Chapter 98

============================

So, who exactly is the administrator of Laputa?

This single question drew the world's attention to this land.

Those who possessed the answer arrived at a hotel in Seoul,

and shortly after... an unexpected incident occurred there.

Boom—!

A deafening explosion and a violent tremor shook the entire room, and all the windows shattered as Xiao Jun was flung against the wall. The right hand he had extended to shake hands was shattered, and his fingers scattered in all directions.

Click!

“D—Damn it!”

When Lee Hyun-wook pulled the pump again, two Chinese men summoned their weapons from within the 'tattoo.' The shorter man drew a shield and a sword, while the larger man—an orc shaman—waved his hands to manifest his magic.

Lee Hyun-wook's gun tilted, and he aimed at the one with the shield first.

Boom—!

“—Aaah!”

No matter how strong the shield was, it couldn't withstand the destructive power of the 'Black Rhino.' It was as if a rhinoceros had charged and rammed into him; the small human body was lifted and slammed into the wall.

“Ugh— Damn...”

And while he was still dazed—

Thud!

A silver arrow flew from somewhere and pierced his left eye.

It was Pale Note, and it was immediately shot at the black orc shaman.

Clang!

But it was blocked by an invisible barrier.

Immediately after, the creature 'manifested' something.

The tattoo on his thick arm wriggled, and a black ripple spread out, filling the room like mist over a lake.

Roar—!

“...”

Lee Hyun-wook took a step back, wary of the strange omen.

Shamanic magic was inherently bizarre and malevolent, and it could act unpredictably without any set rules. In other words, anything could happen.

Especially, the famous incident where the Black Orc King Stornax turned a Chinese player ranked third into a male goat was well-known.

‘Therefore, it’s best not to let my guard down.’

Soon, the shadows of black orcs appeared behind the creature.

‘...Spatial magic, huh?’

Unlike the 'Portal' magic that creates a passage between spaces, this seemed to be an ancient shamanic magic that temporarily overlaps spaces.

Eight black orcs appeared in the overlapping space, and their forms gradually became clear, eventually existing in the hotel room.

They all wielded massive iron axes.

Grrr—!

- Black Orc Elite Warrior (Level 61)

- Black Orc Elite Warrior (Level 63)

- Black Orc Elite Warrior (Level 64)

...

Each had a level between 61 and 64, which was quite formidable.

‘...One day, such creatures will come in droves.’

In other words, if a war with the black orcs were to break out, he would have to fend off thousands of monsters that match at least B-rank 5-tier players—thus, he needed to prepare his firepower from now on.

‘But for now, there are only eight of them.’

Lee Hyun-wook infused the Black Rhino with a lot of mana,

and soon, three red magic circles appeared at the gun's muzzle.

‘—Annihilation Spray!’

Boom—!

Relentless rapid fire, the vibration alone caused the chandelier to break and fall, and the eight orc executioners charging at Lee Hyun-wook were swept away by the steel storm, as if hit by a truck.

Rumble...

And the wall that received the full force of the attack crumbled.

Grrr...

But they didn’t die.

Indeed, as top-tier warriors, even though their bodies were reduced to rags, they managed to get up and raised their red eyes toward Lee Hyun-wook.

“Hmm... I guess I need to be a bit more cruel?”

Suddenly, a greatsword, Moogley, appeared in Lee Hyun-wook’s left hand.

The 2-meter-long blade, weighing 500 kg, swept across the room.

Whoosh—!

The overwhelming sword wind, which seemed impossible to have been just a swing, tore the curtains and flew out through the already broken window,

Crack—!

The bodies of the black orcs standing in its path exploded, and their upper and lower halves separated, spilling out their entrails.

That was the end.

In a very short time, the business room was completely destroyed. The only thing left was the gruesome scene of severed bodies scattered on the floor.

“...”

Meanwhile, the players of the Byehyangrang team, including Lee Jung-jun, who had followed Lee Hyun-wook, were staring at the scene in shock.

They had come to fight together, but there was nothing they needed to do.

“Wow—”

“...The more I see, the more absurd it gets.”

They were, after all, a top-tier player team. Yet, every time they were with Lee Hyun-wook, they felt a sense of deprivation.

A feeling of being a mere sidekick...

‘He always sees through everything from start to finish and takes the lead.’

This time was no different. Even though the government had mobilized all its information networks, they failed to detect the Hongdo Guild’s plot, but he provided the clue.

‘And no matter how strong the enemy is, he attacks with precision and boldness.’

From the 4th Wave, Abaddon, Molech’s avatar, Wyverns, to this very moment... his performance has always been beyond imagination and standards.

He floated Moogley in the air and walked forward.

“—Cough!”

Surprisingly, Xiao Jun was still alive.

And something was lying under his right hand.

‘...A rope?’

It looked like a thin silver bracelet.

Lee Hyun-wook picked it up.

- Name: Gleipnir (Legendary)

- Effect: When infused with mana, it binds a specific target. (The bound target cannot untie the rope by themselves for 10 minutes.)

“So, you were planning to bind me with this?”

This was an unexpected harvest.

No, it was a jackpot.

Gleipnir, in Norse mythology, was the unbreakable magical fetter used by the gods to bind the monstrous wolf Fenrir.

‘A utility item of legendary grade, no less.’

It would be very useful in many ways.

After picking it up, Lee Hyun-wook looked down at the groaning Xiao Jun.

“Xiao Jun, I don’t intend to kill you.”

“G—Gah, why—”

When Lee Hyun-wook shot Xiao Jun, he deliberately aimed slightly off.

Because...

“Wow... What’s going on? Korean hotels are really unique, huh?”

Saying this, a blonde woman entered the room.

She was none other than the 'Holy Maiden' Emily Müller.

“Here, I’m ready.”

Lee Hyun-wook pointed at Xiao Jun as he said this.

Just before this situation arose, Lee Hyun-wook had contacted her, telling her that the opportunity to catch the villain had come, and she had immediately used the World Tree’s power to perform a 'long-range teleport' to come here.

“Is this man... the villain?”

She whispered the word 'villain' very softly.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Alright, let’s start.”

She placed her hand on Xiao Jun’s head, and light particles began to flow and seep into his entire body. It was a healing spell.

“Ah!”

Soon, Xiao Jun’s wounds were completely healed. Even the severed fingers began to regenerate... truly the power of an S-rank priest.

“W—What...”

Xiao Jun looked bewildered. Being shot with a shotgun and turned into a mess was already absurd, but for a Holy Maiden to appear and heal him personally, what an irony?

At that moment, Lee Hyun-wook said something even more shocking.

“Do you have some kind of ‘latent magic’ engraved in your mind?”

“—W—What? No, what...”

“So, if this plan fails, your brain will burn out, right?”

Xiao Jun’s expression turned blank, and he shook his head.

“...I don’t understand what you’re saying. Why did you shoot me all of a sudden! And I don’t know anything about those orcs!”

Xiao Jun naturally started to deny everything.

‘Damn, how does he know? I have to deny it first!’

He didn’t attack Lee Hyun-wook. If he could claim that the appearance of the orcs was something he didn’t know, he might survive.

“Emily, please cast the ‘purification magic’ you prepared.”

Purification magic, as the name suggests, is used to cleanse curses and other malevolent magic. The Holy Maiden’s purification magic was the best.

The light spreading from her hand enveloped Xiao Jun.

At that moment, a system message appeared before Xiao Jun’s eyes.

- (!) The ‘latent magic’ cast on you is being purified.

Xiao Jun felt his head go numb.

‘...Do they really know about the villain’s existence?’

At that moment, Lee Hyun-wook bent down to meet Xiao Jun’s eye level.

His cold, emotionless gaze seemed to pierce through his entire body.

“...Now, you won’t die.”

...‘Die’ but ‘won’t die.’

Strangely, those words felt incredibly menacing.

“Even if your superiors find out that this operation failed, and even if I torture you, the Holy Maiden here will heal you completely, so you won’t die.”

Lee Hyun-wook smiled slightly.

“But even she can’t eliminate the pain...”

“Also, I’m actually better at inflicting pain.”

At the Holy Maiden’s response, Xiao Jun felt a chill run down his spine.

The famous rumor that she specializes in dark magic torture... and unless you’re a demon victor, she can heal while continuously pulling out fingernails and burning skin.

Lee Hyun-wook forced something into Xiao Jun’s mouth.

“Gag! What are you doing!”

It was a metal ball.

“Just swallow it. I can also cut open your stomach and put it in.”

“H—Hell! Damn it! Contact the Chinese embassy immediately!”

Instead of answering, Lee Hyun-wook snapped his finger.

Then, something began to wriggle inside his stomach. Unbeknownst to him, the metal ball had 'transformed' into a sea urchin shape.

“Aaah! What, what is this!”

And it began to rotate.

Grind—!

Lee Hyun-wook, more violently than usual, shredded his insides.

“Aaaah—!”

And the Holy Maiden, standing beside him, intermittently cast ‘heal.’

“Wow— We really work well together, don’t we?”

It was a short comment from the Holy Maiden, who had considerable experience in torture.

As she said, they were a perfect torture duo.

“Now, I’d like you to tell me one thing at a time.”

“Grrr... What, what do you want me to say!”

In response to this question, Lee Hyun-wook grabbed the creature’s neck and said in a low voice.

“Everything you know about the villain...”

***

It didn’t take long for Xiao Jun to give up.

“...H—Hah! Ah, I get it!”

He was already in a state where red clots were pouring out of every orifice in his body, and he should have died several times over. But with the Holy Maiden present, that was impossible, and he surrendered to the repeated, excruciating pain.

Roar—

Lee Hyun-wook first asked about the ‘escape route,’ and the completely broken Xiao Jun began to spill out the information, trembling.

However, the creature mumbled, and Lee Hyun-wook summarized and repeated it.

“So—there’s a backup waiting at an abandoned factory in Eunpyeong District, and a two-way portal is being prepared to connect with a ship in the West Sea?”

Indeed, the two-way portal, a wide-area magic Lee Hyun-wook often used, was the most convenient and efficient way to connect long distances.

However, it was impossible to cross the West Sea. For that, a 'long-range teleport' using the World Tree’s power would be necessary