Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Earth Defense Force
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Ma Jong-chil, an A-rank Evildoer.
As is true in any world, he was as much an object of envy as he was a target of scorn.
A hero to those with twisted ideals, his life story garnered enough interest to be turned into a novel.
The man who ruled the underbelly of South Korea.
Having grown so powerful that even the government couldn't touch him, he was nothing short of an icon of evil, seemingly eternal.
*Crack!*
His end was anticlimactic.
Without a hint of hesitation, Wang-sik snapped Ma Jong-chil's neck.
He casually tossed aside the limp body, its breath completely gone, and approached the stunned Sa Yeong-jun.
“D-don't come any closer!”
Paralyzed with fear, Sa Yeong-jun backed away, not even thinking of running.
Wang-sik approached with a blank expression until Sa Yeong-jun was cornered against a wall, with nowhere left to go.
*Thud.*
Wang-sik grabbed Sa Yeong-jun by the throat.
“P-please, spare me.”
Having witnessed the anticlimactic death of the boss he revered like a god, Sa Yeong-jun didn't dare think of resisting.
“How many people who begged just like you have you killed?”
Even aside from Min-jae at the library, there must have been more than a few who died on his orders.
“P-please…”
“Should I give you a chance to repent?”
Seeing a glimmer of hope in a desperate situation, Sa Yeong-jun quickly nodded.
“I-I'll do anything.”
Wang-sik released his grip on the man's throat and spoke.
“The ledger.”
At that single word, Sa Yeong-jun's eyes, which seemed incapable of further shock, wavered once more.
“The corruption ledger. You have thirty seconds.”
Sa Yeong-jun wanted to hold out, to claim no such thing existed. But one look at Wang-sik's emotionless face, and he knew he couldn't lie.
“A-are you really going to let me live?”
“You'll rot in prison for the rest of your life. But you'll have plenty of company, so you won't be lonely.”
Sa Yeong-jun's mind raced.
*Still, if I live, there's a chance.*
He moved his trembling body and pushed aside a painting hanging in the chairman's office.
A safe was revealed behind it. Sa Yeong-jun entered the code, but the safe didn't open immediately.
“It requires the chairman's fingerprint.”
Wang-sik gestured with his eyes toward the dead Ma Jong-chil, as if to say, ‘Get on with it.’
Only after Sa Yeong-jun lifted Ma Jong-chil's corpse and pressed its finger to the scanner did the safe finally open.
The moment it did, Wang-sik's chain wrapped around his neck.
“Y-you promised to spare me…”
“You've lived your life breaking promises, haven't you?”
Sa Yeong-jun was speechless. To him, promises were merely useful tools to manipulate others.
“B-but…”
“Don't worry. There will be plenty of people waiting for you.”
*Crack!*
Sa Yeong-jun's neck, constricted by the chain, twisted at a grotesque angle.
Just as Wang-sik was collecting the ledger, the Hunter Management Bureau's Gate Response Team arrived on the scene.
This was typically a job for the Public Security Team, but on Bureau Director Kang Il-seop's special orders, all available agents were deployed.
*—We must use this opportunity to pull them out by the roots.*
Kang Il-seop was not the type to miss an opportunity by getting bogged down in procedures or formalities.
“You have permission to shoot anyone who resists.”
At the command of Jang Pil-do, the Gate Response Team Leader, twenty agents stormed the building simultaneously. Min Ha-na, who had been waiting outside, ignited explosions of flame the moment the order was given, launching herself into the air.
*Boom! Boom!*
With two more mid-air bursts, her light body reached the twentieth floor, and she crashed through a window to enter.
*Fwoosh!*
Before the shards of glass had even finished falling, she conjured a massive flame, ready to attack.
But she never got the chance to unleash it.
“You weren't planning on shooting that at me, were you?”
She had entered the chairman's office.
The only person standing was Wang-sik.
“Is it over already?”
“Before that, could you please get rid of the flame? There are some important ledgers here.”
As Wang-sik held up the ledgers, Min Ha-na dispelled her flame and surveyed the surroundings.
She easily spotted two corpses.
“Ma Jong-chil…”
She knew all about Ma Jong-chil.
There was an unspoken rule among most guilds: do not get into a conflict with Ma Jong-chil.
They were the kind of people who would do anything once you became their enemy. In fact, one major guild had even been forced to disband after their relentless attacks.
And that same Ma Jong-chil was now dead.
“How on earth…”
“Let's go. Time to clean up the rest.”
Having stored the ledgers in his inventory, Wang-sik left the chairman's office first. Min Ha-na snapped back to her senses and followed a step behind, heading into the chaotic hallway.
***
*—Daegang Construction Collapses.*
*—South Korea's Greatest Shadow Disappears.*
*—Hunter Management Bureau! The Worst Evildoers Finally Eradicated!*
*—Hunter Management Bureau Wipes Out Vicious Crime Syndicate.*
Every news outlet was reporting the breaking story.
“Disgusting bastards. They were so quiet before, acting as if they knew nothing.”
Kang Il-seop turned off the news and looked at the ledgers on his table.
There were fifteen volumes in total.
On top of the ledgers, delivered by the team leader, was a small note.
*—I let you live this time, too.*
It was a note from Wang-sik.
“Such a cold person. He had time to write this, but not to stop by. On a day like today, I might have even given him a kiss.”
Before him lay Pandora's box.
“Shall we see what's inside?”
Kang Il-seop began to examine the ledgers.
At that very moment, as the shameful secrets of South Korea were being unveiled...
...Wang-sik was jumping out of a helicopter.
“Whoa!”
Oh Min-jae, held in his arms, cheered.
“You think this is an amusement park ride?”
*Thud!*
Wang-sik landed on the beach of a deserted island.
To protect him from the impact, he had tossed Oh Min-jae into the air just before landing. As a result, Min-jae landed in Wang-sik's hands a moment later.
“This place hasn't changed.”
“Want to look around for a bit?”
“No! I want to eat the cup ramen you make! For some reason, the ramen you prepare is always delicious.”
“How can cup ramen be more delicious?”
“Because you put your love into it.”
“I've never put anything like that in.”
Despite his words, Wang-sik went inside and immediately filled the electric kettle with water.
But as he waited for the ramen, Oh Min-jae's expression began to contort.
“Hey…”
“Look at this.”
The activity in his brain had decreased during the journey. Before the pain could worsen, Wang-sik took a red crystal orb from his inventory.
“What's this?”
“I think it's a necromancer's record. Take a look.”
It was the crystal orb Wang-sik had obtained after defeating the necromancer in America.
Oh Min-jae lifted the orb to eye level. Inside, he could see densely packed letters floating around.
“Huh? This is…”
“You've seen it before, right?”
Of course he had.
The mage who had done this to him and Wang-sik had possessed a similar crystal orb.
“Here. Take this.”
Wang-sik handed him a fist-sized mana stone, and Oh Min-jae immediately began his preparations.
Having seen it before, he knew how to activate it.
He placed the mana stone on the ground and set the crystal orb on top of it, triggering a change.
The letters inside swirled into a vortex and then burst outward in an instant.
Letters, symbols, and bizarre images now floated around the living room.
There were so many, packed so densely, that it was difficult to see what was in front of them.
“Wow.”
“Go ahead and take a look, then.”
While Oh Min-jae examined the mysterious texts, Wang-sik went to the bedroom to set up new bedding for him.
Then, he assembled a few items from the bag he had brought for Min-jae.
He attached an IV bag from the bag to a tall metal pole set up beside the bed. Finally, he checked the amount of medicine in the capped syringes and confirmed the timer connected to the tube was working.
“I'll need to refill this soon.”
What he had set up was a painkiller drip. It was essential for when Oh Min-jae slept; without it, he could die from shock in his sleep.
After finishing his final checks, he returned to the living room to find Oh Min-jae staring intently at the records filling one side of the wall.
“Let's eat ramen.”
Wang-sik said, pushing through the dense text to pour water into the cup ramen. But Oh Min-jae, engrossed in the records, didn't move.
“Hey. I need to study this properly.”
“What's it about?”
Wang-sik had glanced at it himself, but with so many unfamiliar words, he had only recognized that it was related to magic.
“This is research data on Gates.”
At those words, Wang-sik's expression turned serious.
Ignoring Wang-sik's reaction, Oh Min-jae picked up the crystal orb, changed its angle, and set it down again.
A completely different set of data appeared.
“It looks like there's data on summoning magic along with the Gate research. This part seems like a diary. I think he recorded everything in here.”
“So that was the real treasure.”
“Can I really study this properly?”
Oh Min-jae looked at Wang-sik with a pleading expression.
Wang-sik didn't like the idea of Oh Min-jae getting involved with Gates again. That was why he'd arranged for him to work at the National Library.
But the recent incident had forced him to admit that doing so was, in fact, more dangerous.
“Hey. It's impossible for me to live a normal life now.”
“Alright. If you're going to do it, do it right. I'll give you my full support.”
Wang-sik didn't argue; he accepted it. He judged that the time had come.
“Yes! This is great! Then, can you build me a research lab in the basement? I want to do this properly.”
The first basement level, on the way to the Gate Room, was completely empty.
That was the space Oh Min-jae wanted.
“Okay. Looks like we'll have to rebuild the stairs.”
“Hehe! Thanks.”
“Nothing to thank me for. We're a team now. You know what I mean, right?”
“So, are we starting now? The thing you talked about three years ago.”
Wang-sik thought for a moment before nodding.
“We have to. The Earth Defense Force.”
“Alright! This is exciting!”
Oh Min-jae threw his arms in the air and cheered.
“Calm down. We're not ready yet.”
“We can just do it one step at a time! I'll definitely help! I can't fight on the front lines, but I'm good at using this.”
Oh Min-jae pointed to his own head.
“Right. I'm counting on you.”
“Hehe. I'm counting on you, too.”
Oh Min-jae looked relieved, as if freed from some kind of restraint.
*‘Now I can finally be of help to him.’*
That restraint was none other than guilt.
Late that night.
*Knock. Knock.*
The person who knocked and opened the door was his chief of staff.
“Have some tea while you work.”
“You're still here? I thought I told you to go home.”
“I can't leave. If I go out now, I'll be kidnapped on the spot. Reporters, congressmen, mayors, district heads... they're all waiting for me like a gift basket. I must have received over five hundred calls today alone.”
“My apologies.”
“It's fine. I'll be claiming overtime pay.”
“Haha. I like how you're always so straightforward about things.”
In her mid-thirties with an elegant appearance, she was never one to be shaken.
“Can we talk for a moment?”
The chief of staff, who had been about to leave after setting down the tea, sat down on the sofa across from Kang Il-seop.
“You've only changed your clothes. You're still the same as when you were a first lieutenant.”
“Oh, please. I even put on makeup. Don't treat me like a soldier. I've been living as an innocent office worker for ten years now. Do you have any idea how many men are chasing after me?”
“Are any of them decent?”
“They're more stable than the men who risk their lives on the battlefield. I'm satisfied with my life now. Though my hands do get an itch to fight every now and then.”
“I'm sorry. For bringing a natural-born soldier to a place like this.”
This time, the chief of staff didn't argue, simply offering a wry smile.
When Kang Il-seop became the Bureau Director of the Hunter Management Bureau, the only person he brought with him was his current chief of staff.
Jang Yeon-su, First Lieutenant of the Awakened Special Forces.
A C-rank Awakened, she was a soldier who displayed valor on the battlefield that surpassed any man. She became a soldier at twenty through the Awakened special selection program and spent five years on the battlefield with Kang Il-seop.
For the ten years since, she had served as his chief of staff. Within the Hunter Management Bureau, she was the person who knew him best, and also the only one who could control him.
“You're reminiscing. You must be deeply troubled.”
“It's because of the corruption ledgers. What do you think is the right thing to do?”
“What's the problem?”
“If I release this, over fifty former and current lawmakers will have to go to prison immediately. If we start an investigation, that number will likely exceed one hundred. Not only the political world, but the financial sector will also take a huge hit. It would be, without a doubt, the biggest corruption scandal in South Korean history.”
“You're not the type to be afraid of that.”
“At first, they'll applaud the Hunter Management Bureau, but after a while, the momentum will die down. We are, after all, part of the government. If the people lose trust in the government, our own position will inevitably weaken.”
Many issues were intertwined.
Despite this, the chief of staff spoke without wavering.
“What were you thinking before you looked at the ledgers?”
“I was planning to release everything.”
“Then wouldn't that be the right course of action? Regardless of the weight of the contents. A man who may lack flexibility, but who never abandons his absolute values. That's who you are, Director.”
Kang Il-seop nodded at her words.
“Hearing you say that makes me feel ashamed. It seems my conviction was shaken.”
“You'd already made your decision before asking me, hadn't you? Weren't you just looking for reassurance when you heard me say it?”
“You know me better than I know myself.”
“Just in case, don't think what I said makes this a shared responsibility.”
“Pulling this at the last minute?”
“Well then, I'll be heading home now. The decision is entirely yours, Director.”
The chief of staff bowed politely.