33
Ch.33 Hero Hunting
Gu Seo-ryong slowly shifted her position on top of me.
A stance ready to leap out at any moment—at the same time, I could faintly feel the vibration of Gu Seo-ryong’s monster core as she scrutinized me.
With a wary ripple, Gu Seo-ryong looked me over before speaking in an irritated voice.
“Ah~ I was just about to have some fun. How annoying.”
Gu Seo-ryong began generating a different poison from her fingertips resting on my body.
The searing pain in my abdomen, the agony of my blood hardening inside me—as I grimaced, Starlight’s expression turned icy.
“Hey there, S-rank hero Starlight? What brings you all the way here? Didn’t anyone try to stop you?”
“Isn’t that exactly why I’m here now? While the heroes were busy with monsters, a little snake slithered deep into the waters and muddied them.”
“Hmm… Useless things. this is why rejects shouldn’t exist. No investment value. So, you came here to personally take me down and throw me in a villain prison, is that it?”
“You catch on quick. Then, how about you let that man go and come along quietly?”
“Oh my, no thanks? this one’s my prey.”
“Haah…”
The tension was thick. As Starlight treated me like a hostage, Gu Seo-ryong smirked leisurely, flicking out her long tongue.
In response, Starlight sighed and calmly suppressed the ripple of her ability.
I knew exactly what Starlight was doing right now.
That silence right before a sudden acceleration—a technique she’d mastered to prevent me from reading her direction before a charge.
“Kyaaah!”
“Gyaaaaah!”
KWA-JANG-CHANG!
The window behind Starlight shattered from the shockwave of acceleration. Gu Seo-ryong, leaping off the bed and barely dodging Starlight’s fist, flew toward the elevator and landed smoothly.
A thin trail of blood rose from Gu Seo-ryong’s pale cheek, grazed by Starlight’s ability.
“Seems the rumors of you being top-tier A-rank aren’t lies.”
“Attacking mid-conversation? How uncivilized.”
“I’d rather not hear that from an A-rank villain who takes hostages.”
“Hostage…?”
Shlurp.
Flicking her tongue, Gu Seo-ryong made a strange expression as she slowly alternated her gaze between me and Starlight.
A ripple of slight relief—Gu Seo-ryong picked up her suit jacket from the floor and draped it over her shoulders.
“Oh my, right, you called him a hostage? Of course, a hero like you would save a hostage, hm? But how do you know if he’s really a hostage… Or my person?”
“Hmph. If you were a villain, you’d have already attacked me.”
“I’m not a villain.”
When I revealed I wasn’t a villain, Starlight frowned, looking down at me lying motionless.
“So, this guy wasn’t a villain after all? Some kind of kidnapped hero?”
“Not a hero.”
“…Tch. What the hell did you do to him to leave him in this state?”
“Kgh…!”
Starlight stared at my abdomen, blackened by Gu Seo-ryong’s poison, then reached out with a hand glowing red.
Sssss—
As my flesh was seared, I writhed in pain far worse than Gu Seo-ryong’s poison.
The poison I’d been slowly digesting vanished instantly, replaced by a burn mark that would take much longer to heal.
“What the hell? Do heroes kill hostages these days?”
“I’ve never killed anyone. It’s just first aid. Anyone can see it’s poison—better this than letting him die slowly.”
“You’re one cruel woman. Sure you’re a hero?”
Damn right, this cruel woman—how could she just sear a perfectly fine stomach like that?
Then, Gu Seo-ryong snapped her fingers.
Wooong—
The moment the disorienting ability carried by the sound wave reached Starlight, she summoned flames to burn it away.
In that split second, Gu Seo-ryong slid toward Starlight like a striking snake.
“Aha!”
“Kh—?!”
Gu Seo-ryong dodged Starlight’s immediate counterpunch by leaping toward me. In the brief moment Starlight hesitated, looking at me, Gu Seo-ryong pressed two fingers to her lips and—whoosh—blew.
Poison mist spread from her fingertips, enveloping Starlight. Through the obscured vision, Gu Seo-ryong rapidly transformed into her monstrous form.
Hair as white as moonlight, white scales covering her entire body except for her navel and face, a thick tail extending outward, and sharp claws sheathing her hands and feet.
KWA-GA-GAK!
Tearing through the carpet, Gu Seo-ryong dug her claws into the marble floor and lunged at Starlight with both hands outstretched.
A double palm strike with razor-sharp nails—Starlight crossed her arms to block, only to be sent flying out the window.
“Ahaha! That’s right! Can’t attack the hostage, can you? Hero!”
“You—!”
Chu-luk.
Flicking her tongue, Gu Seo-ryong swung her long tail, smashing the bedside table to pieces.
From the wreckage, she coiled a microphone with her tail and spoke to Starlight hovering in the air.
[My darlings~? Code, S!]
“What…?”
Snap!
When Gu Seo-ryong snapped her fingers again, all the lights in Guryongseong shifted to focus on Starlight.
Then, countless superpower humans leaped from the ground, taking positions along the apartment walls, aiming at her.
“Why so flustered, S-rank hero? Did you think villains would just run away scared when you showed up? We’ve been preparing for your arrival anytime.”
“You set a trap?”
“Oh my, won’t you call it hunting preparations instead?”
KWAANG! KWAANG! KWAANG!
With the sound of cannon fire, fist-sized projectiles shot toward Starlight.
Gunfire I’d heard in the lab—anti-materiel sniper rounds.
Even if they didn’t penetrate or cause major injury, the impact was too much to ignore. Starlight dodged the bullets mid-flight, and Gu Seo-ryong laughed into the microphone.
[Ahahaha! Ladies and gentlemen! Today’s special event—hero hunting begins now!]
“Waaaah!”
[Everyone who comes out to watch gets 100 casino chips! 300 if you get injured! As long as you don’t die to a stray bullet, this is your chance to turn your life around!]
“Woooaah! Waaaaaah!”
Sssss—
The sound of smoke grenades releasing, and the thick scent of stimulants wafted through the window.
“Then, I’ll be back soon, so wait for me, darling?”
“Gu Seo-ryooooong!”
“Ahaha! Ahahahaha!”
“Waaaah! Kill her! Kill her!”
Gu Seo-ryong blew me a kiss with two fingers pressed to her lips before leaping into the crowd’s frenzied cheers.
“Hmm.”
And I… Rolled onto my side on the bed.
The paralyzing poison was almost digested—what remained were the sedatives and stimulants.
Four years ago, when Gu Seo-ryong escaped the lab, this much poison would’ve taken me over a day to process. But now? At most, 10 to 20 minutes.
“It hurts…”
More than that, right now, my stomach hurts.
Not inside—the outside.
***
“Let’s see if this works on an S-rank.”
“Sniper team! Focus fire! Don’t stop for even 0.1 seconds until you’re out of ammo!”
The superpower humans frozen to the wall stretched a hand toward Yoo Anna, scattering icy mist into the air.
Beside them, another superpower human hovering mid-air, wreathed in whirlwinds, clapped toward the mist. The ice particles collided, rising and vanishing.
At that moment, Yoo Anna felt her hair stand on end.
“Kyah! Take this and die, hero!”
BOOM!
A massive shockwave erupted around Starlight as a grenade launcher fired by a mere C-rank villain detonated.
A capacitor round, charged to its limit by a superpower human with electricity manipulation.
Fired toward a spot far from Yoo Anna, it exploded like a massive firework, filling the space with lightning.
Thousands of needles formed from the lightning, homing in on Yoo Anna’s body—a natural guided missile drawn to conductive flesh.
“Gyaaaaah!”
“Ahahaha! Insane~! What was that?!”
KURURURUNG!
The thunderclap following the sonic boom sent Guryongseong’s guests into a cheering frenzy. The white smoke lingering in the air crackled with residual lightning.
At the center, Yoo Anna—gritted her teeth and pulled her ability forth.
“You bastards…!”
“She’s alive! Prepare the next attack!”
“Damn it! If an S-rank dies to this, she’s no S-rank!”
The barrage was made up entirely of anti-materiel sniper rounds.
Villains, empowered by the superpower’s enhanced strength, fired the massive bullets in rapid succession, laughing excitedly among the drug-addled civilians.
“Hey, you bitch! Die already! It’s hard to aim at a small target!”
“Hahaha! You idiot! Can’t even use telekinesis right!”
“Shut up before I shoot you first!”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The bullets followed Yoo Anna as she moved through the air, maintaining a fixed distance.
Guided by a superpower with telekinetic abilities—barely C-rank—they kept Yoo Anna thoroughly pinned while B-rank villains prepared the next assault.
The gap in the barrage, as the villains reloaded and gathered their abilities—Yoo Anna didn’t miss it.
She clasped her hands together, raising a single finger.
A pinpoint snipe toward the villain's artillery.
Ping! Ping! Ping!
The moment the beams struck, the hit villains crumbled like sand.
“Oh my, shouldn’t you be careful? You might hit a civilian by mistake!”
“I told you to evacuate, damn it!”
“Waaaah! Ahahaha! She’s flying!”
“Like we’d evacuate! this is too much fun!”
“So annoying!”
The stimulants spread through Guryongseong, Gu Seo-ryong’s ability—sensory disorientation and hallucinations.
As Yoo Anna tried to fly higher to evade, Gu Seo-ryong appeared behind her and spun mid-air.
WHAM!
Yoo Anna was slammed downward by Gu Seo-ryong’s tail, stopping just before crushing civilians. She skidded across the iron bars of the arena in the apartment’s center.
Above her, Gu Seo-ryong landed with a thud, gripping the bars with scaled feet.
“Ahahaha! Must be tough, hero? Having to protect these civilians too!”
Snap! Snap! Snap!
The echoing finger snaps reversed Yoo Anna’s sense of up and down.
Disoriented, she barely avoided crashing into the ground, soaring back up—only for the apartment to collapse toward her.
Panicked, she stretched her hands to catch it, but from a window, a middle-aged man in the midst of intimacy with a prostitute shouted excitedly,
“Kyah~! Starlight! You’re damn pretty!”
“Haaah~!”
The collapsing apartment was another illusion—it was Yoo Anna’s sense of balance failing.
Shooo—
Human figures stretched grotesquely, windows elongating like playing cards, the people inside passing by like frames in an old film.
“Starlight! Just stop fighting and lie down here!”
“Ahahaha! Will 10 million won do? I’ll pay anything!”
“Just die already! I bet on you losing, ugh!”
“Gyaaaah!”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The next barrage of bullets smashed through the window, crushing the man and the prostitute beneath him. her head flew off.
Disgusted, Yoo Anna clenched her teeth as she sank toward the moon beneath her head.
“Ugh! Seriously! Disgusting!”
“Hmm? Is that directed at my darlings? Or the civilians?”
Beside her—perched on the apartment rooftop railing, claws dug in—Gu Seo-ryong snapped her fingers.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
The echoes made the moon stretch like a deck of cards being fanned out.
Suddenly, 13 Gu Seo-ryongs stood before Yoo Anna.
“Ta-da~! Which one’s the real Gu Seo-ryong~?”
“All of them!”
WHOOSH!
Yoo Anna unleashed flames across the rooftop, burning them all away.
Then, on the opposite rooftop, Gu Seo-ryong crouched under the moonlight, casting a shadow.
In her hand was a chess-piece-like switch.
Click.
The moment she pressed it, the illusions around Yoo Anna vanished.
Surrounding her on the rooftop were claymore mines—explosives that would obliterate everything in front of them upon detonation.
“Now, kaboom~♥”
KWA-BOOM!
A massive explosion erupted atop the apartment.