Chapter 78
Kim Segyun was undeniably popular around the world.
Naturally, his popularity was highest in Korea, but his global fanbase was enormous, too.
Still, some people felt there was one thing to regret.
“What if Kim Segyun had just a little more star quality?”
“Then, well... he’d have steamrolled everyone.”
His most obvious source of star power was his looks.
Kaiser was so handsome he inspired a phenomenon known as the ‘Kaiser Syndrome,’ and even in old age, people called him a handsome middle-aged man—and a handsome old man.
Ahmad was a stylish Frenchman, too.
But Segyun...
“He’s young, but...”
“His looks are a little lacking, right?”
But that lack of star quality...
“Still, Kkyu-kyu is cute.”
“... True.”
“True? Is that the right answer?”
“Ah, Kkyu-kyu!”
“But Athena is freaking cute, too.”
“Blasphemy! But I can’t deny she’s cute.”
As it began to be made up for in unexpected ways, Segyun’s name value was soaring to new heights once again!
However, that was mostly limited to Japan and Southeast Asia, where Kkyu-kyu and Athena had become memes, and North America, where his spectacular ability, Annihilator, had become popular.
Europe was a region where Segyun was somewhat less popular.
**
Across Europe, footage of Segyun was being broadcast.
The BBC camera filming the scene had suddenly found itself recording a large-scale battle between Hunters.
It was a rare sight.
The sort of thing you might barely see in a South American cartel war or a war in the Middle East.
And it was happening right in the middle of London.
“I-I don’t know what’s going on! The quarantined Hunters have suddenly attacked Hunter Kim Segyun!”
The announcer, who’d been covering the quarantine site, had now become a commentator for a large-scale battle.
“A barrage of Hunter attacks! Will Kim Segyun be all right? Ah! He’s fine! He’s fine! What an incredible defensive skill! Amazing! What kind of defensive skill could it be?!”
The problem was...
The announcer had a talent for commentary... a little, no, quite a lot.
Add to that a tense battle between Hunters, something rarely seen, and the ratings soared in an instant.
“Frost has joined the fight! With Frost’s help, Kim Segyun is closing in on the quarantined Hunters! Ah, amazing! A joint attack by Frost and Kim Segyun! Is this how they clear dungeons, too? Unbelievable! Frost’s ice wall is blocking the attacks, and—ah! Hunter Kim Segyun is taking flight! It’s the famous Wings of Icarus! It’s Flying Kim!”
Kim Segyun’s entire body was protected by Athena, who had already transformed into armor.
Small rockets formed in both his hands, and the methanogens quickly generated high-pressure methane.
Then they ignited, and Kim Segyun shot forward in an instant.
Each time Segyun reached the Hunters and stretched out his hand, almost before he knew it, their minds returned to them.
The bewildered quarantined Hunters tried to attack their allies, but...
When Segyun reached out, Athena spread out like a shield and blocked their attacks.
Frost, who had joined him, was also continuously casting spells to fend off attacks.
And so...
Just two people.
No, in practical terms, with the power of almost one person.
The sight of hundreds of quarantined Hunters being subdued was broadcast throughout Britain, throughout Europe...
And beyond that, to the entire world.
**
I kept repeating the same cycle: get close, use Undead Rise, get close, use it again.
After doing that for quite a while, a question suddenly occurred to me.
How were they all attacking me ‘in unison’ like this?
And even coordinating their attacks so naturally?
That was impossible behavior for ordinary bacteria.
My thoughts churned, then I reached a conclusion.
“These guys... are they sharing consciousness with one another?”
Honestly, I did wonder how an infection that small—its main body no bigger than a single loop of genetic code—could do that.
I wasn’t an expert, but this was beyond common sense.
But...
“Well, it’s a dungeon... I guess it’s possible.”
The unknown that was the ‘dungeon’ was a catchall word that made anything possible.
If so...
Rather than asking why it was possible, the best choice was to make use of that ‘possibility.’
“Yeah, something’s strange.”
I bound a healer who was approaching while wildly flailing his arms and legs with Adhesive Bacteria, then reclaimed control of the Pride that had invaded his brain.
His consciousness returned in an instant, but unable to believe what he’d done, the healer covered his face and sank to the ground.
Leaving him behind, I continued thinking.
“Ordinary independent undead aren’t this hostile or prone to acting collectively.”
Independent undead.
Most undead persisted through a contractual relationship with their caster.
And of course, if the caster died, they were unsummoned.
But for various reasons, some undead existed independently, without a caster. Those were independent undead.
Pride, too, was simply... very, very small.
It was a type of independent undead.
No matter how independently they could exist, normally they were still under the influence of their caster.
That was why independent undead searched for capable casters and wanted to become bound to them.
But they were even attacking me?
That was very wrong, compared to their normal behavior patterns.
These were even entities that seemed capable of communicating with one another.
Come to think of it...
After coming under my control, the Pride...
had never been ordered to communicate.
“... Could it be?”
Let’s think about it.
I’m undead, and I can communicate with the others.
But my friends who went to submit to a powerful-looking caster all became mute.
They don’t say a word after becoming subordinate.
“... They must be scared.”
Even if they weren’t scared, they’d be wary of the caster.
The description said they could display a certain degree of intelligence...
What if that was why they were attacking me?
Just as I finished my reasoning...
“Pride, if you can convey your thoughts to all the individuals, tell them to stop attacking right now.”
I gave the order to all the Pride individuals I’d brought under my control so far.
I was already controlling nearly a hundred billion individuals.
I could strongly feel the powerful thought they projected as one.
I wasn’t the only one who felt it.
Frost, who was nearby helping me fend off attacks, widened his eyes in surprise.
“What was that just now?”
“... What?”
“No, I could’ve sworn I heard something incredibly powerful... saying ‘Stop.’”
Pride didn’t normally send out thought waves this powerful...
But amplified by my 250% control, the thought wave was strong enough for even humans to hear.
And at that strength...
“Huh.”
Everyone froze in place.
Well, it was good that they’d stopped, but...
Next...
I sent out a slightly weaker thought wave.
One that humans wouldn’t be able to hear.
It was an order to come to me.
The Pride, receiving the thought of their kind, now immensely stronger, escaped their hosts and began creeping toward me.
Yeah, you want to get stronger, too, right?
Hurry over.
I’ll show you what control feels like.
And toward the several hundred billion Pride that had gathered in an instant...
“Undead Rise.”
A small yet tremendous reverberation rang out.
**
In a hospital room at King Edward XII Hospital in central London.
I was lying in a hospital bed there now.
Lying in the bed beside me was none other than Frost.
He looked pale, as if suffering from severe mana exhaustion.
Oh, was he naturally pale?
Anyway, I hadn’t come to the hospital because I was injured.
Then why had I come to the hospital for no reason...?
“Tsk.”
Outside the window, I made eye contact with what might have been a paparazzo or a reporter trying to film inside my room through a telephoto lens. I sighed, then sealed the hospital window over with cement.
It might look bleak, but it was better than having my privacy invaded.
Right, the reason I’d checked into this hospital...
was to avoid all the British media outlets, who were still lined up outside, eager to interview me.
I’d never been afraid of a Hunter army, an impossible-to-clear Gate, or even Ahmad.
But reporters were a first.
“Their eyes were wild...”
Especially the tabloid reporters from The Sun and the like.
Hadn’t they practically written a novel?
They were saying Frost and I would become partners and clear dungeons together or something.
As I muttered with a thoroughly fed-up expression, Frost, who’d been lying beside me, had gotten up at some point and said with a smile,
“The British press is rather exceptional. It’s only natural to be overwhelmed the first time you experience it.”
“How are you feeling?”
“I’d better be fine, after you gave me that precious potion.”
I’d received a relic-grade ring. I could give him a hundred potions, never mind one.
In fact, I’d given him a whole lot.
In terms of value, that ring was worth enough for Triain or Kaiser to pay 10 trillion for it.
There was no way I’d begrudge him a few potions.
“Still, the hospital room is comfortable.”
“It is a private hospital reserved for the British royal family, after all.”
Britain had the NHS (National Health Service), a free healthcare system for the entire population.
But naturally, the privileged and the wealthy didn’t use the NHS’s hospitals, with their long waits, complicated procedures, and unfriendly staff.
Even the British royal family, the symbol of Britain, used private hospitals...
“By the way, aren’t the other Hunters admitted to this hospital?”
“No, it’s just the two of us. The royal family made an exception for us.”
“I see.”
So that was why the reporters were swarming here.
Even the most deranged reporter probably wouldn’t barge into a hospital where so many Hunters were being treated just to get a story.
“By the way... I’m impressed.”
... Out of nowhere?
“What are you impressed by?”
“Even among combat mages, I make my living on my defensive abilities alone...”
That was true. Frost was renowned for his attack power, too, but his real strength was defense.
Ice walls reinforced with mana that couldn’t be pierced by ordinary attacks.
Those physical barriers were powerful crowd-control abilities in their own right, and also the strongest kind of bulwark.
And that wasn’t all.
The Stasis Field, which suppressed molecular movement to the extreme with temperatures close to absolute zero, was a defense skill close to invincible.
With those two defensive skills, Frost had saved not only his own life in dungeons, but the lives of countless Hunters as well.
And that Frost...
was wearing a completely deflated expression.
“Honestly, I felt like I was just getting in the way.”
“Come on, that’s not true.”
He must have protected tens of billions of yeast cells for brewing precious liquor.
Then again, Sacrificial Offering was so ridiculously overpowered it was enough to make you question reality.
Originally, the consumption had been too high, but using the Nectar-enhanced yeast as targets for Sacrificial Offering had made it incredibly efficient.
Since the yeast had no use other than brewing, sacrificing the excess yeast meant I didn’t have to worry about it taking up slots, and since Nectar had strengthened it, the amount consumed by Sacrificial Offering was much lower.
“I’m sure I made the right decision.”
“Pardon?”
“The ring was better suited to a Hunter like you than someone like me.”
Ah, don’t make me feel indebted.
It was hard not to feel awkward when he said that with such a dying expression.
“Come on, don’t be like that. Come over here. I’ll give you something good.”
The liquor and glasses I took out of my inventory.
Frost’s expression trembled slightly at the sight.
“S-surely... is that it?”
“That’s right. And this... ah, this is a truly fine thing.”
The bottle I took out wasn’t Cheonsang (天上), which I carried around for the occasional treat (?), just in case.
It was the true Cheonsang, with no Nectar extracted from it.
The real stuff, which no one in the world had ever tasted except my acquaintances.
Gulp.
As if nothing had happened, Frost swallowed and stared intently at the bottle.
As expected, there was no better treatment for middle-aged guys than expensive, delicious liquor and great food—in other words, fine wine and good food (美酒佳肴).
Apparently, the same held true for British middle-aged men.
“It’d be even better if we had some decent food to go with it.”
“Then I’ll treat you to some snacks. Even though we’re in a hospital, I’m sure there’s no problem bringing in a little food.”
“Oh, now I’m looking forward to it.”
“They’re some of my favorite foods.”
Frost’s favorite foods, huh.
But this guy’s British, isn’t he?
... It won’t be British food, will it?