Chapter 20

Chapter. 20

At the spot where Scathach, now in ‘Ice Dragon Mode,’ had exploded to pieces,

I could see a single azure orb shining brilliantly through the hazy frost.

‘Just as expected.’

When I picked it up and examined it closely, I saw a strange mark inside, like the slit pupil of a reptile.

‘The Ice Dragon’s Eye.’

Among the rewards for defeating Scathach, this was the item commonly called the ‘second prize,’ and there was only one way to obtain it.

You had to force Scathach into ‘Ice Dragon Mode’ first, and then kill him.

‘I had to get this.’

In truth, the best reward was the first prize, the Ice Dragon’s Heart.

It was what I had used to make Eternal Winter.

But that thing had a drop rate below 0.0001 percent. A lottery ticket, basically.

This was not a game. It was reality.

Reality, where an entire nation stood on the brink of destruction or survival, and my own life along with it.

In a situation like this, I could not bet on such a vanishingly small chance.

This ‘Ice Dragon’s Eye,’ on the other hand, was different.

If you forced Scathach into phase two, in other words into ‘Ice Dragon Mode,’ and then killed him, it was a guaranteed drop with a one-hundred-percent rate.

That was why I had gone out of my way to take the risk and drag him into phase two.

In a strategy where failure was not allowed, variables had to be controlled.

Relying on luck was gambling, not strategy.

I wanted a ‘guaranteed reward,’ and exactly as I had planned, that item was now in my hand.

This was the key item for my next operation.

But it seemed the broken man before me could not see that hope.

“…Apostle, is there any point in stopping this?”

Jin Cheon-jin’s gaze was not fixed on my hand, but on empty air.

[3 Days Until Start]

The red countdown flashing in the air.

Those numbers were crushing him.

“A mere… three days.”

Deep despair clung to his voice.

I understood his despair.

This time, thanks to my intervention, we had miraculously achieved ‘zero casualties,’ but under normal circumstances, three days would have been nowhere near enough time to treat the wounded or rebuild shattered defenses.

He was instinctively grasping the meaning of a preparation period shortened this drastically.

Even if we stopped this one, the next might become ‘one day.’

He had read the Tower’s ‘certain-destruction scenario’ for what it was: a plan to hound us until we withered away.

‘Though really, it’s more that if you don’t climb the Tower, it kills you all.’

“It is over now. Everything…”

Jin Cheon-jin lowered his head.

That old man’s shoulders looked strangely small.

Jin Cheon-jin.

The middle-aged man hanging his head before me had once been the king of the ‘first-generation Hunters’ who held the world together before Han Seol-ah’s era.

When the Tower first appeared and chaos engulfed everything, he was the miraculous man who had performed CPR on the Republic of Korea when it had been ninety-nine percent of the way to annihilation.

Until ‘Guardian’ Han Seol-ah had appeared, he had endured those hellish three years with nothing but his bare fists.

A living legend.

And Jin Cheon-jin had broken.

‘…What a cruel world.’

But

“It is not over.”

“…Pardon?”

For Jin Cheon-jin’s sake—and for Min Ji-hee, who was surely listening through the microphone as well—I decided to give them certainty.

“There is a way.”

“…!”

Jin Cheon-jin’s eyes widened so much they looked ready to tear.

“You said it. You—and all of you—asked me to save the Republic of Korea.”

“…Yes.”

“And I declared it. That your quest had been accepted.”

I continued in a firm voice.

“The quest has not yet been completed.”

“…”

“Killing Scathach? That was only the first objective. The true purpose of the quest is…”

I pointed at the red warning message Jin Cheon-jin had been staring at.

“…to break that unreasonable cycle of destruction.”

“Is that… is that really possible?”

“Yes.”

Watching the golden motes of light beginning to gather around my body, I continued,

“When I accept a quest, I tend to clear it no matter what.”

“A-Apostle! What in the world do you mean by that…? Please, explain in detail…!”

Jin Cheon-jin hurriedly reached out, trying to ask more, but I did not answer.

I waited until the golden motes had been fully absorbed into my body…

then, after walking away at an unhurried pace and vanishing from Jin Cheon-jin’s sight beyond the edge of the empty lot, I ran home.

Agh!

Synchronization is about to shut off!

“Just hold on until I get home!”

Please!

***

The moment I arrived home, Synchronization shut off.

“…”

I waited tensely for the backlash that was sure to come, but…

“Hoo.”

Fortunately, what I had feared did not happen.

‘If I absorb the light motes, there’s no backlash.’

I was able to confirm that fact once again.

“All right, then.”

I looked over at the monitor where Lost Honor was still running.

[Emergency Epic Quest]

[Save the Republic of Korea from the Threat of Destruction 2]

[Quest Objective]

[Defeat Ice Dragon Scathach] (Complete!)

There had been a meaningful change in the quest window.

[Emergency Epic Quest Complete!]

[Would you like to complete the quest and receive the reward?]

[Reward]

[Corridor of Constellations - ‘Achievement’ Unlocked]

[Possession Ticket]

As for the Possession Ticket, I already knew just how absurdly powerful it was after using it to awaken Han Seol-ah into an EX-rank.

But the other reward, ‘Corridor of Constellations - Achievement’…

I was sure it had to be some tremendous ability related to unlocking a new class, but I could not be certain until I saw it with my own eyes.

Click. Click.

Just in case, I clicked it several times with the mouse, but no separate explanation appeared.

‘Of course not.’

Below that,

[1. Yes] [2. No]

The golden ‘Yes’ glittered as though urging me to hurry and press it.

If I clicked that, I could receive the reward right away.

So naturally, in this case,

I pressed No.

“You haven’t cleared the Hidden Quest yet, damn it.”

It would certainly be convenient to take the reward now.

But I knew better.

Only after ‘that part’ was finished would the system finally unwrap the real bundle it had hidden away.

Now was not the time to set down the spoon.

I sagged down into the chair.

“Ugh, I’m dying…”

My mind was turning to mush.

It seemed the light motes did not heal the Internal Injuries I had already suffered.

I was getting a firsthand confirmation of that right now.

“Urgh.”

It hurt.

For a moment I considered clicking Synchronization back on to heal the Internal Injuries, but…

No matter how much it hurt, I needed to think calmly.

If I did that, I would die.

If I had to compare my condition to something, I was like a cracked bowl.

If I turned Synchronization on in this state, I would end up like Han Seol-ah had when she exploded while training magic.

‘I overdid it this time….’

I knew it had been unavoidable.

But overdoing it was still overdoing it.

When I used magic through Synchronization, it calculated everything for me.

The moment I willed myself to use magic, Synchronization automatically distributed the Mana, calculated the complicated magic circles, and output the spell.

Magic was the car, and Synchronization was the autopilot system driving it smoothly and safely for me.

But this time had been different.

Synchronization had handled the ‘autopilot’ part only up until the activation of Absolute Zero.

After that, I was the one who kept shoving in more Mana like fuel into the engine.

It had been my own decision to pour in an absurd 300,000 MP, laughing in the face of the supposed 50,000 MP limit.

It was like turning off the autopilot system, grabbing the wheel myself, and driving straight into a runaway crash.

Trying to bear all of that enormous calculation raw, without Synchronization’s help, I had truly thought I was going to die.

But thanks to that, I learned one thing.

Even output beyond Synchronization’s limits could still be controlled directly by my own hands.

I dove onto the bed.

I swallowed a painkiller I had stolen from Cheol-su’s place, and then fell straight asleep.

***

The next day.

The moment I woke up, I headed for the Appraisal Center, which had by now basically become an operations camp.

I still could not activate Synchronization.

At this point, I was just grateful I had recovered enough to move around.

Before arriving at the Appraisal Center, I checked myself in the mirror and adjusted my mask.

From here on out, what I had to do was simple.

I had to finish the operation briefing perfectly!

Naturally, the climax of the plan I had designed was killing Scathach.

It was a mission no one but me could carry out.

So I handled it personally.

But since I had expected I would not have the strength left for the cleanup afterward…

I had designed the rest of the operation at a level Han Seol-ah could handle.

Was it easy?

Not at all.

It was difficult.

And if it failed, Han Seol-ah would die, and this country would be doomed.

‘Ugh, that hurts.’

In the mirror, my face looked unmistakably like that of a patient on the verge of dying.

The mask’s absurdly high performance was actually working against me right now.

‘Mind control. Hoo.’

I am the Apostle… the Apostle.

My opponent was Min Ji-hee.

If I honestly showed any sign that I was hurting in front of her, she was the sort of woman who might instantly compile a report titled something like ‘One Hundred Truths and Falsehoods About the Existence Known as the Apostle.’

I had to convince Min Ji-hee that Han Seol-ah needed to take the lead instead of me.

Without letting her realize that ‘the Apostle had suffered a severe blow’!

I had to keep a firm grip on myself.

The authority of the transcendent being called the ‘Apostle’ could not collapse yet.

“Good.”

Let’s go.

***

Min Ji-hee was smart.

Very smart.

That was why, from the very beginning, she had known it was more advantageous to pretend not to notice the ‘minor questions’ surrounding the Apostle.

But that did not mean she had ever truly forgotten them.

For example,Why did the Apostle live in a place like that?

Min Ji-hee had memorized the map of every corner of Incheon.

She knew the Apostle’s gait. She knew his speed.

She knew the direction from which he appeared, and the direction in which he left.

And if she knew all that, she could calculate it.

Where the Apostle was currently living.

…That place was a shabby villa where the B-rank Hunter ‘Kim Cheol-su’ lived.

Happiness House, Building B.

Min Ji-hee also remembered every single ‘Hunter’ living in Happiness House, Building B.

And she knew that none of them had personal details matching, or even resembling, those of the ‘Apostle.’

Which meant…

The Apostle was someone living in Happiness House, Building B, disguised as another person.

And that someone was…

‘Enough.’

Min Ji-hee cut off the thought there.

Would knowing the Apostle’s identity help prevent the destruction of the Republic of Korea?

Maybe it would, but…

The Apostle was the terminal of a transcendent being, and also a transcendent powerhouse who could reduce an entire city to dust.

If such a being seemed careless,

was that truly carelessness?

Or was it camouflage deliberately laid out to appear that way?

Min Ji-hee believed the latter was more likely.

And if…

someone were to strip away that camouflage, what would happen?

…Even imagining it just a little made Min Ji-hee feel the blood drain from her face.

So every time questions about the Apostle rose in her mind, Min Ji-hee covered them over by pretending not to know.

She thought that was enough.

And once she had emptied her mind to that extent, spending time with the Apostle became genuinely enjoyable.

Conversation with someone who understood what you meant was far more interesting than she had expected.

“…”

And yet…

“Um, Apostle.”

“So that is how it is…”

“…?”

Why had he been repeating that one phrase for a while now?

“So that is what happened…”

…Why was he only saying things like that?

“Apostle…? Do you have something to say to me…?”

“That… no. No. You have no need to know.”

“What?”

“…”

“…”

Surely not.

‘Did he… read my doubts?’

***

Dealing with smart people was exhausting.

Because I could never figure out how I was supposed to beat them.

And Min Ji-hee was famous for being incredibly intelligent.

That made it even harder to figure out.

…So the method I chose was simple.

I was going to make use of my reputation as the ‘Apostle’!

So I stared straight at Min Ji-hee and muttered nothing but vague, meaningless things.

Things like ‘Is that so,’ ‘So you do not know,’ ‘So that is how it was,’ and ‘You have no need to know.’

‘Add one spoonful of silence on top, and it’s done.’

Min Ji-hee seemed convinced there was some major hidden clue in my words, because she sank into intense thought.

And at last, she let out one sentence.

“…Apostle, I swear, the only person who knows that fact… no, who suspects it, is me.”

“…”

‘That fact?’

A chill ran down my spine.

‘What fact?’

“I swear it. I will never speak of it.”

“…Is that so.”

I glanced sideways at Jin Cheon-jin and Han Seol-ah.

Jin Cheon-jin seemed to have already concluded long ago that this was a conversation beyond his understanding, because he was lost in his own thoughts.

And Han Seol-ah…

was simply flustered because she could not follow the conversation.

‘So neither of you knows what she’s talking about either.’

Because I do not know either!

I looked down at Min Ji-hee in silence, then spoke in a weighty tone.

“So that is how it is…”

“Yes. I swear it on my name.”

“If that is the case…”

“…Then I, too, will no longer harbor any doubts. No, I will forget them altogether.”

Min Ji-hee’s cool expression crumbled.

She looked like a child who had done something wrong and been caught by a frightening teacher.

‘…Uh.’

This was not what I had intended to happen!

“Let us end this conversation here.”

“…Thank you for your mercy.”

Cold sweat running down her face, Min Ji-hee bowed her head.

Then she quietly stepped back.

‘….’

“…”

The air inside the building turned cold.

My own neck felt cold too.

What on earth was going on inside that woman’s head right now?

…Forget it.

There was no point forcing myself to know what I did not know.

‘You won, didn’t you? Have a drink.’

“…I will explain the operation.”

I took out the Ice Dragon’s Eye I had brought in my bag.

“This item is called the Ice Dragon’s Eye. It is one of the rewards you get for killing Scathach.”

The eyes of all three fixed themselves on the orb glowing with a brilliant blue light.

“Normally it is used as a material for crafting equipment, but if a Frost Type class uses it as a Mana catalyst, it can also be used for something else.”

I looked at Han Seol-ah and grinned.

“I’ll explain it simply. This is a ‘Mana nuclear bomb.’”

“A-a nuclear bomb?”

Han Seol-ah’s eyes went round.

“Han Seol-ah. This is your mission as well.”

I glanced at Min Ji-hee.

Perhaps because the earlier battle of wills had worked so well… Min Ji-hee did not show the slightest doubt.

‘Nice.’

“When the Boss Break begins, there will be a point where the boss appears. Correct?”

“Yes. There is.”

It was Jin Cheon-jin who answered.

“Take this there. You do not need to match the exact coordinates.”

“Yes.”

This time Han Seol-ah answered in a firm voice.

“And then you detonate it.”

“…”

This time, no one answered.