“Pack your gear.”
After watching Hanha Group’s press conference and the Association’s press conference, Battalion Commander Lee Gangyeol announced it to all personnel who had been resting.
The company commanders and the operations officer came running in a panic and asked again.
“Didn’t the higher-ups order us to halt all raids? Not to raid any Gates?”
Lee Gangyeol said indifferently.
“Tell them to fuck off. As of now, Hongik will respond to a national disaster situation! Lock down the unit! No one returns until the situation is resolved.”
The operations officer recalled the basis for the independent operational authority granted to Hongik, Cheongnyong, and Hyeonmu.
“In the event of a national disaster, the battalion’s mission may take precedence over orders from higher command.”
Lee Gangyeol nodded and instructed the operations officer.
“Contact Cheongnyong and Hyeonmu too. Tell Cheongnyong to take responsibility for the central region, and Hyeonmu for the south.”
“Yes? Yes, sir!”
He smiled as he thought of the admirable Sinhyeok.
“Sinhyeok. Don’t get pushed back. Keep pushing until the end.”
* * *
The Blue House.
The president could not contain his rage.
He flew into a frenzy and shouted at his aide.
“What kind of lunatic bastards are these! The president told them to stop! The president!”
He denounced Hanha Group.
While he was still unable to suppress his anger, the Chief of Staff appeared and spoke quietly.
“Hongik, Cheongnyong, and Hyeonmu are currently conducting operations.”
The president glared at him with bloodshot eyes.
“I told them not to! Those fucking…!”
He forced down his anger and asked in a low voice for the person responsible.
“Where’s the Minister of National Defense?! Where did that bastard go, and why are you reporting this!”
The Chief of Staff quietly held out a document.
“He just left this behind, saying he was resigning.”
The president trembled.
“Damn it! Then call the Chiefs of Staff!”
“They’re all avoiding it, saying they have to command operations because this is a state of national emergency.”
His trembling reached its peak.
With his eyes rolled back in fury, the president named someone else to the Chief of Staff.
“Then call the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Call even him and tell him to fix this fucking mess!”
Upon hearing of the situation, the Association Chairman twisted his lips into a smile.
“Mr. President. Please calm down for now. How many Gates could those three units possibly clear by running around?”
At those words, the president first calmed his anger.
“These uncivilized bastards. As if they know what’s going to happen to their future.”
The president looked at the Association Chairman with an anxious face.
“Are you planning to just watch this happen?”
“Of course not. We’ll shake them up with media play.”
The president was disappointed by those words.
“Hold on. That alone won’t be enough to stop this tide, will it?”
“In the meantime, we will eliminate the foundation of that service.”
“What?”
The Association Chairman recalled the footage that had been broadcast live.
‘It’s that potion. If we can just get rid of that potion!’
“There must be an item that awakens holy power. If we get rid of that potion, the whole thing will become nothing but a name. It certainly won’t be a stockpile they made in a short time.”
Understanding the Association Chairman’s idea, the president clapped his hands.
Clap, clap.
“That’s right! Exactly! It would take at least years of preparation to make that possible! If we just get rid of the warehouse where they’ve stockpiled that potion!”
The president nodded with satisfaction.
“Then I’ll be counting on you. Let’s make sure the Republic of Korea survives into our future.”
“Of course.”
The Blue House Chief of Staff listened silently, then quietly sent someone a text.
The president shouted at the Chief of Staff, who had looked away for a moment.
“Go bring me the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs! Hurry!”
“Yes? Yes, sir!”
As the Association Chairman left the Blue House, he ordered his secretary.
“Request information from the Blue House secretariat and search every Hanha Group warehouse and factory. Find it.”
The secretary quietly nodded.
“Shall we mobilize the directors?”
The Association Chairman answered with a murderous expression.
“Put them on it, and the mercenaries too.”
The secretary thought of the situation overseas and said,
“The situation overseas is similar to ours right now, so it’s difficult to hire mercenaries.”
“Then tell them we’ll pay double, damn it! Scrape together every last one of them!”
The Association Chairman burst out in anger and stared outside.
“If that still doesn’t work, we’ll have to go all the way to the gutter.”
He worried about Lee Gangyeol, who would surely be running wild.
“If only it weren’t for that bastard!”
* * *
“Hyung, then what do we do?”
On the way from Hanha Group headquarters back to the factory.
Inside the car, Lee Chan asked Sinhyeok.
“What else? We keep going. The Priest will take responsibility for the rest.”
The Priest had decided to stay behind separately and continue activities related to the service.
So only three people were in the car heading back.
“Haaa. I’m already sick of thinking about making that amount again.”
Putting everything else aside, Sinhyeok was already exhausted by the thought of tediously making potions again.
“Let’s get the materials first. Haa.”
His head was already throbbing at the thought of having to refine them endlessly.
“It’s too fast. I wish they’d applied more slowly.”
Lee Chan marveled at people’s reactions, which had exceeded expectations.
“But it’s strange. I thought it would only interfere with them to some degree. I didn’t expect such an overwhelming response.”
Arin tried to guess why people had reacted that way.
“It’s probably because of their image, and their intention in awakening people is impure. It also feels like they’re openly telling people to go die.”
Sinhyeok and Lee Chan nodded at that.
“A healer’s better, honestly. Just healing people is a huge help.”
“That’s true. If they suddenly awaken you and tell you to go out and fight in Gates, that’s a bit much.”
Even if Awakening was a good thing, risking one’s life in battle was not easy.
Sinhyeok stretched and smiled.
“It worked out well thanks to that~ We landed a few hits on those shitty bastards.”
Bzzzz.
Bzzzz.
Bzzzz.
Everyone’s phones rang urgently.
At the calls ringing all at once, they all looked at one another.
“Hm?”
Sinhyeok stepped up and answered first.
As soon as he answered, Hong Juyeon’s urgent voice came through.
“Don’t go to the factory right now!”
At the shout coming through the phone, Arin, who was driving, hurriedly slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side.
“What’s going on?”
“The Association is searching all of Hanha Group’s warehouses and factories right now. We received intel that they intend to wipe out the entire stockpile there.”
At those words, Sinhyeok thought of the factory where the largest amount of stock was stored.
“What about the stored stock?”
“We already used our people to move it out, so you guys come straight back to headquarters. It’s safe here.”
Sinhyeok thought for a moment at that.
“How much time do we have?”
“Excuse me? I know you’ve got a lot of guts, but this is the Association. They’ve openly called in mercenaries too. No matter how capable you are, you’ll get cut down in one stroke.”
Sinhyeok thought of the troublesome “Fragment of the Corrupted World Tree” stored in his inventory.
“I have a way to move safely, so just tell me how much time.”
From the other side came a deep sigh, followed by the answer.
“About twelve hours.”
“Okay.”
Then he hung up.
Naturally, another call came in right away, but he ignored it.
“Mister, what are you going to do?”
“Wouldn’t it be boring to just leave? I’ll just leave them a gift.”
“Hm?”
Sinhyeok smiled and first asked for her cooperation.
“It’s fine if I burn down that factory, right?”
She narrowed her eyes and thought about it.
“There’s nothing in it, but… are you going to compensate me later?”
“Hey, you’ve been receiving all that service.”
“Oh my, why are you leaving out the part about the joint shares?”
“So can I? Or not?”
Arin half-closed her eyes and said,
“If it isn’t a proper blow, I’m charging you for everything.”
“Just trust this mister once. I’ve been saving something incredible.”
He took the fragment out of his inventory and held it in his hand.
Lee Chan saw it and frowned.
“What is that bizarre thing? Hyung, if you carry something like that around, even your soul will be annihilated.”
“I know. That’s why I have to use it.”
Sinhyeok gripped it tightly and wondered how he should make use of it.
“I want to make it explode in a big way. Especially when I think of that demon bastard’s face.”
He clenched it hard.
Arin shook her head and took the wheel again.
“Then we’re going?”
“Yeah.”
The car started moving again, and Lee Chan in the passenger seat, bored, fiddled with his phone.
He watched videos and muttered,
“Is there anything fun?”
“If you’re sitting in the passenger seat, could you entertain the great driver so she doesn’t get bored?”
“No.”
At her murderous glance, Lee Chan quietly turned his head away.
“Ah, I should’ve sat in the back.”
“I’m bored, so at least play some music.”
“You play it.”
“I don’t have hands.”
“Haaa. Seriously, what a nuisance.”
Grumbling, he opened NewTube and searched through videos, but Lee Chan’s expression gradually changed.
“Hyung? Everything’s being plastered with some weird story right now!”
At those words, Sinhyeok put the fragment away and asked,
“What is it?”
“About gods. Everything’s being plastered with stuff called the truth of the Order.”
At that, Arin and Sinhyeok’s faces turned bitter.
“Damn it.”
“Mister, wasn’t that classified?”
“It was, but they’re exposing it! Those fucking bastards.”
The majority of Awakened people currently active as priests or holy knights were soldiers.
The reason was that each government had made contracts with the Orders they encountered in the few A-rank Gates, strategically awakening people to holy power.
In exchange, the Awakened soldiers donated half their salaries.
Governments were spending enormous amounts of mana stones every year in exchange for receiving the awakening of holy power.
Of course, they also requested many other supplies besides that.
This was a closely guarded secret.
Since it was a one-sided contract with so much to regret, they had kept it secret and hushed it up.
Of course, there were people who, due to their constitution, happened to learn and acquire a small amount of holy power on their own, but enough holy power to use sufficient healing and abilities was only possible with the help of the Order and a god.
“How much did they expose?”
“Everything. They’re revealing all sorts of things, making it as repulsive as possible toward gods.”
Sinhyeok sighed and said to Arin,
“Stop the car.”
Screech.
Sinhyeok got out from the back seat and took several teleport scrolls from his inventory.
“These are for emergencies. Use them if something happens, go to headquarters, and deal with the media play.”
His gaze went straight to Lee Chan.
“At least we still have one point in our hands.”
Lee Chan nodded, then hesitated.
“Have the interview where Lee Chan covered his face ready. If things get bad, ask the Priest’s village residents too.”
She nodded and got out of the car.
Sinhyeok took the wheel.
Lee Chan, who had gotten out of the passenger seat, looked at Sinhyeok with an uneasy face.
“Do you really need me?”
“Stay here. There need to be at least two of you to respond to the situation. Of course, there are a lot of people who can help, but this is something we started.”
At that, Lee Chan nodded.
“That’s true, but…”
“I’m counting on you. See you later. If you use that, you’ll fly straight to the workshop.”
The car immediately drove off.
Arin called the Chairman right away.
Lee Chan sighed and looked at Arin.
“Can we not use my video? I really hate it.”
Seeing his genuinely reluctant expression, she said casually,
“You should’ve told Mister earlier.”
“It’s a bit hard to say that to Hyung.”
“Honestly.”
After thinking for a moment, she nodded.
“I’ll ask the Priest to talk to the villagers. If things get bad, I’ll ask them to use that as footage for media play.”
Lee Chan smiled faintly.
At that smile, Arin threw a low kick.
“Ugh!”
“You smiling?”
“You thug!”
“So what?”
“Khup!”
* * *
When Sinhyeok arrived at the factory, he looked around at the empty surroundings.
“Everyone’s fast.”
In the empty space, he took out the Corrupted World Tree Fragment, flicked it with his finger, and caught it.
“What should I do with this guy?”
He wanted to use it as the most effective biochemical weapon possible.
‘I want to use it to a degree where I can handle the aftermath.’
He tried to rack his brain in his own way, but he was a little at a loss.
“Ha, this is frustrating. My hands are golden, but my brain’s crap.”
‘It’d be perfect if there were a golem to handle the design for me.’
He could make anything, but he didn’t know what to make.
“In times like this, I should use a cheat key.”
Sinhyeok took out a spare teleport scroll he had brought.
He immediately crossed over to the workshop and chose one of his many helpers.
“When it comes to the World Tree, it has to be an elf.”
Thinking of her, he felt she would be the most effective.
“Lady Elysia!”
When he flung the door open, she was nowhere to be seen.
“Huh?”
When he looked around and still couldn’t find her, he stepped into her garden.
“Lady Elysia!”
After wandering around and calling for her for quite a while, he finally saw her only after arriving in front of the World Tree she was raising.
She was in the orchard beyond a curtain pulled back on one side, where monsters were being cultivated.
“Oh my? When did you arrive? I was so focused I didn’t hear you.”
Elysia was concentrating in front of a strangely blue, limp monster.
“What are you so focused on?”
“Oh my, oh my, I’ll show you later. She’s such a pretty child that it’d be a shame to show her now.”
She hurriedly closed the curtain in a fluster.
“Hm?”
He stared beyond it until the moment it closed, but he couldn’t see very well.
“Now, now, Sergeant, focus here. So, what is it?”
Sinhyeok got straight to the point. Showing her the corrupted fragment, he said,
“I want to use this as a strategic weapon. Is that possible? It’s urgent, for now.”
“You’re always in a hurry. Well, it’s possible. What you need is an idea, right? It seems like you want a recipe.”
Sinhyeok nodded vigorously. She watched it closely, then said,
“If you look at this child in its current state, naturally you’d have to make it into equipment or an artifact.”
She trailed off.
“Why not just plant it? If you synthesize it well into the form of a seed and grow it, I think that would be more destructive.”
“What?”
She whispered an idea.
“This is a method I use often. You synthesize this into seed form, and plant a corpse explosion spell inside it. Then you grow it in that state, and later, when they come…”
Sinhyeok imagined what would happen afterward.
“The flowers go bang, bang?”
She grinned.
“Ding-dong-dang~ Won’t it be so pretty?”