Chapter 51
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Hero
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"Just stay alive!"
If you die, I'm really in trouble. All my carefully laid plans will go down the drain. I'll end up on the path to ruin.
With that prayer to the heavens, I summoned every last bit of strength from nursing days past and climbed the stairs for several agonizing minutes.
'Hah, hah... Damn those Purity bastards. The elevator's out too?'
Reaching the top floor, I spotted a weathered sliding wooden door at the end of the hall. It stood out starkly from the academy's other classrooms.
This was the room where Clan Leader Kang Young-ho had spent his youthful days with his wife. Thanks to his strong will, this one classroom had been preserved exactly as it was.
'And it's where Kang Hwa-yeon and Baek A-rin should be.'
After his wife's death, Kang Young-ho often brought Kang Hwa-yeon here to spend time. For her, it had become a cherished place to retreat to in tough times.
That's when a loud crash echoed from inside the classroom.
'Bingo.'
Thinking that, I approached slowly and heard voices.
"You rat bitches. Finally caught you. Don't think you'll go easy."
Ptooey—
"Scum of society."
"Got some guts. Fine, I'll carve up that disgusting talent of yours and burn it."
...
What the hell was that ominous talk?
'Kang Hwa-yeon is definitely in there.'
More than that, what kind of guts? Spitting in a terrorist's face and calling him trash.
Then another girl's voice came from inside.
"If you can, try it. As far as I know, the strongest hunter in this school is coming to cut your throats."
"Big talk, but no one's coming here. So scream all you want."
Baek A-rin's voice.
Confirmed. Both she and Kang Hwa-yeon were inside the classroom.
The strongest hunter in school, huh. I didn't know who she was hoping for, but I was the one here to save them.
Don't worry, though. I'll get you out for sure.
I cracked the door just enough to peek inside without being spotted.
Kang Hwa-yeon and Baek A-rin were on their knees, faces pressed to the floor.
Four Purity members around them.
Three downed ones.
'Even in that situation, they took down three out of seven...'
Special-grade hunters were on another level.
The remaining four all looked injured too.
'Positions confirmed. This is doable.'
I pulled the mask from my belt and slipped it on.
It sucked that I couldn't rack up a debt from Baek A-rin, but with Kang Hwa-yeon's personality, showing up to save her might shatter her mentally.
'Better to hide my identity than risk it blowing up in a bad way.'
Psyche's Blade in my right hand, the old dagger in my left.
[Psyche's Blade unique effect activated.]
[Corruption applied to 'Old Dagger'.]
Alright, time to roll out. K-Warrior.
Bang—
I kicked the door open and charged in.
Activating Dark Screen at the same time.
[Dark Screen]
"What the—?!"
"It's suddenly pitch black!"
"A ambush?!"
When vision suddenly blacks out, people freeze in place. I'd already mapped their positions. Dark Screen hid only me.
[Bunny Hop]
"Gahhh...!"
I Bunny Hopped to their known positions, slashing two Purity goons at once.
'No way they can handle an enemy lunging from the dark they can't see.'
Bunny Hop had a slight cooldown after use. So...
[Flash Strike]
I instantly flanked the last one and severed his throat too.
'I can't see either... but backstabs let me take necks easy.'
"Wh-what's happening?! Report now! Answer me!"
The panicked shouts pinpointed the last enemy.
'Don't yell like that. You're giving away your position.'
I slipped behind him and whispered,
"No one's answering. They're all dead."
"Wh-what?!"
Dark Screen was fading. Time to finish it.
I swung at him.
Clang—
My blade from behind bounced off his skin without piercing.
'A tank?!'
Rare class caught me off guard. As Dark Screen vanished, he revealed himself.
"You idiot! Die!"
His blade arced unblockably toward me.
'Five seconds till Bunny Hop cooldown. Can't dodge.'
No choice.
[Fate Intervention]
At the last instant, I deflected his heart-aimed strike.
[Skill 'Fate Intervention' used.]
['Fate Intervention' depleted. Effect ends.]
"What the...!"
He faltered, but recovered instantly, thrusting again at my heart.
'Still one second left. Can't miss this opening!'
I caught his blade with my hand.
"Ngh...!"
My hand shredded on the sharp edge, but it bought me a moment.
Zero seconds.
[Bunny Hop]
Like with Kim Shun, I closed the short distance in a flash and jammed Psyche's Blade into his eyeball.
"Gaaaahhh!!!!"
He clutched his bleeding eye and collapsed.
"No matter how tough your skin, your eyeball ain't armored."
Seemed like a skin-hardening skill, but I figured the eyes were soft. Nailed it.
"Hah... hah... That should be all of them."
As I thought that, I felt eyes on me.
'Right, Dark Screen's gone.'
Kang Hwa-yeon and Baek A-rin stared in shock.
Mask was on, so should be fine.
Bit awkward, though.
Then Baek A-rin spoke in a trembling voice.
"Kim Si-woo...?"
"What?! How'd you know?"
"Come on... it's obvious."
Enemy attack must've done it.
Sometime during the fight, the mask covering my face had shattered.
'This is bad.'
No, not bad. Fucked.
Kang Hwa-yeon was stunned.
What the hell was happening?
'That move just now was definitely...'
Flash Strike-like, something he hadn't used on her. Plus the unnatural dodges mid-fight.
Above all.
His face peeking through the broken mask. Unmistakably Kim Si-woo.
'Why the hell is Kim Si-woo here...?'
The Kim Si-woo before her looked troubled as he said,
"First things first, wanna cut those ropes?"
He sliced the bindings holding her and Baek A-rin with his blade.
"So why the hell were you two tied up like this? Some kinda bondage play?!"
"As if... More importantly, how'd you know to come here?"
"Hero arrival. You believed someone'd save you, right?"
"You heard that? Pervert."
"But I saved you anyway."
"Your hand, though..."
Her expression didn't show it, but Kang Hwa-yeon, who knew her well, could tell. Baek A-rin was shaken by Kim Si-woo's words.
'Why are those two so damn close?'
Her father, who'd never once looked her way, had his gaze stolen by Kim Si-woo. And now even Baek A-rin, her sole confidante and friend, seemed about to be taken by this guy. Kang Hwa-yeon felt like she was going insane.
Not thinking straight, really.
'Why... take everything from me... why always leave me out...'
That's when one of the downed Purity remnants lunged at Kim Si-woo's back, burning his last life in a desperate attack.
"Die...!"
Sudden ambush.
Baek A-rin was on the verge of collapse from exhaustion. If she didn't help, Kim Si-woo was done for.
Moreover, she'd already pushed mana exhaustion using skills.
The only skill to save him here was Inferno. But using such a mana-heavy skill could leave nasty aftereffects.
If it messed up her skills, she'd forfeit the next Inferno Clan Leader position.
Her whole life had been for that alone. Becoming Inferno Leader was her only value.
'This is unavoidable.'
Kang Hwa-yeon convinced herself.
[Inferno]
Hot flames engulfed the enemy.
"Hah... hah... Fuck. You're really losing it, Kang Hwa-yeon. What are you even comparing?"
The goal of becoming Inferno Leader.
She'd forgotten it lately, but at its root was a dream to embody her father's reliability and her mother's kindness.
Kang Hwa-yeon's sense of justice, wanting to be like them, was real—not smoke. So she burned the enemy.
"Ha... haha..."
Kang Hwa-yeon had done something that might cost her the Leader position.
Paradoxically, the pressure crushing her felt lighter.
Through her blurring vision, she looked at Kim Si-woo.
Kang Hwa-yeon let go of her mental burden. Only then could she see Kim Si-woo objectively for the first time.
She could've ignored it.
No, a civilian picking a fight with Purity was insane to begin with.
Yet this man risked his life to save them, fighting Purity at a disadvantage. Even wounded, he never gave up.
That figure was like...
'The hero I dreamed of.'
The ideal hero and hunter she'd aspired to surpass. He embodied it.
'What the hell was possessing me all this time?'
So for the first time, she spoke to Kim Si-woo with genuine feeling.
"Thank you."