[Originally, we were going to ease you into quests gradually—depending on your environment and how things unfolded—but since you’re so curious, we’ll make a spe-cial! ex-cep-tion just for you! ☆★TOP SECRET★☆ briefing coming up!]
[You would’ve found out eventually anyway ㅇ_<]
“……”
Right as the vein on his otherwise calm forehead began to twitch, the system window hurried to follow up with more text.
[That was a joke—to help bridge the psychological gap between us, dear Returnee.]
[There’s a grand current of destiny flowing toward Earth’s destruction. Because of that, we can’t tell you everything. If you interfere recklessly and that flow becomes twisted, even the future the system predicted could change. Still, there hasn’t been a single meaningless or unnecessary quest so far. Confirming your half-sister’s survival was part of that same logic.]
[However, I can offer you a direction. Go to Seoul. Everything began there—and everything will end there.]
[Whether the vision I first showed you becomes reality or remains just a projection is entirely up to you.]
The tone was uncharacteristically clean—no emojis, no cutesy formatting. Seoul, huh… Kim Sibaek tapped his chin lightly with one finger. The system hadn’t handed him a clear solution, but the objective was at least clear now. It seemed unlikely he’d get more if he pressed further, so he decided to leave it at that.
The system window remained still, waiting—almost inviting more questions. Taking the chance, Kim Sibaek brought up something he hadn’t exactly forgotten, but hadn’t been obsessing over either.
“When I returned to Earth… didn’t Edokers get swept up in the process and come along with me? Isn’t there a chance his presence could affect things here?”
Even though Edokers’s power had been drastically weakened, he hadn’t lost all his abilities. The Management Center might not know, but that amusement park? That had definitely been his doing.
He was thought to be capable of germinating maybe one or two Monster Seeds at most. But depending on the situation, even that could be dangerous. Sibaek figured it could pose a potential threat—which was why he brought it up. The system, however, responded with blatant disinterest.
[ㅇ_ㅇ)?]
[Oh, right. That guy.]
[He’d count as an unpredictable variable—like the recent attack aimed at you—but his power is negligible. In the grand scheme of things, he’s not a factor. Since he has nothing to do with Earth’s destruction, you won’t be given any quests related to him. But if he’s bothering you, feel free to take him out.]
A long-winded way of saying do whatever you want.
Sibaek pressed on.
“……Are you sure there’s a Paladin of Chaos like Edokers already on Earth?”
The system’s reply was short and blunt.
[The Spawn of Chaos have been here since 21 years ago.]
That was the end of the conversation. The system window vanished, as if to say we’re done here.
Sibaek summarized what the system said for Biendeoé—who was genuinely curious—and Tae Woon, who was just pretending to be.
[Death and Beauty scoffs. She says of course a Spawn of Chaos would be lurking around. She suspects the entity might even be a Paladin of Chaos.]
“If it’s been around for 21 years, then it probably emerged during or just after the Cataclysm.”
Edokers had been passing as human for a long time, so it wouldn’t be strange if another Paladin of Chaos had also been lying low for the past 21 years, only now starting to move. Tae Woon clapped once, casually shifting the tone.
“Well, whether it’s that guy or someone else, it’s not like we have a way to track them down right now. Let’s shelve that. You said the system told us to head to Seoul, right? Is that a cue to launch the Seoul reclamation right away?”
“If it’s just about sneaking in, I could probably manage that alone… Maybe I should check it out?”
“Mm, but what if you go alone and end up triggering something that causes the end of the world?”
“……Yeah, that’d be bad.”
His divine power was recovering steadily and rapidly, but he wasn’t confident enough yet.
“It’s not like the system issued a formal quest to go right now. Let’s take our time and prepare. Actually, I heard the government’s planning to resume the next Seoul Restoration Operation sometime next year… I forget which wave it is. Anyway, it’s still classified.”
“That Han River monster was called Gon, right? Can you show me some footage or intel?”
“Hold on.”
Tae Woon left the room and came back with a tablet. He tapped his fingers across the screen and logged into a secure site.
“It got totally wrecked—well, overwhelmed—so all the earlier raid footage has been locked away. But it’s been shared with major guilds. It’s basically an unspoken nudge to study the hunts and figure out how to kill Gon.”
Dozens of raid clips had been uploaded to the secure server. It wasn’t that there’d been dozens of separate attempts to raid Gon—they’d just uploaded raw, unedited footage from multiple angles.
Sibaek’s eyes widened the moment he saw Gon.
Gon’s supposed to be a legendary fish… but what kind of fish looks like that?
The recordings began after the Seoul refugees had escaped. Once the government felt they’d recovered from the Cataclysm’s chaos, they tried to push north and reclaim the city—but they couldn’t even get past the Han River. The attempt had ended in a brutal, humiliating defeat.
Even with the grainy, years-old footage, Gon’s massive form radiated overwhelming pressure. After skimming through the most recent raid attempts, Kim Sibaek immediately spotted the core problem.
“The attacks are landing fine, but no one can tank it.”
Tae Woon gave a quiet smile.
“Exactly. The tanks can’t hold up—they get shredded like paper. So even if the DPS is landing clean hits, the damage dealers end up exposed and just melt. Gaeun can hold out okay since she has self-healing, but she can’t draw aggro on her own. If we had a proper tank, Korea’s current forces would have no trouble taking Gon down.”
It wasn’t a firepower issue, so even with Kim Sibaek in the mix, it wasn’t something he could guarantee to fix. He found himself echoing the same regret he’d felt back at the amusement park, when facing the Anxious Mist.
Gloiuken might’ve been able to withstand this. If the goal is to save Earth… maybe it should’ve been her sent here, not me.
But Gloiuken wasn’t born on Earth, nor did she even exist in this world. Sibaek pushed the thought aside and turned back to the present.
“‘Next year’ is basically a few days away. How exactly do they plan to break through Gon and retake Seoul?”
“North Korea.”
“North Korea? Don’t tell me they’re planning to go through North Korea and attack southward across the Han River? What’s the point of that?”
Gon was still Gon—whether you attacked from the south or the north. For a second, he even entertained the ridiculous idea that maybe Gon had some sort of weakness from the north—but that wasn’t it.
“Since they haven’t gotten anywhere with direct raids, they’ve shifted focus to retaking northern Seoul and parts of Gyeonggi Province first. The plan is to tighten Gon’s territory from both sides and set up a barrier along the Han River. That way, even if it’s just half the city, they can reclaim part of Seoul. Gon’s territory is more concentrated in Gangnam than Gangbuk.”
“Ahh, but didn’t Gangnam have insanely expensive land prices?”
“Yeah, the Gangnam folks aren’t gonna be happy.”
Tae Woon gave a casual shrug, as if to say, what can you do?
“At this rate, Daejeon’s going to stop being a ‘temporary’ capital and become the real one. The government needs some kind of result—even if it’s all for show.”
The symbolism of a capital city wasn’t something to dismiss lightly. From that angle, their decision made sense.
If the Han River stays blocked, and with North Korea so close above, it’d be like the region’s getting turned into a landlocked island…
Even someone as detached from Korean affairs as Kim Sibaek could recognize that—so the government had probably factored it in too. Tae Woon kept going like a top-tier lecturer, and to be honest, he looked like he was enjoying the chance to explain things to Sibaek.
“Man, being able to casually spill state secrets to you, hyung… I’m so glad I built a major guild.”
Since the Cataclysm, North Korea had gone through several military coups, and the Baekdu bloodline had long since been severed. These days, the North Korean government was basically just a puppet administration under the South. But they weren’t so weak that they’d let foreign Hunters march through their territory without negotiations.
“Apparently, they’ve been hammering out the details behind the scenes for a while now. I didn’t catch everything, so I can’t give you specifics. But it looks like they’re using the Seoul Restoration as a kickoff point for gradual reunification. North Korea’s economy is already basically tied to the South’s, so I doubt there’ll be much friction.”
“Sounds like a solid plan.”
“North Korea’s playing its cards right—cashing in on its value while it still can. Anyway, all of this is off the record. But I’ve heard there’s a big public event coming up soon, something to sell the narrative of this alliance to the people…”
Then, out of nowhere, Tae Woon’s eyes lit up—like a kid unwrapping a present.
“And it’s going to be good news for you too.”
