You'll Die Here Today
To hell with it.
BOOM!
"Ugh...!"
An Jin-ho barely managed to throw up a defense with his ability, but his timing was off — he couldn't absorb the full force of the blow. The attack had come from the side, so fast he couldn't even tell what it was. The impact sent him skidding backward. He steadied his breathing and looked toward the direction the strike had come from.
That is...
Where An Jin-ho's gaze stopped, Lee Yeon-hui stood wreathed in golden light. In his awareness she had been nothing but a blur, too faint to leave any lasting impression.
That attack just now... was from that kid?
The sensation had been exactly like taking a hit from an Awakened. Shock and disbelief rose in him at once — but Lee Yeon-hui didn't spare him so much as a glance. She was already racing to Park Yeon-chan's side, checking his condition.
"Hey! Are you okay?!"
"Ow... did you swallow a train whistle or something? Why is your voice so loud."
Park Yeon-chan answered in his usual snippy tone, as calm as ever. Looking at him, she might have been expected to feel some relief — but not a shred of it reached her.
His right arm was in tatters. Skin blackened beyond telling whether it was burns or something worse. Blood still flowing, old stains already dried. How was anyone supposed to feel at ease looking at that?
"More importantly, you. What the hell are you—"
"Just shut up!"
She cut him off savagely before he could ask about her current state, then turned a murderous glare on An Jin-ho.
She felt pathetic. The reason Park Yeon-chan was hurt this badly was to save her little sister — and she had followed them here only to do nothing at all.
Even so.
"Even so, you people are still the ones at fault."
As if answering the fury burning inside her, the golden aura pouring off Lee Yeon-hui flared and writhed violently. She herself was too far gone in rage to notice — but everyone present was staring at her in astonishment.
And yet.
This is impossible.
No one was more stunned than Lee Jae-hun, who had been holding Yeon-hui at bay on the far side. For all that his attention had been split between Park Yeon-chan and An Jin-ho, he had still lost track of her movements completely.
An Awakened's strength branched in many directions depending on their traits and specialties. Comparing specific stats against an opponent, though, was simpler than it sounded. Who was stronger? Compare raw power. Who was faster? Race them. For combat-type Awakened, whether you could track the other person's movements was enough to settle the hierarchy.
Which meant—
She just exceeded a speed I can catch...
It was absurd. Awakening at that age was already far past "unusual." And the moment she awakened, she had toyed with Lee Jae-hun — someone who ranked fairly high among Awakened — with pure speed.
That made her extremely dangerous.
"An Jin-ho, get your head on straight!"
Lee Jae-hun's shout snapped An Jin-ho out of his daze.
In that same instant—
Taat!
Lee Yeon-hui closed the distance on An Jin-ho in a single burst and charged. The speed was noticeably slower than before. That first strike had been unnaturally fast and sudden, catching him flat-footed — but this was different.
He watched her swinging fist with cold focus and raised a wall of wind precisely in its path. In his eyes, her small fist was about to slam into his barrier. An unrefined, clumsy punch. Nothing like the sharp, disciplined movements Park Yeon-chan had shown. Anyone could tell at a glance that she wasn't used to throwing fists.
Except—
KWAJIJIJIK!
That clumsy-looking punch carried power that belied every appearance. The moment it met An Jin-ho's barrier, it tore through like paper and punched straight in.
No. If that connects... I'm dead for sure...!
Instinct, not thought, screamed the warning. An Jin-ho's body moved on pure reflex. He wrenched himself aside with everything his ability could give him, spinning hard in the direction of the fist to bleed off the force—
KWAAAAANG!
—and barely slipped that monstrous punch.
Of course.
"Khack!"
Even that dodge was imperfect. He couldn't nullify all the damage.
What the hell...
Failing to fully evade hadn't been a matter of An Jin-ho's inexperience. If anything, he was growing at a breakneck pace right now — internally and in his ability — and that was the only reason he had dodged at all. The problem was that strength, which simply ignored common sense.
Cold sweat running down his face, An Jin-ho looked where the punch he had avoided had gone.
Annihilation.
A chain of thick, stacked shipping containers had been punched through with enormous holes, one after another. The edges were cleanly carved out, as if they had always been that way.
He swallowed hard without meaning to. The thought flashed through his mind that if he hadn't dodged that attack, he would have shared the containers' fate — and the image of his own death painted itself so vividly that his body locked up and his thinking seized.
He looked exactly like prey cornered before a predator. Forcing his mind back into order, he looked at his opponent.
"You people," Lee Yeon-hui said, closing the distance on An Jin-ho one slow step at a time, "are going to die."
He needed to put space between them somehow, but right now An Jin-ho could barely think straight.
"Here. Today."
A death sentence, delivered flatly. Where she had been blazing with fury moments before, the heat had paradoxically gone so far it had turned cold. Goosebumps raced over An Jin-ho's entire body.
At the same time—
Kugung-gugung-gugu.
The golden aura pouring from Lee Yeon-hui surged even harder, until the ground around them began to shake.
"I'll kill every last one of you right here."
The instant she spoke and started to draw up her power—
Thud!
A heavy impact struck the back of her neck. Strength drained out of Lee Yeon-hui's body in a rush. Through fading consciousness she turned her eyes backward and found the white-haired man, Lee Jae-hun, looking down at her.
"You... son of a... bi—"
She glared at him savagely even as her body slowly crumpled.
"So everything went exactly the way you planned, huh."
Lee Jae-hun gave a hollow laugh and looked at Park Yeon-chan. In answer, Park Yeon-chan only grinned.
"Anyway, you lasted three minutes like we agreed, so I'll let you people go."
"Senior?!"
"Shut it, you brat. I can hear you without the yelling. Did I say anything wrong?"
"Even so—"
"And we need to get out of here fast anyway."
He cut An Jin-ho off lightly. At the blank look on the younger man's face, Lee Jae-hun jerked his chin toward the base of the mountain.
"Looks like the hero types caught on."
He pulled out a cigarette at some point, took a drag, and blew out the smoke before looking at Park Yeon-chan again.
"You think that kid just sat there trusting my word and stalling for time? He had a plan the whole way."
"Aww, what do you take me for."
"Heh. You little shit. Cocky right to the end. But you gonna be okay? Looks to me like you might die if your luck's bad."
"If I die, come burn some incense for me or something."
"Kid's got a motor for a mouth. Can't even shut up for one sentence."
Tap.
Lee Jae-hun flicked ash from his cigarette and turned away.
"We're going. If we meet again and you're still alive, I'll grant you one wish — so try hard to stay that way."
"Then I've got a request."
Park Yeon-chan fired back immediately. Lee Jae-hun's steps, already carrying him away, stopped.
"The wish I'd grant if you live? You're cashing it in already?"
"Yes."
Lee Jae-hun turned with a grin, his eyes thick with unmistakable interest. He walked slowly back to Park Yeon-chan, who was leaning against a shipping container, and brought himself down to eye level. Meeting that gaze, Park Yeon-chan opened his mouth.
"————, basically."
"...Kh— hahahaha! Okay, fine. Once I confirm you've survived, I can do that much for you."
"Senior?!"
"Drop it. I'm the one doing it anyway, so just keep your mouth shut."
Lee Jae-hun threw his head back and laughed hard, then brushed off his pants and stood.
"Then do your best to stay alive~ That's the only way I get to grant your fun little wish."
He waved cheerfully and walked off at an easy pace. An Jin-ho looked back and forth between Lee Jae-hun and Park Yeon-chan, hesitating to the last — then swallowed the words that had risen all the way to his throat.
At least that kid...
He followed after Lee Jae-hun.
"I guess you could call that a success, more or less..."
I muttered, watching the two of them disappear into the distance.
"Oppa! Unnie!"
From far off, Lee Yeon-ah came running, calling desperately for me and Yeon-hui.
"Oppa, are you okay?!"
"I'm fine. She just needs to open her eyes and she'll be... khack!"
I ruffled Yeon-ah's hair, trying to reassure her — but I couldn't hold back the nausea I'd been fighting any longer. In the end, I coughed up blood.
Haha... this might actually be pretty bad...?
I'd been chattering away like I had all the time in the world, but the truth was my body was a wreck. An Jin-ho probably hadn't noticed — but Lee Jae-hun definitely had. Maybe the only reason he'd accepted my ridiculous proposal was because he judged the prerequisite — my survival — was that unlikely.
"Oppa?! Wait, what do I do?"
I waved a hand at Yeon-ah, who was panicking over the blood, trying to tell her I was fine —
"Unnie definitely did it like this..."
—when she suddenly seized my hand and began pouring out the same golden aura as Yeon-hui.
"...!"
I startled and tried to pull my hand free, but—
Squeeze.
—she gripped so hard I couldn't put any strength into it. I was stuck. Caught completely off guard, I was still trying to figure out what to do when—
"Huh...?"
—the golden energy flowing into me through her grip began slowly healing my wounds.
"It worked! I can do it too, Oppa!"
"So it actually works..."
I wore a dumbfounded look, then let out a hollow laugh like all the strength had left me.
Ah, screw it. I give up.
Thud.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, I lost consciousness right there.
The moment Park Yeon-chan's consciousness cut out, Lee Yeon-ah caught his collapsing body as if embracing him and laid him down. She rested his head on her lap and gently stroked his hair and face as she spoke in a low voice.
"Thank you, Oppa. For saving me this time, too."
"So you failed, then?"
"Yeah. Well. That's how it went."
Lee Jae-hun answered the voice on the other end of the line in a languid tone.
"Haa... Don't tell me that weird habit of yours is acting up again."
"Come on~ What do you take me for."
He answered the sighing voice playfully —
"Do I sound like I'm joking right now."
—and the other party's cold voice drove straight into Lee Jae-hun's ear.
"Ah, for real. You're the ones who made this mess, so why are you taking it out on us."
But Lee Jae-hun fired right back without a second's hesitation. Beside him, An Jin-ho watched and pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Huu... Fine. Things went sideways from the start this time and we pushed too hard, so I'll let it slide. What about the Doctor?"
"Resting somewhere safe. Not getting to run the experiment seems to have hit pretty hard."
"Cause of failure?"
"Ah — I'll tell you that in person. We found an irregular you can't just ignore."
"...Fine. Do that."
Click.
"Huu..."
Lee Jae-hun blew out a stream of cigarette smoke and looked toward the hideout the heroes had already overrun.
This operation had met resistance so fierce it had been a mess from the start. A sudden hero deployment forced by someone's blackmail — and the target of that blackmail just happened to include the girl who was their objective. It almost felt like someone had known the plan and set out to sabotage it.
"Well, that might've been a bit much..."
"Yes, it was way too much. That's not something you say to the boss."
An Jin-ho scolded him for an entirely different reason. Lee Jae-hun waved him off, stubbed out his cigarette, and headed for their destination.