Chapter 164: A Distorted Hero (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 164: A Distorted Hero (5)
Quickly grasping an opponent's identity or disposition before a battle is a huge advantage.
This is especially true for foes with unique tendencies, like H.S.
Know your enemy, know yourself, and you will never be defeated.
The moment you can read your enemy's next move one step—no, even half a step—ahead, many things become possible.
For instance… you could use an unexpected variable to flip the board they’ve so carefully set in their favor, just like now.
Having experienced this kind of situation once before, Kim Do-jin knew how to shatter this setup.
‘I just have to eliminate the options.’
The solution was to render the choices given to me meaningless.
Of course, they weren't fools; they would have prepared to handle most variables. But if that was the case, I just had to come up with a move they couldn't possibly imagine.
The moment I saw Shin Yu-jeong being dragged out by the woman, my mind started racing.
The only restraint on her was a pair of Awakened-specific handcuffs.
In other words, if I could just get those off, I could save Shin Yu-jeong.
‘So, what’s the best way to… ah.’
A viable method came to mind.
The problem was that I needed to draw their attention, even for a brief moment.
And that moment arrived with perfect, natural timing.
“Yu-Yu-jeong!”
Was it the goddess of victory smiling down on me, or a miracle born from a mother’s boiling love?
The beautiful woman’s desperate cry powerfully captured their attention for a moment.
Pretending to restrain her, Kim Do-jin threw the thing he’d brought from the room, just in case, in a direction no one could see.
Splat!
A black, gelatinous mass that had landed silently on the ground and flattened out quickly returned to its original shape.
The round eyes of the slime, Kkamseul-i, turned toward the slumped figure of Shin Yu-jeong.
From the moment it was thrown, this small monster, which seemed incapable of thought or communication, knew exactly what its master wanted.
How did it know, when they had never even spoken?
Who knows.
One could only say that his master’s intense will had flowed directly into it.
In any case, to manifest its master’s will, Kkamseul-i took a big step… no, a big jump.
Hop!
At the same time, its master’s scolding voice replayed in its head.
-Ahem, no running.
The creature shivered once, then stretched its body out, sticking to the floor and pulling itself along.
-Yes. That’s it, my Kkamseul-i!
It was as if it could hear its master’s praise.
It moved endlessly through the darkness that had descended, avoiding the light.
Then, it finally arrived.
Behind the back of the female who would sometimes tumble naked with its master, acting cute.
Hop!
The black, gelatinous mass shot up.
With a single, precious jump it had been saving, it landed on the handcuffs binding her hands behind her back.
Having reached its true destination, Kkamseul-i began to envelop the cuffs restraining her wrists.
Wiggle, wiggle.
They were bigger than it expected.
But it seemed it could just barely digest them.
This was all thanks to its master consistently feeding it various things until now.
The moment Kkamseul-i recognized the handcuffs as food, the hard lump of metal—said to be so tough that only a top-tier B-rank dealer could break it—vanished without a sound.
After deliciously devouring the handcuffs, Kkamseul-i’s body went limp on the floor.
It was full.
It seemed it would have to stay like this for a while, having swallowed something so big and hard.
Meanwhile.
“……”
Shin Yu-jeong, who had been limp and powerless due to the weakening magic engraved on the Awakened-specific handcuffs, opened her eyes.
In truth, she hadn't closed her eyes because of the weakening magic.
It was because she was utterly ashamed and humiliated by her situation, captured without putting up a decent fight.
‘Those fucking bastards…’
She remembered.
She remembered the eyes of the man and woman looking down at her from behind their masks.
And upon hearing the man's voice, she realized it immediately.
The man who had tried to hit on her before she returned to the hotel was the same person as the man in the mask.
‘The handcuffs are off.’
The stiffness in her wrists was gone.
And the strength that had been stolen by the cuffs was gradually returning.
Before her, her mother was crying out, and Kim Do-jin was weighing her life against hundreds of others.
‘…This feels good.’
She knew she shouldn't think this way, but she couldn't hide the helpless joy blooming in her heart.
If she interpreted this situation in her favor, didn't it mean that to him, she was valuable enough to be weighed against the lives of hundreds of people?
It felt as if all the sorrow she had arbitrarily harbored today was melting away as if washed clean.
‘I need to help my man, quickly…’
Her strength now returned, Shin Yu-jeong was about to jump up and go wild when her eyes met Kim Do-jin’s.
His sharp gaze strongly restrained her, telling her absolutely not to move.
At the same time, a thrilling shiver selectively poked at all the right places.
‘Ah, so fucking sexy.’
Her body grew hot at the sight of the cold judgment peeking through his intense gaze, a look she had never seen before.
So it was true what they said—a man focused is the sexiest thing in the world.
Even as she was dazed, blinded by love, she perfectly understood the message he conveyed with his eyes.
‘He wants me to strike when there’s a clear opening, right…? Okay.’
At the same time, a question arose.
‘He’s suspiciously calm.’
The question of why Kim Do-jin was acting like someone who went through these situations for breakfast remained.
And then she resolved it herself.
‘Who cares? It’s great that my man is so capable. There’s no downside to it.’
Shin Yu-jeong grinned behind the curtain of her hair.
Just then, the situation began to progress rapidly.
“I’ve already made my choice.”
As Kim Do-jin’s answer, delivered with a smirk, drew everyone’s intense focus…
Shin Yu-jeong seized the opening and rose to her feet.
Hours of pent-up sorrow exploded.
Her eyes, filled with a murderous aura, fixed on the back of the woman who had shot something into her neck.
Now, it was time for revenge.
“Grit your teeth, you fucking bitch.”
* * *
Crack!
The mask she wore to hide her identity crumpled violently around the point of impact.
Seeing that it didn't shatter from that punch, it must not have been a cheap mask.
It seemed to have been engraved with at least low- or mid-grade defensive magic.
“Kuh…!”
The woman’s body staggered heavily.
At the same time, the switch she was holding fell from her hand and skidded across the floor.
It landed in the space between the woman, who had stepped back to absorb the impact, and Shin Yu-jeong.
The eyes of the two women, both staring at the switch that had landed in an awkward spot for both of them, gleamed.
I quickly shouted at her.
“Yu-jeong, the switch!”
Like a signal flare, my words sent both of them lunging at the same time.
It was only natural, but the woman was faster.
A B-rank Hunter, even a subpar one, was not someone she could beat in speed.
So, it was time to change tactics.
“…Forget that, just fuck her up!”
A look of bewilderment crossed the woman’s eyes as she reached for the switch.
In contrast, Shin Yu-jeong flashed an icy smile and yelled back at me.
“That was the plan from the start…! You know?!”
Wow, that’s a posture straight out of her old school bully days.
Without breaking her stride, she kicked out, her foot slamming into the woman’s exposed side.
Thwack!
“Keoheok…!”
“Ooh-yah.”
I’d bet my own wrist that the woman has at least four broken ribs.
Life is always a series of choices.
And that foolish woman, drunk on the notion that she must never lose the switch, had forgotten the most important rule.
In the end, if you get hurt and taken down, it’s all over.
“Hmph!”
On the other hand, my Yu-jeong, who had nothing to lose, had recklessly pushed forward to seize victory. She immediately lifted her foot and stomped on the switch with all her might.
CRUNCH!
Unable to withstand the force of a girl who was ridiculously strong, the switch shattered.
I prepared for the worst-case scenario.
What if the bastards had more than one switch?
And what if, in their anger, they launched an indiscriminate attack on the hostages?
To avoid the worst, I used the mana I had been slowly and secretly gathering to erect a wall around the hundreds of people trembling in fear.
「Earth Wall.」
Rumble, rumble, rumble…!
The ground beneath them began to churn.
Soon, a wall began to shoot up, temporarily isolating them.
I poured nearly half my mana into it… so even if a bomb went off, they probably wouldn't die.
“Ugh… using so much mana at once is making my head spin.”
Pressing my temples against the mild dizziness, I approached the bastard who was staring blankly at the rapidly changed situation and sneered.
“So, I wonder if my answer was to your liking.”
“……”
That hardened look in his eyes is quite impressive.
He was like this back then, too.
Back when H.S. wasn't the name of a villain group, but of a single person called the Hero Slayer.
The guy who came to me with a pathetic two-choice ultimatum made that same face before arbitrarily acknowledging me and then tucking his tail and running.
Thanks to him, I did milk a good amount of recognition…
“Gasp.”
What if this makes my recognition rise again for no reason?
That would be a total disaster.
“Ah, come on…”
No matter how much life doesn't go the way you want, this is a bit much.
As I fretted, the man spoke.
“…Impressive. Your answer far exceeded my expectations.”
He took a step back.
“I acknowledge it. That you have the makings of a future hero.”
This is that exact scenario.
The one where he throws out an authentication mark at some poor soul who got caught up in this, talking about acknowledgment or whatever, and then runs away.
“We will withdraw for today. I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon…”
“Yeah, fuck that.”
Withdraw, my ass.
They come as they please and leave as they please.
“The world isn’t that easy, you know.”
I drew in ambient mana and shot out a chain of lightning.
「Chain Lightning.」
The mid-grade lightning magic, which intercepts enemies by covering the area like a net, simultaneously ensnared the bastards who were hurrying to retreat.
Crackle-!
“Grrgh…!”
“Gah!”
“……!”
Thud!
Splat!
One by one, charred bodies piled up on the floor from the sudden ambush.
But there was one exception: the man right in front of me.
I thought it was a perfect ambush, but he blocked it.
“…You seem to use magic in a way that is rather difficult to comprehend, don’t you?”
He seemed quite flustered, unable to see the elements that should be present when casting a spell.
“Well, magic is a higher form of learning, you see.”
My tone implied that it was only natural for an ignorant fool like him not to understand, and he bristled.
Hah, seeing that reminds me of the old days.
There was this one guy, whose mage superiority complex was off the charts, who spoke to me just like that before getting the shit beaten out of him.
The man frowned.
“You should work on your tone. It doesn’t suit the dignity of a hero.”
In response, I raised my middle finger.
“If you don’t like it, why don’t you try and fix it yourself?”
Who does this guy think he is, running his mouth after his operation failed and he’s about to run away with his tail between his legs?
He sighed softly and replied.
“I understand. It seems a great deal of guidance will be necessary for you to become a hero in the future.”
“…This is so frustrating.”
Am I talking to a brick wall in human form?
If I keep this conversation going, I might die from high blood pressure.
It’d be better to just catch him and throw him in jail.
Then I’ll never have to see him again.
「Vortex Spear.」
A fierce vortex swirling in my palm was forged into the shape of a spear.
A mid-grade wind spell that boasts the highest single-target attack power.
The sharply swirling tip took dead aim at the blockhead before me.
“Now, get lost.”
The bowstring of the storm pulled back taut before releasing a massive arrow.
WHOOSH-!
The violent storm raging around it clawed at everything in its path, about to tear the man apart, when…
Fwoom.
Something incomprehensible happened.
“……?”
The moment the spear tip was inches away, the man’s body blurred for an instant, and the Vortex Spear passed right through his hazy form, flying on to lodge itself in an innocent wall.
BOOOOM!
Crumble!
“An excellent attack. Had it hit, I would not have escaped serious injury.”
“……”
Was I fighting a ghost, not a person?
No, that can’t be it.
I don’t know the principle behind it, but… his body turning hazy must be one of his traits.
Traits can sometimes be as mysterious as the seven wonders of the world.
“Then, I will take my leave.”
His blurred body vanished like smoke and reappeared in front of the woman, who was unable to move due to her shattered ribs.
“I’m… I’m sorry… keuk.”
“It’s alright. This, in its own way, has become a good answer.”
The man soothed the woman, then turned his head to look at me.
It was obvious he was planning to escape with just the two of them.
“Looks like you’re planning to leave your remaining subordinates behind.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you feel any pangs of conscience?”
I threw out various provocations to get under his skin, but he was unfazed.
“Not at all. They’re villains, aren’t they?”
“…Tsk, you’ve got a point.”
The bastard left me speechless.
His body began to blur again.
This time, the woman he was touching blurred along with him.
“Well then, I wish you well until we meet again.”
To the very end, the man sincerely wished for my well-being as he scattered and became a wisp of smoke.