Chapter 739
The ten Monster Waves that erupted in a single day were enough to plunge the entire world into shock and fear.
Worse, the incident sites were all capital cities or major cities known by name alone.
Although several major guilds—led by the Odin Guild—moved quickly to suppress the Monster Waves, the damage was truly enormous.
This horrific catastrophe has already claimed thousands of lives, and the count is still rising.
People huddled in their homes or emergency shelters, on edge, and Michael Silbert did not miss the moment when the world’s attention was fixed on him.
“This is footage our Odin Guild obtained during the first Monster Wave in Paris.”
And the people who finally saw the released CCTV footage were shocked all over again.
[Odin Guild Leader Michael Silbert, “This was a meticulously planned terror attack carried out before the Monster Wave.”]
[A man-made disaster, not a natural disaster.]
[A disaster born of malice.]
[Ten assassins armed with bombs and Magic Crystal Stones. Who are the suicide bombers captured on the released CCTV footage?]
[CCTV analysis by experts, “Each carried multiple unrefined A-grade Magic Crystal Stones and carried out terrorism targeting areas near Gates with high Mana distribution.”]
[The world shudders at a terrible déjà vu. “Remember what happened in South Korea.”]
[Smuggling bombs and unrefined A-grade Magic Crystal Stones is a clear violation of international law.]
[The source of the Magic Crystal Stones is Ifrikiya and the Middle East.]
Countless reports poured in from every direction.
As it became clear that this Monster Wave wasn’t an unavoidable natural disaster but a tragedy caused by terrorism, people were seized with anger and frustration, and the internet boiled over.
‘Seriously. These lunatics.’
‘Are they actually insane?’
‘The truth has to be revealed to the world. Hang every last one of them.’
‘By the way, I saw a foreign article mention South Korea. Is that about the Seok Go-jun incident from a while back?’
‘Yeah. And because of that, the Korea-hating bastards are frothing at the mouth. Saying the root of all evil is Korea.’
‘I’m speechless. If it wasn’t for Cheon Taemin in the first place, they wouldn’t even be alive.’
‘But what country are those idiots from?’
Jajang. Wasabi.
Ah.
Sure, I could understand Nippon—they’ve always been like that.
But why were the Chinese acting like this? Had they already forgotten the help they received from Cheon Taemin?
“China.”
One word said it all.
Still, since China had received help before, it was definitely less severe than Japan. Some people were even digging into the IQs of those cursing Cheon Taemin in the comments and giving them a proper lesson.
‘…I have an IQ of 110. Can my location be tracked with that?’
‘I don’t know about anything else, but I’ve seen plenty of people cursing Korea in foreign communities. Cheon Taemin and Jin Taekyung worked hard to raise Korea’s standing, but that bastard Seok Go-jun ruined it all.’
‘Jin Taekyung raised Korea’s standing? Are you sure? He hasn’t shown his face at all today. And your Air Self-Defense Force hasn’t been seen since it got smacked by a Wyvern either.’
‘Honestly, I enjoyed watching Tokyo Tower collapse.’
‘Welcome here.’
‘Does Cheon Taemin have ten bodies, you Jap bastard? And look at the internet. Taekyung ran around like crazy today.’
‘Even if he was late, seeing him try to save even one person… it moved me.’
‘So if you criticize Korea, you automatically get treated like you’re Japanese, LOL. Too bad—I’m Korean?’
‘If you want to pretend you’re Korean next time, please remove the W key from your keyboard;;’
‘It’s a waste of time paying attention to those trolls. What matters is figuring out what organization the terrorists belong to, and why they did this.’
‘They’re all from Arab countries. It’s obviously either al-Qaeda or ISIS.’
‘If it’s that obvious, why are the victim countries still postponing a joint statement or an official announcement?’
‘Because this needs a clear confirmation process. al-Qaeda and ISIS have already taken massive losses.’
‘I agree with the comment above. Their main base got raided a few weeks ago, their leader was killed, and he got replaced.’
No one on the planet was unaware of the bloodstorm that had swept through the Middle East and Africa.
A mysterious vigilante whose face, name, and even gender were unknown.
They had severed the heads of terrorist and rebel groups, and the two forces—thrown into an instant leadership vacuum—had raised the white flag after violent internal strife and enormous losses.
‘So doesn’t that make it even more likely? Even if they’re weakened, even if they lost their leader, revenge terrorism across the world is plausible.’
‘There are a lot of kids here who probably don’t know, but when the U.S. was attacked on 9/11, Hussein was also terrified and denied it was them.’
‘They basically declared surrender recently, saying they wouldn’t commit any more terrorist attacks, so stop it.’
‘But this time it hit ten countries, including the U.S. Does that make sense?’
‘No matter how crazy they are, it’s impossible. Even the current leaders of Middle Eastern terrorist groups are said to be moderates.’
‘Then what is it?’
This wasn’t just a question Korean netizens were asking.
News sites and communities around the world were blazing with fierce debate.
And the answer was soon captured on video and broadcast worldwide.
“I declare in the name of the Prophet.”
Dim lighting.
A figure in a robe pulled down low.
On the noisy screen, the person calling themself the Prophet pointed at the two heads placed before them and continued.
“I will erase the apostates who abandoned their faith for their own safety from this sacred land, and I will establish only righteous revenge and justice in this world.”
It wasn’t hard for people to recognize whose heads they were.
They were the leaders of the most dangerous terrorist groups on earth—men who had made a humiliating declaration of surrender not long ago.
ISIS.
And al-Qaeda.
Before those former leaders, brutally beheaded, the Prophet slowly parted their lips.
“As long as God is with us, we will not stop. Starting today, we will judge and punish you.”
People watching the video swallowed without realizing.
Punishment.
Today’s tragedy was only the beginning.
And those staring wide-eyed in disbelief understood instinctively.
That the person calling themself the Prophet wasn’t speaking empty words.
That they would detonate bombs anywhere in the world—right now—and cause another disaster.
And then, the Prophet’s final words pierced the ears of the frozen audience.
“Inshallah. Know that all of this began with you.”
Bzzzt.
The short video ended in harsh static.
No—just as everyone thought it was over, another feed began to transmit.
A dark night with barely any moonlight.
Someone standing tall in a desert full of blood and corpses suddenly raised their head.
The face, barely visible behind the mask, resembled someone everyone knew.
===
Skeleton King walked down the empty hallway.
Balancing a silver tray in one hand, he kept his gaze fixed on the smartphone screen in the other.
[7 Days Stained with Blood.]
[Monster Wave Occurs in Madrid, Spain. Another Terror Attack?]
[The Terrorist of the Century Who Vanished Like a Ghost, “Prophet.”]
[Video Analysis Shows 99.99% Match. Another Identity of the Young Hero.]
[Joongok Ilbo editorial writer Lee Kang-hee, “A tragedy caused by futile heroism.”]
[Tense public opinion. A criminal intoxicated with heroism, or a vigilante of the dark?]
“…Damn humans.”
Skeleton King muttered under his breath.
Even a quick glance was enough to see that the internet news sites were a disaster.
The front pages were filled with nothing but inflammatory headlines and blatant criticism, and comment wars raged beneath them.
“Look at that reporter’s skill at baiting with titles.”
“LOL. They’re insane about boosting views. The content’s nothing special—just stitched together.”
“But if you only look at the title, it’s not entirely wrong, is it?”
“Honestly, I like Cheon Taemin too, but I think he moved rashly this time.”
“You can’t complain even if he gets criticized for this.”
“What do you mean you can’t complain? You all loved it a few weeks ago when he wiped out al-Qaeda and the rest. You said it was refreshing, whoever he was.”
“That doesn’t mean it was a good thing.”
“You liked it then and not now? You’re insane.”
“The situation changed. How many people have died now? National pride is one thing, personal fandom is another, but look how serious this has gotten because of Jin Taekyung.”
“I knew Jin Taekyung would cause trouble. I didn’t like how arrogant he was back when he was being hyped up as a young hero or ‘post–Cheon Taemin.’”
“That’s nonsense. When has he ever acted arrogant? He’s been walking around in a tracksuit even when the media was pushing him.”
“Putting it in neutral, I just feel sorry. Do you really think Jin Taekyung did it because he’s a bloodthirsty murderer?”
“Then what is it?”
“Look at the timing—it was right before the Mana Cultivation Method was released. How many Awakened do you think Middle Eastern terrorists and African rebels have? If they learn a Mana Cultivation Method and start committing every kind of crime, including terrorism, who’s going to handle it?”
“That doesn’t justify murder.”
“Yeah, you’re right. But let’s be honest. Everyone justified it back then, and now that some lunatic showed up beyond imagination, everyone’s switching sides at the speed of light.”
“Domestically and overseas, everyone was cheering back then. Whoever it was, well done. Don’t bother finding them. That was the atmosphere—and now it flipped.”
“There are a lot of Jin Taekyung fanboys. But in the end, he’s being criticized worldwide.”
“The facts say opinion polls still show more people support Cheon Taemin. It only looks like that because mass-produced sensational articles are flooding in.”
“But what I don’t get is that even now, Cheon Taeman hasn’t shown his face once. And Jin Taekyung’s been in hiding for days.”
“He caused a disaster and he’s ignoring it. Disgusting. Look at the Odin Guild compared to that. King God Michael is the past and the future.”
Reading the comments, Skeleton King suddenly thought—
‘If they knew the truth, what kind of faces would those commenters make?’
But he knew.
Every thought like that was useless.
At least for now, no truth could be revealed. If anything, it would only provoke backlash and drag them down completely.
The human society he’d seen so far was far more complex and suffocating than he’d ever imagined.
‘Stupid humans.’
Skeleton King shook his head and stopped before a massive door.
Seeing that the silver tray he’d brought yesterday was still there, he let out a deep sigh and carefully turned the doorknob.
Click.
Beyond the slowly opening door, the back of someone sitting cross-legged came into view.