Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 204

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Broken Ranker

 

Devours Myths

 

Chapter 204

 

U.C.O. (1)

 

White Burn’s headquarters.

 

A meeting room located on the 10th floor.

 

“Wow, it’s been a while since we all gathered together like this?”

 

“Right. Everyone’s been too busy since the operation in Tenjin.”

 

“But why does this company look so fancy every time I see it?”

 

Normally, guild meetings mainly focus on discussing upcoming dungeon exploration plans,

 

but Z Team was still more focused on exploring the company full of unfamiliar things.

 

“Look at this. The camera head spins around following the direction I’m talking? Ooh. It even reacts to breathing.”

 

“There’s a subtitle display too. Everything I say gets translated. English, Chinese, and what? Swahili too?”

 

“Hey! Someone who knows this! It suddenly turned white and doesn’t even cast shadows!”

 

“The air feels subtly different and refreshing too… It suddenly feels like the genre changed to near-future sci-fi.”

 

No, I need to correct that.

 

It wasn’t exploration, they were just country bumpkins who had just come up to Seoul.

 

“These guys don’t know they’re being embarrassing. Hey! Everyone sit down!”

 

Only after Oh Su-heon shouted did the team members finally start trudging to their seats.

 

“Big corporations really do have a different class. Right?”

 

“That’s why they say even being a servant should be done in a minister’s house. Compared to this, we are, ugh.”

 

“What kind of fights have we been fighting all this time?”

 

The local broadcast chatter still hadn’t stopped.

 

“Everyone needs to get used to this now.”

 

Then, Kim Min-jeong pulled the microphone forward and turned on the switch.

 

All the team members’ gazes turned toward her.

 

“Why the sudden formal speech?”

 

“It’s an official meeting. I’m being polite.”

 

“Ooh. Cool, our Min-jeong.”

 

Kim Min-jeong suppressed the slight irritation rising within her.

 

“We are now Z Team, White Burn’s pride. We also represent ourselves as the successor to Blue Thunder.”

 

Successor to Blue Thunder.

 

At those words, they all became serious with their lips sealed. Their eyes changed too.

 

“So you need to get familiar with the 360-degree auto-tracking cameras, AI real-time subtitle displays, electrochromic smart glass walls, environmental control consoles, and everything else you saw earlier. By the way,”

 

Kim Min-jeong paused briefly before continuing.

 

“All those functions were created by incorporating technology obtained from researching dungeon items at the Technology Research Division. Our achievements, or the achievements we’ll obtain in the future, are manifested here.”

 

“That’s pretty interesting. We always thought dungeons were just old-fashioned.”

 

The team members nodded at Oh Su-heon’s laughing remark.

 

“So we need to have pride in moving at the forefront of global change. In that sense,”

 

Beep.

 

The large screen behind Kim Min-jeong changed.

 

“This operation will be that important. I assume you’ve all checked the Middle East Front 4th Report before entering this meeting.”

 

The scene displayed on the large screen was a battlefield.

 

A place where the Thunder Unit had also run operations several times in the past.

 

The team members’ eyes were now sharp.

 

The same look they had when clashing with Ping Xin.

 

“As shown in the report, this periphery is currently in a state where countless mercenary units and various warlords are scattered, with battle lines changing several times a day.”

 

Everyone nodded.

 

“And in this place,”

 

“Chairman Peng is there.”

 

Just as Kim Min-jeong was about to speak, the meeting room door suddenly opened and Lee Hyeon appeared.

 

“Good to see you again, Z-Team. The last time we met, things got… messy, didn’t they?”

 

Accompanied by Astra’s Michael Shepherd right behind him.

 

Kim Min-jeong glared at Lee Hyeon with sharp eyes for a moment.

 

She seemed to have many things she wanted to confront him about regarding what happened with Eom Gi-seon, but she held back for now since there were many watching eyes.

 

But…

 

‘Something seems… different?’

 

The feeling he gave off was different from this morning.

 

Even then he had changed so much that she wondered if he had achieved a second awakening during his vacation,

 

but now in an even shorter time, his depth felt much deeper.

 

Since she was also a ranker, Lee Hyeon’s changes resonated more deeply with her.

 

Sure enough.

 

“Oh?”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“Are you hogging all the good stuff by yourself? So it was true that you had a second awakening?”

 

The team members also read Lee Hyeon’s changes and burst into exclamations. Especially Eom Gi-seon and Oh Su-heon sent competitive glances.

 

Just by appearing, he had seized control of the atmosphere.

 

‘I was surprised too. These people who always watch from beside him must be even more surprised. As expected, Jet… The more I see him, the more I can only exclaim in admiration.’

 

Meanwhile, Michael was also looking at Lee Hyeon with an admiring gaze.

 

No, now it was almost at the level of yearning.

 

The aura he was showing now was mostly contained,

 

but when Lee Hyeon came out after finishing his long conversation with the Director that lasted several hours, it was much more tremendous than this.

 

‘The Director also said to grant whatever support Jet needs. He had already foreseen all of this. As expected of the Director… His insight and intuition are completely different from mine.’

 

Michael organized his thoughts and spoke.

 

“I’ll be joining this meeting as an observer. Let me walk you through the necessary background first.”

 

—I’ll be joining this meeting as an observer from now on. Let me first explain the necessary background and information.

 

Instantly, the real-time subtitle display installed on one side activated and output the Korean translation.

 

Michael looked at it with slightly surprised eyes, then smiled lightly and turned his gaze toward the screen.

 

Kim Min-jeong stepped aside. Lee Hyeon sat in her place and connected a USB to the computer.

 

Then the screen switched.

 

“This is a live feed from ASTRA’s forward base in Syria. Sent just minutes ago.”

 

—This is footage sent just moments ago from Astra’s Syrian garrison base.

 

A video began playing.

 

『Wh-what is that! What the hell!』

 

『A giant…?』

 

『No! It’s a mob!』

 

『What are you talking about! No dungeon breaks have been detected!!』

 

A wasteland with white sand blowing.

 

A place where only the remains of temple ruins symbolizing the ancient Palmyra Empire could barely be seen in the distance.

 

Multinational soldiers of unknown affiliations were desperately running toward the camera.

 

Tanks lined up in a row were firing their main guns somewhere, and helicopters and fighter jets were frantically flying around in the chaotic scene in the sky.

 

“What’s that?”

 

“There’s the French Foreign Legion too? Weren’t those 13th Corps guys enemies? Astra’s there too?”

 

“What the hell is going on?”

 

“The sandstorm is too severe to pinpoint the exact location.”

 

The Z Team members were equally confused.

 

As if reading their minds, the camera attached to the drone suddenly zoomed in dramatically.

 

Then, far away around the temple ruins,

 

something massive could be seen slowly walking around.

 

Thud…!

 

Thud…!!

 

Although the sandstorm was too thick to see its proper form, with only a shadow dimly visible at best,

 

every time that enormous figure moved, the ground could be seen shaking with the naked eye.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

The team members had fallen silent at some point, just watching the footage.

 

『Damn it! What the hell is that thing! Were those ridiculous eyewitness accounts actually true?』

 

『Oh, God! Why did you make us encounter such a bastard in this godforsaken place…. Appraiser! The measurements! Are the measurements done?』

 

『Yes! They finished just now. But, but the readings are,』

 

『Why aren’t you answering quickly? Do you want to watch all your comrades die?』

 

『That,』

 

『Captain! Please check this! The UCO is now…!』

 

The person called captain urgently turned his gaze toward the massive figure.

 

At that moment, the figure stopped walking.

 

And….

 

Instead of just looking ahead, it suddenly began slowly turning its head this way.

 

Though it was still obscured by the whitish sand fog and the distance was considerable, making it impossible to discern its exact appearance,

 

the feeling that it was definitely ‘looking this way’ could be felt with certainty.

 

Flash!!

 

Suddenly, an intense light blazed from what appeared to be its head,

 

『Goddamn….』

 

With that muttered word, as if intuiting his own end,

 

Screech!!

 

The footage filled with noise.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

No one dared to speak carelessly.

 

The shock they received was that great.

 

When Lee Hyeon pressed the stop button, Michael spoke in a solemn voice. It was in English.

 

“The magic power reading observed at that time was at least 9,200 Arca. As you all know, that’s over a thousand times the standard measurement. ASTRA refers to that thing as an Unidentified Celestial Object, or U.C.O. for short.”

 

Meaning ‘supernatural phenomenon of unknown origin.’

 

“Not only the drone equipment that was filming at the time, but the military unit in the surrounding area was also annihilated, with extremely few survivors. Even if there are any, they might be detained somewhere in the desert.”

 

Even while discussing ASTRA’s weakness, his tone remained calm as if it weren’t his own concern.

 

“And,”

 

Beep!

 

When Michael pressed the pad he had received from Lee Hyeon earlier, the screen moved to the next image.

 

Then two faces appeared.

 

They were very familiar faces to the Z Team.

 

One was Feng Jinghao.

 

And the other was his subordinate, Ling Feng.

 

The one currently called by the unique codename Onma .

 

“Their target is predicted to be that U.C.O. They’re crossing the desert while pushing back even the 13th Legion and the Tower of Babel. We believe they’ve already attempted contact with the U.C.O. once.”

 

Oh Su-heon slightly raised his hand.

 

When Michael nodded, Oh Su-heon spoke.

 

“What happened to those who made contact with the U.C.O.?”

 

“Total annihilation.”

 

“…!”

 

“Not even corpses were found. Our investigation team observed the scene, and it’s presumed that even their battle records were devoured.”

 

“…That means,”

 

Suddenly, Oh Su-heon’s complexion hardened.

 

Michael nodded.

 

“That’s right. It’s very similar to what happened at 【Primordial Dragon Tiamat’s Nest】 in the South African Republic.”

 

“…!”

 

“…!”

 

“…!!”

 

“Since you’re all elite Awakeners, I assume you all know about that incident. No, you couldn’t not know. Mountain God’s performance at that time was quite outstanding.”

 

Primordial Dragon Tiamat’s Nest.

 

The worst 5-star dungeon in history, known for being the most difficult to conquer and causing the greatest casualties and property damage.

 

When a dungeon break occurred there, triggering a massive monster wave that erased the entire nation of South African Republic from the map,

 

the surrounding countries also suffered tremendous damage, and it’s known to have had the greatest influence in turning sub-Saharan Africa’s environment into the hellscape it is today.

 

However,

 

it also had an enormous impact on world politics….

 

Because four of the Nine Heavens who were instrumental in clearing that dungeon became the absolute powers leading today’s world politics.

 

Especially Mountain God Mo Jeong-gyeon’s exploits alongside the Executive Group are recorded in textbooks of today’s Awakener educational institutions.

 

“For reference, when Rabu first emerged from the Nest, it was observed at 8,700 Arca… so an even more dangerous situation might unfold.”

 

Arca is the unit system for measuring the magic power possessed by mobs.

 

“That means there’s room for continued growth.”

 

“That’s right. We haven’t upgraded it to the same threat level as the 【Nest】 due to insufficient data, but we expect it won’t take long to reach that point. Fortunately, that U.C.O. hasn’t caused civilian casualties yet.”

 

Michael nodded at Lee Hyeon’s question while looking at each of the Z Team members one by one.

 

“This footage is currently classified as confidential by domestic intelligence agencies. Yet I’ve disclosed it to you because, despite the danger, I want to make a formal request for cooperation.”

 

For the first time during his presentation, a flame lit in Michael’s eyes, which had been cold throughout.

 

He hadn’t been emotionless all this time.

 

He had been suppressing it.

 

“As you all saw, we expect that part of ASTRA’s forces are detained somewhere there. Based on survival signals being detected, there are definitely survivors somewhere, but we can’t locate their exact position due to magic interference.”

 

Lee Hyeon and the team members could all desperately feel Michael’s anguished emotions.

 

Because they had all experienced the same.

 

“I know it’s dangerous, but would the Z Team… please help with the search operation?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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