CH 237

“Alright, shall we give them a little knock?”

Lightly clenching his fist, Ji-Cheok punched at the barrier!

Boom!

Ji-Cheok used his Fist Wind and the attack was heading straight for a building that was dozens of stories high. A barrier made of blue light appeared, deflecting his Fist Wind, and his attack exploded midair.

Then, something amazing happened.

Zoom~

More drones than he could count poured out of the building. Each one had quite the powerful mana signature.

‘I’m guessing these aren’t bought from Bi-Ga… Did A/B’s own company make these drones? That’s pretty impressive.’

The good thing was that the drones did not attack him right away.

“Hey hey! Look who it is, Um Ji-Cheok himself, right in front of my house. What a surprise!”

A hologram appeared, and A/B’s voice came from one of the drones. Ji-Cheok thought that the technologies used for these drones were indeed impressive, but failed a bit in comparison to Bi-Ga’s.

“It’s been a while, A/B.”

“It doesn’t look like you’re here to raid my house or anything. What’s going on?”

“I’d like to talk to you about what’s going on with the Cyclops. Do you mind if we come in?”

“Of course! You are always welcome. Here, let me welcome you properly.”

Ji-Cheok saw the drones being swiftly retrieved into the building. Then, the roof of the building lit up, marking the spot where he was supposed to land.

Ji-Cheok walked over and landed. Just then, a door at the far end of the roof opened, and an elderly man walked out and bowed.

It was Adam Bronze’s butler from the other day.

“Welcome, Mr. Um. This way, please.”

Ji-Cheok also bowed appropriately and followed the old butler inside.

Just behind the door was an elevator. A few floors down, Ji-Cheok found himself in a room with windows all around, overlooking the surrounding city. It didn’t look like the old-fashioned opulence one would have expected; rather, it was a clean and modern-looking room. If anything, the view through the glass window seemed more luxurious than the room itself.

It was spacious, all white, and had oddly shaped robots hanging on the wall. It looked like Bi-Ga’s room, but with a slightly different twist.

“Hey~ Welcome! I was in a meeting downstairs, but I left it just for you! You should be thankful.”

Adam Bronze was sitting at a dining table in the middle of the room, waiting for him.

‘This guy still has a weird way with words. Not that it’s any of my business.’

“Why don’t you sit down?” Adam said.

“Sure.”

Ji-Cheok sat down across from him.

“I don’t like to waste time, so I’m gonna ask you some questions first. How did you get here?”

“I have a spatial travel skill.”

“You traveled all the way from Korea? I’ve never heard you had such skill!”

“It’s new. You are pretty much the first person in the world to witness it.”

The steps of Hermes was a skill of a God named [Messenger_navigating_life_and_death]. Ji-Cheok could travel through space to any area he could perceive. It required a lot of mana, but he could handle it.

“Wow, your value just keeps going up, doesn’t it? I already knew you could get skills regardless of their job restrictions, but I did not realize you could do this. I’m sure there are limitations… I guess your job is the kind of job that takes time. Is that right?” Adam said.

“That’s right, but… Anyway, let’s leave those things for later. I would like you to take a look at this.”

From his shadow, he pulled out the Scale of Truth he had purchased earlier.

“Oh, it’s the Scale of Truth! There are only five of them in the world.”

Adam recognized the item.

‘What, there were five of them in the world? I had no idea.’

“You must have something really important to tell me if you brought out the Scale of Truth. That’s good, I’m always a good friend of the truth.”

“You do realize that we are about a year away from the end of the world, right?”

“Let’s get one thing straight, buddy. It’s not the end of the world, it’s just the death of what, eighty percent of the human race? Our civilization will regress, but we will still survive somehow, won’t we?”

The scale did not move at Adam’s words.

“As far as I know, it’s not just that; most of the human race will die. And when I say ‘most,’ I mean that we might literally face extinction.”

The scale still didn’t move at Ji-Cheok’s words.

It meant that both were telling the truth.

The Scale of Truth could only tell if someone was lying or telling the truth. If the person was believing the wrong information as truth, then the scale would not move.

“This is interesting. Which one of us is wrong?” Adam asked.

“You.”

“Does that mean your source of information is reliable?”

“Yes, because my source of information is Despair.”

“Despair…”

Adam’s expression turned serious.

“This happened in the dungeon at the Namsan Tower, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Hm… So Despair has shown you a hopeless future… Do you believe in that God?”

“I do. Hope vouched for it.”

“Hope, you say… Come to think of it, you have the Guardian of Hope, don’t you?”

The title he had and the shield were both called Guardian of Hope. Thanks to both, Ji-Cheok had long since become immune to negative mental attacks.

“That means… my information is outdated compared to yours,” Adam said.

“Whose information is it?”

“Stephanie Jessica, the Blind Prophetess.”

«She is one of the top one hundred Hunters in the United States, and even one of the Ten Stars, the top ten Hunters in America. She has divination abilities and is a member of the GOF.»

Cheok-Liang explained about her, but Ji-Cheok already knew that.

Anybody who worked in the Hunter industry knew who the Ten Stars were. And one of them, Stephanie Jessica, was known as a powerful Wizard in addition to her divination skills.

Her nickname, Blind Prophetess, had a very literal meaning: she was properly blind. Instead of her eyes, she used magic to perceive her surroundings, which according to her, allowed her to see more than if she had eyes.

“In case you didn’t know, many rich people in this country have been looking out for themselves ever since they heard her prophecy. Sure, there are a few who will defend the country and protect the world, but they are by far not the majority.”

“That means you know about the Golden Horizon.”

“Those bastards? Of course, I know them. They are the ones with the crazy plan to move to another world. They’ve got all sorts of secret societies mixed in.”

‘Adam is one of the wealthiest chaebols in the United States. It’s not surprising he knows this much.’

“I also know that the Golden Horizon tried to mess with you lately,” Adam said.

“You seem to know quite a bit. Then I wonder if you know what is going to happen to the Cyclops.”

“That I don’t know. Stephanie says she can’t see the future either. Wait… Do you know something?”

“In about fifty-six hours, almost all of New Jersey will be turned into one big dungeon, and an army of Cyclops will be unleashed. My information is one hundred percent accurate, and when that happens…”

“Yes?”

“Everyone who lives in that area will die. New York and Philadelphia will be in jeopardy, and Washington will be in the danger zone, also.”

“I see…”

At his words, Adam’s playful expression faded, and he put his hands together and looked at the scale in front of both of them.

“Unless you’re misinformed, I can see that you’re not bluffing. But what makes you think that’s going to happen?”

“Because they’re not going to use nuclear missiles, am I right?”

“You’re right. Nuking your own country is always the last resort, and not many humans have the vision to realize that the world is going to shit in just fifty-six hours. No, even if they do realize it, it’s hard to act on it.”

“For your information, once that area becomes Manaformed, nukes won’t do any good, because I have heard that those Cyclops can purify radioactivity.”

“Really? I’d love to see that ability. Being able to use nuclear reactors safely is always a plus…”

Adam didn’t sound like he was joking.

“So, why are you here, Mr. Ji-Cheok? What do you want?”

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“I want to take down the Cyclops.”

Adam glanced at the scale.

“You’re telling the truth. Wait, even without the scale, I can tell that you’re telling the truth. That’s… the Power of Truth, right? As long as you speak the truth, others will trust you no matter what.”

“You’re right. I have prepared the skill solely for convincing you.”

“I see… What do I have to gain by taking down the Cyclops? Why do you want to wipe them out?”

Ji-Cheok knew he had to answer this question seriously, which he did.

“Because I want to get more Likes.”

“What?”

Adam looked dumbfounded. He looked at the scale, then he looked at him again.

“I’m going to save New Jersey and the people there. Then, I’m going to save the world. And while I’m doing that, I’m also going to…”

Ji-Cheok paused to take a breath.

“I’m going to be the biggest GodTuber on the planet.”

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

«Ji-Han agreed to our operation and has begun preparations. The Philippines is also making moves, the operation can begin in seven hours.»

‘How about A/B?’

«Adam Bronze is also on the move. He is sending letters of cooperation to GOF while threatening and cajoling government officials. The problem is Golden Horizon.»

‘What about them?’

«They are trying to sabotage your operation, Master.»

‘Bastards… Are they trying to end the world?’

«Adam Bronze is trying to help, but at this rate, the Golden Horizon is going to ruin our entire operation.»

‘We can’t let them do that. What do we do?’

«How about we do the decapitation strategy?»

‘A decapitation strategy, huh…’

Right now, Ji-Cheok was on the rooftop of a skyscraper, about three kilometers from the stronghold of the one-eyed giants. He was crouching and watching the Cyclops in the distance.

He had a number of strategies he had come up with, and he planned to use them to attack these monsters.

And if he was lucky… he would be able to disrupt what they are doing and take them out.

But those Golden Horizon assholes were getting in the way, and Ji-Cheok was pissed off. That was when Cheok-Liang recommended the decapitation strategy.

«The top leadership of Golden Horizon could not be detected even with my abilities, but if we eliminate the leaders of subgroups of the organization, it will have a significant impact.»

‘It’s kind of like playing a Three Kingdoms strategy game. If you execute the generals one by one, their factions are unable to start a war because they don’t have any capable generals, no matter how many soldiers they have.’

«It is very similar, Master. Talents don’t just appear out of nowhere. And since Golden Horizon is already evil and wants to cause the deaths of millions, we do not need to feel guilty about killing them.»

‘That’s true, but I have a question. Why are they interfering with my operation? If they think the end of the world is a foregone conclusion, they could just sit back and watch the world burn. They don’t need to do anything.’

«You are right, Master. It definitely seems weird…»

‘Find out what’s going on with the Golden Horizon, Cheok-Liang. I’ll do my part.’

«Yes, Master. I will dig for more information.»

Cheok-Liang slowly got off his neck, then he disappeared through space.