrowed her eyes and stepped down the stairs.
With Yu Jihyun, Woojin, and the rest of the party following in a line behind her, the eyes of the waiting hunters and journalists from every nation converged on them at once.
“There they are!!”
“Eileen Benedict!! It’s Yu Jihyun!!”
“There’s hope for Asia now!!”
Faaaaaassssshhhhh—
Camera flashes began exploding like mad.
“Welcome to hell, kids.”
Eileen smiled thinly and drew her sword.
Woojin, too, turned to his party and spoke in a low voice.
“Hell? More like an experience-point paradise.”
Eileen laughed with obvious delight.
“Hahaha, that’s right, Woojin oppa.”
Then it happened.
“Woojin!!”
When everyone else was looking for Eileen Benedict and Yu Jihyun, a voice called out for Woojin instead.
Woojin turned toward the place where that familiar voice had come from.