Chapter 317: A Star Falls.
Chapter 317: A Star Falls.
Light tickled my eyes through the windshield. Or so I thought.
It wasn't light that was tickling my eyes.
It was a fierce wind.
A violent gale was sweeping over my entire body.
Unable to grasp my current situation, I slowly opened my eyes, and I immediately realized where I was.
I was in the sky—not incredibly high up, but high enough to be called mid-air.
At the edge of my vision, down on the ground, was a car that looked very familiar.
Did I loop?
I had blown up the car to defeat The Enemy, so there was no way that car should still be there.
Thinking that way, it seemed like a loop.
However, it didn't feel like the kind of loops I’d experienced until now. My memories were perfectly intact, and I could clearly recall what had happened at the very end.
Right, The Other Self inside me had thrown me through the door.
Did that guy send me into a new loop through the door while preserving my memories and status?
For a moment, I wondered if I’d been sent back to a point before defeating The Enemy.
But something sleeping inside me provided a definitive answer.
The second executive-class entity. The nameless Hole Tentacle had definitely been defeated.
What was it that guy said to me? That the nightmare was finally over?
Yeah. The nightmare was definitely over.
The Enemy was defeated, and I had returned like this, whole and sound.
Considering I had been prepared for my own annihilation, I should be grateful he sent me back like this.
And since I’d expressed enough gratitude while floating in the air...
Surely I’m allowed to harbor at least one complaint?
Why. Why on earth did he throw me from a height I couldn't possibly handle?
Thud.
With that final thought, I slammed headfirst into the ground.
My body was sturdy enough that it didn't actually hurt, but I couldn't help the surge of irritation.
As if proving that the "me" who consumes everything is still "me," he had thrown me from an exquisitely calculated height.
The moment I realized what was happening, I summoned The Hammer, immediately switched to Afterburner mode, and ignited it the instant the transformation was complete.
Even if I had performed all those actions perfectly, the height was adjusted so narrowly that the Afterburner would have kicked in the moment I hit the ground, sending me soaring into the air far too late.
In reality, I was slow to even realize what was happening, so I hit the dirt while The Hammer was still in the middle of shifting into Afterburner mode.
Thanks to that, I ended up covered in dust, chewing on the dirt that had forced its way into my mouth.
As I lay there, becoming one with the earth and ruminating on my anger...
“…Senior?”
“Master?!”
I heard the voices of my two disciples as they scrambled out of the car.
“What happened all of a sudden? You were definitely sitting in the driver’s seat…”
“Yes! I saw it too! You just went poof and vanished, leaving only your bag behind!”
Ah, so that’s how it was handled.
He must have sent the 'complete' me back to the start of the loop but changed my coordinate data to the sky.
He seemed displeased until the very end, so I suppose this was his little bit of spite.
If I were the one in those shoes, I probably would have done something similar.
Anyway.
Now that I could hear my disciples' voices, I brushed off the dirt and stood up, addressing them as they stared at me.
“Both of you, sit down for a second.”
“Sit? Why so suddenly?”
“Understood!”
Han A-bin looked puzzled, while Baek Si-hyun obeyed immediately.
“Just crouch down for a bit.”
Han A-bin hesitated for a moment at my words, but soon bent her knees.
The moment their heads were lower than mine.
I reached out with both arms and pulled them into a hug.
“Senior?”
“Master?”
Their voices rang in my ears.
But I just held my two disciples close and spoke quietly.
“Just… for a moment. That’s all.”
It wasn't a long explanation.
* * *
Now, even when I did something, negative images didn't spring to mind.
It wasn't as if I’d learned nothing during those interminable loops.
I already knew that adjusting the SUV's customization based on my intuition never ended well.
I knew that A-bin hated it when I drank the suspicious Liquid X.
And I knew that my version of 'safe driving' posed a serious threat to A-bin’s mental health.
Therefore, after adjusting the Physical Force Manipulation to about a 9 instead of a 10...
I drove as carefully as possible to avoid hitting anything.
Of course, I maintained the same speed.
And this was the result.
Ah, a tree.
Knowing A-bin would definitely nag me if I hit it, I jerked the steering wheel hard.
The speed dropped slightly, but thanks to the car's excellent responsiveness, it wasn't a significant loss.
A car that reacts instantly every time I turn the wheel—it really is a great vehicle.
If there was one problem...
“Guaaaaah! Another sharp tuuuurn!”
“Senior, just hit the tree next time!”
Every time I dodged an obstacle, complaints like those drifted from the back seat, accompanied by the sound of things bumping around.
I really don't know what their problem is.
They complain if I plow through obstacles, and they complain if I avoid them.
It’s because you guys keep acting like this that I’m getting stubborn and dodging things I don't even need to dodge.
Learn a thing or two from Si-hyun.
She’s sound asleep even in this situation.
“Krr-phwaaa.”
She’s even snoring.
Anyway, our boisterous journey continued.
I never realized how much peace of mind simply not having an enemy could bring.
Perhaps it was because I was in such a good mood.
Even the boar-like monster that I had rammed with the car in almost every loop—this time, I didn't hit it. I turned the wheel and grazed past it by a hair's breadth.
My mood, which had been steadily improving, reached its peak the moment we finally emerged from the forest that had been perpetually shrouded in inescapable fog.
“Goodbye to this damn forest!”
Hooray!
In that moment of triumph, as I took my hands off the wheel and my foot off the brake...
A woman suddenly leaped out in front of the speeding car.
She wore a coat and a knit hat over her long brown hair, with a long stick wrapped in cloth slung across her back.
Such a woman appeared right in front of the charging SUV.
I tried to react to this sudden emergency, but with my hands off the wheel and my foot away from the brake, there was no way to handle it.
The speeding car slammed right into the woman who had appeared before us.
Whether she was a hunter or a low-rank Hero, she showed a very peculiar reaction.
Upon spotting the charging car, the woman immediately jumped and curled her body, perhaps to minimize the damage.
But this was no ordinary SUV.
After being struck by the bumper, the woman rolled over the windshield and disappeared toward the rear.
Leaving behind only a spiderweb of cracks on the glass.
I slammed on the brakes belatedly.
Even so, the cracks in the glass—the evidence of the accident—didn't disappear.
“….”
“That was… a person, right?”
“…Poyo?”
Silence hung heavy in the car.
BEEEEEEEEEEEP.
Because I had slumped my head onto the steering wheel in despair, a loud, continuous horn blared, but my mind was too cluttered to look up.
…I hit a person?
Is this news-worthy?
Civilian casualty?
Am I even a Hero after this?
Countless thoughts raced through my brain, but I soon realized the victim's life was the priority. I quickly threw open the car door and dashed out with Un-ho on my shoulder.
Maybe she isn't dead yet.
As long as she isn't dead, I can fix this somehow.
With that thought, I ran toward the civilian victim who had been sent flying.
The victim, who had been tossed behind the car, looked like she was at death's door.
The impact must have been too strong; her lower half was torn away and gone, and only her upper body remained, twitching and coughing up blood.
However, she was definitely still alive.
I immediately approached her as she lay on the ground and held her.
“Lee Ha-ram… you… damn… bastard….”
Before I could even say a word, my name spilled from the dying woman's lips.
Startled, I looked at the face of the dying person.
But no matter how much I searched my memory, I couldn't find a match.
“…Who are you?”
“Who do you think… you bastard…. Can’t you tell by the gun…?”
Gun?
Where’s the gun?
I looked around and spotted a gun hanging in a tree nearby.
It was a rugged, unrefined thing that looked like nothing more than a long pipe without any curves.
The exterior had parts sticking out here and there, and the design was so simple it could easily be mistaken for a mere scrap of iron pipe.
Because I had seen it so many times, even I, who knew nothing about guns, could recite its model name the moment I saw it.
PTRD-41.
It must have been sent flying when the car hit her. The barrel being half-bent was likely also due to the collision.
However, that made the story a bit strange.
I knew one acquaintance who carried that gun.
But.
Did he look like this?
No, looks aside, he definitely wasn't a woman.
“Are you Meteor?”
I threw the question, loaded with doubt, at the dying person.
“Yeah….”
The woman, who was presumably him, gave an answer that confirmed my suspicion.
What the hell is this?
“But why are you a woman?”
“Lately, I’ve been coming out as a woman too…. I’ll explain that later…. Just… treat me….”
Hmm. Treatment, huh.
He said that, but...
To be honest, the moment I realized the person I hit was Meteor, the panic and fear that had gripped me just moments ago vanished into thin air.
Oh, it’s Meteor? Then it’s fine. Whatever. Meteor died again.
“Um. I’ll do my best. But why are you here?”
It couldn't be a coincidence that we met like this.
“The Yellow King… a massive spacetime distortion… was observed around you…. More importantly… the treatment… first….”
Persistent fellow.
Honestly, these were injuries where it wouldn't be strange if he were already dead, but the fact that he was still breathing was a testament to how incredibly stubborn Meteor is. Typical Meteor.
Hmm… let’s see.
Conveniently, Han A-bin had followed me out…
“A-bin, can you save this person?”
“…It looks difficult.”
Right? Even I didn't think A-bin’s power could fix this. Si-hyun might be able to, though.
“Meteor, you have two choices.”
“…What are they?”
“One, you just die. Two, you leave it to a treatment where I have no idea what the result will be.”
“…What’s the second one?”
“Oh, it’s nothing much. Maybe your leg regeneration fails and you end up with four left hands. Or ten fingers on one hand…”
In reality, the issues would probably be smaller than that, but I couldn't guarantee he wouldn't end up like that.
“…I’ll just die.”
“Right, see you next time.”
As soon as that farewell was over.
The corpse that had been twitching before me ceased all movement.
As if he had simply given up on life.
Let’s see, life signs are gone.
No sign of immediate resurrection…
Meteor died today too.
I’m glad the one I hit was Meteor. I should drive safely from now on.
I’ll consider this a bit of bad luck out of the way.
As I resolved to do so and turned back toward the car...
“…Senior?”
I heard Han A-bin’s voice.
“What?”
“…A person just died?”
“Oh, it’s fine. That’s Meteor. He’s a person, but, well… how should I explain it?”
It’s not exactly resurrection.
And it’s not exactly regeneration.
Anyway, he died, but… it’s damn hard to explain when I actually try.
“…You’ll probably meet him again later. Ask him then.”
Since I couldn't think of a way to explain, I tried to end the conversation like that.
“…You’re not trying to run away after a hit-and-run, are you?”
Han A-bin threw a suspicious remark at me.
“No, you heard us talking! He’s a Hero Un-ho knows too! He’s my friend!”
Hey, Un-ho! Say something!
I looked at Un-ho with that hope in my heart.
“You did say it was Meteor, but he looks quite different from the Lord Meteor I know.”
“…Hrmmmmmm.”
A-bin’s gaze only grew colder.
To think she can’t even trust her own master. I didn't realize my credibility had hit rock bottom like this.
“I’ll report to the Bureau later that I hit Meteor, so let’s talk then.”
“….”
A-bin’s stare was stinging.
Where on earth did my authority as a master go?
However, since there was no way to make an excuse to someone who didn't know Meteor, I endured that gaze for about thirty seconds.
“Hmm. Fine, for now. We can talk about this later, but shouldn't we do something about the body?”
Finally, A-bin stopped her strange humming and made a suggestion.
“Right, since it’s the body of a special ability user, should we put it in the car and drop it off at the Bureau before it’s used for something weird?”
With that thought, I lifted Meteor’s body.
Squelch.
With a sound like stepping in mud, entrails and flesh remnants fell away.
…The condition is gruesome. Do I really have to put this in the car?
That dilemma swirled in my head.
It was a long way to the Magic Society by car.
Even if I managed to pack it into a body bag, I’d have to ride in the car with a corpse in this state.
Furthermore, the body was already so mangled it seemed completely unusable.
Since it was the body of an old comrade-in-arms like Meteor, I could endure it, but...
Various conflicting thoughts were placed on The Scales of my heart.
And soon, a conclusion was reached.
“Alright.”
After lifting Meteor’s body.
Whoosh.
I gave it a massive heave into the forest, hard enough to make the wind whistle.
A bit of blood and flesh scattered in the air, but thanks to my control over the centrifugal force, only a tiny amount splashed toward us.
Meteor’s body quickly vanished into the depths of the forest.
Han A-bin’s eyes followed the trajectory of the corpse.
She stared at the spot where Meteor’s body had landed with her mouth agape for a moment.
“…Senior?”
She addressed me.
“What?”
“It was a hit-and-run, wasn't it?”
“I told you it wasn't.”
“Then why do you treat your friend’s body so carelessly?”
“Ever heard of a wind burial? A wind burial! His body won’t even disappear, so what do you want me to do? Do you want to spend a few days in the car with a corpse?”
“Hrmmmmmmm….”
Continuing to endure Han A-bin’s suspicious glares.
I got back into the car that had killed Meteor and drove onward.