"Damn it! This makes no sense... Why the hell do these people from Joseon have automatic pistols and rocket launchers?!"
Yi Rang shouted indignantly.
She and Kim Ga-Eun had taken cover behind the wall of a building and were holding their position.
"Even I wouldn't want to get hit by those..."
"Ga-Eun! Don't you have some crazy area-of-effect magic or something?"
"If I did, do you think I'd be hiding behind this wall right now...?"
Just as the two women were beginning to despair, a winged silhouette soared high overhead.
"Ancient Harpy Magic—熱風亂殺 (Scorchwind Massacre)!!"
At the figure's cry, violent winds and lightning crashed down upon the enemy.
It was a secret art of the harpy race, capable of triggering freak weather with very little mana by manipulating the atmosphere and moisture overhead.
"Everyone from Cheong-Am okay?"
After knocking out the entire enemy force at once, Yu Seo-Yeon landed lightly on the ground.
Kim Ga-Eun and Yi Rang stared in awe at the sheer power of her magic...
Until their eyes settled on her current outfit.
"...For the record, this outfit is a magic avatar that was forcibly imposed on me by the enemy's realm. It does not reflect my personal taste in fashion."
Before either of them could say anything, Yu Seo-Yeon calmly explained herself.
Her eyes, however, made it clear that she fully intended to beat the mastermind behind this to death.
Yi Rang decided that perhaps her tiger mascot suit wasn't so bad after all.
"Yu Gwajang has agreed to cooperate with us for a while. And to stop pointlessly harassing rookies."
Yu-Han said this as he popped up behind Yi Rang and Kim Ga-Eun.
Yi Rang spoke as though salvation itself had finally arrived.
"Deputy! Alice was taken!"
"Alice...?"
Yu-Han turned toward Kim Ga-Eun.
"Kim Ga-Eun. How did you let that happen? Or did you let them take her on purpose?"
"N-No! Of course not. We lost track of her because they kept firing RPGs at us..."
"Whatever the reason, you admit this was a serious failure, right?"
Yu-Han smiled faintly.
"We'll talk later."
"...Yes."
Meanwhile, not only the constables but even the nearby commoners rose up against them.
To the lower classes of Joseon, insulting the nation was the same as insulting them personally.
Even when that same nation exploited them so mercilessly that it taxed the dead.
"AIGOOO!! Long live Joseon!!"
"These people... Is this the effect of the brainwashing?"
Yu Seo-Yeon frowned.
"As far as I remember, they weren't even designated as sanction targets."
Yu-Han answered her.
"They're residents of District B-4. Killing them unnecessarily would make the cleanup a pain."
He glanced around the neighborhood.
"Besides, it'd feel a little lonely if there were no locals left. You can take them alive, right?"
"What exactly do you take me for? That much is easy."
Yu Seo-Yeon and the members of Cheong-Am began knocking down the charging, brainwashed people of Joseon, taking care not to kill them.
Even in the middle of the battle, Yu Seo-Yeon continued observing how the people of Cheong-Am fought.
'That tiger is clearly a rookie with little combat experience.'
Her attention shifted.
'The wolf-headed monster... She isn't using magic right now, but she possesses considerable physical strength.'
What Yu Seo-Yeon truly couldn't understand, however, was Yu-Han's skill.
He was casually incapacitating enemies with the blunt spine of a sword he had picked up nearby.
Yet throughout the entire process, he didn't so much as breathe hard.
If anything, he looked completely at peace.
'Normally, even the most seasoned fighter gets keyed up on adrenaline once combat begins...'
'What kind of battles has he fought to reach a point where swinging a blade comes as naturally as breathing?!'
He wasn't even using any noticeable magic.
The way his sword seemed to flex in motion and the ease with which he evaded every attack both appeared to be nothing more than pure technique.
'At the very least, I need to report him as a high-risk individual.'
She reached that conclusion while knocking another enemy unconscious with a single punch powered by her harpy strength.
***
The battle between Yi Gwang-Cheol and Alice had grown even more intense.
"Metal wench, do you know what becomes of one who rebels against the king?!"
Yi Gwang-Cheol raised his hwando.
"A traitor to the king shall have three generations of its bloodline exterminated!!"
When he brought the blade down, the impact was powerful enough to leave a crater in the ground.
"Phoenix!"
At Alice's command, the Phoenix unleashed a torrent of fire from its smaller form.
Yet Yi Gwang-Cheol remained entirely unscorched.
"Are you the Vermilion Bird, one of the Four Sacred Beasts?"
Yi Gwang-Cheol pointed his sword toward it.
"Abandon that metal wench and form a contract with me!"
[Regrettably, I do not form contracts with those of unsound mind.]
"Impertinent...! You are nothing but an evil spirit resembling a sacred beast!"
Yi Gwang-Cheol summoned a cheonja-chongtong, a Joseon cannon, and fired.
Alice seethed at having to fight for her life against a lunatic like this.
[Contractor. To defeat an opponent stronger than yourself, you need wisdom...]
"You're still blaming me?!"
[Do not get worked up. I am saying that you must act more efficiently than your opponent.]
"My combat AI is already running at maximum capacity!"
[That alone is insufficient. You must also induce your opponent to act inefficiently!]
Alice listened to the Phoenix's lecture, thought for a moment, and opened her mouth.
"Fine. Then the biggest waste of mana here is you."
She pointed at the Phoenix.
"I'm canceling the summoning."
[Oh... Ahem. If that is how you feel...]
The Phoenix hesitated awkwardly.
[Then I shall see you next time.]
The Phoenix disappeared, leaving Alice alone.
Her opponent appeared to possess an enormous amount of mana.
Alice, meanwhile, had less than half of both her mana and battery remaining.
At that moment, she remembered Yu-Han tormenting Kim Ga-Eun with cheap, mosquito-like movements.
"Right."
Alice smiled.
"If my attacks can't get through, there's no reason to keep forcing them."
"Hah? Have you lost your mind, wench?"
Alice cleanly avoided Yi Gwang-Cheol's slash.
Taking advantage of the opening, she slipped behind him and landed a low kick.
His protective magic reduced it to little more than a tickle.
But it was an extremely irritating tickle.
"You little mosquito...!"
"That's right!"
Alice proudly pointed at herself.
"Right now, I am the mosquito itself!"
Yi Gwang-Cheol hacked wildly with his hwando, but Alice had already slipped out of range.
Moving like an acrobat, she repeatedly dodged his attacks while peppering his entire body with light, irritating blows.
Even when Yi Gwang-Cheol unleashed enormous slashes in a rage, none of them touched her.
All that tremendous mana went completely to waste.
"Fire!"
Yi Gwang-Cheol fired another Joseon cannon.
Alice deliberately drew him into its line of fire, then slipped aside at the last possible moment.
The shot missed her completely and struck Yi Gwang-Cheol instead.
'So this is what it means to make your opponent waste his strength...!'
At last, Yi Gwang-Cheol's blade appeared to cleave Alice cleanly in half at the waist.
However...
He had overlooked the fact that Alice could continue moving even after being severed.
Alice's mana-enhanced beam sword carved across Yi Gwang-Cheol's back.
She pulled the two halves of her body back together and mocked him.
"How was that?"
Alice grinned.
"Pretty itchy for a mosquito bite, wasn't it?"
"My royal body... What have you done...?!"
A vivid stream of blood began running down Yi Gwang-Cheol's back.
Without his protective magic, the attack would have killed him immediately.
At that moment, the rest of Cheong-Am arrived alongside Yu Seo-Yeon.
"What? Looks like we didn't need to rush."
Yu-Han looked at Alice.
"The high-performance AI already handled it herself."
"You there!"
Yu Seo-Yeon pointed at Yi Gwang-Cheol.
"Surrender immediately and tell us everything you know! Refuse, and I will execute you on the spot!"
Despite her demand, Yi Gwang-Cheol showed no intention of yielding.
"I am... the King of Joseon...!"
He continued trembling, sword in hand.
"I alone must lead everyone...!"
As Yi Gwang-Cheol continued resisting, Yu-Han decided to break him mentally.
"Joseon?"
Yu-Han tilted his head.
"Wasn't it just a vassal state that paid tribute to China? Why are you so obsessed with a country like that?"
Everyone flinched at Yu-Han's words.
That was one of those things one simply did not say in front of Koreans.
Naturally, Yi Gwang-Cheol erupted.
"That was 'practical diplomacy'!! Joseon gained far more than it gave!"
"What's practical about becoming a slave?"
Yu-Han chuckled.
"Is that why you became Kim Je-Hyeon's slave and live off the mana he feeds you?"
Yu-Han's mockery struck Yi Gwang-Cheol's inferiority complex dead center.
He completely lost control and began rambling.
"Kim Je-Hyeon!! I am merely using that man as well!"
Yi Gwang-Cheol screamed.
"Once Joseon rises again, he will be nothing but an underling fit to wash my feet!"
[What did you just say, Yi Gwang-Cheol-gun?]
At that moment, a cold voice echoed inside his head.
Yi Gwang-Cheol's face went pale.
[Has playing king for so long made you forget who stands above whom?]
The voice grew colder still.
[How ungrateful. I will be taking back the mana I gave you.]
"By royal command, do not take it back!"
Yi Gwang-Cheol screamed desperately.
"Stop this instant!!"
His pleas were meaningless.
As his mana drained away, his realm gradually began to dissolve.
At last, everyone's clothes returned to normal.
"Since this concerns Cheong-Am, your side has priority."
Yu-Han was finally able to use summoning magic and call his carbon-coated blade into his hand.
"I'll finish this."
Yu-Han walked quietly toward Yi Gwang-Cheol as the man's mana continued fading.
Yi Gwang-Cheol merely trembled, his eyes completely unfocused.
Yu-Han could now clearly see the N.O.B.I. mark on his neck.
"Did you retreat into the delusion that you were descended from kings just to escape the misery of your own life?"
Yu-Han stopped in front of him.
"That peculiar magic made you useful to Kim Je-Hyeon... but in the end, he threw you away."
For a brief instant, compassion appeared in Yu-Han's eyes.
"I pity you."
Then his expression hardened.
"But there is only one thing a sanctioner can do for someone he pities!"
Mana condensed along Yu-Han's blade.
He swung with such speed that the sword left an afterimage behind.
Before Yi Gwang-Cheol could even fully register the pain, his head fell cleanly from his shoulders.
"Yu Gwajang. Good work."
"Yes... Well."
"Then shall we pick up where we left off?"
"...There is no longer any need to test your abilities."
"Well, mine is obviously an A+, right?"
"..."
Yu Seo-Yeon found herself unable to refute Yu-Han's arrogant claim.
Yu-Han smiled and added:
"As for you, you're a B-."
"...A mere human dares to grade me?"
Yu Seo-Yeon's jaw clenched.
She flicked a card at him.
It was her business card, printed on high-quality stock.
"Good work today, everyone from Cheong-Am."
She looked directly at Yu-Han.
"And Deputy Director Yu-Han—I'll be keeping an eye on you."
Yu Seo-Yeon opened a portal in midair, leaped straight upward into it, and disappeared.
Once their conversation was over, Alice chastised Yu-Han.
"...Did you really have to needle her like that? It would've been better to stay on good terms with her."
Yu-Han scoffed.
"Ha! Why would I be friends with a woman who flung feathers at us?"
Something else had been bothering him for a while.
"More importantly, why do people keep calling me Deputy Director? They're all going to get the wrong idea."
"Why don't you just become the Deputy Director?"
"Why?"
"You're going to step in every time anyway."
Alice crossed her arms.
"You might as well do it with an impressive title. That would benefit us in more ways than one, wouldn't it?"
"...What a pointless idea."
"It only makes sense for a Center Director to appoint her strongest subordinate."
Alice smiled brightly.
"I'll keep offering you the position until you accept, so look forward to it."
Everyone was certain that Yu-Han would eventually lose to Alice's persistence.
Even Yu-Han himself.
***
"...That concludes my report, Bujang-nim."
Bujang (部長): a Korean title for the head of a department.
"Good work, Yu Gwajang."
Yu Seo-Yeon had just finished giving a short report and debriefing in the Bujang's private office at the Seo-An-Dang Center.
Once she finished, the Bujang asked her a question.
"Personally, what do you think of this man named Yu-Han?"
"I find him creepy, repulsive, and insufferable."
"That is unfortunate news..."
The Bujang sighed.
"Because I was planning to put you in charge of all future matters involving the Cheong-Am Center."
"...Pardon?"
Upon hearing that, Yu Seo-Yeon felt the wrinkles on her face deepen.
***
Meanwhile, at an abandoned chemical plant...
A woman appeared in a gas mask, a thick hooded jacket, and heavy pants that left no skin exposed.
It was Yang Su-Hyeon.
"...Are you planning to jump out and scare me like you did when we were kids?"
She stared into the darkness.
"Come out already, Oppa."
A man who had been hiding behind a pillar slowly stepped into view.
"It has been a long time, little sister."
It was Yang Jin-Mu.
The brother she had watched die with her own eyes...
Now standing before her once again.