Chapter 128: Prophet of Wrath (3)
After clearing the Dragon’s Labyrinth Dungeon, Jin-young, who had returned to Korea, spent quite a busy time for a while.
He stopped by the secret research division to retrieve the artifact and also watched the processing of the Dragon Heart.
He went to Nine City to replenish Cyclic energy and grasp the military strength of the demons.
During that time, Gehenna remained quiet, and the celestial beings also showed no particular reaction.
It was probably because blindly starting a war just because of Jin-young’s words would inevitably be too burdensome.
After handling various other matters, he crossed over to Japan.
“Here it is. The All-Japan Awakener Association.”
A skyscraper tall enough that the entire Tokyo cityscape could be seen at a glance from the rooftop.
Jin-young looked up at the high-rise building built right in front of Tokyo Station and muttered.
Then, the variant standing next to him spoke.
“It’s been a while since I last came here.”
He had been traveling around contaminated zones around the world under Jin-young’s orders, investigating suspicious dimensional portals.
He had been summoned to Japan for a short while because interpretation was needed.
“Did you find any suspicious portals in the meantime?”
At Jin-young’s question, the variant nodded.
“I did find some, but approaching them was impossible.”
“Why?”
“First of all, they were surrounded by a barrier so that ordinary Hunters wouldn’t notice them. If anyone tried to break through or cross that barrier, the prophets would have noticed immediately.”
“Is that so? I guess I’ll have to go around and check myself later.”
Jin-young had instructed the variant to roam the contaminated zones but to never get caught by GODS.
If that guy got caught by Godfather, he would lose a useful subordinate.
The only talent capable of quickly investigating contaminated zones around the world was the variant alone.
“Thanks to the Black Knight’s scale not being in the hands of those GODS bastards, they seem to be struggling quite a bit to find the dimensional coordinates leading to Hell.”
The reason GODS kept opening dimensional gates was precisely to open a portal to Hell.
Because Jin-young had taken the Black Knight’s scale, the key to opening the Hell Gate, they had no choice but to keep trying to open portals.
“For the time being, we won’t need to worry about those guys. Marc Diaby is a bit concerning, but there’s no way to find him blindly.”
Jin-young had been thinking of going if a Disaster-grade Dungeon appeared in Europe, but there was still no news.
It would take a long time to find Marc, who had disappeared without a trace.
Dealing with the Disaster-grade Dungeon that had appeared in Laoag, northern Philippines, was the priority for now.
Jin-young, who had been looking up at the association building, strode inside.
He went straight to the information desk. The receptionist greeted him with a polite attitude and said,
“Welcome. What brings you here today?”
Of course, since it was in Japanese, there was no way he could understand it.
Instead of Jin-young, the variant stepped forward and spoke in English.
“We’re here to meet the Guild Master.”
The receptionist couldn’t hide his bewilderment at the casual tone of coming to meet the Guild Master like calling a neighborhood friend.
“Um… Do you have an appointment with the Guild Master?”
“If you say Psycho is looking for him, he’ll understand.”
“Psycho…?”
The receptionist tilted his head, then suddenly widened his eyes.
His face looked as if he had seen a ghost.
“P-Psycho-nim! Please wait a moment!”
He hurriedly picked up the phone.
“D-Director. Psycho-nim has come to see the Guild Master.”
Jin-young, watching the receptionist fidgeting anxiously, asked the variant.
“Why is he acting like that all of a sudden?”
“I don’t know either. Maybe he misheard Psycho as another Psycho.”
“There’s nothing to mishear.”
Jin-young muttered as if he couldn’t understand.
The call ended in an instant, and the receptionist, with trembling pupils, barely managed to speak while looking at Jin-young.
“I-I’m truly sorry, Psycho-nim. Please forgive my rudeness.”
“What are you sorry for?”
At the variant’s question, the receptionist gasped and said.
He had only asked out of genuine curiosity, but when this kind of reaction came back, he narrowed his brows.
Seeing the variant’s fierce expression, the receptionist bowed his head even lower.
He was currently in human form, not Mine form, but his impression was not particularly friendly.
“I apologize deeply for not preparing proper hospitality in advance. Please, at least spare my life…”
Drip, drip. The receptionist began shedding tears.
The other staff at the desk also couldn’t raise their heads, and they gradually started drawing the attention of people passing through the lobby.
On the contrary, the flustered variant turned to Jin-young and asked.
“Have you ever caused a scene in Japan? Or threatened someone…?”
“This is my first time coming here since I was born. What are you talking about? I did discipline the Japanese Guild Master once at the Federation General Assembly, but that was some time ago.”
The variant brushed off Jin-young’s words with one ear and spoke to the receptionist again.
“Just what is going on? Did Psycho threaten to destroy Japan or something?”
“T-That… I-I’m sorry!”
After hearing the answer, the variant became certain.
Psycho was fear itself in Japan.
Jin-young let out a hollow laugh after hearing the story.
“How did such nonsense spread in Japan?”
Tadadadat—
At that moment, a group of people came rushing toward the desk.
Jin-young spotted a familiar face among them.
Japan’s Guild Master and Zero-grade Hunter, Tachibana Yutaro.
The people who appeared with him seemed to be association staff.
The sudden appearance of the Guild Master caused everyone’s attention to focus on them.
It was an unusual sight for the Guild Master himself to come down to the lobby to greet a guest.
Tachibana Yutaro immediately bowed his head to Jin-young and showed respect.
“I’m sorry, Psycho-nim. I will escort you upstairs first.”
Jin-young had not come expecting this, but he moved to the Guild Master’s office for now.
***
Cold sweat ran down Tachibana Yutaro’s back. It had been a long time since he felt this kind of tension after the Federation General Assembly.
Even the usual Dungeons appearing in Japan no longer stirred much emotion in him.
Because of that, he suddenly thought he had been arrogant in the past.
If he had made a proper judgment when they first met in Taiwan, he wouldn’t have suffered such humiliation at the Federation General Assembly.
Still, he considered himself extremely lucky to have received that preventive shot in advance.
“Please sit first, Psycho-nim.”
Psycho and his subordinate sat down.
Tachibana Yutaro did not sit. Instead, he immediately prostrated himself on the floor.
“First, I apologize once again for the atrocities committed by my former right-hand man, Yamakawa Shinichi, and his underlings.”
Yamakawa Shinichi was the 1st grade Hunter who had led the yakuza into Busan.
The Awakener Intelligence Department and The Black Society had cooperated to capture him successfully, and Psycho had interrogated and executed him.
Originally, the plan was for the Intelligence Department to hand Shinichi and his subordinates over to the Japanese association, but that had been lightly ignored.
Yutaro had taken Psycho’s sudden action as a warning message.
For now, it had ended with the punishment of Shinichi’s group, but next it could be the entire country of Japan.
That was why Yutaro had thoroughly handled the murder case of Shinichi’s gang so that there would be no noise at all.
It was probably around that time that association staff began trembling at the mere mention of the name ‘Psycho’.
Later, the Intelligence Department offered to send the culprit Psycho as an apology, but Yutaro had strongly declined.
Because that would have been like pretending to apologize while launching a nuclear bomb.
‘And yet he ended up coming all the way here…’
Still prostrating, Yutaro felt countless emotions swirling inside him.
How could he safely overcome this crisis?
If he made even the slightest mistake, not only his own life but the entirety of Japan could fall into danger.
“Tachibana Yutaro.”
“Yes, Psycho-nim.”
Yutaro’s body flinched at Psycho’s sudden call.
“It’s nothing else. The long history proves that our three Northeast Asian countries cannot become close, right?”
“Uh… Yes, that’s correct. But I believe there is sufficient possibility of becoming close if we make an effort.”
Yutaro, who had been pondering how to answer, racked his brain.
“That’s a rather neat answer. If our Northeast Asia unites first and further unites all of Asia, it would be a great help to the International Awakener Federation. Don’t you think?”
“Yes, your words are one hundred percent correct.”
“Of course, we should lead the union. So you would be, um… my underling?”
Yutaro’s pride cracked at the word “underling,” but he answered as if it didn’t bother him.
“That’s right. I and Japan are ready to become Psycho-nim’s underling at any time.”
“Good. You know about the Disaster-grade Dungeon that appeared in the Philippines, right?”
At the sudden mention of the Disaster-grade Dungeon, Yutaro felt an ominous feeling.
“Yes, I know. Dozens of 1st grade Hunters from the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries have died…”
“You, me, and Blue Dragon. We’re going to raid it together.”
“…Yes?”
He carefully raised his head, hoping the interpretation was wrong.
The moment he saw Psycho’s grinning face and felt a chill run down his spine—
Tsztszt—
A portal opened before his eyes, and despair flashed across his face.
***
“Are you busy with something these days?”
“…Yes? No!”
Chae So-young was startled by Yoon Soo-ho’s question as he suddenly came right up to her and answered.
“Even so, you didn’t notice me approaching until I got this close.”
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
She had been so focused on the flow of psionic energy that she hadn’t even noticed Yoon Soo-ho approaching.
As a secretary who was supposed to assist the boss, this was disqualifying.
If Myung Ji-yoon, the head of the secretary’s office, had been there, she would have been scolded.
“Now that the GODS extermination operation has entered its final stage, you must not let your guard down. Those guys can multiply again like cancer cells at any time.”
“Yes, I will be careful.”
Yoon Soo-ho simply gave a warning and ended it there.
His words were true; the GODS extermination operation within South Korea was now entering a lull.
Thanks to Intelligence Department Director Jeong Bo-hoon taking the lead in quickly securing the list of GODS spies hidden in politics, business, and the Hunter world.
Among the spies, there were Hunters, but the proportion of non-Awakeners was much higher.
For that reason, they could naturally blend in among ordinary humans without drawing suspicion as GODS.
Fortunately, through information from Cheon Ji-hee and Assemblyman Park Jeong-jae, who had been persuaded by Jeong Bo-hoon, they succeeded in dealing with all the major villains.
What remained were only minor remnants.
Since the National Intelligence Service and the military were cooperating to handle them, the association stepped back from the operation.
Instead, they began other work.
“So-young, is the data for the North Korean purification project I requested ready?”
“Yes, here it is.”
Chae So-young displayed the data she had prepared in advance on the tablet and handed it over.
After finishing that task and finding a short break, she had been training her psionic energy.
While examining the data, Yoon Soo-ho said,
“The Pyongyang Contaminated Zone will be handled by the Awakener Intelligence Department, so please keep that in mind.”
“By the Awakener Intelligence Department?”
“Yes. The Advisor agent said there was something to investigate there. It seems they will handle it on their own.”
“Ah…….”
Chae So-young also knew the Advisor agent well.
It was the Hunter Choi Hee-yeon, who had trained together with her older brother Chae Jin-young.
Not long ago, the three of them had met together.
It was to establish an emergency telepathy contact network or something.
‘What is he so busy running around for.’
Chae So-young thought that these days it was really hard to see her older brother’s face.
Not long ago he had been in America and returned to Korea, only to go to Hell.
This time he went to Japan again; she couldn’t even imagine what kind of work he was doing.
“Please call me when the Hamheung Contaminated Zone purification operation begins.”
“Are you going to train again?”
“I have to do it whenever I have time.”
Chae So-young stuck out her tongue while looking at Yoon Soo-ho.
She wondered how he could handle the entire Guild Master schedule without missing a single day of training.
She even thought he was as much of a training fanatic as her older brother Chae Jin-young.
No matter how strong a Hunter was, being human meant they would feel fatigue.
Especially for a Zero-grade Hunter, the training intensity would be enormous, so stamina wouldn’t last.
“Will you be okay? It seems like you haven’t slept a wink since arriving in Kaesong.”
“If I want to surpass Psycho someday, staying up a few nights is nothing.”
Sssst…
Yoon Soo-ho released white mana and wrapped it around his entire body.
It seeped into his skin, and his skin became smooth and fresh as if he had just taken a bath.
“Have a safe trip.”
After Yoon Soo-ho left, Chae So-young was left alone again.
She quickly handled the newly assigned tasks and tried to focus once more on her psionic energy training.
Then, at that moment.
―So-young…
‘Hm?’
Suddenly, someone’s voice rang in her head.
It was so small that she wasn’t sure whose voice it was.
―So-young, Pyongyang Contaminated Zone…
‘Huh? Hee-yeon unnie? What’s going on?’
―Prophet……!
At the urgent voice, Chae So-young jumped up from her seat.
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