The Collapse of the Shadow
The collapse began with a man who pulled a gun from a flowerpot. Bang! The bullet flew straight toward Yooshin’s face, but as if he had anticipated it, Yooshin tilted his head slightly to dodge. "My, what a shame. That almost could’ve been a lucky shot." Yooshin said, sneering.
At that moment, the man who had pulled a dagger from under the keyboard lunged at Yooshin. His movements were incredibly light and agile, almost like a ninja. Before he knew it, the man was close, slashing his gleaming blade toward Yooshin’s throat. But Yooshin leaned his upper body back, and the dagger missed its mark, slicing through empty air.
"You dance quite well." At Yooshin’s mockery, the man holding the dagger distorted his face. To belittle the dagger skills he had spent over ten years mastering as a 'dance'? 'I'll kill you!' His eyes flashed menacingly, and blue energy began to swirl around the dagger. However, the man could no longer swing his blade. Crunch! The moment Yooshin’s fist moved, the man’s head was shattered.
"Yamamoto!" Someone screamed as if their throat were tearing. The voice was filled with grief. Were they close? But Yooshin felt nothing. If they valued their lives, they shouldn't have done something like this. They should have known that one day, they would suffer the same fate.
Just then, a female employee threw a claymore toward Yooshin. Boom! The explosive scattered in mid-air. With a deafening explosion that felt like it would burst his eardrums, the office shook. Cement dust from the blast rose in thick clouds.
"Is he dead?" someone muttered.
"No? If he died from something like this, he wouldn't be Cheon Yooshin." Through the smoke, Yooshin was slowly revealing himself. Someone groaned. It was a claymore that had gone off at point-blank range. Yet, there wasn't a single scratch on Cheon Yooshin’s entire body. Hunters capable of such feats were extremely rare.
"I should make this more thrilling. You are travel agency employees, after all, aren't you?" At Yooshin’s mocking words, a man who had pulled a bow from a coffee vending machine quickly drew an arrow. Whoosh! The arrow sliced through the air, flying toward Yooshin’s heart. Yooshin simply grabbed a chair sitting next to him. The arrow couldn't reach him and embedded itself in the chair, and in that split second, Yooshin lunged at the man who had fired the bow.
Thud! Yooshin’s fist shattered his heart in one blow. His body lost its strength and collapsed to the floor. The phrase 'one strike, one kill' suited Yooshin perfectly right now. Every time he moved, people were dying without fail. Before long, everyone on the second floor had become a corpse.
Yooshin scanned the gruesome scene he had created with indifferent eyes. If he did this for every floor up to the tenth, it would just take too long. It wasn't like he was clearing a martial arts dojo. Furthermore, he could feel the Magi moving busily on each floor. They were likely waiting for him to come up, preparing their attack formations. What should he do? Suddenly, it felt bothersome. If he had to fight like this on every floor instead of them coming at him all at once, it would easily take several hours.
His deliberation was short. Yooshin took a step. Instead of going up to the third floor, Yooshin went down to the first floor and looked up at the massive, towering building. The headquarters of the assassins who had dared to touch him. A den of those who had fattened themselves by taking countless lives until now.
'I'll pay you back exactly as I was treated.' Cheon Yooshin’s eyes shone coldly. This would turn Japan upside down. The moment it was revealed that he was alive, someone might point to him as a suspect. Yooshin actually wanted that. They would learn exactly what happens when they touch him.
Yooshin’s hand aimed at the building. In an instant, black energy began to swirl around his hand. It was the manifestation of Magi. The Magi flew toward the building. Like a living creature, it seeped into every corner of the structure. The building looked incredibly peaceful, at least on the outside. But Yooshin knew. The entire building, now wrapped in his Magi, had turned into a giant time bomb.
Yooshin began to count slowly. Five seconds. Inside the building, the office workers—no, the assassins—who knew nothing would be waiting for him. Armed with weapons. The remaining time was four seconds. In four seconds, this building would explode. If he stopped now, it could be reversed. But Yooshin did not cut off the supply of Magi. Finally, as the last remaining second passed.
KRAAAAAA-BOOM! An explosion that seemed to split the heavens rang out. The densely packed windows shattered into pieces, and the thick concrete walls crumbled, causing the building to collapse straight down. Black smoke soared into the sky in the aftermath of the explosion. The ground near the building shook from the impact. Piercing screams and car alarms filled the streets. Yooshin stood there, watching the building that had collapsed into a heap. No emotion surfaced on his face. Even though hundreds of lives inside the building had vanished into thin air. Yooshin, who had been watching the ruined building, turned his back.
The explosion that occurred in the heart of the city was enough to draw public attention. The collapse of a building due to a mysterious explosion. It wasn't just a few floors; a 10-story building collapsing completely was not something easily seen. People thought the building explosion was just a simple accident. However, it brought shock to some people. They knew. The true identity of the building that had collapsed in the explosion.
Prime Minister Kenji’s face turned bright red. Spit flew from his mouth. "What on earth happened? That perfectly fine building, of all things, explodes. It’s not just any building!"
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nakamura spoke up. "We are currently reporting it as an explosion of unknown origin. We secretly searched for traces of magic power to see if it was the work of a hunter, but we found nothing."
Prime Minister Kenji buried himself deep in his chair. Ninja Assassin. The government’s shadow. When one becomes Prime Minister, the first thing they receive is a pledge of loyalty from their leader. Just being able to use them like limbs is an immense power. Whether it's killing political rivals you don't like, or performing roles that can't be done in the light, they carry them out in the shadows. Of course, there is a price. Turning a blind eye to the illegal things they do—gaining such limbs for just that was clearly a huge benefit. But now, the limbs had been severed. By an absurd bombing incident.
Deep fatigue washed over his voice. "Then you don't have any suspects? Even so, is it even plausible that a perfectly fine building would collapse, not just a few floors, but the whole thing?"
Nakamura hesitated for a moment. "There is something, isn't there? What on earth is it?"
Prime Minister Kenji stood up from his chair. "A suspicious individual was captured on CCTV."
Prime Minister Kenji’s eyes twinkled. "Who is it?"
When Nakamura hesitated again, Prime Minister Kenji frowned. "Ugh! What are you doing not speaking quickly?!"
"...It is Hunter Cheon Yooshin of South Korea."
Silence descended upon the room. What on earth was this?
"That, are you talking about the hunter who recently died in the plane bombing incident?"
"That is correct."
"How could that guy...?"
"That is why it is questionable. He clearly died in the bombing incident on his private jet, but his appearance is too similar to Hunter Cheon Yooshin."
Prime Minister Kenji said decisively. "Nonsense! How can a dead man return?"
Prime Minister Kenji, who had flopped back into his chair, paused. Thinking about it, there was more than one suspicious circumstance. The one who bombed the private jet Cheon Yooshin was riding in was Ninja Assassin. And not long after, the building they were disguised in was bombed?
"This is suspicious." Prime Minister Kenji frowned. But no matter how much he thought about it, it was impossible. No matter how strong a hunter is, their foundation is still human. A human made of blood and flesh survives a bombing incident that happened thousands of feet in the air?
Prime Minister Kenji shook his head. "No way." This is a coincidence. Of all things. That was when he was thinking that. An emergency breaking news report was coming out on the TV in the Prime Minister's office.
"...He was alive?" Prime Minister Kenji’s eyes began to tremble.
***
Uncleared D-class gate raid complete. Seiko had finished it cleanly again today. Seiko checked his appearance in the mirror before heading to the escape gate. Even fixing his outfit again. And the moment he stepped out of the gate, the cheers surrounding him pierced the sky. The area around the gate was filled with hundreds of people. They were Seiko’s fans.
"Seiko! Seiko!" People cheering, calling his name repeatedly. Behind them, banners were fluttering in the wind. [Welcome our hero, Seiko!] [Japan is protected by you! You are the best hunter!]
Seiko waved his hand like a superstar, responding to their cheers. He kept smiling at the people flocking to him. At that moment, an old woman asked for a handshake. As if it were an honor. Seiko also held the old woman’s hand and waved softly. As soon as he boarded, the vehicle began to move smoothly. The smiling face from just a moment ago was nowhere to be found. Seiko distorted his face.
"Ugh, filthy!" He scrubbed the hand he had just shaken with a prepared wet wipe. Then, Seiko, who had thrown the wet wipe on the floor, looked at the passenger seat. There was no one in the passenger seat. The only one driving was the road manager. He wasn't there.
"Where is Tamagochi?" the road manager asked, keeping his eyes on the road.
"Well, he hasn't been answering his phone since yesterday."
"Is he off drinking somewhere again?" Annoyance seeped into his voice. He was working hard, after all. As Seiko was pouting his lips like that, his cell phone rang loudly. He checked the screen, frowning. "Who is this?"
An unregistered number. Seiko usually ignored them lightly, but this time, he felt like he shouldn't. His finger hesitated for a moment before pressing the call button. A man’s thick voice came from the other side of the phone.
-Is this Mr. Seiko?
"That's right, but who is this?"
-Hello. I am Detective Saito from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division.
A detective? Why me? Seiko’s face stiffened. He hadn't committed any crimes. No, he had. But that was a perfect secret. So, there was no way a mere detective would know that.
"...A detective? Why are you...?"
-You've been blackmailed recently, haven't you?
At Detective Saito’s words, Seiko’s heart felt like it had dropped to the floor. How did he know that?
-We have arrested the blackmailer. During the investigation, Hunter Seiko’s name came up. Would you mind coming to the police station for a moment?
Seiko’s mind became complicated. "Did you happen to acquire the video as well?"
-Yes.
At the emotionless answer, Seiko closed his eyes tightly. Haa... The problem wasn't that the blackmailer was caught. It was that the video had fallen into the hands of the police. If things went wrong, what happened in Taiwan could be revealed to the whole world. The secrets that should have been buried forever were constantly popping up, being a nuisance.