Chapter 9

"No! That's not it."

"Then don't apologize. Just tell them to shut up. Ah, they're listening~."

"Still... many countries are still seeing people die overnight these days. And there are plenty of people who deserve to die..."

Through Sanas's mouth, what Shengyu (Life) is trying to say is one thing: he's telling me to go around killing people.

'But the problem is that this isn't impossible.'

The reason for this is either due to the early awakening or some kind of error, as my body grade became R grade at the moment of awakening. Red, the red grade, that is.

The stats and skill ranks of Awakened individuals all follow the same system:

W―R―O―Y―G―B―N―V―A

In order:

White (W)―Red (R)―Orange (O)―Yellow (Y)―Green (G)―Blue (B)―Navy (N)―Violet (V)―Abyss (A)

This is known as the Rainbow System, starting from white and passing through red, orange, yellow, green, blue, navy, violet, and finally black, which is Abyss.

Returning to the main topic, no matter how hard a human tries, they cannot surpass the White grade. The minimum level to transcend human limits and handle mana properly is the R grade, the Red grade.

If I wanted to, I could infiltrate a U.S. military base right now, kill everyone, and calmly escape.

"Whatever."

That's not my nature. I wouldn't hesitate if I had to, but I'm not a psychopath who enjoys killing people.

"I understand. But..."

"Yeah. That's what Shengyu is saying. Keep telling them to shut up."

"Y-Yes..."

All I can do is click my tongue at Sanas, who looks utterly dejected. I can't just go around beheading people because they look pitiful.

I was sure of that.

That is, until that evening, when the orphanage I built on one of the potential sites for my estate, which I had purchased in several African countries, was occupied by a group of lunatics.

"Why there? What do they want by occupying an orphanage?"

"...They're demanding money. Apparently."

It seems the problem was my appearance on YouTube and the interviews I gave. They saw me pouring money into what they considered— from their perspective— a useless cause, saving children.

"Mr. Johann. It's not your fault."

"Are there any injured?"

"No one has died. But..."

When I asked if anyone was injured, he said no one had died, which means some were injured.

"Who?"

"...Some of the teachers who were taking care of the children."

"...Ha! Sanas!!"

"Yes. Johann."

"Is this by any chance something Shengyu did?! It can't be!"

"No, he says it's not. It's not."

"Sorry for shouting."

"It's okay. Johann."

"I'm going."

"Security...?"

"Not needed."

We can sort out the order of things later. Right now, I need to save the children and my people.

"Who can spatially teleport?!"

Several Will of Earth priests, who had gathered upon hearing the news, stepped forward. Though they haven't awakened yet, they sometimes manifest the powers of the Will of Earth, like avatars of a deity, albeit weakly.

"Me."

A woman, impeccably dressed in a suit with not a wrinkle, raised her hand despite the late hour.

"You?"

The Will of Earth has many branches with similar concepts. For example, in the case of combat, there are 'Combat', 'Conquest', 'War', 'Struggle', and so on.

And the one who stepped forward, Olivia Obate, is a priest of the Will of Earth known as 'Secret'. The issue is that Olivia's actions and tone are far from anything magical. She is a rational and scientific thinker.

"Secret, in other words, means mystery and technique. I can wield powers similar to magic and more."

Olivia's hair, sharp and clean like a blade, began to rise into the sky.

"Remember that I and my priest have bestowed a favor upon you, savior."

As the power manifested, a male voice came out through her female vocal cords, creating a neutral tone. But the content and the neutral tone are not the important part.

What's important is that the view of Seoul's night sky from the penthouse has changed to a world with a dry climate and plenty of green trees.

In this high-altitude region, suitable for the coffee belt, a modern building stands out. It's the orphanage.

"Who designed this? Damn it!"

There's no choice. I tear my shirt to use as a mask and stomp the ground. And that day, I killed people. Over a hundred. No, I killed trash.

This happened on an evening five days before the end of the world.

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Hello, I'm Shimhaeng.

Thank you for reading today.

Today, I had to make it one chapter. Although I packed a lot of content, I had to cut it off here.

Starting from tomorrow, the end of the world will begin. lol

The End of the World, Begins.

They were poorly designed from the start. Yes, that's what I have to say. Perhaps it was a mistake by God?

No. God doesn't make mistakes.

Perhaps they were not created under God's design.

They have a tenacious life force that doesn't easily die even in harsh environments, and a monstrous physical condition that can easily rise to the position of a predator, reaching adulthood before a month has passed.

Perhaps because they were given these advantages to the extreme, they are a completely harmful and useless life form that cannot coexist. A vicious life form with no productive genes.

In a dimension where only these exist, there is a lack of food and nothing to do, leading to its end in destruction.

Thus, they are designed to plunder to avoid self-destruction. They easily fall into madness for plunder and live for combat and slaughter.

These are called 'Greenskins' on Earth.

— From the 4th Report of the Dimensional System.

*

The night sky in Seoul is not very clear. This is a well-known fact.

However, if you just leave Seoul a bit, you can see quite a few stars. Lying in a camping ground in Gimpo, where the lights of the Ganghwa Bridge connecting Ganghwa Island and Gimpo are faintly visible, I gazed at the stars embedded in the night sky, trying to engrave them in my mind.

'Good.'

It's good. Since my regression, looking at the night sky and stars has always been enjoyable, but now it's a poignant sight because I might not see it again. The starlight that seems to pour down is mesmerizing. At some point, the sun rises. Behind me, people start to gather, looking at the magnificent sunrise over the clean sea.

"Mr. Johann."

"This side is ready. Everyone prepared well? Olivia, why are you wearing a suit on a day like this? I told you to wear something comfortable."

"I find this comfortable."

"I doubt it. You'll definitely regret it later. At least it's not a skirt."

"It's fine."

"Sure. Yuda-yeon, why are you wearing a school uniform? And you're not even a high school student, are you? You're twenty, right?"

"I just wanted to wear it. And it's not the uniform of the school I attended. It's more like an idol school uniform."

"Ah... I see."

Da-yeon used to be delicate and soft, but now she's a real troublemaker. It's not bad, but sometimes she's unpredictable.

To be honest, the clothes don't matter. We'll be wearing anti-slash suits anyway. Still, I brought up these points one by one to ease the tension.

It's 7:55 AM in Korea.

Five minutes before the invasion. The 31 priests of the Will of Earth, who were spread across the world, have all gathered in Gimpo, Korea.

The place where the monsters will first land in Korea.

The place where the most monsters will land in Korea.

The place where the first monster hive will be built in Korea.

That place is the northern part of Gimpo, Ganghwa Island, and the southern part of Kaesong, North Korea. Most importantly,

"Are you sure a commander will land here?"

"Yes, brother."

Not just the soldiers, but a commander-class monster that leads the soldiers and builds forward bases will land in the northern part of Ganghwa Island, Mount Munseong.

"Then everyone put on gas masks. And wear the special anti-slash suits."

Everyone, except me, put on gas masks, blocking all skin exposure, and finished the inspection just as it was 8:00 AM in Korea (considering British Summer Time, UTC+1).

『Current time: GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) 00:00.』

『The negative karma of the main resident species 'human' on the dimension 'Earth' has reached 666 times the positive karma.』

A system message that everyone on Earth, regardless of nationality, race, or language, can hear and see is broadcast.

It didn't matter if you were asleep or awake, if you had hearing or vision problems, or if you were in a noisy club or listening to loud music through headphones.

If you could see the entire Earth at this moment, you might see all humans stopping what they were doing and staring into the air.

『Accordingly, the various wills of the dimension 'Earth' have agreed to reclassify the resident entity 'human' from the [Harmless] category to the [Harmful] category.』

『The number of [Harmful] category resident entities 'human' has exceeded 7.5 billion.』

『Therefore, the will of the planet 'Earth' felt the need to eliminate the source of negative karma.』

『According to the dimensional maintenance protocol, the vaccination procedure will begin now.』

This is something I learned later from the Will of Earth, but it's not like the landlord (Earth's Will) is telling the tenant (human) to leave. It's more like the landlord is forcibly evicting a malicious tenant who has been warned multiple times to move out.

"Mr. Johann!"

I don't know about other countries, but in Korea, it was just dawn, and the surroundings were bright enough to see without lights or lamps.

『First, the invasion from a total of three dimensions will begin sequentially.』

Flames falling from the sky can be seen between the flashing messages.

『Second, the use of all gunpowder-based weapons is prohibited. All weapons containing gunpowder are banned from this moment.』

Of course, we knew this, so we didn't prepare gunpowder weapons. I have a specially modified high-voltage taser on my right waist, and I'm holding a repeating crossbow in both hands, which is a type of repeating crossbow in the Eastern style. On the ground, I have a cold weapon made of high-speed steel, an alloy of ferrotungsten, ready.

Additionally, we have installed over 200 taser shockwave devices, similar to claymores, in a circular formation around us. These devices can simultaneously fire dozens of Taser X26s to incapacitate and subdue multiple people, a type of mass-subduing weapon in the form of a claymore taser.

『Third, the use of nuclear energy from heavy elements with high atomic numbers is prohibited.』

The third condition might be hard to understand if you're not in a science field, but simply put, it bans nuclear weapons like atomic bombs and nuclear power.

Can't we use hydrogen bombs? Yes, that's a question one of the Will of Earth priests, the priest of 'Culture', asked. And unexpectedly, Olivia, who is from a science background, gave him a harsh scolding.

Since hydrogen bombs use atomic bombs as their detonator, what are you talking about? That's the gist of it.

This contract reveals its true purpose from the start: the eradication of humans. By banning gunpowder weapons and nuclear weapons, the most free and powerful means for humans to resist external forces, it shows this intent.

Well, some laser weapon systems are being introduced, but they're useless. They are impossible to miniaturize, and even if they were developed years before this event, they can only be 'installed' in fixed locations for limited use.

I bought some just in case.

'Once the estate is built, we'll see. It's better to have them than not.'

Since this is such advanced weaponry, if it breaks, it's over. The problem isn't finding the right technicians, but the fact that the facilities to make precise parts won't be available even after a little time has passed.

Boom! Rumble!

While I was thinking, strange creatures with grotesque appearances fell in a Y-shape over Mount Munseong in Gimpo, Dangsan in Ganghwa Island, and the southern part of Kaesong, following the Han River.

They have blue skin, yellow eyes, protruding snouts with sharp, randomly placed teeth, and their bodies are covered in strange tattoos. Their long arms almost touch the ground even when standing straight. Their body types vary, and they don't seem to belong to a single species.

The first species of the dimensional invasion. The vanguard of human extermination. Rapists. Cannibals.

"Greenskins..."

The stench of the monsters, commonly known as 'Greenskins', is already reaching my nose. I frown and feel annoyed.

I pick up a spear I had stuck in the ground nearby, imbuing it with Red-grade mana,

"Ugh!"

and throw it.

Swoosh!

The spear, making a chilling sound, pierces through the muscular Greenskin's head and continues through to the chest of the one behind it.

『First Blood!』

『You have killed the first invader.』