The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 13

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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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#013. Legacy

“…So, even though the monster that appeared in central Seoul disappeared for unknown reasons, the overall situation itself hasn’t improved much, is that what you mean?”

“That’s right. If the situation had been improving, there would have been no reason for you to be trapped in that building break room for three months.”

“But our country already has an Awakened Agency, doesn’t it? There are also government-affiliated Awakened called Agents.”

“There were. The problem is that nearly half of the government-affiliated Agents died or retired due to injuries during those three months.”

That was the worst mistake the Government of South Korea made in the early stages of the crisis.

For the sake of faster resolution, they deployed Dimension Nation Agents in scattered formations.

The decision to minimize casualties occurring simultaneously nationwide—the Dimension Nation never anticipated that this would become a decisive obstacle to future crisis management.

When they divided the already insufficient Awakened forces into small units and deployed them with support troops, more than half of those deployed Agents ended up dead or incapacitated.

And now the Dimension Nation, learning from that painful loss, was deploying Agents to battlefields only after thorough force analysis, expecting minimal force losses.

“But even doing that created problems. To reduce force losses, it was essential to deploy A-rank or higher Agents somehow.”

Seoa showed a thoughtful expression as she listened to the explanation while sipping coffee.

Then, as if realizing something, she widened her eyes and said.

“Because there are too few A-rank or higher Agents?”

“Exactly. There are too many areas to reclaim, but the number of A-rank or higher Agents is limited. But they couldn’t just deploy B-rank or lower Agents when massive casualties were expected.”

“So the situation continued where A-rank Agents had to be deployed multiple times?”

“That’s right. Like a small company working a few outstanding employees to their limits, the Dimension Nation forcibly deployed A-rank or higher Agents to an enormous number of battlefields during the short period of three months. And just recently, that decision finally led to catastrophe.”

“Catastrophe?”

“The A-rank or higher Agents collectively declared a strike.”

The biggest reason the Awakened exploded was because of the excessive sacrifices the nation demanded from them.

While forcibly deploying Awakened to battlefields where they had to risk their lives under the pretext of emergency situations equivalent to wartime, the government provided no compensation for their sacrifices.

The half-collapsed logistics system and the resulting deteriorated supply chain.

The political sector’s excessive pressure on the Awakened to appease the explosively accumulating citizen complaints instantly triggered the fury of the Awakened fighting for their lives on the battlefield.

Eventually, less than three months after the crisis began, the Awakened took up arms and rose to directly confront government authority.

“Their demands were simple. Grant the Awakened freedom to choose which battlefields they would be deployed to. Pay fair compensation for risking their lives in battle. Finally, establish a battlefield selection system through rewards, not obligations.”

“…What was the result?”

“The government surrendered in three days. The government had no choice. The Corrosion Entities were endlessly expanding their territory, threatening areas the government had already reclaimed, and the conventional forces the government possessed couldn’t properly handle the Corrosion Entities.”

“So now the Awakened are operating like independent contractors with some kind of autonomous authority?”

“Half yes, half no.”

“What do you mean?”

“Not all Awakened had the same intentions.”

Sung-jun poured hot water into the small amount of coffee remaining at the bottom of his cup and drank it down.

Due to Korea’s geographical characteristics of having to rely entirely on imports for coffee beans, even the coffee mix that was once treated as cheap goods had now become a very precious luxury item.

“Just as there are people who want to live a slightly more affluent life by taking advantage of the current crisis, there are also people who want to sacrifice more than others precisely because of this situation.”

“People who want to become… heroes?”

“You could say that, or you could say they’re people who have already become heroes.”

After the government knelt before the Awakened, most of the Dimension Nation Awakened, who were originally treated as special civil servants, had their positions changed to special contract workers employed by the government.

However, some Awakened who didn’t agree with those Awakened’s intentions declared they would remain with the Dimension Nation to the end to protect citizens, and the citizens showed enthusiastic support for those who silently risked their lives without expecting any reward.

“One side chose the path to wealth, the other chose the path to heroism. And now, both factions are establishing their respective positions.”

Seoa, having heard Sung-jun’s words, asked him in a cautious tone.

“Which side are you on… brother?”

“Me? I’m on neither side. I have no desire to become a hero, nor do I want to pursue only my own interests.”

Sung-jun looked down at his palm, repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fist.

Then he muttered in a small voice that Seoa probably couldn’t hear.

“First, I need to avenge Teacher…”

After briefly explaining the situation over the past period to the girl who had been trapped for three months, Sung-jun gave her his sleeping area so she could rest comfortably.

Then, as if standing guard duty, he began contemplating in front of a small campfire.

What should he do from now on?

For now, Sung-jun’s most urgent goal was to find the successors of the Pioneers who had visited Earth with Teacher.

To recover all six of those ‘Teacher’s legacies’ they possessed.

He had no idea what abilities they had or what would happen when he collected them all.

However, the spell Teacher had planted in Sung-jun’s mind before passing away was constantly making him feel an obsessive compulsion to collect the legacies.

‘Maybe the Teacher’s voice I occasionally hear is also tinnitus caused by that spell…’

Breaking this spell itself wasn’t particularly difficult for the current Sung-jun, but he was deliberately leaving the hypnotic spell Teacher had cast on him untouched.

Rather, leaving it that way allowed him to feel Teacher’s absence even more deeply.

“The problem is what to do with that child…”

Sung-jun, who had been planning to depart for China soon to recover Teacher’s first legacy, couldn’t help but worry about the existence of the suddenly joined housemate.

Taking a girl who wasn’t even an Awakened, just an ordinary person, through the North Korean region that had become an uncontrollable monster den seemed absurd, but leaving a young girl alone in this place where supplies were impossible was also unreasonable.

After worrying all night, Sung-jun decided to entrust her to a refugee management center in a safe zone, even if it meant risking exposure of his identity.

He thought that living in a place where even a crumbling government organization could guarantee at least minimal survival would be a better decision for that child than being with him, who had to live a life no different from a savage.

“This would be best for that child too.”

As if trying to shake off the guilt weighing on his heart, he picked up a new piece of firewood beside the campfire and threw it into the hotly burning flames.

***

The next day, Seoa, who received notice of Sung-jun’s decision, looked at Sung-jun with eyes like a dog watching its owner who was about to leave it behind.

“Where are you taking me?”

“A refugee shelter run by the government. I’ll take you there today.”

“Hmm…”

“I know it’s a difficult position to speak from, so you can be honest.”

“Really?”

When Sung-jun nodded, Seoa spoke in an extremely cautious voice.

“To be honest… I’m scared…”

Sung-jun understood her feelings to some extent. The only scenery the girl who had escaped from the break room where she’d been trapped for three months had seen was the thoroughly destroyed cityscape that was impossible to believe had been bustling with people until recently.

Moreover, even while cut off from outside access, she had been able to witness some of the outside situation with her own eyes through the small window in the break room.

The sight of a police officer who was torn apart alive despite frantically shooting a palm-sized small pistol in resistance.

The sight of citizens who tried to escape in vehicles but were caught by giant monsters and crushed to death without being able to resist.

In the scenes she watched through the window, the Government of South Korea was an entity that couldn’t provide any proper help.

And those memories were becoming the catalyst for her to develop deep distrust toward the government.

Why won’t they protect us?

Why won’t they come to help?

In the extreme situation where she couldn’t even drink water properly if not for the 20-liter water container that had been placed as a reserve, the man named Sung-jun who suddenly appeared was like a superhero that would only appear in comics.

And now, that hero was asking her, who had lost her family and had nowhere to go, to leave.

‘I know that demanding more here would be shameless behavior, but…’

Seoa was feeling a desire to somehow stay by the side of the man named Sung-jun.

She didn’t know whether it was an emotion like admiration for the hero who came to save her, or a survival instinct like a deer hiding beside an elephant to avoid a lion.

But she had a premonition that somehow, the side of this man named Sung-jun was the safest place in this collapsed world.

However, she ultimately couldn’t convey her honest feelings to Sung-jun.

Because even though Sung-jun was the benefactor who saved her life, the man named Sung-jun and herself were ultimately strangers.

“…If that’s what you think, brother, I’ll do that…”

Although disappointment was clearly evident in Seoa’s voice, Sung-jun deliberately maintained a calm expression, pretending not to be bothered.

Then he took her hand and cast a teleport spell.

-Faaaaat!-

As soon as Sung-jun and Seoa disappeared from their temporary residence with a brilliant light, the two appeared in a collapsed area near a refugee shelter dozens of kilometers away from Sung-jun’s cabin.

A gloomy ruin where nothing could be seen except collapsed concrete debris, since anything worth taking had been completely taken.

In a corner of ruins that looked like a mart that many people would have used in the past, Sung-jun released Seoa’s hand and said to her.

“From here, we’ll walk. It should take about 30 minutes.”

“You don’t want to show people that you have teleportation abilities?”

“You understand well. So even if you join the refugee camp, it would be better not to leak information about me, right?”

“What if I go around talking about you, brother?”

“If you want to do that, it doesn’t matter.”

Sung-jun said.

“No one would believe it anyway.”

Sung-jun began slowly crossing through the middle of the ruined Mart with her behind him.

While passing along information that would be helpful to her in the future, useful for survival.

“Rations are distributed twice a day. I heard that the ration amounts are gradually decreasing week by week, so if you have any leeway, it would be good to save some for later.”

“There are guys who scavenge useful items from the Collapsed Area and sell them, and when they see you, they’ll probably suggest you join their group. Refuse. More than a few girls who followed those guys have gone missing.”

After delivering countless pieces of advice that made her feel more disturbed the more she heard, Sung-jun took out two packs of cigarettes from his pocket and handed them to her.

“Do I look like a smoker to you?”

“No. It’s instead of money. Black market trading is the main means of living inside the camp, and cigarettes are luxury items that those in power enjoy. Right now, among items used as currency substitutes, they’re the most popular and lightweight.”

Sung-jun also handed her three disposable lighters.

“Don’t sell these. Because making fire is harder than you think, lighters are also very good trading tools, but if you want to avoid freezing to death in an emergency, it’s better to carry them as backup. Of course, you must never let on that you have items like cigarettes or lighters.”

“Because they might get stolen?”

“Because you might die.”

Having arrived at a position where the camp was visible, Sung-jun pulled up the hood attached to the back of his neck and put it over his head.

Then he took out a mask from his pocket, covered his face, and approached near the camp.

There, hundreds of refugees waiting endlessly to be let inside were standing in a seemingly endless line with their heads hanging down, waiting for their turn.

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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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