Chapter 364

〈 Chapter 364 〉 Part 1, Chapter 15, Section 22

Su Ri had emptied her plate. Since there was no server to clear the dishes, she instead incinerated them with fire to remove them from the table.

Gulp.

Su Ri had been continuously sipping on her strawberry milk while smirking at me ever since. Though she claims it’s because she ate too much and is digesting, I suspect she’s just messing with me.

I tried to steer the conversation back to the original topic.

“So while Seok Harang is in Seoul and New Seoul, Rusalka will be stopping by Busan to push the sea away.”

“Just pushing it?”

“Yeah. Slowly moving it towards Fukuoka.”

If an island starts steadily moving at a rate of 10km per day, I wonder how the people of Tsushima will react.

“They were offering to give up their land in exchange for special autonomous status, but now that deal’s useless.”

“Because we’ve got North Korean territory?”

“Exactly.”

They were trying to threaten us with territory, but if we can take all of North Korea, giving up Tsushima would be no issue.

“So there won’t be any monsters appearing in North Korea anymore? How do you plan to train hunters?”

“Monsters can always burst through dimensional gates.”

“You’re saying you’ll open dimensional gates?”

“Not large-scale ones like the Gwanak Gate, but localized small-scale ones.”

“Ah, so you’re planning to start ‘dungeonization’ early?”

“Yeah… though it’s not necessarily something I’m starting.”

In the original story, the esteemed elders attempted an invasion of Tera and got their butts handed to them.

Even mighty dragons couldn’t be properly handled, yet they foolishly opened a gate to another world, causing monsters to flood in worldwide.

And soon dimensional gates will open everywhere, making every corner of the world a potential monster nest.

“There are still plenty of unsealed dimensional gates, and plenty of monsters from Tera remain. Anyway, when Seongju comes, he’ll open gates across the entire Earth. It’s not bad to get rid of them early.”

“The blunders of the esteemed elders ended up being a blessing in disguise.”

“Yeah.”

Councilor Yu Yinghuo, who’s collaborating with me, hasn’t made it into the Central Committee yet, but as he continues to gain trust, he’ll eventually reach even the esteemed elders’ presence.

“. A plan to abandon Earth after being invaded by monsters and move to another world.”

“…Turned out to be Tera, didn’t it? The world that Seongju already destroyed.”

Dreaming of a utopia, they ended up arriving at a dystopian apocalypse instead. But it’s a fact that their mistake greatly helped in humanity’s final battle.

“Anyway, lucky people succeed at everything, don’t they? Honestly, those guys aren’t doing anything worthwhile.”

“Why? They’re doing the hardest work.”

“Naming things? Pfft, now that you’re leaking spoilers through the councilor, what’s the point?”

“Even if it takes two or three days of meetings to decide names, the councilor gains trust and gets a raise – it’s win-win.”

The esteemed elders worked hard for months coming up with names, but currently Yu Yinghuo is busy pre-naming everything to gain trust.

They think he has a natural talent for naming, but actually, it’s all names that future versions of themselves thought were best.

“Some of them are just blatant plagiarism disguised as homage.”

“…Don’t argue with me about it, take it up with the producers.”

“Maybe later. Pfft, my turn for seconds~”

Su Ri happily went off to fetch more dishes. Despite some time passing, the food was still warm.

I was emitting magic power in all directions to maintain the heat. Thanks to this, Su Ri could enjoy warm food warm and cold food cold.

‘Time to mess with Chinese cuisine.’

The only decent thing was the fruit sweet and sour pork with strawberries, but even so, I felt my temper rising again and looked out the window.

‘It’s starting.’

Gurgle.

The currents of the East Sea began to stir slowly.

* * *

The refugees remaining on Tsushima found themselves in a precarious situation.

– Is Tsushima important right now?! North Korea is about to come over!

Comparing land size alone, the difference was dozens of times larger. The land untouched by human hands for nearly nine years was a perfect haven.

Of course, that was from the perspective of Koreans, while the refugees left on Tsushima were forgotten.

“Damn…”

All the refugees on Tsushima clicked their tongues. Though opinions varied among the many refugees, they all agreed that Pyongyang had been safely captured.

At this rate, we’ll end up as chaff.

That was the dominant thinking among the Tsushima refugees, and eventually, they made their final choice.

Splash, splash!

“Ughh!”

“Shit, kill us if you want!”

Refugees jumped into the sea. Even if they went around the ice wall, the distance from Tsushima land to Haeundae Beach was less than 5 km.

“These… crazy bastards!”

Those stationed at Haeundae Beach were furious at the wave of refugees swimming toward them.

“You bastards! Princess Seongju went to Pyongyang, you know!”

They couldn’t ask Seongju to return to Busan immediately. According to Seongju’s testimony, the monster in Pyongyang was stronger than the SS-Rank monster Chaos, so she needed rest.

“Damn! Try coming here! I’ll smash your heads in!”

Enraged crowds grabbed baseball bats and other items, threatening the sea. One person even brought out a bowl used for selling rice soup, ready to throw it at anyone trying to land on the beach.

“Don’t come, I said don’t come!”

“You, we really will stab you! Go back to your own land, you crazy bastards!”

Yet, none of them actually carried out their threats.

In the age of monsters, it’s natural that people would want to go where powerful ability users reside. Those stationed on the beach knew this better than anyone.

They had once been refugees themselves.

After Seongju’s awakening, people from Gyeongsangnam-do, Ulsan, Gyeongsangbuk-do, etc., packed their belongings and came to Busan, sleeping wherever they could.

Though nationalities differ, they understood the desperate situation of those refugees.

“T-Though you want to come, apply as refugees and come officially, you bastards—!!”

Someone shouted desperately toward the sea.

And at that moment…

Gurgle gurgle.

The ice wall began to crumble slowly from the bottom. The ice barrier that originally held back the seawater started breaking apart.

“What, what is this?!”

“Old man, we’re in trouble!”

A middle-aged man in an apron holding a kitchen knife relayed the breaking news via his smartwatch.

“Princess passed out!”

“Shit!”

Breaking news.

Seongju fainted. She was rushed to a nearby hotel.

After battling an SS-Rank monster and complaining of fatigue, Seongju finally collapsed. Since the one who created the ice barrier had fallen, it was only natural that the barrier would collapse as well.

“Now’s our chance!”

“Keeeeeeyahh!”

The Tsushima refugees began swimming, riding the waves of the crumbling ice wall. A massive human tsunami seemed ready to engulf Haeundae Beach.

“Aaaah! Run!”

People who had set up camp screamed at the sight of the black-haired masses filling the coastline. But more than half remained steadfast, glaring fiercely.

“Don’t come! Get the hell out of here!”

“You, seriously, go back! Damn it, you want to come to Korea but can’t understand Korean?!”

As emotions heightened and conflict brewed, the man holding the rice soup bowl finally snapped and took a big step forward.

“Get lost!”

He was ready to start the fight. He was about to throw the bowl, which smelled faintly of pig feet stew, toward the sea.

Thud.

Then someone grabbed his wrist. The bowl fell uselessly onto the sand.

“A-Ah? What?”

There was no one behind him. Yet red handprints clearly marked his arm.

“What the…”

Had he been possessed by a ghost? At that very moment when the man felt goosebumps,

Whoosh—

The East Sea began to churn violently. The water at Haeundae Beach rapidly receded like a tide going out. Though not on the West Sea, the quickly disappearing seawater swallowed even the tsunami of refugees swimming toward Busan.

“Aaaaah!!”

“What is this?!”

The current pushed the refugees back, carrying them the full 5 km they swam and dumping them back onto Tsushima.

“What…what is this?”

People who had been on the verge of rioting were now completely baffled. Could Seongju have shown such divine power despite being unconscious?

“Uh…uh…isn’t that weird?”

Someone pointed toward the horizon.

An island was…moving slightly.

Gurgle gurgle.

A massive earthquake-like rumble sounded as the East Sea slowly began expanding its domain. People watching couldn’t believe their eyes.

“The island…it’s floating away?”

Gurgle.

Tsushima was floating away toward Japan, slower than when it first approached the Korean Peninsula, but unmistakably moving in that direction.

Carrying all the refugees who had tried to swim to the Korean Peninsula.

And nearby D Island.

No one noticed the young blond and white-haired couple using their magic.

Tsushima began floating away once more.

* * *

“Ho ho, it’s floating nicely. If we hit it with Blazing Phoenix Revival, it’d really catch fire.”

“Tch.”

Su Ri giggled evilly while eating kimchi-wrapped strawberry noodles. While the method of eating is correct, I can definitively say the type of noodles is wrong.

“By the way, you did pretty well in this battle. No overexertion, good delegation.”

“I did the shooting, but wasn’t Karna getting injured somewhat problematic?”

“That’s his own fault for showing off so much. Where does he get off calling himself the strongest? Hmph, let him talk. Did he finish the job? Pfft.”

Su Ri drank the last of her soup, lifting the plate to her lips. Currently, an SS-Rank Wind Attribute Core was in my front pocket, though not visible from outside.

“What about Master?”

Hesitation. Su Ri stopped mid-motion. I realized I had made a slip of the tongue.

“…Kim Chul-soo? Your dumpling-folding master? Are you calling someone else master while talking to me?”

“No, wait. It’s just an expression, right? Don’t get mad over something like this.”

“Yes.”

“Understood. Sorry. I won’t call him. Okay?”

I raised both hands in surrender, and Su Ri finally seemed satisfied, reaching for the cake. Finally, Su Ri finished her meal and started on dessert.

“So what should we do with this? Unless it’s for summoning souls, it’s just an SS-Rank Core.”

“Hmm…should we just keep it as a keepsake? Or give it to Seok Harang as proof of conquering Nuclearian?”

“What if Aruel comes to steal it?”

“Let her steal it. That girl, whose tastes are half British and half French, thinks stealing is perfectly normal.”

“Still, she has Fire Attribute as sub.”

“She’s mainly Durability with Fire and Wind as subs anyway. Hmph, I won’t acknowledge her unless she makes Fire Attribute her main.”

“What about Su Ri?”

“Next A after you. No knockoffs accepted.”

Su Ri shoved cake into her mouth while wagging her fork back and forth at me. I worried about accidentally appearing on CCTV.

“Hmm. So what are you planning to do next? I should head back soon.”

“Can’t you stay longer? There’s a suite upstairs since this is a hotel.”

“Mother, stop teasing. Not now. If you want, come find me LATER. I’m full now.”

Snap.

Su Ri flicked her finger, burning all the dishes except the shortcake I brought first.

“Thanks for the meal. Service next time. Pfft.”

Click. Su Ri speared a strawberry with her fork and popped it into her mouth.

Crunch.

Simultaneously with Su Ri chewing the strawberry, my body entered hers.

“Ugh…”

I had to suppress my frustration while tasting the strawberry Su Ri had been chewing in her mouth.

“…”

Su Ri teasingly left only the newly ordered strawberry milk in front of me before disappearing.

Sip.

I slowly savored the strawberry milk while watching Tsushima float away.

Is this the taste?

* * *

Beep beep.

“Great meal. But I think it’s better to just close this buffet.”

[What?! Why?!]

Yu Hu appeared deeply hurt that his carefully inspected masterpiece item had been rejected by me.

August 15th afternoon.

I went on a date with Su Ri and eliminated one Cube.