Ch.119Turbulent World – 1

“There’s an impossible monster in the main building, professor! Corpses merging together…”

“Right now, Seojin Baek and the student council president along with a few others are fighting it, but…”

As soon as he heard this news, Hakjun Ma left the professors behind and headed toward the main building.

According to students who had escaped from the main building, it was an entity they had never seen before.

They said it was different from any undead monster they knew. Like some massive wave of corpses.

They also said that even fire magic, which is usually poison to the undead, wasn’t working properly against it.

‘This is bad.’

Upon hearing this, Hakjun Ma immediately drew his sword and rushed to the scene.

When something no longer has its original weakness, it’s usually a boss monster, or very likely something even beyond that.

‘I trust Seojin Baek, but…’

Still, there’s a high probability they’re in a rather difficult situation.

Having one more person to help would be much better for them.

So he increased his speed until his breathing became rough, and when he finally reached the main building.

What Hakjun Ma saw was Seojin Baek hanging onto the edge of the corpse wave.

Gritting his teeth as he slashed away at flesh and debris.

No, he wasn’t slashing so much as just pounding away at it.

Just as Hakjun Ma was about to push off the ground to help him.

Wooooo!―

A grotesque sound that was both familiar yet absolutely shouldn’t be heard here reached his ears.

Startled, Hakjun Ma looked up, and soon he could see it.

‘That’s…!’

The sight of Seojin Baek throwing away his sword and grabbing an ice spear that had flown in from somewhere.

And his stance, the energy emanating from him, and the condensed killing intent gathering at the tip.

It was clearly the unique murderous technique that Hyuk Kwak had displayed.

How on earth was Seojin Baek performing that technique?

Just as that question arose in his mind, a thunderous roar swept in like a storm.

KWAAANG!― KWAJIK!―

The wave that seemed like it would swallow the entire Academy collapsed in an instant.

Corpses and debris crumbled in all directions, forming mountains of filth.

And Seojin Baek, who had been at the edge, was blown backward by the impact.

“Aah!”

“Arbiter!”

Two female students, Soohyun Kim and Hana Kang, rushed over in alarm.

“YAAAAAH!!”

Meanwhile, a male student, Hyunwoo Lee, inevitably caught Seojin Baek with his own body.

And finally Dasom Yoo, who reached them first, overtaking the two female students who were running.

“Where are you hurt? What injuries do you have?!”

“…None, none. Student Dasom Yoo. Rather than me, please check on Hyunwoo who’s underneath me. I don’t know if I broke anything when I crushed him.”

“I’m fine, Arbiter!”

“That’s good, student Hyunwoo Lee. Now please move aside. It’s extremely uncomfortable being embraced by a male student.”

They’re all gathered and chattering away, not looking at all like people who were just fighting that massive monster.

It’s incredibly peaceful. Just like a conversation after completing an evaluation.

‘Come to think of it, wasn’t that how he said he’d join the Mage Tower Clan?’

Seojin Baek hadn’t told him directly yet, but he had heard it from Minseong Kang last night.

The Mage Tower Clan Master had called saying Seojin Baek wanted to join the Mage Tower.

In exchange, he would form his own team and include the master’s granddaughter.

‘It was quite a chore listening to a story I wasn’t even curious about.’

But seeing them now, Seojin Baek’s judgment seems to have been a good decision.

They seem to have good teamwork and can appropriately cover each other’s weaknesses.

‘Above all… it’s no longer a time when they can stay safely at the Academy.’

Ding―.

Hearing the alert from his phone, Hakjun Ma checked the content.

Then he bit his lip and let out a short sigh.

[National disaster declared as of current time]

[Casualties being tallied, minimum hundreds to thousands expected nationwide]

[Similar situations reported from countries around the world]

*

◎ Number blocked

: 397 (397 / ???)

…At this point, they might as well just say the update isn’t working.

I think they’d understand whatever excuse I give, so shouldn’t they just reveal the answer now?

How long is that damn question mark going to float around?

I’m already exhausted from wrestling with that wave of corpses.

After finally defeating that thing, all I see is this annoying question mark.

‘Well… I don’t urgently need to change my abilities right now…’

But still, I can’t help feeling uneasy about it.

It feels like the rewards I should be getting keep getting pushed back.

If this continues, even an angel would say “fuck” eventually.

“Sigh…”

“Ah!? Arbiter. What’s wrong? Are you in pain somewhere after all?!”

No, Soohyun. This arbiter’s limbs are perfectly fine.

It’s just that my abilities, which used to be as reliable as a hearty soup, have been quite disappointing lately.

It’s nothing like what you’re imagining, so could you please back up a bit?

“Shh. I can’t hear well.”

Dasom Yoo, sitting next to me, cautioned Soohyun and focused on the news.

[Breaking news. The gate incidents that occurred throughout Seoul have just ended. With the final gate that appeared in the Gangseo district…]

[…Multiple gates appearing in the heart of Busan city…]

[…A critical situation unfolded when a nearby hospital lost power…]

[…The entire Chungju city was engulfed in gate incidents, resulting in numerous casualties…]

“…So it wasn’t just the Academy.”

“I expected something like this, but I didn’t think it would be this bad.”

There was no external support at all. Which means the outside was just as busy.

In fact, the Academy was in a better situation since almost everyone here is a power user.

In contrast, urban areas have far too many civilians.

Although power users are always on standby, this time was completely different.

Gates were pouring down like rain, to add a little exaggeration.

“But the Incheon area had much less damage than other places?”

At Dasom Yoo’s words, I nodded, thinking ‘Of course.’

As luck would have it, Jiyoon Han had gone to Incheon.

‘She went there following traces of the missing Sujin Hyun, right?’

It seems she didn’t catch Sujin Hyun as she wanted.

Instead, she single-handedly suppressed almost all the gates and monsters that appeared in Incheon.

Thanks to her, the casualties in the vast Incheon area were miraculously limited to just double digits.

Additionally, Daejeon, Sejong, and Gyeonggi regions where other S-class users were stationed had minimal damage.

It perfectly demonstrated why S-class users are called demigods.

In fact, Seoul’s situation is this manageable only because the S-class users on standby went absolutely berserk.

Considering countless gates appeared in a city of ten million, this level of containment is miraculous.

They could have ended it faster if they didn’t have to worry about civilians getting caught up in it.

‘Still, there will be a lot of talk…’

Woong― Woooong!―

[What kind of bullshit is it to tell us to be careful of buildings while fighting monsters]

[After we defeat all the monsters, why do they all say such things, Seojin oppa?]

Yeah, yeah. I was wondering why Rina Lee was being so quiet.

She must have been fighting somewhere as an S-class user.

The problem is that our Rina is definitely not as docile as other S-class users.

Right now on the news, there’s Rina destroying buildings while claiming to eliminate monsters.

[KWANG! KWABOOM!]

[Oh my goodness, what chaos is this!]

…Yes, exactly like that news clip. Looks like footage of her activities in some provincial area.

It’s great that she’s killing monsters impressively, but why aim toward an apartment complex?

Even though they say everyone evacuated, she could have punched in the opposite direction.

“That woman really seems out of her mind.”

Soohyun, leaning against me while watching the video, quietly comments.

I completely agree with that. It’s truly amazing she didn’t become a villain.

“Seojin Baek.”

Looking up, I see Hakjun Ma looking at me.

With a gesture suggesting he wants to talk.

“I’ll be back in a bit.”

I wonder if the internal cleanup is mostly done. A conversation right after arriving?

Maybe it’s about that thrust technique he saw earlier when he was nearby?

*

“You worked hard. It looked like you were having trouble dealing with that new entity in the main building.”

Hakjun Ma, who offered me a seat, lets out a sigh.

I think it’s better to take the initiative in this situation.

“Um, if it’s about that spear technique you saw earlier…”

I began.

“It’s fine. You’ve been involved with Hyuk Kwak several times. You might coincidentally imitate it.”

Well, just imitating would be fine, but the problem is I succeeded.

Are you really okay with this, Director? No changing your mind later.

“You’ve probably already heard the news. The whole country is in chaos.”

“I was just watching it on the news until a moment ago. The damage is substantial.”

“Areas where S-class juniors were stationed fared better. But other regions…”

Unable to finish his sentence, Hakjun Ma sighs again.

The reason Hakjun Ma is acting this way isn’t simply because damage occurred.

It’s because the suppressors installed in each urban area all became useless at once.

What had been excellent walls or shields until now became garbage in an instant.

“Suppressor ineffectiveness theory is spreading exponentially. The fear we barely managed to subdue is about to sweep the world again.”

“But… there haven’t been any more gates ignoring suppressors since that chaos.”

“That’s true. If the suppressors had become completely useless, this situation wouldn’t have stopped.”

Even I can’t give a definitive answer. I never thought this would happen.

The suppressors were being breached gradually, but I didn’t expect it to happen so explosively.

“The problem is that today’s incident wasn’t just nationwide, but worldwide…”

Woooong!―

Suddenly, Hakjun Ma’s phone rings loudly.

“Excuse me.”

Hakjun Ma briefly checks the content. But his expression is concerning.

What now? What’s wrong? What problem has occurred to make you look like that…

Woong!―

[Seojin oppa. This.]

A message from Rina Lee.

And the content written below it…

[Confidential – British S-class Bernard Shaw Assassinated]