Confusion 4

Personal circumstances are equal.

Like stars in the night sky.

They all shine brilliantly.

At the same time, they are countless.

Free Korea.

The player named Lee Si-woo also had a common story.

The six-year-old snot-nosed kid experienced the ordinary tragedy of that time.

He lost his family to Gates and monsters.

And he was conscripted.

Meeting a vicious new sergeant, he was run ragged as a child soldier.

“What, it’s just a kid.”

Just when he thought he might die from overwork, he had a chance encounter.

“Se-Sergeant Park Min-soo…!”

“Are you crazy? No matter how badly we fight, how can you use a child as a human shield!”

“It’s orders from above! We have no choice!”

A soldier who looked quite old.

“He’s an orphan! He has nowhere to go anyway! It’s better for him to work in the military…!”

“This bastard sergeant has really gone mad!”

The man, with his rough hand full of protruding tendons.

Knocked down his superior who had one diamond on his head.

“Your name.”

“It’s Lee Si-woo, sir.”

“No need for military speech. You’ll be gone in 20 years anyway, why use it from now?”

He laughed bitterly.

“…Damn. Here, we should be proudly sending you back home.”

“I don’t have a home. It collapsed.”

“I know. At least here you get rations.”

He said.

That soldiers were originally meant to protect kids like you.

“…I’m sorry. Despite my big talk, I can’t even send you back home.”

It wasn’t anything new.

There were many children in similar situations around.

“But, let me promise you one thing.”

The man reached out his hand.

“You won’t die. Not alone and lonely on the battlefield. If you die, I’ll die first, or at least by your side. …How’s that, was it a bit manly?”

“It’s cheesy.”

“You brat! That’s not what you’re supposed to say there…!”

The child took his hand.

And so began a long military life spanning over 10 years.

“…What’s this?”

“You don’t know ramen? Kid, you almost missed out on half of military life.”

Eating together.

“As long as I’m in charge, your physical fitness will be top-notch from now on! Got it!”

“…This is child abuse.”

Training together.

“I’m cold and sleepy…”

“Stay awake! If you sleep here, you’ll freeze to death! Stay awake!”

Sharing life and death, going through hardships together.

“…Those young children are the famous heroes?”

“Are you a pedophile?”

“It’s not like that.”

They exchanged bitter jokes.

“It’s the end of times, the end… Tsk.”

Time passed.

The time to avoid falling leaves in his final years of service came.

April 1st.

The Hunter Management Bureau declared liberation.

From the fear of Gates and monsters.

People were liberated.

Conscription, or more precisely, the military itself was disbanded, and the child, now a young man, returned to society.

“Suddenly became unemployed.”

“That’s right.”

“What should we do for a living now?”

“Should we try this trendy hunter thing or whatever?”

“Why not, let’s give it a shot.”

The name of the office they eventually set up was Bitgoeul.

The name came from the man’s hometown.

They lived a somewhat ordinary life.

An extremely ordinary life.

He wasn’t particularly involved in any military wrongdoings, so even as numerous soldiers were being judged due to the Gate Truth Investigation Act, he just clicked his tongue while watching the news.

Yes.

He should have been living such an ordinary daily life.

“…I’m sorry. Something came up for a moment.”

During an ordinary request, by chance.

The man encountered something.

He didn’t return.

Never again.

The last information the man accessed.

It was about the Hunter Management Bureau─.

“To think you’d find this place. Sensory enhancement, a troublesome ability depending on how it’s used.”

The hero’s spear mercilessly cuts through his body.

“Sergeant Park Min-soo, was it? Regrettably, he’s not here. There are things in this world better left unknown. Leave. This is the last mercy for the sake of your former superior.”

He was driven out in tatters.

Somehow, the man had been declared dead.

And then.

[The Constellation ‘Archangel of Lightning’ is watching you.]

To uncover the whole truth.

He became a player.

──────────

[Lee Si-woo]

Lv. : 70

Exp : 9011/59000

HP : 150

MP : 100

[Status]

Strength : 70(Rank : B)

Agility : 70(Rank : B)

Intelligence : 70(Rank : B)

(Remaining distributable points : 0)

[Special Skill]

Supporting Star – Archangel of Lightning{Rank : ■}

[Original Skill]

Innate Ability/Special Type – Sensory Enhancement(Rank : C+)

[Normal Skill]

Miscellaneous Tasks(Rank : D)

──────────

And so it comes to now.

What Lee Si-woo wants is only one thing.

To uncover the truth about his benefactor’s death.

For that purpose.

He couldn’t hold back even if his opponents were young girls.

Morning came.

Han Seoyeon easily woke up from the forced sleep.

Tension and fear ache.

That she might fail.

Although it was only natural as a human not to know the future.

Han Seoyeon didn’t know she would be this afraid of it.

“It’s alright.”

Michaela held the girl’s hand.

“I’m by your side.”

“…Yeah.”

But even if she doesn’t know the future.

Even if she can’t achieve a happy ending for everyone.

Han Seoyeon was still a munchkin protagonist.

As the protagonist, she must protect.

She will protect.

Everyone.

“Are you ready? Let’s go.”

Lee Ha-yul asked.

Eventually, the three headed to a secluded area of Kyushu Island.

It could be called a kind of nature park where human entry was prohibited for use as a hunting ground.

It’s not just a simple hunting ground.

Its scale is comparable to a city, and above all, it’s an area untouched by civilization.

That’s why the preliminary survey of this place consists only of the student council president with the strongest military power in the Academy, and personnel selected by that student council president.

“…Wow.”

Because you can’t guarantee what will happen.

“I knew from the data, but seeing it with my own eyes is different…”

Abandoned buildings.

Collapsed buildings, cracked roads, swirling cement dust.

“Well, it’s certainly an ideal place for a practical evaluation.”

It was an exterior that preserved the time of the first Gate incident as it was.

If one had fallen into the past, it would have felt like this.

“Well, compared to that actual time, this environment is far from enough.”

In fact, what people feared most early on wasn’t just monsters.

Collapsed laws, those with power and those without, limited food.

“They say that back then, there were as many criminals using abilities as there were monsters.”

People feared people.

That’s why they welcomed the appearance of the Hunter Management Bureau even more.

“Actually, in other countries without the Management Bureau, criminals using abilities…”

“There’s a presence.”

Today, abilities do not become a means of crime.

Literally because the Management Bureau manages them.

“…Who is it?”

But in the past, it wasn’t so.

For example.

“You have no manners in front of adults.”

Encountering a criminal using abilities.

That was the greatest disaster experienced by civilians of the past, even more than Gates.

“Kim Il-soo.”

“It’s been a long time, student Han Seoyeon. I didn’t expect to see you again in a place like this.”

The leader of the terrorists.

A clear villain appeared before the girls’ eyes.

“…I have no reason to hear ‘it’s been a long time’ from someone like you.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

Kim Il-soo’s gaze is directed at Han Seoyeon’s chest.

On the edge of her coat, a medal once received from Lee Yeon shines elegantly.

“What do you want?”

“Isn’t it obvious? To kill that vixen. What other business would I have to set foot on this dirty Japanese land?”

Without a doubt.

The stigma of sin shines.

“It’s truly unfortunate.”

Kim Il-soo sighed.

“It’s truly unfortunate, but.”

Mana gathers and surges in his fist.

“For the sake of our people, you’ll have to die along with that traitor bitch.”

Intense killing intent strikes the skin.

As if their previous encounter at the Academy was child’s play.

“Nonsense.”

Michaela drew her sword.

She stood with her back to Han Seoyeon.

“Do you think I would allow that?”

“Is that the foreigner? This is a matter between us Koreans.”

“I have no intention of considering your circumstances.”

“You don’t understand. Outsiders should scram back to where they belong.”

Kim Il-soo rebuked with a frown.

At the same time.

“Do you know? Recently, I hear some homeless Japanese have been hiding here secretly.”

Boom.

Kwaaang.

A thunderous sound rang out.

An explosion occurred in the distance, and smoke rose like a beacon.

“The physical impact of the bomb would have no effect. But what do you think will happen if those natives with no hygiene directly inhale the harmful substances produced by the explosion?”

It was the last use of conventional weapons.

Monsters are tough.

Their lungs are strong, able to withstand harmful substances.

The bodies of people awakened to mana are also tough.

However, the inside of the body is a different story.

“At this rate, those grain-sized Japanese might be wiped out.”

Inhalation of harmful substances through the respiratory system was fatal.

Moreover, there’s no way there would be sanitation facilities in a place like this.

“I have plenty of bombs left. And there’s one person handling the bombs over there.”

Easy to understand.

But an undeniable feint.

“You bastard…!”

“Michaela.”

The deaths of unknown Japanese were of no concern to Kim Il-soo.

“…Seoyeon.”

“Go, Michaela.”

It wasn’t so for Han Seoyeon.

She clearly couldn’t embrace many things.

Of course, she had no affection for Japanese people she didn’t even know.

But even so.

She couldn’t just stand by and watch the deaths of innocent people right before her eyes.

“Seoyeon.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“…It’s still not okay. The lives of unknown civilians are certainly important. But to me…”

“Trust me.”

“…”

“I want you to trust me.”

“Then can you promise? That you won’t overdo it.”

“That might be a bit difficult. Given who we’re dealing with. …But, I can say this much.”

Looking at the worried Michaela.

Han Seoyeon smiled brightly.

“I won’t die. If I die, everyone would be sad, right?”

“…I’ll solve this quickly and come back. Quickly.”

“Yeah. Thank you.”

Michaela’s figure disappears.

“Senior. Please step back for a moment.”

“It’s too much alone. Against that terrorist!”

“No.”

Han Seoyeon placed her hand on the sword hilt.

“That person is aiming for you, senior. If you die, it would be putting the cart before the horse, right?”

As the protagonist.

Even if not a munchkin.

She protects Lee Ha-yul.

“…Ah, thank goodness. I almost was late.”

The ‘returnee’ watched the soldier and the girl facing off from a distance.

“It’s just like the original story. Well then, at what timing should I intervene?”

Appropriate original story intervention for catharsis.

Earning a good amount of experience points.

Building favor with the heroines.

Isn’t this the true protagonist move?