Part 1, Chapter 1 (13)

Once, there was a debate on a community forum that caused a huge stir.

‘What kind of heroine is the Azure Flame Phoenix?’

Users who usually produced strategy guides or memes all gathered as if they had earned PhDs in Phoenixology, and an agora unfolded.

‘Look at her human form on the official site. Isn’t she obviously the pure love type?’

‘Next Phoenix noob. Isn’t she obviously the carnivorous type? Would you like to rewatch her first appearance?’

‘I think she’s the big sister type. She’ll probably embrace you warmly with her Azure Flame.’

It was a period when all sorts of speculations ran rampant, burning for three days and nights. I extracted the attributes of the other 16 heroines and, using the process of elimination, deduced the personality of Phoenix as set by the developers. Surprisingly, the developers had put a lot of effort into the heroines’ individuality, so the core attributes didn’t overlap much.

– What do you think, Bluebird-nim?

A community acquaintance asked me. At that time, I hadn’t even entered the Phoenix route, let alone found any clues for it.

– It’s a bit hard to say, but don’t curse at me after hearing it.

– Oh, haha, it’s fine. I won’t curse. Is she a healing type like Yuna? Or a violent type like Shuri?

– Crazy bitch.

– That’s blasphemy!

I lost a friend that day.

* * *

“Jo Deokbae-ssi. Does this still feel like the afterlife?”

“…How?”

Deokbae stared blankly, mouth agape, and looked around. The place where he opened his eyes was clearly Hocheol’s workshop, where he had been just before he died.

Had he not actually died? Deokbae awkwardly tried to get up, but his hands came into view.

“Uwaaaaaaah?!”

Deokbae screamed and shook his hands. Grotesque gray substances covered his entire arms. Between the cracks, like a dry desert, something teal flowed like threads.

“Should I really put in an incantation?”

Phoenix fiddled with her veil with her finger.

There are three main things needed to create a monstrous human.

A fresh monster’s Core that hasn’t been turned into a ‘Core’ by human hands.

A small amount of mana from an executive/Spirit who will become the monstrous human’s master.

And an ‘incantation’ so cheesy it would make your toes curl and pull you into a temporal storm.

When Phoenix created the Seohaemugi monstrous human, she performed a ritual by roughly mixing the incantations of executives that remained in her memory. If others had heard or done it, it would have been a dark history that would make them tear their blankets in their sleep, but she successfully created an excellent monstrous human nonetheless.

However, turning Deokbae into a monstrous human was not part of the plan.

‘Because there’s never been a case of using a superpowered individual’s corpse as material.’

Originally, it was the ‘setting’ of this world that only monsters could become monstrous humans. So how did Deokbae, despite being dead, get reborn as a monstrous human?

“Jo Deokbae-ssi. Do you remember me?”

As Phoenix asked, crossing her legs, Deokbae hunched his body and stepped back.

“What did you do to me?”

“Oh, you remember, it seems. It’s nothing much, I just brought you back to life. As a monstrous human.”

“What?”

Phoenix conjured a flame in the air. The blue flame that appeared between them began to take shape. The flame took on the appearance of Deokbae before he was burned, when he was human.

“First, Villains. Those who awaken superpowers but don’t act as Heroes, instead using their power for their own selfish gain. Well, you know all about that, don’t you, Deokbae-ssi, since you’re also a Villain?”

Phoenix snapped her fingers, and the shape of the flame changed. It was a human covered in grayish-white rock all over its body. That appearance was clearly Deokbae’s current outer form.

“And a ‘monstrous human’. An ordinary human who absorbs a monster’s Core and is reborn in human form instead of becoming a monster. They gain the power of the monster that forms their foundation, but due to that influence, their superpower can change or be newly born. Would you like to try using your ability once?”

Deokbae moved his arms around and drew out his ability. The teal lines flowing between his cracked rock skin gradually thickened, making the rock skin even harder.

“That’s your superpower as a monstrous human. Petrification of skin. Right now, it’s softer than marble, but…”

Phoenix pulled a monster’s Core from her pocket and shoved it into Deokbae’s chest.

“Ku-ack!”

The monster’s Core, which pierced through the skin of his chest as if digging through tofu, touched Deokbae’s heart and melted into it. Deokbae’s original Core, embedded in his heart like flowing water, ravenously devoured the new Core.

Doki, doki, doki!

The Core’s pulsation quickened, and Deokbae began to gasp for breath. The teal lines between his skin emitted an even stronger light, and his rock skin gradually began to transform into a steel-like texture.

“Ta-da! It’s a level up! This is the difference between a monstrous human and a Villain. A monstrous human can grow stronger and stronger by using a monster’s Core as their nourishment.”

Phoenix cleared her throat and continued her explanation.

“The Core you just absorbed belonged to a monster classified as B-rank. It will take a long time to fully absorb it with a D-rank vessel. But with this much power, you won’t get beaten up anywhere you go.”

“Right, haa. So I’ll get stronger?”

Deokbae straightened his posture. The rock monstrous human raised both arms as if boxing.

Just as Phoenix was about to say something to him, Deokbae threw a jab like light. Its speed was so fast that the veil couldn’t react.

Thwack.

“……!”

The rock fist, covering even his knuckles, met Phoenix’s index finger. The wind pressure caused by the punch only swept Phoenix’s hair back, unable to inflict any scratch.

“Your will to test your power immediately is good, Deokbae-haksaeng. But since I’m explaining things for once…”

Phoenix pushed Deokbae’s fist away with her finger.

“Azure Flame commands. ”

Thump!

Deokbae’s knees hit the ground. A huge impact struck Deokbae’s knees, but he was more mentally shocked by his body obeying the command regardless of his will.

“Ahem. And as you just felt, a monstrous human must absolutely obey the commands of their ‘Creator’. The one who made you a monstrous human is me. The Azure Flame Phoenix.”

Phoenix raised her head, showing off her power. Deokbae’s face contorted at his unmoving knees.

“Dying was already fucked up, but now I have to live following the orders of a chuunibyou psychopath murderer?”

“…Listen carefully, Deokbae-gun.”

Phoenix approached Deokbae and patted his shoulder. Deokbae found her delicate fingers terrifying, like the rope of a gallows tightening around his neck.

“I can tolerate you insulting me. But.”

Phoenix lifted Deokbae’s head, meeting his gaze.

“I will not tolerate you insulting the Azure Flame Phoenix. Understand? This is my second command. insult me.”

“What the fuck, ku-ack!”

Phoenix flicked Deokbae’s chin with her finger. Deokbae screamed in his dying breath, his upper body falling backward and hitting the floor.

“…Perhaps I should have made subordinate number two a smart person after all?”

Phoenix scratched her head, looking at Sanga’s corpse, which had turned into charcoal.

“No. I can’t make just anyone a subordinate. The minimum cutoff should be A-rank…”

Phoenix clicked her tongue and glared at Deokbae, who was sprawled on the floor. Seohaemugi, who was a monster, understood all her commands and went on a mission less than 10 minutes after being born as a monstrous human, but Deokbae, who was human in his previous life, seemed utterly useless.

Was discarding him the right answer after all? If it weren’t for her curiosity, Deokbae would have been destined to die, just like the others in this room.

– Charging complete. Please disconnect the charger.

A notification sound came from her smartphone. Phoenix took out her smartphone, and her expression hardened.

“Haa.”

It seemed subordinate number two’s life thread was tougher than she thought. Phoenix blinked and pulled Deokbae up, who was writhing in pain.

“Alright. This is the first mission for the monstrous human Jo Deokbae-ssi.”

Phoenix’s face, as she held out her smartphone, was slightly flushed.

“…Do you, by any chance, know how to unlock this?”

* * *

“Everyone’s on board, right?! The vehicle is departing!”

The bus driver quickly got on the bus and closed the door. Fortunately, the evening departure was peaceful, without the unfortunate incidents of the morning.

The ticket booth employee watched the bus leave the platform, then picked up his smartphone again.

“Let’s see. Today’s news… Wow. The stock market crashed.”

The stock prices, which had already plummeted, showed no signs of rising, but today was particularly severe. Having lost about ten million won in investments, he had finally learned a little about stocks and realized why the market was shaking.

“Well, who would invest in a hellfire peninsula where monsters appear all the time?”

The news was buzzing daily with stories about missiles supposedly launched from China.

The Chinese side had not responded at all. They were merely promoting extensively that the Hero ‘Unjang’ had successfully defeated the offspring of a black scorpion that appeared in the desert several hours ago.

“That’s why all foreign capital packs up and flees.”

This country was beyond saving now. For the poor who couldn’t enter New Seoul, the answer was to somehow save money and flee overseas.

“But why haven’t these guys contacted me yet about hooking two girls?”

The man trembled his leg and checked his messages. Those who were supposed to contact him still hadn’t.

“Did they get caught, perhaps?”

Although he wasn’t part of their gang, the man also had one foot in that world. There was no better spot than a ticket booth to scout for ‘goods’ that could be sold to the gangsters entrenched at the terminal.

“Maybe I should just call… huh?”

A familiar face appeared beyond the counter.

“Welcome. …?”

He made eye contact with the blue-haired high school girl who appeared before him and dropped his smartphone.

“Hello?”

The girl’s sharp impression from yesterday was gone, replaced by the vibrant energy of a spring flower.

“Oh, oh. Right. Hello.”

“I’d like to buy a ticket.”

“…Haa. Student. I told you, for buses going to New Seoul, you need to take a number ticket.”

At the man’s annoyed attitude, pointing to the number ticket counter, the girl covered her mouth with her fist and chuckled.

“I misunderstood from the start. I thought I had said it wrong. Hehe. Yes. I understand. Thank you for telling me.”

The girl turned her back without hesitation. The man tilted his head, watching the girl disappear down the corridor.

“What was that? Did Hocheol’s guys not touch her?”

The man swallowed hard, remembering the disappearing girl’s back. Should he ask for a chance to have her instead of money this time?

“Ah, shit. Bathroom.”

He must have drunk too much water. The man poked and woke up his junior colleague who was sleeping slumped over next to him, then scurried to the bathroom.

Psssss…

“Ah, that’s refreshing.”

“Jeongwon hyung-nim.”

At the sound coming from the toilet stall, the man, Jeongwon, was startled.

“Whoa, you scared me! Is that Deokbae? Don’t scare me!”

“….”

Deokbae said nothing. Jeongwon, who had casually shaken his hands dry, knocked on the firmly closed bathroom door.

“What are you doing? Taking a dump? Why are you so quiet?”

“…….”

As Deokbae remained silent, Jeongwon scratched his head vigorously, then held up his smartphone and waved it at Deokbae.

“Perfect timing. Why haven’t you guys contacted me yet? I even sent you a hot older woman. Shouldn’t you at least contact me before sunset?”

“I apologize for that.”

What was that sound? Jeongwon was more concerned about the sound of Deokbae’s voice itself than the content. A deep voice, as if it had been modulated.

Kwaang!

Jeongwon, who was about to demand what he was apologizing for, was grabbed by the collar by a huge shadow that burst through the wall.

“Ku, ku-ack!”

Lifted into the air, Jeongwon struggled, desperately trying to free himself from the grip on his collar. Looking down with a reddened face, he saw Deokbae, whose gray hood was pulled over his head.

“Hey, let go!”

“I’ll say it one more time, I apologize for that. But.”

Deokbae took off his hood. Grayish-white rocks had hardened on his skin.

“It’s an order, so I can’t refuse.”

“What? Hey!”

Jeongwon, pinned against the bathroom wall by his collar, screamed as he saw Deokbae raise his other arm and clench his fist.

“You crazy bastard! This is murder-”

Thwack.

Jeongwon’s head was crushed in a single blow. Red blood splattered on Deokbae’s face and dripped to the floor.

Thud, thud.

Deokbae silently exited the bathroom. In the corridor, the blue-haired girl was diligently looking at her smartphone, with a light green veil wrapped around her arm.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Deokbae cleared his throat to announce his presence. Phoenix turned off her smartphone, stood up from her chair, and handed him the light green veil.

“Good work. Wipe yourself.”

“….”

Deokbae took the veil and wiped his face with it, like a wet wipe from a BBQ restaurant. The red blood that covered his face and body seemed to dye the veil crimson. Phoenix’s face crumpled.

“How about it? Do you acknowledge it now? That you have to obey my commands for the rest of your life?”

“…Yeah. I realized that no matter how much I resisted, it was useless.”

Deokbae had hoped Jeongwon wouldn’t come to the bathroom. But Jeongwon came, and no matter how much he tried not to, his body automatically moved according to the girl’s command.

He didn’t want to kill him. But his body, like a program, followed the command ‘kill all human traffickers and their associates’ and crushed Jeongwon’s head in a single blow.

“I told you. All the trash involved in human trafficking. I’m going to eliminate them all and go up to Seoul. Without any loose ends.”

“Can I ask you one thing?”

Phoenix nodded at Deokbae’s question.

“Yep.”

“…Why do you have to kill everyone as you go? Compared to the power you have, guys like us were just nobodies.”

With Jeongwon being the last, there were thirteen in total. Thirteen humans whose heads were crushed by Deokbae under Phoenix’s command. Using the smartphone unlocked by Deokbae, Phoenix called her subordinates to the hideout and had Deokbae kill them one by one under her command.

“I know you’re an incredible monster. But why, exactly?”

“Jo Deokbae-ssi.”

Phoenix smiled mockingly.

“If I let even one person live, who knows what the repercussions will be. If even one living person reports it to the police, it would become quite bothersome. And if my face gets exposed and a bounty is placed on me, there will be restrictions on my future activities.”

“Is that why you told me to beat them all to death?”

“There are various reasons, but the ultimate reason is…”

Phoenix shrugged her shoulders and continued.

“Justice?”

“What?”

“Heh heh. Sorry. Just said something silly. Anyway, is that the end of your questions? We’re busy, so let’s move quickly.”

Phoenix snatched the veil from Deokbae, sniffed it, and then roughly shoved it into her cross bag.

“Heh, heh heh~♪♬”

Deokbae pulled his hood down tightly as he followed Phoenix, who was humming and tapping on her smartphone.

‘She’s crazy.’

Truly, a being not in her right mind.