I was walking around, taking in the sights, when Yoo Yeonha suddenly stopped. Then she spun around and snapped at me in a biting tone.
“Shall we go our separate ways?”
“……Huh? Ah. Yeah, sure. Let’s do that.”
Yoo Yeonha was probably planning to head to the guild operated by her father. That suited me just fine. I had intended to join Kim Suho’s group anyway, regardless of what Yoo Yeonha did.
“Ah, and there you go again.”
Apparently her anger had flared up once more. Yoo Yeonha put her hands on her hips and glared at me.
“I told you not to speak informally to me.”
“……What?”
“This is your second warning. There won’t be a third.”
Yoo Yeonha’s warning was no empty threat. If I went over three times, there was no telling what kind of insane retaliation that woman might inflict on me.
“Yes. Understood. I’m sorry.”
“……Tsk.”
The noble lady Yoo Yeonha walked away without even saying goodbye. The extent of her dislike for me was practically at alarm-level proportions.
And so, Yoo Yeonha and I parted ways five minutes after arriving in Seoul.
* * *
“Whew, I thought I’d gotten lost.”
After three transfers, I finally arrived. That place over there was the National Weapons Museum. It was a museum displaying weapons discovered in Korea over the years—though naturally, not the genuine articles, but replicas modeled after them.
An incident would take place there today. With a nervous heart, I stepped inside.
─Dad, what’s that?
─Ah, that’s called a Sagungeom (四寅劍)……
Perhaps because it was lunchtime on a weekend, the place was bustling with people. There were plenty of hopeful children who dreamed of becoming heroes, along with their parents.
Yet even in a sea of people, there were always those who stood out in particular. Chae Nayun and Kim Suho were that sort. Of the two, the person I could see right now was Chae Nayun.
“……I want it.”
She was licking her lips greedily at the bow displayed inside a glass case.
But Chae Nayun wasn’t my objective today. I turned my gaze away and began searching for someone else. It didn’t take long. The man’s distinctive height and absurd proportions made him stand out like a needle in a haystack.
I casually approached him and scanned the weapon Kim Suho was looking up at. Fortunately, it was a weapon I knew as well.
“Is this the Chiljido?”
The Chiljido (七支刀), an iron sword that Baekje—the strongest kingdom at the time, before the Korean Peninsula had been unified—bestowed upon Japan. It was a historical weapon discovered in the final room when the Wiryeseong Dungeon was conquered.
“Hmm? Uh……”
Kim Suho’s gaze, which had been fixed on the Chiljido, turned toward me. His lips moved, but he couldn’t seem to get any words out. Somehow, I thought I knew why.
“Kim Hajin.”
“Ah. Right. Sorry. You appeared so suddenly that I forgot for a second.”
He smiled amiably and pointed toward another section.
“Right, there was Napoleon’s rifle over there too. Have you seen it?”
“……Napoleon’s rifle?”
“Yeah. Apparently, they got it as a reward when they conquered a dungeon in France a long time ago.”
According to my setting, anything touched by the hands of a legendary figure from the past became a relic. So an item like “Napoleon’s rifle” could indeed exist. Naturally, I would love to have such a rare item, but I had no interest in a replica.
“No. I don’t think we have time.”
A flat, disinterested tone slipped from me before I could stop it.
It felt strange meeting the protagonist I had created myself. But it certainly wasn’t pleasant.
Kim Suho was handsome, exceptionally skilled in martial arts, and had no flaws in his character. He was too perfect to possess any humanity. That was probably why quite a few readers had cheered for Shin Jonghak instead.
No, that wasn’t the reason. It should be about time for it to appear. I tapped the toe of my sneaker against the floor.
“Then……”
It was precisely when Kim Suho was about to say something to me.
─Kuuuuung!
A tremendous roar resounded from somewhere and reached us. In an instant, the noisy interior of the museum fell silent.
In the deathly stillness, thud. Thud. Thud. The vibrations rang out like a pounding heartbeat.
The pounding, reminiscent of the footsteps of some gigantic creature, soon changed into the sounds of things exploding and shattering, spreading throughout the museum.
“Eeeeeek!”
“What is that?!”
Questions turned into confusion, and confusion into panic. Ordinary visitors screamed and tried to flee the museum. But outside, they would find nothing but death. The museum was the safest place in the vicinity.
“Stay here! You mustn’t go outside!”
Knowing that, Kim Suho stepped forward.
The area outside had currently been invaded by mid-level monsters and their underlings. It wasn’t an invasion in the true sense, since they were far too easy an opponent.
The stationed heroes would arrive within a minute, and it would take only twenty minutes to resolve the situation.
But that wasn’t the end of the matter.
A demon.
A demon was here. Put simply, this was a diversionary operation. Heroes generally moved toward the most dangerous area first. Since the museum had guards, its danger level was lower, and thus its priority was extremely low. The Demon Association had sent an assassin here, targeting that very weakness. The target was a child whom the Hero Association considered to possess an exceptionally special talent.
Crash─
A sharp noise rang out from all directions. The sound of a window breaking and its shards scattering across the floor. The source wasn’t far away. Kim Suho looked toward it and cried out in shock.
“Chae Nayun!”
Chae Nayun was in the process of smashing an entire display room apart and pulling out the bow that had been exhibited inside.
“Are you insane?!”
“No, I’m perfectly sane.”
It was a replica, but it was still an official exhibit. In response to the threat of robbery, the museum activated its defensive mechanisms. As a result, every entrance was blocked by barriers in less than three seconds. The citizens became even more panicked, but a mid-level monster could never break through barriers of such incredible strength.
“Isn’t this better than grabbing everyone one by one and explaining things to them?”
After saying that, she cleared her throat and shouted at the confused citizens.
“Everyone! Stay where you are! It’s safer here! We’re heroes too!”
“No, but even so……”
“Shut up. Don’t just stand there spacing out. Take one too.”
“What? Why should I?”
“The real danger isn’t outside right now.”
Chae Nayun continued to focus her gaze on us…… No, on Kim Suho, as she nocked a mana arrow into her bow.
“Look at that guy.”
She indicated him with a glance. A man wearing a black coat stood there. Before Kim Suho could say anything, Chae Nayun fired an arrow without the slightest hesitation.
“Hey, wait—”
The mana arrow pierced the neck of the man who had been walking peacefully along. Kim Suho’s movements stopped for an instant. He stared blankly, as though Chae Nayun’s sudden act of murder had rendered him unconscious.
Of course, if the man had been an ordinary citizen as Kim Suho thought, that attack would certainly have killed him instantly. But the man was still alive. He even seized the arrow in his hand. Black mana rose from his grasp and burned the arrow to ash.
Step. Step.
He twisted his body and looked toward the direction from which the arrow had flown. His eyes burned crimson-black, radiating fierce hostility.
“……”
There was no need to say anything else. He was a demon.
Kim Suho’s face turned cold. Just as Chae Nayun had done, he smashed apart a display case.
The Chiljido appeared in his hands. Though it was a replica, it had been faithfully recreated, giving it performance comparable to that of a high-grade weapon. It should be more than enough to exterminate a demon like that.
“Oh, that’s a nice weapon. I heard it splits into seven branches.”
Chae Nayun sauntered over with a mocking grin and stood beside him.
I took out my pistol and started to stand beside them as well, but then I quietly retreated a couple of steps.
I was still far too weak. If I needlessly drew attention to myself and became marked by that demon, my life would be ruined.
────────────────────────────────────
────────────────────────────────────
Discrepancy (2)
A sharp blue sword aura rose from the Chiljido. The purity of the blue mana illuminated the blade even more vividly. Chae Nayun glanced at Kim Suho’s Chiljido and asked,
“Ready?”
“Yeah.”
I slowly withdrew to the rear. There was nothing for me to do here. This demon would be dispatched with ease once Kim Suho released the power he had been hiding. This was the moment when Chae Nayun, overwhelmed by his strength, would abandon her sense of rivalry—and also the moment when she would begin harboring feelings of love for Kim Suho.
“Cover me.”
Kim Suho spoke as he adjusted his grip on the blade.
“Cover you? I’m going to kill him myself.”
Chae Nayun answered boldly as she loaded a mana arrow.
“Grrrrrrr─!”
But before she could fire, the demon burned through his own mana. Pitch-black evil energy surged forward like a raging inferno. Yet a single flash of light met it and annihilated it. A Sword Saint could cut through not only fire and wind, but even mana itself.
Beyond the dissipating mana, Chae Nayun’s arrow flew in. The mana-condensed arrow pierced both of the demon’s shoulders.
Kim Suho didn’t miss the opening. He leaped high and swung the Chiljido, held in both hands, diagonally downward.
That slash should certainly have cleaved through the demon’s abdomen.
Yet despite having his flesh cut open, the demon smiled brightly. Kim Suho instinctively sensed that something had gone wrong.
In the next instant, fierce mana poured out from the gaping wound.
Like being swallowed by a surging tidal wave, Kim Suho was engulfed by it. He didn’t even have time to scream. He was sent flying and slammed into the wall of the museum.
“……”
“……”
Chae Nayun and I were both rendered speechless.
This was strange.
Something was wrong. My plot definitely hadn’t gone this way. The demon was supposed to gain the upper hand at first, but once Kim Suho released his power, he was supposed to overwhelm it in battle. But……
“Ugh……”
Fortunately, Kim Suho got back up quickly, but he didn’t look to be in good condition.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“I’m fine…… Ngh.”
Kim Suho needed time to recover from his injuries. The demon was now walking toward Chae Nayun. Her face went rigid.
Whoosh─
Whoosh─
Chae Nayun fired arrow after arrow. But none of them landed effectively. Even after firing so many that her hands trembled, until arrows bristled from the demon’s entire body like the quills of a porcupine, the demon didn’t stop.
“……This isn’t regeneration.”
Chae Nayun muttered absently. Just as she said, the demon wasn’t regenerating. It simply had an overwhelming degree of toughness. From the beginning, it was an opponent Chae Nayun couldn’t fight—in other words, her natural enemy.
Fear and terror rose in her face, which had gone pale with despair.
“Then cover me!”
At that moment, Kim Suho charged at the demon again and blocked its path. But the demon kept its eyes fixed on Chae Nayun. It condensed black mana around one arm, shaping it into the form of a gigantic beast. Resembling a wolf, it bared its vicious jaws and lunged at Kim Suho.
“Ugh!”
The demon fought Kim Suho with one arm while extending the other and grabbing Chae Nayun by the face.
“This looks bad.”
I hurriedly fled behind a display room. But someone was already there. A group that appeared to be a father and his child.
“……Go over there.”
“Pardon?”
“I said go farther back. It’s dangerous here.”
I could feel the tremor in my own voice. To be honest, I was absolutely terrified.
“B-but still……”
“They won’t pay attention to you while they’re fighting anyway. Hurry!”
At my urging, the group crouched down and hurried away as though fleeing.
I took a laptop out of my crossbody bag.
The demon I had created wasn’t supposed to be this powerful. And what was with that arm? I glanced over and saw the wolf-like arm fighting Kim Suho on equal terms. I had never set anything like that up.
I had to do something. If this continued, either Kim Suho or Chae Nayun might die.
I disassembled the magazine and placed a single bullet on top of the laptop. But because of this damned tremor, my hand kept shaking.
I checked the bullet’s settings on the laptop.
===
[Mana Bullet]
「Neutral Attribute」 「Destructive Power (3/10)」
─A bullet condensed with mana. It possesses far greater destructive power than a gunpowder round.
===
This wasn’t enough. A destructive power of only 3 wouldn’t even leave a scratch on that demon. But even if I increased its destructive power, could I inflict a fatal wound on it? That, too, was questionable.
Fortunately, the hint lay within my own settings.
The reason this world needed so many different kinds of heroes was precisely because of the concept of “attributes.”
Many things change depending on one’s attribute. Affinities that are close to natural enemies, such as water and fire, or wind and metal, can even allow one to overcome a difference in rank to some extent.
If so, then it was certain that this demon was of the dark attribute. There was no doubt that what incinerated darkness was ‘light.’ And I could fight the enemy accordingly.
All I had to do was modify the attribute of this bullet.
===
[White Light Bullet]
「Light Attribute」 「Destructive Power (5/10)」
─A bullet condensed from the essence of light. It possesses the property of causing a secondary explosion inside the target’s body.
===
[104 SP is required. Would you like to modify it?]
It required a great deal of SP. Eighty percent of the SP I had gathered over the past week. But I still couldn’t feel at ease with this much. If there was a shortage, having more than enough was far better for now.
I tried modifying the destructive power to 6.
[The value is being readjusted due to insufficient SP.]
「Destructive Power (5.6/10)」
[Would you like to save the modifications?]
I pressed save. At that moment, a pure white light burst from the laptop and seeped into the magic bullet.
A faint white radiance flowed through the steel casing of the bullet.
Modification complete.
I loaded only this single light bullet into the chamber and took a deep breath. I stole a glance beyond the wall.
Chae Nayun was still struggling in the demon’s grasp, while Kim Suho was fighting the demon’s right arm. No—he was driving it back. The battle was that much in our favor. It seemed that he would soon be able to defeat the ‘one arm.’
But Chae Nayun was the problem. Whether she couldn’t breathe or was being poisoned by the demon’s magic power, the area around her neck had turned purple.
I clicked my tongue and dashed outside.
"Hey!"
Then I shouted loudly.
"Move!"
Kim Suho rolled far to the side without even looking back. The demon still tried to pursue Kim Suho, but because of that, its area of exposure only grew wider.
I pulled the trigger without hesitation. A flash erupted from the muzzle. It was an intensely white light, as though flashes had gone off all around us.
The light bullet released pressure and heat befitting its brilliance. The pistol couldn’t withstand it and exploded in my hand. Fragments of its components lodged in my palm, which began to roast from the heat. The pain was enough to make my brain feel as though it would fly apart.
Fortunately, the bullet’s trajectory did not waver. It flew toward the demon’s shoulder—the shoulder of the arm holding Chae Nayun.
A direct hit.
A cloud of pure white light spread from the demon’s arm. The light bullet had exploded inside its body. The light purified and annihilated its shoulder, and the demon lost one of its arms.
Chae Nayun, who had been caught in its grasp and was slowly dying, was freed.
Kim Suho did not miss the opening. Metallic magic power with a distinct form imbued his sword. The Sword Saint’s swordsmanship, capable of cutting through everything, finally manifested. Once a day was probably still his limit, but that was enough.
Now, all I had to do was watch.
"······Huh?"
But then a child approached me. It was the child who had been with the father just now. The child’s face was pretty, but with hair cut very short, it was difficult to tell the child’s gender. Suddenly, the child grabbed my hand.
At that moment, the wound on my hand healed completely.
Ah, so this was that child. The child the Association had barely managed to find—the one who possessed the power of healing.
"Thank you."
I gave a small laugh and patted the child’s head.
Grrrr──!
Then a deep, ominous sound rang out. I turned my gaze in that direction. The demon that had lost one arm collapsed, while Kim Suho knelt on one knee before it, breathing heavily.
In any case, I guess we won.
"Whoo...."
As all the strength drained from my body, I let out a sigh of its own accord.
I lay flat on my back on the ground.
* * *
"Ueeeg!"
Chae Nayun, who had just regained consciousness, was vomiting with her face pressed against the floor. Vomit poured endlessly from her small mouth. Undigested food became filth clinging to the ground. Yellowish gastric juices and transparent tears layered over it.
Chae Nayun continued retching as though she were coughing up blood. The agony seemed to reach even those of us watching her.
Chae Nayun had chosen the bow for a reason similar to mine. On the outside, she acted more manly than any man, but inside, she was nothing more than a delicate flower raised in an utterly sheltered greenhouse. Overcoming that fragile disposition was still a story for the distant future.
"······."
Kim Suho approached and tried to pat her on the back. But Chae Nayun’s fierce hand slapped his away. With no other choice, Kim Suho stepped back.
"Leave her. Her brother will be here soon to comfort her."
I said it without thinking. That was how the story proceeded in reality. Her older brother would arrive first, and then her father would come and settle everything.
However, my insensitivity seemed to feel like an insult to Chae Nayun.
"You, you—"