The Moment Ivan Drew His Sword
Just as Ivan reached for his sword, I quickly stepped toward him. Then I placed one hand on his scabbard.
"Not here."
If we fought here, the house would get wrecked. No matter how kind Sujin was, I couldn't let a freeloader trash the place.
Bam!
A palm strike from my other hand. The guy took it square in the chest and his body floated into the air.
But he spun once in midair and landed lightly on his feet.
Taking advantage of the opening, I slipped out of the house into the yard.
Ivan chased right after me, drawing his sword again.
"Reveal your identity, gongan."
"Ah, I told you, I'm not gongan. And what's that anyway? This isn't China. If you mean police, that'd make sense."
"...Lies. All the gongan I've killed so far said the same thing."
"...Maybe they really weren't?"
"Shut up. Gongan."
Vwooom!
Ivan's sword glowed blue. It was intriguing—and a bit curious.
What was the principle behind that power? Was it the same as what I knew? What would happen if I took a hit from it?
'Humans here use sword aura, huh.'
Sword aura. A technique that channels mana into the blade to maximize cutting power and destructive force.
At a glance, the mana lingering on his sword felt just like the sword aura used by demons.
The more I watched, the more I thought mana cores must be similar to demon horns.
Fundamentally, humans in that other world couldn't use sword aura. They only had basic martial arts, spirit arts, and divine arts.
In fact, the world I came from saw demons freely manipulating mana as something apostolic.
"Die."
Ivan spat the short line and charged at me.
Faint mana pulsed from his legs. Freely circulating mana through the body to amplify abilities—it was just like demons.
'So this is what they call hunters, the ones guarding this land.'
Slash!
A sword strike aimed at my throat. I dodged lightly, and a flurry of thrusts followed.
His attacks flowed like water—he wasn't some average hunter.
But sorry to say, I'd faced demons so often it was routine. Even the strongest among them, the Demon King, had fallen to me.
I was confident I could handle demon-like attack patterns better than anyone.
Bam!
I caught the deep-thrusting sword between my palms like a prayer clasp.
"Wha...?"
He hadn't expected bare hands to block a sword aura-coated blade—his gaze wavered.
That was the problem with sword aura users. The sword was just a tool, yet he was already losing focus because it was stopped.
Still, it was a fine sword. Straight, sturdy—not your average blade. On par with something forged by dwarf apprentices.
Which made it all the more regrettable. I had to break it.
... Crack!
I twisted the gripped sword hard.
Swords were like that—long and thin. They couldn't withstand a sudden torque and snapped.
"Urk!"
Ivan's wrist, still clutching the hilt, twisted along with it.
He quickly backpedaled and released the sword, but his pale skin was already swelling red.
Gripping his swollen wrist, Ivan shouted.
"Park Sujin. Where is she now?"
"She said there was some urgent work and headed to the office."
"Off... ice...?"
Ivan furrowed his brow, clearly not understanding.
"She went to her company. Com-pa-ny."
I was trying to clear up the misunderstanding, but the word "company" only deepened the crease between his brows.
"From a hunter guild? Did you kidnap Sujin to some company?"
"No... Aish. Are you doing this on purpose?"
The guy slipped his hand into the folds of his fluttering long coat.
A short dagger about a handspan long emerged.
He gripped it with his good hand—the one that wasn't swollen—and glared at me.
"...You're not gongan."
"Yeah! Finally getting it."
"Gongan aren't that strong. You... you're an agent. From the hunter guild."
"Aigoo."
"Normal people aren't that strong. You must be an agent here to capture me."
"......"
Ivan's expression twisted even more fiercely.
I could kind of understand. A guy claiming to be her supposedly dead brother was strong enough to handle a hunter with ease. The situation didn't add up.
'Talking this out won't work.'
After a moment's thought, I scratched the back of my head and asked.
"You. Close with Sujin?"
"......"
Ivan backed away, lips pressed tight.
A brief silence followed before a curt reply slipped out.
"...Yes."
Then he gripped his sword again and assumed a stance.
"Give Sujin back. Or I'll kill you."
It didn't sound like a lie. Even in his misunderstanding, he was this furious at someone who supposedly kidnapped Sujin.
"Guess I'll have to go easy then."
"...What?"
Crunch!
I didn't answer his question.
Instead, I gathered strength in both legs.
Releasing the tensed muscles, I shot forward to right in front of him in an instant.
It happened so fast that Ivan, dagger in hand, couldn't even react.
"She's sleeping for now. I'll ask Sujin about it."
... Bam!
The palm strike, loaded with full propulsion, nailed Ivan's solar plexus.
A hard sensation transmitted through my fingertips, but the hit landed true.
"...Kyaa!"
Ivan let out a high-pitched scream that sounded more like a girl's than a man's.
At the same time, his blue eyes rolled back, whites showing.
Taking the clean hit to the solar plexus, he flew backward.
And crashed into the stack of firewood I'd piled up yesterday, passing out cold.
"...Kyaa?"
A guy screaming "kyaa"? What year was it, 2023?
"...No way?"
The hard sensation I'd felt with my hand. It wasn't solid muscle—it was something else.
Plop.
The guy's headpiece came off.
A short bob wig fell away with a plop!
Long blonde hair hidden underneath cascaded down like waves.
At the same time, the tight inner armor burst open and rolled across the ground beside her.
Now that I looked, Ivan was unmistakably a woman.
"...Aigoo."
I didn't know the reason, but Ivan had been pretending to be a man.
Beating a woman until she passed out... guilt crept up on me.
"No, in 2023, maybe it's fine..."
As if.
I quickly pulled out my phone and called Sujin.
"Su, Sujin-ah?"
"Yeol~ You actually know how to call me, oppa?"
"Yeah. Anyway, can you talk now?"
"Yeah! What's up?"
"Um... this kid named Ivan came by. A friend of yours?"
"...Ah!"
Sujin let out a short sigh, like she'd just remembered something she'd forgotten.
"Aigoo, look at me. It was today, right? I got all distracted reuniting with you after so long. Sigh... what now."
"...Who is she?"
"Well, Ivan's a fake name. Her real name's Yelena. My pen pal friend. She's from Russia, but she wanted to live in Korea for a bit due to some circumstances. I told her if she came, I'd add her to your family registry."
Sujin had mentioned something like that yesterday. Apparently, that's how a lot of foreigners came in.
But she was a woman.
"...She's a girl. Can you add her to a guy's registry?"
"Ahaha. Of course. I jokingly told her to cut her hair short just in case."
"......"
"Anyway, make her some coffee at least. She must be exhausted getting here without being an awakener. I'll wrap up soon and head over."
"Y-yeah! Leave it to me! I'll take good care of her!"
"Okay~ Oppa~"
Click.
The call with Sujin ended like that.
I'm screwed. First freeloading, now beating up her pen pal friend until she passed out.
"Wait."
But something odd in what Sujin said.
"Not an awakener?"
That couldn't be. And Sujin wouldn't lie to me.
"......"
Ivan—no, Yelena—lay there with her eyes peacefully closed, as if in deep sleep.
Just to check, I held my hand to her nose. Faint breathing.
'Bring her inside for now.'
It's cold out. Sleeping here would give her hypothermia.
* * *
Thanks to turning on the electric blanket and nursing her diligently, Yelena opened her eyes soon after.
"It huuurts..."
"Oh! You're awake!"
"...!@#$!"
The moment she came to and saw me, a barrage of curses flew out.
Russian, so I didn't catch it all, but the tone screamed profanity.
Fortunately, she didn't lunge. Probably because I'd tied her tight to the bed.
"Hey, hey, calm down. Just a sec..."
I opened the translation app on my phone.
The world had gotten amazing. Speak, and it translates automatically.
"Hello. I'm Sujin's brother, Park Soo-hyeok."
I spoke briefly and hit the translation button. It output in Russian.
Yelena seemed to catch on.
Her expression didn't soften, though.
"I'm not gongan. I'm really Sujin's brother. Got back not long ago."
With the translator making conversation possible, Yelena started speaking in Russian.
[Really? I heard Sujin's brother was dead.]
"Somehow ended up returning recently. From the other world."
[From the other world? You saying you're a 1st gen awakener?]
"Something like that. They say those guys came back in a week, but I just got here the day before yesterday."
[What...]
"Believe it or not, it's true. But that's not the point."
Yelena clamped her mouth shut at the translation.
Her expression had softened a bit from before.
"You. You're Sujin's friend, but why didn't you say you were an awakener?"
My question made her already wide eyes go even wider.
After a brief silence, she replied.
[It's a secret. Circumstances.]
"Figured as much."
"......"
"That's why you kept calling me gongan or agent?"
[Don't know.]
'Who else would know if not you.'
Lie or not, I let it slide. Not important right now.
"Keep this a secret from Sujin?"
[XX damn XX.]
I could guess what the X's were, but moved on.
With Yelena still tied up, I pondered.
She didn't seem bad. At least not toward Sujin.
Charging in without thinking was an issue, but she'd thought something bad happened to Sujin.
Once my thoughts settled, I spoke again.
"Got a request."
[What?]
Yelena narrowed her eyes and hunched her neck.
Not a bad proposal, but her posture rubbed me wrong somehow.
"Don't want trouble. This place is more my little sister's house than mine. So at least don't go wild in the house. Do that, and I'll keep your secret to the end."
"......"
"Can you promise?"
A long silence, then Yelena mumbled softly.
[Got it.]
Only then did I untie the ropes.
Dust puffed up from her— she'd been rolling in the nearby veggie patch.
Freed, Yelena glared resentfully but didn't resist.
"......"
"Good. Staying quiet suits you."
"You're really not gongan?"
"Aish. How many times do I have to say it? Lived getting duped all your life?"
"...Yes."
"Oops."
It was sarcasm, but maybe the wrong thing to say.
"I. Keep promise. Stay quiet."
Whatever, Yelena agreed to stay put as requested.
"Heh heh. Good."
Deal sealed.
"Good" meaning okay.
But Yelena, seeing it on the translator, glared at me like she'd eaten shit.
Even pulling the blanket up to her chin.
Her reaction was weird, so I checked the app.
"What the?"
[I love you]
I reran the translation.
[I love you.]
"No, what... translation error. 'Good' means okay, like 'good' as in fine? Okay?"
I hurriedly retranslated and showed her, but Yelena's wary gaze didn't change.
"!@#$."
She muttered something in Russian again, but I didn't bother translating.
Her expression said it wasn't anything nice.