Ch.78Chapter 78 – The Deal (4)

– Amid soaring prices for necessities, train and plane tickets to Busan are selling out…

– As the “Civilization Military Level” experience in the “Status Window” approaches 100%, could another disaster like the Incheon Incident occur?

– The government is hastily gathering troops nationwide to establish defensive lines along the DMZ, while also mobilizing hunter reserves and requesting emergency aid from the World Hunter Association…

– Chinese S-rank Hunter Zhang Wuyi expresses willingness to participate, stating that a disaster like the Beijing Incident must not happen again…

– US denies Skyscraper’s participation, refusing to explain why… The US government remains silent despite international criticism

– Japan’s Sword Demon declares participation, receiving praise for not turning a blind eye to a neighboring country’s difficulties…

– Meanwhile, Hunter Kim Jaemin is at the Australian Gate? Citizens furious about him helping other countries while his own home crumbles; the Foreign Ministry explains, sweating profusely, that he’s already entered the gate and cannot be contacted…

***

– …I’ve requested if we could at least temporarily evacuate the children from our parish to an orphanage in Busan, but they seem quite overwhelmed there too, so I don’t expect much… What to do? Fortunately, since you’re an orphan, you won’t be drafted, but still, if possible, take a break from work and evacuate to Busan until the situation calms down.

“Thank you for your concern, Sister Grace. I’ll look into possible solutions to the problem. Please tell Sister Seongha to be careful.”

– Alright, I will. Take care of yourself too. Oh Lord…

Shin Jaehyuk hung up the phone and stared at the large monitor in his secret underground room. The screen was filled with satellite images, reports stolen from the National Intelligence Service, and newspaper articles.

News had been pouring in daily. All on the same topic, making the severity of the situation painfully clear.

Jaehyuk clicked his tongue.

“Damn it, to have it explode so suddenly without any chance to respond.”

Based on Belial’s case, summoning one of the Four Heavenly Kings to this world would require offering corresponding sacrifices and performing a ritual. He had been contemplating how to prevent such a ritual, but those efforts were now useless. Who could have predicted a gate would burst open so unexpectedly?

The government seemed quite flustered too. They had abandoned their previously relaxed stance and were urgently requesting reinforcements from neighboring countries.

Fortunately, the Hunter Association had noticed through the “Civilization Military Level” indicator in the status window that this situation was similar to the Incheon incident, and was providing full support. With expectations of another non-standard boss appearing, high-ranking hunters from various countries were being recruited.

China and Japan’s S-rank hunters’ decisions to participate had garnered significant attention. China seemed to be taking preemptive action out of concern that undead forces might advance northward after destroying South Korea, while the battle-loving Sword Demon appeared to have joined simply seeking a battlefield where he could fight to his heart’s content.

Surprisingly, Kim Jaemin and Skyscraper couldn’t participate—Jaemin because he was currently inside an Australian gate, unaware of the war’s outbreak.

The United States had dispatched hunters and troops but withheld their most crucial asset, Skyscraper. The reason for Skyscraper’s absence remained unknown, which was strange considering Korea was a major US ally.

‘I wonder if he’s suffering aftereffects from the New York incident or something. Though he didn’t seem to have sustained any major injuries.’

This incomprehensible decision naturally drew criticism, but the US maintained silence in the face of various criticisms and conspiracy theories. The most popular theory was that the US wanted to avoid risking Skyscraper’s injury or death in battle. Considering how a single S-rank hunter could determine a nation’s defense capability, this explanation seemed quite plausible.

Nevertheless, knowing how desperately each hunter was needed, Jaehyuk found the situation maddening. Even mobilizing an entire kingdom would be insufficient against one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Against overwhelming power, numbers became less significant.

Moreover, Belphegor, a black magician and necromancer, commanded countless undead subordinates. Under Belphegor were liches and black magicians, and under them were death knights, chimeras, skeletons… The exponentially growing forces could rival the armies of several kingdoms combined.

Thinking this might be the greatest crisis in Korean history, Jaehyuk blamed himself for his complacency.

“I should have anticipated this timing by checking the status window… I’ve learned nothing from the Incheon incident, damn it.”

Jaehyuk considered what to do next.

To fundamentally resolve this situation, Belphegor must be killed.

‘But the problem is that we don’t know Belphegor’s location.’

He knew Belphegor was in Pyongyang, but not exactly where. Even with satellite images obtained by hacking various satellites, Jaehyuk couldn’t pinpoint Belphegor’s hiding place.

It couldn’t be helped. According to literature, Belphegor took the form of an old man, and his actual size wasn’t much different from a human’s. Unlike Belial, who was as large as a house, the possibility of capturing Belphegor on satellite imagery was extremely low.

“Besides, I’ve only heard about this demon from ancient texts and never seen him myself… Even if he were photographed, I’m not sure I could recognize him.”

Jaehyuk let out a shallow groan. Know your enemy and know yourself—but how could he fight when he didn’t even know what his enemy looked like?

That wasn’t the only problem.

“Was he even successfully summoned in the first place?”

In Belial’s case, immediately after being summoned, he rushed into the city and wreaked havoc. But this time, although an S-rank gate had opened, it was unclear whether the Heavenly King himself had appeared. Was Belphegor hiding in hell and only sending his army? Or had the summoning succeeded but he was simply concealing himself? There was too much unknown to make a judgment.

‘I need more information.’

Jaehyuk rapidly typed on his keyboard and brought up a screen. A satellite image—but not an ordinary one.

A satellite equipped with the latest magical energy detection filter. Though limited in precision due to technological constraints, it displayed the magical energy density of observed areas through color coding. The Korean peninsula in the image was partially colored blue, with a particularly dense concentration of deep blue in a small area north of the Taedong River in northern Pyongyang.

“As expected, that’s the most suspicious location.”

It was where the gate had opened. Powerful magical energy was distributed around it, as if guarding the gate. This meant something definitely existed there.

‘Whether it works out or not, I need to go to that gate directly to find the next clue. But how do I get there…?’

Going through territory occupied by undead was obviously impossible, and there were no flights to Pyongyang.

Fortunately, he had several options.

‘Should I just ask the National Intelligence Service? Or use Kwak Taewoo’s scroll for the two of us to go secretly? Or ask Mr. B to teleport us to the gate through a portal? Hmm?’

Ding-

A sudden text message interrupted Jaehyuk’s evaluation of his options.

“A message from… Hong Harin?”

-We need to talk. Meet me briefly. You know why, right? New York and North Korea.

***

Jaehyuk arrived at the coffee shop, their meeting place.

It was noon, with pleasant sunshine streaming down—normally a time when the shop would be filled with office workers enjoying a brief respite after lunch. But now, both the shop and the streets were desolate. With conscription and evacuation orders issued, people were reluctant to go out.

With war about to break out in earnest, convenience stores and supermarkets had long been stripped of necessities, and many had already evacuated to Busan.

In the silent shop, Jaehyuk drank his coffee alone.

‘New York… Despite being careful, I must have been discovered. Tsk, if only I hadn’t caused trouble in New York…’

Jaehyuk had roughly guessed Hong Harin’s intention—or rather, the intention of Park Jugwan behind her.

The keywords: New York and North Korea.

‘It’s obvious. I broke my contract to stay on standby in Korea for emergencies by secretly going to New York, so in return, they want me to resolve the North Korean problem—that’s surely it.’

Jaehyuk, a paladin who had dealt with politicians in his previous life, could easily guess Park Jugwan’s intentions.

Sure enough, when Hong Harin arrived at the coffee shop shortly after, she said exactly what Jaehyuk had anticipated.

“His Excellency is very angry about the New York incident. He made a judicial deal with the US President to cover up your incident by sending Kim Jaemin overseas without pay. Now His Excellency is in a very difficult position. Kim Jaemin is urgently needed domestically, but because of your snowballing, he can’t return from abroad. The President is taking all the blame from the public. He can’t help but be angry.”

Jaehyuk snickered.

“Angry? More likely he’s grinning from ear to ear at the thought of using me.”

He understood the nature of politicians well—they looked at long-term benefits rather than immediate losses.

“Let’s not pretend between people who know better. Stop testing me and get straight to the point. Your demand is to eliminate this North Korean gate, right?”

Hong Harin frowned slightly and sighed.

“Similar but slightly different. Handling the S-rank gate is one objective, the surface objective, but…”

She hesitated momentarily.

“…The real goal is to seize nuclear missiles from a storage facility near the gate.”

“Nuclear-?”

Even Jaehyuk couldn’t help but be surprised.

Come to think of it, the northern nation was famous for possessing nuclear weapons.

“Just as skeletons know how to fire guns, His Excellency is wary of monsters potentially using nuclear weapons. Even if monsters don’t use them, we must prevent accidental nuclear detonation during the war. But due to complex political issues, we can’t openly seize the nukes, which is why we need your help.”

“…Surely you don’t expect me to handle both the gate and retrieve the nukes alone? If so, I refuse.”

“Of course not. A platoon of awakened individuals capable of special operations will accompany you—the very best. They’ll handle everything related to the nuclear seizure; you just need to escort them to the storage facility.”

“And the gate?”

“That shouldn’t be a problem either. The ‘Sword Demon’ himself has volunteered to participate in this operation. Officially, this mission is known as an operation to infiltrate Pyongyang and close the gate. Read this document for details.”

Jaehyuk sipped his coffee while carefully reading the operation plan she handed him.

‘A main force drop operation while defending the DMZ.’

It wasn’t bad. In fact, it was quite good.

As the Korean military and foreign support troops gradually pushed the defensive line forward, Pyongyang’s monster forces would be dispersed toward the defense line. Then, when the number of monsters in Pyongyang had sufficiently decreased, they would close the gate in one swift move.

The terrifying aspect of undead demons wasn’t their individual power but their endless reproduction and overwhelming numbers. In that sense, closing the gate to cut off supplies would make it easy to clean up the remaining demons.

Moreover, with “that” S-rank hunter Zhang Wuyi defending the line, Jaehyuk felt more confident. Having already faced undead extensively during the Beijing incident, Zhang would be experienced in dealing with them.

‘The only problem is…’

Belphegor.

That single demon could distort all their plans.

Jaehyuk calmly assessed their chances.

‘According to Kwak Taewoo, five S-rank hunters participated in the war in the past. Kim Jaemin, Zhang Wuyi, Teleporter, Sword Demon, and Pharaoh. Among them, those who directly faced Belphegor were Kim Jaemin, Sword Demon, and Pharaoh.’

Teleporter and Zhang Wuyi, who specialized in wide-area attacks rather than single-target combat, contributed on the frontlines while the three S-ranks faced the Heavenly King at the vanguard. As a result, Sword Demon died in battle against Belphegor, and Kim Jaemin was assassinated by a death knight who exploited a moment of carelessness after the battle.

‘Conversely, this means three S-ranks are sufficient to face Belphegor. Considering that Kim Jaemin was significantly weakened from injuries sustained against Belial at that time… myself, Kwak Taewoo, and Sword Demon should be able to manage.’

With Korea’s elite platoon and Japanese reinforcements providing backup, they should be able to handle Belphegor reasonably well.

As victory seemed vaguely within reach, Jaehyuk nodded.

“Alright. I’ll participate in the operation. But I’m bringing one companion. I can’t reveal their identity, but they’re A-rank, so they’ll be useful. That’s acceptable, right?”

“A friend you met during your work as a fixer? Of course it’s fine. The more capable forces, the better… But will you be okay?”

“With what?”

“Even though it’s a secret operation, once you participate, your abilities will inevitably be revealed…”

She meant that Jaehyuk’s carefully hidden identity might be exposed. The possibility was high—an awl in a pocket will eventually make itself known.

Jaehyuk smiled wryly.

“Can’t be helped. I’ve prepared for that much. Besides, I concealed my identity to avoid becoming known to the public and dealing with the hassle. I don’t mind a few operation participants knowing.”

Of course, those few might spread the information to others, but Jaehyuk was prepared to accept that. It was unrealistic to keep such abilities hidden indefinitely anyway.

Hong Harin murmured with an expression half apologetic, half relieved.

“That’s a relief… Be careful.”

Instead of answering, Jaehyuk just grinned.

He was confident. His significantly strengthened self compared to the time of Belial, the undefeated Sword Demon in one-on-one combat, and the regressor Kwak Taewoo—more than enough firepower. With this lineup, they could probably handle even two Belials simultaneously. Thinking this, Jaehyuk felt hope rising within him.

‘It feels like we could win against anyone who comes. Anyone…’

However, Jaehyuk had no idea who was waiting for him in North Korea.

No idea at all.