Chapter 174: Air Strike (3)

- The Dungeon Break at Daejun station was caused by lack of communication between the army and the Roused General Affairs Bureau. The estimated casualties are....

The calm words of the anchor tickled his ears.

- The king of Alandal Kahng-woojin hasn't shown up yet, but the aircraft carrier he had purchased appeared from the sky. Dozens of Wyverns and Wyvern Riders were dispatched, and they subjugated the monsters near the Daejun station...

It was as if his neural circuits suddenly connected. His head started to clear, and he started remembering the past events.

"Huhk!"

Minjae let out a moan as he opened his eyes. The thin blanket covering his lower body fell to the floor as he caught sight of his surrounding.

There were numerous beds lined up, and several people were lying within it. Minjae had been one of the people lying in one of the beds.

- The world is suffering from the unannounced Breaks. However, the manpower and materials needed to keep earth safe is being diverted to Alphen. There are negative public reactions regarding....

When he turned to look at the source of the sound, he found the sound was emanating from a tv mounted on the wall.

It was a news program. In the past, he always watched it for any news regarding the Dungeon Break.

The only thing different this time around was the fact that he had been at the site of the outbreak. Moreover, he had been an inch away from losing his life. He was probably at the hospital right now.

"You are all healed now."

"...."

When Minjae turned his head around, he saw a little girl. She was tall enough to reach his waist.

"Who...?"

"I'm Sooah. Heh heh. I'll pray for you."

Sooah suddenly grabbed Minjae's hand as she shut her eyes. He was taken aback at her unexpected gesture.

However, his protestation lasted only a moment. He could feel a large energy transfer to him through their hands, and he could feel his heart calm down. He unconsciously closed his eyes.

"Ha-ah. You are all good. You'll be able to go home in high spirits."

"T...thank you."

Minjae awkwardly scratched the back of his head, and he gave his thanks. Currently, he felt confident as if he could do anything he wanted.

'Was it a Blessing?'

Minjae had just developed his Barrier ability, so he could feel it. The girl had just used an ability called Blessing.

"Uh? Minjae?"

The door opened, and Minjae's friends ran towards him with happy expressions on their faces. When they saw Sooah next to Minjae, they bowed towards her. They were careful in how they acted as if they had met a teacher in the hallway.

"I'll see you next time, misters."

When Sooah left as she waved her hand, Minjae's friends all bowed towards her.

"Yes. Please take care."

"Who's the kid?"

"How dare you call her a kid!"

His friends made a big fuss when they heard Minjae's question.

"She is the princess of Alandal."

"Huh?"

"She is Kahng-woojin-nim's dongsaeng."

"...mmm. Uh uh? What?"

"She is Kahng-woojin-nim's sister."

"Huhl."

Minaje was dumbfounded. He looked back and forth from his hand and the door where Sooah had exited.

He could still feel the warmth on his hand, and he felt a peaceful feeling that he had never felt before.

He had never expected her to be Kahng-woojin's dongsaeng....

It felt as if he had just met a celebrity.

"When you fainted, I thought you were going to die. I was so surprised."

"Anyways, where is this place?"

When the confused Minjae asked the question, his friends answered in restless voices.

"You don't know where this is? If I had brought my handphone, I would have taken a selfie."

"Which hospital am I in?"

"This isn't a hospital. It's Bibi's Castle."

"What?"

"Bibi's Castle! It's Alandal's aircraft carrier."

"....Huhl."

He was having a hard time believing that his current situation was real. It seemed his friends felt the same way. No, it seemed they were restless as if they were excited by all of this.

"Something big has happened to us."

They felt like main characters inside a movie.

However, Minjae felt glum as he looked at his friends.

"Yes. We did experience something big today."

"...."

It took less than 1 second for his excited friends to have glum expressions.

- Doesn't earth need to be saved more than Alphen? This is the public opinion of the international community, and this question is being asked towards Alandal. Which place really needs the help of Alandal? Is it earth or Alphen?

The anchor's words dug into his ears.

He had almost died. He hadn't known the reality of situation when he watched the events through the news. The situation was completely different for him now, since he had experienced it firsthand.

It would be different if the attack hadn't been at Daejun. They would have continued to feel excited at what was going on around the world.

"A lot of people died...."

When the gloomy words exited his friend's mouth, the worries he had suppressed started to rise up again. A lot of people had been killed, and the thought that it could have been his family hammered Minjae's heart..

"Let's go to our homes first."

"All right. How are we supposed to get there?"

"We are at Seoul. We just landed not too long ago. We can ride the bus."

While Minjae was unconscious, his friends had already toured the aircraft carrier until they were about to land.

"What about the transportation fee?"

"....."

The three friends looked at each other's faces at the same time. They realized none of them had any money, so they lowered their heads.

"D...do you think they'll loan us some money?"

"I think the might. Right?"

They knew they were being shameless. The people of Alandal had saved them, but they wondered if they would be able to get some money to get home. Minjae and his friends exited the room.

***

He was in a PC room at Seogwipo-si of the Jejudo island.

Click, click!

The mouse was moving swiftly, and his fingers danced atop the keyboard.

<5Piktap-nim is going into overdrive.>

"Hell yeah!"

Lee-sahngho lovingly looked at his character. It had just advanced in class.

How great would it be if reality was like a game?

The game was fair compared to the unfairness of reality. In a game, everyone started out the same, and the victor and the loser was determined by one's effort.

If the world was like a game, he would have been able to easily dispatch that fucker, Kahng-woojin.

"I think I've found one, president!"

Lee-sahngho was still in the middle of his game. He spoke without taking his eyes off his screen.

"Who is it?"

"It is a 70 year old man. His impotence was cured through the miracle of god."

"What's the source?"

"It is a magazine..."

"What kind of magazine?"

"It's a gossip magazine."

"...."

Lee-sahngho stopped moving his mouse with his hand. He turned his head to look at his underling.

No wonder his guild and company went under. Lee-sahngho had trusted men like him.

"You want a beating?"

"I'll go look once more."

"Hoo-ooh."

Lee-sahngho took out a cigarette, and he lit it. He was about to focus on his game again.

"I found one too, president."

"What's your source?"

"It is an article from the Yonhap news."

When Lee-sahngho asked for the source of the information, his employee answered confidently. He looked at the employee. Yes, this one was a little bit more clever than the others.

"Give me a summary."

"Didn't Alandal's aircraft carrier get deployed when the Daejun station Broke not too long ago? Three high school students got lucky, and they were allowed to board the aircraft carrier. They were healed and sent home. This is their interview."

They had kept up their surveillance on Kahng-woojin and Alandal, but this wasn't the information Lee-sahngho wanted.

He needed to find a god or someone that could perform god-like miracles. "What about it?"

"If you read the content of the interview...."

"Ah. Fuck."

Lee-sahngho was annoyed with all of this. He safely left his game character in a safe region, and he turned to look at the computer monitor of his employee.

"Where is it?"

"It is over here."

The employee scrolled down the article with the mouse wheel, and he highlighted a section.

- She grabbed my hand, and when she gave prayer, I felt my body heal. It was as if a cherubim was staring down....

"Mmmmm."

There were a lot of Healers and Buffers amongst the Roused.

The healing ability could occur from borrowing power from a god. On the other hand, a Roused could also accelerate the natural healing process with their ability. There was no Roused from earth that could use the Holy Power.

There was the famous Holy Maiden Melody, who used the Holy Power. However, she was originally from Alphen.

"Isn't this a little weak?"

Holy Power was used within Alandal, but wasn't there a plausible explanation? He couldn't give a report to Iello with just this information.

"Still, I think it is worth pursuing."

"Well, you take care of it."

"Yes, sir."

Lee-sahngho once again sat back in his chair, and he started playing his game again.

Several dozen of his employees were surfing the web trying to find information.

Iello's loyal retainer Lee-sahngho benefited from the information age. He was able to gather information in comfort.

***

Alandal's Territory near Seoul Station.

Bibi's castle was parked in the sky. It was a stark contrast with the view of the city.

Of course, everyone in the city gathered to see Bibi's castle. It was if they were visiting a museum.

Alandal were in the midst of moving.

At the request of the reporters, Prime Minister Jung-minchan was giving a press conference.

Even if they declined all interviews like a proud peacock, it wasn't as if any country or media could do anything to Alandal. However, the international opinion of Alandal was declining right now.

Everyone was frightened from the unannounced Dungeon Breaks.

A calamity could appear at any time, but people felt that it could be prevented through preparation. When everyone thought about what this preparation entailed, they thought about Alandal.

To be precise, they thought about Alandal's Kahng-woojin.

He had shown up at every unexpected event. He had blocked and solved every issue. However, he was gone now, and it caused the world to become nervous. This was especially true for Koreans.

They had always thought, 'Kahng-woojin is living next to us. He'll block everything for us.'

This thought changed to, 'I'm about to die, so what the hell is he doing?'

If Minchan reported the general sentiment of the public to Kahng-woojin, the answer that would come back was obvious. This was why Minchan had stepped forward to solve this issue. He was smooth with his speech, and he was able to strike the right tone with his words. It was his duty to fix these kinds of problems.

"Can't he reschedule the expedition to Alphen? Can't it be at a later date?"

"He must do this. It is for the safety of earth. There is a solution that will allow us to escape the Dungeons. The king is looking for this solution."

After he gave a sufficient answer, he moved onto the next reporter. When a reporter raised his hand, Minchan pointed at him.

"Some in the public claim that Alandal is moving to Alphen."

"That is ridiculous."

"Didn't Alandal complete Kahng-woojin's Ark?"

"...."

Alandal's Prime Minister glared at the reporter, who had asked the question.

Kahng-woojinn's Ark.

The comparison to Noah's Ark was getting more prevalent..

People were referring to the Colony City that was placed on the aircraft carrier.

They were talking about Bibi's Castle.

The people of earth didn't know when they'll die, so they might be viewing Bibi's Castle as a lifeline that'll allow them to avoid this disaster.

There were countless articles that were written about the elites of the country that were promising Alandal enormous sums of money. They hoped to get on the Bibi's Castle.

Jung-minchan was very wary when such topics came up. He was most defensive when those accusations came up.

'If they knew how hard our king is working, they would never say such things....'

Kahng-woojin wanted to protect earth more than anyone else. In truth, Jung-minchan wasn't afraid of their situation deteriorating in the international community. He was afraid that Kahng-woojin might become disappointed in the people of earth.

He was afraid Kahng-woojin would abandon earth from disappointment when he saw the selfishness of the people on earth.

If one ignored the double standard, the king of Alandal didn't have any reason to save earth.

He was a Dimensional lord. If he wanted to, he could just save his family and the guild members of Alandal.

"This is a tactical fortress. I feel uncomfortable calling it an Ark. Next question."

As if he had been waiting for it, a reporter quickly raised his hand.

"You just called it a tactical fortress. Are you planning on roaming around the entire length of Korea to quell the monsters?"

Minchan let out a small smile.

"Of course. We'll go where the help is needed. We'll subjugate the monsters. I'm not talking only about Korea. We'll help the world."

"Isn't that a little bit of dangerous statement to say? We know Alandal's facilities are being emptied right now. We know that all of Alandal is moving into the Bibi's Castle. Are you planning on throwing away Korea?"

"We aren't throwing anyone away. We are trying to protect earth."

"Aren't you all Koreans?"

"We are earthians."

"...."

As he looked at the reporter, who had asked the question, Minchan spoke in a tone of assurance.

"Korea has to withdraw its mentality of leaning on Alandal. A nation should protect itself. We are just helpers."

Weren't they looking down on their nation's self-defense capabilities? Or are they throwing a tantrum out of desperation?

'I might have done something unnecessary.'

Minchan had been frustrated, so he hadn't thought over what he was going to say. He regretted his word.

He didn't know about the international politics, but at the very least, the people of Korea might not look favorably at Alandal.

'I'm worried about the articles that'll come out tomorrow.'

The pens were moving furiously over notebooks and notepads owned the the reporters. It felt as if the sounds of the pens were stabbing at his heart.