[At that moment, in a high-end apartment in South Korea.]
“Damn it, that should have been the Turtle Ship.”
A middle-aged man in a white lab coat scowled at the battleship Illinois on the TV screen, brimming with frustration as he watched the American Hunters standing atop it.
“Even if it wasn’t the Turtle Ship, wouldn’t it be great if it were at least a warship named after one of our generals? Just imagine, the U.S. trembling, Russia losing its mind. Damn it, this is rotten.”
He couldn’t help but be annoyed.
Outside the window—
– Jo Bok-pal, step down!
-Resign! Resign!
Even though he lived in a luxury apartment, a gathered crowd was shouting into microphones just outside.
– Jo Bok-pal, who proposed the Hunter Conscription Law, step down!
– Because of you, the Master went to America!
– The thirteen traitors who enforced the conscription—resign immediately!
“Damn hypocrites. They were all for forcing Hunters into service when it suited them.”
After the Master left for the U.S., people initially assumed it was because he hated Korea.
But as he continued to raid America’s S-rank Towers, public opinion began to shift.
– What if he left Korea and sided with the U.S. because of the forced conscription law?
Setting aside whether America was a good country or not, at the very least, no nation in the world forcibly conscripted Hunters into six-month military service.
Even before the Jeju S-rank Tower was cleared, such suspicions had been floating around. And now that he had left for America, the situation had worsened.
– Jo Bok-pal, one of the thirteen who pushed for the conscription law, must surrender his badge!!
The entire nation had turned on him.
On the National Assembly website, people began tracking down the names of the thirteen lawmakers who had co-sponsored the Hunter Conscription Law, the bill suspected of playing a decisive role in forcing the Master to leave for America. A full-scale digital inquisition had begun.
Is Korea really okay?
In the era of Hunters and Towers, the fact that the nation’s most powerful EX-rank Awakened had chosen to leave was a cause for deep concern.
Yet, no one was willing to take a scalpel to the rotting tumor. The ones who should have wielded it were instead paralyzed, fearing public outrage.
Beep Beep Beep Beep.
Jo Bok-pal’s phone rang.
“What is it?”
[Sir, it seems hopeless.]
The voice on the other end, his aide, sounded utterly defeated.
Jo Bok-pal was about to snap in anger but instead let out a hollow laugh.
“Hopeless? What exactly? The president’s approval ratings? My assembly seat? Or perhaps Ironblood’s chances of recovery?”
[…All three.]
“You bastard.”
[Sir, I’m being serious. Wouldn’t it be better to activate that plan? Leak some internal information as a whistleblower, test the waters, and step down quietly—]
“Shut up, you idiot!”
Jo Bok-pal ended the call before the conversation could continue.
“Unbelievable. I take in a washed-up aide out of pity, and he tries to use me as a scapegoat?”
He quickly accessed a special messaging app—not a regular one, but a highly secure, anonymous platform that ensured no information leaked to the public.
A video played.
It showed a dimly lit hospital room, almost resembling a psychiatric ward. A woman was strapped down, her entire body restrained.
[Mmph! Mmphhh! Mmphhh!!]
Even with a gag in her mouth to prevent self-harm, she struggled violently.
Several people in white lab coats approached with syringes, but they were unable to properly inject her.
“Damn it. Useless b*tch.”
Jo Bok-pal sank into his chair, staring out at the thousands of protestors gathered below his window, their faces illuminated by the city lights.
“Everything is useless. Damn it, should I really go along with that?”
He took a swig of wine straight from the bottle, as if it were soju, scratching his head in frustration.
“A national emergency….”
Above, the sky loomed over the world like an immense Tower. The international community had officially named it [Babel]—and because of its existence, several third-world nations had already declared emergency rule, with their presidents and prime ministers seizing extraordinary powers.
If they could do it, why couldn’t he?
Some nations speculated that S-rank Towers were merely stepping stones for the SS-rank monsters that would descend from Babel, and had begun forcibly mobilizing Hunters.
Others feared that the U.S. would demand resources or exorbitant rewards in exchange for clearing S-rank Towers and preemptively formed emergency task forces to claim them first.
Still others clung to hope—
– Maybe an EX-rank Awakened will appear in our country!
In those nations, every newly Awakened individual was closely scrutinized for any sign of exceptional power.
And Korea?
“Damn it. If only the Master hadn’t wiped out all our S-rank Towers…!”
Aside from Babel looming overhead, there was nothing left to inspire the kind of dramatic panic he needed.
As a result, unlike other countries, Korea’s attention had turned inward—toward its own corruption, rather than external threats.
“In that case….”
Now that he had become a tumor, if he was going to lose everything anyway—
Bzzzzzt.
“Huh?”
A sudden sound.
All the electronics in his house shut off.
The refrigerator, the TV that had been faintly illuminating the dark living room—everything, including his smartphone.
“W-what the hell…?”
A blackout.
As he turned his head in confusion—
Crunch.
“!!”
Something massive clamped around his face.
“Grk…! Hrk…! Gragh…!”
[Jo Bok-pal.]
A voice, distorted beyond recognition. The one gripping his face spoke.
[For the Miracle of the Peninsula, you need to step down.]
“Y-you… what…!?”
[We will create a new order.]
The moment Jo Bok-pal locked eyes with the masked figure, he saw it—
A pair of glowing blue eyes beneath the mask.
“You… you people…! This is a coup! A rebellion!”
[No. We have no intention of seizing the country by force.]
“And yet you pull something like this…!”
[This should have happened long ago. Among the 300, it was only natural that there should be those who represent the voices of the Awakened.]
Crackle!
[As of today, the history that forced Awakened into political neutrality is erased.]
“Gghh…! Aaaghh!!”
[And furthermore…]
Beneath the mask—
[I will stand upon this peninsula, carrying on his will.]
Lightning surged from those blue eyes, coursing through Jo Bok-pal’s entire body.
[First and foremost…]
As if—
[I will take the seat you abandoned when you stepped down as a lawmaker—through the will of the people.]
It was as if something deep within him, something that should never be tampered with, was being manipulated—
* * *
BOOM!
The roar of exploding missiles.
Illinois unleashed a barrage of fire, intercepting incoming enemies.
[Patrick! What are you doing?! Shoot!]
[“D-damn it! There’s too many of them jumping onto the ship!”]
The battlefield ahead resembled the Panama Canal—a long, narrow waterway stretching forward.
Fortunately, Illinois could pass through, but the unique terrain made those on the deck uneasy.
Shhhh!
A waterfall—
Or rather, it felt like a waterfall.
Though Illinois was racing across the water, the liquid flowed downward on both sides, cascading in perfect symmetry.
[Ahhh! It’s a sharp turn!]
[M-Master! Slow down!!]
The crew panicked, but there was no slowing down.
Instead, Illinois was maneuvered with precise acceleration, drifting along the watery track as if piloting a kart.
Swish!
The current poured downward on either side.
Illinois barely kept to the path, skimming the edge, but anyone standing on deck must have glimpsed the abyss below.
A bottomless pit.
A fall meant death.
Without flight abilities, anyone who fell here was gone for good.
The Panama Canal’s S-rank Tower was treacherous. The path twisted and turned with no protective barriers—only sheer cliffs on either side.
As if that weren’t enough, ghostly figures drifted in the air, attempting to knock anyone on the waterway into the abyss.
[Aaaahhh!!]
[T-the terrain is worse than the monsters!!]
The Hunters’ fear was justified.
Trusting someone else with your life required deep confidence. A single mistake, even a slight one, could spell disaster.
‘That’s why I’m even more focused right now.’
Shhhhh.
I concentrated fully, ensuring Illinois stayed on course through the treacherous waterway.
Though my body kept moving forward, I remained hyper-aware of the battlefield, controlling Illinois with utmost precision to avoid plummeting off the edge.
“Commander, sorry to interrupt, but have you found it yet?”
Drei approached.
Given how quickly we had located the boss room in this jungle-like expanse, she was feeling a bit relaxed.
“Should we call off our bet? There’s no sign of a path to the boss room in the Panama sector.”
Elaine also stepped closer.
“Is Illinois not enough?”
“That’s… haah, I don’t know. There’s a difference between a battlefield where Illinois can shine and a Tower that Illinois can actually clear.”
A battleship that stretches 250 meters long, taking down a Tower boss?
In the case of the Golden Gate Bridge, the environment and the boss’s weaknesses aligned perfectly, making the raid possible.
But most S-rank Towers, like this one in Crater Lake National Park, were designed for human-scale combat.
If this had to be cleared solely by individual fighters…
“No choice. Elaine, Drei, start the boss room raid.”
“What about Panama?”
“Just because things look bad there doesn’t mean we can ignore this place. The world is hoping for at least one more Tower to be cleared as soon as—huh?”
For a split second, I saw it.
“Wow… The dungeon master of the Panama Tower is a real bastard.”
A shadowy abyss.
“Hiding it right under our noses, huh? Just like the saying, ‘the darkest place is under the lamp.’”
Beneath the track—
A glowing teleportation array shimmered.
If this battlefield were a cube, then the transfer zone was on the opposite face from where Illinois was racing.
“No other choice, then.”
I briefly halted Illinois’s controls.
“We’re going down the hard way—wall-climbing it is.”
