#253
Closed dimension (2)
An office full of fancy decorations.
All kinds of information quickly passed by on the work monitor placed there.
Even though I couldn’t read even a single line with decent visual acuity…
‘I’m used to this now.’
The man sitting in front of him just stared calmly at the screen without any significant change in expression.
Jiying—
With a slight vibration felt in one eye, the enormous flood of information reflected in the eye was projected into his head.
It was a dangerous thing that would not have been surprising for an ordinary person to go crazy if he had experienced it, but for him with transcendent mental ability, it was just light brain training.
‘Is this all?’
Truly the ultimate prosthetic eye containing the essence of magic engineering.
Thanks to its overwhelming performance, the man in the company entered a huge amount of reports into his mind in an instant. He quietly closed his eyes and quickly reflected on the information in his head.
‘…Where are you, Hahoe Tal?’
Hahoe Mask, who disappeared immediately after the fight in Japan that day, has still not been seen.
As if following in his footsteps, a vampire named Heinz began wandering the streets of Seoul at night, but the Doctor was directly interested in it and was taking action, so it was not his business to interfere.
‘The fact that he hasn’t been seen until now probably means that something went wrong with the fight back then.’
He nodded quietly.
In fact, it was a mental terrorist attack designed to neutralize him in the first place.
If you were still fine after being hit by that, it would only be unfair.
The ruler opened his eyes again and glanced at his limp right arm.
Anger boiled in my heart as I encountered a body that had lost function, including one eye and both legs, as a result of being hit by Hahoetal.
‘Hahoetal…’
While he was pondering his situation and ruminating on his resentment—.
-Beep beep!
A communication request notification sound suddenly rang out from the office speaker.
After quickly identifying the target, he slowly extended his left hand and approved the connection with the other person.
-Ah ah— This is the doctor. Are you a rite?
“Yes Doctor. “What’s going on?”
A frivolous voice comes through the speaker.
He frowned slightly at that, but responded calmly.
-Woohyah~ Ah, I contacted you to inform you that Hoeju has left again! I tried to wait as long as I could, but he said it wouldn’t be possible any longer. This is such a shame!
Some time has passed since the conflict with Hahoe Tal in Japan.
In the meantime, Hoeju was reorganizing the organization in preparation for the guy’s reappearance, but it seemed like the time he had been able to spend had now reached its limit.
-He said that there was nothing he could do because fighting the Smile Mask drew the attention of ‘Earth’ more than he expected! Even if it was a little too much to do, I tried to catch the guy… Oh, this is not the only loss!
“…I’m sorry. “I felt like I wasted the opportunity to make a move because I wasn’t sure.”
To be honest, I didn’t think it was my fault, but the issue was so big that I couldn’t just pretend not to know.
As the thoroughly planned plan went awry, the overall planning of the Beoncheon meeting had no choice but to be further postponed.
-Ah~ Is there anything in this world that happens just the way you want it to? If the best is not possible, you can choose the next best option. Hoeju will take care of everything, so we just have to do what we can!
The doctor didn’t say anything to him, probably because he knew it was an inevitable situation.
I’m just venting my dissatisfaction about the fundamental reason why things happened like this.
-Tsk But as expected, this situation… I don’t like it at all. How long must we play by the will of the gods?
It was not about blaming Hahoetal for interfering with the work, but about the reason why the Hoeju could not use his power properly—and the significance of the existence of Beoncheonhoe.
“Isn’t this amount of error within the expected range? “There isn’t much left.”
-Hehe— That’s right! Ah, I can’t wait for that time! If there is an irrational being called God, scientific progress and new discoveries and inventions become meaningless! Matters in the human world should be resolved among humans, so how dare something like God intervene!
For some reason, I thought he was relatively calm.
Sure enough, the doctor’s voice, which was speaking quickly as if he was talking to himself, slowly began to take on madness.
‘Here we go again.’
After all, only then can he be said to be the representative madman of the Buncheonhoe.
The ruler nodded his head as if he had given up and agreed with his words.
The doctor’s excited speech continued for a long time.
And while he was talking so hard, he couldn’t control his excitement and started fuming to himself, then unilaterally cut off communication, saying that he would pour his energy into research.
In the sudden silence.
“ha.”
The ruler let out a short sigh, closed his eyes, leaned against the back of his chair, and fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, I remembered what I had said in that mental world when I first encountered Hahoetal.
-Freedom of returnees. Creating a world we lead.
-We have existed for a long time. And we continue to fight for freedom.
‘Freedom…’
What he said at that time was sincere.
However, it was not necessary to mention that the opponent was a divine being, not a human authority figure.
Of course, in the end, world hegemony would be achieved, so it wasn’t really different.
‘Sacrifice is inevitable for the greater good.’
Terrorism was also part of the process to complete the ritual as part of that cause.
If all goes according to plan, approximately half of the Earth’s population will ultimately be sacrificed.
Hahoetal didn’t seem to have any intention of accepting that, but it didn’t matter since there was a limit to how much one person could interfere.
The plan was still going smoothly.
***
‘Beoncheonhoeju Is he really that guy?’
It was an inference without any specific basis or context, but a keen intuition that went beyond any singularity clearly warned me.
That he is the cause of the current situation.
Harris, who felt the need for more detailed information, spared no efforts to enhance Jin Deok-man’s memory.
It’s shaky—!
“Ouch! I really don’t know! “I don’t know!”
“hmm? “Are you speaking informally?”
“Oh no! I didn’t say I didn’t know any more than this! “That’s all I know!”
But unfortunately… despite all the scientific methods, we couldn’t get more detailed information from him.
All he knows are unfounded rumors like, ‘They say there’s a secret story behind the collapse of the empire.’
“Then who did you hear that story from?”
“Ugh, my brother-in-law… I heard about it from the head of the Yangtze River Waterway! “That guy said he heard it somewhere, but I don’t know the source because it was something he said as a joke while drinking!”
“Chae with the Yangtze River….”
With the Yangtze River.
Although they were a numerical union similar to the Eight Eight Houses of Dongdong centered on Dongdongho, they were in fact a large organization that was highly compatible in all respects.
In this world where magic does not exist, the center of logistics had to be water transport, and they had that much power based on the huge Yangtze River that crossed the continent.
Of course, those who knew the importance of waterways began to strictly regulate them, but weren’t thieves good at avoiding such controls in the first place?
‘Besides, this is a world where a few strong men can overwhelm many armies.’
These bandits roamed the wide Yangtze River and accumulated wealth through smuggling and toll taxes, which became a headache for the government.
Now that the country has collapsed and their reins have been loosened, they have monopolized the waterways and are even more powerful than before the world became chaotic.
“Hmm, this is difficult.”
Harris, recalling that information, drooped and frowned.
The problem was that the water flow of the Yangtze River was enormous and the time given to him was not that much.
There are only about 7 days left.
In the meantime, there was absolutely not enough time to catch the target who was wandering around the Yangtze River and obtain information.
‘…No, you can’t fill up after the first drink. Let’s not rush. Anyway, the initial goal was to collect information and then create a suitable environment for growth.’
Somehow, it turned out to be a trick to beat down all the enemies.
There was no need to go all out there right away.
“Okay… I don’t know what you want. If you want to know something, why don’t you go to people who know better instead of doing this to us, who are outnumbered? “Something like the Zhuge Dynasty of Yongzhong in Hubei Province across the Yangtze River.”
At that time, Jindeokman made a groaning sound and spoke in a grumbling tone.
Although it seemed like he was trying to pass on his bad luck to someone else, there was certainly some truth to what he said.
“Jegalse?”
“These are people who know more than what they don’t know. It also produced many imperial officials. It is also said that Zhuge Dynasty was the first to learn about the decline of energy and the importance of the dragon vein.”
Certainly, there was a high possibility that such a place would know the inside story of this situation.
Moreover, unlike the Janggangsuro Chaeju, who moved from place to place under his command, the base was clear and easy to find.
‘Hmm, it’s a famous and prestigious school.’
In this chaos, there will be virtually no safe place anywhere in the world.
In such a situation, the help of a local partner was essential for a smooth life.
However, it was not possible to select just any place…
‘…Then, shall we go and check it out first?’
Of course, after collecting all the wealth that the enemies had gathered.
***
A shabby fishing village near Dongjeong Lake.
Just a few days ago, it was a place where there was only a gloomy atmosphere, as if people were living without being able to die, but now the villagers were excited by the small hope that suddenly came to them.
Not only were the enemies who were exploiting them punished, but their empty treasures were filled and their hearts were enriched.
It was a feeble hope that could be extinguished by any storm, but it gave those who had been living a difficult life the strength to endure today.
“Hey, this is….”
And at the entrance of that small town.
A middle-aged man wearing an old and worn uniform entered and let out an exclamation.
“Who are you?”
A hunched old man sitting in the shade of a tree looked at him and opened his mouth in a wary voice.
A foreigner who suddenly came to this small fishing village that had no significant visitors even before the tribulation broke out.
No matter how you look at it, doesn’t it seem suspicious?
“ah! Excuse me, sir. “Budou (貧道) is called Cheonggwan.”
“…are you a Taoist? “What’s going on here…?”
However, the middle-aged man’s polite greeting slightly eased the old man’s caution.
Of course, in times like this, whether you are a Taoist or a monk, it is dangerous, but if you show courtesy like that, you will not immediately show your evil intentions.
“There is one thing I would like to ask the old man about….”
Then Taoist Cheonggwan opened his mouth as if he had been waiting for the old man’s question, but then turned his head and looked across the lake.
“Do you know what happened over there?”
The place his eyes landed on was a small island in Dongdong Lake, which boasts an ocean-like expanse.
It was the location of the fish pond of Eoryongchae, which ruled this area not long ago.
“Ohh! I guess they recognized him right away because he was a Taoist monk. Hehehe, the Dragon King of Dongdong Lake has punished the enemy!”
“Dragon King… “You mean?”
The old man smiled and raised his voice, as if asking when he had shown caution.
He then told the official about the majestic and mysterious sight he had seen that day.
Dense swirling clouds covered the sky and an enormous storm raged around the area.
There was even a series of thunderstorms that erupted from the ground as if the God of Thunder had descended.
Cheong Gwan listened with a serious expression to those boastful words and nodded heavily.
His gaze turned again toward the island, where traces of something remained dark.
If he hadn’t been seeing it clearly with his own eyes right now, he would have dismissed the old man’s words as mere bluff.
To that extent, the story about the abnormal phenomenon was completely absurd.
But he could feel it clearly even at this moment, so he had no choice but to believe it.
The enormous traces left there are clearly foreign to the energy of this world.
‘…It is also not of this world.’
The old man says that the Dragon King of Dongdongho was punished by heaven, but that is probably not true.
Whether they are dragon kings, immortals, or monsters, they are undoubtedly beings that belong to this world.
Cheng Guan politely thanked the old man for answering his question and quickly left the village to a deserted place.
He then took out the ritual tools from his pack, built a makeshift shrine, sat in the center of it, lifted an amulet in front of his face, and quietly recited a mantra.
Just like that, a short period of time passes.
Suddenly,
blue flames erupted from the amulet, scattering soft light around the area.
However, even during this time, the amulet did not burn out, but rather maintained its original stiffness without the slightest soot.
“Bindo Cheonggwan is requesting this.”
And Cheong-gwan, a magician from the Taoist Mosan sect, spoke in a reverent voice.
“We discovered traces of an otherworldly person with otherworldly powers in Dongdong Lake, Hunan Province.”
A message sent to the headquarters in Jiangsu Province, which is far away from here.
#254