Part 1 Chapter 4 (23)

When in my life would I ever get to visit a penthouse in such a high-class hotel again?

I stood before the window overlooking the Han River and savored the magnificent view.

It was sunset. Thanks to grinding up the Architect, the hotel was quickly restored. There was a payoff for deliberately going all the way to Gaeseong and only picking out A-rank monsters to scrape their Cores.

“It was worth stopping it, after all.”

The Seoul Reclamation Operation. A plan that had been carried out multiple times in the original work, and ultimately, all of them ended in failure.

And I witnessed the ugly truth behind that operation.

A massacre using the Pine Tree Unit.

Gaeul ran wild, and Jihwa blocked it, so it ended with only about 200 casualties, but if they had been left alone, tens of thousands of people in the Dongjak underground would have died right there in the subway.

In the original work, they would probably all have become unreturnable spirits, or turned into monsters out of resentment.

“I hadn’t even thought about saving the Seoul residents.”

Rather than not being able to predict it, it simply wasn’t in the plan at all.

The current plan was to gather the Villains, and as for the Seoul residents, I intended to let them fend for themselves, whether they lived or died. It would be even better if they fled to New Seoul.

Ordinary people who can’t even use abilities.

What use would refugees hiding underground be? It would be enough to just pick out and use the few talented ones among them.

“But for that, it’s already….”

Cheon Gaeul. I pretended to be good because I was trying to read her changed mood, and this is how it turned out.

Suddenly, the responsibility of taking on tens of thousands of lives weighed heavily on my shoulders.

It was already hard enough making the Guro refugees into Azure Syndicate members, and now the thought of having to manage tens of thousands of them already gives me a headache.

Should I cause an earthquake and bury them all without anyone knowing?

‘…It’s not like I’m Mao Zeping.’

I walked over to the bed and threw myself onto it. My body, stretched out like a big ‘X’, was sucked right into the blankets.

“Ugh.”

This wasn’t the outcome I wanted. I just wanted to establish myself as a shadowy figure in the underworld, search for Cores, and become an assistant who would help the protagonist from behind the scenes at the original story’s timeline.

But all those grand plans had fallen apart.

“I got too carried away by the mood….”

Somehow. I just got excited and ran wild, and this is how it ended up.

If only I could turn back time, I’d want to go back to the past. No, I think I’ve had this thought before.

“……Every single thing I did was stupid.”

The results seem good at first glance.

Cheon Gaeul ultimately became an S-rank ability user.

The Villains of Seoul, whether they liked it or not, were subjugated to the Azure Syndicate or came under its protection.

The Seoul Reclamation Operation ended in failure, and the Korean Association and Seonui Cheol suffered at least some damage.

And the aftermath and countermeasures for it were complicated beyond words.

Preparations for the Nth Seoul Reclamation Operation that will continue multiple times in the future. Dealing with cowards like the Gangseo ‘ground dogs’ who fled from the Heroes. Seoul refugees who might be somewhere other than the Dongjak underground. Food and relief supplies to feed them. Monsters flowing in from the outskirts. Hunters who will lurk around Seoul. Large monsters settled north of the Han River and the snake in the city hall. Several Heroes kidnapped and held hostage. Seolhwa Princess, who suffered a defeat. Gwanggeom’s movements following the operation’s failure. Spirits in Korea. Speculation about the abnormal number of fire-attribute monsters revealed while operating the Hellhound Unit. Seonui Cheol’s special forces who will come to find the Cube. The Cube that revived Cheon Gaeul and then vanished into ash.

“Aaaargh!”

I thrashed my whole body on the bed. Why do I have to move while calculating each and every one of these things?

“I want to quit everything….”

In the original work, I just had to do my best within the given battlefield, but now there are too many variables to consider. To the point where it’s starting to feel overwhelming for me to handle alone.

Thump-thump-thump!

“Huh?”

The door was being knocked on violently. I flicked my mana to unlock it.

Click-clack, click-clack.

Familiar footsteps echoed in my ears. As expected, the person who entered the room was Cheon Gaeul.

“You’re wearing it?”

Gaeul was wearing a beautiful dress. A light blue dress reminiscent of a bride at a wedding hall. The production company had brought out ‘Protagonist of the Masquerade’ as Cheon Gaeul’s skin theme.

A wedding celebrating the marriage of Christine and Raoul, the protagonists from The Phantom of the Opera. Cheon Gaeul was the main character of that wedding.

Gaeul huffed and approached the head of the bed.

“The size.”

“Huh?”

“How does the size fit so perfectly?”

Gaeul’s face was even paler with a grayish tint. The mana pulsations flowing from her heart’s Core grew even faster.

If mana is considered blood, then Gaeul is quite agitated right now.

I pulled out the answer in my head that Gaeul would immediately understand.

“Well, it’s custom-made just for you, Gaeul-ssi?”

From the start, the owner of this dress was Cheon Gaeul.

Just like the Phoenix’s priestly robes fit the Phoenix perfectly.

However, since Cheon Gaeul’s body was much younger than Masquerade’s, some adjustments were needed. Gaeul’s face grew even paler.

“Th-then you touched me directly and took my measurements?!”

“……We did mana resonance before, didn’t we? I checked everything then.”

Affinity Rate test. As it involves sending mana waves throughout the entire body, it naturally grasps the body’s measurements as well.

“You’ve gained a little weight since then. From the top, 84-“

Whoosh.

A massive grayish-white pillar appeared before my eyes. I closed my mouth at the sight of it, which had shot out from between the dress.

“Shut your mouth.”

“Yes.”

I meekly complied with the threat. Otherwise, those squirming things felt like they would defile my body.

“Hmph. Good.”

Gaeul gently sat down at the head of the bed. I also sat up on the bed.

“What are you going to do now? You really made quite a spectacular mess.”

“Indeed. What should I do?”

Actually, I had a plan to cause one more incident, but I deliberately didn’t say anything. Gaeul covered her face with both hands.

“You really have no plan….”

Gaeul sighed. I also had nothing to say in my defense.

Beep.

An alarm rang on my smartwatch. It was a message from Jihwa.

‘Is it wrapped up?’

I opened the message. It contained officially released data from the government.

“What is it? Hmm….”

Gaeul came closer to me and checked the screen.

“The Association has determined that it is difficult to classify the fire ability user who appeared in Seoul with existing ranks. Until the criteria are revised, the individual will be classified as a dangerous person of A-rank or higher….”

“We’re screwed.”

Although it was a Korean domestic classification, since it was designated by the Association, it’s no exaggeration to say it was practically disseminated worldwide. Fortunately, it was in my monstrous human form, and the video and photo quality wasn’t good, so only the blue flames were identifiable, but that alone was enough to reveal all my characteristics.

Gaeul bit her lip.

“Isn’t this really dangerous?”

“The legend of the strongest B-rank yokai ends like this….”

“Stop joking.”

“……Well, let’s just think that what was bound to be revealed someday was revealed from the start.”

It was something I was prepared for ever since I heard Seolhwa Princess was coming. I tried my best to hide it, but unfortunately, it seems my monstrous human form’s mana pattern was analyzed.

“Alright. Life doesn’t go according to plan anyway, does it? Since we’re already causing trouble, let’s make it even more spectacular.”

“So you’re just going to cause trouble and then clean up the mess later, whatever happens?”

It stung. It hurt too much to accept it as a fact. Gaeul glared at me with a pathetic look.

“Can you handle this situation right now?”

“……Somehow?”

Whap. A Tentacle shot out from behind Gaeul’s dress. I tried to quickly pull my body back, but the Tentacle grabbed my wrist even faster.

“This isn’t a joke. Two S-ranks, plus Gwanggeom. In the worst case, the government might request support from overseas. Are you going to try to handle it haphazardly like this even then?”

A grayish light flickered in Gaeul’s eyes.

“You need to set up a long-term framework, don’t you? Even a student preparing for the college entrance exam makes an annual plan for how they’ll study until the test. When I start filming a drama, I also think about how I’ll act to match the overall synopsis. Should I try to guess what you’re thinking right now?”

Gaeul’s two hands grabbed my cheeks. Our gazes met.

“Once you’ve blown things up, it’ll work out somehow, right? Let’s think about the next thing when we get there. If something else happens then, let’s focus on stopping that. Am I wrong?”

“……That’s true. But we haven’t had any big problems so far, have we?”

In response to my counter-argument, Gaeul grabbed my cheek with her fingers and shook it back and forth.

“This kid, still. Let me ask you. What if the Round Table designates you as a global enemy and tries to subjugate you? If all twelve of them rush to kill you at once?”

“……If I fight with the resolve to die, Mutual Demise?”

Since I’ve awakened as a Spirit, if I bring out my true form and fight, I can drag all twelve of them to the afterlife like vengeful water ghosts. The problem is that the Earth would be shattered by the aftermath of that battle.

Gaeul let out a deep sigh, as if my answer was utterly dumbfounding.

“…Haa. Listen carefully. What you need right now is this.”

Gaeul raised a finger and pointed to herself.

“It’s someone who will help you. Not soldiers who will just follow your messy plans, but smart people who can exchange plans with you at the same table.”

“But there’s Gaeul-ssi, Deokbae-ssi, and Jihwa-ssi, aren’t there? And Haneulseong too.”

Gaeul shook her head.

“We can’t. We’re not enough on our own. It’s like that even now, isn’t it?”

Gaeul gave a bitter smile.

“Even now, when I talk like this, you don’t confide your worries to me. Even if you seem to tell Deokbae a little, you leave out the core details.”

“Gaeul-ssi. That’s-“

Gaeul hugged me. A cool chill was conveyed through her dress.

“You probably won’t confide in me your whole life. Will you live your whole life suffering alone like that? So….”

Gaeul patted my back.

“Someday, someone will appear who will stay by your side, with you. So until that person appears, I’ll be by your side.”

“Gaeul-ssi.”

“…It’s already too late to go back to New Seoul, isn’t it? This is our destiny.”

Tentacles undulated over Gaeul’s dress.

“There will be times when I’ll just have to turn a blind eye to people dying, and times when I’ll have to kill people with my own hands. But I’ll do it. Of course, it might be a little hard at first, but I’ll get used to it eventually. Just like Deokbae and Jihwa did-“

“What about the actress?”

Gaeul moved a Tentacle to remove the mask from her head. The mask was placed on Gaeul’s face.

“The human, actress Cheon Gaeul, died the moment she left your Barrier. What’s here now is a monstrous human, a phantom, who will protect you for life.”

“…Not a Tentacle?”

Bonk. Gaeul’s Tentacle hit the top of my head.

“If you have the energy to joke around, you should be thinking about what to do right now-“

“Gaeul-ah.”

I hugged Cheon Gaeul. Gaeul’s body flinched.

“Should we just run away like this?”

Abandoning all responsibility, giving up everything. A life of just killing time, hiding in a place where no one goes.

“Doing nothing, seeing nothing. Just quietly living holed up somewhere in the mountains. Until the end comes.”

When I first came to my senses, I even considered sinking forever into the magma.

How much time had truly passed from when I first fell in Incheon until today? There had been countless incidents, but barely a month had passed.

Five more years like this. I have to spend five years until the day of destruction.

Can I endure it?

Will I be able to remain myself until then?

“Even if just I run away, won’t someone else save the world?”

My face, reflected in the window, was distorted as if I was about to cry.

Whack!

Gaeul’s Tentacle struck down on the top of my head.

“Snap out of it. Do you think that makes sense right now?”

Gaeul hit my head again with a Tentacle. It felt just like being scolded.

“…Honestly, I was tempted too, but we can’t do that, can we?”

Gaeul pulled back slightly and grabbed my cheek again.

“That’s not your ‘true feelings,’ is it?”

I was read. Gaeul had read my true feelings, hidden deep in my heart.

“Even if it’s hard, endure it. And if you ever get exhausted, tell me. Anytime, just like now….”

Gaeul pulled my head into her embrace.

Pat-pat.

“Because I’ll be by your side.”

As if comforting a crying, fussy child, Gaeul patted me like that.

The sun fell beyond the mountains, and darkness slowly descended.

Beep.

My smartwatch rang. It was Deokbae.

– The gift wrapping is complete. …What, were you two like that? Sorry to interrupt your good time. They say the birth rate goes up during wartime, tsk.

Deokbae unilaterally cut off contact, as if fed up. Gaeul and I gently pulled away from each other.

“…Should we kill him?”

“Let’s do it.”

Gaeul and I, having tidied our clothes, ran to the first floor.