Ch.112Chapter 112 – Eden (3)

“Mmm… This isn’t something I can handle on my own… I’ll relay it to President Park Joo-gwan. After that, I don’t know what will happen.”

The request to include Shin Jae-hyuk and Kwak Tae-woo in the delegation to Eden. Hong Ha-rin hung up the phone with a headache.

It seemed difficult for a mere National Intelligence Service agent to intervene in the matter of sending relief troops to the Empire, as it was being led by the International Hunter Association.

‘But President Park Joo-gwan should be able to put pressure on the Association.’

Shin Jae-hyuk expected Park Joo-gwan to help him. The debt he owed Shin Jae-hyuk for the Pyongyang incident was too great to refuse.

Indeed, as Shin Jae-hyuk predicted, Park Joo-gwan expressed a positive response after receiving Hong Ha-rin’s report.

“Shin Jae-hyuk showed interest in Eden? Hmm… not bad.”

Park Joo-gwan quickly finished his calculations. It was a proposal with no reason to refuse. Rather, it was something he would have asked for himself.

‘It truly is the end times. To think that South Korea would be connected to another dimensional world.’

It was like something out of a movie, but in this reality, Park Joo-gwan couldn’t sit idle as president.

He needed to prepare for how to deal with the emergence of a new and unfamiliar world with no historical records. For that, he needed information. It was necessary to learn about that world’s history, political situation, military power, and ideally, to place forces there that could move according to his will.

“If Hunter Shin Jae-hyuk helps the Empire, it benefits me. He can create a positive impression on the Empire, which will give us favorable conditions when establishing diplomatic relations or trade agreements later.”

The issue of South Korea’s safety while Shin Jae-hyuk was away was easily resolved. Coincidentally, Kim Jae-min had taken leave and decided to stay in Korea for a while. With Kim Jae-min responsible for Korea’s safety, sending Shin Jae-hyuk away wouldn’t be a problem.

‘At first, when Kim Jae-min said he was taking leave without notice, I smiled outwardly but gritted my teeth inside. Now I see it was an excellent choice…’

Park Joo-gwan had the ability to grant Shin Jae-hyuk’s request. The Eden Gate had opened in North Korea, and since North Korea had been absorbed by South Korea, Park Joo-gwan could claim rights to the gate as Korea’s leader. The right to intervene in the selection of the delegation.

Having both the ability and reason to grant the favor, Park Joo-gwan’s decision was swift.

“Alright, Hong Ha-rin. Tell Shin Jae-hyuk I’ll grant his request. But make sure to add the condition that he must bestow a definite favor on the Empire in the name of the Republic of Korea and share information about the Empire with us.”

“Yes, I’ll convey that.”

***

“Next news. Do you remember the ‘Passage to Eden’ that was given as a reward for defeating the second World Boss? Until now, the Hunter Association has been hiding information about what the Passage to Eden is, but recently, thanks to the resourcefulness of a foreign journalist, its identity…”

“What the hell… Wasn’t this classified?”

A few days later, Shin Jae-hyuk couldn’t hide his astonishment while watching the news.

Parachuted into the delegation by Park Joo-gwan’s influence, Shin Jae-hyuk had been focusing on preparations while waiting for the day to cross over to Eden.

But suddenly one day, information about the Eden Gate began pouring out on the news. A journalist covering volunteers’ relief efforts in Pyongyang had discovered the gate.

To think that a single journalist could breach security and have classified information flowing freely on public broadcast. Shin Jae-hyuk sighed, his expression clearly showing his disbelief.

‘How terrible must the security have been for a journalist to just slip in and out of a secure area without being detected… Unless they deliberately went looking for it.’

In any case, as the photos spread by the journalist hit the airwaves, discussions about the Eden Gate and the Empire’s situation surfaced.

The public was briefly shocked by the existence of another world with elves, dwarves, and other races, but soon the news that these otherworldly beings faced extinction set the global media ablaze. As a result, the plan to send relief troops expanded dramatically.

It wasn’t just the Association sending hunter units; the UN decided to dispatch military forces as well. Following this, other companies and countries lined up to join the expedition, creating a remarkable spectacle.

Shin Jae-hyuk shook his head as he examined the list of confirmed participating countries and organizations.

“The US of course, plus Japan, China, France, Nigeria… Some of these seem busy enough protecting their own countries. Do they really have hunters to spare? Seriously…”

“Brazil is even sending a teleporter, which is quite generous. I thought she only moved for money. Did she smell profit in Eden?”

Kwak Tae-woo, examining the documents beside him, also expressed surprise. Unlike the North-South War where only a few powerful countries like the US, China, and Japan participated, now countless nations were getting involved, forming an unprecedented large army. Unlike Pyongyang, which had nothing to offer, the new world beyond the gate seemed like a gold mine. One they could claim after driving out the demons.

“And even religious groups are getting involved? Buddhism, Hinduism, the Vatican. Even the new religion Paradise Church is sending self-proclaimed ‘crusaders.’ Kwak Tae-woo, did this happen in the first timeline?”

“…No. Some countries and corporations sent armies to try to privatize dungeons, but nothing on this scale.”

Kwak Tae-woo was confused by how the early defeat of Belphegor—a mere butterfly effect—had caused such a massive storm. It was a situation where a time traveler’s experience became useless, where variables couldn’t be controlled. Kwak Tae-woo gave up thinking and closed his eyes.

‘…Nothing to be done. From here on are moments I haven’t experienced. I’ll just have to trust in Shin Jae-hyuk’s and my own strength to get through this one by one.’

Hiding his sour expression toward his seemingly incompetent colleague, Shin Jae-hyuk reassured Kwak Tae-woo.

“…Well, that’s good. Demons cover 70% of the land? If we sweep them all away, you’ll rise beyond S-rank. You could level up even more than during the North Korean incident. Who knows? You might surpass Cha Eun-kyung again.”

***

The day of deployment arrived.

When the delegation, including Shin Jae-hyuk and Kwak Tae-woo, crossed the blue gate, they found themselves in a quiet open space within the walls of the Empire’s capital. Duke August Romania, who had been waiting for the delegation on the Emperor’s orders, welcomed them.

“Welcome, visitors from a strange world.”

The duke wore a wide-brimmed hat to protect his sensitive skin from sunlight. He tilted his ornate hat as he greeted them.

“I would like to throw a grand party for you all, but please understand that due to the Empire’s circumstances, we cannot hold a large welcoming ceremony.”

“We don’t need a grand party anyway. Let’s unpack first.”

“That voice…? I apologize. I didn’t realize you were a woman.”

“Heh. No need to apologize. I get that misunderstanding a lot because of my muscles.”

The teleporter, Adriano Manoela, answered coolly.

Ahead of the main army’s arrival, the Association had sent a delegation first, with Adriano, the highest-ranking teleporter from the Association, serving as the delegation’s leader.

‘Leader, huh. Annoying, but I’ll have to bear it…’

In truth, Adriano had obtained the position of leader by bribing high-ranking officials in the Association. She had smelled money in this medieval-level otherworld. Money comparable to Brazil’s annual national budget. For such an amount, she could take on this annoying role any number of times.

“Your personality is as refreshing as your appearance. Let’s go then.”

Servants carried the delegation’s luggage and guided them to their quarters in the imperial palace. As the delegation followed the duke toward the palace, they looked around curiously at the Empire’s streets, reminiscent of a medieval city.

While it might have seemed fascinating to others, not to Shin Jae-hyuk. He observed the streets with a hardened face.

‘…This isn’t Eldorado, the Empire’s capital? I don’t remember streets like these.’

Of course, four hundred years would be enough time for the streets Shin Jae-hyuk remembered to change, but even the imperial palace looked different, leaving him puzzled. He asked a servant carrying his luggage in the Eden language:

“Is that the imperial palace?”

“Yes. Oh, how do you know our language?”

“I have a certain artifact. Anyway, is this the Empire’s capital? It seems smaller than I expected. And the people look miserable.”

When Shin Jae-hyuk deliberately provoked by disparaging the Empire’s living conditions, the servant bristled and gave the answer Shin Jae-hyuk wanted.

“…This place, Achaemenes, isn’t the Empire’s true capital. Well, it is, but neither I nor the people acknowledge it as such. The true capital, Eldorado, which symbolized the Empire’s golden age and shone brilliantly, was abandoned due to a terrible incident four hundred years ago.”

“…Four hundred years ago?”

“Yes. Four hundred years ago, there was a very foolish act. The Emperor, claiming he would kill the Demon King, invaded hell with eleven heroes, but far from killing the Demon King, they couldn’t even reach the Four Heavenly Kings and returned to the Empire. And as Death Knights leading an undead army at that!”

It was the story of Kyle Leonhardt. Shin Jae-hyuk listened to the servant’s tale with shocked, wide eyes. According to the servant, the Empire had relocated its capital from Eldorado to Achaemenes for the following reason:

The Lion King, who had become a Death Knight, was as powerful as he had been in life. He easily captured the capital and killed the crown prince, Nicholas Leonhardt. However, the second son, George Leonhardt, who barely survived, managed to lead the survivors and gather refugees to settle in Achaemenes.

“And now all other kingdoms and free cities have perished, making Achaemenes humanity’s last bastion.”

“My goodness… How has this place managed to hold out?”

“They say the hero summoned a hundred years ago played a big role… But I’m a person of recent times, so I don’t know much. To me, those seem more heroic than any hero I’ve only heard about.”

The servant pointed to statues installed on the city walls. Shin Jae-hyuk was shocked when he recognized them.

‘Those are!’

They were things from Shin Jae-hyuk’s memory. The statues he had seen in the first gate he entered. Golems equipped with mana concentration cannons.

“What, what are those?”

“They’re golems that can fire compressed mana cannons. They can instantly sweep away the demon hordes that cling to the walls. Well, it’s hard to imagine from just my description. You’ll see for yourself later.”

When Shin Jae-hyuk expressed surprise at the unexpected reunion, the servant thought he was admiring the sophistication and impressiveness of the golems and proudly shrugged.

“They look amazing at first glance, don’t they? They’re made with such advanced technology that countless mages have tried to replicate them but failed. They couldn’t even understand their structure, let alone copy them.”

“Who… installed those?”

“Hmm. It’s more like a legend, so I don’t know exactly, but they say someone calling himself a sage came and installed them hundreds of years ago. It’s a take-it-or-leave-it kind of story.”

‘A sage? Yes, that’s right… There was definitely the word “sage” in the inscription I decoded at that gate.’

At the time, due to lack of information, he couldn’t determine the connection between the golems and the “sage,” but now he understood. The developer of the mana cannon golems must be the sage.

Speaking of a sage, two people came to Shin Jae-hyuk’s mind. First was Hermes Leonhardt, the emperor of the Empire who lived over a thousand years ago, praised by all as the Wise King and Sage for his ocean-like knowledge and wisdom that impressed even demons. He was also the first to conceptualize the mana concentration cannon.

‘But there’s no way someone from a thousand years ago could come back to life and invent these golems… So it must be…’

The second person Shin Jae-hyuk thought of was the “Sage” testified to by Kwak Tae-woo and Baphomet.

‘Leonardo was his name, I think… According to Kwak Tae-woo, he had the power to defeat the Four Heavenly Kings.’

Shin Jae-hyuk had previously told Baphomet he wanted to meet the sage, but was refused with the promise that they would meet when the time was right. To Shin Jae-hyuk, it seemed this mysterious figure was the creator of both the golems in the gate and those on the city walls.

‘Indeed… To solve the mysteries of this world, I need to meet this sage.’

Shin Jae-hyuk’s chat with the servant ended as the group arrived at their quarters. After unpacking, the delegation moved to meet the Emperor who had invited them to the Empire.

‘I wonder what kind of person this generation’s Emperor is…’

Someone who had protected the Empire for decades. Shin Jae-hyuk imagined a decisive and experienced ruler as he entered the audience chamber.

However, the throne in the audience chamber was empty. Instead of the Emperor, Prime Minister Behemdorf greeted them.

“Welcome. You must be the brave ones who have come from another world to aid the Empire. I sincerely thank you for your courage.”

“Are you the Emperor?”

To Adriano’s direct question, Behemdorf gave an awkward smile.

“I apologize for the late introduction. I am Behemdorf, the palace mage and Prime Minister of the Empire. His Majesty Shabab Leonhardt is unwell, so I am leading the Empire in his stead.”

“Shabab? That’s an unusual name.”

Like the boss of a Brazilian cartel, Adriano lacked manners. But she wasn’t stupid. There was a reason she could hold the position of an S-rank hunter and lead the delegation despite being a heinous criminal.

She was the best mercenary, and as such, had exceptional perception. She immediately noticed who was responsible for the Emperor’s poor condition. However, she didn’t show it and spoke with a calm face.

“Hmm… So you’re the real power here?”

As this could be seen as an insult to imperial authority, Prime Minister Behemdorf didn’t answer affirmatively. Instead, he quietly smiled.

Silence is always an implicit affirmation. Adriano Manoela grinned heartily. Flexing her tanned muscles that exuded vitality, she shook hands with the Prime Minister.

“Good, Prime Minister. I think we’ll get along well. I have many business ventures I’d like to pursue in the Empire… Looking forward to working with you.”