Part 1 Chapter 5 (1)

May 1, 2020.

About three weeks had passed since the failure of the Seoul Reclamation Operation. The Republic of Korea underwent significant, subtle changes.

The suicide of the Minister of Monster Countermeasures, who resigned taking responsibility for the operation’s failure; the government’s request for international aid and its refusal; the recovery of injured heroes, including Fire Fist, and the response to the resulting power vacuum.

While those who questioned, ‘Isn’t something wrong here?’ disappeared one by one without a trace, New Seoul continued its peaceful days, no different from before.

In contrast, Seoul was rapidly changing. Unlike New Seoul, which had grown accustomed to peace and safety under the hero Gwanggeom, Seoul was being restored by the Azure Syndicate, centered around Yeouido and Dongjak.

Couldn’t they just go back to Seoul and live there again?

While many were estimating the cost of moving to Seoul, there were also those being expelled from Seoul.

Villains.

Those who had given up fighting against New Seoul’s heroes and were now vaguely trying to return to their original places after the Azure Syndicate’s victory.

They wanted to return to Seoul.

***

KWAANG!

With a tremendous explosion, a wall made of earth burst apart. The man, whose entire body was covered in earth, startled and rolled his body.

Tang, Tatang!

Magic bullets pierced the wall and struck the man. He hastily wrapped himself in earth to protect his skin, but the magic bullets grazed his forearm even faster.

“Kuaaaak!”

The man screamed. The magic bullet pierced through the earthen shield and embedded itself in his forearm. The wound wasn’t very deep, but the man’s pride was severely cracked.

“You ignorant bastards!!”

The man, Gangseo’s , slammed his palm onto the ground. The park’s earth rippled like waves. Mud, surging like waves, shot up about 3 meters into the sky, engulfing the Azure Syndicate members.

– G7. Commencing warning shots. The opponent’s skill is….

An familiar male voice was heard over the radio. Ground Dog rummaged through his memories to recall the owner of the voice and shouted.

“Beacon, you son of a bitch!”

– [Phantom] will block it.

Among the members, a woman with her face covered by a mask ran forward. The woman, called Phantom, stomped her foot towards the earth surging like waves.

Kung!

The ground shook.

Ground Dog’s earthen wave crumbled far too easily under the stomp imbued with mana. Ground Dog realized who his opponent was and retreated.

“Ghost?!”

“…….”

Phantom tapped her smartwatch without a word. It seemed she didn’t want to speak. Soon, Beacon’s communication returned.

– Gangseo’s . He’s A-class. According to the leader-nim….

Static. Beacon’s radio transmission briefly cut out before resuming.

– He is not a recruitment target. It’s fine to kill him.

“……Is that so?”

Phantom said in a small voice. Ground Dog felt like he had heard that voice somewhere before. Static. Beacon’s radio returned.

– It’s not a particularly good ability. We already have two people with persistence.

“Then that’s fine. Not needed.”

Phantom turned her body. Ground Dog pulled out the moment he had heard the woman’s voice from his memory.

“You! That crazy bitch?!”

Kkaduk. Phantom gritted her teeth. When had she met this rude human called Ground Dog? Phantom, Gaeul, chewed on her memories and recalled an event from three weeks ago.

Before the Seoul Reclamation Operation, there was a Villain Alliance meeting in Gangnam. At the meeting, which Gaeul attended with Phoenix accompanying her, Ground Dog had been particularly grumbling and even attacked Gaeul.

That man who wielded a sword made of concrete. Gaeul openly frowned. Though it wouldn’t be visible behind her mask.

“Ha. What nerve do you have crawling all the way here? I clearly told you then, didn’t I? Those who run away without fighting….”

Gaeul pointed downwards with her finger.

“That they wouldn’t be able to enter Seoul.”

“Don’t talk bullshit!”

Ground Dog let out a monstrous yell and slammed his hand onto the ground. The earth became a spear imbued with mana, looking as if it would shoot out at any moment.

“If words don’t work….”

Gaeul slightly lifted the back of her long coat. Something grayish-white twitched from inside the coat. Ground Dog, facing it directly, flinched due to an inexplicable sense of revulsion.

“You have to be hit, right?”

Gaeul raised her hand.

Just as she was about to use her ability, a wind arrow flew past Gaeul and embedded itself in Ground Dog’s shoulder.

“Uwaaak!”

Ground Dog painfully pulled out the wind arrow. Blood spurted like a fountain from his punctured shoulder. Ground Dog, with a resentful expression, erected an earthen wall in front of him. The wind arrow flew again, striking the earthen wall.

Pasaseuk! The earthen wall collapsed. Ground Dog had already disappeared. Beacon’s radio transmission came through.

– He dug a tunnel. He escaped.

“Alright. Thanks. More importantly….”

Gaeul took off her mask and placed it on her head.
As the surging mana subsided, her eyes lost their vitality. Perhaps because she was a monster who had died and been resurrected, she felt somewhat like a corpse, but she seemed much more alive than the opponent in front of her.

A black rider suit with blue flame patterns. The opponent, whose figure was clearly revealed by the latex-like material, was undeniably a woman.

The problem was that she was wearing a helmet above her neck, and inside that helmet, blue flames blazed like hair. As the woman in the rider suit slung a bow onto her back, Gaeul grumbled.

“It’s overprotective. I can block this much with my eyes closed, you know?”

[The God said. To protect Cheon Gaeul-nim in any circumstance.]

The flames inside the helmet flickered. There was no sound, but the woman’s will was conveyed to Gaeul through mana. Gaeul, with a displeased expression, straightened her clothes. Her heart began to throb.

“…So why did they entrust that to you, who killed me?”

[I merely follow the God’s words.]

The heroes of the Pine Tree Unit who had lost their necks.

Phoenix embedded Cores into headless corpses and turned them into monsters.
Far from treating them as executives, they were treated as slave combatants to be used like rags and then discarded. Among them, the monster that remained in the most intact form was assigned as Gaeul’s escort.
As it happened, that was the hero , Yooishin, who had killed Gaeul.

[The God gave me a second life. Although he took away my freedom and my head, he allowed me to live a more meaningful life than my human one. Although there are still some among us, the ‘Blue Feather,’ who deny the God’s grace….]

“That name! Why, of all things, such a strange name?!”

[The leader-nim decided it, so I cannot object. I think it’s fine, though.]

Gaeul tore at her hair.
Every single member of this organization has either terrible naming sense or an explosive sensibility, with no in-between. To the extent that her own is the tamest alias in the Azure Syndicate.

In particular, the leader of that slave combatant unit, ‘Blue Feather,’ is unparalleled in that regard. So much so that even Phoenix is slightly reluctant around him.

“Haa. Anyway, I can handle this much. Got it? I’ll call you if I need you next time.”

[Understood. But I hope you remember this. If I fail to protect Cheon Gaeul-nim, I will die again. I will be discarded.]

Yooishin threatened her with his life. Cheon Gaeul, who had observed him for nearly three weeks, realized his true nature hadn’t changed even after becoming a monster.

“Ugh. Alright. I’ll be careful. …Beacon? It doesn’t seem like there’s anyone else here? Can I return?”

– Yes. There isn’t. But Gaeul-ssi, why are you speaking informally to me….

“What. Got a complaint?”

– No, I don’t….

Though her personality seemed to have become a bit more aggressive.

* * *

“It’s, it’s over!”

Architect flopped onto the floor. In front of him, a neatly restored 20-story apartment building stood tall.

“Haa, haa.”

If his memory served him right, it was a rather luxurious apartment, worth about 1.5 billion won per unit. He restored the apartments with intact foundations to their original state, excluding one completely collapsed building. A whopping 13 buildings.

Three weeks. For a full three weeks, Architect restored buildings without a moment’s rest.

Excluding a few buildings in Yeouido that would serve as the Azure Syndicate’s main strongholds, the buildings he primarily restored were numerous houses and apartments. Naturally, the residents who would move into them were the refugees who had been hiding underground in Dongjak.

“You’ve worked hard, Architect.”

The G12 team leader handed Architect a potion.
After learning how to handle Architect by appropriately pushing and pulling with him, Jihwa assigned her team to be exclusively for Architect.
“Oh my! I sprained my leg!”

As expected, Architect began to grumble.

“Oh my, my back! I’m dying!”

“As I’ve told you repeatedly, potions are a panacea that restores all physical abilities. Now. You’ve rested enough, haven’t you?”

G12 handed Architect a map. The map, depicting the administrative districts of Dongjak-gu salvaged from collapsed real estate, was about 30% colored red.

It was the area Architect had restored in Dongjak. Except for some parks and the national cemetery, there were still plenty of buildings Architect had to rebuild.

“Ah, seriously! Let’s take a break, human to human! I restored all of Yeouido already!”

Architect poured his heart and soul into restoring all the buildings in the Yeouido area for two weeks. Whenever he felt exhausted, a potion was shoved into his mouth, and if he managed to close his eyes for a moment, a potion syringe jabbed his backside.

Later, he even dragged in an IV stand from somewhere and stuck a needle into his forearm. Naturally, the IV bag contained potions.

As a result, Architect’s body was in peak condition 24 hours a day, requiring neither food nor sleep.

By the time he reached a point where he wondered if this was even possible for a human body, he had already restored all the buildings on Yeouido Island.

Beyond the endlessly pouring waves of Cores, Architect returned the ruined Yeouido to human civilization. The moment Architect proudly raised his nose in front of the cleanly restored National Assembly Building, a devil whispered.

– It seems we can’t accommodate all the people from Dongjak’s underground in Yeouido, so we should probably start working on Dongjak soon, right?

He cried.

That day, Architect wailed and sobbed openly in front of others for the first time.

So he argued. Perhaps he wasn’t in his right mind, but he even grabbed his boss by the collar and shook them, expressing his desire to rest.

And then they said.

“I told you, didn’t I? If you complain one more time, I’ll turn you into a monster. Saying that monsters don’t need food or sleep. That monstrous bitch with a rotten personality. While she herself sleeps and eats everything she wants.”

“That’s….”

“You haven’t experienced working life yet, have you? That’s how exploitative companies are. They always say the leader must set an example, take the initiative, and that the upper stream must be clear for the lower stream to be clear. They lure newcomers with all sorts of words, but the chairman or CEO never actually does that. Do you know what that’s called? In Korean, it’s ‘kkondae,’ wasn’t it ‘kkondae’?”

G12 hesitated whether to tell the truth or not, but then, seeing Architect’s behavior of slowly grumbling and subtly trying to rest, she recited the cruel truth.

“According to Beacon-nim, Phoenix-nim hasn’t slept for even 10 minutes until today and has been continuously awake.”

Architect’s face turned pale.

* * *
Hwareuk.

Blue flames clung to Phoenix’s body. This was already the 324th time. The frequency was rapidly increasing.

“…Are you okay?”

Deokbae handed Phoenix a piece of paper with a worried look. Phoenix, with vacant eyes, took the paper and began to scan it from top to bottom.

“‘We wish to move into the Yeouido residential area first’? No. These people haven’t even said they’ll join the Azure Syndicate yet. Rejected. Denied.”

Phoenix crumpled the paper and tossed it into the air. With a crisp snap of her fingers, the paper turned to ash and vanished.

“Let’s see again. ‘The human waste and trash smell too terrible. Please do something about it?’ …They tolerated living underground until now, and *now* they complain?”

Phoenix tapped her smartwatch. The time was already 3 AM.

“…I’ll make sure to drop by when I go towards Dongjak. Make a note of it. If I incinerate it with flames, it can be eliminated without any smell. Let’s see again. ‘Please restore the university’? This isn’t particularly urgent, is it? Send it to Architect. Tell him to handle it himself.”

“Are you okay, I asked.”

Phoenix swayed her body left and right, reading the next paper. It wasn’t even proper paper, but residents’ suggestions written in an elementary school diary.

“Yes. I just need to drop by and use some mana. Oh, there are three more things to deal with underground, right? I’ll have to handle them all at once when I go in the morning. Write it down.”

“No, are *you* okay?”

Phoenix blinked. Hwareuk. Blue flames enveloped her entire body again. This was the 325th time.

“You haven’t slept a wink since that night you spent with Cheon Gaeul.”

“Oh my. I was just going to hold hands and sleep, you know? It was Subordinate No. 2 who messed that up.”

“…That’s true.”

That day, Deokbae died and was resurrected as a monster for the first time.
The charge was ‘lacking social awareness.’ The perpetrator was Cheon Gaeul. The accomplice, Phoenix.

“Come to think of it, Gaeul-ssi started speaking informally to everyone after that day.”

Phoenix placed the papers on the table and stretched her arms out. Deokbae subtly hid the notebooks he had concealed behind his back.

“It’s more familiar to me, but it’s a bit of a shame.”

“Are you talking about the future Cheon Gaeul?”

Phoenix nodded. As she flicked her mana, the notebook Deokbae had hidden behind his back flew into Phoenix’s hand.

“That’s right. Masquerade was an arrogant Villain. Phantom is also a Villain now, but her disposition is clearly different.”

As Cheon Gaeul began calling herself , became the pronoun referring to the future Cheon Gaeul.

“Even if they’re both bandit groups, it’s like the Yellow Turban Rebellion and Hwalbindang are different.”

“Are you trying to talk about the difference between a bandit and a righteous outlaw?”

Phoenix gave a wry smile and scratched her head.

“Unintentionally, thanks to Phantom, it seems I’m going to be doing righteous outlaw work.”

“So, were you planning to exploit all 60,000 refugees in Dongjak?”

“No. I was just going to bury them underground. To avoid this kind of troublesome work.”

Deokbae let it go in one ear and out the other.

“Uh, anyway, quite a few of those 60,000 people joined the Azure Syndicate, didn’t they? Those who came to Yeouido seem to be working quite diligently.”

“We’re not even paying them salaries, so there’s no way they’d work that hard voluntarily. Humans never try to work that hard without some kind of reciprocal benefit.”

Phoenix tore out the pages of the notebook one by one.

“There are cases like Jihwa, who has a lust for power, and cases like Architect, who has pride in his work. Most of those who joined the Azure Syndicate bowed their heads to survive. Look. As soon as they feel a little more comfortable, all sorts of desires pop out, don’t they?”

Phoenix picked up the papers and shook them.
Most of them were complaints containing the desires of people who had escaped years of cave dwelling and wished to return to life in modern civilized society.

“Just so you don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying this is bad. We’re not primitive people; we live in the 21st century, so of course, we should enjoy what we’re supposed to enjoy. It’s the same for you, Deokbae-ssi, isn’t it? It’s human psychology to feel anxious if your data gets cut off while you’re living with a smartphone, but these people have experienced the Stone Age for years.”

“So, are you going to grant all of those requests?”

“We should do it as much as possible, right? What else can we do? It’s already come to this. If we picked them up off the street, we have to take responsibility until the end.”

“Are the Seoul refugees stray cats or something?”

Phoenix shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t particularly deny it.

“Stray cats. Puhuhu. It’s not wrong, is it? Building them homes, finding them food. Oh, right. What happened to the food ingredients that came in through Milky Way?”

“We decided to load it all onto the trailer coming up to Seongnam. Strictly in the form of us raiding and stealing it.”

“We’ll have to pay for the trailer too, then.”

Phoenix rose from her chair. Having burned the unnecessary papers in her hand with fire, Phoenix walked to the window and stretched.

Hwareuk.

Again, Azure Flame burned Phoenix. The 326th time.

Just as potions were poured into Architect to forcibly put his mind and body in peak condition, Phoenix herself also forcibly circulated mana throughout her entire body to maintain peak condition.

Approximately 18 days, from April 14th to May 1st. Phoenix hadn’t slept a wink.

“Don’t worry. I feel like I’m playing Civilization right now, so it’s still manageable.”

“What are you talking about now?”

“Listen carefully, Subordinate No. 2. A monster is not a being that needs food or sleep in the first place. It’s merely a mental satisfaction derived from the lingering habits of their human days, a desire to fulfill them-”

“Judging by how your words are getting longer, you must be sane.”

Deokbae cut her off and pointed to his smartwatch. An alarm had arrived.

“Check it. I’ll go deal with the rest of this.”

“Yes.”

Deokbae left. Phoenix checked the arrived message.

[Milky Way] : The item you mentioned is expected to arrive in the early morning. I’m looking forward to good quality Cores this time too ^^ By the way, it seems a surprising guest will be coming from New Seoul today, so be thoroughly prepared! Our beloved loyal customer ♡

“Is this person crazy?”

Phoenix immediately opened her keyboard to reply, then chuckled and closed the screen.

“Alright. We’ll see when they arrive. Though it probably won’t be the person themselves.”

Phoenix called Beacon.

That morning. A special envoy arrived in Seoul from New Seoul.