#173
Kyushu Crisis (5)
Korean Repatriates Association, Seoul Southern Branch.
“Ahem ahem~ Oh, this is a new one? I have to buy this right away.”
Branch manager Yoon Ji-yoon was humming a tune peacefully and doing something else on her work computer.
It was a luxury I couldn’t even dream of in the past when I was very busy, but recently, after I had some free time, it’s become a daily routine that isn’t so rare.
“You seem to be in a good mood, Branch Manager.”
“Oh, Secretary Kim is here? Of course! I heard that life is really fun these days. This is how people live. To be honest, it was a bit… like that before, wasn’t it?”
“Hahaha… I can’t deny it.”
The secretary, smiling bitterly, handed her a new report.
Of course, he, who had always been busy with her whenever she was busy, also liked her now more than before.
“Hmm, as expected, there’s a lot of chaos in Japan. The president must have a headache. The same goes for the Ability Management Bureau.”
“I guess that’s inevitable. It’s an undeniable fact that Hahoe masks are Korean.”
“Well, there’s no point in telling us anything. Anyway, regardless of the country, politicians are just going crazy when they see a number.”
The branch manager put the documents he had read down on the desk, stretched, and leaned back in his chair.
Although she had received the report, there was nothing she could do about it, so nothing would change from before.
“After all, a moderately high position is the best. If you climb to a high position for no reason, you’ll just end up with a lot of things to worry about. Isn’t that the case now?”
“Haha… You speak from experience.”
The secretary smiled awkwardly.
In fact, Ji-Yoon Yoon, the head of the Seoul Southern Branch, was not a person who deserved to be in her current position.
She is always in the top three when choosing the official strongest in Korea. She was a great hero who ended the great war that had lasted for a hundred years in the other world she had been sent to, and finally brought peace to the world.
Even though decades had already passed since her return due to the time difference, Earthlings who visited that world later were able to easily find traces of her all over the world.
Not only were they given significant treatment in history books, but there were also huge statues erected in major cities, biographies, plays, songs, etc.
Even the ‘Yoon’ family, where she took in those who followed her and war orphans, was said to have already established itself as a top-class family, so the Earthlings who indirectly encountered her greatness felt embarrassed when they met her upon returning.
There were even cases where people came all the way from abroad just to meet her, so I guess that says it all.
“But since there are Hahoe masks, the crime rate has decreased and work is easy and good. Well, things are different in Japan than we are, so there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Is that why you didn’t come forward yourself?”
“Huh? No, actually, I didn’t think anything would change if I stepped forward… And it wasn’t just me, right? Everyone else thought the same thing. Well, there are probably a lot of guys who are really scared and scared.”
As she said, the pursuit of Hahoe-tal continued, but there were few cases where a truly top-tier Awakened person directly stepped forward to catch him.
Most of them reluctantly stepped forward due to pressure from the political world.
However, because Hahoe masks were so elusive, there was never a single direct clash between them.
“Honestly, are there only a few people who feel relieved about wearing a hahoe mask? Even now, look at it, the crime rate is decreasing, how convenient is that? … It would have been much better if they had been a little more cooperative.”
Because of that, I got some criticism for being incompetent, but when I think about the peace we have now, I think it was worth it.
‘To be honest, I wish Hahoe-tal would sweep away all the corruption in the political world.’
However, if the privileged class in Korea becomes a direct target, the Ability Management Bureau and the Returnees Association will have no choice but to abandon their current policy of trying to persuade him and take active action.
Perhaps Hahoe Mask is not even aware of this fact and is only targeting violent criminals.
All sorts of complex issues and the self-correcting function of society are left to the parties that follow the system.
‘···I’m sorry I couldn’t live up to your expectations.’
She furrowed her brow as she recalled the figures in the political arena who were still sullen.
While she was thinking about something else, she suddenly saw her secretary moving around in a hurry and turned her gaze in that direction.
He froze in place, checking his tablet with a serious expression as if he had received a separate message about something.
No matter how you look at it, it looks like something has definitely happened.
Yoon Ji-yoon, who was becoming anxious, called him carefully.
“What’s wrong? What’s going on? Did something happen?”
“······.”
“If you keep doing that, I’ll start to feel anxious. Why? What’s going on?”
The secretary, who had been frozen by her repeated urging, silently handed over the tablet she was holding.
At the same time, let’s disconnect the wireless earphones that were in one ear···.
[Kyaaaaah——!]
A roar, like a loud noise coming from the speakers, echoed through the office like a thunderous roar.
“Huh? What is this···!”
Yoon Ji-yoon hurriedly took the tablet and checked the video again.
The length of the video that kept repeating wasn’t that long.
The empty space shatters like glass, and an ominous black pillar rises high into the sky.
A monster that looked like it could be made into CG appeared and floated in the sky above a mountain with a dark aura.
The video was not clear because it was taken from far away, but it showed a familiar impression of someone on top of her head.
“Wait a minute, this isn’t it···”
“This video was taken in the Kagoshima area of Kyushu, Japan!”
“···This was taken on the real Earth?”
Her mouth fell open.
Not only is it an unfamiliar monster that I have never seen in the world I have visited, but how high must its status be for me to feel this much presence just by seeing it on screen?
No, but before that, does it make sense for an alien being to appear on Earth?
“This must be a Hahoe mask, right?”
“···I guess so.”
“Ha, hahaha… This is a mess.”
She put the tablet down on the desk, leaned back against the chair, and wiped her face with a helpless smile.
“I never thought that the debut stage of the prince who had kept his identity completely hidden would start with such big news.”
The video she saw was one, but even at this moment, similar videos were flooding in continuously.
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Of course, it was taken directly with a smartphone, which is a modern person’s essential item, but it was also taken with a car’s black box and even a live broadcast by an internet broadcaster who happened to be introducing a good restaurant nearby.
What happened in Japan just a moment ago can be seen immediately by her in Seoul, Korea.
In this age of globalization, if there is such clear ‘evidence’ video, the repercussions could be easily predicted without much thought.
And just as she guessed.
This incident spread to people all over the world at a very fast pace.
***
Explosive reaction.
This was a phrase that succinctly described the Bone Dragon incident that occurred in Japan.
This interest spread to both returnees from other worlds and ordinary citizens who had only indirectly encountered other worldly culture, and soon became a huge trend.
-What is that? What is that? Is that a dragon? A bone dragon?
-Crazy! Why is that coming out of the Earth? Isn’t this a composite?
└There are more than one or two videos being uploaded now. They are all taken from various angles.
-How can an undead from another world move so normally? How did they bypass the laws? Please tell me too! Because of that, I can’t even take out my children whom I worked so hard to bring back!
└Wow lol I caught a necromancer. Over here, over here! Catch him quickly lol!
└?? Where do you live? It doesn’t cost much to hire a hacker.
└I’m sorry. Please save me. I made a mistake.
Most people were unaware of this, but it was not the case that there were no returnees from the Summoner lineage who could summon beings from other worlds.
However, Earthlings’ aptitude for that ability was so poor that they eventually stagnated at a mediocre level and became so rare that they had no choice but to choose a different path.
It must have been worse than the spirit temples, which are famous for having small numbers due to environmental issues.
In a situation where there was no immunity to ‘beings from another world’, a gigantic being called the Bone Dragon suddenly appeared.
-What do you mean, those who say this is manipulated? Even looking at it through the screen, it feels like my liver is shrinking.
└That’s right, that’s why the people who saw it in the video screamed and went crazy. Even though they were very far away from where it was filmed.
└Ah, f*ck, I played this for my dog as a joke and he suddenly peed himself. Don’t do that to your kids. Never show it to children.
What caught the public’s attention more than anything else was the overwhelming sense of realism that could be felt even in the video.
Even though it must have been diluted considerably, its vividness and creepy roar that seemed like it might burst out at any moment made many people more immersed in it.
Given the circumstances, it was only natural that the footage was analyzed instantly by multiple people.
It didn’t take long for the identity of the ‘one standing on top of the bone dragon’ to be revealed to be the ‘Hahoe mask’ that was much talked about in Korea.
-??? Why is this real? I thought it was just an aggro ghost story;;
-Ugh! Finally! Truth will triumph! You dirty and ugly slanderers!
-Ah, lol. Thinking about all those delusional guys going crazy makes me feel better.
Until now, many people have been steadfastly calling out the existence of Hahoe masks despite their ignorance, and they have been diligently spreading the word of his achievements with cheers.
It was naturally translated into many languages and spread around the world along with the video.
···A little embarrassingly.
“No, this is becoming such a hot topic? I kind of expected it, but this is just too much.”
Han Seong-hyeon, who was researching information on the Internet at the development that was no different from a social phenomenon, scratched his head and stuck out his tongue.
Although the existence of Hahoe masks has been proven, it is not enough to acknowledge the achievements that have been spread over time.
However, the image of the bone dragon that left a deep impression on everyone became a kind of persuasive force, giving strong credibility to the story that had been floating around like a ghost story until now—.
Because of this, words referring to him were being circulated here and there.
The unofficial strongest in Korea, the ruler of the Korean night, the reaper of criminals, the guardian of the darkness, the eternal death that creeps with the dawn…
‘No, not the last one. Who played this kind of prank? Who the hell crawled here?’
Additional recently added nicknames include ‘Dragon Rider’ and ‘Archipelago Bomber’.
“···I guess I’ve become unexpectedly famous. Well, if you think about it, it’s not such a bad thing.”
There was no special reason why I had been so careful to avoid leaving behind any evidence.
It’s just that, because I knew that what I was doing was socially wrong, I did it naturally.
‘Now that I think about it, I didn’t really have to hide it so thoroughly.’
Rather, it would be more effective as a deterrent to prevent crime by increasing the name value and increasing presence as is the case now.
Because it might make the villains think twice before they do something.
But that’s that, there was another important issue at hand.
‘By the way, they really are formidable guys. Beoncheonhoe.’
Immediately after using Heratos’ Abyss Breath to destroy their other world.
Hans immediately set up a new barrier to block their escape route so they couldn’t escape.
That’s why the videos that are circulating now aren’t that long, but the problem is that they’ve been preparing thoroughly and anticipating every situation.
‘I didn’t think I’d be able to escape using teleportation in that situation. I caught a few more before that, but it didn’t add up.’
Since it was difficult to block unique skills even with barriers, it was inevitable.
Besides, since they were a carefully selected group of elite personnel, it wouldn’t be that hard to understand why they were able to escape by breaking through the hastily installed barrier.
The only consolation was that after persistently targeting the man in the suit who had been using the back space, he eventually succeeded in killing him.
Although he was also a man of high status, most of his abilities were focused on unique skills, so his combat power itself was not that high.
There may also be the fact that the skill was not in a normal state due to the aftereffects of being forcibly destroyed.
‘···No, right? Come to think of it, there’s no need to feel sorry about missing them, right?’
In fact, if you look closely, the invader who had invaded their front yard was Hans, and they were the interception force that had come out to protect the stronghold.
And now we’ve only just cleaned up Kyushu.
There was still a lot of area left to clean up, the bastards had already been defeated, and the user of the ‘other world’, the biggest factor that had allowed Hans to be cornered, was dead.
But even if I run away now, where will I go?
Pssssss—
“Where, let’s see how long we can hide while the house is burning down?”
Along with that, the sound of laughter echoed sinisterly from a corner of a room in Korea.
Hahoe-tal, Hans quietly moved to the next region of Japan.
To set fire to their lair.
