novelThe First Encounter (2)
| ← Ch.116 | Ch.118 → |
I jumped down from a height of around 100 meters.
Air pressure seemed to constrict my body, but my feet were on the ground before I noticed. Even with my weak body, I didn't feel much pain.
However, my smartwatch told me the cold truth. With that fall, I lost 15% of the stats I obtained through Energy Conversion.
Though it felt like a bit of a waste, I put the thought aside and quickly ran to Chae Nayun.
"Ah...."
Chae Nayun was sitting on the asphalt, holding onto her stomach. Even though she was hit with such a powerful blast of magic power without qi reinforcement, her injuries didn't seem all that serious.
"Kueek!"
... Or at least, that's what I thought. Almost as if to prove me wrong, she coughed up a mouthful of blood. Chae Nayun then staggered a bit before collapsing on the ground.
"Hey, wake up."
"... Kim Hajin?"
Breathing roughly, Chae Nayun looked up at me blankly.
I took out a potion from my belt bag and poured the red liquid into Chae Nayun's mouth.
"Drink it."
"Uup."
Chae Nayun managed to swallow the entire potion, but a potion was painful regardless of whether it was applied externally or internally.
"Uu! Uk! Uuk!"
Chae Nayun twisted her body in pain before fainting.
However, her pulse was normal and steady, and her breathing soon returned to normal. In 20 minutes or so, she should be fully recovered.
I pulled Chae Nayun away and hid her in some shrubbery nearby. Then, I quickly ran back and looked at Kim Suho and Jin Sahyuk.
—Try running to that girl. I'll kill you both.
—... Why did you change so much?
—Change? First, don't you talk to me so casually. We might be in a new world, but that doesn't change our past relationship.
Kim Suho and Jin Sahyuk began to talk to each other about their past. Nobles, peasants, knights, continent, sword technique... words only they could understand rang out.
It looked like a fight would break out once they were finished.
—Siqoal, Rowle!
Soon, Jin Sahyuk unleashed her magic power with a thunderous roar.
Her magic power condensed into dozens of spears and rose up into the air.
The magic power weapons flashed with a cold light as they targeted Kim Suho. Against these terrifying spears, Kim Suho only had a steel pipe he found on the ground.
—Do you need to do this? What reason is there for us to fight?
—What are you smoking? Anyways, is that steel pipe going to be enough?
After a short exchange of words, she sent her spears flying like bullets.
The spears were impossible to track with the naked eye and accompanied a vicious destructive power and explosive blast. Almost like missiles flying through the sky, the spears rained down from the sky.
Kim Suho dodged what he could and parried the ones he couldn't.
The spears that missed pierced through the asphalt, creating huge craters. As a result, the ground caved in and many of the amusement park rides broke down.
After a full minute of Jin Sahyuk's attacks...
Disneyland turned into a wasteland devoid of hopes and dreams.
"She's OP...."
Jin Sahyuk destroyed her surroundings just with her magic power, without moving even a single step.
To make matters worse, Kim Suho didn't have Misteltein with him. As Kim Suho's antithesis, Jin Sahyuk didn't use 'weapons'. The source of her strength was her overwhelming steel-colored magic power.
Kim Suho was incapable of defeating Jin Sahyuk.
No, the current Kim Suho didn't even have the intention of defeating her.
"... Huup!"
Kim Suho swung his pipe, sending a magic spear back to Jin Sahyuk. However, Jin Sahyuk's defense was just as strong as her offense, easily blocking the spear with a shield of magic power.
At the same time, a magic spear struck Kim Suho's shoulder.
"Uk!"
Although Kim Suho's qi reinforcement managed to stop the spear from penetrating his skin, Kim Suho was sent flying by the impact.
Jin Sahyuk didn't miss this opening. Beams of magic power shot toward Kim Suho who was still in mid-air.
Boom, boom, boom, boom.
Dozens of blasts made Kim Suho's body ricochet in the air. Even after Kim Suho lost consciousness, Jin Sahyuk's attacks continued.
It seemed like I had no choice but to intervene.
Thankfully, I had some medicine ready for moments like this.
[Your stats increase by 1. 5 points for 10 minutes. ]
[Overlapping consumption further increases your stats by 0. 75 points for 5 minutes. ]
[Overlapping consumption further increases your stats by 0. 375 points for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. ]
Feeling a surge of energy coursing through my body, I slowly walked up and stood in front of Kim Suho.
I couldn't help but wonder what I was doing as a supporting character, but reality had deviated from the script long ago. As the character who was inserted into this new scenario, I had to correct it.
"Give it a rest."
"Hm? Who are... Oh, the guy from yesterday."
Perhaps because of our eye contact yesterday, Jin Sahyuk stopped attacking for a moment.
"You're his teacher?"
"... Teacher?"
Ah, I guess I didn't look like a high schooler with my beard.
I smirked and opened my mouth to correct her.
But at that moment, Jin Sahyuk's magic spears shot toward me.
Shoulders, neck, heart, right leg, left arm.... In the blink of an eye, six spears shot past me, locking me in place.
BOOM!
A huge explosion erupted behind me.
I fell in a daze at the sudden barrage of attacks, but I soon snapped out.
Jin Sahyuk's killing intent was still present.
In other words, she wasn't done yet.
I immediately activated Bullet Time as a single spear shot toward my head.
In the slowed world, I could at least feel its movement.
I tilted my head to the side and dodged the spear by the skin of my teeth.
BOOM!
The spear then struck the merry-go-round behind me and exploded.
"... Hm."
If Jin Sahyuk continued her attack, I wouldn't have survived.
However, she only stared at me with a look of surprise.
"You dodged that? I thought for sure you wouldn't since you didn't react at all to the other six."
Seeing her serpentine eyes, my heart began to beat crazily.
Her eyes were full of interest. I wasn't sure if it was because of what happened last night, but Jin Sahyuk was overestimating me.
In that case, it was probably best that I play the role.
"Why don't you stop here? Kim Suho and I didn't even bring our weapons."
I spoke as imposingly as I could.
The Jin Sahyuk I knew wasn't the type who couldn't hold back her temper. Since she beat up Kim Suho, she should be content.
"And why don't you answer my question? Are you his teacher?"
Jin Sahyuk asked once again.
I shook my head.
"No, I'm a friend of the guy you sent flying."
"Then leave. Otherwise, I'll bury you with him."
... Jin Sahyuk was more violent than I thought.
With no other choice, I put my hand in my pocket.
From the looks of it, Jin Sahyuk had no intention of stopping here. In that case, I had to take advantage of her reckless personality to get out of this situation.
I compressed Aether into a 500 won coin and 'scanned' it.
As I slowly took it out of my pocket, I looked at the number inscribed on it - 40%.
"What's that?"
Jin Sahyuk furrowed her brows looking at the 500 won coin.
"I told you, I didn't bring my weapon."
"... So?"
"So, I'll just have to throw this at your face."
When I said that with a shrug, Jin Sahyuk began to snicker.
Thankfully, her arrogant personality seemed to have stayed the same.
I let out a dry cough and asked carefully.
"Can I try?"
".. Pftt. Try it if you think you can hit me."
She stretched her arms out, showing her willingness to take on my attack.
I smiled inwardly as I gripped the 500 won coin.
I only had one chance.
I had to strike her head with the coin.
I wrapped the coin with all of Stigma's magic power with the property of anti-magic and added one more item to it.
[Ginseng Pill]
—Seeps into emitted magic power and strengthens it.
It was a similar method to what I used in the past to kill Evandel and obtain Aether.
I melted the ginseng pill into the anti-magic magic power enveloping the coin.
Then, I glared at Jin Sahyuk.
She was watching me with eyes full of anticipation.
While she was showing no signs of defending, the anti-magic magic power began to let out a bright blue light after infusing with the ginseng pill.
"Oho, that's quite an interesting—"
"... Huup!"
Without showing any hesitation, I mustered all the power I had into my right arm.
The muscles on my right arm puffed up as I squeezed out every single drop of Stigma's magic power and threw the coin.
Pshuuuu—!
The coin shot toward Jin Sahyuk, spinning fiercely. Stigma's magic power enhanced the coin's power many times over.
Jin Sahyuk watched the coin's movement at ease and created a magic power shield.
Anyone could see at first glance that there was something unique about her magic power. The clearness and toughness of her shield was proof of it.
But no matter how strong her magic power was, it was magic power in the end.
Drrrrr-!
Using its centrifugal and rotational force, the anti-magic coin drilled a hole in Jin Sahyuk's shield, continuing through and striking the area between her eyebrows.
"What—!"
The coin began to push her back fiercely.
Jin Sahyuk kept her eyes open as she withstood the coin's force. As she was being pushed back, her feet plowed through the asphalt.
"... Fuck."
The coin eventually came to a stop, but Jin Sahyuk wasn't even showing signs of fainting.
Clang—
The coin fell to the ground.
At the same time, two streams of blood flowed down from her forehead.
"That hurt...."
Jin Sahyuk condensed her magic power while giving me a deathly glare. However, my coin certainly succeeded in damaging her brain. The brain was a vital organ in wielding magic power. As a result, she couldn't condense her magic power into the form she desired, and it repeatedly broke down.
This looked like a golden opportunity.
However, I only looked at her without doing anything.
It was because I couldn't move even a finger. Along with Stigma's magic power, I also had squeezed out every stat boost from Energy Conversion.
... I was at a loss for what to do.
But at that moment, a man appeared like a savior.
"That's enough. Get back."
It was the mysterious man who was with Jin Sahyuk last night.
Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, he grabbed Jin Sahyuk's arm and pulled her back.
"... Ah, let me go. I'm fine. I can still kill him."
Despite what she was saying, she wasn't in a good condition. She couldn't even stand straight and was staggering back and forth.
"Ehew."
With a sigh, the man karate chopped Jin Sahyuk's neck. Immediately, the light in her eyes flickered out, and she collapsed on the ground. The man picked up Jin Sahyuk and hung her on his shoulder. Then, he stared back at me.
His eyes were cold.
"This is our first meeting, right?"
I only nodded. I couldn't move my mouth.
"Mm... well thanks to you, she won't be so careless next time."
With just that, the man disappeared.
**
By the time the dispatched Heroes arrived and were cleaning up the mess in Disneyland, the man was on the move with Jin Sahyuk on his shoulder. As she couldn't struggle, she was as light as a feather, but the man could feel his back getting wet.
"Ah, she's drooling.... Do you have to sleep so dirtily?"
The man used his magic power to put a mask over her mouth.
When he was about to leave Disneyland's premises...
"Where are you going?"
The cold voice of a woman held him back.
To the man, it was a familiar voice.
After coming to a stop, he smiled joyfully and turned to the direction of the voice.
"... Jain."
The voice that called him belonged to a woman, but the person in front of him was a man dressed as Disneyland's security guard. But because of Jain's voice, he easily recognized that it was her.
Jain smirked and nodded.
"It's been a while, old man."
"... Yeah, it really has."
Looking at Jain, the man remembered the days when he wasn't called by his name, but a color.
Putting this useless thought aside, the man asked Jain.
"I heard the empty seat will be filled soon... is the little brat not here?"
'Little brat' referred to Boss, and in this world, only he was qualified to call her that.
Jain retorted simply.
"I'd rather not see blood."
"Oh~ worrying about me?"
"No, I'm worrying about Boss. Because she can't win against you."
"... Hm."
The man stared intently at Jain. With just a look, Jain's camouflage faded away. Soon, her true beautiful appearance revealed itself.
"... Then why did you come?"
"No reason. I just wanted to see how well you were doing."
Jain glanced at the girl on his shoulder.
"Looks like you already found a new child."
At this, the man simply smiled.
"Right, she's my disciple. Though, she's a bit special and is constantly trying to kill me."
In the next moment, magic power condensed around the man's hand.
No, his hand transformed into magic power itself.
"So, Jain looks like you gained some confidence. Or did you just become fearless?"
His magic power hand wavered like a heat wave. It would be impossible for anything that made contact with it to come out unscathed.
However, Jain was steadfast even at his clear threat.
"Remember what you said? That people who have something to protect can't act as they wish."
Jain moved her hand and pointed at the girl on his shoulder.
"Just like how you can kill me, I can kill that girl."
"... I guess you're right."
The man smiled lightly. At the same time, the undulating magic power surrounding him disappeared like it never existed.
"Then I'll take my leave now. It was good to see you."
The man walked past Jain under the faint moonlight.
Glancing at his back, Jain continued what she came to say.
"Are you fine just leaving like this?"
Jain's voice rang out behind the man.
"The new Black discovered by Boss. A wolf hired solely to kill you."
The man continued to walk without replying.
Just like how Fenrir devoured Odin alive, Boss gave Kim Hajin the name, hoping to reproduce the olden myth.
"Fenrir is right there."
Only then did the man stop.
On his face hidden from Jain's view was a surprising, thick smile.
"I wish him the best of luck."
The man remembered what he saw before.
Although Jin Sahyuk's foolish carelessness played a huge role in the outcome, the boy had suppressed his disciple with only a single, special coin.
"It looks like..."
The man turned around, revealing the smile on his face.
"He has the potential."
His easygoing attitude was as though he really wanted to be killed.
Hearing this, Jain's expression turned sour, but she returned an even thicker smile, refusing to lose.
| ← Ch. 116 | Ch. 118 → |