Chapter 44 (1/2)
Episode 3: Age of Ghosts / Chapter 44: Colonize (1)
TL: emptycube
Editor: Obelisk
Only ¼ returned from the first mission.
The small groups under the Leaders of Hundred had died fighting each other for the limited number of return codes.
The groups of hundreds to thousands under the Leaders of Ten Thousand had been dropped into the fierce battlefield and had received a crus.h.i.+ng blow.
A lot of things changed after the mission ended. It was a relief that both the military and police, who had disappeared, returned, however, the situation didn’t change in the way that everyone had wanted. First, the military and police had significantly decreased in number. Not even 1 in 10 had survived. Only 40,000 members of the military and police combined had returned. Of course, the original troops and ranks had long since collapsed, and many soldiers protested against its restoration. In a life where no one knew when they would die, there wasn’t anyone who wanted to die in the military. The government still couldn’t gain control.
There were a lot of societal problems as well. The awakenees (also known as the returnees) had all become dreary as if they had come back from h.e.l.l. They would often fight with each other, and each time they did, the streets would become demolished.
To make matters worse, global abnormalities started to arise.
[Even accounting for the lack of rainfall, the ground is extremely dry. “This… it’s that. It’s not the lack of rain that’s the problem, I’m telling you the ground is drying up and the fertility of the soil is declining!” “There have been no records of a global decline in soil fertility up until now. That is why the academia is conducting an epidemiologic investigation…” We expect that there will be a food crisis from this abnormal global drought phenomenon.]
[Continuing from yesterday, there have been reports of a large-scale disappearance of people. Civilians are becoming increasingly worried along with the rumor that these disappearances may be caused by new awakenees. On the other hand, the domes, which produced the very first awakenees in Mapo District, Seongbuk District, and Kangdong District among others, are still impossible to enter, the authorities…]
The world was filled with signs of doom.
“Repent! The end is coming!”
Doomsayers erupted on one side of the street.
“What, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!?”
“If you’re going to get drunk, do it in moderation.”
Bang, cras.h.!.+
“Kyaah!”
On the other side, drunken returnees started to fight. With a single punch, trees along the side of the street were smashed and a concrete wall was punched through. These were common occurrences since the first day they returned.
Groups of awakenees, like the Alliance of Comrades in Arms, received significant benefits from the government in order to maintain order. Although this may have been possible against normal civilians, they lacked the ability to intervene in the fights between the returnees. It was because they would receive criticism like, ‘Who are you to b.u.t.t in?’ and, ‘Go to h.e.l.l!’
So most fights between returnees would only either end after they fought until they were satisfied or when a nosy person intervened.
Like what Lee Jinhee was doing now.
“You, misters. Do it in moderation.”
Thud. Thud.
Lee Jinhee came between the two fighting returnees. She lightly pushed their shoulders and separated them.
“Who is this b.i.t.c.h?”
Usually, one would become further agitated the more someone tried to stop them. Since she came up and pushed them apart, there was no way they were going to say anything nice. Mister A’s eyes bulged.
However, Lee Jinhee’s eyes became even wider than the man’s.
“This b.i.t.c.h?”
“Uh? …Berserker?”
The other man, Mister B, realized who she was. He was from Kangdong District.
“Hey! Where are you going! b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Come back here!”
Mister A attempted to chase after Mister B who slowly stepped back and ran away. However,
Thud.
His right shoulder was grabbed by Lee Jinhee.
“You f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h!”
Mister A tried to push her away, but after his left shoulder was grabbed, his arms wouldn’t move. She only looked to be a young female student, but her arms were pressing down on him like a machine press.
‘… Huh?’
Only then had Mister A realized that the girl wasn’t as simple as he had thought. However, it was too late. He shouldn’t have sworn at her so easily.
Bang!
She jumped up and smashed her head downwards while pressing down on his shoulders! Lee Jinhee’s regular forehead turned into a lethal weapon as it smashed into the man’s forehead.
Thump.
“Who are you swearing at? I feel restless even without you adding to it”
She tidied her disheveled hair.
“Lunch is almost over!”
Chu Youngjin called out from afar.
“Ohya! I’m coming!”
Lee Jinhee ran towards Jams.h.i.+l Stadium. This was something that occurred during their third day of training after they had returned.
“You should have just eaten something nearby, why did you go so far?”
“I was craving Naengmyeon[1] today.”
She brushed off Baek Seoin’s complaint with familiar expertise.
“I can only endure if I eat something good!”
She shouted before gritting her teeth.
“Eagyagyagyagyak!”
Bababaang!
With a red face, as if she was taking a s.h.i.+t, she flew off in all directions like a deflating balloon and slammed into something.
“Pahh.”
And spurted blood.
Baek Seoin clicked his tongue whilst looking at her figure.
“Haa. Is this something you can do just by recklessly using your strength?”
It was the third day since they had returned. They trained in the main stadium of the sports complex every day. It was to strengthen their lacking offensive power.
On the first day of training, Choi Hyuk said,
“Our enemies are at least 2-star and there are some who have even reached 3-star. In other words, it means that there is a high chance that we’ll fight those with higher stats than us.”
And the two skills that allowed him to fight them and win were ‘Karma Blade’ and ‘Flaming Wing Tribe’s Karma Heart Discipline’.
They were currently training with an emphasis on those two skills.
Every day, before they began their training, Choi Hyuk would repeatedly teach them the fundamentals of the karma heart. It was because they needed to know the fundamentals of the heart in order to form the karma blade. If their karma stats were monstrous, they could do it without the fundamentals, but if they wanted to form the blade with their lacking stats, they needed skill.
“I have said this many times, but the key point of the karma heart discipline is its ability to grant your karma a shape. Without a shape, it will flow however it wants, but if you invest your will into it, it can be fixed into a specific structure. And if you are able to make a karma heart from it, you will be able to use your karma much more organically. You just need to think that you are creating a karma pump in the middle of your dantian. You are going to connect all your karma to that pump. So that every time you press that pump, it spreads the karma in your body out to your four limbs, and so that you can recall it in a single breath when you expand it. The karma heart will be the secret that will allow you to focus and concentrate your strength more easily. And with that strength, you will be able to create a karma blade.”
Every time she heard that she would grumble.
“It’s too hard!”
Choi Hyuk simply shrugged his shoulders. Even if it was hard, this was the best he could do.
It would have been nice if he could teach them everything of the ‘Karma Heart Discipline’ without missing any points, but that was impossible.
The discipline he received as a reward for killing the Wyvern of Destruction was transferred into his mind through concepts and sensations. Concepts and sensations were difficult to explain with words. It would easily become a c.o.c.k and bull story. Didn’t they say that the Tao could not be spoken?
It would be easy if there was a way to increase their endurance like in Martial Arts stories, but karma opposed each other so that was impossible.
Eventually, all he could do was teach them this key point and allow them to develop the method on their own.
“First, try to coil your karma into a spiral.”
Due to Choi Hyuk’s advice,
Bababang!
Every time she was unable to control the coiled karma, she would fly into the air and spew blood. This was because the coiled karma inside was rampaging inside her body as it was being released.
“Why are you like that when you have the highest Control stat among us?”
Baek Seoin teased.
“I don’t… Khoff. Cheat. Khoff. Like you cowards… Knoff.”
“It’s not cheating; we’re just doing it within our abilities.”
“That’s why Baek hyung is lacking!”
Even while blood flowed from her mouth, she didn’t lose a single bout. From the start, she didn’t know how to do it in moderation. It seemed that her mind was only filled with ‘giving it her all’ and nothing else.
“Hoooo….”
Chu Youngjin was exhaling on the one side, concentrating on his training.
Bang. Bang.