Prepare For Calamity!

I had not expected that so much time would pass just from organizing one topic.

It was not as if impatience was rising in my heart.

A problem had not occurred domestically, and I thought the neighboring countries would have enough leeway to endure for about a month.

But when I came out into the outside world, I had no choice but to click my tongue as I confirmed that the situation had become extremely chaotic.

‘What happened in barely a month or so?’

I wondered whether things should be this hectic when winter had passed and spring should slowly be arriving. After taking out my mobile phone, turning it on, and checking the countless text messages that came pouring in one by one, I was able to learn what had happened during that time.

‘Is it because the thing that appeared in Chengdu is heading this way?’

The one with the name Saturn had begun carrying out an absurd massacre while devastating Chengdu, China, and as a result, it was said to have advanced as far as Nanjing now.

As it began advancing into regions where most of China’s population was concentrated, a massive evacuation procession continued, and the news said that as it was advancing toward Shanghai and Hangzhou, China had even resolved to take out and use nuclear weapons.

‘So they are going with the mindset that everyone should die. This has become troublesome.’

During the last Daegyeokbyeon, close to five hundred million people in China disappeared.

At least, over the course of several years, it had entered a recovery trend and climbed back up to a population of one billion, but in truth, even with that large population, the number of powerful Awakeners was extremely small, leaving many countries puzzled.

Moreover, India’s situation was also the same, but in any case, I felt I understood why it was heading toward the Korean Peninsula instead of going in that direction.

First, I called Go Yu-jin.

The signal went through, and not long after, Go Yu-jin picked up the phone. Her urgent voice came through.

-Did you finally come out? -

“I am sorry. I was quite late, wasn’t I?”

-It is not exactly like that, but urgent news came in today. -

At the word urgent news, I could think of one thing.

“Did a problem happen in Japan?”

-That’s right. -

‘Did it stray from my prediction?’

Had the rampage of the Yellow Gate instead been accelerated?

I grew impatient, but first, I steadied my breathing and asked,

“What happened?”

-They succeeded in closing the Yellow Gate, but Japan is detaining the expedition team right now and is not trying to send them back. -

I let out a hollow laugh at the completely different problem. And at my hollow laugh, Go Yu-jin spoke seriously.

-Another Red Gate appeared in Japan. This time, two appeared, but the problem is that the Red Gates appeared right after the Yellow Gate was conquered, so they are insisting that Korea is the cause and forcing us to handle them. -

I also knew that from Japan’s position, they had no choice but to force the issue.

Right now, Japan did not have the leeway to do anything about Red Gates.

And since this was the group that had conquered a Yellow Gate, perhaps they judged that if they could somehow make them handle the Red Gates, it would be to their benefit.

In practical terms, it was a thirty-person expedition team composed of master-class personnel.

If they actually tried to force their way out with force, it was not impossible, but if they used force forcibly, there would be no end to it.

So it was clear that An Sang-ik was also acting carefully.

“But how did they deal with the Yellow Gate?”

-They say the location that caused resonance was not underground, but up in the sky. They say it was secretly hidden, so finding it was difficult. -

“It seems they dealt with it without too much difficulty. Am I right?”

-Yes. The details will be released through the news, so come first. Let us meet and talk. -

I ended the call like that, and just as I was examining the current circumstances in more detail, a phone call came in.

‘Kim Dae-san must be in a hurry.’

“What is it?”

When I answered the phone and asked in a businesslike manner, I heard Kim Dae-san’s tired voice along with the sound of a sigh.

-It is not as though you do not know the recent circumstances, so why is it so hard to reach you by phone? -

“It is not as if I have an obligation to answer every call, is it?”

-…I have something to ask of you. -

There was a slight pause, and I could feel emotional fluctuation, as if he was pressing something down and enduring it. However, at the words that he had something to ask, I answered immediately.

“I refuse. My life is important.”

-You know, you are always the one who breaks our relationship. Do you know that? -

“Let us say that is true. I am hanging up.”

-Wait! -

Kim Dae-san was urgent. His impatience could be felt clearly, and I even wondered how bad the international situation had become for him to be like this.

-An enormous number of refugees from China are expected to flow in. They say they will pay massive compensation in the form of asking us to hand over the former North Korean land. But I intend to refuse this. And I plan to draw a line with China once again, so help me. -

‘Instead of saving the people detained in Japan, he is paying attention to this side. Did he take some kind of measure?’

It was an interesting situation in many ways. So without needing to think about it, I said,

“I am not the ruthless slaughterer that exists by your standards. So even if you want to use black mages, do not do that. Otherwise, you will face an enemy of a different nature than any enemy you have seen in your life. I am hanging up.”

There was no reason to talk any further. Kim Dae-san’s urgent voice could be heard from beyond the receiver, but I ignored it and turned off my mobile phone.

After that, I flew in the direction of the company using levitation magic.

‘It is unsettled. Most people feel as if they are urgently leaving somewhere, but where are they even going on this narrow piece of land….’

Even if they evacuated, it would ultimately be the same wherever they went.

It would rather be a wiser decision to make appropriate preparations at home and watch how the world turned out.

And Korea was by no means a weak country.

Even when the First Korean Peninsula War broke out, countless citizens fell into chaos, caused traffic congestion, committed various crimes, and made the situation even more difficult.

I could not understand why people who should know that, no, people who could never forget that, were acting so foolishly.

On top of that, looking at the military and police moving around the city, it was clear that most were being urgently deployed toward the west coast.

The border was being guarded by the regular army, but the coastline was not.

If it were like before, with the coast guard or navy deployed, it might be different, but in the early days of the Daegyeokbyeon, due to an inadequate response, most ships had been sunk by marine monsters.

Only recently had the frequency of raising sunken ships with the help of high-ranking mages and Psychic Awakeners, repairing them, and reusing them increased. In reality, there were limits to the extent that ships could actually be built and used.

‘I can understand why that Kim Dae-san gentleman is in such a hurry.’

However, I had no intention of stepping forward for him.

Afterward, when I moved quickly and returned to the company, I faced Go Yu-jin, who had come out to meet me. Seeing Go Yu-jin, who had become gaunt over those few days, needlessly stirred my heart.

“I am back.”

“…Are you all right?”

“Yes, I am fine. I am the same as before.”

“There was progress, right?”

I lightly stretched out my hand, and mana formed and swirled around me according to my will.

Go Yu-jin was startled as she saw it.

“How…?”

“I had a realization. Thanks to that, I became able to look up at a realm one stage higher.”

“It seems the world loves you a lot, Seong-chan-ssi. And…. I am anxious. About it giving you this kind of power over and over….”

Go Yu-jin said that, but I could tell that the sensation I felt from her had also changed greatly.

Because I could tell that as much as I had worked hard, Go Yu-jin had also done something.

And then I also felt that An So-mi, who came out of the office afterward, had changed in temperament.

“Both of you have raised your realm?”

“I cannot fool you. We reached the Master realm. Both I and So-mi.”

An So-mi had reached 6th Circle Master, and Go Yu-jin had reached 7th Circle Master.

Since her Awakening, Go Yu-jin had not been able to cross the threshold of User until now.

Now she could use magic up to the 7th Circle.

“Congratulations.”

“Compared to what you have reached, it is nothing.”

At that moment, An So-mi approached and asked with a surprised expression,

“How can you draw and use mana from outside the body?”

“It is simple. You manifest your will and create mana.”

“…Why is that simple?”

“That’s right. It is easy to say.”

The two of them looked bewildered, but now, for me, it was a simple problem.

It would become true ‘knowledge’ only when I could unravel it and pass it on to others, so I felt that the road I had to walk in the future was long as I said,

“Let us go in. My legs hurt from standing outside like this.”

“Ah, look at me. Actually, we need to hurry somewhere.”

When I asked what that meant, she told me that the Black Mage Association and the Black Tower had decided to combine their forces.

‘Did they finally make up their minds?’

In truth, the two groups had been steadily discussing a merger for a long time.

It was because they had argued that if their power was divided, their interests would also be divided, so cooperation was necessary for the rights and interests of black mages.

But the problem was that disputes never ceased over who would become the ‘body,’ and in the end, the discussions did not continue properly, repeatedly leaving things in an ambiguous state.

“They reached a conclusion this time?”

“Yes. They say Cheon Jong-un ultimately decided to enter the association. However, they will continue managing the Magic Tower in the form of a ‘branch.’”

In effect, only his position had become affiliated with the Black Mage Association.

I wondered what was so great about that, but as if Go Yu-jin had read my thoughts, she said,

“Today is the day the Magic Tower is being relocated.”

“You mean they are relocating that enormous structure?”

“They said they came up with the idea from Baek Da-gyeong’s mobile Magic Tower.”

Baek Da-gyeong’s mobile Magic Tower was a relic.

The fact that they extracted information from it meant that they had released the relic Baek Da-gyeong possessed and obtained information, and I was surprised that she had handed over something that could be called her everything.

In any case, I thought it was fine as long as everything had been resolved well, and at the words that we should hurry and go, I ended up moving my feet.