Chapter 187

〈 Chapter 187 〉 Part 1, Chapter 9, 21

After being moved back to the hospital room by Illusory Dragon, I summoned the Blue Wind Sect. Unfortunately, Seok Harang decided not to return to Korea, so Cheon Gaeul had to wait at another base before coming back. And because of this, I ended up becoming Gaeul’s makeup guinea pig.

“Are we all here?”

Deokbae was resurrected. Gaeul stood beside me. Black Flame Dragon couldn’t enter the room, so it waited as a core. All the Blue Wind Sect officers I brought from China found their seats in the hospital room.

“Where’s Yun Yuhwa?”

“Don’t know. He said he had urgent business and left.”

I had a rough idea. Since the negotiations concluded successfully, my requests for Yuhwa were finished, and now he was freely doing his own thing.

Like bribing Chinese heroes to hand over cores, somehow inserting his PMC into the black scorpion hunt, or setting up a board to make Korean hero interventions easier.

Or maybe he’s doing all three simultaneously. Yuhwa’s greed knows no bounds.

“So, are we just going to sit back and watch the heroes bicker amongst themselves?”

“For what?”

“Wife is a beggar. To separate the fallen from the righteous.”

Among the heroes, there are those who later become villains or monsters. I wanted to use this opportunity to filter out the Asian heroes first.

“What if a B-rank hero barely manages to kill an S-rank black scorpion? Nobody notices due to the chaos, and the B-rank hero is on the verge of collapse. What would you do?”

“Obviously, you wouldn’t save them, right?”

This was still Gaeeul’s civilian-like thinking. I posed the same question to Deokbae, whose thoughts leaned more toward the dark side.

“Of course, you’d kill them and take their core, wouldn’t you?”

Typical Deokbae logic. I pointed out the stark contrast between the two.

“There are villains who display heroic traits, and there are heroes who show villainous tendencies.”

“Who’s the latter? How many times has that guy fallen?”

“Just an example. Why does everything always go that way when I speak?”

I frowned and glared at Gaeul. Realizing she might have gone too far, she bowed her head apologetically.

“Sorry. It was a misunderstanding.”

“No.”

Sorry. There’s one like that. Afraid of being questioned, she mistook things prematurely.

“Therefore, we need to carefully observe this time. Those who can be recycled as monsters will be reused; those who can’t will be turned into lifelong laborers.”

“Isn’t there an option not to kill?”

“There’s an option not to save… Ow!”

Gaeul hit my head with a tentacle.

“Are you trying to joke around again?”

“Tch.”

Since I reached S-rank, my senses have become incredibly sharp. I cleared my throat and changed the subject.

“…Anyway, we’ll let the ones who can reform off easy. The rotten types like the Pine Tree Brigade will get dealt with. Bonghyo and the recruits from Dongchang seem to have picked some decently gray candidates.”

The people who cracked my skull even once were all gray types. It seemed Bonghyo didn’t intend to expand his team further.

“But will such trash participate in this extermination operation?”

“They will. Just capture them, and they’ll get an S-rank core.”

On the hospital TV screen, footage of the Thousand Sons repeatedly declaring his appeal played.

[…Therefore, I request the assistance of the many heroic knights watching this video. Monsters are crossing the desert to attack civilians! While we aim to resolve this ourselves, your help would be greatly appreciated and never forgotten!]

“Gratitude means cores, right?”

“And monster byproducts too. They’ll pay out some rewards but keep most for themselves.”

There were mixed opinions about the conditions set by the Thousand Sons. Some criticized inviting outside forces when they could handle it themselves, while others were inspired by his righteousness and flew straight to assist.

“So, how did the Korean reinforcements turn out?”

Seok Harang wasn’t just building a final line of defense; he also went all-in to recruit a group of Korean heroes who were anxiously waiting with spoons in hand.

“How many are coming? Do you know, Deokbae?”

“Hold on. Isn’t this almost the same force as during the Seoul Recovery Operation? Seok Harang isn’t here though.”

Deokbae recited the official strength report from the Korean association. Most were veterans from the Seoul Recovery Operation, and among them were some who didn’t participate in Sun Icheol’s missions.

“<Red Panel>, <Starfish>, …? All A-ranks are mobilized, huh?”

“Check it out… Is Lee Seung-hyung coming too?”

Gaeul looked uncomfortable. I quickly raised my hand defensively.

“Just a sec. I’m not bothered by Lee Seung-hyung anymore. We even shared the same car from Seoul to New Seoul.”

“So that’s the problem. Isn’t Lee Seung-hyung into you? There was a rumor going around about you two hooking up.”

“What? That crazy guy.”

I genuinely felt chills down my spine. How could Lee Seung-hyung dare start scandals with both Blazing Phoenix and Gaeul?

“Not my type.”

“Maybe his type is your face. I noticed when I worked on a drama with him before— he likes big chests. He kept sneaking looks at yours.”

“Fine. Let’s see him burst a heart vein coming over here.”

“Don’t dig your own grave again. Wait quietly. Hmm? Why would he fly all the way to Chinese soil? To earn foreign currency? Or to look at your flat chest?!”

I detonated a small sun right in front of Deokbae. Clutching his eyes, he rolled on the floor. While praising Gaeul’s top-tier figure, insulting my body was something I couldn’t tolerate.

“Hmmph. Alright then. If Lee Seung-hyung looks at these breasts, I’ll stab his eyes out.”

“Exactly. But it’s strange.”

Gaeul retracted the tentacle she aimed at Deokbae and asked.

“Is there actually a way to get from New Seoul to here?”

“There is.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

It exists, but I doubt it would come up now. Even though the construction should be complete by now, since this transportation method won’t officially appear until after summer 2025 in the original timeline, it seems unlikely it’d be used for something trivial like this.

“What is it?”

“…A ship.”

“Cross the Yellow Sea? Or running through land? Won’t that be late?”

“It’s a ship, but a slightly different kind…”

“Heyyyy!”

Bang! The door slammed open as a white-haired troublemaker stormed in, huffing and puffing.

“You’re gonna die?! You didn’t say anything! I was the only one who got screwed!”

“Hmm. As expected. Not there.”

“What? As expected? What the heck? Are you dying…?”

“Thank you, Seok Harang. You’ve been a great help. Truly.”

Seok Harang blushed and threw snacks onto the table in a fit of anger: chicken, pizza, popcorn. They were requested to bring refreshments for the heroes watching the black scorpion hunting party. On the way, he also kindly agreed to pick up some ice cream.

“Here. Deokbae gets alien stuff. Gaeul wants almond-flavored. Here’s yours.”

Seok Harang tossed me an ice cream cup. Though he said “anything,” it turned out to be strawberry-flavored just for me. I stirred it with a spoon, drawing crosses in the ice cream.

“Seok Harang.”

“Whaaat?”

“Did you hear anything from the Korean Association? Anything confidential, aside from regular updates or information sharing.”

At my question, Seok Harang blinked as he scooped blueberry ice cream with his spoon. He checked his watch again. Then shook his head.

“Nope?”

“…Alright. Then we won’t use it.”

“What?”

“The ship.”

Seok Harang took a bite of his ice cream and pointed the spoon at me, his eyes widening as if realizing something.

“Are you asking because you’re curious how the heroes will arrive?”

“Yeah. I was wondering if they’d take that. Guess not.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? They’re already boarding it to come here.”

“…What?”

I accidentally dropped my spoon. Fortunately, Gaeul’s tentacle caught the one I’d eaten halfway through.

“They’re really taking that?”

“Yeah. Want to see?”

Seok Harang adjusted the TV to a Korean channel. Ignoring the embarrassing broadcasts about my exploits and the summit, Korean broadcasters were showing two main videos.

One showed the black scorpions’ movement paths and the Thousand Sons’ speech about eliminating them.

The other showed heroes boarding a ‘ship’ to defeat those black scorpions.

“Wow.”

The moment Lee Seung-hyung finished boarding, I recognized the familiar and nostalgic spaceplane.

“Are they really coming with that?”

“Why? Is there a problem?”

There’s definitely a problem.

The person who can operate that spaceplane is only one in Korea, and that lady was supposed to keep her identity hidden with the association’s help until the original timeline. All because of Sun Icheol’s checks…

“Oh.”

I was the one who made Sun Icheol fall.

“Still, even if that happened…”

Revealing her joker card and ability so soon after Sun Icheol stepped down was incomprehensible.

“Hey, perfect timing. We can take that back. Yuha-ssi was worried the plane might explode again.”

“That, yeah. It won’t explode.”

If I’m aboard, the spaceplane that can reach the moon alone won’t explode. Pretending to be calm, I picked up my spoon again.

“Here.”

“Thanks.”

Gaeul handed me the thoroughly cleaned spoon. As I ate the ice cream, I carefully observed the closing spaceplane.

‘To think I’d see this so soon.’

The spaceplane Death Dinass. In the original story, it became the airborne hub that carried the protagonist around the world and eventually symbolized humanity’s last hope. Unlike its dusty appearance five years later when discovered in an old warehouse, it gleamed brightly now, freshly repainted.

“Hey, do you want to ride it too?”

“I won’t have the chance.”

Phoenix has never ridden this spaceplane, and neither will I. Riding this spaceplane implies only two scenarios:

Failing to reach myth status.

Or falling for the protagonist.

In every possible way, Blazing Phoenix is out of the picture.

“But since we’re already in China, we might as well take it back to Korea.”

Though slower than the Black Flame Dragon, it offers more mental peace.

“Going back with the heroes? Won’t that be awkward?”

“Not at all… No, the monsters are the issue.”

It poses no problem for me, but Gaeul and Deokbae are concerns. Deokbae can pass as a bodyguard since we traveled together, but considering his mouth, transforming Gaeul into Deokbae might be better.

“I’m fine. I can travel via core without issues.”

“As long as it’s not shoes or insoles, I’m okay.”

“…Understood. Let’s choose the most comfortable way to go back.”

“Right. I’ll inform the association then. Let’s also bring Qinghua along next time.”

Lucky us, we don’t have to pay for flights back to Korea. I chewed on the snacks Seok Harang brought as I watched the rising Death Dinass, no, Baegnaroh.

“[Ah, ladies and gentlemen, the Baegnaroh is beginning its ascent.]”

“Why such a name?”

“What’s wrong with it? It’s not bad, is it?”

“…Yeah, it’s fine.”

Honestly, compared to the weird name Death Dinass, it’s not bad, but the sound feels problematic. Like it’s going to explode any second.

“Hey, I’m heading out. Once this arrives, I’ll take it to move to Qinghai as planned.”

“Safe travels. Don’t push yourself.”

“Just protect the people and come back.”

Seok Harang bowed to Deokbae and Gaeul before calmly leaving the hospital room. I enjoyed the snacks he brought with Deokbae and Gaeul while watching the movement of the Death, no, Baegnaroh flying towards China.

“Hmm? Who else is riding?”

I double-checked the list. Promising comrades, battle-experienced veterans, and even the S-rank <Hwakwon> Lee Seung-hyeng made for an impressive lineup. But honestly, the only hero catching my attention right now is one.

<Unsah> Park Ra-on.

One of the heroines is flying here aboard the spaceplane. I nervously prayed it wouldn’t explode.

“…Probably unnecessary worry.”

Would it explode with two heroines aboard?