The Chinese Awakened cautiously retreated toward their original target, the riverbank. Though there were a few skirmishes along the way, fortunately, they managed to reach the riverbank with minimal casualties this time.
At the riverbank, the last remaining stealth patrol boat had arrived. Moving as quietly as possible, the stealth patrol boat was able to escape the area that was once a Safe Zone with the Awakened on board without being detected by monsters.
Shortly after, Yonghoon’s group and Liu Wei were able to reunite.
Seeing Liu Wei covered in blood, the two women showed worried expressions, but Yonghoon and Liu Wei merely exchanged calm greetings.
The group got back into their vehicle and headed for the airport.
After Yonghoon’s group departed, the patrol boat that had stayed at the riverbank slowly moved downstream. Due to the large number of injured, the Chinese Awakened decided to travel slowly by boat.
Fortunately, the area outside the Safe Zone was quiet. The group was able to reach the airport without any incidents.
General Wang Tao, whom they met again at the airport, had a slightly flushed face. This was because things hadn’t gone as planned.
Though he had been frowning, his expression quickly changed upon seeing Yonghoon’s group. He expressed his gratitude to Yonghoon with a respectful posture.
His words were translated into Korean by another interpreter on behalf of Liu Wei.
“On behalf of the Chinese people and all the citizens of Shanghai, I thank you.”
“It was a deal.”
Yonghoon responded calmly to the general’s words, and the general’s expression became slightly troubled.
Yonghoon continued speaking.
“Since it was resolved faster than expected, I’d like to return to Korea. Please arrange the departure procedures.”
At Yonghoon’s words, the general’s expression grew urgent. After his face changed several times, he finally made a request to Yonghoon.
“Please stay a little longer. We need to establish a Safe Zone in Shanghai again. I beg for your assistance.”
However, Yonghoon shook his head at the general’s words.
“There are many countries suffering from monsters besides here. The skills of the Chinese Awakened are also quite impressive. If you clear the outskirts slowly, it won’t take long to establish a Safe Zone.”
At Yonghoon’s refusal, the general stared at him intently. After looking at Yonghoon for a while, he let out a sigh.
In the end, the general gave up on persuading Yonghoon.
The airplane carrying Yonghoon took off from Shanghai, where the evening sky burned red.
General Wang Tao stood on the runway, watching the airplane grow smaller in the distance.
The adjutant beside him asked the general.
“Are you sure about this? If we let him go like this, it won’t be easy to call him back.”
At his words, the general responded with a grumble.
“He’s too strong. A B-Rank spatial ability user. On top of that, a Linker. If he decides to leave, there’s no way to stop him. If we try to hold him back and lose him, there won’t even be a chance to ask for help again.”
“Then, we’ll have to fully provide the promised compensation as well.”
The general nodded at the adjutant’s words.
“We might even need to give more as a token of gratitude. Well, the party will handle that issue.”
The general turned and headed toward his car.
“Still, the results are better than expected. Things are going to get busy now. We need to figure out how to extract the dead C-Rank monsters, and we have to rebuild the Safe Zone. We need to hurry.”
The general’s steps quickened.
Yonghoon’s group, who returned after hunting two C-Rank monsters in China in just one day, astonished the Korean government.
The government had no choice but to reassess the value of Yonghoon’s group.
The Korean government first protested to the New China government for concealing the number of monsters. They intended to gain more concessions from New China through this matter.
However, unlike usual, the New China government quickly apologized for the Korean government’s protest and promised to hand over more concessions than originally agreed upon.
The Korean government was puzzled by New China’s submissive attitude but soon understood the situation.
Korea had come to possess an expedition team capable of hunting two C-Rank monsters simultaneously.
At a time when high-level monsters could reappear at any moment, having an expedition team capable of hunting them was enough for governments of various countries to lower their stance.
“But the problem is that it’s a weapon we can’t control.”
Director Jang sighed as he looked at the documents spread out before him.
These documents were related to Yonghoon and Team Crazy, compiled after Yonghoon’s expedition to China.
Even before this, Team Crazy and Yonghoon had been the strongest Awakened team in Korea, but now their importance had changed. The government rated the importance of Team Crazy, especially Yonghoon, above that of a head of state and began managing them accordingly.
However, Yonghoon was impossible for the state to manage or control. He was an orphan and a person from a parallel world. Moreover, his disposition was so straightforward that there was no way to influence him. In the end, the government could only follow behind Yonghoon, fretting anxiously.
“So, where is he now?”
Officer Jo responded to Director Jang’s question.
“He left for Australia yesterday. His target is a C-Rank monster in Melbourne.”
“The Ministry of Agriculture must be thrilled.”
“They’re relieved because the food situation was precarious, and now they can import food from Australia.”
At his subordinate’s words, Director Jang tapped the documents in front of him with his fingers.
“Is following them around and securing benefits the best option? If we try to control them, there’s a high chance we’ll end up cutting open the goose that lays the golden eggs, right?”
Everyone seemed to agree with his words.
“I’ll have to deal with those grumbling old men again. I’m swamped with work, and all they do is nitpick. Thinking about how they’ve deceived us all this time makes me want to confront them and just retire.”
Muttering about the higher-ups, Director Jang soon tidied up the documents.
“It might be for the best. Let’s move quickly on our end too. Starting next month, we’ll switch to installing Safe Zones once a month. Talk to Link Corp and import as many barriers as possible. Given the current situation, we should be able to reprioritize.”
Director Jang looked at the staff of the Monster Countermeasure Headquarters gathered in the room.
“As everyone knows, according to the Linkers, when a monster called a Dimensional Beast appears, it’s hard to stop it with ordinary methods. Fortunately, that monster can’t use Dimensional Movement near Safe Zones, so we have no choice but to expand the Safe Zones as much as possible and produce strong Awakened. We don’t know how much time we have left, but let’s do our best.”
At the director’s words, everyone in the room responded with determined expressions.
Director Jang looked out the window. Outside, the yellow-tinged autumn leaves were beautifully spread out.
And six months passed.
Spring flowers were in full bloom in the park.
“Queen Ant approaching 20 km ahead, Queen Ant determined to be B-Rank, multiple ants positioned nearby. Moving south at a speed of 10 km per hour.”
The voice of the operation officer in charge came through Instructor Seo’s earpiece.
The information was sent from the East Asian monster detection satellite, the third one launched by the United States.
Instructor Seo’s expression darkened.
“Damn it, B-Rank is too much. What’s so interesting about this tiny piece of land that B-Rank monsters show up three times?”
Seeing his angry expression, Grace shook her head.
“How can you still have that temper after being a representative for six months?”
“Since the other personality handled that side of things, there’s no way I’d change.”
At Instructor Seo’s words, Grace sighed and looked around. The Awakened had already been positioned.
This was Dobongsan Station, a key point for entering Seoul from the north.
Awakened from the metropolitan area had gathered throughout the park next to Dobongsan Station.
There were ten C-Rank Awakened, dozens of D-Rank Awakened, and countless E-Rank Awakened and soldiers waiting in the rear.
Moreover, there was also one B-Rank Awakened. That was Grace herself.
Grace now had the confidence to block even a B-Rank monster.
“Still, it’s lucky that I was in Seoul. What would I have done if I had been overseas too?”
At Grace’s words, Instructor Seo glared at her.
“You traveled around leaving your work behind, and now you’re talking? If you hadn’t leveled up, you would’ve been cursed out like crazy. Damn it.”
Ignoring Instructor Seo’s grumbling, Grace waved at Team Crazy stationed on the opposite side.
Dohyeon, who happened to be looking at her, waved back, and Jimin smacked him on the head.
Now, Grace couldn’t sense Team Crazy’s Dimensional Power.
Over the past six months, Yonghoon had intermittently taught Team Crazy how to hide their Dimensional Power.
Thanks to that, among the heated Dimensional Powers, only Team Crazy’s Dimensional Power quietly subsided.
“All the team members are C-Rank.”
At Grace’s admiring words, Instructor Seo looked at Team Crazy.
“Damn, half of the C-Rank Awakened are from Team Crazy. It would’ve been nice if they shared some Dimensional Cores. Training only their team members-my friendship with him has cooled.”
At Instructor Seo’s words, Grace looked at him with disbelief.
“How much help was it that Eunseo and I followed them around? Stop complaining just because you couldn’t level up since you were too busy.”
Instructor Seo made a tsk sound at her words and asked something else.
“So, when is the expedition team arriving?”
“The timing might not match. We contacted them as soon as Dimensional Movement was detected in Gaeseong, but Russia is too far. Plus, they’re dealing with a B-Rank monster too. Even if things go well, they’ll probably arrive tomorrow.”
At her words, Instructor Seo showed a slightly surprised expression.
“B-Rank? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Well, since a significant number of Russian Awakened are hunting together, it should be fine.”
“Expeditions are going to be tough now. The intervals between monster appearances are getting shorter. That thing will probably show up soon.”
At Instructor Seo’s words, Grace nodded with a stern expression.
Six months had passed since Yonghoon defeated a C-Rank monster in China.
During that time, Yonghoon continued overseas expeditions with Sunhee and Eunseo.
The expeditions took place at intervals of one or two weeks.
In addition to Yonghoon and the girls, Grace often joined the expedition team, and Hyangseol also eagerly participated.
Thanks to that, Grace was able to advance to B-Rank, and Hyangseol reached C-Rank.
During the overseas expeditions, many things happened. There were dangerous moments and times when they got injured.
However, the expedition team had successfully completed all missions so far without any deaths or major injuries.
Meanwhile, the Korean government and Link Corp did their utmost to establish Safe Zones within Korea and train Awakened.
The Dimensional Core training method was made available to the public, and the government and Link Corp worked together to achieve limit level breakthroughs.
Thanks to this, synergy between high-level Awakened and newly growing low-level Awakened emerged, allowing Safe Zone installations to progress at a rapid pace.
Currently, there were 14 Safe Zones in Korea, the highest number in the world.
And recently, the number of high-level monster Dimensional Movements in Korea had started to decrease.
Based on experiences from the other world, it was clear that the densely established Safe Zones acted like a net, preventing nearby Dimensional Movements.
However, as a trade-off, the monsters coming down from North Korea were becoming stronger.
Including the B-Rank Queen Ant currently descending, there had been one B-Rank monster and two C-Rank monsters that came down previously.
Fortunately, during the last B-Rank monster’s appearance, the expedition team was in the country and managed to stop it, but this time, the cycle of the B-Rank monster’s emergence was shorter than expected.
As a result, the expedition team was not in the country and had to face the monster.
“Ant monster group approaching within 2 km.”
Hearing the voice through their earpieces, everyone tensed up and looked ahead.
No matter how much stronger Korea’s Awakened had become, their opponent was a group of monsters including a B-Rank monster. Moreover, this was their first battle against a B-Rank monster without the expedition team. It was impossible not to feel nervous.
Soon, the shapes of the ants would start to become visible. The Awakened narrowed their eyes.
“Huh, what’s that?”
The eyes of the Awakened watching the monsters approach widened. In the distance, black dots began to rise into the sky from the north.
An urgent message from the Control Room came through their ears.
“More than half of the D-Rank ants have been identified as male ants. A large number of male ants are flying into the sky!”
The expressions of the Awakened changed.