D.I.O

Chapter 233

“Won’t the nation of Japan be on the brink of collapse if things go wrong? If Arthur has the same strength and power as the Grand Master dragons we saw in the last mission, then wouldn’t he end up destroying the entire country…”

“But even if he’s reached the transcendent realm, he’ll return to being a normal human being once his manifestation period is over. Even if Arthur is serious about his pursuits, he’ll become vulnerable once his manifestation period is over…”

Seeing Youngmin and Eunhye, who had become quite close, talk alternately, Yongno suddenly fell into thought.

‘Something has changed about Eunhye. She’s become strangely active and lively. She doesn’t feel like an entirely different person, but still, she’s acting a bit stranger and different from normal…’

Then Miho, who was sitting on the sofa watching TV while sipping on a drink, intervened.

“Wait a minute. If a person becomes a transcendent who has realized the extremes of martial arts, won’t they have basic mana control abilities? Then won’t they be able to use their abilities as much as they want even in this damn world?”

“…”

“…”

For a moment, Youngmin and Eunhye hesitated and remained silent. Both knew about transcendents and how basic mana control ability was essential for a being to utilize strong qi and ultimate magic power, so they quickly realized what Miho was getting at. They had been too focused on the restrictions of manifestation that they had overlooked a simple fact: a transcendent wasn’t limited to the same restrictions that everyday users on Earth faced.

Yongno nodded. “… That’s right. Arthur entered Level 20 and gained absolute power, so he no longer needs to rely on manifestation to actualize his powers and abilities on Earth. No matter what humankind throws at him, he probably won’t be harmed.”

“But you’re also Level 19. Right, bro? Even a girl like Cruze is at a fairly high level. Wouldn’t Arthur face some difficulty if a large number of users gathered together to stop him?”

Hearing Youngmin’s question, Yongno shook his head and continued explaining, “If Level 10 and Level 9 is the difference between a human and a monkey… then Level 20 and Level 19 is the difference between a god and a mortal human. I don’t know how he did it, but in the end, Arthur became a low-rank god. Of course, I’m not weak either, and combat is affected by many complex factors, so I wouldn’t quite say that he’s invincible.”

Suddenly, Yongno smiled. “Anyway, why would I risk my life to help Japan when there’s only a slim chance of success?”

From Yongno’s perspective, this current situation was something that the nation of Japan had to deal with themselves as they had brought it upon themselves.

Of course, Arthur’s revenge, in which he’d probably kill thousands or tens of thousands of people for the death of one life, was obviously excessive. So it would probably be prudent if Arthur didn’t take such extreme action. Nevertheless, apart from that, Yongno didn’t see the reason or feel the responsibility to save the lives of other people, especially those who had nothing to do with him.

‘What can I do when I can’t even be assured of taking care of the few people that I care about most…’

Only good people like Arthur would fight for everyone’s happiness and well-being. Now that Arthur had gone half-mad, who would be able to stop him?

“Well… then, bro… are you just going to leave it like this?”

“Of course. More than anything, Arthur seems to be in a half-crazed state of mind. So if I take action without a firm plan, my actions will actually bring out the opposite effect. I have no choice but to wait and see what he’ll do.”

“Well, in the first place, I guess you aren’t the kind of person who would help others who you aren’t affiliated with… Ugh. If this had happened in my world, the Keepers would have mobilized and dealt with someone like Arthur. But there’s no such safety net in this world, so if a powerful being emerges, the entire humankind of this planet is in danger of becoming extinct.”

“Keepers?” Yongno repeated the unfamiliar term that Youngmin used.

Youngmin shrugged and explained, “On the surface, my world seems like Earth, but my world possesses many beings with supernatural powers. However, because the [use] of one’s supernatural powers could wreak havoc on the entire world, my world created overarching agencies to enforce a set of laws. The Keepers were one of those enforcement forces.”

“That’s interesting. If people have such powers, why do they keep them hidden?”

“I don’t know. I think I heard that it’s because of extraterrestrial beings.”

Right after Youngmin said this, the satellite phone in Yongno’s hand rang. It was a government lawyer who was assigned to Yongno to protect the government and Yongno while he conducted his Master duties.

“What’s going on?”

[I’ve been contacted by the Korean Blue House. I’ve been notified that there’s been a request for a joint operation with Japan.]

“Please tell them that I’m not interested in participating.”

[Huh? However, the Japanese government said that the compensation would be five billion yen…]

Yongno’s lawyer was taken aback by Yongno’s instant refusal.

“My life is worth more than that. Anyway, goodbye.” Yongno hung up on the call and turned around.

When he looked at Miho, he saw a white-haired girl who couldn’t take her eyes off the TV as if she was possessed by some sort of magical device.

“What? Why are you staring at me?”

“I was wondering… if an NPC accesses DIO, is that NPC then a user?”

“…?” Miho was thoroughly confused, as she didn’t understand what Yongno was saying.

While seeing Miho in such a state, Yongno picked up a DIO connector.

The fact that she had appeared on Earth like this meant that the Noblesse were planning on interfering with him in some way, so Yongno decided to try various experiments as much as possible.

“Let’s connect.”

“Eek! Hey, bro. Japan is in turmoil, no? Moreover, interview requests are flooding in.”

“I don’t care.” Yongno smiled and put a pair of earphones in Miho’s ears.

Youngmin sighed at Yongno’s determined attitude, but he soon gave up and put on his earphones as well. Back in his world, Youngmin had always trained in real life, not through a game like DIO. However, in this world, the only place where Youngmin could train was in DIO, so every opportunity to log onto DIO was important.

“What’s going on? Huh? What? No, wait… let me just finish watching this show…”

Miho, who was complaining, lost consciousness mid-sentence. This was a common phenomenon that occurred when users accessed DIO.

Yongno nodded his head and logged on as well, followed by Eunhye and Youngmin. Of course, Yongno’s house had various security measures in place so that he’d be safe while logging on to DIO.

“He declined.”

“That damn little bastard… I should have used force to bind him to the state.”

Lee Myung-Hak, the Korean ruling party’s highest-ranking official, ground his teeth after attempting to contact Yongno and make him participate in the joint operation. Unexpectedly, he had a very anxious look on his face.

“I guess it can’t be helped. Pick a few Masters who will follow our orders and send them on their way to participate in the joint operation. If Arthur goes on a rampage, the entire international scene will be thrown into chaos.”

“Ah, yes. Yes, sir.”

Lee Myung-Hak’s various secretaries began to quickly move, but all sorts of questions remained in their minds and hearts. Since when did their superior care so much about things like the international scene? However, since Lee Myung-Hak had been born in Japan and had a strong pro-Japanese tendency, they guessed that he felt sorry for Japan’s current struggle.

At the request of the Japanese government, Lee Myung-Hak and the Korean government ultimately dispatched to Japan several Masters who had gathered enough gem points to manifest.

The Japanese government also mobilized its special forces and self-defense military forces immediately after announcing and labeling Arthur as a despicable and brutal murderer.josei

Though Arthur was widely known as a member of the Heaven above the Heavens, the Japanese government thought that Arthur was still limited by the manifestation time limit. So they felt that they’d be able to eventually contain and defeat Arthur by mobilizing their forces even if he went on a rampage.

However…

The Japanese special forces were completely destroyed…

The Korean and Japanese Masters in the joint operation were subdued and killed…

Lastly, the two corps of self-defense military forces, which had been put on wartime alert, were annihilated in five minutes.

Arthur, who had reached the transcendent realm, was no different from a god in a Third Stage of Civilization world. Even if thousands of nuclear bombs were launched at Arthur, they wouldn’t even be able to dirty Arthur’s collar, let alone hurt him. How could such a god be attacked?

Once he became a transcendent being, Arthur was free from the limitations of the manifestation time limit, which everyone considered a Master’s critical weakness. Having obtained basic mana control ability, Arthur could now wield infinite power, regardless of his surrounding environment.

Due to this, sixteen hours after Hye-ran was kidnapped and murdered… and three hours since Yongno connected to DIO…

The nation of Japan was defeated by a single swordsman.