The location of the shaman they tracked in real time while contacting Song Hana was not Incheon.
Precisely, it was the west coast of Seoshin-myeon, Hwaseong City, a little south of Incheon Port.
Agents from the NIS and an anti-terror unit began to surround the area from all sides.
They even secretly mobilized the navy to set up a cordon along the west coast.
“Container over there!”
“That’s not a place a container should be… huh, there it is?”
A single container box, either washed up or abandoned, sat on the shoreline.
As they pinpointed the location while keeping real-time contact with Song Hana, elite anti-terror operatives stealthily approached the container.
Inside the container, the occupants anxiously waited only for the escape boat to arrive.
They had no means of communicating with the outside to avoid any radio detection or trace-back devices.
Those already inside the container had no idea they were being exposed to heat-sensing cameras and various detection systems.
Not even their sitting posture went unnoticed.
They held their breath without a word of small talk until the appointed time.
Through a torn seam in the container’s corner, a colorless, scentless gas began to seep in.
thud-thud—thunk.
At the same moment, three operatives dropped their heads and passed out.
When the three North Korean agents who fainted awakened, they were already in a deep, dark interrogation room beneath the NIS.
They offered no resistance, their muscles slack, as the interrogators administered confessions and various drugs without hesitation.
“Alright. Shall we begin?”
“Thank you very much.”
Team Leader Kang Jinsoo bowed, but his bow was aimed more toward Song Hana than Choi Junseok.
“Heh… it’s nothing!”
Team Leader Kang summarized the situation to the three of them.
They had caught players linked to North Korea, and one of the three, as suspected, was a summoned being with mind-control abilities.
It had infiltrated by disguising itself as a Korean Tower player, mentally dominating several people, and the plan had begun at least months ago.
“They’re clearly responsible, but it’s frustrating that if they just deny everything, there’s no easy way to get compensation.”
“So, Junseok, can you sever that player’s binding?”
…Sever North Korea’s binding?”
“It seems that summoned being was being exploited because it had some weakness the North held over it.”
“That shouldn’t be difficult.”
If he used the mythic item Lethe’s Scissors, there would be nothing particularly hard about it.
What bothered Choi Junseok, though, was that there was no special punishment or reckoning to be leveled at North Korea.
According to Team Leader Kang, the action would amount only to accusing them at international trial for war crimes and urgently pushing additional sanctions.
To Junseok, that felt like, “Is that it? That’s all?”
He thought, “Is that all?”
“Sanctions are the most we can do?”
Kang Jinsoo shook his head as if to say otherwise.
“No. Unexpectedly, its significance is not at all small. This could shake the very foundations of the North Korean regime.”
Junseok remained skeptical.
“Sanctions are the sort the UN passes whenever North Korea does a nuclear test, right?”
“This time China and Russia joined in, which is different. North Korea is effectively isolated by this incident.”
With South Korea presenting clear justification and the determination to hit North Korea hard, even China and Russia have stepped back for now.
“We issued a global warning on all ships and planes headed to North Korea.”
“…What did you say?”
“We will seize and destroy any vessel detected moving toward North Korea. And we are actually intercepting North Korean ships from the East Sea into our waters. We scrambled fighter jets to escort two planes to land at Seoul Airport.”
“Is that possible?”
“Yes. Modern politics is a battle of legitimacy. With a cause, nothing is impossible. Even if it seems excessive, such an outpouring of anger functions clearly as a message.”
By this point, even Choi Junseok felt the government was genuinely retaliating.
“Foreign press seem to think that’s preferable to Korea firing missiles at the North. The global markets, which plunged at talk of war, are rebounding.”
While he’d been clearing the 20th floor and Japan’s Shibuya second floor and living it up in hotels, the world had been moving dynamically.
“What they did was not just a provocation; it was outright aggression and war. And that’s not the end of it.”
Choi Junseok blinked.
He had simply been unaware — the government had been grinding its teeth over this in many ways.
“…Anything more?”
“If we don’t immediately expel North Korean workers abroad, we’re heading toward severing diplomatic relations. They’re saying they’ll cut off the foreign-currency earnings from North Korean labor, regardless of human rights or anything else. Illegal immigrants are being forcibly expelled for now. We’ll need to watch how that develops.”
They clearly intended to cut off North Korea’s major sources of revenue.
A significant portion of North Korea’s GDP comes from sending laborers abroad.
“China, Japan, South Korea, and Russia are cooperating to completely block North Korea’s land, sea, and air routes. And all these sanctions are possible thanks to the evidence and justification you two provided.”
Lee Nayeon, sitting on the sofa watching TV, showed a trace of disappointment despite her blank expression.
She looked expressionless to those who didn’t know her, but strangely pouty if you’d been watching her.
She probably didn’t like being singled out for thanks.
“Won’t this push North Korea into starting a war?”
Their main exports — weapons, labor, even oil — would be cut off.
“That might happen. Which is why this isn’t something to be lamented lightly. They might think it’s better to go to war. We were only able to play this heavy hand because you two provided clear evidence and justification.”
“On humanitarian grounds, at least basic necessities and food are exempted; everything else cannot go out or in.”
Choi Junseok nodded; that was enough for him.
What he had been waiting to hear wasn’t how they were pounding North Korea, but what rewards he and Song Hana would receive for their efforts.
ahem.
“Is gratitude only expressed verbally here?”
“It won’t be just words. Of course, the deal we discussed earlier will proceed, but as you can guess, we’ve been busy…”
“So, no token of sincerity?”
“Ah—sorry, I got long-winded. You endured staying at a hotel; thank you for that.”
Staying in a suite hardly felt like hardship.
It was nicer than the officetel the Player Management Office had provided.
Room service delivered gourmet meals three times a day.
They had unwittingly been enjoying comforts others paid a lot for.
“You’ll be moved into the Player Settlement’s top-grade apartment.”
Team Leader Kang smiled mischievously and said the suite’s facilities would not be inferior.
“As an F-rank player, that might be the first in history. The settlement is primarily composed of S-rank, A-rank, and some B-rank players; an F-rank moving in is…”
As the name Player Settlement implied, Choi Junseok’s mother and younger sister were settled into an upscale apartment on the outskirts of Seoul.
“It’s said to be newly built; it really does look that way.”
It was an odd location.
They’d built a private town in an affluent area.
The single entrance road to the settlement ran between woods and a tree-lined avenue, and private security stood at the gate like a gated community.
Passing what looked like military-style barricades, Team Leader Kang smiled awkwardly.
“Those are emergency measures; they’ll be removed soon.”
“That’s a relief. Do same-day deliveries or takeout come here? That’s important.”
“……”
“So how’s this different from an island in Seoul?”
“It could be quite different. There’s a dedicated chef for the settlement. A buffet with warm food is standing by 24/7.”
“Like the Taereung Training Center.”
“Could be similar.”
“What about deliveries? I can’t lose same-day delivery.”
“There’s a nearby address disguised as a private home. If you send deliveries there, our staff will bring them to you immediately. It’s basically same-day delivery.”
“That’s inconvenient.”
Just like a military base that doesn’t appear on maps, the roads weren’t shown on maps either.
“But isn’t it more dangerous to be concentrated like this? One bomb and we’d all die.”
Team Leader Kang grinned as if to dismiss the concern.
“That’s true. But you could also say we only have to defend this one spot.”
He sounded supremely confident.
“The air defense and protective systems around here are on par with the presidential residence and the fortifications around Bugaksan. I can say with certainty that they’ve prepared for biochemical terrorism, so not even a single microorganism can breach it easily.”
Suddenly, their confidence in safety rose sharply.
They were already passing the second layer of security and barriers to approach the hotel in the distance.
“Besides, the S-rank players in that hotel are monsters in their own right.”
“Players are ordinary people outside the Tower, aren’t they?”
“Most are, but you know how it is — some awaken universal skills. People like you, Lee Nayeon, or Song Hana fall outside the bounds of regular humanity.”
On maps it appeared as a park, but Street View wasn’t registered; the closest Street View was mosaic-blurred.
When Team Leader Kang glanced at Song Hana in the rearview mirror, she opened the talisman she had been working on and slapped it down.
“The talisman to disguise as an S-rank player is done!”
Song Hana, who already looked exhausted, made a strange hmumumu sigh and collapsed onto Lee Nayeon’s lap.
Lee Nayeon quietly stroked her head and handed the talisman to Choi Junseok.
“If you stick it on your forehead, it’ll burn up on its own… my… masterpiece… goodbye… pik.”
Song Hana rubbed her face against Lee Nayeon’s lap making a pik sound, but Lee Nayeon woke her with a creative method.
“Do I, an SS-rank, have to disguise myself too?”
“Hee— I’m dead!”
Song Hana snapped her head up and looked at Lee Nayeon with frightened eyes, but Team Leader Kang waved it off, saying it would be fine.
“I don’t think you really need to disguise yourself. New faces always draw attention, but…”
“Everyone?”
“Ah… since the player terror incident, more people have moved into the settlement. It’s nearly full. But Junseok, your room is top-tier. Even S-ranks can’t easily get that room.”
“I’m honored.”
“You might know some of the residents.”
The vehicle stopped shortly after.
He had expected a village of detached houses, but what met Choi Junseok’s eyes was an unexpectedly sprawling hotel.
As the car stopped, Lee Nayeon murmured, “There are many gazes detecting us.”
Every window of the countless hotel rooms, though tinted dark, seemed to be watching; those gazes were even perceptible to Choi Junseok.
Team Leader Kang put on sunglasses and smiled.
“Word must have spread that an S-rank new face is checking into the top floor suite.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.