My hand was caught.
By the man I’d just attacked.
He’d definitely been electrocuted. His heart had even stopped. And yet, he was opening his eyes again this fast.
Is his ability some kind of regeneration type?
Electric attacks didn’t work on Choi Haegang. And worse, Choi Haegang now knew that Seo Sinwoo was an Awakener.
Of all the worst-case scenarios I’d worried about, this was the worst one yet….
Cold sweat ran down.
“Th-this is….”
Grip.
To make matters worse, the caught hand wouldn’t come free.
“…..”
Seo Sinwoo focused his ability into his hand without thinking.
Crackle! Crack, crackle!
Sparks flew wildly, but Choi Haegang didn’t even flinch.
As the standoff dragged on, the muscle melted by the heat began to grow slack. Seo Sinwoo seized the moment to yank his hand free.
At the same time, Choi Haegang swung his sword.
“Whoa!”
Choi Haegang took up his stance in an instant. By the time the hastily dodging Seo Sinwoo lifted his head, the man had already re-gripped his sword.
And then unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks.
“W-wait! There’s been a misunderstanding—”
Whoosh—.
Dodged again.
That’s when he noticed.
Compared to six years from now, his movements were slow.
First, he caused a small explosion underfoot to put some distance between them. The residual electricity on the floor crackled faintly.
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding…!”
Choi Haegang charged at him again without even listening, and that made his heart race.
“Hajae!”
He brought up the name of Yeom Hajae, who seemed to matter to this man. The opponent, who hadn’t even pretended to listen to anything he said until now, froze for a moment.
…What do I say?
Rolling his eyes, Seo Sinwoo read the mood and said,
“I planted a bomb in Hajae’s body.”
It was a childish lie.
But the swordsman’s movements stopped, even if just for a moment. Seo Sinwoo quickly stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a fistful of whatever he could grab.
If a simple electric shock wouldn’t work, there was no choice but to try another attack. That was the calculation.
But what came out of his pocket was nothing but a bunch of jewel-studded accessories.
Fuck!
He regretted not buying other weapons in the past, having put too much faith in his ability.
It wasn’t a matter of these things being useless as weapons.
It’s such a waste to use these.
These were the jewels he’d just carefully pickpocketed off the injured. Do you have any idea how hard he’d worked to do that without drawing attention?
Holding back tears inside, Seo Sinwoo decided to use the jewels.
Better than shooting electricity into thin air, I guess.
As long as he was alive, he could always refill his pockets later.
“So…, an electric bomb….”
Seo Sinwoo drew out his words.
Choi Haegang was watching Seo Sinwoo’s movements quietly.
He met Choi Haegang’s eyes the way one would try to calm a wary cat. He curved his eyes into a gentle smile, as if to say he had no intention of attacking.
“Like this….”
He used an electric field to lift the accessories into the air. As he condensed the electricity, blue sparks crackled off the metal.
He fired them immediately using electromagnetic force, so the man wouldn’t have a chance to react even if he saw it coming.
“Ta-da.”
The accessories flew off, leaving golden afterimages.
A speed impossible to follow with the eye.
They lodged into the swordsman’s body without giving him any chance to dodge. Some of them passed clean through his flesh and vanished into the distance.
And then, the small bombs that had successfully embedded themselves in his body—
immediately detonated, releasing a surge of electricity.
Boom!
With a deafening blast, colorful powder scattered everywhere.
Fragments of metal and gems caught the sunlight and glittered as they floated through the air. It was a beautiful sight, oddly out of place for the situation.
Huh? Pretty….
Seo Sinwoo, momentarily entranced by the sight, shook his head to snap himself back to focus.
“Ahem…. Haegang?”
Choi Haegang didn’t move.
Instead—
Splash!
Blood poured onto the floor.
It was a current strong enough to kill an ordinary person instantly through electrocution and then some. But death by electrocution couldn’t be counted on.
That’s why he’d deliberately caused a physical explosion inside Choi Haegang’s body.
How would this turn out?
Seo Sinwoo secretly hoped Choi Haegang would collapse. Earlier, he’d seemed to briefly lose consciousness, after all.
“Ah.”
Contrary to that hope, the wounds began to close.
As if nothing had happened at all.
Fully recovered, Choi Haegang kicked off the ground and charged again.
Wait, after losing that much blood…?
Dodging the attack, Seo Sinwoo rubbed his goosebump-covered arm. The way the man kept stubbornly getting up no matter what was done to him sent chills down his spine — it was like a cockroach.
Still, the guy was affected by the attacks to some extent. He did pause briefly whenever he took a hit. Seo Sinwoo took comfort in that small fact.
After that, he focused on dodging by using various large objects as shields.
A chair leg, a wall, a pot….
Slash.
That’s when Choi Haegang cut through a piece of pottery.
“Ugh….”
The water inside burst out like a waterfall, drenching Choi Haegang completely.
The whole area turned into a sea of water.
The situation now favored an electricity user.
While dodging attacks, Seo Sinwoo gradually channeled his ability little by little, hindering Choi Haegang’s movements.
Then, suddenly, with careful calculation, he let an opening slip through.
He’d already bought enough time.
With that thought, Seo Sinwoo deliberately let himself get grazed by an attack and fell.
[Karma: 59774 (-5)]
Clang!
Beyond the Karma window, two swords clashed. Yeom Hajae, who had appeared without anyone noticing, blocked Choi Haegang’s attack with his own sword.
“…Hyung.”
Choi Haegang’s eyes flicked over. Above, the one who’d brought Yeom Hajae here was flapping his wings. Seeing the tense face of the youngest member, Choi Haegang clicked his tongue.
Inwardly cheering, Seo Sinwoo trembled his voice as if frightened.
“H-Hajae….”
“…I heard a loud noise, so I came to check.”
Having traded blows and dodges back and forth, the two had ended up in the middle of the room without realizing it.
“Haegang. Were you threatening a civilian again?”
“…..”
Yeom Hajae sheathed his sword.
Choi Haegang silently lowered his sword as well. He didn’t put it back in its scabbard, but it was an admirable enough reaction.
Wow. This actually works?
For that lunatic to stop attacking with his opponent right in front of him— the Choi Haegang of six years ago was far softer than expected.
Seo Sinwoo secretly thrilled at the thought that he’d gained the upper hand over him.
Meanwhile, Choi Haegang—
“…That’s not it. Look.”
spoke calmly, as always.
A civilian, huh. What a ridiculous claim. In this fight, it was Choi Haegang, not this suspicious Awakener, who had taken far more hits.
But.
“Look? All I see is a citizen who’s been hurt, Haegang.”
Blood was flowing visibly from Seo Sinwoo’s chest.
Meanwhile, all of Choi Haegang’s wounds had vanished. Even the blood that had been on his body had been washed away by the water. Since his opponent was the one bleeding, the bloodstains on his clothes couldn’t prove that he’d been the one attacked.
Moreover, aside from the strike using the accessories, Seo Sinwoo had used his ability in a relatively inconspicuous way.
There was no visible evidence left behind.
“Heh….”
Seo Sinwoo held back a laugh.
“…..”
Choi Haegang glared at Seo Sinwoo. Yeom Hajae stepped in front of Seo Sinwoo as if to protect him, blocking that gaze.
“I made the wrong call. Looks like I shouldn’t have left just you behind.”
His eyes were filled with unmistakable distrust.
If he thought about it calmly, it would’ve been easy to see that this incident wasn’t a one-sided attack from Choi Haegang.
But right now, Yeom Hajae had no room for that kind of composure.
They were in a race against time to rescue civilians. With repeated scouting yielding nothing, Yeom Hajae had grown extremely on edge.
Choi Haegang had a history of causing incidents by threatening ordinary people in the past.
On top of that, his usual aggressive tendencies….
To Yeom Hajae, Choi Haegang was both a comrade and a cherished younger brother.
Which was exactly why he couldn’t believe it. He knew the person Choi Haegang was, all too well. And that’s exactly why his distrust of him ran so deep.
Seo Sinwoo, quietly hiding behind him, felt relieved seeing Yeom Hajae’s attitude.
What’s this? Guess they’re not all just one big happy family after all.
That made things a lot easier.
Seo Sinwoo’s mind immediately started working.
His having an ability had already been exposed. But killing Yeom Hajae, who was taking his side, would only provoke unnecessary anger.
How could he survive this situation….
Hm…. A hostage situation?
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a low voice spoke up.
“Hyung, get back. That guy—”
Choi Haegang couldn’t finish his sentence.
“Ugh, it hurts. I’m dying….”
“Are you okay? Ah, let me stop the bleeding for you.”
Seo Sinwoo leaned against Yeom Hajae, placing a hand on his shoulder. It was a natural-seeming movement.
While still looking at Choi Haegang, he fiddled with Yeom Hajae’s shoulder.
Slowly, threateningly.
Seo Sinwoo mouthed silently,
This is your weak point, isn’t it?
Understanding the meaning, Choi Haegang’s face turned cold and hard.
The veins on his hand bulged as he slightly raised his sword again.
That’s when—
Thud!
Thud!
Everyone turned toward the door. The air froze.
Thud!
The ground shook ominously.
The sound of massive footsteps.
Thud!
And it was getting closer.
One thing was clear — something enormous was approaching.
Maybe a few dozen seconds until it arrived. Sensing the danger, everyone fell silent.
A monster?
Yeom Hajae instinctively looked around for somewhere to hide.
Choi Haegang had destroyed everything nearby. There was nowhere to hide.
Realizing this, the youngest member, who had landed beside them, hurriedly asked Yeom Hajae,
“Hyung! What do we do?”
“…..”
“Carrying all three at once is impossible….”
With the youngest’s ability, they could move quickly to another location.
But all three couldn’t escape at once. Two might be possible, but….
Should we just stand and fight, dangerous as it is?
Fighting without knowing the enemy’s characteristics carried a huge risk.
While Yeom Hajae was caught in fierce indecision, Seo Sinwoo’s eyes flashed.
This is my chance to bolt.
He’d been at a loss for how much longer this dragging standoff would continue anyway.
He’d told the guy to behave and stay put, only for the lunatic to raise his weapon again instead. This was his chance to get away from Choi Haegang.
The monster coming now should have an Artifact and a core inside its body. All he had to do was destroy the core, grab the Artifact, and escape.
He finished the calculation quickly.
At the same time, Yeom Hajae made his decision.
“Haegang, for now….”
Anxious as it was, his plan was to send off Seo Sinwoo and Choi Haegang while he himself bought time alone. Mediating the conflict between the two would have to be left to the youngest and Minjun.
Just as he was about to explain that plan, someone’s hand gripped Yeom Hajae’s arm tightly.
It was Seo Sinwoo.
His face wore its usual smile. But the hand gripping his arm was trembling slightly.
Yeom Hajae mistook that trembling for fear. Seo Sinwoo’s smiling face only encouraged the misreading.
Resolved, Yeom Hajae opened his mouth to try to soothe him.
I won’t abandon you and run. I’ll take down the monster, so don’t worry.
It was a line he often used to reassure civilians and prevent them from acting rashly.
But—
“Hajae, run.”
Seo Sinwoo spoke first, saying something strange.
“If all three of us can’t escape together, you can just leave me behind.”
