WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: DereKimchi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Abandoned Tank is a Disaster-class Awakener ◈
Chapter 47
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『Chairman Park Gang-sik Visits Mexico, Promotes International Awakener Alliance』
『Discussing Strategy Guide Exchanges and a Joint Response to the Abyss』
Park Gang-sik shook hands with the Mexican Association Chairman before the two nations' flags.
Camera shutters flashed in rapid succession.
“An era has come in which cooperation between Awakeners directly leads to the safety of our citizens.”
He did not look down at the speech he had prepared.
“South Korea will share the experience it has built up and lay the groundwork for both nations to grow together.”
Thunderous applause poured out.
After the joint announcement and dinner, Park Gang-sik waved to the reporters and returned to his hotel.
His official schedule was over.
Yet Park Gang-sik was in the vehicle that left the hotel late that night.
It was not the official car he had used during the day.
Only two attendants remained with him.
The vehicle passed through a bustling district and entered a narrow alley.
The bright signs outside the windows disappeared, replaced by barred windows and shops with their shutters down.
Park Gang-sik checked a message that had arrived on his phone.
A short address and a license plate number.
When he turned off the screen, a motorcycle emerged from the alley across from them.
Vroooom.
The motorcycle slowly drove across the front of the car.
The driver followed it, proceeding through an iron gate that had already been opened.
Clang!
After the car entered, the gate closed firmly behind it.
* * *
The room they were shown into was brighter than expected.
Coffee and bottled water sat on the table.
Judging only by the painting on the wall, it was closer to a small company's reception room than a criminal organization's meeting place.
The woman seated across from him rose.
Ines.
The woman who handled La Mortaja's outside contracts.
“I didn't expect you to come in person. Someone of your standing could've sent a representative.”
Park Gang-sik took the hand she offered.
“When I hire people, I need to meet them face-to-face before entrusting them with anything.”
“I hope you like our faces, then.”
“I'll know when I leave.”
Ines smiled and gestured for him to sit.
Once Park Gang-sik sat down, she took the seat across from him.
Rather than offering him coffee, she briefly examined the attendants standing behind him.
Both held heavy carrying cases.
“You came well prepared.”
“Depending on your answer, I may leave with less luggage.”
“Then I suppose I'll have to give you a good answer. Who are you here for?”
Park Gang-sik held out his hand.
He placed the folder his attendant gave him on the table.
“America recently brought in several people.”
Ines's hand, which had been reaching for the folder, stopped.
“Don't tell me... Kang Seong-un?”
Park Gang-sik did not answer.
She withdrew her hand.
“If it's that man, you've come all this way for nothing.”
“I haven't even mentioned a name yet.”
Ines lifted her coffee cup.
“No matter how much you offer, dead people can't spend money, can they?”
“You calculate quickly.”
“It has kept me in this business for a long time.”
Park Gang-sik opened the folder himself.
“Then calculate some more.”
Three names and photographs appeared.
Olena Kovalenko.
Evelyn Hart.
Claire Dumont.
Ines set down her cup.
“Ah!”
A smile returned to her lips.
“There had already been plenty of rumors. The Awakeners America brought in as payment for clearing the Abyss in two countries, the United Kingdom and France.”
Ines examined the photos one by one.
The man standing behind her operated a tablet.
After flipping through several screens, he showed Ines the information.
Her fingertips slowly moved over the photographs.
“Healing, curses, summoning. Going by the records alone, they're not worth this much trouble... but Kang Seong-un brought them over after even clearing the Abyss for them.”
Park Gang-sik nodded.
Ines looked at him.
“You don't know why either, Chairman?”
One of the attendants looked at her.
Park Gang-sik smiled.
“Those who insist they know what they don't won't last long.”
She pulled the photographs toward herself.
“Are there only three? As far as I know, an Awakener named Shin Hye-won is also by Kang Seong-un's side.”
“That girl isn't on the list.”
“We often get requests to add one more person later.”
“Don't touch her. These three are enough.”
“Very well.”
She placed the three pictures side by side.
“What would you like us to do?”
“Once a tree has grown, it's hard to cut down. It's easier to deal with it before it takes root.”
“There are many ways to send someone far away...”
Ines tilted her head slightly.
“...Should we leave open the possibility of their return?”
Park Gang-sik picked up his coffee cup.
After taking a sip of the cold coffee, he put it down.
“No.”
Only then did Ines take her hand off the pictures.
“It'll be expensive.”
“For your skills?”
“For the possibility that someone might come looking for us afterward.”
She lightly tapped the table with her index finger.
“You leave it to us, Chairman, then fly home. We still have to live after that.”
Park Gang-sik looked behind him.
The attendants set down the carrying cases.
Thud.
The first lid opened.
Various weapon relics, including swords and daggers, were revealed.
Clatter!
When they tipped the case, all kinds of relics spilled across the table.
The second case contained armor, shields, and scrolls.
“...”
Ines did not reach for them.
Instead, the man beside her approached.
After examining several items, he looked back at Ines.
A brief nod.
“These are fine items.”
“Use anything worthwhile yourselves.”
“And sell the rest?”
“Do you need to ask me that?”
Ines smiled as she turned over a dagger.
“I wish all our customers were like you, Chairman.”
“If you had more customers like me, your price would rise first.”
“Are you worried already? You haven't even named a price.”
Park Gang-sik pointed at the final carrying case.
The attendant unlocked it.
Ines's hand stopped when she looked inside.
After confirming her reaction, Park Gang-sik pushed his chair back.
“That should be enough.”
He slowly rose from his seat.
“I didn't bring these because I don't know the price. I brought them to cut down on the time spent negotiating.”
Ines looked up.
“What if we refuse?”
“Then I'll have to load the luggage back up.”
As the attendants began to move, Ines put down the dagger.
“You're impatient.”
“I'm acting before it's too late.”
Their eyes met briefly.
Ines smiled first.
She gathered the three photographs in her hand.
“Leave them here.”
Park Gang-sik stopped his attendants.
“Is that a good answer?”
“We'll first confirm their current strength. If it matches the records, you won't have to wait long.”
“And if it doesn't?”
“We'll contact you again. We don't give away our lives for free.”
Park Gang-sik nodded.
He took the hand Ines offered.
Still shaking hands, she asked one final question.
“I'm curious, though. If those three are insignificant Awakeners, you'll be taking quite a loss today.”
Park Gang-sik looked down at the photos.
“I missed my chance once while waiting to confirm that.”
He released her hand.
“If it happens twice, it can no longer be called a mistake.”
Ines did not ask any more questions.
Park Gang-sik left the room, and the door quietly closed.
She stared at the door for a while before handing the pictures to her subordinate.
“Check only the three of them. If Kang Seong-un or Shin Hye-won are with them, wait.”
“That South Korean Association Chairman is quite frightened.”
Ines picked up the dagger again from the pile of relics.
The blade, slightly drawn from its sheath, gleamed white.
“That's why he's such a good customer.”
She slid the dagger back in.
“Frightened people pay the best prices.”
* * *
The era of Awakening changed the nature of crime as well.
There were people who used the power meant to defeat monsters inside the Tower to kill other people.
As people began spending money on such abilities, scattered criminals formed organizations.
La Mortaja had grown in the same way.
They killed an Awakener from a rival organization, and someone who took notice of it handed them a photograph of a political enemy along with a larger sum of money.
After that, their contracts began to cross borders.
Some targets died surrounded by bodyguards, while others vanished without a trace from safe houses.
By the time La Mortaja's name appeared in investigation records, the client and the hit team had already left for different countries.
The names and faces of its members appeared on international wanted lists.
But even the investigating agencies could not be certain whether those were their real faces or disguises, or how useful the information truly was.
There had even been a time when a man arrested with the same face as his wanted photograph reverted to an entirely different appearance the moment he died.
As incidents like that piled up, so did the number of clients seeking out the organization.
Those with money wanted people who could break through their opponent's security.
Those with power wanted people to handle matters they could not deal with themselves.
Instead of asking about its clients' circumstances, La Mortaja confirmed its targets' abilities and level of protection.
And when the target was an Awakener or someone under a nation's protection, it sent a separate team.
Among them, the team led by Raul was a top-tier team that had never failed a mission.
“...”
Team leader Raul was staring at the photographs.
Three women in the pictures.
They were Awakeners who, until recently, had no notable clearing records.
What was dangerous was their protector.
Kang Seong-un.
Even Ines had emphasized that name repeatedly.
‘If even one of Kang Seong-un or Shin Hye-won is there, withdraw. The targets are only the three women.’
High-paying contracts usually came with such conditions.
A contract in which the people who must not be touched were more important than the people who had to be killed.
And such missions were very familiar to him and his team.
* * *
No matter how stealthy they were, they could not infiltrate the airtight security of the American Association.
So they continued gathering information.
Perhaps they had solo-cleared the lower floors like Shin Hye-won.
But their names were not in the Throne Inheritance records.
It was impossible to grow this much in such a short time to begin with.
Based on the existing clearing records and several days of observation, Raul assessed the danger level as low.
Then, for the mission, he checked their routes.
The Association.
The training room.
Their lodgings.
Even when they occasionally went out, guards accompanied them.
But when they visited a bar at night, only the three women remained.
The music was not loud, and there were not many customers.
The women seated by the window talked for quite a while with drinks before them.
Claire Dumont made many hand gestures.
Evelyn Hart often laughed as she listened, and Olena Kovalenko drank her glass the slowest.
On the night they visited the bar for the third time, Raul chose where to finish the contract.
While waiting for their next visit, the bar owner, staff, and remaining customers were killed.
Team members took the seats left by the removed bodies.
Mateo, who could disguise himself, put on the bartender's face last.
His disguise did not merely change his visible face.
He became identical to the person whose appearance he stole, including their scent, voice, and trace of magic power.
Then illusion was added to it.
Even if someone looked closely, their gaze would naturally slide away.
A barrier that folded space had been placed on the entrance.
If someone opened the door from inside, they would return to the bar.
Sound could not escape either.
Tap.
The man in the corner set down his glass.
It was Viktor, who handled mind control.
His ability pushed short commands into another person's mind.
Turn your head.
Close your eyes.
Don't move.
That was enough to begin a fight.
Raul looked down at his hand one last time.
Shhhk.
His fingertips grew faint.
Along with his concealment, his presence receded.
Even if he moved right in front of them, they would not recognize him as a threat.
In that state, he could step on a shadow and bring his blade to its target.
“They're coming in.”
Mateo spoke.
Raul slowly erased himself completely.
* * *
Jingle.
The bell above the door rang.
The three women entered.
Evelyn, who entered first, turned back with a smile.
“The same seats today?”
Just as Claire was about to answer, Olena stopped in front of the door.
Her gaze swept over the bar's interior.
The bartender polishing glasses.
The customers seated in the corner.
And the closed door behind the counter.
“Wait a moment.”
Raul watched her while concealed.
Olena spoke quietly to the other two.
“I can feel... an unholy presence.”
Sin Detection.
One of the Saintess's skills activated.
Mateo's hand froze over a glass.
Only for a moment.
He soon put on his familiar smile.
“Ha ha. An unholy presence? Well, we have had fewer customers lately...”
“Who are you?”
Olena looked directly at him.
Raul turned his gaze toward the corner.
Viktor was already moving his fingers.
Abandon your suspicion.
Take a seat.
The commands burrowed into the three women's consciousnesses.
Evelyn turned her head.
Without hesitation, she found Viktor.
“What did you just do?”
Viktor's brow twitched.
Rather than answer, he pushed more magic power into her.
It went beyond merely making someone hear his voice.
It was domination that took away judgment and seized the authority to move the body itself.
An Awakener caught by him would obey even an order to hold a knife to their own throat.
Yet Evelyn took a step forward.
“Stop.”
Viktor gritted his teeth.
Veins rose in his neck.
At the same time, black energy rose beneath Evelyn's feet.
A green pattern brushed across the back of her hand.
Viktor's body folded forward.
“Urgh!”
He braced himself on the table.
Blood dripped from his mouth and nose.
Raul's expression hardened.
Viktor's control had never failed against anyone lower level than himself.
Yet that woman had not only ignored the command, she had immediately sent a curse back at him.
Viktor hurriedly withdrew his hand, but the black pattern spreading between his fingers did not disappear.
Evelyn narrowed her eyes.
“So this is what you put inside other people's heads.”
There was no surprise in her tone.
Only displeasure.
Raul moved his hand at once.
Victoria, who handled illusions, shattered her glass.
Crash!
The inside of the bar twisted.
The entrance vanished, and the walls stretched longer.
Tables and pillars rose between the three women, blocking them from one another.
Cut off their sight and scatter them.
They only had to deal with them one at a time.
Claire did not even look at the wall that appeared before her.
She raised her hand toward the woman beyond it.
Boom!
A massive foot stepped onto the floor.
A body of red metal rose through the pillar created by illusion.
Raul looked up.
Shoulders that blocked the ceiling lights.
A protruding lower jaw and fangs plated in metal.
A gigantic orc held an axe.
Victoria's face stiffened.
She raised her hand, trying to create a new shape.
But the golem knocked a table aside first.
Crash!
Victoria's back struck the wall.
Then thick fingers gripped both her arms at once.
The illusion vanished.
Olena's expression turned cold.
Raul did not wait any longer.
Their identities had already been exposed.
The drinks and disguises were useless now.
‘The healer first.’
He stepped on Olena's shadow.
His body sank into the darkness, then rose behind her.
The arm holding his dagger shot out.
A handspan from the back of her neck.
Olena did not turn around.
Clang!
The blade struck light.
Raul's arm rebounded.
He immediately twisted his wrist and imbued the blade with a penetration skill.
It was a strike that had pierced even thick armor at the joints.
The dagger stabbed at the light again.
Crack!
The blade broke.
A fragment grazed his cheek.
Only then did Olena turn her head.
“There you were.”
Raul's spine went rigid.
There was not even a crack in the shield.
She had not dodged the attack.
She had not even raised a hand to block it.
As though it had been a blade that could never touch her from the start, she simply watched Raul.
Mateo moved beside them.
The bartender's face melted away, and his arm lengthened.
Fingertips sharpened like bone flew toward Claire's side.
Claire turned to look at him.
She did not dodge.
Clang!
It was light again.
Mateo's fingertips bent back.
Before he could even open his mouth, Claire spoke.
“That one too.”
The golem's free hand reached out.
Mateo twisted his body, but his arm was seized first.
Thud!
Pressed down by the huge hand, he drove his knees into the floor.
His face changed one after another.
From the bartender to an unfamiliar man, then another woman.
No matter what form he took, the golem's grip did not loosen.
Raul threw away his broken dagger.
“Withdraw!”
The shadow beneath his feet opened.
The moment he tried to throw himself into it, his ankle was pulled back.
Raul looked down.
A single black line lay across the shadow.
The line wrapped around his ankle and crawled up to his knee.
He drew up his magic power, but the shadow did not move.
No, he could not gather the strength to command the shadow.
Green patterns had been stamped along every path his magic power flowed.
“You can't go.”
It was Evelyn.
She had taken her eyes off Viktor and was looking at Raul.
She folded one finger.
Raul's knee buckled.
Thud.
He tried to brace himself against the floor.
His arm would not rise.
His shoulders sagged, and his head dropped.
His body had not become heavier.
He was losing the strength to support his own body.
‘I have to remove it...’
He tried to pour magic power into a curse-removal relic.
Before he could, a new pattern overlapped the one on his wrist.
Feeling vanished from his fingers.
Raul's eyes widened.
Evelyn was looking at his wrist.
She had seen what he was trying to do, then stopped him.
And she had done it simply by layering another curse on top.
Thud!
Sounds of people collapsing rang out around him.
The man running for the entrance fell before the handle.
The team member maintaining the barrier toppled over with their chair.
Viktor could not even make a sound as he curled up on the floor.
Raul opened his mouth.
“...”
No words came out.
The curse had reached deep into his throat.
With difficulty, he moved his eyes.
The three women who were the targets still stood not far from the door.
They had not ordered drinks or taken their seats.
They entered, noticed something was wrong, found them, and captured everyone.
That was all.
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