Chapter 17

〈 Episode 17 〉Part 2 Chapter 1 (3)

<April 4, 2020, 1:00 PM, Abandoned Taekwondo Hall near Incheon City Hall.>

“The Four Elements of Water, Metal, Fire, and Wind. So what are the other three elements?”

I threw a punch imbued with magic power. The pure wave of magic power grazed Deokbae’s rock-like skin.

“Kgh! I don’t know!”

Deokbae dodged while keeping his crouched position and lunged at me, using his massive body like a charging bull.

Just dodge it.

“The first answer. One is Light. Light Blade is a typical example.”

I slightly stepped back and twisted my body. Deokbae noticed this and tried to change the direction of his punch, but my elbow already struck his side.

KWAANG!

Deokbae flew through the air and rolled on the ground. As he regained his stance with a falling technique, I tapped the floor lightly with my shoe.

“The second one is Darkness. Most monsters have this attribute. It’s also a common attribute for villains.”

In a single bound, I leaped high into the air, raising my leg dramatically. Deokbae realized it was too late to dodge and crossed his arms above his head. His arms were reinforced with magic power, his rock-like skin bulging impressively.

KUUUHNG!

My magic-powered downward strike pressed Deokbae’s entire body down slightly. Successfully defending, Deokbae grinned triumphantly between his crossed arms.

“I’ve got you now!”

Deokbae attempted to grab my ankle. Too slow.

“You should say that after catching me!”

His hand sliced through the air. Behind me, wings of blue flame had already unfurled.

“!!”

Seeing my wings, Deokbae immediately raised his guard again. Good judgment. It was already too late to dodge. Flapping my wings, I continuously pounded down on Deokbae.

KAANG! KWAANG! KAANG!

Each time my shoe hit his arm, an explosive sound echoed. Deokbae’s feet began sinking into the marble floor.

“Now, here comes the big one!”

Flapping my wings forcefully, I spun my body half a turn. The vertical attacks transitioned into a horizontal spinning kick.

“Tch!”

Deokbae quickly raised his left arm for defense. Despite his rock-like skin being worn down, threads of emerald-green magic power still shone brightly.

Defense concentrated all the magic power at the point of impact. I slightly elevated the magic power in the sole of my foot.

WHOOSH!

Blue flames erupted from my foot, startling Deokbae. Naturally, the tightly woven magic power momentarily unraveled.

KOOONG!

Deokbae’s body soared backward and crashed into the wall. Fortunately, there was a pre-prepared magic net on the wall, so there wasn’t much impact. Probably.

“The last one is Illusion attribute. Illusion Magic, illusions, telepathy or mind reading abilities? All those kinds of special abilities fall under this category.”

I clapped my hands and created seven flames of different colors right in front of Deokbae’s eyes.

“Everyone reacts differently to their own attributes, but occasionally people talented in multiple attributes appear. Such individuals either develop compound attributes or manifest completely different ones. Like the hero ‘Lightning,’ who awakened the lightning ability by combining fire and wind attributes.”

“Haa. Haa. Stop explaining already.”

Deokbae gathered his magic power and dissolved his rock skin. As the rocky covering disappeared, his bare body was revealed.

His skin was still grayish-white, and greenish-blue veins of magic power were visible. His hair, exposed as his hood fell off, reflected the fluorescent light.

Indeed. Even becoming a monster doesn’t make hair grow back, huh? That’s new knowledge.

“What kind of nasty thoughts are you having?”

“Not at all. Let’s take a break first. It’s been three minutes anyway.”

I moved the triangular rice cake from the instant noodles I’d prepared earlier—boiled with my flames—and took a sip. Everything felt oddly new since the brands were completely different from what I remembered from my original world.

It’s not like I collected all the convenience store food just for myself. If I’m the boss, shouldn’t I provide some basic welfare?

Monster No. 1 can manage self-sufficiency as ordered, but C-Rank monsters taste better than top-grade beef to them.

I grabbed Deokbae’s wrist as he reached for the latte on the table.

“Just a moment. The strawberry milk is mine.”

“…Ugh.”

Frowning, Deokbae picked up another drink instead.

“And let’s clear something up. Mr. Jo Deokbae, your attitude toward your superior is terrible. How can you embarrass your boss like that in front of others? Is that how Subordinate No. 2 behaves?”

“No way, let’s eat quietly when eating.”

Deokbae snapped, biting into his warmed hotdog.

I had plenty to say, but swallowed it along with a bite of ramen.

Let me clarify one thing: I didn’t gather all the convenience store food just for myself. As the boss, I must ensure minimum welfare, right?

Since Monster No. 1 was ordered to be self-sufficient, he’ll manage well enough. Even a C-Rank monster tastes better than prime beef to them.

I caught Deokbae’s wrist as he reached for the strawberry milk on the table.

“Hold on. That’s mine.”

“…Geez.”

Though he complained, his actions spoke louder. Deokbae put down the drink he’d picked up.

“Then let’s do a quiz. If you get it right, I’ll give you this.”

“Disgusting.”

Despite the harsh words, his body told the truth. Deokbae set the drink back down.

“So here’s the quiz. Flames are commonly red, but why is my flame blue?”

“…? Why is it?”

Deokbae fell into deep thought. Meanwhile, I peeled open the lid of the strawberry milk.

There’s no way he could guess correctly. I only learned this directly from Phoenix after entering her root. Now the strawberry milk is mine. Hehehe.

“Because you like blue?”

“……”

Without a word, I tossed the strawberry milk at Deokbae.

* * *

<2:00 PM. Sang-woo's Office.>

“Here. The items.”

Sang-woo handed over the backpack.

“ID, virtual account, and phone. The smartwatch is a bonus.”

“Wow, thank you.”

Phoenix carefully examined the contents of the bag before strapping the smartwatch onto her wrist.

“As I said, 19 billion won is in the account. The headquarters rejected the A-Rank core deal. Apparently, cores without a clear origin cannot be trusted or circulated.”

“Understood. It’s our first deal.”

Phoenix fiddled with the three cores in her hand before carelessly shoving them into the bag.

“If your reputation grows and we build trust, you might be able to trade higher than B-Rank. Then you can bring back an A-Rank core if you’re still alive.”

“Reputation, huh?”

Phoenix scrutinized her ID card. An unfamiliar location in the outskirts of Incheon and a birth year she’d never seen.

And the name “Pi Nix.”

“Right. And your Black Market account.”

Sang-woo operated his smartwatch. Phoenix followed suit after glancing at him.

Ziiing—

A beam of light shot out from the device smaller than an egg, projecting square-shaped holograms between the two.

“This function lets you access the Black Market like this. Of course, customers can only access it, and you need a recommendation from insiders to join.”

As Sang-woo tapped around his terminal screen, a small notification popped up on Phoenix’s.

“‘[IncheonBundle] has invited you to the chatroom’?”

“That’s me.”

“Well, I understand that part. Should I just accept?”

“Yeah. But there’s something you need to do first.”

Phoenix selected the notification and accepted the invitation. The screen crackled briefly as data rapidly downloaded, then turned black.

“That’s the Black Market. A place where anything goes—stolen goods, cores, monster byproducts, information about heroes—you name it.”

Sang-woo continued, pointing at Phoenix.

“What you need to do is set a nickname for use on the Black Market. Once chosen, it can’t be changed, so choose carefully.”

“Then it’s simple.”

Phoenix quickly typed on the keyboard that appeared on her screen. Sang-woo, watching the now-blackened screen, pondered the nickname of the person he’d invited.

“Done. Right?”

“[Changyeom’sPhoenix]? What is this nickname? Is it trendy for superhumans to have such middle-school-disease names these days?”

“Middle school disease? That’s my real name.”

Sang-woo stroked his beard and nodded.

“True, asking for common sense from superhumans is unreasonable. Still, will it be okay? Judging by your personality, you probably won’t engage in proper activities, and if you’re marked as a villain and a bounty is placed, this nickname will surely come up, right?”

“Exactly what I want. Frankly, I have no intention of hiding. Oh, while we’re at it, can you teach me ‘organization registration’? It’s possible right now, isn’t it?”

“Trying to shortcut everything.”

“When I collect more cores, I’ll sell them directly to Mr. Baek.”

“Even lip service is appreciated. First, go to this tab…”

While Sang-woo and Phoenix alternated looking at each other’s screens exploring the Black Market, Deokbae leaned against the wall, glaring at the back of his boss chattering like a fish in water, lost in thought.

‘What exactly is this kid?’

Not born from the sky or risen from the earth, where did such a monster come from? Deokbae found Phoenix’s amazed attitude towards new things annoying enough to make him want to leave immediately.

‘If only for that damn order.’

Although dead humans can be revived as monsters, loyalty can’t be forced. So Deokbae made small rebellions within the limits of his will, but ultimately ended up being used however Phoenix wanted.

Lost in thought, Deokbae watched as Sang-woo finished all the explanations.

“Hmm. Got it. Now all that’s left is to register the organization name, right? Hehe, it feels like creating a guild, which is fun.”

“That’s… sigh.”

Sang-woo sipped his coffee and raised a finger.

“Listen carefully. Registering an organization on the Black Market means officially operating as a villain under your real name. If you act clumsily, you’ll be captured by bounty hunters and end up in jail. Especially rookies like Phoenix who rush in like moths to a flame…”

“Yes, understood. I’ll remember it well.”

Phoenix quickly registered the organization name. Despite shaking his head disapprovingly, Sang-woo checked the newly registered organization list.

“[Blue Wind Sect]?”

“Yes. Quite impressive for a group of villains, isn’t it?”

Phoenix was still smiling even as she called herself a villain.

* * *

After completing the transaction, we left Sang-woo’s office and entered a nearby café.

Deokbae seemed quite awkward about entering such a café but successfully carried the drinks on the tray thanks to my orders.

“Amazing.”

I tapped on the smartwatch on my left wrist. Unlike when accessing the Black Market, a small floating screen displayed the detailed payment history from the counter just moments ago.

“If Incheon is already like this, New Seoul must be a whole new world, with cars flying autonomously and all?”

“Are you joking?”

“Of course not.”

Devices powered by monster cores brought great advancements to human civilization. Despite the massive obstacle of monsters, humanity, utilizing magic power as a new energy source, stood on the threshold of a new era.

That was limited to megacities like New Seoul or Busan, though. Outskirts frequently attacked by monsters developed much slower.

“If Seoul had been functioning properly, there wouldn’t have been any reason to create New Seoul, right?”

“So how does that relate to going to Seoul?”

Deokbae pointed out, clearly reluctant.

That’s right. After forming the Blue Wind Sect, I told Deokbae about my destination.

“There are various reasons, but if I explain them all, we’ll be up all night. For now, just remember this: the purpose of the ‘Blue Wind Sect’ is to collect countless treasures and artifacts scattered around the world. Among them…”

I picked up a lump of sugar and peeled off its wrapper.

“To find cubes roughly this size. They’ll have strange patterns engraved, so you’ll instantly recognize them as unusual objects.”

“So collecting these toys is your goal, huh.”

Deokbae swallowed his iced coffee whole.

“Why revive people and kill others just to collect toys?”

“Toys? Pfft. You see, just one of these toys alone could destroy the Earth. That’s what they are.”

They aren’t just any ordinary cores. I dropped the lump of sugar into my coffee.

“Amplification of special abilities, awakening of special abilities, extraction of infinite energy. Based on current research results, that’s all we know so far…”

I pointed at Deokbae with the teaspoon resting on the tray.

“Creation of monsters, transformation of humans into monsters, mental brainwashing, collapse of nature. It’s a magical item that grants all sorts of special abilities when in the hands of an S-Rank user.”

“Could it be that your reason for obtaining this…”

Deokbae gulped audibly. I put down the teaspoon and stirred my coffee.

“That’s right. For the sake of world peace-”

“Are you planning to conquer the world with it?”

“…What do you think of me? Do I look like someone who would do that?”

Deokbae contorted his already fierce expression, muttering something under his breath. He looked like he desperately wanted to say something but was barely holding back.

“It’s fine, so speak your mind. That’s an order.”

“Regarding someone who burns and kills people like insects talking about world peace? Tsk.”

Against Deokbae’s will, his true feelings spilled out. I put down the teaspoon and took a sip of coffee.

Bitter. Why is it bitter even though I added sugar?

“There’s one misunderstanding I need to clear up. Let me state this clearly.”

I slammed my coffee cup down and declared.

“This is all for the sake of world peace.”