Storm Warrior - Chapter 344



Only Noblemtl

#344, Crowd

Deep in the mountains of Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi-do.

A broad, desolate basin likewise surrounded the half-bare shores.

Thousands of people were gathered in that place where even birds had nowhere to rest.

A barricade was set up at the bottleneck, slightly opening up the left and right sides, and people were lined up in two rows of four each and streamed into the entrances on both sides.

It looked like a line at an outdoor concert venue.

Of course, it was not an order that could be maintained on its own.

A platoon of portrait security guards took charge of the procession and controlled the entrance.

The Five Kingdoms were also there, accompanied by their guard chief.

“There are still… almost 3 hours left. Is this the right situation?”

“That’s true. Haha… But, even in places like concert halls, aren’t there people rushing to get good seats? Since the location is remote, they probably left with plenty of time to spare.”

“… … .”

But the Five Kingdoms did not think as simply as the guard officer said.

‘I’d estimate the number of people lined up there to be around 2,000…’

Approximately 3,600 people were invited.

Even if all 3,600 people responded to the invitation, more than half of them had already gathered 3 hours ago?

‘…No matter how much I think about it, it’s still strange.’

I had to assume that there was some unexpected variable.

The King of Five carefully observed the guests entering and listened to their conversations.

“Wow… Is there a war only here? Why is it so desolate?”

“Hey! Isn’t that a portal?”

“It definitely looks like it’s made… but it looks like it’s only a frame. Wow! By the way, how many have you installed?”

“So… what on earth is this place?”

“It’s written there. ‘KN-08… Hazardous Materials Testing Site.’”

“Ah. So, that’s where companies like JSO and Daehwa Defense test their magic weapons?”

“When you call someone to a place like this, don’t you usually send them to a duel?”

“There must be a reason why this event was hosted by a hero.”

Stop.

In the conversation of the crowd that had just passed by, one word caught his ear.

‘A hero…?’

I studied the words and actions of players to get to know them in my own way.

Outwardly, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about them, but what caught the attention of the Five Kingdoms was their use of words.

Because nouns and abbreviations that only they know and use serve as clear clues.

But just a moment ago, an unused word became a clue.

They didn’t call Han Seong-jun ‘hero’.

“Hey, bring those people who just passed by. Stop letting them in for a moment.”

“All right.”

At the direction of the Five Kingdoms, guards closed the barricades, blocking the processions on the left and right.

Clang!

After a while, the three men who were called in front of the Five Kingdoms rolled their eyes with anxious expressions.

The Five Kingdoms also thought that this kind of appearance was ‘not player-like’.

“Do you have an invitation?”

We haven’t checked the invitations separately so far, because it wasn’t a public event and the invitations were originally sent only to players.

The Five Kingdoms’ sense was that information had leaked out through some route, and that the current crowd would include many uninvited people.

“Ah… yes.”

Rustle.

But contrary to the expectations of the Five Kingdoms, the men searched through their arms or backpacks and took out the invitations.

The invitee did not bring his or her party, but each person held his or her own invitation.

“here….”

Although he accepted the invitation as if he was going to check it out, Oh Wang-guk was a little embarrassed inside.

Because it was impossible to verify the identity of a recipient by looking at a piece of printed material that had neither the recipient’s name nor a serial number.

At that moment, the King of the Five Kingdoms held up the invitation in a flash of thought and held it up to the light.

Before arriving at the Five Kingdoms, they were instructed to be careful, as there would be those who would come out aggressively and with a grudge.

I also heard the story about the ‘Invitation Pickled in Sea Horse Meat’.

‘It’s so clean.’

Although it was a water-resistant coating, it was bound to stain if left in liquid for more than a few hours.

“How did you receive the invitation?”

“Well, by mail….”

“Registered mail?”

“Maybe… it was like that?”

“Yes. Thank you for your cooperation.”

‘Registration is bullshit.’

The facts pointed out by this situation were clear.

However, the Five Kingdoms did not show it and returned the invitation, allowing them to pass through.

This is probably not just their team’s problem.

Since it wasn’t an issue that he could deal with on his own anyway, he decided that there was no need to show any confusion.

Oh Wang-guk, who had just put the cockpot in, contacted Gu Chang-soo.

-Yes, King Kong.

“You should come out. No, even if you don’t come out, I need to check.”

-Why, why? What happened?

“It looks like someone sent out fake invitations.”

-Fake? No, how…, huh? But anyway, didn’t you say the more the better?

“I’m not saying that those who brought fakes aren’t players! Those who were supposed to come in the first place must have gotten the real ones. Quickly inform the chairman and check the situation with your own eyes.”

-X foot… . Oh, okay, I understand.

***

In fact, a group of assistants, including Koo Chang-soo, had already arrived at the scene.

However, he was hiding according to Han Seong-jun’s instructions not to be noticed by the players before he arrived.

In fact, Goo Chang-soo had felt quite serious hostility from the group of players that was gradually increasing on the ship a few days ago during the entrance control.

Thanks to the active assistance of the Portrait Guard, as Han Seong-jun had foreseen, there were no people who directly caused harm, but it was a time when the players realized that they had a strong hatred for him.

Even the slightest interest or petty quarrels with named characters could become the seeds of conflict.

In the center of the 10 or so coordinate fixing devices that had been moved from Kai Auction, there was a space with a raised platform like an outdoor stage – Koo Chang-soo and Han Seong-jun’s classmates were waiting in the spare space right below it.

As Gu Chang-soo finished the call and started to panic, Song Yeon-hee, who had a feeling something was going on, asked.

“What’s going on?”

“Those non-players showed up with fake invitations.”

“!”

“It also seems like someone intentionally spread it. I’ll go check first.”

“Be careful, there are already people here!”

Crunch!

Gu Chang-soo, who had opened the door leading outside at Song Yeon-hee’s warning, pulled the door open again and looked through the crack in the door.

And it was the flagship.

“X done!”

“Why, why?”

“…no.”

“What is missing?”

“There are hardly any players among all those people.”

“That much…?”

Then the rest of them who had been silently listening to their conversation also became agitated.

“Then what happens? Are we being cheated on?”

“It’s not time yet. What are you up to?”

“So, isn’t that a no-show?”

“What do they gain by no-showing?”

“I don’t know about that.”

Squeak!

“Be quiet for a moment.”

When Gu Chang-soo, who had closed the door again, asked for silence, the people inside the room also noticed what he was trying to do and kept their mouths shut.

‘Mr. Seongjun! This is an emergency! Mr. Seongjun?’

-I know.

‘Yes…? You know?’

-I know what you know. Tell the Five Kingdoms not to worry and to let them all in.

‘Uh… Are you just saying that? Isn’t this a serious situation?’

-It’s not good. Those who came with fake invitations are all non-players… so we should consider them hostages.

‘Oh my! Now that I think about it, I guess I could really use this as a hostage?’

-But it’s not something to worry about.

‘How can you not be worried? If things continue like this, there will be thousands of hostages.’

-That’s exactly how many hostages they have. There are too many for the purpose of threatening. I think this is more like an insurance hostage. They don’t know what’s in my mind, so they’re scared.

‘Oh…! Well, if you think about it from the other person’s perspective, that could be true.’

-Anyway, I’ll go on time.

‘Oh, yes.’

***

“What do you think?”

I too was watching the scene on the screen with Gayoung earlier.

“I agree with you, hyung. But when things get out of control… whether they’re blackmail hostages or insurance hostages, they’re all going to die anyway.”

“… That’s true.”

“I think there is a very high probability that this will happen.”

“… … .”

“I don’t mind, but wouldn’t you be mentally unstable? If thousands of innocent civilians die because of you.”

‘This kid?’

I felt like he was scratching me on purpose, so I stuck a hammer in his neck.

Bam!

“evil!”

“Why is it my fault? It’s the fault of the bastard who mobilized everyone, and it’s Marduk’s fault!”

“Hehehe. If you really think that way, then it’s a welcome thing. But, my brother isn’t the type of person to take risks like that and go on adventures… What’s the plan?”

“… There isn’t any. There’s no secret plan.”

“Well, it’s a secret plan that you should keep to yourself. There are spirits wandering around, so you have to be careful.”

I appreciate the suggestion, but there really wasn’t any secret plan.

Of course, there is one last move prepared at the end of this plan, but the process is like heading into bare ground where there is only persuasion and cajoling.

Just anticipate Marduk’s bait,

I just try to think from the player’s perspective as much as possible and make better suggestions.

Of course, we were prepared for the worst, that is, if a collision occurs.

Even so, I believed that there would be plenty of opportunities to recover as long as it didn’t go all the way.

‘The problem is… none of those assumptions have ever included a hostage.’

In other words, the current shitty part was that it assumed that innocent victims could appear even in situations that did not necessarily fail.

“Tsk. So… how many people do you think will gather if things continue like this?”

“Well, I don’t know how much more it will increase as time approaches. If we just add up the people lined up at the entrance… .”

Gayoung gathered the screens of several drone cameras scattered around the hazardous materials testing site and launched a counter program.

“… It’s already over 3 thousand.”

“Tsk… From what Gu Chang-soo saw earlier, it looks like less than 10% of them are players.”

“If we do it right, it could reach tens of thousands.”

I burst out laughing.

“Why are you laughing like that?”

“They’re really fucking assholes. There’s no way they’re all hunters.”

“ah….”

Even if they aren’t players, if that many hunters move to one place in a short period of time, all countries become nervous.

In reality, it wasn’t a location tracking system in any country, but magic detectors were installed at certain intervals to count the superhumans passing through them.

If such an abnormality had been detected, we would have already received a call from Director Park informing us that there would be a patrol by the relevant unit… .

No, there weren’t even tens of thousands of hunters in the country in the first place.

‘They’re saying that they spread it even to ordinary people.’

He immediately called Gu Chang-soo back.

“Changsoo.”

-yes.

“Tell them to check how much normal people are visible.”

-A superhuman? Oh, King Gong-Hyung never said anything like that… Wait a minute.

After a while, I was able to hear the sound coming directly from the Five Kingdoms through the phone that Goo Chang-soo had connected.

-Uh. A civilian? I haven’t seen it yet… Wait a minute. Huh? What did you say?

-The line behind me is all made up of ordinary people. I guess they made a separate line because they felt uncomfortable being mixed with superhumans for a long time.