Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 6

And so, I-no, we-were on a hijacked plane. I risked my life(?) and jumped out of the hole in the side of the plane. I survived, but Deokbae, who had come with me, died.

“Oh, how pathetic. Jo Deokbae.”

I placed Deokbae’s Core on the ground and infused it with mana.

Jo Deokbae. The second man I turned into a monstrous human had died due to acrophobia and a heart attack, but as his creator and master, I possessed the power to resurrect him.

Hwareuk.

Blue flames burst from Jo Deokbae’s Core. His body, formed from mana, began to take on a human shape, and soon he became the bald man who had been joking around with me in the airplane seat just moments ago.

“Heeok, huff, huff!”

Deokbae checked his body all over, panting. Thanks to me having already created clothes for him with mana, the unfortunate incident of him wandering around the Chinese continent naked did not occur.

“Then let’s go. Wear this.”

I handed Deokbae the smartwatch I had taken off him earlier. Deokbae glared at me with narrowed eyes, but I appeased his dissatisfaction with a single laugh.

“Got a complaint, subordinate?”

“……Even if I did, you wouldn’t listen. Damn it.”

Deokbae seemed to have given up. As a monstrous human who must unconditionally obey my commands, Deokbae couldn’t rebel against me even if he wanted to.

“For example, if I say, ‘Die-‘”

“Keuheok!”

Deokbae vomited blood and collapsed.

“…….”

I extracted him from Deokbae’s corpse again and resurrected him. Deokbae, pale with fright, yelled at me.

“Watch your mouth! If you spout that nonsense one more time, I’ll pour cement into your mouth!!”

“My apologies. I didn’t realize Jo Deokbae-ssi’s loyalty ran so deep. To actually die when told to. Puhuhu.”

Laughter naturally escaped me, but I decided to stop, as it felt a little bad to keep tormenting Deokbae.

“First, could you turn on the smartwatch?”

“…….”

Deokbae turned on the smartwatch without a word, as I instructed. It was like a Western-made burner phone, brought in through the ‘Black Market,’ and would be useful for our activities in China.

“Is it working well?”

“Oh yeah. It works incredibly well. So well I want to report you to the Jinyiwei.”

“They wouldn’t be able to catch me even if you reported me anyway. For now, don’t send any signals yet.”

I took off the smartwatch I was wearing on my wrist. This watch, provided for Cheonghwa, was a blank device with no contacts, and at the same time, a location tracker that exposed my mana signature to satellites.

“Eit.”

Kwajik. I crushed the watch with my grip. Thanks to my prior warning, Deokbae didn’t seem particularly surprised, but he still appeared displeased with my action of destroying a device worth over a million won.

“Subordinate No. 2.”

“What.”

“We can always earn money again anyway.”

“That’s none of my business, but then how are you going to contact me?”

“……Why would I contact you?”

I raised my index finger and waved it left and right at Deokbae. Deokbae was about to burst out with an expletive, but I understood his feelings.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t explained the plan to Deokbae-ssi yet, have I?”

“Is the start of the operation jumping out of a plane?”

“Yes.”

I hadn’t expected things to unfold so easily right from the start.

“I never imagined Dongchang’s stooges would follow us all the way from Korea, so this is a win-win situation.”

“A win-win?”

“Yes. First, eliminate the spies in Yuseong. The agents who sold our departure information, Miss Eun Yuha, will take care of them herself.”

Since the departure information had been shared with the Association just before meeting Seok Harang, the only channel through which advance information about my departure could have been obtained was the Yuseong Group.

It was clear that Eun Yuha, their head, wouldn’t betray me, so it must have been the directors or management below her-or more precisely, those who betrayed Eun Jaemin, whom Eun Yuha had put forward as a puppet.

“Well… whether they were bribed with money or sex, we’ll find out when we return to Korea later. The start of the operation is this, this.”

I pointed at the shattered smartwatch again.

“The moment my signal is cut off, our Azure Syndicate’s grand operation, Sleeping Princess of the Graveyard, will begin.”

“……Graveyard?”

“Yes. Graveyard.”

I manipulated Deokbae’s watch and displayed our destination on the screen.

“The princess we need to awaken is currently sleeping in the deepest part of the graveyard.”

* * *

Chaotic Illusory Dragon.

It is in charge of the illusion attribute among the seven executives of the Dark Legion, and in the original story, it was discovered by Mao Zeping and used as a tool for mass-producing ability users.

There was only one reason why it, an executive and a true Spirit, was manipulated by human hands.

-Too lazy to work.

It was a being that found even breathing bothersome, living as a spirit body without forming a physical one.

The original party’s dismay, upon rescuing the heroine captured by the enemy only to find out she had simply been too lazy to do anything, is still vivid.

‘It was like it outsourced the task, saying it would lend its power, but they should handle all the world’s destruction themselves.’

With the Chaotic Illusory Dragon’s laziness combined with Mao Zeping’s ambition, Mao Zeping became a constant nuisance.

For instance, launching missiles at an unconfirmed flying object without any prior verification.

For instance, attempting to kidnap a foreign dignitary before their plane even landed.

Mao Zeping created all sorts of pretexts to expand his territory, to the point where one would naturally exclaim, ‘Can’t he make a common-sense judgment?’

War-monger.

Because he constantly tried to wage war using ability users, the one who suffered the most in the original story was the Praetor, who became a key figure in the Association.

Business trips. Business trips. And more business trips.

The countries bordering them suffered because they were constantly called upon to deal with monsters, and the original protagonist’s team was frequently dispatched to handle those monsters.

“And then, when the protagonist discovered the Chaotic Illusory Dragon, the great escape began.”

‘Even resorting to extreme measures like border closures.’

Fortunately, even in its brainwashed state, not yet awakened as a Spirit, the Chaotic Illusory Dragon offered no resistance as it was carried on the protagonist’s back.

-Too lazy to resist, and this one looks a bit tasty, so let’s just let them do whatever they want.

Ultimately, with the help of Unjang Xiaolin, who rebelled against Mao Zeping, the protagonist’s party succeeded in escaping after a long journey through the Liaodong Peninsula and the Taebaek Mountains.

‘The production team, those crazy bastards.’

The game was designed for them to escape by land, covering a distance of 2500km. If not for the various ‘events’ with the heroines along the way, the game would probably have become a legendary kusoge.

“But now there’s no need for that, because!”

I spread my wings.

“Phoenix can fly through the sky!”

“What if you get caught flying? Are you going to get hit by missiles again?”

“…….”

That was the first thing Deokbae uttered after listening to my long explanation.

I obediently folded my wings, and we began to run along the mountain path.

* * *

“We must protest immediately, with a statement or whatever! No, a protest won’t be enough!”

“What was the Association thinking, putting a monster controller on a plane?!”

“What on earth did the Monster Countermeasures Department do instead of stopping them?!”

Men in suits were raising their voices, veins bulging in their necks, shifting blame onto each other. The girl sitting at the far end of the conference table found their behavior so pathetic and petty that she had no desire to speak.

“……Executor.”

The Prime Minister called the girl. In a headache-inducing meeting where everyone was passing the buck, that small girl was the Prime Minister’s only lifeline and salvation.

“What is the Association’s stance?”

“The higher-ups of the Association are also currently in an emergency meeting. They certainly didn’t expect such an extreme measure to be taken the moment the plane took off.”

“……And the Round Table?”

The Prime Minister’s gaze shifted to the opposite side of the girl. Across from the dark-haired girl, as if in contrast, sat a white-haired woman-Seok Harang.

“I haven’t been in long, so I don’t know the details either.”

Seok Harang continued speaking in a slightly stiff voice. Her position was that of her former master and father, Gwanggeom Heo Yun-hwan.

“……But the Round Table is just as, if not more, chaotic right now.”

“Why?”

The Prime Minister found himself foolishly retorting without realizing it.

“Why would even the Round Table be in chaos? Wasn’t Sir Gawain, the head of the Round Table, the one who engaged in political negotiations with Mao Zeping?”

“……Yes, he did. But.”

Seok Harang tilted her head, her expression one of incomprehension.

“……Haa. I can’t even say this….”

“Seolhwaryeong-nim.”

The girl, the Executor, raised her head and met Seok Harang’s gaze.

“Seolhwaryeong-nim, before being a Hero of the Round Table, is a citizen of this nation.”

“……Yes.”

“Cheonghwa-nim, before being a Beast Tamer, is likewise a citizen of this nation. So, if they’ve gone missing overseas, can you not provide even a small clue? Even if it concerns classified information.”

The Executor paused to catch her breath and continued.

“Just leave the Round Table.”

“What was that?”

“Hey, hey. Your words are a bit….”

The Executor’s merciless rebuke instead flustered the others. The Prime Minister’s lips twitched as the successors of the Praetor and Gwanggeom, respectively, squared off against each other.

‘I should have just left with that Seon bastard when he resigned.’

What was with that guy’s lust for power? If only the Prime Minister could turn back time, he would have made his move before that Seon bastard resigned.

“……Haa. You two. Calm down a little.”

The Prime Minister raised a hand to stop them both.

“First, what about the signal from the smartwatch given to Miss Cheonghwa? Is it still at that location?”

“Yes. The signal was continuous until just now…. Uh.”

The man’s expression turned pale.

“The signal… has been cut off.”

Kwang!

The Executor kicked the table and stood up.

“There’s no time to keep sitting around here. I’ll go.”

“Hey, you! Just a moment!”

The Prime Minister even stood up and rushed to block the Executor’s path. The Executor, undaunted by the much taller old man, firmly stated her intentions.

“I will ensure it doesn’t escalate into an international diplomatic issue.”

“No, wait, just a moment! Hee-ah!”

Twitch. The girl called Hee-ah, the Executor, frowned and hardened her expression.

“This is an official setting. Please refrain from using terms of address based on personal relationships-“

“Are you planning to bring a ‘battleship’?”

“…….”

The Executor, Baek Hee-ah, nodded.

“It’s a rescue vessel. It’s fine. Since the Association is making the move, if Seolhwaryeong-nim cooperates, entry will be possible under the Round Table’s name-“

“I don’t think that’ll be possible.”

Seok Harang was smiling wryly. The blue butterfly hairpin adorning her white hair seemed to sparkle as it reflected the LED light.

“Seolhwaryeong-nim.”

Baek Hee-ah stood facing Seok Harang with a stern expression.

“First, let’s save the person, and then we can think about the aftermath-“

“Because it looks like the border will be closed.”

“……Huh?”

Baek Hee-ah’s jaw dropped at Seok Harang’s unimaginable answer. Given the flow of the conversation, there was only one country that would close its borders.

“No way.”

“No. …Actually, the Round Table is also having a headache because of that right now.”

Seok Harang finally spilled the truth.

“It’s not just Cheonghwa who’s gone missing.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“……Unjang, and Jeokto.”

Seok Harang pressed her hand to her forehead.

“Their whereabouts are currently unknown.”

* * *

“Oh, it works well. Indeed, even when old, one must keep up with the times.”

The elderly man, wearing a straw hat, cast his fishing rod into the sea. In his hand was an old smartphone, and beside him, a monstrous human in scale armor stood as if guarding the old man.

“Hey, you! Teach me a bit. How do you use this?”

[…….]

The monstrous human remained silent. The old man grumbled with a sullen face and turned his head toward the sea.

“Tsk. These young folks nowadays, they only care about looking cool and don’t know how to respect their elders.”

[…….]

The monstrous human’s lips twitched slightly. It looked like a smile, or perhaps a sneer, but the old man’s attention was focused on the smartphone.

“This damn thing, it’s annoyingly hard to use. Let’s see, where’s the button….”

The old man began to explore the device, turning the smartphone this way and that. The monstrous human, feeling frustrated and about to teach him, sensed a massive mana reaction emanating from the sea and stepped in front of the old man.

“Krrr.”

“Wha, what is it? Another monster?”

The old man, though afraid, retreated behind the monstrous human. The monstrous human focused on the sound coming from afar and sharpened its claws.

It could clearly hear it. Created from the corpse of Seohaemugi, an A-class monstrous human, it was a being far stronger than most A-class ability users, and thanks to that, the sound of hooves approaching from afar was incredibly clear.

[Krrrk?]

Hoofbeats in the sea?

Dagadak. Dagadak.

Seohaemugi saw it.

Beyond the vast horizon, the head of a red horse emerged from the sea, parting the waters.

And a woman, holding the horse’s reins, galloping towards the white sand beach. She wore a tight-fitting high-cut swimsuit, her wet hair fluttering as she reached the beach.

“??????”

Seohaemugi was speechless at the utterly surreal sight. Moreover, the mana emanating from the woman and the horse she rode was overwhelming, beyond what it could handle.

“□□□□□□□.”

The woman opened her mouth, looking alternately at the old man and the monstrous human. She clearly said something, but the old man couldn’t understand it at all.

“Is she a ‘Dden-nom’?”

“…….”

Seohaemugi snatched the smartphone from the old man and launched a translation app. The woman had no smartwatch on her wrist that could reveal her whereabouts.

Bbeep.

Seohaemugi skillfully operated the smartphone and aimed it at the woman.

“That, that damned bastard. He didn’t even pretend to teach this old man when I was struggling so much.”

“□□□□□□?”

The woman spoke again. The monstrous human listened to the woman’s words as translated by the app and clicked its tongue in amazement.

– Is this the Land of the Phoenix? (Chinese)

Seohaemugi drew a circle above its head.