Ch.542Chapter 21. Blood Pack (2)

“I’ll kill Haeguneul.”

“That’s fair, but what’s with that first thing in the morning?”

“Haeguneul gave me a terrible dream.”

Home IoT service.

It’s a service that manages electronic devices inside the house with artificial intelligence, and Baek Seol-hee’s house also has an IoT service called “Haeguneul Home Care.”

That’s what caused the error.

Because of it, the fluorescent light on the ceiling turned on, and I ended up having a terrible dream while sleeping soundly.

A dream of the world’s end where Ymir tries to kill everyone except me.

They say dreams of human extinction are just bad dreams, but “she” who showed me the situation right before a meteorite destroyed Earth attacked me with cutting truths.

In other words, a fact bomb.

Or a trauma filled with my worries and concerns.

The trauma of wondering what if Ymir actually thought about such things manifested as a nightmare.

“Ymir.”

“Yes, teacher.”

“Have you ever thought about monopolizing me by killing all the women in the world except me?”

“……”

Ymir froze while holding her cup.

She blinked at me with gentle eyes, then gradually shifted her gaze to the side.

“What. Why. Why are you looking at her?”

“Ah, no. Just…”

“Why are you turning your eyes toward her?”

In a somewhat rigid voice, Baek Seol-hee coldly snapped at Ymir.

“Planning to kill me and have him for yourself?”

“No. That’s not it…”

“Then?”

“…Well, if I had to pick someone who might do that, I’d say it would be you, sis—ouch!”

Baek Seol-hee immediately summoned her magic power and hit Ymir’s crown with an ice hammer.

The ice hammer, shaped like a goblin club, tapped Ymir’s head repeatedly, and Ymir grabbed it with her hands while making a tearful face.

“Heeeng, I just dried my hair…”

“That’s your punishment for making me out to be some yandere obsessive woman.”

“If that’s the punishment, shouldn’t you be giving it to the teacher, not me!”

“The one who asked is at fault too, but you’re the one who looked at me. What’s that about? Do you really think of me that way?”

“Of course not.”

She doesn’t think that way now.

She just used to think that way.

“If you wanted to monopolize me, you wouldn’t kill all the other women, but rather hide me somewhere others couldn’t find and live quietly with just the two of us.”

“…You know well.”

That’s the kind of woman Baek Seol-hee is.

“But why did you suddenly ask that?”

“It came up in my dream.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Ymir was threatening me with a meteorite.”

“What?”

Ymir’s eyes widened instantly.

“M-me?”

“Yes. You put a shining Platinum Sun above the city and tried to kill everyone while saying we should become the Adam and Eve of a new world.”

“……”

Ymir’s eyebrows contorted.

Even if it was someone else’s dream, it must be unpleasant to hear that a version of yourself in someone’s dream was trying to do such a thing.

“If I may…”

“What?”

“Rather than threatening a city with a meteorite, wouldn’t it be more effective to threaten the entire Earth?”

“……”

“What?”

“Nothing. I just think I’m really good at reading people.”

Look at this.

Original protagonist.

You, the TS reincarnated scammer who was once a man and became a woman, might not know, but our real Ymir, who has never been a man, doesn’t play around with meteorites.

“Ymir. If you were to try to destroy Earth, what method would you use?”

“Hmm…”

“Anything is fine. Just say whatever comes to mind.”

“I think there could be ways to destroy it instantly, or ways to gradually lead it to destruction…”

She’s being vague because she’s watching my and Baek Seol-hee’s reactions, but I’m sure specific methods are being organized in Ymir’s mind.

“But since I would never destroy Earth, it doesn’t really matter, right?”

“Right?”

“Dreams are just dreams. You just had a nightmare. If I were to try to destroy Earth, it would only be in a situation everyone would agree with.”

“You’re looking at me again. Are you saying I would try to destroy Earth for my personal goals?”

Baek Seol-hee raised her left hand.

A golden ring was sparkling on her left hand, and white light began to slowly leak from it.

“Want to fight me again?”

“Ah, no. Calm down, sis. Do you think I said that because I thought you would destroy Earth for personal reasons? I said it because I thought you wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“Excuses.”

The white energy emanating from Baek Seol-hee’s ring gradually subsided.

Except for the characteristic of being on the fourth finger of her left hand, and being an intricately crafted gold ring, that gold ring has only one feature left.

Mana Gold.

It’s Mana Gold distributed to S-class heroes from what remained after creating the Golden Mecha Tyranno Lord of Radiant Wings, and Baek Seol-hee has her Mana Gold in the form of a ring.

Why a ring?

Why the fourth finger?

Anyone could figure out the reason by just browsing the Hero Wiki entry on Baek Seol-hee.

Perhaps the moment she removes that ring would be the moment Baek Seol-hee brings an ice age to Earth.

Or when she’s received enough mental damage to become a demon.

“Anyway, it was just a bad dream, so it won’t happen in reality, right?”

“Of course. Is that what you wanted to confirm? Even if I had such power, I would never actually do it.”

“Right. Even though people are spreading conspiracy theories about ability users being nuclear warheads, we’re heroes. Heroes don’t do such things.”

“That’s a relief then.”

It should be a relief.

“No matter how dirty and irritating things get in this world, I hope you’d consult with me before causing the end of the world.”

“Teacher, why are you saying such worrying things?”

“Worrying?”

“When you talk like this, it feels like you’re telling us to prepare mentally because such situations might actually happen.”

“You’ve come to know me well.”

It’s just as Ymir worries.

“There are many dirty things in this world. Like what happened in Thailand or Japan.”

“If you continue, I feel like you’re going to say that such things will happen around us too.”

“That’s right.”

There’s nothing more mentally damaging than when unpleasant and dirty things stop being someone else’s problem and become your own.

“For the time being, the stage will be Korea. And all sorts of shameful things will be revealed one by one in this country.”

“……”

“Things beyond your imagination might unfold. When that time comes, remember this. No matter how terrible the situation gets.”

I pointed my finger at the ceiling.

“A meteorite is the answer.”

“What?”

“You might think that, but you shouldn’t act on it.”

No matter how tempting destruction might be, human extinction is a crime.

“I’ll try my best not to go as far as execution if possible, so no matter how much you think ‘I want to kill them all,’ you shouldn’t actually drop meteorites or cause ice ages. Understand?”

“I understand. So, what’s the issue? Where are we going to raise the national prestige and wave the Korean flag this time?”

“Seoul.”

More precisely, northern Seoul—northern Gyeonggi Province.

“Mir, when humans are pushed to the extreme, what do you think is the easiest thing to sell at the highest price?”

“……”

“Right. What you’re thinking is the correct answer.”

When humans can do nothing else.

In modern society, the easiest thing to sell at the highest price is, of course, the “body.”

Whether using the body to add value.

Or selling the body itself.

“Humans will do anything if it makes money.”

There exists an environment where instead of receiving money for labor, one can earn wealth by offering their body as a sacrifice in barter.

“There are several businesses in northern Gyeonggi. And we’re going to raid them.”

We.

That means the Syndicate is officially moving.

“Teacher. Moving is fine, but…”

“The World Cup is in two months. Will it be okay?”

Baek Seol-hee asks me with a tense face.

“What if we try to catch them but miss? Wouldn’t it be better to mobilize heroes too?”

“If this were an official matter, I would have asked for your help. But this time, it’s not the time for heroes to move.”

They say heroes have their own stage.

That’s right.

Heroes should act in righteous places and defeat villains, not in places where human malice festers.

“Heroes should prepare for the World Cup. The Syndicate will remove all the shadows hiding behind the sun that illuminates this country, so that the World Cup, a national festival, can be successful.”

This time, it’s thoroughly the villains’ turn to move.

“Two people are already on standby.”

Seoul.

Two people are staying at my house.

* * *

Do Ji-hwan is officially staying at Baek Seol-hee’s house.

The date is September 1st.

It’s the day the Academy’s second semester begins, and if he were still the librarian Do Ji-hwan, he would be wrestling with books at the Academy.

But Do Ji-hwan cannot go out.

How could Do Ji-hwan enter Sejong Island when Baek Seol-hee is sending her doppelgänger to lecture there?

Only when Baek Seol-hee’s main body enters Sejong Island.

But does that mean I wear a mask or cover my face when I go outside?

Not at all.

I proudly show my face as I move around.

Even if people passing by see me riding a bike on the streets of Seoul.

“Wow. He looks exactly like Do Ji-hwan.”

They all just wonder and move on.

“As expected of a plastic surgery nation.”

As soon as I enter Gangnam, what I see are numerous billboards.

On those billboards for various plastic surgery clinics, someone’s face was proudly displayed.

Someone similar to me.

“Anyway.”

I stood in front of the electronic display.

Haeguneul Plastic Surgery.

The model was a man who looked exactly like me.

“Excuse me. Did you also get your face reconstructed to look like Do Ji-hwan?”

“The world has improved. These days, they can make faces identical to someone just from their TV appearance.”

Behind me, two women approached with playful, sarcastic voices.

“The world has indeed improved.”

I pointed at the two women’s hair.

“Two women with red and white hair with gold bridges walking around the center of Gangnam trying to pick up men… are you crazy?”

I ended up cursing.

“Where do you get off doing schoolgirl cosplay when you’re over 20—”

“I was a high school student when I died, you know? Right, sis?”

“Me too. This is exactly the same uniform I wore when I was alive.”

“……”

Yoon Hye-ra.

Hyun Se-rin.

Contact established.