Chapter 149: Smugglers


    Tudor’s office was still a mess.


    Documents were scattered haphazardly. Trash was rolling around in a slightly crumpled manner. Coffee cups were lined up in a row on the desk.


    Tudor who was now sitting at her desk looked at me for a moment before speaking.


    “Honestly, it would have been better if you had told me in advance.”


    “Hmm…”


    She seemed to be in a good mood, but suddenly it felt like she was scolding me.


    Well, I did dump the cleanup after the Shantaks on Tudor.


    She probably struggled for days manipting information. If I had informed her beforehand, it would have been easier for her, so the criticism was only fair.


    I looked away for a moment and started thinking about what to say…“Come here, my dear. I’m going to have to kiss you!”


    “Whoa, what are you doing?!”


    Suddenly, Tudor jumped over the desk and approached me at an incredible speed.


    <em>Crash!</em>


    I threw the chair I was about to sit on and retreated far back. I could feel the bookshelf against my back. Ugh, I was cornered!


    “Hey, where do you think you’re going?”


    Tudor even stretched out her arm to block my escape route. She was over 190 cm tall. Honestly, it was overwhelming.


    “Stop it! This isn’t funny!”


    “Oh, ying hard to get, huh?”


    Tudor smacked her lips slightly and flicked her tongue out. After ensuring she had sat down, I took my seat.


    “Ugh, what on earth is this?”


    “Haha, it’s apliment, apliment.”


    “Please, just say it with words.”


    “This time, you did really well. As expected, you’re the best.”


    She smiled briefly but it was an eerily beautiful smile. An ominous smile no human could mimic.


    “I’m d you liked it.”


    “d? Haha, thanks to your perfect handling, I’m very happy.”


    “Handling?”


    “You got rid of the Immigration Bureau, didn’t you? It was such a headache.”


    Tudor grimaced briefly before she let out a displeased “Ugh” sound.


    asionally, fixers get treated like heroes for dealing with monsters, but in the end, they are criminals who must hide in the shadows of the back alleys.


    Tudor was a dark broker selling crimes to them and an “illegal immigrant” as defined by the Immigration Bureau. She was a foreign witch who had lived for centuries.


    “By the way.”


    I briefly turned my head and subtly pointed at the door of the office.


    “So many fixers around; why is it like that outside?”


    “Oh dear? You’ve got it backward. It’s because it’s like that outside that there are so many fixers.”


    “I wasn’t asking because I didn’t know.”


    This too was ultimately a butterfly effect created by my choices.


    The cultists who had gathered in Sejong City dispersed across the country with the Immigration Bureau’sbat officials on their tails.


    As Yang Seo-ho remained tied up in Sejong City, naturally, Paju fell into a state of security vacuum.


    Thanks to this, those who would be targets of the Immigration Bureau’s crackdowns gathered from all over the country (perhaps even from the north).


    There was plenty of work and plenty of people.


    Not only Tudor but also other brokers must have been thrilled.


    “It would be better to sweep around the shopping center before more snow piles up.”


    “Why? The atmosphere is nice right now, isn’t it?”


    The witch smiled as she brought the coffee cup to her lips. For a very brief moment, her pupils narrowed like a cat’s.


    “If you regret itter, it’s not my problem.”


    “If that happens, a superhero I know will help me.”


    Tudor said that as she stretched out her finger to point at my chest. Oh, me?


    You’re really going to regret it. After returning from her work in Sejong, would Yang Seo-ho just leave the Geumchon neighborhood which had be a monster den alone?


    “Well, it’s better to worry about it when the timees.”


    “As expected, you are a bit strange. You really are a strange person.”


    Tudor squinted her eyes slightly and tilted her head.


    “What do you mean?”


    “I called you to the office topliment you, but you act like someone who needs constion.”


    “I don’t need either. Rather, if there’s any work to do, I’d like to take a look.”


    I didn’te because there’s a quest I must do at this moment.


    But before the guy up there prepares the next scenario, I need to do some farming.


    “Oh, you want to work? There’s a mountain of work you can do.”


    Tudor grew delighted, and her eyes sparkled again. Before I could even respond, she spread her hands wide.


    <em>Swish!</em>


    A huge number of papers flew in from all directions.


    Documents containing information on various incidents, crimes, and requests that needed to be resolved.


    “Here, feel free to choose from these.”


    Honestly, now is not the best time to be working.


    Everyone was eager to make a profit while Yang Seo-ho was away, so there was no benefit in getting involved.


    In other words, it was better to move to the outskirts or leave Paju entirely.


    <em>So, is that it?</em>


    Come to think of it, this looked simr to the UI from the game.


    Originally, I would have pressed the next page button to change the page, but now that wasn’t necessary.


    I had already understood the contents while the documents floated in the air.


    “This is an urgent quest, no, an urgent request.”


    “Huh? What is it?”


    Tudor waved her fingers and brought the document I pointed at in front of her eyes.


    “Oh, this one? It was an urgent one? Looking at the time it came in, it seems like it’s already toote.”


    “Before, you used to send me out immediately to solve things, but now you seem quite rxed?”


    “That’s because I thought it would be good for you to get closer to Cheong-ho back then.”


    “Well, that’s true.”


    Thanks to that, I got close to Cheong-ho in a Cthulhu World sense. So close, in fact, that I can still see Cheong-ho’s face if I go to the basement of my house.


    Ugh, enough about Cheong-ho.


    <em>I was thinking of going to the pawnshop if there was nothing useful, but something pretty good came up.</em>


    The document read as follows:


    [Capture the Smugglers of Chopyeong Ind]


    Tudor squinted her eyes and spoke.


    “Are you really going to choose this one?”


    “I’ve always wanted to visit there.”


    “Chopyeong Ind?”


    Chopyeong Ind was arge ind located in the Imjin River.


    To be more specific, it was near that insane apartmentplex in Munsan where the ghouls incident urred.


    There was no ce closer to North Korea than that, so there was no need to exin how dangerous it was.


    <em>Where there is danger, there is treasure.</em>


    These smugglers always spat out high-ranked artifacts.


    I briefly nced in another direction.


    [Do you want to ept the quest?


    Smugglers based on Chopyeong Ind are loading cargo smuggled from North Korea onto their truck. Prevent the smugglers’ cargo from leaving Paju and recover the goods loaded in the truck.


    ! Time Limit: The smuggling truck will leave Paju in (4) hours. !


    Reward: 3,950,000XP + a portion of the smuggled goods + (the money promised by the broker is separate). In case of failure: The Grace of the Abyss will descend upon Incheon.]


    “Unfortunately, I don’t think you need to go all the way to Chopyeong Ind this time.”


    The quest window disyed different content from the request form.


    As Tudor had said, the [Capture the Smugglers of Chopyeong Ind] request seemed to have already expired.


    The smugglers on Chopyeong Ind hadpleted their tasks and moved on to the next phase.


    If this quest failed, it would lead to a tough quest that involved fighting cultists based in Incheon. The longer it was left unattended, the lower the rewards and the higher the risk.


    So it was going to be a car chase? If I called Jang Hyeon-deok, caught up with them, and then beat them up, this would wrap things up nicely.


    Except for what the client wanted from the truck’s cargo, I could take everything else.


    Hmm, but…


    “Hey, what’s wrong with you?”


    Tudor looked puzzled as I paused and stood still for a moment.


    “Oh, it’s nothing. Let’s proceed with this.”


    I felt a bit uneasy and apprehensive.


    <em>Something feels off, like I’m forgetting something…</em>


    It was as if I had forgotten something important.<hr>


    “Wow! Mage-nim, just like you said! I think it’s that truck over there!”


    I saw a truck carrying arge container in the distance.


    “Great, we’ve followed it perfectly without losing it.”


    As expected, car chases were Jang Hyeon-deok’s specialty.


    Now that I thought about it, this was a nostalgic ce for me. It was the same spot where I had once caught a biker gang.


    And this time, I was catching a runaway truck at the same location.


    <em>Well, it makes sense.</em>


    This was, in a way, a type of daily quest.


    Daily quests generally kept the same major storyline but changed the detailed elements each time they were repeated.


    Once we caught the smugglers from Chopyeong Ind, another group would speed down through the Freedom Road.


    “Alright, I’ll speed up and catch them.”


    “Okay.”


    <em>Vrooooom!!</em>


    The illegally modified van sped down the Freedom Road at an outrageous speed.


    The scenery outside the window blurred into thousands of straight lines and the car started moving at an incredible speed.


    It should have been nerve-wracking, but Jang Hyeon-deok had a rxed expression on his face.


    “Isn’t that truck overloaded?”


    “Judging by how the tires are pressed down, it is overloaded.”


    <em>Honestly, it’s hard to feel tense.</em>


    Today, there weren’t dozens of monstrous birds following us, nor were there any surreal phenomena or ghosts popping out from Tanhyeon.


    The target was just a truck carrying some expensive cargo, and we were on an ordinary highway.


    Compared to the massive incidents recently, this was a simple request.


    I needed to finish this quickly and get it over with.


    <em>Is it within range now?</em>


    I rolled down the passenger window and gathered my magical power.


    Hmm, but…


    <em>Why are there so many cars today?</em>


    It was unnecessary hesitation on my part. But the fact was, I did hesitate and it made my actions a beat slower.


    A strange movement was detected from the truck ahead.


    “Hey? It looks like they’ve noticed we’re following them.”


    “Yeah, maybe there’s a pretty sensitive guy in there?”


    “What if they attack us?”


    “Even if they do, it won’t be a big deal.”


    They were either a psychic or a mutant.


    <em>Ah, there’s also the possibility that there’s a slightly stronger one inside.</em>


    This quest’s details, truth, and the smuggler’s abilities were randomly selected from several variations.


    <em>Like those parasites that kidnapped Jeong Hyeon-ah.</em>


    If we were unlucky, we could have run into theckeys of Cheong-ho from the Triad, right? If it were those guys, things could get a bit awkward.


    <em>I’m not their dad, but meeting them like this, there’s no way around it.</em>


    And then, what else?


    Something still felt off. It was like there was fog in my mind, and my memory was slowly bing hazy.


    A thick arm shot out from the driver’s seat. Was it a mutant? What an enormous forearm.


    And in its hand was a short submachine gun. Oh boy.


    <em>Ratatatatatatatatata!!</em>


    Bullets fired without aim scraped the road and created bright sparks.


    <em>Screeeeech!!</em>


    <em>Beeeeeep!!</em>


    Cars around us honked their horns or mmed on their brakes in response to the suddenmotion.


    <em>Ratatatatatatata!</em>


    The line of sparks approached, wobbling like a snake slithering on the ground.


    [Distortion Field]


    I activated the distortion field, which enveloped the entire vehicle and twisted the trajectory of the bullets. That was done. Good. Now it was my turn.


    At that moment, something unusual happened.


    [System: The penalty trait ‘Feast’s Offering’ has been activated.]


    [A being from the abyss bestows a blessing upon its kin.]


    <em>Rumble.</em>


    There was a sudden change in weather.


    <em>Swooooosh!!</em>


    It started raining all of a sudden? Just like that?


    “Hey? Mage-nim! Look over there!”


    The passenger door opened, and a figure wearing a ck coat and a pressed-down fedora jumped out before clinging to the side of the truck. Was that a steel bar on the figure’s back? Or a sword?


    It looked simr to a human silhouette, but its build was heavy and solid.


    “It’s not human.”


    It must have been a different species sponsored by a being of the abyss.


    Who the hell drove the Immigration Bureau out of Paju? These non-humans were driving a rampaging truck here!


    The bulky figure with the pressed-down fedora leaped onto the roof of the truck.


    Such light movements were impressive when you consider the truck’s speed. Definitely not ordinary.


    The figure with the ck coat that was standing on top of the truck… actually took out a rocketuncher strapped to its back?


    “What!? Mage-nim! Mage-nim!”


    “Ugh, wait a moment.”


    Why was I just watching that?


    Something felt off. My thoughts and actions had been slightly out of sync for a while now.


    <em>Pukwaaang!</em>


    A rocket flew through the torrential rain.