Chapter 65
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: On a Hair Trigger
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"...What a pain."
Crackle-
Yoon Joo-young ripped down the barbed wire fence blocking her path with her bare hands and plunged into the depths of the wild hill.
It was a dangerous contraption laced with electricity and jagged spikes, but to Sword Ghost Yoon Joo-young, it was barely an obstacle.
After shredding the fence, she trampled dry branches and leaves as she pushed further inside.
Rustle-
Even without knowing the exact route, she could roughly pinpoint the location using mana detection.
And drawing on her old experience hunting monsters, backtracking a child's path was child's play.
"This must be it."
After trekking for a while, Joo-young came to an abrupt halt and scanned her surroundings.
The terrain itself was perfect for hiding something. Footprints trailed off nearby, and she could sense mana reactions in the area.
Someone might scoff at finding a hidden bunker so easily, but evading the pursuit of one of Korea's top hunters and creating a secret lair wasn't simple.
Especially when rough intel had already narrowed down the spot—scouting the area on foot made discovery inevitable.
Swish-
As Joo-young swept her sharp gaze around, a fierce gust whipped up around her.
Whoosh-
Amid the swirling vortex of shattered autumn leaves, she spotted something glinting in the woods. A camera lens. CCTV.
'Hmph.'
That turned suspicion into certainty. The bastard was definitely holed up here.
The moment she confirmed the CCTV, Joo-young channeled mana into her high heels and stomped the ground.
Boom-
Dirt and rocks exploded outward as the earth split open in an instant, revealing a steel door buried beneath.
A sturdy iron hatch leading downward, it seemed. Somehow reinforced with mana processing, it remained intact despite the surrounding soil being churned up.
Joo-young stared at the distant CCTV and murmured lowly.
"Hey. Open the door before I smash the whole thing to pieces."
[...]
A moment later, static crackled, and a voice emanated from a hidden speaker somewhere.
[Wh..whoever you are, come on in.]
Creak-
The heavy steel door swung open.
'Doesn't know who I am? Playing games, you little shit.'
Joo-young brushed her tousled hair behind her ear and strode confidently down the stairs into the bunker.
A little earlier.
"Ah, shit! What do I do? What the hell do I do?!"
Yoon Joo-young barging in here out of nowhere—what kind of thunderbolt was this? How the fuck did she know I was hiding out here?
I'd just gotten royally screwed by that bitch and was chilling in sage mode when this hits.
I stomped around in frustration, then decided to use points to revert to my original form first.
Mind follows body, after all—back in my adult physique, my brain would turn faster.
I fiddled with the app to spend points.
With my existing stash plus the 600,000 I'd just earned, I could hold out for a good while. Even if it came to fighting Joo-young.
Beep-
But the app was acting weird. Couldn't access the shop, and tapping icons just crashed it back to the home screen.
No matter how many times I tried, same crap.
"What's wrong with this thing?!"
Fuck, already in a panic, and now the app craps out?
"Yuria! Yuria, where are you?!"
In my desperation, I yelled for Yuria, wherever she was. Help me out here for once!
My shouting roused her from under the blankets, rubbing her eyes.
[Oh, you're back? How was Round 2?]
"That's not the point right now—the app suddenly stopped working. What's going on?"
Yuria climbed onto my shoulder, eyed the phone screen, and said it was no big deal.
[Oh, it's updating, I guess. Heard they were adding new features. Won't take long—just let it ride.]
"No, it's super urgent! I need to use points right now to switch back to my normal body!"
I pointed at the TV screen feeding the feed to Yuria.
A woman tearing through the barbed wire barehanded and marching straight toward the bunker. That confident stride meant she'd sniffed out our location for sure.
Yuria glanced at the approaching intruder and grimaced.
[Ugh... bad timing. Can't use app functions during updates. At least an hour or two.]
"Cancel it! Cancel the update!"
[Sorry, that's not something I can touch...]
"No way!"
I hurled the phone onto the bed and tore at my hair.
I'm fucked. Totally fucked.
No matter how bunker-proof this place was—even against nukes—it meant squat against Sword Ghost. Her black qi sliced steel like tofu.
A living weapon. If she wanted in, nothing could stop her.
'Should I just portal out?'
I considered the bunker portal.
But activating it would leave mana traces—easy to backtrack. She'd track my movements in no time.
'...Or play dead?'
I thought about hiding and pretending no one was home.
But if she'd come this far, she was certain I was here. That wouldn't fly.
No matter how I racked my brain, no escape from this mess. After agonizing, I grabbed the suitcase.
'No choice. Just bolt.'
Portaling out was the least bad option. Buy some time, get out of this sealed tomb—variables would pop up. Flee overseas, figure it out.
"Yu..Yuria. Hop on my shoulder quick. We're outta here."
No time to pack.
I tossed the bag, snatched my wallet and some clothes, and bolted for the portal.
It linked to my old mansion right now.
Car in the basement garage—hop in, hit the airport.
Though with these short legs, could I even reach the pedals? Drive in this body?
As I mulled that and stepped toward the portal—
Kaboom-!
A massive quake and roar shook the earth.
Rumble-
"Urgh."
The whole bunker trembled from the impact. I clutched my head and crouched low, earthquake posture.
Looked like that brute-force bitch was really smashing through the bunker door. Time was up.
I stood, foot on the portal for one last shot—
"...What? Where'd it go?"
The portal, humming seconds ago, had vanished.
'This... broken too? At this timing?' Too coincidental.
'No way the shock from before?'
I eyed the dust still sifting from the ceiling.
That massive mana blast from above had propagated underground, frying the portal like an EMP on electronics.
Portals were peak magic constructs—vulnerable to this stuff, especially against her.
"Fuck..."
I collapsed despondently before the dead portal.
It's over. I'm dead.
Joo-young had given me a week's grace out of pity, but I'd bolted, holed up here, and got caught.
With her temper, I was as good as dead. She'd drag me off in this state to be the Association's cumdump...
As I wallowed—
'...Wait.'
Something hit me. Maybe not all doom and gloom.
This boy body differed somewhat from my adult original in looks.
If I faced her like this, she might not recognize me. Slight chance.
No—even if she suspected, I could deny it.
No proof linking my original body to this shota me.
The only "evidence" was that event world romp with Joo-young, but that was a dream—or parallel event realm.
I remembered it, but she wouldn't. App's one-way power.
So, suspicion without proof. At least that's what I hoped.
She'd sniffed something coming here, sure—but play dumb. No retreat, no advance. Only play.
"Open the door before I smash the whole thing to pieces."
Her scary voice boomed through the speaker.
No opening, she'd bust in anyway—would just piss her off more.
'...Open the door.'
I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and linked my smartphone to the outer speaker.
"Wh..whoever you are, come on in."
Then operated the phone to unlock the entrance.
Clang-
The outer steel door opened, shifting the bunker's air pressure slightly.
High heels clicked down the stairs from afar.
Click-clack-
Grim reaper's footsteps.
With trembling hands, I threw on some clothes and headed to the residential area's front door.
Click-
Moments later, footsteps halted beyond the door.
I cracked it open to peek—then.
Grab-
Her hand shoved through forcefully, seized the door, and yanked it wide.
"Urk."
The door flew open in a flash.
I trembled like a cornered critter, looking up. Joo-young stared down with an enigmatic gaze.
I wanted to blurt excuses or deny our history, but my tongue froze.
Brain jammed facing her. Prey before predator vibes.
"..."
After a silent beat, she pulled out her phone.
Dialed someone.
"Yeah, Ga-hee. It's me—taking some vacation days. Three days or so. Yeah, handle things. Sorry. Thanks."