Part 1, Chapter 5 (17)

May 9th, 8:30 AM, Azure Syndicate Hideout.

Gaeul bit her nails, constantly checking her smartwatch. Deokbae calmed Gaeul, whose tentacles trembled with anxiety, wondering if a call would ever come.

“Hey. That’s enough. Gwanggeom’s dead, they said.”

However, Deokbae’s words only deepened Gaeul’s worries.

“What if it was a Mutual Demise or something?”

“That won’t happen. If our Leader-nim dies, we all die.”

As Jihwa pointed out, the fact that the monstrous humans weren’t dying meant that Phoenix was still alive.

However, the lack of contact, even an hour after Gwanggeom’s death was announced, bothered Gaeul immensely.

“What if he lost consciousness and collapsed? What if he sank into the deep, vast East Sea, or drifted across the ocean and ended up in Japan? What if he was sold to the yakuza, got drugged, and was high-“

“Oh, seriously. That’s enough.”

Deokbae cut Gaeul off with an annoyed tone. Gaeul, in turn, became even more agitated.

“Aren’t you worried?!”

When Gaeul challenged him, Deokbae snorted.

“Why would I worry? Worry about yourself.”

“Me? What worry?”

Deokbae uncrossed his arms and leaned towards Gaeul.

“I was thinking yesterday. This organization is woefully short on combatants, isn’t it?”

“That’s true.”

Excluding Phoenix, there were no S-rank or higher combatants. Gaeul was made with an S-rank core, but her actual combat power was only on the border between B-rank and A-rank.

Gaeul’s combat experience was still severely lacking. So much so that if she matched Deokbae’s mana output, her win rate wouldn’t even be 50%.

“I think he’s going to make monstrous humans to supplement that force. By killing Gwanggeom and Seolhwa Princess.”

“Gwanggeom, I get, but Seolhwa Princess?”

Deokbae nodded at Jihwa’s question.

“That Yuseongga wild card agreed to back this organization, didn’t she? That young lady would just chop off Seolhwa Princess’s head and hand the body over to Phoenix. Then an S-rank monstrous human would be born right away. What do you think? Sounds plausible, doesn’t it?”

At Deokbae’s words, Jihwa recalled information circulating on the network.

“Breaking news reported that Gwanggeom’s body was moved directly to New Seoul, and Seolhwa Princess immediately fainted.”

“Oh, really? …Then I guess not.”

At Jihwa’s words, Deokbae cleared his throat and looked away. Cheon Gaeul was still tearing at her hair.

“…That wild card princess from Yuseong. What’s her relationship with Phoenix?”

“How would we know? What do you think?”

When Deokbae asked back, Gaeul took a breath before answering.

“An ally?”

“I’ll bet a core that they were comrades in a past life.”

“Oh, then I’ll bet they were lovers before the regression.”

“What’s with this random talk all of a sudden?!”

Gaeul’s expression instantly turned prim. Jihwa shivered for a moment but didn’t back down, pressing her opinion.

“It’s plausible, isn’t it?! Our Leader-nim, who doesn’t listen to a word we say, is actually coordinating opinions! And he even agreed to accept 200% of her consulting!”

“Just like Cheon Gaeul, he must have approached her knowing exactly who she was. What’ll you do, Cheon Gaeul? It seems you’re not his only precious person, after all?”

“You guys…!”

As Cheon Gaeul raised her tentacles, Jihwa cringed and shouted.

“B-but, Gaeul-ssi, you weren’t even in Leader-nim’s original plan!”

Cheon Gaeul laughed. However, the mask on Cheon Gaeul’s head distorted her face like a Rakshasa.

“Oh my. She’s really hitting where it hurts, isn’t she? Did you forget? If Phoenix hadn’t saved me, you would have been a criminal who raped me, wouldn’t you? I’m still a monstrous human revived by Phoenix with an S-rank core. Jihwa, what’s your core rank?”

“Are you grade-schoolers? Why are you fighting over something so trivial?”

At Deokbae’s words, Gaeul and Jihwa’s gazes simultaneously turned to him.

“D-rank is a bit lacking, isn’t it?”

“Deokbae-ssi, you weren’t in the original plan either, were you? I’m the Azure Syndicate’s provisional commander, to whom Leader-nim directly handed over command authority….”

“Is that some kind of high office now? Are you boasting about that right now? This is a criminal organization, idiot.”

Jihwa trembled with clenched fists and fell silent.

“And you-“

Gaeul changed the subject before Deokbae’s merciless barrage could reach her.

“Where did Haneulseong and Architect go?!”

Jihwa immediately caught Gaeul’s words before getting hurt further.

“It seems the news of Gwanggeom’s death reached the residents. …Hundreds of people caused a commotion, saying they had to escape Korea. They went to handle that.”

“It’s enough to cause a commotion.”

Deokbae sneered. If such a disturbance occurred in Seoul, New Seoul was obvious without even saying it.

Gwanggeom had already fought an unknown enemy in Daejeon. The fact that such a Gwanggeom was found murdered in Busan, not New Seoul, was nothing short of a shock to the entire nation.

– Gwanggeom was defeated and killed.

While attention was focused on the Dullahan who lit up the night in Gwanak, the real battle was taking place in Busan.

An association official, urgently dispatched to D Island in Haeundae, Busan, identified remnants of mana on the completely destroyed, dome-shaped island.

And they announced the analysis results to the public.

“Even if the Round Table fought 3-on-3 at full power, it wouldn’t be like this. Ugh….”

Jihwa trembled all over with admiration. She had only heard about it, but she never even dreamed it would be this strong in reality.

“Leader-nim was truly a strong person….”

“You honestly didn’t believe it until now, did you?”

“No.”

Deokbae chuckled at Jihwa’s honest answer. Deokbae had seen Phoenix toying with Shadow and knew, but he wasn’t entirely sure if Phoenix could kill Gwanggeom. Jihwa reread the temporary briefing from the association.

“Measuring the aftermath of the battle and the mana residue, Gwanggeom and the unidentified enemy are estimated to be at a higher level than the Round Table. Wow, Leader-nim is truly amazing.”

“That means more annoying work.”

Gaeul pulled out two tentacles and twisted and twirled them.

“Two of those SS-ranks Phoenix mentioned appeared. But one is a Villain, and the other died? And it was Gwanggeom, of all people? The association isn’t just going to stand by, are they?”

“…At least one member of the Round Table will come.”

Deokbae ran a finger near his lips. Jihwa tapped the screen and presented her opinion.

“Mage scholars from all over the world will come too. There were already many people who wanted to research Seoul because of the Fire Dragon problem, but now they’re all gathering in Busan. To analyze the aftermath of the battle and find out even a little.”

“That’s not the problem.”

Gaeul slammed the table with a tentacle, drawing attention.

“China and Japan aren’t going to stand by now, are they? Gwanggeom’s dead, so they’ll start a war soon.”

“Isn’t that just the worst-case scenario?”

“Even if it’s not war, there are countless ways to exert influence, Jihwa-gun.”

Haneulseong had returned to the hideout at some point. His face, as he took off his fedora, was filled with exhaustion.

“They might try to station their own Heroes in our country, or actively encourage safe immigration. That is, if the SS-rank ally Leader-nim mentioned doesn’t appear quickly.”

“…Come to think of it, we haven’t heard who that is, have we?”

Jihwa said with a sour expression. Ryu Cheon-seong took a breath for a moment, then smiled and said.

“He might know.”

“He?”

“Eun Yuha. The mistress of Yuseong.”

Gaeul puffed out her cheeks in a pout.

“To that utter scoundrel, without even telling us?”

“If, as Leader-nim said, Eun Yuha is the one manipulating Eun Jaemin and the Black Market chairman, as well as political and business figures simultaneously, then I believe Leader-nim at least recruited her and established an alliance.”

“If that’s the minimum, what’s the maximum?”

“She’s a new executive of the Azure Syndicate.”

Ryu Cheon-seong smiled nonchalantly. Jihwa turned pale and shook her head.

“T-then what happens to the second-in-command position?”

“What are you talking about? There’s no second-in-command here. We’re all just executives.”

“Count me out. I’m not an executive.”

Deokbae waved both hands, stepping back. The others couldn’t really say anything about Deokbae’s audacity. Even though his rank was low and his monstrous human core was of poor quality, Phoenix treated Deokbae specially, whether consciously or not.

“He’s a guinea pig, right?”

“He’s very special.”

“These guys.”

Haneulseong stroked his beard and laughed.

“If it bothers you that much, why not ask him directly?”

“…Haneulseong? We’re pacing anxiously here because Phoenix hasn’t arrived yet, you know?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

Haneulseong asked back with a look of incomprehension.

“Leader-nim returned over an hour ago. He flew into the penthouse rooftop, didn’t he? Didn’t you hear the sound of the window breaking?”

* * *

I’m tired.

It was the first time since falling into this Otherworld that I had fought humans for such a long time.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

My smartwatch alarm kept ringing. Right now, I didn’t want to hear any news. I just wanted to lie there blankly for a while.

Beep. Beep-beep.

“…Sigh.”

I raised my arm and brought up the screen. As expected, the person on the screen was Eun Yuha.

– Why are you answering so late? Don’t you know New Seoul is in an uproar thanks to my beloved VIP?

“Quiet. How’s Seok Harang?”

Eun Yuha flinched at my tired voice. I cleared my throat and asked again.

“Ahem, how’s Seok Harang? What happened to her?”

– There’s nothing particularly wrong. She just slept through the night, woke up, ate, heard the news, and then immediately fainted again?

“Then that’s a relief.”

She was someone who calmly accepted Gwanggeom’s death even in the original story. Although she was much younger than in the original, I believed she could endure it silently.

“The funeral? What have you decided to do?”

– Excuse me? It hasn’t even been two hours since you killed Gwanggeom, you know? The President has lost his composure right now. There’s an uproar because he’s cursing up a storm in his office.

“Because his key people were severed.”

We secured Cheongsong, and I killed Gwanggeom. Now that I’ve taken away the ‘power’ that is the core of Seonui Cheol’s authority, he must be instinctively seeking a way to survive.

I laid the screen down. I didn’t even have the energy to lift my head.

“For now, please handle the cleanup. We’ll move on our end. According to the young lady’s original plan. No revisions.”

– I can step in and handle things in New Seoul, but… will you be okay?

“What do you mean?”

I immediately cleared my throat and continued.

“…I mean, are you okay?”

– …Customer-nim. Are you perhaps very tired, and I’m bothering you? Should we talk again later?

Eun Yuha scratched her cheek with a troubled expression. I buried my head in the blanket for a moment, then lifted it again.

If it were anyone else, those words would just be out of concern, but Eun Yuha was different. It was silent pressure, telling me to finish our conversation and then rest, even if I was tired.

I subtly lifted my upper body. Eun Yuha’s expression brightened slightly.

“It’s because of Seok Harang, isn’t it?”

– Yes. No matter what, eventually, Customer-nim will be known for killing Gwanggeom. What if Harang tries to kill Customer-nim later?

“Then it’s a fight to the death…. Just kidding. So don’t make such a scary face. We were prepared for this, weren’t we? I bear all the sin, and in return, you take care of Seok Harang.”

– …….

Eun Yuha closed her eyes silently. When she was about to reluctantly agree to something she didn’t like, Eun Yuha would often make that expression.

“Ultimately, you just need to cooperate when we finally fight Seongju. Once she awakens the power of the Spirit, she’ll soon realize the mission the Spirit holds.”

– Customer-nim, you really go out of your way to suffer. Even if she’s not a sworn enemy, don’t you want to at least keep a distant relationship with Harang? You just have to not get caught.

“As if that would happen.”

…I’m tired, so my true nature is starting to show. I tightly closed my eyes for a moment, then opened them again.

Whoosh. I briefly covered the screen and burned my entire body. Finally, my mind became clear.

“I like Seok Harang too. In many ways. But it’s impossible to be close with Seok Harang in this life. I’ve already killed Gwanggeom with my own hands, and there’s no reason to be close now. She’s a Hero, and I’m a Villain.”

– Seok Harang will become the world’s first SS-rank, a new pillar of South Korea, and Customer-nim will dominate the underworld as an SS-rank Villain. And I’ll act as a bridge between you two.

I nodded at Eun Yuha’s words. Eun Yuha frowned, about to say something else.

– …Oh dear.

Stars flowed from Eun Yuha’s eyes. It was a moment for her to focus on controlling another doll, so it was time to end the conversation.

I tapped the screen and waved my hand.

“You’ve had a tough time too. Then, let’s meet again on that day.”

– Ah, wait a moment. BH isn’t that important anyway. Right now, Customer-nim is….

Beep. I hung up the call. I then fell forward.

Eun Yuha called again, but I didn’t answer and just buried myself in the blanket.

‘I need to rest now.’

Having passed the major hurdle of Gwanggeom, the tension completely drained away. I let go of all consciousness, using the ringing alarm as a lullaby.

* * *

“This is truly unbelievable.”

Cheon Gaeul let out a hearty laugh, looking at Phoenix lying face down on the bed.

His clothes were covered in dirt, and white skin was visible through the tears in places. His actions were exactly like an old man who, exhausted from working overtime, just buried his face in the bed.

“…He did work harder than us.”

The operation in Gwanak was suppressed in just an hour.

The Dullahan couldn’t advance further from Anyang due to the cooperation of the three agencies, and they were all burned to ashes by Hwawon Lee Seunghyung, who was urgently dispatched.

Squish, squish.

Gaeul placed all the monstrous human cores she had stored in her tentacles onto the table.

During the operation, Gaeul copied Architect’s ability and hid in tunnels, secretly recovering cores every time a monstrous human died.

She had stayed up all night to report the operation results, but Phoenix hadn’t come. After waiting all night, all the monstrous humans finally heard the news of Gwanggeom’s death as breaking news in the morning.

“He couldn’t even make one phone call, really.”

Gaeul used a tentacle to turn Phoenix’s head.

“…….”

As if he had completely lost consciousness, Phoenix was sleeping very soundly.

Poke. Poke.

She poked his cheek with a tentacle. It was soft like a rice cake. Even though they were Gaeul’s, Phoenix usually disliked tentacles touching him, but now he was sprawled on the blanket without a single twitch.

‘Should I just…?’

All of Gaeul’s tentacles wriggled. Her tentacles were always fully prepared to move according to Gaeul’s will at any time.

Gaeul’s tentacles grabbed Phoenix’s limbs.

And then,

“Ugh. He should at least change his clothes and rest.”

Gaeul lifted Phoenix with her tentacles and dusted off the blanket. She took off his torn suit with her own hands, changed him into comfortable clothes, and laid him down comfortably on the bed.

“…….”

“He sleeps well. So soundly that he wouldn’t know if someone took him away.”

Gaeul pulled the blanket up to Phoenix’s shoulders with a tentacle. Phoenix was sleeping soundly like a baby bird amidst the warm sunlight and cozy blanket.

“There’s so much I want to say… and so much we have to do….”

Gaeul stroked Phoenix’s head with her hand.

“But for today, you worked hard.”

A faint smile appeared on Phoenix’s face.

Beep.

[YU☆HA★] : My beloved VIP. Please rest well, and I look forward to seeing you healthy again. You worked hard. I look forward to your continued cooperation ^^7

“……What is this guy?”