Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Avenger (1)
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Park Ha-yeon opened her eyes.
She looked around and found herself inside some warehouse.
Girls in school uniforms were touching a stone statue.
Her last memory was encountering a ghost in the bathroom.
She tilted her head at the sudden change in location.
A translucent window appeared in front of Park Ha-yeon.
------------[Game?]----------------
[You are a bystander.
Follow Hwang Ha-rin's orders to kill Jang Seo-yoon and cover it up.]
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Park Ha-yeon had arrived here right at the moment when Hwang Ha-rin had just fully petrified Jang Seo-yoon.
She had no idea that the stone statue the group was fiddling with had once been a person.
Hwang Ha-rin's best friend, Lee Yeon-hwa, entered the warehouse carrying a massive sledgehammer.
“Girls, this should be enough, right?”
“Yeah! You found it quick. Nice one, Yeon-hwa.”
Lee Yeon-hwa's skill was 'Superhuman Strength.'
It allowed her to pump up her strength stats for a certain period.
She raised the hammer high above her head and brought it smashing down.
Boom.
The statue split in half.
Hwang Ha-rin's group felt a strange thrill from doing something they knew they shouldn't.
They also felt the terror of what would happen if they got caught, but being together turned it into excitement.
Park Ha-yeon had figured out from the translucent window that she'd entered a dungeon, but she had no clue what to do.
Puzzle-type dungeons were a staple in movies, but having grown up poor in a rural backwater, she hadn't even been exposed to stuff like that.
So she didn't realize the people in front of her were monsters.
Boom. Boom.
Before long, the stone statue was completely shattered and ground into fine powder.
“Haa. Haa. This should do it, right? Should we bury it in some mountain?”
“How about flushing it down the toilet? Perfect for a trash bitch who steals other girls' guys.”
“Mi-hee, you get it.”
They stuffed the stone dust into sacks as they talked.
Park Ha-yeon felt a sense of wrongness from their words.
'Trash bitch? What are they doing smashing that statue? Cursing it or something?'
Unable to hold back her curiosity, she asked.
“What are you all talking about? What's the deal with this statue?”
“You were here with us. What are you on about? You're not trying to back out, are you?”
“Huh? Back out?”
“Jang Seo-yoon. Turned her to stone with my 'Petrification' skill and smashed her. She's dead now. Can't turn her back.”
Park Ha-yeon was shocked.
The thing they'd just smashed with the hammer wasn't a statue—it was a petrified person.
The thought that she might have been able to save her if she'd spoken up in that moment filled her head.
Shing.
Park Ha-yeon drew her sword.
She felt grateful to Shin Noda.
Thanks to him, she had a sword now.
Dungeon or whatever, all Park Ha-yeon could think about was subduing the villains in front of her.
Hwang Ha-rin sneered at Park Ha-yeon drawing her sword.
“What do you think you're doing? You gonna come at me with that?”
She suddenly thrust her hand toward Hwang Ha-rin.
Zzzzap.
A golden bolt of lightning engulfed Hwang Ha-rin.
A surprise attack with no warning whatsoever.
Hwang Ha-rin convulsed as she was electrocuted.
It was full-power lightning squeezed from every ounce of mana in her body.
Park Ha-yeon had depleted all her mana, so she couldn't use 'Electrokinesis' for a while, but she judged it worth it to seal the 'Petrification' skill.
“Ha-rin!”
Lee Yeon-hwa stepped forward and shouted to the gang.
“I'll buy time. Take Ha-rin and go.”
The rest of the gang supported Hwang Ha-rin and fled the gym storage room.
Left behind were Park Ha-yeon and the girl with the sledgehammer.
Park Ha-yeon seized the initiative.
She closed the distance with a fierce onslaught.
Lee Yeon-hwa freaked out and tried to widen the gap.
With the long reach of the sledgehammer, giving up close range made it hard to attack.
“Eek!”
Lee Yeon-hwa could only barely defend as Park Ha-yeon kept pressing in.
But there was something Park Ha-yeon hadn't realized.
Lee Yeon-hwa's 'Superhuman Strength' skill.
It let her swing the massive sledgehammer like a wooden stick, if only temporarily.
An opening born from aggressive offense.
Lee Yeon-hwa didn't miss it and swung the hammer using her 'Superhuman Strength.'
The hammer came faster than expected.
Park Ha-yeon couldn't dodge and took a solid hit to her side.
“Ugh.”
Since Lee Yeon-hwa wasn't human but a dungeon monster, 'Guardian of the Species' activated.
Thanks to the damage reduction, Park Ha-yeon avoided a fatal wound.
Even so, the sledgehammer's power was immense.
She went flying and crashed into the corner of the warehouse.
“Ptoo.”
Park Ha-yeon spat blood—her stomach churning—and got back up.
Lee Yeon-hwa felt fear at the sight.
Getting hit dead-on by a sledgehammer and still standing? Not normal.
She thought,
'Maybe... higher rank than me!'
Just then, the warehouse door opened, and Hwang Ha-rin's gang started trickling back in.
This time, they each held tools like knuckles or knives.
With reinforcements arriving, Lee Yeon-hwa smirked triumphantly.
“Don't know what got into you all of a sudden, but you wanna end up like Jang Seo-yoon?”
“Guess getting a dick in you makes you stab us in the back.”
Park Ha-yeon's vision went dark.
The numbers were too overwhelming.
'Even if I give up on subduing them, I can't win.'
Park Ha-yeon had had multiple chances to kill Lee Yeon-hwa up to now.
But her belief in non-lethal force had kept her from striking those openings.
The price of that arrogance hit her hard.
Now it wasn't about subduing anymore—she was in a do-or-die situation herself.
They closed in from all sides, tightening the encirclement.
No one beats a gang-up.
Park Ha-yeon was cornered and could only focus on defense.
She dodged or blocked thrusts somehow, but couldn't fend off every minor slash, ending up with cuts all over her body.
“Haa. Haa.”
Park Ha-yeon glared at her enemies while breathing raggedly.
Her stamina was shot; even standing was a struggle now.
'Is this it? I wanted to become a hero and meet that person...'
The hero who had saved her and her sibling in a childhood accident.
Park Ha-yeon wanted to be like that.
Not the TV heroes everyone praised, but a real one who quietly saved people from their own corner of the world.
'At least I'll die doing the right thing. No regrets.'
As she prepared to give up, that's when it happened.
The gym storage room door opened.
Shin Noda and Ji So-yeon appeared.
***
The door swung open, and the acrid smell of blood mixed with musty mold assaulted my nose.
As I'd feared, Park Ha-yeon was fighting the thug gang.
She looked one step away from collapsing in a pinch.
I pointed my sword at them.
They were the thug gang that killed Jang Seo-yoon—each C-grade monsters, with boss Hwang Ha-rin at B-grade.
Honestly, without Hwang Ha-rin, they were nothing special.
Come to think of it, Hwang Ha-rin wasn't among the thug gang.
Had Park Ha-yeon already taken her out?
'As expected of the protagonist.'
Muttering admiration under my breath, I charged in like wildfire.
It was especially true for humanoids, but beast-types too—momentum was key in fights against human-like foes.
Even the strongest human can't bring out 50% of their power once fear kicks in.
The thugs encircling Park Ha-yeon recoiled from me and scattered.
Thanks to that, I reached her.
I pulled a potion from my pocket and handed it over.
“Heal up.”
The thugs grimaced and reformed their encirclement.
'Ha. Could just Throat Slash and wipe them out.'
A fight that 'Shadowless Phantom Martial Arts' would end easily.
I was going hand-to-hand the hard way to avoid revealing I was the 'Dark Knight.'
This was what, the fifth fight already?
Cumulative fatigue was weighing me down.
I was out of breath but hid it, acting calm.
Exhausted inside, but outside projecting 'You're nothing to me.'
Thanks to that, the thugs hesitated to rush in.
In the end, I made the first move.
Three forming the encirclement.
The brown-haired one on the far right with the sledgehammer.
Breathing ragged, focus shot.
I didn't miss the opening and lunged like lightning, slashing her throat.
Red blood sprayed.
“Yeon-hwa!”
The one called Yeon-hwa's head hit the floor.
Somewhere, I heard retching—probably Ji So-yeon.
I didn't stop.
The most vulnerable moment for the remaining two was now, shaken by losing a comrade.
The knife-wielding thug in the center.
I thrust at her throat with my sword.
“Gahk.”
But contrary to expectation, the sword wouldn't advance past her throat.
At the same time, excruciating pain shot through my wrist.
'Why...!'
A blue barrier around her throat.
A shield skill.
The half-transparent barrier blocked the blade.
Of course, I hadn't factored in the opponent's abilities.
Because I had Laura!
“Laura...”
I muttered quietly.
[......I don't know. An unknown force is interfering with my intervention. Ever since entering this dungeon, I've been able to do nothing.]
Laura's powerless response.
No help from Dispel in this dungeon, it seemed.
And blocking a Strength A-rank attack?
Even at C-grade, definitely an intel-dump type.
Strength and Agility F-grade, Intelligence A-grade could still total C-grade overall.
The problem wasn't the blocked attack.
The force behind it rebounded straight to my wrist.
My wrist half-buckled, and I dropped the sword.
From the lack of strength, it was cracked or broken.
“Damn.”
Staying calm, I went into my next move.
Can't give them time.
I swung my left fist at her.
Feint—real power was in the low kick.
The thug used her shield on the fist, eating the low kick clean.
“Kyaa.”
She lost balance and dropped to one knee.
I grabbed her head with both hands and kneed it down.
She dropped her knife and collapsed.
I wasn't unscathed either.
I'd used my already shaky right wrist.
“Urk.”
Stinging pain shot through my whole body.
Then, massive impact to my face.
Another thug had put their weight into a punch.
No time to dodge the blindside hit; I ate it full to the face.
I turned my head to see a knuckled fist flying at me.
Follow-up.
Once hits started landing, my brain rattled—no normal thinking.
Mind blank, vision narrowing.
“Keuk.”
Thud. Thud.
They hammered me so hard I thought my face might cave in.
'Fucking hurts. Knuckles are cheating.'
Without outside help, I'd keep eating hits.
Luckily, I had backup.
“Haaap.”
The thug's punches stopped.
Park Ha-yeon had smashed the thug's head with the flat of her blade.
I pulled my dazed mind together and said,
“K-Kill. Quick.”
“Kill? Even villains have the right to a fair trial. What you did earlier was emergency evacuation, so fine, but.”
I snapped.
Saying that after seeing my battered face?
'Park Ha-yeon!'
Who'd I come here for?
Still, I kept cool.
“These aren't people. Monsters.”
I staggered to the downed thug and stabbed her back.
She convulsed briefly before dying.
As I bent to pull out the Orb of Growth from the corpse to show—
The gym storage door opened.
Hwang Ha-rin entered, eyes gleaming coldly.
Park Ha-yeon thrust her hand out instantly, but it started graying from the fingertips.
“Park Ha-yeon!”
Left hand on sword, I sprang up like a spring and lunged at Hwang Ha-rin.
A one-shot thrust.
Unclear if I'd reach.
The sword tip extending forward was petrifying bit by bit.
I might turn to stone before reaching her.
In that split-second, I hesitated.
'Use Shadowless Phantom Martial Arts?'
Using the skill raised the risk of my identity leaking long-term.
Park Ha-yeon would hero someday too, and might cross paths with 'Dark Knight' eventually.