159. Embarrassing Past Compilation (2)
159. Embarrassing Past Compilation (2)
"No way....... N-no, no......."
Im Ga-eul checked the video with trembling eyes.
......The title alone grabbed her attention.
『 Eye Opening(開眼) 』
The bold letters, without a single other word of explanation, filled Im Ga-eul with a sense of dread.
"......It's gotta be Yu-ha hoobae, right? I mean, I didn't catch a Demon this time. It's definitely him."
Im Ga-eul furiously cranked her hope circuits and clicked the video.
The moment she did.
Whoosh─
─ Yu-ha! (Means Utopia hi)
─ Yu-ha Yu-ha! Jin Yu-ha!
─ What's this? Weren't all the Midterm Evaluation vids done? There's more going up?
The instant the video went live, live chat from tens of thousands of viewers scrolled past at blinding speed.
DUN-DUN.
The first shot was of a nude, handsome man. Though edited so the vital parts were covered.
Before him, a massive Black Magic Stone pulsed like a heart.
─ Huh? A guy?
─ Wh-what the hell. Did I walk into the wrong hub?
─ Schllrrp. I don't hate it.
─ Whoa, he's hot! But still nothing on Yu-ha.
─ ???
─ Who's this? New Utopia Party member maybe?
The chat overheated the moment a man's nude body was shown out of nowhere.
But that didn't last.
The man's eyes rolled back, and he spat dangerous words in a voice thick with madness.
'So what do you want me to do? I love this planet. And I love humanity's preordained fate. My objective, from the very start, has been one single thing: this Earth's destruction, exactly as originally ordained!'
The moment the shot showed Instructor Baek Seol-hee standing in his way with a sword.
─ Oh, it's that Instructor from last time!
─ Wait, is he pointing a sword at her?
─ So he's a Demonized Human then?
─ Yeah, going on about wiping out humanity with his eyes rolled back, sounds about right.
─ And look around him. Looks like he kidnapped people.
┗ Insane
─ Shame, he was good-looking.
┗ Nah, he's uglier than Jin Yu-ha anyway.
┗ 22222222222
Everyone's reaction was a resigned "too bad, but what can you do."
Every word out of the guy's mouth was steeped in madness; he gave off a dangerously unhinged vibe.
Just looking at the hostages nearby made it clear how dangerous Demonized Humans really were.
─ So I guess this time the vid is the Instructor taking down a Demonized Human.
─ Mm, I was hoping to see Jin Yu-ha.......
Since a video of Jin Yu-ha taking down a Demonized Human went up last time, they figured this might be something similar.
But their guess was wrong.
Suddenly, a voice from behind.
'Im Ga-eul!!!!'
The camera swung around, catching his desperate face.
─ Oh, it's Jin Yu-ha!!!!!!
─ Absurdly gorgeous again today!!!!!!
─ The XX on the cliff
─ My personal eyewash dispenser has arrived!!!!
─ Hey, let's abandon that other guy. Thought he was hot, but now that I see Jin Yu-ha he doesn't even compare.
┗ whoa
┗ For real lol
┗ He's even naked and still losing lmaooo
┗ Im Ga-eul!!! How dare you try to compete with mere nudity!!
'Grab the Magic Stone!!!!!!'
─ Yu-ha! Huh? Wait, why Im Ga-eul all of a sudden?
─ Who's that?
┗ You mean the Squinting Mastermind?
┗ The hell's that supposed to mean, nerd.
And then Im Ga-eul appeared.
Her throat bobbed with a nervous swallow, cold sweat streaming down her forehead.
A look that anyone could tell was pure terror.
And her own image, trudging step by step toward the massive Black Magic Stone.
Back when she recalled that moment, she'd thought her stride had been reasonably confident. But watching it now, she flinched constantly mid-walk, and her legs were shaking mercilessly.
As if she didn't want to go, Im Ga-eul's feet dragged, forcing herself forward by sheer will toward the Magic Stone.
─ Dude, she's scared shitless lmao
─ Wait, she's a Support, isn't she. Isn't this situation dangerous right now? Jin Yu-ha's face looks dead serious.......
─ Yo look at her legs. Shaking like crazy.
┗ She's walking like a newborn giraffe lmaooo
┗ Giraffe lmaooooooooo
Even though the situation was clearly serious, people looked at Im Ga-eul and laughed.
Then Im Ga-eul placed her hand on the Magic Stone.
'......Heuh, keu-hoot?'
Slowly, the corners of her video-self's lips curled upward.
Haaaaaah─
She let out a languid sigh, tilting her head back.
'Power...... it overflows.......'
'Are you alright?'
'Ahh, I'm fine. Fine and more. Couldn't possibly not be fine.'
The video zoomed in on her face, and with one hand covering half of it, her eyes flashed open.
'Right now...... my mood. Is the best.'
At the same time, a name slammed onto the lower third.
《 Utopia's Support, 【 Squinting Mastermind 】 Im Ga-eul. 》
The chat immediately erupted at the sight.
The entire chat began to flood with lmaoooo.
─ 【 S . L . I . T . E . Y . E . O . P . E . N . I . N . G 】
─ Is this a bit?
─ Whoa whoa whoa....... Bitch, why you slicking your hair back!?
─ Squinting...... Mastermind...... awakening......?
─ lmaoooooooooooo Chuunibyou on
─ Ahh, I'm feeling at my absolute HIGHEST.
─ You're screwed lmaooooooo
─ Heh heh, the dark flame dragon inside me.......
─ A wonderfully refreshing feeling. So good I could break into song.
Im Ga-eul's whole body trembled as she watched the video.
This can't be happening.
This absolutely can't be happening.
How on earth did things end up like this?
"AAAAAAH—!!!"
Im Ga-eul screamed, hurling her fists at the hologram in front of her.
But her punches only passed through the hologram.
The video kept playing.
'What a lovely face─ Surprised, hoobae?'
'I'll handle things here. You just sit back and watch, hoobae.'
'That...... was an afterimage.'
'I've got a rough idea now. Your level....... Ahh, how dull.'
"Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy!!!"
Seeing herself from a third-person view was truly a spectacle beyond compare.
'This kind of light doesn't suit me but....... Still, it's fine. This darkness will conceal my threads, after all.......'
Her voice lowered, the whole deadly-charisma act nothing but profoundly awkward.
─ LET'S GOOOOOOO!!!!! oioi, so you were hiding your power all along!!!!!
─ I believed in you!!! Squinting Mastermind!!!
─ Squinting Mastermind! Im Ga-eul!!!!
─ I am excite
─ MomwhenigrowupiwannabesliteyedMomwhenigrowupiwannabesliteyedMomwhenigrowupiwannabesliteyedMomwhenigrowupiwannabesliteyed.
─ Welp, booked a plastic surgery consult for tomorrow. Gonna get my eyes narrowed.
─ It's total cringe but it's cool!!!
But the people were going wild.
A practically uncontrollable frenzy of excitement.
Because even if it was pure eighth-grader syndrome, she actually was overwhelmingly toying with her opponent.
Literally cringe but cool.
But Im Ga-eul could not smile no matter what.
"N-no......."
Because she knew what scene was coming next.
"No─! Stoooop......!!!"
Im Ga-eul shouted like an astronaut banging on the wall from the wrong side of a bookshelf.
And so, after striking every last cringey pose imaginable.
The final moment, ready to finish off the enemy.
SWISH—!!
'No...... perhaps he's already been cut, before his eyes could even register it?'
Her video-self maintained the lofty concept right to the very end.
"......."
Silence followed.
Only a faint red mark remained on the Demonized Human's neck.
─ ?
─ ?
─ What?
─ Yo, I know this one! The neck gets sliced off three seconds later! It's a classic trope!
However.
Time passed, and the Demonized Human's neck stayed attached.
The Demonized Human then scratched his neck as if to say, What's this?
And Im Ga-eul looked back and spoke.
'Oi, hoobaes. What are you doing right now? I'm a Support who backs you up from the rear. Killing monsters is the Damage Dealers' job.'
The outcome everyone was waiting for.
The chat went absolutely insane.
─ lmaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
─ S.L.I.T.E.Y.E.D.M.A.S.T.E.R.M.I.N.D.A.W.A.K.E.N.I.N.G (Pathetic.)
─ You are already cut. (Not.)
─ Augh, Ga-eul, you little!
─ This chick's hilarious lmaooooooooo Ultimate move!! Light scratch!!!
─ Is this bastard a comedian?
─ Embarrassing past archive.
─ Ah....... So pathetic lmaoooooo
─ You pathetic bitch
─ Speed 999 Damage 1
─ Ah live embarrassing past updates lmaoooo
─ You total clown show, holy shit lmaooooo
─ Class changed from Squinting Mastermind to Squinting Idiot lmao
─ Lmaooooooooooo Chuunibyou ON
─ Late-onset Chuunibyou Ga-eul.
─ Ah insane lmaooooooooo
─ You're so slow. You can't even fall properly (Doesn't fall.)
┗ She'll probably fall when she dies of old age though?
─ Ah~~~ah I didn't want to use this here....... Hoobae, help me!!!
┗ Lmaooooooooo are you crazy.
After that, the footage showed Jin Yu-ha cutting the enemy down.
But Jin Yu-ha's shirtless scene did not appear. It looked like that part was edited out.
However, none of the visuals in that video registered with Im Ga-eul.
Because her mind had gone blank and her whole body was trembling.
Nnnnngh.......
Im Ga-eul whimpered like a whining puppy.
Plop─
She collapsed onto the floor with dead eyes, her body writhing pathetically.
Nobody would ever say things like "It's winter" or "she has no presence" about Im Ga-eul anymore.
Her recognition was absolute.
But this was not the way she had wanted it.
Absolutely not.
Even though it was summer.
It was Ga-eul (Autumn).
* * *
Meanwhile,
Right after Utopia's video went up, Baek Seol-hee
coerced Sofia into handing over the original footage.
'Mm, I wasn't able to observe Jin Yu-ha's combat scenes....... As his master, this is something I clearly need to confirm.'
She skipped right past all the parts where Im Ga-eul was fighting.
And fixed her eyes on Jin Yu-ha's fight scene.
In an instant, Baek Seol-hee's eyes twitched.
'......Hold on.'
Only after replaying the combat scene several times did Baek Seol-hee exhale a low murmur of admiration.
'What in the world has he been up to.......'
At first, when Jin Yu-ha began sequentially severing Yeon Woo-jin's arms and legs, even she hadn't grasped the meaning.
But after repeatedly watching the slashes of Jin Yu-ha's sword, she understood the reason.
'It's the same as when he took down Ryu Jin-ju.'
The Circulation Gap.
That trait of Yeon Woo-jin's, 'Regeneration,' also used demonic energy, which meant a Circulation Gap existed.
However, because he was possessed by a Demon and possessed even greater power and regeneration, the difficulty was incomparable to Ryu Jin-ju's case.
But it seemed her disciple had further sharpened his senses even in that brief moment.
Ha.
Baek Seol-hee let out a hollow laugh and nodded with satisfaction.
A method of calculating the movement path of demonic energy and severing it at the perfect timing to make it rampage.
Certainly, with a method like this, one could guarantee the opponent would never survive.
'After all, he completely wrecked the ability itself.......'
Then Jin Yu-ha's growth occurred.
Suddenly, a halo of pure white light formed above his head, and beneath it, his body underwent an evolution.
This, Baek Seol-hee knew, because she had experienced it once herself.
His muscles grew denser, his body more solid. A power that elevated the very rank of his soul.
What she herself called the Blessing of the Stars.
"......He must have grown considerably. But since it's just a video, I can't confirm the specifics. I'll have to watch again."
Beep.
She dragged the video back again and replayed the scene where Jin Yu-ha received the Blessing of the Stars.
Again.
Again.
Again.
"Hmm....... It's still not clear─."
"Seol-hee."
Before her, Chairwoman Rina was narrowing her brows as if displeased.
"Seol-hee."
"......."
"Baek Seol-hee!!!"
When Rina shouted sharply.
Baek Seol-hee turned her head with a sulky expression. As if asking why she was being interrupted at a crucial moment.
"......What on earth is it, that you keep staring at it like that."
"It's nothing."
Baek Seol-hee answered with a nonchalant face as she slipped her phone into her pocket.
"......Hah. Wasn't I in the middle of telling you why I've returned here?"
"Ah."
At Baek Seol-hee's nod as if she'd briefly forgotten, Rina made a flabbergasted expression.
"Hoo, yes. Anyway, I've more or less wrapped things up in Japan for now, but I had to rush back to handle something in Korea."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. However, the final mop-up still remains. I'm going to assign that role to you, so head over to Japan immediately."
"Understood."
Baek Seol-hee nodded calmly.
As she was about to bow her head back down toward the video, Rina called her to a halt again.
"And, deliver this to Jin Yu-ha."
Rina held out a single blue ticket.
"This came in for me this time, but I have no particular use for it, and you're busy. So I thought it fitting to give it to the lad."
"......?"
A questioning look on her face, Baek Seol-hee accepted the ticket Rina offered.
And she checked the text on the ticket.
【 Haeundae Summer Festival, VIP Admission Ticket. 】