Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan

Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan – 153

Rear Disruption

There was ample justification to deal with those guys. They were given a chance to correct their wrong choices.
‘It needed to be known to some extent.’
The U.S. government and the association had superficially tolerated the existence of the irregular known as Isaac. They needed time to prepare. However, Isaac, who had to achieve the ‘Global Clan’ accomplishment within 1 year and 5 months, couldn’t afford to align with America’s pace.
Whether it was a first-class disaster or a special-grade disaster, he needed to gain fame to receive mission requests. And in such a situation, an S-rank hero from the U.S. had occupied the hologram training room reserved by the Harmony Clan and caused trouble, which was a perfect opportunity.
It was as if a marketing opportunity had fallen into his lap.
“Come in. You all, leave.”
Three girls who had been huddled in the corner of the training room quickly ran out. The members who replaced them lined up in front of Isaac, their faces brimming with pride and respect.
“We’re 15 minutes behind schedule. Where’s the supervisor?”
“Oh, I’ll call him.”
The supervisor in charge of the performance test, summoned by Seo Eun-ha, approached hesitantly. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he regained his composure and smoothly checked the members’ hologram performances.
The hologram simulations, which included battles against major villains, monsters, hostage and survivor rescues, and various disaster scenarios, lasted for a full hour.
“Impressive. Everyone has exceeded the A-rank cut-off!”
“Do I need to participate as well?”
“Uh, no. But for S-rank, we need the association’s approval…”
“That’s fine. We’ll request it separately.”
The American Hero Association already knew how Vanguard had been defeated in the duel. Isaac’s performance test was unnecessary from the start.
“You’re the Korean hero Isaac, right? Can I have a moment for an interview? I’m Natalie Perez from the New York Times.”
After the test, he was approached for an exclusive interview. The way Americans looked at him had become noticeably more burdensome.
“You’re amazing!”
“I’ve memorized your hero name. I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life!”
Despite their own S-rank heroes being soundly defeated, the public sentiment towards him didn’t seem too bad. It was a reflection of the flexible yet fiery national character, which could be seen as quirky and rough around the edges.
“Yes, nice to meet you. I’m available for the interview.”
“Ha-ha, I’m truly honored that you’ve accepted. Let’s keep it brief and conduct it over by that wall.”
Part of him was concerned about the possibility of overstepping questions that are typical in American culture, which I presumed to be bolder than in Korea.
However, the questions that came my way were fairly safe, revolving around future plans and ambitions, as well as Isaac feelings about taking down two of America’s S-rank heroes.
“Lastly, I saw your duel with the Sword Emperor not long ago. Where do you rank yourself among the few Awakened in the world?”
This was the question Natalie Perez had been most eager to ask. The rest was just buildup for this moment.
Humanity is still unaware of the existence of 6-star Ethereals.
The common belief was that no matter how strong Isaac was, he couldn’t exceed the standards of an Awakened. In fact, the very idea that a hero could surpass the stages of Awakening was considered impossible.
Even experts working in the hero industry had never encountered a 6-star Ethereal.
“Probably, even if all the other Awakened came at me together, they wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“…Excuse me?”
Natalie doubted her hearing.
What an answer. It was an overabundance of confidence, and therefore, it was also provocative news material.
Faced with the shameless response from a man who seemed like he had never joked in his life, Natalie couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ha-ha! You’re wittier than I thought. I had no idea.”
“Yes. Anyway, that seems to be enough. I’ll be going now.”
“Ah! Thank you for the interview.”
With that, Isaac schedule in America came to an end.
Isaac awkwardly accepted the belated apologies from the American Hero Association executives who arrived at the Metropolis Training Center. He then headed to John F. Kennedy International Airport with his team.
The Nexus Jet, carrying the team members and staff, began its flight autonomously, guided by an AI interacting with the control tower.
They were returning after a week.
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***
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The Harmony Clan underwent radical changes within two months.
The infinite resources pouring out of Isaac’s inventory, acquired from the Otherworld, were converted into cash, leading to the construction of a new headquarters. After a price competition with major corporations, they purchased a 10,000-pyeong plot in Songpa-gu and immediately started construction, which cost a total of 800 billion won.
The staff were greatly impressed by Isaac’s willingness to spend such a large sum, but Isaac himself remained indifferent. This occurred in the third week after Isaac returned from the Otherworld.
After returning from the U.S., Isaac checked on the construction progress and other major issues before commuting to the training center for a while.
Sitting cross-legged, Isaac used his memory technique to study the blueprints of legendary-grade armaments he had purchased at a high price. He invested three days to understand the structure of the armaments and ran multiple simulations to minimize mistakes, given the high cost of the materials required for their creation.
Among the materials were the Furious Horn of the Minotaur, the Storm Tail purified from Queen Epolex, and top-tier ice attribute magic stones. Isaac already possessed about one-third of the necessary materials, while the rest were acquired through auctions or requested from the association.
“Ifrit, I trust you.”
“This is a task we’ve repeated countless times. As long as the heat of Corona Spiritus is present, the top-tier materials will be refined in an instant. Be mindful not to delay the deployment of the technique.”
“I understand.”
On the fourth day of his return to the center, Isaac took out the Frost Orb, Storm Tail, two top-tier magic stones, and a core of a top-tier sentient being from his inventory, placing them at the vertices of a pentagon.
Vwoooom—
As Isaac, seated in the center of the materials, began to channel his magic, complex geometric shapes and star patterns intersected, forming a circular magic circle with a pentagon inscribed on its perimeter.
Whooong—
The Frost Orb was the first to rise into the air. Immediately, a geometric circular magic circle enveloped it. A resonant hum echoed, and Ifrit, burning with blue flames, flapped its wings vigorously.
Whoosh!
The cold Frost Orb ignited with blue flames. As time passed, the blue flames gradually turned into pure white flames. Within the white fire, the Frost Orb slowly melted, purifying its impurities.
Ifrit and Isaac communicated telepathically, carefully adjusting the intensity of the fire and the timing of the spell’s deployment to match the state of the materials.
The white flames surrounding the Frost Orb dissipated after 20 minutes.
“A good start.”
Corona Spiritus was a flame capable of refining 2-tier materials. Using such flames to refine 1-tier materials made the process astonishingly fast.
The refined Frost Orb descended back to the vertex of the pentagon inscribed with the magic circle. Next in line was the Storm Tail.
The Storm Tail also began to be refined in the same manner. This time, it took 30 minutes for the refined Storm Tail to be enveloped by three small magic circles arranged in a triangular formation, inscribing complex magical circuits within it.
The task was highly challenging, causing Isaac to furrow his brow as he concentrated deeply.
Vwoooom—
The process of embedding the magical circuits into the Storm Tail took two hours to complete. A sense of peace returned to Isaac’s face, which had been tense with concentration.
Whooong!
In contrast, purifying the top-tier magic stones and the core of the top-tier sentient being each took only 10 minutes.
Finally, with all the materials refined, the pentagonal magic circle emitted a bright light. The floating materials gathered above Isaac’s head, beginning to merge into one.
Whoosh!
Once again, Ifrit unleashed blue flames. The blue fire soon transformed into the same white flames.
One hour, two hours, three hours passed.
Time passed relentlessly.
Isaac remained motionless in his cross-legged position throughout the entire process.
Whoooosh—
Finally, nearly eight hours after the five materials began to merge, a blinding white light erupted. Pure magical energy rippled through the training room’s walls as a golden orb floated majestically above Isaac’s head.
Vwoooom!
The golden orb, formed from the merging of the five materials, slowly descended into Isaac’s grasp. Examining the orb from various angles, Isaac let out a soft sigh and nodded in satisfaction.
“The variable outcomes turned out quite well.”
The legendary-grade armament had been successfully crafted.
Having completed the first task safely, Isaac immediately began forging another legendary-grade armament. The training room he had rented remained lit 24/7.
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***
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It was three full days later when he re-emerged into the world. Driving home from the center, Isaac’s face appeared noticeably gaunt.
“Phew.”
In addition to the orb, he had crafted a sword, a shield, and even an android jetpack. The legendary-grade personalized armaments for his team members were now perfectly completed.
These armaments, each with activated special magical circuits, would create extreme synergy with their users. The team members, who already exhibited A-rank combat capabilities, would be able to perform at an S-rank level the moment they equipped their personalized armaments.
This was why Isaac had painstakingly crafted the armaments.
Heroes could only achieve their optimal combat potential when their specific equipment setups and magical circuits were perfectly aligned. Even at the same level, the difference in performance between a fully optimized build and a non-optimized one was vast. And Isaac knew better than anyone how to train his team members to unleash explosive performances.
“Ugh.”
After returning home and taking a shower, Isaac collapsed onto his bed. His body wasn’t tired at all; the issue was his mental stamina. The penalty of his charisma trait, ‘Boredom Genius,’ made him particularly vulnerable to high-intensity tasks.
Despite reaching the pinnacle of 5-star strength, his mental energy often ran dry. This problem was directly linked to his Final Finish—Unlimited Mode. Using Unlimited Mode with depleted mental energy had previously left him in a prolonged state of lethargy.
“I’m going to sleep.”
Isaac buried himself under the covers and soon fell into a deep sleep. His previously tense face gradually relaxed as time passed.
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***
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Champion Citadel.
Top floor, Skyline.
The weather was as clear as the future of South Korea. Gazing at the breathtaking view of civilization through the floor-to-ceiling windows, Association President God Hand leisurely sipped his coffee.
“Heh heh heh.”
Lately, God Hand had been feeling quite content.
On the table in the president’s office were agreements from the United States, Japan, and China.
“You seem to be in a good mood.”
“Heh heh, how could I not be? Has our Republic of Korea ever had such a high status since its founding?”
All countries with Awakened individuals had joined the ‘Peace Reconstruction Project,’ which aimed to establish true peace on Earth by building the DRR (Disaster Response and Recovery).
But that wasn’t all. At the end-of-year World Congress, Japan and China had agreed to support South Korea in the establishment of the ‘World Government’ and the ‘World Hero Association.’
While monsters and villains were humanity’s main enemies, the competition over who would hold key positions in the World Hero Association was a matter of national rivalry.
At this crucial moment, the appearance of the irregular Isaac had elevated South Korea’s influence to be on par with or even surpass that of the United States.
A seismic shift had occurred due to a single individual.
“Japan and China likely have significant political and diplomatic motives for their actions. They’ve always been wary of the United States.”
“Indeed. They haven’t yet witnessed Isaac’s power firsthand. Seeing the U.S. lower its stance, they must have sensed something significant.”
God Hand and his chief secretary discussed the international situation in a cheerful atmosphere. Even in the worst-case disaster scenarios, the future of humanity seemed bright. The presence of Isaac, an irregular, made even the threat of Emperor-class monsters seem less daunting.
Beep beep beep—
“Yes, go ahead. What?! Is that true?”
The chief secretary’s face, which had been filled with satisfaction, suddenly turned rigid. God Hand blinked in surprise at his reaction.
“What is it?”
“A civil war… has broken out in China.”