I'm Not That Kind of Person (6)
Seo Han-gyeol pressed forward.
-Kuuuung!!
The towering anchor, stabbing toward the heavens, let out a roar as if it had truly reached its limit, unleashing a ferocious mana gale around it.
"Urgh!"
Myeong Gi-sa covered his eyes with both hands, straining with all his might to hold his ground. But even so—
Chijijik.
The raging mana wind shoved him back relentlessly, leaving long drag marks in the dirt from his heels. A blast strong enough to push back someone his size, around 75kg!
'What about Secretary Seo?'
If even he, who was flung far away, was enduring this much, then Seo Han-gyeol, who had plunged straight into the heart of the storm— he might have suffered serious injuries.
Myeong Gi-sa barely cracked open his eyes amid the dust-choked wind. Through his blurred vision, he spotted a single silhouette.
'...As expected, huh.'
The powerful mana wind had affected him too. Seo Han-gyeol had stumbled once. But that was it.
He brushed the mud off the tips of his shoes and resumed walking as if nothing had happened.
A normal gust could be resisted with sheer strength, but mana winds carried mana woven into the very flow of air itself. To counter them perfectly required a hunter skilled in barriers or force fields.
But no matter how you looked at it, Seo Han-gyeol wasn't a defensive specialist. Which meant his steady gait through the storm implied one thing.
Watching Seo Han-gyeol draw steadily closer to the anchor, Myeong Gi-sa murmured in a trance.
"Reversing every vector change in the mana wind, millisecond by millisecond, and nullifying it entirely?"
An ability so superhuman it was hard to believe they were the same species!
In truth, [Organization] was forcibly aligning the surrounding mana. Seo Han-gyeol was just flipping the switch and strolling along.
But Myeong Gi-sa thought differently. Calculate the shifts in the mana wind every second, then emit mana precisely countering each change in direction. Theoretically possible. Theoretically.
And until now, only in theory.
"...The Vault Keeper brought in a monster."
Whiiiing.
Myeong Gi-sa's hollow voice faded into the wind like an echo.
* * *
"Someone's talking about me."
Fidget.
Suddenly feeling an itch in his ear, Seo Han-gyeol dug at it with a finger. Then he started walking again as if nothing was amiss.
Of course, all while keeping his senses razor-sharp on his surroundings.
Thanks to future golden insurance girl Kang A-ram's golden carry, the risk of heavy machinery exploding had been minimized. But were threats around the Busan Oncheon Gate limited to machinery?
'Monsters could pop out of nowhere, or structures could collapse.'
For a worthless character like Seo Han-gyeol, whose only skills were pretending to be badass, [Organization], and pulling hot Earl Grey tea from thin air— that would mean instant game over. Death.
So he proceeded with utmost caution for what felt like dozens of minutes.
"...I got nothing."
Seo Han-gyeol muttered.
A situation where bad luck could lead to instant You Dead was pure hellish stress for cotton-candy Seo Han-gyeol from Chungcheong Province. Sure, working at Nebula had familiarized him a bit with the hunter world, but at heart, he was an otaku who loved lounging around as a NEET!
It was like dropping a level 5 newbie hero in front of a level 99 demon king and telling him to come back alive.
His mental state was half-blasted to bits. He'd only held it together so far by forcibly donning his mask with Myeong Gi-sa and Kang A-ram nearby. Alone, he'd have GG'd ages ago.
With his star-shattered mentality on strike and his brain refusing to function, Seo Han-gyeol trudged forward blankly.
Before he knew it, the massive anchor loomed right in front of him.
Anchor. Ultralarge mana suppressor.
"Whoa, that's huge."
Seeing the enormous machinery painted orange and black, Seo Han-gyeol's jaw dropped. The sheer overwhelming scale exuded menace.
Soon, he recalled why he'd come here.
So where's the mana engine?
It was as thick around as it was tall. Still, not so much that he couldn't circle it quickly enough to soon spot the vibrating mana engine.
'It's a mess.'
The massive engine droned erratically, off-beat and chaotic. Instinctively sensing the disorder, he frowned without realizing it.
'Tsk.'
Seo Han-gyeol, who had meticulously honed his edge out of fear of falling out of favor with the evil organization's chairman— now felt uncomfortable at the mere sight of disarray.
The mana stone, originally blue, was rampaging, emitting a light verging on crimson.
A mana manipulation expert would have paled and bolted, abandoning everything. No hunter had ever tamed a mana stone on the verge of overload.
But Seo Han-gyeol, blissfully ignorant of expertise or industry norms, slapped his hand right onto the mana engine.
Safety inspectors would foam at the mouth! Like swimming in plutonium waste or getting vaccinated in a landfill... No imaginable risky act could top this.
But—
'It's warm.'
Maybe because he'd precoated his hand with [Organization]. Instead of danger, he felt the cozy engine heat, reminiscent of those 500-won hand warmers from his elementary school days at the stationery shop.
Hand warmers rock...
Even if it burst in his bag and got his ass whooped by Mom.
That sharp sodium acetate scent was unforgettable.
Soon, Seo Han-gyeol unleashed [Organization] powerfully toward the rampaging mana stone and engine.
He'd always used it casually before, but this time he did it right. Like someone who'd been frying eggs on a Gustav train cannon's barrel after firing it— now using the cannon as intended(?).
Then—
-Kurururung...
The engine, surging as if about to explode, belched a massive rumble—
-Shiiiik...
And promptly fell silent.
"Phew."
Seo Han-gyeol, tense even after activating his ability, sighed in relief only after confirming the engine's unstable light had died out. He picked up his briefcase, which he'd set down briefly to concentrate.
"Ugh. Took ten years off my life."
Grousing, he turned to head back toward where Myeong Gi-sa waited.
Behind his receding figure stood the colossal anchor, slumbering peacefully as if it had never rampaged.
And then.
"...What the hell is that crazy bastard!?"
-Tadak!
A scream laced 50% disbelief, 50% shock rang out, as a stealthy figure rapidly fled the scene.
* * *
Meanwhile, Myeong Gi-sa wasted not a second sorting out the situation.
A hunter named Seo Han-gyeol, wielding mana manipulation so superhuman it beggared belief. Clearly receiving top treatment at Nebula, an exceptional talent in his own right.
Yet such a man had charged into mortal peril, heedless of his life.
Solely to save people.
'I have to do everything I can.'
How could he, who had dragged this peaceful soul into the fray, sit idle?
Grinding his teeth, Myeong Gi-sa threw every ounce of effort into resolving the construction team's crisis. His ex-elite corporate spy performance shone even in the chaotic site.
Dashing here and there, mitigating damage, gathering and treating the injured.
After some time pounding the pavement—
Having sorted the battlefield preliminarily, Myeong Gi-sa returned to the rampaging anchor. Around him clustered the heavy machinery team's members.
Then a cleanup knight approached. Time to inspect now that the essentials were handled.
Myeong Gi-sa nodded curtly at him.
The cleanup knight began his report.
"All scattered monsters neutralized. But a good number of heavy machines got caught in the overloaded anchor waves— it's tricky."
"Give me the rundown."
The knight's face darkened as he explained.
"Monsters were minimal thanks to early team entry, but the mana waves inside the machines are totally tangled. We'll need at least a 5th-grade emission hunter for repairs."
"Damn, that'll cost millions in fixes again. Casualties?"
"Knight Kwon and Foreman Kang are seriously hurt, but no life threats."
"They're hospitalized now?"
"Yes. Ambulance took them just minutes ago."
"Broken gear can be tallied later, monsters are cleared—"
Now it's just that thing.
Masking his turmoil, Myeong Gi-sa eyed the ominously groaning anchor.
It had been about 20 minutes since Seo Han-gyeol vanished.
But then—
-Tuuuung...!
"Wh-what!"
"M-Myeong Knight! Anchor anomaly detected!"
The lofty anchor vibrated lowly. The deep hum spread through the ground, kicking up light dust that had settled into the earth.
A heavy machinery specialist from the rear rushed panting to Myeong Gi-sa.
"L-Look at this!"
"Mana entropy gauge? Why's it...?"
But Myeong Gi-sa couldn't finish.
Before the last syllable, the graph plunged sharply.
Myeong Gi-sa whipped his head toward the anchor, but the excited specialist, oblivious, shouted triumphantly.
"Entropy dropped right after the vibration! And it's... less than half the normal level! Even fresh-off-the-line engines from the factory aren't this stable...!"
No machine could manage mana as steadily as a human handler. Even top-condition engines required periodic stabilization post-shipment.
But now, one had stabilized abruptly.
Around him, team members buzzed with unexpected joy, but—
'...Secretary Seo really fixed it?'
Knowing one man had done this, Myeong Gi-sa barely suppressed his rising shock.
And it wasn't over.
The cleanup knight who'd first reported—
"Hah, hah, M-Myeong Knight?!"
Ran up gasping. He'd circled the site fearing vibration damage to machinery.
Normally, Myeong Gi-sa would've scolded him for dashing around hazards, but now he had no bandwidth.
Frozen in shock that one hunter stabilized an ultralarge anchor, he creakily turned— but before his head fully swiveled, the knight yelled.
"Zones 3, 4, 15! No, all monster spawn areas rechecked! Unbelievable, but post-wave, every heavy machine's mana signature is full green!!"
"...?"
News like a bombshell! Like every house in a tsunami-ravaged village spared by sheer luck.
'Secretary Seo.'
One person stabilizing an ultralarge anchor was astonishing enough— but hundreds of machines, via mere ability aftereffects?
"What the hell kind of guy is he...?"
Myeong Gi-sa now felt outright dread.
Seo Han-gyeol's long-maligned [Organization], victim of relentless bad raps, let out a triumphant kyawang!