Hide-and-Seek (4)
The night was quiet, with only the chirring of insects breaking the silence.
I stepped outside Samda Resort and sat down on a bench in the garden.
I calmed my breathing and gave myself a little time to think.
Hareubang had headed to the hospital, and Ha Se-na was treating Jeon Su-bin’s injuries.
The wounds weren’t deep. With Ha Se-na’s skill, she’d be back on her feet soon enough.
Quarter’s words echoed in my ears.
— Choi Yongki. Do you have any regrets about what you’re doing right now?
After becoming a hero, I’d walked through more crises than I could count.
More than once, I’d come close to losing my life.
If I lived like a hero and died that way, what would happen to me?
If death simply meant returning to nothing, then fine. But what if it didn’t?
I might be judged worthy of heaven for saving people.
Or, despite being a villain, I might be condemned to hell for murdering so many lives without mercy.
If I ever stepped into a hell where the pain went on forever, would I come to regret my life?
“……”
In the stillness, I clenched my teeth.
No. I wouldn’t regret it.
The day I watched more than a hundred naval soldiers die in the battle against the Dirty Kraken, I understood something.
The weight of a hero was never light.
Even if an afterlife existed.
Even if I had to spend eternity atoning for what I’d done.
I had chosen this road myself, and I would accept it willingly.
To punish the evil that met my standards.
To save people.
That was the value and the belief I pursued in this life.
Lost in those thoughts, I felt my phone ring.
It was a call from Choi Sungmin, my younger brother.
He didn’t usually call me.
Was something wrong?
Unease prickled through me, and I answered quickly.
“Hello?”
“Hyung.”
“What is it?”
I asked urgently, but he didn’t respond right away.
“……Nothing. Just wondered what you were doing.”
“Working, what else? Need pocket money or something?”
“Do you think I’m always asking you for money? Forget it. I mean, uh……”
He stumbled over the words and kept going.
“I heard you went to Jeju. To catch Quarter or whatever his name is.”
I’d already made my plans public through the media.
By now, almost no one in South Korea was unaware of my movements.
“Grandma was nagging me to call you. So, I did. That’s all.”
Like most brothers, Sungmin and I had never been the type to talk sweetly to each other.
We’d always been blunt, tossing out short remarks and exchanging only what was necessary.
In my previous life, I’d spent the rest of my years estranged from him.
Sungmin coughed awkwardly.
“Ahem. I mean, I was kind of curious how you’re doing too……. I saw it on the news, and Quarter sounds insane. They said his official villain ranking is S+……”
Only then did I understand what he was really after.
He called because he was worried about me.
The stiffness that had locked up my body and mind since I came to Jeju finally began to melt away.
“Who do you think I am? Gangnam Hero, Savior of Haeundae, Typhon Choi Yongki. You punk.”
I deliberately boasted, trying to reassure him.
“Right? No way some villain can beat my hyung. Oh, and my class wants a few autographs. Could you do ten? Or even five would be okay. If you’re busy, it’s no big deal.”
I could picture him plainly, tiptoeing around me through the phone.
“Didn’t you hear what Grandma said? What kind of man has such a tiny frame of mind? When I get back to Seoul, I’ll sign a thousand for you. Punk.”
“Whoa! Thanks, hyung.”
“Don’t worry about me and just study hard, you brat.”
I wasn’t usually the nagging type, but I didn’t have much else to say, so I needlessly brought up his studies.
“And, uh……”
His voice dropped almost to a whisper.
“Grandma said to tell you to take care of yourself. Don’t get hurt. Being a hunter’s dangerous, you know. Always be careful. Quarter, monsters, whatever. All of it.”
“……”
Something strange stirred in my chest.
I sometimes wondered why I was so obsessed with being a hero.
Lately, I’d figured it was self-satisfaction.
But now I realized it might have been because I wanted to protect the people around me.
If I became the strongest hero who could never lose to anyone.
Then I could always protect the family I cherished.
“Yeah. I’ll bring back some omegitteok when I come home.”
“That’s Grandma’s favorite, not mine. Bring me some citrus chocolate.”
“You little shit. Fine. I’m busy, so I’m hanging up.”
“Mm-hm. See you in Seoul, hyung.”
I ended the call somewhere between awkwardness and warmth, with a feeling I couldn’t quite name.
For a long while, I just sat there with the phone in my hand, caught up in thought.
The reason I’d rushed to catch Quarter as soon as Gyeongso Daejeon ended had everything to do with my brother.
Quarter was my enemy.
And the murderer who had killed my brother.
In truth, Quarter hadn’t killed him until much later.
My brother graduated high school, became an adult, got married, and only after a great deal of time had passed did his wife come to me with news of his death.
Even so, the emotions I’d felt then had left a lasting trauma.
It was a nightmare I never wanted to experience again.
That was why I’d moved to take Quarter down early.
Then a question came to me.
Why, in my previous life, had Quarter killed my brother?
No, that wasn’t even the right way to put it.
More precisely, he had attacked the train my brother was riding.
Quarter had personally overturned a passenger train without sending a subordinate in his place, in one of the most infamous incidents in history.
The event came to be known as the Sky Rail Overturn Tragedy.
So many victims had fallen that day.
Fifty-four seriously injured, one hundred forty-four lightly injured.
Ninety deaths. A horrifying disaster.
And one of the innocent victims was my brother.
With the whole world watching, wild theories about his motive had spread everywhere.
Some said there had been treasure in the freight car. Others claimed he’d been hired to assassinate one of the passengers.
The police never even managed to catch a single real lead on Quarter, and the case was left unresolved.
Remembering all that, I ground my teeth.
The reason why didn’t matter.
It must never happen again.
Drawing in the cold night air, I headed back to the lodging.
Conditions have been met.
Experience has accumulated.
A reward has been granted.
I woke up before dawn.
My roommates, Bang Su-hwan and Ryu Su-hon, were still fast asleep.
Ha Se-na and Jeon Su-bin seemed to be sleeping too; the room next door was quiet.
I’d worried that Jeon Su-bin might try to run, but Ha Se-na had reassured me.
“Don’t worry. Sometimes you have to trust your teammates.”
Remembering Ha Se-na’s words, I walked down the hallway.
I pulled up my hood and stepped outside the resort.
After warming up a little, I broke into a run toward the white sand beach.
“Huff, huff.”
Just because I was in Jeju didn’t mean I could slack off on training.
Especially not when a major operation was waiting right in front of me.
Tonight.
At last, it would be my final showdown with Quarter.
The reason I’d deliberately set the meeting late wasn’t just to give Jeon Su-bin time to recover.
It was also for preparation.
Before meeting Quarter, there was a ritual I absolutely had to complete.
Someone might sneer that I was being too meticulous.
Someone else might mock me for being afraid of Quarter.
Of course, it would be a lie to say I felt no fear at all.
But I was confident.
My confidence came from my basic ability and the powers I already possessed.
I checked the cards in my hand one by one.
Sylvion Albatron Daisy attribute, permanently retained.
First, I’ve got fire resistance.
I still didn’t know what talents and abilities Quarter possessed.
Entering a fight without knowing your opponent’s information was no different from walking into battle with a handicap.
But then again.
The same went for Quarter.
He wouldn’t know anything about my hero abilities.
If Quarter happened to use fire-based powers……
Then this would be my game to lose.
I moved on.
“An Assimilation Upgrade will be additionally granted.
Uses remaining: 1.
Activation condition: Life force below 5%.”
It was the reward I’d received for surviving the fire almost by miracle.
Just once.
I’d have the chance to call a divine beast.
If I launched a full assault together with a powerful monster, Quarter would definitely be at a disadvantage.
But I shook my head.
Ideally, I shouldn’t use this.
Life force below 5 percent meant I’d be on the verge of death.
Borrowing the druid Bear Man’s ultimate move was a double-edged sword.
It’d be like burning down the whole house just to kill a single rat.
The last thing I needed to check was this.
I still had more than 400 million won left.
As long as I could use hero abilities, I would never lose.
If, by some slim chance, I spent every last won in the middle of the fight, or if I couldn’t Purchase a hero’s ability anymore……
Then I’d drag out every scrap of my own strength to the very end and still……
I would win, no matter what!
By the time I’d thrown Judgment of the Superhuman a thousand times, and swung Heoksikdo around roughly two thousand times, the notification finally rang out.
Conditions have been met.
Experience has accumulated.
A reward has been granted.
Hero abilities were rewarded automatically if you trained them steadily.
It was going according to plan.
Is this another Hero Selection Ticket?
If I got a new hero, that meant my arsenal would grow.
I’d have more ways to respond, no matter how my opponent came at me.
There are now 5 heroes.
Hm?
It wasn’t the reward I’d expected.
I slid Heoksikdo back into the scabbard on my back.
Choose one of the following.
1) Store 1 existing hero in the inventory, then purchase an additional hero.
Cost: ₩100,000,000
2) Random reward (1 use).
Cost: ₩0
It was a matter of choosing between the two.
But even more than that, I was stunned by the new fact I’d just learned.
So there was a limit to how many heroes I could hold.
Once I had more than five, I’d have to pay extra to get another Hero Selection Ticket.
The cost was steep.
One hundred million won.
The less money I had left, the more sensitive I’d become to every number.
And truthfully, I’d been growing more anxious by the day.
In reality, I was getting richer and stronger.
But……
The stronger I became, the more my Awakener's Balance shrank.
No wonder my mouth was drying out.
The one thing that was at least somewhat reassuring was this:
Once the balance fell below 200 million won, I’d be given a hint on how to make money.
I just had to hold out until then.
So should I choose the first option?
“Hmm.”
I hesitated at the thought of paying 100 million won so easily.
More heroes in my possession would definitely be an advantage.
Still, having more heroes didn’t automatically mean being stronger.
For example, Poseidon had absurd performance in the ocean, but if there was no water in the battlefield, he was useless.
If I fought in the desert, he’d be more trouble than help.
What about the king of black magic, Mr. Eden?
If my opponent was another mage, he’d be an absolute trump card.
But against a martial artist or a swordsman, his power would naturally drop.
My eyes settled on the second option without meaning to.
2) Random reward (1 use).
Cost: ₩0.
I didn’t like leaving it to luck as if I were playing some game.
But maybe I could strike it huge.
After making up my mind, I chose without hesitation.
A random reward has been granted.
With a flashy effect, a bronze card appeared.
On the front was a man wearing a suit that symbolized a hero.
The back side was……
When I clicked the card, the square image spun around.
After turning for a while, the card finally came to a stop.
One hero ability can now be used without limit. (3 minutes)
My eyes widened on their own.
If I hadn’t misread it.
If I wasn’t mistaken.
For the next three minutes,
I could use hero abilities without restriction.
The moment I clenched my fist, a powerful certainty surged through me.
This is enough.
I could definitely win.
The sun began to rise over the horizon.
Now that I had my secret weapon for defeating Quarter, I finally felt at ease.
My phone started ringing again and again.
It was the group chat for the Brave Prosecutors team.