Part 1 Chapter 3 (2)

A week had passed since the dimensional gate appeared.

The birth of a divinity.

The second coming of the Fire Fist.

A hero of the new generation.

South Korea’s third S-rank Hero.

No matter where one went in Korea, all anyone talked about was Lee Seung-hyung, the Fire Fist.

“He only became S-rank because of his connections.”

Iron Mark Park Seong-tae stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. As an A-rank himself, and one who had been stuck at A-rank for longer than Lee Seung-hyung, he didn’t like Lee Seung-hyung.

His ability was that of a flame user, extremely rare worldwide.

An attractive appearance that would stand out even in the entertainment industry.

A direct subordinate Hero of Yoo Young-ho, Korea’s top commander.

A terrifying background as the current president’s nephew.

Even if the world was unfair, Lee Seung-hyung had everything to an excessive degree. Even the relatively common A-rank status he held had awakened to S-rank, placing Lee Seung-hyung in an unrivaled position, lacking nothing.

Dragon Slayer.

His prestige, having single-handedly defeated the Fire Dragon in one blow, ignited the hearts of many Heroes and Hero fans worldwide.

We cannot leave such a hero as he is! He must be swiftly recommended as the 13th Hero of the Round Table!

There were already rumors circulating, even premature excitement, that he should be placed in the vacant seat of the Round Table.

We will review it.

Sir Gawain, a Round Table Hero from the UK, praised Lee Seung-hyung’s prestige but indirectly refused, saying ‘it’s still too early.’ However, even that alone sent Lee Seung-hyung’s stock soaring.

“Tsk.”

Phlegm landed in the ashtray. Park Seong-tae used mana to dispel the lingering scent of tobacco and straightened his tie.

Park Seong-tae was at a funeral home. Having unexpectedly been assigned to guard the funeral, he found Lee Seung-hyung, who even volunteered to act as chief mourner, utterly detestable.

* * *

“Thank you very much, Lee Seung-hyung Hero-nim.”

“Truly, if Fire Fist-nim hadn’t been here, we would have…”

“Not at all, Mother-nim, Father-nim. Please speak comfortably.”

Lee Seung-hyung led the elderly couple in black mourning clothes to the lounge. The old mother, with graying hair, waved her hand, which had been pushing the wheelchair.

“Oh my. How could we do that?”

“And you even volunteered to be chief mourner in place of this old man… We are truly grateful.”

The elderly couple’s attitude towards Seung-hyung, who was less than half their age, was excessively polite.

“Thanks to Fire Fist-nim, we were able to send our child off peacefully…”

Seung-hyung was on the verge of going crazy from people treating him with excessive deference. To the point where he would slowly explode if someone treated him like that sarcastically.

However, Seung-hyung couldn’t do that to this elderly couple. Seung-hyung felt an undeserved guilt towards them.

“I should have told them not to film in Seoul…”

“Oh my. Please don’t say such things. Gaeul ended up following them, didn’t she? Who could have predicted that a dimensional gate would open in Seoul on that particular day?”

“We old folks are just grateful that Lee Seung-hyung-nim watched over our daughter on her way. So you don’t have to feel so guilty. You’ve become a new pillar of this nation, haven’t you?”

Lee Seung-hyung turned his head, on the verge of bursting into tears. The elderly couple, whose hearts must have been shattered by the loss of their only precious daughter, were instead comforting Lee Seung-hyung. Lee Seung-hyung felt even more choked up as Cheon Gaeul came to mind from their comfort.

“So, let us ask just one thing.”

The old man in the wheelchair took Seung-hyung’s hands. His deeply wrinkled hands were covered in calluses.

“This time, please go to Seoul and find our Gaeul’s body, or at least her belongings, so we can make a grave for her.”

“…….”

Seung-hyung could only close his eyes.

The coffin at the funeral home was empty, without its owner.

* * *

April 11, 2020. Yeouido National Assembly Building.

“Kyaaaak!!”

Cheon Gaeul screamed and clung to Jo Deokbae’s arm. A sour-smelling, slimy substance brushed past Gaeul’s hair.

“Why did you follow me, then!”

Deokbae picked Gaeul up like a sack and leaped sideways. Something that whipped down from the ceiling like a whip grazed Gaeul’s side, sending the desks in the main assembly hall flying.

“I didn’t know it would be like this! Kyaaaak! It’s coming again!”

Something whipped down from the ceiling again. Deokbae rolled Gaeul under the main assembly hall and dodged.

Chyu-reup.

The slimy liquid dripped and licked Deokbae’s rock-like skin. Deokbae barely suppressed his disgust and elbowed away the crimson object, a Tentacle.

Pusshii….

His rock-like skin melted from the strong acid. Gaeul’s eyes trembled greatly.

“Are you okay?!”

“No, I’m not, so get out of here now!”

Deokbae, whose language was restricted after the filtering, tried to chase Gaeul away with an extremely wholesome tone, unlike his true feelings.

“B-but there are monsters outside too-“

“Even if hundreds of those things came, they’d be weaker than that!”

“I don’t have any power yet!”

Deokbae, momentarily heated, wondered if even monstrous humans could get high blood pressure. Deokbae, who had swatted away a Tentacle that fell from the ceiling, grabbed Gaeul’s cardigan like tongs.

Gaeul was wearing a school uniform.

“Ow! Be gentle!”

“Do I look like I can be gentle right now?!”

Deokbae ran towards the entrance of the main assembly hall, dodging the Tentacles that grazed his head. Traces of the Tentacles’ rampage filled every corner of the hall.

Sae-aek-!

Only one Tentacle targeted Deokbae and Gaeul. The dozens of Tentacles wielded by the monster clinging to the ceiling of the main assembly hall were aiming for the blue girl flying below it-Phoenix.

“She’s like a child left to drown.”

Phoenix gracefully flew through the air as if on a stroll, dodging the Tentacles. Whenever a Tentacle seemed overly aggressive towards Gaeul, she would immediately fly over and slash it with her claws, severing it.

“There are only two S-rank monsters in Seoul. The ‘Master of the Han River’ hiding in the city hall over there, and the hidden boss ‘Tentacle Toad’ hiding in the ceiling of the National Assembly Building here.”

Phoenix conjured Azure Flame, illuminating the dark ceiling.

Kkurureuk?!

On the ceiling, a truck-sized toad with dozens of Tentacles on its back hung upside down. The toad flicked the Tentacles on its back and turned its gaze towards Cheon Gaeul.

Mheuh-heut.

“Kyaaaak!!”

Gaeul screamed again at its overwhelming appearance. It was less the fear of death and more a physiological revulsion. Phoenix extinguished her flames, and while flying around to avoid the Tentacles, she explained to Gaeul.

“It’s a monster that hides on the ceiling, snatches humans with its Tentacles, swallows them, and dissolves them. A substance comes out of its mouth that brings the consumed human to climax…”

“Enough with the explanations! Just deal with it quickly!”

When Gaeul yelled back, Phoenix curled the corner of her mouth as if she had expected it. When Phoenix stopped her wings and hovered in the air, all the Tentacles rushed towards her.

“Alright then.”

Phoenix spread her wings and flew vertically. Barely dodging the Tentacles, Phoenix placed her palm on the Tentacle Toad’s back and unleashed her mana.

Hwarureuk!

The Azure Flame that erupted from Phoenix’s palm enveloped the Tentacle Toad’s entire body. A acrid smell of burning protein filled the main assembly hall.

Kee-aek….

The mucus from the suction cups clinging to the ceiling shriveled up from the heat of the Azure Flame. The Tentacle Toad was pulled by gravity and fell to the floor.

Koo-ung!

The S-rank monster died just like that. Phoenix, who had easily subdued a monster capable of destroying an entire city, folded her wings and descended. She then plunged her right hand into the slimy substance of the Tentacle Toad’s corpse and began rummaging inside.

“Can’t you just burn it and take what’s left?”

At Deokbae’s remark, Phoenix wiggled a finger with her other hand.

“Tsk, tsk. This is why newbies who haven’t even caught an S-rank monster are like this. Listen carefully. S-rank monsters…”

Just as Phoenix was about to continue her explanation, her eyes met Gaeul’s. Phoenix, feeling an inexplicable unease that her words might be stolen, quickly continued.

“The Core of a monster is incredibly delicate, so-“

“It’s just like digging for wild ginseng.”

Kwajik. Phoenix clenched her hand inside the slime. Though invisible to the two of them, the hand that had burst the Tentacle Toad’s internal organs was trembling.

“Haa. Anyway, Gaeul-ssi. Stop with this crazy idea of awakening your ability in a crisis…”

“No!”

Gaeul stretched out both arms and refused.

“My future self awakened in a crisis, you said! So if I experience the same crisis, I’ll awaken as an ability user too, right?”

“…Has this woman lost her mind because she can’t become an ability user?”

Gaeul didn’t even pretend to hear Deokbae’s remark. Deokbae had already heard the truth about the woman Phoenix mentioned from Gaeul.

“Let’s say the trigger for you awakening as an ability user is a monster attack. Do you think it’s right to do things like this now? Huh?”

“Being attacked by a monster and nearly dying was a week ago. Did you forget? What exactly is so urgent?”

Gaeul closed her mouth tightly, her eyes anxious. Her gaze was fixed on the smartphone on Phoenix’s wrist.

Phoenix noticed and covered her wrist.

“No.”

“Not even a call! Just one text message is enough!”

“Even one text message would let them know you’re alive. Especially if it’s your parents. Then rescue teams would be deployed to Seoul and they’d track you down, Gaeul-ssi. Not yet.”

“That’s…”

Gaeul lowered her head. In the updates about New Seoul that Deokbae had vaguely provided, Cheon Gaeul was already considered deceased.

Deokbae had watched firsthand how much Gaeul had wailed, seeing her parents clinging to a coffin that didn’t even contain a body.

“Just for a moment, even for one minute, let me. ‘I’m in Seoul right now. I can’t come down immediately. So please wait a little longer.’ You can do that much, right?”

“I can’t. I’ll let you contact them once you awaken as an ability user.”

That’s why Deokbae thought Phoenix was truly a cruel person. Gaeul turned and lunged for Deokbae’s smartwatch.

“Keuk!”

The hand that was reaching for Gaeul was suddenly lifted. Gaeul, reading from his expression that he hadn’t lifted it willingly, glared at Phoenix.

“I’ve already given Jo Deokbae-ssi orders. He’s not to help you with anything except your ability awakening. Especially not with that contact.”

“…Phoenix-ssi is a really bad person.”

“Just wait four more days. Until the Azure Syndicate is established. If you still haven’t awakened by then, I’ll personally take you to New Seoul.”

“…You promised.”

Phoenix shrugged her shoulders and pulled her right hand out of the Tentacle Toad. The Tentacle Toad’s body, having lost its Core, disintegrated like sand. Gaeul sat on an intact chair and buried her face on the desk.

Deokbae cautiously approached and asked.

“Do you really have to push her this hard? You could just drop her off in New Seoul for a bit and come back, couldn’t you?”

“I can’t be by her side for her entire life, can I? I can’t send her off without the power to protect herself. Never.”

“From what I see, you’re excessively obsessed with Cheon Gaeul. Uselessly so.”

“…Be quiet.”

Teong.

Something from inside the Tentacle Toad’s body fell to the floor. Phoenix quickly snatched it.

“Isn’t that a National Assembly member’s badge? But why is it so big?”

“Yes. It’s a National Assembly member who didn’t go down to New Seoul and turned into a monster. This is just its outer shell. The outer skin protecting the Tentacle Toad’s Core.”

Phoenix tightly gripped the badge that filled her palm and burned it. The badge, melted by the super-high temperature of the Azure Flame, flowed down Phoenix’s hand onto the floor.

Hwareuk.

The badge fell to the floor, igniting a red flame. Deokbae, startled, looked for a fire extinguisher.

“There’s no need for that. I’m setting it on fire on purpose.”

Phoenix smiled sweetly and kicked the embers. With a kick imbued with fire-attribute mana, the fire spread fiercely as if oil had been poured on it.

“This is the National Assembly Building!!”

“It’s just an abandoned place now. And since things are running properly in New Seoul, there’s no problem anymore.”

Phoenix shoved her clenched fist directly into the pocket of her priestly robes.

“The Tentacle Toad is a monster completely unknown to the public. However, the government knows of its existence but neglects it. The Tentacle Toad’s existence is both a disgrace to them and a dark history that must not be revealed.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Gaeul raised her head and asked. Phoenix intensified the flames, burning the Tentacle Toad’s slime.

“It’s one of the dark pasts of the current president, who was then the leader of the second opposition party.”

Phoenix stood at the entrance of the main assembly hall.

“A person who stopped at nothing to eliminate political rivals. If you only look at their actions, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them a Villain.”

While their goals and intentions could be packaged as grand and noble, the process was riddled with all sorts of blood and darkness. Gaeul gave a wry smile at the secret history of the president that Phoenix recounted.

“Then that toad monster, perhaps…”

“That’s enough of the gloomy stories. And since it’s almost lunchtime…”

Phoenix tapped her smartwatch and smiled.

“Shall we return to the hideout?”

Guro appeared on the screen.