Part 1, Chapter 8, 11

At that time. Yeouido Azure Syndicate Hideout, C Hotel Lounge.

“So you’re the first monstrous human the Leader created, and you were occupying Yeongjongdo under the Leader’s orders?”

[That is correct.]

Kim Ji-hwa, the Beacon monstrous human, was racking her brain at the appearance of someone claiming to be the first monstrous human created by Phoenix. Although he was outwardly the leader of the Azure Syndicate, he was, in fact, a core figure in the syndicate’s operations. He himself desired such a position, and Phoenix also acknowledged his abilities.

He was monstrous human No. 3, personally manufactured by Phoenix. Among the monstrous humans that were increasing day by day, he took pride in being the third monstrous human created, after Subordinate No. 2.

But what was this parachuted-in person before her eyes? And how was she to judge the ‘three’ beings that this parachuted-in person brought along?

“Oh, I can’t believe Seoul has changed so much. Did that Seoul Recapture Operation succeed?”

“…Elder. Did you really come here after living in Yeongjongdo?”

“Yes. I somehow managed to survive without dying, haha. Young lady. Don’t mind me. There’s a more important distinguished guest who has arrived here, isn’t there?”

Elder Park, who had come up to Seoul with Seawater Sword, pointed to a woman whose body was covered by a temporary Azure Syndicate uniform jacket. The woman, boasting long black hair that reached her knees, spoke while wearing a smartwatch temporarily provided by the Azure Syndicate on her wrist.

“Is the translation working well?”

Though the words were expressed in Chinese, the sound was translated and conveyed in Korean. The Azure Syndicate executives remaining in Seoul couldn’t help but inquire about the woman’s identity.

“So you’re really…”

“Yes. I am Xiaolin, an S-rank Hero who dares to use the alias . This is my beloved horse, .”

“Pleased to meet you.”

The horse spoke. To be precise, the ‘red horse’ expressed its will through language. Kim Ji-hwa couldn’t collect herself in the cauldron of chaos before her eyes.

“Wait. Just a moment. Let me summarize.”

Kim Ji-hwa synthesized the stories of the four beings who had entered Seoul and came to a conclusion.

“So, Seawater Sword, you were protecting this elder under the Leader’s orders, and Unjang appeared from the sea with Jeokto. Unjang was looking for the Leader, and since it wasn’t a situation you could handle alone, you came up to Seoul where the Leader is? Is that it, right now?”
[That is correct. It seems my master is away from their post.]
“How do you know that…?”
[I felt it instinctively. The aura of the sun that I always felt from this direction wasn’t present on the way here.]
Seawater Sword expressed its thoughts by rapidly typing on the tablet it received from Yooishin. Kim Ji-hwa wanted to find someone to help her in this situation where unexpected events kept occurring.
“……Should I call Black Flame Dragon?”
“Let’s leave them be. If that person knew, they’d immediately fly across the West Sea, saying they have to save the god from danger.”
[Is my master in danger?]
Seawater Sword’s scales shimmered. Kim Ji-hwa and Eun Yuha instinctively knew. Ah, they’re the same type as that person.
“No, not at all. They’re just pretending to be in danger.”
A black-haired woman appeared and answered Seawater Sword’s question. Her plain appearance was ordinary, but the person residing within her was not ordinary.
“Ah, Chairperson-nim. You’ve arrived.”
Ji-hwa immediately stood up and bowed. From the black-haired woman’s mouth flowed the voice of the true chairperson and the Azure Syndicate’s biggest investor, Eun Yuha.
“They put themselves out as bait. If they feel it’s dangerous, they’ll fly to Seoul with full power, so you don’t need to worry.”
[That’s a relief.]
Seawater Sword seemed relieved. As the news of Phoenix’s absence spread, the one who was naturally flustered was Unjang Xiaolin, who had come all the way to Seoul to find Phoenix.
“……I will return to China.”
“Just a moment.”
Eun Yuha called Xiaolin back. Eun Yuha also had a headache trying to figure out why Xiaolin, who should have been in China, had bothered to cross the sea, even taking off her smartwatch.
“Why on earth did you come looking for the customer, no, Phoenix? Did you come to get revenge for what happened in China?”
“Revenge? That’s absurd.”
Xiaolin clenched her fist and replied with a refreshed expression.
“They told me I could challenge them anytime, so I came to challenge them.”
“……The timing, seriously.”
It seemed that while Phoenix was flying across the West Sea, Xiaolin was crossing the West Sea riding Jeokto.
“Alright. Paths crossing is a common thing, so, next question.”
Eun Yuha pointed with her finger at Xiaolin’s clothes. Underneath the uniform, she was still wearing a high-cut swimsuit that she hadn’t changed out of.
“Why did you conceal your whereabouts and illegally enter by sea?”
“……I have realized.”
Xiaolin closed her eyes and gave an irrelevant answer. Kim Ji-hwa and Eun Yuha momentarily suspected that the translation app was malfunctioning, but the function was working normally.
“That day, after the battle with that person who enlightened me at the Yalu River. I pondered and pondered what I lacked.”
“What’s with this sudden confession-”
“And I realized the truth.”
Ji-hwa tried to interrupt but failed. Xiaolin was already lost in her own world.
“Only that person will awaken me to the true world of martial arts! That person, who gave me my first defeat, knew all my weaknesses just by looking at me!”
“Ah, she’s another one. Probably one of the customer’s wives.”
Eun Yuha genuinely grimaced and clicked her tongue. The thoughts that began to dominate Eun Yuha’s mind were jealousy and annoyance, wondering ‘how many wives is this one now?’
“That’s right. Hero, Villain, nation, gender! Transcending all of that, by focusing solely on the world of martial arts, I was able to move forward! I am convinced that only a sparring match with that person will give me the opportunity to advance to the next level! The moment I win against that person, the time of awakening to SS-rank will finally come! That’s why I shed the shell of Unjang and became a natural person, neither a member of the Round Table nor a Hero! I have transcended humanity!”
“Does anyone here logically understand what she’s saying?”
“I don’t know. How am I supposed to understand the mental world of S-ranks?”
“Do you become S-rank by going crazy, or do you go crazy after becoming S-rank?”
To become an S-rank, does everyone have to be missing a screw somewhere, or be obsessed with something? Unfortunately, there were no ability users who had reached S-rank present here. Fortunately, Xiaolin, who couldn’t hear the backbiting in Korean, blinked her eyes with a serious expression.
“So tell me. What is the reason that person is in danger? Is it perhaps a strategy to draw me out? Are they carrying out preliminary work for a decisive battle with me above the Forbidden City? Or are they fighting Director Mao Zeping to capture me…?”
“What other crazy talk is this… *Ahem*. My apologies.”
Ji-hwa cleared her throat and changed the subject. Beside her, Jeokto was glaring.
“The Leader has officially received an invitation from the Chinese government and has gone to China through the Association. Under the pretext of being a monster controller.”
“But why do you say they’re in danger? That person is a strong individual who defeated me.”
“The plane was shot down, they say. Thanks to a terrorist group called Hwangonjeok.”
“What…? That can’t be.”
Xiaolin shook her head, denying it.
“I am here as the representative of the group called Hwangonjeok, the Hwanryongdan.”
“……?”
The Azure Syndicate fell silent.
Xiaolin’s eyes were tinged with gray. Seawater Sword raised a hand and pointed at Xiaolin.
[If it were a human, I would have fought with my life, but a monstrous human came. It… it doesn’t seem like a monstrous human created by my master, does it? From what I’ve heard.]
The one who crossed the sea was not a distinguished guest, but a monstrous human.
Monstrous human, Xiaolin.
* * *
The work was finished.
Countless repetitions of creating Phantom Flame Spirits using the cores they had selected, in addition to the Phantom Flame Spirits already made, were completed.
“Subordinate No. 2. I appoint you as the battalion commander of this Ghost Unit.”
“Oh, thank you for the title. Did you think I’d know? What bothersome task are you trying to make me do now?”
Dukbae pointed to the bundle slung over his shoulder, clearly showing his annoyance. Even if many people worked together, it was not easy to individually inspect and categorize each of the three thousand cores.
I pointed to the Phantom Flame Spirit unit floating in the air, lined up neatly behind Dukbae.
“We’re going to go find the Chaos Dragon now.”
“How?”
“I was just about to explain, wasn’t I?”
I shot a glance at Dukbae. He frowned but waved his hand as if telling me to speak.
“*Ahem*.”
I found his gesture quite displeasing, but I decided not to kill him as a reward for providing such a good idea.
“No one knows right now if it’s sleeping somewhere, or if an ability user has found it. I can’t find it either.”
“So?”
“…*Ahem ahem*. So, I’m going to make the Chaos Dragon come out on its own. Make it wake up from its slumber and come find me directly.”
“How?”
I pointed at the Phantom Flame Spirits. Since I had already experienced that D-rank monstrous humans were useless, I only created monstrous humans from C-rank Banshees, which were one rank higher.
Thus, their number was five hundred. This was enough to cause a stir across the entire continent.
“Mr. Dukbae. Have you ever heard something like this?”
I cleared my throat and made a sound a cappella.
“♪♪♩ ♬♬♬♪♪♬♬”
“……I can tell right away that it’s terribly unpleasant.”
Dukbae shuddered. It was a short song, less than 30 seconds, but it was enough to give Dukbae goosebumps. Even the monstrous humans who had already died and been resurrected were sickened by the destructive power of my song.
“Hehehe. There’s nothing better than this to wake someone up.”
“I understand what you’re thinking, but do you think they’ll wake up with just this one time?”
“No? It’s not just once. I’m going to make them keep singing until it appears.”
“…So what you’re saying is this.”
Dukbae let out a hollow laugh, pointing at the Ghost Unit floating in the air.
“You’re going to teach those Phantom Flame Spirits your strange song to wake up the Chaos Dragon, right now?”
“Yes.”
“Are you planning auditory terrorism on the entire 1.3 billion population of the continent?”
“No? Only ability users will hear it. To be precise, it shakes their mana. Now, monstrous humans, try to follow along.”
I changed only my face to monstrous human form and waved my hands as if conducting an orchestra.
[♪♪♩]
[♪♪♩]
The Phantom Flame Spirits quickly imitated my voice. Since I directly showed them by changing into monstrous human form, all 500 Phantom Flame Spirits awakened to the method of producing sound with mana, and Dukbae covered his ears from the 500-part chorus that filled the stone chamber.
“Aargh?!”
[♪♪♩ ♪♪♩]
[♪♪♩ ♪♪♩]
“What is this! Why does it keep playing?!”
Dukbae frowned at the song that he could still hear even with his ears covered. I pointed a mana-made baton at his core.
“Since it’s directly transmitted to the core, ability users can’t help but hear it. Especially a Spirit at the pinnacle, even more so, right?”
“So you’re saying you’ll make a million ability users’ ears bleed just to wake up one Spirit?”
“What’s wrong with that? A million is nothing compared to the entire 1.3 billion population. And…”
I shrugged.
“Even if something goes wrong later, we can just blame Mao Zeping for it.”
“…….”
Dukbae seemed to have finally lost his words. I waved my baton at the Phantom Flame Spirits and taught them the lyrics.
‘For waking up, there’s nothing like a morning call.’
“Alright. Follow along. This alarm is only complete with lyrics.”
The 500-part chorus of the Phantom Flame Spirits filled the tomb. Unexpectedly, the Phantom Flame Spirits learned the song quite quickly, and I, in reverence for their eagerness to learn, taught them a few memorable repertoires.
About 40 minutes. The crash course ended, and I gave the Phantom Flame Spirits an order.
“You all like to talk, right? Then go around freely and talk as much as you want. And while you’re at it…”
I held up seven fingers.

“You’ll sing it once every 7 minutes. Got it?”
The ghosts left the tomb.
* * *
The borders were sealed.
Mao Zeping attributed the plane terrorist attack to the ‘Hwangonjeok’, a large criminal organization within their own country, and the international community likewise fell into chaos.
Even some foreigners within China could not leave the country, and all flights heading to China were canceled.
Despite facing astronomical economic losses, Mao Zeping chose to seal the borders, using it as an opportunity for a counterattack.
-This means that the terrorist group Hwangonjeok is a malignant tumor that must be eradicated. Even if it causes the pain of cutting out living flesh, we cannot forgive the terrorist group.
The international community respected Mao Zeping’s decisive action. Of course, they could not help but express concern about the safety of foreigners within China, so Heroes dispatched by the Association decided to step forward for those who wished.
-The Party will also cooperate.
Mao Zeping mobilized Heroes from the Central Party to safely transport those leaving China to Shanghai. Although some foreigners felt they were being monitored, they could only focus on getting out of China, especially since a plane had just been attacked.
“It *is* surveillance, isn’t it?”
“Shhh. What if they hear us?”
The Dongchang Heroes, who were driving the car with foreigners inside, chatted. They whispered in voices so low that only ability users could hear, not ordinary people.
“What were the characteristics of the Level 1 search target again?”
“One woman with hair down to her knees. One very tall, bald, burly man. And a monster controller whose plane was attacked by Hwangonjeok.”
“Tsk. How do they plan to stop them from escaping across this vast land, I wonder… Hey, did you set your watch alarm?”
The man frowned at the irritating sound in his ear. The Dongchang Hero in the car with him shook his head.
“No. …What is that?”
He also heard a strange sound. It was just ‘there’ when he first heard it, but as the alarm sound repeated without end, irritation naturally arose.
“Excuse me. Whose phone is ringing?”
“It’s not ours.”
The foreigners in the back raised their smartwatches. The screen was off, let alone an alarm, and they shrugged as if asking what sound they were talking about.
“No, then what is that sound…?”
The two stopped the car for a moment and focused on the sound. The song, which somehow had English mixed in, seemed to have lyrics.
Ding ding ding.
“Is this the start?”
Good morning.
“Morning…?”
Ding ding ding. Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba good morning.
“……What on earth is that?”
They couldn’t tell where it was coming from, but it kept irritating their ears. Yet, they couldn’t understand why the ordinary people in the back couldn’t hear it.
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba good morning
“Ugh. Forget it. It’ll end soon. It’s like an auditory hallucination.”
“True. It hasn’t been long since the dimensional gate opened. Ugh, damn it. What’s with ‘good morning’ when the sun is setting?”
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba beautiful day
They didn’t know.
That song would continue to ring in their ears until they arrived in Shanghai at night.
It was the beginning of the Terror that would wake up a million ability users from their slumber.
“…Hey, it seems to be repeating constantly?”
“Has it been over 7 minutes now?”
Ding ding ding
Good
Mor
Ning
It’s a beautiful day