Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 035
Chapter Title: Murder Extermination (1)
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It's chaotic. Amid that chaotic mind, a single question arises.
"......What the hell did I just see?"
Starting from that question, countless thoughts began filling my head. My mind spun from the disorganized jumble. Like tires stuck in mud, my thoughts kept spinning in place without going anywhere.
"So, what the hell did I just see?"
Forcing my rigid mind to turn, I replayed what had happened moments ago.
I drank blood. Tasteless blood. Ordinary, tasteless blood strewn all over the roadside. But taste aside, once I sank my fangs in, I thought I'd won the fight. There are only a handful who can resist my bloodsucking. That's what a vampire's bloodsucking ability is, after all.
But I got counterattacked. I immediately turned to mist to escape, but even that mist form was pierced. The dagger the enemy swung sliced through my body that had turned to mist, like it was nothing. In mist form, I should be invincible. So how did he attack me?
Fortunately, I had a way to figure it out.
My ability lets me glimpse the memories of those whose blood I drink. The memories that flash through their mind the moment I suck their blood.
Yes, I peered into that man's memories. Countless scenes, sounds, sensations, and indescribable clumps of thoughts flooded into my head in an instant.
How he broke my mist form. What this energy called mana is. The true nature of his superpower, the talisman in his right hand, and how he obtained it.
I glimpsed all those memories in an instant.
But after glimpsing them...
"What the hell are you talking about......?"
The moment the memory playback ended, the only thing left in my mind was a single question.
"......This world is a novel? What kind of bullshit is that?"
The one overarching premise underlying all those memories.
That this world is the world inside a fantasy novel called Era of Superhumans.
I couldn't believe it, so I asked, and the man's face stiffened as if he'd been caught.
"......Ha."
From that reaction, I instinctively knew the memories I'd seen were true. I had no choice but to. No matter how good a liar someone is, they can't fool their own memories.
The man's memories were saying this: This world is a world from a novel, and I'm just a minor character in that novel.
"......No way. That can't be."
Having witnessed that shocking truth, I immediately shook my head. Shaking it to desperately deny the truth I'd seen, the man's memories.
......Yeah. Memories aren't guaranteed to be 100% true.
For example, the man could be a delusional maniac. His delusions so severe he even altered his own memories. Yeah, self-hypnosis or whatever. I remembered reading about it in a book once.
Or maybe someone tampered with his memories. Made him believe this world is a novel, that he's a reader from an outside world pulled into the story. Someone cast hypnosis or brainwashing on him. I don't know why they'd do that, but it wasn't impossible.
Or maybe he deliberately showed me false memories. I don't know the principle, but he broke my mist form. So maybe he showed me fake memories in a similar way...... Yeah. I don't know the principle, but anyway......
Even if not that, for example......
Even if not that, there's this possibility......
Hell, even the chance that it was like this......
I racked my brain with every possible scenario, desperately denying that the man's memories could be true.
I know it too. Every example I come up with is utterly ridiculous.
But no matter how unrealistic, it's still more realistic than this world being a damn novel.
......It had to be.
Because if the truth those memories pointed to was really true, there'd be nothing more horrifying.
"Urk......"
While lost in thought, the man stood up and assumed a stance. The dagger in his hand glowed red, shining fiercely.
"......Right. Novel world or whatever, I won't think about it now. Focus on the fight in front of me."
Shaking off the mind-eating thoughts, I charged at the man.
-Kaang!
My claws crossed with his dagger. Yellow sparks flew as a metallic clang rang out loudly.
-Writhing.
For a moment, black smoke rippled along the man's dagger. His superpower. The moment I sensed it, I bent my waist back sharply.
-Whoosh!
A black line shot out at supersonic speed. My skin shivered at its momentum. Just from that, I knew the strike wasn't a feint but aimed to kill.
Until now, I'd dodged such attacks with mist form, but since he could break it, I couldn't recklessly turn misty. It would just increase my hit area for no reason.
But even if my mist form was pierced, I had no chance of losing to him.
The man in front of me was inexperienced. His physical abilities were average at best, but his movements were a mess. Clearly a beginner's. If I just watched out for that quick superpower, there was nothing to fear in close combat.
"......Even holding the same talisman, the difference can be this huge."
Ryu Tae-hyun, whom I'd fought yesterday, was drawing out 100% of the talisman's power. That's the only way to explain his strength.
But this man was using maybe 10% at best. Truly a pearl necklace on a pig.
"I was wary in case he had some hidden trump card, but no need to be careful anymore."
Even the famous Special Countermeasures Division has half-assed agents like this. With that impression, I quickly dove into the man's guard.
The man couldn't react. His dagger grazed toward me late, and I extended my claws toward his throat.
"......"
For a split second, I considered sucking his blood again, but immediately dismissed it.
I was scared. If the same result, the same memories appeared again, I wouldn't be able to deny that reality anymore.
"Die!"
Disrupting the thoughts trying to invade my mind again, I swung my claws with all my might.
At that moment, the bracelet on the man's wrist emitted a red light.
-Kclang!
His dagger blocked my claws. Even though I'd struck a clear opening he couldn't possibly block.
"An artifact!"
Probably the effect of that bracelet. Not content with the talisman, he even had another artifact. Covering his lack of power with gear, huh.
"That won't help!"
His movements had sped up, but that was it. Still clumsy, full of openings everywhere. Attacks relying solely on physical prowess were easy to dodge.
-Kwaaaang!!!
A massive explosion from afar.
I leaped back from the man and looked toward the sound.
In the dust cloud, Uncle Seong-hak knelt, blood trickling from his mouth. The rock covering his body had shattered completely.
Ryu Tae-hyun stood before him, looking down calmly. He wasn't unscathed either, but not as wrecked as Uncle Seong-hak.
"Uncle lost?"
I knew Ryu Tae-hyun was strong. I'd fought him just yesterday. He was strong, but not on Uncle Seong-hak's level. At least when I fought him.
Like the man in front of me, Ryu Tae-hyun had broken my mist form with the talisman's power. But even after, he could hold his own, though at a slight disadvantage. Uncle Seong-hak should have won easily.
"Did he hold back against me?"
The question flashed through my mind. But it didn't matter. What mattered was the result: Uncle Seong-hak had lost.
And that wasn't the only bad news.
"Gaaah!"
On the opposite side of the battlefield. Turning to the scream echoing through the forest, one of my subordinates I'd brought for the ambush clutched his stomach and rolled on the ground.
"What the hell?"
I doubted my eyes for a moment. Most of the subordinates I'd brought lay collapsed. The few still standing were battered, looking like they'd drop any second.
In the midst of them, the female agent stood composed. She had injuries, but her expression was utterly calm. Like an emotionless doll.
"She took them all out alone?"
I recalled her appearance before the fight. She was trembling. Looked weak, nothing special. But was that all a ruse?
"What to do? Help Uncle first? Or take out that woman-"
"......Hey."
A low voice echoed softly.
"Where are you looking?"
That voice reminded me of the man. Right, we were still fighting. Finish him quick and join Uncle.
The moment I turned, a streak of blue lightning flashed fiercely.
"Huh?"
Where I looked, dozens of black snakes reared their heads toward the sky, writhing.
No, not snakes—smoke. Black smoke from the man's superpower, wrapped in blue lightning, blotting out the night sky pitch black.
"What is this?"
But it was too viscous for smoke. It had a definite weight, not like gas.
A chill ran down my spine at the black smoke wriggling like a living creature.
That's dangerous.
I can't take a hit from that. Can't block it. Must dodge. Instinct screamed warnings at the overwhelming presence of the smoke.
But I noticed too late. Before I could act, the man's attack came a beat faster.
The next moment, darkness thicker than the night sky swallowed me whole.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Trees uprooted littered the ground where the smoke had passed. Ahn Su-ho gazed at the suddenly cleared forest, breathing raggedly.
The bitter taste of blood in his mouth.
Injuries from the fight plus the talisman's backlash. Ahn Su-ho's condition was far from good, but he couldn't relax for even a moment.
His eyes scanned everywhere. Anxiety began creeping onto his face.
"......This world is a novel? What kind of bullshit is that."
Park Ji-hyun's half-doubting mutter moments ago.
I don't know how, but Park Ji-hyun had realized this world is a novel. How didn't matter. What mattered was that a mere character like her had unwittingly grasped the truth of this world.
It was unexpected. Shouldn't have happened. He couldn't overlook such an unstable element.
He couldn't predict what impact Park Ji-hyun, now aware of the world's truth, would have going forward. And beyond that, the risk of the angels or Blissful Heavenly Demon intervening through her meant he absolutely couldn't let her live.
Ahn Su-ho judged he had to kill Park Ji-hyun right here.
The moment her attention turned elsewhere, Ahn Su-ho seized the opening and unleashed his strongest strike. It dealt a fatal blow to Park Ji-hyun for sure.
But only a fatal blow.
"......Damn it."
It hadn't taken her life.
"She escaped."
Large bloodstains splattered the ground. But with no corpse in sight, Ahn Su-ho bit his lip.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Meanwhile, at that time. In the forest about three hundred meters from Ahn Su-ho.
"Ah, urk, ugh-!"
Park Ji-hyun, battered beyond recognition, leaned against a tree trunk, letting out pained groans.
Park Ji-hyun's condition was dire. Her left arm and both legs were severed, gone somewhere. Her body was covered in deep slashes. Especially her side, where red intestines spilled out messily. Her bones were pulverized to powder, both eardrums ruptured, left eyeball burst and blind.
Ahn Su-ho thought she'd escaped, but really, she'd just been luckily flung far by the storm. Even for Park Ji-hyun, she couldn't move properly with such wounds.
For an ordinary superhuman, instant death wouldn't be strange. Park Ji-hyun barely clung to life thanks to her regeneration ability.
-Squelch. Grind.
New flesh sprouted from her wounds, slowly regenerating. But agonizingly slow. The damage covered her entire body.
"......Full recovery in about 30 minutes. To move, at least 15."
15 minutes. If Ahn Su-ho found her in that time, she'd die. Unable to move, all she could do was pray he wouldn't find her.
"Pray? To who?"
The sudden thought made her chuckle bitterly.
If this world really is a novel and she's just a character, then her fate rests with the author who wrote it.
"No wonder it felt off. Talisman settling rate is normally 1 in 10,000. One person, sure, but two succeeding? Ridiculous."
Too low probability for coincidence. But if arranged by an author in a higher dimension, not impossible. If this is a novel, it wouldn't be coincidence but inevitability.
"Then getting swept by the storm and flying here wasn't coincidence either?"
If so, there was hope. If the author wanted her dead, he'd have killed her there. But separating her from that man suggested it wasn't her time yet. Park Ji-hyun tentatively guessed.
"Haha......"
A weak laugh escaped her. Laughing at death's door about plot progression and author intent seemed ridiculous.
"You can still laugh with wounds like that? Pretty tough."
A voice from behind.
Park Ji-hyun tried to turn, but hands shot from behind the tree, gripping her shoulders tight. White fingers dug into her severed shoulder stumps.
"Urk!"
"Dawn Corps member, right? Surviving those wounds, probably an executive. Mind telling me your name?"
Park Ji-hyun desperately twisted her head at the soft, tickling whisper. The tree wasn't thick. Turning fully would reveal her captor.
"You......!"
Her face flashed with shock upon seeing.
"How are you here......"
"Huh? You know me?"
Min Chae-ryeong feigned surprise at Park Ji-hyun's words. A sly smile curved her lips under the dim moonlight.
"If you know me, this'll be quick. Shall we talk?"