Chapter 50 – Upheaval [New Normal]

July 15, 2020.

A 27-year-old man living in Texas, USA, uploaded a one-minute short video to his social media and Wiyoutube channel.

Titled <Back Yard Hunting>, this short video contained, without any mosaic blurring, the graphic images of a Goblin killed by the man’s gunshot and a dog carcass presumed to have been partially eaten by the creature.

Before this, there had been sightings of Goblins online, along with blurry photos and videos of them, but due to issues like image quality, they were treated merely as urban legends.

However, with the vivid, high-quality video uploaded by the Texas man, which showed no signs of manipulation, people finally began to realize that something unusual was happening.

August 8, 2020.

While the internet and even mainstream media were abuzz with talk of the existence of bizarre creatures and the possibility of government cover-ups following the Texas man’s video, governments of major countries worldwide, led by the White House, simultaneously issued statements.

『We have been aware of the existence of these bizarre creatures since May. However, no reports indicated they were harming people, and amid the pandemic situation, with citizens already in a state of confusion, we were engaged in international cooperation for information control between nations to prevent further chaos. While all of this was for the safety of our citizens and to prevent panic, we regret the withholding of information during this period.』

The announcements from major governments were generally along these lines, and the public’s reaction was cold.

『The Syrian civil war has seen no international cooperation for over a decade, yet information control alone works miraculously well.』

Amid such cynicism and sarcasm, on August 10, 2020.

A large-scale Dungeon Break occurred in Beijing.

The problem was that the entities pouring out of the Dungeon were not the timid, people-fearing Goblins.

“Gwooooooar!”

Lower-tier Monsters, Orcs, equivalent to about D-Rank in Superhuman terms, flooded out from the Gate.

Before the horde of Orcs possessing brute strength that ordinary people couldn’t even hope to resist, the citizens of Beijing began to be hunted down helplessly.

The dispatched police fired their guns at the Orcs, but the bullets only lodged shallowly in their muscular hides, failing to inflict fatal wounds.

“Gwooooooar!”

The police gunfire only served to excite the Orcs further.

Beijing instantly became a scene of carnage, and faced with Monsters the police couldn’t handle, the citizens panicked.

The People’s Liberation Army was hastily mobilized, but urban warfare against Orcs whose bodies resisted bullets was not a fight with high odds of success from the start.

The Communist Party leadership, who should have been controlling the emergency situation, vanished from Beijing.

Beijing was sealed off, and as the People’s Liberation Army armored units suppressed the Orcs, the city was devastated.

On August 14, 2020, just as the Orcs, who had been mowed down one-sidedly by tank firepower, began turning the tide by flipping over the People’s Liberation Army tanks and rendering them useless, and the possibility of strategic bombing of Beijing was being discussed.

Within the sealed-off Beijing, a mass Awakening of Superhumans occurred.

Mostly Awakened Ones who had lost family, lovers, or friends to the Orcs, they showed intense hostility towards the Orcs and began fighting them.

After several trials and errors, the horde of Orcs that had plunged Beijing into panic was finally cleanly suppressed by the united strength of the Awakened Superhumans and the firepower support of the People’s Liberation Army armored units.

『Beijing is just the beginning. This phenomenon will appear all over the world from now on.』

True to the words of the person who acted as the captain of the Superhuman militia during the Beijing urban warfare, starting immediately after Beijing was liberated from the Orcs on August 17, human hunts by Orcs began to be perpetrated all over the world.

Thanks to the precedent set by China, governments of various countries succeeded in minimizing damage through coordinated attacks by armored units and Superhumans.

Amid this unprecedented situation, people finally realized that humanity stood at the dawn of an Age of Upheaval.

Amid fear and concern, discussions centered around the United Nations Security Council began on how to adapt to the Upheaval.

Markets, smelling money in the Age of Upheaval, began to move swiftly.

“El Dorado is over there!”

As Rudolf Krauf, a German B-Rank Hunter, founder and first Master of the world’s first Corporate Guild, the Lindenbaum Guild, said, Dungeons were lands of gold and opportunity.

Monsters that jumped out of Dungeons were merely troublesome creatures leaving useless corpses, but Monsters hunted inside Dungeons, each time they died, spat out byproducts useful for medicine and engineering, as well as Magic Stones—they were like treasure chests.

In July 2021, the United Nations Security Council passed the <United Nations Security Council Special Resolution on Superhumans, Dungeons, Monsters, and the Disposition of Magic Stones>.

Based on that resolution, Guilds and the Superhuman Association were created, and a state monopoly system for Magic Stones was established.

The duties and rights of Superhumans began to be specified in law, and from then on, Superhumans began to be classified as Hunters, Agents, and Villains.

Thus, humanity welcomed the Age of Upheaval, and it soon became the new normal.

October 3, 2021.

Outskirts of Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province.

One sedan and four vans were parked in front of a shabby warehouse.

“Kyaaaaaaah—!”

A man’s pitiful scream filled the inside of the warehouse.

The men standing at the warehouse entrance forced calm expressions and held back their nausea.

“…….”

Siguk, his lower face covered by a black mask below the nose, looked coldly at the blood-soaked man.

The man, Seok Jungho, boss of the Gangbuk New Generation Faction, was in a miserable state beyond words.

One eyeball had already been gouged out and was rolling around below his knee, the tendons in his limbs were all severed, and several fingers and toes were missing.

Siguk picked up the knife again.

The blade approached indifferently, gradually digging towards Seok Jungho’s remaining eye.

“Sm-smile Savings Bank! Smile Savings Bank!”

An answer akin to a scream flowed from Seok Jungho’s mouth.

Siguk’s knife, heading for his eyeball, stopped.

Siguk let his knife-holding hand hang down and asked Seok Jungho.

“Account, seal, password?”

“In, in, in my car’s, pa-passenger seat, dr-drawer……. Guuuuh…….”

“Where’s your car?”

“Ga, Gapyeong…… used car market…… Big Sale store…….”

Siguk nodded as if satisfied and got up from his spot.

Siguk turned around.

The two thugs who met his eyes flinched and trembled.

Siguk handed the knife to one person, then turned his gaze to the makeshift prison in the corner of the warehouse.

“Kiiiiik…….”

A Goblin with a shackle on one foot, who had been chewing on Seok Jungho’s toe, whimpered and hid further into the corner.

It had instinctively shrunk back upon feeling Siguk’s gaze.

“Feed that bastard to it, clean up here roughly, and return.”

And Siguk went outside.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Kang Bonggil, who had been waiting outside smoking a cigarette, bowed to Siguk.

Siguk nodded quietly, then took out his smartphone and made a call.

A moment later, the other party answered.

“Gapyeong used car market, Big Sale store. His car should be there. Yeah. There. Hid it pretty deep. In the passenger seat of that car, there should be the savings bank passbook Bu Mingang used for slush funds, the seal, and, what, the note with the password and everything. Return to Seoul as soon as you retrieve it. Yeah.”

Siguk hung up. Kang Bonggil guided him to the sedan.

Siguk got in the back seat, and Kang Bonggil sat in the driver’s seat.

For a moment, looking at that sight, Siguk chuckled.

“Bonggil.”

Kang Bonggil looked at Siguk through the rearview mirror and replied.

“Yes, Executive Director.”

“How long are you going to be a driver? You’re a JH Holdings director in name, after all.”

Kang Bonggil smiled and scratched his head.

“I prefer being Executive Director’s driver over being a JH Holdings director.”

“Bullshit.”

Although he said that, Siguk was smiling.

Knowing the meaning of that smile, Kang Bonggil just smiled too.

“Let’s go home.”

“Yes, I’ll drive you comfortably.”

The car soon started.

Siguk quietly leaned back into the plush seat and closed his eyes.

‘With this, all the Gangbuk New Generation Faction’s assets have been found. Now all that’s left is Chairman Shin of Myeongdong’s property……. Hmm…….’

The Gangbuk New Generation Faction’s assets, which also served as Bu Mingang’s slush fund conduit.

While Bu Mingang was serving a five-year prison sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court, they were managed by the Gangbuk New Generation Faction boss Seok Jungho.

With the Sponsor relying on an oxygen respirator for life support and his successor imprisoned, the organization fell into disarray, but despite that, Seok Jungho kept disappearing and reappearing, moving around constantly, protecting Bu Mingang’s slush funds.

But eventually, he was caught by Siguk in Wonju, Gangwon Province, and thus, after being brutally tortured in this Yeoju warehouse today, he ended up confessing everything and meeting his final fate as a Goblin’s meal.

‘Bu Mingang’s slush funds are quite a large amount, but compared to Chairman Shin of Myeongdong……. Hmm…….’

Thinking of the assets worth around 2 trillion Won, Siguk licked his lips.

‘They say his granddaughter has a developmental disability……. Hmm……. This seems more like Chairman Lee’s domain than mine.’

Having sorted out his thoughts, Siguk closed his eyes for a while.

How much time had passed?

“Executive Director. Executive Director?”

At Kang Bonggil’s call, Siguk woke from sleep. Looking outside, it was the familiar entrance of the Jamwon Marianne River Park complex.

“Ughh.”

Siguk stretched and unbuckled his seatbelt.

“Good work. Go in and rest.”

“Yes, understood. You’ve worked hard too, Executive Director.”

“Yeah. Go on.”

Siguk got out of the car and took a moment to breathe the outside air.

The cool autumn night air of October, not yet bitterly cold, tickled his lungs.

Meanwhile, the car departed, and after stretching and loosening up his body on the spot for a while, Siguk also headed towards the complex entrance.

“Huh? Oppa!”

Then, a familiar voice flew into Siguk’s ears.

Siguk’s gaze turned towards the source of the voice.

There, Nayeon in her school uniform was walking towards Siguk, holding hands with a male student also in uniform.

Instantly, Siguk’s expression hardened.

“What are you doing, exercising on a moonlit night in front of the house.”

Nayeon said with a laugh, but Siguk’s gaze was not on Nayeon but on the male student standing shyly beside her with a flushed face.

Siguk’s gaze went to the name tag on the male student’s chest.

“……. Hwang Jungi.”

Siguk’s gaze returned to the male student.

“Ah, hello.”

Neatly and tidily styled hair, horn-rimmed glasses, downturned eyes and eyebrows giving a kind impression, a moderately plump build.

‘Hmm…….’

Overall, he gave a strong impression of a model student, but nevertheless, Siguk’s gaze was not kind.

“Ah right, look at me. Today is the first time you’re meeting Oppa and Jungi, right?”

Nayeon introduced the male student to Siguk.

“His name is Hwang Jungi. He’s in the same class as me and lives in unit 3104 on the 31st floor here.”

“Hello.”

The male student greeted Siguk in a shy tone.

Siguk’s hardened expression softened slightly, but his gaze looking at the male student remained unkind.

“We’ve only been dating for about two weeks. I introduced him to Mom, but Oppa and Dad come home so late that I haven’t had a chance to introduce him yet. Hehe.”

At Nayeon’s innocent laugh, Siguk’s expression finally softened a little.

“Jungi?”

“Yes, yes. Hwang Jungi.”

“Right. Let’s shake hands.”

Siguk extended his hand. The male student let go of Nayeon’s hand for a moment and grasped Siguk’s hand.

At that moment, Siguk applied a very light pressure with his hand.

“!”

The male student was momentarily startled.

Siguk whispered into the male student’s ear.

“Don’t make tears flow from Nayeon’s eyes. Got it? Even if you break up later, you have to be the one who gets dumped. Understand?”

His voice was gentle, but the male student had to feel some indescribable murderous aura.

Siguk released the male student’s hand and looked at the two again. Now he was smiling.

“Right. Date well and healthily. Dating, what, it’s good to do it moderately within appropriate limits.”

“Hehe. Don’t worry about me, worry about yourself, Oppa! Well, we’ll go in first!”

“Right.”

The male student, looking slightly intimidated, bowed to Siguk, then held Nayeon’s hand and went into the complex.

Watching the retreating backs of the two with a bitter expression, Siguk thought.

‘Right. This is how you change things one by one. Your fate, the sad drama of your past life.’

Suddenly, the thought, ‘I wonder what that son of a Geumcheon-gu dignitary, Mr. Yang, who ruined Nayeon’s first relationship in the past life, is doing around now?’ briefly crossed Siguk’s mind.

But it was only for a very brief moment.

‘Since he’s Mr. Yang and a pig’s spawn, well, he’s probably living trashy like Yang Seungjun. Speaking of which, Yang Seungjun should be about time to Awaken and be released soon. About less than two years left.’

Thinking such thoughts, Siguk stretched once more and went into the complex.

Instead of going straight home, Siguk went to the playground within the complex for a while.

Stepping on the soft ground, he went and sat on a bench, then soon summoned his Status Window.

Life Force: 3300/3300, Mana: 2400/2400, Concentration: 100%

Skills: Combat Sense(B), Snake Eye(B), Killing Blade(B), Stealth(B)

Confirming his own status, clearly upgraded compared to his past life, Siguk smiled brightly for the first time in a while.