Part 1 Chapter 9-30

The Black Scorpions, having lost their mother, were ravaged by the Heroes. Under the mission to kill the monsters, the Heroes thoroughly hunted the Black Scorpions.

“Whoooooa!”

The Heroes were extremely excited.

The sense of mission to wipe out the monsters, a threat to humanity, in one go.

The sense of victory from gaining overwhelming superiority against the monster horde.

The exhilaration of earning a massive amount of Cores and bringing them back to their home country.

And for some, filled with resentment and jealousy, the Heroes’ hands never rested.

After the Black Scorpion horde was completely subjugated, the Heroes searched for any signs of the Black Sand Scorpion, which had quietly hidden itself beneath the lake.

“No reaction… on the radar?”

“What?”

The monster radar, which had dyed the lake red, showed no reaction. The Heroes scanned the numerous Black Scorpion corpses scattered around.

“Surely this isn’t the end…?”

No one could imagine that the monster had escaped, so the Heroes decided to first revel in the exhilaration of having subjugated the Black Scorpions.

The number of Black Scorpions caught on the Association’s radar network was a staggering five thousand. All that remained for the Heroes now was to manage the situation.

“I caught this one!”

“What are you talking about?! Our damage dealers caught it with arrows!”

“C-calm down! We can just check with our watches! Aren’t we comrades who fought together?!”

After hunting the Black Scorpion horde, it seemed it would take quite some time for the full settlement to be completed.

* * *

June 15th, 4 AM. Baeknaro Lake, near Cheonghae Lake.

At that moment, while pandemonium raged outside.

The Executor, who had returned to the airship, slumped into the captain’s seat. Although barely half a day had passed since leaving Korea, leading the Heroes, following in the footsteps of Praetor Yoo Young-ho, consumed an immense amount of mental energy.

“No one was… injured. Thankfully.”

“Isn’t it because Seolhwaryeong protected everyone?”

Unsa approached the captain’s seat, holding a steaming cup of tea. The Executor received the paper cup and bowed her head.

“Thank you. But you can speak more comfortably to me.”

“This is comfortable for me.”

“…Yes. If you say so.”

Was he protesting her inability to command the Heroes as coolly as Praetor Yoo Young-ho? The Executor’s shoulders slumped at the distance Unsa maintained.

“It’s difficult. Truly.”

“I trust you will adapt quickly.”

“I hope so.”

The Executor rubbed her cheeks with both hands, collecting herself. Judging her disgraceful behavior and reflecting on it could wait; for now, she had to finalize the settlement for the Heroes’ performance.

*ding*

“Ah, it’s arrived.”

The long-awaited results had finally arrived. The Executor swallowed hard and received the Association’s report.

“……Huh?”

Minor Cores like D-rank or C-rank didn’t even register. What truly widened the Executor’s eyes was undoubtedly the number of S-rank and A-rank Cores.

“108 A-rank, 21 S-rank Cores?”

Unsa exclaimed in admiration upon seeing the settlement results displayed on the monitor. While it seemed like a rather meager achievement compared to the total number of S-rank Cores, it was an astonishing feat when considering the quantity and quality of the superhumans deployed.

“Our estimated target was…?”

“Thirty A-rank. Five S-rank. Congratulations, Executor.”

Tears welled up in the Executor’s eyes. Although she pretended to be calm on the outside, inwardly she had been anxious, fearing that she would be assigned to an unfavorable position and gain nothing.

“But how did we get 21…?”

The Executor checked the detailed settlement breakdown. The Hero Association, with the help of over 10,000 Chinese Heroes, had accurately settled the shares of the Black Scorpion hunt with 99% precision. The Executor clearly organized and listed the results of what the Korean Heroes had hunted.

“Wow.”

Fire Fist Lee Seunghyung – S-rank 11, A-rank 3, B-rank 12….

“Truly unparalleled.”

“Praise for Fire Fist is widespread. Not only do the elders commend Fire Fist, but foreign superhumans also received great help from Fire Fist. I heard that Fire Fist’s share of the overall subjugation was nearly one-tenth.”

“Ugh, if only Fire Fist hadn’t touched *there*…!”

The Executor tore at her hair. His performance was overwhelming, and the results were good, but in the process, Fire Fist caused a fatal problem.

“If only he hadn’t sexually harassed the monster, it would have been truly perfect…!”

“Please don’t worry too much. He didn’t do it on purpose, did he? If anything, it’s because you, Executor, screamed-“

“I’m reflecting on that too! But still!”

The Executor’s face flushed with shame. She wasn’t the one who was touched, but she felt inexplicably embarrassed.

“That monster is the problem! If it’s going to imitate humans, it should at least cover what needs to be covered!”

“It seems difficult to impose human sexual norms on a monster in the first place.”

“…Unsa-nim, do you perhaps dislike me?”

“Not at all. I am merely speaking frankly.”

Unsa’s words were unreserved. Ever since participating in the Seoul Reclamation Operation, his spear had also been unreserved, and his body suit, which clung almost perfectly to his body, was also unreserved.

“……Ugh.”

“I apologize if you felt uncomfortable. However, please understand that it’s a habit that’s difficult to change.”

The Executor felt uncomfortable with the distance Unsa maintained in many ways, but she decided to resolve it gradually.

“Ugh, I’m afraid to see people’s reactions. What if I make a mistake and get criticized? If only I had known a little more, such an incident wouldn’t have happened….”

“You worry too much. The community is paying tribute to your decisiveness, Executor-nim.”

“Huh?”

“Please take a look.”

Unsa switched a part of the monitor. Amidst the constantly updated information, Unsa pulled up and recited a few pieces of information related to the Executor.

“‘Look at those bastards who criticized us for bringing Fire Fist. Didn’t you see something good thanks to Executor-nim?’, ‘It’s cute how she panicked when her beret flew off, haa haa haa.’, ‘Those who cursed her for misjudging the location have all gone silent, right? Kuk kuk kuk.’ …As you can see, no one is criticizing the Executor.”

“Phew, phew. That’s a relief then.”

The Executor didn’t notice. That a certain white-haired elder, who had been watching his granddaughter’s performance with wide eyes from his office, had been pulling strings behind the scenes. The Executor, seeing ‘only’ the favorable public opinion about herself, regained a little confidence.

“But what about the national prestige that Fire Fist lowered? If things continue like this, our entire group will be seen as sexual harassers….”

“You don’t need to worry about that at all either.”

Since the settlement results for each country had not yet been released, public attention was focused on Fire Fist and the Black Sand Scorpion.

“Everyone is praising Fire Fist as a ‘Great Hero’. Even his initial panic, which caused his flames to extinguish and earned him criticism as a coward, later led to him being praised as a ‘True Man’….”

“That’s less of a ‘True Man’ and more of a…. Tsk. I get it. So, we’re not getting criticized, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then the rest-“

*Bzzzt.* Music rang from the Executor’s watch. Perhaps it was a custom ringtone, as the Executor startled and stood up.

“Uh, that-“

“I will return to the battlefield. Farewell for now.”

Unsa bowed deeply and left the bridge. The Executor remained alone on the bridge, closing her eyes tightly then opening them to answer the call.

“Hello…?”

[I hope I’m not calling at a busy time.]

“No! I was just resting after everything was done. Thank you for contacting me, Chairman Eun Jaemin-nim.”

The person on the other side of the screen, Eun Jaemin, pushed up his glasses and smiled.

[It’s only right that I call first. You’ve become a national hero now, haven’t you? Amazing, as expected of Heea. By any chance, could I know how many Cores you earned?]

“…….”

Baek Heea felt disappointed by Eun Jaemin’s words, as he immediately got to the point after calling. But she swallowed her boiling emotions and calmly transmitted the results.

“21 S-rank Cores. The rest are as you see.”

[…Truly amazing. Heea. This-]

“Yes. I’ll ask my grandfather to ensure Yuseong can procure all of them. I’ll handle the Association myself.”

[Really? Thank you so much! Thanks to you, Heea, I can sleep very peacefully. I hope you have a comfortable journey back to Korea.]

“Yes. Um, Oppa.”

[Ajusshi.]

“…Ajusshi. When I return to Korea later, perhaps we could have a meal-“

[…Heea, I’m sorry. I just got an urgent call. Let’s talk separately later! Sorry!]

The call was unilaterally cut off. Baek Heea didn’t see Eun Jaemin’s eyes glint gold at the end. Baek Heea slumped into the captain’s seat.

“……He keeps putting up a wall. My grandfather’s position would be secure if we could bring Yuseong in.”

Baek Heea muttered to herself, clicking her tongue.

“Bringing the Yuseongga into our family… and having the business world’s backing….”

“Are you done with your call?”

“Hee-eek?! N-you startled me…!”

Baek Heea patted her chest, collecting her breath.

“…Weren’t you going to catch the rest of the Black Scorpions?

“That’s right. I went to check briefly, just in case any were still alive. But before that, please take a look at this.”

Unsa brought up a screen on his watch.

“It’s… empty?”

Beneath the lake.

Only the empty shell of the giant Black Scorpion-the Black Sand Scorpion-remained, with no Core reaction.

* * *

At that moment, beyond the Ice Wall.

“What a relief. Phew.”

Phoenix Baek Cheongyeong, having received the report that all Black Scorpions had been annihilated, let out a sigh of relief from beyond the Ice Wall.

“Aren’t you disappointed?”

The Emperor asked from beside him.

The Hwanryongdan had set up a wide defensive line with the Hwan-yeomryeong, preparing for any Black Scorpions that might cross the Ice Wall, but with all the Black Scorpions drowned in the lake, their efforts proved futile.

“Not at all.”

“Why?”

“We are satisfied with having acquired Jiparyong’s Core. …Since that person no longer desires more, we should be satisfied with this as well.”

“…Ugh. It’s regrettable to hand over something that originated from this land to a foreign country.”

The Emperor still made remarks expressing concern for his descendants. Baek Cheongyeong shrugged as if there was nothing he could do, and pressed his watch, giving orders to all Hwanryongdan members.

“Lead your respective Hwan-yeomryeong and return. There are no issues on the monster radar either… Huh?”

Baek Cheongyeong felt a sense of déjà vu at the figure pushing through the bushes. It wasn’t a wild animal, but its movements were exactly like a wild animal’s as it rushed towards Baek Cheongyeong and the Emperor.

“Your Majesty.”

“Hmm.”

The Emperor raised his poisonous tail. As he was nominally an S-rank monstrous human, his close-quarters combat was also quite excellent.

“……Hmm?”

The Emperor’s eyebrows twitched. From the shadow rushing towards him, he caught the scent of familiar mana.

Just then, a naked woman burst out, cutting through the bushes.

Kyaaaak!

The woman, with disheveled hair flying and claws extended, pounced on the Emperor without a single thread of clothing. The Emperor made no counterattack.

Kikik, Kigigik!

The woman bit the Emperor’s shoulder like a madwoman. Her actions resembled the habits of monsters that try to devour the Emperor to gain power.

“Hmm…?”

Baek Cheongyeong also sensed something unusual about the woman. As a monstrous human, he could confirm her abnormality.

“Isn’t this… a monster?”

“Yes. It seems so.”

The Emperor wrapped his tail around the woman’s neck, lifting her into the air. The woman struggled, threatening the Emperor, but it was useless.

“It’s just a personal feeling, but could she be the mother of this Core?”

“Huh?”

“Just a feeling.”

The Emperor pointed to the Core embedded in his chest. As he was born from the Core of a Black Scorpion hunted by Phoenix, he seemed to feel something peculiar about the woman.

“……Hmm.”

Baek Cheongyeong fell into thought. According to the Emperor’s ‘feeling’ and his own ‘thoughts,’ he could somewhat guess the woman’s identity.

“That person clearly called it ‘Black Sand Scorpion,’ not ‘Black Scorpion.'”

Baek Cheongyeong’s eyes, looking at the woman, formed crescent moons.

“Well, well, it seems coming all this way was worth it. ……Hmm?”

Baek Cheongyeong’s eyes swept up and down the woman’s naked body. Her breasts, which were somewhat excessively large, were clearly identical to what he had seen in the video.

“Hmm, ohh.”

Baek Cheongyeong poked her lower breast with a feather from his fan.

“Hyaang?!”

The woman let out a moan with a confused expression. At that, Baek Cheongyeong held his stomach and laughed.

“Ehehehe! I see! So you turned into a human and ran away because you thought you were going to die?! Hahahaha!”

“It’s a survival instinct. It would have been a big problem if it had escaped like this. What do you say, should I kill it?”

The Emperor sharpened his claws. The woman felt intense fear that the being she had felt was like her own offspring was trying to kill her.

“No, no. I have a ‘good idea.’ Yes. It seems it will be a very good ‘revenge.'”

Baek Cheongyeong looked at the woman with a brighter smile than ever before. To the woman-the Black Sand Scorpion-that smile was utterly chilling.

“What are you thinking? Surely not that person again?”

“No, of course not. This is how we should use her in a situation like this.”

Baek Cheongyeong smiled broadly and called Hwanryong.

[Huhu, what is it? …Yawn.]

“My Lord. Could you inform that person that we’ve captured the Black Sand Scorpion?”

[……You’re not going to use her?]

“Yes. Instead, I will make the deal myself. Hahahahaha.”

S-rank monster, Black Sand Scorpion.

Captured alive by the Hwanryongdan.

The Black Sand Scorpion incident came to an end.

The Heroes searched Cheonghae Lake thoroughly, like looking for lice, to find the whereabouts of the vanished Black Sand Scorpion, but found nothing.