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Chapter 150

〈 Chapter 150 〉 Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 10

The Director’s Office of the Central Party Monster Management Countermeasures Bureau.

Director Mo Taegyeong sat alone on the couch in his office, his unease plainly visible. Again and again, he opened and closed his phone, waiting for something.

Knock knock.

A knocking sound rang out.

“Come in.”

Mo Taegyeong issued the command without even looking to see who it was. To him, sitting in a position second only to heaven and first among men, there was no one above him who would come to this office.

“Father!”

Fortunately, the man who entered was his subordinate. Mo Taegyeong furrowed his brow as he corrected the man’s address.

“Director.”

“…Director.”

The man bowed his head, looking utterly exhausted. His eyes were bloodshot, and it seemed like he hadn’t properly washed his body in days, dirt clinging to various spots. But Mo Taegyeing didn’t bat an eyelid as he cut straight to the main topic.

“The whereabouts? Did you recover the body?”

“We mobilized every available alumnus. But not even within a 10km radius was there any trace—not even signs of escape.”

The man pulled out a photo. The point where the target had jumped from the plane and fallen. The area looked like a plane had flown over, flattening the weeds.

“<Munhwa>-ya.”

“Yes.”

Munhwa bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle. Mo Taegyeong clicked his tongue and placed a pipe in his mouth.

“It seems I bestowed upon you too grand a title.”

“……!”

Munhwa immediately understood what Mo Taegyeong meant. He was criticizing his incompetence by comparing him to the original owner of the title, implying he should live up to it.

“Not even a trace within 5km, so you expanded the radius to 10km per your suggestion. Yet neither a corpse nor signs of escape are found—does that seem like an easily acceptable answer? If you have a mouth, speak up.”

Mo Taegyeong exhaled cigarette smoke while wrinkling his nose.

“Did the monster pilot sink into the ground or soar into the sky?”

“……I’m investigating. But please believe me, Director. I will give my all, worthy of the title you’ve given me-”

“Tsk.”

Mo Taegyeong clicked his tongue again and flicked off the cigarette ash. Munhwa clenched his fists, suppressing his frustration.

“Perhaps the bald bodyguard who came with the monster pilot is some superhuman exceeding the common sense of our alumni. For example, like a secret weapon from Chosun or the Guild.”

“……Are you referring to that SS-Rank immortal being, the Phoenix?”

“Munhwa-ya.”

Mo Taegyeong shook his head regretfully.

“If Bonghyo were here, he wouldn’t ask such a thing but would directly state his opinion. For instance, the possibility that the immortal being rescued the monster pilot before falling and escaped using a method beyond our perception. That’s how he would talk.”

“……I apologize.”

That was all Munhwa could say. Suddenly thrust into the position of admiral after the previous one went missing, Munhwa had become the leader of the alumni in a hurry.

Just as Mo Taegyeong compared him unfavorably to Bonghyo, the current alumni were underperforming in many ways compared to their former efficiency.

“Well. Have you found where the vanished heroes of the alumni have gone?”

“……We’re monitoring the entire region. So far, we haven’t located them yet, but-”

Mo Taegyeong clenched his fist, prompting Munhwa to quickly raise his voice.

“There won’t be any more disappearances! I’ve thoroughly organized all alumni into groups of three, ensuring that if even one person goes missing, the others will immediately report it!”

“Hmph. We must at least prevent any further loss of strength. Already, about thirty percent have gone missing.”

Mo Taegyeong mocked Munhwa with a sneer. Munhwa felt aggrieved in his chest but had to endure his father-Director’s continuous mockery.

“Bonghyo would’ve done better.”

“……I’ll try harder.”

Mo Taegyeong constantly compared Munhwa to his half-brother Bonghyo. Having fathered numerous illegitimate children, he believed that competition among them would produce better individuals.

“Among my sons, Bonghyo was the best, and among my daughters, Unjang was the most outstanding. But now, both are gone. Munhwa-ya.”

“Yes.”

“Bring them back. That will be your first mission as the admiral of the alumni—and possibly your last.”

“Understood.”

Munhwa bowed his head and left the director’s office. The much-anticipated report turned out to be fruitless, and once again, restlessness began to gnaw at him.

“…If only Bonghyo were here.”

Among the many illegitimate children he had fathered, none of them measured up to Bonghyo. Mo Taegyeong seriously considered revoking the title he had given to Munhwa, who was at least somewhat intelligent.

“If I’m changing it anyway, maybe someone around C Rank-”

“Father?!”

The door to the director’s office burst open as Munhwa rushed in without knocking. Mo Taegyeong was about to scold his son for rudely barging in, but he stopped when he saw the smile on Munhwa’s face.

“I’ve found them! The illusionists!”

“……Is that why you just broke into my room-”

“The missing alumni were illusionists!”

Mo Taegyeong dropped his tobacco pipe.

* * *

“Have you gathered everything?”

I called Deokbae into the stone chamber. The Bright Flame Orders I had already commanded followed closely behind him.

“Yeah. Here.”

Deokbae tossed me a bundle. It weighed more than a whole sack of rice, but I caught it mid-air with magic power and gently placed it on the floor.

“Hmm… About five hundred usable ones here.”

“What? Right now, we’ve collected almost three thousand!”

Deokbae argued angrily, and the Bright Flame Orders standing behind him also looked visibly dissatisfied.

“No, I appreciate the effort, but only about five hundred of these are what I need right away.”

“??”

Deokbae frowned, clearly confused. I pointed to the Bright Flame Orders behind me and smirked.

“As for those illusionists, want to tell me their characteristics?”

“Sure. …Uh, well…”

Deokbae looked flustered at the Chinese-filled webpage. I stayed silent, and one of the Bright Flame Orders stepped beside Deokbae.

“Shall I read it for you?”

“That, yeah. Thanks.”

Deokbae handed over the screen, and the Bright Flame Order deftly tapped it to find the information I wanted.

“Primarily, they’re special ability users who emit gray magic power, projecting gray light from their pupils. They appear solid but can turn ghost-like. All discovered entities so far are male.”

“……Then aren’t they the same as these guys? Just different genders.”

Deokbae pointed at the pupil of a Bright Flame Order. Born from the Illusion Magic core where my magic power resided, they had gray hair and blue eyes.

“Number Two, you’re sharp today. You’re right.”

I confirmed Deokbae’s guess and asked the Bright Flame Order for more details.

“By any chance, what’s their rank? Mostly C Rank to A Rank?”

“……Correct. Most entities are C Rank, but occasionally A Rank.”

“Damn.”

A certain assumption forming in my mind was already turning into certainty. I sighed once and briefly explained to Deokbae and the Bright Flame Orders.

“It’s pretty clear the Chaos Dragon has awakened. Whether someone woke it or it woke itself, I don’t know, but the situation is dire. Those illusionists—they’re originally the alumni.”

“…Those bastards? Wait. Alumni are Mo Taegyeong’s subordinates, right?”

“Yes. They seem to have already begun operations. The Chaos Dragon.”

My teeth gritted involuntarily. Just as I started activities five years earlier than the original timeline, it seemed the world had accelerated time, waking up officers one by one.

There’s no way Mo Taegyeong woke it, right? My whole body trembled with the worst-case scenario forming in my mind.

“Damn. There’s no time to relax. Deokbae and Bright Flame Orders, take orders.”

I unfurled the bundle they brought. The magical cloth formed into a wide box, and Deokbae and the Bright Flame Orders’ expressions slightly tensed.

“Five hundred out of three thousand. What, really?”

“Yes. Let’s sort.”

I rolled up my sleeves and loosened my hands.

“Leave out the D Rank cores and separate the ones that are around C Rank.”

Unfortunately, manual labor was necessary. Starting with me, I sat cross-legged in front of the bundle and began pulling out the C Rank cores.

“Hey. In the 21st-century civilization era, do we really have to do this? Can’t we automate sorting? You said there’s no time to relax, so what are we doing here?”

“Mr. Deokbae. Just shut up and sit down. You all help too.”

The Bright Flame Orders also squatted together and began separating the C Rank cores. Grumbling, Deokbae sat down and picked through the cores. After picking out ten appropriately, I stood up.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and pick!”

“I have other work to do.”

I scattered ten cores to the perimeter and remade them into monsters. Ten new Bright Flame Orders were born, and I gave them orders.

“Sort the cores.”

“Yes.”

The seated monsters separated the C Rank cores, which I then used to create more monsters. It was monotonous grunt work, but as time passed, the number of monsters increased, speeding up the process.

“When will we finish this task?”

“At least let us chat while doing this boring work, huh?”

The Bright Flame Orders, now numbering about thirty, complained. Their gazes were fixed on me.

“…Alright.”

Though my heart was restless, I figured suppressing them too much might slow down the work, so I allowed them to chat.

“Oh my, how generous. Thank you. I’ve been itching to talk ever since ‘kieeeeek’ was all I could say.”

“Right? I wanted to talk, but kept screaming instead, nearly losing my mind. Oh, it feels so good to be alive again. Not being able to talk while dead was truly frustrating, wasn’t it?”

“Ohoho, luckily our understanding master resurrected us. Hohoho!”

And thus, the tea party began. I contemplated silencing the monsters but realized it was already out of control.

“Excuse me, sister, how did you die?”

“Me? Eaten by a monster. How about you?”

“Me? I got trampled by people while running when the dimensional gate opened. And you, young man?”

“He burned me to death.”

Suddenly interjected, Deokbae pointed at me and growled. The Bright Flame Orders alternated their gaze between Deokbae and me, then consoled Deokbae with sympathetic voices.

“My goodness. What a tragedy at such a young age. Still, you’ve been revived, haven’t you?”

“Bachelor. Think positively. Life goes on, after all. With all the monsters rampaging across the world, dying early is fate, fate.”

“……”

I suddenly felt apologetic toward the corpse peacefully lying in the coffin. If my guess is correct, he was likely someone who once ruled the continent, and now I’ve inadvertently made a flea market in front of him.

The problem was that strangely, the more they chattered, the better the work efficiency became. I ignored their conversation and picked up the cores they sorted.

“Miss, how did you die?”

“I was trying to escape from a monster but fell off the roof. How about you?”

“My goodness. I was eaten by a monster. Ho ho ho. Remember when Black Scorpion was rampant?”

“Ah! I also died while running from Black Scorpion!”

“Oh my! Are we fellow victims of death?! Kek kek kek!”

Everyone, having died once and been resurrected, seemed quite cheerful about their deaths. I picked up a core and approached the coffin, sealing the lid firmly and praying.

“Sorry for the noise.”

“You’ve been doing something strange with that coffin the whole time….”

Deokbae subtly stood up and approached me, apparently noticing the existence of the coffin.

“……Could this be what I think it is?”

“Could be. Why? The fancy decorations on top are to prevent grave robbing. But I can’t be entirely sure.”

“Then why don’t we resurrect it and check if it’s the real person?”

“……You’re crazy.”

I spat out involuntarily.

“Are you suggesting desecration of the deceased?”

“Isn’t that your specialty?”

“No, even so, this is a bit… If it’s really him, what do you plan to do?”

“……Number Two. If we’re resurrecting, it’d be better to use a higher-quality core, right?”

“That’s actually a good idea. Admit it, you were intrigued too, weren’t you?”

“Not intrigued—more like…”

I opened the coffin lid. Deokbae gasped in shock at the mummy inside.

“Yikes, damn it?!”

“Prepared ahead of time.”

I pulled out the mini-Phoenix hidden in the coffin. Deokhae seemed more surprised by the mini-Phoenix than the mummy, judging by the loud thud of his sitting down.

-Are you planning to resurrect him already?

“…No, not right now.”

Although several concerns arose upon learning the truth, the mini-Phoenix in front of me isn’t the real person.

As she herself claimed, she only appears when the shard of the Cube, a fragment of the god of another dimension, is retrieved—a pricey lady indeed. Thus, this mini-Phoenix currently conversing with me is merely a fragmented piece derived from her consciousness.

“Check the entire continent with the birds in the nest. Report to me immediately if any S-Rank monsters appear.”

-Understood.

The mini-Phoenix gracefully flew through the air and exited the stone chamber. I created another mini-Phoenix and placed it atop the coffin lid.

“Why make another one?”

“For quick teleportation marking. When will we descend underground again? Instantaneous movement is necessary. Try listening.”

I briefly explained my plan to Deokbae.

“Upon detecting an S-Rank monster, instantly teleport, kill it, and extract its core. Then, use that core to resurrect this person.”

“Replenishing power locally, huh. Not bad. Hey, then how about this.”

Deokbae made a rather tempting proposal.

“How about setting up a temporary base here? Realistically, would either the Illusionists or Mo Taegyeong come down here? Who destroys cultural relics like someone else?”

“……”

I alternated my gaze between the mummy in the coffin and Deokbae before answering.

“Let’s get permission from the owner later.”

The presumed owner still rested peacefully within the coffin.

Phoenix of The Flame

Phoenix of The Flame

Score 8
Status: Completed Type: Released: 2021 Native Language: Korean
I became the unbeatable heroine of an RPG game. It seems that I have to die to prevent the destruction of the world.

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