The spearhead, wreathed in dark blue flames, rose as if to pierce the ceiling. Choi Minwoo wasn’t the only one whose eyes went wide.
“……!”
There wasn’t even time to utter a curse.
Magic Johnson stared in shock at Jin Taekyung’s unexpected move. He’d designed this secret space himself, and he’d been watching what happened inside it with a heavy heart. Now he felt as if even the hair he didn’t have was standing on end.
No way. Surely not.
He swallowed hard.
Why was he so tense?
Simple. If the magic was forcibly broken, the backlash would batter him—the caster—before it ever shook the Pentagon.
No. Maybe…
I could die.
To a mage, mana was another sense beyond the five, as much a part of the body as flesh and bone. When a spell cast with a mage’s own mana was forcibly dispelled, the mage suffered a worse blow than anyone else.
Magic Johnson knew that better than most. He’d only done something as insane as packing hundreds of security and barrier spells into the space because he trusted Jin Taekyung.
He trusted that the Jin Taekyung he knew would never hurt him.
But at that very moment—
Whoosh!
The spearhead swept down without hesitation, mercilessly cutting through the last shred of his trust.
“Fuuuck—!”
Johnson squeezed his eyes shut and finally let out the curse he’d been holding back.
The mana links connecting him to countless spells snapped. He felt the onset of a backlash powerful enough to kill him.
A warm breeze blew past.
……Wait. A breeze?
He heard nothing. Felt nothing. No earthshaking roar, no tremendous force rocking everything around him.
Only energy drifting away like sea fog in the sun.
His eyelids twitched. Unable to make sense of it, the massive Grand Mage finally gathered the courage to open his eyes.
Someone was standing in front of him. Johnson stared blankly for a moment, then spoke as if he’d made up his mind.
“Jin, be honest with me.”
Jin Taekyung straightened his spear. “Go ahead.”
“Did I die and go to heaven?”
“Whether you’re dead is another question, but isn’t this place a little bleak for heaven? We can’t even see the sky.”
“Everything’s hazy. Like we’re at the top of Mount Everest.”
“That’s water vapor, not clouds.”
“Damn, you’re right. Then if it’s not heaven, is this a dream?”
“I hope not.”
“Why?”
“If I’m showing up even in your dreams, maybe I’m your type.”
“Oh, dear. I hadn’t thought of that.”
Johnson gave a bitter smile.
“All right. So it’s come to this.”
Jin Taekyung nodded calmly. “Looks like it.”
“I’m truly sorry. I didn’t want to go this far.”
“I understand. I’m not just saying that. I really do.”
“Thanks. I think our friend over there feels the same way.”
Right on cue, Choi Minwoo emerged through the thick steam and studied Jin Taekyung with a complicated expression.
“You’ve gotten stronger. Even stronger than the last time I saw you.”
In Choi Minwoo’s memory, Jin Taekyung had always been strong. Even on their first raid, when Jin had gone along as a mere porter rather than a combatant. He’d gone on to surpass Choi Minwoo’s expectations by a staggering margin, again and again.
Today was no different. And that pained Choi Minwoo.
“To be honest… I don’t know whether I should be happy that you’ve gotten stronger again, or sad.”
Choi Minwoo had often thought about that famous line from a superhero movie that was now a classic: With great power comes great responsibility. Sometimes it seemed as though it had been written for Jin Taekyung.
To Choi Minwoo, Jin Taekyung seemed as vulnerable as he was strong. The stronger he became, the greater the threats he tried to face alone.
But Jin Taekyung’s reply was light and cheerful, nothing like Choi Minwoo’s words.
“Better to be happy, if you ask me.”
“Is that so?”
“That’s what I’d prefer. There’s always plenty to be sad about anyway.”
“If you died, what would I do then?”
“What kind of question is that?”
Jin Taekyung gave a short laugh.
“Be sad when it happens. As much as you want.”
“……!”
“Let’s not worry about something that hasn’t happened yet. I’m not exactly qualified to give you advice on that, Team Leader. I’m bad at it myself… But after going through it, I think that’s the right way.”
Choi Minwoo blinked.
He was different. Maybe Choi Minwoo was imagining it, but the change was unmistakable. Barely ten minutes ago, Jin Taekyung had been forcing a smile. Now his smile was genuinely at ease.
Like someone who’d set down a heavy burden.
Only Jin Taekyung knew why.
If I died…
Death.
Jin Taekyung turned that sticky, dark word over in his mind.
Of course he was afraid of dying. He’d been afraid every day, every moment. But today, he’d finally understood something clearly.
What he truly feared wasn’t death itself. It was what would happen after he died.
The danger the people he left behind would face.
But this is enough.
Jin Taekyung didn’t turn around, but all five of his senses were trained on the person now far behind him.
Cheon Taemin.
Another Player—someone he’d once thought couldn’t possibly exist.
Even if I really do die, maybe then…
He swallowed the rest of the words on the tip of his tongue and looked squarely at his two close friends and trusted comrades.
“As the Alliance Leader of the World Hunter Federation, I’m issuing a full mobilization order, effective immediately. Destination: Moscow. Objective: annihilate Morgoth and the monsters under his command.”
“……!”
“……!”
Their eyes widened. Jin Taekyung added firmly, “But no one is to do anything rash until I give further orders. Unless I’m unable to issue them, of course.”
“Right. Good thinking. We’ll all fight together—wait. What do you mean, ‘unless you’re unable to issue them’?”
Johnson had only just realized something was wrong when Jin Taekyung spoke again.
“I mean if my position becomes vacant.”
Neither man could miss what that meant. Choi Minwoo bit his lip, and Johnson let out a low groan.
“Damn it, Jin.”
“Nothing you say will change my mind. I’m going to Morgoth. Right now. Alone.”
“……Are you sure that’s the best option? You’re really going to bet your life on a crazy gamble with less than a one-percent chance of winning?”
“Yes.”
There wasn’t a trace of hesitation or doubt in his voice or eyes.
For a moment, Johnson was at a loss for words.
But then, suddenly, he remembered someone from decades ago. When everyone had been thrown into utter confusion, that person alone had stepped forward and led the way.
A hero who’d made himself a beacon and lit up the world.
Sky.
Yes. Him.
And now another Cheon Taemin stood before Johnson.
No—Jin Taekyung.
“……Ha.”
A sigh slipped through Johnson’s clenched teeth.
At last, he had to accept what Jin Taekyung had told him: no argument would change his mind. He had to accept the role left to them, too.
“Fine, Jin. Go on and tell us your plan. Say whatever you want. But first, there’s something I have to say.”
The massive Grand Mage took a deep breath, then addressed the savior of a new age.
“Whatever happens, don’t you dare die. Not unless you want me to beat you to death with my staff.”
Jin Taekyung gave a rueful laugh. “That’s the plan. I’d rather not die twice.”
A little while later, the two men had heard him out and fallen silent.
Wheeeee!
A siren, as jarring as what they’d just heard, shook the depths beneath the Pentagon. An operator’s urgent voice blared through the magical equipment.
“Code Red! Code Red!”
“Code Red?”
“It’s an emergency. The highest alert level. What happened all of a sudden?”
“Unauthorized use of magic detected!”
“Security forces, deploy immediately to Area 52! Repeat: security forces, deploy immediately to Area 52!”
“Area 52… That’s where the transport Magic Formation is.”
“You mean the Warp magic?”
“Yeah. But access to the entire Pentagon has been forbidden for a week now. Is an inside collaborator we don’t know about trying to escape because they think they’re about to be found out?”
It wasn’t an unreasonable guess. Most of those who had surrendered to Morgoth had bowed to him to survive, but some were actively cooperating with him.
In Africa, rebel holdouts that hadn’t been completely rooted out in the previous incident were rampaging. In South America, drug cartels were running wild, more ferocious than the monsters.
By ordinary standards, Johnson’s guess made sense.
“Emergency! Code Name Blue! Code Name Blue has escaped through Area 52!”
The operator was nearly panting now. All three men fell silent, though for different reasons.
Jin Taekyung had no idea what the announcement meant.
The other two knew all too well.
In the end, Jin Taekyung was the first to break the silence. He couldn’t take them staring at him any longer.
“Okay. I get that I’m an idiot, so cut it out and tell me what Code Name Blue is.”
Choi Minwoo blinked. “Uh, well. Of course you wouldn’t know, Mr. Jin Taekyung.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s a secret from you.”
Magic Johnson looked back and forth between Jin Taekyung, who had no idea what was going on, and the magical equipment installed in a corner of the underground corridor.
“It’s you, Jin.”
“What? Where did that come from—”
“Code Name Blue. The one they just mentioned. That’s you.”
“……What?”
Jin Taekyung needed a moment to make sense of that.
“So they’re saying I just left the Pentagon without permission?”
“Well, to be precise…”
Someone who would do such a thing had already come to Johnson’s mind.
“Someone who looks like you.”
They hurried to the surface. The first person they ran into was—
“Goddamn it. Where the hell were all of you, leaving me on my own in a situation like this?”
Chuck Hagel, who had somehow ended up on his own.
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