The Knight King Who Returned with Gods : Chapter 26
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 26 Buzz Marketing (2)
The Pantheon YubTube channel had made quite a splash on
the internet.
Ultra-high definition and impeccable professional
workmanship video. And it carried the name of Leon, a survivor who captured the
Cheongju Gate.
-There's a lot of bullshit in this video.
-Eating rice will cure cancer? That doesn't make any
sense.
Of course, people wouldn't just believe in the existence
of gods just by watching a mixture of ads and interviews.
Even the official appraisal from the Association had not
yet been released. Naturally, they will pass it off as a joke.
"Your Majesty, we have to take down that
video!"
After watching the video, Chief Kim Jin-soo went straight
to Leon. And since Hari had confirmed that he wasn't in the condominium, he
came all the way to the Naju Plain, where a simple guild building had been
erected.
"Chief, please have some barley tea."
"Uh, thank you."
He sipped the barley tea that Hari offered and quelled
his nerves.
"About that, who posted the video in the first
place?"
"Sir Spinner."
"Sir Spinner?"
Jin-soo's gaze snapped to Yakt Spinner... or Yappy... who
was currently connected to a laptop in the corner.
That killing machine made that video? How the hell?
Leon's thoughts were the same.
'I
can't believe the deities would give such instructions to Sir Spinner.'
He was told it was a quick way to garner faith. This was
something that Leon didn't have a say in.
When he was on Earth, as a child, he had only played the
Star Wars, which was all the rage.
The current trend of YubTubes and internet broadcasts was
completely foreign to him, as he only remembered the heavy screen of a CRT
monitor.
He knew that the Yakt Spinner's advanced artificial
intelligence could manage almost anything, but he didn't expect it to be this
capable.
"What does it mean to take down the video?"
Of course, people won't immediately believe the video.
Faith was not something that can be spread by a few campaigns.
But was it really necessary to take the video down?
"As Your Majesty is well aware, the rice that grows
in the plains of Naju is far different from the crops of this world."
Such a miracle crop should have been classified as a
panacea, not just food.
"Actually, the Association runs the Food and Drug
Administration... a department that verifies the safety of food or drugs, and
they do a lot of experiments."
"It pains me deeply that you would question the
blessing of the Goddess, but I suppose you have your own laws and
systems."
"Thank you for your understanding. The blessed rice
is of such a quality that there is no problem with its immediate distribution.
In fact, I'd like to request that you distribute it."
Chief Kim sent some rice to the Korean Food and Drug
Administration and another department for the seed, and the results were
amazing.
-This is a revolution in the medical world! With this
rice, we don't even need most doctors!
-How is it possible to cure an incurable disease that
hasn't even been scientifically understood?
-From the moment you eat the rice, something is working
in your body to remove tumors... How is this... How is this possible?
From lab rats to people with incurable diseases whose
lives are already numbered. The blessed rice was a crop that would change the
medical world forever.
Thousands of tons of this panacea were being produced
every year, and humanity was one step away from eliminating diseases.
Even if the only people who could grow it were the
believers of Demera, the goddess of life and fertility, as long as the faith
expanded, it would be fine.
But there was a problem.
"This rice... the moment it is revealed, it will be
sought after by the entire world."
Yes, this was the problem. There would be many people
like Park Jong-chan who would want to get their hands on the rice's seeds.
They might not be able to monopolize it, but they could
cultivate it.
With the recent advances in farming, crops can be grown
quickly, so it won't take long for it to be mass-produced.
But what will happen when they realize that only the
followers of Demera can grow the blessed rice?
"The Naju Plains will be overrun by thieves, and
they won't be ordinary people."
The rice was even more potent than an enhancement potion.
All the guilds will be approached, including the ‘Majin1’ of the underworld.
"Once the Food and Drug Administration has provided
the necessary approvals and the rice planting is in full gear, we will be ready
to assist you in every way. Until then, please be patient."
"I see. I understand."
At Leon's nod, Chief Kim Jin-soo cheered inwardly: I can
finally convince this guy!
"However, there is one mistake."
"Yes?"
"You were worrying for nothing, Kim or something. No
one will be able to steal the things of the Goddess."
Leon was confident.
* * * *
After the cataclysm, the emergence of superhumans became
the hope of humanity, but not all of them became the embodiment of hope.
Awakenings occurred regardless of age or gender, and of
course, among them, there were many who casually chose the path of crime.
The Majin Organization.
This global dark organization had developed into a
fully-fledged crime syndicate and operated via the deep web.
They engaged in all forms of crime and were willing to
commit murder if the reward was right.
And now a request had been sent to the Vipers, a third-class
group of the Korean branch of the Majin Organization.
[We want you to secure the rice seeds from the Naju Plain
and burn down the field along with the granaries].
The payment was in bitcoin. Half down payment, and the
other half paid upon completion. Yue Ying immediately investigated the Naju
Plain.
-This seed... it's real.
-The Hunter's Association has stopped the rumors from
spreading, but there are scattered stories here and there.
-You mean it wasn't just a stupid commercial?
Anyway, now that they've received the request and paid a
hefty advance payment, it's time to act.
The Vipers headed straight for the Naju Plain with over
50 majin. Although they were only C or D-class hunters, they were far too much
force for something as simple as stealing rice.
If it weren't for the client's insistence that they
brought as many majin as possible with them, they would have simply sent
ordinary men.
"What the hell. I thought there were going to be
lots of guards guarding the place since we were told to bring as many people as
possible."
"Are we really just supposed to secure the seeds and
make a mess?"
There was still unharvested rice in the fields. The goal was two things.
They will burn the entire crop on the plains, as well as
the granaries of the Pantheon Guild. The intention was to monopolize the rice
once they secured the seeds.
The Vipers first sneaked into the field with the oil
barrels only to stop like getting frozen.
"Hyungnim, there's a person...!"
The youngest member spotted something in the darkness and
gasped.
At his words, the other men drew their weapons, but soon
their faces relaxed.
It wasn't a person, but a dummy.
"It's a scarecrow, stupid."
"Oops... so, sorry."
The thing, stuffed with cotton and woven with straw into
a barely human shape, was hung with clothes and a hat that didn't quite fit.
In the darkness, it looked like a human figure.
"That's weird... I thought it just moved."
The youngest observed the scarecrow. Under Leon's stern
orders, the scarecrow was meticulously detailed, with even the cottony parts of
its face painted with dye to give it eyes and a mouth.
In this darkness, it was almost creepy to the point of
being spooky.
"Ugh, that's bad luck. Put it away."
"Hyungnim... look at those."
"......."
The Vipers' leader was stunned. There were many
scarecrows.
They were made of cotton, straw, stone, wood... like very
old totems. All over the field, there were those things.
-Tap, tap, tap.
-Oo, ooo, oo.
Was it an illusion? There was a dull, almost thudding
sound that seemed to be coming from something moving.
It was a subtle sound that could be mistaken for
tinnitus, so they paid it no mind, which made it sound like a terrible mistake
to enter the field.
-Tap, tap.
-Oo, ooo.
The sound seemed to echo from beneath the ground.
Suddenly, a snap was heard, and one of the tense members drew his sword with a
yelp.
"You moron...! Why would a man from Majin be so
intimidated by a mere scarecrow!"
"I'm, I'm sorry. Something's... just not right
here."
"Idiot... you should stop going around saying you're
a member of the Vipers."
The leader was reprimanding his underling. He then
ordered his underlings to pour oil.
"Calculate the wind direction and spread the fire as
far as possible."
"But where will we get the seeds?"
"Idiot, we've checked the granaries, we can rob them
there."
"Aha~"
The men were convinced and proceeded to pour out the oil
from the barrels.
"Since this is so good, let's take some for us too.
Mansu and Jintai, you two... Huh? Where did those two go?"
"What? They definitely followed behind me earlier...
Uh, and where the hell is Doosan and Ann?"
There was no sign of his colleagues. This shouldn't be
possible. How can people disappear in an instant in this open field?
-Tap! Tap!
-Ooooooooo.........
The disturbing sound from earlier gradually became
clearer. The pressure seemed to be coming from all directions. The leader of
the Vipers examined the surroundings.......
"Hey... that scarecrow. Was it always this
close?"
A scarecrow with a smiling face painted in crimson dye
stood in front of them.
"What? Uh... I don't know?"
"No, this is odd, it was so far away just a moment
ago. And what's with all this thudding and rumbling──"
As he turned his head to address his underling, he caught
a glimpse of movement in the corner of his vision.
"Aah...!"
He was so startled that he didn't even take the time to
assess the situation before blindly swinging his sword.
"Hyu- Hyungnim?"
"Huft... Huft...! Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
It wasn't until he'd slashed through one of the
scarecrows that he understood.
These things were moving. In groups. Carrying knives,
stones, or shards of glass.
"Check your surroundings, you morons! These things
are moving!!"
"Huh?"
Was the unity the result of the Vipers' survival
instincts kicking in? With their backs to each other, they witnessed the
unfathomable.
The things became alive,
Transforming into monsters.
Why hadn't they noticed before? Why did they notice only
now?
The scarecrows, stone figures, and even the roots scattered
across the field.
Unidentifiable creatures had been moving about in the
darkness of the night.
'No.
No, no, no.
This
can't be real.'
Even the deliberately grotesque designs of the Steel City
would have been better than this.
The scarecrows, made by the shoddy workmanship of the
ancient folk, were a twisted fantasy, reenacting the invasion of the old days.
"Holy shit, they're monsters, they're
monsters!"
This wasn't even an area where a dungeon break occurred,
so what kind of monsters were they? It was a ridiculous statement, but the
current situation was actually defying common sense!
In a panic, the Vipers attacked the figures, slashing and
smashing them.
But the things were able to rebuild themselves, piecing
together their broken bodies as if they were living things, no, something
beyond living things.
-Tap! Tap!
-Oooooooooo............
The field of the goddess, where holy power dwells. On
this land, blessed and touched by a living saint, non-believers were not
tolerated.
The Creed of Life and Fertility.
1. Create a figure of the goddess from the first harvest
and offer it on the altar.
2. Do not urinate on the fields. Manure is fine.
3. Make scarecrows and make sure to dress them with hats
and clothes.
4. Sing songs when you harvest. A song that expresses
gratitude to the goddess is even better.
5. Don't go hungry, even if you're busy.
............
............
The most important, number 0.
※The reaver dies.
* * * *
The Viper's leader Heo Shang-man fled, leaving more than
half his men in the field.
"Hyu, Hyungnim, what the hell are those things? I
haven't even seen anything like them at the gate!"
"I don't know, motherfucker!"
The request was strange to begin with. They're paying
that much for stealing rice seeds and setting the place on fire.
But even so, it was hard to predict this situation.
The Vipers were mostly D-class, but they were still a
part of Majin, so how could they not steal some rice?
They sensed that this mission was fundamentally flawed.
However, they were eager to take advantage of their client.
They may have been anonymous, but they had the means to
contact the Majin Organization's Intelligence Division, and they had been
generous with their payments, so they couldn't be ignored.
"Uh, Hyu- Hyungnim, wait!"
"What is it?!"
Heo Shang-man, irritated by his subordinate's insistence,
spotted the building ahead of them.
"This is the target granary."
A place where the farmers store their harvested rice.
Seeing this, he immediately remembered.
"If this rice is real... it would fetch a lot of
money."
Which naturally led to greed. He'd lost half his men, and
he couldn't afford to come back from here empty-handed.
"Those monsters are only in the fields... there's
nothing in the granary."
Although his common sense told him that if there were
monsters like that in the fields, there could possibly be some in the
granaries, his subordinate, who actually had good eyes, assured him that there
was nothing around. So...
"Load as much rice as you can into the vehicles.
Go...!"
There would be piles of threshed rice, and it would be
easier to steal it than to harvest it.
The moment he stepped into the granary,
-Click!
"Huh?"
Something ominous... a sound that was often heard in many
war movies.
"Land mines──?!"
-Boom!
Heo Shang-man's body flew into the air.
"Hyu, Hyungnim!"
"Wha, what? Land mines? Why are mines laid
here?!"
He was gasping for breath and trembling after a bomb
exploded under his feet.
In the first place, the mines were meant to blow their
legs off rather than to kill them, but since he was a superhuman, the damage
was no more than his left foot being torn off.
"Hyungnim, we are going to save you now...!"
"Stop, you idiots! You have no idea how many damn
explosives there are!"
At that, the men stopped in their tracks.
"Ughhhhhh... Sa, save me......."
Even though they could only see others' struggling
figures, they couldn't move easily.
Even if they were part of Majin, they were just
third-class scoundrels who accidentally awakened and fell into the path of
crime. Compared to the 'real' Majin, they were just a bunch of thugs with
little power.
If they were willing to throw themselves into a minefield
to help their boss, why would they join the Majin Organization?
"Ru- run......."
A retreating member of the group winced at a prickling
sensation at the nape of his neck, and upon turning to look behind him, he saw
a bloody 'wire' glowing in the moonlight.
"A, a wire?"
The members of the Vipers looked around in alarm. What do
they see?
A giant cobweb of razor-sharp wire.
And a 'steel spider' was descending from it.
Even with its reduced size, no one would be dumb enough
not to recognize the infamous killing machine from Cheongju.
"Ahhh......."
It dawned on them.
It was all a trap.
They realize that they were dragonflies caught in a
spider's web.
-Krig!
A Grail Knight had personally descended to capture its
prey.
***
Notes:
1 Majin: a malevolent deity that causes misfortune and disaster. Can be an evil spirit too.↩
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