Chapter 270. Gathering (2)
[Orden’s Territory, Underground Laboratory]
Orden visited his lab. When the humanoid monsters spotted Orden, they immediately ceased what they were doing and bowed to their king.
These monsters were not as physically prominent as the others, but instead they were extremely intelligent, and Orden was especially fond of them.
“Stand up.”
The king commanded, and only then did the humanoid monsters jump to their feet.
Orden looked around the lab. The giant egg-shaped capsule stood out the most among the various laboratory equipments. This capsule was a medical device used to heal humanoid monsters who had been injured during the latest battle against the humans.
“…”
Orden looked at Kurukuru who was inside the capsule. Out of the six humanoid monsters sent out to fight against the Chameleon Troupe, he was the only one who survived.
“…Although Kurukuru lost, he’s growing everyday.”
A voice explained to Orden. Orden turned around to face the owner of the voice.
There, a human servant with a scarred face was politely bowing to Orden.
“Kurukuru learns from his mistakes. Once all of his wounds are healed, Kurukuru will have become stronger than he ever was.”
‘Lancaster’, Orden’s only non-monster servant, reported.
Orden glanced at Lancaster and turned his gaze back to Kurukuru.
‘Kurrr…. Kurrrr….’
Kurukuru’s eyes gave off a crimson glow as he looked straight at the king. It was his way of expressing ardent loyalty and joy.
“Also, the synthesis of humanoid monster 2.0 has been completed.”
The King was intrigued by Lancaster’s words.
“And do any of them deserve to be called my servant?”
“Yes, of course. Out of 31,103 synthesis attempts, four succeeded. As much as the success rate is low, the results are incredible,” Lancaster explained as he led the king towards the four capsules, “This is it.”
Orden stood in front of the four capsules.
“…What do you think?”
A total of four humanoid monsters. They seemed to possess the characteristics of both humans and monsters. Orden slowly began to gauge the origins of the four monsters.
The first humanoid monster was a ‘Himalayan Mountain Tyrant’; his tiger-like appearance was evident proof.
The second humanoid monster was a ‘Ghost’, characterized by his translucent body.
The third humanoid monster was a ‘Bird of Despair’, possessing an avian beak, mournful eyes, and peacock tails.
The fourth and last humanoid monster was a ‘Golem’, shaped like a human except his hands were made of hard stones.
“These are the four perfect humanoid monsters born by the grace of Your Majesty.”
Orden possessed the ability to absorb and release the energy of others. It was similar to the ‘Qi Absorption Technique’ often found in martial arts novels but more elaborate and unrestricted.
Orden mixed the various forces he had absorbed, reconstructed them in his gut, and released the result through his mouth in the form of a heart. And it was the researchers’ job to look after the heart until it became a fully grown ‘humanoid monster’.
“Please name them.”
The king began to agonize over Lancaster’s request.
Coming up with a perfect name was always a challenging task.
After long deliberation, the king finally announced the names of his new servants.
“I shall call them ‘Tigris’, ‘Xphil’, ‘Doloren’, and ‘Toji’ respectively.”
“…Those are excellent names.”
With flattery, Lancaster began to record a video of the four capsules. He planned to use this video as a means to threaten the country he resented and loathed from the bottom of his heart— England.
**
[Battlecruiser]
I was speaking with the representatives of the Korean government inside Genkelion, a giant battlecruiser maintained by my Gift. Thanks to the power of the [Orb of Regeneration], Genkelion had been running for longer than 36 hours now.
Aileen was by my side. She volunteered to become my patron, claiming that, without the support from an influential figure, the government would consider my opinions irrelevant.
“Yes, this cruiser belongs to me.”
“Ah….”
At my remark, one of the government representatives let out an exclamation of amazement.
SP +3, SP +1, SP +2, SP +3, SP +4…. Even now, my SP was increasing in real time, which was not surprising considering virtually all media outlets had covered Genkelion in their news story.
“I see.”
Another representative nodded. I wasn’t sure what his position was, but he seemed pretty important.
Right now, all I knew about him was his name. He introduced himself to me as ‘Baek Joonghyun.’
“We acknowledge your ownership of items from the Tower of Wish. However, we cannot allow you to occupy our country’s airspace again in the future as it will incite panic among our citizens. Of course, there won’t be any repercussions this time, and we thank you for returning our Heroes safely and unharmed. I believe you might even be awarded the Order of Military Merit.”
The Order of Military Merit.
In this world, the merit system in Korea was very systematic and strict. The recipient of the first-class “Taeguk Order of Military Merit” was treated as a member of the nobility.
I nodded.
“Yes, I understand.”
“Will the ship remain in the current position permanently?”
“No, I can make it appear and disappear whenever I want.”
“If that is the case, would you be willing to help us during the third Orden Assassination Mission?”
Baek Joonghyun asked nonchalantly in a brisk manner.
But I was too caught up in the word ‘third’ to notice. Originally this Arc should have ended during the second mission….
“Sure, I can help you, but I believe it would be unnecessary to involve a large number of people.”
I offered my opinion carefully.
Apparently Orden’s explosion completely wiped out all the monsters on the ground, so we wouldn’t need a lot of Heroes this time. What we need instead was a small group of elite Heroes to head straight to Orden’s Palace.
“Yes, we agree with you. But there has been a discrepancy of opinions among us in regards to the size and the standards of the team. We won’t be able to infiltrate Orden’s base without getting past his servants, the powerful humanoid monsters, but victory is hard to achieve with a small number of Heroes.”
At that moment, my self-appointed patron Aileen intervened.
“Yeah, whatever. So what exactly is he getting?”
“First things first, we’re offering bounty for the heads of the humanoid monsters.”
“Bounty?”
“Yes. 100 billion won and an artifact per head,” Baek Joonghyun muttered as he shook his head, “But who would be willing to walk into the jaws of death…?”
“No, not that.”
Aileen suddenly frowned.
“You have to give him something for what he’s already done. Hundreds of Heroes are alive all thanks to him!”
Aileen’s sharp cry felt very dependable today.
“…Yes, you’re right. I almost forgot.”
Baek Joonghyun nodded calmly and took out a piece of paper from the briefcase. It was completely blank. My eyes widened.
“Please write down the name of one artifact you’d like to receive.”
“One? One? Seriously?”
Aileen put on a threatening look again. It was cute rather than scary, but because of her social status, it seemed to have worked well against Baek Joonghyun.
“…Many is fine. Please write down everything you want.”
“Mm… really?”
I thought about it for a moment, but nothing particularly came to my mind.
I wasn’t the type to fight with artifacts in the first place… wait.
Suddenly an idea crossed my mind.
‘Why don’t I get something to use with [Synthesis]?’
I looked at Baek Joonghyun and wrote down the name of an artifact on the sheet of paper.
“Is this okay?”
I wrote [Napoleon’s Musket], one of the artifacts under the supervision of the French Museum. I figured it might come in handy once I combine it with the Desert Eagle.
“…Hm.”
Baek Joonghyun stared at the paper in silence. Then, he nodded.
“I believe it’ll be possible.”
“Really? Wouldn’t it cause a diplomatic problem? It’s Napoleon after all.”
At that moment, Baek Joonghyun gave a small smile. He then proceeded to explain in a cold tone that contrasted with his smile, “In this world, under the current situation, there is no country that can defy us.”
“…Ah.”
I realized then the weight and the potency of my setting.
Who would dare defy the world’s most powerful nation?
“At any rate, please do not concern yourself with politics. There will be no diplomatic dispute. We’ll simply be trading artifacts.”
Baek Joonghyun remarked as he glanced at the clock.
It was now exactly 6 p.m.
“Thank you for your time. I shall take my leave now.”
As soon as the promised 30 minutes were over, Baek Joonghyun got up from his seat.
He was extremely punctual.
**
[England, Buckingham Palace]
The Association’s mission failed, but fortunately there were very little casualties. It was all thanks to ‘Genkelope’s Battlecruiser’, which had recently become the talk of the town.
“Phew….”
Rachel, who returned safely to the Palace, sighed as she recalled the incident where she got very close to dying.
Tk, tk, tk, tk, tk.
A dainty sound of typing rang out in silence. Rachel tilted her head and looked at the couch. On it, Evandel in a cute dress was tapping on her smartphone. Rachel’s lips curved into a smile.
“…What are you doing, Evandel?”
Evandel smiled at Rachel’s question.
“I’m texting.”
‘Texting… that’s right, she’s made quite a number of friends recently,’ Rachel thought as she recalled the faces of the three children whom Evandel had been spending a lot of time with.
There was Yun Haeyeon, her best friend; Leonardo, a nine-year-old boy nicknamed ‘Britain’s Future’; and the three-year-old daughter of Ah Hae-In’s niece Baire Moren.
The first time Rachel saw the girl, she was surprised. It was strange to think Baire Moren, who fought against Kim Hajin in the old days, was married and already with a baby.
Rachel looked at Evandel lovingly and asked, “Are you texting Haeyeon?”
“No,” Evandel shook her head.
“Then who….”
“I’m texting Hajin.”
“…Hm?”
Rachel flinched but soon nodded calmly.
“Ah… I see. Have a great time~”
“Okay~”
“Okay.”
A brief answer. Rachel turned around, pretending she wasn’t interested and returned to work. Today, the workload was especially brutal, as there were a lot of issues she needed to deal with as the leader of the English Royal Court guild.
Confirmation of the meeting with ‘Essential Dynamics’, the 21st recruitment of the Tower of Wish challengers, deployment of Heroes for national defense, etc…… but Rachel’s eyes kept rolling to the side.
“Hehe. tk, tk. Hehehehe. tk, tk.”
The sound of typing and laughing continued.
Rachel couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about.
Rachel had many questions to ask Kim Hajin as well. For example, ‘what happened with you and Shin Jahyuk?’ or ‘What are you up to these days?’
She naturally turned her gaze to Evandel- to Evandel’s phone, to be precise.
She straightened her posture, trying to steal a glance at the screen, when her eyes met Evandel’s.
“….”
“….”
After three seconds of silence, Evandel slid her phone into her arms. Apparently, she didn’t want Rachel to see.
“No, that’s not what I was- …Evandel, don’t you think it’s time for you to start using a smartwatch?”
Smartphones, which were nothing more than relics of the past at this point, were usually considered children’s version of smartwatches. They were devices that children used before they moved on to the more complicated smartwatch.
“Master Ah Hae-In is already teaching me how to use it.”
As soon as Evandel answered, tiriring— another notification sound rang. Evandel’s face immediately lit up.
She probably received another text from Kim Hajin.
Looking at the happy Evandel, Rachel brought her fingernails to her mouth. Then, she began to chew on them.
‘It’s not surprising Evandel doesn’t want me to see her phone. But is there any way I can access those messages?’ Rachel thought to herself.
“…Hacking.”
She’d never tried hacking before, but it didn’t look like it would hurt to try.
‘Hacking, hacking…,’ Rachel repeated the phrase to herself as she frantically searched her computer.
Then she came to her senses.
She pulled up her messenger.
「Kim Hajin」
She stared at the name on the screen for a while, before finally gathering enough courage to send him a text. Since he was texting with Evandel right now, Rachel was confident he would respond quickly.
[Hajin-ssi?]
「Yes?」
And the answer came quickly as expected.
Rachel took a deep breath and carefully tapped on the keyboard.
[Did something happen with you and Shin Jahyuk-ssi? Ah, it’s nothing serious ˃ᴗ˂; Just that she doesn’t come to work now ب_ب]
「Ah ㅋㅋ Nothing happened. We just watched a movie and that’s it. We don’t even talk now」
[Oh, I see… maybe that’s why •̀_•.]
As she excitedly typed on the keyboard— she felt a pair of eyes on her.
Evandel, who had been fiddling with her phone on the couch, was now staring at Rachel. At Rachel’s computer screen, to be exact.
“….”
Without words, Rachel adjusted the angle of the monitor so that Evandel couldn’t see. Evandel didn’t show Rachel, so Rachel wasn’t going to show Evandel either.
“…No fair.”
Evandel puffed her cheeks like a blowfish. It was her way of sulking.
[Public anxiety is growing everyday because of the Orden Incident. How’s the situation in Korea? I’ve heard that the number of immigrants have reached an all time high. England is filled with tension. At any time, the monsters in Africa might decide to break into Europe….]
Tk, tk, tk, tk.
Nevertheless, Rachel kept moving her fingers across the keyboard…
Tk, tk, tk, tk.
…and Evandel, too, tapped her phone.
Tk, tk, tk, tk, tk, tk, tk, tk…
The sound of the two keyboards mingled with each other competitively.
Despite the childish nature of the current situation, the tension between the two girls was high.
**
[Underground training room in Pandemonium]
I sat cross-legged on the ground with my eyes closed.
Orden’s potential was 9.9. Anyone would struggle against him. He was a difficult opponent, but that was no reason for us to give up.
As Orden grew stronger, so did we. Unlike the original novel, we had the ‘Tower of Wish’ on our side now.
“Huu….”
I let out a deep breath as I began to make a list in my head of people and things from the Tower of Wish that could be of help to us humans.
The first was Medea, who was on the verge of manifestation.
Second, the cards on the 21st floor— I could really make use of my luck with them.
The third were the numerous spirits residing in the Tower of the Wish.
The Tower would equal an entire army by itself.
“Haa….”
I stopped my train of thought and opened my eyes as I let my breath out in a long exhalation. To my surprise, Cheok Jungyeong’s face was right in front of me. My heart sank in shock.
“Geez, you scared me!”
“…What’s there to be scared of? More importantly, what are you doing here? Meditation?”
Cheok Jungyeong muttered, scratching his sideburns.
“No way. …How do you feel?”
From what I’d heard, the Chameleon Troupe had to fight against Kurukuru and other humanoid monsters right after they had infiltrated into Orden’s Territory. Apparently Boss tore off Kurukuru’s legs, Cheok Jungyeong crushed the monsters, and Droon’s rabbit swallowed three monsters alive.
“Is there a reason for you to worry about how I feel?”
However, despite my concern, Cheok Jungyeong only snorted.
“Those monsters are nothing against me.”
“Really? Then get out of my way. I have to train.”
“…Meditation is not training. Why don’t you join me in a spar?”
“No.”
“…Tsk tsk. What a wimp.”
Cheok Jungyeong grumbled and left the training room.
Familiar silence returned.
I sat on the ground and began to breathe. The purpose of this breathing exercise was to increase the potential of my ‘spirit power’.
Ssp… Huu…
Fundamentally, spirit power was the power of one’s soul. As I breathed in and out, I tried to control the spirit power condensed inside my soul. But everything was just too unfamiliar.
Nevertheless, I kept trying. Though I already possessed [Complete Understanding of Spirit Power] as my ultimate skill, I would need to learn the basics of spirit power in order to utilize it more effectively.
…There was just one problem.
“Ugh, I have no idea how this works.”
After about 10 minutes, I laid sprawling across the floor. The breathing thing didn’t seem to work, and I didn’t know what else to try because I didn’t know a thing about spirit power.
This just wasn’t how I did things.
Unlike the main character, whenever there was a problem, I relied on ‘modifying the setting’ to get myself through things. To achieve improvements solely through effort— that was not how it worked for extras like me.
…Now, did that mean I had no room left for improvement beyond this point because of my flawed way of living?
“No, wait. No.”
I shook my head violently and pulled myself back up.
Why was I trying so hard? Up until now, I got through difficult situations by modifying the setting. I could still do what I had always done.
[6,083 SP]
Fortunately, I had accumulated quite a bit of SP thanks to the Orden incident.
There was no need for a second thought.
I turned my gaze to the [Arts] tab.
===
▷Arts (2/3)
1. 「Parkour」
2. 「Charming Voice」
===
“Ugh, stupid Charming Voice….”
Seeing it only brought back bad memories.
Anyway, I decided to add the third Art in the last empty slot.
▷Third Art
「Exuberant Spirit Power Utilization Technique」 [Intermediate Rank]
[2500 SP will be used. Would you like to save?]
The amount of SP needed to create an intermediate Art was 2500.
I pressed [save] without hesitation.
[Saving…]
[Wait a minute!]
[Again, a huge accumulation of luck erupts!]
[What a lucky man you are! Congratulations, your Art has been increased to ‘high-rank’!]
With the work of my luck, my Art had again increased from intermediate to high-rank.
At the same time, a flood of ideas began to fill my head.
How to harness my spirit power, how to utilize creative spirit skills… all those brilliant ideas began to coil up in my head.
“Kim Hajin.”
Suddenly, Boss appeared from the other side of the training room. It seemed she had just finished her training as she was soaked in sweat.
“You don’t look good. Are you stuck?”
Boss asked me, and my eyes sparkled. My head was bursting with ideas I wanted to experiment with.
“Boss, stand still.”
“…Stand?”
“Yeah. I wanna try something out.”
While Boss tilted her head in confusion, I jumped to my feet and redirected my spirit power from my body to my brain.