Of course, Director Ahn thought the image of an absolute ruler might help President Kim right now, given that they might need a leader like him in this situation where they were standing at the crossroads of destruction, not just in chaos. He still felt bitter, as he knew that President Kim had only desired to wield all the power as president he could, rather than protect the people.

At the Myongjin Shelter in Gangwon Province...

Even if they were more than 100 kilometers away from the shelter, my father and top executives of the shelter could see Smith and his party on the large screen vividly as if they were seeing the enemy right before their eyes. A South Korean military unit was welcoming them on the screen.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Everybody watching the scenes remained silent. They were not foolish enough to not notice what this meant.

After a moment, former Shelter Chief Kilsan Lee, who was assisting my father as the vice chief of the Shelter, asked, "Shall we overpower them?", referring to the soldiers assigned to the Shelter here.

My father didn't say anything for a moment, frowning at his suggestion. I replied instead, knowing that they came to Korea obviously to get rid of me. "Leave them alone, just watch them carefully. It doesn't matter if they are hostile toward me or they attack me, but they might attack you or the Myeongjin Shelter here. When they attack you or the Shelter here, be prepared to counterattack."

I did not think the military unit assigned here would sit idle when the central government in Seoul was actively cooperating with Smith and his party. Obviously they had to be preparing for some action of their own. If they clashed with us, there would be big disturbances.

Of course, I could intervene in such a situation, but it was not the right time.

I needed some legitimate excuses, giving me no choice but to attack because after an opponent's hostile actions. That's why my father couldn't answer Mr. Lee's suggestion easily.

I didn't feel any regrets about his hesitation.

He was my father, but he was the head of my family. My brother, sister, and my mother and his wife Heyoung Lee were right here at the Shelter, so he had a duty to ensure their safety.

After I replied, I watched the screen carefully.

***

In front of the Myongjin Shelter five hours later…

"You're back quite late!" Smith asked. "I thought you were a coward. Am I wrong?"

"Yeah, I'm a coward. The world is in such chaos right now. Well, even if I'm a coward, there is one thing I'm not scared about at all. As the proverb says, fools rush in where angels fear to tread. I don't fear such a fool," I replied to him.

The enemy had already declared war against me, so my options were limited.

In other words, I had to choose between bowing to my enemies as a sign of surrender or raising my head to fight them.

Moreover, the Smith party had time on their side. They already had meetings with President Kim and the military units under his command.

I met my mother during this chaotic situation. She had been shedding tears, and urged me not to reveal myself. In fact, I had never revealed my identity to the outside world before.

What Smith and his party had blabbed about was enormous, and had made me even angrier. Their mentioning my name disturbed the peace of mind of the people around me.

"Did you call me a fool? Oh, that's funny. By the way, since you revealed yourself so easily after hiding for so long, do you want to say you are affiliated with the Myongjin Guild?" Smith asked.

I could not help but agonize over how to answer his question. My actions before now were enough to justify the suspicions he was raising.

As if he didn't expect a reply, Smith continued, "Alright. I don't have to bother destroying not only ordinary citizens, but also the Myongjin forces who have achieved a lot of things. I promised him otherwise, anyway."

I deduced that the promise he had just mentioned was to President Kim, who he had met before coming here.

So, I nodded at his words and said, "Really? I feel good if you feel okay. I hope we can feel good together until the end. Ice Prison!"

Pasasasak!

"You are so cowardly!"

"Cowardly? No way! You should not have come here if you want to say that! Stop that bullshit if you don't want to have a one-on-one fight with me."

Smith had openly declared that he would kill me, so I had no intention of being polite to him!

Of course, the target of my attack at the moment was not Smith, but his party. They had openly revealed themselves, as if they didn't want to hide their identities, so I had gained a lot of information about them. The Strategic Department of the Myongjin Guild had then collected even more intelligence based on what I had found out about them.

I had quickly realized that Smith's five men were much stronger than I thought.

So, I launched the Ice Prison against Eren, called the Fifth of the Smith group and the weakest player among them. I wanted to cut down on Smith's party by eliminating the weakest ones first.

Then I shouted at the trapped Eren right away, "Thin Ice! Ice Rain!"

Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

Currently, my reality actualization rate was 33%, so I could use up to level 5 skills.

Even though I could not use most of my AOE skills, including Ice Field, I didn't care because what I currently had was more than enough.

Moreover, I could always apply the Trait that enabled me to move from stage 0 to stage 15 with only 7% of actuality realization rate.

Smith's party promptly counterattacked with their skills.

"Soar up, Fire Pillar!"

"Shaking Land!"

"Summon Fire Spirit! Earth Spirit! Wind Spirit! Water Spirit!"

Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

Of course, my Ice Prison was not strong enough to withstand any attack. Moreover, I was not within Revival Legend right now where I was quite strong.

Anyway, the Ice Prison cracked faster than expected. There were cracks in Thin Ice here and there, extending into the Shaking Ground. Of course this would happen. Considering that I was in reality now, not within the game, their Shaking Land was much more powerful than that used by various land-type wizards I had encountered in Revival Legend.

But I was not surprised by the scene, and I immediately used one more skill because my pride did not allow me to watch my Ice Prison collapsing under their attacks.

"Ice Blast!"

Bang!

Although it had cracked quite quickly, the Ice Prison had been maintaining its original shape, and now sent out large and sharp chunks of ice in all directions as it exploded.

"Block the ice fragments!"

"My Body Will Be Solid Steel!"

"Land Barrier!"

It seemed that the Smith party had practiced together for a long time. Their moves were quite systematic and organized.

On top of that, the ones who had protected themselves behind the Land Barrier immediately attacked me.

"Fire Storm!"

"Powershot! Triple Shot!"

As soon as they attacked, I immediately shouted, "Ice Shield!"

Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

I had never shown Ice Shield before now, and hardly used it within Revival Legend, because it was quite useful in reality!