How to Steal the Hero's Woman - 375: Hero Academy (4-16)
It wasn't just the poison gas.
The building's interior, which had been sleek and futuristic just moments ago, was now rusting disgustingly. Cracks spiderwebbed across the walls, evoking the vibe of an abandoned ruin.
Yeriel, who had never shown a hint of panic before, wore a flustered expression as she spoke up.
"It's an infestation. But how... here of all places?"
As Yeriel pondered deeply, a blaring alarm echoed through the building.
All personnel inside the building, evacuate to the exterior immediately!
If evacuation is impossible, seek assistance from nearby Everica staff.
This is not a drill!
The childlike Yeriel furrowed her brow at the announcement and spoke.
"Dungeon infestation... This can't happen naturally in the middle of a city."
"What do we do?"
"The whole building's infested, but we should still connect with HQ staff. Hold on a sec."
Yeriel frantically activated her smart watch to make a call.
I watched her and asked Seong Sua.
"What's a dungeon infestation?"
Seong Sua calmly began explaining.
"Do you know how dungeons form originally?"
"Uh... don't they just spawn naturally?"
"Half right, half wrong."
"...?"
"They activate around a core."
"A core?"
Core.
Dungeons weren't just natural caves.
Once a core took root, a small cavern would morph into a dungeon's shape.
It could resemble a moss-covered cave or the ruins of an ancient civilization lined with structures.
And the poison gas from that core birthed monsters.
This phenomenon right now was...
"For it to infest like this in a place like this means someone brought a core here and activated it. I've never heard of one spawning suddenly in the city center."
"Crazy..."
A curse slipped out unbidden.
Having experienced the poison gas once, I knew how lethal it was.
Even trained heroes grew fatigued by it.
Which meant it could be fatal to the civilians inside this building.
After Seong Sua finished explaining, Yeriel looked at us urgently.
"I talked to someone at HQ. You two can guess the situation, right?"
"Yes."
The current situation boiled down to one sentence.
Someone artificially activated a core inside Everica HQ.
The childlike Yeriel dropped her usual gentle demeanor for a voice laced with charisma.
"You two know it's a holiday today. You came here lightly, no doubt. I'm in no position to ask, but... please help with the building interior now."
"Lady Yeriel."
"...Yes?"
I cut her off, staring straight at her.
"If you ask like that, it feels like we're doing it out of obligation. Just give the order. Instructor Seong Sua and I... we're ready."
"..."
Yeriel looked stunned for a moment, then smiled.
"No need for long-winded talk that tires the mouth. Good. I'll handle rescues on the left building. You two search this one thoroughly and save as many lives as possible."
""Yes!""
"Then... be careful, both of you!"
Yeriel heard our replies, levitated into the air, and shot off like an arrow.
As she flew away, she glanced at Seong Sua with apologetic eyes and spoke to me.
"Instructor Seong Su-ho... I'm sorry. This is my fault for suggesting we come here..."
"Instructor Seong Sua."
"...Yes?"
Seong Sua gazed at me anxiously, bracing for what I'd say.
I smiled at her warmly.
"Just doing something with you makes me happy enough, Instructor Seong Sua. If anything, I'm grateful."
"Ah..."
Seong Sua relaxed into a smile. Watching her, I made an oh face.
"Oh! Not that I enjoy situations like this, of course. Let's hurry and save the others."
"Yes."
Seong Sua smiled brightly and ran alongside me.
Everica HQ consisted of two massive buildings.
Bridges connected them at intervals for easy transit.
Yeriel used her mobility to head to the opposite building, leaving Seong Sua and me to handle the right one where we were.
Our spot was near the prototype area on the upper floors, so we quickly encountered Everica staff.
But contrary to expectations, while some were capable fighters, many were ordinary civilians mixed in.
Seeing the civilians drove home the crisis's severity.
"Urgh..."
"Blech..."
Most couldn't even breathe properly, vomiting or dry-heaving, out of it.
A security guard with abilities managed to communicate with us.
"Sorry. The upper floors have mostly office and tech staff, so we can't move easily."
"We understand. Hold out in a safe spot as best you can."
With elevators out, dragging them to the entrance wasn't feasible.
"You'll run into guards on the way down."
Seong Sua and I took the stairs, sweeping every floor for survivors.
Seong Sua seemed relieved as we went.
"Most up here are staff."
"Yeah, we can scatter them quickly and head down."
Staff mattered too, but with the incident likely deliberate, civilians were at higher risk.
But things didn't go our way.
The ruined-building interior twisted into something far more grotesque.
Cracked, rusted walls oozed into slime, turning the building into a massive monster's innards.
Seong Sua cried out in alarm.
"Big trouble! It's starting to expand!"
"Expand?"
"After the core finishes infesting its territory, it forcibly enlarges the space itself."
Infestation laid the foundation; expansion warped it.
A cave that should end after hours of walking stretched into days of maze.
Physically impossible, but cores made it real.
That was the essence of a dungeon.
"How is that even possible?"
"Nothing's confirmed yet."
Some scholars claimed compressed space unfolding; others, a bridge to another dimension.
None fully theorized.
"We don't even know where cores come from or how they form."
But one fact stood out.
"This core turning the building into a dungeon isn't ordinary."
Infestations usually took days to months.
Finishing in hours and moving to expansion?
"At this rate, a real dungeon could spawn in the city center."
"...This is serious."
Who the hell would do this?
Two groups came to mind.
One was...
The freak organization?
[Not certain. I've contacted Zodiac on my own initiative for now.]
Good call.
No immediate reply expected.
And another group surfaced.
If not Zodiac, then only one possibility left?
[Can't confirm absolutely... but if not the freaks, the likelihood is extremely high.]
The Church...
They'd infiltrated the embassy too, via Go Choong-shin.
If they pulled that off, this was plausible...
Wait for Zodiac's response first. Plan countermeasures after...
[Understood.]
As we roughly outlined next steps and searched diligently with Seong Sua, screams pierced the air.
"Kyaaack!"
"Kwaaack!"
Not one, but multiple voices stabbed into my ears.
I looked at Seong Sua; she mirrored my reaction and bolted toward the sound.
There, civilians were surrounded by thugs.
"W-who are you!"
"P-please spare us..."
"Mommy... sob..."
Helpless-looking civilians... and the thugs eyeing them...
"Civilians resisting the poison gas."
"High rarity."
They wore perception-disruption cloaks.
Suspects narrowing down?
[Freaks use those cloaks often too, so can't confirm yet.]
As Armonia said, too many unknowns to pin it down.
I shelved that and assessed the scene.
More thugs than expected.
Whispering to Seong Sua hiding beside me,
"Quite a few."
"Yeah, and civilians clustered together."
Rushing in blindly risked hitting civilians.
Only one move for me here.
Armonia, check their dispositions first.
[Got it.]
Identifying them now would help later...
As disposition windows popped up one by one, Seong Sua murmured softly.
"They won't strike immediately, so when a gap opens..."
Mid-sentence, a thug pulled something from their cloak.
"Time to start."
Gruff, husky voice—female, from the line.
A woman?
[Name: Moon Ju-a. Female confirmed.]
What she drew was...
...What? A needle?
[Estimated: black needle.]
She twisted her cloaked, hidden face, then yanked a specific civilian from the group.
And that person was...
"Kyaaack! M-Mommy!!"
Clearly the youngest-looking girl among them, around upper elementary age.
As the child was dragged out, her apparent parents lunged desperately.
"N-no! Su-min! Kyaaack!"
"Hands off my daughter! Graaack!"
The parents' frenzy ended quickly—subdued by nearby thugs, collapsing wounded.
The woman thug sneered, yanking the wriggling girl's hair.
"Heh... pathetic."
"Mom... Dad... waaah!"
"Shut it?"
"Eek! It hurts!"
The woman clamped the girl's nape with one hand, raising the needle in the other with a vile grin.
"Watch closely. Where else will you see your daughter turn monster? As a souvenir, I'll order her to kill you first. Enjoy the show..."
As the needle neared the girl's nape—
Tang! Paaaang!
"Kwaaaaaaaa!!"
An arrow pierced the woman's arm; her body flew back like a ragdoll.
Civilians and thugs alike panicked at the sight.
"W-what! Who!!"
I answered the thugs screaming at Seong Sua and me—with arrows, no courtesy.
Paaang!
"Kwaaack!"
"Kill 'em! Just two bastards!"
In the chaos, civilians had one choice.
"R-run!"
"Grab the runners! Kwaaaack!"
A thug targeting civilians burst into flames, thrashing.
"Kwaaaack! S-save me!! Save me~!!!!"
"That bitch is a mage! Kill her first!"
At the shout, thugs ignored civilians, unleashing everything on Seong Sua.
Melee, ranged, magic.
All focused on her.
"Die!!"
"Using magic without watching gaps is troublesome!"
"W-watch out!"
Fireballs aimed at Seong Sua veered in her powerful winds, striking other thugs instead.
Kwaang!
"Hiiik! Kwaaaa!"
"Take that bitch down somehow!"
I witnessed Seong Sua's prowess firsthand.
She unleashed the full skill from the VR session earlier, subduing thugs in seconds.
All eyes locked on her.
Their fatal mistake.
Attacking me first would've been easier for them.
Logically sound from their view, though.
Both archer and mage were ranged, but mages held higher threat in people's minds.
Targeting the mage first made sense—assuming I couldn't use magic.
Shuuuuk! Pak!
"Keurk..."
I didn't hold back, nailing presumed mages' heads dead-center.
Seong Sua really is impressive.
Civilians had fled; thugs reduced by over half.
Bodies littered the floor, bleeding out.
Just as the situation seemed to settle—
"You fucking bastards... I'll kill you all..."
The woman, arm pierced by my arrow and body slammed by Seong Sua's magic, muttered curses while grabbing a dying comrade's throat.
Trying to heal?
[Actions suggest not healing.]
No one lifts a comrade's nape for healing.
The gripped man groaned miserably, cloak hiding his agony.
"Hea... heal me... quick..."
"Shut up, useless fuck!"
Pak!
She stabbed the mystery black needle into his chest.
"Krat! T-that! F-fuck, what're you doing! Pull it out! Now!!"
"Might as well be useful before dying, right?"
"K-kill... me... keurk..."
After injecting all liquid, she flung him down.
He crumpled limply at first, then twitched back up as if recovered.
Her shout followed.
"Go kill 'em!"
"––__––!!"
The needled man charged Seong Sua berserkly.
Sensing danger, I fired to pierce his head.
But my arrow...
Pasak!
"––_!"
"What the?!"
It hit but only stunned briefly.
If only he'd turn to me...
"_–––__!"
He ignored me, barreling at Seong Sua.
"Instructor Seong Sua!"
"!?"
Busy fending attacks, Seong Sua finally noticed at my shout.
She fused fire and wind, blasting him point-blank.
Normally fatal—but...
Paaa...
"No way!"
Her magic singed only the cloak, failing to stop him.
Panicking from the charge, Seong Sua missed surrounding thugs, exposing gaps.
"Kut!"
"Now! Kill her! Just this bitch...! Kwaaak!"
"Fuck! Mages! Archer first!!"
I fired level 1 arrows while sprinting to Seong Sua.
But things worsened.
"–=__–!"
"_–––!"
Two more charged me.
This is insane!
[Su-ho, deploy Lena for now!]
No! Not yet!
Lena could bail us out.
But afterward?
If Cho Kang-hyeon spotted her entrance by mistake?
How to explain Lena to Seong Sua?
I ignored the monsters charging me, covering Seong Sua as I rushed to her.
"–__–––!"
Take one down first!
Ineffective, but one monster fell under Seong Sua's spells and my arrow barrage.
Problem was...
"_–––_!"
"–––_!"
Facing the beasts lunging at me, an idea hit.
Right! Use that!
I targeted the monster and activated the trap magic circle I'd learned before.
But the circle that deployed was...
What? Why on the ground...!
It sprawled massively, engulfing not just me and the monster, but distant thugs and Seong Sua too.
And that magic circle...
Paaaak!!
Unfurled across the floor in brown light, activating.