Chapter 106. Entering Pandemonium (1)
“You idiots! Do it properly!”
Kang Geuntae, an A-rank Contractor belonging to an underground organization in the Capital Region, shouted angrily when he saw the stacked boxes collapse.
“I told you to tie them down properly so they don’t fall over when the boat rocks! Are you going to take responsibility if they fall into the sea?!”
“S-Sorry!”
“Useless bastards.”
Kang Geuntae’s boat was currently passing between the small islands off the coast of Ganghwa Island.
Its destination was, of course, the former North Korean territory now controlled by Pandemonium. If they crossed the sea from here, they could unload their cargo at a port on the southern edge of Hwanghae Province.
Naturally, the sea was crawling with marine monsters.
Despite that, they were using the sea route because they were transporting goods banned by the Eight Guardians in the Capital Region.
“How many times do I have to tell you? As long as you stay alert, there won’t be any problems. But the second you stop paying attention, we’re screwed.”
“Understood!”
When trading ordinary goods, people usually traveled overland and conducted business around places like Incheon.
But those areas were heavily monitored by the Eight Guardians. Even the demons around Incheon refused to accept contraband like this because they had to consider their trading relationships with the Eight Guardians.
That was why anyone who wanted to sell goods like these had to take a major detour and cross into the northern territory.
There were merchants there willing to pay high prices for such merchandise.
“Don’t forget to keep watch around us! If you see anything strange, report it immediately!”
“Yes!!”
Kang Geuntae knew approximately which monsters inhabited which areas.
As long as they weaved their way through the safer routes, they could reach Hwanghae Province without encountering any monsters.
However, some monsters occasionally swam farther than usual in search of prey.
That was why they always had to remain vigilant.
“Tch...”
Kang Geuntae leaned his back against the railing and pulled out a cigarette.
“Every damn day, suffering just to make a living...”
The cargo Kang Geuntae was transporting was drugs.
And not ordinary drugs.
They were narcotics chemically refined from substances extracted from monsters.
Their effects were so powerful that they were closer to poison for humans, but demons went crazy for them.
Pandemonium had its own hallucinogenic substances, but apparently they felt completely different from drugs refined using scientific knowledge from the Material Realm.
Naturally, the Eight Guardians had completely banned both the production and sale of these drugs.
Some had argued that selling them to demons from Pandemonium should be acceptable, but Lee Hyeonje strongly opposed it and ultimately pushed through a total ban.
“Damn it. Maybe Pandemonium should just wipe out all the Eight Guardians.”
With that thought, Kang Geuntae reached into his pocket for a cigarette.
At that moment.
A human hand suddenly appeared from below and grabbed the railing.
“Gah?!”
A person climbed out of the sea using the railing.
For a moment Kang Geuntae thought it was a monster, but it wasn’t.
It was definitely a human.
“What the hell?!”
Kang Geuntae staggered backward in surprise.
“Who are you?! Why the hell did you climb onto my boat?!”
"..."
The man who climbed aboard had a sturdy build.
He swept his wet hair back and looked around with a frightening gaze.
His eyes moved toward the boxes.
Seeing that, Kang Geuntae swallowed hard.
“You bastard...”
Was he sent by the Eight Guardians?
Or by another underground organization?
Either way, it was obvious he had come here to interfere with Kang Geuntae’s business.
“You climbed onto this boat because you want to die, huh?”
He had come alone, so he was probably confident in his strength.
But if Kang Geuntae and his men attacked together, they should be able to turn him into fish food without much trouble.
After all, Kang Geuntae himself was an A-rank Contractor by Capital Region standards.
“Boss, what should we do?”
“Slice him up? Chop him into pieces?”
His subordinates approached while holding their weapons.
Kang Geuntae raised one hand, about to give the order.
But at that moment, his vision went white.
“Ugh?!”
He felt his nose collapse.
The man had somehow closed the distance and planted a fist directly into Kang Geuntae’s face.
“B-Boss!”
Screams came from behind him.
But after taking that punch, Kang Geuntae suddenly realized something.
I-I remember now!
He hadn’t recognized the man at first because his hair was soaked and disheveled from the seawater.
Kang Yujin... the one who defeated Cheon Sangwoon and ended the Scenario!
The superhuman Contractor who had become the center of attention throughout the Capital Region.
The man who had accomplished absurd achievements alongside his companions despite only recently arriving in the Capital Region.
For some reason...
Kang Yujin was standing on this drug-smuggling vessel.
I heard he was deployed to deal with the massive zombie outbreak in Hanam not long ago. Why the hell is he here?!
While Kang Geuntae stood there in shock, Kang Yujin swept his wet hair back once more and spoke.
“You guys.”
“W-What?”
“There’s an island on the right, isn’t there?”
Kang Yujin pointed toward a small island nearby.
“Would you rather get off there willingly, or resist and get thrown into the sea?”
"..."
Kang Geuntae immediately understood what he meant.
In other words...
surrender and hand over the boat.
“You bastard...”
Kang Geuntae gritted his teeth.
Kang Yujin’s arrogant attitude made rage boil up inside him.
“Kill him!”
Even if it was Kang Yujin, they were more accustomed to fighting on the sea.
With that thought, Kang Geuntae charged alongside his men.
Watching Kang Geuntae and his subordinates rush toward him, Kang Yujin recalled the information he had been given.
They said he was an A-rank Contractor skilled in unconventional combat.
According to the information provided by Ma Taesu, Kang Geuntae was a fairly powerful Contractor.
However, it was difficult for him to build influence in the Capital Region under the rule of the Eight Guardians, so he ran an underground organization and made modest profits through drugs, prostitution, and similar businesses.
No need to hold back against him.
With that thought, Kang Yujin watched Kang Geuntae raise one arm.
“Take this!”
Something shot from inside Kang Geuntae’s sleeve.
It was a chain.
The chain twisted through the air as though it were alive and instantly wrapped around Kang Yujin’s right arm.
“Kuh! Got you now!”
Kang Geuntae was already holding a short, single-edged blade in his other hand.
It looked like a cutlass, the kind traditionally used by marines or pirates.
Apparently, Kang Geuntae’s basic fighting style involved restricting his opponent’s movements with the chain before attacking with the cutlass.
“Kill him!”
His subordinates also charged with cutlasses in hand.
They intended to swarm Kang Yujin and hack him apart.
Kang Yujin lightly pulled his arm back.
“Ugh?!”
Kang Geuntae stumbled forward.
The chain had pulled him toward Kang Yujin.
“W-What the hell is this strength?!”
Kang Geuntae clenched his teeth and tried to hold his ground, but the difference in strength was obvious.
Rather than restraining Kang Yujin with the chain, Kang Geuntae was the one being dragged around by it.
His subordinates also froze in shock and stared at the scene.
“That’s enough.”
Feeling like he was humiliating the man unnecessarily, Kang Yujin simply snapped the chain.
Watching Kang Geuntae’s expression become even more horrified, he stepped right up in front of him.
There was no need to use a Skill.
Kang Geuntae couldn’t react in time.
Kang Yujin grabbed him by the face and slammed his head into a nearby box.
“Gaaah!”
Kang Geuntae screamed and thrashed.
“W-What are you idiots doing?! Kill him!”
“Y-Yes!”
The subordinates who had been staring blankly finally started moving again.
But then screams came from behind them.
“Don’t hog all the fun by yourself, Kang Yujin!”
Lee Jukheon had climbed out of the sea just like Kang Yujin and was swinging his sword.
“Then you should’ve climbed onto the boat before me.”
“A shark-like monster came after me underwater! What was I supposed to do?!”
Lee Jukheon replied irritably while raising his sword.
He lightly knocked aside a small fry’s cutlass, then carved a deep wound across the man’s shoulder.
“Let’s hurry up, wipe all these bastards out, and dump those boxes into the sea.”
“N-No!”
Kang Geuntae shouted with his head still buried in the box.
“Do you have any idea how much all of that is worth?! In Coins, it’s worth over a billion!”
“Seriously?”
Lee Jukheon looked slightly tempted.
“Damn, drugs really make that much money? You earn that much just by making one trip?”
“Y-Yeah! So let’s split it! I’ll share the profits with you, so why don’t we work together?! How about it?!”
“Wow. That’s one hell of a tempting offer.”
Lee Jukheon walked over while listening to him.
Then he kicked one of the nearby boxes into the sea.
“Like hell. With how strong I am now, I can earn a billion Coins in no time!”
“Gah...!”
Kang Geuntae gasped as he watched the box disappear beneath the waves.
“Lee Jukheon, you only earn a billion Coins when you accomplish something while a lot of Constellations are watching, like during a Scenario. Normally, earning that much would be pretty difficult.”
“Stop nitpicking!”
After snapping at Kang Yujin, Lee Jukheon turned toward the remaining small fries.
“You guys can either swim to that island on your own, or get beaten half to death by us and thrown into the sea as fish food. Pick one.”
“I already said that earlier.”
“You’re seriously pissing me off!”
While the two were talking, Kang Geuntae somehow activated a Skill and escaped Kang Yujin’s grip.
“W-What the hell are you doing?! Kill them! We outnumber them!”
“Y-Yes!”
Kang Geuntae picked up his cutlass again and assumed a combat stance.
Maybe he had activated some Skill, because his body was now enveloped in yellow light.
“I’ll tear you apart! With the Constellation Armament of my Constellation, ‘Hook-Handed Pirate’...!”
Kang Geuntae raised his left hand while shouting.
Realizing he was about to use a Constellation Armament, Kang Yujin decided to end things quickly.
Time to use a Skill.
After accepting Ma Taesu’s proposal...
Kang Yujin had received new instruction from Jegal Geum.
The time had been short, but perhaps because of that urgency, Kang Yujin had learned quickly.
He had even learned two new Skills.
One of them was the B-rank Skill [Protective Aura].
It was the first defensive Skill Kang Yujin had ever learned.
“You bastard!”
Kang Geuntae swung his cutlass at the seemingly defenseless Kang Yujin.
Kang Yujin blocked it with the back of his hand.
“What?!”
Before Kang Geuntae could recover from his surprise, Kang Yujin drove a punch enhanced with [Fa Jin] into him.
Boom!
The fist landed squarely in the center of Kang Geuntae’s torso.
Blood burst from his mouth as he was sent flying backward.
No wound...
Kang Yujin inspected the back of the hand that had blocked the cutlass.
Despite taking the blade directly against bare skin, there wasn’t even a scratch, let alone blood.
So this is the effect of Protective Aura.
[Protective Aura], which he had learned from Jegal Geum, was a Skill that wrapped the body in internal energy to defend against attacks.
It could be used even while wearing clothing and dramatically increased defensive power.
Until now, Kang Yujin had no defensive Skills.
Whenever an enemy wielded a blade, he had been forced to focus on dodging.
He could endure blunt-force attacks to some extent, but if a sword cut him, he would inevitably bleed.
Now that he had learned [Protective Aura], however, ordinary blades could simply be deflected.
Not bad.
With that thought, Kang Yujin grabbed the fallen Kang Geuntae by the collar.
Leaving Lee Jukheon to deal with the remaining small fries, he dragged Kang Geuntae toward the edge of the boat.
“S-Spare me!”
“If you wanted to act like a pirate, you should’ve been prepared to become fish food.”
“I’m not even a pirate!”
“Oh. Right.”
The weapon and Constellation name had made Kang Yujin misunderstand for a moment.
“A-Anyway, I surrender, so spare...”
“Too late.”
According to the intelligence he had received beforehand, these people weren’t just involved in drugs.
They also participated in human trafficking and all sorts of other crimes.
There was no reason to show mercy.
Crack!
The sound of flesh and bone being crushed rang out.
Kang Geuntae flew over the side of the boat and plunged into the sea.
─ One-sided victory!
─ That splash when he fell into the sea was satisfying!
─ He just got hit by a sword, so why wasn’t there even a drop of blood? A Skill?
─ I want to go to the ocean too.
─ Is this really how we’re supposed to watch this?
─ Why are they broadcasting like this?
─ If an Apostle is doing the broadcast anyway, they could’ve just done it normally.
─ Exactly. Why are we watching from here?
─ It’s my first time watching this way, so it feels strange.
─ But this chat window is actually pretty convenient. I think it’ll be fine once we get used to it.
─ This one has never used such a chat window before and finds it exceedingly inconvenient. Someone please explain how to use it.
Countless Constellations were voicing their opinions in real time through the chat.
But this wasn’t a private chat room containing only a handful of specific Constellations.
Anyone could enter.
Anyone could speak.
Hundreds of Constellations had already posted at least one message.
─ Did Constellation Tube always have a function like this?
─ Exactly. I had no idea.
─ So this lets us watch a Constellation Tube video and talk in real time while watching?
─ Galactica-series Observers always had chat functions.
That was right.
The Constellations were currently watching through Constellation Tube.
The live footage from the scene was displayed on the left side of the Observer screen, while the chat window appeared on the right.
The Constellations could now watch the footage while simultaneously seeing the reactions of other Constellations in real time.
And once the fighting in the video had settled down...
a clown dressed in colorful clothes appeared on screen.
“Hello, everyone! Did you enjoy the preliminary battle? Kang Yujin and his companions are amazing as always! For reference, Seok Taejun and Joo Minha are currently scouting the area from the air on Chimera! They’ll be joining us soon, so don’t worry!”
─ Huh?
─ Who’s that?
─ I’ve seen that guy before.
─ Why is an Apostle showing his face?
─ Has that bastard lost his mind?
The Constellations in the chat were bewildered.
That was understandable.
An Apostle openly showing his face on his own broadcast and directly addressing Constellations was unprecedented.
“As all of you already know! Once you go deep into Pandemonium territory, normal observation becomes impossible! That means you have no choice but to watch footage relayed by an Apostle on site!”
The Apostle looked somewhat nervous, but he continued speaking energetically.
“If you’re going to watch footage relayed by an Apostle anyway, wouldn’t it be much more entertaining to watch through Constellation Tube’s ‘Live Broadcast’ function, which has all sorts of extra features, rather than through the Observer’s basic display? Look. You can even do things like this.”
The Apostle swept one hand through the air.
A subtitle appeared.
[Arlecchino Number 49]
─ What’s that?
─ A subtitle appeared on the video?
─ In real time? How did he do that?
─ Interesting.
─ The advance of technology is truly mysterious!
“Of course, some of you might find this awkward at first, but you’ll get used to it quickly! And we’re not going to do this forever. We’re only testing it during this Pandemonium infiltration Event, so please keep that in mind!”
─ Oh, so they’re only broadcasting through Constellation Tube like this for this operation.
─ We have to watch the Apostle’s footage inside Pandemonium anyway, so I guess it doesn’t really matter.
─ Let’s just see how it goes first.
─ Yeah. If it sucks, they probably won’t do it again.
─ I think this will be more fun, so I’m looking forward to it.
“We still have some time before the ship follows the ‘safe route’ recorded onboard and reaches the mainland, so if you’re curious about anything, ask through the chat! Ah, right. I might miss your question, so if you want to ask something, press the donation button first! Your message will be pinned at the top of the chat so I won’t miss it! And don’t worry. All donations will be distributed fairly among Kang Yujin and his companions!”
─ Wow. He found a way to squeeze money out of this too.
─ Truly vulgar.
─ But if it gets distributed to Kang Yujin’s group, isn’t that fine?
─ Yeah. That Apostle is on their side anyway.
[B-rank Constellation ‘Golden and Silver Children’ has donated 1,000,000 Origin Power.]
[Comment: Does that mean this entire operation is one massive project orchestrated by the ‘Nameless King’?]
─ Oh, so that’s how you use it?
─ The message really does get pinned at the top.
─ This is good for Constellations who want attention.
─ There must be a minimum amount, right?
─ Are there special perks if you donate more Origin Power?
One Constellation used the donation system before anyone else, drawing interest from the others.
The Apostle broke into a huge smile and answered the donation comment.
“Thank you, ‘Golden and Silver Children’! And of course this is being conducted by the ‘Nameless King’ himself! Everything is proceeding according to his will!”
─ So it really was him.
─ Wait, does he read out your Constellation name if you donate?
─ Huh? Couldn’t that actually increase your Origin Power?
─ Right. A lot of people are watching this. If your fame as a Constellation increases, your Origin Power might go up too.
─ It probably won’t increase automatically. If you leave some meaningless comment and damage your image, your Origin Power could even decrease.
─ Let’s test it!
Driven by curiosity, donations suddenly began flooding in.
Most Constellations sent the minimum amount of one million points, but quite a few donated five million or even ten million.
“Oh my! You’re sending so much that it’ll take forever to answer every single one! First of all, thank you very much!”
The Apostle bowed deeply while speaking in a cheerful voice.
“Anyway, everyone! I’d appreciate it if you’d stay with us for the next few days! An exclusive live broadcast of Kang Yujin and his companions’ invasion of Pandemonium! You can only watch it here, on the channel of the S-rank Constellation, the ‘Nameless King’!”
