After finishing my conversation with Yoo Jun-seo, I headed not to my usual hotel room but to the Tower of Reversal.
Once a day, or sometimes every two days.
It was to keep my promise with Mirien.
“Ah, Actor!”
Mirien, who had been sitting in the lotus position casting a tracking spell, grinned widely and came running in her socks the moment I arrived at the top floor.
“Going well?”
“Yeah! At this rate, I should be able to find it within three days!”
“Good.”
I nodded, and Mirien tilted her head toward me.
I momentarily pondered the gesture until I realized it was a dog-like indication asking for a head scratch.
“Um….”
I subtly rolled my eyes to examine Mirien’s face.
Her expression was like that of an excited child eagerly waiting for praise. Her small stature made her feel like a niece, but I quickly corrected that thought.
The petite woman before me is the Grand Wizard of the Tower of Reversal, capable of summoning storms across the entire Korean Peninsula with a mere gesture. Though she’s currently cooperating amiably with me, Selene’s warning still lingers — she could become a calamity at any moment.
Here, it’s best to keep Mirien in a good mood.
“Y-yeah. Good job.”
Pat, pat.
As I stroked her two-tone black and blue hair, Mirien grinned so hard her eyes curved.
It was like handling a pet dog. Who would have thought that this heavenly girl could be the calamity everyone feared?
“Um, anyway.”
I cleared my throat and brought up the topic.
“Mirien, there’s something I need you to do. Can you cast Brainstorm while using your tracking spell simultaneously?”
Mirien’s unique skill, Brainstorm, is categorized as a focus type spell. Once activated, it puts the caster into a concentrated state, allowing only one such skill to be maintained at a time. However, her tracking skill isn’t the focus type. If the knowledge from the game applies, Mirien should be able to use both spells at the same time.
Sure enough, Mirien nodded.
“As long as I have enough mana, it’s possible.”
“How do you replenish your mana?”
“By consuming people….”
Mirien’s words made me involuntarily swallow.
Fortunately, she didn’t notice my unease and continued.
“Or by absorbing calamities.”
“Calamities?”
“Five 1-star calamities should be enough to maintain the storm for about a day.”
Now that I think about it, in the game, useless calamities were often melted down to create high-grade calamity recovery potions. Is this part of that system?
Anyway, five 1-star calamities for this effect was a miraculous value for money. Still, I asked just in case.
“Out of curiosity, how many people would you need to consume to maintain the spell for a day?”
“Hmm… Three hundred? A hundred if they’re Awakened Ones.”
“…”
That’s another kind of miraculous value for money.
Calamities truly regard humans as mere ants.
“Alright, Mirien. Can you cast the Brainstorm over Seoul while maintaining the tracking spell? I’ll send up some calamities for you to absorb and replenish your mana. And one more thing.”
I pointed downstairs.
“Can you temporarily knock out Geon-wook Jo? For an hour or two. Make sure he absolutely doesn’t wake up.”
“…That won’t be hard, but what exactly are you planning?”
“The spectacular debut of Actor, the Ruler.”
“Debut?”
Apparently, it was the first time she’d heard the term, as she tilted her head.
“There is such a thing.”
I replied with a bitter smile.
———
[S-Rank Awakened One Nam Joo-yeon, Management Bureau Chief Yoo Jun-seo, Presidential Commendation]
——
– Since seeing them frequently in the news, they seem to have good synergy. Anyway, thanks to them, we live comfortably.
– More taxes should be allocated to people like these. They’re true heroes protecting our nation.
– This is what a country is! The S-Rank Awakened One and the Bureau Chief teaming up to receive a Presidential commendation is truly touching. Thanks to people like them, we can live safely. Unlimited support for our nation’s protectors! Raise the national dignity, go!
– How do you smell ginseng candy in every character?
– Why do they look so ordinary despite being considered S-Rank and the strongest A-Rank?
– Are you looking at entertainers? These are people closer to soldiers.
—
– Isn’t it absurd that the S-Rank Awakened One receives a Presidential commendation? How bad must the country be? They cause accidents, and the citizens suffer while commendations are just handed out.
– Why is the Bureau Chief’s position, which runs on taxpayers’ money, being treated like a hero? It’s just their job, right?
– What have they done well enough to deserve a commendation? This country is failing.
– Without these two, Seoul would have already become like Beijing.
– Send some of these people to the regions. Don’t you know the provinces are in an uproar? Recently, the levees have all collapsed because of sudden heavy rains.
—
“Albanos.”
Yoo Jun-seo frowned as he scrolled down through the online comments after reading them.
People who have no ability sure do talk a lot.
Is the Bureau Chief position a job anyone can just do?
Muttering these words, Yoo Jun-seo tossed his phone carelessly onto his desk.
“God damn.”
“Did you read the hate comments again?”
Seeing his agitation, Secretary Kang Se-na sighed heavily and admonished him.
“I wish you’d do some work instead of wasting time reading news comments.”
“I’m a public servant. There’s nothing I can do, you know that.”
Yoo Jun-seo lacks ability. All he has is the reputation as the “King of Flames,” his personal friendship with S-Rank Awakened One Nam Joo-yeon, and the position of Bureau Chief.
Ironically, South Korea is a country that somehow manages to function even with incompetent leadership, as long as the components are good. Even now, in a chaotic time where disasters arise in real-time.
“Anyway, there are too many experts around. I’d just get in the way if I tried to get involved, right? Haven’t you ever seen a military commander charging in with a gun?”
Of course, Yoo Jun-seo is an office worker who’s never even held a gun.
“You’re so objectively self-aware, it’s both reassuring and worrying.”
Kang Se-na sighed deeply as she picked up and checked the phone that Yoo Jun-seo had dropped.
“At least the overall reaction is positive. There’s nothing we can do about the provinces though…”
“Those are outside our jurisdiction anyway. I heard they’ve formed an Awakened One’s union and are governing themselves pretty well.”
“…Well, that’s the government’s job, I guess.”
The militarization of Awakened Ones in the provinces and the loss of control by local governments are under careful watch by the central government as well. However, they’re already stretched thin dealing with the ongoing disaster in Seoul, where refugees cry out in distress.
If the capital region, which still somewhat maintains the national system, is like this, the provinces couldn’t possibly be doing fine.
South Korea is steadily sliding into an anarchic state, a phase some countries have already experienced.
Soon, awakened ones wielding immense calamitous powers may become the ruling class, with non-awakened ones serving as their subordinates. By then, the biggest dilemma for both domestic and foreign awakened beings will be what stance they should take.
Sighing deeply, Kang Se-na placed her hands on her hips.
“Should the Bureau Chief be so idle while one of his subordinates is missing?”
“Condition-wook? Don’t worry. Nam Joo-yeon promised to find him.”
“… Isn’t that pushing S-Rank Awakened One Nam Joo-yeon too much?”
“When did you suddenly start defending him after telling me to use him as much as possible?”
Frowning at the counter-question, Kang Se-na averted her gaze. Yoo Jun-seo, being clueless, failed to grasp any clue from her actions.
“In any case, I’ve done everything I can for that guy Nam Joo-yeon. I even offered him the position of Bureau Chief, but he refused, right?”
“…”
‘The only one who would want that position is you.’
Kang Se-na somehow managed to swallow those words down to the last syllable. Regardless, if an S-Rank Awakened One is searching, that’s enough to reassure her. Thinking that way, she picked up the remote and turned on the TV.
[Breaking News: 5-star Calamity Appears in Dongdaemun]
“…What?”
Kang Se-na blinked her eyes multiple times. But the bright red headline was real.
“Director?”
“….”
Yoo Jun-seo was already fixated on his phone screen.
——
“Move aside! Let us through!”
By the time the various Awakened Ones, led by Yoo Jun-seo, arrived at the scene, a massive crowd had already gathered.
The narrow back alleys were filled with Awakened Ones and citizens, creating complete chaos.
“Shit! Get out of the way! Your lives are precious!”
As a few police officers struggled, Yoo Jun-seo shouted, and only then did the people recognize his face and hastily scatter.
Being famous is helpful like this. Yoo Jun-seo breathed heavily as he walked past the alley.
In the center of the square stood the calamity.
“The Blackened Saint…”
The same 5-star calamity that had appeared at the tower before.
An underling of Actor, the Lord of the Abyss.
If there’s anyone on the Korean Peninsula that everyone fears the most, it is surely this woman with ash-gray hair.
The Blackened Saint Selene had appeared right in the middle of the city. If that alone weren’t terrifying enough, she was holding a man with his limbs bound.
It was a familiar face.
“Condition-wook…”
The Blackened Saint Selene was holding Awakened One Condition-wook hostage, staging a hostage situation.
Condition-wook seemed unconscious. Even if he were awake, he wouldn’t have been able to speak; a thorny gag was clenched in his mouth.
“I have come today to deliver my Lord’s message to you, the primitives.”
As the Awakened Ones hesitated, Selene began speaking.
“My Lord, Actor—the Lord of the Abyss and the true ruler of dimensions—considers this world to be designed with narrow-mindedness.”
“…”
“Therefore, my Lord desires to spread the end of this world. However, there are indeed those who reject my Lord’s blessings, the sacred light of the abyss.”
Selene lifted her hand and grabbed Condition-wook by the hair.
“This man, persistently pursued my Lord’s movements, failing to recognize his divine insight, do you understand?”
“…What do you intend to do with Condition-wok?”
“Public execution, willingly, in front of everyone. This is a warning. Those who oppose the ruler of the abyss, Actor, will never survive.”
The horrifying proclamation caused someone to scream.
Still, no one dared to flee.
No one knew what the calamity might do if they turned their backs on her.
Thus, as Selene drew the wedge sword from her waist, no one dared to interfere.
During their last encounter, Selene had single-handedly reaped near hundreds of calamities.
Who could stand against such a calamity?
Hoom…
And yet, there was someone.
Just one Awakened One.
[4★ Storm Dragon Tempestra casts the skill 「Roar of the Heavens」.]
“Krrr!”
Selene’s composed expression cracked for the first time.
She raised her sword to deflect the light beams raining down from the sky. The flames erupted into various directions, scattering towards the heavens.
Haaahh—.
Perhaps this served as a starting point.
A sudden downpour obscured everyone’s vision.
In the midst of it, someone landed.
From the gigantic Storm Dragon, a man lightly dismounted—someone familiar to Yoo Jun-seo.
“Nam Joo-yeon.”
The S-Rank Awakened One had arrived.
