From the standpoint of facing Hwang Won-jae and the [Sword of Belphegor], I have one overwhelming advantage.
That is the fact that I don't need to exert effort to collect and compile information to find the right answer, nor do I have reason to hesitate due to the uncertainty that cos from it.
This is actually a natural thing.
'The problem is how to share the knowledge I have with the Execution Force.'
Acting as a prophet or whatever only gives off suspicious vibes and makes it difficult to gain trust.
'It makes even less sense for a large organization to make decisions based solely on my word when I'm not even an official mber, let alone having a prophetic characteristic.'
It's not like so neighborhood council eting.
Therefore.
Above all, I needed to launder the information I had in a plausible way.
[I was wondering what you were calling about after so long.]
Having landed at the landing pad, instead of returning imdiately, I asked the assistant for understanding and was first making a phone call to Old Man Jang.
'Modern helicopters even have phone charging capabilities.'
[To put it bluntly, you want to sell my na, right?]
"If I had to say, that's about right."
I was planning to use Old Man Jang to launder my knowledge into credible intelligence.
[Hehe.]
"Actually, I've already sold it once."
[What?]
I briefly explained my conversation with the Chief of Staff to Old Man Jang.
[......That's a surprising story.]
There wouldn't be anyone in the world who wouldn't be surprised to hear the prophecy of the end.
[I know well that you have many strange secrets. What I don't know is their source.]
"......."
It was this man's virtue that he wouldn't pry unless I spoke first.
But this ti seed a bit different.
[Jeong Su-hyeon, what exactly are you? Are you really so kind of prophet?]
"If I have to say......."
I pondered my answer.
"I think I should say yes."
[Fine, let's assu that's true.]
Old Man Jang said.
[Then why not just say so?]
"Are you serious?"
[Why wouldn't I be?]
"People tend to trust information received from a reliable informant more than vague prophecies."
[This guy.]
Old Man Jang, who couldn't possibly not know this fact, said in a sullen voice.
[So you're going to borrow my na as a laundromat? I've worked in this industry for a long ti, but this is truly the first ti I've received such a request.]
"I'm sorry."
[It's fine.]
It was easy to guess that Old Man Jang was smiling on the other end of the phone.
[Instead, let's compromise by adding one more to the number of favors you must grant .]
"What are you saving them up for?"
[Hut, that would ruin the fun.]
"......Perhaps."
[Hmm?]
"You don't happen to have a granddaughter I don't know about, do you?"
[What are you talking about?]
"Nothing."
A mont of silence.
[Hahaha!]
Old Man Jang, who understood my aning, burst into laughter.
[Are you worried I might be eyeing you as a son-in-law like the Sword Saint or Chairman Hwang Yong-jae? I'm sorry, but you don't need to worry about that. It's better to deal with business associates rather than family.]
"I understand."
[I don't have a granddaughter to begin with. If you're okay with a grandson, I could arrange that?]
"......I'll really have to decline that."
[I'm joking.]
A mischievous laugh was heard.
[But rember. I'm not particularly a good person. I'm closer to being a bad one.]
"......I know."
??????°??☆????°??????
"What on earth did you talk about with the Chief of Staff?"
Kwon Seung-yeon asked Su-hyeon, who had co to visit the cadets under disciplinary probation.
"I was actually going to tell that story, so I called everyone."
"What? Why so serious?"
"......."
Looking around at the cadets, Su-hyeon thought.
'I need to use everything I can use.'
Not only their individual skills.
Hero Seo Dong-jin, Sword Saint Lee Un-hak, Chairman Hwang Yong-jae, even the Grand Magician who is Choi Min-a's master.
To do that, I needed to truly win their hearts.
"They say the governnt will likely award us dals."
"Huh?"
"Really?"
"It's not entirely a good thing."
Su-hyeon threw cold water on the cadets who were about to rejoice.
"Why? Will they use that as an excuse to put a leash on us?"
Su-hyeon smiled bitterly at Hwang Ji-su's words.
"If the problem ended there, it might have been fortunate."
"......?"
"The end will co in the near future."
"The end? What end?"
"The end of humanity. The end of the world. The subject may be different, but the aning is similar."
"What are you......."
At the sudden statent, the cadets' faces showed that they didn't know how to react.
"Let's talk about the political situation a bit? You all know best that our country's situation has been very bad recently."
Su-hyeon said while roughly drawing a world map on the whiteboard of the empty lecture room.
"Just 1 or 2 years ago, Korea was the country with the most stable public safety in the world. What was next?"
"Well, probably the United States."
Seo Jun-seong, who crossed his arms as if he would first listen to the story, answered.
"That's right. Although it's lacking compared to the pre-Gate era, they still maintain a solid federation by forming a coalition centered around several tropolises."
Su-hyeon continued.
"Especially, they drove demonic beasts into the barren Midwest desert area with low population density, achieved the most definite results in the fight against demonic beasts through strategic bombing using all kinds of weapons including nuclear and missiles, and cleanup operations using hunters, and now they're just managing gates and dungeons to extract resources."
"Right. And with the intelligence of that famous counterintelligence agency, they find and eradicate Ma-in, definitively intimidating them? There's even talk that public safety has improved much more than when the mafia and gangsters were running rampant."
Hwang Ji-su interjected.
"Thanks to that, all kinds of awakened individuals have flocked there, so even now, they're second only to Korea in terms of public safety, and their national power is still the strongest in the world. They're seriously declaring victory for Arica and whatnot. But what's this? We've already covered all this in class?"
"The problem is that declaration might be extended indefinitely."
Su-hyeon said.
"You're aware that the situation over there is not looking good, right?"
"Well, I've heard that."
Hwang Ji-su crossed her arms and answered.
"Stock prices are constantly fluctuating. Their dominance in the Pacific is weakening, and terrorist acts are frequent. Especially in areas like Detroit or LA, they're seriously discussing city lockdowns."
"That's right. The problem isn't just Arica."
"......In Japan, only the Kansai region is sohow functioning. And China is still divided."
"Since Beijing was greatly destroyed, Chongqing and Shanghai are the most likely areas, but even that situation is unstable."
Su-hyeon said while roughly drawing the European continent.
"The UK has sohow survived on the island of England but is still severely isolated. Italy, with its rugged mountainous regions, only functions properly in the north. France and Germany have chosen to build long barriers and beco semi-isolated because of Ma-in mixed among immigrants from various regions. India and Southeast Asia are in bad shape, just as they have been."
Moreover.
"As for Korea, well, as you know, it's in chaos to the extent that just yesterday, White Castle was attacked and terrorism occurred at the academy."
"So?"
Hwang Ji-su cut off Su-hyeon's words.
"This alone doesn't particularly give
the feeling of a sign of the end. The world didn't end even during the much more chaotic tis of the appearance of Ma-in or demonic beasts."
"Right. This isn't a sign of the end."
Su-hyeon nodded.
"The story starts from here."
Su-hyeon looked around at the cadets and paused for a mont.
'Forgive
for not being able to tell you the truth even at this point.'
There will co a ti to tell the truth after everything is over.
"I sotis have prophetic dreams."
"......?"
"Prophetic dreams?"
Everyone had a blank expression at the sudden statent.
"The first mory of this was a dream I had a few days before the Samcheok Incident."
"!"
Surprise appeared on the faces of the cadets who knew about the tragedy Su-hyeon experienced as a child.
"Since then, I've seen the future in dreams several tis. Each ti, I either prayed it wouldn't happen or hoped it would. But they always ca true without the slightest error."
"......Is this related to the characteristic Su-hyeon has?"
"No, this seems different from my characteristic. It's difficult for
to explain exactly, but it doesn't feel like a power related to my characteristic."
Su-hyeon shook his head at Lee Yu-jin's question.
"But despair grew each ti I saw a bad future. I wanted to prevent it, but my power was insufficient, and I failed every ti. But there was a ti when it changed for the first ti."
"......When was that?"
Kwon Seung-yeon asked.
"When the [Sword of Belphegor] invaded the academy."
"!"
Seo Jun-seong was surprised.
"So that's why you acted like soone who knew sothing back then?"
"That's right. It was possible because of your help."
Su-hyeon nodded.
"Of course, I wasn't always successful. I didn't always foresee everything in advance. But as ti passed, the success rate gradually increased."
"Then perhaps even Blood Plaza?"
"......Even during the picnic?"
"No way. Then at that ti......."
The cadets were each recalling events they could guess and reviewing Su-hyeon's actions.
"Right. I thought it was strange. It's an absurd story, but if explained that way, it makes sense."
Hwang Ji-su muttered with a serious face.
"......I know it's hard to believe. That's why I processed the story a bit when I told the Chief of Staff."
"Wow, you boldly lied."
Kim Ho-su marveled.
"If that's more convincing, then that's what I have to do. I'm going to try every possible asure."
"So how did you convince him?"
"There's an information broker from the underworld, Old Man Jang, who has a separate relationship with . I sold him out. I plan to process my dreams into information through him in the future. Of course, I'll have to continue actual information gathering activities as well."
"Huh? Are you allowed to say that?"
Kwon Seung-yeon asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing. Haha."
"There's no need to hide it at this point."
Su-hyeon turned his gaze to Choi Min-a.
"Choi Min-a."
"?"
"The ones who got you magic reagents and materials were , Kwon Seung-yeon, and Nam Tae-hoon."
"......That was you guys?"
Choi Min-a's eyes widened like marbles.
"Guys. The conversation has been so sudden from earlier that it's hard to follow?"
Kang Geon-woo interjected, raising his hand.
"I'll tell you more details later. That's not what's important right now."
"Okay, okay. So far."
Hwang Ji-su crossed her arms.
"The dream story, the Old Man Jang person story, I'll assu I understand it all for now. Now properly tell us about that end."
"That's right."
Just as Su-hyeon was about to open his mouth.
"I'd like to hear that story too."
"!?"
Suddenly, Instructor Kim Cheol-han opened the door and entered.
"Instructor Kim!"
"It's good to see you're safe!"
"That's my line."
Kim Cheol-han restrained the cadets and jerked his chin.
"Let's catch up later. First, continue with your story."
"......Understood."
Su-hyeon said.
"What I'm about to tell you is based on the content of the dreams I've had."
Gulp.
Soone swallowed.
"The [Sword of Belphegor] is trying to open sothing called 'Nastrond'."
"What exactly is this Nastrond?"
"In my opinion, it refers to the inverse world from which demonic beasts crossed over."
"!"
"The inverse world?"
"Yes. The inverse world. In fact, the gates and dungeons that have been opening so far are just fragnts of that world."
"......Huh."
"In simple terms, it would be fine to compare it to a demon realm. Nastrond is a world ruled by the king of that demon realm. He is literally a living disaster itself. He is a being with the power to destroy life forms just by existing."
"......."
"And the king of Nastrond wants to open the door to our world and descend directly. There's no need to explain what his purpose might be."
"......The annihilation of humanity, the destruction of the world, whatever you call it, the aning is the sa."
"Yes. The important thing is that when the door to Nastrond opens, a war between the two worlds will break out."
And.
"Even with just the sporadically pouring demonic beasts and the Ma-in created by their infection, our humanity had to shed too much blood and lose too much."
If a full-scale war with that world opens.......
A distant sense of despair appeared on the cadets' faces.
"In that dream."
Kim Cheol-han, with an expressionless face that betrayed no emotion, asked.
"What did you see?"
"......A massive despair. The system built by humanity will collapse. The old world will end, and the common sense and daily life we've known will be destroyed."
"......If what you say is true, it can't be helped. If it's true, that is."
"That's why I've been pondering. But in my dreams, the end has always been approaching bit by bit. And finally, we've reached today."
'This really makes
sound like a cult leader.'
Su-hyeon, swallowing a bitter smile in his heart, said.
"I know it's hard to believe. I would have felt the sa. But it's sothing I can't do alone. That's why I wanted to borrow as many hands as possible, so I brought this up."
"......Certainly, it's a story that's difficult to comprehend."
Instructor Kim Cheol-han slowly nodded his head.
"However, if I look back at the incredible actions you've shown so far, it's also true that I think it might be okay to believe your words."
"I wasn't asking for an imdiate decision."
"I'll believe you."
Lee Yu-jin was the first to show her trust in Su-hyeon.
"I believe my eyes. I believe in the actions Su-hyeon has taken so far."
" too."
Kwon Seung-yeon also raised her hand eagerly.
"Hmph, not a hundred percent. I'm just choosing to believe for now."
Hwang Ji-su also expressed her agreent while snorting.
Others like Kim A-yun, Kang Geon-woo, and Kim Ho-su also showed signs of agreent.
"......I'll make up my mind after asking a few more questions."
Seo Jun-seong cautiously said.
"I'm also reserving judgnt."
Choi Min-a also sided with Seo Jun-seong.
"I'll put this agenda on the instructor eting. I should also have a conversation with the Execution Force."
Kim Cheol-han summarized the situation with those words.
"By the way, Instructor Kim."
"Hmm?"
Su-hyeon asked.
"Wasn't there sothing you ca to talk about?"
"Ah. I forgot about that."
Kim Cheol-han nodded as if he just rembered.
"You know, right? That apart from the great rit you've achieved, the fact that you left the academy without permission at dawn and went to White Castle without orders or reporting is clearly problematic behavior."
"Yes."
"So I'm giving you an opportunity to cleanse your fault."
"What is it?"
Kim Cheol-han laughed softly.
"From now on, you're going to raid a dungeon."
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