Chapter 99
Hmm, even so, a Demon King's authority...
Is Germ Man evolving into Demon King Germ Man?
... That's pretty cool, actually.
No, that's not the point.
I wonder if there are any side effects, like a human shouldn't be able to obtain it.
Maybe I've become too distrustful of humans—or, no, Demon Kings.
Still, in this line of work, you don't last long if you gobble up anything you find.
No matter how tempting the honey pot looks, you have to think carefully before you eat it.
Seeing that I seemed a little worried, Gremory smiled and said.
“I am a demon who cannot tell a lie. You don't need to worry.”
Well, do people who lie say, “I'm lying” to begin with?
I replied indifferently and checked the item description first.
[Gremory's Authority Fragment (Bound)]
Description: A fragment of authority bestowed by Demon King Gremory upon her benefactor. Only ‘Kim Segyun’ can absorb it. The strength of the authority bestowed increases as Demon King Gremory grows stronger. Can be taken orally.
That was the item description.
Going by the description, there shouldn't be any problem using it.
“Go ahead and use it.”
Even Gremory was urging me on expectantly.
I nodded and swallowed the orb.
With a faint peach scent, vitality spread throughout my entire body.
It felt as if the fatigue from the long campaign vanished all at once.
And...
[You have obtained a 10% stake in Gremory's domain.]
[You may claim rights to 10% of the territory ruled by Gremory.]
[You share 10% of Gremory's authority.]
[If Gremory wishes, she may reclaim the authority she bestowed upon you. However, she must offer equivalent compensation at a level you find acceptable.]
[Gremory's Authority ─ Healing]
Description: The authority of healing bestowed by Demon King Gremory. Greatly increases your recovery ability.
[Gremory's Authority ─ Charm]
Description: The authority of charm bestowed by Demon King Gremory. Before awakening, the authority of charm does not exist. Instead, it grants powerful mental fortitude. You can effectively defend against any mental enchantment.
The authority was as I'd expected.
A ten percent stake?
Guess I'm a business owner now.
If you think about it, this is a 10% stake with a buyback clause.
“I think you gave me too much.”
“Oh my, how modest. Compared to what I received, it's nothing.”
Is Nectar really that effective?
“Actually, a stake is more precious to a Demon King than their life. The yield from a domain is the Demon King's authority, after all. Giving you a share of it means... that you are a great benefactor who will help me grow my domain.”
What was this, some kind of lovey-dovey land development story with a Demon Queen...?
“If you wished, I would truly like to take you as my consort... and I could give up an even larger stake if I did.”
She smiled at me.
As expected of a Demon King. She gave me a lethal smile, and I shook my head.
“I'll pass.”
I might have just received this authority one-sidedly, but marriage isn't something where only one side gets something.
The more stake and authority I gained, the more restrictions there'd obviously be.
So the best thing to do was quickly take care of the quests and enjoy the benefits of the authority.
Perhaps she'd read my expression, because Gremory let out a low sigh, looking deeply disappointed.
“I suppose that's the right choice, since you're human. The eternal struggles of demons aren't suited to humans.”
Just as I thought.
I'm experienced enough by now to know.
“Tell me what I need to do next.”
It was hard enough to set foot in North Korea as it was, so I should get everything I could done before I left.
But...
“For now, all you need to do is wait.”
“Pardon?”
“The Demon Kings' assembly will be held six months from now.”
“... It's that far away?”
[Epic Saga Quest 53/70, ‘Attend the Assembly,’ continues.]
[Time remaining: 182 days, 18 hours, 11 minutes]
[Return to Gremory's domain, where the assembly will be held, before time expires.]
That was indeed the next quest.
Six months from now.
“It takes place once every five years. It's not easy for all the Demon Kings to gather in such a vast Demon Realm. This time, it's my domain's turn to host it, too.”
Once every five years...
At least it was fortunate that there were only six months left.
“The hierarchy of the Demon Realm is determined at this assembly. The distribution of many privileges changes according to that hierarchy. That's why I was trying to find the Demon God's power, to raise my rank in a short time. I was going to ask you to help for at least a few months, but...”
... So I'd skipped dozens of stages, leaving more than six months to spare?
That said, I couldn't just sit around waiting inside the Gate.
Did that mean I had no choice but to leave and come back?
Back to North Korea in six months...
Would I be able to?
**
I came out of the Gate tense, but unexpectedly, the atmosphere was subdued.
Well, with all those labor-camp Hunters filled with resentment now free, and the five Hunters at the heart of North Korea's power dead...
North Korea couldn't be in good enough shape to worry about this, too.
I flew to the rendezvous point and activated the transmitter I'd hidden on the beach. A rubber boat began approaching from a distance along the coast.
“Victory. Hunter Kim Segyun. We've come to escort you.”
“All right. Let's go.”
The nuclear submarine arrived before long.
Once I boarded the surfaced submarine, I finally felt some of the tension drain away.
As expected, just being on North Korean soil was enough to make me tense.
It was only natural, since it was an enemy state.
“Hunter Kim Segyun, welcome back aboard.”
I returned Colonel Won Seong-hun's light salute and asked,
“Is it okay to stay surfaced like this? When we came in, we infiltrated while submerged because we might be spotted.”
“The situation inside North Korea is bad, so they likely don't have time to pay attention to us.”
“Oh, what happened?”
I was curious.
“You'll have to get the details when we return, but... to sum it up, large-scale coups are breaking out in various regions of North Korea. Chairman Kim has gathered his supporters en masse in Pyongyang and launched a counterattack.”
“That's good news.”
Maybe this was a chance to change things around?
I hoped they'd overhaul the whole system and improve relations with our country, too.
Then I wouldn't have to go in there so inconveniently.
**
The nuclear submarine arrived at Jinhae, a major naval port.
Perhaps the Navy had been notified in advance, because Zephyros, Senior Choi, and Gyu-seon were there to meet me.
“You must all be busy. What brings you here...”
“What do you mean, what brings us here? We came to see the face of the guy who got nuked.”
“Heh heh, I'm in one piece, right?”
“You seem fine, except for your brains. Good grief, what a life I lead.”
They must've been really worried.
I would've been, too.
It wasn't like I meant to get hit by a nuke, so what could I do?
“A-are you really okay?”
“Yes, Gyu-seon. I'm fine.”
“Thank goodness... Thank goodness...”
Gyu-seon hugged me, tears welling in their eyes.
“I'm sorry for making you worry.”
“No...”
Senior Choi just snorted, then came closer and whispered to me.
“The nuke... was it worth getting hit by?”
“... Do you want to try getting hit by one?”
“If it helps me build muscle.”
“......”
That man was crazy, and not even in a good way.
After I caught up briefly with the three of them, another familiar face appeared right away.
“Hunter Kim.”
“Director Jo.”
It was Jo Hyeong-bin, Director of the Awakened Management Bureau.
He seemed a little hurried.
“Would you be available for a press conference?”
“A press conference... what kind of press conference?”
“A brief one about this operation...”
“... Wasn't this operation classified?”
“The North Koreans have already exposed everything. That's why we need to explain.”
As he spoke, Director Jo Hyeong-bin played a video on his phone.
It was a video of the familiar, furious anchor from Korean Central Television speaking.
[The Republic's five great hunters went forth, but were stymied by the scheming of the South Joseon hunter. They burned with the pride of the Republic and heroically perished alongside the South Korean reactionary in the glory of the Republic's nuclear might. In honor of their sacrifice, our great Chairman...]
“... But I'm fine.”
“That's the thing. We knew, of course, but couldn't reveal it. But now the North is spreading reports like that everywhere... The press and the internet are in an uproar. For the past few days, the news has been full of reports of Kim Segyun's death and the nuclear explosion in North Hamgyeong Province.”
... If I'd spent just a few more days inside the Gate, this could've been a disaster.
“I'll do it. But shouldn't we coordinate with the government?”
“We have. Here's the government's official statement. Just stick to this.”
In any case, the fact that I'd entered the North without authorization was unavoidable.
“An emergency landing mid-flight?”
“We'll say you were caught in a jet stream and blown off course.”
“Isn't that too far-fetched?”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“... No.”
Right, I shouldn't have been caught in the first place, but now that I had been, there was nothing to do.
I agreed to coordinate our story with the government and headed straight to the press conference venue they'd prepared.
But this wasn't the overheated atmosphere I remembered from press conferences.
“We've only gathered reporters from media outlets that agreed to the government's terms. They'll ask only the questions we've approved, and we've filtered out almost all the difficult ones. There may be one or two tricky questions, but they'll be within the guidelines we've agreed on in advance.”
“Understood.”
At least that was a relief.
I was too tired for a chaotic press conference.
“All right, Hunter Kim Segyun is coming in. We'll start the live broadcast in one minute, so everyone get ready.”
The reporters seemed to calmly follow the government officials' instructions, confirming that they had indeed coordinated with the government.
“Five seconds to broadcast, four, three, two... now!”
At the same time, the reporters all thrust their microphones forward as if they'd rehearsed it.
But...
“Wait, wait, cut! Cut! What's happening with the broadcast? Why isn't it working?”
When the public broadcaster's director of photography shouted in confusion,
People all around raised their phones.
Every phone showed No Service.
The same thing was happening regardless of carrier.
I raised my phone, and sure enough, it had zero bars.
There was hardly anywhere in South Korea without cell service, so it should've worked here, too.
“Why now, of all times!”
“Shit!”
Harsh curses directed at the carriers came from all around.
But...
Zephyros hurried up onto the stage, took me with him, and said,
“It's a hack.”
“What?”
Instead of the Ansible Earring connected to me, Zephyros tapped the communications earring he wore on his other ear and said,
“A message came from NIS headquarters. They say there's a nationwide cyberattack on the communications network, believed to be North Korea's doing. Most of South Korea's major websites are under attack, too.”
“... Shit.”
“It's probably retaliation.”
“Those bastards, seriously.”
I knew North Korea cultivated cyberwarfare capabilities at the state level, but...
Now that they'd mobilized all of it for retaliation, it seemed inevitable that society as a whole would be temporarily paralyzed.
“How long to contain it?”
“At least a day or two.”
That was horrifying.
They said the communications network would be down for a day or two, but...
That was the same as saying South Korea's economy would grind to a halt for a day or two.
South Korea's GDP was close to 3 trillion dollars...
Divide that by 365, and that's 8.2 billion dollars.
Nearly ten trillion won in GDP moved every day, and a significant portion of that would be lost.
“This is insane.”
No matter how powerful a Hunter I was,
there was no way I could stop a cyberattack like this.
Just as I thought that...
─ T h i s . m a s t e r . i s . s t u p i d
Greed's voice suddenly sounded in my head.
Was this bastard taking a random jab at me?
Maybe I should just tell Gluttony to eat him.
─ A p p e t i t e . i s . t r o u b l e s o m e
Then hurry up and tell me. Are you saying there's a way to fix this?
─ T h a t . t h i n g . c a l l e d . a . c o m m u n i c a t i o n s . n e t w o r k . i s . n o t . m u c h . d i f f e r e n t . f r o m . m y . n e r v e s
... That's true.
Wait, then...
Greed, are you saying you can respond to the hack?
─ P o s s i b l e . i f . m y . n e r v e s . c a n . r e a c h . f r o m . t h e . c e n t e r . o f . e v e r y . n e t w o r k
The center of the network.
The telecom carrier's central servers.
But this guy... he wasn't planning anything stupid, was he?
─ I . c a n n o t . g o . a g a i n s t . m y . m a s t e r ' s . w i l l . w i t h . s t u p i d . t h i n g s
Right, then first...
“Sir.”
“Hm? Wait, I'm a little busy.”
Zephyros was busy talking to headquarters through an item in place of the communications line, which was down, so I spoke to him seriously.
“There's a way to resolve the hacking crisis.”
“... What?”