Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 236
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Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 236
52. Changes in Rondel (7)
When I stopped by the house in Bucheon, my parents, who had been waiting in advance, had prepared a lavish feast.
Naturally, Blake and Arcia started happily devouring the food.
Leaving those two behind, I told my parents the news of Arcia's pregnancy.
"What!? She's with child?"
The two of them were overjoyed at the news that I was going to have a child.
Mother in particular stroked Arcia's back as she devoured japchae and even shed tears.
"Well, I guess she doesn't have morning sickness then, seeing how well she eats."
"She did have it quite often until recently, but Arcia's appetite is just too strong."
An appetite that overcomes morning sickness.
Very Arcia-like, indeed.
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
Using magic, it isn't that difficult to examine the baby in the womb.
But I couldn't give my parents an answer to their curiosity.
The pregnancy is still in its early stages, so the fetus hasn't grown enough to distinguish its gender.
"I think I'll only be able to tell you the gender on my next visit."
I visit Earth every 3 days, and since 3 days of Earth time equates to 30 days in Rondel, I should be able to tell by then.
"I'd love a daughter."
Mother's reaction was that she hoped my first child would be a daughter.
I had to ask why.
"Why?"
"Imagine a daughter who looks like the two of you. That's the best genes possible."
She's not wrong about that.
A child born between me and Arcia would inevitably have striking looks.
Looks aren't everything in this world, but there's nothing bad about being good-looking.
I let out a silly laugh, and seeing me like that, the two of them wore expressions tinged with a hint of bitterness.
"But that child can't truly be called our grandchild. Your parents in Rondel are the real grandmother and grandfather."
The current me and the two of them are not connected by blood.
But so what?
I didn't care at all.
Both my parents in Rondel and my parents on Earth were equally precious family to me.
Later, when Rondel is integrated with Earth, I plan to bring the two of them to the Duchy of Lawrence.
I'm sure my parents in Rondel would understand my intentions.
I firmly told the two of them that our relationship would never change.
Whether it brought them comfort or not, they nodded and smiled.
"Right, do you remember a girl named Min-hee?"
About five minutes into our various conversations.
Mother suddenly brought up the name of a woman who sounded vaguely familiar.
I've been living in Rondel for over twenty years since my reincarnation.
So it would be normal for my old Earth memories to be hazy... but.
"Ah, Kang Min-hee?"
My brain, having reached the 9th-circle, perfectly recalled even the smallest fragments of past memories.
The woman named Kang Min-hee was a cousin of the same age with whom I had neither a close nor a bad relationship.
"Yes, Kang Min-hee."
"What about her?"
At my question, Mother hesitated, saying she wasn't sure whether she should bring it up, but then honestly confessed.
"She's currently serving as a female soldier. But they say she hasn't been reachable at all for the past 3 days. I was wondering if you could look into it."
My parents know about my status only to the extent that I have a deep friendship with Count Reiers.
And since Count Reiers' domain happens to have a military cooperation relationship with the South Korean government, that's why they made this request.
"Alright, I'll look into it."
"Oh, having a son is reassuring."
"Haha."
The two of them brightened up.
I received Kang Min-hee's unit information from Mother and immediately took action.
For reference, since I'd already made acquaintance with the President today, I contacted the Secretary's office directly rather than going through Count Reiers to reach the government.
'Capital Defense Command, 56th Homeland Reserve Infantry Division Headquarters Company, First Lieutenant Kang Min-hee.'
Perhaps because her unit was under the Capital Defense Command, the response to my information request came quickly.
But the contents were unexpected.
[First Lieutenant Kang Min-hee's publicly known unit and her actual unit are different. She is currently serving as the captain of a special female officer company, and that unit has been selected as a Gift demonstration unit and is participating in research activities. I've just contacted the head of the agency, so she should receive a check-in call sometime today.]
I hadn't expected that Kang Min-hee would be a member of a special forces unit requiring a cover identity, nor that she'd be important enough to be mobilized for such covert activities.
Whether it was a sign of trust or simply shock therapy, I was able to obtain Kang Min-hee's information, which could be considered classified but an ordinary civilian wouldn't have been able to access her details at all.
[Is there anything else you need?]
The Chief Secretary on the phone asked in an exceedingly polite manner.
"Thank you. That will be all."
[If you don't mind my asking, what is your relationship with First Lieutenant Kang Min-hee...?]
The Chief Secretary subtly asked me about my relationship with her.
"Then I'll hang up now."
[Ah, yes.]
With the matter settled, I didn't drag the call out and hung up right away.
"What did they say?"
"She's been busy. She'll be contacting the family sometime today."
"Oh? Whew, what a relief. I was worried something had happened..."
Seeing my mother and father relieved, I smiled outwardly, but inwardly I couldn't shake a nagging unease.
'Kang Min-hee and Gift...'
Hearing about my cousin, who I'd forgotten about but who was close enough to me in my own way, and the fact that she'd obtained a Gift something about it felt deeply unsettling.
It was like a situation tailor-made for the goddess to mess with.
'Am I just being paranoid?'
Perhaps my lack of faith in the goddess was making me imagine all sorts of things.
"I should be heading back soon."
My parents expressed disappointment at my words, but there was nothing to be done.
After all, I'd already spent more time than usual today meeting the President.
"Nothing we can do about it. It's early in the pregnancy, so take good care of her you need to be attentive as her husband."
"Yes, I will."
Still, it wouldn't be long before this disappointment would vanish.
The only problem was that the change would come hand in hand with a catastrophe.
* * *
As nations around the world learned of the existence of Gifts, they deliberated on how to utilize them.
The curiosity of nations regarding special powers like magic was immense, and high-ranking government officials gathered in one place, racking their brains.
And so, people arrived at a conclusion.
The place where that mysterious power could best be utilized was the military.
Thus, institutions dedicated to researching everything from Gift acquisition to practical application were born in each country, and Korea was no different.
[First Lieutenant Kang Min-hee, we will begin Gift experiment number 13. Destination: Jeju Island, 7th Mobile Flotilla Headquarters.]
Korea carefully selected personnel to acquire Gifts from among all the special forces operators in the entire military.
Among them was Kang Min-hee, Adrian's cousin from his past life, and the Gift she obtained was of the teleportation line.
Her ability was comparable to 7th Circle Teleport Magic, capable of crossing distances of several hundred kilometers in a single jump.
However, the number of teleportations was limited to a maximum of ten times per day, and aside from infiltration purposes in combat, it had little other use so despite possessing a 7th Circle-level ability, she had to accept an assessment of being underwhelming.
But in fact, that was an error caused by a failure to properly understand her ability.
As it turned out, Kang Min-hee's Gift wasn't teleporting herself alone it was the ability to move along with anyone located within a 2.5-meter diameter centered on her.
Thanks to that, now that her ability was properly understood, she was being reevaluated.
Being able to infiltrate enemy lines alone and being able to insert a squad-scale force into enemy lines were entirely different things.
"Then First Lieutenant Kang Min-hee and nine others will jump."
And so, the special forces unit composed entirely of women, with Kang Min-hee as its Company Captain, was deployed for the test.
Since her ability could only move people within a 2.5-meter diameter, the ten members were all huddled together, clinging to one another.
Though the formation looked rather awkward, both the observers and the participating members were all serious.
Then Kang Min-hee activated her ability, and teleportation began centered on her.
-Pop!
A sensation of the body floating in the air was accompanied by slight dizziness.
And in an instant, the female special forces members felt the surroundings change, and they released their arms from one another.
"Wow, that's amazing."
Everyone let out exclamations of wonder at the suddenly changed scenery.
Having an ability like this it was practically magic.
The members showed their amazement and gave Kang Min-hee thumbs-up, but Kang Min-hee's own expression, having used the ability, was twisted in discomfort.
"Company Captain? What's wrong?"
A squad member wearing the rank of sergeant noticed something strange about Kang Min-hee and asked, and soon all the squad members' gazes focused on her.
In response, Kang Min-hee swallowed dryly and spoke.
"I don't think this is the place I intended to teleport to. The feeling during teleportation was different from usual."
"What?"
"No, to begin with, I don't think this is Jeju Island."
"What do you mean?"
Kang Min-hee pointed at the air with her hand.
The ground they were standing on was a small hill, and as the squad members' gazes followed Kang Min-hee's fingertip, they could see several airships gliding through the distant sky.
"What is that? Are ships flying in the sky right now?"
"What is this? Have we arrived at a place called Reiers County?"
Naturally, no one could answer that question.
In the end, Kang Min-hee acknowledged the 11th jump experiment as a failure and gathered the squad members.
"This teleportation was a failure. Let's go back."
"Ah, understood."
And so Kang Min-hee and the squad members reused her ability to return to their original base.
But.
"Why?"
She could feel the sensation of teleporting, yet the same place kept appearing before her eyes.
Kang Min-hee's complexion turned pale, and the squad members could sense that something had gone seriously wrong.
* * *
Upon returning to Rondel from Earth, an unpleasant piece of news was waiting for me.
"What do you mean? They're asking to open Ophelia Island?"
The Inquisition, centered on the Holy Son, had requested that Ophelia Island the Duchy of Lawrence's core research facility be opened to them.
Naturally, what they meant by "opening" wasn't simply allowing them to visit the island.
They were asking for access to classified areas so they could inspect every corner of the island, plus the right to interrogate key personnel.
Of course, the church wouldn't resort to spying to steal technology, but I had to feel displeased that this request had come from the Inquisition, where the Holy Son was in charge.
"Anyone can see this is retaliation for the last incident."
The Holy Son, who had shown hostility toward me after meeting the goddess last time.
I had a feeling he might do something, but I never expected him to go this far in such a manner.
Thanks to that, the good mood from handling the missions entrusted to me by the Blue Moon and the Americans who visited Earth with me was ruined in an instant.
"What a typical petty person."
"But given the symbolic weight the church's Inquisition carries, it's hard to ignore this request."
The church's target is probably the Americans living on Ophelia Island.
At the last meeting, instead of revealing my past life, I'd publicly disclosed that I was protecting Earthlings to fit the narrative of my connection to Earth.
The problem was that some of these Americans didn't follow control, so I couldn't begin to guess what nonsense they might spout in front of the inquisitors.
"Seeing how he manages to ruin my mood like this, I suppose the Holy Son is somewhat of a figure after all."
I deliberated, looking at the Foreign Minister who was waiting for my answer.
The Foreign Minister, along with the Minister of the Royal Household, was a person from Blue Moon.
I'd made that decision because, given the nature of diplomacy, it seemed best to place someone with excellent information-gathering skills, and thanks to that, he understood the current situation better than any other minister.
"What to do. Some of the Americans include personnel who support my work on Earth, so if they dig deep, something problematic is bound to surface…."
"Then perhaps we should allow the inquisitors onto Ophelia Island for now, but stall for time by obstructing their investigation."
"So we buy time and deal with the problematic issues one by one?"
"Yes."
I wasn't keen on it, but it seemed like the most realistic response for now.
"I suppose there's no choice. Alright. Proceed with that."
I clicked my tongue and gave the order.
"That Holy Son what am I supposed to do with him?"
Of course, cursing the Holy Son right after giving the order was unavoidable.
It was uncomfortable that such an emotional person was a key figure in the church that supported an entire world.
If we couldn't coexist, he'd have to be removed, but the problem was that he was the Holy Son.
He couldn't be dealt with through ordinary means.
Thanks to that, even after dismissing the Foreign Minister, I had to continue agonizing for a long while.
"Your Highness the King."
How long had I been lost in thought alone?
Gregory, who might have been expected to be exhausted from supporting Brangish on Earth, appeared before me as if surging up from the floor, his expression unchanged.
When he showed up so abruptly like this, it meant there was news that needed urgent attention, so I had to tilt my head.
"A group that appears to be soldiers from Earth has been spotted in the Walter Kingdom."
"Is that so?"
That was certainly surprising information.\