I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 272 : Humanity's Fortress (1)

"Chairman Hwang."

Chairman Hwang Yong-jae had moved to the Execution Force headquarters after finishing the press conference and was now in a three-way meeting with the Chief of Staff and the Commander.

"Captain Son Ji-gwang discovered something strange in the underground passage."

"......"

Chief of Staff Heo Sung-gyeom immediately brought up the matter.

"It's presumed to be a chimera of Ma-in and demonic beasts. Although it was considerably burned by Captain Seol Ji-yun's fire attack, its form was definitely alien."

He placed a document with evidence photos on the table.

"I see."

Chairman Hwang Yong-jae closed his eyes.

Of course, he had expected there would be questions about this.

"Would you please tell us the truth?"

"Certainly."

Hwang Yong-jae answered willingly.

'The fact that they're speaking openly in front of me while keeping it secret from the outside means there's room for negotiation.'

Judging their intentions, it was better to speak honestly and cooperate here.

'It's not like excuses would help anyway.'

"As you may suspect, those were beings created in a laboratory."

"A laboratory, you say."

"Yes. A laboratory that received investment from our foundation. As you know, my late father made great efforts to protect that item inside the cabinet. In his view, no matter how excellent the protective facilities were, they couldn't stop all intruders."

"So that's why you invested in the laboratory?"

"He said it was to create stronger Awakened ones."

"Why did a laboratory meant to create stronger Awakened produce so many chimeras? And since when have you been hiding them in the underground passage?"

Chief of Staff Heo Sung-gyeom asked.

"And right in the heart of Seoul, in the basement of the B&S Group headquarters building. Isn't this exactly what they mean by the darkest place being under the lamp?"

"I have no excuse."

As Chairman Hwang Yong-jae readily admitted his wrongdoing, Heo Sung-gyeom's expression softened slightly.

"Besides the chimeras, what else did you create?"

"Not what, but who."

"A person?"

Hwang Yong-jae opened his closed eyes.

"Cadet Song Yu-ha. She is a healer-type Awakened that we raised."

"...Song Yu-ha?"

The Chief of Staff frowned.

"I remember that cadet. She was a healer in the Supporter class, wasn't she?"

"Yes. She's a talent who will become a top-tier healer in the future. Because that's how we're raising her."

"...How exactly?"

"We researched the principles of characteristic manifestation and conducted various experiments and administered elixirs to increase efficiency."

"That's a bit strange. She was certainly excellent, but I don't think she stood out that much as a cadet."

"That's because we placed a limiter on her. We made it so Song Yu-ha could only exert 30% of her power."

"...Then."

Heo Sung-gyeom's eyes narrowed.

"Is it possible to artificially remove that limiter?"

"I understand what you're thinking."

Hwang Yong-jae laughed softly.

"But unfortunately, no. The researchers merely restricted Song Yu-ha's original capacity. It's not a difficult thing to do."

"I see."

"Honing oneself to the limits is only possible through effort, isn't it?"

Hwang Yong-jae said.

"Moreover, continually transcending one's limits like Jeong Su-hyeon is something only that guy can do."

"Indeed."

Heo Sung-gyeom nodded.

"Then for what purpose? Why did you send Cadet Song Yu-ha to the academy and restrict her power?"

"Data collection, and a measure to bring her into our group in the future while avoiding attention."

Indeed, if Song Yu-ha had stood out tremendously like cadets such as Su-hyeon or Seo Jun-seong, there would have been significant noise when bringing her into the B&S Group later.

"In any case, the activities conducted at the laboratory that my father and I invested in were undeniably unethical."

"If you'll excuse me, you've been very cooperative from the start."

In response to Heo Sung-gyeom's question suggesting surprise, Hwang Yong-jae sighed.

"Because I judged it to be the most correct action. Besides, I do have emotions as a human being."

"...Indeed."

Chief of Staff Heo Sung-gyeom exchanged glances with Commander Ju Taeyang, who had been silent, and then continued.

"By the way, you are quite bold. Arbitrarily capturing Ma-in and demonic beasts for experiments? Of course, such things might happen secretly all over the world. But for someone who has risen to the position of Chairman of the B&S Group..."

"Thanks to that, you now hold my leash."

Despite Hwang Yong-jae's cynicism, Heo Sung-gyeom calmly shook his head.

"Well, I'm sorry, but the Commander and I are realists. Rather than sternly reproaching your unethical behavior, we're more interested in what kind of cooperation and concessions we can obtain with this card."

"Hahaha."

Hwang Yong-jae burst into laughter at the blunt statement.

"I like how quickly we're getting to the point."

The emotional colors shown by the two men even in this situation made Hwang Yong-jae trust them.

"Chairman Hwang maintained maximum defensive posture despite knowing he would be in trouble if this truth came to light. It couldn't have been an easy decision."

"Thank you for the gilding, but..."

Hwang Yong-jae answered bitterly.

"In the end, it was just indecisiveness. If I had disclosed everything and obtained the strong assistance of the Execution Force, the cabinet wouldn't have been opened."

"I understand that it wouldn't have been easy to take such action while bearing all those risks yourself. It's also impressive that you haven't complained even once about the enormous property damage you've taken in this incident."

"This is hardly the situation for that."

"One thing."

Ju Taeyang, who had been silent all along, finally opened his mouth.

"There's something I want to ask."

"I'll answer anything I can."

"Weren't you and your father afraid of that ancient document in the cabinet?"

"We were. My father said that if that document was released into the world, it would eventually destroy everything."

"Then why didn't you burn it or throw it away?"

"...That item transcends the laws of physics."

Hwang Yong-jae said.

"It looks like old parchment, but neither mana, fire, nor blade affects it. That's why my father thought it would be better to establish perfect defenses."

"...Indeed."

Ju Taeyang nodded.

"This is also just as he said."

"He who?"

"There's someone you need to meet."

"...Who would that be?"

"Someone you know well."

'Someone I know well?'

Hwang Yong-jae's eyebrows twitched.

"Could it be?"

"That's right. Jeong Su-hyeon."

❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀

"How are your wounds?"

"I'm fine. You know my recovery ability."

"True, it's good to be young."

Chairman Hwang Yong-jae showed a surprised look as he watched me chatting comfortably with Ju Taeyang.

"When did you become..."

"There were some circumstances."

"Impressive."

For Hwang Yong-jae, until recently I had been merely a promising boy he wanted to recruit to his group, but...

In just a few months, I had risen to a completely different level.

"Su-hyeon is a prophet. He prophesied the end to me."

"...A prophet?"

"I just see the future in dreams."

"That's what a prophet is."

"Exactly."

Ju Taeyang and Heo Sung-gyeom shrugged.

"...What future exactly did you see?"

"What you fear, Chairman Hwang."

I answered promptly.

"The end of the world."

"The end of the world."

Perhaps due to the weight that seemed almost absurd, Hwang Yong-jae let out a deep sigh.

"As you may guess, that ancient document is not from this world. It's from the world they call [Nastrond], the demon realm."

"...!"

"What's written in that document is a method to open a certain door."

"A door? Like a Gate?"

"Similar but different. Until now, Gates were doors that opened to dungeons. But only lower-ranked beings could pass through such doors. That's why even the Dungeon Lords who guarded the dungeon beyond the Gate couldn't cross over."

"Hmm."

"Therefore, the [Sword of Belphegor] is trying to open a door that any being can freely pass through."

"Now I understand a bit. So they needed the ancient document hidden in the cabinet to open that door?"

"That's right. More precisely, decoding the ancient document would reveal the location of an item called 'the Fragment of the Eroding World.' Only with that can the door to [Nastrond] be opened."

"You saw all that in a dream?"

"Hard to believe, but yes."

'What are you going to do about me saying I'm a prophet who saw it in a dream?'

In situations like this, it was better to be blatantly shameless.

"...Where is this fragment?"

"I don't know that either."

Since it was in a different place during each playthrough, it couldn't be found unless they decoded that ancient document.

'Edge of Gate wouldn't make it in the same place every time.'

"What's certain is that the day they find 'the Fragment of the Eroding World' and place it in the center of a summoning circle will be the day [Nastrond] opens."

"In other words, that day will be the beginning of the end."

"That's right."

I nodded.

"The end doesn't happen and finish in an instant. But once it begins, it can hardly be stopped."

"What exactly happens that you call it the end?"

"In my dream, I saw the demon realm."

I continued in a solemn tone.

"It was an environment too harsh and terrible for life to survive. But that world probably didn't always look like that."

"......"

Ju Taeyang, Heo Sung-gyeom, and Hwang Yong-jae.

These powerful figures and influential people who would rank within the top 10 in this country were quietly listening to my words.

"After the White Castle raid incident, the cadets and I entered a dungeon through a Gate."

"That's right. You said you discovered a city of the demon realm then?"

"Huh. A city of the demon realm."

Hwang Yong-jae sighed at Heo Sung-gyeom's words.

'Nice assist.'

"Yes. It was completely in ruins. But it was easy to guess that civilization had developed there in the past. It would have been at a medieval level of development if compared to Earth. But now it was a city in ruins where only demonic beasts remained."

"Hmm."

"The natives there, who should probably be called demons rather than Ma-in or demonic beasts... They probably weren't a race that would fight to mutual destruction even if they fought among themselves."

"...If they were, they couldn't have developed civilization to that level."

"Yes. Then we can guess that there must have been some other factor."

"What was it?"

"The King of Nastrond, [Belphegor]. He is a being who causes catastrophic disasters to the world just by existing."

"So [Sword of Belphegor] referred to that king."

Hwang Yong-jae sighed.

"Yes. He is a massive chaos and malice, equivalent to a tremendous disaster just by existing, immeasurable by human perception."

I said.

"Let me explain simply. Just the opening of the door to [Nastrond] will cause all kinds of natural disasters simultaneously. Climate disasters, tsunamis, earthquakes, rising sea levels, droughts and floods... disasters that are difficult to handle even individually."

"If they all happen at once, most of the infrastructure rebuilt by humanity would inevitably be destroyed in an instant."

Hwang Yong-jae's expression darkened at Heo Sung-gyeom's words.

"Yes. Society will collapse. The human casualties would be uncountable. Moreover, after civilization is destroyed, most ordinary citizens will have their very survival threatened. Nature is inherently harsh."

"...The expression 'end' was neither exaggeration nor metaphor."

"Yes. A terrible age will come."

Additionally.

"Not only Belphegor, but the beings called 'Grand Dukes' who follow him are also demons with strength beyond our imagination."

"Horrifying story."

Heo Sung-gyeom said.

"...Should we announce this fact to the world?"

Heo Sung-gyeom nodded at Hwang Yong-jae's question.

"We should. Although I don't know how many will prepare and how many will survive."

"...Then."

Hwang Yong-jae said.

"It's clear what we need for the coming age. After all, we need to build a massive bunker, no, a fortress, don't we?"

"I think so too."

Ju Taeyang folded his arms.

"I'll provide the necessary funds to build that fortress city."

"Is that okay? The cost..."

"Isn't that what you wanted?"

Heo Sung-gyeom awkwardly smiled at Hwang Yong-jae's pointed question.

"I appreciate how straightforward this conversation is."

"Of course, I trust you'll acknowledge my share in the fortress."

"Naturally. We won't forget Chairman Hwang's contribution."

'Come on.'

In the end, after going round and round, it was all about vested interests.

'That sly fox had reasons for conceding and taking a humble position.'

As expected of Hwang Yong-jae.

He was a born businessman who could find opportunities and interests even in this situation.

'Anyway.'

With Hwang Yong-jae joining as a financial backer, it seemed like a truly incredible fortress would be built this time.

'A blessing in disguise.'