Chapter 305. Lawless Zone (2) (1/2)
Yi Yeonjun was sitting at a table in the lobby. It was certainly the same Yi Yeonjun I saw through Spartan’s eyes.
At first, my thoughts stopped. If Yi Yeonjun was nearby or up to something suspicious, Spartan would have told me about it.
But as surprised as I was, I made sure to not stare at him for more than 3 seconds. Yi Yeonjun should know my face. It would be bad if he saw me here.
—Spartan, where are you.
I transmitted my thoughts to Spartan as I quickly climbed up the stairs.
—….
Soon, Spartan’s thoughts returned. Right, he had been sleeping. I was a bit dumbfounded, but I quickly understood. Spartan’s stamina was fairly low, after all.
—Did you sleep well? You know, Yi Yeonjun is right here.
—…!
Spartan’s consciousness spiked up. He then gave an excuse, ‘I planned to chase him after a quick nap. I only slept six hours.’
—Don’t worry about it. From now, just tell me if you’re going to sleep. Seeing Yi Yeonjun here startled me. Anyways, continue following him once you’re refreshed.
I ordered Spartan, who began to wash his face at a nearby lake. He would probably eat something before heading over.
“What are you doing over there?” Yoo Yeonha asked while leaning against the guardrail.
“Nothing.”
I glanced at Yi Yeonjun one last time. He was sipping on alcohol, seemingly exchanging Mental Transmissions with Bell.
“Do you want to grab a drink? We don’t have much time.” Yoo Yeonha asked again.
“No, it’s nothing, really.” I shrugged and continued moving.
After arriving in room 302, Yoo Yeonha and I met two people who were waiting for us, Jin Sechan and Jin Seyeon.
“It’s been a while, Hajin-ssi.”
Jin Seyeon greeted me with her unique gentle smile.
“Nice to meet you. We’ve seen each other before. I hope you remember me.”
Next, Jin Sechan respectfully reached out with his hand. He was Yoo Yeonha’s secretary.
“Ah, yes, how can I forget. I’m still using the Desert Eagle you gave me.”
I shook his hand, then took off my robe. Jin Seyeon took it and smoothly hung it on the hanger. Yoo Yeonha then sat at the head of the table and began the meeting.
“…Kuhum.”
With a cough, she put on a serious expression.
“I’m sure you all know why we’re gathered here.”
Yoo Yeonha projected a holographic video with her smartwatch. The video took place deep underground in first-person view. Faint lights hung from the ceiling, which were the only sources of light lighting the dark surroundings.
“The footage is taken by our agent. He infiltrated Pandemonium five years ago, disguising himself as a Djinn.”
Koong— Koong— Koong—
Large rumbling rang out. The agent marched towards the source of the sound. Yoo Yeonha sped up this part of the footage to 16x speed until the agent arrived at the end of what seemed like a mine shaft.
“Here.”
And at the end of the mine shaft was the item Yoo Yeonha wanted to get.
“This is the transcendental energy I dubbed, ‘Dimensional Entropy.’”
Dozens of Djinns were surrounding a spherical ore emitting a dark-green glow.
—What are we going to do with this? The demons in the north are demanding it.
—…I’d hand it over to Terror before handing it to those bastards.
Yoo Yeonha then stopped the footage.
“As you can see, demons and Djinns aren’t getting along, or at least these demons in the north. Not only do demons look more grotesque, but they also seem to be serving a different devil. Furthermore, demons don’t have money. DP is distributed by demon merchants, who are different entities than normal demons.”
A few months before Orden was defeated, ‘demons’ and ‘demon merchants’ appeared in the world. Although they both came from the Demon Realm, they were treated in completely different manners.
—I don’t know about that either. If we give this to Terror, who knows what he’ll do with it. Wouldn’t it be better to go with Wicked, who’s more moderate…?
—No.
The Djinn who seemed to be the leader shook his head.
Yoo Yeonha paused the footage again and explained, “By the way, that Djinn is Vicious. The original Vicious died and a new Djinn took his place. He is currently the lowest ranked member of the Nine Evils, but because he united several Djinn Circles, he has a powerful influence over this lawless zone. Now, keep watching.”
Vicious spoke as soon as the footage resumed.
—This ore has enough power to destroy the balance of Djinn society. If it falls into the hands of demons, we will have no choice but to submit to them. But if it falls into Terror or Wicked’s hands, we don’t know what they’ll do with it. Now unfortunately, we can’t have it ourselves since we don’t have the strength to protect it or the means to utilize it.
At that moment, several system windows popped up in front of me.
===
[Information has been added due to witnessing a special setting change.]
[Dimensional Entropy – clusters of condensed energy created when demons crossed over dimensions.]
[Co-author’s opinion – using it properly will be of help to you.]
===
‘Co-author’s opinion… He’s been talking more and more recently. Is it because the ending is approaching?’ I sighed and smiled. Regardless of the co-author’s intentions, I wanted it if it would be of help.
I had to prepare for the final arc thoroughly, no matter how slow I do it. That way, everyone could reach the proper ending.
—So instead, we will sell it to humans for money and artifacts. Oi, Licros!
When Vicious yelled the name ‘Licros’, the camera moved towards Vicious. That seemed to be the name of Yoo Yeonha’s agent.
—Go to Essence of the Strait. Tell them I, Vicious, will sell them a life-changing item.
With that, Yoo Yeonha stopped the video.
“That’s how this mission came about. You get the gist, right?”
Jin Seyeon and I both nodded.
Yoo Yeonha continued with her arms still crossed, “But that ore can’t be transferred through normal means. Because of its size, it is too noticeable and making contact with magic power causes it to explode. We determined we needed a special case and a special vehicle to move it.”
Yoo Yeonha paused, and Jin Sechan stepped up. He put out a case on the table.
“This is a tilionium case. Lightning magic has been applied to it already. With the information we received from Vicious, we built it to withstand the Dimensional Entropy’s energy.”
“Mm… so we’re going to put the ore in the case and transport it with the Dwarven Supercar?”
Yoo Yeonha shook her head at my question.
“The Dwarven Supercar operates using magic power. Even with the case protecting it, it still isn’t a hundred percent safe. We prepared another vehicle for this mission. We’ll go back to Korea on it.”
“…Is there a reason you came personally? It’s a bit dangerous to return to Korea from here over land.”
I was worried for Yoo Yeonha’s safety. She was only high-intermediate-rank grade-2. Although her growth speed was quick given her age, it was still nowhere near geniuses like Chae Nayun or Kim Suho.
Yoo Yeonha stiffened her expression resolutely.
“This is my job, so I will do it. Plus, only the five of us can know about this.”
‘Five of us… Ah, including the agent.’ I thought.
“According to international law, ‘mysterious items transcending common sense’ have to be turned over to the Association. But knowing the corruption within the Association, we can’t let other people find out.”
Jin Seyeon quickly replied to Yoo Yeonha, “I agree. Yeonha-ssi is far more trustworthy than the Association.”
“…Huh? You really think so?” I asked. The Hero Association loved Jin Seyeon more than any other Hero.
Jin Seyeon answered with a bitter smile, “I’m very disappointed with the Hero Association because of the recent incident. Park Hanho, the Girl of Authority… the Association seems to have lost their founding principles. That’s why I decided to follow Yeonha-ssi.”
“Ah….”
The Association kept the Girl of Authority’s kidnapping a secret. It wasn’t until Park Hanho’s betrayal that it was revealed to the world, causing a huge discussion. As the person who planned her abduction, it did sting my conscience a bit.
“Oh right, did Park Hanho’s daughter really come back to life?”
“Pardon? Ah, I don’t know that much…”
“No.” Yoo Yeonha answered my question. “That girl isn’t Park Hanho’s real daughter. It was a chameleon humanoid monster who had Park Yeonhee’s brain transplanted. It could be argued, I guess, since the humanoid monster really believed she was Park Yeonhee.”
“Ah… I see. Then, Yeonha-ssi, do you know what the Association will do about Senior Park Hanho…?” Jin Seyeon asked bitterly.
“Execution would be my guess.”
The atmosphere turned grim at Yoo Yeonha’s words. Cold wind seeped in from the window. Blood and magic power were mixed in the air.
Chak, chak!
Yoo Yeonha clapped to lighten up the mood and the air. She spoke with a smile, “…Let’s stop talking and rest. We’ll have to wake up early tomorrow.”
**
[Vicious’s Mine Shaft]
We went underground to Vicious’s mine shaft early in the morning. We weren’t here to sightsee, so we quickly moved. I carried a spatial pouch filled with 50 billion won and Jin Seyeon carried six high-rank artifacts, both of which would be traded for [Dimensional Entropy].
“…Hand over the items and money first.”
In a dark underground space, Vicious and his comrades stood before us. They showed no signs of compromise.
“50 billion won, cash. The artifacts will be given once we retrieve the item and leave the lawless zone.”
Yoo Yeonha took the spatial pouch from me and threw it over to Vicious. One of his comrades checked the content of the pouch.
“50,000 won bills, 100,000 of them. It’s 50 billion won, alright.”
“…Great, you know that us Djinns hate checks.”
Yoo Yeonha smirked at Vicious’s words.
“The spatial pouch will be a gift. It’s a pinnacle-grade spatial pouch, so it’ll easily go for 3 billion won on the market.”
The Djinn holding the spatial pouch flinched. He then glanced down at the spatial pouch in shock.
Vicious stared at Yoo Yeonha fixedly before taking a deep breath and nodding.
“Good. We’ll open the way. Follow me.”
Vicious turned around first, and we followed after him.
Tak, tak. The path became narrower the more we walked. The soot in the air stuck to our skin. Even qi reinforcement was useless here.
“Haa….”
Yoo Yeonha’s breathing became rough. Jin Sechan looked at her with worry.
After about 5 minutes of walking…
“….!”
All of a sudden, a fierce gust of magic power blew over. The magic power put heavy pressure on our bodies.
I held myself back from vomiting and walked over.
“It’s here.” Vicious spoke.
We looked forward in a daze. Chwaaa…. A mysterious, spherical ore was pulsing with dark green magic power.
===
[Dimensional Entropy] [Durability 10/10]