Chapter 136: Distorted World 1
It did not take long for Junhyuk to understand what Agenchra had meant by accelerating the schedule. He had already signed the contract, and there were a lot of breaking news stories with the start of that weekend.
"I must be going crazy."
Junhyuk was watching TV and pulled out the communication crystal. The news was full of stories about strange beings attacking tourist ships on the Han River. People said the beings had horns on their heads and would drag the victims under the river.
"There are aglantas here?!"
He focused on the crystal and heard Artlan’s voice. Artlan sounded drunk, and he could feel that Artlan was in fact buzzed.
"Whazz the matter?"
"The contractor told me my dimension had potential to produce more champions, and that things would speed up. Now, there are aglantas from the Dimensional Battlefield here!"
"Hm... Really? My dimension already has heroes, so your dimension may experience those disturbances."
"My dimension may experience it?!"
"You have activated your powers due to your efforts to stay alive. Your dimension lacks motivation. To make them more motivated, they are creating an environment like that of the Dimensional Battlefield."
"Then, management is trying to activate more powers here?"
"Correct."
Junhyuk was extremely shocked. Ordinary people couldn’t deal with aglantas. He had fought them before, and it would take at least a small army to fight one.
"Will there be other monsters?"
"Don’t worry too much. They will be easy in the beginning."
"What if they send a dragon?"
"Don’t worry. If they send a dragon, that will happen much later."
"You mean they will sent one?!"
"Also, don’t treat the monsters the same way you treat monsters on the Dimensional Battlefield."
"What do you mean?"
"The Dimensional Battlefield has many limitations. They put limitations on the heroes and they do the same with monsters. You don’t actually think a real dragon is that weak, do you?"
"What about the aglantas?"
"Sure!"
Junhyuk felt like he had been cheated. His powers were the same in South Korea.
"People will activate their powers."
"That’s difficult."
"Don’t forget one thing."
"What?"
"You got your abilities by fighting constantly, but people who activate their abilities suddenly are drunk with power. People like that are demons."
Junhyuk couldn’t breathe. What Artlan had told him was a serious issue.
"The demons will be after you."
"Right."
"Don’t get yourself killed in some stupid way."
Junhyuk’s mind was sharp now. He had made up his mind and he wouldn’t die easily. He wouldn’t hesitate to save his own life.
"Don’t die meaninglessly. If you die, I will go to your dimension and kill everyone."
Artlan wasn’t joking. He had also said that his powers were limited in the Dimensional Battlefield, but they wouldn’t be limited in Junhyuk’s dimension. He couldn’t guess at what Artlan would do.
"I’ll stay alive."
"Right. I’ll go back to drinking."
"Have fun."
Junhyuk finished talking and watched TV.
The arrival of the aglantas was only the beginning. The dimensional battlefield had many types of monsters in large numbers.
"Is South Korea the only country with aglantas?"
There were many monsters, but Earth was bigger. On TV, the coast guard hard arrived at the Han River and started rescuing ships. They launched nets on the top and the bottom of the river to make sure the aglantas wouldn’t escape.
Junhyuk decided he would go there in person. It was a weekend, and he had time. The aglantas were there to force more people to activate their abilities, but he couldn’t let innocent people die, so he got in his car and headed their way.
---
Doyeol was watching the news and asked, "Jeffrey, do you know what they are?"
Jeffrey was also surprised.
"Those are aglantas. Why are they here?"
"I’ve seen them at the Dimensional Battlefield. So, I was right."
"Yes."
Jeffrey looked at Doyeol. He was focused on the TV and didn’t notice Jeffrey’s stare. Doyeol’s phone rang, and he looked at Jeffrey.
"I need to be alone. I want to think."
"I’ll leave."
Jeffrey went outside, and Doyeol pressed a button. His desk opened up, and a screen rose in the center. There were five faces on the screen, and they were all frowning. The old man spoke first.
"Do you recognize it?"
"They are called aglantas, a type of monster."
"Then, they are from the Dimensional Battlefield?"
"Yes."
"That’s a tough situation. We have wolves showing up, so the army was sent to kill them. The wolves couldn’t be killed by rifle bullets, so they had to use heavier firepower."
Doyeol looked at Elise, who was also present.
"Can iron soldiers fight against them?"
Elise checked something in her notes and answered, "I have to check first, but if the army’s firepower can deal with them, the iron soldiers will certainly be able to do it. However, there are too many wolves."
"They killed some bats that showed up, and the bats left something behind. We analyzed it, and it is just like the mana stones. What do you think?" Charles asked.
He showed them a very small, blue gem. It was much smaller than regular mana stones, but they didn’t have to go to the Dimensional Battlefield to get it. The world had changed.
"We can’t allow other people to kill the monsters first."
Charles nodded in agreement.
"Only a few know the value of the mana stones. Before they find out about them, we have to hold a monopoly. Elise, speed up the production of the iron soldiers."
The old man caressed his beard and said, "When production of the iron soldiers increases, we need a new company to advertise them. How about Robotics?"
Charles shook his head.
"Doyeol will be a better choice. The collaboration with Robotics allows him to have a good image worldwide. He should step up. We will have detachments all over the world to respond quickly to the incidents and build a monopoly on mana stones."
Everyone looked at Doyeol, and he smiled.
"OK. I will step up and be responsible."
The others didn’t like the spotlight, and Doyeol knew it too. That’s why they gave him the position. If something went wrong, they would all blame him like they did before, and so, they would continue to control the world.
They thought they had the right to order him around, but they would regret giving Doyeol that chance. He looked at Elise.
"Instead of the prototype, we need iron soldiers right away. We have to impress the public, so we need them right now."
Elise checked her notes and said, "They will be ready right away. It takes three hours to have them fly to South Korea."
"Sure. I’ll be waiting."
Doyeol knew he had to move quickly, and the old man looked at him calmly.
"I’ll send some people over. They will help you."
"Thank you."
Doyeol had to act subservient when necessary, but he would get stronger. That was his way to top.
He lifted his head and asked, "What happened to Anna?"
The old man and Charles frowned deeply, and he continued, "She can’t hypnotize the iron soldiers. They’ll deal with her. Elise, can we send each of them one iron soldier first?"
"It’s possible. Don’t worry."
Doyeol looked at the others.
"We should make a special team to deal with her."
Charles looked at him and nodded.
"Then, we will put you in charge."
"Trust me."
The others hung up, and only one remained on the screen. It was Elise.
"Is everything going well?"
"Don’t worry. When you get the new company, invite me to your new lab. I want to be close to you."
"I’ll give you the best installations."
"I’ll be expecting that."
The screen turned off, and Doyeol was left alone. He pressed a button on his phone and asked, "Did we send a team already?"
"Yes. I will send you the video."
"Do it."
Doyeol called for Jeffrey, who was waiting outside. Jeffrey walked in and saw that Doyeol wasn’t watching TV, but a brand new video instead.
He looked at the screen and said, "It’s not just one aglanta."
"The Han River has three. The police arrived at the scene quickly and sealed off the area."
Jeffrey shook his head.
"Sealing it off won’t work."
"What do you mean?"
"You can’t kill them with pistols."
Aglantas were famous at the Dimensional Battlefield. Pistols wouldn’t work against such monsters. Rifles wouldn’t work either, so they would need heavy artillery to deal with them.
"You mean they will come out of the sealed area?"
"Yes. At least, I think the army should step in."
Doyeol looked at the screen.
"Let’s watch. If the police can’t do it, then the army will go in!"
Jeffrey watched the aglantas swimming in the Han River and worried about people getting killed before the army arrived.
---
They were stopping the cars, and Junhyuk parked far away. He walked over, but there were too many people, so he couldn’t get close and looked around instead. He had his glasses with him and he could see very far away because of them, so he went to the top of a building to scope out the situation.
The police had launched nets around them. The three aglantas were swimming around, with the police surrounding them. They were SWAT and all of them were holding K1A compact assault rifles used by the armed forces. Ordinary police officers would be killed by the bushels, but the special team was different.
They were just standing there, and Junhyuk checked his smartphone and murmured, "Are aglantas only in South Korea?"
Abroad, they had wolves and bats.
"Only the lowest ranking monsters crossed dimensions?"
The monsters just dropped from the sky. At least, it felt that way to him. People were responding slowly, and many were dying.
Junhyuk turned his head to look, and the aglantas started moving. The police weren’t crossing the sealed area, so the aglantas started swimming in a circle and attacked the officers.
The SWAT members fired. The shots felt more like warning shots because they were shooting at monsters. Their rifles could only scratch the aglantas. One of them bit a SWAT member and dragged him below the surface.
Junhyuk could no longer stand there. He understood why management had sent those monsters, but he didn’t agree with them.
"Don’t blame me."
He jumped down from the building wearing the black armor.