Ch.433Troublemaking NPC (1)

In my past life, I always thought while watching dramas or movies:

“In any story, the only ones who die are either careless people or those who aren’t the main characters.”

[Isn’t that obvious?]

Yes, as Gor says, it’s obvious. To advance the plot of dramas or movies, there must be careless people, responsible people must act foolishly, and the protagonist’s group must always struggle to resolve the situation after it erupts. If everyone prepared for upcoming events without being careless, if responsible people made decisive actions risking their power and honor, and if the protagonist addressed the core of the problem before it became a crisis, any movie would end in 30 minutes at most.

And this applies to reality too. If you know what to do, instead of wasting time contemplating the proper method, you should act quickly to address the core issue and prevent problems before they become disasters. That’s how you avoid a difficult life.

While I’ve always lived thinking I’m the protagonist of my own life, I’m not the protagonist of the “world.” If I know something but push it aside, who knows what kind of bomb might explode in my face.

“So, I’m going to smash everything here.”

“Grr… No, don’t—”

“I will.”

—BANG!!!

In the underground laboratory of the council building, I was destroying everything I could get my hands on, grabbing chunks of ignition stones used as research materials and hurling them with all my might at every device in sight, causing explosions. The guy who just told me not to was a security guard. Well, according to Gor, he’s just someone working for money, so I didn’t kill him.

After that, more security guards and what must have been combat iron golems created by the chairman tried to block my path, but unfortunately, none of them could stop my advance. This is what it means to be the Guardian of the Progenitor, you bastards.

[Master, the important research lab with the guns is further inside. Why are you only destroying the outer areas?]

“You never know. Who knows what might be hidden where, or what they might take out and restore later. I don’t want to end up in one of those scenes where I regret not destroying everything and think, ‘I should have smashed it all!'”

—BANG! CRASH!! BOOM!!!

[…I’ve already thoroughly investigated everything. Don’t you trust me?]

Of course not, it’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s common sense that bastards who do evil things always prepare through multiple layers of contingencies. After destroying this place, I’m going to demolish other factories and laboratories where they might have manufactured and researched the guns. After destroying all the visible research facilities, I approached the laboratory where Gor said the guns were kept, carrying ignition stones. The door opened automatically to the sides like in a sci-fi movie. Wait, it’s opening too quickly from this dist—

—BANG!!

“Wow. That’s crazy. Gor, did you know about this?”

“What…?!”

[No, I knew. But I also knew it wouldn’t be an effective weapon against you, so I didn’t bother mentioning it.]

That’s some heavy trust in me! Knowing guns wouldn’t work on me. Still, I’m human after all, and I’d surely die if shot in the head or heart. Of course, as soon as I saw the gun barrel through the slightly opened entrance, I twisted my body and caught the bullet with my bare hand. But more importantly…

“H-how did you—”

“Shooting at someone on sight? You deserve to die.”

—THWACK!

After flicking the bullet he shot at me back into his forehead like a piercing, I looked around the interior of the now-open laboratory. I could feel the gazes of researchers who hadn’t fled yet, or perhaps were staying to resist until the end. Hmm, are all these bastards here the ones who cooperated in making the guns?

[Yes. They’re the humans who modified Ragni’s magic gun to create weapons that fire lead bullets using only ignition stones. The old man hiding at the end and the woman next to him are the ones in charge, and the rest are regular researchers.]

“Who on earth are you?! Why this terrorist act…?!”

“Because you’ve created an extremely dangerous weapon. I understand magic guns. They produce enough firepower against monsters when used by someone with magical power, and only those with talent can use them. But this ‘gun’ you’ve made is different, isn’t it? It’s barely powerful enough to kill a goblin by piercing its crown or its core, wherever that might be, but it’s too dangerous against humans. What purpose did you have in creating such a weapon?”

“H-how did you know…”

I smirked at the researcher who stepped forward to ask such an obvious question, seemingly unconcerned about his colleague who had died trying to stop me, and approached the person in charge that Gor had pointed out.

Just to be clear, guns that fire lead bullets didn’t appear in the game. What the hell are you bastards doing?

“H-how did you know I’m in char—”

—BOOM!!

“Listen here. I’m not a friendly visitor who came to answer your questions. Let’s not pretend you’re innocent after creating weapons designed only to kill humans. No matter how much you deny it or what reasons and evidence you present, I already know that the trash you’ve created has killed people. And I know who you’re targeting next. So don’t test my patience, because I have none. Now, let’s begin a Q&A session where only I get answers. First, was this weapon your idea?”

I silenced the elderly researcher who was about to spout nonsense by blasting the laboratory entrance with an ignition stone, then asked my question. Instead of answering, he frantically darted his eyes around, looking at the surrounding researchers.

[Six of them have guns hidden in their clothes, calculating when to shoot.]

With Gor’s clear warning, I nodded to myself, moved away from the old man, spread my arms, and continued speaking.

“Six of you. Take out those guns you’re hiding and shoot me. This is your first and last big chance. If you kill me with them, you’ll be heroes who stopped a terrorist. You won’t die here, right?”

“”””!!!””””

As some of them flinched in response, just as Gor had said, I even closed my eyes demonstratively, waiting for them to shoot me. And soon after…

—RATATATATATA!!

The loud gunfire mercilessly assaulted my ears as lead bullets flew toward me. As expected.

“”””AAAHH?!!””””

“I heard that handguns in my past life had a muzzle velocity of about 400-500 meters per second, but these aren’t even half that. Plus, there’s no rotation, so the power is nothing special.”

I had already caught one “with my eyes and hands” when the entrance first opened. I was certain their speed didn’t come close to Rey’s sword, let alone the speed of the Green Stone. If I had to compare, they were just slightly faster than Ragni’s magic bullets and so small that normal human eyes couldn’t perceive them. This means that even the me from two years ago, who could knock down Ragni’s magic bullets with my fists, could easily avoid these gun attacks. Moreover, I’m now more than four times stronger than I was then, so naturally, I could dodge all the bullets just by hearing the sound. Only innocent researchers were hit by the bullets, bleeding and writhing on the floor.

Looking at this scene with a smirk, I turned to those who had shot at me. They were trembling in disbelief at the situation, trying to reload their guns.

Hmm? Do they need to reload both the ignition stone and the bullet after each shot? So they’re single-shot pistols?

“Eeek!! You terrorist bastard!! Die!!!”

—BANG!!

“Your chance ended just now. You moron.”

—THUD!!!

“—?!!”

One of the six who had reloaded first shot at me again, but this time I didn’t dodge. I caught the bullet and threw it back with full force, creating a clean hole in his chest. See? Just adding a spin with my wrist makes it several times more powerful.

“How about that? Isn’t the lead I catch and throw more powerful than the trash you made?”

“Eek?! P-please spare me!! I was just ordered to research…!!”

“Ah, aah!! M-me too!! I just did it for the money!! I wasn’t even originally part of the weapons research team…!!!”

The idiots, finally realizing their weapons had no effect on me and that I had no qualms about killing them, began begging for their lives. But I threatened to make them all end up like the guy rolling on the floor if they uttered one more word, effectively shutting them up.

I don’t want to hear your excuses. It’s not my job to decide your fate anyway.

I turned away from the whimpering researchers covering their mouths and approached the elderly man and female researcher in charge. Then suddenly…

—BANG!! Clatter~

“…?”

A gunshot suddenly rang out from behind the female researcher, and I felt a slight sting on my shoulder. Huh? What was that? Who shot? Gor?

[I apologize. That woman was holding some kind of switch, but it seems it was a device that triggered a gun to fire from a distance.]

“I-impossible. You were hit—”

“What’s impossible is shooting people with guns, you piece of shit.”

Frowning as I noticed a hole smaller than a finger in my clothes, I could see a red dot on my shoulder like an insect bite. Ha. This is really annoying. They’re making all sorts of crap.

—THWACK!!

“Guhk?!!”

“Now, old man. I’m going to kill this woman here, so choose between two options. If you answer my questions quickly, I’ll just break her neck for a painless death. If you keep resisting and make things difficult, I’ll tear off all her limbs until she begs for death, then heal her with potions and repeat the process. Which do you prefer?”

After lightly kicking her in the stomach and grabbing her by the hair, I shoved the woman’s face in front of the old man, who began answering my questions while sobbing uncontrollably. But wait, am I acting like a villain here?

[…Not acting like one—to these people, you are quite the terrifying villain.]

Oh my, shush!