Chapter 75

Chapter 75: Preparing the Defense (1)

SH.

A criminal organization that held the belief that non-Awakened were inferior and Awakened were superior.

They terrorized countless places across the world, spreading fear through the organization's name alone.

No.

...There was a time like that.

Inside a dark basement.

Five men and women dressed in black were gathered.

An ominous energy crept up from their bodies.

Power rivaling S-rank Heroes. But not Heroes — enemies of humanity.

They were SH's remnants.

CRASH—!

When the largest man stomped his foot, the floor shook.

"To think we've been reduced to hiding on some backwater continent... I don't like it. I want to turn America into a sea of blood right now."

The woman beside him spoke.

"Shut up, you idiot Rick."

"Amy, do you think I can just sit still? The boss promised me the right to do whatever I want with that arrogant Henrik and that stuck-up Michelle! I want my revenge on those bastards right now!"

Henrik and Michelle were both the names of American S-rank Heroes.

Rick hadn't joined SH with some grand purpose like the other members.

After his former lover Michelle was stolen by Henrik, the singular desire for revenge had driven Rick to seek out SH.

If Rick had been an ordinary Hero at the time, they would've killed him on the spot rather than accept him as a member.

But Rick was an S-rank Hero.

An S-rank Hero — a top-tier talent that couldn't be treated carelessly no matter how stupid they were.

Even so, Amy resented the boss.

No matter how rare S-ranks were, he should've weeded out an idiot like this on his own.

Oh wait, he wasn't the boss anymore.

Amy resented the stupid former boss who had abandoned his subordinates.

"You stupid bastard! That boss got his head chopped off and killed by that bitch Edelin — what good are his promises now?"

SH's boss had been strong.

He'd had the force and leadership to keep the world's worst criminals in line.

Not that it mattered — he'd been cut down in a single blow by the world's strongest Hero.

Thinking about the boss made anger well up inside Amy's head.

"That moron! What was he thinking, teaming up with some unknown thing and hatching a plan like that? As if something like 'collapsing America' would actually work!"

Grattun, they'd called it.

Something that was neither human nor monster.

She still didn't know what it was, but she knew for certain that it was extremely dangerous.

The boss had joined hands with Grattun and devised a plan to bring down America.

This mess was the result.

Thanks to the boss's idiotic plan, SH had gone completely bankrupt.

"Aaargh! This pisses me off! Damn the boss! Damn the monster! Drop dead, all of you!"

"Then let's charge into America together."

"Shut up, Rick! It pisses me off even more when you egg me on!"

The SH remnants' meeting was a pathetic sight, impossible to believe had once belonged to the world's most dangerous criminal organization.

They'd lost their base and most of their members had been wiped out, but five S-rank Awakened and a fair number of underlings had survived.

However, without a leader to unite the remaining remnants, they could never come together — always clashing opinions until everything fizzled out.

The SH members were sick and tired of their own pathetic state.

More than half the surviving members had already fled.

No matter how firmly you held your convictions in your heart, the moment you realized those convictions could never be fulfilled, all motivation drained away.

But it was far too late for regrets now.

They'd committed too many sins, and as long as America kept its eyes wide open, no country would take them in even if they tried to launder their identities.

"How did we end up like this?"

"Damn it... what a shit world. Why the hell do superior Superhumans have to kill each other? All because of those stupid bastards doing the bidding of inferior humans."

All the SH members could do was lament their situation.

They had neither the will nor the ability to do anything, so perhaps they would spend the rest of their lives like this.

Amy murmured.

"Even if I had to shake hands with a devil, I'd want to overturn this shit world......"

【Really?】

A flinch—

What was that just now?

An ominous voice like scraping metal.

A voice none of them had ever heard before — it couldn't belong to any of the members.

Amy and the SH members all went on high alert, nerves taut.

Someone had infiltrated this place.

At a location where five S-rank Heroes were gathered, bypassing all of their senses.

【Now, now... there's no need to be so frightened.】

"Who are you?"

【I am the devil your strong will summoned. Though I prefer the term 'Evil God' to 'devil.'】

The Evil God revealed itself.

It was a shape like a black shadow.

It was nothing more than a pitch-black shadow, but the SH members somehow felt that the Evil God was smiling.

【I am Kultung. Would you like to turn the world upside down with me?】

***

"That Kultung bastard's probably already making his move."

The Evil God Kultung.

The mastermind behind this Academy Collapse Event.

The creature's raw power was on the weaker side, but the ability it possessed was a nuisance.

Kultung's primary ability was spatial distortion.

It could forcibly open Gates and create dungeons.

On top of that, it isolated the entire area around the Academy within its own space, making it impossible to receive outside support.

Ryu Jeonga's premonition was her sensing mana moving abnormally as Kultung activated its ability.

Anyone else would have missed it, but it was possible because she was Chancellor Ryu Jeonga — a witch who had lived for 150 years.

"Then I'll have to lay traps in advance."

Once Kultung fully activated its ability, the Academy would be cut off and unable to receive support from outside.

Which meant what?

I just had to recruit Heroes in advance!

Diri-ri-ri—♪

The smartphone's default ringtone rang briefly, followed by the connecting tone.

From the other end came a voice that now felt familiar.

─Professor Cha, it's been a while.

The Dragon of China, Lie Xiao.

If you subdivided ranks within S-rank Heroes, he was a monster among monsters who would unconditionally place at the very top.

Since the Pacific Dungeon raid, Lie Xiao's stock had risen day by day, and he was now widely acknowledged by experts as the strongest in Asia.

No matter what tricks an Evil God pulled, there was no way it could do anything about Lie Xiao at this point — the first semester wasn't even over yet.

If Lie Xiao came to the Academy, nothing could be more reassuring.

"Yes. It's been a while. How have you been?"

─Quite well. Too well, even — it's almost a problem. I'm enjoying more than I deserve. It's all thanks to you, Professor. By the way... one moment. You! Hold still.

From beyond the phone, I could faintly hear Lie Xiao barking at someone.

Soon the commotion died down and Lie Xiao returned to the call.

─Ah, my apologies. Soyon was making a ruckus next to me, so I had to step away for a moment.

"It's fine."

Some kind of shrieking came through the phone.

The sound was too faint to make out clearly, but when I focused, I could tell it was Zhuge Soyon's voice.

Lie Xiao was still having a hard time as always.

Hang in there, Director.

─Haa, I'd love to catch up more, but my environment isn't exactly suited for a leisurely call... could we skip to the main point?

"Of course. I was hoping Lie Xiao could come to Korea."

─Pardon? Soyon, you, hold on—

─Professor! Me too, I want to come too!

Zhuge Soyon's voice interjected again.

More firepower was always better, so I had no objections.

"I've been wanting to see your face too, Soyon."

While I was at it, should I invite Wang Sheng too?

"Since it's been a while, bring Wang Sheng along."

─What? I don't want to be with him.

Zhuge Soyon's voice dropped instantly.

Having apparently succeeded in reclaiming the phone, Lie Xiao's desperate voice came through.

─Wang Sheng has things to do right now, so that won't work!

─Liar. He's got absolutely nothing going on right now.

─...Zhuge Soyon, you.

Then again, if he brought both Zhuge Soyon and Wang Sheng to Korea, Lie Xiao would die.

Even one of those brats was a handful — carting two around would drain his sanity dry.

Lie Xiao produced a flimsy excuse.

─They're such active children that I worry they might interfere with your work, Professor......

"If Lie Xiao says so, then I'll take your word for it."

─Thank you for understanding.

Only then did Lie Xiao's voice brighten a little.

─But Professor, what did you need me for?

Part of me wanted to come clean about the crisis threatening the Academy, but since I couldn't reveal my source, it wasn't a wise choice.

No matter how close the relationship, secrets piling up would inevitably create distance.

So I wrapped my real reason in a fabricated excuse.

I trusted that Lie Xiao would never refuse a request from me, even if it wasn't about some major incident.

"I'm working on a new paper and I'm short on real combat data. I'd like to ask Lie Xiao's help for accurate data extraction."

Lie Xiao answered in a pleased voice.

─Of course I should help. Your papers aren't just personal matters, Professor. I'm excited to see how you'll change the world this time.

─Me too! I want to see it too!

Both of them placed excessive expectations on my supposed paper.

The truth was, there was no paper.

"Thank you for the cooperation."

We chatted about what we'd been up to for a while longer before ending the call, and then I turned on my PC.

Since my last game strategy guide had been a massive hit disguised as a paper, I decided to write another one.

In truth, it was the only thing I knew how to do, so I didn't exactly have a choice.

The most important thing was the paper's topic.

If I wrote just anything, it would clearly lead to the same catastrophe as the first paper.

▼ Inbox (99+)

"Haa......"

Opening the overflowing inbox made me sigh.

I'd only emptied it yesterday, and it was already full again.

There should be a limit to how much fame you acquire.

With everyone and their mother looking for me, my peaceful daily life was long gone and every day was a war.

I missed those leisurely days.

The paper was one thing, but the aftermath of the Pacific Dungeon raid was an even bigger problem.

Without exaggeration, dozens of reporters per day showed up at my office door without permission, and Lee Yeeun was the one chasing them away.

Today alone, she'd already turned eight of them away at the door.

That was why I swore that this time, I would absolutely not write a strategy guide that drew aggro.

"How should I write this?"

That said, making it too underwhelming wasn't an option either.

The academic world was no pushover.

Even the most renowned professor was finished the moment they put out a bad paper.

Rebuilding lost prestige was not an easy process.

On top of that, a single blemish would follow a professor throughout their entire career.

So there was no reason to ruin my current prestige with some careless paper.

"I need a topic that's suitably modest yet groundbreaking......"

An idea flickered through my mind.

A paper that most people wouldn't care about, but that specialists in a certain field would go absolutely crazy over.

"Let's go with monster taming."

It was a somewhat random topic, but that was exactly why it was perfect.

No matter how great a paper I wrote, people with no interest in monster taming wouldn't pay it much attention.

I dug through my memory to lay out the framework, then filled in the specifics through Teachings of Seshet.

After about thirty minutes of scribbling, a pretty decent strategy guide took shape.

"This should be fine, right?"

The paper's specific subject was: "What is the optimal HP threshold for capturing a monster?"

This was, surprisingly, an enormous dilemma for tamers.

If a monster's HP was too high, capture was impossible.

In Pocket X-ster terms, it was similar to whittling down a wild Pocket X's HP before throwing an X-ster Ball.

Conversely, if it was too low, building affinity was difficult, requiring much more time to make the monster submit.

Sometimes, having inflicted too many wounds, the monster would develop chronic injuries and die.

"Once this paper is published, the tamer industry should advance significantly."

Preserving my prestige.

Not drawing excessive aggro from the public and having to deal with being busy.

Advancing the tamer industry and elevating humanity's capabilities.

A true three birds with one stone.

A paper about monster taming.

I'd come up with it myself, and what a wise choice it was.

...That was what I thought at the time.

Back then, I had no idea how stupid a thing I was doing.