The World's Not What It Seems
Jang Hwa-young jolted awake at the insistent knock on the door—dong dong, dong dong. She sat up straight, sweeping her surroundings with a quick glance. Everything was pitch black.
She had fallen asleep while fighting exhaustion, her body worn out from the struggle. Her head throbbed.
“Noona… Noona.”
It was her younger brother. She grabbed her phone and checked the time. 3:21 a.m. There was no way to wake up someone at this hour.
Was there some kind of problem?
“What’s wrong?”
“We received a call from headquarters. Something’s broken out in your sector….”
“Something?”
“A monster has appeared. But the scale is fairly large. Before we mobilize, I figured I should tell Noona first.”
Jang Hwa-young pressed her throbbing eyes shut with her fingers.
“…Noona?”
“Ah, right….”
“I just wanted to let you know.”
“Then I’ll head out a little later.”
“Understood. Then I’ll go ahead first.”
Jang Chul-min disappeared quickly. Jang Hwa-young sat there in a daze for a moment. No, not now.
She splashed cold water on her face. The sticky sleep washed away instantly. Gripping the sink, she lifted her head just slightly and stared at the mirror splashed with water. A droplet slid slowly down her straight nose and fell.
After wiping her moist face, she changed into comfortable clothes. Her abundant hair was pulled into a neat ponytail at the crown, and she tucked the sword sheath hanging on the wall under her arm.
Let’s go.
She stepped out of the mansion and walked briskly across the vast parking lot. Everything around her was as dark as pitch. The faint cloud cover left only enough moonlight to show the ground beneath her feet—soil or stone.
Her footsteps, walking toward her own car, gradually slowed. Someone was leaning against the car door, arms crossed, waiting for her. …The face was hidden in shadow from the moonlight, but the silhouette alone told her who it was.
Lee Kang-jun.
She had been planning to go alone to clear her head after the emotional turmoil, but she had ended up meeting the final boss right from the start.
“Senior.”
“Kang-jun….”
“Hop in. I’ll drive.”
Kang-jun opened the passenger door. Jang Hwa-young hesitated a moment before sitting down. It was the same sedan she had picked out for him recently. The new-car scent still lingered.
Thud. He closed the passenger door and headed to the driver’s seat. Vroom. The high-end sedan’s engine rumbled smoothly. The car slipped out of the parking lot in a smooth glide.
“You know the location?”
“Yes, I received the details from headquarters. Over the phone.”
“Exactly what happened?”
“A monster appeared nearby.”
“Scale?”
“Not even rank 1, it seems closer to rank 2.”
The conversation cut off there. Jang Hwa-young leaned back against the seat and stared out the window. Black scenery whipped past.
Her thoughts were naturally complicated. Kang-jun drove calmly and asked her what kind of music she liked.
“Hm?”
“Do you like any music? …Like classical, jazz, something like that.”
“I don’t listen to music.”
“Ah, really? …It wouldn’t be bad to listen to once in a while.”
Jang Hwa-young turned her gaze back outside. Kang-jun glanced at her from the side and smirked.
Even the legendary Jang Hwa-young was troubled by such things.
After that music exchange, the two fell into long silence. The car continued running quietly in that state for a long time.
4:18 a.m.
Nearly at the destination, Kang-jun checked the time. He glanced sideways at the passenger seat. Jang Hwa-young had her eyes closed. Whether she was asleep or merely closing her eyes, he couldn’t tell.
The sedan entered an open lot. Cars were parked densely there. The crunch of gravel from the tires woke Jang Hwa-young. She had dozed off while remaining in that posture.
“Senior, we’re here.”
“Ah, right. Good work.”
Both unbuckled their seatbelts and got out of the car. The moment she appeared, the waiting female hero approached and bowed deeply. She introduced herself as C-rank Kalli.
“Hm. Good. Current situation?”
“No reports have come in yet, so I’m not sure. It seems they’re still fighting hard, Senior.”
“I see.”
Kang-jun and Jang Hwa-young drew their swords and descended the winding slope without a path. Although the exact location wasn’t told, the wild aura coming from afar was unmistakable. It was near the city center. Explosions flashed occasionally.
They moved quickly toward it. Below the slope lay a dense forest. Monsters were slinking around there as well.
“You take this side, I’ll take the other.”
“Yes.”
They split at the midpoint. And every monster they met was ruthlessly cut down. The small fry near level 200 couldn’t even be opponents for the two of them.
After they together finished about eight, they reached the target point. About ten heroes were sitting around, taking a break. Several monster corpses lay scattered around them, killed and discarded.
As soon as the heroes saw Jang Hwa-young, they all stood up at once and bowed deeply. Jang Chul-min greeted his own sister first.
“Ah, Noona’s here.”
“Senior, you’re here! But we could handle it ourselves….”
“No. I’m also a hero, so I can’t just stand by.”
At that moment, Kang-jun emerged from the forest, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
“This side is all cleaned up.”
“Then it’s over here… What about the rest?”
Jang Hwa-young said that, and the heroes replied that a few still remained. Headquarters had just called saying the city area was mostly settled.
After catching his breath, Kang-jun spread his mana as wide as possible.
One… Two… Three… Three remained.
Precisely three. They were scattered separately. Jang Hwa-young had roughly figured out their locations too. Kang-jun pointed with his thumb in a certain direction.
“Senior. I’ll take these two.”
“Got it.”
Eh? The remaining heroes didn’t understand the conversation between the two so quickly. …Did they figure out the monsters’ locations here? They spread their mana to the maximum but couldn’t find the monsters. How far could the two of them sense, then?
The man and woman split again. Even if they called for the other heroes, it would be better for these two to move quickly and finish them with minimal damage. Wasn’t that the hero’s duty after all?
Kang-jun took about ten minutes to deal with the two and wiped the dirty blade with a cloth. Then he immediately headed toward the open lot where the car was parked. The work was almost finished, so there was no need to meet the other heroes for meaningless small talk.
Jang Hwa-young wasn’t visible in the lot yet. The C-rank Kalli, who had been squatting and waiting alone, stood up and asked what had happened.
“It’s all done.”
“Ah, really?”
Not long after, Jang Hwa-young appeared. She stepped up two flights of the slope onto the lot. Kalli rushed over and bowed repeatedly, saying “You worked hard, Senior.”
“Then I’ll go ahead. Good work.”
“Yes, take care, Senior!”
Before leaving, Kang-jun called Jang Chul-min.
“Hm. Right, Kang-jun.”
“Yes, all processed.”
“Really? Good work, seriously.”
“We’ve arrived at the lot.”
“Already there?”
“Yes, then we’ll head back first.”
“Ah, right. Noona must be tired. Get in the car quickly. …Yeah, just a little more and it’ll be over.”
“I’m not tired at all. Then I’ll cut the call.”
Click. He ended the call and turned his body. Jang Hwa-young was already sitting in the passenger seat.
Kang-jun climbed into the driver’s seat. The mingled scent of sweat and soap wafted over strongly. It stimulated him intensely. Especially now, after he had been rampaging and his heart pounding, slowly calming down… The thrill of slaughter was subsiding, and a different kind of excitement was rising.
Vroom.
He pressed the start button. The engine roared. Kang-jun gripped the steering wheel. He licked his dry lips.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah. …You worked hard.”
“Not really much of anything, though.”
The car backed up a bit then spun a half-turn. Kalli, seeing the car’s rear as it drove away, bowed deeply. Kang-jun glanced at it briefly in the rearview mirror before looking forward again.
The black sedan raced along the deserted highway. The pitch-black sky was gradually darkening to a deep blue. It was the morning atmosphere that stirred the restlessness inside.
The thick scent of a woman kept poking at his crotch. His thing finally couldn’t hold back and swelled.
Of course she was in a very difficult situation herself right now.
The thick scent of a man poured directly into her nose. His body odor mixed with sweat… It was exactly his scent from that night. It was impossible not to get excited.
Jang Chul-min should have taken the car…
Just like when he arrived, he thought there would be no problem leaving either. The slightly calmed feeling was starting to bubble up again. Especially in a place like this. A closed space right next to him where he could feel him…
So she kept staring outside, just like before. Her nose was stuffy, so she opened her mouth slightly and breathed out warm air. …She was finding it increasingly hard to endure this silence.
Still, the car kept driving. Eventually it would reach the mansion. She was just waiting for that moment. …She had no idea Kang-jun was going in a completely wrong direction.
Jang Hwa-young’s head grew more and more complicated. …And the long chain of thoughts was gradually leading her into a swamp.
She recalled the accident she shouldn’t have committed earlier. So, to calm herself, she quickly closed her eyes then opened them. It was impossible to move well with the seatbelt on, so sweat kept gathering on her hips and back. She shifted her body occasionally to cool off. But it was only for a moment.
“Is something wrong?”
“No. It’s just because of the sweat.”
The air conditioning was set to the right temperature. But the cold inside wasn’t leaving. It was like she had a fever. The cold place kept getting colder.
Hye-yeon and Kang-jun…
She thought of that again. Because she had accidentally started a chain of thought, it kept flowing that way.
She had never been this trembling before. At the same time, she was insanely excited. In the tension where sweat dripped down her back, she writhed in both excitement and heat. …With her ear pressed to the wall, she touched and rubbed her own chest and crotch for the first time.
With that anguished moan and
that lewd, animal sound echoing in her ears.
The things she had been trying to ignore were now one by one coming to her. Kang-jun’s scent became the trigger.
…No, no one knows about this. As long as I don’t get caught…
It was hit-and-run. She had scraped the side car a little but luckily hadn’t been seen. She would just pretend she didn’t know and keep driving.
If no one knew, there would be no big problem. It wasn’t like the car couldn’t even drive properly.
The road was still slowly crawling with no traffic. As long as no rollover accident happened, nothing would go wrong.
Even though her conscience would trouble her a bit, she gripped the steering wheel firmly. Toward the destination. And for Kang-jun.
It was just a little listening in. As long as she wasn’t caught, it wouldn’t affect them at all. Kang-jun just… Kang-jun just had to take the right path. She didn’t matter.
After a moment, Jang Hwa-young returned to reality. Only then did she realize the driving road was strange. …This didn’t seem like the right lane.
“Kang-jun. …We seem to have taken the wrong turn. Did we accidentally go the other way?”
Kang-jun glanced at his phone for a moment and said they had come correctly. At the time, they had passed a sign. It was indeed the wrong way.
“Here? Kang-jun, at the fork we passed earlier, we should have gone the other way….”
But Jang Hwa-young couldn’t finish her words. Because she looked at his side profile…
That face, mouth tightly shut, staring straight ahead, carried an atmosphere completely different from usual.
The car’s speed gradually slowed and eventually stopped.
An eerie silence flowed.
“Senior.”
Jang Hwa-young’s heart dropped. She opened her mouth slightly and froze like a frog staring at a snake.
Kang-jun’s head slowly turned toward her. In his intense gaze, she couldn’t breathe.
“Earlier… why…,”
No way…
“Did you secretly listen in?”
…Her car stopped right there,
and a rollover accident occurred.