Ch.579Chapter 22. The Price of Labor (11)

During my time beating up various villains—

No, while pummeling them, there was one particularly annoying issue.

An ability user’s mana serves as a shield protecting their body. Unless you completely drain the mana residing in their body, ability users don’t go down easily.

As long as they have enough magical power to prevent a concussion, ability users can resist falling unconscious.

In other words, to knock out an ability user, you need to drain enough mana that their instincts can’t protect their brain.

I’ve tried many approaches over time.

I’ve tied them up and beaten them to extract mana. I’ve delivered powerful blows that simultaneously shook both body and mind. Currently, I’ve been targeting “Zenros,” a weakness that, once broken, causes magical power to leak out on its own.

That’s been the Goblin’s method so far. But that approach presents some problems when dealing with Haeguneul.

Breaking Zenros means death for ability users. And ability users employed by Haeguneul contribute to Korea’s economy.

Even if they’ve committed crimes, Hwan’s will might think, “Killing Koreans or those who contribute to Korea’s economy feels a bit wrong.”

It may differ from conventional thinking, but how can I carelessly provoke a nationalistic will that could become demonic for Korea’s sake?

So what’s the right approach? What method, different from the Goblin’s way, would satisfy Hwan’s will while most easily taking down Haeguneul’s villains?

As someone who wields Seonbital, as a Haeguneul breaker, I found the most appropriate method.

The noggin.

It’s still a strike, but not an ordinary one.

[The wavelength matches well.]

Thump, thump, thump.

While tapping the unconscious Goblin’s body with my daegeum flute, I concentrated mana in my eyes.

‘True damage really is the way to go.’

No matter how much you increase your damage output, if your opponent is heavily armored, that tremendous defense can prevent your attacks from landing.

There are three ways to efficiently deal with such enemies:

Attack with a different attribute that ignores defense.

Reduce their defense.

Or find something that penetrates defense.

That’s what I’m doing now.

Thwack.

I drop the daegeum down again. Even though he’s unconscious, with plenty of mana still in his body, that mana should automatically function as a protective barrier to protect his unconscious form.

But it doesn’t. The body’s mana, which should defend against external mana intrusion, doesn’t respond at all, as if accepting self-harm.

Even though the daegeum is glowing with mana, even though I’m wielding it wrapped in mana, even though mana continues to flow through the Goblin’s body.

The daegeum keeps striking the Goblin’s flesh. Without any influence from mana, a solid mana-gold rod is hitting the Goblin.

If I check his back later, there will definitely be bruises. Since the attack came from outside with the same mana and same wavelength, preventing his mana from protecting his body, this man is essentially getting hit directly by the daegeum.

[Time to shake it off.]

I stood up, pointed the daegeum downward again, and released mana.

[Wavelength, transform.]

Whoosh.

I release the Goblin’s magical power flowing through the daegeum.

Starting with the mana I stored when receiving the first ghostly strike with the daegeum, my magical power, which I converted to match his mana wavelength, gradually returns to my color.

Crackle.

The mana that was glimmering with the Goblin’s blue color slowly reveals its true nature, shedding its blue shell and turning black with my color.

Bang!

When I swing the daegeum down again, this time the Goblin’s skin glimmers with mana.

The mana that had been flowing quietly starts reacting again, startled by the external impact.

BANG!!

Though I swing lightly, the rebound gets stronger. As the mana flowing from the daegeum gradually turns black, the blue mana bouncing off flows into the Goblin’s body.

But the Goblin doesn’t wake up. Having suffered a concussion and lost consciousness, only the instinct of mana flowing through his body protects him.

Mana has will. And if they could talk, they might say something like:

-You idiots! How could you just let them in!

-What? Wasn’t that our commander who came in earlier?

-That was a scam! They took us hostage, disguised themselves like us, and met with you!

-T-that can’t be! They knew the password perfectly!

-That’s exactly what I’m saying—they disguised everything!!

The protective barrier guarding the body is like a guard post. It blocks outsiders and only allows those with the same mana to enter the body-fortress.

-Halt! Move and I’ll shoot!

-It’s me.

-Ah, Commander!

But what if someone enters wearing that unit’s nameplate, bearing that unit’s emblem, knowing that unit’s password exactly?

-Salute! Nothing unusual to report!

-Good, keep up the good work.

-…But Commander, you seem kinder than usual?

-Who knows. Must be having a good d—

BOOM☆

-What happened?!

-AHHH!! The Commander self-destructed!!

-……???

-The command center has exploded!!

End.

The Goblin’s body mana, unable to recognize my mana mimicking the Goblin’s, failed to block the strike it should have blocked.

[The effect is good, but….]

I briefly tucked the daegeum under my arm and removed my gloves.

[Tsk.]

My palms were red. The skin was chafed—if I had absorbed any more attacks, blood would have burst from inside.

[Using shock absorption as a trigger might be problematic.]

The drawback is having to directly receive the opponent’s attack with the daegeum to read their mana wavelength.

If I had durability like Battle God, it wouldn’t be an issue, but unfortunately, I don’t have that level of endurance.

‘I need to find an easier method.’

For my body’s safety, it’s worth researching further.

After all, my body doesn’t belong to me—it belongs to the Chairman and this world.

Beep.

While lost in thought, a signal came through the Syndicate watch tied inside my sleeve.

[Hello. This is Goblin.]

-Oh my. Is everything cleared around you?

It’s Yoon Hye-ra.

[The server?]

-It’s safe. We caught the spy inside too. My goodness, not content with trying to blow it up from outside, they even implanted a bomb inside someone’s body!

[Terrible. And then?]

-Serin unnie created a wind barrier and stopped the self-destruction. Only one casualty—the Haeguneul spy programmer. That’s it.

As expected.

True to their reputation for devising and implementing horrific methods, they had set up devices inside the server room too.

-Oppa, this is really vicious. Did you predict this?

[Less prediction, more like one of many responses based on big data.]

-Planting bombs inside people’s bodies?

[Of course. And not just in stomachs. Some aliens have even implanted bombs in kidnapped humans to terrorize humanity.]

Naturally, that’s one of the contents censored after the Great Cataclysm.

-Really? Serin unnie, have you heard of that?

[It’s in some classics. I’ll tell you later, but if you’re done securing the server room, start getting out. It seems like things are about to begin.]

I grabbed the Goblin by the nape of his neck.

[These guys tried to blow up the server room too—you think they’ll just sit quietly?]

And then.

CRASH!!

I threw him with all my might through the window.

As the glass shattered, the Goblin traced a parabolic arc downward, soon landing dozens of floors below—right in front of Haeguneul headquarters’ main entrance.

THUD!

AAAAHHHH!!

A person fell from a floor near the top of the dozens-story building.

Simultaneously, people below screamed in surprise.

If it had been an ordinary person, they wouldn’t have even left proper remains, but the Goblin was different.

[This is good.]

Throwing someone whose magical power is completely drained could actually kill them, but throwing someone with remaining magical power poses no problem.

The only problem is the marble floor in front of Haeguneul headquarters.

Like a small meteorite falling from the sky, or as if an explosion had occurred, a crater formed in the headquarters plaza.

I-is he dead…?!

N-no! He’s alive! An ability user…?

People are relieved seeing the Goblin’s intact form, just collapsed flat on the ground.

At least he’s not dead.

Of course, anyone who recognizes the fallen man’s face would have their heart sink right now.

[The server was taken, the explosion failed, and the S-class hunter stationed at headquarters failed to protect the chairman’s office and was defeated.]

What remains?

[If you’re watching on TV, you should obviously do it.]

If they don’t, it would be more embarrassing for us.

It would be very troublesome if they didn’t follow the “behavioral pattern” produced by our Syndicate’s many experts who analyzed everything about Haeguneul to exact revenge.

People who worked with Choi Ho-jung in his youth but were discarded.

People who competed with Choi Ho-jung as he grew his business but had their companies taken.

People who worked as subcontractors for Haeguneul but suffered from the headquarters’ abuse.

Their complaints and anger gathered like powder to create the final action that the human called “Chairman Choi Ho-jung” would commit.

[If an explosion occurs, it’s all because of the villains who attacked Haeguneul headquarters.]

Incitement, collapse, and massacre.

[This place….]

Will be your grave.

I felt like I heard such words from somewhere.

Simultaneously.

Rumble—

A massive vibration sounded from below.

The sound of Haeguneul headquarters’ pillars shaking.