Chapter 62

〈 Episode 62 〉 Chapter 1 Part 4 (19)

Anyang.

Shin Jin-gwang grew increasingly anxious. The constant flow of battle reports only served to make his heart race faster.

Guro.

The heroes’ defeat after falling into a trap.

Several heroes kidnapped by the monster and still missing.

Unsah Park Ra-on, unconscious due to magical power exhaustion.

Hwakwon Lee Seung-hyeong, in a coma after a sudden nosebleed.

To make matters worse, communication with the special detachment, the Pine Tree Unit, had been completely cut off.

And then…

“……! <Robin> Yu I-shin’s signal lost… She’s dead!”

“What?! What did you say?!”

The first hero casualty. Though Shin Jin-gwang had braced himself when heroes began getting kidnapped one by one, he was still shocked to learn that a B-rank hero from the Pine Tree Unit had suddenly died.

Of all people, someone who was practically a direct subordinate to the president! As anxiety gripped him, Shin Jin-gwang pressed urgently:

“Where?! Do we have any footage before her death?!”

“We don’t know! Communication has been cut off for quite some time now! Ever since they escaped Guro, no data has been transmitted!”

Bang!

Shin Jin-gwang slammed his fist on the table.

“Damn it!”

Ever since the Pine Tree Unit moved as a special detachment, Shin Jin-gwang hadn’t been able to issue any orders to them.

Citing their secret mission assigned directly by the president, not only did they fail to inform Sun I-cheol about the nature of their task, but they also severed all communications with headquarters under the guise of confidentiality.

‘Those arrogant ex-criminals…!’

The members of the Pine Tree Unit treated Shin Jin-gwang worse than a scarecrow. In fact, starting midway through the operation, every single hero ignored his commands.

They pretended radio waves were bad to cut off communications or outright contradicted orders claiming they had better ideas. It was an unprecedented display of insubordination that left Shin Jin-gwang utterly flabbergasted.

‘This isn’t leadership! It’s a circus!’

A hollow position created solely to prop up Lee Seung-hyeong as the protagonist.

Shin Jin-gwang readily accepted the role of operation commander, believing he’d just need to sit back and wave his command stick while ascending to the prestigious position of Minister of Monster Countermeasures.

He anticipated glorious days ahead, finally stepping out of bureaucratic obscurity into central politics.

Everyone was confident in his success. His lack of competence, so evident during the hearings, was laughed off with jokes like “What could go wrong with Hwakwon around?”

“Aaaaargh!!”

But the ominous blue flames mocked his rosy future.

Summoning zombie-like hellhounds to ambush heroes, then ghostly appearing at the summit of Gwanaksan Mountain to assault Snow White Princess, striking from three directions—Guro, Gangnam, and Gwanaksan—the heroes were toyed with atop those blue flames.

At this rate, the outcome was painfully obvious. Shin Jin-gwang turned his gaze toward Gangnam.

Gangnam.

The heroes broke through the encirclement of hellhound zombies and were nearing the final phase of cleanup operations. The faces of the older heroes looked years older, exhausted from the prolonged battle.

It was the least satisfactory group, but at least they achieved some results. No casualties, and they successfully captured the Ritual Master and his gang, classified as A-rank villains with a bounty of 2 billion won each.

Though the left flank had collapsed, the right wing was still holding its ground.

Now the problem was the center, where S-rank hero Snow White Princess battled an unidentified villain with mysterious powers atop Gwanaksan Mountain.

“Full Strength Analysis Simulator status report!”

“Analyzing! Estimated time: 10 seconds!”

Ice and fire danced together in violent collision. The phoenix of blue flame tore at the frost giant’s neck, while the frost giant swung wildly to chase away the fiery bird.

Crackle, crackle.

The clash of magical powers destabilized the air, distorting the live feed. But even Shin Jin-gwang, clueless about hero combat, could clearly see what was happening.

Disadvantage. Snow White Princess was being toyed with by the villain. An S-rank hero was having all their attacks blocked by a single hand.

Beep.

“Simulation complete! Calculating predicted win rate…”

The screen displayed the result.

“Indeterminate…”

The operator, who had momentarily held their breath, quickly identified the cause of the error upon receiving Shin Jin-gwang’s unspoken cue.

“No matching magic pattern found! The enemy’s magic pattern is not registered in our database!”

“What?!”

The operators fell silent. An unregistered magic pattern meant only one thing.

An unregistered individual.

Enraged, Shin Jin-gwang smashed his command stick against the nearest operator’s chair backrest.

“Search again! That can’t be right!”

“Minister…!”

“An unregistered S-rank? Impossible!”

The operator hesitated before reluctantly revealing the unbelievable truth.

“…The opponent is a newly discovered ability user who has never been spotted before!”

Shin Jin-gwang was speechless. Like a bolt from the blue, this new villain not only possessed formidable magical power but was someone who had never once appeared before.

Each hero has a unique magic pattern, making impersonation impossible. Yet here was an unheard-of and unseen ability user casually overwhelming Snow White Princess.

Impossible. And yet, there on the screen, Snow White Princess was clearly losing in their one-on-one battle.

The frost giant’s massive punch was effortlessly pierced by the fire phoenix, which melted the giant’s body.

The enemy remained calm while Snow White Princess grew increasingly agitated.

“Pattern! Save the pattern! We need to salvage something!”

Responding to Shin Jin-gwang’s shout, the operators frantically typed away.

This newly emerged S-rank (estimated) villain in Seoul would need to be used as an excuse.

Though they may have lost the initial battle to an unknown enemy, at least they had gathered information about said enemy. With the operation nearly failing and heads surely rolling, they at least needed to save face.

The operators urgently analyzed the magic pattern. Given the already limited absolute values of fire-based ability users in the database, analyzing the unique magic pattern would take additional time.

More time was needed. Shin Jin-gwang shouted again.

“Contact Snow White Princess! Tell her to stall for time! Keep fighting until we’ve obtained the magic pattern!”

“Yes sir!”

The confrontation between Snow White Princess and the enemy villain entered a brief lull. Under Shin Jin-gwang’s persistent urging, the operator repeatedly called Snow White Princess.

‘Who are you, and where do you come from…?’

Meanwhile, reporters outside were furiously typing breaking news updates on their holographic keyboards. Speculations about the identity of the newly emerged S-rank villain in Korea were rampant, and some were even cautiously predicting Snow White Princess’s defeat.

If only he had expelled all the reporters. He should never have hyped up the victory prematurely.

Thud. At that moment, an unsettling sound reached his ears.

“…Minister!”

“What now?!”

The operator blinked before relaying the situation on the screen.

“Signal loss! The enemy has disappeared!”

Just as the operator said, the signal of the presumed S-rank villain atop Gwanaksan Mountain vanished. Simultaneously, Snow White Princess’s magic reaction began fluctuating severely.

Thud.

A transmission came from Snow White Princess.

– Be careful! The enemy’s technique is heading towards headquarters!

“What strange talk is this…?”

As Shin Jin-gwang wondered aloud, the screen showed footage of the ridge.

Rumble rumble rumble!

A flaming orb as large as a tank rolled down, emitting eerie blue flames, following the exact path where the fire dragon had rampaged before.

Shin Jin-gwang thought.

If it were simply rolling along, there might be a chance it could veer off elsewhere, but the fire dragon had chased Lee Seung-hyeong all the way to Anyang Stadium.

In other words, this fireball would roll straight into the command headquarters.

Clang clang clang!

Snow White Princess attempted to slow it down by creating ice walls in its path, but to no avail. Instead, the fireball shattered the ice barriers as if warning them not to obstruct its path, spinning even faster.

“Estimated damage from explosion… It will obliterate the entire stadium and more!”

The operators screamed. The enemy had already launched an attack toward the command headquarters.

Snow White Princess continued struggling desperately to stop the fireball, but to no avail.

Team A from Guro had yet to return to headquarters, and Team B in Gangnam was still mopping up the hellhound zombies.

Effectively, there was no force capable of stopping this fireball.

Shin Jin-gwang snapped his command stick.

“Retreat! Abandon the base and run! Move it!”

As the operators panicked at this sudden order, Shin Jin-gwang fled the command room without looking back, running southward.

“Ugh, aaaargh!!”

Seeing their commander fleeing first, everyone else started running too. Operators, D-rank heroes, medical teams, journalists, association staff – everyone followed Shin Jin-gwang in a frantic dash.

As the command room emptied out, one operator remained seated at their desk, rapidly typing on the keyboard.

“What are you doing, Senior?!”

Their junior, about to flee, was startled. Without turning around, the senior operator focused on their work while replying.

“If we flee now, all data from this battlefield will be lost. We can’t leave without registering the villain’s and the new A-rank’s magic patterns in the database.”

“You’ll die if you keep this up!”

The senior pointed at the screen with their chin.

– Stop your legs RIGHT NOW!!

There stood a hero desperately erecting ice barriers to block the fireball.

“As long as the hero hasn’t given up, how can we abandon them first?”

The man returned his gaze to the screen. The junior, tears welling up, turned around and said,

“I’m sorry!”

before leaving the command room.

The man gave a bitter smile and typed even faster.

* * *

Gangnam.

Many heroes were injured and their magical powers depleted. Perhaps because the team consisted mostly of older heroes, the continuous hours of relentless combat had taken a significant toll on their bodies.

Phwoosh.

Usa plunged their staff into the last remaining hellhound zombie. The burst of magical energy from the staff’s tip exploded, destroying the zombie’s body.

“Old man, any more signs?”

“…None. That’s the end.”

Pungbaek stroked his luxuriant white beard. Blood from a gash on his forehead dyed the beard red. He conjured a small gust of wind to clear the blood from his beard and looked around.

“Is everyone alright?”

The heroes responded variously while holding their weapons. Even A-rank Pungbaek had sustained injuries in the brutal battle, so the conditions of the other heroes were likely worse or at least no better.

Could they really continue fighting? Usa shook their head. They hadn’t even reached Yeouido, let alone Gangnam.

“It’s no good. We need to request a temporary retreat to headquarters.”

“Shouldn’t we rest in Gangnam?”

Another hero’s comment made Usa give a wry smile.

“The villains have fled, haven’t they? They might surprise attack us from somewhere unexpected while we’re resting. We could get kidnapped.”

“Tch, gotta be careful. Don’t wanna get abducted by monsters.”

“Old man.”

Usa quietly stopped Pungbaek from speaking further. While Pungbaek’s words seemed sarcastic, they stemmed more from the sorrow of losing a comrade and the resulting sense of responsibility and guilt for their shared disciple. Usa understood this well and didn’t press the matter further.

Adjusting their voice, Usa tapped their smartwatch.

“…This is Usa. Headquarters, respond.”

Static, static.

“Huh?”

Communication with headquarters wasn’t going through. Usa tapped their smartwatch as if knocking on it and called headquarters again.

“This is Usa urgently seeking Commander Shin Jin-gwang. Headquarters, respond.”

“Seems like the magical interference isn’t settled yet.”

Pungbaek also clicked his tongue at the non-responsive smartwatch. Whether they liked it or not, they needed to report the current situation and follow the commander’s orders.

While Usa wrestled with the smartwatch, Pungbaek slowly approached the captured woman.

“So, you’re the Ritual Master, aren’t you?”

“Yeah! Hehehe! Soon Seoul will become a sea of fire! Everyone will die and wander as ghosts, turning into monsters! Teehee! Hahaha! Die already! Let the Hellfire Peninsula perish! Kha hahaha!”

The disheveled woman drooled and cursed wildly. The heroes inwardly sighed at the realization that this possessed-looking woman was their greatest achievement.

Elsewhere, the other A-rank villain, Black Flame Dragon, lay fallen with blood at the corner of their mouth.

“To kill oneself… Damn.”

Pungbaek clicked his tongue at the sight of Black Flame Dragon. A monstrous flame wielder who single-handedly countered the combined techniques of both Pungbaek and Usa – they could have grown into a great talent if properly managed by the association before being captured by the Pine Tree Unit.

“Even if one rolls around like a dog, this life is better than the next…”

But now, Black Flame Dragon had become a spirit who would never return. Realizing the situation had turned favorable for the heroes, the awakened Black Flame Dragon spoke of seeking divine forgiveness before biting their tongue and committing suicide. Pungbaek closed the wide-open eyes of Black Flame Dragon with regret.

Ultimately, Team B’s achievements amounted to capturing only the Ritual Master and dozens of their subordinates. For such an ambitious operation aiming to reclaim all of Seoul, it was a rather meager result.

Beep.

Finally, communication with headquarters was established. Usa cleared their throat and activated the screen.

“This is Usa. Headquarters response…?”

– Damn it! What’s this nonsense about the commander fleeing?! Shut up and survive already!

Shin Jin-gwang was running. The violently shaking video feed revealed he had left the command headquarters.

“What happened-”

– Usa? Whoever you are, go stop that fireball immediately!

Shin Jin-gwang shouted as if screaming.

Behind him ran countless people, practically everyone who had remained at the command headquarters. As Usa hesitated, another video feed appeared on the side of the screen.

“What’s this?”

The screen showed a blue-flamed orb rapidly rolling down the ridge toward the Anyang command headquarters.