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CHAPTER 145 – TO NIGERIA
Now that Round 9 was over,
there were roughly 650,000 players left worldwide.
If you went by the logic that one out of five people was trash, then there were still 130,000 pieces of trash left in the world.
‘Just because I dealt with Plseba’s trash doesn’t mean the world has become safe.’
Criminal players who contributed to ruining the world were useless—like vermin.
‘So I’m going to Nigeria to wipe out those bugs and to recruit an alchemist.’
In Nigeria, there was an Alchemist—a unique class.
If he could coax him over to his side, it would be a huge help in clearing Round 20.
‘And it’s not just the alchemist I’ll gain.’
If he went there, he could also meet the conditions to obtain runes in reality.
He’d be able to pick up assorted items, and he could raise the name value of Black Scythe as well.
“Done.”
After packing everything into his suitcase, Ryu Min stood up.
Assuming it could take up to a week, he packed clothes and daily necessities.
“Hyung, hyung!”
With a quick knock, the door flung open.
His younger brother stared at Ryu Min’s luggage with wide, shocked eyes.
“Y-you’re leaving already?”
“Yeah. I’ll be back quickly.”
Ryu Won had heard last night that his brother would suddenly be going on a trip, but he hadn’t expected him to leave this early in the morning.
“You said you’re going to Japan?”
“Yeah. I’ve been really exhausted lately, so I’m going to do a hot spring trip for about a week.”
Someone who’d been staying cooped up suddenly going on a trip?
Naturally, Ryu Won couldn’t help but suspect him.
“Hyung, did you get a girlfriend or something? If that’s it, don’t hide it—just tell me. Nobody’s going to say anything if a couple travels together.”
“What are you talking about? I’m going to rest, I told you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Then take me too.”
Ryu Min slowly shook his head.
“It’s a world where it’s hard enough just keeping myself alive. If you come too, it could be dangerous.”
“Are you really going alone?”
“I am.”
Ryu Won couldn’t ask anything more.
If his brother said so, he had no choice but to believe him.
“Sorry, but I’ll be back. Stay home until I return. Eat properly, too.”
“Don’t worry. Delivery food is insanely good these days.”
“If you’re short on spending money, say so now.”
“There’s nowhere for me to spend it. Just be careful and come back.”
“Okay. Take care. I’m going.”
As his brother pulled the suitcase and stepped out the front door, Ryu Won watched him with envious eyes.
Clack— thud.
Ryu Won didn’t take his eyes off him until the door closed, but his expression quickly turned sullen.
“I want to go on a hot spring trip too……”
He complained quietly, but he understood.
It was still a dangerous world for civilians.
Just look at the recent barbecue restaurant incident.
“It can’t be helped. Hyung’s not wrong.”
He was jealous that his brother could even go out, let alone travel to hot springs, but he didn’t feel it was unfair.
His brother had supported him as the head of the household while attending school.
People needed to recharge after working.
“If it weren’t for hyung, I wouldn’t even be living in a luxurious house like this.”
It had only been nine months since he’d lived in a shabby studio apartment where even ordering a bowl of jjajangmyeon felt like a burden.
This wasn’t the time to sulk about eating delivery food.
“I’ve really gotten full of myself. Seriously. Full of myself!”
Smacking himself on the head, Ryu Won reflected and scolded himself—then licked his lips.
“Ah, now that I think about it, I want jjajangmyeon.”
Once it was lunchtime, he’d order it right away.
Jjajangmyeon never got old, no matter how many times you ate it.
When he got to the parking lot, Yamtti was waiting in front of a Lamborghini.
“You’re here? M-master—no, I mean, Ryu Min-ssi?”
“You’re here. Let’s go.”
They loaded the suitcases into the trunk and left right away.
On the way to Incheon Airport.
Once they merged onto the highway, Ryu Min broke the silence.
“Yesterday, you asked why I’m going to Nigeria.”
“Yes.”
“Nigeria is a place where all kinds of crimes run rampant. It’s also where IS—public enemy—has a foothold.”
“IS… you mean that terrorist group that pursues Islamic extremism?”
“Yeah. Among the people they’ve kidnapped, there’s an Alchemist I want to make an ally. My goal is to get that Alchemist out.”
Ryu Min revealed his goal without hesitation.
Yamtti was a slave who obeyed his words absolutely anyway.
There was no need to keep it secret.
If he told her to keep her mouth shut, she’d protect it even if it killed her.
“Ah, so that’s why you’re taking me. To use the Rune of Charm to control the Alchemist.”
“No. It’s true I’m taking you because I need the Rune of Charm, but I won’t use it on the Alchemist. If possible, I should keep a slot open.”
“Then after that?”
“I’ll wipe out the trash and build Black Scythe’s reputation. That’s why I took the title of CPF commander in the first place.”
The commander of CPF went to Nigeria and crushed IS—the public enemy.
If that became known, it was obvious Black Scythe’s name would become famous.
“Ah, so that’s why you said you needed the Police Commissioner’s guarantee? To leave a record that Black Scythe departed the country.”
“That’s right.”
As he said, Nigeria was dangerous.
Its security situation was bad enough to be classified as Travel Alert Level 3.
Naturally, they wouldn’t let you in for a simple vacation.
Not unless you had a business purpose or something else.
But what if you could prove you were strong enough to protect yourself?
Then entry and exit were possible.
That was why he moved under the CPF commander title.
To pass immigration more easily.
And to leave a record that Black Scythe went to Nigeria.
So who would guarantee Black Scythe?
‘The Police Commissioner agreed to cover it.’
Because of that, Ryu Min wasn’t worried about departure screening.
“Whew… sounds like it’ll be a pretty harsh journey.”
“You can’t call this harsh.”
When they arrived at the airport, Ryu Min parked and altered his appearance.
Wobble-wobble—
In an instant, he became Lost Ark, and Yamtti’s eyes went round.
“Wooow, you got taller too? It’s my first time seeing you transform, Master.”
“Enough gawking. From now on, call me Black Scythe.”
“Yes, Black Scythe-nim.”
After taking out the suitcases, they found the charter airline’s counter.
“Welcome, sir. Did you reserve a charter flight?”
“Yes. Here’s my ID.”
Naturally, Ryu Min handed over Lost Ark’s ID.
Since he was traveling under the identity of Black Scythe, forging an identity was essential.
“We do have one charter plane standing by. The destination is confirmed as Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Nigeria… just a moment.”
After checking something, the staff member handed over the tickets.
“Confirmed. Here are your tickets. It’s a direct flight to Nigeria, and the travel time will be 17 hours. Please complete boarding procedures at the security screening area over there, and after passport control, proceed inside.”
“Yes, thank you.”
There was one reason Ryu Min was taking Plseba’s chairman’s charter plane.
‘Because it saves time with a direct flight.’
Normally, you could only get to Nigeria with a layover, and it took about 25 hours on average.
Rather than wasting that much time in the sky, it was better to take a charter and go quickly.
After checking in their luggage and receiving their tickets, Ryu Min went through boarding procedures and passport inspection at the security screening area.
“You’re going to Nigeria?”
“Yes.”
The immigration officer looked them over with a wary, sideways glance.
“Nigeria is currently a dangerous region. Are you aware of that?”
“It’s fine. I’m the CPF commander. Everything’s already approved, so confirm with the Police Commissioner.”
“CPF commander…? Just a moment.”
The officer stepped away, then returned a few minutes later.
“It’s been confirmed. The Police Commissioner guaranteed that you are indeed the CPF commander. He said there’s no issue with your capability, so send both of you through.”
“Is that so?”
“Here are your passports. Then have a pleasant trip.”
Ryu Min smiled and passed through the checkpoint with Yamtti.
As expected—having the Police Commissioner as backing meant they could smoothly pass through even into a dangerous region.
A little later, the two boarded the charter plane without any waiting.
There were only two passengers: Ryu Min and Yamtti.
The captain’s voice came over the speakers.
[Welcome. This is Captain Seo Tae-seok. Our flight is a direct flight to Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, and the total flight time will be 17 hours. We hope you have a comfortable and pleasant flight.]
Ryu Min lay back in the first-class seat set up like a bed and propped his feet up comfortably.
“Yamtti.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Get some sleep. Once we arrive, there won’t be time to rest.”
“Yes, I will.”
After organizing what needed to be done in Nigeria in his head, Ryu Min closed his eyes.
Sleep slowly crept in.
Nigeria lay in West Africa, a region considered dangerous even within Africa.
Muslims who believed in Islam accounted for as much as 50%, and the northern areas were filled with infamous Islamic extremists.
Its security level was poor—robberies happened frequently even in broad daylight, and organized crime between groups never ceased.
Murder, kidnapping, rape, human trafficking—an entirely different world where such things happened like everyday life.
‘And the Alchemist of the century is in a place like this?’
After 17 hours, Ryu Min’s group arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport and went through entry screening.
Since you could tell they were players just by their age, they passed without issue.
After retrieving their luggage, Ryu Min suddenly recalled the captain’s advice when they got off the charter plane.
-I don’t know why you’re visiting Nigeria, but be careful. Especially, you must never take airport taxis. Countless travelers get threatened and robbed after boarding without knowing. Well, since you look young, there probably aren’t scammers who’ll try something against players, but still—it’s better to be cautious.
It wasn’t a joke meant to scare them.
It was a country dangerous enough that even knowing they were players, someone would genuinely worry.
“Master. Where are we going now?”
“First, we disguise ourselves. Wait here.”
With tools he’d packed in advance, Ryu Min went into the airport restroom.
When he came back out, his face was completely different.
With a beard stuck all over Lost Ark’s face—which already leaned slightly older—he now looked exactly like a man in his forties.
“If we do this, they won’t know we’re players.”
“What about me?”
“You can go as you are.”
Yamtti had already done her makeup to look older.
There was no need to mess with it more.
“Even to foreigners, you’ll look at least thirty.”
“Hng, that’s so mean.”
Ignoring Yamtti’s complaint, Ryu Min looked around to catch an airport taxi.
Taxis were soliciting all over the place after noticing they were travelers, but Ryu Min didn’t just hop into any one.
‘Not this guy, not that guy.’
Reading the taxi drivers’ true thoughts, he tested the waters, then moved on to find another.
And then—
‘Found one.’
Ryu Min tapped the trunk of one taxi twice.
“Please open it.”
“Okay, okay!”
When he spoke in English, the taxi driver—who looked to be in his forties—cheerfully opened the trunk.
After loading the suitcases with Yamtti, they got into the back seat.
The taxi driver asked with a bright face.
“Since you speak English, you must be travelers, yeah? Where are you going?”
“Please take us to Ibadan.”
“Okay. Two hours.”
As the driver drove, he kept glancing at them in the rearview mirror.
When their eyes met, he beamed and spoke in English.
“You look like East Asians. Which country you come from? China?”
“No. Korea.”
“Why come Nigeria?”
“I’m here for business.”
“What company you work for?”
“It’s just a small company selling cleaning products. A small company.”
“Well, our country does need cleaning.”
Even if you only turned your head toward the window, shabby shantytowns caught your eye.
Poor infrastructure, crowds like swarms of ants, traffic jams, people armed with rifles, impoverished districts, slums—
Lagos was Nigeria’s largest city with over twenty million people packed in, but it was also a city that always ranked near the top for pollution levels.
“The pretty lady next to you—she your girlfriend?”
“She’s a coworker.”
“Eh, looking at her eyes, don’t seem like that.”
While exchanging pointless conversation, two hours passed.
Yamtti asked Ryu Min with an anxious face.
“When do we arrive?”
“We’re almost there.”
But even when three hours passed, the car kept moving.
As if the taxi driver knew it too, he volunteered an explanation without being asked.
“Sorry. Traffic bad, so I go around—now take longer. I drive faster.”
But the car only stopped after two more hours.
“We arrived.”
At the five-hour mark, they reached their destination.
Or so it seemed.
When he looked out the window, he saw a run-down village.
It wasn’t their destination.
“This is Ibadan?”
“Get out first.”
The taxi driver said that, then got out first.
Before Ryu Min could even protest about him not taking payment, he saw the taxi driver approach an armed thug and speak to him.
“Brought them.”
“Two?”
“Yeah. One man, one woman. Perfect, right?”
“No trouble, yeah?”
“Have I only done this once or twice? Pay me already. I’m going to eat dinner. I’m starving after driving five hours.”
The thug, his face wrapped in cloth, shifted his automatic rifle back and pulled out a thick bundle of bills from his pocket.
“Good work.”
“Heh-heh, thanks.”
After counting the money, the taxi driver turned toward them with a sly smile, and Yamtti got goosebumps.
She didn’t know what they said since she couldn’t understand English, but anyone who wasn’t an idiot could figure it out.
They had been sold to a human trafficking ring.
The rifleman tilted the muzzle and spoke.
“You speak English, right? Both of you come here. If you don’t want to die.”
“…….”
“What’re you hesitating for, you fuckers? You still don’t understand the situation?”
“The one who doesn’t understand the situation is you.”
“What?”
Ryu Min smirked and peeled off the beard stuck to his lips.
The thug’s eyes changed.
His expression was hidden by the cloth, but his thoughts were readable.
He was flustered by the suddenly youthful-looking face.
The taxi driver looked just as shocked.
‘As expected—they brought us to a human trafficking ring.’
It looked like he’d been captured, but in truth, he’d let himself be captured.
It didn’t take long for the rifleman to realize that.
Wham—!
Because the taxi driver’s head burst open like a smashed watermelon.
Shrrrrk— thud!
After retrieving his scythe, Ryu Min warned the armed thug.
“Come closer. If you don’t want to die.”