Chapter 110
Choi Cheolsik, unnecessarily dramatic, carefully opened his mouth.
“Are you *choosing* not to join Seoul, or are you *unable* to?”
Oh, he's hit a sensitive spot. The distinction between 'not' and 'unable to' is probably due to the citizens' turning into Mutants.
“Honestly speaking, it’s closer to the latter.”
“The Association estimates there are roughly thousands. Most of them are then…”
Choi Cheolsik lowered his voice.
“Yes. They are Mutants. They might be fine at first, but it’s obvious they’ll be isolated from society. So it’s much better if I handle them from the outside.”
Rather than living scorned in Seoul, it’s better if I keep them. And in the fight against Sin, I will defeat enemies with the power of the Mutants and make Mutants accepted in society.
“I understand. Then I’ll withdraw. But do you have something to say to Cha Jieun?” “Ah, actually, I promised to take her if I won.” “Oh ho. It feels like just yesterday she was crying and insisting it had to be Yu Jinseok and no one else.”
She probably still feels that way. She’s just acting like this because she lost to me.
“No, I…”
“You didn’t think you’d lose, did you?”
“Ah, that…”
Cha Jieun lowered her head, unable to speak at Baldy’s sharp remark. She had never lost like this before, except to Yu Jinseok. She had never directly fought Seo Jiyeon. She also had no idea how to deal with Seo Jiyeon, let alone overcome their compatibility differences, and there was no reason to fight.
“Consider this a good experience. Anyway, Yu Jinseok isn’t interested in you… No, I get it. Put away the ice. Even with all this, are you still going to try?”
Cha Jieun, with a murderous glint in her eyes, aimed her Ice Sword at Baldy, then backed away.
*Well, if you ask if I’ll continue, of course it’s yes. I’ll take her even if it’s just out of spite. If necessary, I could sneak into her house at night and ambush her.*
“Yep. Women who play hard to get are usually more satisfying.” “You really!” “Alright, fine. Let’s talk about this later. Anyway, if you can come to Seoul, we can meet anytime, right?” “That’s true.”
I’ll let her go for now, because Seo Jiyeon is here now. I’m in the middle of ‘conquering’ Seo Jiyeon, so there’s no reason to target Cha Jieun and lower my affection rating. Inciting jealousy would be good too, but I don’t think it’s strictly necessary. After a separate promise was made to meet Cha Jieun later, the Guild Alliance began to withdraw.
* * *
The battle between Songdo and the Government ended with the Baekhwa Cult of Songdo’s victory. The Government had its President’s hair plucked out, suffered the humiliation of being trampled by Beauty Villains, and hundreds of Cheongwadae-affiliated Hunters were massacred. The Guild Alliance did not suffer significant damage in the fight against the Baekhwa Cult, but Cha Jieun was defeated by Baekhwa.
-Crazy, they actually won this.
-Where did those bastards who said the Government and Guild Alliance would win go?
-Seriously, I made a ton of money with a traitorous bet this time lol.
-So her skill is at least Cha Jieun-level. Cha Jieun is currently vying for 2nd or 3rd place among domestic Hunters.
-Even when she faced Yu Jinseok, it doesn't seem like Yu Jinseok just went easy on her?
-But Yu Jinseok was out this time.
-Bullshit, the Guild Alliance was passive, wasn't it?
-That's also because Songdo's forces are strong. Even if they won, they'd suffer heavy losses. If the Korean Guild Alliance suffered heavy losses, China would intervene immediately. Let's not deny that.
-Baekhwa Cult! Baekhwa Cult! Baekhwa Cult!
Even though the Government was trashed, the public's reaction wasn't all that hostile.
Rather, it was a reaction of 'They actually won this?'
*Well, the Guild Alliance's passivity certainly played a part.*
And I returned to Rachel.
*Ah, has Rachel really settled into the Main Wife Position completely now?*
“How is it? I really came back before it dried, didn’t I?”
When I looked at the bed, the bodily fluids we’d spilled were still soaking the bed. I kept my promise. Actually, the fluids a Dragon spills don’t dry that quickly. Unless you wipe them, that is.
“No, what kind of thing is that to say? Your way of speaking is too vulgar.”
But while we were fighting, Rachel was sitting in front of the computer, doing who knows what.
“Mom, what are you doing?”
Reina, seemingly very interested, asked Rachel.
*Now that I think about it, she’s been playing around with the internet lately. What could she be doing?*
When I peeked at her computer, an online shopping mall window popped up.
“With the online shopping mall I just started, I’m selling various things at high prices, and they’re selling well. Rich people are just buying them up.”
“Rainbow Snake Wine, Elf’s mead. And so on. It’s quite varied. Is this a liquor store?”
Rainbow Snake Wine sounds disgusting, so I don’t like it. But mead is tempting. I’ve never tried it.
“Since it’s a home-based business, I haven’t listed many items. But with the Elf Brand and all the benefits, it sells well.” “?? What are the effects?” “Rainbow Snake Wine is alcohol made from the radiant Rainbow-colored Snake found only in the Elf Kingdom.”
Ah, so that’s it. No wonder she’d sometimes disappear at night and I couldn’t see her. So that was the reason. But I’ve never actually seen the alcohol.
“Why haven’t I seen it?” “You’re more into cigarettes than alcohol. And Rainbow Snake Wine is more effective for men than women. And I often fed you Rainbow Snake Soup, didn’t I? Not every day, but sometimes. Rainbow Snake Soup can instantly heal even an impotent man whose penis has been shot?” “Oh, that kind of effect.”
*Sometimes among the snake soups, there was one that made me particularly *stand up*. Was that it?*
She said there was some strange-colored snake. She’d feed it to me headfirst every time, which would make me very sad, but she’d force it down my throat, so I’d eat it.
“Really?” “Did we win, since we caught the President?” “Yes, we won. The Guild Alliance also retreated, though there’s still work to be done.”
Rather, you could say the real beginning is now.
“Do I not need to help?”
“I’ll call you if I need you. For now, it’s fine.”
Rachel is fine for now. It would be good to make use of that Elf Online Shopping Mall for various things. If she earns money, there will be a place to use it someday. I gathered the Heroines in the living room. Though there are only women I want to get intimate with right now, now is not the time. After hearing Choi Cheolsik’s words, I had some thoughts of my own. Right. For example, our forces are weaker than I thought. Since the original story has already been twisted, I need to prepare for this. So I resolved to expand my sphere of influence.
“Work to be done, you say. What’s left?”
“Isn’t it enough that we stopped them?”
“Post-war Reconstruction doesn’t seem particularly necessary either?”
The Heroines also seemed tired, with slightly exhausted expressions. Lee Yujeong, already exhausted by her Human stamina, was sprawled out asleep, and Eumseupmari was sleeping beside her with Unit 5.
“From what I’ve seen, Choi Cheolsik has no intention of attacking us. Even Ha Jeongseok, who was so adamant about attacking us, is now a Baldy with only two strands of hair left. And now there are no Hunters left either.”
Only antennae-like hairs remained on Choi Cheolsik’s head. It will probably take quite a long time for them to grow back later.
“So what do you want to do?” “We will also actively expand our influence, like the Chinese Warlords. We should go down to Hoseo and Yeongnam. For now, let’s at least go down to Chungcheong Province.”
Geographically, it’s a position vulnerable to attacks from various Korean cities, but honestly, excluding the Capital Region, the Hunter levels in other cities are lower. While there are plenty of A-ranks, they aren’t strong enough to actively come out and attack the Baekhwa Cult.
“It’s not the Three Kingdoms Period or the Sengoku Period (Japan). Isn’t it dangerous?”
“Anyway, it’s land the Government abandoned, so what if we take it?”
It’s possible. If we do that, the number of Mutants will become overwhelmingly large. It’ll probably be in the tens of thousands. In the original story, most of these Mutants were set to die. The Gates that opened after the original Yu Eunha died were that dangerous. Since it’s mainly Villains who are dealt with by Siwoo and the Heroines, Mutants stronger than ordinary people end up dying a lot. But now it’s different. Yu Eunha didn’t die and became the reincarnation of Aži Dahāka. What does this mean? We can integrate the overflowing Mutants under the Baekhwa Cult.
“At this rate, we might end up founding a Nation.”
“...Should I really try it?”
Ha Jeongseok is useless anyway, so should I just found a Mutant Nation and act as Queen? Baby Yongyong-i, who had the ambition to found a Nation like this, is said to have finally founded the Mutant Nation. ...is something to do first and then think about. I don’t know how large the Mutant forces will be. Will it be a million? The population trapped in the Erosion Zones due to the Great Deluge Event is estimated to be around 6 million. Even half of that would be good. The devastating blow to the Hunter Association’s Hunters, followed by the annihilation of the Cheongwadae-affiliated Hunters this time. The Mutants in the Quarantine Zone must fill that void.
“Anyway, it’s not a bad idea. I’ll also create my Subordinates in Hanseong.”
Choi Siwoo also stepped forward actively.
“Okay.”
Since we’ve proven our strength with this incident, the Korean Government won’t carelessly try to subjugate us.
* * *
Cheongwadae Secret Room
Shinohara Yuzuki, Leader of Japan’s Shinohara Regime, frowned at Baldy Ha Jeongseok’s questioning of responsibility in the Cheongwadae Secret Room.
“Why didn’t Shinohara help?”
Ha Jeongseok wiped his shiny head, and his eyes were bloodshot. Earlier, before the Songdo attack, he was supposed to receive Shinohara’s help on the condition of secretly signing the Korea-Japan Hunter Information Sharing Agreement, but Shinohara didn’t move. Of course, because she didn’t keep her promise, it was regrettable that Shinohara couldn’t receive information about Korean Hunters, but there was a reason for it.
“If we had helped, President, Your Excellency’s position would have become even more difficult.” “What did you say?” “Honestly, Your Excellency, you must admit it, right? To deal with the Mutant Group of the Baekhwa Cult, even I and the Shinsengumi would have to step forward. As the battle grew, whether we lost or won, we would ultimately lose public support, and our Prime Minister would pressure me or Your Excellency for Shinohara's helping Korea privately.”
In the end, it meant there was no benefit for either side. Shinohara had personally installed the current Prime Minister, but if she were to be caught off guard, she might have to hand over power to the Prime Minister.
“Ugh.” “Baekhwa is someone who even defeated the Guild Alliance in the first place. Even if we, Shinohara, were to openly help, we couldn’t predict a victory.” “I understand. You may return.”
Ha Jeongseok barely managed to compose himself. At that sight, Shinohara Yuzuki chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand. After briefly bowing respectfully to Ha Jeongseok, and not knowing what kind of trouble he might cause if she stayed longer, she used a Portal to return to Japan.
“Korea’s President really is suited to having his hair plucked out.”
Shinohara Mariko, who had returned to Japan, belatedly burst out laughing.
“Indeed. Baekhwa did well.” “But although we received Yu Jinseok’s suggestion, was it right to tell Baekhwa about the President’s Secret Room?”
That was true. Initially, Shinohara had sincerely intended to help Ha Jeongseok by deploying Shinohara’s Shinsengumi. However, in the process, she met Yu Jinseok, who was on a mission with Fire Bat Kim Jihye.
-Stop cooperating with Ha Jeongseok this time.
-Did you know? Why?
-You can’t win anyway. It’s not that I’m underestimating Shinohara, but Baekhwa is strong. Even if the Shinsengumi are strong, not every single one of them is S-rank, are they? Think of your Family before you try to do Ha Jeongseok a favor.
-I understand. Since the First Divine Sword said so much, I’ll observe for now.
Yu Jinseok, who once saved the world and stopped the Hellgate in Pyeongyang, advised her not to antagonize Baekhwa. Shinohara didn’t *need* to listen to him, but it was also true that she couldn’t waste her Family’s strength on an unknown enemy. Even if she didn’t *need* to listen, she couldn’t completely ignore the words of the First Divine Sword. Because he had already fought Baekhwa before. So she decided to observe. But then she was caught off guard. She had initially only intended to observe, but Baekhwa directly attacked Cheongwadae. Fortunately, by pretending to be a fan, there was no direct confrontation, but Baekhwa’s power was clearly immense. Rather than Baekhwa remaining in Cheongwadae and searching for Shinohara’s traces, it was better to just hand over Ha Jeongseok, even if she did get an autograph out of it.
“Anyway, there are now Yu Eunha at Saengdo, and Baekhwa as a Villain. Korea is truly in utter chaos, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. My friend Beubmi even went to the Guild Alliance this time and wet her pants watching Baekhwa and Cha Jieun fight.”
Was it really such a great battle? Well, considering the Cheongwadae Battle, it was an undeniable display of combat power.
“At least we in Japan are better off, aren’t we? While the Eastern Erosion Zone is certainly fierce, if we just defend it, Western Japan can be protected.”
“That’s right.”
“Hmm, I miss Yu Eunha.”
Suddenly, Yu Eunha came to mind: her sparkling white hair, her golden, snake-like eyes, her breasts, which would fill a hand, and her overall slender figure. As I longed for her, a slight tingling sensation spread through my lower abdomen. She truly possesses a captivating beauty that can charm even women.
“Yes?”
“No. Let’s go in.”
“Yes, House Head.”
Yuzuki glanced down at her lower abdomen for a moment, then walked towards the Shinohara Main Family Residence. Shinohara was peaceful again today.