Ch.33Hero Hunting

Gu Seo-ryong shifted her position slowly on top of me.

She positioned herself to be able to spring away at any moment, and I could feel her Monster Core vibrating slightly as she examined me.

After scrutinizing me with waves full of wariness, she spoke in an irritated voice.

“Ah~ I was just about to enjoy myself. How annoying.”

Gu Seo-ryong began generating a different poison from her fingertips resting on my body.

When I frowned at the rupturing pain in my abdomen and the agony of my blood congealing inside my body, Starlight’s expression hardened coldly.

“Excuse me, S-rank hero Ms. Starlight? What were you thinking coming all the way here? Didn’t anyone try to stop you?”

“That’s exactly why I’m here now. While we were busy with monsters, a loach has slipped deep inside and is muddying the waters.”

“Hmm… useless things. This is why the obsolete ones are no good. Not worth investing in. So, you’ve come to beat me up personally and throw me in villain prison, is that it?”

“You know it well? Then, let the man go and come along quietly?”

“Oh my, I don’t want to. This is my prey.”

“Haah….”

Amid the tense atmosphere, Gu Seo-ryong laughed leisurely at Starlight who was treating me like a hostage, flicking her long tongue.

Then, Starlight sighed and calmly settled the waves of her ability.

I know what Starlight is doing right now.

The silence before rapid acceleration, a technique she mastered to prevent me from reading her direction before charging.

“Kyaat!”

“Kyaaaak!”

Crash! The window behind Starlight, unable to withstand the shock wave of acceleration, burst open. Gu Seo-ryong leaped from the bed, narrowly avoiding Starlight’s fist, and flew to the elevator, landing smoothly.

A streak of blood was boiling on Gu Seo-ryong’s snow-white cheek where Starlight’s ability had grazed her.

“I guess the claim of being top A-rank isn’t a lie?”

“Attacking suddenly during a conversation, how uncultured.”

“I don’t want to hear that from a villain who takes hostages, despite being A-rank.”

“Hostage…?”

Shwrk, flicking her tongue, Gu Seo-ryong made a strange expression and slowly looked back and forth between me and Starlight.

With a wave that felt somewhat relieved, Gu Seo-ryong picked up her suit jacket from the floor, draped it over her shoulders, and said:

“Oh my, yes, hostage, you say? It’s natural for a hero to rescue hostages? But how do you know if he’s a hostage or my person?”

“Hmph, if he were a villain, he would have attacked me by now.”

“I’m not a villain.”

When I informed her that I wasn’t a villain, Starlight frowned as she looked down at me, unable to move.

“So, this person wasn’t some kind of villain after all. A superhuman kidnapped from somewhere?”

“Not a superhuman.”

“…Tsk, what on earth did you do to this person to leave him in this condition?”

“Kugh…!”

Starlight looked down at my stomach, blackened by Gu Seo-ryong’s poison, and extended her glowing red hand.

Sizzle! As my flesh was seared, I struggled against the pain that was incomparable to Gu Seo-ryong’s poison.

The poison I had been slowly digesting disappeared immediately, and instead, a handprint remained that would likely take much longer to heal.

“What? Do heroes kill hostages these days too?”

“I didn’t kill him, it’s just first aid. It’s clearly poison, and this is better than watching him die slowly.”

“What a cruel woman. Are you really a hero?”

That’s right, this cruel woman, how could she sear a perfectly fine stomach?

Just then, Gu Seo-ryong snapped her fingers with a click.

Woong, when the confusion ability carried on the sound wave reached Starlight, she raised a large flame to burn away the ability.

In that momentary gap, Gu Seo-ryong lunged toward Starlight, sliding smoothly.

“Ahah!”

“Kuk?!”

Gu Seo-ryong immediately dodged Starlight’s fist by jumping toward me, and in the brief moment when Starlight hesitated slightly while looking at me, she put two fingers to her lips and blew, “Whoof.”

The poison mist formed from the poison on Gu Seo-ryong’s fingertips enveloped Starlight, and through the obscured vision, Gu Seo-ryong rapidly underwent monsterization.

Hair turning snow-white like moonlight, white scales covering her entire body except for her navel and face, a sturdy tail extending, sharp claws covering her hands and feet.

Kwagak! Tearing the carpet in the room, Gu Seo-ryong dug her claws into the marble floor and extended both hands toward Starlight.

A double palm strike with pointed claws aimed, Starlight blocked the attack by crossing her arms and flew out the window.

“Ahaha! Yes! You can’t attack the hostage! Hero!”

“This…!”

Shwrk, flicking her tongue, Gu Seo-ryong swung her long tail and smashed the bedside table.

From the destroyed debris, she wrapped her tail around a microphone and looked at Starlight floating in the air.

[Children~? Code, S!]

“What…?”

Click! When Gu Seo-ryong snapped her fingers again, all the lights in Kowloon Walled City changed direction toward Starlight.

Behind that, numerous superhumans jumped from the ground, taking positions on the apartment walls, aiming at Starlight.

“Why so surprised, S-rank hero? Did you think villains would run away in fear when you showed up?

We’ve been prepared for whenever you might come.”

“So you set a trap?”

“Oh my, not a trap, would you call it hunting preparations?”

Boom, boom, boom! With the sound of cannons firing from the ground, bullet-sized projectiles were shot toward Starlight.

A gunshot sound I’d heard at the laboratory—an anti-materiel rifle.

As Starlight evaded the bullets by flying to avoid the impact that would be difficult to ignore even if she wouldn’t be penetrated or seriously injured, Gu Seo-ryong laughed and put the microphone to her lips.

[Ahahahaha! Ladies and gentlemen! Today’s special event! We’re starting the hero hunt!]

“Waaaaaaah!”

[Just come outside to watch and everyone gets 100 casino chips! 300 if you get injured! As long as you don’t die from a stray bullet, a life-changing opportunity awaits!]

“Uwaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaaah!”

Hissss, along with the sound of smoke being sprayed, a strong stimulant smell wafted from outside the window.

“Well, I’ll be back soon, so wait for me, baby?”

“Gu Seo-ryoooong!”

“Ahaha! Ahahahahahaha!”

“Waaaah! Kill her! Kill her!”

Gu Seo-ryong put two fingers to her lips, blew me a kiss, and jumped toward the frenzied cheers with a mix of madness.

“Hmm.”

And I lay on my side on the bed.

The paralytic poison is almost completely digested… what remains are the sedative and stimulant.

Four years ago, when Gu Seo-ryong escaped from the laboratory, it would have taken me more than a day to process this level of poison, but now, well, at most 10 to 20 minutes.

“It hurts…”

More importantly, my stomach hurts right now.

Not the inside, the outside.

###

“Let’s see if this attack works on an S-rank.”

“Sniper team! Concentrated fire! Don’t stop for even 0.1 seconds until you’ve used all your ammunition!”

As a superhuman hanging from the wall by freezing it reached out toward Yu Anna, an icy mist scattered in the air.

Next to him, a superhuman floating in the air with a vortex swirling around his body clapped his hands at the mist, causing the ice particles in the mist to collide, rise, and disappear.

At that moment, Yu Anna felt her hair stand on end.

“Kyaha! Get hit and die, hero!”

Bang! With the sound of air bursting, a massive shock wave exploded around Starlight.

This was the result of a fist-sized projectile fired through a grenade launcher by a villain who was barely C-rank.

A capacitor bullet charged to maximum power by a superhuman with electricity manipulation ability.

Fired toward a completely different location far from where Yu Anna was, it burst the entire space like a giant firework.

All the lightning that dominated the space transformed into thousands of needles, converging toward Starlight’s entire body—a natural guided missile of concentrated lightning aimed at her conductive flesh.

“Kyaaaaa!”

“Ahahaha! This is crazy~! What was that just now!”

Rumble! The guests of Kowloon Walled City laughed, chatted, and cheered at the thunderous sound that followed the sonic boom, while the white smoke remaining in the air formed small lights with crackling sounds, leaving traces of lightning.

At the center, Yu Anna, her entire body scorched, exhaled the breath she had been holding in the explosion and drew upon her ability.

“These bastards…”

“She’s alive! Prepare the next attack!”

“Shit! If an S-rank dies from this, what kind of S-rank is that!”

The barrage of bullets raining down consisted entirely of massive projectiles fired from anti-materiel rifles.

Villains firing sniper bullets in rapid succession with their enhanced superhuman strength were proudly positioned among the drugged citizens, laughing with excited expressions.

“Hey, you fucking bitch! Die quickly! The target is small and hard to hit!”

“Hahaha! You idiot! Can’t you use telekinesis properly?”

“Shut up before I shoot you first!”

Bang, bang, bang, the fired bullets followed Yu Anna at a consistent distance even as she moved through the air.

Telekinetically guided bullets from superhumans with telekinesis ability. While villains with barely C-rank superhuman abilities thoroughly checked Yu Anna, B-rank villains prepared the next coordination.

Bullet shower, as more superhumans drew upon their abilities again and others reloaded their magazines, gaps began to appear.

Not missing that gap, Yu Anna brought her hands together and raised one finger.

A pinpoint shot aimed at the sandbags called villains. Ping, ping, ping, as the light bullets were fired, the villains hit by them collapsed like sand.

“Oh my, you should be careful, shouldn’t you? You might end up shooting citizens by mistake!”

“I told you to evacuate already!”

“Waaaaaaah! Ahahaha! She’s flying!”

“As if they’d evacuate! When it’s this exciting!”

“This is annoying!”

The stimulant spread throughout Kowloon Walled City, Gu Seo-ryong’s ability, hallucinations caused by sensory confusion.

Just as Yu Anna tried to fly quickly over Kowloon Walled City again to avoid the bullets, Gu Seo-ryong appeared behind her and twirled around once.

Yu Anna, struck down toward the ground by Gu Seo-ryong’s long tail, stopped just before crushing the citizens and flew past the fighting cage in the center of the apartment.

Thump! Gu Seo-ryong dropped down on top of it, gripping the iron cage with her scaled feet.

“Ahahahaha! It must be hard for a hero! Having to protect these citizens too!”

Click…! Click…click…as the sound of snapping fingers echoed, Yu Anna’s sky and ground were reversed.

Sensory confusion, having lost her sense of direction, Yu Anna shot upward, barely grazing the people on the ground. This time, the apartment seemed to collapse toward her.

When she panicked and reached out with both hands to support the apartment, a middle-aged man having relations with a prostitute shouted in an excited voice from inside a window:

“Kyah~! Starlight! You’re so fucking pretty!”

“Haaang~!”

The apartment collapsing was also an illusion; what was collapsing was Yu Anna’s sense of balance.

Shwoooosh, human forms stretching long, windows from different floors stretching like playing cards, people inside rooms passing by Yu Anna like pictures in an old film.

“Starlight! Stop fighting and just lie down here!”

“Ahahahaha! Will 10 million won do? I’ll pay anything!”

“Die quickly! I bet on you losing, Starlight, kekeke!”

“Kyaaaak!”

Bang, bang, bang! With the bullet shower that followed, the head of the man leaning against the window, crushing the prostitute, flew off.

Passing by the disgusting scene, Yu Anna, sinking toward the moon below her head, gritted her teeth in the sky.

“Aah! Really! Disgusting!”

“Hmm? Is that directed at our children? Or at the citizens~?”

Beside her, Gu Seo-ryong, who had somehow approached and was squatting on the apartment rooftop railing with her claws dug in, snapped her fingers.

Click, click…click…with the echoing sound, the moon stretched like a deck of cards being fanned out.

Suddenly, 13 Gu Seo-ryongs were standing before Yu Anna’s eyes.

“Ta-da~ Which one is the real Gu Seo-ryong~?”

“All of you!”

Whoosh! Yu Anna spread flames across the entire rooftop, burning all the Gu Seo-ryongs.

Then, on the opposite rooftop, Gu Seo-ryong appeared, squatting and casting a shadow on the moonlight.

In her hand was a switch that looked like a chess piece. When she pressed it firmly, the illusions around Yu Anna disappeared.

Around Yu Anna, the apartment rooftop was filled with Claymore mines.

Fragmentation mines that blow away the space in front of them when they explode.

“Yes, boom♥”

Boom!

A massive explosion occurred on the apartment rooftop.