We Are a Legion
Two days passed after that.
On a western coastal highway in Malaysia, a road that once would have been crowded with tourists had become a monster spawn point.
The reason was simple: a gate here had broken open and failed to close. No matter how many monsters were killed, they kept filling back in unless the gate itself was dealt with.
Woojin was strolling along that road with his hands in his pockets, looking entirely at ease.
Beside him, Catherine kept watch with her twin pistols hanging low, but in truth, vigilance was meaningless.
“Daddy! There’s another gate over there!! Gabi’s gonna send my friends to smash it!”
Riding on Woojin’s shoulders like he was a pony, Gabi pointed at the enormous gate appearing on the horizon with her tiny hand.
Woojin answered without much interest.
“Yeah, Gabi. Wipe it out.”
“Okay! Swordsmen, go over there and wrestle it down!”
At Gabi’s command, Sword Dapple and countless other dokkaebi began pouring into the gate.
And just a few dozen minutes later—
“There’s a lot more fun stuff this timeeee—! Ulssu!!”
With Sword Dapple’s raucous rhythm driving them on, the dokkaebi who had gone in came spilling back out again.
There were fewer of them than when they had entered, so some had apparently been taken out inside.
Still, it didn’t matter.
Woojin remembered the conversation he’d just had with Gabi.
“Gabi, then what happens to dokkaebi who die?”
“They go home!”
“Home?”
“Yep! The dokkaebi home where Gabi stayed for a long time! They go back there! Dokkaebi don’t really die!”
Woojin had been dumbfounded.
It sounded a little like one of those ancient races from space-war games.
An existence that didn’t die, but was summoned back to the dokkaebi home, then returned again whenever Gabi called.
That was what dokkaebi were.
In other words, there was nothing to hesitate over, even in death.
RUMBLE—!!
And a little later, with a thunderous blast, the gate collapsed and vanished.
They didn’t just clear gates, either.
The dokkaebi who had finished the job returned with carts piled high with rare mana stones and items dropped by the boss, then prostrated themselves before Woojin and Gabi.
Woojin had only been walking, yet golden level-up light kept raining down over his head without pause.
Seriously, I’m riding the bus in the best way possible.
Woojin picked up the radio clipped at his waist and first contacted Eileen.
“Ah, ah. Can you hear me, ‘Saint’? This is ‘Legion.’”
The call sign was a little awkward, but because anyone could overhear the transmission, rules were rules.
[Mm, this is ‘Saint.’ Go ahead.]
“We’re advancing north through the Malaysia region without issue. However, there are a lot of items and byproducts, so we’ll need a cleanup team sent over. Would be a shame to leave them lying around.”
And immediately, Eileen called him back.
Woojin snorted. The moment he answered, Eileen’s bright voice came through.
[Oppa, you really took all of it?]
“Of course. I figured you’d want your head held a little higher if I did.”
The byproduct processing rights the Benedict family had presented to Korea.
Honestly, they were on the verge of becoming a meaningless contract.
That was because Eileen and Yu Jihyun alone didn’t have the time to both collect every byproduct and clear the gates.
But now the story was different. If Woojin cleared the gates and left the byproducts on the field, the others only had to come and gather them.
And of course, Woojin would keep the good stuff.
[You’re amazing, our Woojin oppa is amazing!! How could I not love you?]
Woojin smiled faintly at that.
“I get to keep the good stuff?”
[Of course! It all belongs to Woojin oppa in the first place! Korea is just handling the processing and distribution for you!]
“Oh? Then I’m going to get rich?”
[Ahahaha! Don’t say something so obvious, Woojin oppa. Once we’ve swept clean the entire Indochina Peninsula, the world’s rich list will change.]
“Huh, guess I’ll have to work hard, then.”
[Hehe, but your safety comes first.]
“Right. I’ll keep that in mind. You take care too, and don’t get hurt.”
Anyone listening would have thought they were a warm, loving couple worrying about each other.
[Yes. I won’t get hurt, ever.]
Woojin ended the call with Eileen and switched over to Sangjin on the radio.
This was their own private channel, so there was no need to be careful about names.
“Hey, Kim Sangjin. You there? I’m outside Kuala Lumpur. Where are you?”
Static—
Through the rough noise, Sangjin’s voice came through. It sounded far too languid.
[Oh, hyung? Me? I’m probably near Kuantan? Ah, Eroa! Rub a little harder there. Ah, that’s nice.]
Woojin’s brow twitched.
“...What are you doing right now?”
[What do you mean, what am I doing? Resting like a commander of a legion. Hyung, my undead army is insane. Once Eroa and Lumi took over command, they started moving like some kind of automated robot army. I’m just drinking juice under a parasol with General Cheolsoo here.]
Through the radio, Woojin could clearly hear Lumi’s breathy, sing-song voice going, “Sangjin-nim, aaah, please open wideee!” and Eroa’s crisp rebuke—“Lumi, the temperature of the beverage intended for the master is not appropriate.”
Woojin gave a helpless laugh.
His little brother was in the middle of the Malaysian jungle, being waited on by maids while running automatic farming.
Well, his own situation wasn’t all that different.
“Hey, what about the gate?”
[What’s there to say? Eroa leveled up and sent a few death knights, and the gate just got deleted. Hyung, necromancer is really the best. Feels like I’m finally getting repaid for twenty-one years of being single.]
“......Damn it. Hang up.”
Woojin shut the radio off roughly.
Catherine, who had been watching beside him, chuckled and added her own comment.
“Sangjin-nim really does seem very happy. Would you like to rest a little with Gabi too, Woojin-nim?”
“No. We need to keep heading north and finish this goddamn war already. Gabi, next gate.”
“Okay! Daddy!”
Woojin and Sangjin. The two brothers were, in every sense, a legion.
***
At the same time, major broadcasters around the world had cut regular programming and were airing the Malaysia reclamation operation live via satellite.
The cameras were split into two streams, each tracking one of the “two kings” as they climbed north along the Indochina Peninsula.
The screen showed an undead army moving in perfect formation under Eroa’s command, encircling and annihilating a troll horde.
And when Sangjin’s figure appeared at the center of it all, walking leisurely with his maids at his side, viewers around the world felt shock and awe at the same time.
“There has never been a purge like this in human history! They’re not waging war—they’re cleaning house!!!”
The internet community “Hunter Gallery” exploded so hard it nearly crushed the server.
The profiles of Woojin and Sangjin were already circulating on Hunter Gallery.
Since they were participating in the Asian reclamation campaign, satisfying the world’s right to know was unavoidable.
Of course, Woojin and Sangjin had also agreed that, at this point, they might as well let themselves be seen openly.
Instead, Woojin had slightly altered his public title and gone out under “Dokkaebi Summoner.”
***
Near the Thailand border in northern Malaysia, Woojin’s dokkaebi army and Sangjin’s undead division, which had been advancing by different routes, finally reached the point where they would meet.
They were physically separated by dozens of kilometers, but the vast waves of magical power generated by the two legions were merging together along the border region.
Woojin picked up the radio again.
“Sangjin, I can see the border. What’s the situation over there?”
[Yeah, hyung. It’s clean here. Eroa already wiped out all the monster corpses within a hundred kilometers. Lumi is freaking out because she wants Thai food right now. That girl’s kind of a glutton, you know.]
“I really didn’t need to know that. Fine, nice work for now. They’re saying we need to wait a bit before crossing into Thailand?”
[Really? Why?]
“Seems like the Thai government has some demands.”
[How long?]
“Let’s see. Maybe a day?”
[Hyung! Then come over here!]
“What? Why?”
[There’s a beach here that’s absolutely killer!! Let’s hang out here for a bit before we go!]
“Damn it... how am I supposed to get all the way—”
That was when Gabi tilted her head from Woojin’s side.
“Daddy, Uncle says he’s going to the sea?”
“Yeah, Gabi. But it’s too far. We’re going to have to play separately here.”
[Gabi! Bring Dad over here! This place is amazing. There’s lots of tasty fruit growing too!]
At that, Gabi swallowed hard.
The supplies were plenty, but there hadn’t been any of the fresh fruit Gabi wanted.
“Let’s go to Uncle, Daddy!”
“I’m telling you, it’s too far...”
“Nope! Gabi can get there in a flash!”
Then Gabi reached out, and a dokkaebi club appeared in her hand with a bright little pop.
And then—
“Going to Uncle, thump-thump!”
Whack!
When Gabi struck the ground, a traditional Korean-style gate suddenly appeared.
“W-what is that...?”
“A door!! A Dokkaebi-Dokkaebi Door that can take you anywhere!!”
Woojin was speechless.
“...Why didn’t you tell me you had that ability, Gabi?”
Gabi smiled brightly.
“You didn’t ask, Daddy! Let’s goooo! Fruit time!”
“......Does this thing have a developer or something...?”
If it did, they’d probably be holding the back of their neck right about now.
Gabi’s ability was the sort of thing that threw balance out the window and then kicked it into the sea.