Chapter 254

Chapter 254
### Chapter 254

—

### Cataclysm

“What on earth is happening?”

The color drained from Kim-bujang’s face. The initial terror of the beastly incursion and the sight of Park Hyunmyeong obliterating a creature with a single strike had been jarring, but it paled in comparison to this.

Lee Arin. Who exactly was she?

* The youngest Vice-Leader of the Hero Alliance!
* The heroine who became the face of the organization in record time!
* A leader whose charisma eclipsed even Park Tae-woo!
* A talent scout without equal, the savior of South Korea who had forged countless legends!

The titles bestowed upon her were endless. She was a celestial phenomenon who had arrived suddenly and left an indelible mark on the public consciousness. Yet, her personal combat prowess remained a mystery. Her true genius lay in cultivation. Within the Hero Alliance, Vice-Leader Lee Arin was already hailed as the “Great Master”—the one capable of spotting raw potential and polishing it into greatness in the blink of an eye.

And yet, Lee Arin had just looked Park Hyunmyeong in the eye and said: “You have talent, come join the Hero Alliance.”

‘I’ve never heard of her personally recruiting someone before……!’

Kim-bujang was seized by a violent tremor. The South Korean Hero Alliance was the undisputed pinnacle of power in the nation, and its second-in-command was effectively the second most influential person in the land. If Park Hyunmyeong was a “Dimension Warrior” possessing a gift that even Lee Arin craved……

He was a “Celestial Dragon” in human form!

In a global population of billions, Dimension Warriors numbered only in the hundreds of thousands. These rare individuals were treated as modern-day royalty. The security details hired by mega-corporations were merely bottom-tier Dimension Warriors. In the current social order, the moment Park Hyunmyeong received an invitation from Lee Arin, his status soared to a height that was unreachable. Even the lowest rank-and-file member of the Alliance held a station far above any civilian. Park Hyunmyeong was now someone a “Muggle” like himself shouldn’t even dare to address.

‘W-What have I done……’

Kim-bujang’s skin shifted from pale to a sickly, bruised shade of blue. A minor department head at a company was nothing more than a kite held by a fraying string; one word from the Hero Alliance could snap it. He had spent his day mocking Park Hyunmyeong while clinging to a position that offered zero protection. The company he served so loyally would never shield him. Being fired would be a mercy. They might frame him for crimes, or dump him in a wasteland to be eaten by monsters. Anyone who offended the Alliance met a similar fate. To the corporations, the Alliance’s favor was a matter of survival.

“Get in touch with me. I’ll be expecting you.”

*Thud.*

As Lee Arin handed her card to Park Hyunmyeong, Kim-bujang’s legs gave out, and he hit the floor.

*Snip. Snip.*

The imaginary sound of his life’s safety tether being cut echoed in his mind.

‘This is a n-nightmare. It has to be. Someone like Park Hyunmyeong being scouted by Lee Arin?’

In Kim-bujang’s memory, Park Hyunmyeong was just a forgettable, low-level office drone. A bold nobody who had handed in a resignation letter and vanished. He was a perfectly mundane man with no visible skills and no family name. That same man, whom he had belittled and who had taken every insult with a bow……

—Get in touch with me. I’ll be expecting you.

His muscles refused to move. Lee Arin departed after delivering her message. Park Hyunmyeong simply put the card in his pocket. Most people would be trembling with joy after a personal offer from the Alliance’s Vice-Leader, yet Park Hyunmyeong’s face remained an unreadable mask. A man who stayed this composed in the face of life-altering success was far more frightening.

Kim-bujang suddenly snapped out of his trance.

“I-I am so sorry. I…… I didn’t see who you were……”

“……?”

Scrambling into a kneeling position, Kim-bujang slammed his head against the pavement in a desperate kowtow.

“P-Please have mercy! A wretch like me has committed a terrible crime against a future hero! Please, I beg you, just don’t tell the company……”

The modern era was governed by the law of the jungle. Civilians were at the bottom; above them were Dimension Warriors; then came the corporate giants; then the elite Warriors; and finally, the absolute powerhouses. Kim-bujang was in a position where he could be crushed like an ant if a true power decided to step on him.

Park Hyunmyeong looked down at the shivering man. Then, he placed the ten thousand won note he had been given on the ground in front of Kim-bujang and spoke.

“If we run into each other again, dinner is on me.”

“……Should I, should I seek you out at the A-Alliance?”

He had abandoned every shred of dignity. Survival instinct told him that pride was a luxury he could no longer afford.

“Who knows.”

*Tap, tap.*

Park Hyunmyeong patted the man’s shoulder twice and walked away at a steady pace. Whether it was a gesture of forgiveness or a final dismissal—

“Ah…… Aaaaah……”

The lack of a clear answer felt like a slow-acting poison.

—

“……Was he truly that remarkable?”

On the drive back to headquarters, one of the subordinates questioned Lee Arin. He wasn’t the only one wondering; everyone in the vehicle was leaning in. These were elite candidates who had survived the Alliance’s rigorous testing and were hand-picked to be mentored by Lee Arin. They were the “Future Stars,” warriors who had reached Level 10 with blistering speed. Among them was even a Transcender who had earned a Star.

……And yet, Lee Arin had never personally scouted a single one of them. They had never seen her show this level of fascination with anyone. A bitter sting of envy, though well-hidden, lingered in the air.

Lee Arin, hidden behind dark glasses, raised two fingers.

“Second.”

“What…… what does ‘second’ mean?”

“He possesses the second greatest talent I have ever encountered.”

“…Then who was the first?”

“I wonder.”

Lee Arin—or Basara, the Seventh Monarch of the Demon Realm—had appraised the man she just met as the second-best prospect in existence. The top spot belonged, without question, to Wilhelm. If Wilhelm was a radiant, blinding sun, what was this man?

He was a cold, lingering shadow. Wilhelm was a being of pure brilliance. This man, however, was like a void—an abyss with no discernible floor.

The Heavenly Killing Star (Cheon-sal-seong). She was stunned that a person with the essence of a Dark God could exist on this planet.

‘They are like oil and water.’

His nature was diametrically opposed to Wilhelm’s. They were two forces that could never harmonize. This confirmed to her that the man could not be Wilhelm’s true physical form.

“Vice-Leader. If he is so gifted, why did you only give him a card instead of bringing him in?”

“He will find his way to me eventually.”

She gave a casual shrug. One born under the Heavenly Killing Star was destined to seek out power. On this Earth, there was no master capable of training a talent of that magnitude. The current players were just amateurs—fools playing a game with power borrowed from Pangaea. They were half-measures who would be helpless if they couldn’t transform. That man would inevitably realize he needed her.

‘I can’t wait to see the masterpiece he becomes.’

Her eyes flashed. Of course, her primary obsession remained the ‘True Body that commanded Wilhelm.’ That magnificent entity who stood above all others! She wondered how beautifully he was hidden among the masses. If she ever met him, there was a single question she needed to ask.

‘……How did you discover my vulnerability?’

Isera. Even she, born of the Mutant Dragon God, possessed a secret flaw. But unlike Isera, not even the Demon King had found it. No one knew. Even she had been unaware of it herself until then. But he was different. The entity behind Wilhelm had identified and exploited a weakness that no one else in the universe could see.

She wanted to know. How did he find it? How did he use it against her? That weakness was nothing less than—

‘……To make me feel love.’

It was ‘Love,’ a sensation that had been entirely foreign to her throughout her entire existence.

—

“You are not true heroes!”
“Down with the frauds who live on lies!”

Outside the headquarters of the Hero Conference, the global alliance, massive demonstrations broke out. The image of the shining champions of justice had shattered. They were now labeled as fake heroes—hypocrites who had built their reputations on fabrications. Protests were erupting daily across the globe.

‘Kim Hana……!’

Inside the building, Lucifer ground his teeth as the muffled chants of the mob reached his ears. Public opinion hadn’t always been this toxic. But ever since Kim Hana started leaking the classified scandals and dirty laundry of the ‘Hero Conference,’ the situation had spiraled into chaos.

‘Darkstar. That pathetic rat leaked everything.’

The name ‘Run-kstar’ was fitting. The moment Main Quest 11 concluded and the Hall of Fame shifted, Darkstar had fled to South Korea. He had clearly met with Kim Hana and handed over the incriminating files. Because of that betrayal, the Hero Conference was crumbling, both in the world of Pangaea and on Earth.

Still, the situation on Earth was slightly more stable than in Pangaea.

“Regardless, they cannot cast us aside—they cannot cast me aside. There is no one to take our place.”

Players were a finite, precious resource. They were the only ones who could defend the planet. Even if the public spat on them now, there was no alternative. They were being vilified because the timing was poor, but once they crushed the next wave of monsters, the people would come crawling back, as if they had never shouted a single insult.

‘The Hero Conference will not collapse.’

He had spent his life building this empire. He wouldn’t watch it fall. His ambition to rule from the peak was still alive. He needed a strategy. A way to flip the script.

‘A way to accelerate the monster invasion……’

If the world were under siege, the public would once again worship his strength. They would weep and beg for protection. Players were irreplaceable. He was certain the masses would cling to his boots and plead for his grace.

It was in that moment.

《The ‘Island of God’ ascends.》
《The ‘Tutorial’ has commenced.》

Lucifer snapped his head toward the window. High in the clouds, a colossal island was hovering. And more importantly—

‘Tutorial?’

……Something was off. The progression that had been frozen was finally moving again.

‘Randolph…… You bastard, did you do this……’

Lucifer understood immediately. Randolph was the pivot for this shift. But a more vital realization struck him—

“Are you…… up there?”

The Angel of Blessing…… she was there. He could sense her presence. He knew it in his soul. Lucifer reached out toward the Island of God. Then—

《A ‘Completed One (Player)’ is barred from entry.》

—

The crossbreed creature that had torn through the earth. My plan to probe the depths to find the source of the Abyss invasion had been the right call.

‘It’s a gateway to the Abyss.’

I had located a warp point linked to the Abyss hidden within the drainage systems. The portal was currently dormant.

*Zzzzzing!*

The moment I touched the surface, it hummed to life. Simultaneously—

《‘Administrator (Randolph)’ identified.》
《Do you authorize the synchronization?》

The system had recognized me. It seemed I had become the trigger—a bridge connecting the two realms. It also meant the merger couldn’t happen without my consent. But there was only one path forward. To find the answers I sought, I had to link them.

《Authorized.》
《Synchronization of the ‘Island of God’ is underway.》
《Synchronization finalized!》
《The ‘Tutorial’ begins.》
《The ‘Uncompleted One (Park Hyunmyeong)’ enters the ‘Island of God.’》

*Swoooosh!*