Chapter 44 : last-ditch effort (1)

Mental magic like <Brainwash>, or its perfect superior version, <Marionette>, are skills that allow the caster to freely control the target’s

body.

Of course, in the game, it was just a skill that temporarily stole control of the character, and it naturally had no effect on the real user sitting

in front of the computer.

However, that became a thing of the past long ago, ever since users awakened their status windows.

“…Who are you?”

Sia’s body was already hit with the maximum amount of CC skills I could muster.

Just in case, I had previously cast <Chains of Atonement>, and even pushed myself quite hard to cast magic that sealed specific skills, so she

shouldn’t be able to do anything but breathe quietly.

A state from which even Sia herself would find it nearly impossible to escape; whoever had stolen her body would have to listen to me

obediently unless they willingly gave up control.

“…Master, what is all this?”

“Ah, you’re here.”

Seeing Yejin and Yerim standing behind me definitely reassured me.

It was safe to say that there was virtually no crisis, short of a nuclear bomb, that could endanger the three of us at once.

Since the entity that stole Sia’s body couldn’t possibly be a head of state capable of ordering a nuclear strike right now, it was only natural for

my mind to feel at ease.

Therefore, I looked at Sia with a much calmer heart.

To be precise, I was facing the magician who had succeeded in dominating Sia’s body.

“Hello. Who are you?”

“…Nice to meet you. Ranker GrabHornsMakeBaby, and GutPunchLover.”

I wish you wouldn’t say embarrassing nicknames with such a deep voice.

Since I was getting used to this kind of situation, I could just frown without reacting, but Yejin was fanning herself with her hand, her face

blushing.

Meanwhile, Yerim, who hadn’t suffered any internal damage, peeked out from behind me and asked.

“Hey, why didn’t you call out my nickname?”

“Rank 23. Your nickname wasn’t valuable enough to memorize.”

Yerim shut her mouth as if she had nothing more to say to the dry, emotionless words that sounded coldly objective.

To shut her up instantly, with her typically talkative and sociable personality, he was quite something.

Anyway, Rank 23 meant being the twenty-third best PvP user in the world.

It was obvious that her equipment, skill proficiency, and various stats would have reached the top tier, yet he called it worthless.

“So, why did you do this to Sia? Whatever your relationship was, Sia must have been quite a useful pawn to you.”

Sia possessed the ability to take the heads of not only people she disliked but also most heads of state within days if she put her mind to it.

Due to her job characteristics, she could hide in shadows and was armed with various stealth-specific skills, allowing her to commit perfect

crimes without being identified as the culprit.

If, as expected, he was holding her boyfriend hostage, maintaining that situation and using commands to eliminate figures hindering his

plans would have been more beneficial, even by simple calculation.

“The reason is-“

“I know, you can’t tell me. Then you don’t have to. It’s not necessary anymore.”

I snatched the fine thread of mana connected to the back of Sia’s head.

The identity of this thread was the medium for the magic called <Brainwash>.

My past self wouldn’t have even known it existed, mana so faint it was almost non-existent.

However, as soon as I grasped its nature, information about it naturally surfaced in my mind.

The activation method of <Brainwash> was one piece of information that came to mind.

‘So this is how <Brainwash> is used?’

A method of suppressing the opponent’s consciousness through a mana thread directly connected to the caster’s body; it was quite a

distastefully designed magic.

‘To think I used skills like this in the game, maybe Fantasia Online was surprisingly dangerous… Anyway, now is not the time for such

thoughts.’

Pushing aside the unproductive miscellaneous thoughts, I channeled pure mana, freshly drawn from the Dragon Heart, into the snatched

mana thread.

On the other end of this thread attached to Sia’s head, there would naturally be the caster proficient in <Brainwash> and various other

mental magic.

“How did you break my magic skill..! That kind of skill shouldn’t exist…?”

At this point, the opponent, who must be incredibly insensitive to mana compared to me, seemed to have realized what I had done.

Even a rotten fish is still a fish, so does that mean he’s also a skilled magician?

However, I didn’t really have an answer to his urgent question.

Even if I did, I wouldn’t have intended to tell him.

“I don’t know either. I just did it, and it worked?”

“What kind of f*cking nonsense is that! If such a thing were easily possible, other users by now would…”

“I’m telling you, it’s an ability I just realized too? If you can’t believe it, then I can’t help it.”

Was it helpful that I used to play with mana chunks for fun without using skills? It seemed I had unknowingly awakened a new, pure ability

of mine, not a skill.

Tracing back through the magic caster’s mana? That was a fraudulent effect no skill possessed.

The point reached by the pure mana flowed into the thread was… inside a school in Chungju city, according to our country’s regional districts.

I used  to send a map marking the man’s location to Yejin, Yerim, and the government-affiliated users I had linked in advance

just in case.

“…This information is.”

Yejin muttered blankly, confirming the map had been delivered successfully.

“Those are the coordinates of the culprit behind this incident. Track him down and capture him alive.”

“Understood.”

“Is it okay if I beat him up once before capturing him?”

Yerim asked, unable to contain her excitement and bumping her fists together, perhaps angered by the harsh critique of being ‘worthless’.

“Do whatever you want. I don’t care if you tear off his limbs or fry his torso, just don’t kill him.”

“Yes! We’ll be back soon!”

Leaving only those words, the two sisters leaped over the building’s rooftop and outer walls, disappearing beyond the horizon.

I had already memorized his mana pattern, and I had also placed location tracking magic mixed with <Deception>-type magic to conceal the

mana trace onto his skin.

Unless he tore off all his skin or managed to decipher my tracking magic in reverse, he would be eternally pursued by the people I sent the

information to.

The fear-like emotion of the guy who heard the chilling conversation just now could be felt through the trembling pupils of Sia, who was

under his mental domination.

“I’ll cut the connection now. Try your best to escape.”

From now on, Blue House affiliated users, who are among the best users, would pursue him, and above all, the two top-tier rankers would

chase him relentlessly, gritting their teeth until the culprit was caught according to my orders.

Furthermore, police and special forces personnel experienced in chases would provide them with various advice and command via

communication…

In addition, considering his magical level, he was likely a top-tier ranker as well, but seeing how he invested heavily in mental magic skill

points, he was probably a user who had given up on using escape skills.

Taking that into account, the probability of him successfully escaping was exactly 0%.

Frankly, unless he took a spaceship to a space station, my location tracking magic would continue to persist.

“You son of a-“

Just before cutting the connection, it seemed like a curse filled with resentment flew at me, but I decided to forgive him with a generous

heart.

It was obvious he would be captured alive and brought before me within a few hours, or at most, within a day.

“Phew, what should I do about this aftermath…”

Whether she knew my inner thoughts or not, Sia, who had fallen soundly asleep breathing regularly, didn’t stir.

First, I used magic to roughly patch up the surroundings damaged by the battle, then carefully lifted the soundly sleeping Sia without waking

her and returned home.

Perhaps because the window was open, the room temperature was like a freezer; I cast a cold protection spell and placed Sia down on the

blanket.

” maybe because I stretched my body after a long time, I suddenly feel sleepy-“

I should have slept sufficiently until now, so why am I suddenly so sleepy?

I even drank an energy drink just a few hours ago-

With my vision gradually blurring, unable to maintain consciousness any longer, I fell asleep right next to Sia.

-Synchronization Rate has increased.

Without being able to check the short phrase that appeared and disappeared in a corner of the status window.

---

“Damn it! How could things turn out like this, success was just around the corner!”

The man slammed his fist on the teacher’s desk in the school science lab he was using as a temporary shelter and shouted.

However, his final trump card had not yet been played.

If he used this method, he might be able to turn the tables, even get revenge on that b*tch who screwed him over.

-Inventory.

At the man’s command, a sub-space formed in the air.

The man took out all the equipment he had used in the game from the sub-space and put it on, his appearance now resembling a plague

doctor from the medieval era.

‘I haven’t been using it until now to hide my identity, but…’

His location was already pinpointed, and his identity was half-revealed; this was no time to be picky.

Similarly taking out various items from the sub-space, the man looked at the various apparatuses inside the chemistry lab.

There was no time, so this task had to be finished as quickly as possible.

“Denim!”

At the man’s call, a giant brute holding a massive greatsword mumbled.

With pronunciation barely qualifying as an answer and breath so foul it made the man frown, he pointed towards the school’s outer

playground and said.

“Soon, users hostile to me will find this place. You must prevent them from entering here, even if it costs you your life.”

Denim, delighted by an order that felt like a real order after a long time, immediately rushed outside, eagerly anticipating the battle to come

soon.

Unaware of the future that awaited him.