People were looking at us as if they couldn’t understand why their queen was being overpowered by an unfamiliar Asian guy.

[The opponent has failed to see through you. (Skill, Night Eye)]

A man who appeared to be one of her confidants was the one being rude. We were currently in the preparation phase for Act Two, so he would have definitely known that the attempt to see through my status window was like declaring war. It was no different from rushing in with a knife aimed at me.

I made eye contact with him as he was freaking out. I threw Devi’s Sword, then the blade narrowly brushed passed the woman’s face before it flew straight to him. It spun around him as fast as it could and stabbed him multiple times. In the end, the guy’s head was chopped off.

Slash!

[You have exterminated an Awakened.]

[Potential Threat: You have exterminated thirty-five Awakened.]

The uproar started when his head rolled off his body, and they reacted a few beats too slowly.

On the other hand, Seong-Il had thrown himself to the group the moment I sent out Devi’s Sword. Even minor disputes often led to all-out war during this period. Furthermore, one of them had already lost his head after he tried to see through me, so the battle broke out immediately. Seong-Il had already grabbed onto the ankles of two men and rushed forward as if he was going to smash the formation.

Whoosh-

A number of skills flew in the dark, and the light that was created whenever they used an insignia flashed in all directions. The guys were flying away with every move Seong-Il took.

“You must suck at training your guys, Angela.”

I stared at her. Angela was the first person I used to approach Joshua outside of society. I even spent a night with her.

Angela screamed to stop the battle, but it was too late. Blood was already splashing around, and the madness of the warzone had filled the air. Their outraged shouts surrounded Seong-Il, and he was pushing them to the corners like a bulldozer.

Angela joined the fight. She sprinted toward Seong-Il and began killing the guys who attacked Seong-Il. Only then did the situation begin to settle down. Seong-Il abandoned the two guys he was holding as if he was throwing away trash, then returned back to me. He pointed to a man with a finger that was covered in blood. It was a guy who was standing up against Angela; he was arguing in an upset manner and I could hear lots of resentment in his voice. The language he used was neither English nor German. It seemed to be a Nordic language, something like Danish.

“That punk is in diamond level. Level 330.”

Seong-Il spoke in a tone that he couldn’t believe it. He was more tense than usual. Although he was protected by his shield barrier, his face twitched as he had received all the impacts from the skills. If Angela didn’t intervene, the battle would have led to a showdown between Seong-Il and that guy.

Soon, Angela and the man walked toward us, and the man was having a war of nerves with Seong-Il from afar. He was a bald and bulky guy whose muscles were puffed up. The blunt weapon that he used to hit Seong-Il’s face was on his shoulder, and Seong-Il raised his fist toward him.

When the distance narrowed more, the man put down his weapon. He only did that after Angela reprimanded him. Nevertheless, he was still looking at Seong-Il with raw hatred.

She apologized, “I’m sincerely sorry about the shameful incident. He is Gunnarson.”

When he stretched out his hand to ask for a handshake, Seong-Il raised his voice to point out that he was displeased by Gunnarson’s arrogant attitude.

“How dare you, you white pig?! Do you want to get killed? Want to get beaten up again?”

Neither Angela nor Gunnarson could understand Korean, but they grasped what he meant.

“What a mess,” I said.

“I’m sorry.”

I asked, “Is he one of us?”

She nodded. “Yes. He doesn’t know the situation as he joined late.”

The guy was saying something to me in his language.

“What is he saying?” I asked.

“...”

“Tell me.”

“That he wants to see the end.”

Angela replied while glancing at Seong-Il. Gunnarson wanted to fight against Seong-Il. It could be simply due to the fact he lacked emotional control over himself or he was doing this as a political stunt, but the remark was absurd enough to make my mind blank for a second.

“With my guy in front of me?”

Angela grimaced. “...Yes.”

Although he joined Revolucion late, he seemed to be in an equal position with Angela in the organization. I tried to remember if he was one of the famous Awakened in the past, but nothing came to my mind. There was no need to use skills or weapons. Even though I didn’t have a trait like Seong-Il’s Fist Destroyer…

Bam!

I threw a punch at his haughty face.

Bam!

[The Forerunner has been activated.]

PAHHHHHHHH!

As if everything was in slow motion, his head was forced around, making his neck resemble a piece of stretched-out tape, and he screamed.

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHH-”

***

Seong-Il took a small bite of a chocolate bar. The sweet taste not only coated his tongue but also electrified his entire body. He was a big guy with a shaggy beard and messy hair, but he twisted his body like a boy who just lost his virginity. At that moment, his voice became high-pitched, which gave me goosebumps.

“Woohoo~ This is it~”

Of course, he knew he sounded like a weird pervert, so he hurriedly cleared his throat and spoke in his original voice.

“By the way, how many punches did you throw at the white pig? I couldn’t even see your fist properly. The slow-witted ones always dig their own graves.”

I also started eating the chocolate, and the long-forgotten sweetness struck my mind. It was thrilling. It was natural for Seong-Il to twist his body after eating some. There were European snacks and canned fruits in addition to the chocolate. We were in a room decorated with fluffy Kciphos fur on the floor and hundreds of skulls on the wall. This was the frontier capital of Revolucion (12), Angela’s residence.

“It’s fortunate that Mary isn’t here,” Seong-Il said.

I asked quizzically, “Why?”

Seong-Il blinked. “Hey, what do you mean why? I’m not as tactless as the white pig. I’ll go out and sleep in a different room tonight, hehe.”

Seong-Il pretended to zip his mouth and laughed wickedly.

Meanwhile, I was surprised and impressed that Seong-Il hadn’t asked about Angela’s force. Or maybe, he already knew about it.

I explained, “The World Awakened Association consists of two organizations, Revolucion and Tomorrow.”

He responded, “Oh, yeah. I know. Kyung-Ah… Hmm… She had told me already.”

“How much in detail?” I asked.

Seong-Il replied quickly, “We weren’t secretly talking about it behind your back. It just naturally came up in our conversation. You are in Revolucion, Odin. We are in Revolucion, and she’s the captain.”

“And?”

He shrugged. “That we will join Revolucion later, too. Poor thing. Kyung-Ah was also ambitious like Soo-Ah. I didn’t know they would die like that. Anyway, I will keep my mouth shut, so don’t worry. It looks like the people here are going to be my colleagues in the future.”

I responded, “You won’t see them often, and you don’t have to be discouraged.”

His eyes lit up. “Really?”

I clarified, “Lee Tae-Han might be someone you will see occasionally because he is in our country’s branch.”

He scratched his head. “The President of Ilsung? I guess he’s the same as me since we are both Awakened.”

I continued, “You will be his boss and encounter many troubles. Keep that in mind.”

He looked surprised. “What? The President of Ilsung will be in a lower position than me? Is that even possible?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

He exclaimed, “What the fuck!”

That must have shocked Seong-Il enough for him to forget the chocolate melting in his mouth. He became speechless and began scratching his nose as if he couldn’t believe it.

He muttered, “If that’s true, I won’t have to worry about my phone…[1] I hope the stage ends soon. My ex-wife will bitterly regret getting divorced from me. Hahahaha.”

In contrast to his attempt at humor, he didn’t seem to be in a pleasant mood. He became like this whenever he mentioned his ex-wife. Bittersweet emotions could be seen on his face.

I shrugged. “Well, I don’t know. If you don’t have political power, you will have to pay for everything.”

He shook his head. “Nah, there is no way they would do that. They will know that I’m your guy.”

Seong-Il was certain that he would be with me in the future, but that wasn’t necessarily true. After the stage ended, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on only one branch.

Angela was coming. After a while, the door opened, and she appeared like a gorgeous model from a calendar pictorial. She had taken a shower and was dressed neatly in a suit. Her wet hair smelled like lavender, and I could tell that she was trying to be polite. Seong-Il grabbed a handful of snacks and left the room.

“I explained everything to Gunnarson, and it won’t happen again. I’m so sorry. I have no excuse for what happened.”

I had beaten Gunnarson to the point where he could barely breathe. Then, Angela asked very naturally.

“How long has it been since you last slept with a girl?”

I had seen her only once in Germany a long time ago. Nevertheless, she started to take off her clothes because she was used to the rules here. It was a world where leaders took everything, including quests, items, women, and men. Also, people were only recognized as leaders when they enjoyed the privileges that only leaders could partake in. Angela was not doing this in an attempt to scratch a sexual need. Instead, she was trying to show that she was pledging her allegiance to me. It also meant that she was devoting all her power to me.

However, I wasn’t in the mood for this. Although we could have more honest conversations while we were naked, Yeon-Hee could be suffering from a life-or-death crisis. I was worried about her not entering our stage yet. She wouldn’t be killed by an external force, but I was scared… that she had collapsed on her own. If Act Two began, her returning stone would become meaningless.

I pointed to the seat in front of me to Angela. She quickly buttoned up her shirt and sat there, then she started telling me what had happened.

“Something big happened during the Final Stage of Act One, and it’s still in progress. You might not remember since it had been a while. The quest you got before was sent to us this time.”

I narrowed my eyes. “The Assassination quest.”

“Yes.” Apparently, four Danish pre-Awakened, who were members of Revolucion, had started on the same stage. Each of them formed a group. One of them died in Stage Two, so there were only three during the Final Stage. There was a moment when their forces were merged into one during the battle against Kciphos, but they separated again when they received the assassination quest.

Now that I thought of it, I remembered that Angela was from Denmark.

She continued, “The quest hasn’t been canceled. But I thought there wouldn’t be any issue because all we needed to do was just keep to the agreement as there is no time limit or penalty for the quest. However, he seemed to have thought differently. Lindegart. He screwed everything up, Odin.”

Seong-Il and I had never received an assassination quest, perhaps because the System thought it was useless.

Anyway, Angela became upset the moment she mentioned Lindegart’s name.

She grimaced. “He abandoned the name of Revolucion.”

“Why did he do that?” I asked.

She shook her head sadly. “Only he knows. You won’t forgive him, will you?”

Then, someone knocked on the door. Angela’s subordinate looked at me and left after reporting.

She said, “Your people are here. Those from the Ilsung Kingdom.”

Seong-Il came back in and said, “The phone businessman is here too.”

1. Because as described in an earlier chapter, Ilsung has one of the country’s top smartphone businesses. ☜