[The eruption of the rift has ended.]
[Strengthen your base through the calamities you have overcome.]
[Time remaining until the next eruption: 13d 23h]
The fourth eruption has ended.
I can’t even lie and say there was no damage.
Although there were no 4-star calamities, the scale was larger than the third eruption, and most importantly, the Awakened were not fully prepared.
There were also a significant number of civilian casualties.
Naturally, the blame will fall on the Awakened Management Bureau.
However, our cunning Bureau Chief, Yoo Junseo, has already prepared a way to evade responsibility.
[4K] S-rank Awakened, Dragon King Nam Jooyeon #Seoul4thEruption #Fancam
A vertical video, the kind you’d expect to see in an idol fancam, was uploaded to the Bureau’s official channel—which had just been created.
The reaction was, of course, explosive.
Watching the views skyrocket to ten million in an instant, I sighed.
“Damn.”
So this was the media play Seo Yerin had mentioned.
“Hahaha. She’s like an idol. Nam Jooyeon, you look really cool in this video, don’t you?”
Kang Sena burst out laughing while watching the video.
No wonder the Bureau had specified her outfit in such detail.
I sighed.
If I stayed silent any longer, Kang Sena would probably start reading the comments out loud, so I quickly got to the point.
“So, there’s something I need to ask of you.”
“Yes. I heard from Yerin. You want to know about the situation in China, right?”
Kang Sena spun her chair and placed her hands on the keyboard, as if she had never teased me before.
She seemed to be reviewing recent reports.
After casually moving her hands for a while, she suddenly spoke up.
“But why are you suddenly curious about China’s situation?”
Here, I had a good excuse ready.
I answered without changing my expression.
“Actor.”
“Actor?”
“I’ve roughly figured out that Actor, the master of Abyss, is up to something in China.”
I wasn’t lying.
After all, Actor, the master of Abyss, is currently looking for an opportunity to extend his influence into China.
“How did you know that?”
“I tracked him. Using all the calamities at my disposal.”
It was a convenient excuse, but it usually worked.
Moreover, since rescuing Seo Yerin, Kang Sena had become a reliable ally who unconditionally believed me.
She didn’t ask further and, while stroking her chin, explained.
“Actually, there’s not much exchange between the Chinese public security and the Korean Awakened Management Bureau. Given the state of the world, it’s not a situation where we can peacefully discuss things like before.”
“Of course.”
Most countries are currently implementing a 21st-century version of isolationist policies.
Even in our country, some remote areas don’t have internet access.
Thanks to Elon Musk, some remote areas can exchange information, but even that is limited, and in China’s heavily censored information society, meaningful information isn’t leaking out.
“For the Bureau, the only ways to understand the situation in China are to contact our nationals living there or to infer the situation from media reports. But given China’s nature, we can’t fully trust the media, right?”
“Of course, they’re the kind of place that would reduce millions of casualties to hundreds.”
“Exactly. So the best way to understand the current situation in China is to ask the people directly.”
“The people?”
When I asked, Kang Sena smirked and continued.
“Nam Jooyeon, I mentioned this before. Scouts from various countries are already in Korea to recruit S-rank Awakened.”
“…You don’t mean.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. The Chinese scout, if we call him, he’ll come right away.”
Kang Sena made a mischievous expression.
“Shall we try it now?”
Kang Sena pushed her chair aside and sat down at the computer.
“What are you going to do?”
“We need to bait him. Bait that the Chinese scout can’t resist.”
“Bait?”
“Actually, I’ve already identified the accounts of scouts from other countries. And I have a side job—selling information about domestic Awakened. The scouts go crazy for it. It’s quite profitable.”
“…Isn’t that leaking internal secrets?”
“Oh my, since when did you become so patriotic?”
Kang Sena chuckled as she replied.
Anyway, she was more resourceful than I thought.
Kang Sena logged into a secret internet page and, using an anonymous account, spread a rumor that S-rank Awakened Nam Jooyeon was dissatisfied with the Korean government’s treatment and wanted to defect.
The message implied that detailed information could be obtained for a fee.
I watched the process quietly and cautiously spoke up.
“But won’t the government or the Bureau be in trouble if they hear about this? Especially Yoo Junseo—he might have a heart attack.”
“That’s not something Nam Jooyeon needs to worry about. Neither do I.”
“Don’t you think you’re being a bit disrespectful to your superiors?”
“Try working under him once. You’ll understand. Besides, Yoo Junseo is completely focused on using Nam Jooyeon in collaboration with the Korean government. Doesn’t that make you feel wronged?”
“Well, it does, but given the situation…”
“Nam Jooyeon, you’re too… kind, or should I say, too naive…”
Kang Sena sighed deeply.
“Let me give you some advice. You need to realize that your worth is far greater than you think. You have two 4-star calamities. You’re not someone a mere country can control, understand? You need to toughen up. In some parts of the world, Awakened have become the ruling class.”
“Hmm.”
Even so.
Not long ago, I was just scraping by with part-time jobs.
How could I possibly do something so bold?
“Well, you’ll understand after this.”
Kang Sena’s words carried an implicit hope that Yoo Junseo would suffer greatly.
After some time passed.
“Ah, we got a reply. They must have been watching closely.”
Baiting the Chinese scout wasn’t difficult.
He took the bait.
A message came in immediately from one account.
[Lao Ying: Can we meet and talk right now?]
“Lao Ying?”
“It means ‘old eagle.’ What do you want to do? Will you go with me?”
“No. I’ll be fine alone.”
“What about security…”
“You know I don’t like that.”
Kang Sena chuckled and nodded.
After exchanging a few messages with Lao Ying, she handed me a post-it with the detailed time and location.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you? I should always be thanking you, Nam Jooyeon.”
*
I stepped out into a dimly lit alley, wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap pulled low.
Since the world has come to this, there are hardly any operating restaurants, so the meeting place with the Chinese scout was a remote park.
As expected, the person I was supposed to meet had already arrived.
“…Are you Anonymous-024?”
“Lao Ying? Can you speak Korean?”
“Somewhat.”
A plain-looking man wearing a black beanie approached me and extended his hand.
His awkward speech suggested he was of Korean-Chinese descent.
Well, as long as we can communicate, it doesn’t matter.
I shrugged and sat on a nearby bench, then slightly lowered my sunglasses.
“…I’m Nam Jooyeon!”
Thanks to Seo Yerin’s video, my face was already familiar to him.
The man, Lao Ying, was startled and exclaimed, but quickly covered his mouth, afraid of being overheard.
He probably never expected the S-rank Awakened herself to show up.
“Now, now, Mr. Old Eagle. Let’s not make a scene. It’ll be troublesome for both of us if things get noisy.”
“Yes, yes.”
He was already using honorifics with me.
“Before we discuss the contract, I want to know about the situation in China first.”
“China… situation?”
“If I’m going to make a smooth contract, I need to know how dangerous things are over there.”
“Let’s look at the contract first…”
“No, that’s not important. I’ll decide the procedure.”
“…..”
The scout looked stunned.
He probably didn’t expect me to take such a high-handed approach.
But as Kang Sena said, in most cases, I had the upper hand.
[5★ Charred Saintess Selene activates the skill ‘Obsidian Veil’.]
Moreover, even if this man named Lao Ying tried to harm me, Selene was nearby, using her stealth skill to follow me.
Miri-en was also watching me closely from above.
There was no danger at all.
Perhaps because of that, my tone naturally became informal.
Overwhelmed, the scout hesitantly spoke up.
“To be honest… the situation isn’t good. There’s a severe shortage of Awakened personnel… and recently, various incidents have piled up…”
“Right. I heard three 4-star calamities appeared last time. They destroyed two cities, right? Millions died.”
“Actually, even that report was heavily manipulated. The actual death toll is about four times higher…”
That meant nearly half of South Korea’s population had died.
I let out a sigh at the scale, which was larger than I expected.
“Wait, you guys have an S-rank Awakened too, right? Even with him, the damage was that bad? Or is he assigned to another region? Your country is huge, after all.”
“Uh, well…”
The scout’s face turned pale.
He was clearly hiding something.
I grabbed him by the collar.
“If you don’t tell me the truth right now, I’ll hand you over to the Bureau.”
“W-what! That wasn’t part of the deal!”
“I just said it. I decide the procedure. Of course, handing you over to the Bureau is also part of the procedure. Ever heard of entrapment?”
“…Damn it.”
Lao Ying rolled his eyes.
He seemed to be considering the consequences of trying to break free and run.
But I had already summoned the 3-star calamity, Faded Specter Lucifen, by manipulating my status window.
Seeing the calamity, the man quickly gave up.
“…That Awakened is the problem.”
“What problem?”
“Codename Long Yan. China’s only 4-star holder. The country poured enormous resources into supporting him, but…”
The scout trailed off.
I frowned and gestured to Lucifen.
Lucifen drew a translucent blade from within its body.
“Ah, no! I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”
“Then hurry up and speak.”
The scout closed his eyes tightly and blurted out.
“A- a while ago! Long Yan suddenly betrayed us!”
“Betrayed?”
“Yes! He suddenly killed all the public security escorts and… along with some strange crows, turned the city into a wasteland…”
“…Why? Do you know why?”
“I don’t know the details. But… from what I heard from the public security… he didn’t look human. It was like he was someone’s puppet…”
Only one name came to mind.
A great calamity specialized in stealth, tracking, interrogation, and brainwashing.
The Mother of Omens, Karne.
“…Damn.”
I frowned.
It seemed the situation was more serious than I had anticipated.