Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Meeting (2)
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Meanwhile, at that exact moment in Washington D.C., USA.
The door of the Black Tower opened.
Thousands of camera flashes erupted all at once, lighting up the surroundings.
From the center of that blinding light, a man strode out with majestic poise.
A cape emblazoned with the stars and stripes, a blue bodysuit that clung tightly to his frame. And a smile brimming with confidence.
The world’s number one, S-rank Hunter Demigod.
[67th Floor Cleared! Humanity’s Guardian Deity, Demigod!]
[New Record Shattered! Just How Far Do His Limits Go?!]
Broadcast helicopters circled overhead.
Reporters jostled desperately for the best vantage points.
Demigod soaked in every cheer and spotlight with his entire body.
He thrust one arm high into the air, struck his signature pose, and bellowed.
“Hou—!”
“Waaaaah!”
The crowd roared back in response.
Then came the onslaught of questions from the reporters.
“Demigod! How was this floor?!”
“What’s it like fighting as humanity’s representative?!”
Demigod flashed a satisfied smile at the reporters fawning over him.
“Easy, just like always!”
But that was when it happened.
From one corner, a young reporter fiddled with his in-ear piece and muttered under his breath.
“Huh? Breaking news? Just now… Double O broke through the 20th floor….”
Murmur, murmur.
A few nearby reporters began whispering at the words.
That faint whisper was drowned out by the crowd’s cheers, inaudible to most.
But Demigod was a superhuman among superhumans.
His monstrous hearing caught it without fail.
The smile vanished from his face in an instant.
His lips maintained their perfect grin, but his eyes weren’t smiling at all.
‘Damn….’
Deep down, he wanted to grab that clueless reporter, hurl him into the middle of the Pacific, and make him take swimming lessons.
But this was in front of the masses and countless cameras.
Demigod knew better than anyone the image he needed to project to the public.
Foolish. Easily excitable.
That was undoubtedly his true nature.
But people felt a sense of closeness to that side of him.
Demigod understood that perfectly.
And the public didn’t want their hero crossing any lines.
The version of himself shown to the world had to be just dumb enough, prone to excitement, but never resorting to outright violence.
A foolish yet dependable hero—like the reliable big brother next door.
No cameras around? He’d cut loose. But not here. He had to hold back.
He possessed that much common sense.
To pull everyone’s attention back to him, he raised one arm high once more and shouted.
“Hou—!”
With that, he kicked off the ground and shot into the sky.
He circled the Black Tower at breakneck speed, flaunting his prowess.
“Waaaaah!”
The crowd erupted in frenzy once again at the sudden spectacle.
But Demigod couldn’t feel the same rush as before.
‘That bastard finally made it to the 20th floor….’
All the tracking spells shattered. The blockade op a total failure.
How the hell was he supposed to track the guy down now?
Even if they found him—a guy now on par with A-rank national firepower—what then?
Demigod’s head throbbed.
‘Solo clear the 68th? No way that’s possible… Or the gate shutdown plan? But we still don’t even know how to close gates!’
He needed something. Anything.
A way to redirect all that attention heading toward the guy back onto himself.
***
The next morning, I headed out early.
The massive staff was too conspicuous, so I left it at home.
Today was the day I’d finally meet Beetle Kim Suho.
Our rendezvous was in Seoul.
Daejeon to Seoul.
Even by car, it was a solid two-hour trek.
And I didn’t own a car.
But I had my own method.
I grinned and murmured a line from a movie under my breath.
“What is a wizard? A wizard masters the winds, folds the earth to race across….”
I stomped my foot once.
The ground beneath me turned to sand. I stepped lightly onto it.
Body perfectly still, I propelled only the sand forward at high speed.
Srrrrk—!
My body rocketed ahead like a bullet.
The scenery blurred into streaking afterimages, whipping past behind me.
It felt like riding an endless conveyor belt.
I used reverse wind magic to immediately restore the path I’d traversed back to normal soil.
I pulled up navigation on my phone.
“This route, and I’ll be there in an hour.”
Even at this insane speed, I casually fiddled with my phone.
I’d gotten so adept at the technique that it ran almost on autopilot now.
No laws against phone use while driving—since I wasn’t driving.
I reread the reactions to my post that I’d screenshotted last time, a satisfied smile spreading across my face.
“This never gets old….”
Grinning as I scrolled—right then.
Bang—!
“Eek!”
A sudden jolt sent my body pitching forward.
I looked up to see a massive pine tree blocking the middle of the road.
Too distracted by my phone to dodge.
Luckily, no injuries.
An automatic sand barrier had popped out like an airbag right before impact, absorbing the shock completely.
But it couldn’t cushion the whiplash from the abrupt stop.
Grumbling, I hauled myself up from the ground.
“Argh, that scared me….”
A beat later, I checked the phone still clutched in my hand.
A stark crack right down the center of the screen.
It had shattered when I fell.
“No—my phone!”
My wail echoed across the empty road.
Better if it’d been my body that got hurt.
***
After a series of mishaps, I finally reached Seoul.
A massive city I’d barely ever visited in my life.
I let out an awed gasp at Seoul’s landscape—so utterly different from backwater Daejeon.
The towering skyscrapers in the distance and the throngs of people on the streets made me shrink back instinctively.
“Can’t use magic recklessly from here on—too many people around.”
I dropped the movement spell and started walking at a normal pace.
“Man, a stealth spell would be handy right about now….”
Then I could skip all this hassle and move freely.
I strolled slowly toward the café that was our meetup spot.
My jaw dropped at the scene unfolding before me.
A radius of 3 km centered on the café was completely shrouded in a massive semi-transparent veil.
The purple-tinged wind barrier warped the interior like a mirage, making it impossible to peer inside from outside.
“Tch, a barrier, huh….”
An S-rank barrier. Its scale and sheer pressure were beyond imagination.
I approached in admiration.
How to punch through this?
“Sand wall do the trick?”
I reined in my power and summoned a wall that stopped at 2 meters.
It sprouted up through the gaps in the barrier.
I placed my hand on the wall, and it parted like a door.
***
Inside the café, Kim Suho sat by the window with his eyes closed, biding his time.
Right then, he furrowed his brow ever so slightly.
He sensed a subtle shift in the wind barrier he’d erected.
Someone was entering.
The barrier hadn’t been breached.
‘…Newbie, huh.’
Kim Suho muttered to himself inwardly.
Wonder what kind of guy he is.
From his antics in the gallery, he seemed like an utterly unpredictable sort.
An inexplicable tension gripped him, and he swallowed dryly.
Ting-a-ling—
The café door swung open with a clear chime.
***
Once through the barrier, every worldly noise vanished as if by magic.
I walked slowly down the utterly deserted street.
It was an eerie sensation.
Towering forests of skyscrapers and dazzling signs.
Yet not a soul where crowds should’ve been—a bizarre vista.
So this was S-rank power.
Renting out the heart of a city wholesale.
Far off, the meetup spot—Café Hamham Cheese—came into view.
Through the glass window, I spotted a man.
Jet-black short-sleeve polo. Cropped sporty hair and sharp eyes.
That had to be Beetle, Kim Suho.
He looked ordinary enough at a glance, but an otherworldly aura clung to him.
‘What does an S-rank mage feel like…?’
I tried channeling mana into my eyes to observe his flow, then gave up.
Kim Suho likely had a similar skill, and besides, it felt rude.
“Whew….”
I was a little nervous.
I took a deep breath and headed for the café door.
Ting-a-ling—
The bell chimed brightly as I opened the door. Kim Suho’s gaze by the window flicked toward me.
Our eyes locked in midair.
In that moment, bewilderment flashed across his face.
He clearly hadn’t pegged me for the mage newbie.
Not surprising.
My current look was that of a girl no older than thirteen or so.
Kim Suho rose from his seat and approached me.
His expression mingled trouble and concern.
“Oh dear, how’d you get in here? Was someone trapped inside when I put up the barrier…?”
He forced a gentle tone despite his evident worry.
I let out a deep sigh.
This script again.
Brokers, cops—everyone reacted the same when they saw me.
I was sick of it.
Without a word, I walked up to him and extended a finger.
A handful of sand trickled from my fingertip.
The sand gathered on the table of its own accord, soon shaping into a miniature version of me the size of a palm.
The sand mini-me bowed politely toward Kim Suho.
“…….”
Kim Suho stood there blankly for a moment, as if he couldn’t trust his eyes.
His gaze wavered.
Sand. Mage. This little girl.
One conclusion crystallized in his mind.
Ignoring him entirely, I strode confidently to the empty seat and sat down.
I needed to prove I wasn’t some ordinary kid.
Crossing my legs, I said.
“One black coffee here, please.”
At my order, Kim Suho remained stunned for a beat before snapping to and glancing around.
But a staffed café inside a barrier? Fat chance.
“Ah, coffee… No staff right now… Just hold on a sec.”
He hesitated, then shuffled awkwardly behind the counter.
S-rank hunter and Korea’s top mage, fumbling around a coffee machine like it was alien tech.
He was still mentally reeling from me, it seemed.
Watching him, I muttered to myself inwardly.
‘Uh, wasn’t trying to send an S-rank on coffee duty…?’
Well, if he insists, I’ll gratefully accept.
When else would I get coffee served by an S-rank?
“Hmm….”
Faced with mysterious buttons and levers, Kim Suho’s fingers floundered in the air.
Deep furrows creased his brow.
I clicked my tongue, a twinge of worry rising as I watched.
‘He gonna be okay…?’
He seemed to steel himself and jabbed what looked like the most plausible button.
Beep-beep-beep. Warning tones blared from the machine.
“Uh, uh….”
The instant flustered panic sent his hand waving—
A gale whipped through the café interior.
Crash!
Cups atop the shelves tumbled to the floor and shattered into pieces.
The café turned into pandemonium in seconds.
Kim Suho stood frozen stiff, staring at the wreckage in disbelief at his own doing.
“Hmm….”
Chin in hand, I quietly observed the whole spectacle.