How to Clear a False Charge

Five people were dead.

And Fingernail had met her end in the most horrific state a woman could ever face.

The prime suspects in the murders were us.

"Hyung… do you think they'll believe us…?"

"Probably not."

"But we really didn't do it…!"

I didn't even have time to calm Jaemin down. We hurried back toward the villa.

Right now, evidence that we were the killers existed.

There were witnesses.

They hadn't seen the actual killings, but they'd walked into a scene that would make anyone suspicious.

On the other hand, there was zero evidence that we weren't the killers.

Everything about us was about to come under scrutiny.

The first time I met Seo Hayun. Running into her in the apartment complex. Asking to stay at the villa for a while.

They would assume we'd approached them on purpose.

Which, to be fair, we had — but that had nothing to do with this, and they weren't going to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠believe a word of it.

We needed to clear our names. Talking our way out of this wasn't going to cut it.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?!"

"Kyaaah!!"

"What are you doing?!"

"What kind of insane nonsense is that?!"

"No! There has to be some kind of misunderstanding!"

As we drew closer to the villa, our companions' voices carried over. The metallic clash of weapons rang out with them.

"Hyung."

"Let's move."

"Kraaaagh!!!"

"Kraagh!!"

"Kraaaaaagh!!"

We smashed through the zombies blocking our path and vaulted the villa's wall.

Clang!!!

Clang!! Clang-clang!!

Clang!

Shiiing!!

Suho was trading blows with Kim Hyeonsu. Yu Eunseol was locked against Seo Hamin. Everyone else was holding off the villa residents — all of them armed.

Nine people against more than thirty.

"From this moment on, nobody moves."

"Hyung… you're not seriously going to kill them all, are you…?"

"Kill them?? Juhan!"

Lee Jeongcheol shouted in alarm. I didn't even glance his way. I just kept walking.

"This old man is really…!!"

"What the hell did you come here for?!!"

"Purpose? What purpo— kyaaah!!!!"

Jihye's scream tore through the air.

It was an attack she could have blocked or dodged easily enough — but the axe coming down at her was terrifying enough to freeze her solid.

"Still a long way to go."

"Oppa…"

"Don't call me oppa, it gives me the creeps!!"

"You son of a—!!!! Old man! Just bury that axe in this guy's skull!!"

"Aaaagh!!!"

"No hard feelings."

I clamped down harder on the wrist I was holding until the axe dropped from his grip, then casually kicked out his Achilles tendon and put him on the ground.

Time to get everyone's attention.

Crrrk!!!

Nothing fancy. I just drove my mace down hard into his thigh.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

People who'd been locked in combat froze mid-swing at that raw, agonized scream.

"What kind of mess did you cause this time?!"

"Ugh, I'm exhausted… all I've been doing is blocking…"

"Oppa!!"

"These old guys were trying to kill us!"

"You guys are so dead now!!"

"Haaaah…"

Gihun looked almost relaxed — those gauntlets of his were built for defense — while Mingu, swinging a heavy hammer, was drenched in sweat and collapsed onto his backside. The three college girls were full of fire, yelling at the top of their lungs. Nari, positioned behind the group, let out a sigh of relief and lowered the bow she'd been drawing.

"Suho, stand down. You too, Yu Eunseol. From now on, do nothing."

"Whatever."

"Hah…! Hah…!"

Suho stepped back from Kim Hyeonsu, who was still warily on guard, looking relatively composed. Yu Eunseol retreated as well, breathing hard — she'd clearly been pushed to her limit.

Alright. Time to clear our names.

Acceleration.

Stat Amplification.

With Agility pushed to 25 and a Level 2 Acceleration skill stacked on top, my body flew.

Taat!!

I shot forward, closing the distance on the man facing off against Seonye in a blink.

"Ah…"

I grabbed his startled face with my left hand and hurled him. A few people went down tangled with his flying body. Without stopping, I thrust my right hand out and drove the mace into the solar plexus of the man locked with Jeongyeon.

"Guhk…!!!"

I held back a little. Not that I needed to right now.

Whoooosh!!!!!

I swept the mace in a wide arc and knocked three incoming weapons out of the air at once.

Clang-clang-clang!!!!

The three men who'd just lost their weapons stood there dazed, arms still outstretched — and in that same instant, my left hand and the mace crumpled their blank faces and put them on the floor.

"Attack like you mean to kill him! Or we're the ones who die!!"

"Rush him all at once!!"

"Why would you do this!!!!!"

"You murdering bastard!!!!"

I didn't bother explaining the misunderstanding.

I just attacked. And attacked again.

Thirty-plus people, minimum. One against thirty.

It was absurd — but honestly, this was easier than fighting thirty zombies.

People felt fear. People had the intelligence to make rational decisions. Zombies didn't.

Taat!!

I kicked off the ground and charged.

"Guhk!!!"

I drove a fist into a man's ribs, used his collapsing shoulder as a springboard, and launched myself up.

Thwack!!!

My right foot cracked across the cheek of the man behind him. The second my feet hit the ground, I raised the mace to block a weapon coming from the right and buried my left fist in the chest of the one swinging from the left.

I slipped past the next flurry of weapons, hooked a leg and toppled someone, chopped a throat with the edge of my thumb and forefinger, tapped a shin lightly with the mace, shoved a face with my left hand while kicking out a thigh — spinning the man like a pinwheel.

More than ten people were already sprawled across the ground.

One of them still had fight left in him. He came at my back like he wasn't going down easy.

Didn't matter.

Whish— thwack!!!

I spun and drove a kick into his chest that sent him flying.

"Urgh…!!!!"

Everyone was backing up now, hauling the fallen to their feet, watching me with pure wariness.

Nobody charged anymore.

The overwhelming gap in power had broken their will to fight.

But two people still weren't done.

First up: Kim Hyeonsu.

Whoooosh!!!!

Not as strong as I'd expected?

A machete-type blade — same class as Jaeyeol's or Baek Sihyeon's — came screaming down with ferocious force.

And that was all it was.

A level I could watch and evaluate in real time.

Claaang!!!!

Still, it packed a decent punch. The full weight of the descending blade crashed into the mace I'd raised to meet it.

"Was this your plan from the start?!"

"……"

I stared at Kim Hyeonsu as he pressed down on his blade with both hands, shouting.

Was he shameless — or genuinely uninvolved?

I'd been operating under the assumption that everything that happened today was something Kim Hyeonsu had orchestrated — the same man who'd made secret contact with an outsider last night behind everyone's backs.

But the look on his face was pure betrayal and rage, like he had nothing to do with any of it. He shouted again.

"Answer me! Did you approach us from the beginning with this in mind?!"

"It's all a misunderstanding. We didn't do this."

"Then what is this?! Why are you attacking us?!"

"To clear up the misunderstanding."

"Liar."

A low voice came from behind me. I grabbed Kim Hyeonsu by the throat with my left hand and drove forward.

If I hadn't, the dagger swinging for the back of my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠neck would have split it in half.

This one had been hiding her strength.

"……"

Not a flicker of panic on her face.

Alright. Let's drag it out of her.

I slipped my right foot between Kim Hyeonsu's retreating legs and lightly hooked his heel.

He lost his footing, tipped backward — and I whipped my left leg up into a high kick.

Thwaaaack!!!!

A clean, satisfying sound rang out, but my instep hit the right arm he'd thrown up to shield his face, not his cheek.

Still no panic. He had room to spare.

Even so, Kim Hyeonsu didn't try to catch his balance as his body listed sideways. He went down hard, and I spun and drove the mace into the ground.

Thunk!!

Clang!!!

The dagger aimed at the back of my knee slammed into the mace standing vertical against the floor.

But Seo Hamin carried two daggers.

Shiiik!!!

The reverse-grip dagger in her left hand shot up from below, going for my throat.

My left hand was faster.

Last time I'd only used Acceleration, so I couldn't dominate her like this. This time I had Stat Amplification running too — and that made the difference.

I seized her wrist, pressed my thumb into the back of her hand, and twisted.

The blade that had been pointed at my throat swung around toward Seo Hamin herself. I forced her hand down, and the dagger she was holding ended up pressed against her own neck.

That settled it.

Kim Hyeonsu going down so easily still felt off, but either way — I'd subdued every single person in the villa by myself.

"Ugh!!"

"That's twice now. Going to surrender?"

"Why…! Why did you kill those people..!!"

"We didn't kill anyone."

"Don't lie! There are witnesses!"

"That's right. There are witnesses."

I looked over at the middle-aged man — the only witness and sole survivor among the villa residents who'd been with us.

"Then you tell them."

"T-tell them what?!"

"Did you actually see them do the killing?"

"That's…! There was nobody there except them! You saw it too! Nobody came out of that building!"

"They could have slipped out the back or the side. They didn't need a door — they could have opened a window and jumped."

"Then why are they the only ones who survived?!"

"Because they're stronger."

"What…?"

"They survived because they were stronger than the people who died. You're not saying surviving is a crime, are you?"

"……"

I pulled my gaze off the speechless witness and released Seo Hamin's wrist.

Then I addressed everyone.

"It's all a misunderstanding. And I just proved it."

"What the hell did you just prove?!"

"You attacked us! You were trying to kill us too!"

"Exactly."

"What..?"

"If I wanted to kill all of you, I could do it alone. So why would I go through the trouble of taking people outside and killing them one by one? I'd just gather everyone in one place and beat them all to death."

A few people bristled at the bluntness of it — but far more of them started thinking it through rationally.

"Th-that… does make sense…"

"If he can do this much alone, then yeah…"

"And earlier — those guys were only defending. They never attacked us."

Seeing really was believing.

If I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hadn't demonstrated this kind of overwhelming power and just tried to talk my way out of the suspicion, it would have failed completely.

But the moment I showed them I could kill every single person here whenever I wanted, they started believing me.

The quest was cleared — but the situation wasn't resolved.

"Then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who the hell did it!! My poor husband… what am I supposed to do now… sob…"

"Who did this?! Who!!!"

"You said you fought them! Then you must have seen their faces! Who was it! Tell us who!!"

"Well… they were all wearing hats and masks…"

"I'm sorry…"

There was no way to identify the culprits right now.

I couldn't exactly start torturing Kim Hyeonsu out of nowhere.

Wait.

Hold on… what if…?

I left the villa in a hurry.

And went back to the building where Fingernail's body was — with Jihye.

Jihye's second skill: Information Gathering.

This skill might be the key to finding the killers.

"Are you actually doing anything, or what?"

"Shh!"

"……"

Jihye combed through the building like a detective, starting from Fingernail's corpse, examining every detail. Then she stopped dead.

And muttered under her breath.

"I figured it out."

"For real?? What did you find??"

"……"

"Wh-what…?"

Jihye narrowed her eyes and stared straight at me. She slipped her left hand into her pocket, then pointed her right index finger at me with absolute precision and shouted:

"The culprit is in this room!"

"In this room…."

I stared at her, dumbfounded.

Then I shouted back.

"There's only you and me in here!!!"

"Just kidding."

"You think this is the time for jokes?!"

"Sorry. But I really did find something. I swear on my grandmother's name."

"……"

Should I believe her… or not?