Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Aftermath and Betrayal
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"Brother, what was the deal with those kids and that Chinese man?"
Young-jin lifted his uncomfortable arm to use his chopsticks.
Do-jae and Young-jin were having a meal in a secluded restaurant.
"They were being experimented on. And that Chinese man was the one in charge of it all."
"Keck. Cough."
Hearing the horrifying story, Young-jin choked and quickly gulped down some water.
"Human experiments?"
"Yeah. It was truly gruesome."
Do-jae spoke calmly, restraining himself as much as possible.
Otherwise, the image of the child Li Shun had kicked to death would flash in his mind, making him want to hunt the man down and kill him on the spot.
"The kids made it back okay, right?"
"It wasn't just one or two of them, but a whole group. Not even China could just sweep that under the rug."
After defeating Li Shun, Do-jae had led the children down the mountain.
He then moved to a distant spot to watch over them and Li Shun.
Reports from passersby brought numerous police cars and ambulances, and only after seeing the children safely handed over did he go back up the mountain.
He gathered all the remaining items in the research facility, collected the bodies, and finally set the place on fire before coming back down.
"But why did you let that Chinese guy live?"
"There was no need to kill him. But without his arms and legs, he won't be living like he used to."
Li Shun had disappeared along with the children in an ambulance.
Honestly, Do-jae had considered just killing him, but he figured it was better for him to live and suffer.
Part of the reason he changed his mind was because of the traitor, Gellahan.
If these abilities and monsters had never appeared on Earth, would Li Shun have done such things?
Do-jae believed Gellahan was the one who had provided the cause.
However, he couldn't forgive what Li Shun had done, so he wanted him to suffer for the rest of his life as a cripple.
"And he said there were more facilities like that. If we let him live, China will investigate on its own."
Feeling sorry for the children and wandering around alone searching for research labs whose locations and numbers were unknown was realistically a reckless endeavor.
For now, the best course of action was for Do-jae to get stronger quickly and solve the more fundamental problem.
"You really think so? The director of a facility like that must be a pretty high-ranking person."
"We can only hope. My goal wasn't to destroy the research facility."
Do-jae's initial objective was to quietly obtain a sample of the Mana Accelerator and return.
But by half-killing Li Shun and destroying the lab, he had strayed far from his purpose.
Thanks to that, Li Shun found out he was Korean, but it was unlikely to become an issue.
For that to happen, they would have to reveal what they themselves had done, and they wouldn't be foolish enough to do that.
Even if some madman decided to pick a fight over it, that would be the MID's problem to handle.
For now, he could only hope that China would make a wise choice.
"Hah… I should have completely caved his face in, but you stopped me, Brother…"
"If you'd stomped on him any more, he might have died."
"Besides that, Brother, you seem to have changed a lot. What happened in that short time?"
"Ah, a lot happened. To save you."
"What?"
Do-jae smiled warmly and busied himself with his chopsticks.
***
After finishing their meal, Do-jae stepped outside and opened his status window.
[Information]
Name: Lee Do-jae
Level: 118
Title: Golemancer
Health: 53,700 / Mana: 163,000
[Stats]
Strength: 325 / Stamina: 160 / Agility: 300 / Spirit: 200 / Resistance: 140
(Points: 0)
[Skills]
Passive: Heart of the Golem Lv. Max / Subspace Lv. Max / Eye of the Golem Lv. Max / Nerves of the Golem Lv. Max
Active: Golem Summon Lv. 4 / Golem Armor Lv. 6 / Swordsmanship Lv. 6 / Archery Lv 1 / Fire Lv. 4 / Fire Arrow Lv. 1 / Fireball Lv 1. / Wind Lv 3. / Wind Arrow Lv 1….
"A lot has been added."
"Huh? What did you say?"
Young-jin tilted his head and asked at Do-jae's mumble. Do-jae waved his hand, saying it was nothing.
***
The situation rewound to just after Do-jae returned from the other world.
*Shashak-!*
"Huh?"
As a new scene unfolded before his eyes, Do-jae swung the Black Scale behind him.
But there was nothing there.
"What… no way?"
Do-jae couldn't help but be flustered.
Arcturia had promised to send him back with almost no time having passed, but now that he was here, Li Shun was nowhere to be seen.
Do-jae immediately began to search for the presence of the golems he had left behind.
"Three in the lab… and I feel one over there…"
He could sense three stationary golems inside the research facility and one moving on the other side of the mountain.
"Thank goodness… It seems only a few minutes have passed…"
The other side of the mountain meant the ridge opposite the lab entrance.
It was where the entrance to the tunnel he had dug when first entering the lab was located.
Young-jin was waiting there and was likely heading down the mountain with the children.
But that didn't mean they were safe.
"Li Shun…!"
Do-jae instinctively knew that Li Shun was heading for Young-jin.
The drain on his mana proved his guess was correct.
The golem with Young-jin was drawing on Do-jae's mana to regenerate.
"No… for Young-jin, he's too…"
Do-jae immediately started running.
He didn't know what might be happening to Young-jin and the children.
"Status!"
Do-jae opened his status window while running.
He was shocked when he checked his level.
Compared to before he went to the other world, his level had risen by a staggering 46.
His health had nearly doubled, and his mana had more than tripled.
"230 points…"
He had 230 points remaining.
It was the result of consistently leveling up in the other world but not allocating a single stat point.
*Tatatat-!*
As he scaled the cliff, which was almost vertical, Do-jae thought.
Where should he invest his points?
The deliberation didn't last long.
To defeat Li Shun, he needed stats that would overwhelm him.
"Right now, it's strength and agility!"
Recalling how the Eye of the Golem had shown a significant gap in their strength and agility, he invested all 230 points into those two stats.
In the end, the vast difference in their stats resulted in him overpowering Li Shun in every aspect.
***
'I invested everything into strength and agility because I was in a hurry, but seeing all these new magic skills, I should invest in spirit too.'
Now that his repertoire of magic skills had grown, there was a need to invest in his spirit stat.
Do-jae, who normally hated books without pictures, could now read and understand difficult magic tomes with ease, which surely meant the spirit stat played a role in that.
*Click-.*
*Click-click-.*
While he was reading his status window and contemplating his future stat allocation, Young-jin was struggling to light his lighter.
"Agh, damn. It's out."
Young-jin shoved the empty lighter into his pocket and took the cigarette he was holding between his fingers.
Do-jae asked him.
"Need a light?"
"Huh? Brother, you don't smoke."
"I can give you a light. Go on, put it in your mouth."
Hearing he had a light, Young-jin happily put the cigarette to his lips.
"Nothing like a smoke after a meal."
Young-jin turned his face toward Do-jae, who raised his finger and brought it to the tip of the cigarette.
"What are you doing?"
*Fwoosh-!*
*Sizzle-.*
A small flame erupted from the tip of Do-jae's finger, lighting the cigarette.
*Thud-.*
"B-Brother… you can use magic skills too?"
"You asked for a light. Why'd you drop it? What a waste."
As Young-jin stood there with a dazed expression, Do-jae picked up the fallen cigarette, placed it back in Young-jin's mouth, and walked away.
"He really has… changed…"
***
*Knock, knock-.*
"Come in."
Kim Soo-kyung entered the office.
Park Do-hwan, the head of the MID, was sitting at a large desk.
Kim Soo-kyung saluted Park Do-hwan and placed a file on the desk.
"Reporting. It appears Lee Do-jae has succeeded in acquiring the Mana Accelerator."
"Is that so? That's the best news I've heard in a long time."
Park Do-hwan stood up from his chair with a satisfied expression.
He then prepared two cups of black tea at a small table set against one wall.
"Good work, Team Leader Kim. Have a seat."
Park Do-hwan took the tea and leaned back on the sofa in the center of the room.
However, Kim Soo-kyung remained standing.
"What is it now? What's the problem?"
"There is something else I must report."
"What is it?"
"Lee Do-jae has reportedly destroyed the research facility."
"What? Why would he destroy it!"
"We'll have to find out the details as soon as Lee Do-jae returns, but there is a bigger problem."
"There's another problem?"
*Creak-.*
Park Do-hwan clenched the teaspoon in his hand.
The spoon bent in half with surprising ease.
"First, this…"
Kim Soo-kyung retrieved the file from the desk and handed it to Park Do-hwan.
It contained photos and various pieces of information.
"This is a Chinese hunter named Li Shun. According to our investigation, he's an A-rank hunter, and a top-tier one at that, ranked in the single digits. Furthermore, our investigation has confirmed he has close ties to the Party's high command."
"And?"
"He was found with his limbs severed, along with the test subjects from the research facility."
"Don't tell me Lee Do-jae did this?"
"That is most likely the case. After waking up in the hospital, Li Shun reportedly caused a commotion, screaming that he would kill all Koreans."
*Thwang-!*
Park Do-hwan threw the teaspoon, and it embedded itself in the wall.
A red line appeared on Kim Soo-kyung's cheek, and a drop of blood formed.
"What's your plan?"
"They probably won't make an issue of it openly. The Mana Accelerator itself was being manufactured in extreme secrecy. They'll likely consider it Li Shun's own fault for getting caught by us while expanding the facility."
"In any case, they'll have realized our country has obtained the Mana Accelerator, so China won't just stand by."
Park Do-hwan drank his tea, deep in thought.
Kim Soo-kyung, sensing that Park Do-hwan wasn't finished, stood quietly and waited.
"Where is Lee Do-jae?"
"Still in China. Apparently, because of Shim Young-jin, who went with him, he's touring various sights."
"He's living the good life. Fine. Give Lee Do-jae's information to the Chinese."
"Sir?"
Kim Soo-kyung was taken aback by Park Do-hwan's order.
He had been about to discuss their intelligence operations in China, but this command was sudden.
"Let's have the Chinese kill Lee Do-jae for us. We already have half of it, don't we? If Lee Do-jae dies there, all we have to do is quietly retrieve the other half."
"But we made a promise…"
"Team Leader Kim. What kind of man are you? What does some trivial promise matter now? Get the file ready and contact the Chinese."
Park Do-hwan rose from the sofa and walked straight out of the office.
Left alone, Kim Soo-kyung stared at the empty seat where Park Do-hwan had been, then turned and walked to the wall.
*Puk-.*
He pulled out the bent teaspoon, folded it in half once more, put it in his pocket, and then opened the door and left.