Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Finding a Hideout
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Yellow Boss had raised three hunting dogs.
White Dog, Yellow Dog, and Black Dog.
They were Yellow Boss's human hunters.
White Dog was especially strong, and Black Dog was a master at killing people.
Sandwiched between those two, Yellow Dog had the best nose for tracking prey.
"Here. I smell it from here. Signs of a human."
While scouting around the three brothers' house, Yellow Dog discovered traces left by someone.
It looked like they'd tried to erase the wheel tracks, but the attempt to cover them up only made them stand out more.
White Dog and Black Dog didn't know yet.
Yellow Dog saw this as his chance.
"Brother. Do we really need to bring the other two?"
"Nah. If those two bastards butt in, I won't get anything out of it."
Yellow Dog wanted to catch this culprit all by himself.
He was fed up with White Dog's subtle disregard and Black Dog treating him like he didn't exist.
"We can handle it just us. Call three more kids."
"Got it, brother."
Yellow Dog gathered a total of five men, including himself.
And so they found the house where the killer of the three brothers was presumed to be.
A small house hidden under snow and trash piles.
It seemed deliberately made to look rundown.
Probably disguised to look completely abandoned.
Yellow Dog was even more convinced because it looked too much like a ruin.
The culprit who killed the three brothers was definitely hiding in there.
Yellow Dog and his men cautiously approached the house entrance.
In an era without batteries, door locks were useless.
Signs of life inside.
One of Yellow Dog's men placed his hand on the doorknob and slowly opened the entrance.
Uninvited guests from the morning.
No time to wonder who they were.
I scrambled out of the tent and aimed my finger at the hideout entrance.
'They're coming.'
The doorknob turned very slowly.
How many uninvited guests were outside the door?
How many had come?
It'd be trouble if five or more showed up with guns.
Kreeeak...
The door began to open.
I swallowed once, then sparked a flame at my fingertip.
Bang-!
As the doorknob fully turned and the door slowly creaked open.
I fired a Fire Bullet through the half-open gap.
"Arghhh! Fuck!"
"What the hell!"
"F-Fire!"
The masked man who took it to the face thrashed around screaming, flames erupting on his head.
The intruders trying to follow him into my hideout panicked and pulled pistols, spraying bullets wildly into the house.
'Crazy bastards. Wasting bullets like that?!'
So they definitely had guns.
I rolled quickly into the corner to dodge.
The bullets they fired lodged into the walls, showering concrete dust across the floor.
I'd kept the inside pretty clean, but in an instant, it turned into a trash heap.
"A-Argh... Aaah! A... Fucking hell..."
The pained screams continued for a bit before cutting off completely.
The intruder who'd grazed his head with the Fire Bullet must've died.
His head was probably burned to a crisp— even if he survived, it'd just be agony.
'Face. Burn their faces.'
Even if I couldn't kill them in one shot, scorching their faces with fire would neutralize them.
Facing multiple armed looters, I had to use my wits.
A single stray bullet could mean death.
No doctors here, and medicine was scarcer than food.
Even a graze causing a wound would be a big problem.
So I needed the intruders to waste their ammo on their own.
'How many bullets do they have?'
Ammo wasn't exactly common.
They'd already sprayed so much at the entrance— they might not have any left.
If I could maneuver them as I wanted, it'd be easier to deal with.
'Time for bait!'
I'd reached 3rd Circle in the Phlogiston School, so I could shape flames now.
I could form swords or spears with fire, even wolves or human shapes.
'Fear. Terror. Humans gripped by panic from inexplicable phenomena swing their weapons blindly.'
They'd definitely panic and waste their bullets.
I sparked a flame and quickly shaped it into a human figure.
I sculpted a flame human engulfed in fire from head to toe and sent it into the living room.
"Wh-What the hell is that..."
"Fuck! It wasn't even human!"
"Argh! F-Fire! A burning corpse!"
"Shoot! You bastards! Don't run— shoot it!"
The intruders freaked out at the sight of a human figure calmly walking into the living room, wreathed in flames.
Faced with a scientifically inexplicable monster, they panicked and fired another barrage.
Of course, they couldn't kill the flame human.
The bullets passed right through it and hit the walls.
An unkillable flame approaching steadily.
Terror spread even further.
Click.
Click.
The gunfire stopped, replaced by the empty clicks of triggers being pulled.
No matter how hard they pulled, no bullets came out— meaning they were out of ammo.
No sounds of reloading either.
An unbeatable foe.
An incomprehensible phenomenon.
All that echoed were the terrified cries of the intruders begging to run.
"Hey! Let's just bail!"
"Fuck this... Run!"
Hearing their desperate shouts, my tension started to ease.
The plan worked.
I'd instilled fear in them.
The intruders lost their reason at the appearance of something incomprehensible.
They even trampled their dead comrade's body in their rush to escape my hideout.
They trashed my place and thought they could just leave?
If you wreck someone else's house, you pay the price.
"Hraaagh!?"
I whipped out a Flame Whip and wrapped it around the neck of the guy trying to flee first.
His head burst into roaring red flames.
The fleeing bastards stared at me in horror.
"Sent by Yellow Boss?"
"...Fuck. Brother Yellow Dog..."
"F-Fire... Fire... it's fire..."
"What are you? What the hell are you!"
The three remaining intruders who couldn't escape drew knives.
They stared at me with eyes consumed by fear.
I floated fireballs in the air and unleashed them indiscriminately at them.
Just like they'd turned my house into a warzone with their gunfire.
I repaid them in kind, barraging them with Fireballs to burn them alive.
They said burning to death was the most painful way to go.
I picked up the knives they'd dropped while watching the masked intruders writhe as their heads went up in flames.
Three machetes.
Blades sharpened razor-keen for slicing human flesh.
If I hadn't noticed their intrusion first, would one of these have taken my head?
Maybe they'd have chopped me up for their next meal.
The thought fueled my rage and hatred for these intruders.
And a thirst for revenge against the Yellow Boss who'd sent them.
"Pl-Please... spare me..."
"Sent by Yellow Boss?"
"Y-Yes... Y-Yellow Boss... said to drag you back alive..."
"Anyone else know this place?"
"N-No... B-Brother Yellow Dog said just us... I-I won't tell anyone... please..."
"Yellow Dog? Who's that? Yellow Boss's brother?"
"Y-Yellow Dog... brother... was the one who just died trying to escape..."
The intruder, covered in burns, couldn't speak anymore.
He collapsed face-down and died.
All intruders eliminated.
But the threat still lingered.
"Haa. What a way to start the morning."
It didn't seem like anyone else knew the location, but it could get exposed anytime.
They'd left too many footprints and traces on the way here.
No time to erase them one by one.
I had to leave as fast as possible.
No matter how overpowered magic was, I was still unripe.
I needed to learn more spells.
To face a group as an individual, I needed greater power.
Phlogiston 3rd Circle wasn't enough to wipe out Yellow Boss and his men.
At least 5th Circle.
Or learn combat magic from Elf Hunter.
'My hideout that lasted over two years. Have to abandon it.'
This house held no special memories.
Still, leaving it like this felt bitter for some reason.
The furniture was all burned as firewood already.
All I had were memories of catching bugs off the bare floor.
But apparently, I'd grown attached to my hideout.
I'd thought it was a perfect shelter no one else knew about.
'Pack up first.'
I had quite a bit to take.
I'd looted all sorts of stuff from the three brothers' house.
But I couldn't carry it all.
Everything was too valuable to leave behind, so I hesitated.
I needed help.
From who?
She was there, as expected.
The gallery ghost who replied 24/7 no matter when I messaged.
My idea was to pack my items into the black box and entrust it to Cosmic Dust.
That way, I could minimize my load while moving.
With just the black box, I could retrieve my stuff later.
In other words, use Cosmic Dust as storage.
Cosmic Dust never helped for free.
She always demanded fair compensation.
And if you gave more than she asked, she'd throw in a bonus.
Clear boundaries between personal and business, with impeccable accounting.
That's why I could trust her.
Give her the books I'd found, and she'd hold my stuff.
Dimension magic consumed massive mana and materials, after all.
I'd need to offer at least books for her to help.
Human Lover and Firepower Enthusiast asked what was up, but no time to reply.
I hurriedly shoved all my possessions into the box.
After confirming Cosmic Dust's reply, I stuffed only the black box into my bag and left the hideout.
This was as good as taking everything.
Now to find a spot no one would discover.
Hide completely, undetected, and grow my magic stronger.
To survive the looters ruling Seoul by day and the undead dominating the night.