Chapter 294. If Failure is the Mother of Success
‘An S-Class Hunter from Imabari is here?’
The unique cold-colored hair of an Earth-Type Mana Awakened.
A muscular body with low body fat.
And the static electricity that clings with each step in a combat situation.
–Zizz!
Just hours ago, I had faced off with four Japanese S-Class Hunters directly.
So confused over her identity now would be absurd.
‘Could this really be a massive crisis? If those red-eyed lunatics were minions of the Imabari lot, this might get complicated.’
I gulped as I saw the newly arrived Awakened in Building A.
But despite my worries, the lightning sorcerer who broke in through the window hurriedly asked if I was okay.
Immediately afterward, when another Awakened with crimson eyes dropped from the hole in the ceiling, they exhibited friendly behavior.
‘Oh, what the heck? It turns out it was just the representative guild from Japan coming to clean up the mess.’
–Flash!
The Japanese lightning sorcerer zaps the dangerous anomaly into submission.
Seemingly aware of the situation before arriving, she didn’t hesitate to unleash her skill, even though the opponent was adorned with a nameplate in Japanese.
And upon witnessing her magic, I understood why she was dispatched to the scene.
‘In such matters, of course, they’d be better than Japan’s number one.’
In terms of firepower, Moritake Ito had overwhelming superiority.
But just because fire burns slowly doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.
Restricting oneself to suppressing one’s own kind, she must naturally be more competent.
Korea lacked top-tier hunters with electric attributes, making it hard to sense, but sure enough, electricity felt relatively easy to handle and was advantageous.
–Chiz!
Uh… wait, was that?
“Grrr-!”
I sensed a burning smell since earlier.
Was it just some poster paper burning?
Just as I thought it was a fleeting flash that overwhelmed my vision.
As I opened my eyelids, the chaos was already settled.
The three Awakened who appeared from the ceiling lay motionless on the floor like logs.
Especially the one zapped by the S-Class Hunter was severely injured.
I witnessed this and rolled my eyes like a guilty puppy.
“Ranker!”
Seemingly ignorant of my state of shock from the electric S-Class’s presence, the sorceress marched over confidently.
“Gi-ryeo Ranker, I’m so sorry…!”
At that very moment, I noticed that the A-Class struggling at my feet had gone quiet.
The certain attacker who had tried to ambush an extraterrestrial had failed to remove the Scream Stake that had lodged itself inside their clothing.
‘Poor thing.’
Is this the end for an inflexible joint creature?
The scene of the attacker fainting from the continuous pain became all the more pitiful. But harboring sympathy for the enemy was counterproductive, so I focused on my conversation with the Japanese Hunter.
“By the way, what on Earth happened here? Could you give me a brief explanation?”
“Yes, if you need it…”
Before answering, she quietly crossed her arms.
“Do you see the hole in the ceiling?”
I gestured lightly from behind, where she couldn’t see.
Honestly, revealing trump cards in such a distant land would be of no advantage.
“Awakened suddenly popped out from there.”
While the Japanese S-Class Hunter concentrated on a corpse’s voice.
I calmly retrieved the dagger artifact I had used.
“And this person came at me ready to kill without me even doing anything.”
“Huh! Is that so?”
The fallen attacker’s clothes.
Fractured shards of the first exhibition hall.
And finally, concealed beneath a suit-clad leg.
Naturally, as their gaze was fixed upward, I discreetly moved the dagger towards my arm and returned it to the Item Box.
In this way, Psychokinesis is an incredibly convenient magic in many situations.
A clean and silent power that is hard to catch by sight or sound.
If one possesses talent, it’s better to learn psychokinesis before anything else.
“What on Earth is going on here!”
Now I needed to refocus on the Japanese person.
Just as I tucked my weapon away safely, the bluish mammal in front of me radioed someone.
“Iori. Where are you right now? Still in Building D?”
Before long, an answer came back.
–Of course I’m in Building D! How do you expect me to get out of here? Have you caught all three that slipped away?
“Yes!”
–Then send someone to the storage. I’ve been holding onto two of them since a while ago.
“Wait! So, there were five culprits causing this chaos?”
I didn’t know what to make of it,
but it was a complete mess.
Now we had an S-Class lightning sorceress rushing around like a headless chicken.
Or a suited mammal surrounding the first exhibition hall in an instant.
‘Looking at their arrival speed, they probably weren’t called from the precinct. By the way, was there always this kind of patrol presence in the exhibition hall?’
I discovered late that there were police officers periodically patrolling for order on the premises of this Tokyo event.
Since a small number of them were spread across the vast area, it’s just that an Alphauri hadn’t seen them until now.
‘Moreover, they weren’t even Awakened, so they must have found it hard to stay alert.’
But did it really matter?
After all, those suited humans hadn’t been spotted in Building A.
It’s known that theft is a matter of swift execution.
The estimated timeline for the operation I had planned was around three minutes.
If everything went according to plan within those three minutes, even if they rushed in upon hearing the fire alarm, it wouldn’t have been a problem.
Yeah. Since barriers around the exhibition were simple, there would have been a real chance with just a fleeting gap.
I never imagined things would turn out like this.
“Quickly, control the area, and if there are any guests left in Building A, guide them to another location.”
“We received orders from dispatch. Are there any injuries?”
“All that’s lying around here are culprits! Just apprehend them…”
But there was nothing to be done.
‘Hmm.’
Police were gathering before my eyes.
Above all, an S-Class Hunter had moved to the upper floor of the building.
‘Mission failed!’
I let go of the Midnight Fragment cleanly.
Having hardly ever attempted such petty criminal acts in my life, I had no desire for a retry.
‘Objectively, I’m lacking in experience and adaptability in such matters.’
By now I was relieved that the plan was falling apart from the start.
With matters escalating this far, it would’ve been a disaster if it hadn’t been due to external factors!
In the distance.
I saw the zapped Awakened being shamefully bound and carried away.
‘Let’s honestly write witness statements for our global friends…’
I thought, looking at the electrocution-victimized mammal.
It felt like a divine message to not be greedy.
Instead of being arrogant while knowing so much and ending up like that, giving up all material desires and focusing on returning to Korea seemed far better.
As such, the hunter that appeared wielded an intimidating electric power.
Indeed, wherever you go, S-Class is S-Class.
*
Much later.
On the rooftop at one end of the venue.
“Block from there to there, please. There’s a crack here too. Make sure to reinforce this as well.”
Currently, Building A had been entirely sealed off while examining the damaged structure.
Though it wasn’t scheduled, the Imabari Guild often took on the task of restoring streets collapsed due to Dungeon Shock in its early stages.
Finally, civil engineers or related Awakened from the guild showed up on-site to make repairs.
Still, despite the smooth progress of the work, someone’s sigh continued.
“Ha, how unfortunate that this would happen at such an international event…”
Judging by the remaining footprints nearby.
The zombified red security guards must have crossed the sky bridge into this garden and directly pierced through the floor to enter the actual venue, Building A.
The blue-haired Japanese woman recalled that fact and rubbed her face.
“Ugh!”
What a wretched stroke of bad luck.
Just as she was deep in despair, it wasn’t long before Japan’s number one appeared here.
“Moritake Ito.”
The guild master finally showed his face.
“Were you tied up by the politicians all this time?”
But there was a reason for his actions.
The visiting politician had applied strong pressure to the representative of Imabari.
‘What kind of racket it was, I don’t know, but leaving this meeting alone means turning my back on the political figures leading Japan, which could cause issues for guild management in the future…’
This is why I wanted to steer clear of political talk.
Every ounce of this established class’s lazy power play had turned me nauseous.
“Phew.”
As Moritake Ito sighed silently, the hunter next to him understood the underlying meaning.
His young colleague, too, looked like he wanted to ignore any political trouble in Japan and quickly wore a defeated expression.
The conversation was picked up again by Moritake.
“In any case, to speak plainly, this event has been ruined.”
It was a clear declaration.
“With a hole in the building, there’s no way this chaos won’t leak outside.”
“Wow~”
“We’ll probably see foreign news reports soon. The first line will roughly read, ‘Does the Japanese government lack the capability to host international events?’”
“Ito, it’s been my dream since childhood to make our name known worldwide. But I feel like that’s happening through too many avenues after becoming S-Class.”
Furthermore, what about the highlighted auction planned for the second day?
With Building A closed due to an unknown incident, anxiety spread among the guests.
Though the event organizers were trying their utmost to convince everyone that the problems had been resolved, some customers were already checking their return flights.
Word spreads like wildfire, so this information would certainly reach the ears of S-Class Hunters overseas in no time.
A predicted drop in maximum bids.
Along with a decrease in overall profits.
The participation of those wanting to attend the future highlighted auction would surely drop by 100% now that they’ve come to Japan.
“It’s possible that the debt for this event could increase Tokyo’s burden.”
The outlook was grim.
“By the way, is there really no one who needs to pay for medical expenses?”
Yet amid this unexpected incident, there was one saving grace.
“Yes. I’ve asked the dispatched police several times, but there were no injured civilians.”
It felt dizzying.
What if there had been injuries among civilians?
Especially if they were foreign visitors?
Wouldn’t even a wealthy lobbyist fail to cover the fallout?
Yet, miraculously as mentioned earlier, there were only perpetrators involved in this incident, with no reported victims.
Why?
Because some overseas guests promptly handled matters, and thus the incident in Building A didn’t involve civilians “at all.”
‘Oh my God.’
Kim Gi-ryeo.
In fact, when the Imabari lightning attribute user arrived, a certain Korean had already nearly tidied up the scene.
Moreover shockingly, the blond man left no traces of any real battle on the first floor of the venue.
How could such a thing be possible?
No matter the numerical difference, Iori had made quite a mess of the corridor while fighting lower-ranked Awakened.
S-Class Hunters often find it difficult to deal with people due to their overflowing power.
Yet how incredibly swiftly did that man suppress his opponents?
‘To achieve such a neat result…’
One person lay unconscious as if in slumber.
And the other seemed to be writhing in pain on the ground as if seriously injured.
‘To suppress even an A-Rank Awakened without a fuss. How did he do it? It’s incomprehensible. It’s almost as if that hunter had previously treated humans like beasts…’
The guild master of Imabari swallowed dryly as he recalled the scene relayed by his colleague.
And at that moment, his phone rang.
It was a call containing news that would leave Moritake Ito in shock.
