The Novel’s Villain

t.
Show it off to me.”

Yoo-na hesitated, then sighed again and stretched out her hand.
Jin-woo’s anticipation went up.
Yoo-na was talented in spirit technique, even taking private lessons from Ella.
As the World Tree came to life, she could of spirits, but she said she had summoned the spirits that best fit her and signed a contract.

‘Maybe some kind of Fire Spirit?

The Fire Spirit in the general store took the form of a salamander.
If it were Yoo-na, it seemed that she could go well past that and summon the Fire Spirit King.
Whether Yoo-na felt Jin-woo’s anticipation or not, she flinched and focused her mind.
A magic circle appeared in front of her hand; it was a technique that exuded the energy of nature.

He was a little jealous of the ease with which she conjured it.

Whoosh!

Something soared from the magic circle.
Expecting a huge flame, what instead appeared was a spirit completely different from what he imagined.

“…This is it.”

On Yoo-na’s palm, there was something that looked like a bundle of yellow fur.
When he looked closer, he noticed it had a beak.

“A chick?”

Chirp!

Although the shape was slightly different, the name immediately came to mind.
Jin-woo glanced between Yoo-na and the spirit.
It didn’t seem like it would look good next to her, but it turned out surprisingly well.

“Huh…ummm, t-that’s cool.”

Yoo-na didn’t seem to hate it that much either.

“What’s its abilities?”

“It is said to purify the mind.”

“That matches.”

Wouldn’t it become a chicken spirit when it grew up? The chick skillfully climbed onto Yoo-na’s shoulder.
Anyway, it didn’t matter because it was cute.

Jin-woo decided to head out for the first time in a few days.
There was a reason why he, who was fooling around at home, wanted to go out.

“Then I will prepare.”

“No need to.”

“Pardon?”

Jin-woo stopped Yoo-na from preparing the security team.
He smiled and produced his ID card.
Unlike a typical ID card, it was made entirely of metal.
It was his A-Rank License.
The A-Rank License couldn’t be received by anyone but the recipient directly, so Jin-woo made an effort to get it secretly away from Yoo-na for this scene.

Yoo-na shook her head when she noticed what it was.
It was obvious how hard he had tried to get the license without her knowledge.

“I got my pass, and I was officially registered today.”

“It usually takes about half a year, but it came so quickly.”

“Because I was the only one who passed.”

Jin-woo was the only one to be judged as he broke the best record, and the rest all received 0 points.
Someone was called a Semi-Knight when they had an A-Rank License, and even a Semi-Knight must maintain dignity.
From the moment he became a Semi-Knight, any escort was prohibited.
Life was a battle for the Knights, and the Semi-Knights had to imitate them.

Yoo-na nodded.

“Then there will be no need for the security team anymore.”

Even so, he had no intention of disbanding them.
Jin-woo was a vicious boss, so he would never plan something like that.
He intended to put their talent to good use until the very end.

“Transfer them to Elonti Entertainment, or G&P.
Raise their salary too.
No, let’s give everyone a promotion.
Don’t let them think about anything else.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Yoo-na replied with a slight smile.
The chick sitting on her shoulder yawned, causing her to rub her cheek against it.
Unexpectedly, she seemed to like cute things.

Yoo-na noticed Jin-woo’s gaze and coughed.

“Well, then it seems that you’re going to go out alone.”

“Don’t be sad.”

“Understood.”

He thought Yoo-na would be worried about it, but she unexpectedly answered like that.
She experienced even the Emperor of Vanity herself, so she knew Jin-woo’s strength.
Jin-woo was the person who least needed a guard.

“Then please go ahead.”

“Y-yeah.”

Yoo-na bowed her head and neatly stepped back.
Jin-woo felt a bit disappointed that she was acting like that.
He stared blankly at the door where she left for a moment, then with a grin, he got ready to leave.
Jin-woo left his house without the bodyguards for the first time in what felt like forever.

As he drove, he naturally headed towards the JW Gate.
The JW Cultural Center had changed remarkably; now, the quiet space was swarming with people.
The Cultural Center that Jin-woo remembered had an empty feeling, but now it packed to the brim with life.

‘Come to think of it…’

The city was actively supporting it.
It was an ambitious plan to make it a Gate Culture City, taking advantage of the Gates tourism potential.
This large jurisdiction was now called the JW Gate Cultural Street.
The number of foreign tourists continued to increase, setting new records every day.

Many people wore clothes that mimicked Gate costumes.
When he looked at the entrance, he saw a clothing rental store.

‘Can Ella just come over?’

Perhaps because of Ella’s influence, many people wore elf ears.
Many others wore makeup similar to that of the demons, and they were all of the excellent quality.
It was said that G&P hired people who used to work as special effects makeup artists at places to work with the tourists for free.

Jin-woo climbed out of the car and looked around.
Street vendors selling Gate materials lined up on Cultural Street, and several restaurants seemed packed.
Large posters of Ella and Arina were hung up on several walls.
The area was largely divided into Cultural Street, the Culture Center, the Elonti Entertainment, restaurants, and the Infinity Technology demonstration hall.

Both the tourists passing through the streets and the faces of the part-timers were lively.
Jin-woo enjoyed that the most.

“Lee Jin-woo?”

“Really?”

Although Jin-woo was wearing big sunglasses, there were quite a few people who recognized him.
They started to take pictures as people gathered around.

‘Hmm?’

He received a text message.
It was an official disaster information text from the Korean Association of Competent People.

‘Knights and Semi-Knights (A-Rank License holders), please wait for the Korean Association of Competent People to contact you.’

‘Hello? Mr.
Lee Jin-woo.
I am Ko Jin-soo, the information officer of the Korean Association of Competent People.
As an A-Class global disaster situation is currently occurring in China…’

An officer in charge kindly explained the situation to Jin-woo about China.
After the MeTube video was released, there was a rumor among ordinary people that the devil might have descended.
It was said that China was conscious of the rumors and carried out a large-scale operation, but there was no news for a while.

It seemed that the World Federation of Competent People had been watching and declared a global disaster.

‘Um…is it that bad?’

It meant that China couldn’t solve the A-Class situation on its own, and now it posed a serious threat to world peace.
The snowball that Liu Wei rolled turned into a huge avalanche.
Jin-woo moved to the G&P research institute to gather more accurate information from the lab.

Coincidentally, it was Jin-woo’s first visit to the lab.
Jin-woo was able to see Kim Se-yeon’s for the first time since the incident.
He felt sorry for her brother, but Kim Se-yeon didn’t seem to particularly care.

When Jin-woo arrived at the research institute, Professor Kim Dae-jin and other researchers flocked to him, carrying bundles of documents.
The documents were all suggestions to Jin-woo.

“Sir! The hologram injection device you gave me last time…”

“Professor, I will hear about that matter later.”

“Oh! Yes! Well, the national matter comes first.
Hahaha!”

Kim Dae-jin was a rogue researcher who, along with Kim Se-yeon, took the top spot during working hours.
For them, rest was research, and rest was work.

Se-yeon was operating a mechanical device and looked at Jin-woo when he entered the lab.

“The images will come out soon.”

“It’s fast.
Did you use satellites?”

“No.
I made it using the hologram dispensing device and high-level artifacts you gave me last time.”

It was an image conversion system using mana tracking designed by Se-yeon.
It combined artifacts, computers, and communication technology in ways that Jin-woo couldn’t understand.

“It’s still in the testing phase, but the goal is to image everywhere mana is detected.
If it is completed, no one will be able to hide information from you.
We designed the system to run only through you.”

“…I see.”

It was Se-yeon who said such dangerous words a bit too casually.
She was still attractive, but the innocent and pitiful vibes seemed to have disappeared almost entirely.
Jin-woo was lost in thought for a moment.

‘It has been demonized, and Angelica was there, but…’

It wasn’t enough to become an A-Class global disaster.
Analyzing the information that had been found so far, China seemed to be suffering alone.
Jin-woo was very curious about the situation.

After waiting a little longer, high-resolution images began to appear on the screen: a video of the China Gate seen from above.
The image quality was much better than satellite images, so it didn’t take long to recognize.

“T-that’s?”

“Gasp!”

“Amazing! I’ve never seen this before!”

The researchers were surprised and couldn’t take their eyes off the screen.
The large-scale barriers around the Gate had faded.
It looked like it couldn’t endure any longer because the Magic Crystals couldn’t handle the consumption.
If that was the case, it could also be observed from satellite images.
But it wasn’t the barrier that surprised the researchers.

Jin-woo couldn’t help but be surprised too.

‘Ah…’

A building that looked like a huge temple was set in front of the Gate with structures that looked like dungeons around it.
It was as if all the dungeons inside the China Gate were moved there.

‘What’s going on there?’

It deserved to be called an A-Class world disaster.
Whose fault was that?

He didn’t even have a clue about where or how it came from or how it came to be like that.