Chapter 608

〈 Chapter 608 〉 Part 2, Chapter 2, Section 3

“Where have you been?”

“Visiting the Hero Association. Wow, their facilities are top-notch, aren’t they? Are we done talking?”

“……”

Seol Ji-young glared at me with red-rimmed eyes.

Considering I’ve already aligned myself as an agent of the Round Table to extract her from Russia to Korea by any means necessary, her glare was somewhat perplexing.

“Beast, pervert, pedophile.”

“……Gaon-san?”

“Oh, uh, I just kinda… Sorry.”

It seemed Gaon had inadvertently revealed our intimate encounter. Though the extent of what she disclosed remains unclear, I didn’t back down from Seol Ji-young’s gaze.

“President of the Association, calling me a pedo is disrespectful to Gaon-san.”

“But earlier you called Rasputin a pedo.”

“That was a case of Rasputin trying to force himself, while mine was consensual with Gaon-san.”

Rape and mutual affection are clearly different things.

“Gaon trusted me enough to share a bed. A real man wouldn’t shame someone as charming as Gaon-san.”

“You’re so proud of yourself, huh? So are you planning to take Gaon-san to America?”

“No, I’ll be staying in Korea. Where else could be safer than New Seoul? Haha.”

“That… Hmm, understood. The Korean Hero Association officially welcomes Undine-san’s hero registration.”

“Not quite yet.”

I don’t want her registered as Undine. The Undine I know is someone else entirely.

“Please register her under <Siren>. Having two heroes with the same alias as <Undine>, one active in Russia, might raise conspiracy theories among the public. Plus, it signifies a fresh start as an A-Rank hero here in Korea.”

“…Understood. That seems reasonable.”

The president was about to rise from her seat, but my business wasn’t finished yet.

“What’s more important now – aren’t you curious about Gaon-san’s real reason for coming to Korea?”

“…Isn’t it to escape the hands of pedophiles in Russia?”

“It’s more accurate to say she came to Korea to escape the monstrous hands targeting her ‘sister’. Gaon-san has a younger sister, almost identical to her like twins.”

I pointed at the nameplate on Gaon’s school uniform.

“Nuri isn’t just a temporary codename. She’s wearing her real sister’s borrowed uniform.”

“…Protecting civilians is somewhat difficult. Unless there’s a special factor…”

“She’s awakened as an ability user. Shortly after Gaon-san arrived in Korea, Nuri awakened but hasn’t registered with the association yet. That’s why they were visiting. There are quite a few of Rasputin’s agents lurking around right now.”

“Awa…kened…”

Seol Ji-young massaged her forehead as if suffering from a headache.

“To what extent?”

“Hehe.”

I drew an S with my finger.

* * *

A little later.

“What the heck is this? Dragging someone in like a kidnapping and locking us up in some interrogation room? What is this nonsense?”

“We brought Nuri into the association secretly to avoid those trying to kidnap her.”

“The back entrance was safe.”

“They didn’t notice us.”

Thanks to the association’s help, Raon, Yuna, and Nuri successfully entered the Hero Association. Outside, heroes were questioning foreign women about monster sightings.

“Matryoshka’s operatives won’t be entering New Seoul anytime soon. We’ve resolved some political issues, and now all that’s left is registering Nuri as a hero.”

“From today onward, call me <KingGoddessNuri>.”

“That’s a bit…”

“Why? Are you jealous, sis? Hehehe.”

Nuri covered her mouth and giggled. Thanks to my subtle hint, she already knew about her potential.

“I’m going to carry our team from now on. Starting today, call me the Carry Machine.”

Nuri’s bomb switch started ticking. After being long submerged in inferiority, realizing her talent was S-Rank, she began looking down on others.

All the suppressed wounds inside her are exploding now, but often such outbursts lead to trouble and game over scenarios.

‘Either crush her completely or treat her like a princess.’

The dilemma faced by any commander who recruits Nuri. But I already know how to handle her well.

“Wow, so Nuri’s the best now?”

“Yeah. Since sis is level 90 now… concentrating magic power supply to Yuna and Raon would work, right?”

“Ah.”

Nuri froze. I continued my assault.

“Except Sunday… YuRaYuRa, how about it? Nuri only needs to do it once a month, right?”

“Hmm.”

The three exchanged quick glances and gave sinister smiles.

“That’s right. Since we’re weaker than Nuri, we need your help to grow.”

“We hope you’ll assist us until we stop holding you back.”

“That’s true. You won’t surpass 99 anyway, right? Just focus on Nuri for a week. Then you can stop forever.”

They say women’s enemies are other women. With the three seizing the opportunity to attack simultaneously, overconfident Nuri naturally lost her spirit.

“Uh, that’s not what I meant…”

“Hmph, really? Seems like seven times with Nuri will be enough. Everyone can endure a week, right?”

“Sorry, sis. My mistake.”

Nuri apologized sincerely. The three looked at her somewhat bemusedly, but having heard from future Nuri about these tendencies, I fully understood.

‘She grew up without friends, so how could she know how to talk to people?’

Having grown up in an environment lacking social skills, Nuri lacks awareness of how her words hurt others. She’s experienced much pain herself but doesn’t realize her words can wound others.

‘That’s why you should sync with Maamryong.’

Darkness attributes tend to have dark personalities. Fortunately, those around her understand and accept her nature.

“Nuri-ya, saying things like that can hurt others.”

“We’re used to it, but next time please be more careful with your words.”

“If you weren’t my little sister, I’d punch you.”

“…Sorry.”

Thank goodness Nuri has kind people around her. Otherwise, she’d have gotten into serious trouble by now.

“It’s okay to grow through mistakes. And Nuri, keep your promises like you said. As the KingGoddess carrying everyone…”

Clack clack.

I lightly tapped the table as a signal.

“Let’s see how hard you can carry me in bed during a raid. I’m looking forward to it.”

“…”

Kim Nuri, sunk. The other three fell silent as well. I silently apologized to Gaon before waiting for the door to open.

“Apologies for keeping you waiting…”

The woman who opened the door, Seol Ji-young, looked at me with a complicated expression, holding the test results.

“…As you said, we tested Nuri’s magic power. The result… S-Rank Dark Attribute.”

“Woo-hoo.”

Nuri whistled and smirked.

“As expected, it’s me. So am I getting some fancy alias like Snow Princess now?”

“That’s not the case. Quite the opposite actually. We seek your understanding, Nuri-san and Cheongnyeon-san.”

Seol Ji-young bowed her head apologetically while facing us.

“We ask that you delay Nuri-san’s S-Rank registration.”

“…What’s this nonsense?”

The four were confused. With the addition of an S-Rank hero, normally the whole country would celebrate, but the president suggesting hiding an S-Rank’s existence was hard to comprehend.

“Do I not get to be a hero then?”

Though she previously talked about becoming a hunter, now that her S-Rank registration failed, Nuri couldn’t hide her disappointment. I patted her shoulder before revealing the fundamental reason the president refused S-Rank registration.

“Sun Icheol, Seoul Recovery Operation.”

“…You know quite a lot about our country’s situation.”

The president nodded, and Raon was the first to catch the meaning of my words.

“With one more S-Rank added… Surely you’re not planning to pull off that crazy stunt again, are you?”

“Yes. In fact, right now-”

“Allow me to explain from here.”

The door opened, and a silver-haired beauty appeared. Our gazes naturally turned to her.

“Oh, VIP’s here.”

“…”

Seok Harang tilted her head in confusion.

* * *

“President Sun Icheol has ambitions.”

Sun Icheol has desires.

“After the Pyongyang incident, he repeatedly dispatched heroes to reclaim Seoul.”

Repeatedly sent troops to recover the Cube lost in the Pyongyang incident.

“But due to massive forces, attempts failed repeatedly, and the Seoul Recovery Operation returned fruitless multiple times. To the point where even the ruling party says this operation mustn’t proceed.”

Attempts to retrieve the Cube swallowed by an S-Rank monster failed multiple times. All the patriotic youth sent secretly to Seoul ended up disappearing in Hamhung.

“President Sun Icheol plans the Seoul Recovery Operation on March 1st. He aims to reclaim Seoul when public attention is focused.”

He’s trying every means to escape the cube-swallowing S-Rank monster.

“When Nuri-san appears as an S-Rank, President Sun Icheol will undoubtedly make her debut in the Seoul Recovery Operation.”

He’ll definitely throw Nuri at the tentacle blob holding the Cube, intending to steal the Cube while the blob is molesting Nuri.

“Therefore, we ask that you delay S-Rank registration until the Seoul Recovery Operation concludes. In return, we’ll fully support Nuri-san.”

Excited! The president and Snow Princess will be our backing!

* * *

“Then, to temporarily register Nuri-san as a hero, I’ll guide them elsewhere briefly.”

The president took the four away. Nuri and Gaon will be registered as C-Rank ability user sisters under the association’s consideration. Of course, their true ranks will be S and A respectively.

“…”

“…”

I was left alone with Seok Harang. I could guess why the president took the four away.

“Would you like some tea?”

“I don’t like the tea you offer.”

“What do you like? You haven’t taken a sip of water.”

“I want a strawberry and blueberry mixed smoothie.”

“…”

Seok Harang looked at me with a “What the heck?” expression. Not sure if she caught the meaning behind my words, I corrected myself.

“Blueberry cream cheese cake.”

“Ugh.”

“……Let’s stop testing each other, VIP-sama.”

“……Did you bring the goods?”

The room suddenly got colder. Subtle magical energy spread around, and I took something out of a paper bag.

“Here you go.”

“…Cake? Are you joking?”

“Can’t alchemy candies be made into cakes too?”

“…”

Seok Harang picked up the fork suspiciously. The sound of the cake melting in her mouth after she elegantly took a bite echoed.

“……This doesn’t taste fake. Alright, here.”

Ting.

Harang flicked her finger against the magical gear. It was such a cool trade that I flicked the stack of bills floating above the magical gear back.

“What do you think you’re doing? This is just a regular blueberry cream cheese cake. The ‘ingredient’ you desire isn’t included.”

“……Oh, playing games with me, huh?”

“Just your misunderstanding that led you to taste the cake.”

I took a small candy out of my coat pocket. The color inside the plastic case was darker brown than usual.

“Thank you for doing business with me so far, but another buyer has appeared.”

“What?”

“They offered 2 trillion including breach penalties.”

“……This guy’s serious.”

Seok Harang gritted her teeth. I put the candy back in my coat pocket and proposed to Seok Harang.

“But if you fulfill one request for me, I’ll sell you just one last piece.”

“…What is it?”

“Put your name on our studio list. We won’t advertise it. Just add your name to the roster.”

“What’s the significance of that?”

“The prestige of being Snow Princess. And fear. If forces spying on Oracle Studio learn Snow Princess has close ties with us, wouldn’t they immediately become intimidated? Yes.”

I extended my hand for a handshake with Snow Princess.

“I wish to purchase half of your life.”