Lee Yong-su and the co-pilot from the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Along with me and Communications Battalion Commander Han Kyung-ho.
The four of us were fully equipped, not only with gas masks but also with chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) protective gear.
Our destination was the Xicheng District of Beijing.
It was part of Beijing’s Second Ring Road area, known as the wealthiest region.
A densely packed urban area.
There was no space to land the transport aircraft, so we had no choice but to stop at Beijing’s outskirts, at Shoudu Airport, and transfer to the newly deployed Black Hawk.
This helicopter, too, had been enhanced by James.
Tudududu!
From the outskirts of the Fifth Ring Road, we gradually flew towards the Second Ring, crossing through the increasingly affluent core of Beijing.
However, the closer we descended, the farther the sight outside the window strayed from wealth and prosperity.
The portrait of the former ruler still hung on Tiananmen, but the red bricks on both sides were shattered and crumbling.
The splendid old castles were charred black, and the once-towering skyscrapers of Beijing’s downtown area were all bowing to the asphalt below.
Most striking of all were the corpses scattered everywhere.
With every glance, we saw hundreds or even thousands of victims.
Over their bodies crawled palm-sized insects, squirming endlessly.
Han Kyung-ho spoke.
“…The lizards were nothing compared to this.”
In Korea, we had faced the Emes fanatics and Sabros forces composed of reptilian creatures.
Most of them were elite troops, blending 8th Order and 7th Order ranks.
However, the forces invading China were employing an entirely different strategy.
Buuuuung!
There were too many. Far too many.
Insects so numerous they blackened the sky.
Many of them were shredded by the transport aircraft’s engines on our way here.
It was terrifying to imagine what might have happened if not for James’ enhancements.
The insects had no discernible rank or repulsion force.
But their overwhelming numbers alone were more than enough to engulf Beijing.
“…This is horrifying.”
Lee Yong-su managed to speak at last.
The other three of us, myself included, couldn’t bring ourselves to say anything.
After traversing this simultaneously dazzling yet devastating scene of Beijing’s city center, we arrived at a hotel with an unfamiliar name.
It wasn’t shabby, but it could hardly be called luxurious either.
It was hard to believe that China’s key personnel were gathered in such a place.
Yoo Seong-cheol had warned me not to be too surprised when meeting the Chinese Awakened.
He explained that, while not all Chinese Awakened were the same, they had traits distinctly different from ours.
The hotel didn’t even have a proper helipad.
We landed the helicopter on a wide road and I sent Han Kyung-ho and the co-pilot, who lacked repulsion force, into subspace.
Whoosh!
In my and Lee Yong-su’s hands, the Fire magic scrolls tore open.
The insects swarming toward us burned alive as we cast the spell.
Crack!
Just then, someone shot out of the hotel, running toward us.
We, with our bodies completely covered in gas masks and protective suits, couldn’t help but be surprised by his appearance.
“…A daopao?” (TL: A traditional Han Chinese clothing)
Long hair swayed behind him.
There was no trace of a gas mask.
Clap!
He clasped his hands in front of him, forming a gesture of salute toward us.
“You must be the ones from Korea? We’ve been expecting you.”
***
The group of Chinese Awakened.
The moment we entered the hotel, they hurriedly closed the doors behind us.
“Hup!”
Then, all at once, they placed their hands on us and began to emit an unfamiliar energy, beads of sweat forming on their foreheads.
This cryptic ritual went on for several minutes.
It wasn’t until they finally exhaled and lowered their hands that the shabby hotel lobby came into view.
Clap!
Once again, a gesture of salute.
The man who had come to greet us earlier stepped forward and introduced himself.
In his hand was a Mana Stone, faintly glowing with a soft light, much like the one James had used before.
“Nice to meet you. I am Yunyang of the Jeokgang Sect.”
It was quite an old-fashioned introduction, a flavor of language that was rarely heard in the modern era.
Indeed, their appearances were unmistakably that of Murim warriors, the martial artists of legend.
Yunyang spoke.
“I have expelled all the poison using internal energy, so you can now remove your gas masks.”
“Internal energy…?”
“Yes, it is a power granted to Awakened individuals of the ‘Murim’ category.”
It was different. Very different.
Even though Yoo Seong-cheol had warned us not to be too surprised, it was impossible not to be.
The Chinese government, in organizing its units of Awakened individuals, had discovered that a significant portion of them fell under this ‘Murim’ category.
These individuals were members of ancient martial arts schools that had barely survived into the modern era, only to be recalled by the government once they were granted Awakened abilities.
The one who had greeted us was the leader of these Murim warriors.
A man named Yunyang, nicknamed Cloud Sword of the Jeokgang Sect, stood before us.
He bowed deeply and expressed his gratitude to us.
“I cannot thank you enough for risking your lives to come all the way here.”
“It’s fine. More importantly… what exactly is the current situation?”
Yunyang responded.
“There have been two Bidding Competition here in Beijing alone. However, the dimension that won both bids was none other than Beelzebub.”
Beijing, with a population more than double that of Seoul, was not an unusual location for two Bidding Competition to take place.
“We lacked sufficient information about the enemy. We had heard they emitted toxic gas, but we had no idea they could transform the very atmosphere itself. While most of the Murim warriors who can use internal energy managed to survive, we couldn’t prevent two gates from opening here in Beijing. Naturally, that meant twice as many enemies poured in.”
The results were what we had seen on our way here.
Not just Beijing, but even nearby Tianjin and Tangshan- tens of millions of people had lost their lives.
I asked.
“Is there a reason you couldn’t destroy Belzebub’s gate core? You said you can drive out poison with internal energy.”
I vividly remembered how Yunyang had strode about in his flowing daopao, without so much as a gas mask or protective gear.
With a bitter expression, he replied.
“The poison is precisely the reason. We have to dedicate all our internal energy to neutralizing the toxins, leaving us too weak to fight effectively. Even this hotel requires us to take shifts pouring internal energy into blocking the poison from entering.”
There were certainly more dazzling hotels outside.
But the reason they had chosen such a modest residence was to conserve their internal energy for purifying the air.
“Have you tried using gas masks?”
“It’s not as if we haven’t tried that. But the disruption to our energy flow when wearing them causes issues with controlling our internal energy. In the end, it’s more efficient for us to detoxify the poison directly using our abilities.”
Now that he mentioned it, the Murim warriors guarding the doors, as well as those sitting in the lobby chairs, gasping for breath, all looked severely emaciated.
Their eye sockets were sunken, with a purplish hue around them. Their cheeks were so hollowed out that they seemed on the verge of death.
“Then… what’s the plan now?”
I asked.
Closing the gates.
The ones responsible for that act were these murim practitioners gathered here.
Yunyang answered in a solemn voice.
“Tomorrow, we will launch an all-out assault on Belzebul’s gate. Dragging this out will only worsen the situation.”
Thud!
He suddenly bowed deeply to me.
“I sincerely apologize for the trouble we’ve caused Korea. We will resolve this before the poison spreads to your country. I humbly ask for your support. I promise you this debt will never be forgotten.”
They, too, were victims of the invasion.
However, Yunyang placed the blame for losing the bidding war squarely on himself and on China.
His eyes, which had been glimmering with resolve, suddenly shifted as he called for one of his subordinates.
“Yi Qing, are you there?”
“Yes, did you call?”
“Guide our guests to their accommodations. They must be tired after their long journey.”
“Understood.”
Yunyang added a final remark to me.
“Please rest a bit until dinner. I will explain everything in more detail after the meal.”
He clasped his hands in a martial arts salute one more time, then walked gracefully toward the hotel’s front entrance, heading off to assist his subordinates in purging the poison using his internal energy.
“Please follow me.”
Yi Qing began guiding us, and Lee Yong-su and I followed along.
Throughout our interaction, an unspoken sense of solemn determination lingered in Yunyang’s demeanor.
It wasn’t just about reclaiming Beijing. He carried a sense of duty to take responsibility for the entire disaster.
It seemed as though he didn’t care about his own life at all.
“As you’ve heard, please do not open the windows under any circumstances. Poison could still enter.”
Yi Qing repeatedly warned us.
I asked him.
“How many entrances does the hotel have? The ones you are blocking with internal energy?”
“About six. While the poison is dangerous, we can’t completely avoid ventilation. We allow small amounts of purified air inside, using internal energy to clean it. But why do you ask…?”
“I see.”
Swish!
Without another word, I abruptly turned, leaving Lee Yong-su and Yi Qing behind, and headed toward the hotel’s front entrance.
There, I saw Yunyang and the Murim warriors purifying the air that seeped in through a narrow gap in the doors, using their internal energy.
‘I didn’t think I’d end up using it like this…’
In truth, I had prepared something in my spare time using the Subspace Laboratory.
The laboratory allowed for the creation of large-scale materials by extracting specific components from objects and layering them.
Interestingly enough, one of the items sold through the Fulfillment Center was oxygen.
It was sold in compressed cans, but I had used the laboratory’s abilities to remove the cans and merge the oxygen, creating a massive amount of concentrated oxygen.
Originally, I had intended to use it in conjunction with Fireball magic scrolls to amplify explosions. But this time, I decided to use it differently.
As I strode forward, I spoke.
“Step back.”
“…What?”
Yunyang appeared somewhat startled but instinctively took a step back from the door, unable to resist the confidence in my stride.
I immediately called out.
“Ship.”
Boom!!!
Oxygen erupted like a storm.
The pure air, flying out at a speed of 300 km/h, blasted open the narrowly ajar door, flinging away the insects that had been lurking around outside in an instant.
And then…
The process began to repeat endlessly.
WHOOSH!
Using Automatic Shipping, oxygen poured out every second without pause.
The portal, now effectively fixed in place at the door, functioned as both an air curtain and an air cannon.
Not only was it expelling the poison, but it also brought a refreshing breeze into the stifling hotel.
Whoosh!
For the first time in a long while, we could breathe clean, fresh air.
It filled our lungs to the brim.
.
.
.
A Few Hours Later
The entire first floor of the hotel felt as though it had a supercharged ventilation system running.
Fresh air circulated freely.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Through all six entrances on the hotel’s first floor, the air blasted in, keeping the poison entirely at bay.
Each of the six entrances was being supplied with massive amounts of oxygen through <Automatic Shipping>, and the ferocious speed of the airflow completely blocked the infiltration of the external air.
And then…
“Ssshhh-haaa.”
“Ssssshhhhhhh! Haaa!”
The strange sound of the Murim warriors’ breathing filled the air.
One by one, they claimed the spots where the airflow was particularly strong. Settling down in various corners of the lobby, they crossed their legs in the lotus position and began performing breathing and energy circulation exercise.
Thanks to this, the purplish tint in their sunken eyes and the sickly yellow hue of their faces began to noticeably improve.
The transformation was so apparent that it could be felt even at a glance.
Yunyang’s eyes sparkled as he expressed his gratitude,
“With this… everyone will be able to recover their internal energy! Thank you, Hero Jeong-gyeom !”
“Thank you!”
The murim practitioners in the middle of their breathing exercises also joined their voices in thanks while turning their backs.
Clap!
Their martial arts salutes never failed to impress.
It was then
“Is no one planning to eat?!”
A man shouted from the hotel restaurant.
It seemed he was responsible for handling their meals.
However, the Murim warriors were so focused on their breathing exercises that they didn’t even bother to respond, their attention fully devoted to breathing and energy circulation exercise.
“Keep your calorie bars to yourself! Now is the time to ssuup! Time to ssuup…!”
At that moment, I asked Yunyang,
“Jeokgang Sects’ Cloud Sword… aren’t you going to eat?”
“Please go ahead first. I need to refine my breathing method. I don’t have any appetite right now.”
“……You’ll regret it.”
“…?”
Leaving the Murim warriors behind, I entered the restaurant with Lee Yong-su.
Ever since we’d arrived here, I’d been starving.
And so…
How many minutes had passed?
“Ssshhh… ssshhh… ?!”
“Ssssshhhhhhhhh?!”
The Murim warriors, who had been inhaling oxygen non-stop through their noses, suddenly couldn’t help but turn their heads.
A sweet yet stimulating aroma, no, a smell so savory that could be tasted just from the smell alone, wafted through the air.
Forgetting their original purpose of breathing exercises, the murim practitioners began tracking the aroma leaking from the restaurant with their nostrils.
“It feels familiar… yet strange. But it’s new… yet comforting.”
Creeeak…
As if drawn by an invisible force, they opened the door and discovered,
A table overflowing with tangsu-yuk (sweet and sour pork), yuringi (crispy chicken in sauce), gan-shrimp (sweet and spicy shrimp), nurungji-tang (scorched rice soup), xiao long bao (steamed dumplings), and, of course, countless bowls of jjajangmyeon (black bean noodles), jjampong (spicy seafood noodle soup), and samseon bokkeumbap (seafood fried rice).
It was a spread of freshly prepared Korean-Chinese food, which I had painstakingly sourced from Chinatown.
Coincidentally, standing at the front of the group was none other than Jeokgang Sects’ Cloud Sword, Yunyang himself.
I asked again:
“…You’ll eat, right?”
“Ah……”
Of course, there was no refusal.
“Waaaaaaah!”
The Murim warriors, even using light footwork techniques, scrambled to grab seats, each trying not to fall behind the others. They picked up chopsticks as if wielding brushes and began savoring Korea’s iconic black bean sauce.
This was the first export from the Subspace Fulfillment Center.
The reverse-exported K-Chinese food sold like hotcakes that day, as if it had grown wings.
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