Part 1 Chapter 11.15

July 20, 2020, 5:00 AM, Jeongdongjin Beach, Gangwon Province.

“Is this where Rusalka landed?”

Changyeom walked beside me, wearing a flowing one-piece dress and sandals. In my monstrous human form, I walked along the sandy beach, holding Changyeom’s hand.

“It’s a different place. Though not too far off.”

“Yes, good boy. You spoke well. From now on, only use your voice in front of me.”

I got my ‘voice’ back from Changyeom. Finally, even in my monstrous human form, I could use my own voice.

“It feels strange to use this voice with this body.”

The problem was that Changyeom’s feminine voice came out of a monstrous human body over 180 cm tall.

“Doesn’t this make me sound like a volleyball player?”

“That’s because only I can hear your real voice. Puhuhu.”

“Your possessiveness is quite something. …Hmm, this really is strange. Is there no other way?”

It was extremely odd for the same voice to come from two people. Changyeom stopped walking and raised a finger.

“Voice Pack DLC costs one more Cube~ I know you have two more in your pocket.”

“Are you messing with me?”

“Just kidding. Don’t be so serious. You can just imitate a voice, can’t you? Someone else’s.”

“How, ah. Hmm….”

I cleared my throat and adjusted my vocalization. To the voice of the person I was most familiar with.

“Like this?”

“Yes! Well done. For your information, that’s the voice of the ‘protagonist’ you used to play.”

“……Is it only a male protagonist because he’s a male protagonist? Phew.”

It wasn’t exactly to my liking that it was the ‘protagonist’s’ voice and not ‘my’ voice, but it was still awkward in many ways for Changyeom’s beautiful voice to come out of a monstrous human form. Changyeom also seemed to prefer a male voice when I was in my monstrous human state.

“So, you’ve decided on a male form for the monstrous human?”

“I suppose so.”

“Then you’ll be banging Seok Harang now, won’t you? You seemed to really enjoy fondling her chest.”

…That’s why I called her. Just as Seok Harang was enchanted by the Cube’s mood, I too was somewhat affected.

Naturally, the original owner of my body must have been watching with wide, furious eyes.

“It was force majeure. I didn’t know Seok Harang would get two Cubes.”

“That’s true, but you kept fondling her afterward, didn’t you? Am I wrong?”

“……If I didn’t, she’d turn into an enemy, wouldn’t she? If Seok Harang reaches SS+, I might actually lose.”

“That’s only under the assumption that you’re ‘going easy’ on her. Since it’s a spar or a mock battle.”

I could kill her anytime I wanted. However, Seok Harang was not someone to be killed, and if she turned into an enemy, she would be the worst possible opponent in terms of compatibility.

“From the start, Seok Harang and I are in the same boat. Now, she’s clearly a ‘comrade’.”

“How am I supposed to view a thieving cat trying to covet what’s mine? What? ‘Oppa’ is ‘honey’? Puhuhu, that’s really cheeky.”

“Don’t worry. I only have eyes for you.”

“And that person was fiddling with that flat chest? How absurd.”

She was sulking. Seriously sulking. If I had been a little slower to call her, I might have been kidnapped into the mental world at a crucial moment and suffered eternally, or she might not have appeared at all even if I used a Cube.

“Then what, should I touch your chest?”

“Pervert. But later. I don’t really want to allow you to touch my body right now.”

“Tsk. What a shame. It was a rare chance to touch them.”

“……Puhuhu.”

Changyeom laughed as if mocking me. I felt a sudden surge of irritation and gently stroked the hand I was holding with Changyeom.

“Don’t underestimate my technique. Believe it or not, I’m a technician who’s made 16 heroines come multiple times with just this one hand.”

“Yes, yes, I know very well, so please do it next time. ……Hehe♬”

Changyeom hummed a tune and responded to my hand-play by holding and shaking my hand. We walked along the beach, talking about various things.

“Karna’s location has been pinpointed. Seok Harang met her in India, apparently.”

“The pervert who fondled the chests of 120 young girls.”

Changyeom smiled brightly and insulted me. But I had to soothe her so that the murderous intent surging behind that smile wouldn’t be directed at Seok Harang.

“……Isn’t that her lowest fuel efficiency form? You know what Karna’s true body is like, don’t you?”

“What? The one where vertical turns horizontal? Are you happy about that? Fondling them in all sizes.”

“The one I want to fondle is you.”

Changyeom fell silent. I awkwardly cleared my throat, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Well… what is it. Honestly, whether it’s Seok Harang or Karna, haven’t I touched all their chests? There’s one chest I haven’t touched yet, you know?”

“Hmm. Whose?”

“Yours.”

“Ahahaha!”

Changyeom laughed heartily, even holding her stomach.

“You want to touch me that much?”

“I don’t intend to stop at just touching.”

“Hehe, I see. So you want to touch other women’s chests to earn a date with me, that’s how much you want to touch me. I understand. If it’s to that extent, I’ll allow it.”

Finally, Changyeom’s anger subsided. With a sense of immense relief, I continued the interrupted conversation.

“So, I’m thinking of going to India to catch Karna now.”

“You absolutely must catch Gaetcheongwangma. By any means necessary.”

“……As expected.”

I knew she’d react most sensitively. If you think about it in terms of the setting, the being Changyeom would hate the most wouldn’t be Snowy Night or Jeolpung, but Gaetcheongwangma.

“Two suns cannot exist in one world. Now, who is the sole sun of this world?”

“Naturally, it’s Changyeom’s Phoenix.”

“Correct! Hehe, yes. Anyone who loves me should naturally revere me as the sun.”

Gaetcheongwangma, the light that opens the sky.

Anyone would think Gaetcheongwangma was closer to being the sun, but Changyeom constantly insisted that she was the sun.

Naturally, I was on Changyeom’s side.

“Don’t worry. I won’t fight Gaetcheongwangma alone. Since the Korean Heroes have become allies for now, we’ll just have to use them.”

“That can’t be helped. You can’t ‘awaken’ Gaetcheongwangma, after all.”

“I can’t, because I’m a Spirit. This is really something, somehow I ended up approaching it in reverse, and strange conditions are popping up.”

“Still, the difficulty is gradually decreasing, isn’t it? Now all you have to do is fight and win.”

As Changyeom said, awakening them was much easier now. It was a bit annoying that those damn guys formed an alliance, but if I awakened Gaetcheongwangma and brought her in as a comrade, we would numerically gain the high ground at 4:3.

“But why did Karna approach Seok Harang?”

“I don’t know. Unless you ask her directly. You said she’s in India. Did she convert to a religion? Is she living the life of a meditating monk, cultivating the Way?”

“She’s one of the executives trying to conquer the world, you know? Don’t you know how Karna comes to the forefront?”

“I know. She fights Gawain 1:1 and shouts, ‘You’re still weak! Come back stronger!'”

That’s a future that will only happen in 2022. Gawain and Karna fought head-on, and even though Karna had the upper hand, she let Gawain go, telling him to get stronger before fleeing.

That battle was the catalyst for Gawain reaching SS-rank, but in this situation, who knows what will happen. Gawain, frankly, would reach SS-rank if anyone so much as touched him.

“He’d awaken just by fighting someone of equal or higher rank. Ah, what a shame. He’s been stuck at S-rank for how many years now, with 1 EXP left?”

“That’s why I’m thoroughly avoiding fighting Gawain right now, isn’t it?”

For several years, I avoided being at the forefront as the head of the Round Table, and the first time I fought was against Karna. If Gawain hadn’t cared about his reputation and fought Gwanggeom head-on, one of us would have had our identity exposed, and the other would have awakened to SS-rank.

“And that person terrorized England with mint chocolate? What if you had fought?”

“Then I would have definitely run away. How was I supposed to know Gawain liked mint chocolate? He’s not even a heroine.”

“That’s true. Well… since we’ve talked, you won’t recklessly fight and put yourself in danger anymore, right?”

Snap.

Phoenix snapped her fingers, creating a flame.

32 flames.

“Cubes?”

“Yes. A date is important, but since I have something to tell you, I’ll take some of your time.”

“What about the chest?”

“Next time. This is more important right now.”

Phoenix extinguished two flames.

“The two in Korea were removed. One was used to support Cheon Gaeul’s resurrection, and the other was used for me to appear.”

The remaining flames were 30. Phoenix snapped her fingers again.

“The two Cubes Seok Harang brought are here.”

Hwareuk. As the flames disappeared, the Cubes in my possession vanished all at once.

“I hadn’t even said I’d use them on you yet.”

“I’m getting rid of them while I’m out. It’s to prevent such things from happening again before you get all giddy over another woman. Instead, I’ll give you that much service. Later.”

“…….”

Later, if anyone asks what happened to the Cubes Seok Harang brought, I’ll have to make an excuse that I immediately got rid of them because I was afraid of what might happen. Remaining flames: 28. Phoenix snapped her fingers quite forcefully.

“And the six you eliminated.”

“What?”

Before I could even say, “When did I?”, Changyeom answered.

“Jeolpung, Jiryung, Maamryong. Six Cubes were destroyed while the three of them fought you. Once when they recovered after being hit by an Ultimate Skill, and once when they voluntarily released their monsterification.”

“……Ah, that time?”

No wonder I thought they recovered mana too easily. I wondered if they used Cores, but I never imagined they would use two Cubes each just to try and defeat me.

“Then if I had caught them then, I would have beaten all of them.”

“The outcome would have been the same: they would have escaped. You would have been sealed in the Barrier of Eternity, and while you were sealed, the three of them would have fled, right?”

“……Well, let’s say so. Alright. Remaining Cubes: 22.”

Already nearly a third had been reduced. But there were still more things to erase.

“In order, it seems like the ones eliminated in China were first.”

“Yes. The Cube you obtained by catching Heuksagal. That was used to summon me here. I just got rid of the Cubes Seok Harang brought. Therefore, you have no Cubes right now.”

One flame disappeared. So, the remaining flames were 21.

“Well… there’s no problem. Hikari has already finished her research. Even if cross-verification is needed, there are as many as three Cubes whose material is known.”

One entrusted by Mao Zeping in a Swiss bank.

One guarded by the Horogwan Locust.

And one belonging to Nucleon.

“Assuming all three are erased, that leaves 18? Oh, no, wait. Including the one extracted from the Martial God’s remains, it’s 17. 40% is already resolved. 17/32, 3/7. The progress is similar on both sides.”

“……Yes. In that sense, you see.”

Phoenix spread her ten fingers.

“What are you planning to do for the remaining 5 years and 5 months?”

“What else would I do? Awaken the remaining four Spirits as quickly as possible, collect Cubes, and build up my strength.”

“For example, if you gather them all within 5 months, you’ll build up your strength for the remaining 5 years?”

“Yes.”

Changyeom snapped her fingers. One of the flames turned red.

“Having one red among the blue ones makes it look like a bomb’s detonator.”

“That’s right. It’s the signal flare announcing the countdown to world destruction.”

Changyeom bowed her head and poked the sand with her foot. I grew uneasy at Changyeom’s hesitant demeanor.

“……Why?”

“The Martial God’s remains. You extracted the Cube embedded in his heart and burned his remains, didn’t you? Do you remember?”

“I did.”

“……You pressed the time bomb. I really did nothing wrong. Neither I nor you knew.”

Changyeom’s voice began to tremble slightly. I, too, felt uneasy and approached Changyeom.

“Alright. It seems to be my fault, so tell me. What is it, exactly?”

“…Just as you were wary of Gwanggeom for fear of being trapped in the Barrier of Eternity, Seongju would have been wary of his only enemy. Yes. The Martial God who wounded him. Now that the Martial God’s corpse has even disappeared, what do you think Seongju will do if he finds out?”

“……I really did poke the bomb. Seongju must have started the Ark. If he knew the Martial God had completely vanished.”

Suddenly, everything felt futile.

“Where in the world does starting activities 5 years early pull the original plot forward by 5 years? This is truly unfair.”

“……You didn’t know, did you? Don’t blame yourself.”

Changyeom hugged me and patted my back.

“If you had known, you would never have touched it, right?”

“Yes. But now I’ve touched it.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t want to die so quickly either.”

Changyeom held my face with both hands. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled my face down.

“Since I’m out this time, I’ll give you a gift. I don’t know how much time is left, but… please work hard.”

Smooch.

As the morning sun rose beyond the horizon, Changyeom received the sunlight and slowly faded away.

“……Heo.”

I brushed the warmth remaining on my lips with my hand.

“The best motivation.”

Hwareuk.

The red flame slowly dwindled and disappeared. I looked up at the sky, greeting the rising sun.

“I need to catch the executives as quickly as possible.”

Before Seongju arrives.

It was, quite literally, a fire on my heels.

But I wasn’t worried.

“The original protagonist started from nothing and caught Seongju in a year, so why wouldn’t I be able to do that?”

Now, there was a place I had to go.

India.

The presumed location of Gaetcheongwangma Karna.

“I’ll finish them all before Seongju comes.”

I steeled my resolve once more.