Ch.10436. The Beginning of the Struggle (1)

Perhaps my heart is not the same as Yuri’s.

Last night, and until morning, I spent time with Yuri. I comforted her after she was shocked by witnessing my panic attack.

Gently, as if comforting a lover. I whispered sweet words into Yuri’s ear, but…

Every word was calculated, spoken with deliberate intent.

‘With this, Yuri will follow my words for a while.’

Yuri and Flame are the most essential forces I need. And Soso and Arin too. I absolutely cannot afford incidents like last night, where Yuri slips from my control and transforms into an uncontrollable snow woman.

‘If I had been trapped in the Eternal Barrier for days like with Ains…’

Tomorrow was the day of execution.

On that day when we would wage total war against Dead Arms for supremacy in Busan. If I, who would be leading the pro-Red Breakers faction, disappeared while trapped in the Eternal Barrier…

It would be no different than rendering all my work over the past three months meaningless.

Of course, I desperately thought of a solution. I confessed to Yuri about my trauma and stimulated her sense of guilt.

At least for a while, Yuri will obediently follow my words without making any unwanted impulsive actions. I continuously persuaded her with gentle words.

‘For the time being, she won’t act like yesterday without my permission.’

But that wasn’t all.

To gain complete control over Yuri, even after all our conversations ended, I stayed with her under the blanket until morning.

The adult intimacy I had shared with Yuri to buy time, I shared with her again until morning.

Though we didn’t cross the final line, Yuri seemed truly happy during that time with me, with our bodies touching.

And so, to bring Yuri completely under my control, I did something detestable.

‘Disgusting. I am…’

Unconsciously, I made excuses that I was just doing what Yuri wanted, but I have no intention of loving her again as I did before.

So even warming her in my embrace, whispering kind words—it all felt like pretense, even to myself.

But I soon shook my head.

Emotions are completely unnecessary for revenge. I am one who doesn’t belong to this world. My remaining time and emotions must all be used for revenge.

The Red Lake is too massive an enemy for me to guarantee its annihilation with my current capabilities.

The determination that I, merely a supporting character in Aka Hunter, would oppose the world’s enemy and prevent the world’s destruction—whether this is within my means still makes me question myself countless times.

In place of my silence, my broken mana heart seemed to scream in resistance against an unbearable fate.

The severe panic attack that had returned after a long time, its aftereffects, made my body tremble without my awareness.

Hwah-rrrr—

But at that moment, my mana heart grew hot again.

‘Hong-ok…’

I felt as if Hong-ok, spreading her wide priestess robes, was embracing me. I felt her comforting me, telling me everything would be alright.

Hong-ok, the Ancient Gear that brought me back to life from the brink of death. In her warmth, I felt the guilt, fear, and despair I had been feeling until just now begin to fade.

‘Right. Now is not the time to be swayed by emotions.’

I had left the hotel and was at Flame’s Busan branch. There was much to do for tomorrow’s event.

For Flame, this was a golden opportunity to gain a regional base in Busan and the southeastern region. We absolutely had to win tomorrow’s struggle and take control of Busan.

Setting aside all emotions, I coldly thought only of my duties as a Flame employee and as the person in charge of operations in Busan.

***

On the office monitor, I displayed the data compiled by Manager Yoon from the information team. There were currently about 30 guilds in Busan.

‘The forces of Red Breakers and Dead Arms. Objectively speaking…’

Since Soso and I arrived, the forces had been divided, with 13 guilds aligned with Red Breakers. The remaining 17 guilds were classified as Dead Arms affiliates.

‘So by numbers alone, Dead Arms is ahead, but…’

Looking at hunter numbers, it was 4 to 6—4 being Red Breakers, so we were outnumbered, but in actual combat power, Red Breakers had the advantage.

‘Our side has many guild leaders who are former disciples of the Cheonma Divine Sect, so we have some pretty decent hunters.’

And that Cheonma Divine Sect connection was important. Though not unified, the Red Breakers-affiliated guilds had leaders who were like brothers to each other.

So compared to the Dead Arms faction, which united only due to mutual interests, our cohesion was much better.

‘So the struggle might not become as extreme as expected.’

If Red Breakers’ victory seemed certain, the smaller guilds aligned with Dead Arms would quickly betray them and join our side.

But that was my thinking a few days ago. Now there was another variable.

‘Lee Seon-woo. That S-class villain has appeared in Busan.’

Manager Yoon had hacked into Busan’s CCTV, particularly near the port, and confirmed Lee Seon-woo’s movements.

The 4th Demon, Soul-Stealing Demon Seo Mun-yeom’s right-hand man, Lee Seon-woo. That dangerous villain had appeared at Busan Port, where Dead Arms hunters were gathering.

‘Lee Seon-woo. In the original work, he was from Muguk and a betrayer of the Cheonma Divine Sect.’

He was a villain who appeared in episodes related to Soso. His appearance was clearly after Si-woo’s Justice had expanded its activities to Japan.

Although he appeared in episodes related to Soul-Stealing Demon Seo Mun-yeom, now his entanglement with Soso was happening earlier.

‘It’s earlier than in the original work, but since Soso is here in Busan anyway, it probably doesn’t violate the novel’s causality.’

But it complicated things. Lee Seon-woo, betrayer of the Cheonma Divine Sect. As a disciple of the previous Cheonma, he was stronger than imaginable.

Though labeled an S-class villain, even that rank underestimated him. Because he betrayed the Cheonma Divine Sect and acted covertly, he hadn’t been properly evaluated.

‘Dangerous. No matter how much stronger Soso has become, someone like him…’

He also harbors intense hatred toward the Cheonma Divine Sect. So the Red Breakers-affiliated guilds loyal to the Cheonma Divine Sect, and Soso, the successor to Cheonma…

They would be perfect prey for Lee Seon-woo.

‘Well, he probably didn’t come here for such trivial reasons.’

He wouldn’t have deliberately entered Busan, where the Association’s influence reaches, just for minor grudges. I had an ominous feeling that behind the current struggle, he might be plotting something more.

Red Drake, the original author. His story structure for Part 3 always introduced enemies too overwhelming for the original Si-woo to handle.

‘But the original Si-woo always managed to win somehow with protagonist buffs.’

However, Yuri, who is now standing in for Si-woo, has left Busan. She’s participating in an important cooperative mission with the Association.

That mission also involves stopping a villain’s terrorism related to the Red Lake, so if Yuri had forcibly remained in Busan, the story might have become even more tangled.

‘So in this mission, is Soso taking Si-woo’s role?’

Soso is also a member of Flame. And she has been standing in for Si-woo’s work alongside Yuri. And the current Soso is much stronger than the original Soso.

‘And I’m here too.’

I’m not being arrogant. But I’m also a member of Flame. And at the time of graduation from Ains, I was stronger than Si-woo.

Of course, the butterfly effect of a supporting character like me becoming stronger than the protagonist probably led to the tragedy at Ains.

‘But I don’t have the luxury of feeling guilty.’

The greatest atonement for Si-woo is to take his place. In the original work, Si-woo killed Lee Seon-woo.

Then, in place of Si-woo, Soso and I must now do it. It doesn’t matter how strong a villain Lee Seon-woo is. For me, he’s an enemy that must be eliminated.

And as if mocking me, a system notification window was activating in the corner of my vision.

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「System error」

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Error code : 1713E0529:CE

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XXX : Welcome back, Player!

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[Creating Main Quest.]

[Flame’s Expansion of Power(SS) – Busan Arc]

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[Busan&…]

[Eliminate S-class vill# Lee Seon&]

[Rewards will be provided upon quest completion…? If you want…]

[One of the rewards that was taken from you* will be returned…]

[You might learn the truth about the system?%$ Or is it a joke @#?]

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Like a deception, a system window with partially broken text activated. It was clearly referencing the current situation in Busan.

And if I eliminated Lee Seon-woo, the system would return one of the rewards it had taken from me. It was tempting me like that.

The rewards the system had taken from me included the artifact that had allowed me, a lowest-tier awakened, to compete with top-tier ones like Yuri and Si-woo.

Among them, ‘one’ was an item I desperately needed, even now that I had recovered my Ains-era abilities, or even surpassed them.

‘With that artifact, in future battles too…’

But I shook my head. I couldn’t trust the system. The system was the entity that had taken away all my artifacts and rewards except Hong-ok, right before the final battle with the Doubt Demon.

Above all, I still hadn’t figured out why a mere supporting character like me had possessed the cheat-like system from the moment of my possession.

‘The truth about the system…’

As if mocking me, as if reading my thoughts, the system displayed a message. I forcibly closed the system.

Though it sounded sweeter than any temptation, I couldn’t give in to the system.

‘If we take control of Busan, Flame will grow larger, so I can grow more without relying on the system.’

As I deliberately tried to erase thoughts about the system, at that moment, the door to my office opened.

“Are you busy?”

It was Soso. I briefly took my eyes off the monitor and looked at her.

“A little? But I have something to talk to you about anyway… Wait. You wore what I told you to?”

“Huh? Y-yes… You told me to wear this outfit…”

Soso’s attire was different from usual. Though she preferred leggings or tracksuits even in Busan.

Today she was wearing a somewhat unique traditional outfit. Red clothes worn by women from Muguk. To make an easy comparison, it was Chinese-style clothing that women called “young ladies” in martial arts novels might wear.

“I-I’ve never walked around Korea in an outfit like this before… D-does it look strange?”

“No. It suits you well.”

At that, Soso couldn’t say anything and just lowered her head. Her cheeks turned red, but the corners of her mouth were raised. She seemed pleased by my words.

‘It does suit her well, that’s true, but…’

In truth, having her wear such clothes before the struggle was because many hunters in the Red Breakers-affiliated guilds came from Cheonma Divine Sect dojangs.

Just as taekwondo practitioners wear doboks in dojangs.

Cheonma Divine Sect dojangs also train in traditional Muguk uniforms. Of course, Soso’s outfit was too bright and ladylike to be called a uniform, but that was exactly what I was aiming for.

‘Soso is the daughter of Cheonma Yeon Se-hwi, after all.’

So it would boost morale among our allies and make the Dead Arms people hesitate to mess with Soso.

However, Soso’s reaction was like that of young women wearing hanboks at Gyeongbokgung Palace—embarrassed yet excited.

Before I knew it, Soso had approached me. She came very close to me sitting in my chair.

“Y-you told me to wear this, so I did. I’m dying of embarrassment… D-don’t you have anything to say?”

As she said this, Soso nestled into my arms. Like yesterday. Recently, Soso had been very forward with me.

I didn’t reject her and embraced her tightly. I kissed Soso as she closed her eyes and slightly tilted her head forward.

‘With Soso… this much is enough to make her listen to me.’

And so, just like with Yuri, I was making excuses to myself that this kiss was to control Soso while the Blood Demon slept within her.

But my hands naturally wrapped around Soso’s waist.

And what happened with Yuri last night overlapped in my mind like a mirage. With great effort, I finished with just a kiss, without touching Soso’s body further.

After separating her lips from mine, Soso said to me:

“When this Busan business is over, you and I…”

Fortunately, Soso didn’t demand an immediate answer from me.

The next day, Busan’s hunters gathered at the port.