The Emperor's Belly Portal
Kim Hwang-je assigned the task to Seo Jun-seo and teleported to the East Sea.
“Ugh…”
The stench still lingered where he had caught the manta.
No wonder the bulldogs hated Kim Hwang-je.
He teleported repeatedly until the smell finally faded from the horizon.
“Right… so I head that way?”
Kim Hwang-je turned on his phone and checked the compass. He had received the coordinates of the ship’s location, but finding it was not his job.
“Come out, [Hunter with Poor Eyesight] and [Yamanok Fisherman].”
The hunter dropped from the sky, rolled across the sand, and immediately prostrated himself before Kim Hwang-je.
“Your Majesty! Did you summon this humble one?”
“…?”
With his face buried in the sand, his words came out muffled. What was with this over-the-top loyalty?
Whoosh!
Thud!
The fisherman bursting from the water was no less dramatic. He spun through the air and dove headfirst into the sand.
Thwack!
Head buried, the fisherman trembled like a thrown dagger.
“Your Majesty! Are you well?! Please accept my bow!”
Was this the legendary grand prostration he had only heard about?
Kim Hwang-je could not help but admire the sight of a man standing perfectly upright on his head. Even the hunter looked up in shock.
“…Damn it. I cannot win with a simple prostration…”
No, do not start some weird loyalty competition from the very beginning.
“Heh heh heh! A mere land-dwelling bumpkin like you thinks you can match the loyalty of us proud barbarian fishermen, the very symbol of loyalty and valor since ancient times?”
“Shut up, you stinking trash! I have even entered His Majesty’s bath!”
“Wh-what?!”
No. That was to wash the bandits. Do not misunderstand.
Kim Hwang-je scooped up a handful of sand and flung it at both of them.
“Are you two going to come to your senses?”
“Aigoo, Your Majesty. Please give your command…”
“Yes! Your Majesty! Speak!”
“Ugh, lift your heads first.”
The hunter and fisherman raised their heads. Only their eyes were visible through the sand-caked faces.
Kim Hwang-je pointed toward the distant sea.
“Hunter, is there a ship that looks like this out there?”
He showed them a picture of a drillship he had found online.
“I shall find it at once.”
The hunter stared intently at the far sea. Even with an eyepatch on, he somehow turned his head and cupped his hands around his eyes.
“You will have to take me there once you find something.”
“Understood, Your Majesty. Come forth! Scallop!”
A lion’s roar erupted from his throat.
‘Scallop?’
Yesterday it was a mussel!
But there was no point arguing now.
Rumble…
Crash!
The water swirled violently, and a bright red scallop raised its head. Multiple blue eyes protruded like snails from between its vivid comb-patterned shell.
“Scallop! Scallop!”
The scallop actually cried out.
Kim Hwang-je checked his own pulse while watching the scene. It was beating a little fast, but he seemed fine. He had not accidentally taken drugs in his sleep.
“Your Majesty! Behold my ultimate creation—the Sports Scallop!”
Not a sports car…
But why was its flesh sparkling when it was not even an electric eel?
“Hahaha! Your Majesty, unlike that pathetic hunter who only summons mangy mutts, I shall escort you aboard this magnificent, sparkling, beautiful, and soft Sports Scallop!”
“Shut your mouth, you ocean trash! Do you think His Majesty would enjoy the fishy smell of your pet?”
“Haha! Say whatever you want, hunter! Try chasing us by swimming with your mutts! Or better yet, what is the fastest thing you can summon? Huh?”
Click.
Kim Hwang-je pulled out the flail he had stored in his trade window and rested it on his shoulder. The long heads of the flail touched his back.
“……”
“……”
Both the hunter and the fisherman fell silent at the sight of the flail.
The status window had said the job [Emperor] did not suit it, yet somehow it worked wonders.
“Do I just ride it?”
“Hehe… Please do…”
They understood without needing to be told. How convenient.
The scallop quietly approached and extended its long tongue. The fisherman stepped onto it and guided Kim Hwang-je inside.
Within was a plush interior made of the scallop’s soft flesh, resembling the seats and decor of a sports car. It truly lived up to the “sports scallop” name.
“…”
This world was clearly a den of lunatics. He had heard that some otherworld was filled with people who could not even grill meat, but why had even a single fisherman here crossbred a scallop into something resembling a sports car?
“Your Majesty. I have found it.”
The hunter interrupted his thoughts, pointing toward the distant sea.
“If you go straight in that direction, it is there.”
“You heard him, fisherman?”
“Yes. Hold on tight, Your Majesty! Hey, hunter. You hold on tight too.”
Ah…
How exactly was he supposed to grip scallop flesh?
Boom!
Kim Hwang-je was slammed into the scallop’s flesh by the zero-to-sixty acceleration of 1.4 seconds.
“Agh! Why is there no windshield?!”
“Pardon? Your Majesty, what is glass? I do not know!”
“A… Aaaagh!”
The headwind felt like it would snap his jaw!
The scallop flew, ignoring air resistance entirely. A deafening roar like an explosion trailed a white line across the sea.
“Ugh… Ugh… You lunatics…”
Kim Hwang-je wiped the drool that had burst from his mouth with his cloak and purchased a wind barrier spell from the royal castle to shield the front of the scallop.
“Hah… Your Majesty, what did you do? The scallop has become much faster!”
“I removed the air resistance. Do the same next time.”
He no longer had the strength to speak.
Clutching the soft scallop flesh tightly, Kim Hwang-je soared through the sky until they finally reached the drillship.
“Ah, yes, President! Yes, yes. You are almost here… Pardon? How are you coming to the port… From the sky? Are you coming by helicopter…?”
Boom!
What was that sound?
The tugboat captain, who had not even finished his call, looked up at the sky to see a scallop bouncing across the water.
Was it a rubber boat shaped like a scallop?
No. Even up close, it was clearly a massive bivalve.
“Can only I see that thing?”
The captain turned to ask, but the crew members were all swallowing hard.
“Uh… Uh… Captain, that thing is really coming! Should we not perform evasive maneuvers?”
“What kind of evasive maneuvers can a tugboat do?! That must be the hunter president…”
“It is starting to spin!”
The scallop spun wildly in the air before stopping abruptly and dropping beside the tugboat.
Boom!
A wave crashed over the ship.
Moments later, when they looked down, they saw three men inside the scallop.
“Captain…”
“Hunters have no common sense…”
Regardless, Kim Hwang-je climbed aboard the tugboat with his two subordinates.
The captain rushed out.
“Is that my drillship?”
A massive drillship followed behind the tugboat. It was enormous, like a castle rising from the sea.
The towering structure with drilling pipes was as tall as an apartment complex, with various cranes and even a helicopter landing pad. It was a drillship capable of drilling 15 kilometers beneath the sea.
“It is incredibly large. As expected, I cannot send that in one go.”
It easily exceeded 50,000 tons at a glance. Already heavy, the oil rig had been wrapped in steel pipes and external armor after the monster outbreak, making its weight astronomical.
This could not be sent unless it was cut apart like in a shipyard. But there were no Celestials to carry and reassemble it.
They would have to send only the drill.
“Yes, President. I have already spoken with your employee. Use it as you please. But the vessel you will be towing… is that scallop?”
“It is a Sports Scallop!”
The fisherman shouted loudly.
“Ah…”
The tugboat captain could only move his lips without speaking before lowering his head. Why was that crazy hunter wrapped in chains while naked? He could not bring himself to meet his eyes.
“W-well then, we will be on our way.”
“Ah, just a moment.”
The captain’s face turned bright red when he was stopped just as he was about to return to reality.
“There are no crew members to operate the drillship?”
“Ah, we are just a tugboat… The employees finished the final work and all left by helicopter.”
Kim Hwang-je did not know, but drillships operated on a 30-day rotation where the entire crew was replaced by helicopter. Once work was complete, everyone returned home the same way. Moreover, most systems were fully automated, so aside from emergency engineers, large crews were unnecessary.
“I see… Safe travels.”
“Thank you!”
The captain quickly disappeared back into sweet reality.
Kim Hwang-je stood before the drillship alongside the red scallop, now three times faster thanks to added aerodynamics.
“Scallop scallop!”
“You be quiet for a moment. Actually, go underwater for a bit.”
“Scallop scallop!”
The scallop dove into the water with a splash. Once its red comb-patterned shell disappeared, a deep peace settled in Kim Hwang-je’s heart.
“…Hunter. Do you know how to operate this?”
“Hehe, Your Majesty. Even this humble one has things he does not know.”
“Fisherman… Never mind, you are out.”
“What?! Why, Your Majesty! I am far more capable than that hunter!”
“Haha, as expected. Even the ocean trash cannot earn a shred of His Majesty’s expectations!”
Clack.
When Kim Hwang-je gripped the flail again, both fell silent.
“Come out! [Sassy Gangster]!”
“Hmph! I only came because Your Majesty called!”
“That is right!”
Thirty sassy gangsters appeared in a crowd, regardless of gender. Thanks to the increased intelligence stat from the crown, he could now summon three types of citizens, and the duration had greatly increased.
“Do you think you can figure out how to operate this?”
“Oh my! Your Majesty! We bandits are moved by your faith in thinking we can operate a golem!”
“We do not know how, but since you summoned us, we will play along!”
“Oh! I see here that it says it is automatic!”
“Then let the golem do the work while we play!”
This group of bandits was a mix of men and women. They all spoke in coy voices, regardless of gender, acting cute toward Kim Hwang-je.
“Your Majesty, I will show off my swimsuit!”
When one male bandit started removing his pants, Kim Hwang-je’s patience snapped.
“Throw that one overboard.”
“Yes!”
The hunter tossed the pants-dropping bandit into the sea.
Splash!
Screech screech!
Seagulls circled, thinking there was food.
“Aagh!”
Listening to the screams, Kim Hwang-je closed his eyes.
“We are not here to play. Work. Got it?”
Seeing the veins bulging on his forehead, everyone grew solemn. He reverse-summoned the floating bandit back to Sinal Port.
* * *
“They are lowering the drill from above.”
“Got it.”
Since it was fully automatic, operating it was easier than expected. Kim Hwang-je tossed his phone to a gangster and entered the water. The gangsters operated the drillship with help from Seo Jun-seo and his employees via video call.
The lower deck of the ship opened, and finally the drill entered the water. Kim Hwang-je entered the water protected by a bubble barrier. He sat on a rock, a whirlpool forming around him as seawater was sucked into his lower body.
Fortunately, the drillship used powerful thrusters to remain steady on the sea. The fisherman riding the mussel did the same, sitting atop the mussel that had anchored itself to the seabed with threads, watching Kim Hwang-je with concern.
“Are you okay with breathing?”
But Kim Hwang-je was more worried about him. How could he be underwater without even a single bubble?
“Breathing, you say? Of course I am fine, Your Majesty. I often train by running on the seabed!”
Ah, is that so.
Kim Hwang-je deliberately looked away and watched the massive drill slowly descending from above.
“Hah… The day has finally come.”
“Um, Your Majesty. Are you sure this is okay?”
Whirrrrr—
The rotating thick crushing weight gleamed.
“I am doing it. Tie me up.”
“Ugh… Your Majesty…”
Kim Hwang-je lay on his back on the seabed. Who would have thought he would witness such a sight in his lifetime?
A strange ceiling, a strange sky, a strange sea surface… It was the complete otherworld starter pack. No, was the last one not included?
“Then… I shall tie you up.”
“Yeah.”
“Mussel, byssal threads!”
The mussel produced threads like a silkworm. They used the sticky threads to cling to walls. Now those threads bound Kim Hwang-je’s limbs tightly to the surrounding rocks.
The drill approached his abdomen like a surgical scalpel on an operating table.
“This is just an experiment. Just an experiment.”
The drillship was too large and heavy to send as is. Even if it were cut apart, there were no Celestials to repair and reattach it. The only thing that could be sent was the drill itself, but naturally, the drill could not be sent alone.
So there was only one method. He had to use his body as a portal to send the drill to the royal castle’s sea.
Kim Hwang-je selected [Tribute Trade] and tightly closed his eyes.
Your Majesty.
That is truly a mad idea!
But I like it.
If you are going to go mad, you might as well go completely insane…
Have I told you this before?
Turning 360 degrees brings you back to the same place.
That is correct.
A madman is merely someone who has realized their true nature.
Congratulations, Your Majesty.
You are now [The Enlightened One].
Now, there are two paths for the enlightened Your Majesty.
One is for the drill to shatter the castle walls.
The other is to send the drill to the sea you desire in exchange for appropriate… pain.
“Appropriate… pain?”
Kim Hwang-je had already steeled himself. After telling Benedict that much, he could not say it only hurt a little. He had also already expected that the eunuch would not miss this opportunity.
“Let us just test it… Prick me lightly.”
Thud!
The massive drill that pierced the earth touched Kim Hwang-je’s stomach. He immediately activated [Tribute Trade]. The drill advanced through his body from Earth’s sea into the waters where Bahu waited.
His body had become a door.
Fortunately, the pain was not as great as he had feared. Watching the drill continuously push into his abdomen, Kim Hwang-je nodded.
“Ugh… Thank goodness. It just feels like being hit with the palm of a hand.”
Kim Hwang-je spoke.
“This much is bearable. Tell them to pull the drill back up.”
“Yes… Your Majesty.”
The fisherman beside him wiped away tears.
“Your Majesty’s sacrifice has deeply moved me…! To go this far for Teacher Lavanus… Sob sob sob…!”
“It is not at a level worth crying over.”
He meant it sincerely. Compared to the lower body whirlpool, how normal was this? Being hit in the stomach was nothing.
Kim Hwang-je. He was a rugged man.
“I am impressed. To think you would proceed in this manner…”
Benedict strode across Kim Hwang-je’s stomach and looked at the drill boring into his body.
“Moreover, I can clearly feel it.”
“You can feel it?”
“I can feel the power of the containment facility from within. This facility is definitely an imperial facility. If you lower me down attached to the end of this drill, I should be able to open the barrier.”
Looking at the blue shimmering sunlight, Kim Hwang-je spoke.
“Then preparations are almost complete. I will contact the royal castle.”
Then he spoke to the fisherman whose head was buried in the ground.
“Stop crying and tell them to pull the drill back up. Please…”