13. The Empire of the Glans.

***

 

“Is what you’re saying true?”

“It’s true!”

A middle-aged man stared with a dubious expression. And for good reason, the news he’d just heard was too outrageous.

 

 

 

 

“To blow away a Lieutenant General’s balls and cause his death… does that even make sense?”

 

A Lieutenant General was, literally, a star. One of the highest echelons of power in the Republic of Korea. Moreover, the corps he led was the 7th Mobile Corps, a main force. He was a real power player even within the military.

Who would believe that some random adventurer blew off that man’s balls?

“Whether it makes sense or not, it already happened! Mr. President, you need to take special measures immediately! We can’t even touch him because of your orders!”

“Hmm….”

The middle-aged man pondered deeply.

 

As the President of South Korea, having recently achieved several accomplishments, he was watching Yu-eun with special interest.

In his eyes, Yu-eun was someone he should never confront. When he first heard the report from the D10 Korean Branch Manager, he doubted his own eyes and ears.

 

Attack power and defense of a whopping several million.

 

The official ‘World’ rankers barely had 20,000 in attack and defense combined, and even the unofficial powerhouses barely exceeded 100,000.

In this situation, he was a fraudulent character exceeding several million on his own. Of course, he had no choice but to keep an eye on him.

‘No. Even so, there’s no point in stirring things up unnecessarily.’

 

 

 

 

To be honest, he was afraid.

The unknown figure of several million in attack and defense was one thing, but the fact that a single adventurer possessed that kind of power made him tremble even more.

 

 

It was a problem if a group possessed such power, but if an individual possessed it, wouldn’t they be able to approach secretly and hold a knife to his throat at any time? If he confronted him and got assassinated, he wouldn’t even be able to die in peace out of sheer injustice.

“First… I’ll have to meet that person.”

“Mr. President???”

“Let’s bury this for now.”

“That’s absurd!!”

 

He slammed his desk, but the President shook his head from side to side.

A gesture that he had nothing more to say.

 

“What is this…! And you call yourself the Commander-in-Chief!”

“It’s because I’m the Commander-in-Chief and the President that I have no choice but to make this decision.”

“Over just one adventurer!”

“You know that adventurer is not ‘just’ anyone, don’t you?”

“Even so… a Lieutenant General has died!! If we just let this slide, do you think the military and the people will just let it go??”

“We have to hide it.”

“….”

 

He was speechless at the brazen statement.

To calmly say ‘we have to hide it’ in this information age.

“We don’t have to hide it forever. Just until I finish talking with him and reach some kind of agreement, so just a few days.”

“I’m really… disappointed, Mr. President!”

“It can’t be helped. He’s more dangerous than you think. A nuke… or maybe even more dangerous than that.”

With those words, the President sent the general out and called in a new person.

This time, it was also someone related to the military. But definitely his man.

“Loyalty! You called?”

“I called you because there’s something to discuss.”

 

He offered him a seat and took a sip of the coffee his secretary had brought.

It seemed to be a deep conversation.

“As you’ve already heard, the adventurer I mentioned has caused trouble.”

“Yes, I’ve heard.”

“The military is raising its voice, saying we should punish him immediately… but I have a different idea.”

“I expected as much.”

“There’s nothing we can realistically gain by punishing him.”

 

Eyes so cold it was chilling.

Even though someone who could be called a pillar supporting the national army had died, he didn’t seem to care at all.

“Then what are you going to do?”

“I’m thinking of using this as an excuse to station some of the national army’s forces in Tokyo.”

“…Huh?”

The answer was so outlandish that he blurted out a dumbfounded response.

Why would stationing troops in Tokyo suddenly come up?

“Whatever the reason, he committed a serious crime. Originally, he should receive punishment befitting that.”

“But didn’t you say he was untouchable, Mr. President?”

“That’s right. So I’m thinking of meeting him and reaching an agreement.”

“What kind of…?”

 

The President paused for a moment before opening his mouth.

“I want him to conquer Tokyo.”

“….!”

“And we’ll inevitably dispatch troops to ‘monitor’ him, who conquered Tokyo, and station them there. In Tokyo.”

“….”

 

What kind of ridiculous plan was this?

“W-What benefit would we get from doing something like that?”

“There wouldn’t be any direct benefit. But….”

Again, he paused for a moment,

 

“At least those Japanese bastards won’t be able to act recklessly.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

+++

 

 

 

 

 

 

“W-What the hell is that again?!”

The soldiers scattered in panic.

They only moved to the left and right, but considering they were soldiers who had to guard the dungeon entrance, it was definitely running away.

“Wuahaha! Go!”

[Master, you’re really like a piece of trash and a child…]

“I’ll take a piece of trash and a child, and let’s add pervert as well!”

[….]

Huh. I think Ah-heuk just sighed.

 

 

 

 

[Sigh….]

 

 

Yeah. That’s right. A sigh.

By the way, isn’t that pet being too presumptuous?

 

 

[Please think about the pet that’s carrying around such a pathetic master.]

“Why would I do something so bothersome?”

[….]

 

 

Ah, I heard another sigh.

Is our Ah-heuk sulking?

 

 

 

 

“Guild Master-nim, it looks like we’ve entered.”

 

One of the older sisters riding with me said, looking outside.

It’s true that I can see it too, so it’s meaningless, but being in a position to receive reports from someone still gives me a strange sense of satisfaction.

 

“Then let’s get off.”

 

We’ve already entered the dungeon, so the military won’t be chasing us.

Well, it wouldn’t matter even if they did chase us.

 

 

 

 

 

“So you finally came in. Like this.”

 

After getting off Ah-heuk, I could see Sora-nuna and Yuna-ssi with dumbfounded faces.

Both of them were in the darkness of the dungeon…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Huh???

 

 

It’s not dark?

Wait… what is this?

 

 

Normally, dungeons should be at least a little dark, but this place isn’t dark at all, it’s actually bright….

 

 

“It seems to be a mechanical dungeon.”

 

 

That’s Yuna-ssi’s explanation.

 

Ah… a mechanical dungeon… come to think of it, the Trans Mithril was a mechanical monster… so the dungeon is also mechanical, huh.

 

 

The dungeon we’ve arrived at now looks like this: the walls and ceiling are very wide, and they’re all covered in circuits and monitors like machines, giving it the feeling of a spaceship’s outer wall.

 

In other words, it feels like we’ve come to the distant future.

 

 

[Mechanical Fortress: Steam Road]

“What?”

 

 

Ah-heuk is saying something.

 

 

[The mechanical lifeform Trans Mithril… in other words, it’s where I was born. It’s a laboratory and factory of civilization.]

“Civilization? What civilization?”

[I don’t know that far. I only know that someone created it arbitrarily.]

“Creation, huh….”

 

 

Then why did the mechanical lifeform that someone created become a monster?

 

 

 

 

-Jjeu-ing.

 

 

 

I was about to think about something, but it doesn’t give me a chance.

The mobs are appearing right away. They’re just chot-baps anyway.

 

 

“It’s just Trans Mithril, right? We can just sweep them away.”

 

 

I don’t even need to step up, Sora-nuna or Yuna-ssi can take care of it in an instant.

They’re just B-grade… the recommended attack and defense is less than 100,000, so it’s a piece of cake.

 

 

“Ah.”

 

Right. I should tell Ah-heuk to fight.

After all, that’s when you use a pet.

 

 

“Go! Ah-heuk!!”

[…]

 

 

I stretched out my hand and shouted like a Pokemon trainer, but Ah-heuk isn’t moving. Is it broken? Huh?

 

 

[Please… someone hit this Hon-mono.]

“Hurry up and go, you bitch.”

[Who are you calling a bitch? How do you know if I’m a man or a woman?]

“If I say you’re a woman, you’re a woman.”

[Waaah.]

 

 

Exclaiming with an exclamation that wasn’t an exclamation, Ah-heuk weakly (?) rotated the Black Panther’s catapult.

With a loud mechanical sound, it goes to face the Trans Mithrils.

 

“Will Ah-heuk be enough?”

 

Sora-nuna asks, worried.

 

 

“Of course. Ah-heuk’s attack and defense is over 1 million now.”

“…Isn’t that too much of a cheat?”

“Isn’t that why we become adventurers?”

 

 

More than that, these two seem to have a different atmosphere than usual.

 

 

“Did you two talk about something?”

“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“No… how should I put it. I feel an unknown bond. Between the two of you.”

 

I’m not a very perceptive person, but it seems like there’s something between Sora-nuna and Yuna-ssi. They’re not planning on doing something weird, are they?

 

 

“Umm….”

“….”

 

 

The two older sisters stared at each other, then turned their heads towards me at the same time.

 

 

-Kwang!!

 

 

At that moment, Ah-heuk, who had transformed into a robot, swung a huge fist, and several Trans Mithrils were smashed and scattered.

 

Using that as if it were a background in a scene, Sora-nuna suddenly opened her mouth.

 

 

“You, skill, right?”