That evening, we headed to Yongsan, where the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters was located.
As expected, we weren’t the only ones who had received a message from the Chamber of Commerce.
Looking up at the night sky that had descended over Yongsan, Yoo Seong-cheol spoke.
“We’re also preparing our response. Once the 1st Corps area is under control, we plan to officially integrate Awakened individuals into military units. Of course…”
The military was fully prepared.
However,
“We have no idea what they mean by this ‘bidding competition’…”
For now, there was a lack of information.
A new apocalypse was scheduled to come in a week.
All we could do was use that time wisely.
Meanwhile, Operations Commander Yoo Seong-cheol remembered his promise to me.
In return for clearing out the 1st Corps, he had agreed to let me borrow the equipment that the military would be retrieving in the future.
Yoo Seong-cheol asked for my understanding.
“Since there’s a lot of equipment currently being used in the field, it might be difficult to gather and lend it all at once.”
It was a reasonable statement.
With the world in such chaos, there was no way military equipment would be sitting idle.
“So… what if I lend you one piece at a time as they become available? As long as it’s not too demanding, I could provide various items beyond what we recovered from the 1st Corps.”
This was even better.
I wouldn’t be able to handle all that equipment at once anyway.
Registering items in incurred costs, after all.
It would be better to receive a variety of equipment on an as-needed basis, just as he suggested.
I nodded quietly and then asked him,
“I understand. Let’s proceed that way. So, what about that one…?”
My gaze glistened with greed.
A tank stood tall before us.
On its tank-like body, a radar and missiles were mounted.
Yoo Seong-cheol laughed and said,
“Haha… You recognized it right away. As you expected, this is the item we’re lending you this time. It’s an armored vehicle called the K-31 Cheonma. It can launch anti-air missiles using radar.”
“Oh…”
Just as he said, my eyes caught the radar spinning in place.
Cheonma.
Guided missiles.
Truly magnificent terms.
Of course, to use it properly, I’d need to enhance both the ammunition and the armored vehicle, just like with the rifle… but I decided to think about the detailed usage later.
“Thank you.”
“Not at all. Compared to what you’ve done to help us, this is nothing. So, by the way, Colonel Kim, would you consider this a good opportunity to forge an eternal alliance with us…”
“Thaaank you very much.”
I quickly cut off his words, bowing my head hurriedly.
Then, I strode toward the armored vehicle, its radar spinning in place.
PAX scanned the new item, and,
[This item will be accepted into the ‘Military Base’ category.]
[Calculating registration cost…]
Ding!
[The cost required for registration is 96 Mana Stones.]
And with that, I welcomed the Lord Cheonma into my subspace. (TL: Cheonma means Heavenly Demon as well)
The Chamber of Commerce had granted a preparation period of one week.
That time, which felt both long and short, passed like the calm before a storm.
Of course, much happened during that period.
In cooperation with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, we hunted monsters in the surrounding areas and began systematically collecting Mana Stones.
We wiped out a tribe of trolls that had settled at Independence Gate, eliminated a half-goblin variant hiding in Baekryeon Mountain, and showed the drakes roaming Sinchon a taste of fire.
The growth of my family members also followed in quick succession.
Kim Sol’s became strong enough to withstand attacks from 8th Order monsters, while my eldest sister could now heal on a area scale.
My sister-in-law had also started developing buff potions, and my father acquired new turret blueprints, each of them progressing in their own ways.
Thus, time flowed by,
and before I knew it, the day before the ‘bidding competition’ had arrived.
We gathered in the crisis response room that the Joint Chiefs of Staff had prepared.
And with only 24 hours remaining until the time they had warned us about…
“…!”
“It’s here…”
A message had arrived.
—
We are pleased to provide guidance on the details of the bidding competition that will take place in your dimension from the Multidimensional Chamber of Commerce.
[Bidding Competition (Republic of Korea – Seoul)]
Registration Number: 0471
Location: Yeouido
Time: 24 hours from now
Conditions:
– Only 100 participants, including the regional representative, may participate.
– Participants must enter the designated location at least one hour before the start of the bidding competition; entry will be restricted afterward.
Details:
At the start of the competition, a “Gate Core” will be generated at the starting point of Emes Dimension. The core will automatically hatch after 12 hours, forming a gate portal connected to Emes Dimension. Prevent the Gate Core from hatching within the 12-hour time limit.
Success: Victory bonus and additional rewards will be provided.
Failure: A gate portal connected to Emes Dimension will be installed in Yeouido.
We wish prosperity upon your dimension.
—
Additionally, we received some preliminary information about our prospective enemies.
Ding!
[Emes is a mid-tier dimension registered in the multidimensional system, possessing the power of a holy order of knights who worship the Goddess Emes. It is characterized by architecture and weapon production based on divine power, and it is recently evaluated as a stable dimension due to its steady growth rate.]
The lofty ambitions of the enemy were also conveyed.
Ding!
[This is a preliminary notification message from Emes Dimension.]
-You primitive barbarians, prepare to receive the holy retribution of the Goddess Emes.
“Phew…”
A truly insolent opening.
To end with “retribution” in just two sentences—they were clearly impatient and aggressive by nature.
It seemed that even in battle, some rules existed.
The information provided by the Chamber of Commerce included a detailed list of the enemies who would participate in this battle.
[Participant List]
Shuhram Bayer [8th Order]
Ramirus Hennike [8th Order]
Dif Dabrek [8th Order]
Madianis Hons [8th Order]
Torre Arman…
…
“Damn…”
Operations Commander Yoo Seong-cheol clutched his head.
I had already shared information with them.
He understood well what it meant for them to possess ranks and repulsion forces.
The enemy list contained a staggering 100 names.
The government forces had barely managed to handle just one skeletal knight.
The thought of facing a hundred such enemies in a horde was nothing short of daunting.
As everyone sat tense and on edge…
“…?”
A message came through, directed only at me.
—
We are pleased to inform you from the Multidimensional Chamber of Commerce.
During the recent free development period, you were confirmed as the individual with the highest profit yield in the ‘Seoul’ region.
The Chamber of Commerce has selected you as the ‘Seoul Representative’ for the bidding competition to be held in 24 hours. If you accept the representative position, you may personally select the 100 participants (including yourself) who will join the bidding competition.
If you decline the representative position, the right to select participants will pass to the next highest profit earner. Please note that if the representative position is declined more than three times, the bidding competition for the Seoul region will automatically be considered a defeat.
Would you like to accept the representative position? [Y/N]
—
‘I was wondering why I received this…’
It seemed I had unknowingly achieved the highest profit yield.
Thanks to that, I’d been chosen as the Seoul representative, allowing me to form my own team with the members of my choosing.
‘This actually works out well.’
[YES]
For me, this was a welcome development.
Achieving the highest profit yield in Seoul.
That likely meant I was considered the strongest person in all of Seoul.
The further down the order it went, the further back Seoul’s chances of victory would be pushed.
However…
‘There’s quite a lot of people.’
100 people.
Even if I included my entire family, we didn’t even have ten Awakened among us.
But I didn’t have to think too long.
Operations Commander Yoo Seong-cheol was clutching his head miserably.
I informed him that I had become the representative for Seoul and that I would need to recruit up to 100 participants.
“Is… is that true?”
He clenched his fist tightly.
Though the enemy’s forces were still intimidating, we now had the ability to assemble our own force to counter them.
He started flipping through a file folder he had prepared.
Then, he began listing which Awakened individuals the Joint Chiefs of Staff had available, along with their abilities and the kind of support they could provide.
But…
“No.”
I stopped him.
“We just need sharpshooters.”
“Wha…?”
Yoo Seong-cheol looked at me with a blank, deflated expression, as if the wind had been taken out of him.
Sharpshooters.
A rigorous standard, requiring 18 out of 20 shots to hit their mark.
A prestigious title awarded to those who had shown exceptional marksmanship during their military service.
That was enough.
With the newly enhanced K2C1 rifles, I planned to deck out all 100 participants with ‘item power’.
The next day arrived.
The list of 100 participants.
First, I included myself, Lee Yong-su, and my two sisters on the list.
After excluding the knights of Camelot who wouldn’t be participating, there were 96 slots left.
I filled all of them with special forces operatives selected by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Step by step.
The soldiers moved in squads.
Each one held an enhanced K2C1 rifle, with three rounds of [Electric Shock] ammunition loaded in their magazines.
A few hours before the start of the ‘bidding competition’.
We crossed the Mapo Bridge by car and entered Yeouido.
A strange yellow barrier enveloped the entire area of Yeouido, and surprisingly, not a single person or even a single monster could be seen inside.
Thanks to that,
Yeouido, once the political and financial center,
now lay in ruins, and we could take in the desolate landscape all at once.
The most iconic sight among them was none other than the National Assembly building.
“…It’s completely destroyed.”
Lee Yong-su clicked his tongue.
The distinctive sky-blue dome was nowhere to be seen.
The rectangular structure of the building had collapsed completely, revealing the waters of the Han River right behind it.
But there was something more important than that.
“…What’s that?”
A massive red hologram floated above it.
An arrow pointing downwards displayed large letters that read:
[Gate Core Installation Zone]
Just as the Chamber of Commerce had warned.
If we failed to break through their defenses, a gate portal connecting to their dimension would be installed right there.
Soon, their forces would flood across Yeouido and push into the entirety of Seoul.
Vrooom…
The car drove in the opposite direction.
Our starting point was located there.
As we reached our destination, we spotted a blue hologram arrow this time.
[Earth Dimension Starting Point]
And below it…
“…How strange.”
It was the Noryangjin Fish Market.
It seemed that all of Yeouido had become the enemy’s defense zone, and our starting point was set up at the closest place outside of it.
[1 hour until the competition begins. Participants, please enter the starting point.]
The deserted fish market.
The stench of rotting seafood abandoned in various stalls stung our noses.
Considering that we were about to step onto enemy-held ground in Yeouido, we truly couldn’t be in a more underdog position.
A few minutes passed.
[Beings from Emes Dimension are entering.]
The enemies had started setting foot on Earth’s soil as well.
They spawned in the center of Yeouido, where they would block our invasion while nurturing the “Gate Core” at the very site of the former National Assembly building.
However…
“What the hell… these bastards…?”
The enemies were behaving in a way that was completely unexpected.
They should have been setting up defensive lines throughout Yeouido.
But with less than ten minutes left until the start, the enemies began to stir up a ruckus right in front of us.
“Whiiu!”
“In the name of the Goddess Emes!”
Between us was a transparent barrier.
Since the battle hadn’t officially started, any attacks aimed at each other were completely blocked.
Beyond the barrier were dozens of holy knights.
They clanged their tin-can armor with their swords, singing hymns to their goddess and spouting grand speeches about how they would torture and enslave us.
Taunts and jeers.
It reached a peak when we assumed our firing positions, aiming our guns at them.
“Hehe, as expected, these country bumpkins never fail to be predictable. Do you think your dimension is the first to point guns at us? Go ahead and fire those little toys all you want. Let’s see if they can even scratch us.”
One of them, who had been laughing, suddenly put on a severe expression and added,
“Well… ignorance is death, isn’t it?”
We knew.
We knew that every one of them was an 8th Order monster.
Ordinary bullets wouldn’t be able to penetrate their repulsion fields or armor.
Ordinarily, that is.
Srrrng!
The enemies drew their swords.
Then…
“Kekeke…”
They stuck out their tongues and licked the blades.
Quite a provocative performance for supposed holy knights.
Meanwhile, we simply watched their show through the sights of our rifles.
And then…
As we all knew, these were no ordinary guns.
They were “silver blessings” specially prepared to enlighten these mad fanatics.
[The bidding competition will now begin.]
[10, 9, 8 … ]
The countdown began.
[3, 2, 1…]
Ziiing.
The moment the barrier between us vanished.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!
From over a hundred barrels, a torrent of bullets rained down.
Ping!
Piiing!
Bullets that easily pierced through their armor.
And that wasn’t all.
“Argh!?”
“Ugh?”
Each bullet carried the [Electric Shock] attribute.
It delivered a shocking experience to the holy knights as it zipped through their armor.
Even with just three bullets per magazine…
It wasn’t a problem.
Whip!
The soldiers tossed their rifles back.
Then, they picked up fresh rifles piled up like a mountain in front of them.
Naturally, these rifles were already loaded with bullets.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The firing continued without pause.
“Aaaargh!”
There was no shortage of “silver blessings” to shower upon the enemies.
Their limbs twisted and flailed in all directions.
Their eyes, now frozen in place, filled with regret and despair.
Ping!
A deflected bullet fell with a splash into an aquarium.
Plop! Plop!
The rotting fish in the tank began to thrash and dance around the time.
And right in front of us…
Sssss—
Dozens of holy knights were sprawled out on the ground, armor and all.
Flopping!
With a shocking thrill.”
You cannot copy content of this page