SSS-Rank Talent (6)

From the spot where the Disaster Meteor had stood, a single figure became visible. Thick smoke from the explosion still hung heavy in the air, obscuring him almost completely.

I'm not too late yet.

Even if I couldn't make out the Disaster of Questions clearly, I had to move now. Those damn dokkaebis would slap a penalty on us any second.

...Acceleration.

I accelerated my body's movements with the skill.

General Store. Purchase tear gas grenade.

Ping!

I bought a tear gas grenade from the General Store, pulled the pin, and lobbed it straight at the bastard's feet.

Whoosh!

Time elapsed so far: roughly three seconds. Luckily, I wasn't late.

Before the dokkaebis could hit us with a penalty, the grenade landed safely at his feet.

Clunk! Clatter-roll!

"This place is..."

A boy's voice drifted out of the smoke. As the haze thinned a little, a boy who looked like a high-schooler stood there.

If he had one flaw, it was that he was wearing nothing but a single scrap of cloth around his waist like a primitive.

Clunk!

"This is... Seou— huh?"

The boy looked down with open curiosity as the mysterious round canister bumped against ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his foot.

And then white smoke began hissing out of it.

Psssssshhhhh!

"Huh?! What the hell is—!"

His face twisted in panic the moment the white smoke poured out. Then it contorted even harder.

"Ugh...! Cough...! Cough...! What... is this gas... cough!!"

Tears, snot, and drool streamed from his eyes, nose, and mouth as he inhaled the smoke. On top of that, he started coughing like his throat was being crushed.

Grin.

Just as planned.

The Disaster of Questions had to be hatched early. Only then would his overall stats be capped at a minimum of 55 the moment he hatched.

Hatching him early was good. But how was I supposed to deal with the three-minute no-attack penalty?

If I couldn't solve that, his first penalty would lift right away.

I'd spent days racking my brain over it.

In the end, the answer turned out to be simpler than I expected.

Just create an environment where he can't ask any questions.

Simple is best.

And the result was right in front of me.

Look at the Disaster of Questions now—tears, snot, and drool pouring down his face while he suffered from the tear gas. He wasn't even thinking about asking questions to the Antinus group members buried under building debris nearby.

The system message floated up. I loosened my shoulders and rolled them.

I smiled at my companions, who were staring at me like I'd lost my mind after I threw the tear gas, and said,

"Everyone stay here for a bit. I'll give him a free ride on the pain bus."

Stepping out of My Room, I looked up at the sky and muttered,

"Ahh~ perfect weather for beating the shit out of someone."

I stared for a moment at the night sky packed with dull, heavy clouds, then walked toward the Disaster of Questions, who had apparently recovered enough from the tear gas to stomp the empty canister in a fit of rage.

"Hey! Primitive friend? Nice evening. But what's with the outfit?"

"Oh, a person. Hey, do you know who threw this can—"

Slap!

I backhanded the rude primitive across the face for ignoring my question and spouting his own.

"..............."

Tremble-tremble.

The Disaster of Questions, Myeong Ilsang, kept the exact posture of someone who'd just been slapped and rolled his eyes up to glare at me.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're—"

I ignored whatever he was about to say, pointed a finger at him, and roared,

"Don't answer a question with another question! You rude primitive!!"

"W-what? Primitive?"

"Yeah! Look at yourself right now! Skinny as a dried anchovy, wearing nothing but underwear—you're the spitting image of a caveman!"

"...Uh, there's a reason I look like this..."

"Having a reason means you get to walk around the streets in your underwear?! You walking sexual-harassment primitive!!"

"...Hey, that's a bit harsh. Old ma— wait...?"

Myeong Ilsang cut himself off mid-sentence, tilted his head, and stared at me like something felt off.

"...Why hasn't the penalty lifted? You answered my question, didn't you?"

"Tsk tsk!"

I wagged a finger at him, pulled a recorder out of my pocket, and hit play.

Click!

—The fact that you pulled out this recorder means you've clearly started wondering why the Disaster's penalty hasn't lifted.

I continued right after the recording.

"The answer's simple, kid. Really simple."

—If I don't answer your questions myself, but instead play pre-recorded words from this recorder, your penalty never lifts.

My recorded voice and my real voice overlapped with zero lag, answering the exact question Myeong Ilsang was wondering about.

That's right. Every single word I'd spoken to him so far had been pre-recorded on the device.

"...What the hell is this?"

Myeong Ilsang looked back and forth between me and the recorder with a flustered expression.

Click!

—Anyway. Sorry for suddenly slapping you, primitive kid. As an apology, I'll give you some cake.

"Cake...?"

—Yeah. Just a regular fresh-cream cake. That okay?

"Well, I don't really care either way."

The moment I mentioned cake, the primitive completely forgot about being slapped and got distracted by food. Truly a simple creature.

Still, a real adult keeps his word when he says he'll give something.

I bought a fresh-cream cake from the General Store.

I smiled brightly and said,

"Sorry. I'm a little short-tempered. This is compensation for suddenly slapping you."

"Oh! Thanks, mister! You're actually a nice gu—"

Splat!

It was just a cream cake, yet Myeong Ilsang couldn't wait even a second and face-planted straight into it.

"Hey now! Don't frame me. This guy just threw himself into a cake he hasn't seen in ages."

"Just holding him in place so he can eat the cake properly."

Aigoo, look at him go. Our primitive friend, gobbling it all up by himself.

Then Myeong Ilsang's movements suddenly stopped. He clenched one fist tight and swung it at me.

Thud.

I casually blocked the punch with one hand, leaned in close to his ear, and whispered,

"Hmm. Stronger than the other kids so far, I'll give you that. Your overall stats are at 55 ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right now, yeah?"

"..............."

I released his hair and put some distance between us.

Splat.

The cream cake stuck to Myeong Ilsang's face dropped to the ground. Cream smeared all over his face, he wiped it away with his hand and glared at me.

"Hey, mister. What the hell are you trying to pull right now?"

I shrugged at his question. His face went cold and hard as he locked eyes with me and continued,

"Ha... It's been a while since someone pissed me off this much. I was trying to live a little nicer, you know."

Myeong Ilsang pointed a finger at me. An ominous purple light flickered at the tip.

That was the Disaster of Questions' main weapon—the Red Flame Cannon. Seeing his signature skill gather at his fingertip, I smiled.

"You want a firepower contest with me?"

"Feeling confident, my primitive friend?"

I poured mana into my own fingertip just like him, layering Flame of Destruction with the other skills.

Then both of us fired at the same time—his Red Flame Cannon and my Flame of Destruction.

Whoooosh—!!

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA—!!

The ominous purple flames of the Red Flame Cannon and the sinister black-red flames of the Flame of Destruction slammed into each other.

KABOOOOOM!!

The collision of our two flames produced a massive roar, and the surrounding buildings started catching fire.

A moment later, Myeong Ilsang's eyes went wide at the sight in front of him.

"...What the fuck?!"

Watching his Red Flame Cannon slowly get swallowed by the Flame of Destruction, he looked genuinely shocked. He canceled the skill and threw himself sideways.

A hundred years spent grinding in the otherworld Chronos hadn't been wasted—he made the best possible call.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA—!!

"...Crazy. Why is that old man so strong? Is he a returnee too? No, wait... am I just weaker...?"

Myeong Ilsang muttered under his breath, cold sweat running down his face as the building debris where the Flame of Destruction had passed turned to ash and scattered into the air.

"Got time to catch your breath?"

"Shit—?!"

While he was distracted, I closed the distance in a flash and drove a fist wrapped in Path of Wind straight into his gut.

BOOM!!

"Guhhk...!!"

KWA-KWA-BOOM!

Myeong Ilsang's body shot away at high speed, punched clean through the wall of the building opposite me, and disappeared inside.

Watching that, I muttered quietly,

"About time for him to run."

In the original webtoon, the moment he took damage from the combined assault of Yoo Sangah, Han Sooyoung, and Kim Dokja, he immediately fled.

Blink.

Short-range teleportation magic.

In the webtoon he used Blink to put distance between himself and Kim Dokja's party, then asked questions to people drawn by Dokgak's aggro to lift the penalty.

So I won't let my guard down for a second.

I knew his power well. If even fifteen—no, just ten—of Myeong Ilsang's seals came off, I'd be in real danger.

Story Shop.

Ding!

The Story Shop that had opened a few hours ago. Its product list had all sorts of things, but one skill book in particular had caught my eye among the countless items.

I'll apply the 10% discount coupon to Skill Book: Hiraishin no Jutsu and buy it from the Story Shop.

"Hooo... That fucking bastard just made me burn 360,000 coins in one go."

I pulled a single kunai out of My Room.

"Marking."

A red clown-shaped mark appeared on the handle of the kunai.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

I hooked my index finger through the ring of the kunai and stared at the building the Disaster of Questions had been blasted into.

Inside, dust and dirt still hung thick in the air.

Then a purple light flashed once from within. Too late to dodge.

"...Tsk. Enchant, stack fire attribute on my clothes."

The Red Flame Cannon fired from inside the building slammed into me dead-on.

Whoooosh!

I charged straight into the building while wrapped in flames.

...Yeah, magic power level 55 really is something. Pretty hot.

Hot air pressed against my entire body like a wet sauna. It was hot, but thanks to my tough skin and the fire resistance from Enchant, it wasn't unbearable.

Right on cue, Myeong Ilsang climbed over the broken wall and came out of the building. He looked at me charging through his own flames with something like admiration.

"Whew~♪ Mister. Aren't you being a little too tough? That's impressive!"

He picked up a chunk of building debris at his feet and started throwing it at me.

Crack!

I smashed the debris he threw with Path of Wind, eyes gleaming.

Now!

I threw the kunai at the building wall right next to him.

Thunk!

"Huh...?"

Myeong Ilsang tensed when I threw the kunai, but when it stuck into the wall beside him instead of him, his face filled with confusion.

"What the hell, mister? Throwing a kunai like a ninja out of nowhere almost made me flinch. Already out of steam—"

"Wh-what?! H-how— Guhhk...!!"

Thud!

Myeong Ilsang babbled in shock when I suddenly appeared at the wall where the kunai was stuck.

I ignored his reaction and drove a fist into his gut the same way as before.

Whooooosh!

Wrapping Path of Wind around my whole body to boost my speed, I caught up to Myeong Ilsang while he was still flying through the air. Then I pressed my palm against his back.

Marking.

"Guhhk...! Shit, damn...! Mister, you're ridiculously strong, for real...!!"

Myeong Ilsang twisted his body mid-air, corrected his posture, and landed safely on the road. He glared hard at me and spat curses.

"Fuck... Mister. Look forward to it. I'm definitely going to kill you...!!"

For an instant his form blurred, and then he vanished right in front of me.

When I let him escape, a few Constellations fired indirect messages at me. I glared up at empty air and said,

"Everything's going according to my plan, so shut up for a bit."

Rattle!

Right then, the window of My Room slid open beside me. Inside, Kim Dokja, Han Sooyoung, Yoo Sangah, Yoo Joonghyuk, and Shin Yooseung were all staring at me.

Han Sooyoung opened her mouth from the window.

"Hey! How the hell do you let him get away?!"

"Don't worry. I'll catch up soon."

"What? Then hurry up and run—no, fly after him!"

"It's not time yet."

"What the hell does that even mean..."

Han Sooyoung glared at me with a frustrated look. I felt a little bad for her, but it really wasn't time yet. The timing for him to come back was almost here.

Crack! Crack!

Suddenly red sparks flashed in the air, and all of us looked up at the sparking sky.

【Hmm. Impressive, aren't you? Even with the penalty, he's still a 'Disaster.' Yet a single person completely overpowered a Disaster.】

The red dokkaebi, Dokgak, glanced at me for a moment, then smiled and continued.

【But you know... isn't that a bit too greedy? There's an old saying—even a single bean should be shared.】

"Fuck."

At Dokgak's words, Kim Dokja, Yoo Joonghyuk, Yoo Sangah, and Han Sooyoung's faces all hardened instantly. Han Sooyoung spat a curse at him.

Dokgak looked down at me and kept talking, his voice echoing across all of Seoul.

【Incarnations of Seoul! I have some rather unfortunate news to share. Sadly, due to a certain someone's screw-up just now, one of the 'Disasters' has awakened in Gangdong District!】

A sneer curled at the corner of Dokgak's mouth.

【Haa, I can practically hear your sighs from here. Some of you are already trying to leave Gangdong District.】

He glanced at empty air for a moment before continuing. He must have been checking the fleeing people through the channel.

【But everyone, if you run away now, you'll definitely regret it later. Because this 'Disaster' is, without a doubt, an opportunity for all of you.】

Dokgak spoke in a voice dripping with false sympathy.

【Everyone. Hasn't it been hard collecting coins until now? One day your whole life collapses, weird bastards start harvesting coins, yesterday's friends suddenly start stabbing people... At least you don't have to go to work anymore, you thought. But wait—now the stars floating in the sky tell you, "Hey, shake that ass a little. I'll give you 100 coins."】

"Is that funny? The ones who just laughed are all old fossils, right?"

【That absolute bullshit feeling you're all experiencing right now—I understand it. You mustered the courage to think, 'Everything's already ruined, so I'll just live however I want,' only to realize this world is already divided into those who will make it and those who won't. That despair.】

Dokgak shook his head as he spoke.

【The defeat you felt when you realized the Constellation you barely managed to get is worse than the ones who latched onto people who were already talented from the start. For people like you, I've prepared something.】

He looked down at me and continued.

【An opportunity for you unlucky, talentless, lazy 'won't-make-it' types to become 'will-make-it' types overnight!】

Snap!

Dokgak flicked his fingers, and a giant screen appeared in the air. On it was Myeong Ilsang, cursing as he fled.

【Now, the boy you're looking at is literally a walking SSS-rank item! His name is Myeong Ilsang. Someone lucky enough to be chosen by the Star Stream and return from another world. You've all imagined it at least once, right? Suddenly getting summoned to another dimension, gaining powerful strength, spending hot nights with a cute elf girlfriend, saving the world and being praised as a hero! That's right. This goddamn bastard is the 'Disaster' you'll be hunting today!】

Dokgak pointed at Myeong Ilsang on the screen.

【But how do you catch an SSS-rank? Don't worry. His power is sealed. He's strong, but if all of you beat him together, it's basically an open treasure vault.】

"What a creepy bastard."

Han Sooyoung glared at Dokgak after hearing that. I frowned at his endless monologue and muttered,

"This speech is way too fucking long."

No three-line ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠summary? I'm about to die of boredom. Can't even cause a scene before he hands out the sub-scenario.

"Finally over, you damn dokkaebi bastard."

I cursed at the sub-scenario message that finally appeared. Hearing my voice, Yoo Sangah turned toward me and said,

"What do we do now? At this rate, people will die at the Disaster's hands..."

"Don't worry about that."

"Don't worry?! Did you even see the scenario?!"

"Ah, enough, enough. Just close the window for now."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Bang!

I slammed the My Room window shut. Han Sooyoung was shouting something from inside, but I ignored her.

"I'll activate Hiraishin no Jutsu."

Snap!

The moment I activated the skill, my vision twisted and space itself began to shift. Then Myeong Ilsang's back appeared right in front of me.

Crack!

"Gyaaaah!!"

I immediately kicked him hard behind the knee. Myeong Ilsang crumpled to the ground in an undignified heap.

"So, did you run well?"

Crack!

"Guh...!"

I stomped down on the back of the fallen Myeong Ilsang and said,

"Now I just need to beat him up just enough, kill him, and strip the items off him."