Chapter 262

Chapter 262. Reunion and Infiltration (5)

He didn’t think Hyunwoo would be pleased with the video being spread around.

‘Well, since Hyung said it’s okay to use directly, it’s none of my business…’

Still, shouldn’t he at least let him know that something like this is happening?

Kim Yul’s contemplation didn’t last long.

‘Sometimes, I do want to see that guy flustered.’

Keeping quiet for future amusement didn’t seem like a bad idea.

“It looks good to me. It’s witty too.”

When he voiced his honest opinion, Squad Leader Yang Jochul seemed relieved, letting out a shallow sigh.

After confirming his reaction, a thought popped into his head, and he spoke up.

“Can I post that video on my account?”

Various social media platforms, including Instafram, were already abuzz.

There were even people who claimed to be players and had opened their own accounts.

‘Most of them seemed like attention-seeking scam artists, though.’

Some of their profile pictures were of people I recognized.

Kim Yul had been considering whether he should start his external activities now.

Just then, a promotional video featuring mainly Hyunwoo appeared.

“I’m thinking of opening an account soon.”

It was an offer that Squad Leader Yang Jochul, had no reason to refuse.

“If you do, it’d be great for us.”

Kim Yul was already quite well-known on SNS back when he was a trainee.

If they could use this to accelerate the spread of the video, it would be beneficial for both of them.

Kim Yul eagerly pulled out his smartphone and got to work.

“Hyunwoo doesn’t seem to have an account, does he?”

Seeing Squad Leader Yang Jochul shaking his head, Kim Yul chuckled.

“Well, he’s not someone to waste time on that.”

Then, out of curiosity, I asked, “If you found that video, did you also investigate Hyung’s past? What was he like before the game started?”

Yang Jochul paused, as if pondering something, and then smiled faintly.

“He is quite an outstanding young man.”

“Huh, outstanding?”

“In my opinion.”

Kim Yul knew Squad Leader Yang Jochul wasn’t someone who would make empty remarks about these things.

“Could he have been in Sparta or something before?”

Yang Jochul just smiled without answering, and his smartphone buzzed from his pocket.

He excused himself and took out his smartphone.

After checking the screen, the expression on Squad Leader Yang Jochul’s face hardened.

He hurriedly connected the call and asked, “What’s the situation?”

“Squad Leader, journalists have arrived.”

“Report the progress.”

“They approached pretending to be customers at the part-time job location, causing a delay in response. I realized just observing wouldn’t do and blocked attempts to conduct an interview. This led to a verbal altercation with the journalists and we had the two return home.”

“Make sure to block them at any cost.”

“Understood.”

After the brief call, Squad Leader Yang Jochul made another call.

“If there are any articles about Kang Hyunwoo’s family during monitoring, delete them first. I’ll handle the aftermath.”

Listening to his words, Kim Yul drifted into his own thoughts.

‘Hyunwoo said his parents passed away… and his siblings are Yeonwoo and Jinwoo, right? Same age as me.’

The name of the person Hyunwoo seemed to desperately search for during his sleep paralysis was also Yeonwoo.

‘Hyunwoo mentioned they’re fraternal twins.’

Kim Yul had only heard their names and hadn’t seen any photos.

As a result, he was very curious about what kind of people they were.

Considering they were Hyunwoo’s siblings, how could he not be curious?

‘Of course, I never planned to investigate first.’

For Hyunwoo, family seemed to hold a very special place.

To put it mildly, they were the reason for Hyunwoo’s existence.

They were the ones he would protect, even at the cost of his own life.

What if dangerous players approached such significant people?

‘He might take them out secretly.’

Kim Yul knew Hyunwoo quite well.

He, therefore, didn’t wish to do anything that might get him disliked.

‘If I loiter around without an introduction, I’ll surely be viewed with suspicion.’

He had just started to gain Hyunwoo’s trust; he couldn’t afford to mess things up now.

Without asking anything from Squad Leader Yang Jochul, he quietly created an SNS account.

A little while later, finishing his call, Kim Yul struck up a conversation with an entirely different topic with Squad Leader Yang Jochul.

“Where are you planning to post the video? YouTube?”

“I’m thinking of gradually leaking the CCTV footage through news outlets first.”

“Ah, I see.”

He had an inkling of the atmosphere Squad Leader Yang Jochul was aiming for.

‘Not bad.’

Actually, it was a pretty clever approach.

Having gauged the situation, Kim Yul opened his account and started by posting a couple of the photos he’d taken previously.

‘Adding tags…’

After some fiddling around.

“I’ll link the video later.”

“Alright, thanks.”

“Then I’ll get going.”

Kim Yul finished a few operations in place and then headed to the indoor gym beside the dormitory.

It was to proceed with the morning hunt as agreed with Squad Leader Yang Jochul.

Since the Hole opened the last time, both of them have been directly selecting missions and entering Biharin as opposed to going to their individual gates.

It was Hyunwoo’s request.

‘He told us not to stay away from Earth for too long.’

Hyunwoo must have been anxious after a hole had already opened once while they were off the planet.

‘So, he left us here to cover for him.’

Even for someone as materially motivated as Hyunwoo, it was a direct request.

Both Yang Taeho and Kim Yul thought that this problem was rather significant.

Thus, they managed their hunting schedule tightly, keeping it to exactly three sessions: morning, afternoon, and evening.

In the past, he would have lamented about how slow this pace was to reach the Platinum rank.

But things were different now.

Hyunwoo was also transferring additional mana to them.

During the so-called ‘Week of Nightmares,’ the mana stones he acquired were later handed over to them.

Moreover, encountering a general-rank a couple of times also provided them with plenty of additional mana stones.

These items were already all disposed of through auctions.

Thanks to that, Kim Yul’s mana reached 8.7 billion, and Yang Taeho’s 8.6 billion.

With the end in sight, he started to crave achieving the Platinum rank quickly.

“There’s a limit for the auction function which ends by tomorrow night, right?”

“Yes, I believe they gave a week.”

“Hmm… If we manage to secure additional mana stones before then, I think we could possibly advance to Platinum rank, how about tackling an 8-star mission?”

“I get that you’re tempted, but higher levels are not an option.”

They had a higher chance of encountering a general-rank in high-ranking missions.

But in Hyunwoo’s absence, the risk of jumping into missions with hundreds of thousands of monsters at 8-star and beyond was great.

Hence, they mainly focused on 6 and 7-star missions.

A general-rank did appear occasionally, making these missions perfectly suitable for our demands.

“Sometimes, the trick is to play it safe even if it seems slow.”

In the end, the decision-making authority in Hyunwoo’s absence rested with Yang Taeho, who firmly denied it.

“Moreover, a big event is expected soon, so let’s just wait.”

Though disappointed, I decided not to push.

“… It can’t be helped.”

If they don’t manage to acquire the mana stones in time, they can just extend our hunting schedule.

Alternating with Yang Taeho in holding the missions would ensure preparedness no matter what happens on Earth.

Revisiting the scenarios Kim Yul had crafted from watching Hyunwoo, he opened the mission list.

Just as he was about to enter the 7-star mission, a 5-star corrupted area they had previously discussed.

– K: If you’re in combat, wrap it up as quickly as possible and begin personal preparations.

A message from Hyunwoo arrived.

Though the content was abrupt, neither of them expressed any doubt.

They had been informed beforehand.

But it was surprising, as it started sooner than expected.

‘I thought it would take at least two more weeks.’

Of course, nothing would change because it was sooner than expected.

They were already fully prepared.

Having checked my messages, Yang Taeho placed his hammer on his shoulder and remarked.

“The timing is perfect, don’t you think? Almost as if he’s watching us.”

“If it’s Hyunwoo, he actually might be doing so.”

Dismissively receiving the comment, Kim Yul closed the mission list.

Instead of utilizing mana by entering a mission, he decided to heed his place.

Taking a seat nearby, he recalled the words Hyunwoo had mentioned before he left.

– It doesn’t fit my temperament to just endure.

Upon hearing those words, the first thing that came to mind was the corpse.

The child’s face, deceased in front of a capsule arcade near Gangnam Station, was strangely hazy.

But the memory of the space the child occupied was vividly distinct, like a photo.

A corpse, half torn and shoved into a capsule machine.

The abundantly spread crimson blood was hard to believe it came from that small body.

Perhaps because of the cruelty of those memories lingering.

Kim Yul resonated with the words Hyunwoo had spoken.

‘Yeah, with everything that happened, letting it slide just isn’t right.’

With that in mind, he fingered the razor-sharp dagger, awaiting the system window to appear.

***

Party members, key association officials, and representatives of large clans with whom I shared rapport.

Those who would suspect some connection between myself and this game.

These were the individuals with sway through the seats they occupied.

They were competent enough to not just hold their ground but excel in the upcoming scenario.

After relaying the news to them, the information was sure to trickle down further quickly.

‘Everything is going according to plan.’

Though there were some variables, the major flow wasn’t significantly different from the original design.

Had the remaining tasks proceeded as planned, it would have been ideal.

“Click.”

Unfortunately, the flow was disrupted.

Even after using Finelpenia’s authority, the record of Irel remained inaccessible.

Not a single entry was visible prior to the past ten days.

A clouded black mist obscured her records.

It was as if someone had deleted an old CCTV recording.

‘I had a suspicion.’

It looks like measures had been taken to prevent their own records from being leaked, unlike the last time.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t irritated.

‘Still within the expected range.’

There are ways to avoid even a god’s eyes, so it’s not unusual to think they could also block authority.

Their status and authority, and even divinity, exhibited by the 7 Great Gods, are indeed great, but not omnipotent.

Without knowing a solution, lingering over those black misty records only frustrates me.

I discarded any attachment to the inaccessible records.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a complete loss.

There was one piece of meaningful information within the ten days of records I could access.

‘The high-rank mages are absent from the island.’

Their absence can be explained by…

‘They’re planning an all-out assault on Callum soon.’

A more precise target would be Romole.

The enemies intend to shut down the gateway accessible by outsiders.

I turned to the order page of the Order.

I inserted my message into the less active comment section compared to early times.

– K: Enemy plans an attack on Callum, all high-rank mages are being deployed, uncertain date, ultimate aim is the gate.

I shared only the necessary factual contents, excluding sentiment.

After posting the comment, I closed the site without lingering.

Subsequently, I continued to gaze at the black mist obscuring Irel’s records.

While I wasn’t dwelling on those records.

The black mist gave me a strangely familiar feeling.

What is it? What is it exactly? Where have I encountered it to find it familiar?

‘Finelpenia’s authority is manifested through divinity.’

Divinity is the power that facilitates unusual phenomena, transcending natural states and causality.

It clearly operates one level above mana.

‘Blocking that with mana isn’t possible.’

Indeed, the sensation from the black mist veiling Irel’s records wasn’t mana.

It felt stickily viscous, a sensation I vividly recalled from my memory.

Soon, I realized what it was.

“This is…”

Damned System