Chapter 59. Event Raid (2)
China really was unlucky. Of the five dungeons they had, boss monsters appeared in two of the C+-ranked ones. Not to mention, all of them were large-scale raids with over 300 people. Just who gave the orders to clear all five dungeons at once? Even after Mastiford warned them about the danger! Did they look down on raid bosses!?
Of course, if they cleared the dungeons one by one, the international community would have given them stinging glares. Even so, they cleared all five at once? I almost wanted to knock their heads to check if their brains were there. Did they need a giant ‘don’t touch’ sign? Did they want to serve as an example for other countries? Did they really want to kill a raid boss? Did they want monster corpses and Bluestones that badly? What about all the civilians and tourists that were swept up? Countless questions swam through my head as I felt enraged.
I opened the dungeon explorers’ communication channel. As always, Mastiford was the first to step up and talk. With the situation being as it is, she was rather serious.
[You guys heard, right?]
[Heard and saw.]
Walker answered Mastiford. At the same time, all five of us let out a deep sigh.
[I really want to burn up all those government bastards.]
[Unni…]
[Mastiford-ssi, calm down. China is too big for Mastiford-ssi to take on alone.]
[I’m sure the Chinese government will be content with this situation. When those giant monsters die, they will naturally leave huge rewards. Imagine if a Bluestone appeared.]
[If they were aiming for the raid bosses in the first place, they should have prepared for it properly! Why didn’t they evacuate the civilians!?]
[Other countries would have found out if they did. They probably didn’t explain things fully to the ability users either. I doubt even they expected such huge monsters to appear. I mean, even I’m surprised by their size. The Mini Krakens are small, but look at the sheer number of them.]
[What a bunch of human trash. What do they think human lives are?]
[But Mastiford, isn’t what you did in Yeungdeungpo the same? What if a raid monster as big as China’s appeared? Not to mention, if a raid boss from an A-rank dungeon appeared in the middle of Seoul, the damage would have been much more too.]
[Please, I’m an SS-rank ability user and dungeon explorer. Even if an A-rank 500-man raid broke out and a giant monster appeared, I could have taken care of it without any civilian casualties. I wouldn’t have suggested it otherwise!]
If this was the first time I talked to Mastiford, I would have snorted at her claim, calling it absurd. Now that I had partied with her, I could nod my head and agree. Her animal kingdom… Anyone that saw her Army of Flames would agree. I didn’t think that was her full power either.
“Oppa, what’s wrong? Do you have someone you know in China?”
“Shin, are you okay?”
At that moment, I realized my friend and younger sister were looking at me with worried eyes. I replied with a bitter smile.
“Sorry, let’s go back for today. I’m a bit worried now after hearing that news about China.”
“Okay, oppa. Let’s go home.”
Yua simply agreed and linked her arms with mine. I thought this side of Yua was very admirable. On the other hand, Su Ye-Eun made a very unhappy expression and glared back and forth between me and Yua. She then opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it silently as she glanced at the disastrous scene being shown on TV. Thankfully, she had a sense of emergency.
“I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah, see you at school.”
After parting with Su Ye-Eun, I headed home with Yua. All the while, the conversation among dungeon explorers was still going on.
[Unni, what are you going to do?]
[I talked to my country’s Guardian, but it seems the Chinese government is refusing any offers of assistance. They’re saying the Chinese Guardian and Freedom Wing can take care of it by themselves. Participating in the raid on our own accord is a violation of China’s right to monster subjugation.]
[So you’re saying we can only suck on our thumbs and wait.]
At Walker’s words, everyone became silent. I asked.
[But China has many strong ability users, right? I heard they even have an SS-rank.]
[They do. It’s a Ajumma named Xin Shaomei.]
[That sounds like a name from a drama or movie.]
[The problem is that this Ajumma is a special-type ability user. She can cast a debuff that significantly lowers the enemy’s ability. That’s it. Her body is weaker than a D-rank, and she can’t do anything else. She calls herself a Curse Magician.]
[China should have at least 20 S-rank ability users. Although half of them are outside of the country, the other half are still there. Even if the monsters are massive-types, the strongest is still C+-rank. If they team up with Xin Shaomei, they should be able to easily take care of one.]
[But there are three boss monsters. What are the other two places supposed to do?]
[I suppose A and B-rank ability users will take care of those. They should have a large number of them.]
I took out my cell phone and checked China’s current situation. I found a live stream footage of Shanghai, where the Mini Krakens had appeared. There, a bewitching beauty in a luxurious violet dress was being protected by countless ability users.
[Mastiford-ssi, can you confirm for me? Is the ability user in Shanghai the SS-ranked ability user?]
[Yep, that’s Xin Shaomei. It seems a lot of the S-ranked ability users are there too. Ah, some of them seemed to have gone to Beijing. It must be because they’re bigger cities than Guangzhou.]
[What about Guangzhou then?]
[Look. There are ability users there.]
China did indeed have a large population. Countless ability users were also in Guangzhou, fighting the Giant Boar that had appeared. However, the Giant Boar was easily pushing back the ability users with its massive size. The ability users, who did not want to get close to it, used their abilities to attack it or tie it down. However, none of them succeeded in dealing any damage. In fact, the boar seemed to be getting stronger instead.
Wait, it was clearly getting bigger!
[It’s a mana-eater type.]
[Can you explain what you mean, Walker-ssi?]
[It’s simple. There are raid bosses that get stronger as they absorb mana. Rather than using purely magical attacks, you have to use melee attacks that are imbued with mana. However, if you fail to notice that and continue pouring magic at them from a distance…]
[Then?]
[The raid boss evolves! ‘Giant Boar’ evolves to B-rank ‘Giant Iron Boar’!]
[That happens.]
[Thanks for letting me know…]
On TV, the Giant Boar, no, the Giant Iron Boar, went through a massive change. Its short mane grew longer and its hooves became tougher. Its red eyes turned black, yet still reflected sunlight as if they were metallic.
The ability users that were throwing long-ranged attacks became frightened by the sudden change and fell back. Free from the barrage of attacks, the Giant Iron Boar let out a happy roar and trampled on the nearby buildings, along with the civilians and ability users who could not get away in time. Their futile deaths almost made me laugh.
“I have to go.”
“Oppa!”
Shoot, I let my thoughts slip out. Watching the startled Yua grab onto me, I became flustered. In the communication channel, Mastiford and Walker were both making a fuss.
[The request for assistance isn’t coming! Those idiots, they want to continue by themselves!]
[They’re doing quite well with Shanghai’s Mini Krakens. As expected of an SS-rank ability user, the Mini Krakens can’t do a thing against her. Since Beijing is their capital, most of their elite forces seem to be there. It might take some time, but they won’t have any problem killing the Giant Swordtiger.]
[Walker, can you go to Guangzhou?]
[Why would I go to that dangerous place? It’s not even my country.]
[How can you be so selfish!? There are a countless number of people dying even as we speak!]
[Then what about you, Mastiford? You’re SS-ranked. Even though that boar is a mana-eater, I doubt it’ll be able to withstand your mana.]
[Of course I want to go! I really do! But… my face and ability are too well known!]
Mastiford sounded like she was crying. She was right. If she went to Guangzhou, China won’t just let it be. They’d accuse Britain of looking down on them, aiming for their resources, or boasting the fact they had two SS-ranked ability users. It was sure to become an international problem.
Even if Britain had two SS-rank ability users, they could not ignore China’s power. After all, with their large population, China had many S-rank ability users. Although they only had one SS-rank ability users, with her debuff ability, they wouldn’t be afraid of two SS-rank ability users.
“Oppa, you’re kidding, right? Tell me you didn’t mean it!”
“Uh, you see, Yua… Oppa is actually really strong.”
“Oppa!”
The people around us looked our way. Yua was surprised by her own shout as she covered her mouth. With a bitter smile, I placed my hands on Yua’s shoulders.
“Yua, I’m not kidding. Oppa really is strong. I’ll take care of it in a jiff and come back.”
“But oppa, if something goes wrong…”
“I’ll escape right away if it becomes too dangerous. Don’t worry.”
I had the Return skill. No matter what situation I was in, I could run away if it became too dangerous. I knew what was important to me.
“Oppa…”
“Really, don’t worry. Have I ever lied to you before?”
“No… but still.”
“Come on, don’t cry. We’re home now, let’s go in.”
“Oppa, can you really come back right away if it becomes dangerous?”
“Of course.”
Yua and I entered our home. There, father was waiting for me. He was wearing a full black set of armor that I had never seen before. Because his helmet covered his face entirely, I thought it was someone else at first. I assumed he had his luck in the dungeon. Perhaps, a named monster or two. I didn’t believe it was better than a Floor Master Set, but I was jealous about how it looked. He looked like a black knight.
“Son, are you going?”
“What about you, father?”
“Don’t ask such an obvious question, son. I always wanted to fight against an opponent that big.”
“Dad’s going too!?”
After the painstaking effort I put into calming her, Yua looked like she was about to cry again. However, father was much more skilled in calming a child.
“Yua, tonight’s dinner is going to be boar meat soup, just wait. Make sure you watch how cool daddy is on TV.”
“Hiing, Dad!”
Although it was useless, seeing that Yua’s target had changed to father, I slowly went into my room and equipped the Lizard Knight Set. With my silver set of armor, I equipped a face-covering helmet like father’s. No one would know that I was Kang Shin or even that I was Yeon Hwawoo.
[Yeon Hwawoo, Yungoong ajusshi! Are the two of you going? Will you? Please!]
[No, of course I won’t.]
[Sorry, lass. My family is my priority.]
[Uk, b-but!]
Although I found it slightly creepy, it seemed father and I had an invisible connection between us. Even without saying anything, our coordination was perfect. Of course, even as I said that, I sent Mastiford a private message.
“I’m going to Guangzhou. Yungoong ajusshi said he’d come too. We just don’t want to let Walker know.”
[Yeon Hwawoo! Thanks, you really are a nice guy!]
“Yeah, yeah. Keep it a secret in the communication channel. You can tell Minami-ssi privately.”
[Leave it to me!]
When I went outside my room, Yua was hanging on father with teary eyes and father seemed to be at a loss for what to do. With my armor fully equipped, I opened my phone to confirm the current situation. I was calm to the point where I could leisurely think about how supernatural I’d look with my armor.
[I think we’re done then. The Chinese Awakened will take care of this problem, though at the cost of civilian casualties.]
[I understood, so shut up, Walker.]
[Whoa, don’t be so sensitive, Flame Witch. I’ll be leaving then.]
[Unni, I can go in your place! I can do it!]
[No, Sumire. That won’t change the fact that I can’t go to China. I know how strong Sumire’s defense is, but Sumire’s still lacking in offensive power. Although I don’t want to admit it, we’ll have to listen to Walker. Let’s just be patient. Soon, I’ll make an organization strong enough that things like this won’t happen!]
[Unni… Sorry, if only I was stronger…]
[Uuu, Sumireeee…]
Mastiford, excellent acting skills! I’ll leave it to you to explain things to Minami.
In truth, it would have been better for them to not know, but no matter how dense they were, they would find out once they saw our abilities or equipment. It would be impossible to prevent them from finding out. Since the scene of us going wild will undoubtedly be caught on camera, I let Mastiford know beforehand. Not to mention, they were both quite trustworthy.
I didn’t know about Walker, yet. He seemed logical and cold, but I didn’t know much else. That’s why I didn’t want to tell Mastiford in the communication channel. Hoping Mastiford would spin it well for Minami, I checked the current situation. The Mini Krakens had suddenly divided and increased in number. Instead of Walker who went silent, Mastiford explained the situation.
[Those guys are mana-eaters too…! They divided in response to the debuff magic! Geez, what’s wrong with China!? Is it some cursed land?]
[They aren’t hard to deal with individually, but it’ll take a long time for them to completely disappear!]
“Father, what are you going to do?”
“I’ll fight with my fists. I’ve got a nice toy, too. No one will notice it was me from this battle.”
Showing the bracelet he had on his gauntlet, father grinned. Of course, I knew his martial arts skill wasn’t any worse than mine. With his bracelet that shot out spider webs, I knew he’d do a great job.
“Use your spear if it gets dangerous. No, if it gets dangerous, just run away with me. You remember how my Return skill works, right?”
“Yes, don’t worry. Your father’s high-rank Martial Arts skill is already level 4.”
Mine was only high-rank level 2! It seemed I was worried for nothing.
“Plus, if I thought it was too dangerous, I wouldn’t have said I was going. No matter how precious people’s lives are, they can’t be more important than mine.”
“You really think the same way I do.”
I lowered my helmet’s visor to cover my face completely. I even had Otus’ Secret equipped just in case. With my silver hair, people wouldn’t suspect that I was Korean even if my helmet came off.
“Let’s quickly take care of those weaklings and claim the rewards.”
Us father and son duo had no intention of giving up such massive rewards to the Chinese Guardians. Especially given that they showed no concern for their own citizens! Human lives were one thing, but our goal was the raid itself. We could save human lives and even claim the rewards! We wouldn’t let such an opportunity go.
“Oppa, make sure to run away if it gets dangerous!”
“Don’t worry, we’ll come back soon.”
Yua still seemed worried, so I relieved her anxiety with a loud voice. Then, father and I declared our intention of fighting in the B-rank 500-man Raid at Guangzhou.
The next moment, we found ourselves at Guangzhou’s scene of destruction. It was an abrupt teleportation just like when I used Return.
