About ten minutes after the explosion.
I ran along the mountain path toward where Elia was.
Why was I going so late if there was an explosion?
Chew chew!
There was no way I could give up on the perfectly cooking octopus.
I dipped it generously in sauce and came with it in my mouth.
"That hag must have done something again... chew chew! I'm sure of it!"
"No! Elia is smart... chew chew! She wouldn't do anything weird!"
The Kanmo duo on my shoulders were each holding onto the back of my head with one hand while firmly gripping and tearing off octopus legs with the other.
I didn't mind them bickering, but octopus pieces mixed with sauce were splattering onto my head.
I'd have to wash my hair more thoroughly than usual later.
"Over there!"
Kancho pointed across the stream.
The explosion must have been quite large—the picnic chairs and table were scattered on the ground.
Swoosh.
Kancho, having finished his octopus, pulled Volcanu's slingshot from his bosom.
"Kancho, why the slingshot all of a sudden?"
"The crime of bringing chaos to the peaceful White Night Island is grave. They deserve a beating."
Kancho's vocabulary was improving day by day.
But why did he always use the slingshot I gave him for shooting to beat people up?
Rustle rustle.
Momo, having thoroughly wiped her hands on my head, raised her voice.
"We need to hurry! Elia might be in danger!"
"Hey, Momo! Don't pretend to be worried while shoving a new octopus leg into that chubby little mouth of yours!"
Before they could start fighting in earnest, I sped up and arrived at the forest.
Elia was leaning against a tree with a face like she'd lost everything in the world.
Whether from the explosion just now, her hair was all tangled and twisted into a spiral bun.
"Hey, you hag! What have you done now!"
"Whoa, the Satan duo is here. And the master too."
"Are you okay?"
Elia raised her head and looked over the Jin-Kan-Mo trio.
From the sauce smeared around her lips, it seemed she'd been eating heartily on the way here.
"I'm perfectly fine. That one's perfectly fine too, which is the problem."
Elia pointed with her finger.
It was the sapling we'd brought from the graveyard of the World Tree Nemesis.
"I tried to grow it like the cherry blossoms last time, but it won't budge at all."
The Jin-Kan-Mo trio swallowed hard at the casually delivered briefing.
What exactly had she tried to do to the sapling to cause such an explosion?
And why were there saws, axes, strange liquids that looked like they'd kill you if you drank them, and various extracts scattered around the sapling?
Trembling, Kancho put on a deadly serious expression.
"This is an attempted sapling murder case! The culprit is that hag!"
"Mad psycho, no! The sapling will disappear!"
"Momo, mad scientist. Mad psycho is too harsh."
"Mad scientist, no!"
"Don't misunderstand! I never intended to harm the sapling!"
"No questions asked! Summary execution!"
Kancho, who clearly intended to act without questions, charged forward with his slingshot.
"Tch."
Startled, Elia jumped up and assumed a defensive stance.
The fierce battle between the Yodel Ranger vice-captain and the Star Sage.
Familiar with it, I left them behind and went to check on the sapling.
"As expected of a World Tree."
"Indeed."
Momo was examining the sapling from all angles while rubbing her chubby chin.
A new octopus leg was in her mouth—how many had she brought?
"How strange. This is really good stuff."
"There must be a required environment."
I recalled the memories of Nemesis I'd seen on the previous floor.
Maybe there was a clue in there.
"Momo should keep this. Elia might take it to the Star Workshop."
"No! That would be too pitiful for the baby sapling!"
Momo wiped her hands clean on my pant leg, then picked up the sapling with both hands.
The sapling's life was more important than my pants, so this was perfectly reasonable.
Bam!!
With a loud sound, Kancho went flying.
"Pant... pant."
Cornered, Elia had used alchemy.
"Grandma! Eat this and recharge your energy!"
"As expected, only my chubby one is reliable."
Elia accepted the octopus leg and drew a question mark.
"But why are you giving me the one you were chewing while the new one goes into your chubby one's mouth?"
"Now this one is also chewed, so they're exactly the same!"
Elia stared at Momo for a moment, then shrugged and bit into the octopus leg.
She seemed to have decided to stop thinking since it would only give her a headache.
"Elia. Let's go eat together. I need to sleep early and go to the Tower of Myth in the morning."
"Ugh! Let's go, let's go. Haven't the tickets piled up quite a bit?"
"Yeah. I have seven. I'm planning to use them all today."
"It'll be a long climb, so we should eat well."
Elia smiled and drew an alchemy circle.
"Then I'll go ahead. Who knows when Satan might revive."
As soon as she finished speaking, she hopped on a Kentaripin and vanished.
She'd activated her emergency escape sequence.
Watching her receding figure, I walked toward the river.
Just as I was about to pull him out, Kancho sprang up.
He perked up his ears for a moment, then put on his Yodel goggles.
"Operation: Send That Hag Across the River Styx, commence! Immediate pursuit!"
Parting the forest path with his short legs, Kancho shot forward like an arrow.
I could only hope he wouldn't ruin our precious seafood and campfire.
"Let's go, Momo. Time to eat octopus and scallops."
"I love scallops!"
I put Momo on my shoulder and walked leisurely.
Even the Tower of Myth comes after a meal.
Let's eat well and then go.
Ah, I also need to voice chat with Cheon Se-yeon before bed.
So busy, so busy.
* * *
Incheon Airport, private runway.
Deputy Director of External Cooperation, Yoon Se-won, stepped out of the vehicle and stretched.
Team Leader Im Woo-gang followed, letting out a long sigh.
"Finally, the last one."
He stared at the SUV pulling up behind them.
It was the American team, the last of the allied nations that had visited for the Transition Investigation.
Yoon Se-won clicked her tongue and spoke.
"Tell me about it. We wanted them gone the fastest, but they're leaving the latest. Right?"
Startled, Im Woo-gang looked around.
In this world where the Tower of Despair had broken down language barriers, who might be listening?
"You're always so timid. No one's around, so relax. Oh, they're getting out now. Ugh, why is that woman always in the back?"
Seeing Karen alighting far away, Yoon Se-won ran a hand through her hair.
She wanted to quickly exchange greetings and send them off, but they weren't making it easy.
Still, she had to finish properly, so she walked over.
"Director Yoon."
Before reaching Karen Whitaker, she first encountered Drake and his team members.
She tried to pass with a simple nod, but he spoke to her.
This was unexpected, so Yoon Se-won turned her head.
"If possible, could you convey our thanks to the Runner?"
Yoon Se-won narrowed her eyes.
"That's surprising. I thought you'd be angry about losing your weapons. As I've said before, the Runner had nothing to do with that incident."
"I know. And this gratitude is separate from national interests. No fool is unaware that we're breathing right now thanks to the Runner."
Reynold, standing nearby, shrugged.
"The Director probably isn't interested, but we were in Delta Force before joining this team. And Delta Force never forgets a debt. Especially to someone who saved our lives on a battlefield where death was certain."
Yoon Se-won looked between Reynold and Drake, then nodded.
"Alright. I'll make sure to pass it on, so don't worry."
"Thank you. Well then."
With a light nod, the American team boarded the transport plane.
Yoon Se-won began walking again and looked at Im Woo-gang walking beside her.
"What? That moved expression."
"I've only seen this kind of thing in war movies. It's my first time seeing it in real life. It was so cool, I was moved."
"What's so cool about that? Men are... or so I thought until today."
Yoon Se-won flashed a strange smile.
"I admit it. Seeing it in person, it's pretty cool. The loyalty. The camaraderie is nice to see too."
Im Woo-gang's eyes widened.
For Yoon Se-won, the Director of External Cooperation, to say something like that out loud.
It must be the Runner Effect.
As Karen Whitaker approached, Yoon Se-won wiped the smile from her face.
"Karen."
"Ms. Yoon."
They shook hands, and Karen began.
"You came to see us off after welcoming us. I'm at a loss. I heard you even moved all of our team's luggage."
"It's only natural to see you off on such a long journey. And you don't need to worry about the luggage transport. It was much lighter than when you arrived, so it was quite easy."
Click.
The area around Karen's molars tightened.
Yoon Se-won, Director of External Cooperation of the Hunter Bureau.
This little one had quite the grudge.
She hadn't forgotten how Karen had been cheeky when they first arrived in Korea and was now returning the favor.
"I'm glad it was easy for you. Forgive my concern, but let me ask again—the Player Hunter Bureau has nothing to do with this weapon theft, correct?"
"Of course. Hunter Eun Gang-seok, who's under our jurisdiction, was present at the scene, but he didn't awaken the ability to secretly steal Karen's keys and loot the equipment."
Karen knew this better than anyone.
Since Nekiel's death, Eun Gang-seok hadn't removed his blindfold even for a moment.
"If similar technology to our assets is invented in Korea in the future, I'd be very disappointed."
"Well, I can't give you a definite answer on that."
"What?"
"Because our country's technology is steadily advancing too. Besides, if weapons containing America's advanced technology—far ahead of Korea—exist on the Korean peninsula, we'd have to search diligently, wouldn't we? And in the process, we might accidentally acquire them, and then similar technology might be developed. Surely you wouldn't tell us not to look for things within our own country? Someone from America entered our country under the guise of a Transition Investigation and searched for another nation's most important assets."
Yoon Se-won displayed several photos.
They showed the American team searching for the Runner in Seopangyo.
Karen smiled.
"Impressive. Director Yoon Se-won."
"Thank you for the compliment. Director Karen Whitaker."
Karen gave a slight nod toward the plane, which had finished its takeoff preparations.
"We'll meet again someday."
"Yes. Have a pleasant flight."
"But Director Yoon Se-won. Just in case, I hope you don't forget. That I know the Runner's identity."
Karen patted Yoon Se-won's shoulder lightly and walked toward the plane.
The Runner was Korea's most important asset, one they desperately wanted to keep hidden.
As long as she knew the Runner's identity, Korea's leash was still in America's hands...
"Pfft... Puhahahaha!!"
Karen stopped and turned around.
Yoon Se-won was laughing, holding her stomach.
Had she lost her mind?
"What's so funny?"
"How could I not laugh? Oh, my stomach."
Finally suppressing her laughter, Yoon Se-won curled her lips.
Then she spoke.
"What can you do?"
"What...?"
"What can you do? Just because you know the Runner's identity."
Karen tried to say something, but Yoon Se-won didn't wait.
"Whatever it is, give it your best shot. If you're ready to face the calamity. Fighting!"
Yoon Se-won quickly walked away with short, quick steps.
Grit!
Karen's forehead veins bulged for a long moment.
"Haaaa."
Letting out a deep sigh, Karen tilted her head back.
"I really don't like this country."
Thinking it would be hard to ever like it.
Karen Whitaker, Director of the American Transition Investigation Bureau, boarded the plane.
* * *
[Entering the 28th floor of the Tower of Myth, 'The Cathedral in a Remote Place'!]
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T/N:
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