Ch.36Chapter 2. Seed of the Devil (5)

At that moment, somewhere on Sejong Island.

“Team Leader. Internal mana response lost. The intruder seems to have disappeared.”

In the darkness, a sealed room filled only with the light of blue monitor screens.

While people in white uniforms were busy collecting and organizing data in front of computers, a black-haired man in a slightly different white uniform frowned and pushed up his glasses.

“Damn it…”

With his already irritable and sharp appearance now further contorted by a frown, no one dared approach him.

The name on his badge read ‘Pungbaek’.

“What’s the identity of the intruder?”

“W-well…”

“You still haven’t confirmed it? What about the mana pattern analysis? At the very least, the CCTV footage?”

“Everything was destroyed just before transmission. As you know, since the facility was shut down before the data could be transferred…”

“So we’re completely in the dark now?”

Pungbaek snorted in disbelief.

“A facility containing demon test subjects was attacked! All staff inside have lost life signs! And yet all I’m hearing is ‘we don’t know,’ ‘insufficient information,’ ‘still confirming’?”

Pungbaek pointed downward, veins bulging in his neck.

“Since when did such incompetent people become members of the ‘Hall’? Huh? How can you sit here earning 3,000 a month with skills like this! You can’t even properly identify one intruder!”

“Elder Pungbaek. This is just a hypothesis, but…”

“What is it?”

“…Could it be the Goblin?”

“……Oh?”

Pungbaek’s eyes lit up at his subordinate’s words.

“You’re saying only the Goblin could block information from leaking out like this?”

“Yes. Ironically, only the Goblin could conceal his identity this thoroughly.”

“What’s your basis?”

“The fact that there was no intruder response before the sudden attack, that all researchers were killed before they could send an emergency signal, and that the chief researcher barely managed to activate the facility destruction and flooding protocols.”

“Hmm…”

Pungbaek stroked his chin and twisted the corner of his mouth.

“But something still seems off. The Goblin I know would have prevented the facility from collapsing at all. The Goblin doesn’t act this unsmart, even when massacring villains.”

Pungbaek kept tilting his head in confusion.

“The Goblin I know would have killed our researchers before they could press the self-destruct switch. If he had purely attacked the research facility, we should only see the life signs of people cut off, not the facility destroying itself.”

“Could it be someone else who infiltrated?”

“Someone else…?”

“Yes. Those who recently challenged us…”

“Ah, those Hwalbindang people?”

Pungbaek sat down in his chair with a serious expression.

“An intruder from Hwalbindang and the Goblin’s infiltration overlapped? Could such a coincidence exist?”

“But without that explanation, the current situation doesn’t make sense, does it?”

“It seems too convenient to fit the circumstances, but… tsk.”

Pungbaek threw up both hands.

“Whatever happens, happens. For now, access the community and start monitoring. If there’s any content about demons, report it immediately, block it, and spread rumors that Hwalbindang is plotting something using demons.”

“Understood!”

His subordinates began rapidly typing on their keyboards, and Pungbaek muttered quietly while watching them from behind.

“…At least these powerless ones should be of some help this way. Tsk.”

In a voice so small that no one could hear.

“Sigh. We need to ‘enlighten’ those who haven’t awakened yet.”

No one heard his voice.

* * *

I escaped underground through what seemed like a long underwater emergency exit tunnel.

Thud.

After placing the unconscious Malttugi down on the beach, I checked to make sure he hadn’t drowned.

‘No need for CPR or artificial respiration.’

S-class ability users can survive underwater without breathing.

Depending on the level of mana, someone like me can last about 30 minutes without an oxygen tank.

After all, we’re superhumans—it’s not like we’d sink underwater and never resurface. Being submerged briefly shouldn’t be impossible.

‘Without my Taegeuk Watch, I don’t know the exact location, but this is definitely Sejong Island.’

The terrain, the residual mana in the surroundings, plus the soldiers patrolling everywhere.

Most likely, we’ve emerged in a restricted area where civilians are prohibited.

Which means Malttugi must have infiltrated through the sea.

‘Was it coincidence that our timing overlapped?’

Did he really just happen to attack the demon seed laboratory at the same time as me?

Something’s going on.

It would be strange if there wasn’t.

To find out, I need to wake Malttugi up—

[Hmm.]

I examined Malttugi’s water-soaked body up and down.

His clothes are clinging to him from the seawater, but his build is much smaller than I expected.

For better or worse, he’s not what I thought.

‘It’s a man.’

When I momentarily carried him on my shoulder, his body felt quite soft, so I thought he was a woman, but looking at his wet upper body, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

‘Poor guy.’

Among men, there are occasionally those whose bodies are less “manly” and more “why is this a man?”

Malttugi seems to be similar.

He probably has the kind of physique where if he posted photos in women’s clothing—or even just regular photos—certain dangerous individuals would be quite interested.

I didn’t check directly, just judged by the fit of his clothes, but I’m sure he’s not a woman.

‘His voice, his actions, his way of speaking, and his hair is fairly short too.’

Maybe this is what they call a tomboy or something these days.

Of course, whether man or woman, gender doesn’t matter.

Gender isn’t particularly important to our Syndicate.

What’s important is ability and character.

And whether they can properly follow the orders from above as the Syndicate conquers the world.

[If you’re interested in joining the Syndicate later, contact us.]

I took out a business card and whispered softly to it.

[If you want to join the Syndicate, send an email to the address on that card. Someone from the Syndicate will find you.]

Yimemangryang, Special Executive, Goblin.

Even though it’s not an official email, leaving a communication channel with the Syndicate might cause problems later, but the Syndicate isn’t an organization that can be easily fooled by pranks sent to the contact email on the card.

[If Hwalbindang tries to play games with the email address on the card, then I’ll come to destroy Hwalbindang myself.]

He’s still unconscious, but he’ll regain consciousness soon, so it’s time for me to withdraw.

[Remember this. Whether it’s Hwalbindang or whatever else, I will kill any villain that threatens world peace.]

I placed a business card next to Malttugi.

What about the Syndicate then?

If someone were to ask that.

‘The Syndicate’s goal isn’t to threaten world peace, but to conquer the world.’

Though similar-sounding, these are clearly different things.

-There are too many evil people in the world.

The Chairman didn’t create the Syndicate with naive thinking.

-I’ll become the ruler of Earth and ensure there are no more wars on this planet.

If Hwalbindang consists of people who interfere with the world the Chairman is creating?

Next time, it won’t be a demon research lab that gets destroyed—it will be Hwalbindang.

[Well then.]

“Cough, cough…!”

I moved away from Malttugi, who was beginning to regain consciousness with coughing fits.

* * *

A moment later.

“……Cough.”

Malttugi, barely conscious, pressed his hand against his face.

“…?!”

The mask was still on.

And he was looking up at the starry night sky.

“W-what is this…?”

Malttugi recalled the situation before losing consciousness.

Seawater had seeped in through the passage he had infiltrated, and then something with strong impact approached from behind, causing him to faint.

He had no memory after that.

He could only assess the current situation.

“What’s this…?”

A black business card placed beside him.

With gold-embossed letters, it clearly belonged to the Goblin.

[Later….]

“Hik…?”

The Goblin’s voice could be heard.

Perhaps the voice was left on the card using mana, as the Goblin left a serious offer and warning.

An invitation to join the Syndicate.

And a warning not to interfere next time.

“…That’s not possible.”

Malttugi stood up and neatly adjusted his clothes.

“…….”

Click.

Removing the mask along with the hat, Malttugi shook out wet hair with his hands and took a deep breath.

“…Ugh.”

The person revealed behind the mask was quite delicate-looking—

“I hope he didn’t do anything strange…”

It was a woman.

Beep beep beep.

A sound started coming from Malttugi’s wrist.

She quickly grasped her wrist with her hand, then carefully operated the smartwatch on her wrist—similar to a Taegeuk Watch.

[Are you alright? What happened?]

“Ah, Chief.”

Through the small screen of the smartwatch, a man with dark brown skin wearing sunglasses appeared.

“…I missed the target. The Goblin showed up first.”

[What? The Goblin?]

“Yes. The situation was…”

Malttugi quickly explained what had happened to the man.

[I see.]

The man with sunglasses ran his hand over his completely bald head.

[Return to your position. And until further instructions, focus on your duties as a ‘student’ for now.]

“Understood. But… is it okay? I couldn’t secure any evidence.”

[It’s fine.]

The bald black man gave a thumbs up.

[Our purpose was to make contact with the Goblin anyway.]

“…What? Wait, Chief, that’s different from what I knew?”

[I’m sorry. I deceived you.]

“…….”

[The Goblin is exactly the kind of person who would suit our Hwalbindang. Let me tell you your real mission. From now on, somehow bring the Goblin into Hwalbindang as one of our people. If the Goblin stands on our side.]

The man, ‘Hong Gil-dong,’ revealed his white teeth in a grin.

[He’ll be a great help in creating Yuldoguk—a country where people aren’t discriminated against for having dark skin, where mixed-race people can live as citizens of this nation.]