Chapter 140
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The Lucky One II
Shin Noa
3
[Mr. Undertaker. Something terrible has happened.]
One day, the Saintess sent me a message on Seongja Talk in the middle of the night.
I bolted upright. 3 AM. If the Saintess was waking me at this hour, something terribly urgent must have occurred.
"What is it?"
[You told me before. That upon entering the 7th year, a 'Meteor Shower' would appear in the night sky and devastate the Gyeongsangnam-do region.]
"Yes, that's correct."
[Right now. An anomaly suspected to be the Meteor Shower has been observed over the East Sea. The observation point is Ulleungdo.]
What?
[One photo has been posted on SG Net too.]
[Since it's dawn, there are only 14 views, but please check it.]
I panicked, changed out of my pajamas, and rushed out immediately.
The Sword Empress, who had been sleeping curled up like a cat on my doorstep, followed after me.
"What business is there at this hour, Sword Duke?"
I won't explain how the Sword Empress came to call me not 'Undertaker' but 'Sword Duke.'
There are many things in this world I don't care to explain, and generally, such incidents involved lunatics.
"An anomaly has appeared in the East Sea."
"Hah! For a wicked thing to attempt a night raid! What a vile creature!"
Tap, tap, tap-
After stepping onto Haeundae Beach, the two of us ran across the sea off Busan as if it were the most natural thing.
Dengping Duoshui.
A realm of lightness technique where one gathers aura—from my perspective, or internal energy—from the Sword Empress's perspective, to tread upon and cross the water's surface.
"However, an anomaly in the middle of the sea. I wonder if it will be an ill omen or a good one. Still, I thought it better than appearing on land, but the Sword Duke seems to think differently."
It was definitely an ill omen.
My [Regressor's Schedule] was flawless enough that one might believe it was written by someone with a serious obsessive-compulsive disorder regarding time commitments.
I had designed it so that about a week's variance could occur at any time without issue. However, for the most critical points—namely, 'the timing of anomaly appearances'—the schedule was plotted down to every minute and second.
'The Meteor Shower shouldn't appear for several more years, so why! Did something go wrong when I killed the butterfly effect in Beijing?'
This would cause huge problems for my project to build solidarity among Awakeners under the pretext of subjugating the Meteor Shower.
My heart grew anxious.
Upon arriving near Ulleungdo and looking up at the sky, indeed, a multicolored galaxy was spread across the pitch-black night sky.
I murmured blankly.
"It really is the Meteor Shower...?"
Actually, there was no problem with subjugating the Meteor Shower itself.
Surely a 590th-regression regressor could take down an early-game boss on the Korean Peninsula.
It was just that, as I mentioned earlier, the situation where the plan would become quite tangled was unavoidable.
How would I strengthen the unity of the Korean Peninsula Awakeners Alliance, and how would I establish Tang Seo-rin's position as Alliance Leader, and so on...
As my distress churned like waves, surrounded by the midnight sky and midnight sea.
"Huh?"
Flash!
Something else sparkled from beyond the night sky where the Meteor Shower was spread.
The sparkle was somewhat fast.
'Disc-shaped.' In other words, a saucer-shaped flying object rapidly cut across the sky...
And crashed head-on into the Meteor Shower.
-Twinkle, twinkle, little star?
The Meteor Shower faltered. In human terms, it might have been close to tilting its head in confusion.
For reference, a space similar to the sea had been artificially spread around the Meteor Shower.
Naturally, the 'disc-shaped flying object' that struck the water's surface of the night sky had its trajectory sharply deflected.
Bounce, bounce, bounce-
The disc bounced repeatedly off the Meteor Shower's surface. Like skipping stones.
"...."
My jaw dropped.
'Wait, that's a UFO, isn't it?'
That's right.
A disc-shaped mysterious flying object.
A race possessing the strongest combat power in the universe but, unfortunately, having a Pokémon fire attribute making them vulnerable to water. A tragic anomaly that would melt like sugar the moment it entered the East Sea. A UFO.
"Uh, uhh- uhhhhh?"
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce.
The UFO's stone-skipping didn't stop.
-Ah? Ah?
The Meteor Shower, having taken repeated bombardment in the middle of the night, died just like that.
No, it really died.
Meteor Shower subjugation complete.
The early-game boss exited without the Korean Peninsula's Awakeners lifting a finger.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce.
Moreover, during all this, the UFO had bounced a whopping 89 times off the Meteor Shower's ripples.
As a result, the UFO, which should have fallen in the middle of the East Sea, twisted its trajectory toward a completely wrong direction.
The direction was north.
And not toward the sea, but toward land—the direction of North Korea.
"Ah, no!"
I screamed. Genuine desperation filled my voice.
"Hm? What do you mean 'no,' Sword Duke?"
"If that falls on land, it's over! There are 120 anomalies inside that saucer-head, and each one is stronger than your household, Sword Empress! A disaster will befall the world!"
"What."
The Sword Empress's expression changed.
"Then we must chase after it immediately! I must ask for instruction!"
"Right. Shit."
Setting aside the Sword Empress's madness, chasing after it was indeed correct.
I drew out my aura at maximum output and ran. So as not to lose sight of the UFO.
Behind me, the Sword Empress shouted "Hah! Sword Duke- wait, Sword Duke!" but I couldn't care less.
I had no time to humor that old-young one's senility right now.
"Hah, hah. Haaah...!"
I ran intensely enough to feel out of breath for the first time in a long while. I ran so far that even contact with the Saintess was cut off along the way.
To state the conclusion first, the UFO crash-landed further north than North Korea.
Precisely, between Shenyang and Sinuiju. In the area called Manchuria, aliens were crawling out one by one.
-Kyaaak?
-Kyak. Kyaaaa.
Just like disgusting cockroaches scurrying out of their nest.
But these cockroaches were somewhat strong. Very much so.
I hid in the bushes from a distance and observed the aliens.
Despite being a race from SF, the aliens displayed movement techniques as naturally as breathing, searching all around.
Well, if the genre wasn't SF but Space Opera, it wouldn't be much different from traditional martial arts.
-Kya?
One of the aliens tilted its head and dipped its ankle into a stream.
Splash, splash.
Admirable adventurous spirit, but foot baths being beneficial to health was a privilege exclusive to humans and Japanese macaques.
The alien melted from toe to head in sequence.
-Kyaaaaah!
-Kyak! Kyaaak! Kyak!
The aliens created a commotion.
Probably among themselves, they were going 'Oh my god! How can such a terrible substance exist in this world?' 'Having witnessed your kin's body flowing like candle wax just from touching it, you need a SAN check' and so on.
After that, the aliens' movements became even more hurried.
-Kyaaaa!
-Kyak! Kyaaak!
The aliens pulled out laser guns from their possession. With those, they collected all the surrounding rocks, soil, and minerals.
Zzzzzzing-
By technology incomprehensible to humans, Earth's minerals were perfectly NTR'd by the aliens.
-Kyak kyak!
-Kyaaaa.
The aliens used lasers to gather all sorts of materials and began building something.
The minerals struck by laser beams floated in the air and were sculpted in real-time. Into walls, pillars, mysterious interior decorations.
In less than 30 minutes, an incredibly bizarre structure rose in the middle of Manchuria.
Um, if I had to compare its appearance to something on Earth... a termite mound?
Except the color was pitch black. From the surface of the termite mound, a liquid like dark magma constantly flowed down. At a glance, it was a profane form.
-Kyaaaa.
-Kya, kya.
Perhaps admiring their NTR skills, the aliens embraced each other's shoulders and danced buoyantly.
They enjoyed a dance party for a while, then slipped right into their own termite mound... hmm. Their black ant mound fortress.
"...."
What is this?
Could that vicious fortress be a bridgehead for invading Earth? Or an antenna tower sending signals to refugee ships of their kind still drifting in space?
"Hah! Hah, haaah! Hah! S-Sword Duke. Finally... hah, I caught up. As expected of a master of lightness techniques, I never thought I'd be this late..."
"Shh. Be quiet. We'll be discovered."
"Haaah... Hah? That bizarre-looking, hah. What on earth is that tower?"
"I don't know either. Only that the anomalies built it."
I dug a proper camouflage trench in earnest and went into hiding.
I intended to uncover their behavioral principles even if it meant giving up on this cycle.
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, the hiding period didn't need to be long.
It wasn't long before the purpose for which the aliens had built that bizarre structure was revealed.
Pitter-patter-
It rained.
Described from the aliens' perspective, the 'substance of death' poured down from the sky in an airstrike.
The black ant mound fortress also received Earth's specialty, H₂O, without reserve.
The filthy liquid flowing down the black ant mound's surface continuously washed away the rainwater.
Peek-
After the rain stopped and some time passed, the aliens poked their heads out of the black ant mound.
-Kya?
-Kya, kya.
-Kyaaaa.
Surprisingly, the aliens were fine.
First of all, the armor the aliens were wearing had changed shape slightly.
Should I call that a raincoat? Anyway, they had put on something like a black raincoat.
It seemed they had been running sewing machines non-stop inside the black ant mound.
-Kyaaaak!
But anyone who has worn a raincoat knows that water resistance is surprisingly not very good.
The aliens' newly modified armor wasn't perfect either. After wandering on the vapor-filled Earth's surface for too long, it gradually melted.
Are you some kind of Ultraman with a 3-minute limit?
Anyway, the mere fact that hope for survival on this hellish planet of doom existed seemed precious to the aliens.
-Kyaaaa! Kya!
The aliens gradually expanded the black ant mound.
However, they weren't building upward but actively increasing the real estate area.
Have you heard of the project called 'The Line' that Saudi Arabia ambitiously pursued but drastically scaled down?
You could also think of the Great Wall of China.
In short, the aliens' black ant mound increasingly took on the appearance of a 'wall.' Since the structure constantly extended to both sides, this was a natural progression.
"Huh?"
And that Great Wall... kept multiplying westward toward the West Sea and eastward toward the East Sea.
'No. No. No, wait a minute.'
Finally, the aliens' 'Black Great Wall' came to horizontally cut across Manchuria.
In other words.
'This means even if a Monster Wave occurs... it would be blocked by the black wall!'
That was actually the case.
Several years later, the ocean-class anomaly 'Monster Wave' swallowed the world and finally swarmed toward the eastern frontier, the Korean Peninsula, for a feast.
But just before landing on the Korean Peninsula, the Monster Wave encountered an entirely unexpected obstacle.
-Gurgle?
-Krrr?
Some damn wall was blocking their advance route.
At first, the Monster Wave wasn't flustered. Instead, they advanced proudly. What could such insignificant things build? It's just Wall Maria before giants, isn't it?
-Kyaaaak!
-Kyaaaa! Kyaaaa!
The problem was that each and every alien bursting out of that Wall Maria possessed martial arts on the level of Captain Levi.
Before a total of 116 (some died during this time) Captain Levis, the Monster Wave was utterly annihilated without putting up a fight.
In the process of thrashing a 200,000-strong army, not a single alien died.
Of course, the Monster Wave's forces were automatically produced, so they continued their zerg rush the next month and the month after. And each time, they were similarly beaten down.
Naturally, the Korean Peninsula south of the Black Great Wall was safe.
There was no need for Mo Guang-seo's Eastern Divine Kingdom circus act. No need to activate Shin A-ryeon's Zero Requiem operation.
Without suffering any damage whatsoever, they completely escaped the threat of the 'Monster Wave' that had been deemed essentially impossible to subjugate.
"Is this... for real?"
My mouth hung open.
To confess honestly, my mouth remained open for the past few years.
So the solution for 'Monster Wave' was actually to somehow use the Meteor Shower to skip the UFO like a stone, settle it in Manchuria, and induce them to build an alien-exclusive Great Wall to block the Monster Wave's nomadic invasion?
Are you telling me to believe this now, anomaly?
"You got lucky..."
Noh Do-ha sipped his coffee and commented after hearing my story.
Whether it was my imagination or not, the dark circles under his eyes seemed lighter compared to other cycles. Well, the businesses he was running were succeeding one after another.
"But this was supposedly a ripple effect from you making a wish on a 'Monkey's Paw' or something, right? Heh. I don't care, but won't you eventually be screwed in a few years...?"
"...."
"I'm very curious about what kind of shit-blues will hit you. I'll get a VIP seat ticket and wait in advance..."
I'm really going to lose it.