Chapter 688: Number One Councilor Han Yujin
Scrape, scrape. Something heavy dragged across the stone ground. Every so often it clunked as it caught on something.
I had left the truck behind even though I’d reinforced the interior nice and solid, just in case. There was no need to rush, so I just pushed the e–scooter along at an easy pace.
The Guinders’ warships were positioned on the harbor side that was old and in obvious need of repairs. All the civilian ships had evacuated to the opposite side. Since those bastards’ livelihood also depended on the harbor, they seemed to be trying to minimize the damage.
I was going to strip them bare and completely remodel this old harbor. All that Guinder money was really just the money taken from the people working here, right? So pouring it back into the harbor and the market was perfect.
“It is pretty far.”
Even if it was near the harbor, of course they were not moored right up against the pier. If you have a ship, why on earth would you hug the shore to fight. The warship was smaller than I expected. Maybe around two thousand tons? Even so, its length was over a hundred meters.
Behind my back, the sky was starting to lighten faintly. The moment the glint from the warship turned our way and they got a fix on our position—
Boom!
The naval gun roared. At the same time, Yuhyun stepped forward. Rrrrk— a ship’s mooring chain thicker than three or four forearms put together snapped taut all at once. With monstrous strength, he swung the chain, and it cut across the air to meet the incoming shell head–on.
A tremendous crash boomed overhead, and riding that deflected impact, Yuhyun took another step forward.
Crunch. The solid pier floor caved in under his foot in a perfect footprint. His body spun in a wide turn. The tails of his formal coat whipped around, and the chain, using the anchor at the end as a weight, spun in a circle like a cowboy’s lasso.
As his toe slammed down again with a crack that shattered the pier, the chain shot out like an arrow.
Boom–boom–boom!
In a panic, they fired at the chain that came hurtling toward them carrying all that terrifying weight and destructive power. If it hit, no matter how thick the iron plating on those ships, it would punch a hole straight through. Under the barrage from the two warships, the chain shuddered violently in midair. In the end it never reached the ships and splashed down into the sea with a heavy plunk. Shards of stone and metal flew everywhere.
By then a new chain was already in Yuhyun’s hands. The tendons on his exposed wrist stood out tight beneath his sleeve. Rrrrk— the end of the chain scraped harshly across the ground, then whoosh, it launched into the air again. His calm black eyes, with not a hint of agitation, were fixed on the warships as he cast the thick, heavy chain.
Boom! Boom!
The gunfire rang out one after another like panicked screams. Of course they were flustered. It was not a gun or a cannon, but a chain. An insanely thick and solid anchor chain, at that. Another massive splash. I could see small lights running back and forth on deck. Without any sign of fatigue, the third chain flew from Yuhyun’s hands.
And at the same time—
Black water reflected in my vision. Even an S–Rank could not just run across the surface of the sea without a skill. Liette supported Yerim’s feet with both hands. With only the push of that strength and Yerim’s jump, she climbed nearly ten meters in a single bound, without using any flight skill.
The moment she reached the ship, Yerim yanked on the rope she was holding. Liette was pulled up along that line. Then Liette grabbed the rope and pulled again, this time in a big arc, not upward but toward the other ship. Noah, tied to the end, landed lightly on the opposite deck.
“They are on board!”
“The stern! It is the stern!”
“What? Nothing showed up on the radar!”
Not on the surface, but underwater. And the water was a mess of chains and shrapnel. In that churning chaos, it was not easy to distinguish debris from people. That warship’s radar was close to an early prototype anyway.
The balloon dolls scrambled, grabbing for their weapons. Liette moved faster than any of them, hefting a huge axe as she charged across the deck. She ignored the dolls firing their guns. Liette’s target was the naval guns.
Crunch!
The axe bit into a turret. Yerim and Noah began to move as well.
“Move, move! You are going to get hurt~!”
Yerim weaved between the bullets—ones that would not really injure you but would sting a good bit if they hit—and kicked a gun mount with her foot. On the other ship, Noah also began disarming the warship. Through the three of their eyes, I saw the guns disappearing one by one.
“Yuhyun.”
At my call, Yuhyun picked up another chain. This time it had a large hook instead of an anchor on the end. With no more interference from the naval guns, the hooked chain cut across the brightening sky.
Crunch— the hook caught on the ship. Yerim hopped over and stomped on the hook, driving it in deeper and anchoring it firmly.
A chain flew toward the other warship as well. The hooks caught on both ships, and I pulled out a car remote.
“Come, Pongpong.”
From the far side of the harbor, the truck came driving in. Pongpong was sitting in the driver’s seat. Of course, the potted plant was not actually driving; it was just a simple straight–line auto–drive. Pongpong did not have a license, so he was not allowed to drive.
Then again, I did not have a license either, but I scooted Pongpong aside, climbed behind the wheel, and spun the truck around.
“Hello, this is Han Yujin of the Family Love Party, who treats citizens like family! I ask for your warm support, citizens~.”
It was PR time, so I had to use the truck. It matched my job.
“Yuhyun, tie it off!”
The ends of the chains were tied to the truck. Two warships totaling about four thousand tons versus a two–and–a–half–ton truck. Even if the ships were floating and not on land, obviously the truck should not stand a chance.
Standing in front of the truck, Yuhyun grabbed one chain. Liette, who had slid down along the chain, grabbed the other.
“If I went full dragon form, I could just pick them right up~.”
“Y–yeah, yeah. Just pull!”
At my shout, I slammed the accelerator to the floor. The truck’s wheels spun, and Yuhyun and Liette began hauling on the chains. Scree–e–e— they went taut in a straight line.
“Dear Lord!”
“We surrender! We surrender!”
The two warships were slowly dragged toward the harbor. The dolls that tried to cut the chains were taken down by Yerim and Noah.
Blowing up the warships would not have been hard. Slap some bombs on them and boom, done. But it would have been a waste. All this had been squeezed out of the citizens anyway. We had to bring them in as intact as possible and recycle them.
Thud! The ships bumped lightly into each other. The balloon dolls tumbled across the rocking decks. A few tried to escape by jumping into the sea.
As if swimming to the pier would do them any good when the harbor was already surrounded.
The ships neared the pier, and the Guinders, completely cowed, started surrendering in droves. If things wrapped up this neatly, it would be perfect, but—
[Today’s Dice!]
“What a damn sense of timing!”
The cursed gamble–dice popped up. The dice board where, if luck went bad, it could turn the career I had piled up into a sandcastle. That was why I had wanted to finish the harbor after rolling the dice. But the time had been fixed, and the dice had not shown up all night.
If it rolled well, that would be amazing. But if I rolled a dud and it became “Team Han Yujin failed to defeat the Guinders!” that would be total ruin. Given how my luck had been so far, I could not just leave it all to chance. So—
“Finish up for me!”
I shouted loudly, jumped down from the truck, and hopped onto the scooter. The dice rolled along after me as I raced down the pier.
[If you do not roll within 10 minutes, it will trigger automatically!]
Okay, okay! Just hold on a second!
I kicked the scooter over and sprinted to the far end of the pier where there was the least battle damage. I grabbed what I had brought from the truck and yelled.
“I am going to become a pro angler and sweep the fishing tournaments!”
Yes, job change time! I quickly baited the hook and swung the fishing rod. Plop. The float bobbed up on the surface of the sea. I held the rod in one hand and picked up the dice with the other.
“Mr. Dice, please let me land a big one!”
A sixty–centimeter red sea bream, please. I hurled the dice with all my strength.
[1!]
My first 1 in a while. Mini me let out a huge sigh, looking completely done. Mini Hyunjae, who had rolled a 4 and was three spaces ahead, turned back to look at mini me and shook his head. Then he crooked a finger at him like, “Hurry up.” Wow, arrogant.
Mini me scowled and hopped forward one space.
[A powerful rival has appeared in your profession! Be careful!]
A rival? At that moment, the float suddenly sank. Wait, did I really get a bite? I yanked on the rod, and a heavy weight shot up my arms. For real? Even after all that racket right in front of us, what kind of fearless fish…
“Whoa, this one’s huge! It is crazy strong! Ugh, Yuhyun! I think your brother actually caught a fish!”
The pull was strong enough that I could barely hold it. Was this that beginner’s luck thing? Was it like a meter long? Was it even a fish? A shark? The rod bent in a deep arc, and a dark shadow rose toward the surface. It really was big.
“Lunker—”
Ssshhhh!
The sea exploded upward and a massive octopus burst out. It whipped a tentacle around my lunker. The octopus’s eye rolled to look at me.
Uh… so is that gentleman octopus my rival, by any chance?
Snap— the fishing line broke, and the octopus stole my big silver fish. Excuse me, that is not a rival, that is just a thief!
“Hey!”
The octopus wriggled. No, no, enjoy your meal. My lunker and the octopus vanished back into the sea together. Ha ha.
[Your rival will continue to follow you.]
“…Yeah, I guess fishing is not really my thing. I am staying away from the ocean from now on. Changing back to councilor. I will do politics.”
Good thing octopuses cannot live out of water. If it did come after me on land, Yuhyun would grill it up nicely. The bigger they are, the tastier they say.
I finished dealing with the dice cleanly and headed back to where the truck was. In the meantime, Yerim and Noah had dragged the Guinders off the ships.
“How did it go?”
“So I caught this big of a fish, right, but my dice luck sucked and an octopus stole it. It had to be a meter long. Seriously.”
At my words, Yerim nodded.
“Mister, you really became a fisherman in that tiny window, huh.”
No, I am serious. Feeling wronged, I looked up at Yuhyun.
“Your brother really caught a monster! A one–meter fish!”
“Yeah. You have caught tons of monsters too, hyung. You hauled in that giant turtle in Japan. It looked over a hundred meters.”
He said that as if a measly one meter was nothing. Monster hunting and fishing are a bit different, you know. How was I supposed to explain that?
“Want to go catch it again? There will be even bigger ones, hyung.”
Right, so, modern fishing is not hunting for survival but more of a sport activity… No, never mind. I did not trust myself to explain in a convincing way why you would sit there with a rod waiting for a fish to politely bite when you could get food easily otherwise. Why is it fun, actually.
In the distance, I saw the police swarming in. Over here, over here! Book them all!
[Harbor Liberated!!!]
[Northeast District Begins to Come Alive!]
[East Commercial Zone and Northern New Harbor Development Plan Speedily Passed!]
[Councilor Han Yujin of the Family Love Party – Who Is He?]
[Having lost his parents early, he took on all kinds of work to care for his younger brother and eventually obtained a small truck–.]
[New Fashion Trend Alert – Wings, Add Wings. Paint It Gold and Yellow.]
[Councilor Han Yujin’s Semi–Formal Suit – Ribbons Are the Key Point!]
The whole city was in an uproar. On every TV channel, my face was plastered across the screen in giant close–ups. Somehow a shot of my political debut outfit had been taken and was now on the cover of a fashion magazine.
I wanted to die from embarrassment. I never imagined I would end up as the main feature in a fashion mag in my lifetime. And it was not even thanks to a buff from Yuhyun or Yerim, it was purely because I, uh, was apparently good–looking, ahem.
My performance review as a newbie councilor was not finished yet. But the mood was such that it would have been strange if I did not become the No. 1 Councilor; people would practically riot. Of course, not everyone welcomed me.
[Councilor Han Yujin, a Former Guinder?]
[The Violent King of the East – Where Did the Auction Items Go?]
Some people tried to jump on that brief stint where I put one foot into the Guinder world and the one failed delivery. But I had not actually done anything that fit being called a Guinder. I had tracked down all the auction items and returned them properly, and I had never attacked ordinary citizens who were not Guinders…
…aside from Seong Hyunjae.
Calling me a Guinder hunter would have been more accurate.
Thanks to that, the articles trying to dig up dirt on me got little response and quickly disappeared.
“It is the latest fashion, Manager Song.”
Song Taewon looked at me with heavily lidded eyes. I was holding a pair of small wings. Soft white down gave them a cute, fluffy look.
“It is better than frills. I am wearing them too.”
I felt like some kind of Halloween Cupid, but still, wings beat dresses. Mine were light sky blue. Yuhyun’s were sky blue too, Yerim’s were black, and Noah and Liette had gold ones. Mr. Moon had already attached extravagant red wings even before I could gift him any.
“I even brought a pair for Chairman Seong, but it looks like he is not here. Come on, try them on.”
“…You seem to be in a good mood.”
“Things have been going really smoothly.”
I had dodged the damn dice nicely, and overall, it was not bad. Thinking about what would happen after this game made me a little gloomy again, but I planned to enjoy myself while I could.
“You are really popular, Manager Song. Understandably so. So, about that…”
I did not think Hyunjae would stop at being the chairman of a moderately large company. This wine bar, packed with VIP regulars, had to be a key location. I lowered my voice and tried to casually probe, but instead of answering, Manager Song slid a sky–blue glass toward me.
“Mm, tight–lipped as ever.”
I sipped the sweet cocktail. I could handle the dice in a similar way next time, and the No. 1 Councilor spot was practically guaranteed. I had already invested the 100 million and the money from selling the villa, so that would keep growing on its own, and the reward for cleaning up the Guinders was supposed to be no joke either.
At this rate, I figured I would win. Unless Hyunjae suddenly became mayor or something.
And the next day—
[Councilor Han Yujin of the Family Love Party Confirmed as No. 1 Councilor!]
A piece of great news, and right next to it—
[Bellond City Declares War on Miranglune City!]
A thunderbolt of a headline took over the front page.
What the hell, all of a sudden?
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt
