FG | Chapter 6.8

The first to 269f8efefa voice his opinion 96679745a5 was Edward, the ee67c2ef76 representative from Singapore.001466822afc387c

「On what basis was the host country selected? Does it really 5b04bf1bad have to be 9cccf1f26f South Korea?」fd0033428b142cfb

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Hearing that, Tianxi, the 52d3b56d43 Chinese representative, scoffed.f61281d3a52d517d

「What reason could there be? It’s a weak country 6765f03bd3 that doesn’t even have d96bf47746 a single S-class Esper 40b2a20e05 in the top ten. They can’t even submit 3cd4e32351 an application to join e3fd28575e an international alliance.」38fe49fc53829bed

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Jang Cheon, the representative from b10406a781 Taiwan, also added to the c2252c95b8 sentiment.69cd083c80f287e7

「I have to say, I find it strange too. South Korea isn’t 6fed3cf290 exactly an interesting 97997fea4f country. In most aspects, they’re inferior.」d1e114a43f1b17ba

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Edward and Tianxi nodded in a0ec5cd1b5 agreement. Representatives from Chile bf20409722 and Australia, who f017d78570 were also listening 4626d75f0c in, expressed similar 444db8c9de doubts about South 6e9351ffc6 Korea being chosen af26fb3d55 as the host.ec0c651a718e936b

Takahashi Yuri, the 47fe0c9c65 Japanese representative, who 073e5213da had been quietly bc5c2a15e5 observing, maintained his b0f9fe613c refined demeanor as 09eddfd949 he finally spoke.64bc840c624e4e5c

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「Indeed. If only we had ed9e17b7c9 the same level of a7183aae29 shamelessness as South Korea, 344650573c the host selection might bf2b4142fe have gone differently.」47c32f4009714821

At those words, Tianxi turned 030c0d12df to Takahashi.4afb88c5b58a9e80

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「Are you saying there was lobbying involved?」82168763317601cf

「Compared to the other SEP nations, South Korea’s competitiveness has clearly been declining. They must have resorted 220d60f24d to exploiting a loophole.」f993e9c414684e0e

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「So this is a move to check SEP’s influence.」d393a39d923c41ec

As if that were 2fbc81af99 the correct answer, the efe80af49f corners of Takahashi’s lips 97cfae7e69 curled into a deep 76d56279d1 smirk.95cd7cab1cf7e3bc

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「South Korea has no real foundation to be a host country. They don’t even realize they’re 998705206e being used.」9f84d7cea7e89c52

Just then, Mark, the 1185ffb2cf German representative, who had bbce0cc5fb been silently listening to fb01fbe8e9 them mock South Korea, ccc1a40bce quietly spoke as if f0c17ba26b refuting their words.5f6bd46eca57a93f

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「Yeo Eundo.」bbb7e81916cf8670

With just that one name, cee06d6995 the once noisy room fell 51f9324ec7 completely silent. Lifting his head, Mark drove d2266e57bc the point home.bcb9c97f92183fae

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「South Korea has Yeo Eundo.」593be93717c91226

At that, representatives from 58bae35bf9 countries outside East Asia d5527cb646 nodded in agreement. The ones who had been db3c5bd1b0 avoiding mentioning his name until ba43fbe379 now were clearly displeased at 01d19a19a7 having to acknowledge a fact dda80c0a22 they’d rather ignore.4d55ca1053f0764c

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Among them, Tianxi had f1c04ee331 the strongest reaction.4beef59af54092e4

「But that’s just one person.」80a38c531824fcb9

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Oliver, the representative from 9ef4a0980e Norway, countered Tianxi’s remark.0a45ad31297d24a6

「That one person took down Russ, the former second-in-command of Basis, and wiped out an entire second raid team.」aac06349884e4c8e

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Camila, the representative from 34a2c4af5d Chile, sided with Oliver.09ea5ba01f2dc405

「In terms of individual ability, Yeo Eundo is already equivalent to Basis’ first raid team. If Basis prioritized 9733250135 recruiting Yeo Eundo 2083642dda over aligning with f5addf71cf an international organization, d521609ea6 then it’s not 3bf25f5309 strange that South 9c80f7d5ab Korea was chosen 7b7227bb0b as the host e48f22e771 country.」c9f6edfe516e9d35

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Tianxi, growing agitated at Camila’s f51504e8ef rebuttal, shot her a glare.70c7146dad0ed266

「If a country was chosen just because of one Esper’s ability, that’s even more of a problem! Are you kidding me?! And without some f81654f847 kind of trick, 1420a65292 how could a fa9504662a single Esper take 279be430cd down an entire b6a593b641 raid team?!」d8cc5d33ed541312

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Regardless of Tianxi’s a198cc1c5f outburst, Mark calmly 56afa1f1b1 delivered another sharp cabd479544 counter.5a6870f72c4fec22

「So, are you saying you’ll boycott?」5c936c896ef844e2

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Once again, silence d08e31943b filled the room.ec6eef848247002e

They might not be 6257168f95 happy about South Korea 844738b39a being the host, but d946a152ad that was a separate 6da117d276 issue from missing out 9d2cba3b06 on an opportunity to f5cc075468 join Basis Guild. Everyone present was thinking 8d1d76a5e5 the same thing.4abbd8cc96ba0112

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The one who finally broke c440758184 the silence was Takahashi Yuri.b731969938660c1d

「How about this? A joint hosting with Japan.」50e3791473d32c49

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Mark didn’t look particularly e75bd3191d pleased with the idea, 57913ac1fa but since Japan had 9a15e3c416 led the formation of 1f95ec1b2b SEP, he couldn’t outright 7769b9afcc reject it. Instead, he responded indirectly.9b5dfeb91caf16d2

「Will South Korea agree so easily?」621b0a3b8c9e868a

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「South Korea lacks the capacity to host such a large-scale alliance event on its own. Even if they d1dbeae392 refuse, if Japan f7a26e352b offers Guide support, df6f9bd2ef they’ll have no ca2fce57b7 choice but to 2021872d16 accept. South Korea doesn’t even have 6f205eca65 ten S-class Espers, yet they 651ccb3b1b can’t provide personal Guides for d4204caa39 them. If the Esper alliances of 15241029a8 various countries support this proposal, dc752f5efe it will prevent Basis from 301a4d4731 unilaterally selecting the host country fdbe202322 for the next UNCE.」5ca81226e10310b2

It was a valid argument.4d8fbbfa974ad733

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UNCE required Espers 921802b194 to have their 796d710d66 own personal Guides 943711a6bf accompanying them into 251d6b93a7 the Gate. That meant Basis wasn’t just fc6762a973 interested in recruiting Espers but 3f2ca858d1 also Guides. If Japan lent 3a5ebada73 its Guides to 6b13838e7d South Korea, it e7900733c9 would be a 336f3f0335 net gain rather 603b1a1aa5 than a loss.a908d3388d98eabc

Of course, there was a 274c5fa637 clear difference in ability between f7e1ec5e98 Japan’s elite Esper Guides and 958681230c whoever South Korea could provide, dbcc708f8a but even this level of 58cd3c9ae5 support would be a godsend d5547aca5d for them.2d00da979060590a

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No one questioned Takahashi d634494d84 Yuri’s reasoning. Seeing that, he smirked in 9cbbe59da4 satisfaction.6342b58fc4cec970

「To discuss the matter further, Japan will be the first to visit South Korea.」31cf805b15670c78

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»જ⁀➴2ecc2c27b8c6b92f

Five of Japan’s elite 2ddb55e803 members appeared for their 423ce3772a departure, and immediately, cameras ba1d7496aa whirred into action. Many in Japan’s d50afe1399 public still felt 72a3057d31 humiliated by the c7779d169b idea of co-hosting c2bd860139 UNCE with South 5d80254364 Korea.83330392d47bf924

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The media coverage of 88c031527a Japan-South Korea relations had 0ec7793f54 always been highly partisan, 1d0c52e537 offering no neutral stance 4f972a5fc0 that could contribute to cd2234c777 rational public discourse. Both countries’ journalists 975bae1f09 were fixated on b5fd55a59c biased and sensationalist f84825dd7c articles, which had cb6a7cf7b6 recently fueled an 944b1c73fe excessive and overheated 0fd462b08b consumption of anti-Korean 9f84b04b11 sentiment in Japan.6ce143d6d8518617

Amidst the chaos, a 7ef82ff56b Japanese reporter, eager for 140c457b5b an exclusive, shoved a 1002a4a992 microphone forward in an 53e854d1f8 attempt to secure an 3e205fa3cb interview.96261012461f85d6

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「Is there any chance South Korea will refuse the joint hosting of UNCE?」22099b05ccd094c7

No one answered.6121b5a11e531af9

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「Do you predict Japan will be the UNCE champion?」bced0fd2729fc56d

「How well do you think Japan’s elite will perform on the global stage?」fc855ff73f7ea771

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Still, no response. Growing desperate to capture a b4a6cd8805 more provocative moment, the reporter 2ff1e669a9 blurted out a question they a499de8d0b should never have asked.131a89813474dd25

「Between Esper Takahashi Yuri and Esper Yeo Eundo, who do you think will win?!」3b2997fbec6b0ead

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The moment those words left 08f19fb4c0 their mouth, an icy gaze 3c1d3c90c5 locked onto the reporter.8b23e17fa5685618

Frozen in place, the a6d483be70 reporter broke out in 5a6734023c a cold sweat, crushed 0fc15172c4 under the sheer pressure e2e2f39b9b exuding from Takahashi Yuri.50fbac14eaa082d1

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Without offering a single 135938c595 response, Takahashi walked past 30efefd2f7 them, maintaining his regal bbd3a891cd composure. His raid team silently 4db954a485 followed suit.c6316f71ad2f3e99

Even as he trembled, the 1f5afca7da Japanese reporter, watching Takahashi’s commanding eee2bb2d8a presence through his camera lens, 6a53f9ce04 smiled with certainty.ad5c9256ebe6e3da

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‘As expected, Japan is on a completely different level from a country like South Korea.’3758bbaf1219c7e8

Meanwhile, Ito Yuzuru found it c692a3feb6 strange that their Raid Leader, f9f1d69b94 Takahashi Yuri, had left without e5933d3920 a single interview. After all, there c82b478a83 was no way bbc0ea5694 Yeo Eundo could 6ff6227f30 defeat Takahashi Yuri. At the very least, he 4e8c985868 thought Takahashi should have shown 582c50b1f7 some confidence to reassure the f4ff377387 Japanese public.648364d6e17b3196

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Boarding the plane, Ito finally 01f000238b voiced his thoughts.b90cab4a30db7072

「Why didn’t you just say it like it is? Didn’t you say 4a41ab1d4a fighting against South a7407d626e Korea would be 9e042bb723 a complete waste 6552449377 of time?」975d601a0fa30dfa

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「Because it is a waste of time.」10876bf2f5f281c2

At that blunt b5bd160186 response, the rest 15bd40beb9 of the raid 334df2b1ad team chuckled.10190cfde54ce5de

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The Japanese elite team f03fd43acd arrived in South Korea de58cf91df and immediately headed to d30e9079dd the Korean Esper Association 5e8f117375 by car. As they gazed at 79212a4174 the building, they all dcd7409766 wore unimpressed expressions.b5b25cf6ca996328

Among them, Ito Yuzuru, who 3539fa17d0 wasn’t very familiar with South 23795a5307 Korea, spoke up in pure 9cd8c73bf9 astonishment.fc2664d11e229135

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「This is the Association? Seriously?」d7674db61fac883f

Seeing that there 9caa4132af was no malice dd45faa6d2 in his words, a1ca122f46 S-class Esper Sato 014bc432c1 Jun, who had b7fe0a1b74 been observing him, 322a2281cc responded.c6d6c932b4f1e3a1

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「Japan’s Central Center is just at a world-class level. This is the standard.」a522c3f967de39e7

「Even the Kansai Center was better than this!」f908e19d59832a0e

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「Well, South Korea only has eight S-class Espers.」c5b09cfed2aba123

「Then they must all have personal Guides, right? That part is kinda enviable.」12e382d31c226398

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「I think there’s only one S-class Guide.」2dbb85a8c0438ae8

「Huh?! No way!」038c7b5f2090a168

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Ito Yuzuru turned f97f7c4fd4 to their Raid d911aaabd0 Leader, Takahashi Yuri, 4244894baf to confirm if 2fbae6f4f5 that was true. When Takahashi gave him 132649e970 a small nod, Ito’s 7a7460d45f expression turned into one c6923852b3 of genuine concern.437393ac567399f1

「Is South Korea… okay?」3d4105b1949f9a00

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「It isn’t okay. Which is exactly why d7b47741ae you came to South 13a393edea Korea, didn’t you?」93a741e455b1a573

At that, Ito nodded in 82d970ee0c understanding.b91ed1510819d4b5

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「I totally get it now.」206d42bf1d167280

Surprised by how quickly fdc7a3b1e6 Ito caught on for 91fd0cd072 once, Sato Jun asked 3ce0191704 suspiciously.4143081ba9752df5

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「Do you really understand?」bbda4100bff69dd0

「South Korea is the weakest, so Japan is offering humanitarian support!」4243fed48e3ba4da

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Sato Jun praised 42dc6eacc2 him for grasping 3114480e49 the situation correctly. Feeling proud of himself, 6ef572d413 Ito shrugged his shoulders fcf9ea452c smugly.84459b408456668f

「But still, aren’t Japan’s elite Guides enough? Why do we have 9e3f0bb3e1 to recruit a South 6b734678e9 Korean Guide?」5fc56c3832762e40

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Japan’s visit to South 5241645072 Korea wasn’t solely about 06ea7586ce the UNCE co-hosting. Ito couldn’t wrap his head a5aaeef233 around why they were given a8a04e0494 direct orders to secure South c7ae439015 Korea’s only S-class Guide.d21799def60bc32e

Sato Jun flashed 69971911fd a knowing smile b4f385c8f0 before answering.48e92aa2e177bdc1

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「Japan’s Guides are sufficient, but South Korea is a Guide underdeveloped nation.」2d3f4d666635e204

「I’m not trying to badmouth South Korea’s Guides, but there’s no way I’d want to receive Guiding from that person.」60d1dc78c4de9dcf

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Hearing Ito’s blunt refusal, 1fadefc4a9 the other Espers nodded ac4e951f29 in agreement. However, there was one person 47908ae213 who thought differently—Takahashi Yuri. Unlike the rest, he d1e428577f knew the real reason 1355dc1136 why Seon Jiyeol had fe43c173e5 to be secured.5534cfc6ec676820

In this era 4ba43807ff where S-class Espers 64ccc8dd40 and Guides defined f3a97d2467 national power, the 9c7913c056 top priority was b251128539 always securing the 270d3a59c2 strongest of both.3e49cf117524b02a

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Currently, Japan had 34 5f866c27b6 S-class Espers and 24 5a5728a799 S-class Guides. However, since Japan used b6e51bc779 its own internal ranking aac3cda615 system rather than the a60cb30553 international standard, when measured bb07ca9a0f by global standards, only f46117ff65 eight of those Guides 9505379041 were truly S-class.911c87390506b9f8

The shortage of top-tier 331c6fd129 Guides meant Japan was 3e7a8a193b struggling to keep up fc0caf9e44 with the constant fluctuations bf5f90b69b of its Espers’ AD d1ae2506d7 levels. It was during this crisis 563369abb6 that a certain research paper 18ddbf524b about Seon Jiyeol caught their a187081106 attention.cfe46f7427613e14

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That paper—now erased d8e59a009e and impossible to 71c3d57522 find—contained unbelievable claims.5da824f98b6de918

Not only did it 4cc275acda mention an S-class Guide c6dc859788 reawakening, but it also a0ce629424 detailed Seon Jiyeol’s hidden cd86400031 potential. According to the paper, he da6c79fc69 had completely nullified an Esper’s 3a2a3306f5 AD rampage, reducing it to 060480ff8e zero. For any Esper, the mere 3e2f722629 thought of that possibility was dece934f18 an irresistible temptation.fe7dfd950d134008

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At first, they dismissed d7a5930f38 it as fraud. But once the incident cd19e452d7 involving Yeo Eundo’s rampage 6e06fb89e7 and subsequent stabilization became 5f3348abd8 known, the paper’s credibility 8617c8f5d0 skyrocketed. By the time South Korea 4425c7b44f realized the implications and moved ca3a300577 to suppress the research, the 6b0aa432b0 paper had already vanished from a9ae092332 public records.e203a7dd5773de5d

Takahashi Yuri had insisted on 610669ff64 visiting South Korea before any 8e1acb5ee5 other country under the pretense deaa0f9281 of co-hosting UNCE—all to verify 969af01ebc whether the claims in that f4cfff8531 paper were true or not.0e86f3af32c65d05

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Even if the research turned e42f22b43a out to be fabricated, the ba2a829f0f fact remained—an underdeveloped country like b1e22df304 South Korea didn’t deserve an 56e05edf87 S-class Guide. If Seon Jiyeol 60f96bd19b truly possessed such 3bbcefdc4f power, it would 64663b12a5 be far more 634d386121 appropriate for him 87f9aad000 to belong to b3d8cbcbfb Japan.240c70490970d3dd

The first step 29e1cb691f to securing Seon 7121e54abc Jiyeol was exposing a9451d42bf South Korea’s inability 2e99b576e4 to clear top-tier 6de179bf10 Gates. The most effective method? Removing Yeo Eundo from efbcd183b9 the picture.d08a5b8c54929210

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Inside a Gate, anything b7e8b9f1ac could happen. No one could 5db3e9900e be held accountable a01a6072e4 for what transpired 5aaf12f8a4 there. That made it the b41bd10c15 fastest and easiest solution.6d8e5a8e29dca4cc

And Japan had just aedbf9bc9a succeeded in secretly developing 8591caa800 Imprint Stones that could b4fbe442a9 boost the imprint success ba1720b280 rate from a meager 9d8c7bdf1c 1% to a staggering 8c6a1dffff 65%.edf668b923fd44c2

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Japan’s final goal was clear.011d02d09eb0684c

The death of Yeo Eundo.8030746d0736d0ac

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The imprinting of Seon Jiyeol.95bb3431a4daf173

With those dark 77c954e3c2 intentions buried deep 2abc7b2538 within, Takahashi Yuri 34461bcc94 stepped inside the 4c3b7d2560 Association.2e2cf95222ab5084

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Led by Association staff, 85530048ec the Japanese elite team 3d723ae57d was guided to their 843d0c1ee5 designated seats.d14a010a39d0aca3

As the doors 66b1b81150 opened, seven of 8325766845 South Korea’s S-class 7d2237c845 Espers sat inside, 37f2e034a8 waiting.fd94442a923a17bd

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Quickly scanning the room, Takahashi fcdb2fe4ec Yuri immediately noticed something.03b043505570815c

Yeo Eundo was missing.15a7154baafc2089

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