“I’m rather late. Have I kept everyone waiting?”
Lee Jungryong swept his gaze over the gathered people. Some faces were familiar; others he was seeing for the first time today.
Magic Johnson and Faye Chen, whom he had encountered several times during the Great Cataclysm. The young British prince. And China’s problem child.
Whenever his eyes met theirs, the S-rank Hunters gathered in the underground bunker greeted him first.
“Long time no see, Lee. You’ve grown even more attractive since the last time I saw you. Every time I see you, I feel like confessing my love.”
“Please restrain yourself, Magic Johnson. You’re not my type. Faye Chen here might be, though.”
At Lee’s breezy reply, Faye Chen swept back her long hair.
“Oh my. I had no idea you felt that way about me, Mr. Lee. What a shame I found out so late.”
“What’s there to regret? You’re still in your prime.”
“Thank you for saying that, but the young people will laugh if they hear you. They’ll ask what those old folks think they’re doing.”
“Is that really how it is?”
Under Lee’s gaze, Wu Heixing hurriedly waved his hands in denial.
“N-no, Mr. Lee. Of course not.”
“I’ve heard a great deal about you. Exceptionally talented and, hmm, a young man who’s honest about everything.”
“Th-thank you.”
Wu Heixing bowed his head, looking humbled by the honor.
He normally had bangzi—a derogatory term for Koreans—practically glued to his lips, along with his anti-Korean sentiment. But he lacked the nerve to show that side of himself in front of Lee Jungryong.
A bead of cold sweat rolled down the back of Wu Heixing’s neck.
“I’d heard you were coming, but I never expected you to actually appear.”
“Of course I had to come. When a neighbor is in trouble, shouldn’t we help?”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Lee.”
Even Magic Johnson and Faye Chen, heroes born of the Great Cataclysm, could not compare to Lee Jungryong.
He was the sworn brother of Cheon Taemin, known as the Jesus of the twenty-first century and the savior of the world. He was also the de facto head of the Ares Guild.
One of the most powerful Guilds in the world. And one of the three strongest among all S-rank Hunters.
Lee Jungryong.
Anyone who stood before him owed him the proper respect.
Even the overbearing Wu Heixing was no exception. Neither was the prince, despite his royal blood.
“Nice to meet you. A pleasure to meet you, Jungryong Lee.”
“Ah. So you’re that prince.”
“How impudent—”
Prince Felix raised a hand to silence his secretary, then inclined his head with elegant restraint.
“Felix. You may call me Felix. It is permitted.”
The Korean that came through the translation device was awkward, and his tone was hard to place.
But with those words, Felix Alexander Louis, third in line to the British throne, made the difference between Lee Jungryong and everyone else perfectly clear.
He had gone so far as to let Lee omit the title His Highness.
Of course, Lee Jungryong did not care in the slightest.
They’re still just brats.
The only people Lee acknowledged were Magic Johnson and Faye Chen.
Whatever their personalities, Wu Heixing and Prince Felix were both hailed as geniuses. But in Lee’s eyes, they were nothing more than chicks that had only just learned to walk.
And the people who truly grated on his nerves were elsewhere.
The Peace Guild.
Lee’s gaze shifted to one side. A deep smile spread across his lips as he looked at the two people standing there in silence.
“I seem to be running into you two rather often these days. Have you both been well?”
At Lee’s greeting, Jin Taekyung and Choi Minwoo glanced at each other and shrugged.
“Not really.”
“Not particularly.”
“…?”
What?
Lee Jungryong unconsciously faltered.
It had been less than a month since he had last seen them. Yet something had changed dramatically in the way they treated him.
Hostility.
That was it.
The unmistakable hostility and wariness he had sensed from them before were gone.
As Lee studied the two people who stood before him with such calm expressions, he soon realized why.
They’ve grown stronger. So much stronger than before that there’s no comparison.
There was no doubt about it. Choi Minwoo’s qi was far greater and more refined than before—so much so that Lee found himself wondering how he had managed to grow this much in such a short time.
And the other one, Jin Taekyung—
…What is this?
Lee felt it through his skin and sixth sense: the immense qi contained within Jin Taekyung’s body, and the profound stillness in his eyes.
It could mean only one thing.
He crossed the wall.
The shock hit Lee like a blow to the back of the head. He had to struggle with all his might to keep his agitation from showing.
How?
Jin Taekyung had undoubtedly been powerful before. Perhaps he had even stood above the countless A-rank Hunters throughout the world.
He had defeated two Named Monsters by himself. It was only natural that the public and the media had clamored about the birth of a new S-rank Hunter.
But Lee Jungryong had known that Jin had not yet crossed the wall. He had known that it would take the young man a very long time to overcome the barrier blocking his path and become a true powerhouse.
And yet—
How can something this absurd happen?
This went beyond mere surprise.
As Lee met Jin Taekyung’s calm gaze, he remembered emotions he had long forgotten.
Anxiety. Impatience.
It was the first time Lee Jungryong had felt such unease since taking complete control of the Ares Guild.
Only a few months ago, Jin had been someone he found laughable and irritating. Yet that same man had now awakened anxiety and impatience within him.
You bastard…
The smile on Lee’s lips vanished without a trace. Wei Fenghu regarded his hardened expression with puzzlement.
“Mr. Lee? Is something wrong?”
“…It’s nothing.”
“Hmm. Then may we begin the meeting?”
Lee Jungryong nodded without a word, but his gaze remained fixed on one person.
Leaning at an angle against the back of his chair, Jin Taekyung muttered as if to himself.
“Well, it looks like quite a big deal to me.”
“…!”
“Or not. Whatever.”
Without realizing it, Lee Jungryong clenched his fist.
The meeting in the underground bunker continued for a long time.
The Monster Wave had caused at least hundreds of thousands of casualties over the past week. That alone made it an enormous natural disaster and an unmistakable state of war. It was only natural that every decision had to be made with the utmost caution.
“Therefore, we should divide our forces into five armies and gradually pressure the enemy……”
Someone interrupted Wei Fenghu as he continued with a grave expression.
“Minister of National Defense Comrade.”
“Speak, General Liao.”
The middle-aged man called General Liao wore a uniform weighed down with medals. Stroking his beard, he began to speak.
“Listening to the Minister of National Defense has become too frustrating for me to remain silent. If we keep dragging our feet like this, how long will it take us to deal with those monsters?”
Wow…
His tone was unbelievably obnoxious.
He was speaking that way to Wei Fenghu, the Chairman’s right-hand man and the highest-ranking man with real power in the military.
As though he had read my thoughts, Team Leader Choi sent me a message spell.
└ Choi Minwoo: The Communist Party has factions of its own. General Liao comes from the highest pedigree of the Crown Prince Party, the Communist Party’s largest faction, going back to his grandfather’s generation. It rivals the Shanghai Gang, to which Chairman Xiao and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghu belong.
└ Jin Taekyung: The Crown Prince Party and the Shang…what?
└ Choi Minwoo: ……If we must rank them, it means the Crown Prince Party is number one and the Shanghai Gang is number two.
└ Jin Taekyung: Oh.
Until now, I had assumed that the Communist Party operated under a strict one-party system. Apparently, they fought among themselves just as fiercely.
└ Jin Taekyung: But is that really allowed? If Chairman Xiao pointed at someone and said, “That man is harmful,” wouldn’t they behead him in Tiananmen Square?
└ Choi Minwoo: They do it because they’re allowed to.
└ Jin Taekyung: …Well, when you put it that way, I don’t have much to say.
└ Choi Minwoo: The factions reached an agreement. During the Great Cataclysm, the Chairman from the Crown Prince Party made so many mistakes that they couldn’t very well keep holding power.
└ Jin Taekyung: Ah. Pingping?1
└ Choi Minwoo: Yes. Pingping.1
That damn Great Cataclysm changed all sorts of things.
While I listened to Team Leader Choi’s explanation, General Liao, a pedigreed Crown Prince Party brat, came out with a brilliant proposal.
“Let’s use nuclear weapons.”
“…?”
“…?”
“Let’s submit a formal request to Chairman Xiao and launch dozens of nuclear warheads across Sichuan. Wouldn’t that solve everything nice and cleanly?”
“…”
“…”
Would you look at this nuclear-crazed lunatic?
Everyone, myself included, stared at one another in disbelief.
Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghu’s expression was the most impressive of all. He looked like a man itching for a handgun as he answered.
“Rejected.”
“Why? Are you ignoring me because I’m not part of the Shanghai Gang?”
“Say something that makes sense. Something that makes sense! What about the people who are still alive or haven’t been harmed? What about the land that would be reduced to a wasteland?”
“The sacrifice of the few for the many is unavoidable!”
I didn’t know about the rest, but the man himself looked like an oxhead.2
Magic Johnson, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke in his deep voice.
“The damage from a successful nuclear attack would be bad enough, but what will you do if they use teleportation magic to move the warheads? To Beijing, for example.”
“That’s why we have an Archmage like you…”
“Me? Our opponent isn’t an ordinary Lich. If that Arch Lich is more skilled at magic than I am, it could cause a truly irreversible catastrophe. Similar things already happened several times during the early days of the Great Cataclysm, remember?”
“B-but even so… A sacrifice of this scale…”
“Hey. Murderfucker.”
Bang!
That startled me.
Magic Johnson shot to his feet, his bronzed muscles rippling.
“Stop it. I like East Asian men, too. I might have to punish you.”
“…!”
“…!”
That’s the scariest threat I’ve ever heard.
General Liao’s face turned deathly pale as he looked around for help. But the officials who seemed to belong to his faction avoided his gaze, as did Wu Heixing, his last possible line of defense.
So that’s how this gets resolved.
His opponent was an American national hero—and a national gay icon.
Everyone seemed desperate not to become one of the East Asian men Magic Johnson liked.
Of course, General Liao’s relentless stream of bullshit had played a major role as well.
“Enough, both of you. Especially you, General Liao. Stop spouting such utter nonsense.”
Under Wei Fenghu’s direction—the Chinese man who had just put down that chink—the meeting proceeded quickly.
After gathering the opinions already raised and settling the arguments, Wei Fenghu secured everyone’s agreement before speaking with a weary expression.
“We will assign the six S-rank Hunters here to six separate fronts. Under the official force organization, each front will receive three Army and Air Force divisions, along with Hunters from the Public Security Armed Forces Department.”
Three Chinese divisions and the Public Security Armed Forces Department.
I didn’t know exactly how many people that meant, but the sheer manpower would be enormous.
When it came to the number of Hunters a country possessed, China was always competing for first or second place.
Of course, the enemy won’t be any pushover either.
The estimated casualties alone numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
If the Arch Lich had resurrected the dead as undead…
Then an almost unimaginable number of enemies would be waiting for us.
“This concludes the meeting. Everyone, move out as soon as possible.”
Wei Fenghu said the exact troop numbers and force organization would be provided in writing. Just as everyone rose from their seats, it happened.
Come see me for a moment.
Someone’s voice pierced my ear.
It wasn’t a message spell. It was unmistakably Sound Transmission.
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