Chapter 163: A Distorted Hero (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 163: A Distorted Hero (4)
I realized something while teaching Jeong-hee to ski for a day.
“I was wondering who Yu-jeong took after…”
The source of Shin Yu-jeong’s incredible athletic ability was none other than Jeong-hee.
At first, she seemed to struggle, but as soon as she got the hang of it, she improved by leaps and bounds.
By the time the sun began to set, she was skilled enough to enjoy herself on the intermediate course, not just the beginner’s slope.
“Should we head in now?”
“Hoho… Let’s. I’m starting to feel a little tired now.”
“……”
She’d been skiing for half a day without a break, and she was only a little tired.
Just how much stamina did she have in her youth?
On our way back after returning the equipment, Jeong-hee asked.
“Do you know where Yu-jeong went? I haven’t seen her for a while.”
“I’ll give her a call.”
I called the girl who had been missing since the afternoon.
-The customer is unavailable…
She didn’t pick up.
“She’s not answering.”
“Is she still busy skiing…?”
Too busy skiing to answer her phone at this hour…?
That was a little strange.
When I saw her this morning, she didn’t seem to be enjoying it that much.
“She might be resting in her room, so let’s check there first.”
“Okay, let’s do that.”
We quickened our pace, arrived at our lodgings, and I knocked on Yu-jeong’s door.
Knock, knock, knock!
“Yu-jeong! Are you in there?”
There was no answer.
Listening closely, I couldn’t hear any noise from beyond the door. It seemed like she wasn’t in the room…
Was she really still out skiing?
“Where could she have gone…?”
As she started to worry, I gently put an arm around her shoulder and called Yu-jeong again.
-The customer is unavailable…
…She wasn’t the type to ignore a call unless she was fast asleep.
“For now, you should go inside and get some rest.”
“What about you, Do-jin…?”
“I’ll just step out for a bit and look for Yu-jeong.”
“Then I’ll go with you…”
“Ahyu, there’s no need for two of us to go looking for a grown girl. Just go wash up, okay?”
“…Alright, I understand. If you need my help, you have to call me, promise?”
“I will.”
After finally convincing her to go into her room, I pressed the elevator button to go back down.
Ding!
Just as I was about to step into the elevator.
Clack!
“D-Do-jin!”
Jeong-hee burst out of her room, stopping me with an urgent expression and voice.
“L-Look at this!”
She was pointing inside the room.
I walked quickly and entered her room.
“What’s wrong?”
“Th-There…!”
The tip of her finger was pointing at the floor-to-ceiling glass wall that took the place of a regular wall.
Visible beyond the transparent glass was a Barrier.
The pinnacle of national technology, designed to prevent escape from the inside.
“I-Isn’t this a Barrier…?”
I nodded blankly at her trembling question.
“It is. But why in the world is it…”
It wasn’t that strange for a Barrier to be installed here.
Recreational facilities like ski resorts and water parks, which attract crowds of hundreds, have long been required to install Barriers in case of an emergency.
The strange thing was why a Barrier, which should only activate with an alarm when there are signs of a rift forming, had been deployed on its own.
“The mana concentration is normal…”
The visible mana concentration in the area was perfectly ordinary.
That meant the Barrier hadn’t been automatically activated due to an emergency…
There was only one person here with the authority to manually operate the Barrier.
The manager of this hotel.
He alone held the authority to manually activate it in case of an emergency.
But even that was just a formal authority; he would need government permission to actually activate it, wouldn’t he…?
“What in the world is going on…?”
A strong sense of unease shot through me.
Shin Yu-jeong’s sudden disappearance, and the Barrier surrounding the hotel.
Just as an inexplicable certainty that both problems stemmed from the same root began to form.
[Hoo- hoo-]
An ominous voice came from the speakers installed in the hallway ceiling.
[An announcement for everyone in the hotel.]
[The hotel you are currently staying in has been isolated by a Barrier that we have activated.]
[Furthermore, a powerful bomb, strong enough to blow up the entire hotel, has been installed.]
As soon as the slick-sounding man finished speaking, the sound of doors opening simultaneously came from outside.
“What the hell is this?”
“A bomb…!”
“Th-This isn’t a joke, right?”
“If it were a joke, they wouldn’t have activated a Barrier outside the hotel!”
All escape routes blocked, and a bomb inside…
A commotion began to erupt at the truly disastrous combination.
[Ah, ah, it’s still too early to worry about dying.]
[We’re not the kind of terrorists who go around blowing things up for no reason.]
They must have a different objective they want to achieve by holding the hotel guests hostage.
[Out of consideration for those on the upper floors, we’ll give you exactly five minutes.]
[All hotel guests are to gather in the lobby within five minutes.]
[For every minute you are late, we will blow up the floors in order, starting from the top.]
[Now… begin.]
The commotion from outside grew louder.
“Hurry up and get down there!”
“They said they’ll blow it up if we’re not down in five minutes!”
“Is this really the time to be waiting for an elevator?!”
The sound of urgent, disorderly footsteps thundered through the halls.
Jeong-hee grabbed my arm with a trembling hand.
“D-Do-jin. What is all this…!”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
I pulled her into a brief hug, patting her back to help her calm her chaotic thoughts.
By the time everyone had gone downstairs and the noise had subsided.
I took her hand and left the room.
I was about to head straight down, but first stopped by my room to grab a few things just in case. Then, I quickly descended the stairs and reached the lobby.
In one corner of the vast lobby, terrified people were huddled together. Opposite them stood men armed with cold weapons, wearing masks that seemed to be modeled after the image of an agwi [a hungry demon].
There were about ten of them.
Judging by the flow of mana I could see, eight of them were C-rank, while the man and woman who appeared to be the leaders were around B-rank.
“This is a bit tough…”
It would be one thing in a normal fight, but it was impossible to take on all of them with hostages involved.
To be precise, it was impossible to subdue them without any casualties.
My own injuries would be the least of my worries; the hostages wouldn’t survive.
I carefully observed their armaments and positions as I slipped into the crowd.
The plan is to lie low for now and watch for an opportunity to strike.
Just as I was patting Jeong-hee’s shoulder, waiting calmly for the right moment.
“Among those gathered, would Mr. Kim Do-jin please step forward.”
“……?”
One of the leaders, the man, suddenly called my name.
Why the hell was my name coming up now…?
I was so dumbfounded that I stood up without thinking.
The man then gestured to me and continued.
“Please come forward.”
“……”
The distance between us was only thirty meters.
I wracked my brain as I walked slowly toward him.
They knew my name and my face.
Which meant… the purpose of this whole incident was none other than me.
“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kim Do-jin.”
The man greeted me politely.
“I am a supervisor who has come to test you.”
“……”
Huh.
I felt like I’d heard this somewhere before.
“There are hundreds of hostages trapped here.”
I’d definitely heard that line, too.
So… the line that came after this was definitely.
“Whether to save them or kill them is entirely…”
“Up to my choice, is that what you were going to say?”
“……”
Right, now I got it.
I knew who these bastards were who showed up out of nowhere and turned this hotel upside down.
“You’re H.S. (Hero Slayers), aren’t you.”
H.S.
Short for Hero Slayers.
An A-rank villain group that appears before Hunters hailed as heroes, tests them on a whim, and issues a death sentence if they don’t meet their standards.
The number of Hunters who have died at their hands was well over a hundred.
And that number was filled only with prominent Hunters.
“Ha, hahaha!”
The flustered man soon burst into loud laughter.
“If you already know who we are, this will be much easier.”
They test Hunters called heroes according to their own whims.
What kind of test? It’s simple.
They force a choice in a dilemma where neither option is easy to pick.
Was it back when I was Son Si-woo, when I was just starting to build my reputation?
A man came to me and forced a choice.
Between hundreds of elderly people with not long to live, and dozens of children with bright futures ahead of them.
He asked which I would save.
“Before you lie two choices.”
Unlike that time, when I was utterly bewildered, this time I thought I knew what choices I’d be given.
“The first is the hundreds of civilians trembling in fear behind you. And the second…”
The man paused and gestured behind him. The woman, who also seemed to be a leader, dragged something out from under the desk.
The moment I saw the golden hair being dragged out limply, wrists bound in Awakened-specific handcuffs, as if unconscious, a voice that pierced me to the core came from behind.
“Y-Yu-jeong!”
…Just as I expected, the second choice they had prepared was Shin Yu-jeong.
I stretched out an arm to block Jeong-hee, who had rushed forward in a panic.
“Ma’am, calm down.”
“How can I calm down! My daughter, my daughter is captured over there, how can I…!”
Her boiling maternal love tore through her entire being.
I hate moments like this.
This damn situation where I, the victim, am the one who ends up feeling guilty, not the bastards who started this mess just to test me.
I stopped her with a slightly cold tone.
“If you step forward now, everyone will die. Yu-jeong, and the people behind us.”
“B-But…!”
“Trust me.”
“……”
With a tearful expression, she bit her lower lip hard.
Seeing the drop of blood that soon followed, I suddenly wondered.
What was she feeling right now?
Did she resent me, thinking this was all my fault?
Her uncontrollably trembling hand slowly rose to caress my cheek.
“Don’t make that face.”
“……”
“This isn’t your fault, Do-jin. You know that, right?”
Ah.
Just where was the limit to this woman’s compassion?
“…I’ll trust you, Do-jin.”
She forced a smile, trying to hold back her tears.
“Like that time.”
“That time” she mentioned… she must have been talking about when we ran into the orc that had escaped the rift.
When I gave a small smile, she took a difficult step back.
After calming myself, I turned back to the self-proclaimed supervisor, who was standing there awkwardly.
“Are you two done talking?”
His soft tone was laced with a subtle anger.
It seemed he was quite displeased that his speech had been so rudely interrupted.
“So, in the end, you’re telling me to choose between one precious person and the lives of hundreds.”
“…You can only save one side. If you try any tricks.”
The man extended his arm and pointed to the hand of the woman who had dragged Shin Yu-jeong out.
In her grasp was a palm-sized controller.
It must be the switch to detonate the bomb planted somewhere in here.
“The bomb in the hotel will explode. Then… everyone will die.”
“Then you’ll all die, too.”
“We don’t mind. We’re not the type to cling pathetically to life.”
“Oh, is that so.”
…Why was this bastard so damn serious about such useless things?
“I’m curious. Which will you choose to save, you who people call the makings of a hero?”
His tone was dripping with intense interest and mockery.
The situation was so absurd I could only let out a hollow laugh.
Like master, like man. The leader’s a lunatic, so all his underlings are lunatics, too.
Who the hell did they think they were, pulling a stunt like this and forcing my hand?
“Now, which will you choose?”
He pressured me with a suggestive tone.
But what could I say.
“I’ve already made my choice.”
It’s been a while since I chose one side and saved them.
The man’s body flinched.
“What do you mean…?”
Just as both the man and woman were stunned by my completely unexpected answer.
Seizing that moment, Shin Yu-jeong, who had been hanging limply behind them, staggered to her feet.
A sharp glint shone from her eyes through her disheveled golden hair.
Her aura was so menacing that just looking at her made my knees weak.
“……!”
The woman, noticing the presence too late, hurriedly turned around, but it was already over.
“Grit your teeth, you fucking bitch.”
Her straight punch, filled with pent-up fury and all her strength, exploded against the mask of the woman just as she turned.