A Dog-like Guest (2)
The man was clad in medieval attire. He looked like some kind of knight, wearing gleaming white armor and gripping a massive greatsword in one hand. The letters “H Zone” were etched into a nearby pillar. We faced each other in a dimly lit corridor. I didn’t think he was just some cosplayer. He was the key to unraveling this situation—an informant who might shed light on the bizarre phenomenon Naram and I were trapped in.
The man spoke in a voice dripping with irritation. “This place is a demon realm… The devils truly have wretched taste. I feel like leaving right this instant.”
“?”
What the hell was this guy on? Had he chugged an entire bottle before showing up? The heavy dark circles under his eyes and his unkempt hair made him look like a raging alcoholic. “Anyone without a mana heart can’t be called human. You look human, but you’re probably just a devil wearing a skin suit.”
“?”
“That trick might work on other mages, but not on me. My eyes are special.”
Naram and I were both bewildered for two reasons. First, the man was spouting lines straight out of an anime, like some obsessed fan declaring “If it were the hero Himmel, he would have done this.” Second, even though he spoke in some incomprehensible language that shouldn’t exist in this world, both of us understood every word.
“A Hwanjong…?”
Some Hwanjong could take human form—H-O-13, the slasher killer, or D-I-05, which could transform into a human. But I immediately dismissed Naram’s suspicion. “He’s not a Hwanjong.”
As the Predator who could devour Hwanjong and absorb their powers, I always caught that sickeningly sweet scent whenever I stood before their containment cells. An irresistible hunger. Yet the man gave off no such reaction. He was human. Untouched by any Hwanjong influence. Even humans affected by Hwanjong carried a faint trace of that scent.
“If you had stayed hidden in hell, you wouldn’t have become this Swordmaster’s prey. Today I’ll personally sever your life. You may consider it an honor.”
“Don’t talk down to me.”
I ignored Naram’s flustered “Suho?” The one thing I couldn’t tolerate in this world was strangers barking informal speech at me. If it was a fight, I wouldn’t forgive even an eighty-year-old grandmother. This Woo Suho treated everyone equally—except for Naram.
“Naram, just a second.”
I cut the Veritas connection. From here on, I would show what a true egalitarian I was. “You dog-bastard. When you meet someone face-to-face, you greet them. Demon realm, devils, swordmaster—whatever. Is that how you talk to someone you just met? You son of a bitch. Can’t you tell? This isn’t a demon realm, it’s a research facility, and you’re clearly some lunatic who escaped from a mental hospital…”
I showered him with warm, heartfelt compliments. The man looked mildly taken aback and stroked his chin. Once my lengthy tirade of profanity ended, he finally spoke. “With a mouth that foul, you must be a devil after all.”
He gripped the greatsword with both hands and took a stance. “Using a language I can’t understand yet still conveying meaning… Devil tricks are fascinating. Still, we’ll find out soon enough whether you’re just a devil who talks big or a truly powerful one. Of course, you’ll be weaker than me.”
The corner of his mouth curved like a crescent moon. He crouched, then sprang forward like a coiled spring. I could see the explosive pumping of his muscles with the naked eye. Any researcher would have gone mad witnessing someone defy the laws of physics, but I wasn’t a researcher, and I wasn’t slow either.
The man’s speed was inhuman. The only comparison that came to mind was a big cat sprinting across the African savanna. I barely dodged by throwing myself to the floor, but when I scrambled back up, a sharp sting ran across my neck. Blood trickled down from a clean, straight cut.
“No mana heart means no magic. You can’t even project a basic force field. Your body is just ordinary, so killing you won’t be difficult.”
This man wasn’t some deranged patient. That single strike had made it clear—he was an existence beyond common sense, someone even the world’s top hundred fighters couldn’t take down with bare fists. More beast than man, wearing a human mask. That was why Naram’s video had shown eyes that weren’t normal. Cold, lifeless eyes devoid of any thrill in killing. The same eyes I had.
All stray thoughts vanished. Survival instinct carved itself back into my heart—not from fear of death, but because if this man lived, he would definitely harm Naram. I drew my pistol.
“A strange tool. I still don’t sense any mana, though. What do you plan to do with that trinket?”
His tone was mocking, but his gaze was full of caution. I pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang!
The muzzle spat fire and roared like thunder. As a novice shooter, I aimed for center mass. The bullets, accelerated by gunpowder and spun by rifling, carried terrifying penetration. The armor gave way easily, and the shots struck him, but they inflicted no meaningful damage. He merely frowned, showing none of the pain a normal person would. Still, the stopping power worked. Once I confirmed his body had faltered, I switched to full auto and fired again.
Bang bang bang bang!!
“Kuhk!?”
Target practice had paid off. Over half the shots landed. “Damn…”
The unfortunate truth was that even after burning through two magazines, he still stood there, perfectly fine. Guns didn’t work. I couldn’t even see the wounds beneath the punctured armor. I pulled the shotgun from my back and gripped it with both hands.
The man before me performed a miracle that should have been impossible for anything but a Hwanjong. My human reason insisted he wasn’t human, yet the Predator’s instincts screamed that he was. While I stood confused, the man simply looked impressed.
“Truly remarkable. A weapon powerful enough to instantly kill any nameless mage. To possess such lethality and speed without mana… It really is a devil’s tool. But your luck ran out. My mana-blessed force field cannot be pierced by any demon.”
Correction: this bastard wasn’t a beast. He was a mysterious monster, just like a Hwanjong. I charged and unloaded the shotgun. A storm of pellets hammered him, each blast driving his body backward, yet he never showed any sign of falling. When the drum magazine finally emptied and the trigger clicked with no recoil left—
“Return to hell.”
The man’s blade gifted me death.
***
“This is fucked.”
I rose from the corridor floor. The man I’d thought would be the key to information was a deranged zealot who labeled innocent people as devils and tried to judge them. A simple fanatic could have been silenced with one bullet, but this was a monster who shrugged off gunfire and possessed absurd, beast-like strength. Truly fucked.
I checked Veritas. A flood of messages from Naram. I opened the most recent ones.
0_1_100 Kang Naram: 「Suho, are you okay?? Did you die??」
0_1_100 Kang Naram: 「I hear someone walking outside… What do I do??」
0_1_100 Kang Naram: 「I told you to hide like I said, so why did you have to go out and cause trouble, seriously, because of you I’m so upset……」
Naram needed calming down.
0_4_138 Woo Suho: 「Fine fine」
0_4_138 Woo Suho: 「I won」
0_1_100 Kang Naram: 「Suho, do you want to die???」
0_1_100 Kang Naram: 「If I go outside right now you’re so dead」
…The only way to calm Naram down was to deal with the man. I organized the situation. He didn’t know I had resurrected. I had the initiative. He was a monster even a hundred martial arts champions couldn’t beat. Guns didn’t work. No choice, then. To catch a monster, I had to become one. I’d wanted to avoid this method if possible, but people can’t only do what they like. Sometimes you have to force yourself to do what you hate.
I gazed at the hologram only this Woo Suho in this world could see.