Chapter 227 - Second Protagonist (2) - Nocturne Translations
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Beijing, China,
Click-!! Click-!!! Click-!!
At the familiar yet boring sound of the camera shutters snapping, Taylor Nine barely managed to stop herself from falling asleep. Although she was someone who lived her life however she wanted, after joining Another League, she refrained from doing things which could badly affect the guild.
‘Aish… It’s so boring.’
There really wasn’t any reason for her to hold a press conference today. It was only held because an SSS-class gate had appeared in China, and Taylor Nine was dispatched to clear it as a Korean hunter. She originally did not want to do it but ultimately relented when Yekaterina suggested doing so to cement her identity as a Korean. Even though it has been quite some time since she changed her nationality to Korean, a lot of people still thought of her as Russian.
Hunters with SS rank were still rare on the planet, so when she moved, all the headlines, whether it was in paper news or the internet, were all covered with her activities.
With a chance for publicity showing up in front of them, there was no way the Chinese Hunter Industry would simply let it slip by. Therefore, they held a press conference for Taylor in a hurry.
“(Next question.)”
Since technology had advanced to the point a translator device could automatically translate over 99% of what people said, conversing in different languages was no longer hard.
“I said I have another question for you.”
“I know, so please wait.”
“(Question! I heard you did a great job at this gate. Can we enquire what special training do Korean hunters go through?)”
Hunters in China were excellent in both quality and quantity; it was to the point that there was a saying that they were second only to the United States. It had been that way for several decades. In other words, the question the reporter just asked was not a question someone from China would normally ask to hunters from Korea, which lacked both the quantity as well as quality of hunters compared to China.
However, lately, the status of Korea in the world has risen quite a lot. Although the number of hunters in Korea was still small, they covered it with quality. The reason for their rise was clear; it was due to Another League Guild which Taylor Nine belonged to. Therefore, the reporters were all trying to dig information regarding their unique training method. If they found some clues, it would certainly be of great help to China.
“We tell them to eat and live well.”
“Ah, okay..”
Of course, Taylor didn’t have any intention of telling them about their training methods. She even answered the question without batting an eye.
When Taylor replied in such a casual manner, a lot of people’s faces turned rigid. However, she didn’t have any intention of inquiring about their moods.
“(Question. Why didn’t Korean hunters salutes toward the Chinese flag when the Chinese national anthem appeared?)”
Out of a sudden, one particular reporter deliberately asked a nonsensical question. Hearing the question through the interpreter and through the translation device, Taylor’s face instantly turned into looks of absurdity.
“What nonsense are you talking about, you crazy bastard?”
“Mi-miss, Taylor, please calm down…”
“But that bastard was the one who started taking sh*t first. Hey, come here! Or should I bring you here myself?”
The interpreter hurriedly spoke into the microphone.
“No comment! No comments!”
The reporter who asked that question already ran away, but there were still many reporters who had a strong mentality there. They all booed at Taylor as she grabbed her coat and tried to get out of his conference room.
“Boo!”
“Return to your country!”
“Ah, those bastards are really just…”
Most of the reporters instantly went silent when Taylor raised her fist to the air. It was due to the fact that once superhumans get angry, the entire area could turn into a wasteland as a result.
“Godammit!”
If she was still her old self, Taylor wouldn’t even think twice of making a fuss here. However, ever since she became an SS rank, people’s eyes changed when they looked at her. It was as if they were looking at a monster. Therefore, even Taylor couldn’t help but be bothered by it since she didn’t know what people would do if she made a ruckus.
“I’ll let it slide, today.” As she said that, Taylor lowered her fist and was about to leave the conference room. However, at that moment, without any notice or signs,
!!!!!!
The ceiling of the room was torn away. Half of the people sitting in the conference room were swept away in the process.
‘Ugh…!’
There wasn’t even a noise. It could be said to be the quietest explosion in the world. Taylor hurriedly put a protective layer around her surroundings and pulled out her bat.
“Wh-what is happening…”
“What the hell is going on!”
The people who managed to avoid the damage slowly raised their heads. And at that moment, they could see it. A certain humanoid monster was entering the room through the ceiling. It resembled a human, but it had a strange energy different from that of a human. Its skin, eyes, hair, and everything also felt one step further than that of a human.
“(So that woman is one of Yoo Seodam’s close colleagues?)”
The woman stroked her chin and muttered. But no one could understand what she said since she didn’t use any language belonging to Earth. However for Taylor, even if she didn’t understand, she could easily infer the fact that the woman didn’t like her.
“Hey. You guys! You didn’t even thank me for saving your asses!” After saying so to the Chinese reporters, Taylor swung her baseball bat and slung it over her shoulder. “It seems like it will be quite a close fight.”
Taylor thought that maybe the woman in the air could be stronger than her, but it also didn’t seem like she was going to lose.
After all,
‘This is the M-001 minor version, built for testing. Be sure to wear it! please!’
‘Why!’
‘This is our first time producing a magic product, so a well-known star must use it first to promote it!’
‘But I don’t know anything about magic!’
‘But you just need to press a button and say the keyword to activate it?’
It had been a long time since Taylor Nine’s equipment was completely replaced by parts from Another League’s technology. However, it was by no means a normal equipment since it was enchanted with powerful magic.
Taylor then grinned as she imagined Yekaterina’s elated face as she promoted the equipment.
“Let’s start quickly. I want to test the equipment.”
***
Meanwhile, miles away from China, Yekaterina was also facing someone while floating in the air of Another League’s Guild Hideout, Floating Garden.
‘Otherworlder….’
From the moment Yekaterina met the creature’s eyes, she had already guessed its identity. After all, it looked very similar to the ‘Hell Gate’s creature’ that Yoo Seodam had fought in Iran the other day.
“Not long ago, you went to the Master of the Murim alliance, didn’t you? Is it my turn this time?”
The incident where Seol Jungyoon was fighting against two creatures from Hell Gate was featured on breaking news a lot. They attacked the hideout of the New Murim Alliance but were able to escape with their life intact.
‘How did they get into this place?’ Yekaterina frowned. ‘It seems like since they think Seol Jungyeon unnie is too strong, they are aiming for someone who is weaker.’
It was the conclusion Yekaterina drew after Taylor Nine informed the guild that she had been attacked through the guild’s emergency contact.
Seol Jungyeon, Taylor, and herself. There was only one thing all three had in common.
‘They are looking for people related to Seodam?’
For what reason did the Otherworlders of Hell Gate approach Yoo Seodam’s colleagues?
However, despite the question lingering in her mind, Yekaterina could already guess that their intentions would not be peaceful by any means. Also, as a ‘former protagonist’ who had received the power of probability directly, she was able to estimate the energy contained in the body of the man in front of her.
‘That man… is definitely a protagonist.’’
The strange man with gray skin and blue eyes in front of her was towering at a whopping 3 m tall and sharp steel-like wings spread behind his body. Her expression was cold without any change, but all in all, Yekaterina didn’t even feel afraid of him.
“(To think a lower species like you can touch dimension… You made a pretty nest.)”
“…I don’t know what you mean, but I know for sure that you can easily pass through it.” Yekaterina answered in a calm voice, almost cheeky even. She knew that she was obviously weaker than the likes of Seol Jungyeon or Taylor. She wouldn’t be able to defeat him like both of them.
However, the place they were currently in was Yekaterina’s space–a magician’s space.
Whoosshh-!!
Rumble-!!
Whiing-!!
Fireworks flew through the sky from all over the ground, wind blew viciously, the ground trembled, and pillars of water soared. It was all due to the spirits residing in the hideout which reacted according to Yekaterina’s will.
The next moment,
Woong Woong Woong Woong-!!
Light began to gather from the rooftops of all the buildings in the Hanging Garden before shooting to the sky and created a humongous magic circle in the sky.
“Even though I am still only at the level of a 5 circle magician…” The amount of knowledge that Yekaterina had acquired from the Library of White Witch inside Yoo Seodam’s imaginary world was unimaginable. With that knowledge, Yekaterina was at least on par with 7 circle magicians or even more.
Although she couldn’t cast those magics even if she poured all of her power, what if she borrowed the power of various tools, science and technology in her prepared field?
She would be able to wield the power of an ‘Archwizard.’
“Even if I tolerate other things… I can’t stand people who break into the guild hideout.” As Yekaterina said that, her hands flashed. At the same time, a single line connects numerous constellations which embroidered the sky of the Hanging Garden.
She activated a technique to cast magic through the celestial bodies as the source.
“So, please just peacefully surrender.”
As long as the constellation still exists, Yekaterina’s magic will never stop.
***
Somewhere inside the Hell Gate, a man was sitting peacefully. The place he was currently at wasn’t the terrible space that the Hunters from previous expedition, including Yoo Seodam, had suffered at. Instead, it was a really plain white space. He was sitting on an ordinary leather chair while typing into a normal-looking old computer.
“That’s right. Earthlings there have superpowers, don’t they?” As he said that, the man took both of his hands off the keyboard, removed the glasses he was wearing and rubbed his eyes and massaged them. It was clear that the man was exhausted.
Then, a creature resembling Yoo Seodam appeared right before him.
“No matter how bad the environment, we, the perfect race, will not suffer…”
“Perfect? Who? You guys?”
When the woman with gray skin spoke, the man snorted at her.
“You guys are not perfect. Thinking you guys are perfect is just your own misunderstanding. Just what is ‘perfect’ from that needlessly hard skin and not so beautiful skin color? I can’t understand. Seriously, I can’t..”
“Wha-what are you saying…”
“Ah, sorry. I guess you guys are the only species which was the closest to perfection compared to any other race which has ever existed.” The man said as he glanced at the woman. His eyes looked the same as when she looked at the Earthlings; those were the eyes of someone looking down at beings lower than them.
“You guys are different from me, aren’t you?” When the man threw those words, the woman disappeared. No one knew where she went. She just simply disappeared.
“By the way, to think such problems will occur…” The man mumbled as he moved and clicked the mouse. The time for them to absorb Earth had come, but it hadn’t been done yet. However, he also couldn’t pay anymore attention to the matter as he had another pressing work he had to focus on right now.
“Let’s see… Has any new work been uploaded today? Dammit, this one is boring, this one has a shit ending… Wait, wouldn’t it be better if the ending was shit? Uhm. This one is good.” The man nodded his head as he found a work called 『How to Survive in Fantasy』, a novel uploaded by an anonymous writer to the Internet. He then copied all of the content to his computer’s text editor and clicked the [Upload] button.
It was a really simple and trivial act, but that trivial act of him would create a [protagonist] somewhere in the many dimensions.
The man continued to scour through his computer and repeat the act of making protagonists. Considering that the average time it took for Yoo Seodam to hunt one protagonist was about two or three months, the pace of making protagonists was extremely fast.
“I have finished my work for today…” The man stretched his back and picked up his teacup which was no longer hot. When he looked out of the window, a completely twisted and grotesque interior of the Hell Gate was revealed. However, it was no longer completely twisted as it was before. It was slowly being finished. Perhaps some of those distorted spaces would be ‘buildings’, some would be ‘roads’, some would be ‘intelligent bodies’, and some would be ‘beasts’.
A completed civilization in an unfinished world. In it, they were living like that without even realizing that the world they lived in was twisted.
“But sooner or later…”
Sooner or later, the perfect world will be created.
‘A world where no one is the main character but at the same time anyone can be the main character.’
Waiting for that day to come, the man closed his eyes. He had a feeling that he was going to have a good dream today.
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