Chapter 83
Chapter 83.
A little while ago.
[S-grade achievement accomplished again! Lee Ganghan, humanity's first 'simultaneous destruction of 4 tower cores' feat achieved.]
[Tower of Light, once again stopped operating. Lee Ganghan, with S-grade achievement reward, stopped operation for 2 months.]
[This time 4 smashed! Lee Ganghan, 7th tower destroyed just one month after awakening!]
President Kim Seokho smiled with satisfaction as he looked at the successive news headlines.
'I didn't know he would hit such a jackpot so quickly.'
Lee Ganghan, who returned home after the dinner, immediately achieved another S-grade achievement like this. President Kim Seokho thought anew that it was good to have held the dinner yesterday.
"This fellow is quite remarkable, isn't he? To achieve another S-grade achievement."
"That's right, Mr. President. The morning newspaper front page will feature both the achievement photo and the dinner photo together, so it should help with approval ratings."
"Hehe. Well, things are turning out this way?"
The cheerful atmosphere of the presidential office. Thanks to Lee Ganghan achieving an achievement on the day he had dinner with the President, the synergy effect was working splendidly. However, this atmosphere...
"Ah. What did you say? Yes, yes... I understand. I'll report to the President!"
When the chief secretary received a phone call and approached with an urgent expression, it immediately changed 180 degrees.
"What's the matter?"
"Mr. President, Player Lee Ganghan... was apparently attacked yesterday!"
"What, what did you say...?!"
An attack? What does that mean? To the bewildered President, the chief secretary briefly explained yesterday's situation.
"So... 21 people suspected to be Chinese opened fire, and Mr. Lee Ganghan subdued them all? And after being attacked, he went to the tower?"
"Yes..."
"No, um... I don't understand..."
21 people shot at him, but he counter-subdued them and then went to the tower as usual? Does this make sense?
"No, surely, didn't they say players can't use their abilities in reality?"
"That's correct. If players could use their tower abilities, current public safety would be in chaos."
"Then how did he defeat 21 people? People with guns at that."
"That... we'll need to send someone to investigate in detail."
"And Ten Thousand Demons Battle...? What is this? Could humans be placed in the location where the Heavenly Demon's summoned creatures reside?"
"That too... we'll probably need to go directly and listen in detail."
The Lee Ganghan attack incident had many circumstances that were difficult to understand through phone calls alone.
Moreover, if it was really connected to the Chinese side, it could be a problem that could escalate to diplomatic friction.
'Should I have assigned bodyguards earlier?'
President Kim Seokho sighed quietly.
"Sigh... Let's first request cooperation from the NIS. It seems we need to send people from the presidential office too."
"I'll go personally!"
"The chief secretary? Understood. I'm counting on you."
So the presidential office chief secretary was dispatched urgently along with NIS staff, and when they arrived at Lee Ganghan's house...
"Heavenly Demon Lord! You should have informed us right away if something like this happened! When I received the phone call this morning, I thought my heart would drop!"
"No, it wasn't really a big deal. It felt wrong to make others work night shifts."
"Not a big deal! You almost got kidnapped!"
"Well, I had some leeway, so I even went around the tower."
They saw Shin Yuri scolding Lee Ganghan with a worried tone. Even though he almost got kidnapped, he didn't report it that day and even went to the tower...
'He's definitely not an ordinary person.'
As the chief secretary looked at Lee Ganghan standing with a relaxed face and thought this...
"These firearms are..."
"Tranquilizer guns, and they actually fired pistols too."
The NIS staff who came with him looked around the crime scene and couldn't help but be shocked.
'They took positions in advance and fired in unison...'
'The entry point was the front door. It would have been easy to hit the target from here.'
'But he blocked all of this and counter-subdued trained people?'
Even if the Heavenly Demon could use player abilities to some extent, could that be enough to block bullets? The presidential chief secretary, who was looking around the scene situation with an incomprehensible expression, carefully approached Lee Ganghan and asked.
"Excuse me, Mr. Lee Ganghan. How did you block all these gunshots?"
Then, Shin Yuri, who had been looking around the crime scene with a serious expression beside Lee Ganghan...
"Chief Secretary, are you perhaps interrogating Heavenly Demon Lord right now?"
She replied with a sharp voice.
"Ah, that's not it... We also need to reference this for future security, so I asked."
When the chief secretary panicked and stammered, Lee Ganghan stepped forward and explained.
"The bracelet I obtained from the arena has a shield effect."
"Shield... effect?"
"Yes. A protective barrier. This applies in reality too. It sensed threats and automatically activated."
"Ah. To think an item effect would activate in reality too..."
Moreover, a protective barrier that senses threats on its own and blocks bullets. Leaders of various countries would want to have this no matter what, right? The chief secretary's eyes lit up as he heard about the item effect, but...
"Ah. But this item, only I can use it."
"Ah, I see... That's right."
When Lee Ganghan said the bracelet effect only applied to him, the chief secretary swallowed his inner disappointment and changed the subject.
"But what happened to the criminals confined in Ten Thousand Demons Battle?"
"They're alive and working there."
"Working?"
"Yes. They became Lowest Grade Disciples and are in training."
Ten Thousand Demons Battle was already hard to understand, but what are Lowest Grade Disciples? When the chief secretary made a puzzled expression...
"It would be faster to see directly. The screen, hmm. Will it show?"
Lee Ganghan opened the Ten Thousand Demons Battle function. Then, on the Ten Thousand Demons Battle screen, a small camera icon appeared.
'This is what I press when sharing messages with viewers.'
I didn't see this before. It appeared when screen sharing was needed. When Lee Ganghan pressed the camera icon...
"Oh...!"
"Wow. Is this Ten Thousand Demons Battle? Everyone came out looking cute."
The Ten Thousand Demons Battle screen became visible to people's eyes too.
***
The first screen that appeared was the center of Ten Thousand Demons Battle, the Sacred Fire area.
Lee Ganghan touched the screen from there, moving north of the Sacred Fire area to the settlement prepared for the Lowest Grade Disciples.
'They built some houses?'
Just last night they were busy constructing, but after one night passed, about five or six houses made of wooden planks were clustered together cozily. Some were resting inside, while some were constructing outside.
'They're working so hard outside, but what are those resting inside the houses?'
When Lee Ganghan clicked on a Lowest Grade Disciple inside a house...
[Lowest Grade Disciple #2]
[Status: Despair, Overwork, Exhaustion, Unconsciousness...]
A status message appeared showing that they weren't just resting, but had fainted from overwork. And...
[Lowest Grade Disciple revived by the Sacred Fire. Will die if they leave the Sacred Fire's domain.]
The message that appeared below was displayed in semi-transparent format.
'Why is this suddenly appearing like this?'
Could it be that others can't see this? Lee Ganghan asked Shin Yuri beside him.
"Miss Yuri, can you see the status message here?"
"Yes. Things like overwork, exhaustion are displayed."
"What about the bottom line?"
"Bottom line? There's nothing particularly... displayed."
Shin Yuri tilted her head puzzledly. The semi-transparent text seemed not to be disclosed to outsiders.
'Well, that message does have some dangerous implications.'
If rumors spread that the Sacred Fire grants revival, terminally ill patients might soon flock to Lee Ganghan's house like a tide.
Even if they revive here, they're just Lowest Grade Disciples treated as slaves, and they can't leave the Sacred Fire area and only have to do hard labor like that.
'Still, quite a few people would come holding onto a thread of hope.'
So this fact shouldn't be revealed to the outside yet. As Lee Ganghan was thinking this, the presidential chief secretary came over and carefully examined the screen.
"Ah. Are these perhaps the attackers?"
"Yes."
"Hmm... Face confirmation would be impossible."
"Ah. If we communicate, faces appear."
"Then could you possibly communicate now? We want to take face photos and protest to the Chinese intelligence department."
Lee Ganghan nodded and looked for a communication target.
'Since Tian Jiaxian is the leader, I should start with her.'
She definitely said she was the director of Bureau 1014. When Lee Ganghan connected communication with Tian Jiaxian...
[...What business do you have, Heavenly Demon?]
Tian Jiaxian, who was holding a wooden plank outside, frowned. However, her outfit displayed on screen was different from when she attacked - she wore a black robe with a red sash.
"When did your clothes change?"
[When we built houses, it was forcibly changed to Lowest Grade Disciple attire.]
"I see?"
[Why did you communicate? We're busy, the damn Sacred Fire makes us work until we collapse.]
The Sacred Fire is definitely making them work hard. Meanwhile...
[Lowest Grade Disciple 'Tian Jiaxian' has not properly shown respect to the Heavenly Demon.]
[Will you subject her to Bone-Splitting Muscle-Tearing Torture?]
When Tian Jiaxian kept speaking informally and showed disrespectful attitude, a message appeared beside her asking whether to subject her to Bone-Splitting Muscle-Tearing Torture. And since this message was visible to Tian Jiaxian too...
[Tsk. Bone-Splitting Muscle-Tearing Torture for everything...! I'm really sick of it. Just kill me instead!]
She shouted while grinding her teeth.
"I can't do that. If you cooperate with the interrogation, I'll go easy on you."
[Interrogation?]
"The NIS came to investigate you guys."
[...This incident was conducted entirely by my independent decision.]
When Tian Jiaxian spoke with a stern expression...
"Gasp. Could this person be Scar...!?"
An NIS agent who was looking at her face from the side...
Click, Click.
He continuously photographed the screen while shouting with an excited face.
"Scar? What's Scar?"
"It's a codename attached to China's legendary spy agent. A young woman with a big scar on her face succeeded in most operations, so in the industry, rumors spread to be careful when seeing an Asian woman with a scar on her face."
She's that level? As Lee Ganghan heard the codename 'Scar' and tilted his head...
[Most? It was 100%, until I met that bastard.]
Tian Jiaxian corrected the NIS agent's words. At the same time, she put down the wooden plank she was holding and crossed her arms.
[Even if you interrogate me, what I'll answer is obvious. Bureau 1014 only tried to kidnap the Heavenly Demon based on my personal judgment. The Party and the Ministry of State Security have nothing to do with this.]
Tian Jiaxian claimed that the 'Heavenly Demon kidnapping operation' was conducted entirely by personal judgment. However, the NIS agent didn't easily let it slide.
"What kind of place is China's Ministry of State Security that they would come without even reporting to superiors? Even if there were no active instructions from above to carry this out, didn't they acquiesce and condone it?"
[......]
"There's no way they would proceed with such an operation without reporting to superiors. You reported, didn't you?"
[I did not.]
Tian Jiaxian answered immediately. But...
Ding.
[A Lowest Grade Disciple dared to lie to the Heavenly Demon.]
[Will you subject her to Bone-Splitting Muscle-Tearing Torture?]
A message appeared saying this answer was definitely false and asking whether to subject her to Bone-Splitting Muscle-Tearing Torture.
"That's a lie."
[Ha. No. This is the Sacred Fire's manipulation! Bone-Splitting Muscle-Tearing Torture? Do it as much as you want!]
Even though a message appeared saying it was false, Tian Jiaxian showed no sign of yielding.
She was definitely a tough one. Then...
[A Lowest Grade Disciple dared to even blaspheme the Sacred Fire.]
[Subjecting to Bone-Splitting Muscle-Tearing Torture.]
The Sacred Fire's message, which kept asking whether to subject her to Bone-Splitting Muscle-Tearing Torture, now changed to 'will do it.' Is it immediately taking action because she insulted it too?
[Keuuk...!]
Then Tian Jiaxian's body instantly swelled up. It repeatedly swelled like a balloon and deflated, and all the blood vessels in her body bulged...
"Heo, heouk..."
"What, what is this?!"
People who were watching the screen together were shocked at that horrific sight.
"It's called Bone-Splitting Muscle-Tearing Torture, a type of punishment. She'll be fine after that."
"I, I see..."
"Let's leave her alone for now and take photos of other people too."
Lee Ganghan brushed this off as if it was nothing and connected communication to the next Lowest Grade Disciple.
"Name."
[......]
"You, did you report to superiors when coming to Korea?"
[......]
"No answer. I'll have to do Bone-Splitting Muscle-Tearing Torture."
[Ah? Ju, just wait a moment please! I'll answer!]
Unlike Tian Jiaxian, Lowest Grade Disciple #1's attitude immediately changed when hearing about Bone-Splitting Muscle-Tearing Torture.
'If you get trapped there, living isn't really living...'
'Well, it would be better to die instead.'
The NIS agents thought such thoughts while collecting confession videos from the Lowest Grade Disciples.
And a few hours later, at China's Ministry of State Security...
"...Korea sent a protest along with a video?"
"Yes. You should check it."
After playing the video sent from Korea...
"Heo. What is this...!"
They showed great bewilderment.