Chapter 43: North Korean Border Command (1)
“Stalker, resistance is meaningless anyway. With all your mana taken away, there’s nothing you can do.”
Jacob spoke calmly to Dmitri, whose face was twisted in fury.
“So you’re telling me to betray the Godfather? Jacob, you’ve clearly gone mad locked up in that damn space.”
“Maybe I have gone mad, just like you said. And that’s how I finally found my place.”
“Crazy bastard…”
Dmitri shook his head in disbelief.
“If you’re planning to endure extreme pain and die meaninglessly, do whatever you want. But if you want to live, it’s better to obey quietly. That guy doesn’t know the meaning of ‘moderation.’ If he even suspects you’re lying, he’ll start by crippling you.”
Dmitri’s thoughts grew complicated under Jacob’s persistent persuasion.
Just as Jacob said, with no mana, there was no way to defeat that monster. Of course, even with mana it would have been impossible.
To suffer endless torture and die in agony would be no different from a dog’s death.
Dmitri—who had spent every day thinking only about how to survive—hadn’t changed much even after becoming GODS’s top assassin.
‘Rather than dying like a dog, I’ll give what I can and preserve my life to plan for later.’
He believed that even if he told everything he knew, it wouldn’t disrupt the Godfather’s grand plan in the slightest.
No matter how strong this hunter was, he was still just one man—far too insignificant to shake something so vast and great.
If the bastard somehow managed to track down the Godfather, that would actually be a good thing.
He would surely get toyed with and killed for overstepping his bounds.
Of course, Dmitri didn’t like the idea of surrendering to anyone other than the Godfather.
He had no choice but to survive and repay this humiliation twofold.
“…Damn it. I’ll cooperate. But guarantee my life.”
***
Jin-young nodded in satisfaction as he watched Jacob persuade Dmitri.
It was so much easier when he didn’t have to step in personally and peel away bones and organs one by one.
Keeping a fragile human alive without killing them required quite a bit of care.
By the way, why was Jacob cooperating so willingly?
At first he suspected it was an act, but now he understood the reason.
『We’ve deeply infiltrated his mental world.』
‘So the imprint has been engraved too?’
『Yes. He’s become profoundly immersed in our mind. Not only his emotions, but even some of his thoughts are readable.』
Previously, the tentacle had mentioned engraving an imprint on Jeon Yu-hwan.
Experiencing their mental world would leave an imprint, allowing them to sense the imprinted target’s emotions even from afar.
This time, the imprint seemed deeper than with Jeon Yu-hwan, letting them feel even more.
Jin-young couldn’t feel it himself, nor did he particularly want to.
『If he still had mana, we could have permanently implanted a parasite.』
‘Mana… What if we forcibly inject black mana? Could he endure it?’
『I can’t guarantee that.』
‘For now he’s useful, so I’ll put that on hold.’
Once Jacob’s persuasion was complete, Jin-young casually began questioning Dmitri.
He easily obtained information about the Red Flower Society’s hideouts and the locations of GODS branches scattered worldwide.
But details about what each branch was scheming in their respective regions were limited.
Though they all followed the Godfather, each branch operated independently and rarely shared information.
As someone who never stayed in one place, Stalker was a thorough outsider—he didn’t know the deepest secrets, nor did he have any reason or justification to dig into them.
“Do you know where the Godfather is?”
The moment Jin-young casually brought up the Godfather, Dmitri’s expression soured.
But feeling the invisible pressure bearing down on him, he quickly opened his mouth.
“…The Godfather is everywhere, yet nowhere.”
“So he moves around a lot.”
Dmitri hesitated for a moment before adding,
“Sometimes he leaves marks to guide us.”
“Marks?”
“The Eye within the Sun, supported by the Earth—the symbol of GODS. Of course, only hunters chosen by the Godfather can see it.”
His face suddenly became reverent, as if the mere mention of the Godfather filled him with awe.
Jin-young had never seen the GODS symbol in any media either, so he figured it really was visible only to members.
After organizing his thoughts, he moved on to the next question.
“Do you know anything about the red mana experimental subject?”
Dmitri recalled the experimental subject he had encountered and spoke.
“He was an unpleasant bastard. Sometimes he’d ramble nonsense like a madman, then suddenly snap back to normal. He only listened when it came from the Godfather’s mouth—nothing else.”
“Where is he now?”
“I last saw him on a small island called Monggok in Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago. Whether the branch has moved since then, I don’t know.”
“Name, appearance, any distinctive features of his abilities?”
“He was only ever called Subject 78—no real name. A white male of unclear nationality, short and skinny, with unkempt red hair. I never saw him use his ability.”
It was definitely a villain who had never appeared in Korea.
Even within GODS, information about experimental subjects seemed tightly controlled and rarely shared—Dmitri himself didn’t know much more.
“Information controlled by the Godfather is something no one dares to pry into. Not even branch leaders.”
“If the Godfather is hiding it that carefully, there must be some big plan in motion.”
No major incidents involving the red mana experimental subject had ever been reported anywhere in the world, so Jin-young suspected they were saving it for something far more important.
At that moment, Jacob—who had been acting as interpreter—suddenly asked,
“Are you planning to go after the Red Flower Society directly?”
“If I leave them alone, they’ll come to me eventually. Or they’ll keep sending more like this guy today.”
Jin-young had no intention of leaving Korea until the Monster Wave was over.
As long as he stayed put, Zhu Meiling would keep throwing bait like Stalker at him out of frustration.
If she eventually got impatient and came herself—that would be ideal.
If she still hadn’t shown up even after the Monster Wave ended, then he’d go after her personally.
Deciding that was enough for now, Jin-young opened a black portal and said,
“Looks like you know quite a bit about GODS, so I’ll have to make use of you for a while. Get along nicely with Jacob.”
That wasn’t the only reason, of course.
Jacob had become remarkably obedient after spending time in Jin-young’s subspace.
Jin-young was curious whether the same thing would happen to Dmitri.
Hearing that, Dmitri’s eyes widened in horror.
“I have to go back to that nauseating place? No way!”
To the agitated Dmitri, Jacob spoke calmly.
“Stalker, don’t worry. I’ll personally teach you the Survival Guide to the Bottomless Pit.”
The not-really-comforting consolation twisted Dmitri’s face beautifully.
***
It had been a week since ‘Stalker’ Dmitri Petrov’s communication went dark.
No additional assassins had been sent by Zhu Meiling yet.
Even if she had sent someone, without knowing Jin-young’s identity, finding him wouldn’t be easy.
In Stalker’s case, even accounting for his unique ability, it had been pure coincidence that he stumbled upon him.
In the meantime, Jin-young had been spending his days stamping his presence at the district office, training his sister Chae So-young, and drilling Awakener Intelligence Department agents.
Crackle crackle crackle—
Choi Hee-yeon unleashed blue lightning from her body and charged straight toward the monsters ahead.
A swarm of giant grasshopper-like monsters eroded by Creep leaped toward her in response.
Crackle— BOOM!
Her figure shot forward like a bullet, brushing past the monsters.
Swoooosh— KABOOM!
Lightning coiled around their bodies, instantly turning bright blue before exploding.
Not just one—all the monsters she grazed were electrocuted and detonated in chain explosions.
“UUUUOOOHHH!”
Dolsae, berserked with his entire body flushed crimson, roared and charged toward the Mines.
Crunch—
The Creep-covered ground caved in deeply under his stomp.
BOOM—
Like a cannon shell being fired, his massive frame rocketed forward in an instant, appearing right in front of a Mine.
Dolsae swung his twin axes at terrifying speed.
Squelch— SPLAT!
His left axe severed the neck while the right cleaved the torso in half simultaneously.
Some Mines kept moving even after losing their heads, so this was the appropriate measure.
For a 3rd-grade hunter to instantly dispatch a Mine of equal level was no easy feat.
Above all, Dolsae had now mastered the intelligence to distinguish friend from foe even while berserked—without needing his iron club.
A living testament to the importance of repeated training.
In addition to those two, six more Awakener Intelligence Department agents ranging from 4th to 5th grade had joined the training.
“I’ll draw their attention!”
“Okay, just like we practiced—coordinated attack!”
One person drew the monsters’ attention while the others unleashed their abilities in perfect sequence, mowing them down.
None of them had any prior connection to Jin-young, so at first they had resisted the training. But after tasting psychokinesis just once, they had all become eager participants.
While the agents were busy dealing with monsters and Mines,
Jin-young was conducting special training for one particular person.
The trainee was none other than Awakener Intelligence Department Director Jeong Bo-hoon.
A four-legged monster with razor-sharp blades on its forelegs charged straight at Jeong Bo-hoon.
Ziiing—
Just before the blades could touch him, Jeong Bo-hoon deployed a translucent blue shield.
Crackle— CRASH!
He blocked every follow-up attack with the shield.
Sssss— BOOM!
The accumulated damage on the shield was instantly converted into a mana wave and hurled back at the monster.
SPLAT!
A blue beam pierced straight through its head, sending the creature crashing down.
Jeong Bo-hoon’s unique ability, ‘Shield of Reversal’, returned received damage in full—but how he had withstood attacks from what was essentially a 1st-grade boss monster was questionable.
Jin-young suspected there was one more hidden ability at play, but he didn’t press the issue.
No matter how ruthless Jin-young could be, he wasn’t about to pry into the secrets of the boss Jeong Bo-hoon served.
“Good job, Director. You’re starting to get the feel for it, right?”
“Haa…”
Sweat poured down Jeong Bo-hoon’s face like rain.
It had only been a 5th-grade monster, but repeating the fight against dozens of them had taken its toll.
Moreover, after years of desk work, his body didn’t move as freely as he wanted.
Still, reawakening his long-dormant combat instincts didn’t feel bad at all—in fact, it was quietly exhilarating.
The hunter within him, asleep for so long, was stirring awake.
“Your mana recovery is definitely fast, but physical ability is the issue. Age really does…”
“…It’s not just age.”
After catching his breath, Jeong Bo-hoon spoke up unexpectedly.
When Jin-young tilted his head, he continued.
“How do you think I reached 3rd-grade at a later age than most? Without the government’s full support, it would have been impossible.”
Jeong Bo-hoon had been a veteran intelligence operative with nearly ten years at the National Intelligence Service even before the Great Change.
The moment he Awakened, he received the government’s unconditional backing.
His physical stats and mana had risen far more from absorbing manastones than from training or real combat experience.
Of course, there was nothing inherently wrong with stats gained through manastone absorption.
But abilities built through blood, sweat, and tears were never truly forgotten—even after years of disuse, they recovered quickly.
In other words, in addition to his age, Jeong Bo-hoon’s body—built largely on manastones—recovered more slowly.
“Director, no need to worry. You got the sweet perks back then, so now you just have to roll twice as hard to pay it back.”
“…Are you sure you’re not an assassin sent to eliminate me?”
“If I were, you’d already be begging for your life.”
Jeong Bo-hoon’s half-joking remark was met with Jin-young’s chilling retort.
He was seriously considering whether to actually beg for mercy when—
His watch suddenly vibrated, giving him a moment’s reprieve.
After checking the message, he barely hid a smile and said,
“Director Kim says the contaminated zone protective gear is complete.”
“Oh, that was pretty fast.”
Jin-young nodded.
When no further reaction came, Jeong Bo-hoon added,
“Pick up the gear from the secret research lab, then head straight to the North Korean Border Command to begin the mission.”
“How about one more quick roll in the crash course before we go?”
At Jin-young’s suggestion, Jeong Bo-hoon bit his lip for a moment before replying,
“Fine. Since we’ve started, let’s see it through to the end.”
The next day, Jeong Bo-hoon took personal leave.
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