Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Terror at the Auction Hall
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—......Yes?
—Mr. Lee Seo-jun, you might not know since you're young, but that sword is......
Baek Eun-seong was telling Lee Seo-jun about Jin Cheon-woo.
Lee Seo-jun wore an expression of bewilderment at the sudden interest from a stranger.
He was listening quietly now, but Lee Seo-jun must have sensed something suspicious about Baek Eun-seong, who was hiding his identity.
I scanned the surroundings, using Identify on each person one by one.
Upon closer inspection, besides Baek Eun-seong, other key figures came into view.
Jaun's members: Natasha, Ska, Emily, Jin, Teresa, Heather......
Dawn's Blade members: Yoo Ah-yeon, Jeong Jae-won, Clay, Choi Jeong-won......
And even a few from the Association: Kim Deok-cheol and Jeong Hyeon-su. They had probably followed secretly to protect Lee Seo-jun.
The fact that so many people had gathered was proof that the time was drawing near.
I checked the time.
9:59 PM.
The terror attack was scheduled for 10:00, so it would start any moment now.
Flash!
"Huh?"
"What?!"
All the lights in the building went out, filling the space with thick darkness.
People fell into chaos at the sudden situation.
Thanks to my Night Vision trait, I could still see somewhat in the dark.
I quickly checked the position where Jaun's members had been. But they had already vanished somewhere.
That was when it happened.
A powerful surge of mana rippled from somewhere. At the same time, a deafening explosion rocked the hotel wall.
Kwaaaang!
"Kyaaack!"
"What is it?!"
The reception hall turned into pandemonium in an instant. People, gripped by panic, started running toward the entrance.
I turned my gaze back to Lee Seo-jun.
Baek Eun-seong, who had been talking to him, had disappeared somewhere, just like the other Jaun members.
Left alone, Lee Seo-jun seemed to grasp the situation somewhat as he drew his auxiliary sword from his waist and scanned his surroundings warily.
Kwaaaang!
Another explosion erupted.
Whoosh. Fierce flames spread through the reception hall.
"Everyone! Evacuate this way!"
The security personnel shouted loudly from the entrance.
Following their guidance, people quickly exited the reception hall.
"Find the culprit right now!"
"Who is it?! Who cast this magic?"
The remaining guards rushed toward the direction of the explosion, trying to locate the source of the terror.
However, these magical explosions were caused by the magic weapons Jaun used for terrorism, which were installation-type. Even if they found the blast origin, it wouldn't reveal Jaun's position.
At that moment, twenty people appeared around the glass case displaying the hoksword.
They were A-Rank elite mages hired to guard the broken hoksword.
And as in the original story, a woman appeared before them.
Though her appearance was altered, I immediately knew her identity from the massive scythe in her hand.
Natasha.
She was a Jaun member.
"Who the hell are you? Are you the one behind this terror?"
One of the security personnel stepped forward and demanded.
But Natasha didn't answer. She simply swung the scythe in her hand widely.
Slash!
In an instant, the bodies of two security mages were sliced clean apart.
Unpleasant blood soaked the floor.
It was an absurdly pathetic end for A-Rank mages.
"W-What?!"
"It didn't even register visually?"
The remaining security mages panicked briefly before charging at Natasha.
But with such a clear gap in power, their attacks would never reach her.
"Kuuaaak!"
In the end, all the security personnel met gruesome deaths under Natasha's attacks.
"Hmph."
Even after the slaughter, Natasha's expression remained unchanged.
With calm movements, she took a rectangular mechanical device from her bosom and attached it to the glass case.
Judging by its external buffs, it was a relic that disabled magical device functions. Once attached, cracks began spiderwebbing across the glass case with a creaking sound.
As the glass weakened, Natasha gathered mana in her fist and smashed it.
Crash!
Natasha grabbed the broken black sword, then pressed a hand to her ear and spoke alone.
"I've secured the item."
Just as she was about to leave, a circular magic circle began forming beneath Natasha's feet.
Soon, chains of light shot out from it, binding her arms and legs.
"What?!"
It was a restraint-type support spell.
As far as I knew, only one mage used this chain-form restraint spell.
Choi Jeong-yong from Dawn's Blade.
"Urk!"
As Natasha's body was bound, ice spikes infused with powerful mana flew toward her from somewhere.
But magic shot from another direction, shielding Natasha from the ice spikes.
Natasha gathered her bodily mana. She forcibly twisted her body and severed the chains with her scythe.
"Hoo!"
Now free, Natasha immediately prepared to flee.
At that moment, a man charged at her with tremendous speed, swinging his sword.
Whoosh!
The man who swung the sword was Jeong Jae-won from Dawn's Blade.
"Where do you think you're going!"
"Get lost!"
Natasha gathered mana and kicked at Jeong Jae-won before swiftly turning and fleeing.
Jeong Jae-won gritted his teeth in pain for a moment before pursuing her.
Another explosion echoed from somewhere. A battle between Jaun and Dawn's Blade was breaking out elsewhere.
I watched the scene from a slight distance.
The brutal clash between S-Rank monsters that received significant focus in the original.
Seeing it with my own eyes made my heart race.
......Hoo.
If I got involved in that fight, I'd surely die without doing a thing.
But now I had a newly acquired power.
If I used it, I could at least tie down one of Jaun's members for a short while.
However, not here.
If I used magic in this open space, Jaun might spot me. To intervene in this situation, I needed to move to a safer spot.
I kicked off the floor and headed outside. I already had a rough plan in mind.
Amid the chaotic and horrific reception hall, Lee Seo-jun was helping people evacuate.
He knew what this situation was.
It was the work of the terrorist group Jaun.
And they were doing it to steal an item belonging to their former leader, Jin Cheon-woo.
"Run this way!"
As he was helping with the evacuation, a powerful explosion erupted right in front of Lee Seo-jun.
"Uwaaak!"
In an instant, countless people were caught in the blast and lost their lives.
Lee Seo-jun trembled at the horrific sight.
At that moment, a man holding a massive spear appeared before Lee Seo-jun.
His face was splattered with blood from recent slaughter.
"It's dangerous here, so don't go wild."
Lee Seo-jun paused and looked at the man. It was the same man who had just been telling him about Jin Cheon-woo.
......Jaun?
"Yeah, that's right. You know your stuff."
Surprisingly, the opponent admitted it easily. Lee Seo-jun gathered mana in his sword and glared at the man.
"No need to be so guarded. I'm not planning to attack you. For now, let's get along nicely."
At the man's unexpectedly casual words, Lee Seo-jun asked.
"Why are you showing me kindness?"
This had been bothering Lee Seo-jun for a while.
Just now, and even during the previous mercenary experience.
The terrorist group Jaun, known for killing people like insects, was subtly friendly toward him.
At Lee Seo-jun's question, Baek Eun-seong pondered for a moment before speaking.
"Kindness...... Is that how you see it, Lee Seo-jun?"
Baek Eun-seong grinned.
"Well, not wrong. For the time being, anyway."
"For the time being?"
At Lee Seo-jun's question, Baek Eun-seong shrugged.
"Honestly, we don't know either. No one knows the future, right?"
"What does that mean?"
"So, depending on how things go for us moving forward, our attitude might change. We're being nice to you right now, but that could change anytime if the situation shifts. So, if you don't want to become our enemy, it's best not to interfere."
As he monologued, Baek Eun-seong realized his slip and opened his mouth.
"Ah, did I say too much? Bert's gonna chew me out for this."
Baek Eun-seong scratched his head.
"Anyway, see you later. I'm kinda busy right now."
With those words, Baek Eun-seong vanished somewhere again. Lee Seo-jun watched his retreating figure, gritted his teeth, and ran forward.
As mages from the auction and Association reinforcements began moving, the chaos gradually subsided.
Of course, Jaun's goal wasn't terror but stealing the hoksword and escaping, so that prevented greater casualties.
Still, the numerous explosives Jaun had planted continued to cause deaths.
At the hotel entrance, where such dangers kept occurring, Choi Seo-yoon was helping civilian evacuations.
"Evacuate this way!"
Explosions kept happening.
It was baffling how they had planted so many bombs without the organizers noticing.
Kwang!
Then, a powerful explosion went off near Choi Seo-yoon.
The shockwave shook a massive architectural piece above her head, sending it plummeting straight toward her.
But Choi Seo-yoon didn't notice it.
At that instant.
Kwaaaang!
A pure white flash shot from somewhere, shattering the falling structure into pieces above her.
Choi Seo-yoon turned her startled eyes toward the direction of the magic that had just saved her.
There stood a man with brown hair, glasses, and a beard.
Though it was a face she'd never seen, it felt strangely familiar.
A body type she felt like she'd seen somewhere before.
Then the man approached her and shouted loudly.
"Are you insane? Why aren't you running and standing around here?!"
His shouting voice was so thick it seemed deliberately altered.
But in the sudden chaos, she had no chance to sense anything odd.
"Ah, there are still people inside who haven't come out......
"Why are you worrying about them? Are you the security here?!"
"Ah, no, but......
"You need to look after your own life. Who's helping who?"
Suddenly being scolded by a complete stranger. The man seemed quite angry, continuing his loud nagging.
The already chaotic situation grew even more confusing.
It was the first time she'd been scolded like this by someone who wasn't her father.
Then another explosion went off nearby.
Building debris flying faster than she could react.
The debris hurtled into Choi Seo-yoon's field of vision.
In that moment, the brown-haired man drew close to her, deploying a translucent blue barrier to block the debris.
Bang!
Seeing the debris shatter against the shield, Choi Seo-yoon's heart skipped a beat.
If that person hadn't blocked the debris just now, she would've been in big trouble.
But just now.
She felt an inexplicable sense of incongruity.
She'd definitely been through a similar situation before.
As she tried to pinpoint the source of that incongruity, the man's words snapped her out of it.
"You okay?"
"Ah, yes. I-I'm fine. Thank you."
Choi Seo-yoon bowed her head politely.
"If you're thankful, then leave this place. Don't step up with pointless heroism."
"But there are still people inside......
"Leave that to the security staff."
The man lightly pushed Choi Seo-yoon toward somewhere. She stumbled back a few steps, then nodded.
......Yes!
With that, Choi Seo-yoon turned and ran for a while. After about 30 seconds of sprinting to a safe distance, she stopped and looked back.
The man from moments ago had already vanished somewhere.
Then, it hit her—the source of the incongruity she'd felt earlier.
His speech patterns, build, and gaze.
Even the way he saved her in the crisis.
It resembled Kim Sun-woo quite a bit.
"Whew. That was close."
After sending Choi Seo-yoon off, I patted my chest.
I almost caused a disaster. If I'd been even a little later, Choi Seo-yoon would've been seriously hurt.
Why was she taking care of others instead of herself? Seriously.
Kwaaang—!
An explosion rang out from somewhere again. Unlike the previous ones, this was clearly caused by someone casting magic.
Turning my gaze, I saw four fleeing Jaun members.
I had a good idea who they were.
Ska, Teresa, Yi Cheong, Natasha.
And Association and Dawn's Blade members were chasing after them.
Finally, Lee Seo-jun appeared late. With resolute eyes, he stared at the backs of those running ahead and gave chase.
It matched the original story's flow perfectly.
I couldn't afford to stand around idly.
For my plan, I had to move quickly.
The Jaun group, having retrieved the broken hoksword, was fleeing from their pursuers.
"Tch! They're more persistent than expected?"
Ska glanced back and said.