163 – Presidential Inauguration!

163 – Presidential Inauguration!

There are those people you encounter in life.

Those who deliberately choose only the wrong answers.

The awful sorts who worsen the situation even when they know the solution.

Nam Bada was that sort of person.

To just gulp down “The Red King”‘s Concept Stone like that…

It was akin to eating raw uranium with no equipment or antidote.

“A smart man pulling a stunt even a gluttonous Yingying wouldn’t do.”

“Gghheeuuuk!”

From between clenched teeth, Nam Bada dribbled saliva, a tormented groan escaping him. His skin, including his face, fractured like parched earth.

From the cracks, a red heat radiated, steam venting like from a boiling locomotive. Even at a glance, it was clear he wasn’t in any normal state.

A power as potent as a runaway nuclear reactor pulsed within Nam Bada, seeming to bore through his skin and spread outwards.

“I might not even need to lift a finger. He’ll probably just die on his own.”

Self-destruction.

The fact that this was Nam Bada’s hidden card left me feeling deflated.

However, Gye Bok-soon, who was observing the situation, paled and cried out.

“No! No, you can’t! Bada-ssi! No!”

I already knew that Gye Bok-soon harbored feelings for her superior, Nam Bada. It was almost beyond simple affection, bordering on worship.

The reason Gye Bok-soon came to us with the plan to use sleeping pills was because she couldn’t bear to see Nam Bada hurt by that concept stone.

That operation, those plans, had been thwarted, and now the very thing she feared was happening. It was inevitable that she would wail.

“My senses are so acute. Sensations I’ve never felt before. Is this what Awakened ones feel? No wonder they look down on us commoners─.”

But contrary to the expectation that he would quickly self-destruct, Nam Bada was, surprisingly, maintaining his sanity.

Was his mental fortitude just that extraordinary?

I amplified the power of “Emotion” to its maximum, closely examining Nam Bada’s condition.

“Name: Nam Bada

Possessions: Expand to View Details ☜

《Immortality Lv.5》 – That which cannot be lost or vanish. The ultimate state all beings should pursue.

《Darkness Lv.4》 – An era of deepest gloom, where the sun has disappeared.

Condition: 《Agony》 – Repeated destruction and regeneration make it difficult to maintain reason.”

The true power possessed by the Red King.

It wasn’t the concept of “Darkness,” but “Immortality.”

Because it was a concept that could not be destroyed, that would not disappear, the Fairy Royal Family had been passing the power down from father to son, from mother to daughter, enduring as jailers who contained that power.

Originally, it was only natural that Nam Bada, having absorbed a powerful concept stone with a common man’s body, would self-destruct and turn to dust.

But thanks to the concept of “Immortality,” Nam Bada was somehow maintaining his form, even amidst the agonizing pain, as if he had swallowed raw uranium.

“Ha Nam-jin!”

Just then, Seo Ga-eul suddenly appeared and called out to me.

She didn’t voice it outright, but I understood instantly what she was trying to say.

Now was the opportunity to strike him down, while Nam Bada still appeared unaccustomed to the power.

It is said, the moments before, during, and immediately after transformation are when one is most vulnerable, most at risk.

Therefore, I kicked off the ground with all my might and lunged towards Nam Bada.

At least, I had to buy time for the people gathered in this place to escape.

And I didn’t let go of the resolve to finish Nam Bada in one blow if the opportunity presented itself.

Sreung, Phat-!

The dagger, “Fang,” drawn from my waist, aimed for Nam Bada’s nape.

Nam Bada appeared to still be reeling, barely conscious as a newly awakened one, and ultimately allowed my attack, receiving a deep gash to the neck.

Chwaaak-!

A deep, gaping wound.

Pouring from it wasn’t blood, but a thick, viscous darkness.

“aaack!”

Nam Bada screamed.

It was a fatal wound that would have instantly killed any normal person, but Nam Bada did not die.

Likely due to the concept of “Immortality” clinging to Nam Bada’s soul.

“What is that, now?”

Seo Ga-eul pointed to the spot where Nam Bada’s dark blood had splattered.

The blood on the ground writhed as if it were alive, then began to take form.

A situation familiar to Seo Ga-eul and myself, who had suffered in the department store basement because of the black pond.

【…….】

【…….】

A woman, two torsos existing atop a single lower body, rose from the viscous darkness.

A grotesque sight, as if two humans had been forcibly joined, and the Nymphs trembled in fear.

“That is undoubtedly the twin queens, Melinoe and Macaria…! The queens of ‘Nightmare’ and ‘Madness’!”

“This Inonoi thinks so too…! This Inonoi never thought she would see an ancient Fairy King who she only heard about in history books!”

It seemed the lingering thoughts of the ancient Fairy King embedded in the concept of “Immortality” had taken root through the medium of “Darkness” and Nam Bada’s blood.

Just like with the Whip Queen.

The problem is, unlike back then in the department store basement parking lot where there were few people, this place is a wide open space with about ten thousand spectators.

“Ha-Namjin, you hold off Nam Bada. I’ll take care of that strangely shaped monster b*tch.”

Seo Ga-eul said solemnly, gathering the light of miracles in her palm.

She’s reliable, but I don’t know if she’ll be alright.

The twin-bodied fairy queens, judging by their possession of concepts like “Nightmare” and “Madness,” didn’t seem like opponents to be trifled with.

Yet, Seo Gaeul was the one cautioning *me*.

“Hanamjin, I won’t tell you not to get hurt, but don’t you dare die. If you drop dead here today, I’ll haunt you. Got it? And Yu Yeoreum! What in the world are you doing? Get your butt out here!”

“Just waiting for the right moment.”

*Thwack*.

Yu Yeoreum leapt from above.

Yu Yeoreum and Seo Gaeul faced the ancient queens.

Far off, Bbangddengyi was battling the Communist Party b*tch, Dangdalgwi.

“Shall we see how strong this greenhorn from the White Sect has become? Nine Yin White Bone Claw!”

“Then I shall use the Nine Yin Ten Thousand Bone Claw!”

We’ll leave the women’s work to the women.

The truth is, *I’m* the problem.

“Good, I’m starting to get used to this power. This is it. With this power alone, I wouldn’t need any army or anything. No need to bother using my head, no need to be pathetically obsequious─.”

Nambada, whom I had beheaded, pressed his hand against his wound like a child sticking clay.

Then, as if nothing had happened, the wound healed.

“Immortality.”

A man who won’t die, no matter how many times you kill him.

Could Bbangddengyi’s concept of “Death” eliminate that power?

We would only know by trying.

But the risk was too great, considering Bbangddengyi might go berserk as the ‘Death Mind’.

In the end, I have to do it.

But I wasn’t worried or nervous at all.

“Nambada, it’s not like I made this finishing move just for you, you know.”

I possessed the “Namjin, Sincere Punch,” trained by striking all sorts of rocks.

Originally, it was created to break through and target Gusejun’s concept of “Time,” though.

Hoo-.

As I began breathing through my skin, I could feel the mana in the air seeping into my body.

My entire body trembled like a car engine turning over, and my five senses, like hearing and sight, became vivid and clear, as if the volume had been cranked up to the maximum.

# # #

Nambada’s body was falling apart.

At the same instant, it recovered with equal speed.

Destruction and regeneration.

Only by repeating this endlessly did it reach immortality.

‘…Simply holding onto consciousness feels like dying.’

Mental collapse was instantaneous as well.

But the body, hardened with a will of iron by the very concept of immortality, wouldn’t allow the mind to falter.

Horrendous pain, like embracing and swallowing a raging fire.

Tormented by it, Nambada rejoiced at the same time.

This was the power he had so desperately craved.

Overwhelming power.

With this power, Nambada intended to crush the boy, Hanamjin.

And after that, to reign over all the life on this star, to dominate it utterly.

“Closing your eyes during a fight? Fool!”

And so, Nambada lunged at the boy, who had suddenly closed his eyes and was taking deep breaths.

Whoosh-!

His trusty 7-iron descended as if to cleave the boy’s skull, but like a gunslinger from the West drawing and firing a revolver, the boy flicked a dagger from his waist and sent it hurtling toward Nambada.

Pshew-.

The dagger sliced through Nambada’s waist.

A large hole had been ripped through him as if hit by an anti-tank rifle, but the wound healed instantly.

“Useless! You dimwit!”

Nambada sneered, overflowing with scorn.

But the boy had long vanished from Nambada’s sight.

Turning his head, he saw the boy throwing another knife from the direction the first one had been launched.

Pshew-!

“Ugh!”

The boy leaped away as if disappearing in the direction the knife had been thrown.

This process repeated again and again.

‘I can’t see him!’

Even with Nambada’s senses and dynamic visual acuity enhanced by absorbing a concept, he couldn’t capture Hanamjin’s image.

He could only be pierced and penetrated again and again by knives flying from somewhere unseen.

But Nambada, he was thinking.

“Immortality” is both a curse and a blessing.

In the end, Hanamjin would tire first, and he, himself, would be the one laughing.

Though, truthfully, Nambada couldn’t be sure if his plans and tactics would truly succeed.

Nothing in his life had ever gone according to plan, after all.

‘Focus. I’m almost there. I’m almost there.’

His vision blurred more and more frequently.

*Pshoom-!* *Pah-!*

The relentless knife attacks and tricky movements pushed Nambada’s mental fortitude closer and closer to its limit.

Could it have been after enduring dozens of attacks that…

Hanamjin appeared before Nambada.

But his hands held no blade.

Only tightly clenched fists.

“…Ha, too exhausted to even wield a knife? Just a fist, huh.”

To Nambada, who had become immortal, Hanamjin’s fists were now meaningless, not even worth dodging.

“Immortality” was like that.

Unchanging, thus serene and perfect, rendering everything besides oneself meaningless.

It was then that Hanamjin’s fist slammed into Nambada’s chest.

“The soft overcomes the hard.”

*Thud-*

A remarkably light sound.

In truth, the boy’s fist contained a gentle manner, as if encouraging a comrade, rather than an attack.

But in that instant, Nambada’s vision swayed unsteadily, left and right.

“Keuh-eck-.”

He felt as though everything in his stomach was surging back up the esophagus.

Eventually, Nambada collapsed to his knees, emptying his stomach completely, vomiting it all up.

“Guaaah, eugh-.”

The overwhelming nausea left Nambada unable to think straight.

The only thing certain was that the feeling of omnipotence that had possessed him, and the pain, had vanished completely.

It was because Nambada had regurgitated the crimson concept stone.

“Namjin’s Truth Punch” was a technique similar to the penetrating palm strike that Bbangdengi had mentioned, designed to bypass the exterior and target the interior.

But even I had to admit, the incredible thing about this technique was its ability to precisely strike the desired ‘core’.

This was possible because my concept of “Emotion” possessed the insight to pierce through all of creation and accurately perceive its core.

The downside? Maximizing softness to attack the desired point meant it was too slow.

Someone with even a little forethought could evade it easily.

That’s why I relentlessly attacked Nambada with a dagger.

Thanks to his concept of “Immortality,” normal physical attacks were practically useless, but that was precisely the ruse.

I’d instilled in him the idea that he didn’t *need* to avoid my attacks.

That’s when my “Concept Destruction” detonated.

“Guaaack!”

Nambada spewed and writhed on the floor as though he’d taken a kick to the groin.

A crimson Concept Stone emerged from his throat and tumbled onto the floor.

Thump-thump-thump.

‘I intended to shatter it from the inside.’

I’d slammed that technique into him with the aim of destroying the immortality Concept Stone, but…

Perhaps the Concept Stone itself possessed a property of perpetuity, because it ended with Nambada simply regurgitating it.

Even so, I’d at least achieved the objective of stalling Nambada.

With Nambada down, the presidential election… does that mean I, Hanamjin, have won?

I, the man Hanamjin, have finally ascended to the presidency through brute force!