novelraw Chapter 78
Chapter 78
Chapter 78
About two weeks had passed since I stirred up every broadcast and radio show I could.
Han Sang-ah managed to secure roughly 45 billion won. On paper that looked like a lot. You could put up a few buildings with that.
But we had to split it with other Hunters, buy the consumables we needed, and hire Seagull to handle the operating side.
Anyway, once we drafted the budget, it didn’t feel like such a generous war chest after all. You could say we locked in just enough.
“Kind of surprising that Mr. Jung helped as much as he did.”
“Kind of surprising? Chan-seok, be reasonable.”
On top of that budget, one more line item got added thanks to intel Jung Oh-hoon secured. Masks woven from the fibers of a plant called the sulfur willow.
“I did some checking. Looks like sulfur willows are native to an Erosion Zone on New Britain Island in Papua New Guinea.”
They were known for their harsh sulfur stench, and if you used mana nearby without thinking, the plant’s flower spikes would react to that energy and explode, causing damage.
“How about supply? Can we get enough?”
At my question, Han Sang-ah nodded.
“If we push, we can get them. But…”
She studied the various materials pinned to the wall, then answered.
“Sixty percent coverage at best. Demand is high.”
Of the Hunters who’d expressed interest in the Jaun Valley operation, about eight hundred were actually qualified to come along.
“I didn’t think we’d draw this many.”
“No need to be humble, superstar,” Jung Oh-hoon said with a crooked grin.
“Get lost.”
Superstar, my ass.
“The media’s wall-to-wall you. Some people are dragging you, some people are hyped.”
“There are panels on the nightly news talking about how, if we succeed in removing Jaun Valley, it could impact the Korean economy.”
This wasn’t the same as eliminating a first-class Erosion Core stuck way out in some far corner of Russia. Changchun was close to Korea, and of course if even one first-class Erosion Core in that region disappeared, the impact on Korea would be massive.
“Even if we pull it off, there’s still another first-class Erosion Core in North Korea. And that Undying Legion bothers me.”
Those undead didn’t even move until someone came looking for them around the Gonsalok district of Beijing. The fact that some of them were appearing throughout Jilin Province now was extremely concerning.
“You’ve got the benediction diagram.”
“That won’t completely purify them. It’ll only weaken them.”
There was a ton of information on the Undying Legion of Gonsalok. The problem was there was too much. It was hard to tell what was real and what was trash.
“Did you try asking Owner Sa Seung-hee for help?”
I nodded at Han Sang-ah’s question.
“But she didn’t have much.”
The reason was simple. Not a single Hunter who went to Gonsalok in Beijing had come back alive. They even said something interfered with communications around Beijing, so operator teams couldn’t get through.
“So the internet info is…”
“It’s all crap.”
If you wanted to know what those undead were like, there was no way but to experience it yourself.
“Good thing, honestly. We’ve got to remove Gonsalok someday anyway.”
This was a chance to indirectly feel out how strong the Undying Legion from Gonsalok really was.
“The benediction diagram, huh.”
If I drew one or two, the countless Hunters heading to Jaun Valley wouldn’t all benefit. Just thinking about drawing dozens of benediction diagrams already made me feel tired.
“At least it doesn’t cost money.”
I answered Han Sang-ah’s line with a sorrowful face.
“What about my labor?”
“Set that aside. By the way, can’t you use that benediction diagram to handle the fog in Jaun Valley?”
I thought it over, then answered.
“We don’t know the exact process by which that fog affects people.”
If I went and checked, it might be possible, but…
“If we wait until then to start drawing benediction diagrams, it’ll be too late.”
I’d have to draw dozens, and it wasn’t like I could just sit there and take my time. I picked up my spear and spoke to Han Sang-ah and Jung Oh-hoon.
“We keep pushing the logistics, but we still need to train.”
“Training? It’s just you beating the crap out of me.”
Grumbling, Jung Oh-hoon still obediently picked up his rifle.
We spent our hours training.
“Evening already.”
After we wrapped, I left Jung Oh-hoon, flattened like a rice cake from the beating, and checked the time.
I ate dinner, then headed to my room in the Association building.
“…”
I lit the Paradoxical Flame in my hand and stared quietly at it.
It looked like flame, but it wasn't a fire. This power burned all manner of abstract things, and while it felt like it cursed the target, it wasn’t a curse either.
It didn’t burn matter, so it wasn’t destruction, but the results this power brought were horrific enough that you couldn’t say it wasn’t destruction. In the end, burning abstractions forced changes to matter.
“The Descendants of Dangun seem to want this.”
They didn’t know what it was, or what it meant. They just wanted the outcome that came from this power. Honestly, it wasn’t only the Descendants of Dangun. The world was full of idiots who rushed anything that looked strong.
And those idiots would all envy this, and want to have it.
It was a dreadful seed of apocalypse, thrashing in my palm. That was why, before I returned to Earth, I’d been able to use it to stop the end of another world.
“If it slips out of control…”
It collapsed time and space, devoured the five desires and seven emotions, and turned reason and feeling into a fistful of ash.
In a world where every concept had been burned away, nothing remained. Of the many kinds of apocalypse, this power triggered the worst one.
The Paradoxical Flame blazing in my hand grew more intense. I pushed its power to the limit even as I suppressed it.
Within a black flame the size of a pea, destructive force heaved and rolled. As I focused my mind to the limit, sweat ran down my brow, and the blood vessels in my eyes burst.
I carried that tiny flame to the desk in my room. In an instant, the desk lost its form, sagged like a waterlogged watercolor, bled into the surroundings, and became so blurry you wouldn’t notice unless you looked closely.
The desk still existed. I hadn’t burned its existence, I’d burned its form.
But going forward, you’d be hard pressed to find that desk’s shape again.
“My head’s killing me.”
I snuffed the Paradoxical Flame and pressed my forehead. A nosebleed trickled down, and I stuffed tissue into my nostrils.
It felt like my brain had dried out like a desert. Even if burning form was possible, I still couldn’t use it in a real fight.
Burning thoughts with the Paradoxical Flame was just barely at the level of maybe using it in action. I stood, checked the time, and headed for the training room.
The lights were off. The hall was dark.
“Let’s see.”
Practically speaking, I couldn’t do my own training while the sun was up. Just helping train Jung Oh-hoon and Han Sang-ah ate the whole day.
I filled eight glass cups with water, arranged them in a regular octagon, and took my place at the center of the figure.
“Whew.”
Spear in hand, I began to swing it slowly. As I moved, blue trails traced the air wherever the spearpoint went.
Those trails lashed the air, and the spear moved faster and faster. Shockwaves burst, and the water in the cups on the floor trembled.
But not a single glass cracked, and not a single drop sloshed over the rims.
I raised the spear and struck the floor. The water in the cups leapt skyward. Immediately, the spear and the blue trails generated shockwaves in quick succession.
The airborne water followed those shockwaves, drifted here and there, and floated in the air. After a while, the dozens of droplets rode the shockwaves back down into the glasses.
Each portion of water ended up in a different glass from the one it started in. Not a drop hit the floor.
If I used mana, it wasn’t even that hard. Honestly, Han Sang-ah could do it without trouble. But the only mana I had used was the blue trails I left in the air.
Everything else was done with the spear and the force those blue trails created. There probably weren’t many people who could do that without using mana.
“Let’s keep going.”
I still had a long way to go, and the target I needed to reach felt far away.
I filled a large basin with water and set it on the floor, then slowly brought the spearpoint into the water.
As the blade touched the surface, the water in the basin started to roil as if it were boiling. I watched that roiling water for quite some time, then pulled the spear away.
“Damn it. This isn’t working.”
That wasn’t the goal.
Using mana, I needed to vibrate the water in the basin and turn it into mist in an instant. The principle wasn’t so different from an ultrasonic humidifier.
Either way, all I could do right now was make the water roil. That was meaningless.
“It’ll work someday.”
If I kept at it, I’d get there. I stomped once, hard, and the water in the basin surged upward.
I followed with a swing, leaving blue trails. The surging water writhed like a snake in midair, split into several streams, then joined again over and over.
“Last time I held it for about thirty minutes. I need to go longer than that this time.”
Like this, I had to keep the water suspended without spilling a single drop for more than thirty minutes.
“…”
I swung while sensing the streams whipping through the air with every sense I had. I had to be careful not to zone out even for a second.
I’d spent all that time hammering into Han Sang-ah and Jung Oh-hoon that they needed to suppress their instinctive movements. If I made a mistake like that myself, it would be embarrassing.
Time ticked by. I counted it by the pulse of mana flowing into and out of my body.
“Ugh… ugh…”
As soon as I stopped, the water that had been swaying here and there in time with the spear and the blue trails sprayed in all directions.
I repeated it again and again.
The nerves I strained to keep up with the water’s motion fatigued quickly, and every muscle in my body, forced into delicate, precise movements to control the flow, screamed in pain.
Only when I could not move a finger did I let the spear drop with a clatter and flop on my back. The water, paused in midair for a heartbeat, dumped onto the floor and soaked my sweat-drenched body.
“Phew.”
I spat out the water that got into my mouth, then raised the Paradoxical Flame and burned away my fatigue and drowsiness.
“After all that, it’s already five in the morning.”
Time crawled when I trained Han Sang-ah or Jung Oh-hoon. The moment I started my own training, it flew.
The world I saved and Earth had different circumstances. I couldn’t do this alone. The other world’s ending had begun and would end with a single mighty, threatening monster.
All I had to do was kill that bastard. But Earth wouldn’t end until we wiped out every Erosion Core buried in every corner of the world.
“This isn’t something one person can do.”
After burning away every last trace of fatigue and sleep, I went back up to my room and lay down.
Only a little residue remained from the Paradoxical Flame, so an hour of sleep would be plenty.