Kim Siwoo (2)
Kim Siwoo (2)
Before me, four Cypher members lay sprawled on the floor in a wretched state.
And the last remaining one, a large man, was panting heavily and kneeling right in front of me.
I coldly looked down at the bastard collapsed on the floor and asked.
"Why the hell are you doing this?"
At my question, the large man let out a nasty laugh even as blood trickled from his mouth.
"Cough... Are we having a pathetic little sermon now?"
He retorted mockingly, then let out a deep sigh and raised his head to gaze up at the sky.
Above the wreckage of the collapsed building, a bird was leisurely passing by, flapping its wings against the blue sky.
Taking in that peaceful scene, the man murmured softly.
"We wanted to obtain freedom."
I furrowed my brow.
"Freedom...?"
"Yeah... Because we were sick and tired of living in hiding."
At his words, I scoffed as if dumbfounded.
"That freedom was taken away as the price for the actions you bastards committed."
To make others shed bloody tears and then come around saying you don't want to live in hiding and prattle on about freedom—it was selfish beyond words.
But despite my scathing remark, the large man showed no sign of remorse whatsoever, just shrugging his shoulders and laughing.
"Keukeuk... There are plenty of bastards worse than us who live peacefully among society. When we see them, we feel so wronged we can't even sleep."
Deep resentment and greed swirled in his murky eyes.
"Anyway, we were watching for an opportunity. That's when our branch leader took notice of SW's equipment, and that equipment became a source of power for us. Though why it doesn't work on you still remains a question..."
At those words spat out by the large man, I received a shock as if I had been suddenly struck in the head with a hammer.
His voice, which had been aimed at me like a piercing stab, felt as if it was fading into the distance.
My pupils shook without pause.
'This is all because of me...?'
The equipment I had made ended up in their hands and caused this horrific disaster.
What I had casually put up on the auction house to earn money had suddenly transformed into a murderous weapon that took people's lives.
An unexpected guilt washed over me like a tidal wave, choking my breath.
It was that very moment while I stood momentarily dazed from the shock.
The large man, spotting my opening and thinking this was his last chance, kicked off the floor and lunged at me like a beast.
I mercilessly grabbed the head of the man charging into my chest with my right hand.
Then, using a rotation of my waist, I slammed him straight down onto the concrete floor.
Kwaaang!
His scream echoed out.
"Kuaaak!"
The large man let out a terrible scream before his eyes rolled back and he fainted right there.
I began going through the bastards collapsed on the floor, retrieving the equipment they were wearing one by one.
I didn't want to see the items I had made in the hands of such trash for even a single second longer.
While I was shoving the equipment into my inventory, a series of loud explosions, as if a building was collapsing, rang out from somewhere not too far away.
One piece of information they had mentioned earlier came to mind.
That Hong Chae-yeon and Cha Seo-yun were confronting and fighting someone called Cypher's branch leader.
It seemed like Hong Chae-yeon and Cha Seo-yun were over there.
I hesitated and clenched my fist.
My head became tangled in complexity.
'Still, they're two rankers representing Korea. Won't they win?'
If I stepped in any further than this, I might be forced to give up the identity I had painstakingly hidden all this time.
My plan to quietly leech off and live comfortably would be completely thrown off course.
'But what if, really...'
What if the two of them lose to that so-called branch leader and die?
And what if they lose their lives not to just any weapon, but to the equipment I made?
'Would I be able to live on with a sound mind?'
The face of Hong Chae-yeon, who had smiled brightly after I treated her younger sister's burns, and the image of Cha Seo-yun, who had regained her eyesight after ten years and endlessly shed tears under the sunset light, flickered vividly before my eyes.
My feet simply wouldn't move.
"Haa..."
I clenched my fist tightly.
Thinking I should at least see how the situation was unfolding from a distance, I moved my heavy steps toward the direction the sound was coming from.
The further I ran cutting through the city center, the more gruesome scenery filled my vision.
Buildings cut in half, cars on fire, and even people collapsed and bleeding, crying out in pain.
It was a scene as if a depiction of hell had been moved and placed there.
Every time I saw that horrific sight, my chest felt clogged up as if crushed by a massive boulder.
The self-reproach that this was all because of me kept rising up to my throat.
I forcibly shook my head fiercely.
'No... Honestly, thinking this is my fault is way too much of a stretch...'
I simply made items and sold them.
How could I have known that those crazy bastards would buy my equipment and use it to kill people and commit terrorism?
In my head, I kept rationalizing it like that, telling myself over and over that it wasn't my fault.
But contrary to my rational judgment, that hopelessly suffocating and frustrating feeling didn't disappear even a little.
After passing through the ruined streets like that and finally arriving at the epicenter of the explosion sounds, what entered my eyes was the sight of two people struggling miserably.
Hong Chae-yeon was out of breath and exhausted, and Cha Seo-yun had been driven to the edge of a cliff before the overwhelming force of the man called the branch leader.
The moment I witnessed their precarious situation, the cowardly thought of making excuses and running away vanished from my heart.
I made a firm resolution right then and there.
'This is wrong...'
Living well and prospering had indeed been my only goal in life.
But I didn't have the slightest desire to live well while standing by and watching people who had nothing to do with this and people I know get hurt and die.
'I have to set this right.'
The moment I steeled my heart and made my decision, my constantly wavering gaze coldly settled, and the suffocating pressure that had been weighing on me vanished in an instant.
Just then, the branch leader, who had gone berserk with rage, was about to mercilessly slam his giant axe down upon Cha Seo-yun.
Having even lost the weapon she was using to defend, she seemed to close her eyes in resignation.
I fiercely kicked off the floor and shot out like a streak of light.
In the precarious instant just before the giant axe blade could touch Cha Seo-yun's head.
I stood blocking her front and, toward that horrific axe falling with its ignorant destructive power, I calmly reached out my bare hand.
The moment my palm met the cold blade of the axe.
Ting!
['Primeval Maker' activated]
[You do not take damage from items you have crafted.]
Along with the system's indifferent notification, all the impact that had been surging toward me vanished as if it were a lie.
When his attack was blocked by a bare hand, the branch leader looked at me with bloodshot, horrified eyes.
I tightly grasped the branch leader's giant axe with one hand and let out a light sigh.
"Phew... I'm not too late."
The giant axe blade blocked by my palm.
Facing that absurd sight right before his eyes, the branch leader spoke.
"What the hell are you?"
He shouted, unable to hide his bewilderment.
But I didn't even feel it was worth answering that bastard's question.
Instead, I slid my hands under the back and knees of Cha Seo-yun, who had frozen up behind me, and lightly lifted her up.
"Uh, uh...!"
In the instant Cha Seo-yun flusteredly let out a small gasp of surprise, I strongly kicked off the ground and leaped.
My body cut through the wind and instantly soared to where Hong Chae-yeon was.
I landed lightly on the floor and carefully set Cha Seo-yun down.
At my sudden appearance and preposterous speed, both pairs of eyes widened.
"Si-woo-ya?!"
"Si-woo-nim!?"
Hong Chae-yeon and Cha Seo-yun simultaneously called out my name in shock.
Receiving the gazes of the two staring intently at me, I scratched the back of my head and smiled sheepishly.
"Ah... Hello?"
At my awkward greeting, Hong Chae-yeon snapped to her senses and flushed red as she burst out in anger.
"What do you mean, hello! Why did you come to a place like this! Don't you know how dangerous it is right now?!"
Her voice was filled with worry for me.
However, the angry expression on Hong Chae-yeon's face soon began to subtly distort.
She had realized that something just didn't add up no matter how she thought about it.
Blocking that ignorant axe attack of the branch leader, who had been running wild with bloodshot eyes, so easily with a bare hand.
And even the speed of leaping here in the blink of an eye while holding Cha Seo-yun.
It was a movement that an ordinary person or a clumsy hunter couldn't even hope to mimic.
Hong Chae-yeon's amber eyes shook uncontrollably with confusion.
Seeing her with a dazed expression, not knowing how to comprehend the situation before her eyes, I smiled softly.
"First, let me deal with that bastard, then I'll explain everything."
At my words, Hong Chae-yeon quickly came to her senses and cried out urgently.
"I-I'll help too! That bastard is no easy opponent!"
She tried to kindle flames in her hands again, but I firmly shook my head.
"No, I have to do it alone. Because this is my problem."
I added in a calm voice, as if to reassure her.
"Just wait a little. It won't take long."
I turned around and slowly moved my steps toward the branch leader.
The branch leader, having lost his catch when it was right within his grasp, snorted in rage and glared at me.
"This bastard dares to block me?!"
His veins bulging, he raised his axe and furiously charged.
But his movements, as reflected in my eyes, were far too slow and clumsy.
I lightly twisted my upper body to let the axe blade slip past, then clenched my fist and thrust it without hesitation toward his breastplate.
Bam!
"Keok!"
Along with a heavy impact sound, bloody fluid spurted from the branch leader's mouth.
What he was wearing was armor I had made.
And even that was one of the incomplete practice pieces I had endlessly churned out day and night, claiming I was practicing my crafting.
Because of that, even with my eyes closed, I could clearly see through where that armor was shoddy and which parts were poorly finished.
Thanks to the unique skill called 'Primeval Maker,' the bastard's attacks couldn't deal any form of damage to me.
All I did was precisely target and strike only the armor's weak points whenever the bastard thrashed around.
The clumsy seam on the gloves.
The center of the backplate that was spread unusually thin due to a failure in strength adjustment.
And even the flank where the most fatal defect lay.
Peok! Kwajik!
Every time I thrust my fist, the mithril armor, which had appeared so solid, crumpled with a shriek.
As attacks akin to a one-sided beating poured down, the branch leader, unable to bear it any longer, threw his axe to the floor and screamed in a voice consumed by malice.
"Why the hell are your attacks getting through?!"
At his desperate cry, I let out an empty laugh.
I pulled back my fist and very kindly and thoroughly explained it to him.
"See, the rivet on the flank part of that is hammered in completely wrong. On top of that, the heat treatment isn't even properly done, so it can't absorb impact correctly. The shoulder line finish is also a mess, so a gap opens up every time you move the joint significantly."
At the armor's structural defects flowing so smoothly from my mouth, the branch leader's eyes filled with horror.
They were far too specific and fatal weaknesses that only the person who directly designed and made that equipment could know.
"Ho- How do you know something like... No, don't tell me you're?!"
The branch leader's lips trembled.
Before he could finish his sentence, realizing my identity and completely overwhelmed by tremendous shock, I drew a full measure of golden aura into my right hand.
The dazzling energy bursting from my core enveloped my fist.
Without hesitation, I strongly drove my fist toward the flank, the weakest spot of the mithril armor the branch leader was wearing.
Kwaaang!
With a sound like a bomb exploding, starting from the flank part, the armor cracked like a spiderweb and shattered to pieces.
My fist, piercing through the armor, struck the branch leader squarely in the stomach.
"...!"
The branch leader's eyes rolled back white.
He couldn't even let out a scream. Foam spewed from his mouth as his body folded in half.
Unable to withstand the force loaded into my fist, he floated up into the air and soon was mercilessly slammed into the dirt floor.
Kudangtang!
The ground deeply caved in, dust rose up, and the branch leader, embedded right there, fainted without so much as a single twitch.
I brushed the dirt dust off with light taps and looked down indifferently at where the bastard had fallen.
And then, slowly turning my body, I looked back at the two people behind me.
"...Hiccup!"
From the middle of the quiet ruins, an incongruous sound rang out.
Hong Chae-yeon, who had been frozen in shock, had clearly witnessed the overwhelming force I had displayed with her own two eyes and, struck by too great a shock, had started hiccuping.
With both hands covering her mouth, she was staring at me with dazed eyes.
The tie constricting my neck and the black suit pressing down on my shoulders made my breath feel choked off.
I couldn't even remember how long it had been since I'd last worn a suit.
Beyond the firmly shut, large door, the murmuring sounds and the blatant presence of hundreds of reporters already camped out were directly transmitted.
It was because the combat footage of me unilaterally crushing the Cypher branch leader in the middle of downtown Seoul had spread uncontrollably across the internet and the news.
Just then, Hong Chae-yeon, who had been fidgeting restlessly on one side of the waiting room, approached me.
In her hands were several sheets of paper densely packed with writing.
"It's the script for the press conference..."
She said, handing me the papers in a voice that was dying away.
"First of all, the way you fought was captured too explicitly, so there's absolutely no way we can make the excuse that you were an ordinary person... So, we finished talking it over with the Association President to go with the story that you were a secret hunter affiliated with the Association, not SW, as much as possible. You just need to read this script and answer accordingly."
Continuing her explanation, Hong Chae-yeon deeply hung her head and bit her lip tightly.
"I'm sorry. I should have managed and sold them more thoroughly..."
Listening to her trembling voice, I quietly fell into thought.
Was this really Hong Chae-yeon's fault?
Rather, if there was any real fault, wouldn't it be with me, who blindly churned out and sold off equipment, blinded by immediate profit?
I looked down at Hong Chae-yeon, who didn't know what to do with herself from feeling sorry.
Then I reached out and lightly patted her stiff shoulder.
"Why are you sorry?"
I smiled with a sheek, naturally raising the corners of my mouth.
"It's alright. I'll go and come back."
With those words as a finish, I grabbed the door handle without hesitation and fiercely pushed it open.
No sooner had the door been opened than dozens and hundreds of camera flashes burst out from all sides, so much so that I couldn't open my eyes.
Beyond the dazzling light, the heat of the reporters, hoisting their microphones and cameras, struck me head-on.
I walked over and stood at the seat prepared at the center of the platform.
The script in my hand was filled with sentences written at length for only one purpose.
I slowly closed my eyes.
The images of people collapsed and bleeding in the middle of ruined Seoul and the Cypher members clad in my equipment came to mind.
With that, the emotions I had felt back then naturally came alive again.
'I won't live avoiding and running away anymore.'
I steeled my resolve as if making a vow to myself.
Having clearly seen what kind of repercussions my ability had caused in the world, it was now time to fully shoulder that weight and take responsibility.
With eyes brightening clearly, I stared straight ahead and crumpled the script I was holding tightly in one hand.
I indifferently tossed the crumpled ball of paper to one side of the platform and leaned close toward the microphone placed in front.
I felt the hundreds of lenses and gazes focus on my lips.
I took a single deep breath and opened my mouth with an unwavering voice.
"Yes. I am SW."
At the bombshell statement that fell from my lips, time in the hall seemed to stop.
For exactly 3 seconds, a perfect silence fell where not even a breath could be heard.
And in the next moment.
"Huh?! You said SW?!"
"Are you admitting right now that it's you?!"
"Please give us a detailed explanation!"
Three times louder and fiercer than just moments before, a barrage of questions began madly pouring toward the platform with an intensity that felt as if it would explode.