I was wrong. Odin wasn’t the only god who had lightning power. There were other gods with it, such as Zeus, Thor, Indra, and Unsa[1], but quest number six’s tiny lightning bolts were too crude to be named after a god. Even if it was developed to its maximum potential, it would still be inferior to Odin’s Wrath at D-class. That was the limit of skills with low potential.
Ah, man.
I was looking forward to seeing him, but I was disappointed. The dagger he aimed at me passed by in vain when I slightly tilted my head. Well, the Sixth Virtue was a young boy in my past, so quest number six couldn’t be him.
Tadadak.
I heard someone running away through the swaying bushes.
Sheaaaak-
I jumped on him and pulled his neck. He hit the ground and bounced up, then I saw his face. He was a Caucasian whom I had never seen before. My high expectations for quest number six came to nothing. I punched his head, and he began squirming his last in the cracked burrow that looked like a small meteor had hit it.
“I was excited,” I murmured.
After checking his items and insignias, I searched his backpack. There was nothing special other than his lover’s picture in his wallet. He didn’t even have a phone. I was no longer curious about what special ability he used to survive in dungeons or if he had an escape insignia or not. The System must have favored him.
There were many guys like him these days. They could become powerful beings and dominate the era, but they usually destroyed themselves before the Day of Advent. The dungeons were difficult for them even with the System’s favoritism. Although they usually weren’t dragged to a psychiatric hospital, they were often killed by assassination quests.
Even the number of people in the Revolucion, the group that used to possess the highest number of pre-Awakened, didn’t exceed the size of an attack squad by the Day of Advent. However, it was still a large number as only that many people had survived the Trial Tests.
Anyway, quest number six wasn’t one of the Eight Evils and the Eight Virtues. The rest of them must have been still growing or had not awakened yet. Even if they had awakened, they would likely develop their abilities during the Trial Tests.
The assassination quest completion message popped up, and quest number six was now dead.
***
I now had three D-class escape insignias, and I didn’t return to the dungeon. I threw quest number six’s body deep into the dungeon and lay down on the slope near the entrance. There were more Awakened slowly approaching me. Their timing was different, but approximately fifteen were scheduled to come here in the next six hours.
Sato Hiroshi, quest number sixty-one, was the first Awakened who arrived. He was a recruiter of the Suzuki sisters’ group and was accompanied by four gangsters. None of them had escape insignias.
The ant hell was slowly coming to an end. Woo Yeon-Hee occasionally came toward the blue barrier after hearing the sound and moved the new people into the corner.
A total of thirty-five out of a hundred assassination quests were cleared in ant hell. On top of that, twenty-five of the remaining questers were members of the Revolucion, so they wouldn’t be after me. Therefore, I had completed roughly sixty quests so far. The dots of the other forty didn’t move as they were either waiting for a passport, had no interest in this, or were frightened by the difficulty of the assassination quest. However, these guys were always the real problem because I couldn’t guarantee that none of them were plotting to kill me in the future.
Woo Yeon-Hee and I faced each other with the blue barrier in between us.
Are you not coming back in?
She moved her lips, but I couldn’t hear her. I beckoned her to come out and heard her clearly.
“They aren’t moving much, so they won’t come within a few days,” I said.
“But Seon-Hu, the situation inside is pretty bad. They have done nothing yet because they are wary of me, but if I keep leaving the spot like this… you know… They will plot to harm us,” she said.
“How much food do we have?”
“There are thirty Awakened and thirteen yakuza, so forty-three in total.”
In other words, we lacked food.
“If there are no additional supplies, we should save as much as we can. But that will only work for two weeks,” she added.
“That’s enough.”
In two weeks, the injured would be in better shape, and we could drink water and hunt food from the dungeon’s puddle. The Awakened in the ant hell had no choice but to follow us through the darkness to survive.
“I left their items with them. Lucas and the Suzuki’s group members will start fighting against each other when we run out of food,” I said.
“Seon-Hu?”
“A lot of them will die, but they will create a system. Since I had empowered Lucas, he’ll become the leader if he shows leadership. However, if he doesn’t, someone else will replace him.”
Woo Yeon-Hee looked at me as if she had not expected my decision at all. I knew that she was concerned that I would slaughter them all. Some claimed that they came purely out of curiosity like the guy from Mokpo. I had not killed many since I only removed the Suzuki sisters and the one who didn’t give up the quest. The remaining ones were either in high social positions like Wang Chen or were quite skilled like quest number six.
“The problem is those guys who haven’t moved yet. I have a favor to ask you,” I looked at her.
“I’ll keep an eye here,” she responded.
“The new guys will follow after me, so those who will arrive here…”
“Japanese gangsters,” she replied firmly.
“I’m not sure how much they know, but Ririka must have left someone who was aware of the situation here in their headquarters. Don’t be benevolent. Break their legs and shove them in there as soon as you see them.”
“Any other instructions?” she asked.
“Do we have enough food?” I questioned.
Woo Yeon-Hee tapped her backpack and yawned without realizing it. She blinked and rubbed her restless eyes as we had not slept at all since we arrived in Japan. I was fine, but Woo Yeon-Hee’s Health was C-class, a class lower than mine. I pointed at the tent that the yakuza built and said, “Take a nap, but don’t turn off your phone.”
***
I entered downtown Osaka. I sent the profile list of the Awakened to Mick at the internet cafe in Dotonbori[2] and called him.
<Seon-Hu: I just sent you an email.>
<Mick: I checked already.>
Mick sounded bewildered because he got a list of forty cats at once. Meanwhile, Tina, the bookstore girl who was on our watch, was not on the assassination quest. Widen Runch, the founder of Musicteca, happened to discover a dungeon on his trip after the dotcom bubble burst, and he was buried there. With Tina’s case, I knew now that the System had not given the quest to every Awakened who existed.
<Seon-Hu: If any of them are important figures in either politics or business, report that immediately to this phone number.>
<Mick: Okay.>
I hung up.
[The quest ‘Assassination(33)’ has been cancelled.]
[The quest ‘Assassination(45)’ has been cancelled.]
[The quest ‘Assassination(46)’ has been cancelled.]
They were from the Revolucion. It seemed like they had begun the boss monster fight since three died at once. As the losers died, the survivors began to develop more as they had more resources to allocate amongst themselves.
<Seon-Hu: Hey, Jamie. It’s me, Ethan.>
<Jamie: Ah… ah! Huh? Yes, hi.>
<Seon-Hu: How are things going?>
<Jamie: …Ethan. Are you okay?>
Her voice was serious.
<Seon-Hu: What’s happening?>
<Jamie: I’ll be honest. I didn’t want to know exactly what Mr. Na and his wife were involved in, but as you know, things don’t always work out the way you hope.>
For a second, I felt a shiver down my spine. However, her next sentence did not touch upon what I was worried about.
<Jamie: Suspicious people tried to approach them, but we blocked them in advance. Mr. Na is working in the hotel room right now, and his wife is getting a massage. But Ethan, why don’t you know about this? Where are you now?>
I frowned and placed my hands on the keyboard. As soon as I accessed the Korean portal site, breaking news from yesterday stood out.
「National Tax Service Has Initiated a Tax Investigation on Jeon-il Group」
「The prosecutors summoned Ms. Jamie, the president of Jeon-il Group and Director Park Choong-Sik」
「The Group that has wielded absolute power. Will the ‘Jeon-il Gate[3]’ actually happen?」
Shit. It wasn’t just an incident that derived from an ordinary audit.
<Seon-Hu: It looks like you have faithfully cooperated in the investigation. Good job.>
<Jamie: It was just a formality.>
<Seon-Hu: Do our ledgers have any problems?>
<Jamie: A little bit, but they are not investigating the entire movement of the group’s capital. They are focusing on how the capital came into the group during the IMF crisis.>
This wasn’t instigated solely by the Korean government. If they were particular about investigating how the capital came in, the government was also not innocent.
<Jamie: This will end as an incident. The Korean government not only hopes for that but also reflects such intentions in the media. However, Ethan… You shouldn’t return to Seoul before this is over, okay?>
The government had begun rummaging through old records that they themselves didn’t want to recall. They were targeting me, who had so much power that I could control the Korean VIPs. The contradiction arose there. They would never find a connection between Jeon-il and me by investigating funds as I had hidden the origin of the capitals behind the multiple layers of paper companies. I had spent a lot of effort, time and money on that. Even the U.S. Treasury Department would need a minimum of three years to reveal the truth. Also, if someone intervened, it would be impossible to find out our secret.
However, they had already identified me and attacked the entire group…
<Seon-Hu: Wait a second.>
I searched through yesterday’s news articles while putting my phone between my ear and shoulder. As expected, Jeon-il Bank was mentioned a lot.
<Seon-Hu: Jamie, are you sure Mr. Na and his wife are safe?>
Jamie’s bewildered breathing dominated as if she had noticed the distinctly changed atmosphere.
<Seon-Hu: If you hide anything related to their safety…>
My voice trembled, then Jamie’s voice shook too.
<Jamie: I had protected Mr. Na by taking a risk. Director Park and I were even summoned by the prosecution, and I cooperated. I didn’t mean to hide it, but I didn’t tell you because I had dealt with it already. This only would have worried you needlessly.>
<Seon-Hu: Let’s be clear. So Jeon-il Bank was the target, and they were especially aiming at Mr. Na, right?>
<Jamie: …Do you still don’t get why I told you not to come back here? Mr. Na is not the target.>
<Seon-Hu: Just answer my question.>
She was silent for a few seconds.
<Jamie: Seon-Hu, people with the name ‘Na Seon-Hu’ are missing in this country. No one will be able to touch your parents, so you are the one who needs to be careful!>
1. Appear in the myth of Dangun, controlling clouds. ☜
2. A famous tourist destination in Osaka, known for its giant billboards and signs ☜
3. ‘Gate’ usually means anything about the scandal. ☜