Close Call on the Demon Frontline Live Broadcast
I nearly died in a car accident before I even managed to track down Detective Seo Minjae.
Searching for the detective, I scanned the area, but he was nowhere to be seen in the vehicle. The seatbelt must have been fastened, so he couldn’t have been ejected. Just then, Detective Minjae’s shout rang out from outside.
“Stop! Stop! I’ll fire if you come any closer!”
The moment the words left his mouth, a sharp gunshot echoed. “First round is a blank! The rest are live ammo, so don’t— I mean, don’t come any closer!”
Was he seriously following procedure against zombies?
“I have to get out of here and help him.”
I unbuckled my seatbelt and dropped to the floor. No, I was upside down, so was the ceiling?
The door wouldn’t budge. Fortunately the window had shattered, so I could simply slide out carefully. “Thank goodness. I’m okay… my body’s fine…”
I crawled out and tried to stand, only for a jolt of pain to slam into me, forcing me back down.
“Ah. My leg.”
Of course. After that kind of crash, how could my body be unscathed? My left leg was definitely not normal.
“Miss! Why did you come out? Get back inside!”
Detective Minjae, who had been locked in combat with the zombies, spotted me and ordered me back in. But judging by the way he was acting, it was obvious he wasn’t about to change anything dramatic just because I’d reappeared.
“I clearly warned you!”
Detective Minjae finally fired at the zombies, live rounds straight at a leg.
“Uwaaah…”
“A leg shot? How?”
Even if they were plague monsters that had died and risen, they were still human-shaped. People hesitated to kill something that looked like them. Normally a perfectly righteous man, the detective was now facing an existential crisis.
“Damn it!”
Only then did Detective Minjae open fire at the zombies, but he was aiming for arms and legs, never the head. They would never die. It was the classic rookie mistake.
“I need to show the detective how to fight.”
Before the detective could be devoured, I pressed my hand to his broken leg.
[Regeneration.]
One of the simplest and most practical holy spells.
White light spread across my palm and vanished, but I was already able to stand again. I immediately began chanting the next spell.
[Steel and Fire.]
A high-tier holy magic that incorporated all three pillars of the faith: spiritual resolve, resolute arms, and cleansing destruction.
Sacred steel rapier and musket pistols of holy silver bullets materialized before me, conjured from pure faith. Since I could freely wield this holy magic, there was no need to carry physical weapons, making it my most beloved spell.
“Waaaah!”
I startled at Detective Minjae’s scream, only to see him hurling the zombie that had pinned him straight to the ground. It was an impressive toss, but useless for killing the monster.
“Hold on just a little longer!”
Gripping the rapier in my left hand and snatching the musket pistol from his right, I charged toward Detective Minjae.
“Uwaaaah…”
Two zombies that had been heading for the detective changed course and rushed at me, but I wasn’t as soft-hearted as the detective.
Taang!
The silver bullet that tore through the flames and smoke from the musket pistol struck the zombie’s head with the force of a demon-killing round, instantly reducing its skull to ashes.
“Uwaaaah!”
Undeterred, the remaining zombie lunged at me. I fired the pistol I was holding, catching the zombie in the head and sending it flying backward.
Squish!
Before the fallen zombie could rise, I drove my rapier straight through its brain. The monster slumped like a broken machine and became nothing more than an ordinary corpse.
“Is the detective still alive?”
I glanced at him, only to see a zombie clinging to the detective, teeth inches from his throat.
“This is bad!”
In desperation, instead of grabbing the thrown pistol to reload, I summoned a fresh one and aimed at the detective.
“Detective! Don’t blame me even if it hits you!”
The musket pistol was an archaic weapon that was awkward to aim and fire, but it had been given by the gods. Accuracy varied wildly with distance. If I missed and hit the detective instead of the zombie… well, that was simply the will of the gods.
“Miss, what exactly did you sa—”
Taang!
Thankfully, the silver bullet struck the zombie’s head, not the detective. This too was thanks to divine protection.
“Uh… what exactly is going on here?”
Detective Minjae shoved the headless zombie aside and collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. I approached to check for bite marks, examining him closely.
“Why are you examining me like that?”
“I’m checking if you’ve been bitten.”
“If I had been bitten, what would you do?”
“As a human, I must help you return to life before you become a zombie. Of course, that includes praying so you don’t get eaten by the zombies after death.”
According to the priests, victims of the plague demon’s curse could not be saved by holy magic. Therefore, burning was the best option. The priests had been desperately searching for alternatives right up until the end of the world, but as an Inquisitor, that was far from my concern. Why not just burn them?
“This woman is truly unbelievable! Speaking of which, what was that black thing earlier? And where did the gun come from?”
Detective Minjae’s expression turned furious. He clearly wasn’t satisfied with the solution.
“This is holy magic—”
“Enough! Killing a person right in front of the police! What exactly happened?”
“Is this what you say to the person who just saved you?”
“In normal times those people were just ordinary citizens…”
He hadn’t even come to his senses yet. I dragged the zombie I had killed in front of the detective.
“Does this look like a human? It’s a demon wearing human skin.”
When I waved the dead zombie in front of him, Detective Minjae turned away, muttering like an excuse.
“There might be a cure someday.”
“No. So snap out of it. If I hadn’t been here, you would have died.”
I tossed the zombie aside and offered my hand. The detective stared blankly at my outstretched palm before taking it and rising.
“Thank you for helping me. As a police officer, I never imagined I would receive aid from a young woman like you.”
“Then please help me a lot more in the future. The police will have plenty of opportunities to support me.”
“Support for what?”
“For example, would you help me catch the demons that are coming this way?”
A swarm of plague spores was rolling toward us after detecting our living bodies. Detective Minjae’s face paled.
“Is that… what we saw on TV? Something vomiting?”
“Yes. So before they can spew their plague, please shoot them at range with the guns you have. It shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“Yes. I have plenty of ammunition.”
Detective Minjae finished reloading and began methodically shooting the plague spores one by one. Despite his kind demeanor, his marksmanship was on par with a professional sniper.
“Then I’ll start hunting too.”
I summoned another musket pistol and began incinerating the plague spores with silver bullets.
[Fire.]
Summoning was faster than reloading, so I simply fired, discarded, fired, discarded, over and over.
Taang!
[Fire.]
Taang!
[Fire.]
Taang!
[Fire.]
Taang!
[Fire.]
With every shout of [Fire], I felt my heart burning—not with pain, but with the thrill of slaughtering demons. I could do this all day.
[Fire!]
When I summoned the pistol again, two plague spores had closed in right in front of me. The detective desperately tried to shoot the incoming spores, but his gun was empty, only a faint click echoing.
“Of all the times!”
The detective was flustered, but it was no big deal. If he couldn’t handle low-tier demons like these plague spores, he wouldn’t have become an Inquisitor.
Thud!
The first one kicked like a soccer ball, then spun in mid-air. I shot it down with the musket pistol. Taking advantage of the opening, the final plague spore rushed at me with its mouth wide open. The demon was about to spew the disgusting things it had swallowed when I hurled the pistol at its face.
Smack!
“Kyahk!”
The plague spore screamed and crashed to the ground. I seized the opportunity and drove my rapier through its heart.
“That was close.”
Once the fierce battle ended, all that remained were the remains of the demons, the pleasant scent of gunpowder, and the thick white smoke from the musket pistol.
“Cough! Cough! Who exactly are you?”
Detective Minjae coughed while staring at me in disbelief. I gracefully gathered my skirt and offered a formal greeting.
“I am an Inquisitor. To broadcast and bring hope to humanity fighting demons, my address is…”
While I was telling the dazed detective the broadcast address, sirens blared.
“Ambulance. Were you calling for help?”
“No. My radio was broken, so I couldn’t call for backup.”
Then who…
“We came as soon as we received the report! Are you all right?”
A viewer must have made the call.
“Oh right! The broadcast!”
I checked the bodycam—it was still recording. But where had my phone gone?
“My phone!”
While the paramedics were checking Detective Minjae’s condition, I crawled back into the police car and searched for the phone.
“Good thing. You’re safe.”
I had done an excellent job protecting the screen and case. The chat window had been rocketing upward, but I hadn’t been able to read it properly. All the actions I had just taken had been broadcast.
The donations were still pouring in nonstop, and the viewer count had shattered every record I had ever set. What should I say to them?
“Everyone. For a moment I forgot that we’re broadcasting while fighting right now, but this broadcast was set up to defeat the demons and give you hope. As you can see, you can fight the demons. Don’t give up, don’t despair. Hold onto faith, steel, and fire, and fight alongside me against the demons.”
The first outdoor live broadcast ended in resounding success amid intense public interest.