Ch.46Those Who Welcome, Those Who Don’t – 5

“This is the target.”

The dark-skinned man shows a photo, and the organization members nod in agreement.

It’s the man who was in the news recently. His name was, yes, Seojin Baek.

A person who has no bad blood with them.

He’s not a superhuman who’s caught many villains, nor is he a socially respected figure.

Nevertheless, no one raised any questions.

Why harm people? Why throw flames of chaos into the world?

These were truly foolish questions to villains.

It might be fun to watch the world fall apart more.

Or perhaps it’s exciting to watch someone suffer.

Whatever the reason, if they want to do something, they just do it.

A world not bound by law, ethics, or morality. Where only power and orders matter.

That’s why they follow these killing orders without hesitation.

“After handling it, deliberately leave traces so we can frame someone else.”

In the underground world, villains have much wider connections than superhumans.

Thanks to that, they knew that some people had recently tried to mess with Seojin Baek.

The villains planned to use this to their advantage.

They would claim that since the foolish attempt failed, they decided to just kill him.

It would be perfect if they, disguised as a contract killing organization, handled the request.

So on the execution date, the organization members went hunting.

But an unexpected situation unfolded before them.

“There are bodyguards. And he’s with some woman.”

“We’ve confirmed she’s Minseong Kang’s granddaughter, Academy freshman Soohyun Kim.”

The dark-skinned man felt things getting slightly complicated.

He thought they’d only have to deal with Seojin Baek, but now there were more people.

He considered whether to retreat and wait for another opportunity.

But the one-eyed woman, his boss, smiled and said:

“We need to do it today.”

The boss says they need to finish the job today.

Then that’s what they’ll do. The bodyguards can be dealt with easily enough.

Afterward, the dark-skinned man used magic to overturn the vehicle carrying their target.

After causing chaos, organization members hidden in various places revealed themselves.

Before superhumans arrive—10 minutes at most.

Within that time, they need to inflict fatal wounds on their target and escape.

‘It shouldn’t be difficult.’

Though there are bodyguards, their priority is protecting their charge.

Even if a few help Seojin Baek, we have our organization members.

Though their boss, their strongest asset, isn’t here, the dark-skinned man is an A-grade expert.

Despite being in the Magic Class, his physical abilities are not lacking at all.

‘Let’s quickly draw him out, handle him, and leave.’

The man stepped forward despite having already openly revealed he was from the Magic Class.

From the opponent’s perspective, they would naturally prioritize dealing with him first.

While a Magic Class user can be quite troublesome when casting from the rear,

if their position is compromised or they’re forced to the front for other reasons, they become quite manageable.

Meanwhile, he planned to secretly move organization members to catch Seojin Baek from behind.

Though they didn’t know exactly what class the target was, his skill level was estimated to be around B-grade.

That level could be handled by the organization members’ coordinated attack and himself.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Urgh!”

But the opponent seemed to be reading all their moves.

Whenever organization members tried to catch him from behind, he struck them down with uncanny precision.

They were clearly disguised as civilians and moving as stealthily as possible.

Yet he would look around a few times and somehow always catch just the organization members.

Did he give them an opening? Absolutely not.

He kept Seojin Baek in check to prevent him from noticing their encirclement.

Sometimes he would launch magic, and other times deliberately close the distance to create openings.

All to focus attention on himself and give organization members a chance to approach.

But as if mocking the man, Seojin Baek skillfully thwarted these attempts.

Even when pressed hard, he would escape if organization members tried to catch him from behind.

Or he would suddenly turn and attack the organization members.

‘…Perhaps that crazy woman had good reason to keep an eye on him.’

He’s no easy opponent. His combat sense is extraordinary.

While focusing on the immediate fight, he’s always mindful of his rear.

Even skilled fighters can’t perform at half their ability when surrounded.

He understands this perfectly and breaks through the encirclement with precision.

It seemed the B-grade superhuman assessment needed to be significantly upgraded.

Such an opponent could grow into a major figure later.

Cutting him down early was a good decision.

‘Now I understand why the boss wanted him eliminated.’

Thinking this, the man charged at Seojin Baek once more.

*

‘These bastards are cleverly targeting Soohyun Kim.’

My suspicion was correct. The job The Elder couldn’t finish before. Target: Soohyun Kim.

It’s clear these guys are now trying to finish it instead.

Otherwise, there’s no reason they’d try to divert my attention and catch me from behind.

Look at them now. Their subtle movements are obvious to me.

Some bodyguards have left the defensive line to watch my back.

Meanwhile, the bodyguard leader is fighting the one-eyed female villain.

While Soohyun Kim isn’t completely unprotected, the security has definitely weakened.

They’re probably aiming for that, constantly sending organization members to the back.

‘Not a chance. I won’t give them an opening.’

My vision isn’t completely blocked; the situation is clearly visible.

In such circumstances, why would I give up my rear position?

If you can’t move the battle to an advantageous position, just break their flanking maneuver.

They want to spread their wings? Break those wings, and what will they do next?

Don’t focus on the body. Pretend to focus there while targeting the sides.

‘Now.’

After blocking the man’s magic once, I picked up a fragment scattered around.

Then I threw it hard at the head of someone trying to sneak behind me.

Bastard. If you’re going to disguise as a civilian, do it properly.

Who would be so calm when villains appear?

Crack—!

“Urgh!”

Watermelon or pumpkin? Something cracked loudly.

Whether his head is okay or not isn’t my concern.

What matters is whether he’s properly neutralized so the threat to Soohyun Kim is gone.

Fortunately, I seem to have broken their flanking maneuver.

The organization member heading toward Soohyun Kim has definitely been neutralized.

If he’s pretending to be dead… that’s for the bodyguards to handle.

“Impressive.”

As I check the rear angle again, the dark-skinned man approaches.

Despite appearing to be from the Magic Class, he performs close combat quite well.

Perhaps this is what a magic user would look like if they were a gym rat.

Like that white-bearded old man from the ring movie who uses his staff as a mace.

“Since we don’t have much time, I’ll finish this here.”

How absurd that a villain uses such a polite tone.

More importantly, finish? Does he plan to subdue me and then deal with Soohyun Kim?

Impossible. If you couldn’t get past the Gatekeeper, how will you reach Silver?

The opponent is clearly a villain who has caused many incidents.

He’s no pushover. Originally, B-grade is considered experienced even among superhumans.

But I was confident.

From ‘The Elder’ Hyuk Kwak to Hakjun Ma, Hyunwoo Lee, Soohyun Kim, other students.

Even the sparring with Yuhyun Jung, steeped in supremacist ideology.

The movements of everyone I’ve ever faced were stored in my mind.

The fighting styles of everyone I’ve ever clashed with were engraved in my body.

With each opponent I face, I learn all their strengths.

Simultaneously, I learn their weaknesses and engrain them to avoid making the same mistakes.

Perhaps this is also a hidden characteristic of the Gatekeeper.

The ability to extract something from each opponent I clash with and make it my own.

If not for that, there’s no way to explain my movements so far.

“Hup!”

Once again, the dark-skinned man summons a huge fireball.

And just like before, he throws that fireball at me…

‘…Wait, he’s not throwing it but charging with it?’

This bastard must be crazy. Isn’t ranged attack the basic for Magic Class?

What kind of Magic Class user casts a spell and then charges with it?

It’s like loading a gun, setting it to automatic fire, and suddenly rushing in for hand-to-hand combat.

Normally, I should dodge. I don’t even have the door panel I was using as a shield.

But what if that’s what he wants? What if this is just a feint?

What if he’s waiting for me to dodge, and then uses that opening to go after Soohyun Kim…

‘Like sacrificing a piece to give up the king in chess.’

I shouldn’t dodge. I must block. I must confront it.

I was worried if my body would survive, but I didn’t think it was impossible.

If it were, my body wouldn’t have survived after being hit by The Elder.

I stared directly at the man’s movements.

As he charged toward me, I captured everything, even the strange gleam in his eyes.

Even this moment would clearly accumulate as experience for me.

BOOM—!

Honestly, I don’t remember much of what happened next.

After something flashed, my first thought was:

‘Hot!!’

It felt like accidentally touching the hot water dispenser and having it spray everywhere.

My arm started burning and then began to sting.

This reminds me of the times I’d get reddish burns and suffer for days.

I slightly raised my head to check the situation.

The dark-skinned man was sitting down in the direction he had come from.

Fortunately, the bodyguards seemed to have blocked the villains targeting the rear in time.

At least I’m alive. That’s most important.

Normally, I should have suffered severe burns by now.

But they say awakening superpowers also enhances physical abilities.

I’m so grateful for that setting. Author, you are a god!

Plus, the villains targeting Soohyun Kim are gone now, so it’s safe…

◎ Notice

: A seed has been planted.

: Planted seed – Affection

…What? What’s this suddenly?

Only one person could make such a message appear.

I slightly turned my head to look at Soohyun Kim sitting behind me.

◎ Notice

: Three or more seeds have been planted.

: Condition fulfilled.

: Soohyun Kim’s characteristic, ‘Inferiority-Driven Genius’ will be changed.

Characteristic change. The glorious moment of shedding ‘Inferiority-Driven Genius’!

Please, Soohyun. No more, no less, let’s level up to Hyunwoo Lee’s level of superhuman!

◎ Soohyun Kim

: The Crimson Witch

…What the fuck?