Ch.98Chapter 4. The Dignity of S-Rank (6)

“Snow White, don’t you like the Goblin?”

This was a widely circulated rumor.

As Snow White herself, she wanted to pound her chest in frustration, but people naturally let their imaginations run wild watching these two S-rank heroes clash at every turn.

-Snow White acts that way because she likes the Goblin.

-Go, Seolhi-mon! Fall head over heels for the Goblin!

-How do you know if the Goblin is male or female? Could actually be female for all we know.

-Why assume she’d fail to fall for a woman?

-I applaud the teacher’s broad defensive coverage.

Snow White and the Goblin heated up online communities to the level of Romeo and Juliet, or rather, Prince Hodong and Princess Nakrang.

-But doesn’t Princess Nakrang die and Prince Hodong win the war?

-Then let’s call them Prince Snow and Princess Goblin!

-Anyone can see the Goblin is male, so why “princess”…?

-Even a male can be treated like a princess!

-I’m also very interested in the teacher’s suspicious tastes.

People cheered enthusiastically.

And while the government didn’t openly show it, they all gave Snow White subtle looks.

-How about seducing the Goblin with your body, heart, or abilities?

-Honestly, the Goblin just kills without hesitation, but if you think about it, weren’t they all deserving of death?

-If we could turn the Goblin into a hunting dog to kill villains, we could handle it like a plea deal. Snow White, you should keep the Goblin on a leash.

Everyone tried to pair Snow White with the Goblin.

Especially when the Goblin, who had never appeared on Sejong Island before, started showing up again, rumors spread worldwide.

-Someone who never appeared on Sejong Island suddenly shows up when Snow White arrives? That’s 100% a sign. Green light.

-The Goblin is definitely male. How could any man not be attracted to Snow White’s milkshake containers?

-Date! *clap* Be patriotic! *clap* Have snow babies! *clap*

The internet was already in an uproar with questions like “If the Goblin and Snow White have a baby, would it be a snow woman?”

Until now, Snow White hadn’t particularly cared about such things.

What concerned her about the Goblin was purely his villain ideology or actions, she didn’t particularly think of the Goblin romantically—

Or did she?

She wasn’t sure.

But such thoughts were merely delusions.

She only mistook feeling attraction because others kept talking about it.

There was already one man who had taken a place in Snow White’s heart.

‘People don’t understand.’

What a fateful encounter means.

Meeting someone who feels familiar as if you’ve known them forever, yet exciting like discovering a new world; someone who makes you feel comfortable, who sees you not as an S-rank hero but as a woman named Baek Seol-hee.

‘I’m already annoyed that he didn’t answer my calls last night, and now people who know nothing are pairing me with the Goblin.’

She was afraid.

What would an S-rank hero fear? She was afraid he might say something like:

-So Seolhee, you like the Goblin… I’m a bit disappointed.

She was afraid.

Afraid their relationship might crumble.

Even now, they were just at the precarious beginning stages, and she couldn’t sleep properly worrying that people’s strange encouragement might crush their relationship.

So.

She would prove it by definitively ending her relationship with the Goblin today.

To show that man that the rumors about her and the Goblin were just malicious fabrications.

Certainly.

It wasn’t because she was angry that he didn’t contact her late at night, didn’t reply, didn’t check in, and still hadn’t contacted her by dawn.

Right.

Why would she take that anger out on the Goblin?

Just.

She was simply doing her utmost to cut off the rumors people had created.

With new techniques she’d learned through their conversations.

Today.

Snow White was determined to capture the Goblin.

* * *

‘She probably tried to contact me last night.’

Quickly dodging the incoming ice spears, he tried to guess why Snow White’s attacks were filled with such anger.

Question 1: Because she was forcibly mobilized to Gangwon Province to clean up Armored Taejo’s mess?

Answer 1: No. She’d been mobilized for all sorts of incidents before, but she wouldn’t get this angry over something like this.

Question 2: Because I came riding a motorcycle with Juliana?

Answer 2: Why would that matter? I’m the Goblin. If I had come as Do Ji-hwan riding with her, I’d have to get on my knees right now, but the Goblin has no romantic relationship with Snow White.

Question 3: Perhaps because she saw me throwing Juliana to the ground?

Answer 3: That’s possible. She could be angry about how I could throw a woman like that.

But there seemed to be an even more primal anger at work.

“What are you thinking about so intently?!”

[I was thinking about you.]

“Stop flirting! This is why people keep saying things!”

She was angry again.

The ice spears rushing toward my head, shoulders, and even heart would pierce my arm if I tried to deflect them with my fist, so moving at full speed to avoid them was the best option.

Question 4: Maybe she doesn’t like being paired with me, the Goblin?

Question 4-1: But why now, when it hasn’t bothered her before?

‘Ah.’

There was a new variable.

Until now, she hadn’t particularly cared about being paired with the Goblin, but there was one person who might make her uncomfortable about such pairings.

‘Could she be concerned about Do Ji-hwan?’

My intuition is accurate about these things.

I might be somewhat ambiguous about the original protagonist and world settings, but I have quite good intuition about relationships and women’s feelings.

It’s risky, but let me test the waters.

[You called this a date, but this is the most violent date I’ve ever experienced.]

“Shut up. It was just a figure of speech!”

As Snow White spread her right hand to the side, ice wings unfolded behind her.

The wings, like angel feathers, fluttered, and soon Snow White aimed directly at me, extending her right hand in my direction.

“I won’t miss!”

[!!]

The feathers shot sideways.

The reason they shot sideways rather than forward was because each feather curved in an arc toward me.

‘Homing missiles!’

The ice feathers were as sharp as arrowheads, and even at a glance, there seemed to be well over a thousand of them.

There was nowhere to escape—

To avoid them, I’d have to leave the battlefield of this ice net she’d created.

[Spreading your attack doesn’t mean you’ll catch me.]

I jumped lightly backward, then swung my hand forward widely.

Whoosh!

Magical flames spread like sparks.

Small flames, each containing explosive power, scattered like snowflakes, and those flames precisely met the trajectories of the incoming ice feathers.

“Kuh…!”

Magic collided with magic.

No matter how much abilities were based on imagination, they couldn’t overcome basic human cognition.

Fire melts ice.

[If you want to extinguish my flames, you’ll need to bring more ice, princess.]

“Then, try blocking this too!”

Snow White raised both hands upward.

She recalled even the ice feathers that hadn’t reached me yet, forming a white sphere in the sky, and soon that ice crystal became a massive chunk like a meteor.

[If you just throw something like that, I’ll just dodge….]

“Too late!”

An ice net had already formed a wall behind me.

Since the net would instantly freeze anything it touched, it was virtually impossible to just go outside, and I was precisely cornered.

“Meteor Fall!”

Baek Seol-hee threw an ice chunk at me that was as big as a decent-sized container.

It really did look like a meteor falling, and I realized the source of her anger.

‘She’s definitely pissed because she couldn’t reach me!’

In this situation, consciously or unconsciously, she’s using a technique from the climactic scene of a movie she watched with Do Ji-hwan?

One hundred percent.

I’m sure when I get back to Seoul, there will be over ten missed calls on the Taeguk Watch.

-Are you…?

-Can you come now?

-Or should I come to you?

If messages like that are waiting, then Do Ji-hwan is trash.

‘Damn.’

It’s fine to have a flirtation as Do Ji-hwan, but for the Goblin to bleed because of that flirtation…

Should I call this trolling, or karma?

‘But one thing is certain.’

That woman, Baek Seol-hee, doesn’t know my identity.

She has absolutely no idea that the Goblin is Do Ji-hwan.

If she knew I was Do Ji-hwan?

There would have been some hesitation in that attack.

There’s no confusion about Do Ji-hwan being the Goblin, no sense of betrayal mixed in her emotions.

Only her determination as a hero to capture me.

[How cute, in a way.]

“!!”

Should I call it pure love for Do Ji-hwan?

Her attacks are full of determination to capture the Goblin, but knowing the underlying reason is her feelings for Do Ji-hwan makes me feel strangely embarrassed.

‘I’ll have to comfort her when I get back.’

I’ll figure out a way, whether by going back to Ulleung soon or secretly inviting her somewhere.

For now, dealing with the falling meteor is the urgent matter.

Escaping by turning into a spirit form is impossible.

There are too many invisible ice crystals around to use spirit form; if I try to cross the net and materialize with ice crystals embedded in my body, I’ll explode.

Either break through the net.

Or escape underground.

Or.

[Hello? Can you hear me? The chairman’s message: Backup with ‘full power’ is coming.]

Use all the power I can muster now to block the attack.

[Five minutes. I’ll finish up here and arrive in five minutes, so don’t get caught.]

‘I’m about to take an ultimate attack right now.’

I turned my body.

Turning my back to the meteor, I gathered magical power in my lower body.

“!!”

Baek Seol-hee reached out to me in surprise, but the meteor was already falling.

‘Maximum magical power.’

[Three.]

[Two.]

[One.]

Gathering all the magical power Qiongqi had given me in one leg.

[I’ll take that anger head-on.]

Cutting Kick Blade.

Patriotic Side Cutter.

I turned my body dramatically and raised one leg high toward the meteor.

Whoosh.

A red flame crescent.

Split the white meteor in half.