Disaster Level
I've heard that when people experience something too absurd, they end up growing strangely calm instead.
Mu Yeonghui was learning the truth of that saying firsthand right now.
The fact that I haven't lost my mind in a situation like this must be proof that I'm staying calm.
Mu Yeonghui slowly took stock of her circumstances.
The first thing she noticed was obviously the changes to her body.
Without a mirror she couldn't examine herself in detail, but the slender, delicate hands and lowered line of sight made it clear her appearance had transformed completely.
What stood out most were the two heavy, prominent mounds now resting on her chest.
Why the hell did I turn into a woman? Don't tell me this is a side effect of that messed-up ascension! But if that's the case, why did my clothes change too?
The side effects she'd been worrying about just before crossing over came rushing back.
Could that extremely low-probability side effect of physical alteration have affected not only her appearance but her outfit as well?
It was an extreme transformation, yet unfortunately Mu Yeonghui had no time to dwell on it.
"Who the hell are you!"
An armed squad stood right in front of her.
Who are these people? Isn't this Korea?
In Korea, the only ones normally seen carrying guns like this were the military. As she wondered if she'd somehow ended up in America, the other side pressed her again.
"I'm asking who you are! What was your purpose in showing up and taking down that anomalous being?"
It was Han Bori. When Bori stepped forward as representative to demand her identity, Mu Yeonghui was slightly taken aback.
What the? Who's this kid?
Unaware of Bori's real age, Mu Yeonghui couldn't help being shocked that a young girl was commanding an armed unit.
This isn't Murim, so it's not like she's gone through some rejuvenation technique.
While thinking this with curiosity, she analyzed the situation.
Anomalous being probably refers to that monster. I don't know why something like that would be in Korea, but these people must be the ones who hunt them.
Mu Yeonghui's reasoning was almost perfectly on point.
Her brief silence as she fell into thought made Bori and the Anomalous Being Countermeasures Team watch her with rising tension.
"Senior Bori, is this woman perhaps a high-grade anomalous being?"
The team member standing close to Bori asked with a tremble in his voice.
High-grade anomalous being.
Far stronger than ordinary ones, possessing intelligence equal to or exceeding that of humans.
To the team members' eyes, Mu Yeonghui looked exactly like such an existence.
"Shut up. We don't know for sure yet, so keep your mouth closed."
Bori had been thinking the same thing but calmed her subordinates first. Swallowing the saliva that had pooled in her mouth from nerves, she asked again.
"Why aren't you saying anything? Are you our enemy?"
No, no, that's not it at all!
Mu Yeonghui, who had been lost in thought, snapped back to attention at Bori's question.
Even if she was overwhelmingly stronger, she had no desire to clash with a group holding guns.
Please put those guns away first. I'm not your enemy.
She carefully chose the words in her head and opened her mouth.
Instead, what came out was:
"Would you not put away those lowly weapons? Wretches like yourselves could not possibly be enemies of this one."
Completely different words spilled from her lips.
"What?"
What the hell?
Both Bori and Mu Yeonghui were shocked.
The voice flowing from the transformed body's throat was incredibly pleasant to the ear.
Cute yet calm, carrying a quiet power.
No, I was trying to say I didn't want to fight, not provoke them!
"No, I have no desire to fight with the likes of you. You aren't even worth the effort of provoking."
From that beautiful voice that could have belonged to a professional voice actress, cold words completely contrary to her true intent kept emerging.
What on earth was happening?!
Mu Yeonghui was horrified, but she couldn't take back words that had already left her mouth. The hot-tempered Bori flew into a rage.
"You've got a real attitude problem. Is your personality just shitty, or are you declaring war?"
Neither!
Mu Yeonghui desperately tried to convey her real feelings.
Hahaha, I'm sorry. For some reason I keep saying weird things that don't make sense. I really didn't have the slightest intention of making you angry!
She planned to lighten the mood with laughter first, then explain the situation and apologize sincerely, but...
"Heh, heheheh."
What came out first was a mocking laugh.
"This one apologizes for continuously uttering words beyond your understanding."
"What did you just say?"
"Though this one has not the slightest intention of bothering to deal with the likes of you and growing angry."
A relentless barrage of catastrophic remarks.
Not only Bori but every other team member as well reached their boiling point.
"Senior, she really is a high-grade anomalous being!"
"If she wasn't, why would she provoke us like that?"
The team members spoke to Bori, and she offered no rebuttal.
"You... so you really are an enemy...."
Bori dropped into a fighting stance.
No, I'm telling you I'm not your enemy!
Mu Yeonghui tried to deny it, but it was pointless.
"How many times must this one repeat herself? The likes of you are not enemies of..."
Fuck this, I'm done!
"...My apologies. Let us cease this."
Even the curse she'd uttered midway got filtered on its own.
Whatever, screw it. I'll just subdue her first and think later!
With no other choice, Mu Yeonghui ended up fighting Bori for reasons she herself didn't even understand.
What is this woman? Is she really a high-grade anomalous being?
Facing off against Mu Yeonghui, Bori sensed something strange.
For an anomalous being, she spoke far too well. The problem was that most of it was provocation.
Yet calling her human felt even more wrong. It wasn't because of her bizarre entrance or strange power.
Mu Yeonghui's very existence itself was not human. Her jet-black beauty seemed to shake the mind just by being looked at.
"Hiiik!"
"U-uh...."
Most of the team members had already been cowed by her appearance alone. Bori clicked her tongue at the sight and shouted.
"Everyone fall back! Don't you dare open fire claiming you're providing support. This is an order. If you disobey, consider yourselves dead!"
She removed the now-useless team members from the fight.
Anyway, it doesn't look like regular firearms would work on her.
Bori glanced at the gray anomalous being that had been reduced to a pile of meat.
Even that thing had required countless bullets before it finally took damage, yet the woman before her had toyed with and killed such a monster.
I couldn't even see the attack. What kind of ability did she use? Some kind of high-speed movement? It can't be something ridiculous like time stop, right....
Bori felt worry, but at the same time she held confidence.
Confidence that no matter how fast her opponent's attacks were, they could never harm her body.
She would take every blow with her invincible physique and wear the enemy down through sheer endurance.
She tensed her body with that thought in mind. At that exact moment, Mu Yeonghui's eyes gleamed.
"Oh?"
With an expressionless face, she let out a verbal exclamation of interest.
"I thought something was strange. So you are at the Expert level."
"Expert?"
"To think there would be someone here who handles that kind of power."
Mu Yeonghui's expression shifted ever so slightly.
"However, it is crude. Incomplete. You are practically begging to die. If you'll excuse this one's rudeness, may this one ask where you learned such a sloppy power?"
"...From inside my mother's womb, you bitch!"
No longer able to endure, Bori charged.
She thrust both hands forward as she rushed in, aiming to slam her palms into Mu Yeonghui.
But those hands were caught by Mu Yeonghui's own before they could connect.
The slender, pale, beautiful hands restrained both her arms, yet Bori instead broke into a savage grin.
Got her!
She had expected the opponent's incomprehensible speed to catch her attack.
If we're locked up like this, it's perfect for me. I'll make you regret challenging me to a contest of strength.
Bori poured power into her arms. With the force capable of lifting a one-ton mass of iron, she tried to crush Mu Yeonghui.
Yet...
Mu Yeonghui didn't budge an inch. She stood as immovable as an ancient tree with deep roots.
Sh-she's not being pushed back. I'm the one being pushed!
As Mu Yeonghui slowly moved their joined hands, Bori's body began sliding backward across the ground.
The woman who could move objects weighing tons was being overpowered in raw strength.
"Is this truly all you have? So a contest of physical strength using the body is your limit."
With those disappointed words, Mu Yeonghui moved her arm and threw Bori.
Bori's small frame flew a good ten meters before she barely managed to land.
"...You're not someone who can be defeated by ordinary means."
Bori's expression grew serious. She decided to use her final resort that she had been saving.
She concentrated an enormous amount of power into her right arm for a single decisive strike.
"Oh ho. So you focused your strength to temporarily enter the Master realm?"
Mu Yeonghui watched with clear interest.
"However, that places a severe burden on the body. Even though your life may be worthless, you seem unaware of how precious it is."
"Worry about your own life before you worry about mine!"
Bori grit her teeth, no longer wanting to listen. Just as Mu Yeonghui said, the technique placed a heavy burden on her; her arm was already screaming in protest.
But its power was just as certain.
She threw her fist at Mu Yeonghui without hesitation, a punch she could confidently claim would shatter a tank's armor plating in one blow!
And it was blocked without any resistance.
"What is this?"
Bori stared ahead with dazed eyes. Her desperate strike had been stopped by something.
An invisible barrier existed around Mu Yeonghui. The wall was so solid that even Bori's full-powered punch left not a single scratch.
"Guh!"
Bori was sent flying. Only after she rolled across the ground did she feel the tremendous pain in her abdomen.
P-pain?
How long had it been since she'd last felt pain?
Mu Yeonghui had pierced straight through Bori's supposedly invincible body and knocked her down in a single strike.
"Senior?!"
"Fire!"
When Bori went down, the remaining team members ignored orders and opened fire, but the bullets were likewise stopped by the intangible barrier.
Mu Yeonghui, who had brushed off the attacks as if they were nothing more than a gentle breeze, turned her gaze toward the team members.
"Guh!"
"Uwaa...."
Everyone foamed at the mouth and collapsed. Without laying a single finger on them, she had subdued the entire group.
"...."
"W-wait!"
Bori cried out to Mu Yeonghui, who was turning to leave as if her business was finished.
She tried to stop her somehow, but her body wouldn't move and her eyes kept drifting shut.
Th-this isn't just a high-grade anomalous being. It's disaster-level... A disaster-level being has appeared. I have to report this....
Bori desperately clung to her fading consciousness, pulled out her phone, and made a call.