Ch.228. First Stage Seal (1)

The man in front of me gave no answer.

Two spheres of flame filled his vision. An ordinary person would have screamed in surprise at my threat.

Or they might have pretended to be an innocent civilian. But this guy didn’t even flinch.

‘If my guess is right…’

Soon, he responded in a low voice.

“How did you find me?”

Just as I thought—he was a villain. And his voice was filled with confusion.

‘That’s only natural.’

Whether villain or hunter, awakened ones emit their distinctive mana, that energy, unconsciously. Completely hiding one’s identity to appear like a normal person, as this villain before me had done, is never easy. It’s proof of his skill.

But it also means I’ve accomplished the same feat. I answered:

“Shut up. I’m the only one who gets to talk here. And if you utter one more word, I’ll burn your eyes out.”

I threatened him with a menacing yet calm voice. Of course, this was just my bluff.

If he truly were an A-rank villain, he could simply move his body, swing his hand lightly, and my head would fly off.

‘But he absolutely won’t be able to do that.’

I had completely caught him from behind without him noticing. Being able to catch an A-rank villain like that was remarkable.

Of course, this was partly because I could only use a small amount of mana right now. But it was also thanks to completely blocking even the flow of that tiny amount of mana.

Despite appearances, when it comes to controlling mana, no one at Eins, not even Yuri, could match me.

‘That villain must be shocked.’

As cautious as that villain is, and having planned a double terror attack to feel maximum pleasure, his mind must be racing right now.

‘He probably thinks I’m a true expert.’

Of course, without mana to directly subdue him, I don’t have much time to keep him bound.

The two tennis ball-sized flame spheres I’ve summoned aren’t ordinary red flames. They’re blue flames.

Blue fire, which can only be used by flame mages who have reached a high level. So the bluffing effect is excellent, but…

With my current mana, it was difficult to maintain two spells simultaneously.

My mana heart constricted, causing pain near my chest. I felt cold sweat running down. But I bit my lip hard and once more finely controlled the flow of mana.

That mana was directed to my earpiece. I cannot subdue him like this. If that’s the case, I need to use the hunters present here.

‘But if I move carelessly, it will only cause needless tragedy.’

Then I just need to send a signal to only two hunters.

Yuri and Hunter Choi Shinwoo. My current position. And a brief signal that any hunter would understand.

– Me. Beside. Dangerous person. Present

The signal was sent. And I had no time to check their response. All my focus was on the villain in front of me.

A brief silence. And the light from my flame spheres began to dim. Finally, it seemed the villain noticed.

“What? This bastard was bluffing…!! It was all deception!”

And as he immediately turned around, there was a flash of light in the air. A silver blade. He seemed like a villain who used assassination-type weapons.

My eyes and body reacted to that glint, but without being able to properly use mana, I couldn’t dodge that attack.

‘Too fast. But…’

I remained calm.

Cha-chang-

The attack was blocked in mid-air. Fragments of ice scattered like powder. As expected, it was Yuri. And her ice binding spell completely enveloped the villain.

Yuri shouted:

“You trash! What did you do to Minsu…”

“An ice-type hunter? Damn it!”

The villain tried to resist, but it was useless. Yuri’s ice binding spells were unmatched for sealing, even among S-rank hunters.

But just as I had anticipated, black mist began to form around him, befitting a high-level villain.

As that pitch-black color began to intensify, Shinwoo and uniformed hunters surrounded the villain.

“Don’t try anything stupid!”

And they quickly restrained the villain. With Yuri there too, I felt relieved. Fortunately, it seemed we had prevented a disaster.

‘Urgh…’

But at that moment, I felt an intense pain as if my heart was burning, and lost consciousness right there.

***

My heart was extremely hot. The heat rising from within, the flames, felt like they were burning me alive.

As a flame mage, I had been immune to any fire and heat, but it was useless at this moment.

Rather, the fear of fire I had never known before, that fatal heat, seemed to backflow and burn me more fiercely.

But that pain was brief. There was a force suppressing that terrible heat.

An extremely cold energy. That chill neutralized and diluted the heat burning my body.

Cold enough to freeze everything in the world, yet paradoxically, to me who had been in intense heat, it felt cozy, and thus warm.

I opened my eyes. Yuri was by my side. She noticed that I had regained consciousness.

“A-are you okay, Minsu?”

For a moment, our eyes met. Her face showed expressions that didn’t match her nickname “Snow Woman.” Very rich expressions were evident on her face.

Worry, surprise, and relief. Not the usual cold face of someone leading an S-rank guild, but the expression of a young woman fitting her age. I couldn’t help but smile.

“I’m fine… No, I am fine. More importantly, where is this?”

I looked around. Still at the outdoor stage. It seemed to be the place where staff members waited behind the stage.

“This is behind the stage. No, it is behind the stage…”

And Yuri, who unconsciously spoke informally, lowered her head as if embarrassed. Looking at the time, it seemed not much time had passed since I fainted.

‘About 20 minutes…’

Yuri, who had returned to a calm expression, said:

“Are you really okay? I was worried when you suddenly lost consciousness. If you’re feeling unwell, we should quickly go to an awakened-only hospital… Ah, this is just me as a guild leader being concerned about a guild member…”

Of course, only her expression had changed, not her way of speaking. I calmed her down.

“I’m really fine. I’m perfectly okay. I know my condition best.”

“But still…”

I wasn’t saying this just to reassure Yuri.

It seemed I had fainted due to the backlash from forcibly summoning two flame spells, blue flames, but I was fine now.

“Your body was so hot, so I cooled it down a bit with my mana. Just in case, you should definitely go to the hospital…”

As she said, it seems I calmed down thanks to Yuri.

Yuri’s cold-attribute mana. It seems the temporary backflow of my mana was calmed by resonating with hers.

“So it was thanks to the Guild Leader. Thank you…”

Just as I was about to thank her, someone approached the two of us.

*

*

The voices of two young people could be heard.

‘Has he woken up?’

Choi Shinwoo, who had been giving instructions to the hunters, walked toward the two. The association and the city had resumed the event.

The Hunter Association’s absolute guarantee of citizen safety. That was the driving force behind the association gaining power comparable to public authority.

It seemed the decision of the higher-ups was that they couldn’t cancel an event where the association itself was in charge of security.

Though incomprehensible, Shinwoo followed the order. As a hunter affiliated with the association, he was like a public servant; orders from above were absolute.

‘At least the control center’s alert level has been lowered to level 1.’

Above all, they had captured the A-rank villain, Rex, here. That terrible villain who caused at least double-digit casualties each time he appeared. It was incredibly fortunate.

And the one who made the greatest contribution to catching that villain was undoubtedly Flame’s operator.

‘His name was Lee Minsu, right?’

He hadn’t recognized him earlier due to the commotion, but soon remembered the name.

The academy exchange competition from a few years ago. The flame mage who had performed brilliantly there with Yuri Tarkovskaya.

The exchange competition is a major event that even scouts from major corporate guilds pay close attention to. He was the protagonist of an undefeated championship that is still mentioned today.

However, unlike Yuri Tarkovskaya who became an S-rank hunter, Shinwoo hadn’t heard his name in the past two years.

‘And to think he became an operator.’

He checked Lee Minsu’s simple records through the association’s information department. The recent intern dispatch to the southeastern contaminated area sponsored by the association. Flame’s interns took first place there.

‘And not just a narrow first place. An overwhelming first place with just a tanker and a healer. Could it be that he as the operator…’

His registered operator rank in the association was B-rank. Considering that graduates of top academies often quickly become A-rank hunters, it’s not that high a rank.

‘But a two-year gap, and for him, originally a flame mage, to be B-rank right away…’

It would mean he got perfect scores on all theoretical tests except for practical operator experience. And Shinwoo was certain.

‘It was Lee Minsu who gave instructions to Yuri Tarkovskaya at the scene earlier. And…’

Come to think of it, a major incident occurred at Eins a few years ago. Something must have happened then, but now Lee Minsu’s awakening level was lower than that of a C-rank awakened. He seemed to have suffered a serious injury.

‘But for an awakened who can’t even reach C-rank to find that A-rank villain and keep him bound until we arrived…’

A-rank villain Rex is not someone who would fall for ordinary bluffs. He was extremely secretive and cruel.

Against such a villain, Minsu had bought time directly. And in that critical situation, he immediately called for him and Yuri Tarkovskaya.

Shinwoo was convinced. Lee Minsu. His skill as an operator was not B-rank but already surpassed A-rank. But he put aside his admiration for him for now. There was something he needed to do first.

He approached the waiting area where Minsu and Yuri were.

“I see you’ve woken up. First, I’d like to express my gratitude to both of you from Flame. For the merit of stopping two villains on our behalf…”

As he bowed respectfully and raised his head again, Shinwoo realized his mistake.

‘Oh no, I’ve interrupted them.’

Minsu’s expression was calm, but at least Yuri Tarkovskaya’s gaze was clear enough for even a third party like Shinwoo to understand.

It was the expression of a girlfriend worried about her boyfriend, obvious to anyone.

The two people before him were the guild leader of the S-rank guild Flame and an intern employee, but it was clear their relationship was far from ordinary.

Given the nature of the hunter profession, romance within guilds was common.

‘I seem to have become a tactless old man. I feel somewhat sorry.’

Shinwoo quickly delivered his message and promptly left the place.

***

Later that afternoon, I visited the hospital again.

Not a local clinic, but a university hospital exclusively for awakened ones. And it was the hospital where Arin’s sister, Professor Sung Chaerin, worked.

And just like before, I went straight to her consultation room without an appointment and got scolded by Professor Sung Chaerin.

“I told you absolutely not to use mana. And you’ve already fainted? You really…”

She scolded me more. But eventually, realizing that I had no intention of listening to her nagging, Chaerin sighed.

“Fine. It can’t be helped. A hunter returning from injury getting injured again by overexerting themselves just like before is very common in this world. But if you don’t want to shorten what time you have left, refrain from excessive mana use.”

“Yes, I will.”

“Again with words you don’t mean. If you suddenly die tomorrow, what about Arin…”

Professor Sung Chaerin is Arin’s biological sister.

Despite their significant age difference, and Chaerin having gone abroad to study at a young age, not spending much time with Arin,

her feelings for her sister were special.

‘Even her studying abroad was to move the orphanage to a better place.’

Many foreign universities coveted Professor Chaerin’s genius. So she went to study abroad on the condition that Arin would be moved to a better orphanage.

‘That condition included Siwoo and Mina as well.’

As Arin’s sister, it would be understandable for her to be displeased about her sister losing another close person.

However, that’s why Professor Sung Chaerin could never refuse my request. Because I had saved Arin’s life.

Hiding my true feelings, I spoke in a light tone:

“I won’t die anytime soon, so don’t worry. And if you’re so worried about Arin, stop letting her stay out overnight. She’s in and out of a house where a man lives alone too often.”

“That’s fine. It’s not like you’re going to touch Arin just because you two are alone. Rather, Arin would be happier if you made a move on her.”

“Um… no matter what, it’s not right for you as her sister to say such things. I’m still a man.”

“So what? It’s just your cold-hearted self that’s making my sister miserable, right?”

After exchanging such pointless jokes, I finally got to the main point.

“Anyway, Professor. I can’t continue like this. So please tell me a more stable way to unseal the seal.”