Chapter 190: Collapse
Turning my head toward the sound, I saw an abstract-patterned metal cylinder lying on the ground, oozing a rapidly dispersing light blue gas.
Seriously, why are there so many crazy people in this country…
‘Wait a minute, upon closer inspection, they’re definitely not Korean.’
Let me correct that.
This planet seems to have an alarmingly high ratio of insane humans.
Just three minutes ago, I thought Earth was wonderful, and now I’m already regretting my reincarnation.
I’ve been living quietly without bothering anyone lately, so why am I the one facing these trials?
‘All I wanted today was to just look at the fish in Earth’s waters.’
Yeah. That’s really all I wanted.
“What the hell…!”
“Just run. Hurry!”
Unfortunately, Ahn Yoon-seung’s shield was still in a primitive state and couldn’t filter out harmful gas.
But I’ve encountered surprise attacks before, so remaining calm was automatic.
I pulled on Ahn Yoon-seung’s shoulder and shouted. Hold your breath and get out of here.
However, even that simple struggle seemed difficult.
‘Damn it!’
In movies, villains always ramble on and give their victims time.
The ones who suddenly appeared were professionals, attacking swiftly.
*
Blink.
Eyes with dark eye holes blink sequentially.
A woman and a man.
They were Awakened errand runners who had been working as a team for a while.
When you think of the word “errand,” you might picture mundane tasks like grocery shopping, but their work was much broader and deeper.
Investigation. Threats. Retaliation.
And among those, the ones that paid the most were, of course, life-threatening jobs.
Veterans in this industry often used guns or knives, making cleanup a hassle, but in today’s modern society, more refined methods of killing had emerged.
Awakening abilities.
That was what had brought change to their market.
[me: You really want me to work under these conditions?]
[client: Yes.]
Looking at it again, this request was particularly special.
This hunter duo, also known as “Alai,” had recently received a request from a Korean.
The content of the request was to take out the top-ranking hunter, Kim Gi-ryeo.
“No way, S-Class is a bit too much.”
Originally, they were planning to decline the mission.
But what do you know? A little while later, the Korean client sent an enticing contract document.
It wasn’t about killing Kim Gi-ryeo specifically.
With their abilities, all they had to do was poke him a little and get away.
Escaping was entirely fine.
But if they accepted the request, they’d receive an incredible reward.
Reward.
Yeah. In the end, it was that reward from the Korean that was tempting foreign errand runners.
Around 670,000 euros in cryptocurrency.
That amounted to a whopping 1 billion won.
If they could earn that just for a “challenge,” no one would hesitate.
These days, even the errand running industry wasn’t thriving.
Unless it was something with legal risks, like murder, there weren’t many requests where you could easily earn 1 billion won.
Especially with the specific target being S-Class; otherwise, the seniors in the field wouldn’t have even gotten a glimpse of such jobs.
‘When you think about it, the conditions are decent.’
Team Alai communicated with the client a few more times after that.
Eventually, they decided to take the job.
Even considering the worst-case scenario of failing the mission, South Korea was a country with relatively low legal punishments for random assaults, so there were various safety nets.
“With that money, I can buy a building I’ve got my eyes on.”
Some called their awakening a blessing.
But this duo of Awakened named Alai didn’t particularly relish their acquired abilities.
Strangely enough, they both suffered from the same ailment, and while they could use their skills fine, their immune systems had significant issues.
Their internal magic couldn’t gather.
So, unlike other Awakened, their bodies weren’t robust. Moreover, ironically, the magic they had awakened touched upon the minds of living beings.
They weren’t born extraordinarily like S-Class and couldn’t kill monsters with skills.
Therefore, they couldn’t become hunters.
So couldn’t they just earn money through other means?
What nonsense. The country they were born in had a harsh view of superhumans and had even imposed regulations like the Awakened identification badge. They were now in a position where they couldn’t even do regular labor.
Everywhere they went, they were looked at like leashed beasts, while the general populace told them not to covet their jobs and to get lost into dungeons.
“We’ll take the job.”
They eventually fell into illegality.
It started out as a means of survival.
They crossed oceans, climbed mountains, and left their hometown behind, becoming illegal immigrants working in Spain.
Later, they washed their identities and groomed their appearances, so they didn’t need to cling to errand work anymore.
But now, they couldn’t be satisfied with the income from a regular job.
Ten million won, a hundred million, a billion.
Without having to put in any particularly special effort, their awakening capabilities generated cash like a magical jar.
They had come to quite like this industry.
They didn’t care about the negative perception of Awakened due to their actions. Perhaps it was individuals like Go Byeong-do from the Hunter Association who harbored disdain for superpowers because of such people.
The sudden arrival of the magical era brought many issues intertwined with capitalist society.
So…
*
Team Alai accepted the mysterious request to pull a fast one on an S-Class Hunter.
But why did this duo, whose physiques were similar to a pair of wings, choose today?
That was simply for the sake of a swift escape.
From their prior investigation, they knew that the bald man over there was the closest friend of Kim Gi-ryeo.
‘A sudden visit to the aquarium on a weekday afternoon. How peculiar.’
Their operation required a certain amount of time.
Thus, Alai had been watching not Kim Gi-ryeo but Ahn Yoon-seung.
The two errand runners devised a way to tie Kim Gi-ryeo’s feet.
‘Can we really pull this off?’
‘Don’t worry. Just trust me.’
Whoosh.
As the mysterious gas burst into the space.
The curly-haired woman worker lunged forward first. A daring choice for an Awakened whose body was weak due to a medical issue.
But everything has its consequences.
“Ugh!”
As she charged, Ahn Yoon-seung, who was trying to flee, hurriedly turned to avoid getting grabbed from behind.
That was exactly what the worker had aimed for.
The overseas Awakened pretended to attack the opponent’s lower half, and when his shield faced downward, he quickly tossed something hidden in his hand.
Unknown silver particles.
This was none other than the powdered dagger of the Scream Stake. They had thrown the pain-inducing part of a unique item at the target.
“Ahhhhh!”
“Yoon-seung!”
Then came the scream.
Additionally, before Alai entered, they had tossed several cylinders each equipped with status-enhancement effects.
Sleep. Paralysis.
Confusion. Blindness.
This was the second lubrication method even the Nachalsawon torturers hadn’t been able to figure out.
In fact, Awakened in this world tended to experience a sharp drop in abnormal status resistance when exposed to multiple negative effects at once.
“Ugh…?!”
Not long after, the Korean Hunter named Ahn Yoon-seung dropped to one knee.
Attacks of the mental variety could be incredibly threatening.
Even if he was a defensive type Hunter with a sturdier body than others, if you could just break him through a single side passage, he could be easily overpowered.
‘Got it.’
Once Ahn Yoon-seung was incapacitated, the person hiding behind finally closed the distance.
The male of this foreign Awakened team possessed a unique ability.
He could shove others into a world of illusion, tormenting them at will as if they were trapped in a dream with a master.
【Invitation to a Dream】
In the language of this place, that’s what this psychic ability was called.
No matter how strong the opponent in reality was, once they entered that fictitious space, it was game over.
Within the mental world created by his magic, he was practically a god.
‘It’s unreasonable to push him to shock death, but I should have a high chance of fainting him.’
The unnamed man poured magic into his target.
The goal was the blond Korean.
Ahn Yoon-seung was currently under an unending threat from his allies, so the fourth S-Class of Korea wouldn’t be able to flee due to his concerns for a close friend.
So all that was left for him was to repeat the facade of a battle while prolonging the time for the status effect cylinders to be exposed.
That was the plan to crumble this S-Class’s endurance.
‘Huh?’
What on earth was going on?
The moment the blond man’s eyes met, the spellcaster felt a dizzying sensation as if their consciousness was being sucked somewhere.
Surprisingly, the mental invasion succeeded in merely a few seconds.
It was as if they attacked an F-Class weakling!
*
A blank white space.
Conveniently calling him Errand Runner 2, the Awakened felt certain of victory at the sight of this pure white void.
As mentioned before, here, one’s abilities from the real world weren’t that important.
Even if their rank was very low, in here, they could stomp all over an S-Class Hunter at will.
“…”
The blond Korean seemed startled, scanning the surroundings in silence.
“Confused?”
At that moment, the foreign Awakened spoke the first words to their target.
“Since we have plenty of time here, why don’t we chat a bit?”
“…”
“Actually, I’ve never faced an S-Class before, so I’m a little curious. About various topics.”
“…”
“If you answer well, I might give you a heads-up about what’s about to happen to you.”
Admittedly, half this request was out of curiosity, but it fell flat now.
They’d been so tense about facing an S-Class Hunter, yet there was no thrill; they had succeeded in mental invasion right away.
How could the mind of a top-ranking Awakened be so frail? If this is the level of beings defined as S-Class, then maybe I should take on more related requests going forward.
And someday, when I save enough money, I could just build a place in Hawaii, enjoying a leisurely retirement.
“Why so quiet? You can hear me, right?”
Clearly, the two had different nationalities, yet curiously, the foreigner’s words magically sounded Korean to Kim Gi-ryeo.
It wasn’t as if one side was wearing a translation device.
The fourth S-Class Hunter stared blankly at the Hispanic leading the conversation, who merely shrugged.
“Strange feeling, right? I don’t know what your awakening ability is, but you can’t use it here. Well, why? Because I don’t want you to.”
The blond coolly responded.
“Really?”
A somewhat short and simple phrase.
“Yeah. Here, everything ~ goes just as I think. In here, I’m an S-Class Hunter, a superhero, and you’re a powerless ordinary person.”
And at that moment.
Suddenly, blue droplets like those seen in the aquarium popped from the white void.
The foreign Awakened used this to prove he could create something out of nothing.
“So choose your words carefully… No, actually, feel free to resist! It might even be fun! An S-Class struggling!”
Contrary to his meek demeanor outside, the errand runner maintained a rather arrogant posture.
And it was no wonder.
This awakening ability had made any entity kneel down swiftly once it worked correctly.
Indeed, all it took was to pass through the first hurdle, and they could ravage anyone.
Now, they just needed to mentally torment the S-Class Hunter in front of them until he fainted and escape with their partner to complete the mission.
Snap.
He snapped his fingers, creating a splash of water over someone’s head.
…But the reaction was oddly off.
The blond man stood there, drenched above, but showed no reaction.
Truly, not even batting an eyelash, he was staring quietly at them.
“…?”
After waiting a few more seconds, something unthinkable happened.
The man, who had been watching intently, suddenly changed his expression.
His mouth opened, and his eyes squinted as if something merely pretending to be human was mimicking a smile.
“Thank you.”
What followed was an utterly bizarre statement.
“Huh?”
“You use your magic in a shockingly thoughtless way. This is a skill that drags a specific target into its mind. Not just meeting in some unknown third world.”
“What…?”
“Phew. To be honest, I was pretty shocked when the ambush happened, but how could such an Awakened come to assassinate me?”
“…”
“Do you still not know what I’m talking about?”
It felt uncomfortable.
The foreign Awakened sensed an indescribable displeasure from the tone of the blond and unknowingly furrowed his brow.
Yet, Kim Gi-ryeo’s expression remained unchanged.
“As the landlord, you just flung the front door wide open and called someone in.”
Drip. Drip.
Even as droplets that fell from his hair streaked across the crystal, he maintained his smile without a hint of change.
