771

 [Chapter 197]

[Long-Cherished Wish (4)]

Dangun Clan was falling into ruin.

On Tae-yang, who was called a promising talent, ended up dying in the Seoul Disaster.

Even Twelve Seats <Big Data> Mo Ra-yul was taken away by the Mana Management Organization.

They lost their growth engine.

Right now, the only person representing Dangun Clan was <Land Specialist> Kwak Woo-hyeok, and Kwak Woo-hyeok was originally a 2nd generation player.

The 3rd generation players were wiped out.

They even lost their position as representatives of Dongdaemun in the last 2 years after reigning for a time.

I can't keep riding this sinking ship.

I have to find a way to survive somehow.

So the thoughts of players affiliated with Dangun Clan were as above.

In their case, they tried hard to find other clans somehow after withdrawing from Dangun Clan.

She was the same.

I heard Pandora Clan is hot these days...

There aren't many experienced players there, so I probably won't have to be too conscious even if I join midway.

Dangun Clan supporter Seong Ji-hye.

She was eagerly awaiting the termination of her contract next year.

So she participated in the 2nd Uijeongbu Recapture War to raise her value and contract with a better clan.

Pandora Clan is good.

They have strong support, and there's still quite a lot of room for development.

The clan she was eyeing the most was Pandora Clan.

A clan that was promoted to A+ grade in just 5 years since its founding.

Though not large in scale, a clan where individuals boast outstanding skills and receive full support from various groups.

Other players would be the same.

It's just that Pandora Clan wasn't accepting experienced players yet.

Surely if a recruitment notice for veteran players goes up, everyone will apply.

The competition rate would naturally be high.

Therefore─

─My skills will be uncertain. Pandora Clan already has insurmountable supporters like <Fairy >, <Angel of the Battlefield>, and <Saint of the Altar>.

Someone like me probably won't catch their eye.

So I have to target a person.

That is, connections.

Form ties with Pandora Clan members and get permission to join through connections rather than skills.

For this, she needed to become close with someone who could be somewhat involved in joining Pandora Clan.

"─How is the situation with the 3rd Attack Platoon?"

"Ah, Pandora Clan Lord. Fortunately the damage doesn't seem severe. There are some injured, but just minor injuries..."

But just then, Pandora Clan Lord <Crimson Wing> No Eun-ha appeared.

Seong Ji-hye's eyes rolled.

She carefully watched him exchanging damage reports with the Zenith Clan Lord.

She measured the timing to intervene.

If I become close with the Pandora Clan Lord, joining the clan is a sure thing.

And... it wouldn't be bad to become close and be his lover either? After all, being the lover of someone with a guaranteed future.

Seong Ji-hye harbored other thoughts too.

There were rumors that No Eun-ha was fond of women, having three wives.

No wonder he's called the harem king.

So she thought seducing No Eun-ha wouldn't be difficult.

Getting close physically is faster than spending time to become close.

And if she connected with No Eun-ha's heart, couldn't she live luxuriously?

Surely someone who's married 3 times already can't not marry a 4th time?

I heard he treats all his wives as legal wives, so if I do well, couldn't I be treated as a legal wife too?

The calculations were done.

Seong Ji-hye decided to change her goal.

First become No Eun-ha's lover.

Then join Pandora Clan.

Next, become his 4th wife.

Afterwards, secure a comfortable life.

Surely many people are thinking the same as her.

She has to make a move before signs of that appear.

She steeled her resolve.

Now's the time!

I'll try talking to the Pandora Clan Lord once.

Soon No Eun-ha finished his conversation and was about to return to the 2nd Supply Platoon.

Seong Ji-hye couldn't miss this chance.

She quickly ran over.

"─Pandora Clan Lord!"

"Huh?"

With a face showing no ulterior motives.

Seong Ji-hye approached No Eun-ha.

No Eun-ha tilted his head.

Soon Seong Ji-hye reached for No Eun-ha's arm with a friendly smile.

His arm was thick and firm.

Her smile deepened further.

"You seem injured here. How can you just leave it like this? What if it gets infected by bacteria? If you get a bacterial infection in Uijeongbu too, it'll be very difficult."

"Yes... Then I'll get treatment from our clan members when I return."

"No. There's no need for that, I'll treat you right away. Let's go somewhere... quieter. I can't concentrate on treatment here."

She slowly moved her hand.

She also whispered softly to break down No Eun-ha's wariness.

"...Okay, let's do that then."

"You thought well."

People are weak to kindness.

Since she came out like this, No Eun-ha probably couldn't just refuse.

He's fallen for it.

She inwardly rejoiced.

The next thing to do is take him to a secluded place and subtly give him signals.

"Come this way. I have a place I spotted. Let's do it there."

"Let's just do it here... If that's the case I'll just go."

"It's not far so don't be so reluctant."

"Hah..."

She tried to take him to a place she noticed when first coming to Shinhan University.

Right then─

─Huh?

Is it just my imagination?

A chilling feeling came over her.

Goosebumps suddenly rose on her back.

Seong Ji-hye who was forcibly trying to pull No Eun-ha's hand stopped walking.

"..."

She slowly turned her head.

No Eun-ha's annoyed face wasn't that scary.

The problem was the person standing behind her.

"─Let go of his hand."

"Ah..."

"I don't know what you're doing to our Clan Lord. We'll lodge a formal protest to Dangun Clan."

"Uh, well, that's..."

<Snow Spear> Ryu Yeon-hwa.

She had a stern face.

Her voice was cold as ice.

Just looking at her made it hard to breathe.

Moreover, the wrist grasped by her felt like it would fall off from the cold.

No, her wrist was freezing.

"Let's go, Clan Lord."

"Um, Yeon-hwa noona? I can go without you holding my hand..."

"Let's go, Clan Lord."

"Uh... okay."

"..."

She lost No Eun-ha.

Ryu Yeon-hwa snatched No Eun-ha's wrist and whirled around.

But Seong Ji-hye couldn't muster the courage to speak to No Eun-ha again.

Because <Snow Spear> was emanating a sharp aura towards her.

Above all─

─What a disgrace.

When she met Ryu Yeon-hwa's eyes.

Seong Ji-hye could glimpse emotions of contempt for her in that gaze.

The moment she saw that gaze, she felt like she realized what an infinitely ugly human she was.

So her body wouldn't move.

She just watched the two people walk away.

"Noona, I could have just refused myself, why did you..."

"Be careful of people like that. She's approaching you with some ulterior motive."

"I know that too. Well, thanks for helping."

"...Yeah. I'm sorry for acting on my own in front of others."

☆

Many things happened over 2 years.

Among them, the most prominent was that Ryu Yeon-hwa stopped hiding her feelings.

So it's embarrassing.

This noona just likes me, and doesn't have thoughts of dating me, so what am I supposed to do?

She didn't wish for anything.

She didn't wish at all for her feelings to be reciprocated.

She only wished to maintain the same relationship as usual with Eun-ha.

So Eun-ha was at a loss for what to do with her too.

Eun-ha didn't have the right to do anything about Ryu Yeon-hwa's feelings.

So Eun-ha would occasionally flinch when feeling Ryu Yeon-hwa's gaze on him.

Each time, emotions would drop.

'Sigh... You guys figure it out yourselves. Don't make things complicated by involving me too.'

'Do whatever you want. If you have to, kick him out of the clan.'

'I trust you, Eun-ha. I trust you so... you know?'

'It's hard for me to say anything as the third. If you're okay with it Eun-ha, I'm fine.'

Now all the clan members knew too.

They couldn't not know when the way the two treated each other changed noticeably.

To this, No Eun-ah beat her chest and gave up getting involved.

Han Seo-hyeon decided to stay out of it.

Jeong Ha-yang was Jeong Ha-yang.

Lee Yu-jeong decided to trust whatever Eun-ha did.

"I don't know what to do now either. I can't coldly treat Yeon-hwa noona to make her not like me..."

Therefore, the conclusion was up to how Eun-ha handled it.

And after long deliberation, Eun-ha reached the conclusion that there was no way but to act as usual.

He didn't want to needlessly hurt her by saying he would change Ryu Yeon-hwa's heart.

Also he hated seeing her hurt.

And he didn't want to lose her who would be reborn as <Divine Spear> in the future.

Such complicated feelings were creating the current relationship.

Anyway─

"─Seo-na, tell people to prepare to leave now. Say we're leaving in 10 minutes."

"Okay, departing in 10 minutes right? I'll send the telepathy. But where are you going?"

"I'm going to meet someone briefly. It won't take long."

Day broke.

The second day of the 2nd Uijeongbu Recapture War.

Eun-ha who quickly finished breakfast decided to depart for Hoeryong Station now.

There was something he had to do before that.

Eun-ha gave instructions to Seo-na and headed to a building.

I should say it one last time before departing for Uijeongbu.

Soon soldiers came into view.

Soldiers in digital uniforms immediately saluted Eun-ha.

"Victory! All clear during duty! Good morning, Pandora Clan Lord. What brings you here?"

"I've said I'm not a soldier so there's no need for salutes."

"It's a salute from the heart. The Pandora Clan Lord is like my role model."

A soldier standing at attention recognized Eun-ha.

He kept making a fuss saying he respected Eun-ha.

Eun-ha smiled bitterly.

Then he spotted someone coming out of the main gate just then.

"Ah, Commander."

"...Pandora Clan Lord?"

Four stars.

Unlike the soldiers on guard, a commander with every step measured.

When Eun-ha called out past the soldiers, the commander wearing sunglasses soon recognized Eun-ha.

"What brings the Pandora Clan Lord here?"

"I have something to tell the Commander."

The commander approached.

His tone was friendly unlike the atmosphere.

Well, that was understandable.

This wasn't their first meeting.

Eun-ha had previously contacted the commander through his connections.

And from then until now, he kept saying the following words every time:

"It's nothing else, I want to ask that you absolutely do not bombard Uijeongbu even in the worst case scenario."

"This again?"

Words repeated who knows how many times.

Nevertheless, the commander didn't get annoyed and just laughed.

Then he gave the answer he must have given many times to Eun-ha.

"I've said this many times, but we will absolutely never bombard under any circumstances. We also want this recapture war to succeed, and hope to safely recapture Uijeongbu."

"Yes, that's right."

"Moreover, unless I go crazy, how could I give orders to bombard Uijeongbu with people inside? So don't worry too much. You probably don't know much about the military, Pandora Clan Lord, but we're not such narrow-minded people."

The commander was a reasonable person.

He even kindly advised Eun-ha while worrying about him.

He held out his hand.

Eun-ha shook hands with him.

"Don't worry too much and focus on recapturing Uijeongbu. We also desperately want to leave this place and return home."

"Yes, thank you. I'll do that."

"Then I'll be going now. Don't you have to carry out the operation from now?"

"That's right. Then I'll be going now."

"I pray for your good fortune in battle, Pandora Clan Lord."

"I pray for your good fortune too, Commander."

"Beep beep beep boop boop boop!"

Soldiers weren't narrow-minded people.

Honestly Eun-ha couldn't believe it.

That such a person suddenly ordered bombardment of Uijeongbu in the previous life.

Has the future changed?

Eun-ha wanted to believe that.

That for some reason a butterfly effect occurred, changing the commander's personality.

"Anyway, since I've said it repeatedly like this, the military probably won't move."

Leaving the building with soldiers behind.

Eun-ha moved his feet.

Now the military will stay at Mangwolsa Station, and won't leave Mangwolsa Station unless something happens.

No, nothing will happen.

There's no need to worry about bombardment.

Eun-ha wanted to believe that.

It would be good if we can recapture Uijeongbu without major damage, but how will it turn out...

Anyway, today we head to Uijeongbu.

☆

Just as recapturing Uijeongbu was humans' long-cherished wish─

─Nyaa nyaa

Monsters had long-cherished wishes too.

They had been eagerly awaiting this day.

So when news that humans were swarming beyond the barrier spread to Uijeongbu.

The monsters cheered loudly.

That day had finally come.

Nyaa nyaa

How many years ago was it?

Even Goeshini didn't remember well.

But when a group of humans snuck into Uijeongbu one day, when they soon killed White Face.

It could be certain.

Just as humans had done in the past, they would come again leading many humans before long.

So now that the time had come.

It couldn't contain its joy.

Therefore─

─Come in.

Come in deeper.

Including Goeshini, Ishimi.

Monsters inhabiting Uijeongbu and northern Gyeonggi joined forces for the first time in a long while.

It was time to harvest the prey that had ripened without being eaten then.

We will never let them go again.

The monsters licked their lips.

Nyaa nyaa

Humans must surely be confident they will win.

They must think they've sharpened their swords of revenge over a long, long time.

Looking at how they're pushing up quickly from below now, it must be true.

But humans─

─Did only you sharpen your swords?

Intoxicated by victory not yet obtained.

Humans probably don't know.

The fact that they're not coming to Uijeongbu, but being lured.

That's the kind of beings humans were.

Foolish beings who can't objectively know what their situation is like until the moment they taste despair.

So come, humans.

And become our food.