BXBX NOVEL Chapter 66 – Sleepwalker IV
Chapter 66 – Sleepwalker IV
6
I can easily end the Ten Clans in one fell swoop.
I have mastered the miracle of starlight, the aura of starlight, which was originally only allowed to Sword Masters in this world.
However, I refrained from ending the Ten Clans in one turn whenever possible. Despite the inconvenience, I made sure to establish the ‘Korean Awakener Alliance’ and drag them into the battlefield against the Ten Clans.
“It’s been a while, Doctor Jang. Have you been well?”
“Oh, Doctor Jang! Hello!”
Because, to put it somewhat ridiculously, the Awakeners needed ‘awakening.’
I didn’t need to lecture them on how powerful the Ten Clans were on the battlefield, or how their arrogance, considering themselves as transcendent beings, was misguided. It was all neatly demonstrated in actual combat.
Whether it’s dung or soybean paste, you only truly know after tasting it; such is the fate of Homo sapiens.
After engaging in battles of life and death with the Ten Clans, the awakeners of the Korean Peninsula came to the realization that they should have formed an alliance sooner to handle A-class monsters in a more amicable manner.
And then, I added another trick up my sleeve.
“It’s been a while. Have you all been well?”
“Yes, we’ve been well!”
“Are you getting used to the Sword Aura?”
“Ahaha. Well, not quite yet…”
I immediately advertised, “I offer free advanced lessons in Sword Aura techniques exclusively to awakeners who join the alliance.”
Even though civilization had collapsed, the zeal for education was ingrained in the DNA of the Korean people. The words ‘advanced,’ ‘lessons,’ and ‘exclusive tutoring’ paralyzed their brains.
Many awakeners had already intuitively realized how useful the Sword Aura was in battles against the Ten Clans. The tentacles of the Ten Clans were tougher than the toughest squid legs in the world, and unless it was a blade imbued with Starlight, hardly anything could pierce them.
“Doctor Jang!”
“Doctor Jang, I’ve been stuck in my training lately…”
To put it plainly, the Korean Awakener Alliance treated me like an ambassador of sorts.
Originally, this role was held by Scho, but he retired and…
Of course, all the Awakeners were nuts. Juniors who knew their superiors like the back of their hands were abundant.
So, while teaching the awakeners Sword Aura techniques, I deliberately didn’t ask for anything in return.
Guild management? Why would I interfere with that? Your guild is yours, so you handle it. Tuition fees? Oh, forget about that. Just take the essence of the techniques from me. Yeah. Take this and take that, and take even more. It’s okay. I don’t need anything in return.
In the apocalypse, this behavior was perfect for being taken advantage of.
But what if that sucker passed by the Void overflowing with monsters without a care, traveled from city to city, decimated Ten Clan heads like fried chicken, received plenty of affection from the Constellations, and even displayed friendship with the guild masters and highway supervisors of the Three Thousand Worlds?
Even the awakeners, who selectively allowed reason to enter their skulls, had to rethink the concept of ‘sucker.’
“Teacher, when can we settle the debt?”
“Yeah. you can repay me anytime, but I won’t deliberately ask for it, and I’ll continue to do so in the future. So, if you want more advanced training in Sword Aura techniques, go for it. Thanks to these techniques, you’ll survive dangerous situations and solidify your authority as a guild master, but I won’t give ask for anything in return. Everyone will know that you’ve cleaned up after me, yourself, and our dear old Scho.”
“Teacher! No, Brother! Please!”
What we call the Super Eul phenomenon.
To exaggerate a bit, if I came up with a decent excuse and murmured, ‘Hey, lately it seems like the Incheon guild leaders are stirring up trouble in Korea…’ all the gathered guild leaders would say, ‘The Ambassador is setting up the Incheon guild!’ and lead their entire forces to confront them.
Even the Meteor Suppression Battle wasn’t just about a convenient excuse; the fate of the entire Korean Peninsula was at stake. Guild leaders who had received favors from me naturally had to show up.
“Always popular whenever I see you. You too.”
As we returned from the handshake event, Tang Seorin greeted me with a face that clearly expressed her irritation.
“Why don’t you just settle in one city instead of constantly wandering around the country? I can’t tell if you’re diligent or negligent…”
“But I have settled down. Gangnam in Seoul is all mine. Are you implying I’m ignoring the land value in Gangnam right now?”
“But there’s nothing there for you except your guild building.”
“That’s buying at the lowest point. Once civilization starts to rebuild, my life as Doctor Jang will become a legendary real estate story.”
Tang Seorin chuckled.
“So, you have no intention of settling down at all? No thoughts of getting involved with anyone? I know quite a few people who like you.”
“I just… don’t care much about dating.”
After all, for the Meteor Shower to arrive, dusk had to fall.
We all stood with brooms in hand, chatting eagerly while waiting for nightfall. Why did we each have a broom? Well, you’ll find out soon enough.
Tension filled the air.
To alleviate the tension, jokes and light-hearted banter flowed freely among us, much like they did in the military.
Ignoring the extraordinary by maintaining the ordinary was a wisdom humanity had grasped for a long time.
“Why? Are you afraid of commitment?”
“I just don’t have much interest in dating. Honestly, my mental age is around 1000 years. Even if I wanted to, dating kids like you is out of the question.”
“Pfft. Whatever.”
Trivial banter flowed between not just Tang Seorin and me, but among all the Awakeners.
It was expected. The arrival of the Meteor Shower corresponded to the seventh year of regression.
Among the elite soldiers gathered here in Gimhae Plain, not a single human had not crossed the wall of life and death several times.
Everyone knew how important it was to regulate their mental strength right before battle.
“In fact, it’s hard to imagine you, hyung, dating someone.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Even though there’s seemingly nothing wrong with you, there’s this strange aura that suggests you’ll remain single for life. You give off that vibe, Guild Master.”
If it were the 50th meeting or later, SGnet Seo Gyu and KoreanVillage Villain Sim Aryeon would have joined in on this banter.
“More than anything, we should worry about the person you’ll end up dating… 70% of the conversations between lovers will be about Three Kingdoms, 20% about the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the remaining 10% about Water Margin. Who could bear it… Even a thousand-year love will cool off…”
If it were the 55th meeting or later, Chief of Highway Patrol Noh Doha would have sipped ginger tea and spouted equally hot remarks.
“If Senior would just stop talking about the Three Kingdoms sometimes… I don’t even understand why it’s so fun. Oh, but the scene where Dong Zhuo sets Luoyang on fire was interesting!”
If it were the 109th meeting or later, Baekhwa High School Student Council President Cheon Yohwa would have giggled and sent additional shots.
“……”
[……]
Lee Hayul and the Saintess would have remained quiet as always.
Since then, occasionally, allies would join or diminish in my life, leading up to the 1183rd meeting.
But today is the 42nd meeting.
Our alliance has not yet been completed, so let me depict the most tumultuous and fierce battle of that meeting.
The voices of countless people faded away.
Above the sky, only Tang Seorin and I, our breaths turned into white smoke.
The breaths of two people mingled in the air.
My companion of time murmured softly.
“Well, I also have no interest in dating.”
The sun sank below the horizon.
A pleasant tension spread throughout my body.
[――Here it comes.]
The Saintess murmured softly.
Suddenly, the crimson hue of the world intensified.
It was like flames, a gigantic wreath of fire.
The center of the sky blazed red while the edges were painted with shades of blue, black, and deep darkness.
The flames danced alive. The intense red glow from the center constantly exhaled into the surrounding dark blue night sky, and conversely, inhaled.
The sky— the world, was breathing with the light of sunset and starlight.
“Tang Seorin.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Tang Seorin had already begun her magical incantation.
How much time had passed since the song flowed from her lips?
Suddenly, the darkness at the edge of the sky swallowed the entire sky in an instant. It was as if dusk had fallen, covering the entire world in a single moment.
The night sky.
It wasn’t a physical or celestial change. It was as if the entire world was suddenly veiled by something, like a mother gently covering a child’s eyes with her palm.
“…It’s here.”
“Damn. It was real.”
A bustling.
Some of the Awakeners were agitated by the phenomenon that was beyond rational comprehension. The tension that had been carefully suppressed with thorough strategic meetings and witty banter surged to the surface in an instant.
Some Awakeners had been clenching their fists in anticipation of the strange being’s appearance since six years ago.
In an age where transmission towers and streetlights had closed their eyes, the eyes of the elite soldiers emitted a faint glow. They looked up at the night sky with a well-organized formation.
[The “Saintess of the Salvation” announces.]
[A top-tier strange being, “Meteor Shower,” appears in the airspace above the Korean Peninsula.]
Crackle—
The darkness of the night sky expelled an endless concentration of starlight. It was as if some giant playfully poked the balloon of the sky with its scales.
But the result was far from playful.
“It’s starlight!”
“The strategy was right after all, wasn’t it…?”
“Unbelievable. That’s not just a shooting star. It’s a strange being that controls the entire sky.”
Normally, at this point, the Meteor Shower would stay in the airspace for a full six hours.
However, through observations in several meetings, it was concluded that during those six hours, the Meteor Shower wasn’t just indulging in admiring its own starlight for free, nor was it doing runway or milkway walking in the night sky.
In fact, over those six hours, it was slowly casting “magic” on the people below.
Call it hypnosis or brainwashing—it didn’t matter. The point was, the more people on the ground looked up at the starlight in the night sky, the more powerful the Meteor Shower became.
[The “Saintess of the Salvation” advises non-combatants to avoid looking at the night sky as much as possible.]
Therefore, the most important thing in this boss battle was cooperation and swift action.
Rather than quietly waiting until the Meteor Shower has gathered enough strength to fall, we aimed for its weakest point.
In other words, engaging in the early stages of the battle was my strategy.
“Ah—.”
For that strategy, Tang Seorin was the first to open the gate.
First melody, repetition. Second melody, expansion.
A song often used in large-scale battles resonated across the plain.
Just spreading Tang Seorin’s song was enough to provide backup to allies within its reach. However, for this battle, we were fully prepared.
-…Zzit, …Ah….
Every combatant’s chest or waist was equipped with a radio. It was equipment prepared solely for this battle. Nearby, a base station had been constructed.
As a Regressor, I knew the exact location of the battlefield, allowing for such measures.
This event was evidence that we had concentrated all the remnants of civilization for this battle.
Just spreading Tang Seorin’s song amplified the magic of each radio, but it wasn’t enough. Therefore, an additional strand of song was needed.
“Ah—Ah, Ah—.”
Third melody, Medium.
Magic that made predetermined materials resonate with Tang Seorin’s song like a kind of mirror.
Naturally, all radios allocated to the Awakeners were designated as “Mediums.” Another magic was needed to designate them as such, so Tang Seorin had diligently enchanted the radios whenever time allowed.
It took a total of three years for this task.
And the equipment that Tang Seorin had designated as “Mediums” wasn’t just cheap radios.
Lastly, the most important invocation that we had prepared and executed by Tang Seorin resonated.
“Aah— Aaah—.”
Fourth melody, Flight.
The fourth song encircled the sky once and relentlessly bombarded it with Dakapos by [repetition].
Squeeze.
Of the 900 Awakeners gathered at Gimhae plains, 700 selected for combat grasped their strength as agreed beforehand.
Every one of their fists held a broomstick without exception.
“It might be a bit late to point this out now, but… Was a broomstick really the best choice?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
Tang Seorin, now relaxed after finishing the fourth melody, replied. It was a face that seemed to say, “Why ask such a strange question?”
“If a witch wants to fly in the sky, there’s nothing but a broomstick.”
Whoosh, Tang Seorin tapped the ground with familiar footwork. Had she already mastered it through thousands or tens of thousands of repetitions? The witch’s pose was relaxed and graceful.
Ffft—
From her petite figure, a cloak three times larger than that fluttered like a flag.
I chuckled. Then, I spoke into the radio.
“All units, commence sortie.”
That was the signal.
All 700 Awakeners of the alliance stepped onto the plain and ascended into the night sky.
Boss battle.
Continent-level threat.
Meteor Shower.
Battle commence.
Phase 1, Takeoff.