Chapter 32 – Day 32

Day 32

“Thank you for the meal. I enjoyed it very much.”

“Sure, it’s getting late. Be careful on your way home.”

Cheon Seoa bowed to Jin Yuri and turned to leave without hesitation.

The restaurant Jin Yuri recommended was indeed quite good.

A decent quality steak, accompanied by pasta and salad, among other things.

Of course, compared to the Nine Villains.
The food those poor children had given her was incomparable, but still, Cheon Seoa’s sincere feelings.

The apology for trying to make her a hero without any consultation was well conveyed.

More importantly.

“How long do you intend to just keep watching?”

Step, step.

Cheon Seoa, who had been walking down a deserted alley, stopped and spoke.

Here’s the English translation:

However, despite Cheon Seoa’s question, not even an ant appeared in the alley.

Cheon Seoa didn’t stop talking nonetheless.

“Do you know? There was a similar incident before. Of course, back then, one of the poor children sent someone to fetch me. In contrast, you all…”

Swish-.

Cheon Seoa’s eyes slowly moved, gazing at the shadows cast in various parts of the alley.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re following me with good intentions. Am I right?”

Cheon Seoa said with a grin.
However, that smile was different from the ones she had shown so far.

Eerie and bizarre.
A smile that makes one feel something chilling.

Looking at that smile, it stimulates a primal fear that even surpasses instinct.

“Do you know? I already gave you all a chance. And you rejected that chance.”

Keeng-.

As Cheon Seoa raised her hand after finishing her words, the space around her began to tremble with a bizarre sound.

The trembling of space so unstable that it seemed it would collapse at the slightest touch.

Only then did a group of people reveal themselves from the shadows Cheon Seoa had been staring at.
All of them, with their faces hidden behind black masks, exuded a menacing aura.

“If you come quietly, nothing will happen.”

As the masked person spoke, trying hard to suppress the anxiety and fear boiling from within, the smile on Cheon Seoa’s lips deepened even more.

“Why should I do that?”

“Well…”

You wouldn’t want to die either, would you?

Swoosh-.

The masked person who made the cliché threat drew the sword tied to their waist.
Following suit, the masked individuals behind them also began to reveal their own weapons one by one.

Some had swords. Some had knives.
Some had spears. Some had chain sickles.
Some had talismans. Some had knuckle dusters.

Each weapon was so distinctly unique that there was no consistency to be found.

Cheon Seoa looked at these masked individuals and let out a deep sigh.

“Did that ‘child’ really think they could take me with just you people?”

As if truly unable to understand, Cheon Seoa muttered.
However, hearing Cheon Seoa’s muttering, a slight anger rippled through the masked individuals.

Cheon Seoa’s muttering clearly showed that she was looking down on them.

“We know that you have spatial abilities. But your ability can’t ‘move’, can it?”

This time, the masked person spoke with a sneering laugh.

They know that Cheon Seoa has spatial-type abilities.
And they also know that she can’t ‘move’ with those spatial abilities.

Since Cheon Seoa hasn’t started working as a hero yet, this fact hasn’t been revealed.

The only people who know this fact are just a few who belong to the Hero Association.

In other words, the masked person was saying this to Cheon Seoa:

‘The one who ordered your kidnapping is a person from the Hero Association.’

However.

“Hmm, certainly that ‘child’ is affiliated with the Hero Association. But does that necessarily mean that ‘child’ is a person from the association?”

“…You keep saying ‘child, child’ from earlier. I guess we’re thinking of different people.”

The masked person muttered with a somewhat bewildered tone.

Currently, Cheon Seoa’s appearance looks at most like a late teenager.
In other words, there weren’t many people that Cheon Seoa, who was merely a minor, could refer to as a ‘child’.

So it’s not unreasonable for the masked person to think that way.
Of course, Cheon Seoa had no intention of correcting the masked person’s misunderstanding.

From the beginning.

“Do you know? I once tried making a spirit orb using a Grade 2 as material.”

…?

What nonsense is she talking about?

Confusion clouded the eyes of the masked people looking at Cheon Seoa.

“Sure, it was a somewhat decent material compared to ordinary criminals, but it didn’t have much merit compared to the Repairers.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“It’s nothing. I’m just saying that you lot, being merely Grade 6 to 8, have no value as materials.”

Chilling-!

The moment their eyes met with Cheon Seoa’s, the masked people shuddered with a chilling fear creeping up their spines.

Some even took a few steps back, unable to overcome that fear, but Cheon Seoa took a step forward towards them in response.

“Ah, foolish insects. But I won’t say I pity you. After all, this outcome is also the result of your ‘choices’.”

Thud-.

As Cheon Seoa finished speaking, mana flowed from her entire body.
With that, an enormous pressure began to weigh down on all directions as if gravity had been amplified dozens of times, to which the masked person shouted.

“Su-subdue her!”

As the order was given, his subordinates rushed towards Cheon Seoa all at once.

The masked individuals charged at Cheon Seoa, displaying various abilities.

Cheon Seoa spoke, referring to these masked people.

“Fold.”

One word.
Although Cheon Seoa only uttered a single word, the reality it created was cruel.

The masked individuals who were rushing towards Cheon Seoa while manifesting their abilities.
The moment Cheon Seoa’s single word dissolved into the air, they were simply folded.

The masked individuals, folded literally with their upper and lower bodies meeting at the waist.

The only survivor was their leader who had given the order and was watching from behind.

And the sole survivor was trembling in fear at the unbelievable truth unfolding before his eyes.

“Do you know something? I know everything. Who tried to kidnap me through you. What the purpose of kidnapping me was. And the identity of that kidnapper, and so on.”

“…Damn it-!”

Uttering incomprehensible words, the masked person cursed and began to flee as Cheon Seoa slowly approached.

He is a 6th-grade ability user and a villain with the ability called ‘Refraction’.

Now the masked men, folded in half and dead, could hide as if they were concealed in shadows. It was all possible because his ability to refract light deceived one of the human senses, vision.

The masked man pushed his ability to its limit and concealed his appearance.

“Your ability is certainly useful. Being able to refract light means you can also focus it into a single point through that refraction. If that’s the case, doesn’t it mean you can create a ‘laser’ on your own without any help?”

However.

“But no matter how good an ability one has, if the person using it is incompetent, it’s useless. There’s a Korean saying for this, isn’t there? ‘A pearl necklace on a pig’s neck.’”

The innocent and naive voice of Cheon Seoa coming from behind.

The masked man was on the verge of going crazy.

He pushed his ability to its limit, completely concealing his appearance.
At the same time, despite having already moved several kilometers away from the alley where he had faced Cheon Seoa, the distance between him and Cheon Seoa’s chattering voice behind him didn’t seem to increase at all.

No, perhaps this was to be expected.

A mere 7th-grade ability user.
Considering that this minor who had just become a hero had killed all of his subordinates in a horrific manner with just a word.

‘That thing is a monster! A monster!’

A minor who appears to be in her late teens?
A 7th-grade ability user?
Her ability is supposedly limited to distorting space to defend against attacks or deflect them?

“Stop spouting nonsense!”

The masked man screamed.

If he survives this.
If he can escape from that monster’s hands, he will surely kill the client who requested this kind of job.

No, they couldn’t ignore the possibility that all of this might have been a trap aimed at them.

A cold-blooded murder plot by a hostile organization to easily wipe them out.

However, uncovering the truth behind this request…
And seeking revenge. All of that could only be done if they survived.

For now, they had to focus solely on escaping from that monster.

But…

“Why! Why is this happening!”

The masked person shouted as if wailing.

No matter how much they ran.
Running, running, and running again, they somehow found themselves back in the alley where they first encountered the monster.

It was incomprehensible.
It didn’t make sense.

What on earth was going on?
It was as if space had twisted, making it impossible to escape from their original position no matter how much they moved… wasn’t it…?

“C-Could it be…?”

“You’re a bit slow to catch on.”

Chills!

Cheon Seoa’s voice came from right behind them.
The masked person hastily swung their sword towards their back.

Swish-!

The sword in the masked person’s hand slices through the air with a sharp sound.

But.

“What are you doing?”

…!

Suddenly, Cheon Seoa’s voice is heard from far away.
At the same time, the masked person realized that there was no one behind them from the beginning.

Along with that.

“Spatial distortion. Yes, that makes sense.”

The fact that no matter how much they ran, they couldn’t escape this space.
The monster’s voice that seemed far away was heard right behind them.

Originally, sound is transmitted through vibrations in the air that spread through space.
If so, by ‘distorting’ the space through which those vibrations travel, it would be easy to make it seem like someone was speaking right behind you.

Additionally, the fact that they couldn’t escape this space no matter how much they ran could also be explained by the space already being distorted.

“Ha, haha. Damn it. I shouldn’t have taken this job in the first place.”

The masked person muttered with a dejected laugh.

Something felt off from the beginning.

For kidnapping a mere 7th-grade ability user.
And for that, kidnapping a minor in their late teens, to be paid such a large sum of money.

Was it a hostile force’s car accident plan?
No. This wasn’t something like a car accident plan.
Even if it was an organization that was at odds with them, they were all mediocre. There’s no way they could use such a monster.

When the masked person was thinking this, Cheon Seoa suddenly appeared before them and said:

“Let me correct one thing, that ‘child’ didn’t know either. The large amount was simply proof of how important it was for that ‘child’ to kidnap me this time.”

Huh, is it mind reading this time?
What on earth can’t this monster do?
At this level, it’s almost on par with the Nine Villains.

“No, it’s not. Of course, those poor children may have a status equivalent to absolute beings by your standards. But they can’t be compared to me.”

No matter how highly Cheon Seoa thinks of the Nine poor children.
Isn’t it too much to compare herself to those children who are at most at the Golden Core and Primordial Spirit stages?

Hearing Cheon Seoa’s words, the masked person said:

“You monster. Just kill me.”

“I was about to do that anyway. If I delay any longer, the children will worry.”

At the masked person’s words, Cheon Seoa smiled slightly.

Simultaneously.

“Compress.”

Crunch-!

As the space compressed, the masked person’s body instantly turned into a ball of meat.

Cheon Seoa took a bite of that meat ball and said:

“I guess I’ll have to postpone the visit until tomorrow.”

With that murmur, she disappeared in an instant.