Chapter 1160 – 1160. Savior Of The Academy
We arrived in Hainan.
Sung Hari and I disembarked the ship as if nothing had happened. However, Sung Hari’s face was slightly flushed. The Chinese people nearby were too engrossed in their own affairs to notice.
Sung Hari seemed relieved. She probably thought that people didn’t know about us having sex on the ship.
In reality, the rumors had spread everywhere.
We had spent more than half the day having sex. And Sung Hari, focused on the act, had screamed her lungs out. Since the soundproofing couldn’t be perfect, it was only natural that others would hear. They were just pretending not to know.
Sung Hari and I were guided by a Chinese hero to a temporary base building.
“Hari, do you feel anything?”
“…It’s strange. It feels like I’m home.”
“The Jinryeong family?”
“Yeah. Our house uses barriers to create an environment similar to the spirit realm for the spirits.”
Hearing her words, I belatedly realized it. It was indeed an environment similar to the Jinryeong family.
‘I’ve been to the spirit realm before.’
Or rather, I had only dipped my toes in.
‘What did it feel like back then?’
It had been quite a while, so I couldn’t remember well.
“Anyway, seeing Makina materialize so easily on her own, it’s clear she’s been influenced by the spirit realm.”
“Yeah. I think so too.”
We entered the temporary base. The building was terrible. It was old. No, it was tacky.
We went into a conference room inside the building. The conference room was large, and over 20 people were seated. They silently stared at us. Some looked at us with wary eyes, while others glared with discontent. No one greeted us. Sung Hari and I sat in the empty seats.
“Everyone who needs to be here is here. Let’s start the briefing.”
A man walked to the center of the conference room and spoke.
“First, please look at the third page of the documents you were given. It’s a map of Hainan. Do you see the red area? That’s the spirit realm zone. The spirit realm zone is expanding. It’s predicted that it will take about 80 days for the entire island to turn into the spirit realm. We must resolve this situation before it becomes irreversible.”
I picked up the documents on the table.
Flip, flip, flip.
I skimmed through the documents. There was a map of Hainan Island, information about the spirits occupying Hainan Island, and the strategies we needed to know, all written in Chinese.
I glanced sideways at Sung Hari. She was glaring at the documents with a 川 furrowed between her brows. Her documents were also in Chinese.
It was obvious, but she couldn’t understand Chinese. There was no translator either.
‘Does this mean I have to translate it myself?’
I could do that much.
I could, but I felt annoyed. If the documents had been in Korean, I would have let it slide.
Seeing Sung Hari struggling to understand the documents made me even more irritated.
They needed Sung Hari’s power, yet they were treating her like this… It twisted my mood.
I sat back in my chair, putting my feet up on the table.
“…….”
The briefing stopped. The gazes directed at me were not friendly. Especially the man who was giving the briefing, his face was flushed red.
“Pfft.”
He looked like a roasted pig, so I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ah, sorry. I was just thinking of a roasted pig. Go on.”
“…Are Koreans so ill-mannered?”
I raised my middle finger.
Crush.
The documents in the man’s hand crumpled. At the same time, several people around him began to gather mana. The air vibrated. Sung Hari, realizing the situation, sighed and prepared for battle.
I also moved my mana.
Crack.
Electricity sparked from my fingertips.
Honestly, we were at a disadvantage. There were over 20 enemies, all with skills above A-class heroes. If we fought fairly, we would lose. At my current level, I could barely handle two or three of them.
‘But I have weapons and consumables.’
If I used them properly, I could kill about half of them. If it seemed impossible, I could just run away.
“Enough.”
A voice like scraping metal echoed from the corner.
Everyone’s gaze naturally turned to the corner. It was a man with a pale complexion. An old man wearing a black hanfu. Bald, he stared straight ahead as he continued to speak.
“Stop the pointless power struggle and continue with the operation briefing.”
“Y-yes, sir. Lord Wang.”
The man who looked like a roasted pig continued the briefing, sweating profusely. Those who had been hostile to me also focused on the documents, watching the old man’s reaction.
‘What kind of old man is he?’
I stared intently at the old man in the corner. The old man didn’t turn his head, even though he felt my gaze.
‘Looking closely, his skin is pale, almost gray. He looks like a corpse.’
I explained the operation to Sung Hari. I spoke loudly and clearly in Korean. The Chinese people frowned and glared at me, but they couldn’t do anything, watching the old man’s reaction.
“The operation will begin in two hours. This concludes the briefing.”
“…….”
Everyone watched the old man’s reaction. When the old man got up and left, the others finally got up as well.
They glared at us once before leaving the conference room.
“Since Lord Yang is with us, we should be enough. Why did they bring Koreans on this mission? I don’t know what the association is thinking.”
“The association must have judged that we weren’t enough. I don’t like it.”
“Shall we go to the association and complain?”
“…I don’t know. I don’t think it’s that bad.”
“Would the association listen to us?”
They left.
“Haa.”
Sung Hari sighed. She leaned her head on my shoulder, looking exhausted.
“Why did you suddenly do that?”
“What?”
“You got angry earlier.”
“They invited us and then ignored us.”
“…I was angry too. But you should think about the consequences. What if we had to fight?”
“If it looks like we’re going to lose, we can just run away. They’re the ones who will lose if we’re not here.”
“Still, this is enemy territory…”
I grabbed Sung Hari’s cheeks. Her words stopped. We exchanged glances and quietly kissed.
•••
I asked Yang Tao about the old man called Lord Wang.
“Lord Wang? How can you not know Lord Wang… Ah, right. You’re Korean. I forgot for a moment because of your fluent Chinese.”
“Never mind. Who is that old man? He had an unusual presence.”
“He’s Lord Wang Zixin, our Chinese S-class hero and the master of the Spirit Command Gate, the Spirit Emperor.”
“Spirit Emperor? Is he a spirit necromancer?”
Yang Tao nodded.
“He’s our best spirit necromancer in China. You should show him respect.”
“…Why is that famous spirit necromancer here? The people needed for this situation are spirit users, not spirit necromancers.”
Yang Tao frowned, seemingly displeased with my words, and replied.
“I don’t know the details either. I wasn’t the one who brought him here. I heard he set up the barrier that’s blocking the spirits.”
I turned away. Aside from the fact that Wang Zixin was an S-class spirit necromancer, I hadn’t learned much.
‘Spirit Command Gate… I’ve never heard of it before. Is it related to Guirak Valley?’
Guirak Valley (鬼落谷)
One of the most dangerous villain groups in the world, located somewhere in China.
It was a group where Jiangshi masters, spirit necromancers, and necromancers were concentrated.
‘Wang Zixin… That old man has a dangerous aura. It’s better to be careful.’
•••
The operation began.
Sung Hari and I were paired with three Chinese people. Our mission was to head south and find and eliminate the spirit suspected to be the cause of this situation.
In other words, it was a mission to deal with the boss monster.
The other teams had the same mission as us. Only the starting points were a little different.
‘The Chinese Hero Association doesn’t trust us.’
They were skeptical of Sung Hari’s abilities.
Even without knowing the details, there were probably internal conflicts of interest within the Chinese Hero Association.
‘The Chinese Hero Association wants Wang Zixin to solve the situation. This is a headache.’
Anyway, we proceeded as planned.
The Chinese trio kept glancing at Sung Hari. It was because of her outstanding beauty. They took the lead, trying to impress her.
The wind blew.
It blew from behind, then from the front, and then moved to the side.
Everyone stopped and tensed up at the strange wind. The wind gathered in the air in front of us and took shape. It was a bizarre wind spirit with the lower body of a horse and the upper body of an elephant.
[You’ve come. Filthy humans.]
The spirit spoke.
However, only Sung Hari and I heard the spirit’s words. The Chinese people, unable to hear the spirit, grabbed their weapons and charged at the wind spirit.
‘That’s… high-grade. High-grade from the start… this is going to be tough.’
The wind around the spirit turned into blades and attacked the Chinese people. The Chinese people handled it well. They dodged or blocked the wind blades and approached the spirit. Their weapons, imbued with mana, inflicted significant damage on the spirit.
[Aaaah! Humans! I really hate you!]
The spirit became enraged. A huge gust of wind swept through the surrounding area. The Chinese people screamed as they were thrown into the air. The wind ravaged them as they floated in the air. Blood dripped from their skin every time the wind blew.
I grabbed Sung Hari’s shoulder, stopping her from stepping forward.
“…Oppa.”
“Wait. Something’s strange. Don’t you think so too?”
“Strange…?”
Sung Hari tilted her head.
I stepped behind her and used Spirit Eyes. I focused on the wind spirit.
I could see the spirit core. The spirit core, the heart and source of the spirit’s existence, was partially blackened.
“…A Demonic Spirit.”
“What? A De, Demonic Spirit?!”
A term for a corrupted spirit.
I had encountered a Demonic Spirit in the past.
“…No. It’s not a Demonic Spirit yet. Part of the spirit core has been corrupted by demonic energy… no, I don’t know. Is that demonic energy?”
I tilted my head.
At first, I thought it was demonic energy, but the more I looked, the more it seemed different.
Zzzzt!
I grabbed the radio on my waist.
“What.”
-Are you just going to stand there! Save your comrades!
An angry Chinese voice was heard. The word “comrades” instantly irritated me.
“Did you guys experiment on spirits?”
-Hah, don’t talk nonsense and focus on the operation!!
The operator quickly hid his embarrassment and shouted. I was certain. The Chinese Hero Association had conducted some kind of experiment on spirits and failed. The main figure behind the experiment was probably Yang Zixin, that old man.
‘Otherwise, there’s no reason for a spirit necromancer to be here.’
I dropped the radio on the ground and crushed it.
“Hey, Elephant!”
I stepped forward and called out to the wind spirit.
[I’m not an elephant.]
The spirit’s voice was gentle. It was probably because of my high spirit affinity.
“Okay. Let’s talk for a bit.”
[No.]
“Why?”
[You’re a human too. …But you don’t seem like a bad human, so I’ll let it slide. You shouldn’t go in there. Go back. Ah, leave the human next to you. That human has to die.]
The spirit was hostile to Sung Hari. Sung Hari was startled.
“She’s my woman. Can’t you just let her go?”
[No. She has to die.]
“Why?”
[Because she’s scary. So she has to die.]
“…….”
Sung Hari’s face fell. She sighed with a disappointed expression.
“Hari.”
“…I’m okay, Oppa. I’ve known that spirits hate me since a long time ago. It’s Makina who doesn’t hate me that’s strange.”
The wind began to blow. The spirit was targeting Sung Hari.
