Chapter 45: Glass Cannon
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 45: Glass Cannon
“Si-ho, take care of Seo-ho first. Catherine, get those chains off him. We're getting out of here right now.”
Even if no one knew what was going on, at least we knew Seo-ho was safe.
For now, that alone was enough.
And while they're getting the chains off, I can settle a bit more of my grudge.
I walked up to the sobbing Kwak Sa-yeon.
When a shadow fell over her, she flinched and looked up at me.
She shrank back, but even then, the look in her eyes was the same—her pride was still intact.
“You, who are you! Who do you think you are to do this to me?! Do you know who I am!”
“Oh, I know very well. How have you not changed at all in five years?”
Should I be glad my target for revenge has been so consistent? Or should I say that seeing that infuriating face brings back old memories and makes me feel like shit?
It was a complicated, subtle feeling.
“You really don't remember me?”
“Why the hell should I know someone like you!?”
“Someone like me? Want another taste of my foot?”
“Hic!”
Seeing that she truly didn't remember me, my head didn't just throb; it felt like it was about to explode.
What is this woman? Is she even human?
It wasn't enough that she ruined my life with a false Me Too accusation and even put a curse on me, but she couldn't even remember my face.
They say perpetrators never remember their victims, but isn't this going too far?
“Ah, right.”
To this woman, I was nothing more than a minor incident.
While I suffered for five long years, she must have forgotten all about it long ago and never given it a second thought.
“Seo-ho, Seo-ho, help me! Stop this crazy bastard!”
Then she started screaming at none other than Seo-ho, the very person she had imprisoned.
“Crazy bitch.”
Seo-ho's eyes, as cold as if he were looking at a piece of trash, fell upon Kwak Sa-yeon.
Seeing that gaze, Kwak Sa-yeon's face, which hadn't broken even under my kicks, finally twisted.
Like a child abandoned by its parents.
Serves her right.
Then, her body began to tremble, and large teardrops started to fall down her face.
“How, how could you do this to me! I liked you so much! I loved you! I would have done anything for you!”
A chill ran down my spine, and I took a step back from Kwak Sa-yeon.
This was something you shouldn't even associate with.
The myriad emotions swirling in her eyes were utterly grotesque.
“I don't give a damn whether you like me or not. I've never once given a thought to a crazy bitch like you.”
Seo-ho told her with cold, dead eyes.
For the first time, Kwak Sa-yeon's face began to crumble as if her world had collapsed.
“I should have just let you die back then.”
And that single sentence pushed Kwak Sa-yeon into the abyss.
“N-no. No. My Seo-ho, Seo-ho isn't like that.”
Kwak Sa-yeon broke.
Feeling no sympathy, I watched her pathetic display and asked, “Is everything a joke to you?”
I'd known for a long time that she had feelings for Seo-ho.
But for that one thing, she was destroying everything else.
This wasn't affection. It was a twisted possessiveness.
Kwak Sa-yeon was a pathetic piece of trash who hadn't matured one bit since childhood.
“...What are you, what the hell are you. You ruined it! You!”
“The year 2025. Exactly five years ago. You claimed I sexually harassed you.”
With my fists clenched, I began to walk toward Kwak Sa-yeon, one step at a time.
She flinched and then pointed a finger at me, shouting.
“Ugh, then you must have done it! Why would I say something like that if you did nothing?!”
“Yeah, right. I never even sat next to you because I fucking hated the idea of even touching you.”
“So who...”
I'd told her this much.
No matter how stupid she was, she was bound to remember.
Kwak Sa-yeon's distorted face slowly began to smooth out.
It was the expression people make when a memory clicks into place.
“That loser? That was you?”
And to top it all off, she wore a look of contempt, as if she were looking at something far beneath her.
“You know who I am and you're still doing this? Sexual harassment? Ha, haha, this time you want to be framed for rape and assault?! You fucking bastard!”
Thwack!
In that moment, before I could do anything, Kwak Sa-yeon was suddenly sent flying into a wall.
“Hic, ugh, ghhk.”
Kwak Sa-yeon, having slammed into the wall, gasped for air, the impact on her back making it hard to breathe.
Surprised, I turned around to see Si-ho's hand stretched forward.
“It was you.”
Did Si-ho do that?
More than that, I was surprised by her reaction.
“Si-ho, did you...”
“...I heard from Ji-eun. The reason you came to work at the company, Manager.”
Come to think of it, I had mentioned it to Ji-eun in passing once.
Since we met often for work, I'd once casually mentioned the incident that led me here.
It seemed Si-ho had heard the story from Ji-eun.
“Gack, ghhk.”
It looked like Si-ho was twisting the space around Kwak Sa-yeon's neck; her face turned blue as she began to struggle.
Lacking oxygen, she looked like she was about to suffocate at any moment.
“It's better to get rid of things like that.”
For some reason, Si-ho's eyes were filled with even more rage than when she'd seen Seo-ho.
Only Catherine stood there awkwardly, seemingly unable to understand the situation.
“Kang Ha-chan!”
Just then, Baeksan called my name.
Before I could answer, he shouted.
“Get down!”
The moment I heard the shout, I instinctively ducked.
That's how much I trusted Baeksan's words, and in a place like this, he was the one I could trust the most.
Slice!
In that instant, a few strands of my hair fluttered away along with a section of the wall that had been sliced off.
A chill went down my spine at the realization that something swung from beyond the wall had tried to cut me down too.
“Cough, hack! Ugh, huh, what, cough, cough, what's going on.”
Kwak Sa-yeon, who was near the wall that had been sliced in half, was covered in dust and coughing repeatedly.
It seemed Si-ho's spatial ability had been momentarily released.
I hope she gets bronchitis.
With that earnest prayer, I called for the person I needed most right now.
“Catherine!”
As soon as I called, Catherine appeared beside me in a flash of blue lightning.
She was so terrifying as an enemy, but now that she was on my side, she was endlessly reassuring as she stared beyond the wall.
If only she wasn't constantly glancing over here, trying to read my mood.
Crumble-
As pieces of stone crumbled from the wall, someone slowly walked out from the other side.
He was a man holding an umbrella, dressed sharply in a fedora and a suit.
“How fortunate. I was sticking around just in case. Who would have thought a gold nugget would appear?”
As he rested the umbrella on his shoulder and gave a sly smile, I could see Catherine's expression sour.
“Umbrella.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Lady Thunder Dragon. I'm glad to see you look healthy.”
Girasung.
The moment I confirmed Catherine recognized him, I moved.
“Si-ho, take Seo-ho and run!”
“Manager, but...”
At my shout, Si-ho looked at me with a flustered expression.
She was gripping Seo-ho's arm tightly, as if she'd already tried to teleport him away the moment the man appeared.
“It's a Hunter-Binding Chain. A top-quality one, optimized for S-rank hunters. It must be something those Girasung bastards kept hidden away. Hunters are completely vulnerable to those things. You'll have to break the one on his neck before you can teleport.”
Baeksan's advice followed.
It seemed that because of what Seo-ho was wearing around his neck, even Si-ho's teleportation wouldn't work.
“I can't allow that. Trying to run away, are we?”
Just then, Umbrella snapped his umbrella open.
At the same time, his umbrella began to glow red, and a crimson beam of heat was aimed at us.
“I must take those two with me, no matter what.”
And in my hand, a gun made of white wood was already gripped.
But his heat ray was faster than the speed at which I could create a bullet.
Crackle!
But he wasn't the only returnee here.
Before his heat ray could reach us, Catherine had already blocked its path with a current of blue electricity.
“Lady Catherine, no matter what tricks the sealer played on you, I don't believe it's right for you to stand in my way like this.”
“...”
Catherine didn't answer.
She just glanced my way, her body trembling slightly as if afraid my bullet would be aimed at her.
Fear injection is the best.
“I understand. If that is your will.”
But he, unaware of Catherine's fear, seemed to think she had taken our side.
Soon, his heat ray and Catherine's blue lightning collided.
BOOM!
A loud explosion erupted, and black smoke engulfed the area.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
Through it all, the unprotected Kwak Sa-yeon's scream echoed.
Ignoring her completely, I was gathering red sparks in my hand.
The one and only skill I learned from Baeksan.
Brain Thunder (뇌뢰)
It was the technique for creating bullets for Thunderbolt Flash, one of the only two weapons the regressor Baeksan brought back from his world.
How much I had to suffer to learn this.
「I originally wanted to teach you swordsmanship, but this is what's right for you now. Don't worry about the total amount of your aura; just pour everything you have into a single bullet.」
I repeated Baeksan's words to myself over and over.
Since I can't control my aura anyway, I can't form Brain Thunder into a precise bullet.
That's why Baeksan and I chose this path: a single, decisive shot that pours in every last bit of my aura.
「Remember. You are only permitted to fire Brain Thunder twice.」
Feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over my entire body, I aimed the muzzle downward.
But now was not the time to aim at the enemy.
My Brain Thunder is unstable.
Returnees are strong. The moment he saw me preparing something, he would obviously get ready to dodge.
Rather than aiming for an uncertain target, I'll choose something certain.
And so, this is what I chose.
Click-clack-
The sound of metal clicking into place echoed, signaling the bullet was loaded.
And then, I pulled the trigger.
BOOOOOOOOM!
A red spark erupted, and the stone floor collapsed beneath us. In an instant, all of us began to fall.
As soon as it happened, the quick-witted Catherine leaped and caught Seo-ho, who was in the state of a normal person.
Thank god. Seo-ho is safe...
Wait a minute, aside from firing Brain Thunder, I'm a normal person too, aren't I?
My eyes widened as I watched Catherine move away.
The exhaustion from using Brain Thunder was already draining the strength from my body.
But Catherine seemed to have no intention of helping me.
In Catherine's mind, I was imprinted as a superman who could take down even her in a single blow.
That's why she didn't even think of saving me.
“Manager!”
Just as I was about to scream while falling, Si-ho appeared in front of me.
I had never been so happy to see her.
I reached out my hand, and Si-ho grabbed it, teleporting us in an instant.
When I turned my head, I saw Catherine standing there, holding Seo-ho in a princess carry.
Since Catherine was quite tall and muscular, it somehow suited her.
If only she hadn't immediately avoided my gaze when our eyes met.
For a moment, I looked up at the gaping hole in the ceiling.
To think one shot of my Brain Thunder did that to the building.
“My Kerape is the best.”
“You bastard, are you calling my gun by that stupid name again?”
But Thunderbolt Flash is too long.
“Seo-ho, let me see your neck.”
I hurried over to Seo-ho and checked the collar he was wearing.
It looked like a simple metal collar, but apparently, it was blocking Seo-ho's power.
“U-um.”
Just then, Catherine stopped me.
When I turned to her, she flinched, trembled, and spoke with her gaze lowered.
“There's a mechanism that makes it explode if you try to break it carelessly. S-so, I couldn't touch it either.”
So unlike Si-ho, Catherine could have broken it?
It seems the 'poison for hunters' part applied differently to returnees.
“Then what do we do?”
“We either find an expert, or maybe find the person who put it on him...”
Damn it. That bitch Kwak Sa-yeon.