Black Badger - Chapter 367



Only Noblemtl

367. Double Dream (2)

The Double Mong plan wasn’t complicated.

I’ve found that the simpler the plan, the more likely it is to succeed, so I like the intuitive look of this plan.

Igor still grumbled that the name and everything was strange.

Anyway, he helped me obediently.

Yoon was the same. The shooter who volunteered to participate in the plan had already left for headquarters. This was because he had to go get the 61 Mongmongs trapped in the lab.

I didn’t know you would step up and help me like this.

But now I could vaguely see that he was quite excited.

The Archer seems to think that the Emperor is likely to be reborn.

Well, it will be revealed soon.

After checking the details of the plan again, I saw off Kairos, who was leaving first.

The missionary waves his hand out the window as he sets off in a car filled with the remaining 38 MongMongs that were not moved from Yoon’s house to the headquarters in advance.

As soon as the other SUV disappeared from sight, I returned to the cabin.

As I pulled open the wooden door, I saw the emperor who had come down to the first floor and was staring intently at the robot vacuum cleaner.

What are you doing?

“What are you doing?”

The emperor turned his head and looked at me.

“Tig isn’t moving.”

“ah.”

I couldn’t hold it in anymore and smiled faintly.

“It’s because I’m exhausted.”

“It seems like I ate all the garbage without any desire.”

“It’s not trash, it’s something else. Inhaling trash is its job.”

I plugged the robot vacuum cleaner, which had stopped on the floor, into the charger.

The Emperor stood quietly in his seat until I prepared to leave. As was his wont when he was not asleep, he stared at me with curious eyes as I did this and that.

Two weeks had passed since he suddenly appeared in the Portal Zone, but he was still amazed by the switch. I was also amazed, as I used the switch without any problem, even though I didn’t know how it worked.

He asked me as I approached him after I was ready.

“Are you going in that weird carriage?”

I nodded.

“I will make you feel comfortable.”

I borrowed a car from Ami.

The seniors strongly advised me never to drive my car. Your car is too conspicuous. That was their argument. Since I am the only one in headquarters who drives it, many people already know my car.

I got a car that was too expensive.

In the end, I borrowed Ami’s blue beetle-like car.

“This carriage is narrow.”

This is what the Emperor said as soon as he got into Amy’s car.

“It seems small for your size. Don’t you feel stuffy?”

“I’ll lean your chair back.”

I sat in the driver’s seat and then adjusted the passenger seat.

The Emperor widened his eyes and looked down at the chair that was receding backwards.

At times like this, it seems so harmless.

After smiling faintly, he put the seat belt on him. The emperor once again looked at the seat belt with curious eyes. At first, he had introduced it as a ‘safety measure in case of an accident’, but it seemed questionable whether he even needed something like this.

But now I no longer mistake seat belts for restraints.

He briefly took off and put on his seatbelt after I started the car.

The moment I unbuckle my seatbelt, I hear a strange ding, ding sound.

“Why am I making this sound?”

“I’m the one who’s sounding the alarm because you didn’t do that.”

The emperor raised his eyebrows and rolled his eyes to find the source of the sound.

I set the car to automatic driving and smiled silently at the person sitting next to me.

The Emperor remained composed throughout his time away from the portal, but he did not particularly hide his curiosity.

Today, I didn’t even use a car with curtains so I couldn’t see outside. If it was Jae-yeon, it didn’t matter whether I could see or not, and if it was a real emperor, I would have to start adapting to society in some way.

The sky past noon was dazzlingly clear.

A car slowly drives to headquarters.

The emperor looked out the window for a long time in silence.

The old lord spoke after a while.

“It’s surprising that there are so many people who aren’t caught up in their intuition.”

yes.

Because human-shaped beings cannot be detected by the sixth sense. I also found this fact very strange at first. I was bewildered because none of the humans we met could be detected by the sixth sense.

So, I don’t think things got any worse immediately after crossing the portal.

I thought you had come to me with bad intentions and a hidden sense of intuition… .

“I think I can understand a little bit how you feel when your sixth sense is damaged.”

No, that’s not it.

But I don’t want to say any more about that.

I changed the subject.

“Do you not need to receive it before?”

“okay.”

“The damage to the leaf veins has nothing to do with the inhalation or the previous one. I was able to inhale it safely even after it was damaged.”

“Would you like me to request a transfer?”

The opponent asked a question that was not pointed out.

I answered honestly, keeping my eyes on the direction the car was going.

“Strangely enough, yes. I apologize for being presumptuous.”

“You used to move without saying a word, even though you had a hard time inhaling.”

The emperor smiled softly.

He was saying that his attitude had changed a lot. He was saying that someone who used to just kneel and take orders without asking questions was now making suggestions and asking for opinions.

It was an uncomfortable statement, but I did not take back the question I had asked.

The man answered slowly.

“Do you know that at the moment of transfer, the child of the World Tree and the person receiving the transfer are connected?”

I guess so.

Since they are connected, nutrients will be transferred.

I thought it was such an obvious thing, but I nodded without showing it.

“That connection is stronger than I thought.”

“So that’s why you’re reluctant to move. It’s perfectly understandable. Thank you for explaining it to me, Your Majesty.”

「There aren’t many who have succeeded in receiving the blessing of the World Tree, so there aren’t many facts that have been precisely identified regarding absorption and transfer. However, if you cast a spell on the World Tree’s child at the moment of transfer, the person receiving the transfer will also be affected by the spell. Even if you cast the spell specifically on the World Tree’s child.」

So that’s why Kyle kept trying to transfer to the Badgers?

The moment you transfer, your bodies are connected? So after dipping Shu in the flower, you tried to dimensionally move while still being connected?

… This doesn’t seem to be the case.

Dimensional movement was something he could do without the hassle of doing before. He could just jump in. It seemed like there had to be another reason.

Anyway, that’s the end of the story.

I also fully understand the intention of not wanting to receive a transfer from someone with damaged veins.

“It looks like there’s something else we need to check.”

The emperor muttered as if talking to himself.

“Are you going to the same place as last time?”

I guess you’ve memorized the geography.

I was carefully feeling where it broke and where it was going.

I recalled Hecate’s words about the Emperor’s swordsmanship being surprisingly good. I think he deserves it. He was sharp and never missed a thing.

A true emperor should never stop watching.

I arrived at Black Badger headquarters with thoughts of what had come at the end of my disloyalty.

The place where Yun and his fellow tribesmen are finishing up the start of the Double Dream Operation.

It was one hour before the face-to-face questioning session between the executives and the head of human resources.

***

[Yoon: Ready.]

I parked my car in the executive parking lot and was walking to the elevator when the group chat notification rang.

[Yoon: You can come in anytime.]

[Kai: We’re in the control room now. We can see every corner of the portal zone. Igor, Deltey, and You are waiting at the location you designated.]

[Me: What are you guys talking about?]

I suddenly became so curious about it that I couldn’t stand it, so I asked.

I remember the last time I visited Kairos’ house, everyone was waiting for me in complete silence.

Currently, only Yoon and Kairos were in the control room. In fact, those two were all that was needed for this operation. No more people were needed.

I did ask my compatriots to stay around in case of an unexpected emergency.

I thought I would be ignored, but surprisingly, I got answers from both of them at the same time.

[Yoon: You and Choi Ami.]

[Kai: You and Senior Ami are talking.]

It’s a good thing we have some common topics.

If you think about it, Kairos and Yoon weren’t always on bad terms. Kairos once said that Yoon wasn’t a particularly strange person if he kept his distance.

Meanwhile, Yoon seemed to think of Kairos as just one of the successors who wouldn’t be bothered by anything.

It’s fortunate that the two people who are the only ones to watch over the Double Mong plan are on good terms.

I pressed the open elevator button with relief.

And he signaled to the Emperor to get inside.

I didn’t need to explain it this time since I’ve ridden it a few times. Last time, I had to tell You, who had been to the Magic Tower before, that ‘You can think of it as a skywalk that exists in the Magic Tower.’

The elevator for the executive suite rose quickly.

“Are you thinking of restoring the leaf veins to their original state?”

As the elevator was going up, the emperor suddenly asked a question.

I blinked and looked at the man’s profile.

“Yes, I would definitely like to do so if possible.”

“To do that, you’ll need to break through the magic line.”

The emperor said something difficult to understand.

“Think about it carefully. It is by no means an easy process.”

What do you mean by having to break through the magic line?

This is the first time I’ve heard of something called a magic stem.

When I was in the Empire, not knowing much about magic wasn’t a big problem, but since coming to Earth, my ignorance about magic has been a stumbling block in my life. It’s to the point where I want to shake the old me who didn’t pay much attention to magic in the past, saying that I respected the wizards’ secret protection pact.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened.

I looked at the pouring light.

“Does it take a long time to break through the magic line?”

“No. It’s just so painful that sometimes people die from the pain.”

I see.

“Is that all?”

“That’s it. If you’re skilled enough, you’ll be able to break through the stem if you persevere.”

Okay then.

As long as it didn’t take too long, it was fine. I was quite good at enduring pain.

There’s no guarantee that Bingryong will just pour his magic power into me.

I put my thoughts about the veins and the dragon aside for a moment and watched the portal door open.

Beyond this door, there must be 100 Mongmongs sitting still and transparent.

The leaf veins are damaged so much that you can’t even feel their presence.

“Why did you gather so many monsters in one place?”

A door that opens with a squeak.

The moment the heavy door opened and a light subtly different from the hallway poured in, the Emperor opened his mouth next to me.

I looked back at him reflexively.

The Emperor was giving me a familiar look, asking me to explain the situation. He said this before I could see anything behind the door, so his intuition must have been working to some extent.

Is that really you?

“I will explain it slowly.”

First, I pretended to be calm and walked into the portal zone.

The reason why this place was chosen as the location for the Double Mong operation was quite simple. It was large enough to accommodate dozens of Mong Mongs, and there was a CCTV and control room with no blind spots, so Yoon and Kairos could sensitively capture the changes in the Emperor’s expression.

It was also chosen because it was the place where the Emperor first appeared. The fact that he suddenly emerged from the portal doesn’t change anything.

Just like I did.

In my case, I was wearing a random white shirt and black pants.

“Please forgive my disloyalty.”

The emperor did not respond to the polite words.

Just stand still at the entrance and slowly step inside.

A clear view. A single, pale portal device with its power cut off is in the center. I cautiously step into the space that appears to be empty except for the portal machine.

It’s transparent so you can’t see it.

Even when I was preoccupied with worrying about my senior in the Colosseum, I didn’t realize Mongmong’s existence. At that time, I remembered Ricardo stepping on a Mongmong named Hou. It must be a pretty difficult creature for humans. It’s invisible and has great skills, so it imitates its opponents amazingly.

It’s just a drop in the bucket compared to Jaeyeon’s copying ability.

He guided the Emperor towards the portal device.

I looked back at the emperor who had stopped in front of the device, then slowly knelt down.

“Please forgive me for my presumptuous actions.”

A dream that ripples at the Emperor’s feet.

He didn’t raise his head, but he looked out of the corner of his eye. Mongmong, who had been staying on the floor, began to imitate the emperor.

It became clear from the feet up.

It was on a different level from Hou, who had created the swaying Hildebert. The texture was so similar that it was eerie. The second emperor was being built up one by one before my eyes.

Mongmong even copied the imperial attire that the Emperor was currently wearing.

A hand with a ring mark.

Always neat nails.

Arms with blue veins from not being exposed to sunlight.

These figures, in the form of emperors, now stood facing each other completely.

I raised my head and looked at the Emperor’s face.