Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 270: Star, the U.S. (5)

A distance from the building where Executive Director Oh was currently locked up in downtown Chicago…

Department Head Shim Geon-Ho looked at the subordinate beside him. “What’s the status?”

“He has just entered the building.” The subordinate slowly put down his hands, which he was holding around his eyes like a telescope. He had just used [Scanning Eyes], a skill that helped him see faraway places by adjusting the magnification ratio of his eyes. It gave him a clear view of the building where Executive Director Oh was.

“I knew he would act quickly!” Geon-Ho smirked.

That was why he sent Seo Jeong-Gwon and Raid Team 2 to welcome Chang-Sun’s group. Jeong-Gwon and Chang-Sun both had insanely bad tempers, so they naturally ended up fighting. That was also why Geon-Ho believed that Chang-Sun would eliminate Executive Director Oh as quickly as possible.

“Have you finished making preparations?” Geon-Ho asked.

The Players standing by nodded. Following Geon-Ho, they switched sides from Executive Director Oh to Director Gwon. They also happened to harbor big and small grudges against Chang-Sun.

“Pressing this button will simultaneously detonate the explosives installed in the building.” The subordinate handed Geon-Ho the detonator.

“Is there any chance he’ll survive?”

“No. Three hundred Gildals and Ghost Soldiers are on standby inside the building. Some parts of the building have turned into Dungeons as well, so it’s crawling with all kinds of monsters that would attack him on sight,” the subordinate explained.

The entire building had been turned into a trap to capture Chang-Sun. However, Geon-Ho and the others still didn’t let their guard down since Chang-Sun had proven himself by defeating Jeong-Gwon and Raid Team 2 on his own. That was also why they decided to exhaust Chang-Sun’s stamina using the Ghost Soldiers and monsters first before demolishing the building and burying him in its ruins.

“What if he still survives?” Geon-Ho asked.

“All the Future Strategy Department Special Force members are ready to be dispatched to the building.”

The Future Strategy Department’s special force was considered as skilled as the Raid Teams, but their natures differed from ordinary Players. After all, they specialized in assassinations, not hunting monsters. It would be impossible for Chang-Sun, who would have sustained critical injuries by then, to survive in a fight against the special force members.

However, Geon-Ho still sounded discontented. “What if he still survives?”

“In that case… The federal government of the U.S. will somehow hunt him down.”

Although Geon-Ho was already aware of that, he smiled with satisfaction only when his subordinate said it out loud.

“Good.” He nodded.

The sole purpose of the traps on the third and fourth floors was to kill Chang-Sun. Moreover, even if he survived, he would have nowhere to go on this Earth since he would be branded as an enemy of the U.S. Even though Chang-Sun had reached superhuman levels, he wouldn’t be able to take on a country, especially not the United States—the strongest country on Earth.

‘Lee Chang-Sun, you said that you’ll kill me the next time you meet me.’ Geon-Ho sneered coldly.

“It’s a bummer. You never had the chance,” Geon-Ho muttered to himself, turning in the opposite direction.

All the Future Strategy members were watching him with sparkling eyes.

“Everyone, get into position and prepare—!”

“Huh? Huuuuh?” The subordinate using [Scanning Eyes] suddenly screamed, making Geon-Ho turn his head in annoyance. Geon-Ho was initially confused, but his jaw dropped to the floor soon after.

Outside the window, a pale man holding a greatsword as big as himself was flying toward Geon-Ho and the others. His lips were purple, and his eyes, which were staring at them, were filled with murderous intent.

‘This is the 52nd floor…’ Geon-Ho thought, unable to make a rational decision.

Meanwhile, the window was covered in frost and soon burst into shards.

Craaack―!

Smash!

A strong gust of wind blew. At the same time, the shattered glass shards flew into the room, turned the subordinate with [Scanning Eyes] and the several others beside the window into pulps, and disappeared.

Tap!

「You all dare bite off my master’s neck? You don’t know your place. 」 Jin Prezia, the man holding the greatsword, laughed, baring his fangs. His smile looked very cruel.

At the same time, a cold wind accompanied by a gray fog and ice fragments raged in the room.

Woosh, woosh, woosh!

[The Subordinate ‘Jin Prezia’ has activated the Skill ‘Snowstorm’!]

A Frost Undead—an Undead with ice energy—was unbelievably powerful. The Players in the front were catapulted away, unable to withstand Jin’s storm, while the Players in the back stiffened due to the air that instantly turned freezing cold.

The Future Strategy Department agents in the room were Ghost Soldiers, which meant they also used death energy, so they instinctively realized how great Jin’s death energy was. The man before them was at a higher level than them! If they were jackals or wolves, Jin was a lion, the ruler of the plains. As if to prove his superiority, Jin pulled out the [Lion Demon Face] and put it on.

Click!

When Jin looked at them all, they saw his eyes blaze up through his mask’s eyeholes. They weren’t sure if it was because of Jin or the sudden drop in temperature, but the agents were all noticeably trembling.

Geon-Ho belatedly pulled himself together and realized that Jin was Chang-Sun’s summon, someone whom he had only heard about. Frantically, he yelled, “H-he’s just a s-summon! Stop him!”

However, his voice shook.

Meanwhile, Jin grinned behind his lion mask as he muttered, “Too late.”

Kiyyaaaaah!

Over a dozen shadows showed up amid the raging snowstorm, stomping on the ground.

“Kill them all,” Jin commanded.

The Undead Army made their horses speed up.

“Arrghh!”

“Urgh! Keough—!”

“Impossible—!”

The Future Strategy Department members were massacred within seconds.

Crack!

Crack!

His long hair fluttering, Jin moved forward, covering the floor with ice with each step.

* * *

[You have entered the Instance Dungeon ‘Abandoned Building in Chicago’!]

…

Roaaaaar!

[Your Subordinate ‘Sinmara’ has activated the Skill ‘Giant’s Roar’!]

[Your allies’ morale has increased.]

[Your enemies’ will to fight has decreased.]

…

While Jin and the Ghost Devil Horse Corps were attacking the Future Strategy Department agents, Sinmara and the Undead Warrior Corps were ripping apart the Ghost Soldiers and monsters.

Chang-Sun’s Undead Army mainly consisted of two corps. One was a cavalry unit that Jin usually led. Mounted on their Ghost Devil Horses, they used their mobility to overwhelm the enemies. The other corps was a group of warriors led by Sinmara. Although they also rode Ghost Devil Horses from time to time, they became totally different people on foot.

In every battle, the Undead Warrior Corps always served as vanguards that crushed the enemies. If the Undead Army had to retreat, they held their position until the end to protect their comrades. Since it was made based on the proud Giant corps of <Muspelheim>, each of its members was exceptionally skilled.

If group battles were the cavalry corps’ specialty, the warrior corps’ were the stars in melees. In addition, while the cavalry corps wore lion cub masks that resembled Jin’s, the warrior corps wore blue lizard masks that looked like Sinmara’s.

Boom, boom, boom!

Rumble―!

Woosh, woosh, woosh…!

Sinmara and her warriors slaughtered the Ghost Soldiers and monsters before they could even get a chance to retaliate.

[The first floor has been conquered!]

[The second floor has been conquered!]

…

[The twenty-first floor…]

…

[You have entered the thirty-sixth floor!]

Parts of the building had turned into Dungeons, so monsters occupied each floor. Every time their habitat was destroyed, messages about Chang-Sun leveling up popped up before him. The Chicago skyline was known to be the highest in the United States, and as if to evidence that, the building they were in was also very tall.

However, it wasn’t really difficult for him to go to a higher floor. Chang-Sun just kept climbing the stairs without even equipping a weapon. Even though he hadn’t made a move yet, monster corpses and building fragments were already everywhere he went.

When he reached the highest floor, Chang-Sun found Executive Director Oh.

“… You’ve become monstrously strong.” Executive Director Oh chuckled in disbelief, looking at Chang-Sun.

Executive Director Oh had always been confident and unreadable as if he was wearing a mask, but he couldn’t hide his feelings right now. While trying to kill Chang-Sun, he ended up with a noose around his neck and put Jeong-Gwon, his cousin, in danger. That was how overwhelmingly strong Chang-Sun was.

Executive Director Oh had realized that Geon-Ho and all the other Future Strategy Department members had turned their backs on him. However, he didn’t really resent them. He felt horrible on some level since he had built the Future Strategy Department from scratch, but his pity for them overshadowed it.

‘They became his enemies. There is no way they’ll survive,’ Executive Director Oh thought.

Executive Director Oh concluded that the department agents had run into Chang-Sun’s summons by now. After all, that was what he would have done. And if he could do it, Chang-Sun could do it several times better.

“Are you going to kill this old man now?” Executive Director Oh asked nonchalantly, sitting on his seat.

He still wished to live, but since he couldn’t find any way out of this, he wanted to at least have an elegant death. As someone who ruled the criminal underworld for quite some time, he wished to protect his pride one last time.

However, Chang-Sun didn’t answer Executive Director Oh’s question—no, he didn’t even look in his direction. It was as if Chang-Sun wouldn’t be the one going up against Executive Director Oh.

Pzzzzz!

At that moment, a man appeared from behind Chang-Sun and stood in front of Executive Director Oh. Although he had received a report about Chang-Sun’s [Demon Face], he didn’t recognize the mask on the man’s face, which was a tiger mask with impressive black stripes.

“You…?” Executive Director Oh’s lips trembled.

The man’s face was covered, but there was no way Executive Director Oh wouldn’t recognize his bulky physique.

Click!

Jeong-Gwon, the masked man, slowly removed his mask. He now looked different than the Jeong-Gwon that Executive Director Oh knew. He was paler, and his lips were so blue that he looked as if he died.

“I became his follower,” Jeong-Gwon said.

Two types of people received Chang-Sun’s masks. They were either his subordinates or his priests, and Jeong-Gwon was the latter. After his defeat against Chang-Sun, Jeong-Gwon converted his belief from Heoju to Chang-Sun. In return, Chang-Sun would rescue Executive Director Oh. However, he also had another reason.

[An ‘Ambush of Tigers’ has appeared!]

Woosh, woosh, woosh…!

Undeads wearing black tiger masks walked out from the storm of gray energy.

“… Assistant Team Leader Moon? No, the entire Raid Team Two? How did you…?” Executive Director Oh mumbled in disbelief.

Using a Changgwi as a medium, a deceased person’s soul could be transformed into someone new. Moon Yi-Byeol and the Raid Team Two members used to be Gildals, which lived off of ghost energies, so the transformation process was much smoother for them.

Just like Jin and Sinmara, Jeong-Gwon couldn’t let go of the life rope named Chang-Sun. After all, he could resurrect his dear team members.

“Huh…!” Executive Director Oh chuckled. Looking at them gave him a rough idea of Chang-Sun’s goal.

‘... He’s going to use me as a symbol and take over the entire White Tiger Clan,’ Executive Director Oh thought.

Even though Executive Director Oh had been sidelined, he hadn’t officially been removed from his position, so he still had a big influence over the working-level employees in the White Tiger Clan. Moreover, he was the man who brought the Clan its current success.

Someone with power could use Executive Director Oh as a front and take control of the White Tiger Clan. Chang-Sun having Jeong-Gwon and Raid Team Two basically put a collar on Executive Director Oh.

Despite the current situation, Executive Director Oh could feel a fire starting inside him. Just as he was about to completely give up on surviving and his ambitions, he was given a new chance. He could do anything with the Clan in his hands no matter who became its Guardian.

‘… I lost.’

He could not help but admit that he had completely been subjugated by the very person whom he had once tried to control. Out of respect for his new master and Guardian, he bowed.

* * *

[The Player ‘Oh Shi-Hwan’ has recognized you as his new Guardian, converting his belief!]

[Your Faith has increased.]

…

[Your ownership percentage of the Order ‘White Tiger’ has increased!]

[Current ownership percentage: 12%]

…

Several messages popped up before Chang-Sun, who was looking at the ceiling because he felt someone watching him.

“Kekeke! I see that a very interesting child has shown up.” An inauspicious-looking old man with big dark bags under his eyes hung from the ceiling while looking at Chang-Sun. A small skull dangled from the staff in his hand.

[The Boss Monster ‘Elder Lich’ has appeared!]