Chapter 55

Kang Changseok’s expression twisted as he realized his advice had been completely ignored.

When he sent another telepathic message, Yuseong simply pointed to his lips and shook his head slightly, causing Kang Changseok to approach the podium with a stern expression.

“I am Kang Changseok, chairman of the Korean Contractor Association. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Ceremonial greetings followed by emotionless applause.

After the brief introduction, the conference room darkened and a video began playing on the large monitor mounted on one wall.

People entering to investigate a strange city that suddenly appeared.

At first, they moved by cars and trucks, but not long after entering the city, all vehicles shut down. The people who got out of their vehicles cautiously inspected the engines while watching their surroundings.

However, the vehicles showed no signs of being repaired even as time passed. As the previously clear video began experiencing noise and distortion issues, the atmosphere grew increasingly serious.

-…!

A shout that was too distorted to understand properly.

The video ended with the appearance of lizards about the same size as humans, tentatively named Lizardmen, pointing weapons.

“As you’ve seen, inside the city there are anomalies where cars, smartphones, cameras, and other electronic equipment malfunction or stop working completely.”

It wasn’t particularly surprising.

After all, since the monsters appeared, phenomena that defied common sense and the laws of physics had been observed in certain areas.

“After losing contact with the Contractors, the government deployed military forces to subdue the city. However, as you can see from the video playing now, the results weren’t very good.”

Self-propelled artillery firing with thunderous roars.

However, dozens of shells fired this way failed to penetrate a suddenly appearing translucent barrier and exploded in mid-air.

“This is a barrier surrounding the entire city. We believe it automatically reacts to protect the city from attacks above a certain speed or power.”

“That means…”

“It means that Contractors must enter to rescue survivors and search the city. Of course, we know it’s extremely dangerous. We don’t know how many Lizardmen are in there or what other monsters might exist.”

Kang Changseok paused briefly to stare at Yuseong before turning his gaze away and continuing.

“However, we can’t just leave the captured people and a city of monsters whose dangers are unknown. So the government plans to dispatch a large-scale force of Contractors to attempt rescuing survivors and searching the city.”

“Don’t tell me this is forced conscription?”

“Of course not. The government has prepared sufficient compensation for the risks involved, including reward money and tax breaks, while the association will provide weapons made from rare monsters and new materials.”

“Ooh.”

“The reward money is whatever, but tax breaks and weapons are tempting?”

Small commotion broke out here and there as people seemed quite interested in the proposal.

Looking at people exchanging excited conversations, Kang Changseok checked his smartphone, bowed his head and said.

“I apologize. I need to excuse myself briefly for an important call related to association matters.”

[Come out.]

Hearing Kang Changseok’s voice in duplicate, Yuseong got up with a bitter smile.

“Just going to the bathroom for a moment.”

As soon as they closed the door outside the conference room, the world turned black and white and Kang Changseok’s voice was heard.

“What are you thinking?”

“An acquaintance asked me to find someone. That’s why I’m here. Why?”

Kang Changseok made an incredulous expression at the answer that came without a moment’s hesitation.

“When I asked for information, you put up an iron wall saying things like you don’t trust I won’t harm you and might take away your User qualification, and when we finally met you ran away without looking back, being pathologically obsessed with your own safety. Now you’re telling me you’re taking on such a dangerous mission because an acquaintance asked? You expect me to believe that?”

“What are you going to do if you don’t believe me? Try to stop me?”

“Honestly, I just want to…”

“I seem to remember someone making grand statements recently about having no intention to harm. I wonder who that was.”

Kang Changseok’s eye twitched at Yuseong’s glib tone.

“If you fail a quest, you just return to Earth or take a penalty, but in reality, death is the end. I know your growth is fast and you’re confident in your abilities, but you’re still just at the Contractor level. Now is the time to focus on steadily building strength by completing quests.”

“Getting stronger doesn’t only come from doing quests. You can gain experience and insights to become stronger in reality too, right?”

“The efficiency is different. The efficiency.”

“Well, I think differently about that?”

Convinced that Yuseong would never back down no matter what he said, Kang Changseok raised his palm and spoke.

“Break what I’m creating now. If you do, I’ll give permission right away.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Then I’ll have to stop you by force rather than words.”

A circular barrier maintaining a perfect yin-yang form while continuously rotating.

Though Yuseong didn’t properly understand martial arts, he could tell that breaking this barrier with his current power was absolutely impossible.

‘The level is different.’

Shadow Moon Style 16 or Energy Release wouldn’t even come close, and even taking out the plasma axe didn’t seem like it would leave a scratch on that barrier.

However, Yuseong slightly raised the corner of his mouth

‘I have a skill that’s on a different level too.’

The perfect Eye of Truth obtained as a quest reward.

If the previous imperfect Eye of Truth was like observing stars in the night sky with the naked eye, the perfect Eye of Truth was like observing with a space telescope.

Yuseong drew up mana using the Bermund method and threw a punch straight at the barrier.

Kang Changseok smiled with satisfaction at the punch slow enough to make one yawn, but Yuseong was serious.

‘Two energies of different natures perfectly balance each other to disperse external impacts. It can’t be broken by simple strong attacks. But if I can just disrupt the balance…’

He analyzes and comprehends the barrier’s structure and principles in detail with Eye of Truth.

And the moment his fist made contact with the target, with the sound of breaking glass, the barrier Kang Changseok created shattered completely.

“…Huh?”

“Is this good enough now?”

“Wait! How did you do that? How did you break the Ying-yang Foresight Barrier?”

“I don’t know what Ying-yang Foresight Barrier is, but what matters is I broke it. Surely you’re not going to go back on your word?”

Though he appeared composed on the outside, internally he wasn’t.

Because no matter how strongly he argued, if Kang Changseok ultimately decided against it, that would be the end.

‘This is why I didn’t want to meet Users.’

A situation where control lies with others rather than himself.

It was one of the things Yuseong hated most.

Fortunately, Kang Changseok was someone who kept his promises.

“…Fine. Do what you want.”

“You’re giving up surprisingly easily?”

“Because I promised.”

To be precise, it wasn’t because of the promise but because he acknowledged Yuseong.

During their first meeting, he had dismissed the nullification of his binding as the effect of a special artifact, but breaking the Ying-yang Foresight Barrier with bare hands was pure skill no matter how you looked at it.

He had thought Yuseong was at best among the upper ranks of Contractors, but at this level, he was at the very top of Contractors, perhaps even beyond Contractor level.

“Alright, then would you mind sending me back to the original world? I said I was going to the bathroom, it’ll be weird if I take too long.”

Snap!

“I’m going first.”

After Yuseong disappeared into the conference room, Kang Changseok leaned against the wall with a sigh.

Until yesterday he had some doubts, but now he could be certain.

Yuseong is a monster.

A monster who could reach the realm of Three Weak before long, and given some time could reach Three Intermediates, and ultimately even Three Strong.

But that’s precisely why he was more worried.

‘But he hasn’t fully grown yet. He needs protection.’

For some reason, Yuseong seemed to extremely dislike getting involved with Users.

It’s not that he didn’t understand the sentiment.

Among the Users he knew, there were two who could only be described as madmen that you definitely shouldn’t get involved with.

‘It’s a bit much for me to step in…’

Though it might seem cowardly, he couldn’t join the combat.

His role was that of a mediator connecting transcendents and people.

If he died, all Contractors worldwide would immediately revert to ordinary people.

After pondering for a while, Kang Changseok took out his smartphone with trembling hands.

‘I never thought the day would come when I’d contact them first.’

Though not as dangerous as Blue Blood or Nirvana, that doesn’t mean they’re safe.

No, in some ways they could be considered more dangerous than those two.

Though he hesitated several times, in the end Kang Changseok had no choice but to bow before the noble cause of humanity’s future.

* * *

The very next day after the meeting, Yuseong headed to Gangwon Province.

Looking at the scenery passing by outside the window, Yuseong smiled bitterly as it was his first time leaving Seoul since monsters appeared.

Buildings with traces of collapse and fire, broken roads and abandoned cars, desolate cities and towns without a single person in sight.

The scenery hardly matched the description of the country that mounted the world’s most successful defense.

‘If Korea is this bad, how serious must the situation be in other countries?’

Yuseong only then realized he had been too indifferent about the world.

In the early stages of the crisis, he had no room to care about anything besides survival, and after some time passed, he was absorbed in conducting various quests and experiments to figure out the goggles’ functions while holed up at home.

Even what little he knew was just that the internet occasionally went down and prices had risen dramatically?

‘Should I be more active on Earth too?’

When Users had conversations in the community suggesting Earth could face destruction at any moment, he had just laughed it off, but it seemed it wasn’t just exaggeration.

Lost in thought about his role as a User, Yuseong returned to reality at Seo Chang-hoon’s voice.

“Looks like we’ve arrived. Let’s get off.”

Getting off the bus, Yuseong let out a small exclamation.

Despite being a temporary camp, it was as bustling as a decent-sized market with military, Contractors, and people drawn by the smell of money.

“Please move according to guidance everyone!”

After returning his smartphone and receiving supplies distributed by soldiers, it felt somewhat like re-enlisting or receiving training.

Of course, what the soldiers were distributing wasn’t things like military uniforms or combat boots.

High-calorie energy bars, water, special GPS devices using semiconductors with magic stones that could work inside the city – items needed for carrying out this operation.

After receiving all items and stretching, Seo Chang-hoon had been watching Yuseong intently before finally speaking with an expression that suggested he couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Are you sure you won’t change your mind even now?”

“I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. I’m just worried. We don’t know what dangers are in the city, right? You must have your own thoughts, but wouldn’t it be better to move in groups just in case?”

Operating alone in an unknown location is absolutely not a good choice.

Even people participating individually in this search were forming temporary parties in groups of three or five, so Seo Chang-hoon absolutely couldn’t understand Yuseong’s choice to operate alone.

Such an irrational judgment.

However, despite repeated suggestions, Yuseong kept shaking his head.

“Since I’m always operating alone, I’m not used to cooperating. I might unintentionally cause trouble for others, so I think it’s better if I act alone.”

“Hmm, if that’s the case, it can’t be helped. Still, don’t stray too far from people so you can receive help if something happens.”

“Of course.”

After seeing off Seo Chang-hoon with a kind smile, Yuseong turned around with an indifferent expression the moment he turned his head.

‘If I move in groups, it’ll be hard to escape alone if something happens.’

Yuseong was making a very rational judgment, to the point where Seo Chang-hoon didn’t need to worry.