Chapter 314: 314

Chapter 314 – Japan (2)

As per usual, after Kim Min-hyuk arrived, he said, “How come you seem to be resting every time I visit?”

It was a statement I used to hear in middle school . How come you’re always playing games?

“I just came out, so I’m resting . ” It was the same excuse I used in middle school . But it was true .

“No, really . Four times a day? Why do I only ever see you resting?”

Well, when I worked, I sped up the time . I just wanted to rest when it was time to rest .

Considering the time manipulation, it was highly likely that Kim Min-hyuk would see me resting when he visited .

I couldn’t explain it in detail, so I just shrugged and turned my eyes to the quest window .

“That’s the quest window, isn’t it? I see you looking at it often,” asked Kim Min-hyuk .

I had no choice but to keep looking into the quest window . It continuously renewed conditions . Maybe postponing the quests was the wrong decision .

“Amazing . Solving the Hundred Gods Temple’s quests and taking ownership of the Tutorial in return . ”

“What’s amazing about it?”

“The fact that you do business with the gods . ”

That was not a lot to be amazed at . However, becoming an apostle and getting power in the first place was probably a big deal for him .

Oh, had Kim Min-hyuk ever gotten a power skill? Probably not . He was from Normal difficulty level after all, so that was understandable .

[God of Death: Destroy the Ruler’s Base in Thanatode and eliminate the Ruler]

It had changed again . Initially, the quest proposed by the God of Death was the purification of Thanatode .

Why was it changing?

Had the gods started to give out more difficult quests because of the power I showed in Antarctica?

That could have been the reason .

But I felt the quests were getting more and more violent . It wasn’t just the quests given by the God of Death, but most of the quests given by other gods were becoming violent as well .

The quests to check, purify, search, and retrieve slowly turned into pursuits to destroy, eradicate, and murder .

There were factions in the Hundred Gods Temple: gods who defended the Rulers and the gods who didn’t .

Kirikiri said the Hundred Gods Temple was bound to spread to the Rulers, and that there was a god who interacted with the Rulers .

There were two factions: gods who intruded into other gods’ realm and blocked the Rulers who were extracting their source, and the gods doing business with the Rulers .

On the other hand, there were some gods who were similar to Kirikiri and were not happy with the Rulers’ work . They showed more of a neutrality or a wait-and-see attitude .

The complex relationships each god had, even outside of factions, were also intertwined .

The place where gods with violent relationships gathered was the Hundred Gods Temple . This system of gods helped to prevent them from causing problems .

But in this system there is a way to ignore the regulations: giving me quests .

This was going to be a mess . No matter how much I thought about it, I still felt the same . It was bound to be a mess .

First of all, I tried to understand the relationships between the gods by looking at the quest window .

I couldn’t figure out which faction was making the quest and with what intentions, but I had to know which side had more power .

There could be a situation where I had to side with one of them after all . I read the quest window carefully and looked at Kim Min-hyuk again . Kim Min-hyuk had taken out his cell phone and was looking at something .

“What is it?”

“I’m having a meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister . ”

I glanced at Kim Minhyuk’s cell phone . Hochi, Yong-yong, Lee Joon-suk, and people who appeared to be Japanese government employees, sat side by side on chairs .

I’d seen this scene a lot on the news: politicians pretending to be in a heated debate for the camera .

Wait, where is Seregia? I couldn’t see her .

Yong-yong, who remained calm, was whispering in Hochi’s ear . I couldn’t hear the words over the cell phone .

“What is he talking about?”

“Yong-yong says he’s sleepy . ”

Then Hochi and Yong-yong disappeared from the cell phone screen . Empty chairs remained in their absence . The Japanese Prime Minister and Lee Joon-suk seemed to be confused .

“Bwahahaha!” I couldn’t help but laugh . It was quite hilarious to see the elderly Japanese Prime Minister and Lee Joon-suk look around, confused .

Secondly, I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of bodyguards rushing in and surrounding the Prime Minister .

“…You are having fun? I’m dying here . ”

Yeah, it’s fun . It was strange that it wasn’t funny for him .

“…Eventually, an accident took place . ”

“What’s wrong with it? I think Yong-yong went back to the hotel for a while because he was sleepy . ”

It was wrong to try to turn them into political figures in the first place .

“I don’t know… I just don’t know,” Kim Min-hyuk mumbled with his face scrunched up . He watched his phone for a while before heading back to the temple .

I’ll take care of it .

* * *

When Hochi and Yong-yong met Lee Joon-suk again, Lee Joon-suk was in tears .

Lee Joon-suk said in a voice filled with resentment and sorrow, “You can’t just go away like that . ”

“Hi!” Regardless, Yong-yong excitedly greeted Lee Joon-suk . While Lee Joon-suk was thinking about accepting his greeting or not, Yong-yong approached and patted him on the back .

“Haha, so cute . ”

The human figure, who was upset with Yong-yong, looked cute to him . It was amusing to see a small Yong-yong struggle to hit Lee Joon-suk’s back because he was so short in comparison .

Unfortunately, whenever Yong-yong’s palm touched his back, Lee Joon-suk’s backbone jolted in pain . Eventually, Lee Joon-suk had to bury the strong complaints he had held in his mind all day long .

Instead, he timidly said, “People’s attitudes will be different from yesterday . ”

“Why?”

“…You went away like that yesterday, so of course…”

Of course, Hochi didn’t understand . Lee Joon-suk had to break it down and explain .

“It’s considered impolite to leave for personal reasons suddenly . Even if you have important personal reasons, it’s not at all a good idea to disappear without informing someone . ”

“Ahhh, I get it . ”

“So these are table manners,” Hochi mumbled to himself .

It had a subtle difference, but he understood anyway .

“…And more than anything, yesterday’s meeting was really important . It was being broadcasted live all over Japan . It was not a private meeting, but a meeting with the Prime Minister representing Japan . The Japanese people may think we ignored them because we abruptly left . ”

Public opinion .

Of course, Hochi was well aware of public opinion’s importance, but he couldn’t relate to it .

So Hochi had no choice but to face people without any complaints .

The Japanese, who he faced again following yesterday, had more hostility than Hochi had expected .

* * *

The travel to the east coast scheduled for tomorrow had been postponed . The entire schedule seemed to have been changed, or more accurately, cancelled . Inside the vehicle heading for the eastern coast, Hochi was delighted .

“Sweet!” Hochi exclaimed and gave a high-five to Yong-yong .

Lee Joon-suk…looked very serious, but even he had decided to turn a blind eye to this situation . He had no choice but to be glad that all the troublesome meetings were canceled .

They had faced people who had come to dislike them, but they were just a little bothered, not offended . Instead, they felt sorry for the Japanese . Lee Joon-suk didn’t express his bad sentiments about Hochi and the rest .

It was the right expression to say that he couldn’t . Hochi’s party would be a big help to Japan, which was in crisis .

He just swallowed back his words and lost the admiration that had risen in him yesterday . He felt slight contempt and annoyance as well as a strong sense of shame, humiliation and jealousy .

To Hochi, this was all a surprise . Surprisingly enough, he felt sorry for them . .

Lee Joon-suk’s sense of belonging to the country was well known to Hochi . But he didn’t know it had been strong enough to hurt his own feelings . It was almost as if he thought of the nation as his family or more .

“I can’t be an Awakened . ”

“What?” asked Lee Joon-suk .

Before coming to Japan, Kim Min-hyuk had made a suggestion to Hochi, who was worried about his career .

“If you’re worried about what you’re going to do, why don’t you try being an Awakened?”

It was a good thing to save people, a source of envy, make a lot of money, and it’s a job that Hochi could do well .

There were many advantages .

Hochi also seriously thought about it . Most of all, Hochi was deeply impressed by the fact that he was told he could do it well . But now that he saw it, it was a little hard .

What kind of a human hero would he be if he couldn’t empathize with humans? For Hochi, their praise and support would also be meaningless, alongside their criticism as well .

Suddenly, Yong-yong raised his head . The next moment, Hochi sensed it, too .

“This is the east, right?” Hochi questioned, pointing to the direction of the car’s progress .

Lee Joon-suk nodded .

“Yes . Is something wrong?”

“Oh, was the…wave due today?”

“No, the wave doesn’t start on a set day . It only occurs at a certain interval, and the opening date is uncertain,” Lee Joon-suk explained quickly .

“What about the wave cycle?”

“It usually occurs for a period of two to three months . ”

Hochi’s expression changed . He looked dubious . Hochi thought for a while and said to Lee Joon-suk, “If it showed up every two or three months, the Earth would have been destroyed . ”

“…What?”

“Mantis, is that how it’s supposed to be?” Hochi asked the mantis in Yong-yong’s box .

However, the mantis hid in the closet that Yong-yong had put in the box .

“Maybe not . ”

Hochi grabbed Lee Joon-suk’s hand .

“We’re going to teleport . ”

“Yes . ”

Lee Joon-suk had experienced enough teleportation in the Tutorial . He didn’t have to do anything . The next moment, they were all moved to the shore .

Unlike the sunny and bright part of the city, this place was dark with black clouds covering the sky . Screams and shouts came from all over the place .

Modern artillery were firing continuously, and Awakened men were struggling to maintain the front somehow .

Monsters were crawling out of the coast endlessly . Lee Joon-suk used his skills as soon as he figured out the situation .

With the sound of falling thunder, a powerful lightning bolt was thrown toward the sea .

The Awakened and monsters couldn’t use their power on the blocked front, so they attacked the distant sea .

The effect was sufficient . The bodies of monsters trying to climb ashore from the Pacific Ocean floated up to the surface one after another .

“Oh, he’s strong?” Hochi mentioned in surprise .

Honestly, it was amazing . Lee Joon-suk was more powerful than he had thought . Thanks to this, the endless attacks by monsters on the coast were soon cut off .

Now the problem was monsters sticking to the front . Of course, the ones at the rear had been blown away, so the monsters on the front lines would be cleared up soon .

The less damage-dealers, the better .

“Soul Summon . ” At this time, Hochi used a Power Skill . A little ghost, the size of a pinky, appeared beside Hochi .

‘Kuwaah!’ The ghost roared with an exaggerated yell, raising its short arm .

Of course, it wasn’t scary . It was like the roar of a kitten .

“Long time no see . ”

‘Kuaaaah!’ The ghost responded to Hochi’s greeting with another roar, and it flew to the front at Hochi’s instructions .

As it flew away, the ghost split into parts . From one to two, two to four . In just a few minutes, it divided into thousands .

When they arrived at the front, the ghosts had spread all over the water . The split ghosts entered into the monsters’ bodies one by one .

The monsters moving on the shore soon began to stop moving completely and started to gather in one place .

Humans open-fired at the monsters gathering at one point, ignoring even the front-liners, and then smoothly bombarded the monsters .

“All clean…” Hochi murmured satisfactorily .

Now it was time to deal with the monsters that remained in the sea .

“Telekinesis . ” Hochi once again used his power skill . The water in the ocean slowly began to soar into the sky .

Soon the water rose as high as the buildings in the coastal city and completely revealed the underwater scene . Under the water, the gates on the bed were visible to the naked eye .

It looked like a barnacle . The gate was hidden under the sea and would’ve been difficult to extinguish by using physical prowess .

There were even some gates on the coast as well as on the far inland sea . It would be best just to stop it .

“Mana oppression . Mana seals . ” Hochi directly interfered with the gate and closed the entrance of the space .

He had used it many times in the dungeons, so opening and closing the gate was a piece of cake . He cleared away all the gates and placed the seawater down again . He had dealt with gates that were quite far away, so the wave wouldn’t happen again .

All the Dungeon Roads that led to the chaos in the first place were gone .

The shore was filled with silence . All the screaming monsters were dead, and the men who were supposed to shout victory were speechless, staring blankly at Hochi and the party .

The scene where the sea water rose overhead was an unimaginable show of power .

“There’s one more thing left . ”

“I’ll do it this time!”

Yong-yong stepped out in high spirits . Hochi, of course, said yes . All of a sudden, the monsters’ bodies grew red .

The bodies of the destroyed and burning monsters began to move slowly . A huge magic circle was carved on the bodies that kept pulsating .

An unknown darkness crawled over the magic circle . The surrounding air had become heavy . The dark sky turned red .

All human eyes were fixed on the dark . Nothing could be pinpointed, but they couldn’t take their eyes off it .

Hochi wondered as he watched the darkness from the magic circle . If such a thing had appeared on Earth many times, the earth would have been destroyed .

Perhaps with just a single appearance, it seemed capable of exterminating all humans . Now that it had appeared, he was just glad they were here . On the other hand, he thought that this might have happened because they came here .

[Memories of the Dead . A host of vengeance . A parasite of life . ]

The darkness, which appeared to mutter words that didn’t make sense, looked straight at Hochi and the party, ignoring all the humans around it .

Yong-yong spoke, facing the darkness, “Go in . ”

The darkness seeped into the magic circle .

Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters .