Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Olympus Revival Plot
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After resolving the whole mess with Do-yeon, my sister expressed her deep gratitude to me.
After that, Do-yeon seemed to be making friends well and attending school without issues.
She'd occasionally video call me, which could be a bit awkward at times, but whatever.
It looked like her friends were dying to get a look at me.
Maybe I should swing by for a visit sometime.
My schedule wasn't as packed as before, and with the national stabilization efforts mostly wrapped up, I could afford that much leisure.
It was clear... the Mutant Management Bureau agents' relentless efforts were finally paying off.
Korea was even being called the safest country in the world—need I say more?
Other nations were dealing with rifts popping up everywhere, plus vegetation changes causing countless casualties.
A few mutants were holding the line, and the Ark Angels were racing around the globe rescuing high-risk areas, which was saving the day. Otherwise, talk of humanity's survival being at stake would've been next.
Those who'd rejected mutants—especially politicians—were clinging desperately now.
What shocked me was hearing that in the US, politicians who'd led the anti-mutant charge had been killed by mutants.
...I'd never seen one strung up in the middle of a city square before.
It just showed how deep the mutants' resentment ran.
Of course, the mutants responsible didn't get off scot-free either. Nia's iron fist was in play.
She took a hardline stance with any mutants who ignored her orders.
Mutants with rough personalities needed that kind of control, or the US would've been in even worse chaos—it was obvious.
I'd thought she was all sweet and gentle... but that was my mistake.
As if she'd made some resolve, she started knocking down and imprisoning mutants who defied her.
She publicly declared zero tolerance for the politician executions and the wave of radical mutant crimes that followed, then ventured out from mutant city limits to roam the world in earnest.
Few mutants defied her now.
If you ranked mutants by strength, right after me came Nia.
Even Han-gyeol and the Ark Angels weren't quite on her level.
Plus, as she crisscrossed the globe stopping hostile mutants and saving people, her supporters grew...
Which meant her influence was expanding.
Nia's true body was the World Tree.
A World Tree wasn't just some giant plant spanning the world—it was divine in nature, no different.
On par with the Ancestral Dragon.
With her stepping up, serious hotspots began stabilizing.
But that didn't mean the world suddenly turned peaceful.
Monsters pouring from rifts still threatened humanity.
The hodgepodge names for those monsters gradually unified too.
Erosion Entities.
They were dubbed Erosion Entities for eroding Earth, and the gates opening in the sky were standardized as rifts.
Earth's lifeforms twisting was explained as erosion phenomena.
Classifications followed: rift severity, Erosion Entity grades, and so on...
Erosion Entities were graded just like mutants.
An Erosion Entity matching an S-rank mutant's power was S-rank, and so forth.
Oversized ones got no grade.
If even S-rank mutants couldn't handle it, I'd step in anyway.
So far, no A-rank let alone S-rank had appeared... but who knew.
No one could predict when disaster might strike.
Especially now—future sight was impossible.
Something surpassing me could pop out anytime.
I had to stay vigilant.
Still, I couldn't just tremble in fear of change.
Erosion Entities didn't bring only sorrow and despair to humanity.
Their corpses and byproducts spurred human progress.
The more humanity studied them, the faster they developed countermeasures.
Still prototypes, but weapons capable of wiping out low-grade Erosion Entities were entering production.
Specialists emerged to handle them.
They formed new security firms, evolving into novel social groups.
Hunters.
Their rise let civilians counter weak Erosion Entities too.
They didn't challenge mutants though.
Each had their role: Hunters for theirs, mutants for theirs.
Hunters mainly tackled sudden vegetation outbreaks and eroded, twisted Earth lifeforms.
Those caused more civilian damage than massive rifts even.
Humans are adaptive animals, after all?
People adapted without getting swept away by the changes.
Mutant perceptions in Korea shifted dramatically too.
Back at my mutation during early mutant days, they were seen as troublemakers. Now? Full-on heroes.
I'd worked to shape that image... lucky it stuck.
I'd threatened to crush anyone causing trouble, so the reaction was predictable.
Anyway, with domestic stability, I was finally enjoying some downtime.
And I wasn't alone.
Unnie Yeon-hwa restarted her streams, and Ha-rin even guested occasionally.
Come to think of it, Unnie's latest content was rift cleanup squads.
Teaming with hunters to seal sudden rifts.
She said it was surprisingly fun.
More precisely, the praise for her feats puffed her up.
Of course, Ha-rin suffered more as Unnie got bolder.
Ha-rin was opening portals nationwide...
She'd duck whenever Unnie appeared lately.
Got caught instantly though.
...Unnie's detection skills were top-tier.
And Ha-rin knew that better than anyone.
* * *
"Hey, hey, hey."
"What, what, what?"
In the midst of this leisurely time, Tae-hoon showed up at the bureau for once.
"You free lately?"
"Relatively? Why?"
"Han-gyeol wants to go on a trip."
"In this climate?"
"Precisely for the Ark Angels concert—gotta hit Europe briefly. Hunters are handling things anyway, and Yeon-hwa smashes rifts when bored, so it's not that busy, right?"
"Fair. A trip... hmm."
"You punk, that 'no way' face again."
"Nah, just—finally got free time, no need to jet around overseas. Ark Angels tour won't wrap in Europe alone, yeah?"
"Uh... true?"
"Probably."
"Anyway, I'll think it over. Who's going?"
"The usual crew."
"Me, you, Han-gyeol, Ji-hoon, Min-hyuk?"
"Yep."
"Real 'same old gang' vibe."
A guys' trip after ages...
Not bad. Yeah. Opportunities like this might not come again.
As I mulled it over—
Vrrr—
"Who?"
"Uh... Nia."
"World Tree?"
"Yeah."
"What's up suddenly?"
"Ask her."
It'd been a while since Nia last contacted me.
* * *
-Seo-hyun.
"What's going on?"
-Not an emergency, but European mutants are plotting a regime takeover.
"...What the hell's that about?"
Why European mutants all of a sudden?
-I don't know details... but Incarnation Variants from the Third Mutation have banded together, I hear.
"Incarnation Variants...?"
-Yes. They're ranting about reviving Olympus's glory in Europe.
Olympus? No way...
"Greek mythology..."
A hollow laugh escaped me.
Seeing Seo-ah, other Incarnation Variants weren't a shock, but them suddenly mobbing up?
They'd probably laid low, honing their powers till ready.
And how many Olympus gods were there? Incarnations... plenty.
Enough for a group, and baseline A-to-S-rank powerhouses. Regime grab didn't seem hard.
I got why Nia called.
Even mighty Nia shone best near her California body.
She warned her clones might struggle controlling a horde of Greek-god-powered Incarnation Variants.
Her raw strength was insane, so maybe overkill... but insurance for unknowns couldn't hurt.
Hence the request.
Their spot was Europe.
Greek myths? Base likely Greece.
"Hey, Tae-hoon."
"Yeah."
"Ark Angels schedule hit Greece?"
"Uh... hold on."
Tae-hoon checked with Han-gyeol. Answer:
"She says yes?"
"Confirm."
"But why?"
"Got business to handle."
"...What?"
"Gonna tangle with Greek gods."
His eyes bugged out.
"What the—outta nowhere?"
"Dunno details, but those Incarnation Variants plan to rebuild Olympus across Europe. Greek myths, so base probably Greece... just checking."
"Huh."
Tae-hoon let out a disbelieving sigh.
I felt the same.