“The City Lord?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re bitter enemies. Considering you came here openly asking about him, I’d think you already knew at least that much about our relationship?”
Kang Hyeon-woo stared into Grace’s eyes.
Anxiety, nervousness, concern.
All of it was mixed together in her gaze.
Having unintentionally lived well over a hundred years, Kang Hyeon-woo knew what those eyes meant.
“You’re lovers.”
Flinch.
Grace trembled slightly.
“W-what nonsense are you……!”
“Then again, that’s more like Jino.”
“What?”
“Do you know the best business strategy for eliminating your competitors?”
“……Don’t tell me.”
“Own both first and second place. Jino used to say that all the time.”
Operate one business under the City Lord’s name, then create another new entrant.
On the surface, the two businesses appeared to compete with each other.
But whichever one people used, they ultimately ended up using a business owned by the same person.
“I was wondering how the head of a criminal organization could operate so openly in broad daylight.”
Everything was solved if Jino himself was the head of the criminal organization.
That was probably why he had put Madam Grace forward as the face of the operation and had her handle everything.
After listening to Kang Hyeon-woo’s explanation, Grace gave a faint snort of laughter and sat on the sofa.
“Looks like you had some history with Jino. Sit.”
“Ahahaha! Wow, so this is how you do it.”
Inside the separated phase, Lena was practicing Reverse Gravity on the organization member afflicted by Silence.
The organization member floated around in terror, screaming soundlessly.
Kang Hyeon-woo looked away from Lena and sat down.
“If you know Jino, why did you interfere with our deal?”
“It was his request.”
“That’s a lie.”
“……So you really don’t know anything.”
Jino had not given even his lover and second-in-command any advance warning.
That meant he had taken precautions against information leaking out.
‘But why?’
He was a colleague Kang Hyeon-woo had not seen in more than a hundred years.
They had not even been particularly close.
Yet Jino had been taken by headquarters.
He had risked something dangerous enough that he could not even tell his lover, all to pass some kind of information to Kang Hyeon-woo.
‘The first possibility that comes to mind is…….’
“Park Seong-jun. Has the man codenamed Beast ever met Jino?”
Flinch.
Grace’s body twitched again for an instant.
Then she glared coldly at Kang Hyeon-woo.
“Who exactly are you?”
“Looks like Jino never taught you anything about gathering and analyzing information.”
Kang Hyeon-woo sank deeper into the sofa.
“Codename SIN. You can call me the Archmage, or a failed hero.”
Grace’s eyes widened.
***
Grace rose from her seat and brought out a bottle of liquor.
It was a deep brown.
“Single malt.”
“Jino told me there were exactly two people who liked this stuff.”
“Did Beast come here?”
“Yeah. At first, I didn’t know who he was. I never thought there’d be an Asian man that huge.”
“When?”
“About a month ago. Jino talked with him for a long time, then suddenly changed.”
“Changed?”
“For more than two weeks, he obsessed over something. He gathered information like a madman. And in the end, this happened.”
“He didn’t tell you anything?”
“If you know him that well, then you know what he’s like, don’t you? That’s the kind of man Jino is.”
Kang Hyeon-woo silently drained his glass.
Grace spoke with a small sigh.
“That Special Anomaly you destroyed had existed for decades…….”
It was a Dungeon Jino had discovered a few years after he first took up his post here as City Lord.
By then, he had already completely seized control of the criminal organizations in the underworld.
Jino violated headquarters’ rules and concealed the discovery.
Jino personally entered the Dungeon with trustworthy unregistered Mercenaries, and as soon as he came back out, he constructed a building around the portal.
“It was great for the organization. It was basically a secret space that would never be discovered.”
Surprisingly, the people of the world inside the Dungeon were able to communicate with people from Earth.
Jino did not let that Anomaly slip away.
No one had ever experienced anything like it before.
But if Shinhwa Company discovered that such a phenomenon existed, it was obvious how they would deal with it.
To conceal the Dungeon’s existence, Jino established the casino and carefully gathered information.
Then he gradually built a relationship with the people of the Dungeon world and began trading with them.
“Most of it was barter. The casino business isn’t as profitable as you’d think.”
Shinhwa Company headquarters took most of the casino’s profits.
Though it was electronic currency they had created in the first place.
Even so, Jino handed over most of the money the casino earned to headquarters and maintained a good relationship with them.
“Of course, he supplied them with information too. People from headquarters came out a few times to praise him.”
Jino’s business acumen and business model were excellent.
He had consistently handed over both profits and information without causing any major problems.
From Shinhwa Company’s perspective, it must have been welcome.
But behind their backs—
“He diverted our Core-based goods and supplied them to the people in the Dungeon.”
That was how Jino continued his dangerous balancing act.
“What did he receive in return?”
“Mostly food.”
Real food.
Fruit and various ingredients grown from the ground, rather than synthetic products made using Core energy.
“Of course, there were things like Skill Pages too.”
“There must have been information as well.”
“Yeah. Though he didn’t tell me about it.”
“Then I suppose the Core Reactor was also part of that trade.”
“Yeah.”
“What about the identity of the statue in that world and the woman they call the Empress?”
“I don’t know who she is. Come to think of it, I think Jino and Beast were curious about something similar……?”
“Did Beast enter that Special Anomaly too?”
“Of course. Then he left that very evening.”
Just as expected, there was no doubt that the handwriting in the book belonged to Park Seong-jun.
‘The Energy Storm wasn’t an accident. It was an incident.’
Perhaps Park Seong-jun had not been the one who caused it.
But even if that was true, he had allowed every false accusation to fall on him without explaining anything.
No. More than anything, he had never looked for Kang Hyeon-woo and had continued running away.
“Then it seems there’s nothing more for us to discuss.”
Clack.
Kang Hyeon-woo set down his glass and stood.
“W-wait! I have something to ask.”
“Go ahead.”
“You…… You’re top-tier, right? Don’t you have any connections at headquarters? Could you find out what happened to Jino and when he might come back?”
Grace bit her lip.
“That bastard will come back on his own, so don’t worry.”
“R-right?”
“I can’t promise anything, but if I get the chance, I’ll look into it.”
“Th-thank you! Then take this.”
Grace pulled a card from inside her clothes.
“It’s the key to a storage place where Jino keeps the personal belongings he’s collected. There might be something useful there.”
“Where is it?”
“I’ve never been there myself. I wanted to respect his privacy. But I roughly know where it is.”
Grace took out a device, activated a hologram, and pointed at a map.
“About here. It’s roughly halfway between Fort Volg and here.”
Fort Volg was located in the former Daegu area.
“Around Daejeon, then. He put his warehouse quite far away.”
“That place is…… I don’t know whether you’ve heard of it, but it’s Ground Zero.”
Ground Zero.
It referred to land that had been abandoned after monsters completely overran it.
“There couldn’t be a safer place for a warehouse. Jino is skilled at stealth, so getting in and out must have been easy for him.”
“Exactly.”
“Thanks for the useful information. Lena. We’re moving.”
The organization member was still spinning through the air in the office.
‘Dispel.’
THUD.
“Hehe. Thanks, Mister. I learned that you have to use the Stream a little differently on living things!”
“Aaaaaaagh! Aaaaagh!”
The organization member screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Too loud.”
“Ghk.”
At a single word from Kang Hyeon-woo, the organization member immediately shut his mouth.
“It’ll be difficult to enter Ground Zero with just a little girl. Want me to send some of the men downstairs with you?”
“I refuse.”
Kang Hyeon-woo started to turn away, glanced briefly at Lena, then spoke again.
“Taking us somewhere nearby would be enough.”
“Fine. You. Drive them there.”
“……Pardon?”
“Looks like you’ve made a habit of making me say things twice.”
At Kang Hyeon-woo’s quiet words, the organization member went deathly pale and shook his head frantically.
“No! No, Madam! Of course I’ll drive them! This way, please!”
As Kang Hyeon-woo was about to leave, he snapped his fingers in front of the office elevator.
SNAP!
“Take care!”
Lena also waved at Grace.
***
“My name is Mark.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Inside a smooth-riding car powered by a Core engine.
The car glided smoothly along the wasteland’s rough road.
Mark drove with his eyes fixed ahead, sweating nervously.
“What happened to Jino?”
“……Several helicopters suddenly flew in.”
The soldiers from headquarters demanded Jino without giving any explanation.
Not long after the soldiers went inside, Jino came down with them, his expression stiff.
“There are rumors that the City Lord is going to be replaced.”
“Replaced…….”
“People from other cities are saying so.”
City Lords were not replaced often.
But no City Lord taken away like this had ever returned.
“……I like the City Lord. He isn’t outright awful like the ones in other cities. The atmosphere in the city is free too…….”
“It’s amusing to hear a member of a criminal organization praise the City Lord.”
“Of course, our relationship with him is unavoidable…… but public sentiment still matters, doesn’t it?”
When no answer came, Mark looked awkward.
Kang Hyeon-woo asked him something else he wanted to know.
“Tell me about Ground Zero.”
“Ah, the place you’re heading to is a little complicated.”
“Complicated?”
“Yes…….”
The area was awkwardly wedged between Chungju and Daegu.
Ground Zero had remained uncleared because the City Lords of the two cities disputed jurisdiction and kept pushing responsibility onto each other.
“It seems to have become a habitat for insect-type monsters.”
“Wouldn’t Castle Gaudium benefit more from clearing it out? You’d get more visitors.”
“……That is true, but I really don’t know. I’m just a low-level member…….”
After driving at high speed for quite some time, the vehicle stopped.
“This is the boundary. Once you cross that hill, the monsters start swarming.”
As Kang Hyeon-woo got out, Mark immediately turned the car around.
“Um…… A few of us did die, but you really don’t need to worry too much about it.”
“?”
“Death is an everyday thing in this world, and all of us live with our lives on the line.”
Mark was referring to the organization members who had died to Hell Fire.
This was a world where people killing other people had become completely ordinary.
With all the world’s laws and morals gone, Earth had become a place where it would not be strange for anyone to die at any moment.
“……I want to rest too. As soon as possible.”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind. Go back.”
“Yes, sir.”
Mark quickly drove away along the road they had come from.
“Lena.”
Lena looked at Kang Hyeon-woo with sparkling eyes.
“Insect-type monsters are among the most basic Dungeon monsters. Practice Fire Ball as much as you want.”
“Okay!”
Lena grinned broadly.
“Ahahahaha!”
A white, translucent sphere.
Inside Absolute Shield, Lena burst out laughing as she ran among the monsters.
“Fire Ball!”
KABOOM—!
“Fire Ball! Fire Ball!”
BOOM! BOOM!
SKREEEEEEEE—!
Every time one of Lena’s spells struck, two-meter-tall bipedal insects screamed and burst into flames.
[500 Mana restored.]
[Direct Core consumption has low recovery efficiency.]
[Use a refined Core or a Recovery Station.]
[Critical error…….]
Kang Hyeon-woo chewed and swallowed one of the Old-Model Energy Cores Jino had given him.
Then he slowly followed Lena as she ran ahead casting magic.
‘Detect.’
Even by a rough estimate, thousands of monsters were swarming throughout the entire area.
Kang Hyeon-woo walked between buildings that had served as government offices in the distant past and took the key card from his coat.
‘A warehouse…….’
Kang Hyeon-woo thought about where Jino would have placed a warehouse in this area.
If he had gathered personal belongings and information there, he certainly would not have chosen somewhere that was easy to notice.
With thousands of monsters roaming around, there was also the possibility of it being destroyed, so he would have needed to account for various contingencies.
‘Then the most likely place would be…….’
“Mister! There’s a place up ahead where the Stream is twisted strangely. It feels similar to somewhere we went before.”
“Similar?”
“That snowy ice country!”
“……!”
“And I can sense Mr. Bear there too!”
“Lead the way.”
“But there are too many monsters. Can’t you help me a little? I think I’ve practiced Fire Ball enough now…….”
“Step back.”
Lena hid behind Kang Hyeon-woo, her eyes shining.
At some point, monsters had gathered in such numbers that the entire ruined city around Kang Hyeon-woo and Lena had turned black with them.
Kang Hyeon-woo took out another Core and tossed it into his mouth.
[500 Mana restored.]
[Direct Core consumption has low recovery efficiency.]
[Buy a refined Core…….]
“Do you understand why I separate the phase?”
“Hmm. Isn’t it to block interference from the Stream so the effect only reaches a limited area?”
“That’s right. More precisely, it also increases the effectiveness of the magic, but there’s no need to damage other areas unnecessarily.”
It was almost a Mage’s fate.
The more powerful the magic, the more likely it was to affect a wide area.
There were also powerful anti-personnel spells like Finger of Death and Power Word, which the Lich had used before, but their Mana consumption was extreme.
In the end, a Mage’s attacks inevitably destroyed the surroundings.
“Ahh…… You even thought about stuff like that, Mister?”
“You’ll understand when you’re older.”
“Eek?”
“The important thing is that in field-type Dungeons or places like this, you can use wide-area magic without worrying about anyone else.”
“Huh?”
“Pay close attention to the flow of Mana.”
SKREEEEEE—!
Monsters poured from between the collapsed buildings and piles of rubble.
Then they immediately charged toward Kang Hyeon-woo and Lena.
THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD.
Hundreds—too many to even count—rushed forward, making the earth tremble beneath them.
Kang Hyeon-woo slowly raised an arm toward the sky.
‘Lightning Storm.’
‘Fire Rain.’
‘Blizzard.’
RRRRRUMBLE—!
With a sound that tore through the air, dark clouds formed over the skies of the former Daejeon area in an instant.
And then—
A scene unfolded as though the end of the world had arrived.