Ch.609Chapter 23. Patriotic General Do Ji-hwan (13)

The World Cup is a global event.

Hosting the World Cup is a matter of national honor, but the most important aspect is the economic profit gained through the World Cup.

Foreign tourists.

How much money would people spend who fly in and stay for extended periods to watch the World Cup?

Just how much would people spend who cross oceans and skies to come to Korea, staying in hotels for extended periods, eating, drinking, and shopping?

And what kind of people can afford such “luxury”?

That’s right.

People who come to the World Cup as tourists are wealthy.

While massive funds are used in preparing for the World Cup, if the profits exceed the budget by tens or hundreds of times, the World Cup cannot be abandoned.

Therefore.

We cannot allow Korea to gain such profits.

The massive revenue from hosting the World Cup should belong to our country.

After establishing this capitalist perspective as the foundation, various other reasons are attached.

For instance, some might find it disagreeable that Korea, as a country, is hosting the true World Cup where S-class heroes participate.

Or perhaps some still hope, even now with the World Cup just a month away, that it would take place in their country rather than Korea.

Or those who want to cause chaos in a place where many ability users gather.

With various interests entangled, the Korean peninsula has become a powder keg with numerous ability users flocking to it.

A situation where anything could happen at any moment.

In this situation, what needs the most caution is “conflict between ability users.”

If a conflict were to occur before the preliminary matches, it certainly wouldn’t end at an ordinary level.

So, the Korean government is currently on high alert.

To prevent conflicts between ability users.

And simultaneously, to prevent “terrorism.”

It’s not just the safety of Korean citizens that needs protection.

Even just looking at the building right in front of us.

Uijeongbu World Cup Special Stadium.

Like the main World Cup stadium in Busan, it can accommodate at least 100,000 people and is scheduled to host the quarterfinals of the World Cup.

There are no construction defects in this massive World Cup stadium built at an incredible speed.

Although Haeguneul participated in the construction and one might expect flaws, even Haeguneul didn’t dare to cheat in the face of the national pride of being a “World Cup host country.”

Instead, they just charged the government exorbitant prices for materials.

If they usually did shoddy construction work and charged reasonably high fees, when building the World Cup stadium, they used the best technology and extracted ridiculously high payments.

Fortunately, there were no tricks.

I thought they might blow up the World Cup stadium too, but as if Hwan’s will would forgive the Haeguneul branch building exploding but not the battlefield of ability users, there were no bombs.

At least not from Haeguneul.

The problem is the other humans who will appear from now on.

[Are you ready?]

“Yes.”

“Of course.”

Above the spotlight of the World Cup stadium.

I surveyed the surroundings with two women beside me, next to the electronic display board.

[According to The Syndicate’s information, there’s a high possibility that ‘those three sisters’ will come here today.]

“Excuse me, may I ask something? Are you planning to stick Do Ji-hwan’s awakening into those three sisters?”

[Not at all.]

I firmly waved my hand at the tall woman with pink hair who expressed suspicion toward me.

[Don’t think I’ll just embrace any woman because they’re female. Did the Goblin ever go around sleeping with random women?]

“I’m asking Do Ji-hwan, not the Goblin.”

[Do Ji-hwan doesn’t do that either.]

“Hmm…”

The villain in the nine-tailed fox mask—who looks like Yoon Yi-seon—tilted her head in doubt, but she has no choice but to believe my words.

[The fact that they’re women doesn’t give me any reason to look after them—]

“Is it because they’re not pure maidens?”

[…You.]

I felt a tightness in my neck at the calm voice coming from beside me.

[Do you think I’m some kind of vicious unicorn?]

“But doesn’t the Goblin prefer to defile pure maidens himself?”

[I don’t enjoy turning white canvases red. It’s just that everyone I’ve recruited around me and formed relationships with happened to be pure.]

It’s clearly different.

[Thunder Empress. Just because someone you like has a small build like a pretty boy doesn’t make you a shotacon, right?]

“……”

[You’re not a shotacon, right?]

“Ah, sorry. I was just looking up what a shotacon is. Um, I see. I am not a shotacon.”

There was a slight delay in Thunder Empress’s response, but since it wasn’t a major issue, I decided to just let it go.

There’s a more important matter approaching from the darkness over there.

[They’re coming. The western terrorism specialists.]

Swish, swish.

Deliberately moving through darkness without CCTV or streetlights, three figures approached the stadium like cockroaches.

They soon entered the stadium, stood in the center, and began taking something out of the bags they were holding.

[Operation start.]

Thud!

I jumped down from the electronic display board and landed on the ground.

[That’s as far as your terrorism goes.]

Whoosh!

The spotlight shines on the center of the stadium, which should be pitch black in the predawn hours.

The three women illuminated by lights from all directions…

[Kimonos?]

They gritted their teeth at us, wearing short one-piece dresses in the style of dark green kimonos.

“Kuh, chikusho…!”

Japanese.

Whether it slipped out unconsciously or not, the three women each grabbed their weapons, as if protecting the unidentified objects they had placed in the center of the stadium.

“Omae wa dare da—!”

[…….]

The woman at the front gripped twin swords, while the two women behind her aimed long spears at me.

One end is shaped like a crescent blade, while the other has the form of a winding snake.

[This is unexpected. Who knew the Peach Sisters would be Japanese.]

“!!”

Three as one.

Each individually is S-class, but together they can handle even an S+ class—these are close-combat martial arts ability users.

[But you know what? If you’re going to pretend, you should have learned Japanese more thoroughly.]

I tapped my Syndicate watch and pointed at the object in the center illuminated by the spotlight.

[I don’t know what device it is, but it clearly says ‘Made in China’ on it.]

“……”

[When at a disadvantage, you pretend to be Japanese to avoid insults directed at your own country. Indeed, you’re lacking as citizens of a great nation.]

“Sh-shut up!”

The youngest-looking of the Peach Sisters shouted at me.

“Whether you’re the real Goblin or not, this has nothing to do with you! It’s actually better for you! We’re saving you the trouble!”

[Hmm? What do you mean by that?]

“If the World Cup were held in China, no villain would even be able to ‘enter’ China!”

[I see.]

So they would block entry to anyone even slightly suspected of being a villain?

And those who ignore this and enter would all be classified as villains, then they’d pull tricks to ensure they couldn’t compete properly or would suffer from poor condition.

For example, after playing a quarterfinal match in Shanghai, they might have to play a semifinal in Beijing just two days later.

Using their vast territory, they would make non-Chinese heroes run all over the continent.

If the games were held in China.

[But you know what? Even if you block villains from entering to prevent them from appearing, what’s the point when the place is already full of villains before the World Cup even begins?]

“Sh-shut up!”

[Right in front of my eyes are three S-class villains. Villains trying to somehow render the World Cup stadium unusable.]

I pointed at the object they were standing guard over.

[Shall I guess? That thing you brought… it’s nuclear waste, isn’t it?]

“……”

[You’re causing radioactive contamination to make the stadium unusable. It’s a plausible plan. If you had moved without being detected by anyone, and if radiation had leaked for even 10 minutes, this stadium would have become a 100 billion won nuclear waste disposal site.]

“H-hmph…. W-where’s your proof that this is radioactive contamination! This is just an ordinary case!”

[Is it really ordinary?]

Not at all.

[Isn’t it a case containing soil collected from a place where nuclear material and an S-class ability user exploded together? Soil mixed with human blood, radiation, and all sorts of contaminants.]

That contaminated material is radioactive, but strictly speaking, it’s not nuclear waste.

[Soil from Pyongyang.]

After the collapse of North Korea, when a massive explosion occurred in Pyongyang, they must have collected soil immediately after the explosion and are now taking it out of that case.

[Did you think people wouldn’t be suspicious if you just scattered soil around the stadium? Too bad. If that was your plan, you should have put more effort into information security.]

“Kuh…!”

“Sister, at this point…!”

“It’s okay! That’s not the real Goblin anyway! The Goblin… died in Osaka! And…!”

Clank.

“There are three of us!”

[Yes. Three people. That’s why I brought two more.]

“Eh.”

The woman with twin swords gaped at the two women who appeared behind me.

“Firefox and… Thunder Empress…?”

“Sister! Don’t be fooled! They can’t be the real ones! They just had a major clash in Daejeon yesterday! They must be…!”

“Clone ability users!!”

…….

[‘Alters’ is the term.]