Part 1, Chapter 4 (19)

Anyang.

Shin Jingwang grew anxious. The continuous reports on the war situation made his heart pound even more.

Guro.

The defeat of the Heroes who fell into a trap.

Several Heroes abducted by monsters, with no contact yet.

Wusa Park Raon, unconscious due to mana exhaustion.

Hwawon Lee Seunghyung, unconscious due to sudden hemoptysis.

Furthermore, contact was lost with the Pine Tree Unit, which had split off as a separate detachment.

Even worse.

“……! Robin Yooishin’s signal lost! …They’re dead!”

“What did you say?!”

It was the first news of a Hero’s death. Shin Jingwang had been prepared for it since Heroes started getting abducted one by one, but the sudden death of a B-rank Hero belonging to the Pine Tree Unit shocked him greatly.

Of all people, it had to be someone who was practically the President’s direct subordinate. Shin Jingwang, consumed by anxiety, pressed them.

“Where?! What about the footage before they died?!”

“I don’t know! They cut contact a long time ago! No data has been transmitted since they escaped from Guro!”

Thump!

Shin Jingwang slammed his fist hard on the table.

“Damn it!”

Ever since the Pine Tree Unit began operating as a separate detachment, Shin Jingwang had been unable to issue any commands to them.

The reason given was that they were carrying out a secret presidential mission. Not only did they not inform Seonui Cheol what the mission was, but they unilaterally cut off contact with headquarters, citing the need to maintain secrecy.

‘Those arrogant ex-criminals…!’

The members of the Pine Tree Unit treated Shin Jingwang worse than a scarecrow. No, it wasn’t just the Pine Tree Unit; all the Heroes had ignored Shin Jingwang’s orders since the middle of the operation.

They would cut off communication, pretending the signal was bad, or openly defy orders, claiming they disagreed. Shin Jingwang felt dizzy at this parade of insubordination, something unimaginable in the military.

‘What kind of commander is this! He’s just a clown!’

It was a mere figurehead position, created to make Lee Seunghyung the protagonist.

Shin Jingwang had readily accepted the position of operation commander, believing he only needed to sit and wave his baton, and became the Minister of the Monster Countermeasures Department.

He looked forward to honorable days, escaping his dead-end job, rising to a ministerial position, and debuting in central politics.

And everyone was confident of his victory-the success of the operation. Even regarding his lack of ability shown at the hearing, jokes were exchanged like, ‘What could possibly go wrong when Hwawon is there?’

“Aaaargh!”

However, that nightmarish blue flame mocked Shin Jingwang’s rosy future and burned it to ashes.

It manipulated Hellhound zombies to attack the Heroes, then like a ghost, ambushed Seolhwa Princess at the summit of Gwanak Mountain. Heroes were toyed with by that blue flame from three directions: Guro, Gangnam, and Gwanak Mountain.

If things continued like this, the outcome was obvious. Shin Jingwang turned his eyes to Gangnam.

Gangnam.

The Heroes had broken through the Hellhound zombie encirclement and were in the final stages of cleanup. The faces of the elderly Heroes were filled with fatigue, as if they had aged several years in that short time.

It was the group he liked the least, but at least they had achieved results. No one was sacrificed, and they had arrested Seonmudang, an A-rank villain with a bounty of 2 billion won, and their subordinates.

The left flank had collapsed, but the right flank was still useful.

Now the problem was the center, the S-rank Hero Seolhwa Princess, who was battling an unidentified ability user at the summit of Gwanak Mountain.

“What about the combat analysis simulator?!”

“Analyzing! 10 seconds remaining!”

Ice and fire clashed, as if singing. A blue flame eagle tore at the giant’s neck, and the frost giant moved its massive body to swat the eagle away.

Crrck, crrck.

The atmosphere was unstable due to the impact of clashing mana, making the broadcast footage unclear. But even Shin Jingwang, who was clueless about Hero battles, could clearly tell.

They were at a disadvantage. Seolhwa Princess was being toyed with by the enemy villain. An S-rank Hero’s every attack was being blocked by just one hand.

Beep.

“Simulation complete! Checking estimated win rate…!”

The results appeared on the screen.

“Undeterminable…!”

The operator, who had briefly held their breath, quickly found the specific reason for the error after catching Shin Jingwang’s eye.

“No matching mana pattern! The enemy’s mana pattern is not registered in the database!”

“What?!”

The operators fell silent. A mana pattern not being registered meant only one thing.

An unregistered individual.

Shin Jingwang, boiling with rage, slammed his baton down on the back of the nearest operator’s chair.

“Search again! That can’t be right!”

“Minister-nim…!”

“An S-rank unregistered individual! Impossible!”

The operator barely managed to utter the truth, which even they found hard to believe.

“…The opponent is a new ability user who has never been discovered before!”

Shin Jingwang was also speechless. This villain, who had appeared out of nowhere like a bolt from the blue, not only possessed immense mana but had never shown themselves before.

Each Hero had a unique mana pattern, making it impossible for someone else to disguise themselves. Yet, an unheard-of ability user suddenly appeared and was dominating Seolhwa Princess as if toying with her?

It was impossible. But Seolhwa Princess on the screen was clearly losing overwhelmingly in the 1-on-1 battle.

The frost giant swung a massive fist, but the flame eagle pierced right through it, melting the giant’s entire body.

The enemy was leisurely, while Seolhwa Princess was anxious.

“Pattern! Save the pattern! We need to salvage at least that!”

At Shin Jingwang’s shout, the operators busily moved their hands.

An S-rank (presumed) villain who had been hiding their power in Seoul until now. They had to use this person as an excuse.

Although they had lost the initial battle to an unknown enemy, they could claim to have gained information about that enemy. The operation was already a clear failure, likely costing him his head, but he had to at least preserve his honor.

The operators hastily analyzed the mana pattern. Since there was already a lack of absolute values registered in the database for flame ability users, it naturally took more time to analyze the unique mana pattern.

They needed time. Shin Jingwang shouted again.

“Contact Seolhwa Princess! Tell her to buy time! Tell her to fight until we get the mana pattern!”

“Yes!”

The standoff between Seolhwa Princess and the enemy villain temporarily entered a lull. At Shin Jingwang’s urging, the operator called Seolhwa Princess countless times.

‘Who on earth is this person, and where did they come from…!’

Outside, reporters were already typing furiously on their virtual keyboards, ready to write all sorts of breaking news. Speculations about the identity of the S-rank villain who suddenly appeared in Korea were basic, and some were even cautiously predicting Seolhwa Princess’s defeat.

If he had known this would happen, he should have chased all the reporters away. He had unnecessarily boasted about victory.

Beep. At that moment, an irritating sound reached his ears.

“…M-Minister-nim!”

“What is it this time?!”

The operator blinked for a moment, then relayed the situation on the screen exactly as it was.

“Response lost! The enemy has disappeared!”

As the operator said, the S-rank presumed villain’s response disappeared from the summit of Gwanak Mountain. Simultaneously, Seolhwa Princess’s mana response began to fluctuate severely.

Beep.

Contact came from Seolhwa Princess.

– Be careful! The enemy’s technique is rolling towards headquarters!

“What strange talk is this….”

What’s rolling? Just as Shin Jingwang wondered, footage of the ridge appeared on the screen.

Rumble!

A giant fireball, as large as a tank.

It rolled down, flickering with blue flames, following the exact path where the Fire Dragon had rampaged.

Shin Jingwang thought.

If it were simply rolling, there might be a chance it would veer off to another path, but the Fire Dragon had ultimately chased Lee Seunghyung into Anyang Sports Complex.

In other words, that fireball would roll and roll until it reached the command center.

Crash!

Seolhwa Princess tried to slow it down by creating ice walls in its path, but it was useless. Instead, the fireball seemed to tell her not to interfere with its path, smashing through the ice walls and spinning even faster.

“Estimating damage upon explosion! …! The impact will remain even after destroying the entire sports complex!”

The operators screamed. The enemy had already launched an attack towards the command center.

Seolhwa Princess was still struggling to block the fireball, but she couldn’t stop it.

Guro’s Team A had not yet returned to the command center, and Gangnam’s Team B was finishing off the Hellhound zombies in Gangnam.

Realistically, there was no force available to stop that fireball.

Shin Jingwang snapped his baton.

“Retreat! Everyone abandon headquarters and run! Move!”

As the operators were flustered by the sudden order, Shin Jingwang ran out of the command room towards the south without looking back.

“Ugh, aaargh!!”

Seeing their commander flee first, everyone else also began to run. Operators, D-rank Heroes, medical units, reporters, association officials-everyone followed Shin Jingwang, running frantically.

In the command room, which everyone was abandoning, one operator sat at a desk, typing rapidly on the keyboard.

“What are you doing, sunbae?!”

A junior, who was just about to flee, was startled to see him. The senior operator replied, focusing on his work without looking back.

“If we run away like this, all the data from this battlefield will be corrupted. We can’t just run away without even registering the mana patterns of that villain or the new A-rank in the database.”

“You’ll die if you do that!”

The senior pointed his chin towards the screen, gesturing to his junior.

– Please stop it!!!

On the screen, a Hero was desperately building ice walls to block the fireball.

“The Hero hasn’t given up yet, so how can we run away first?”

The man turned his gaze back to the screen. The junior, with tears in their eyes, turned around and,

“I’m sorry!”

left the command room.

The man smiled bitterly and typed even faster on the keyboard.

* * *

Gangnam.

Many Heroes were injured and their mana was depleted. Perhaps because the team was composed of relatively older Heroes, the consecutive battles for several hours had left them with great physical fatigue.

Thwack.

Wusa plunged her staff into the body of the last remaining Hellhound zombie. Mana released from the tip of the staff exploded, destroying the Hellhound zombie’s body.

“Old man, are there any more responses?”

“…No. That’s the end of it.”

Pungbaek stroked his abundant white beard. Red blood, flowing from a torn gash on his forehead, stained his beard crimson. Pungbaek created a small gust of wind to shake off the blood from his beard, then looked around.

“Is everyone alright?”

The Heroes replied, each holding their weapons. As it had been a chaotic battle where even A-rank Pungbaek was injured, the condition of the other Heroes was even worse, if not just as bad.

Could they really fight any longer? Wusa shook her head. They hadn’t even entered Yeouido yet, let alone Gangnam.

“This won’t do. We need to request a temporary retreat to headquarters.”

“Not rest in Gangnam?”

At another Hero’s words, Wusa smiled bitterly.

“The villains have run away, haven’t they? If we rest, they might pop out from somewhere unexpected and attack. We could be abducted.”

“We must be careful, tsk tsk. To be abducted by monsters, honestly.”

“Old man.”

Wusa gently restrained Pungbaek. However, Pungbaek’s words were less about sarcasm and more about the sorrow of losing a comrade, and the pity he felt for their shared junior who would bear the responsibility and guilt as a result. Wusa understood this well, so she said nothing further.

Wusa cleared her throat and tapped her smartwatch.

“…This is Wusa. Headquarters, respond.”

Crrck, crrck.

“Huh?”

Contact with headquarters was lost. Wusa tapped her smartwatch as if knocking on it, calling headquarters again.

“Wusa urgently seeks Commander Shin Jingwang-nim. Headquarters, respond.”

“It seems the mana is still unstable.”

Pungbaek also clicked his tongue at the unresponsive smartwatch. Like it or not, they had to report the current situation and follow the commander’s orders.

While Wusa continued to struggle with her smartwatch, Pungbaek strode over and stood before the arrested woman. The disheveled woman was drooling and laughing.

“You, was your name Seonmudang?”

“Yes! Hehehe! Now Seoul will become a sea of fire! Everyone will die, and vengeful spirits will wander, creating a living hell where they become monsters! Teehee! Hahahaha! Everyone die! Hellfire Peninsula, perish! Kyahahahaha!”

Seonmudang’s eyes were bloodshot as she spewed curses. The Heroes inwardly sighed that this possessed woman was their greatest achievement.

Another A-rank villain, Black Flame Dragon, lay collapsed, blood at his mouth.

“To commit suicide. That damn bastard.”

Pungbaek clicked his tongue, looking at Black Flame Dragon. A monster-like flame ability user who single-handedly shattered Pungbaek and Wusa’s combined attack. If the association had managed him before he was captured by the Pine Tree Unit, he could have grown into a great talent.

“Even if you live like a dog, this world is better than the afterlife….”

However, he had now become a guest who would not return. Black Flame Dragon, who had regained consciousness at some point, saw the tide of battle turning in favor of the Heroes. He then said he sought forgiveness from God and bit his tongue, taking his own life. Pungbaek closed Black Flame Dragon’s wide, resentful eyes.

In the end, Team B’s only achievement was one Seonmudang and dozens of her subordinates. For having ambitiously set out to reclaim all of Seoul, it was a rather dismal result.

Beep.

Finally, contact with headquarters was established. Wusa brought up the screen and cleared her throat.

“This is Wusa. Headquarters, respond…?”

– Damn it! What do you mean the commander is running away?! Cut the bullshit! You have to live right now!

Shin Jingwang was running. The violently shaking video background suggested he had left the command center.

“What happened-“

– Wusa? Wusa or whoever, go stop that fireball right now!

Shin Jingwang shouted as if screaming.

Behind him were countless people running frantically. Essentially, most of the personnel who had remained at the command center. While Wusa was flustered, a new video appeared next to the screen.

“What’s this now?”

On the screen, a mass of blue flames was rapidly rolling down the ridge towards the Anyang command center.