Chapter 56: Blood on the Deck

The first visit of the Union’s largest cruise ship to Earth caused a stir everywhere.

Even the phone of the shut-in Outer Mind, Choi Kangjoong, grew noisy.

[Choi Yunseo: Brother.]

[Choi Yunseo: Brother.]

[Choi Yunseo: Brotheeeeeeeerrrrrr.]

[Choi Kangjoong: What?]

[Choi Yunseo: You’re coming for our Great Aunt’s birthday, right?]

[Choi Kangjoong: I have to go.]

[Choi Yunseo: Then buy me a bag as a gift for her.]

[Choi Kangjoong: Order it for delivery.]

[Choi Yunseo: They only sell that one offline.]

[Choi Kangjoong: Use your vacation days.]

[Choi Yunseo: I don’t have time because of that Count Senzo guy.]

[Choi Kangjoong: That guy got captured.]

[Choi Yunseo: He made such a mess that the Dimensional Monsters were aggroed like crazy.]

[Choi Yunseo: Hold on. More Monsters are here. So annoying, seriously.]

Choi Yunseo sent another message much later.

[Choi Yunseo: Argh. They’re back again. Just buy it for me quickly.]

[Choi Yunseo: Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry.]

[Choi Kangjoong: Offer.]

[Choi Yunseo: Ten thousand won.]

[Choi Kangjoong: 🖕]

[Choi Kangjoong: You should at least give me the price of the bag.]

[Choi Yunseo: That thing is 5 million won!]

[Choi Kangjoong: The blood hasn’t even dried on your head yet, and you’re talking about a 5-million-won gift? Hey!]

[Choi Yunseo: You’re seriously no fun.]

[Choi Yunseo: I’ll let you see sister Junghwa alone. Tempting, isn’t it?]

Choi Yunseo was selling out Han Junghwa.

Choi Kangjoong wasn’t very interested.

Drinking with Han Junghwa wouldn’t provide him with nutrients or Evolution Points.

It was a reason that would have baffled her if she had known.

[Choi Kangjoong: I’ll chip in too, so let’s buy her something even better.]

[Choi Yunseo: How much?]

[Choi Kangjoong: About ten million.]

[Choi Yunseo: It’s the first thing you’re buying since becoming a Hunter, so spend fifteen million more.]

[Choi Kangjoong: OK.]

[Choi Yunseo: I’ll give you the offline store location.]

The place Choi Yunseo sent him was the same department store where she had picked out clothes for him before.

[Choi Yunseo: It’s a different store, not the Chanel that sounds like Channel, so look closely.]

[Choi Kangjoong: 🖕]

[Choi Yunseo: Hahahahahahahahahahaha]

[Choi Yunseo: Go somewhere good and get your hair done too.]

[Choi Yunseo: It looked like it would really pop if you just trimmed it.]

Choi Kangjoong went to the department store to buy his Great Aunt’s gift and also got a haircut.

The hairstylist kept throwing out compliments, so he wore an awkward smile the whole time he sat in the salon.

He liked the result.

“Is it because it’s a trendy style? It looks decent.”

Choi Kangjoong looked in the mirror, brushed his hair back, and struck a cool pose.

He even tried making expressions like a movie star acting with his eyes, but it was so cringeworthy that he stopped immediately.

The day of the appointment.

Choi Kangjoong dressed up in a suit and took the subway.

He felt people’s gazes just like before.

Some people even looked at him openly and whispered.

Now that he knew the reason, he could walk around with his head held high.

Arriving at Gangnam Station, he walked to the portal leading to the 6th Dimension Fortress.

It was a 15-minute walk, and since he walked fast, he arrived in no time.

“So this is the Dawn Guild.”

The portal to the 6th Dimension Fortress was inside a building owned by the Dawn Guild in Gangnam.

The nearby roads were packed with cars, leaving traffic police and guides struggling.

“I guess I go through there.”

There was a long line of people as well.

They only let people through the Gate after verifying their identities.

It was because of Count Senzo’s invasion.

“I wonder what happened to Count Senzo?”

The Elves had cut off his limbs as soon as they received him.

He was rotting away in prison, in a state where he was neither truly alive nor dead.

“Your Identification Card, please.”

After waiting in line, it was finally Choi Kangjoong’s turn.

Choi Kangjoong handed his driver’s license to the guide.

He wanted to show this off, as he had just gotten it recently, rather than his ID card.

‘Hehehe.’

Since the purpose wasn’t to filter out the Demon’s informants, they simply checked his face and finished.

Once he passed through the Gate, he was inside the 6th Dimension Gate.

From there, he moved to the Dimensional Boundary.

The Elemental Cruise Ship was connected to the Dimensional Boundary by a long bridge.

People marveled at the majesty of the 6km-long Dimension Ship.

“Wow.”

“It’s truly huge.”

“How did they build something like that?”

“It’s so beautiful.”

The Elves’ aesthetic sense was different yet similar to Humans, so the Elemental Cruise Ship possessed a beauty that couldn’t be seen on Earth.

“It’s an Elf.”

“It’s my first time seeing one in person.”

“I thought all Elves would be handsome and beautiful, but I guess not…”

People seeing Elves for the first time were either fascinated or disappointed.

In South Korea, the prejudice that all Elves are beauties was particularly strong, so this happened often.

Choi Kangjoong went to the party hall located right below the Deck.

It was the best location among the party halls on the Elemental Cruise Ship.

His Parents were waiting in front of it.

“Kangjoong!”

Choi Jooyoung and Yoo Haein waved their hands.

“What about Yunseo?”

“She said she has some things to wrap up and will be here in a bit. Let’s go in first.”

The party hall, which could hold about 100 people, was magnificent.

In one area, Elves were playing elegant Elven music.

“Kangjoong, thanks to you, I’ve even come to a place like this. You’re my son, but aren’t you just too impressive?”

“How is that thanks to Kangjoong? You were just lucky, honey.”

“Is that so?”

Choi Kangjoong and Choi Jooyoung shared a smirk behind Yoo Haein’s back.

“It’s been a while since you’ve seen your Great Aunt, right?”

“It’s been over five years.”

“She’ll be delighted. She’s been so fond of you since you were little.”

It was just as Choi Jooyoung said.

His Great Aunt, Choi Young-sun, welcomed Choi Kangjoong warmly.

“Oh my, Kangjoong! How long has it been? Come here, let me give you a hug.”

Choi Kangjoong embraced her.

Choi Young-sun patted Choi Kangjoong on the back and even shed a few tears.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“I’m all healed up.”

“You’ve suffered. You’ve truly suffered. I heard you became a Hunter too?”

“I was lucky enough to have an Awakening.”

“How could that be luck? It’s all the hard work you did coming back to you.”

“This is a gift. Yunseo and I got it together for you.”

“Why did you get me something like this?”

Choi Young-sun was overjoyed.

It was a special gift coming from the child of her younger brother, whom she had raised like her own son.

“Kangjoong!”

After he finished his greetings, a man called out to Choi Kangjoong.

It was Lee Beom-hyun, Choi Young-sun’s eldest son and Choi Kangjoong’s cousin.

Choi Kangjoong’s other cousins were gathered near him.

They were young people ranging from their 20s to their mid-30s.

Choi Kangjoong remembered the holiday nagging stories he had seen on Dimensionnet.

Relatives who suck the energy out of you by asking where you work, if you’re dating, and when you’re getting married after not seeing you for a long time.

Since he had spent a long time as a shut-in, there were more than enough topics for nagging.

‘Am I going to end up with a nagging story of my own? I won’t get flustered no matter what I hear. Who am I? I’m Iselin’s friend.’

Choi Kangjoong steeled his heart and joined them.

However, the thing he feared did not happen.

They simply asked how he had been and told him to eat a lot and enjoy himself.

There was one cousin who threw out sharp comments like those seen on the internet, but it wasn’t severe.

‘I guess the things posted online are just the concentrated essence of all the bad cases.’

Choi Kangjoong ate with them and hung out for a while before walking around the place alone.

Since he was here, he wanted to see what the interior of a Dimension Ship larger than Kuongi was like.

Indeed, the interior of the 6km cruise ship was incredible.

It had everything, making it no different from a floating City.

Although smaller than Dark City, it was far more neat and orderly.

“Kuongi will probably grow this much too.”

Young people were gathered at the party hall on the Deck.

Bodyguards stood around, and whenever someone introduced themselves, the fact that they were the child of a certain company or Guild was always included.

“That’s the neighborhood for the rich.”

Even Joo Eun-jong was there.

“The Sirens were just about to climb onto the fishing boat. I couldn’t just stand by and watch. So, I unleashed my Blade Vortex.”

When Joo Eun-jong told a story heavily seasoned with MSG, the people around him let out exclamations of awe.

It was thick with flattery.

“Excuse me. What’s your name?”

A woman approached and asked.

She was a beauty with a confident expression.

Choi Kangjoong’s thoughts froze.

His brain wasn’t programmed with how to handle a situation like this.

The woman took his silence to mean something else.

“Are you playing hard to get? Fine. I’m Im Mi-rae. I’m a Hunter from the Edge Guild, and the Guild Leader there is my father.”

Im Mi-rae expected the man’s attitude to change.

The status of the Edge Guild, one of the Big Three Guilds, was immense.

Normally, anyone would try to get close or act subservient upon hearing that.

Even building a wall was usually just a front or a strategy to pique interest.

“I’m Choi Kangjoong.”

“Is that all? No ‘I belong to this place’ or ‘I’m an employee of that’?”

“I don’t have anything like that.”

He couldn’t exactly answer that he was Apocalid.

“So you’re unemployed?”

“Not unemployed, a freelancer.”

“How did you get here?”

“It’s my Great Aunt’s 60th birthday.”

“So you were a civilian.”

Im Mi-rae thought this was perfect.

‘With a face like that, he’d be good for a day or two of fun. No, I wouldn’t get tired of him for a month. Maybe even over a year…? What am I thinking.’

Im Mi-rae chased away the women she kept around like ladies-in-waiting.

If there were too many people, the man might feel pressured and slip away.

One had to approach carefully before snatching up the prey.

“The cruise ship is nice, isn’t it? Do you come to places like this often?”

“It’s my first time.”

Choi Kangjoong found Im Mi-rae annoying.

The way she subtly approached and tried to latch on made her seem like a remora.

Im Mi-rae felt a sense of curiosity toward a type of man she had never seen before.

He was the first person who genuinely seemed to want to push her away.

‘He might not know me, but he should know the Edge Guild. He can’t be such a fool that he doesn’t know that.’

As Choi Kangjoong continued to give half-hearted answers, her stubbornness flared up.

It was a feeling veering toward a sense of conquest or possessiveness.

Rumble.

Elves wearing work clothes and masks climbed onto the Deck.

They were carrying weapons.

The smell of metal and the sharpness of the blades suggested they weren’t for cosplay.

“What are those guys?”

“Why did they bring weapons here?”

South Koreans, who were used to walking the streets freely even in the middle of the night, were indifferent.

On the other hand, Elves and foreigners who saw the patterns drawn on the masks realized the gravity of the situation.

“It’s a terrorist attack.”

“Could that be…?”

“It’s the EEE.”

The EEE was an Elven supremacist Organization.

They were madmen who truly believed that Elves were great, that other races should be ruled by Elves, and that only pure-blooded Elves were true Elves.

An Elf used Magic to amplify his voice and cleared his throat.

His eyes looked more deranged than the other Elves.

“Ahem. I am called Task. Do not worry. We didn’t come here to kill you.”

The music stopped, and people froze.

The Elemental Cruise Ship moved away from the Dimension, and the bridge connecting it to the Dimensional Boundary collapsed.

This meant the bridge controlling the cruise ship had been seized.

This wasn’t something simple terrorists could pull off.

“I guess it’s my turn to step up.”

The ego-driven rascal Joo Eun-jong bragged that terrorists would be rendered helpless by a single blast of his Magic.

He stepped forward gallantly amid the cheers of those around him.

“Don’t move.”

Task grabbed a child’s head and held a blade to their throat.

Joo Eun-jong had to sit back down awkwardly.

He didn’t have the confidence to save the child as well.

Choi Kangjoong headed down.

Would the terrorists have left the people in the Elemental Cruise Ship’s high-end party hall alone?

Feeling worried, he hurried down the stairs.

“Who are you?”

A masked Elf asked.

A Chitin Blade emerged from the back of Choi Kangjoong’s right hand.

Thuck.

The Elf, whose heart was pierced, died instantly without making a sound.

“Were you a Hunter?”

“Quiet.”

Choi Kangjoong’s suddenly transformed aura made Im Mi-rae’s legs tremble.

Nevertheless, her curiosity grew even more, and she followed Choi Kangjoong while silencing her footsteps.

Choi Kangjoong arrived at the place where his Parents and relatives were.

As expected, the EEE had already seized control there as well.

The people who should have been laughing and talking were huddled in a corner, trembling with fear.

Thwack!

His cousin Lee Beom-hyun was being beaten while trying to protect the people, even though he wasn’t a Hunter.

Choi Kangjoong made eye contact with his Family.

Yoo Haein waved her hand, telling him to leave quickly.

“You can’t right now.”

Im Mi-rae stopped Choi Kangjoong, who looked ready to charge in at any moment.

“Why?”

“The EEE doesn’t hesitate to kill hostages. Especially Humans. If you rush in without a plan, everyone will be in danger.”

At those words, Choi Kangjoong didn’t need to see any more.

He didn’t want to suffer irreversible consequences while hiding the fact that he was an Outer Mind.

Clang.

Chitin Armor covered Choi Kangjoong.

“Then all the more reason for me to go.”