Chapter 470: A New Beginning (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 470: A New Beginning (3)
At that moment.
The Incheon Government.
While ordinary citizens went about their daily lives, heated voices echoed inside the Incheon Government building.
"…The President remains completely unyielding. He drew a hard line, stating that the safety of the capital's shelters is the absolute priority. Deploying troops to local governments is out of the question."
"That bastard."
The man in the black suit, Mayor of Incheon Kim Jun-hyeok, scowled in irritation.
"It's the same pattern every single time. 'Dispersing our forces is too risky. We are not unaware of the difficulties faced by regions outside of Seoul, but if Seoul falls, there is no future for South Korea.' Those sons of bitches. It's glaringly obvious they're only looking out for their own necks, yet they have the audacity to preach about the future of South Korea. To those bastards, anyone living outside of Seoul isn't even considered a citizen."
After the Great Disaster, South Korea underwent a massive transformation.
The President established a Central Government centered around Seoul, while granting independent command structures to regions outside the capital. On the surface, it seemed like a wise decision to allow immediate responses to chaotic situations. However, those who knew the reality thought otherwise.
It was a passing of the buck.
A blatant message telling them to fend for themselves.
When convenient, the local regions were expected to pool their strength under the Central Government's banner. But when a Great Disaster actually struck, they were left to survive independently until the capital's shelters were secured. That was why it was called the Incheon Government. Although Mayor Kim Jun-hyeok held all of Incheon in his hands, no one viewed his position as one of true power.
It was a seat of heavy, crushing responsibility.
Thinking of the impending future, Kim Jun-hyeok struggled to calm his rising emotions.
"Several years have passed since the fifth Great Disaster ended. The longer the gap, the more devastating the next one will be. This time will be no different. If we prepare at the same level we did years ago, the people of Incheon will be massacred."
"Omen phenomena have been occurring recently. The sixth Great Disaster will strike soon."
"…Everyone knows that. Not just us, but the entire world knows the sixth Great Disaster is coming. But what options do we have? South Korea's Central Government is hoarding all the powerhouses in Seoul, and local governments like Incheon have long since been abandoned. Only after countless people die will the President belatedly pretend to care about the public."
His head throbbed.
The coming storm.
He had no confidence that they could withstand it.
When the Great Disaster swept through Incheon years ago, Kim Jun-hyeok had witnessed countless people who followed him die. He turned his head and looked out the window. The city, lined with towering buildings, seemed to have regained its daily routine, but that was nothing more than a fragile illusion.
"Every time a disaster strikes, the city is reduced to ruins. Although the Mage in White used restoration magic to make it look as if nothing happened, the scenery we're looking at right now is nothing more than a graveyard built upon layers of countless corpses. We can't go on like this. We must find a way. We cannot face the sixth Great Disaster in the same state we faced the fifth."
The position of mayor.
What he desired was not absolute power.
He simply wanted to create a space where people could survive in this chaotic world.
It was then.
Knock, knock.
"May I come in?"
"Come in."
It was his secretary.
Unlike the aide who had just been reporting, the secretary entered with a blunt expression and spoke.
"I have a report regarding an unidentified individual who entered the city today. According to his guarantor, he is an unaffiliated Peak Hunter."
A Peak Hunter.
His expression shifted instantly.
Kim Jun-hyeok looked at his secretary and said, "An unaffiliated Peak Hunter? Bring the guarantor here immediately. I will verify this myself."
*
A private audience with the mayor.
It was a rare opportunity.
Facing the Mayor of Incheon for the first time, Kang Min-ho briefly introduced himself before explaining the situation he had experienced.
"My meeting with him was purely accidental. I was roaming an E-rank hunting ground when…"
From beginning to end.
He did not bother hiding the truth.
Since Roman Dmitry had given him permission, highlighting the facts was actually necessary to elevate Roman's value.
"To be honest, I'm still in disbelief. Since he didn't trigger the Mana Detector, I was certain he was just an ordinary civilian. But with just a single tree branch, he slaughtered five Soldier Ants in an instant. Only then did I realize he was a hunter of at least Peak rank. Judging by his ignorance of South Korean culture, he seems to have some special circumstances, but his skills are absolutely genuine."
"…Slaying a pack of Soldier Ants with a single branch. Are you absolutely certain he did it with a mere branch?"
"I am certain."
Kim Jun-hyeok was astonished.
Soldier Ants.
They were highly troublesome monsters.
With their hard carapaces and habit of utilizing underground tunnels, they were known to exhibit devastating power when forming a pack. Yet, he had dealt with such Soldier Ants using a single tree branch. It utterly defied common sense.
'If what this guarantor says is true…'
He swallowed hard.
A powerhouse who defied common sense.
There was no other way to describe him.
Kim Jun-hyeok spoke.
"As you know, Peak-rank individuals are talents that every government desperately wishes to recruit. Once word gets out, the Central Government will undoubtedly try to approach him, but the Incheon Government also desperately needs a Peak Hunter. So, if it isn't too much to ask, could you act as a bridge between us?"
"That's impossible right now."
"Does 'right now' imply that it will be possible later?"
"Yes. He warned that no one should contact him for the next month. It doesn't mean he's cutting off all dialogue with the government. Rather, it seems he simply needs time to adapt. He made it very clear that if anyone violates this boundary, he cannot guarantee what will happen next. If the Incheon Government intends to recruit him, it would be best to respect his wishes for now."
It was sincere advice.
The problem was that a month was far too long for the Incheon Government.
'From the moment he came to me and mentioned a Peak Hunter, it's certain that information about him will leak in one way or another. The Central Government and various hunter guilds will try to approach him. Even so, is it right for me to wait a whole month?'
It was a dilemma.
If he waited out of consideration for the hunter, only for another faction to snatch him up first, nothing would be more ridiculous.
However…
"Understood. We will absolutely not approach him for a month."
Kim Jun-hyeok took a step back.
The strength to obliterate a pack of Soldier Ants with a single branch.
The foresight to draw a hard line while fully anticipating the reporting system.
It was instinct.
Instinct warned Kim Jun-hyeok that if his relationship with this man soured, things would go horribly wrong in the future.
Still, he had no intention of just sitting idly by.
Slide.
"This is my personal contact information. If you ever need the power of the Incheon Government, or if you need to contact me personally, please reach out to this number at any time. The Incheon Government will also provide all necessary supplies so that he experiences no discomfort while living in Incheon. There is no need to feel burdened. If you can arrange just a single meeting one month from now, I will make sure you are handsomely rewarded."
Just a single meeting.
It was the bare minimum request.
Even Kang Min-ho thought it was perfectly reasonable.
"Understood. I will do so."
"Thank you. By the way… may I know his name?"
In that instant, Kang Min-ho's eyes widened.
Come to think of it, he still didn't know Roman Dmitry's name.
*
It was just as Kim Jun-hyeok had anticipated.
Less than ten minutes after the report was received, information regarding Roman Dmitry leaked out.
On the stairs of the government building.
A man was making hushed phone call.
"I just got a major scoop. An unidentified individual entered Incheon today, and rumor has it he's a Peak Hunter. An unaffiliated one at that!"
[An unaffiliated Peak Hunter? Are you sure?]
"Absolutely. Have I ever lied to you with this kind of information? A report call came into the Incheon Government, and Kim Jun-hyeok is currently having a private meeting with the guarantor to verify it. If the Mayor of Incheon is moving personally, he's definitely no ordinary figure."
[Understood. If that information is true, our Red Moon Guild will not forget your contribution.]
"Thank you! Thank you!"
The man's face lit up.
He was one of the many informants embedded within the Incheon Government.
With great chaos looming ahead, establishing a connection with a major guild in Incheon like Red Moon was a massive achievement.
However, there was one thing he had overlooked.
Kang Min-ho's warning.
Because he couldn't eavesdrop on the private conversation between the Mayor and Kang Min-ho, he failed to report Roman Dmitry's strict warning to be left alone for a month. In truth, even if he had known, it wouldn't have mattered.
It was a simple reality.
In the cutthroat race to secure a powerhouse, no faction would ever wait a whole month.
*
For the next few days, Roman Dmitry remained in complete isolation.
One month.
The reason he had specified that timeframe to Kang Min-ho was to thoroughly grasp the mechanics of this new world.
'I cannot rely on magic to solve the language barrier forever. Inevitable situations where communication is impossible will surely arise, and blaming environmental factors each time is a sign of incompetence. I must understand this new world. To live here from now on, I must accept this new reality.'
The first step of adaptation.
Learning.
It was different from his previous life.
Back then, he had resolved many issues using the memories imprinted on his physical body, but now, it required far greater effort.
Of course, unlike before, he possessed overwhelming martial power right from the starting line.
He was confident he could defeat any enemy he encountered, but Roman Dmitry never allowed room for complacency under any circumstances. He had crossed the boundary of dimensions. If he could not predict the future in this unknown world, he needed to prepare perfectly within the scope of what he could control.
That was who he was.
That was Roman Dmitry.
After asking Kang Min-ho for various study materials, he did not take a single step outside the villa.
Knowledge accumulated rapidly.
With his Upper Dantian open, his cognitive abilities had expanded exponentially.
Though it had only been a few days, he absorbed an insane amount of knowledge at a speed ordinary people couldn't even fathom.
During his studies, a question arose in Roman Dmitry's mind.
'God said He would return me to my original world. Since that was the only way my soul would no longer cause trouble, the world I currently exist in must be the distant future of my past life. Yet, nowhere in this world is there any record of Murim. The fact that it is only mentioned in works of fantasy suggests that it perished entirely after I disappeared.'
The demise of Murim.
It was a shocking future.
In the past, the Imperial Court had carried out a policy to exterminate Murim martial artists, but because Baek Joong-hyuk existed, their plans had been thwarted. This was a mystery he would have to unravel slowly over time. It wasn't that he harbored any lingering regrets about the past, but he at least needed to uncover how the Demonic Cult he had built had collapsed.
Absurdly enough, martial arts did exist in this era.
However, they did not originate from the Central Plains Murim; rather, they were branches derived from the System that made people stronger. People called them "skills." Although Roman Dmitry had not experienced the System himself, he planned to study it gradually, just as he had mastered the ways of the Salamander Continent.
This life.
It was not yet fully sorted out.
How he would live, and what his goals in life would be.
Amidst this unstable flow of life, Roman Dmitry anchored himself by accumulating knowledge, ensuring his foundation would not waver.
Today was no different.
As he was reading through the books he had received from Kang Min-ho one by one, he heard the sound of an unfamiliar visitor knocking on the door.
Knock, knock.
"Is anyone there?"
The voice.
The footsteps.
It wasn't Kang Min-ho.
An uninvited guest.
As if forcing their presence upon him, the person knocked on the door once more and spoke.
Knock, knock.
"We're from the Red Moon Guild. We heard you were staying here. Open up, let's have a chat face-to-face."
Just from the voice alone, it was clear they wouldn't simply back down.
The demanding tone.
It was irritating.
Roman Dmitry rose from his seat.
Tearing the spare translation scroll Kang Min-ho had provided, Roman Dmitry opened the front door, his expression ice-cold.