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Ranobes » Updates » I Came Back And Conquered It All » Chapter 40
           
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Chapter 40
I Came Back And Conquered It All
While Seo Jin-wook Disappeared
"What do you mean? It's been four days, and does it make sense that you still couldn't find him?!"
A harsh shout rang out at the office of Seo Gyu-cheol in Celestial Dragon Guild's company house. His hot face showed anger and agitation, instead of his usual cold expression.
Those who were vented of his anger were the hunters hired privately to guard the house.
Seo Gyu-cheol instructed them to look for Seo Jin-wook because he could not mobilize the guild members to find his son for the reason of 'finding a runaway child.'
"You couldn't even stop him before he went out. Now, you couldn't even find him when he's out there! What the hell are you guys doing?"
When Seo Jin-wook disappeared a few days ago, Seo Gyu-cheol seemed a little surprised, but he was not very shaken. He was sure that he'd be back in a day.
He did not report his disappearance so that it wouldn't leak to the media or other guilds. Over time, however, his confidence turned into suspicion, and suspicion into shock and anger.
"How many Awakened guards are there, and none of you saw him go out in the first place?"
It was not surprising that Seo Jin-wook, who had lived his life in this house, moved only within the blind spot of CCTV. However, it was a problem that he was not found by anyone in the house in the process.
Being an E-class, Seo Jin-wook, who had only learned [Sword Mastery] and [Mana Barrier], would not have been able to use some specialized hunters in hiding and infiltration. Nevertheless, the fact that there was no sign of him leaving made him angry beyond recognition.
Hunters, whose faces turned shitty, bowed their heads.
"There's really no sign of anything? Even if he leaves, he'll have to spend money to eat and sleep!"
The secretary then spoke, "As you instructed, I left his account as is. As of three days, he doesn't have any electronic payments or cash withdrawals."
They wouldn't have known that Seo Jin-wook cashed the items unbeknownst to the guild and deposited them into a separate account.
The secretary spoke cautiously, "If there is no trace up to this point, I wonder if he has already gone abroad."
Seo Gyu-cheol shook his head. "We have already looked into it through the Ministry of Constitution. Immigration records are clean."
No matter how Seo Gyu-cheol may be a father, he could not merely obtain an adult's immigration records with no report of missing persons and no letter of attorney. It was illegally processed by pulling a string on the side of the Ministry of Constitution.
Seo Gyu-cheol's eyes went back to Kim Byeong-ho, who has been called together with the others.
"You haven't heard anything? You had no idea when you followed him around the whole time?"
Secretary Kim bowed his head, "I'm sorry. The day before he disappeared, as you're aware… He was so agitated about the incident that he didn't even want to face me."
'The incident' referred to the disturbance in Seo Gyu-cheol's room the day before he left the house.
Seo Gyu-cheol grunted and bit his lips.
If there were no signs to this point, they could suspect a kidnapping, but the situation was too clear before he headed out. He couldn't hold back his anger and shouted again.
"Everyone, get out of here! Go and get him, even if you have to put a leash on him!"
*
Secretary Kim left Seo Gyu-cheol's room with the other hunters.
It wasn't until he was far enough from being heard that the hunters began to grumble.
"Oh, it's shitty to make a living."
"Is it such a big thing to be bullshitting that he can't find his son that ran away after fighting him?"
"Damn, I should find another job or something… Honestly, how can you find a person who's wearing a Mask Slime? He's an E-class but also an Awakened Hunter."
"What's the use of being an S-Class. It's a waste of the Guild Master's title. What a look, being sullen and breathing out steam… Is it true that the number of people supporting the Assistant Guild Master is increasing in the Celestial Dragon Guild? It's understandable. No wonder."
Secretary Kim, who had been walking at a distance from them, was also thinking about Seo Gyu-cheol.
'Come to think of it, he's famous for getting angry with cold expressions, not like that, but as if he was going to kill someone with his glare.'
However, whenever Seo Jin-wook was involved, he acted like a person who lost control of his emotions like that. In the past, Seo Gyu-cheol played a substantial role when something was broken or shattered, rather than Seo Jin-wook having the sole responsibility.
When Secretary Kim was about to turn the corner, thinking about those things, after splitting up with the hunters…
"Secretary Kim?"
"…Hi, hello."
He looked at the person waiting for him with a slightly stiff look.
"Assistant Guild Master."
It was Han-seol.
"You must be on your way out from being scolded by the Guild Master."
Secretary Kim did not respond. Instead, he spoke as if trying to send Han-seol away.
"The Guild Master is in his office now."
"No, I can visit him later."
There were usually two reasons why she would visit the company—Seo Gyu-cheol or Seo Jin-wook.
Secretary Kim's eyes slightly widened on the suggestion that it was a business apart from the two. Perhaps…
"Secretary Kim, can we go to a quiet place and have a word?"
*
The two went to a deserted place and sat face to face.
Secretary Kim observed Han-seol's expression with nervousness.
Unlike the hunters a while ago, Secretary Kim belonged to the Celestial Dragon Guild, and although he was not directly related to Han-seol, she was a distant superior. It was their first time having such a private meeting.
And of all things, it happened now when he almost believed Seo Jin-wook's reasoning because he witnessed various circumstantial pieces of evidence. This situation was uncomfortable.
It was Han-seol that broke the silence and spoke out first, "I'm sure the Guild Master has already questioned you many times, but I'll ask you one as well. Jin-wook had no friends. Secretary Kim is the one who has been with him for the longest time. Was there really no hints?"
Secretary Kim shook his head determinedly. "There was no mention of such."
After talking, Secretary Kim felt odd. Han-seol's expression changed while looking at him.
Just as Seo Gyu-cheol broke his usual icy expression today and vented his anger, Han-seol was also different from usual.
Han-seol always had a gentle smile on her lips and treated everyone with a friendly expression. However, now, there was no smile on her face.
She just completely wiped emotion from her face, but Secretary Kim felt a sense of unknown threat.
'Is she going to show her true colors here?'
Han-seol spoke again after a moment of silence, "So far, Jin-wook has made a mess inside the house if he couldn't control his emotions, but he has never left the house. Even before Secretary Kim was with him. Do you know why?"
He had a guess, but he waited for her next words without saying anything.
"Jin-wook once confessed to me. That he was scared, he was afraid of what he's going to do if he goes outside with his anger rising to the top of his head."
It was just as Secretary Kim had expected. He nodded with a firm expression.
Seo Jin-wook had caused a series of chaotic releases of potential manas even before his Awakening. It all happened inside the house, mostly in Seo Jin-wook's room.
When that happened, the non-Awakened employees evacuated, and the hunters in charge of security held Seo Jin-wook down. The reason for hiring private hunters in homes where S-class hunters lived was not to guard the Guild Master's safety but to protect other employees and suppress Seo Jin-wook in an emergency.
"That Jin-wook left home this time. Do you know why?"
Secretary Kim murmured inwardly, 'Because he knew that this guild was no longer a safe fence.'
Seo Jin-wook did not explain everything but confessed that someone put on a 'curse' on him and even Park Chang-hee has it, too.
In some way, when Jin-wook confirmed that there was no sign of curse on Secretary Kim, he decided to tell him.
'He doesn't know how many people have been cursed in this guild, so he said he would meet someone who will be able to help him in the future and come back after looking for artifacts that will be a secret weapon.'
However, Secretary Kim was keeping it secret from all the other guild members.
"I'm not sure either. He didn't say anything to me this time. Actually, Jin-wook was a little weird for the past two months. The amnesia and the sudden relapse of symptoms. It's clear that something has changed."
Han-seol's gaze was sharp while muttering.
As the gaze struck him as if it were to pierce him, Secretary Kim struggled to hide his agitated expression. He muttered inwardly.
'Yes, there has been a change.'
Now they had to worry about what they haven't had to worry about.
That was Seo Jin-wook's change. Secretary Kim thought so. Then, Han-seol opened her lips again.
"By the way, by any chance. What if the reason why Jin-wook went out is that he no longer had to worry about what he had been worried about before. What if that's the reason?"
A rough silence filled the gap between the two.
It took some time for Secretary Kim to understand the meaning of Han-seol's words, which were completely opposite to his guess.
"No way."
He spat out what he understood. The contents of "Seo Jin-wook's worries" he thought of and "Seo Jin-wook's worries" that Han-seol just mentioned were different.
"You think that his paranoid disorder has gotten worse, don't you?"
He turned angrily, knowing that this was because of a curse, yet Secretary Kim held back.
"Yes. What if the symptoms are worse than before? He used to hesitate on the possibility of venting his anger outside and sacrificing innocent people by his own hands, and what if he no longer hesitates?"
"What if he didn't have the fear that his illness might hurt innocent people?"
"Also, Jin-wook is already Awakened. It's spilled water."
Han-seol closed her eyes for a while. She looked like she was contemplating something. She opened her eyes again and added, turning her gaze to Secretary Kim.
"The Mana rampage before the Awakening might have been better. Now Jin-wook is a Hunter. Even an E-class person is much superior physiologically to a normal person. If Jin-wook goes on a rampage outside in that state···!"
Secretary Kim cut her words, "No! I trust Team Leader. He's completely different since the incident two months ago."
"But what happened a few days ago? And why do you think he left home now? Secretary Kim, please. Let me know if you know anything. If Jin-wook doesn't come back like this, and if he continues to build up his strength outside the fence of the Celestial Dragon… It can lead to irreversible results."
"I feel sorry and regret that I failed to fulfill my responsibility as a secretary to the Team Leader. But I can't come up with something and tell you something I don't know. I've already told the Guild Master about everything I know."
Secretary Kim stood up. It was rude in front of his superior, but he could not suppress his rising anger.
'If I didn't know anything, I might have let it pass. But not now.'
After leaving work, he organized the conversation with her and sent it to a burner account.
It was Seo Jin-wook, of course.
*
"If you wait a minute here, he'll be here."
I was led to contact the Black Market of Washington D.C.
It was in a villa in Maryland, just off of Washington, D.C.
I was escorted to a spacious living room full of expensive furniture. The employee who guided me was an ordinary person, not an Awakened person. I sat down and looked around. It looked like a typical villa, with a green pasture on the front and a quiet forest with a lake on the back from the outside.
'How many guys are hiding on the first floor?'
The lights of Mana were proving that Awakened people were lurking everywhere. As I waited for a while, I saw a person I was meeting today nearing outside the door.
The door then opened.
"You're looking for me?"
An 80-year-old man with a whiskey glass in one hand approached.
"Let's skip the handshake."
He sat on the sofa in front of me and faced me. It would prove that one had that much confidence to come in front of someone and faced him one-on-one as an unidentified Awakened.
I thought so. However, the guess was only half right.
The old man spoke as he lit up the cigar.
"I'll give you five minutes. It's just five minutes to satisfy my curiosity. So, why did the heir of Korea's No. 1 guild come all the way to the U.S. without even letting his guild members know? It should be fun, clever, and beneficial to each other. Five minutes is a long and worthwhile time to spend trying to figure out why to kill an Awakened."
Tsk, I clicked my tongue inside.
Oh, Jin-Hwa, that woman must have known who I was from the beginning.Novels online
Ranobes » Updates » I Came Back And Conquered It All » Chapter 41
           
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Chapter 41
I Came Back And Conquered It All
Senator
He let out a warning that he already knew who I was to ensure that I didn't make any sketchy moves.
He was trying to start a conversation after inserting some pressure. I looked at the old man in front of me.
'Edward Danton.'
Although his popularity was low due to little media coverage, he was a well-known figure between politicians and business people.
As the head of the Danton family, who had invested in various fields such as steel, oil, finance, and IT since the 1800s, he was currently focusing on companies related to the processing of dungeon by-products and production of related products.
'That is what is exposed to the light, and in the dark, he's running a pretty big sideline.'
On the other hand, very few people in this era called him the Senator.
In the United States, hunter, dungeon, and gate-related things were grouped into National Defense categories and must be approved by the senate. Also, Danton lived in D.C. and mobilized numerous lobbyists behind the scenes to influence the legislation to pass in the way he wanted it to. His attempt was almost successful.
'In the process, of course, the votes are divided, but the result alone was going to go his way.'
It meant that he was the only real Senator, making a hundred senators move as he wished on that subject alone, and so the personnel of the black market named him with respect.
His lobbying direction was to lower state restrictions and regulatory hurdles on dungeon artifacts. Since the research lab or the federal government would hold onto the item for too long until the item's stability and performance were proven, he recommended to send it to the dungeon in the hands of hunters.
Meanwhile, he also planned the first black market to secretly trade such items and visit hunters.
"If I'm gone from here, then the Celestial Dragon wouldn't stay still."
"That's a pun that's not even funny. Things that can't even track you will very well find out where and who you died to."
Indeed, the black market in Korea did not seem to have contacted Celestial Dragon separately. Oh Jin-Hwa knew who I was but kept her mouth shut.
"Wasn't your belief that we should train more Awakens and increase their power as soon as possible? In preparation for the worst case of the collapse of an S-Class or SS-Class dungeon, or even… higher class dungeons that may appear and collapse. I'm a hunter, too, and you threaten even to kill me as soon as you meet me."
"Since I'm much more important than a Hunter like you. And you've been tracking what I'm doing behind the scenes. You may be from an influential guild in Korea, but as an individual, you're an E-class, and I don't know where you heard the rumor and how the story spread, but don't worry. I'll find where it leaked out and clean it up. You got four minutes left."
He must be stir-frying Korean information lines like crazy.
'Although no matter how hard he may flip things over, nothing will come out.'
I didn't care about the threat for him to kill me in four minutes.
He looked at the metal box next to me. A bodyguard inspected it before entering the building. Danton, who was informed in advance, would be itching to hear an explanation about that.
You couldn't kill someone that way.
"You should listen to the explanation before you kill me."
"There's also a choice of torture to extract the information, and kill you."
"Torture tends to produce answers that perpetrators want to hear rather than telling the truth. Anyway, let's cut back on the introduction."
I opened the box, and Danton's eyes widened. It contained Ersmann's severed corpse, especially the head.
It was perfectly preserved, almost as if it had just died. It was collected separately from the evidence collected from the Okcheon dungeon to be submitted to the government.
"Hmm…"
Danton could not hide the interest on his face.
He noticed at a glance, the identity of the corpse that the bodyguard had not seen.
"That's the foreign race corpse that was recently obtained from Korea."
"Yes. It's almost the same type as the one found in the 12th Dungeon in New York."
The ones encountered at Okcheon dungeon were born from eggs of an individual named Leah, and the ones from the New York dungeon were the children of Geruit. It looked a little different, but Danton understood that it was the same species.
When he saw it, Danton leaned slightly forward. Now, we could talk.
"What about the Korean government?"
The question was whether the government was aware that I brought this here.
"Of course, they don't know."
"What about the guild?"
"They don't know."
"Are you saying you're here solely as a private person?"
"Yes, at this moment, I do not represent the Korean government nor the Celestial Dragon Guild. I'm proposing to negotiate as an individual named Seo Jin-wook."
"To give you the right to do business with me?"
"That's right."
Danton usually dealt with black markets around the world that were linked. To make a deal as an individual meant that one could make a deal with items and information on par with a single market.
In fact, some hunters had such qualifications in the future. Angelica was an example of it. Their encounter was ostensibly seen as a meeting between the Guild Master and an investor, but deep down, they met to exchange items and information.
Of course, I was there, too. I continued the conversation with Edward Danton I had experienced then in mind.
"What's the benefit of doing business with you? Why do I have to keep talking instead of burying you when a guy, who I have no information about his roots and who hasn't been in a long-time business, comes forward knowing who I really am?"
He was asking if I had prepared a tempting deal. He was a merchant, after all, even though he had beliefs. I then answered.
"The cockroaches, they're probably starting to snoop around in the New York dungeon again."
Danton's mouth finally caught a smile for the first time.
Instead of the consternation of how I knew it, he had decided that the other person was someone he could talk to, and he was interested in it.
His eyes glistened through the thick wrinkles.
"That's something the Korean government doesn't know yet."
A few months ago, the U.S. government detonated a tactical nuclear weapon in New York's 12th Dungeon, annihilating the Ersmann there. Since the clear was not over, the gate had not been closed, and since then, continuous exploration had been carried out by hunters in protective suits, and the Ersmann had recently crossed the dungeon border and started to come around again.
The new ones were not affected by radiation at all.
The Ersmann adapted themselves to everything, whether it was poison, temperature, or air pressure. They could survive as long as their body was not entirely fragmented. This time, they were deployed after evolving to overcome radioactivity.
However, there was only one substance that they could not have immunity to. I then spoke, pointing my finger at the head in the box.
"It looks different, doesn't it? The corpse's body fluid is as poisonous as the ones in New York dungeons."
A being that lays eggs among the Ersmann, to base it on Earth's logic, the qualification to become the 'queen' was the ability to produce a unique chemical. The substance, which flowed in Ersmann's body fluid as soon as they hatched, acted as a poison to individuals with different genetic information.
Furthermore, Leah was a much older being than Geruit, so the eggs' rate was slow, but the poisons were highly toxic. In other words, the children of 'Geruit' who appeared in the New York dungeon would die if they were exposed to the fluid of the children of 'Leah' that I brought. It was impossible to respond without indefinitely preparing detox artifacts.
That was why Ersmann, who had no qualms about eating civilized tribes, fought a war between their bloodlines and avoided eating each other as much as possible.
"Poison, that was?"
"Yes, it's a poison that they can't develop immunity to. Leave it to the researchers how to extract body fluids from this corpse and to process them. I don't know about that either."
Actually, I knew a little bit, but I shut up because I thought providing too much detail would cause more suspicion.
"We'll need proof."
Now there was no countdown mentioned in his mouth, saying there were a few minutes left. Whether what I said was true or not, the items and information I brought got his attention.
Now, Danton would send the sample through the back door of the Pentagon. After a few intermediate steps, the entire corpse would be handed over to the appropriate guild.
"Yes, I'll be waiting."
There was nothing to gain from holding on to the corpse, and it was enough to use it as a means of trading.
If they stayed as they were, the U.S. government would eventually not be able to stop some of the Ersmann from escaping the New York gate. In the absence of a dungeon key, it was helpless for them to block the gate with all sorts of means and obstacles.
Those who had such immunity to radioactivity as an option would even lay eggs in New York. Since they moved away from the queen's pheromone, which prevented reproductive development, they would start breeding as soon as they escaped from the dungeon's hostile environment.
For some time, they transformed New York City into a human hunting ground for the Ersmann. Many hunters had died to exterminate them.
It was not my wish to recreate that history.
"Well, what do you want?"
He knew that I didn't come here simply to get the right to trade. I spoke about the things that I didn't direly need first.
"I'm looking for an item that looks like this."
I put on the hologram. It was an artifact that I reproduced as similarly as possible based on my memory.
It was a statue depicting a creature that did not exist on Earth.
Danton tilted his head.
"Do you have any features that you could describe other than the looks?
"No. This shape, luster, and color are important."
There was no particular function in this product. It was not a weapon, and it was not a shield. It was an ornament made by a race to commemorate something.
And so, even after it was found in the dungeon, it was traded among the collectors who gathered them as a hobby, so I didn't know who owned it at this point.
In the past life, by the time that Randy got his hands on the magic sword, that was not available anymore, so I had to find it in advance.
Danton's network of information could find it out since it was from a gate in the U.S.
"What are you going to use it for?"
I just laughed without answering. What I needed was the metal that made up that statue.
I was going to melt it as soon as I had it.
'Since I can't always listen to all the babbles of the magic sword.'
Danton spoke sullenly, "Anyway, hand over the data. Is that the only thing?"
"No, there's one more thing."
I asked, "Do you also have shares in a company called 'Decker & Jefferson'?"
Danton frowned. "No, there's something a little dubious about that."
This guy had smelled it, too.
"Have you dug in?"
"No, I don't think it's worth it at this stage. Do you know anything?"
Instead, he tried to dig up information from me for any rumors I have heard. I lived up to the expectations.
"Soon, if the IRS and the Department of Defense will work together to find more about the company intensively, I think there will be interesting results."
Danton raised his eyebrows. "Do you know how many businesses the company owns and how many subsidiaries there are?"
"It's enough to shake down the headquarters for now. The subject is…"
I had better narrow it down.
"There will be interesting information on research that could give non-Awakens the effects of healing potions found in dungeons."
I was trying to make a deal with Danton because of this, after all.
First of all, I would be going around to get the items that were considered necessary in the future. That was the case with the magic sword.
However, when those rank down to a secondarily important thing, it would be challenging to get my hands on it by going around the world even if I had more colleagues later on. That could be achieved through Danton.
And another thing, those too crucial for me to be less than of any other priorities, but I couldn't figure it out by myself.
When I needed to shake off information against a large organization or company, I needed a backup.
Now was the time.
"Will it be possible?"
"Wait for the call. I will check the corpse first, and if what you say is true, I'll drop in some words."
For Danton, it was simple to produce and leak fake letters or fabricated evidence to a connected a congressman.
Only then did I smile satisfactorily.
'I'll see him soon.'
Not long ago, when I commissioned my old colleague's whereabouts, I found out that three people, except Angelica, were born in this era. Unlike the fact that Choi Seung-hyun's existence had been wiped out.
However, one of them had noticeable additions.
'Nathan Drake. He is 19 years old as he was alive. Specifics: No trace has been found since he went missing ten years ago.'
Nate.
One of the last five, and was later called 'Necromancer.'
He had no recollection of where he had been locked up in the past. Even when he was moving somewhere, his view was blocked entirely.
The U.S. government would now find out about the information that would serve as a clue.
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Ranobes » Updates » I Came Back And Conquered It All » Chapter 42
           
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Chapter 42
I Came Back And Conquered It All
Training
While waiting for the Senator to contact me, I went around several undiscovered dungeons throughout the United States.
-You've met the clear conditions of the dungeon!
-Clear condition: Eliminate all monsters on the perimeter.
-The boundaries of the dungeon are weakened.
I just cleared another one. There was nothing suitable for additional compensation, so I took an A-Rank skill card.
"Well, now…"
I thought about going out of the gate right away, but I changed my mind when I saw the environment. It was a jungle extending to the horizon.
I had just finished off all the monsters, so there was no distraction for a while.
Unlike closed-door dungeons like an ant cave, there was no chance of the groundbreaking or ceiling collapsing even if the sword blast was blown as much as possible, and there was no need to worry about traces remaining like the Earth.
In other words, it was an optimal place for training. I took the magic sword and aimed it at the air, and it immediately realized it.
It was troublesomely quick-witted.
'Oh! Are you training? Right. Sometimes you need time to unravel the sword movements alone and examine them calmly. Training through real situations is important, but if you have an enemy in front of you, you're more committed to killing them than thinking deeply about your trajectory!'
Would I be able to train 'quietly' when I was left 'alone', all while it was babbling like that?
I swung the sword in the hope that Danton would get the statue as soon as possible.
Boo-boom!
I cut and cut as I felt like doing so. The sword blasts poured like rain and sliced the air.
Instead of thinking and moving, I let my body flow as it went. The amplification of the sword movement was smoother and more sophisticated than in Chicago.
I stopped when I thought this was enough to warm up.
Contrary to previous concerns, the magic sword kept its mouth shut throughout the sword movements.
I thought it was out of the ordinary, but soon I could see the reason. It must have been observing my sword path quietly.
It was not a sword that reacted to the enemy's movements, but a sword that pulled out the potential in me. It could infer a lot from it.
'Hm. Now I know for sure. You must have been holding the sword for about 30 years… Or so.'
Wrong, it had been a little over two months.
However, the analysis is not entirely wrong. The sword movement I've seen the longest and the most is Randy's, and it's all engraved in my head. The sword movement I unraveled was influenced by him unknowingly.
Randy had been holding the sword for about 25 years, so its guess was roughly right.
'It's not a short time in terms of the human lifespan, but it's not enough by absolute standards. But it must have been supported by considerable exposure to hands-on experience. Since your race is human… you must have lived most of your life on the battlefield.'
It was an expression that accurately described Randy's life.
'You, like any other Awakened, found a good teacher or a sword that you learned based on your skills in the beginning. However, it seems that the period of learning was not long.'
Oh, this was indeed kind of creepy. I could guess that it was not a magic sword for no reason. That had been why the previous owners were mesmerized.
'Another thing, as a whole, the mix of two styles that didn't harmonize. There is a mixture of 'rough texture' that emphasizes bold lines and 'sharp texture' that emphasizes precise Mana movement control.'
That was true.
Instead of imitating Randy from my previous life, I tried to mix my strengths that he didn't have.
'I'm getting more greedy after finding this out. What do you think? Please help me so that I can help you more reliably and efficiently. Be my true master…'
"Shut your mouth."
'It's because it's such a waste! There is a limit to telepathic advice… so if you accept my suggestion, I can teach you more efficiently!'
Oh, the bronze statue! When was the statue arriving?
'With my help, it's like putting another wing on your back. The wings I'm giving you can lead you to a much higher state than the one you got from the dungeon! Oh, of course, in a symbolic way. You understand, right?'
I didn't have to threaten it that I won't be swayed since I was aware of what it was.
Then, it wouldn't even pretend to listen to me and curse and pour out profanities as I did now to give up the sword. Nevertheless, I should not rely on [The Successor's Eyes] and agree to become a master.
I began mumbling to myself, 'It's not like the devil could force me to sign a contract.'
The devil always sought the 'agreement' of his opponent whenever he signed a contract.
Urging one to accept the proposal on free will could be compared to deliberately ruining one self's immune system in a biological aspect. In the physical part, it was like a Hunter intentionally disabling his Mana Barrier. In my previous life, I had seen a Hunter with a passive skill of [Poison Immunity], temporarily disabling it because he wanted to get drunk. It was practically the same thing.
As I clenched my jaw and was about to swing the sword, it spoke, 'Oh! I have a good idea. Are you learning any other swordsmanship than the [Sword Mastery]?'
I grinned. Swordsman skills? I had seen a lot of it. It said urgently when I laughed at it without answering.
'My advice maximizes the effectiveness of your sword skills!'
Yeah, many hunters who put up with the [Whisper of the Sword] ended up falling for it.
'Please show me! I'll be able to give you some meaningful help on proficiency.'
I meant to test the amplification of the sword movements with the skills. I performed Randy's mastery skill, [Artha's Sword Dance], that I could remember.
Whooooooooooh!
Blue Mana that flowed inside the body transferred to the sword, and it transformed into a 'sword energy' that could be seen, even if one was not Hunter himself.
The color of the red energy emanated by the sword using the [Artha's Sword Dance] was dark purple. As soon as I wielded the sword for the first time, the magic sword exclaimed.
'Ah! This is the sword movement of the King Artha!'
I recalled the movement in my memory.
'When the proficiency of King Artha's sword movement is low, it is often underestimated. But if you become truly skilled at it…'
It was Randy's favorite movement combination. Every time the sword cuts through the air, the purple sword energy remained like an afterimage. I left numerous traces of the sword in front of me, almost as if to fill the void.
'If you go to that stage, you break down the boundaries between dynamic and static, and you can cross over those at will. What that… means is…'
I spoke, "Like this?"
He went silent for a moment.
'Yes, like… that.'
In front of me, as I stopped the sword, the trajectory of all the sword movement I had wielded so far did not disappear but richly shone in purple. Web-like lines gathered together to create a wall.
I swung the sword lightly in that state. And as I did so…
Swish!
It was so fast that even my sight couldn't follow.
The wall of the sword energy that I had made until now condensed both speed energy and destructive power that I made, swept my front.
Ka-ka-ka-ka-kaboom!
When the dust settled, the result was visible. The thickly-wooded jungle was devastated as if a bulldozer passed by it.
'You're very skilled, aren't you?'
I told him, "Do you have anything to add?"
'Hmm, it's not flawless.'
The skill entered into the slot through the card was like a 'Coloring Book' given to a child who had never drawn a picture.
The system drew the sketch. Hunters just had to paint the right color in the right place, as they were told. They just condensed the Mana along the path that the system told them to.
However, if you were to copy the same page and paint it several times, for example, if you painted a picture of a flower over thousands of times, you might think of this: Why didn't I add shades on these petals instead of painting them completely red? How many more leaves should I draw on that place? How about drawing a blue sky and clouds on the empty background?
Hunters may experience this process unconsciously or consciously to raise their skill levels. What the system told them was the minimum prerequisite for activating the skill. It relied on a hunter's own effort to develop it. Just as artisans and masters, who had repeated the same work for decades, find the most efficient and economic movements, so did hunters.
The magic sword's advice shortened that time.
'Yes, it's not… flawless. No, before that. May I ask who your teacher is? There are traces of someone advising on this skill.'
Of course, it would be curious about the identity of my teacher.
This now was the sword movement that melted in the outcome of the previous life's magic sword's advice to Randy.
For a short time, before the magic sword gave up Randy altogether, it seduced Randy in various ways, as it did to other owners. Randy didn't have to cover his ears and ignore the teachings. He had picked up what he needed to pick up without accepting its offer.
"Nothing to know."
'Well, I don't think it's human, after all.'
"You're noisy. Shall we get out?"
'Oh! Wait a minute. So, I mean that it's still a bit unfortunate that the two strands are vaguely mixed.'
It said the same thing over and over again.
'Nonetheless, you need a very precise Mana control to solve this issue. Precisely enough to fill in the gaps left by the destructive lines and the mixes' lines that do not blend well. I don't know if you can make it.'
"Just like the way I figured out the amplification formula of the sword, that much precisely?"
'It may be harder than that. It's not about finding a fixed answer, but it's about making a new answer. It's not possible through a telepathic explanation. So, if you want to solve this, you have no choice but to be my true master…'
I ignored his noisy telepathy and closed my eyes for a moment. The skill I had just performed came to my mind like an explicit video.
I played it over and over again—a precise and infallible memory. The Mana was driven from inside the body, injected into the sword, and inflated to purple sword energy. I observed the whole process.
The review lasted for more than an hour.
In the meantime, I purposely didn't let go of the sword. The more I concentrated, the farther away the whisper of the magic sword drifted away. In between, I experimented by injecting Mana into the
'So… become… my… true…'
The telepathy of the magic began to be heard distortedly. How long had it been since then?
I opened my eyes when I could not hear any whisper.
'So far, no one has ever regretted it! I think I've already told you more than 500 times, but what it means if you accept, you and I will become one! The essence of all the trajectories of my masters that wielded me for a long time, you'll be able to do it in a moment…!'
I heard its voice again. It was still lying.
I then picked up the sword.
'Oh, did you finally decide? Oh, to be together in a true meaning from now on!'
Weeing!
Purple sword energy soared on the blade.
At that moment, the sword closed its mouth. It had also felt this.
Wheeng!
Once again, I performed the [Artha's Sword Dance], the sword movement combination that I had performed just about an hour ago.
A purple sword wall appeared in front of me. And at the moment, I swung the sword in the opposite direction of what I did a while ago.
Swish!
Ka-ka-ka-ka-kaboom!
This time as well, the purple storm devastated the whole jungle and wiped it out. I compared the two symmetrical traces on me as the center of reference.
The sword had gone silent.
I saw traces of the sword blast that I threw an hour ago. Looking at it again, it seemed like the bulldozer pushed it.
In other words, the traces were very rough. In many areas that did not come into contact with the sword, energy rose like a dirt hill, and there were branches and pieces of rock that were not thoroughly swept away.
I turned my head. This time, I saw the trace of the sword energy that I had just thrown.
"How is it? Is it clean?"
'Very, very clean.'
It seemed that it had initially been a middle of nowhere without a single grass blade from the beginning. A clean, empty flatland appeared out of nowhere between the trees and went through the jungle.
I had supplemented the part that the magic sword pointed out; it was not perfect but to a considerable degree.
"Do you have anything to add this time?"
The sword did not answer.
*
It was about a week after the first meeting that Danton contacted me. I didn't take the magic sword with me again this time.
As I waited in the same place, Danton came up with a whiskey glass in his hand as before. There was no greeting, not even a simple acknowledgment.
He went straight to the point, even before he sat down.
"You don't have to come all the way here next time. If you contact the Korean market when you want a deal, they will respond to those that can be solved there, and it will be passed on to me if it's something they can't… I'll give you the path to directly contact Gina."
'Next time,' he had said. He recognized me as a trader and a subject of the same value as a country's black market.
Considering that he asked me to contact the Korean market instead of coming here meant that he could not give me the right to face him whenever I need it, but it was enough at this stage.
A piece of contact information popped up on my device. According to the name, Gina referred to Oh Jin-hwa of the Korean market, as I had guessed.
"It looks like you're done verifying it."
The Ministry of National Defense tested the samples Danton sent on the corpses of the children of Geruit, which had been secured in advance, and the results were, of course, as I said.
Now it was time to take something since I gave something.
"First of all, we haven't secured the statue yet."
Tsk. I clicked my tongue inwardly.
"What about Decker and Jefferson?"
"We'll look at it together."
What did he mean?
"What time is it now? Well, it's time."
When he gestured, a whole wall turned into a big screen. A live news channel was evidently on.
"Wait two minutes."
Two minutes later, I saw what Danton meant.
The news showed Decker & Jefferson's headquarters' building with the caption of 'Breaking news' on the screen. The reporter's voice continued.
-This breaking news just came in. Today, it was belatedly revealed that Decker & Jefferson had received a special audit jointly conducted by the IRS and the Department of Defense. The audit was conducted behind closed doors for the past four days under the Special Act on Dungeon Management. According to reports, Decker & Jefferson is accused of evading taxes through a ghost company set up in a tax haven and using subsidies from the Department of Defense for other purposes. According to the company's official statement…
I laughed contentedly.
"That's fast."
In my past life, it was supposed to take place four years after this point. It took more than a month to set up an audit team and investigate the allegations.
If the audit started four days ago, it was only three days after I met Danton. The preparation period had been reduced from 30 days to 3 days. This was the power of Edward Danton.
"There's not a single line of comment on the research on potions in the news."
"I'm sure they think this audit is really about taxes and subsidies. They'd be mistaken that as the sole purpose."
Danton transferred a file to my device.
The IRS and the Ministry of National Defense got this by pretending to be after something else. I looked through the contents and spoke.
"That's the Detroit research facility where the largest number of healing potions were shipped to."
"There are about 40 researchers who officially work there. But look at the details of the expenses."
"Food, bedding, clothing, and water… A large number of quality goods to just survive. I think they would feed over 1,000 people a year if it's this much. It's like a refugee camp."
I only knew now that they had collected all of them in Detroit in this era. Later, facilities would be dispersed throughout the United States, and the number of inmates would be scattered. To avoid the government's eyes, the facility had been relocated several times, and all of its records had never been seen in the future. Even Nate didn't know.
"The Ministry of National Defense also noticed. The operation will begin in two days. If you're going to do something about it, you'll have to go now."
"Thank you for your advice."
He looked at me with an interested gaze. "So, what are you going to do?"
I answered while looking into his eyes. "You'll find out soon enough."
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Ranobes » Updates » I Came Back And Conquered It All » Chapter 43
           
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Chapter 43
I Came Back And Conquered It All
Necromancer (1)
Nathan Drake's life was always on edge.
Even before he saw the light of the world, he had to stand on the border between birth and nonexistence. His drug-addict mother decided to get an abortion when she found out she was pregnant. If she had put it into action, he would not have existed.
However, she changed her mind. She decided to give birth to the baby and rip off child support from the relatively better-pocketed biological father.
It must have been fate that his father, who was also an addict, died a few days after he was born of a heart attack caused by an overdose. His mother did not abandon him because someone tipped her off to get paid by the state. He took a step closer to life like that, from the boundary between life and death.
The street where he lived was where the people on the border between the poor and the low-income bracket gathered. Cheap drugs that suited the poor addicts were distributed here. His mother got her hands on drugs that could not be purchased if she was a homeless person with no money, making his childhood more miserable.
Cheap drugs clouded her mind, and she scratched her skin every day until it bled. His emotions toward his mother were always lost on the border of love and hatred. The word indifference was not on the scale. For the longest time, only one person existed in his world, which was his mother.
The moment the boundaries of the world were broken, his life became a little more miserable.
Other men began to invade the world, in the home where only he and his mother existed. His mother's boyfriend kept changing. The last boyfriend he remembered beat him whenever his mother wasn't around. Once he was finished beating him, his right ear would keep ringing, and he couldn't hear well.
When he was away, Nathan begged his mother. He asked her not to break up with her boyfriend but to take him to the hospital. While Nathan begged and cried, his mother claimed she had no money to buy the drugs, so she called from place to place. She threw the phone and shouted. 'Please stop bothering me. You were an accident anyway. I've never meant to give birth to you. Leave me alone so that I can be happy now!'
He was nine years old at the time.
The nine-year-old Nathan wandered the streets until finally, he was approached by a man in clean clothes. 'Why are you alone? Where do you live? What about your parents?' He shook his head without saying a word. 'Do you want to come with me?'
Nathan hesitated, not knowing whether this man was dangerous or not. 'Are you going to hit me?'
The man shook his head. 'I won't hit you.'
He took the man's hand. At that moment, Nathan wasn't to know there was a terrible pain waiting.
*
There was the fact that Nathan didn't know. The man was employed by a company called Decker & Jefferson, and they were experimenting with modifying healing potions from the dungeon to apply to non-Awakened people.
Healing potions were used to treat external trauma and Mana potions to help recovering Mana. These two were representative items that acted in response to the Mana core of the Awakened person. Only Hunters could receive healing potion effects. They aimed to overturn this absolute nature.
If successful, it was a study that would affect the entire medical industry; it was followed by competition and lobbying by pharmaceutical companies with other stakeholders. FDA's approval for clinical trials was a long way off. The failure of all previous studies also affected it. Due to the potion characteristics, which was a dungeon item, it wasn't easy to experiment if it was not administered directly to a human body.
So Decker and Jefferson changed their direction. They decided to conduct the experiments discreetly so that not only competitors but also the government would not notice them. Of course, they set the subjects of the experiment to live people differently than before. It was unethical, but they did not mind crossing that line.
After the Cataclysm, the overall immigration process, including the Mexican border, became so strict that they had no choice but to seek subjects to be tested in the United States.
Despite the image of being a first-world country, the gap between the rich and the poor in the U.S. was very wide. It was easy to secretly kidnap drug addicts, alcoholics, people who roamed the streets.
Meanwhile, very few of the abductees were around Nathan's age. The development of drugs for pediatric patients was always behind that for adults. Considering the age, parents' expected income to pay for medicines are low. The same was true of the priorities of healing potion research.
Nathan Drake was one of the relatively few children. It was a terrible misfortune.
*
'Oh… it hurts. It hurts…! Stop it, stop it!'
It's been a while, and the impatient personnel has crossed the line again.
Experiments on recovering the damaged body tissues of the non-Awakened could be very brutal, depending on the researchers' ethical threshold. As a representative example, the experiment to inject potions that were recovered from a dungeon that had no response to a non-Awakened but was mixed in with a solution that showed a response to non-Awakens. A typical example of the latter was Poison Potion, found in dungeons.
He was injected with it with friends in the ward.
That night, he crossed again the boundaries of life and death, which he had wandered so many times. He felt hot as if the whole body was boiling, and it hurt as if the intestines were being shredded. It was unparalleled to any pain that he had experienced up until now.
When he woke up at dawn after the night that felt like an eternity, he realized that he had survived.
With a slight change, too.
'What is… that?'
He could see an invisible text, and he could hear an inaudible voice.
He went through cardiac arrest yesterday and dreamed while being halfway up on the threshold of death. He talked with a strange voice in a dark space. He understood the meaning, but he didn't like it, as if someone was forcefully engraving the words into his head.
It meant beyond his knowledge and intellectual development, but it remained like a tattoo on his brain like it was branded onto him.
He knew that he had Awakened but was not aware at the same time. He trembled with fear in the ward where no one but himself had woken up.
Doctors here called those who showed unusual symptoms different from other experiments as 'unique individuals.' The end of those who were called so was not good. They had to go through a much more painful and tormented process, and they usually never came back.
He looked around, trembling.
What about the rest of the kids? What about the elder brothers? What about the men? What happened to them?
'Chris? Chris… wake up. Chris?'
He tried to wake his friend up, next to him, by shaking him.
However, there was no response. His body was cold. He was not breathing.
'Chris!'
He was his best friend who arrived here around the same time as he did and had survived until now.
They called each other Chris and Nate. Both originally seemed to have longer names, but they couldn't remember any of them.
The two always talked about what they wanted to eat, the places they wanted to go, and the games they wanted to play if ever they were to be free.
Even after spending a long time in captivity, he kept his hopes up. He thought that this experiment would end someday, and he dreamed that he could go outside eventually, that he would be able to step out of this place as he stepped out of his house. He solidified the beliefs as he talked to Chris, calming down his fears a little bit.
They were like a symbol to each other to keep such hope from disappearing.
'No! Chris!'
Nate knew what it was to die. To be cold, immobile, and never being able to come back to this ward again. At this rate, Chris would never come back. However, Chris wouldn't be able to go home as he would want to.
"No."
His hands that shook Chris's body trembled. He thought this should not be the end. He felt that he had to do something.
Then…
Something in Nate's heart responded in desperation. Something like warm water that had been trapped there moved out.
At the same time, a voice rang in his head. It was similar to what he heard in his dream, but it was a different voice.
"Uhhh… Uhhh…"
Chris opened his eyes.
*
Nate found out that Chris was alive again.
However, his condition was a bit strange. He was very pale. His heart beat slowly, and he breathed very slowly. He didn't talk or wouldn't even try to move.
He talked by following his words only when he thought it would be nice to speak. He moved when he thought it would be nice to move. He knew that this condition was also suitable for doctors to name him the 'unique individual.'
'That's the same with me!'
After opening his eyes, Nate realized that his body had changed. It was always painful all around, and he felt weak, but now it wasn't like that at all. He had never been as energetic as he was now.
Doctors always examined the subjects' bodies and never missed any changes. This, too, will be discovered.
'If we're both going to be classified as unique individuals anyways…'
If classified as the same symptoms, they could be isolated together in the same place.
And so, Nate wished once again that he could look similar to Chris.
Somehow he thought that he could do it. He couldn't be completely like Chris, but he thought it would be possible to cheat the eyes. Energy drained from the heart, and the wish came true once again. Nate's face turned as pale as Chris's, and his eyes blurred.
The blood in his body began to cool down slowly.
*
Researchers who entered the hospital room in the morning watched the experiments and isolated them. Nate whispered in his mind that Chris would move according to their instructions. Surprisingly, Chris moved as if he could read his thoughts.
'Listen to the doctors! Move!'
Harsh tests continued for a long time.
Nate did not know, but researchers considered the symptoms a side effect of the healing potion experiment. Nate and Chris were quarantined in the same ward as he wished.
After that, time went by again.
*
The researchers considered Nate and Chris's symptoms as a kind of achievement.
Both of them were not dead, even though they were already in the right physical condition to die. They were on edge enough to interpret it positively.
However, when other individuals did not experience such symptoms, they conducted an infectiousness experiment this time.
The researchers put the subjects in a similar situation as Chris, just before he died, in a two-bed ward with one's breath barely in place. The experiment was somewhat successful.
Most suffered cardiac arrest, but some woke up again with side effects, and some died like that. Thus, the experiment went on.
For a long time.
*
It was late at night. I flew at high altitude with [Stardust Wing], looking down at Decker & Jefferson's research facility. I was high enough to prevent myself from being identified by CCTV monitoring the outside.
'Definitely, it's a strange structure.'
The research building itself was small, but the distance from other facilities and research complexes around it was more than necessary. Due to a parking lot that was as wide as a runway and the empty lots, it was distanced from the roads as well.
'A structure that if someone escapes, they have to run through an open space without anywhere to hide. And there are too many lights around… It's no different than a prison.'
I recalled the past.
'Nate didn't elaborate on what happened back then.'
Perhaps he had told Angelica.
A few years later, Angelica was the one to visit and recruit Nate when he was rescued when these types of facilities were discovered all at once.
'Anyway, it sure was a terrible memory.'
When he decided to put the plan forward, he came to the United States instead of meeting Hibiki, who was closer, first. It had only been two months since his reincarnation, but he could have come earlier if he pushed himself to. However, he had no choice to gain the least amount of force he needed.
'Simple research facility? This could be called a fortress.'
Mana swirled in places that look like ordinary vacant lots, lighting facilities, and other building structures. My eyes were dizzy due to the many artifacts and barriers they had laid.
It would be impossible to infiltrate quietly.
First of all, to freeze the electronic system, including CCTV, I had to put the Mana in the sword.
Whooooooooooh!
As soon as the purple sword energy boiled, I poured the sword's energy into the ground as if I were to bombard them. The target was the self-power generating facilities in the complex and the electrical lines that pulled the power from outside sources.
Boom! Boom!
parts of the building and surrounding vacant lots as the Mana collided and flashed. Heavy blast sounds rang several times and shook the night air.
Whoooo!
At this, I descended at a rapid pace.
*
The research center was an enclosed structure that had no room to sneak in. There was no use in [Stealth] if it was this way. I then picked up the sword.
Weeng!
Boom boom!
I destroyed the whole artifact designed to seal the door and tear up the thick iron door. Then, I stepped inside.
Beep beep!
The artifact was the only thing that operated indoors when all the emergency power was out—the alarm sound made by the item tore my ears. Instead of electric lighting, there was a blue light lit inside with magical luminescence.
Hunters that were hired for security sprang up.
"W-What?!"
"It's an intruder! Shoot!"
Based on their states, the level of hunters hired, after only focusing on getting various artifacts, was terrible.
It was natural. If you were a high-class hunter, you didn't have to put your hands in this dirty work. They shot, even though it was obvious that their opponent was a hunter.
Ting! Ting-ting!
The Mana Barrier around my body bounced off all the bullets.
Whiz!
I flew to the end of the hall in the blink of an eye. The decapitated hunters had fallen along the path.
[Penetration!]
The building on the ground was a decoy, and a huge space unfolded underground. The real research facility and the room where the abductees were held were there.
'How much money did they pay in the trial in my previous life?'
The scale was enormous.
Those numerous people were abducted, detained, tested, and even killed illegally, but most researchers and development executives served a few years in prison.
To add, some were scouted by another company instead of Decker & Jefferson, who went bankrupt after being discharged from the prison.
'Well, most of them did die in mysterious ways afterward.'
As I continued thinking about that, I finally found the door to the basement.
I Came Back And Conquered It All
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Natsu-gildarts
Natsu-gildarts18 Apr 2021, 18:13
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'Well, most of them did die in mysterious ways afterward.'
Well, it's pretty obvious who did that.
Each book is a new life filled with new adventures.
Wuxia, Xianxia, XuanhuanCompleted novels
I Came Back And Conquered It All
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Natsu-gildarts18 Apr 2021, 17:58
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Again, What??? Why are chapter endings so confusing?
Each book is a new life filled with new adventures.
Wuxia, Xianxia, XuanhuanCompleted novels
I Came Back And Conquered It All
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I Came Back And Conquered It All
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Natsu-gildarts
Natsu-gildarts18 Apr 2021, 17:42
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Like duh.
Each book is a new life filled with new adventures.
Wuxia, Xianxia, XuanhuanCompleted novels