You Kept All This Good Stuff to Yourself...!!
Before long, everyone was seated in front of the holographic map in the conference room.
The map was covered in red dots—routes traced by the Gates and the monsters that had erupted all across Asia.
Woojin stared at it and raised his brows. “Wow... there are this many?”
Yu Jihyun answered with a worried expression. “Yes, Oppa. The media is downplaying it to keep people calm, but the situation is truly grave.”
At that, Eileen pointed her baton toward the Indochina Peninsula. “All right, pay attention. Under the original plan, this area—the Indochina Peninsula linking Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia—was supposed to be Yu Jihyun’s job. There are too many national capitals packed together here, and the terrain is so complicated that Gate density is absurdly high. No one but Yu Jihyun, with her aerial mobility, could have handled it.”
Yu Jihyun nodded with a bitter look.
She didn’t say it out loud, but the weight of millions of lives sat heavily on her shoulders.
Eileen continued, “But the situation has changed. No, to be exact, Woojin Oppa changed it.”
Every gaze shifted to Woojin—and to Gabi, who was sitting on his lap and stuffing her cheeks with mango.
“Sweet, sweet! Gabi likes this!!”
When had a Korean goblin ever tasted tropical fruit?
Eileen’s expression turned more serious than ever. “Gabi, the Origin-grade goblin, and Master Sangjin’s Ttacttac-i, who has evolved into Heroic grade. With the summoning legion ability those two have shown, there’s no need for Yu Jihyun to fly around here and fight every battle herself. In fact, it would be far more efficient to shift Yu Jihyun to the sea lanes and the Indonesian archipelago, which I was supposed to handle. That region is packed with islands too, so if you have the mobility, the difficulty drops straight down.”
Eileen looked Woojin dead in the eye.
Her gaze held absolute trust in him, along with a desperate plea.
“Woojin Oppa, if you and Master Sangjin sweep through the Indochina Peninsula from the ground and keep pushing north... the success rate of this operation will go above 90 percent. And more than anything else...”
Eileen stopped for a moment and bit her lip.
“We can bring civilian casualties down to almost zero. Instead of human soldiers dying, your goblins and Master Sangjin’s skeletons will take their place.”
Yu Jihyun also clasped Woojin’s hand tightly and pleaded, “I’m asking you too, Woojin Oppa. Honestly, what scares me more than clearing the Gates is the death of the people who came here. China and Japan pulled out all their forces to save their own skins, but even so, there are brave people who gathered here to defend Asia. I want them... to make it home safely to their families.”
It was the first time Woojin had ever seen those two, usually so proud and composed, bow their heads and ask so humbly.
He could feel how sincere they were.
People who had come here knowing they might die.
Tens of thousands of them, none of them individually overwhelming in strength, yet all of them had rushed here in a single breath to save Asia.
They hadn’t come because they wanted power or glory.
The ones who truly cherished the world and loved people were the real heroes.
Woojin scratched the back of his head a little awkwardly before speaking. “Well... even if it’s temporary, don’t you two count as my girlfriends?”
“Huh...?”
Eileen and Yu Jihyun both went wide-eyed.
“I-I mean... if your girlfriend asks you that earnestly, what kind of boyfriend in the world just pretends not to hear her?”
“......!!”
Silence fell.
Then smiles bloomed at the corners of Eileen and Yu Jihyun’s mouths.
It was the first time Woojin had ever used the word girlfriend, and the first time he’d referred to himself as a boyfriend.
Eileen’s face flushed bright red in an instant.
Flustered, she coughed into her fist. “C-cough! Who said it was temporary! I’m serious!”
Yu Jihyun also rushed into Woojin’s arms and buried her face against his chest. “Oppa... no taking that back! You really did just call us your girlfriends!”
From the corner, Jo Ayoung, who had been staring blankly, finally caught up and shot her hand into the air. “M-me too!! I’m your girlfriend too!! Why do I feel like I’m the only one being left out?!”
Woojin chuckled and patted Ayoung on the head. “Yeah, you too. Don’t worry, all of you. I can’t stand the thought of those people dying either.”
Watching the spectacle from the side, Sangjin made a face as if he were about to vomit. “Damn it... this is so nauseating I can’t even look. Ttacttac-i, you’re the only one for me.”
At that, Ttacttac-i clicked its jaw bones with obvious delight.
Clack—!
And so, through the entire night, the strategy was revised, and it was ultimately decided that the Woojin–Sangjin brothers would serve as the vanguard sweeping across the whole Indochina region.
Once that decision was announced to the global strike force through the Singapore command center, the allied troops began to buzz with shock and anticipation.
Three days later, after preparations had been completed.
The Johor–Singapore Causeway, the massive bridge linking Singapore and Malaysia.
Once upon a time, tens of thousands of vehicles had crossed here every day. Now it was a ruin, littered with shattered deck plates and overturned cars.
Across the water, the Malaysian side was already swallowed in violet magical mist, and through that mist, tens of thousands of catlike biped monsters—Ratus and Forest Trolls, and creatures like them—flashed their glowing eyes.
The ground had already become a monster kingdom.
Woojin, Sangjin, and the key personnel assigned to support them stood at the edge of the border.
There were elite agents from the Benedict family, high-level Awakeners from DH Group, and Woojin’s dependable allies, Catherine and Kim Chulsoo.
Woojin adjusted his sunglasses and spoke in a dignified voice. “Sangjin, you ready?”
“Yeah, hyung. Ttacttac-i’s been itching to get going.”
Behind Sangjin stood Ttacttac-i, armored in +9 Heroic-grade gear and exuding a pitch-black gleam from its eye sockets.
The bones of the creature were polished to a luxurious sheen, and magical power flowed through them like liquid.
On Woojin’s shoulder sat Gabi, riding piggyback.
With a huge candy in her mouth, she looked at the monsters on the far side and licked her lips.
“Daddy! There are so many strong guys to wrestle with! Gabi’s excited!”
“That’s right, Gabi. Today, you can make as many friends as you want.”
“Really!? That sounds fun!!!”
The plan was simple.
First, Catherine and Kim Chulsoo—the Awakeners with strong mobility and crushing power—would cross the bridge and secure a landing point.
The mountain of corpses they left in their wake would become Sangjin’s material, while the wrecked vehicles and scrap metal scattered around them would become Gabi’s soldiers.
Even if that hadn’t been enough, thousands of reinforced weapons needed by Gabi were being carried along by the support team.
Catherine drew her twin pistols and smiled elegantly. “Chulsoo, shall we have a little date for old time’s sake?”
Kim Chulsoo clasped his vajra-shaped blunt weapon with the gentle smile of a benevolent Buddha. A legendary-grade golden aura, Anan, rippled around him.
“I shall accompany you, Catherine. Not a speck of dust shall touch your path.”
“Hehe. I’ll be looking forward to your escort.”
A moment later, Catherine keyed her radio.
“This is Legion. We’ll begin the Indochina Peninsula reclamation operation now.”
Immediately, Eileen’s voice crackled back through the static.
“Crackle... this is Saint. Understood. Good luck.”
Click—
A smile tugged at Catherine’s lips as her pistols cocked with a sharp, metallic snap.
“Then let’s get moving!!”
At Catherine’s shout, her body shot forward so fast she vanished from sight.
She leapt over the broken spans of the bridge with a burst of magical power and dropped straight into the middle of the monster horde.
Tang! Tatatata—!
From the muzzle of Catherine, the markswoman who wielded magic bullets, the elemental mana rounds she fired erupted into chain explosions the instant they struck a monster’s body.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-BOOM—!
With only three shots, dozens of Ratus were blown to bits and sent spraying through the air like chunks of meat.
“How dare you!”
As monsters lunged at Catherine, a massive golden lotus descended from the sky.
Eightfold Holy Law
Eight layers of protective formation spread outward around Catherine as Kim Chulsoo slammed the ground.
As the trolls that rushed in touched the barrier, they burst into holy magical flames and were flung backward.
“Thanks, Chulsoo!”
“Dance freely. I shall escort you most gentlemanly.”
Chulsoo didn’t bother dodging the monsters’ attacks.
No, he didn’t need to. Every time claws tore toward his body, golden magic absorbed the force of the impact.
It was the power of Thus Have I Heard.
Behind Catherine and Chulsoo, hundreds of monster corpses piled up, along with broken armored vehicles and tank fragments forming little hills.
The landing point had been secured.
Catherine opened the radio again.
“Landing zone secured!! Legion! Deploy!!”
After hearing the transmission, Woojin snapped his fingers lightly at the end of the bridge.
“You hear that, Sangjin? Now it’s our turn.”
“Finally!! I’ve been waiting for this, hyung!!”
The two brothers strode boldly into the monster den.
Sangjin lifted his hand high and began to chant.
“Rise! Answer your master’s call and become an undying legion!”
Woojin frowned hard at the sight.
“Hey... necromancy doesn’t come with that kind of chant.”
“Why not...? I’ve always wanted to do this.”
“Ah... damn it... that’s embarrassing.”
Sangjin cackled while clutching his right arm and trembling.
“G-ghaaah!! The Dark Flame Dragon sealed in my right arm!!”
“...Are you having fun?”
“Yeah, actually, I am.”
Just then, a new status window lit up before Sangjin, who was in the middle of his edgelord performance.
“Huh? What’s this?”
The bone servant Ttacttac-i urgently wishes to open the path for its master. Would you like to unlock Ttacttac-i’s true power?
Would you like to transfer command of the soldiers to Ttacttac-i?
“Huh?”
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“No, it looks like Ttacttac-i really wants to do something big.”
Woojin looked over at Ttacttac-i and saw the creature trembling all over, barely holding itself back as if it were desperate to rush forward.
“What are you worried about? Just let it do it. Probably some Heroic-grade follower ability.”
“Think so?”
The moment Sangjin hit Y...
Flash—!
The black gaze that had been pitch-dark until then blazed with light, and Ttacttac-i’s body was swallowed in black-violet mana.
“Ooooh!! A transformation?”
And a moment later—
“Huuu... haaah... my master... at last, I’m seeing you in my true form like this...♡”
“!!!”
“???”
Squelch—!
Sangjin was too stunned to do anything but freeze under the sudden, soft sensation pressing against him.
“W-what the hell is this!?”
“If you say that... your humble servant will be heartbroken...♡”
Woojin’s jaw dropped as he stared at the scene.
“T-Ttacttac-i...?”
Sangjin had his face buried in the chest of a dark-violet-haired beauty wearing a very revealing maid outfit, one who radiated an intensely seductive aura.
She was around 170 centimeters tall, and the outfit itself was shamelessly skimpy, leaving her body in a state that was nothing short of outrageous.
“Hehe, master’s older brother... I’m so grateful you brought me into the world. Ttacttac-i isn’t my name. Please call me Eroa, Sangjin-nim’s eternal servant and maid.♡”
Devious.
Lewd.
This thing was basically R-18 incarnate, and right now it was trying to devour my little brother.
“L-let go of Sangjin right now!!”
Then Eroa smiled sweetly and, rather than letting go, pressed Sangjin even deeper into her generous chest.
“Oh? But it looks like my master rather likes my breasts... he doesn’t seem willing to pull away. Heehee♡”
“Hey, you bastard! Kim Sangjin, snap out of it!”
But Sangjin, still buried in Eroa’s embrace, answered with a grin that was every bit as sly as hers.
“You damn rotten hyung.”
“W-what? You, you okay?”
Wait. No way. Could this be mind control?
Woojin thought something terrible had happened.
But that was strange. Sangjin was wearing several items that protected against mental interference...
Then Sangjin continued.
“All this good stuff—you kept it all to yourself...!! You were the only one enjoying it?!! I want some fun too!!”
He burrowed even deeper into Eroa’s soft, yielding embrace.
“Heehee, by all means, master.♡”
Just how much had he suffered from his brother’s endless affection-baiting all this time?
Kim Sangjin, twenty-one years old and a lifelong bachelor.
In that instant, he had GOT the long-haired, tall, big-chested, devoted maid who was said to be harder to obtain than a girlfriend.
