Chapter 565

After Magic Johnson left, I texted Chief Choi, who still wasn’t answering, then headed straight for my private office at the top of the guild house.

Bang. I heard the door slam roughly behind me and collapsed onto the floor.

A hundred-square-meter space with just a tiny desk and one chair.

Office by name, but really a training hall. As soon as I entered, I pulled out my smartphone and inserted the chip.

Click.

The brand-new phone I’d recently switched to had every feature imaginable.

Among them was a holographic video playback function, which had become commonplace over the past decade.

Bzzz.

A faint noise sounded as the device began to project light.

With a quick use of Telekinetic Grab, I pulled the blackout curtains shut and focused on the hologram filling the dark office.

Chzzz. Crackle.

Static.

BOOM, KWAANG!

A thunderous roar.

Chiriririk!

The cries of monsters.

Aaaagh!

The screams of humans.

All of it tangled and scattered before my eyes. The tents and buildings were transformed into a hellish battlefield.

‘Mutated Gate.’

Those words came to mind naturally at that moment.

In the name of Allah!

Waaaaah!

A group with military caps and turbans charged forward, screaming with desperation.

Their entire bodies, likely Arab, were soaked in someone’s red blood.

Among them were even children who looked no older than elementary schoolers.

‘Children… No way these guys are regular troops.’

It was obvious from their mismatched gear, but they were clearly Middle Eastern rebels who’d stained the region with blood even before the Great Cataclysm.

And then—

“Uaaah! G-God is great!”

At the terrified child’s cry, dozens of firearms opened fire.

Tat-tat! Rattattat!

Whoosh, boom—

Any normal human would have been shredded instantly by that barrage. But their opponents were neither normal nor human.

KWAANG!

A huge pillar of fire erupted with the explosion.

While the rebels gasped for breath in the black smoke, a flash of light split the smoke in two.

Swish, slice!

A single strike was enough. Blood-red mana, shaped like a crescent moon, severed everything in its path.

Necks, waists, chests—it didn’t matter. The result was the same.

Death.

Splaaash!

A moment later, a fountain of blood sprayed out, staining the sand red.

The rebels, witnessing their twenty comrades’ gruesome end right before their eyes, stared wide-eyed.

“M-Masoud!”

Oh God—

But their god neither appeared nor answered his believers’ cries.

What appeared instead was a monster clad in green chitin armor.

Chiririririk.

A triangular head, two twitching antennae. The monster with scythe-like forelegs was a mantis.

It was huge, looming over grown men, and its mana-infused body wasn’t even scratched by the rebels’ earlier barrage.

“G-Giant Mantis…”

As someone whispered its name in a groan, the giant foreleg swung down again.

Whoosh, slice—
A rebel frozen in fear was split in two. The mana-laced attack ripped everything apart like arrows.

Slice! Slice! KWAANG!

People, weapons—even a tank rushed to the scene—were all helpless before the onslaught of mana.

With every slicing blow, explosions and screams echoed, and before long, five Giant Mantises were charging at the humans.

Chichichit!

Chiriiit!

Thud! Splaash!

Each time that eerie cry sounded, the limbs of the hundred-strong rebels flew and blood splattered.

Those who screamed for God, those who ran in terror—all collapsed into the sand, never to rise again.

“Uwa, uwaaagh!”

Thud—

The scythe-like foreleg slashed through a man’s back and shattered his sternum.

The Giant Mantis, finishing off the last resisting rebel, suddenly turned.

Its red eye jutting from the side of its face stared straight into the camera.

‘It spotted the camera.’

It looked at the camera, and I looked at it.

And just as the Giant Mantis, sensing something off, carefully approached the camera—

– The flames of God will descend upon this place. [Fire Rain]!

WHOOSH—
Someone’s angry shout. At the same time, dozens of fireballs formed by mana rained down like meteors over the Giant Mantis’s shoulder.

Chiriririt!

Letting out a bizarre screech, the Giant Mantis swung its forelegs at the fireballs.

KWAANG!

With the impact, the screen—or rather, the whole area—was dyed red. Dozens of Hunters broke through the exploding fireballs and rushed into the battlefield from afar.

Allahu Akbar!
God is great! Kill all those demons!

Krk, chiii!

Humans and monsters. Monsters and humans.

The two races once again began a fight to the death. But I couldn’t watch the battle to its end.

Chzzz. Crackle. Pop!

It was all over in an instant.

With a surge of static, the hologram video filling the room vanished without a trace.

“Phew.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding and picked up my phone.

Checking the chip’s contents, I saw there were still over twenty videos left.

‘Damn, how long has it been since I last got a batch of videos?’

Mana levels up seven percent from last year.

Some idiots might think that’s “only” a small change.

But just as even a slight drop in oxygen concentration is a big deal, this was proof that things were going off the rails.

No, maybe…

‘This might be the start of the second Great Cataclysm.’

And as I checked the rest of the videos one by one, the anxiety in my chest began to take on a definite shape.

‘Europe, the Middle East, West Africa, Southeast Asia… What is this, a global festival?’

Simultaneous upheaval was already happening all over the world.

New Gates were opening on the green hills of Switzerland—where you’d expect to see Patrasche running with a dog chew—while monsters poured out of neglected low-grade Gates as rebels and regular armies exchanged artillery fire elsewhere.

In some videos, they managed to contain things early thanks to thorough preparation, but in more than half the cases, serious damage was done before the monsters could be driven back.

‘This isn’t right.’

As I kept playing the videos, I suddenly furrowed my brow.

I realized that this kind of damage wasn’t just because the Gates were poorly guarded.

And then, in that instant, it wasn’t just realization that hit me.

Ding.

A faint elevator sound reached my ears, and I sensed two people gradually approaching.

Recognizing the presence of uninvited guests, I reached out my hand.

Whoosh—A warm breeze stirred.

The energy flowing from my palm softly pushed open the door, and familiar faces came into view.

“Took you long enough. Do you know how long ago I texted?”

“Sorry. I was in a situation where I couldn’t be reached.”

I’d been about to scold them for being late, but tilted my head in confusion.

“Couldn’t be reached? Did you go into a Gate or something?”

“Hmm, something like that.”

“…It’s either yes or no, not ‘something like that.’”

“Butler Kim and I had somewhere to stop by. It was important business, so there was no choice.”

Chief Choi answered smoothly, stepping inside. Naturally, Butler Kim followed and closed the door with a light nod.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen him, too.’

Butler Kim, who rarely showed his face at the guild, and some important business together. What could it be?

It left me with questions, but right now, there were more urgent matters.

Chief Choi, knowing that too, spoke first.

“We’ll leave that for later. First, let’s check the information Mr. Johnson sent.”

“Here.”

Once again, the hologram played, and who knows how much time passed.

After reviewing all the videos and attached documents, the two of them looked grim.

“Mana levels worldwide up seven percent?”

The always gentle voice now cracked. Butler Kim turned to Chief Choi, almost groaning.

“Young master.”

“Yes. It’s progressing faster than I expected. The situation is serious.”

A seven percent increase isn’t just a rise—it’s a surge.

And this drastic change in mana levels was especially obvious in the videos.

“The monsters…”

I nodded, picking up where Chief Choi left off.

“Yes. They’ve gotten insanely strong.”

A rise in mana means monsters get stronger.

Just look at that Giant Mantis in the first video taking [Fire Rain] head-on and still fighting—it says it all.

‘It’s like a Chikorita getting a suntan from a Charizard’s flames.’

Type matchups should exist, but with increased mana, even the strong-weak relationships between monsters were getting blurred.

With things this messed up, places that minimized Hunter usage just in case were getting wiped out.

To sum up the current situation in one line…

“We’re screwed. It’s complete chaos right now.”

The pace is nuts. At this rate, by year’s end, there’ll probably be monsters in the weather forecast.

The pretty weathercaster will point to a tiny map of Korea and calmly say,

—Tomorrow in Cheorwon, Gangwon-do, instead of snow, expect a goblin storm. Up to 20 meters could pile up, so everyone grab your shields and antidotes and evacuate.

Damn it, as if snowstorms weren’t bad enough—monster storms?

The thought of monsters falling from the sky makes my chest feel tight.

Of course, I’m not planning to just sit on my hands until then. Whatever it takes, I’ll stop Korea from turning into hell on earth.

‘I was keeping it in mind just in case… but this is all happening way too fast.’

I thought we’d have more time, but now I realized I’d have to move up the plans I’d started working on since Murim.

Just as that weighed on my mind—

“At this rate, there’s no hiding it anymore.”

Chief Choi turned off the hologram and spoke in a heavy tone.

“We’re already past what can be covered up at the national level. If word gets out any later, it’ll only make the chaos worse.”

This wasn’t just a wave passing by—it was a tsunami that could sweep away whole cities.

I sighed and asked,

“What are you going to do, Chief Choi?”

“For now, Gate security is the top priority. We have to build a breakwater before the tsunami hits.”

“Strengthen Gate security?”

“If we do that, we’ll have fewer people for raids and won’t be able to fully use all of Peace Guild’s Gates. But I know what matters most.”

“That’s good to hear.”

I couldn’t help but smile at those words.

Chief Choi always stuck to what was right. Even with his ambition to swallow up Ares Guild, he knew when to press forward and when to stand his ground.

‘That’s the biggest difference between him and Lee Cheongryong.’

As I thought that, I spoke again.

“So for now, we focus on the Gates. Too bad, but anything related to Ares Guild will have to wait—”

“Jin Taekyung.”

“…Yes?”

At some point, Chief Choi’s clear eyes were staring straight at me.

“I said Gate security is the top priority. I never said I’d put off anything related to Ares Guild.”

…What?

I couldn’t help but open my eyes wide. Just then, Chief Choi continued.

“I told you, I had important business earlier.”

“Then that important business was…?”

“A key figure from Ares Guild. In the past, he was a war hero who helped my maternal grandfather quell the Great Cataclysm, Lee Jeong-ryong’s most trusted friend, and now the leader of the biggest internal faction threatening Seok Gojun.”

His voice was as gentle as ever, but now carried hidden thorns.

“Everything crumbles from within.”

* * * * * * *

(T/N: Still not back to a regular upload schedule, but I’ll be uploading at least 5 chapters per series every week, in order based on the most recent series I picked up. No fixed days yet, but I’ll keep the bulk uploads coming as best as I can!)