Chapter 75 – Stopping the Equipment

The place where Gwak Sangyong’s Son was staying was a very small village where a few survivors had gathered to live.

It seemed that the Doctor, who had previously cared for the sick and injured here, had left the child in their care along with some supplies before departing.

After returning Gwak Sangyong’s Son to the arms of his family, I began to ask them questions about the Doctor.

“Was the Doctor alone?”

“Yes…”

‘Did he already lose the only family he had…?’

I felt a bit disappointed.

If his family were alive, they would have served as an anchor to bring him—someone who travels and operates all over the place—into my faction.

Meanwhile, there was also a peculiar piece of information.

“But he carries a dog on his back.”

“What? A dog?”

“Yes. It was cute. I think its name was Poppy?”

“Po… Poppy?”

I stuttered in bewilderment.

This was information I was hearing for the first time.

However, my mind soon began to analyze the new data.

‘Could it be… that Poppy is his family?’

It wasn’t impossible.

After all…

The Doctor’s original profession was a ‘veterinarian.’

After learning the direction the Doctor had headed, I left a backpack full of food as a reward. Then, I ordered the two One-Horned Dragons escorting the Armored Transport Plane to clear out the monsters in the vicinity.

“While we’re at it, we’ll remove the nearby monsters for you before we go.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Since I had also drastically reduced the number of Marauders, their lives should be relatively undisturbed for a while.

‘I’ll be back… I hope they hold out well.’

Holding a small glimmer of hope for them, I began to follow the Doctor’s trail.

It seemed he was already heading toward Baengnokdam Crater Lake.

‘Anyway, I need to hurry.’

I pushed the speed of the Armored Transport Plane to its limit.

* * *

Vrooooooom—

The Armored Transport Plane let out a powerful sound of flapping wings.

As I drew closer to Baengnokdam, a strange sight appeared on the ground. It looked as if someone had used red paint for a coloring book; the hiking trails were stained crimson with blood.

This was undoubtedly the Doctor’s trail.

“Found him.”

The moment I let out a cheer.

Suddenly, I saw a massive cloud of dust rising in the distance.

Taaaang!

And a moment later, a powerful impact sound echoed with a time lag.

But that wasn’t the end.

Kwakwaaaaang!

A tremendous attack tore through and pierced the Adamantite deck of the Armored Transport Plane.

“I’m under attack?!”

It was a moment where I was genuinely flustered for the first time in a long while. My eyes met the being that had torn through the Adamantite deck.

“It was a person?!”

We shouted almost simultaneously.

* * *

A short while later.

After recovering the materials from the crashed Armored Transport Plane…

I faced the Doctor, or rather, Yoon Sanghoon.

“I am truly sorry…”

He was bowing his head deeply, apologizing to me.

“I didn’t know it was a person… I really didn’t…”

Seeing a giant rhinoceros beetle approaching from the air, he must have simply thought it was a new monster. And after attacking, he found me inside.

‘Still, to think he could destroy an Armored Transport Plane in a single strike…’

As a martial artist, he didn’t even need a weapon.

He was strong in my previous life, but I hadn’t imagined he would be this strong already.

In particular, Yoon Sanghoon was a powerhouse on a different level from Choi Yongjin, who borrowed the strength of the troops under his command. He was a human weapon itself, crushing everything in his path single-handedly.

‘Of course… not quite on my level.’

Naturally… whether comparing growth potential or current strength, I held the advantage.

The reason he was able to reach me in the first place was that I had temporarily sent the One-Horned Dragon used for escort elsewhere.

However, even for someone as strong as him, breaking an Adamantite deck seemed to be too much; his right fist was bloodied and bent at a strange angle.

“Is your hand alright?”

I asked him.

“Ah, this. I can just heal it.”

He was speaking the truth.

Hwaaaaaak—

A considerable amount of Mana surged from him, and his hand began to recover instantly. Watching him, I inwardly licked my lips.

Though he wasn’t as strong as I am, combat power is always helpful. Moreover, a healing ability is always like a useful insurance policy.

On the other hand, another thought occurred to me.

‘This… is an opportunity.’

From what I gathered in my previous life, he hates being tied down. Yet, he is a man who strives to maintain his loyalty as much as possible. Even in this Apocalypse.

To that end, he has a personality that tries his best to avoid owing anyone a debt. Because the moment he owes someone, he becomes tied to them.

And this was the best way to put him in my debt. Setting aside my gladness at seeing him, I faced him with as unpleasant an expression as possible.

“Sigh… by the way… this is a real problem.”

“I… suppose so?”

Yoon Sanghoon looked at me with a startled expression.

“No, really… Sir. Even crashing a luxury sedan costs a lot… but this is an item on the level of a private jet. Especially in a world like this… do you know its value?”

I began to snap at him even more.

An ordinary person might have gotten agitated.

But I knew his personality well. He focused only on the fact that he had made a mistake and was immediately swayed by my words.

“Indeed… it must be expensive… very much so…”

“The cost of the plane is one thing. There were tons of supplies inside; what do you plan to do about those?”

His expression became even more clouded with bewilderment.

“See this black plate? This is called Adamantite; you can’t even find it on Earth. This silver part is Mithril, which is even rarer than Adamantite.”

“Gasp!”

“On top of that, the interior was custom-made by professionals…”

“I-I am truly sorry!”

He bowed his head once more and spoke.

“I will… repay this debt somehow.”

The moment the corners of my mouth curled up slightly.

“You mean that, right?”

I feel bad saying this… but the debt he has to repay is scheduled to increase as time goes on.

* * *

In the end…

Due to my perfectly legitimate expense claim—which felt a bit like insurance fraud—Yoon Sanghoon decided to return to the Main Base with me.

He agreed to operate within my faction for about a week. I was disappointed it was only a week, but it seemed he understood his own market value.

“Wow, are you really that person from Apoin?”

“Yes.”

“Then the famous Holy City is also owned by you, Mr. Siwoo?”

“That’s right.”

Having been trapped on Jeju Island the whole time, he began to ask me questions with a look of wonder. I answered his questions one by one and, in turn, asked him things I was curious about.

These were things he had avoided answering in my previous life.

“So… Sanghoon-ssi, what are you doing here?”

“Ah… my wife passed away a year ago.”

His expression was sad.

“I’m sorry.”

“No. I’m okay now. Jeju Island was where I came for my honeymoon with my wife… Baengnokdam was so beautiful that she jokingly told me to scatter her ashes there if she ever died.”

“Ah…”

“But it actually turned out this way. So I came to Jeju Island to fulfill my wife’s wish and got trapped.”

He gave a bittersweet smile.

“Now… my wife and our adopted Chihuahua are my only family.”

It seemed my prediction was correct.

* * *

On the spot, I produced a few Worker Bugs and ordered them to collect the scattered Adamantite and Mithril.

In truth, I could just summon the Armored Transport Plane again, but the more I saved on materials, the better.

Leaving the work to the Worker Bugs, I asked Yoon Sanghoon for his next destination, and he repeatedly emphasized that he must go to Baengnokdam.

Recalling what he went through in my previous life, I considered lying to him, saying I saw a monster at Baengnokdam.

But I soon dismissed the thought.

‘I can just help him.’

It was something he failed to achieve even in his previous life. I wasn’t so tactless as to prevent him from doing it entirely this time, and even if I were, he would surely be stubborn about this one thing.

Thus, we decided to head for Baengnokdam, but there was one more thing to do first.

We had to retrieve his dog, Poppy, whom he had set down in a safe place before charging into my Armored Transport Plane.

“Poppy! Who’s a good boy?”

“Woof! Woof! Grrrr… growl…”

“Ouch! Poppy, that hurts! It hurts!”

…Seeing Yoon Sanghoon like this felt quite refreshing.

* * *

Baengnokdam at the summit of Hallasan. Whether clouds were clinging to the mountain, the weather grew gloomier the higher we climbed, until eventually, the fog was so thick that one couldn’t see an inch ahead.

I warned Yoon Sanghoon while staying alert to the surroundings.

“Let’s go carefully. It looks quite dangerous.”

“Yes… certainly.”

Even he was hesitating.

‘This is truly dangerous.’

The moment I turned my gaze toward the Observation Ship in the skies of Jeju Island and decided to scan the area around Baengnokdam with the Mana Lens.

Though not visible directly due to the fog, through the Mana Lens, I could see the mana of a red Special Entity beginning to fire rapidly toward us.

Hwaaaaaak—

In a split second, I could see the trajectory accurately.

It was aimed right at Poppy, who was carried on Yoon Sanghoon’s back.

‘At this rate… the puppy will be hit!’

Yoon Sanghoon didn’t even seem to realize what was happening.

However, the situation was too urgent to explain with words. Information delivered by speaking was too slow—far too slow.

This… was a time for action.

Taaaat—

Charrrrrk!

As I stomped my foot and placed myself in the path of that trajectory.

Paaaaak!

A giant tentacle crushed my left arm.

“Keu-heok!”

Air was rapidly forced out of my lungs.

It seemed this Special Entity was quite strong.

At the same time, the tremendous speed of the tentacle sliced through the fog, creating a straight path toward the center.

Meanwhile, Yoon Sanghoon immediately realized the situation.

He quickly set Poppy down and entered a combat stance.

“Thank you for saving Poppy!”

As he spoke to me.

Tatatatat—

He rushed toward the monster, but—.

Taang! Taaaang! Paaaang!

He couldn’t even approach the flying tentacles.

Meanwhile, I was in danger as well. The tentacles were approaching not only Sanghoon but also me and Poppy.

Taang! Paaaang! Paaaang!

As someone who wasn’t a physical-type Ability User, the best I could do was defend. Furthermore, even Sanghoon, who strengthened his own body with healing abilities, was being pushed back little by little.

“Damn it! Baengnokdam is right there!”

He looked frustrated.

I pondered for a moment.

‘This feels like the real opportunity.’

If saving Poppy wasn’t enough… if I handled the monster and helped him reach Baengnokdam, would I be able to make him completely subordinate to me? I decided to ask.

“Sanghoon-ssi.”

“Yes?! I’m a bit busy right now—”

“If I let you go to Baengnokdam, will you come under my command?”

“What are you talking about right now?!”

“Not for a week, but permanently!”

“Talk about it later, later!”

“If you say yes now, I’ll solve this immediately!”

He seemed to hesitate for a moment—.

Taaeng! Taang!

“Khaaaak!”

After taking a hit to the thigh from a tentacle… he shouted in frustration.

“Yes! I’ll even polish your shoes for the rest of my life!”

“That… sounds quite tempting.”

I grinned.

“Sigh…”

And a sigh.

‘I didn’t want to use this, but…’

With a bitter smile, I focused my mind for a moment.

Kuaaaang—

As I poured in my will, a massive amount of commands spread from me like a wave.

The command was this:

‘Halt all equipment for 0.2 seconds.’

The first to receive the command were the Worker Bugs collecting the Armored Transport Plane at the foot of Hallasan.

Treuk— tick!

“Ding?”

The Worker Bug, having stopped for a mere 0.2 seconds, continued its work as if nothing had happened. Next were the two One-Horned Dragons that were in the middle of clearing monsters around Jeju Island according to my orders.

Treuk— tick!

Flap!

Kwakwaaang!

They seemed to drop for 0.2 seconds from the sky, but with a slight flap of their wings, they returned to their original altitude.

My command continued to spread and soon reached the Main Base.

“Huh? What’s this?”

People were bewildered as the Worker Bugs paused momentarily.

“Ding!”

“Ah, no problem.”

A malfunction of only 0.2 seconds was not a major issue.

And it was the same for the numerous Magitech Armors, Assault Cannons, Rough Terrain Pioneers, and even the Interceptors and Aerial Motherships engaged in battle.

A 0.2-second equipment halt.

That was what it meant.

Meanwhile, there was another meaning.

I had been steadily consuming a vast amount of Mana while managing my Legion. And the price for stopping the mana of the entire Legion for 0.2 seconds was enormous.

Pwaaaaaang!

A massive amount of Mana began to pool in my body.

It was the amount of Mana that my [entire Legion] would consume in 0.2 seconds.

“Shall we begin?”

A single step.

Pasrrr-rk!

Approaching the monster in a single step…

I poured all that Mana into my fist.

And— impact.

Kwaaaaang!

As if the screen had shifted, the fog scattered around me. The weather changed in an instant with a single punch.

“By the way… what species of monster was this?”

I tilted my head, looking at the corpse that was no longer recognizable in form.