The Negotiation (3)

Yuna's visit came out of nowhere.

Hanseong tilted his head.

Why is Yuna here?

She had said she would be staying in Daejeon for a while. There was no particular reason for her to come back to Suwon, and more than one question rose in his mind, but he set them aside. He could ask her himself once they were face to face.

Even so...

He had never imagined she would cut through fog raised by a Maze Trap so easily. The credit belonged entirely to the white snake coiled around her left leg.

A spirit beast that granted immunity to every poison and every status ailment. Because of it, Yuna had reached the entrance of the stronghold without once being drawn into the hallucinations.

Not long after—

Knock, knock!

A rap at the door, and Yuna's voice came from beyond the entryway.

"I'm here. Can I come in?"

"Yeah. Come in."

The moment permission fell, the front door opened.

Yuna stepped inside with her spirit beasts and, without so much as a greeting, put on a sullen face and muttered.

"...Your reaction's kind of flat."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I thought you'd be surprised. Or at least glad to see me."

"Ah. I was watching you on the map."

At that, Yuna allowed that it made sense and nodded. Once the greetings of reunion were out of the way, Hanseong went straight to the point.

"More importantly, what are you doing here?"

"Running an errand."

"An errand?"

"Yeah. Mom told me to give you this."

What she held out was a small bag.

He unzipped it, and warmth rose with the smell of food, curling at the tip of his nose. She went on to explain.

"It's a packed lunch. She said if you were on your own you'd obviously eat like trash, so I should bring it."

He happened to be hungry. Perfect timing.

Hanseong took the lunch box out at once. Instant rice, grilled ham, canned kimchi, tofu and soybean-paste stew—foods that had grown hard to come by since the Cataclysm. Just looking at them stirred a hunger he hadn't quite felt a moment before.

"I already ate, so go ahead."

"All right."

With that, the meal began.

Yuna sat across from him and told him what had happened in Daejeon in the meantime. She started with the Vigilante Corps. After taking in the citizens the Militia had seized, the corps had swelled, and they had wiped out most of the zombies wandering the streets of Daejeon.

"They also took down Elite monsters that crossed over from Nonsan and Okcheon. And that's when the corps got its first level 30."

"Yeah? Who?"

"Someone called Jeong Yeeun. The Butcher."

A name he hadn't heard in a long while. Hanseong nodded without a word, and Yuna kept going.

"And the Butcher's little sister asked me to thank you. Said that thanks to you she was able ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to raise her level fast, or something like that."

Jeong Yeeun's younger sister, Jeong Yejin. She was a mage, the same as Hanseong. Back then she had been nothing but level 1. Now she was level 15 and had reached the 2nd tier—considerable progress, truly.

"Anyway, she said she wants to pay you back the next time you meet. And after that..."

News of his mother and father. Both of them were well, nothing out of the ordinary. Most days they spent with the children, and when the vigilantes ran short of hands they sometimes pitched in to help.

By the time the update on the corps was winding down, Hanseong had finished eating.

And then—

"Oh, right."

Yuna's eyes went round, as if she had only just remembered something she meant to say.

"Now that I think of it, I saw the post you put up."

"The Information Strategy Board?"

"Yeah, that. There were a ton of comments. Did you read them?"

Hanseong shook his head. He had seen the first few, but there hadn't been time to go through every one.

"Then check now. Named survivors who hang around the board left comments. So did the Sejong Provisional Government."

"...Sejong did?"

Hanseong's brow creased. He hadn't looked yet, but he could already guess the shape of it. He nodded and opened the Information Strategy Board at once.

And promptly stared.

Tens of thousands of comments hung beneath the post he had written.

How are there this many...

Set beside the comment counts on other threads, the number was overwhelming. He couldn't read them all, so he meant to find only the ones written by Sejong. He was flicking rapidly through when a handle caught his eye.

Gwangju. And a puppeteer.

The moment those two words struck him, a name from the Special Summons List once announced by the Sejong Provisional Government flashed through his mind.

The Burning Puppeteer of Gwangju.

This had to be the named survivor Yuna had mentioned. The question wasn't a difficult one to answer, so Hanseong wrote a reply. He had not yet joined Sejong.

And the moment he scrolled on, a familiar name appeared.

This one...

The Crow Shaman, Kurogane Kotori. The Japanese woman who had sat beside him in the VIP Auction Hall, a crow mask on her face.

This, too, was nothing awkward to answer, so he wrote a brief reply. He had already used the superior rune right after buying it.

He was scrolling through the comments again when—

Found it.

Hanseong's eyes flashed. He had found the comment he took to be from the Sejong Provisional Government.

Not far from what he had expected. Beneath it, replies crowded in.

Hanseong snorted as well.

The guess that they might have a higher-level survivor had missed. He had already checked with Detection. The highest among them was level 31.

Not even in the same league. Nothing worth saying.

Still, he decided not to answer them himself. As they had all agreed earlier, the matter of the Sejong Provisional Government had been left to Brigadier General Lee Jongpil.

Losing interest, Hanseong left the Information Strategy Board. When he told Yuna as much, a question came back before long.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm not going. There's no reason to."

"Mm. Figures."

Yuna nodded in silence. But her face was strangely dark. What was that? Was something weighing on her? Studying her expression, Hanseong spoke at once.

"Yuna."

"...Yeah?"

"Is something bothering you?"

"Ah, it's..."

Yuna let out a long sigh.

"The truth is, Sejong got in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠touch the day before yesterday."

"What? With you, directly?"

"No. They sent people to the Vigilante Corps."

They had come to the corps to deliver an order: comply with the mobilization. They would grant a fifteen-day grace period, they said, and then every survivor in the Vigilante Corps was to join the Sejong Provisional Government.

"Anyone level 10 or above gets classified as a reservist and assigned to a unit. The rest can live in the outer residential zone."

Hanseong nodded without a word. He had heard it several times already, so it didn't stir him. What followed was more than enough to sour his mood.

"The problem is, if the corps joins Sejong, Mom and Dad get classified as reservists too. Both of them are over level 10."

"...What?"

Hanseong's brow twitched.

"But they're old..."

"I thought they'd be exempt for that. Sejong said that as long as you meet the level, even the elderly all count as reservists."

In other words, if the vigilantes joined Sejong, his parents might end up fighting monsters.

Faced with a turn he had never imagined, Hanseong's expression hardened at once. After a moment's thought, he looked back at Yuna.

"What did the corps decide to do?"

"They held a vote among the residents."

Ninety-seven percent against joining. An overwhelming result.

"Then there isn't really anything that should be a problem—"

"No. The real problem starts now. Sejong said the vote doesn't matter. If they don't join before the grace period ends, they'll send the army."

"...Send the army?"

"Yeah. They said they'd use force if they had to, to drag the vigilantes into Sejong. So the mood there's been bad lately."

Yuna sighed again.

Hanseong, meanwhile, clenched his teeth.

These bastards...

Martial law. Mobilization orders. Until now, Hanseong had paid little mind to whatever the Sejong Provisional Government did. None of it had come back on him directly. That was why he had handed the friction between Suwon and Sejong over to the brigadier general. And now what? They meant to dispatch troops to where his parents were?

Hanseong's eyes went cold.

A vast detection skill unfolded at once, centered on the Sejong Government Complex. Before long, Hanseong succeeded in finding the man he wanted.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoon Cheolmin. The man serving as acting president. Watching him press on with a heated debate in a conference room, Hanseong stored Phantom in his Inventory.

"It's fine. I'll handle it."

"Huh? You will? How?"

Hanseong didn't answer. He simply moved. He released the Phantom he had stored in Inventory straight onto the coordinates he had set.

Into the very center of the Sejong Provisional Government's conference room.

Meanwhile, at that same hour, a dozen or so people were packed into a conference room at the Sejong Government Complex.

City councilors, officials of vice-minister rank, officers—these were the people who could be called the true leadership of the Sejong Provisional Government.

"Then we will move on to the next item."

Lieutenant Colonel Park Minsu, acting for the Sejong Provisional Government. No sooner had the discussion just concluded ended than he pointed to a map from the dais. The slender pointer indicated the provincial cities.

"Regarding the proposal to bring into Sejong the survivor groups formed around provincial cities such as Daejeon, Busan, and Gwangju..."

Reports on the state of each city followed. When the explanation ended, the middle-aged man in the seat of honor spoke.

"And how do things stand in Daejeon?"

Yoon Cheolmin, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Acting president, and as good as the head of the Sejong Provisional Government.

Lieutenant Colonel Park shook his head.

"No major change. They don't even appear to have begun preparing to relocate."

"I must say, I cannot understand it."

"They would be able to live far more safely here than they do now. What on earth are they thinking..."

"They don't wish to let go of power they've only just gotten their hands on. If that isn't it, there would be no reason to refuse joining."

The city councilors offered their views one after another. When Lieutenant Colonel Park added a conjecture of his own, everyone nodded as if in agreement.

Then Cheolmin asked again.

"Then what of removing the leadership?"

"Ah, that course is already under review. If we cannot secure a firm answer before the grace period ends, we will obtain final approval and carry it out."

"I see. I'll leave that side of things to you."

"Yes, Minister."

Lieutenant Colonel Park answered with deference. After presenting the state of the other cities and the measures prepared against them, he brought up the next subject at once.

"Next is the item concerning those on the Special Summons List. The Enchanter of Uijeongbu, who attempted to make contact with us previously, is at present detained by the Suwon puppet government. Next..."

Park pressed on with the report, naming in turn the five people previously announced as subjects of the special summons.

How much time had passed?

"The last is the Fire-Lightning Mage."

The instant the name left his mouth, a heavy silence filled the conference room. Only Lieutenant Colonel Park's voice went on, carrying the report.

"Unlike those already mentioned, this individual is someone of whom nothing whatsoever is known. Not where they reside, nor their sex, their age, or their name."

An utter unknown. That was how Park summed the mage up, adding what they had recently learned through the Information Strategy Board.

"What has at least come to light of late is that the Fire-Lightning Mage is said to be no less than level 50."

"...What?"

No sooner had he finished than the conference room stirred.

"Level 50? I don't believe we've seen a level that high even in Sejong..."

"Correct. The highest level in Sejong at present is Captain Oh Taeyoung, at level 31."

A gap of some twenty levels. At that shocking fact, everyone swallowed a groan.

"We therefore judge it necessary to raise both the priority of recruitment and the compensation above those of the other subjects of the special summons, and through today's discussion..."

A flash. A thunderous boom.

Right as Lieutenant Colonel Park was going on, a blinding bolt and the crashing roar that followed buried ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his voice. The inside of the conference room flared bright, then darkened again at once.

And in that moment—

Everyone, Lieutenant Colonel Park included, stared wide-eyed.

For when the lightning ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cleared, a person they had never seen was standing in the center of the room.

An unidentified figure, a motorcycle helmet on his head.