Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Fate for the Prologue Boss
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Disciple, after observing countless fates over long ages, I gained one ultimate realization.
What is it?
There is no such thing in this world as things going according to plan.
『Excerpt from the British Museum collection – Gravestone for a Young Dragon』
***
"Let's talk outside first."
As Jang Man put away his gun and spoke, the woman in the black dog mask... no, the girl, accepted the suggestion.
From there, a silent companionship without any conversation began. They left the black market, passed through the abandoned logistics complex, and returned to Incheon Market, but no one exchanged a word.
Jang Man wasn't the talkative type to begin with, and Soedunguri was too busy sorting through his thoughts from the recent fight to pay attention to anything else.
Naturally, the girl held her tongue as well.
She, who had been quietly following the two men, finally spoke again after they arrived at Jang Man's bar.
"So, when can I get the item? I can pay whenever."
The girl addressed Jang Man, but he didn't even pretend to hear as he pulled a bottle from the display shelf.
"It's no problem to pay in full cash. But it'll take about a week."
No response came this time either.
Jang Man sipped his drink, while Soedunguri began checking the weapons in the carry-on case.
Only then did the girl realize something was off.
"Um, sir...? Aren't we doing the deal?"
"The deal's not with me. It's with that guy."
Jang Man jerked his chin, and the girl's gaze shifted to Soedunguri.
"...With him? Why?"
"Because talking to him will get you what you want faster."
What the hell? One of the girl's eyebrows arched long, but Soedunguri focused silently on his task.
"Um, excuse me?"
In the end, the girl spoke first. When Soedunguri ignored her, she shoved her face right up to the carry-on case.
"Excuse me? Excuse me? Excuse me? Excuse me? Excuse me?"
Soedunguri, who had been pulling out a shotgun, let out a short sigh and replied.
"Why did you want a weapon to catch a necromancer?"
"Pardon?"
"You told Joseph. That you were looking for a weapon to take down a necromancer. Was it just an excuse to get a stick? Or was the necromancer really your target?"
"...This feels like a branching point where my answer decides if the deal goes through or falls apart. Right?"
"Probably."
The girl narrowed her eyes and scrutinized Soedunguri. Aside from his golden irises, there was nothing special about his face. No distinctive expression or looks.
She glanced at the contents of Soedunguri's carry-on case, then sat down beside him as if something had clicked.
"Grenades and a shotgun... You're planning to fight a necromancer, aren't you? Right?"
Soedunguri didn't answer and just read the shotgun's manual.
"Hmm, a black market bigwig old man and a green superhuman hunting a necromancer. If this were a movie, it'd get flak for being clichéd, huh?"
"...Cut the crap. What's your answer?"
"How about we introduce ourselves first?"
Not having found the right response yet, the girl desperately changed the subject.
"No."
Soedunguri replied curtly, but undeterred, the girl began her introduction.
"My name is... well, not Ho, it's Park Seti. I'm Korean, but why my eyes are blue and why my name is Seti of all things... ask my dad, not me. I want to ask him sometimes too."
"..."
"I told you my name first, so it's only fair if you do too, right?"
Park Seti stared at Soedunguri with intense eyes. A brief silence followed, but in the end, Soedunguri raised the white flag.
"...I'm Soedunguri."
Park Seti's delicate eyebrow curved slightly.
"...I gave my real name, so shouldn't you give yours too? Fair's fair."
"It is my real name."
"...?"
Wondering if this was the point to laugh, she checked Soedunguri's expression again. But not a shred of humor showed on his face.
"Wow... There's someone even worse than my dad. Your parents' surname is Soe?"
"No, I'm an orphan."
"Uh... um......"
"No need to feel sorry. I don't even know what my parents looked like."
That makes it even sadder! She swallowed the words rising to her throat.
A short silence, fidgeting fingers.
She sighed and decided to spill her story honestly.
"Uragan's Hilt... I mean, that stick. I need it not for a necromancer, but for my little sister. There was an accident a month ago."
I took a curse in her place. She added the unasked detail.
At the mention of a month ago, Jang Man glanced their way but didn't interrupt.
"Five hundred million could get her into a top hospital or call a high priest."
Soedunguri said.
"It didn't work. Famous doctors and high priests from the Ulthubati Church couldn't cure her."
"A stick treating what high priests couldn't? Doubtful."
"...Yeah, no guarantees. But unicorn horn and soul have been known since ancient times to overcome any curse, right? I'm betting on that."
As her words ended, Soedunguri silently pulled a long box from the carry-on and placed it on the table without a word.
The girl before him couldn't even imagine it, but inside was the very stick made from the unicorn horn she'd been desperately seeking.
'What to do.'
Soedunguri pondered.
The girl's sincere desire to save her family was touching, sure. But that was it.
He wasn't the old Soedunguri on the brink of death, nor the cleanup guy moved by small acts of kindness.
He had no intention of handing over a weapon for fighting necromancers just for some fleeting感動. No need, no reason.
What he was weighing was the gains after taking down the necromancer, far in the future.
Was building even a small connection by helping her a gain, or was ignoring her a gain?
Park Seti.
A superhuman he'd never heard of. That sparked endless questions.
In a looks-obsessed modern society crawling with paparazzi and SNS, how could a woman superhuman with her appearance stay unknown?
Impossible unless every paparazzo and social feed was eradicated.
So, two possibilities.
Either a superhuman living in total secrecy, or an academy student.
Given her youthful looks and impulsive behavior, the former was unlikely.
That left academy student...
Assuming she was, her actions were all profoundly meaningful.
Wealth to drop five hundred million casually, skill to freely wield the mysterious Flying Leg Art, intel to find the black market.
Just listing the facts showed she had a background beyond ordinary people, even superhumans.
'Family or disciple of someone so high up, normal folks can't even meet face-to-face.'
Having reached his conclusion, Soedunguri set up scales in his mind and asked himself.
Is befriending her a gain? Or not?
The scales tipped to yes.
Decision made, Soedunguri pushed the bag with the stick behind him and spoke.
"...Three days."
"Huh?"
"Bring the money here in three days. I'll hand over the stick then."
"Really?"
Regardless of Soedunguri's true feelings, Seti beamed.
"Thank you! Mr. Soedunguri."
***
"Is that okay?"
In the bar after Park Seti left, Jang Man sipped his drink and asked.
"What?"
"Letting her go so easily. She looked plenty suspicious to me."
"She did."
"But why? She could be connected to your enemies, or she might spread what we talked about here."
Irrefutable logic. But Soedunguri shook his head.
"...Doesn't matter."
"You fall for her already? Well, a pretty girl like that is rare."
"Not that."
"Then?"
"I took something, so I figured this much risk is acceptable."
"Took something?"
Flying Leg Art. The bizarre footwork Park Seti had used.
Soedunguri didn't explain how he'd "taken" it. He didn't know how himself.
Jang Man didn't seem to expect an explanation either, so their conversation ended there.
The next day.
Soedunguri left Jang Man's bar and headed to the sealed Pier 13.
According to the dead workshop owner's words, that was where the cleanup crew gathered corpses to hand over to the necromancer.
The deepest part of Incheon's shuttered ports, a stark symbol of its decline.
The scene at the pier where Soedunguri arrived dragging his weapons case reeked of forsaken land.
Dust piled white, trash and containers dumped haphazardly...
No scenery worth admiring, no sentiments to feel. Soedunguri first climbed a container to survey the pier's layout.
'One entrance, plenty of hiding spots thanks to the containers...'
This terrain forced close-quarters combat. Not bad for him, whose real armaments were just the shotgun and grenades.
After scouting, Soedunguri settled on top of the container.
Gazing at the sea from on high, sea breeze laced with iron tingled his nose.
Savoring it briefly, he recalled Park Seti in his mind.
More precisely, the Flying Leg Art she'd used.
True superhuman martial arts.
Their brief exchange was just that, but what she'd shown was beyond words.
How far could a mana-enhanced body move, and how?
Right before dealing with Joseph, Soedunguri had experienced a new world just from heightened senses. Her display was a shock in itself.
Enhance lower body muscles with mana for durability and power, and a kick hits like a sledgehammer?
Coat the plantar fascia with mana for max elasticity, and you bounce across the ground?
Every kick and step she'd shown was a revolution in thought for Soedunguri, a Copernican shift.
Of course, most shocking was understanding it all just from watching.
'Surely... Mignium's gift?'
No other explanation. Talent blooming late?
No way.
He'd never once thought himself talented.
It took over three full years just to learn cleanup work— if anything, he was lacking.
'Talent, talent...'
The talent from Mignium. Too vast to pin to one word. He couldn't even guess its nature.
Talent for handling mana well? For superhuman martial arts? Maybe both.
Up to there, Soedunguri stood and focused on each lower body muscle.
Something inside him—definitely mana—followed his will, wrapping his thigh muscles and flowing downward.
Past the thighs to the calves, past the calves' soleus to the soles.
As mana reached the plantar fascia at the foot's base, every muscle felt as clear as if held in his hand.
Park Seti had maintained this state to unleash Flying Leg Art. Likely its foundation.
Soedunguri recalled each trajectory of her kicks one by one.
The massive roundhouse arcing from a deep backbend, the flying kick slicing air, short side and front snaps...
And the bizarre footwork supporting it all.
Soedunguri awkwardly mimicked the same poses.
First try: clumsy.
Second: realized the clumsiness came from size difference with Seti.
Third: somewhat similar.
Fourth: bouncing off the ground just like Seti.
Fifth: nothing.
He suddenly realized the Flying Leg Art he'd seen wasn't enough for more.
If he had training manuals or martial scrolls, maybe...
'Guess this is the limit now.'
The essence, the core of the art.
Something hovered on the edge of grasp in his mind, but he couldn't pin it down.
But he realized something else.
His talent—no, Mignium's gift to him—was real.
Mastering in an instant what others trained years for, stealing a technique from one clash.
'Ha...'
The feeling right after enlightenment wasn't unease or joy.
Chill.
The chill of holding a sharp blade or a loaded gun... that flowed through his body.
No choice but to use the talent. Vengeance must be had. Even if the cost was everything.
'…'
Looking up, sunset stretched long over the sea.
Soedunguri lightly leaped down using Seti's exact footwork.
Nearly six meters, but the sound on landing was no louder than a feather falling.
"Time to prepare for our guest."
Time to absorb the stolen technique was over. Now, time to prepare for battle.
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