LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 113 - Han Shin-woo's Children
Chapter 113 Han Shin-woo’s Children
“Oppa! Oppa, wake up!”
Ria was running through the city streets, continuously calling out to the unconscious Shin-woo on her back.
But no matter how much she tried to rouse him, Shin-woo didn’t respond at all, as if the blow had completely knocked him out.
“Ugh… What did they hit you with to make you like this?”
“It wasn’t just a simple hit. It was a precise technique to keep him unconscious for a long time.”
“…!”
While running, Ria’s path was suddenly blocked by Yulian, who descended from above.
Ria quickly turned to flee in the opposite direction, but…
“I’m sorry, former Empress. I can’t let you escape.”
“Ugh…!”
“Please, follow us quietly, Empress Ria.”
Surrounded by Shin-woo’s daughters, with Yulian in front and Shin-ah behind her, Ria found herself trapped.
“I’m not an Empress! …Well, I guess I might be in the future, but still! You’re after Sister Sophia, aren’t you? Do you really think I’m going to just do what you want?”
Knowing their objective, Ria tried her best to resist.
But with the two of them surrounding her, both exuding an overwhelming aura, Ria knew her chances were slim.
“Sigh. I guess there’s no choice but to fight, then.”
“?! Sis, are we really going to fight the Empress?”
“We don’t have a choice. Let’s knock her out quickly and get this over with.”
“O-Okay!”
Ria had few options to choose from, especially with Shin-woo unconscious and outnumbered. She had to protect him, even if it meant taking one of them down with her.
With that resolve, Ria gently set Shin-woo down and assumed the *Kujin Karate* stance, preparing for battle.
“A stance…?”
“Was the Empress a martial artist?”
“I don’t know anything else!”
Having rarely fought after becoming an Empress in the future, Ria’s children had hardly ever seen her in combat. Naturally, Yulian and Shin-ah, the children of other Empresses, had no idea about her fighting style.
But it didn’t seem to matter to them.
“It doesn’t change the outcome. Let’s go, Shin-ah.”
“O-Okay! Yulian!”
Just as they were about to close in on Ria from both sides…
Whoosh.
“…! Shin-ah, dodge!”
“W-What’s this?”
Boom!
As if anticipating this situation, something fell from the sky.
Creak. Creak, creak.
“Eek?! It’s hideous!”
“…An automaton?”
A humanoid combat doll, armored from head to toe, twisted its joints in ways no human could and took a battle stance.
It was the ultimate weapon of the puppet masters: the *Automaton*.
“What’s an Automaton? Sis?”
“Back when there were many kinds of humans, it was a tool used by Puppet Masters, a type of Hunter.”
“By combining the corpses of humans and monsters with a bit of science, they succeeded in creating the ultimate Automaton.”
Yulian traced the thin, almost invisible magic threads connecting the Automaton to its master.
Up on a utility pole, the puppeteer assumed to be controlling it—*Riverine* from the Monster Group—landed next to Ria, greeting the two with a smile.
“Ah, you’re the one I saw at the department store…”
“I’m Riverine. I was with Shin-woo in Japan, but it’s been a while, hasn’t it, little monster?”
“O-Oh! You’re here to help?”
“Yes, of course. The Monster Group always has someone watching over Shin-woo to protect him.”
Of course, they did so secretly.
Shin-woo might not know, but the Monster Group had members constantly watching over him, 24/7, 365 days a year.
“Attacking Shin-woo while I’m on duty? You all have terrible luck.”
“The blue-haired puppeteer… Shin-ah, be careful. This might be the Fourth Empress, Lady Riverine.”
“Lady Riverine?! I didn’t know she could even walk!”
“Indeed… I’m a bit surprised too.”
In their world, Empress Riverine was always sick, strictly forbidding anyone from approaching her. Seeing the Empress, who was often called the “Mad Empress,” ready to fight caught the two princesses off guard.
“Come on, let’s go!”
“…!”
“Sis, are we really going to fight?”
The situation had shifted from 2v1 to 2v2.
Their objective was to capture Empress Sophia. But now, with the extra time this fight would take, they risked attracting attention in this era where humanity’s infrastructure was still strong.
If they caused too much commotion, a ‘Hunter’ might show up.
So…
“Shin-ah, we’re changing the plan.”
“Sis?”
“I’ll stay behind. You go find and capture Lady Sophia.”
“O-Okay! Got it.”
It was going to get rough, but if their cover was blown anyway, it didn’t matter.
With that decision, Yulian signaled Shin-ah to leave, choosing to stay behind and fight alone.
“Oh? She’s leaving?”
“Are you planning to fight both of us alone?”
Riverine, sensing an underestimation, frowned.
“I’m sorry, Lady Riverine…”
“Huh? Lady Riverine…?”
“But I’ll have to get rough.”
“…!!”
Yulian concentrated her power into her body.
“Raaaaaaaargh!!”
“?!”
“Huh? That’s Oppa’s…?!”
Her body began to be consumed by a black aura.
Soon, Yulian appeared before them, clad in black armor with two dark horns protruding from her head, shocking both Ria and Riverine.
“No words needed. Let’s finish this quickly.”
***
“We’ve confirmed the appearance of a monster in downtown Seoul!”
“Based on the size, it’s suspected to be a humanoid monster!”
“And the readings are… similar to the monster that appeared in Jamsil before!”
“Hmm, I didn’t expect them to cross the 38th parallel so soon. I guess they walked right through the minefields as if taking a stroll?”
In the director’s office, Jin-ah Lee listened to the situation report from the command center.
Gathered around her were Shin-woo’s large family, who had been feeding their “starving” grandchild, and two others who had been called in.
“W-What should we do? Should we deploy immediately?”
“Hmm… Given that we know their target is Sophia, I’d prefer it if she stayed at the association.”
“I guess… there’s no other choice?”
“Yes. Even if we manage to defeat all four of them, if they get Sophia, we lose.”
At that moment, Lorensky, who found something strange about Jin-ah’s words, raised his hand to ask a question.
“If this whole situation is because of that one woman, why not just hand her over to the enemy?”
“What did you just say?”
“How dare you speak to my mother like that!”
“Wait a minute! Just to clear things up, I don’t care either way. If we protect her, we protect her, and if we fight, we fight. That’s what a Russian warrior does. But I don’t understand Miss Jin-ah’s actions.”
“…”
“Can you explain exactly what you mean, Lorensky?”
Rolling, realizing the implication of Lorensky’s words, quietly pulled Sophia close to her.
The three of them were all Hunters who debuted in the same era.
They had crossed paths on missions several times, and Rolling and Jin-ah had worked together in the same team while in the U.S.
So, Lorensky had sensed something off about Jin-ah.
“You’re a woman who sacrifices the few for the greater good.”
“Yeah, so?”
“The number of Hunters who’ll die because of Sophia and Shin-woo’s children far outweighs the risk of losing her. So why are you protecting her?”
Jin-ah had always weighed human lives on a scale, calculating every decision.
There was no way she would go to such lengths to protect Sophia just because she was her friend’s daughter.
And, as expected…
“You’re right. Normally, I would have sacrificed Sophia.”
“…!”
“Jin-ah, you…”
“Director!”
“But after hearing about the future, I can’t let Sophia fall into the hands of Future Shin-woo.”
Jin-ah had a very solid reason for protecting Sophia with her life.
“Why? What would happen if she goes to the future?”
“Think of it like an aquarium. It’ll make more sense that way.”
“An aquarium? You mean like the kind that holds fish?”
“Yes. Normally, if you add water to an aquarium, the water will overflow, but the fish will still be fine.”
But the opposite…
“If you take the water out of the aquarium, what happens to the fish?”
“They’d all die, of course.”
“Exactly. That’s how this world works. Now, imagine what happens if even one person who’s supposed to be here suddenly disappears completely.”
Like a computer program malfunctioning when a single line of code is removed, if someone who was meant to exist in this world is suddenly taken away, it would create a void that can never be filled.
“If Sophia is taken to the future and dies there, this world will suffer from a void that can never be filled.”
“That’s right. And if she’s captured, it’ll be much harder to rescue her later.”
“I see… So, instead of trying to retrieve her after she’s taken, we should protect her now?”
“Exactly. Fortunately, Korea has several National
Power-level individuals. I think we stand a good chance.”
“Ah, this brings back memories of the Soviet days. This should be fun!”
Hearing Jin-ah’s reasoning, Lorensky grinned, stretching as he prepared for battle.
Sophia, too, was beginning to understand how crucial she was in the present.
Meanwhile…
In front of the Korean Hunter Association, which was essentially in a state of emergency…
“Mmm! Good. I can feel the strong energy here!”
Han Shin-woo’s 16th child, who had begun her solo mission to find strong humans in this era, spoke aloud.
“So this is the building my mother once stayed in—the Hunter Association.”
Prince Han Yujin, who had inherited the surname Han, shouted toward the building.