CH 6

Should we call it a success?

Thanks to a fan strategy that involved drinks, post-its, and an appropriate level of distance without revealing their identity, Lim seon-hee was able to receive an unexpected gift. While she briefly went to the restroom, a post-it that said “Thank you! I’ll enjoy it.” was stuck on her desk.

“Wow! Mister, look at this. Sister Baek Hwa-seon gave me this. This handwriting! Isn’t it great?”

“… “

Although it didn’t have a signature, it seemed enough to be just Baek Hwa-seon’s handwriting on the post-it, like a treasure. She carefully held the post-it as if it was precious.

“I’ll treat you today!”

Without saying much, Lim seon-hee took Baron out at dinner time.

“It’s okay, but I need to watch my weight.”

“You can read webtoons after eating.”

Eventually, Baron had to give in to the free meal.

Although time was running towards the evening, the outside was still bright and filled with a blue energy, perhaps due to the long days.

“Would you like to have some soup?”

Lim seon-hee asked, and Baron answered with a smile, “Sure.”

“I guess it’s not your type,” she said.

“That’s just prejudice,” he replied.

As a student with no money, Lim seon-hee opted for delicious pork belly instead of steak. As they were finishing their meal, the sunset was marking the end of the day beyond the sky.

“I haven’t had such greasy food in a while.”

“Well, thanks for treating me today.”

Baron shrugged, thinking it was nothing special, but he still appreciated the free meal. With a short farewell, they turned away from each other. How long had they walked?

“Hey, wait a minute?”

Suddenly, Baron stopped walking and furrowed his brows, looking in the direction Lim seon-hee had left.

“It wasn’t me.”

When he left the library, he felt a subtle gaze following him. He wanted to know the identity of the gaze, but there was no clear direction, like being surrounded by fog. So, he let it go and finished his meal. However, after parting with Lim seon-hee, he felt the subtle gaze disappear.

He realized right away. It was Lim seon-hee that the gaze was aimed at, not him.

“What should I do?”

A strong conflict arose within him. He felt guilty about his impure feelings. Of course, he could ignore it and move on, as it was just a brief encounter at a free cafeteria.

“Ugh.”

As if finishing the digestion process, a refreshing burp followed, revealing the details of the dinner they just had.

“Hmm, I did get something out of it. I should at least pay back the meal.”

Although it was meant to be compensation for the post-it note, he still shrugged his shoulders. As such, Baron had no choice but to turn towards her direction, as if recalling memories from his mercenary days, he chuckled and followed the direction of Lim seon-hee.

ΔΔΔ

As darkness crept in, Baek Hwa-seon, who usually wrapped up tightly like a cocoon, received an unexpected phone call from Kim Jung-hoon, the leader of the White Tiger guild she belonged to and her guardian.

“Uncle? What’s going on?”

It was odd for him to call her out of the blue on a day when she visited the Choryang Library, a place full of memories with her parents, and planned to head back soon.

[Are you still in the library?]

“Yes. I’m about to leave.”

[It was just found out that the madman seems to have entered Korea]

Kim Jung-hoon said on the other end of the line.

Baek Hwa-seon’s expression hardened. Lately, her uncle had only used the term ‘madman’ to refer to one person: Crewell!

Crewell was another name for the Lord of Darkness in the movie, “Ring War,” and the madman had adopted it as his own.

The appearance of dimensional rifts wasn’t limited to monsters; heroes known as “awakened” or “ability users” also emerged at that time to protect humanity.

However, they were not all on the side of humanity.

Not only did their powers manifest in the hands of those who were good, but also criminals who began to exploit their abilities, leading to a rise in crime.

<Hallucinator!>

This term is commonly used to refer to awakening criminals, and it refers to individuals who are as good as non-existent or perhaps it would be better if they didn’t exist. Crewell was one of these hallucinators.

His awakening ability was reminiscent of the Dark Lord of the Rings War, a type of ability called Observer or Watcher’s Eye. It allowed him to confirm, scout and observe his opponent even from a distance. Through this ability, the crimes committed by Crewell were truly unparalleled in their sinister nature.

“Deranged creep with voyeuristic powers!”

This was a nickname given to him by women with abilities who knew him. He satisfied his perverted desires by stalking these women who were famous for their special abilities.

The problem was that Crewell’s behavior went beyond attempting to make contact with the subject of his observation. He went as far as causing extreme harm to the target and those around them.

Naturally, several guilds moved to sanction him, but another surprising fact was revealed.

[A-rank!]

It was astonishing that Crewell was considered a world-class ability user. Thanks to his Observer ability, he could easily break through any trap and escape, leaving nothing but frustration and chasing behind him.

And this time was no exception.

[That crazy guy boarded a ship in China.]

Naturally, his destination was Korea.

Baek Hwa-seon’s expression hardened.

“Is it possible to confirm when he came in?”

[It’s not clear, but according to sources, it’s been about a week.]

She chewed on her lip. The reason she knew that Crewell had come to Korea was because it was for her.

She was the new target that Crewell had just set his sights on.

If it had been a week, it would have been enough time for him to gather the information he wanted with his abilities. There was no way to avoid his gaze unless she unfolded her barrier.

Kim Jung-hoon’s call was not to find out Crewell’s location, but to warn her.

Although it had only been a short period of time, the investigation into Crewell was already complete, and they could roughly guess the extent of his perverted behavior.

‘He’ll obsess over everything that has contact with me.’

He wouldn’t threaten forces like the Guild, but he would harass her in various ways in her daily life.

In the midst of all this, Crewell took pleasure in watching her collapse along with her daily life. This was his perverted characteristic as a delusional person.

Because she had lost both of her parents, she had not expected him to interfere with her mundane life even more.

Suddenly, a bad feeling came to her.

“Darn it!”

She thought of the drink and post-it notes in her head.

‘I should have just accepted them and ended it there.’

Responding with a short thank-you to the devoted fan who had kept her distance was a mistake. It could be seen as ‘interest.’

“Uncle, I’m sorry but I need to ask you for a favor.”

After hastily conveying a few things, she had to wrap up the call and start moving.

Understanding this…

Her silhouette blended into the darkening street.

ΔΔΔ

The first thing that caught my attention was the scenery of the unusually dark street.

‘At this time, the street lights should be on.’

Could it be getting late due to the lengthening of daylight?

Although feeling skeptical, I relied on the faint red light remaining in the sky and continued walking along the road.

Then, I encountered my second doubt.

‘Why are there so few people today?’

Even though it was the rush hour, I felt a strange emptiness.

Finally, I arrived at a decisive question or suspicion.

“Uh…? Where am I?”

It wasn’t a completely unfamiliar place in the neighborhood.

But as I turned the corner, I couldn’t understand how a completely different location had appeared in front of me, even though it was supposed to be the way home.

“Why is there suddenly a construction site in front of me?”

My spine tingled with a sense of urgency.

‘This is not normal!’

I had a gut feeling that this was not something that could be experienced in general, and I immediately knew this was work of ability user and started to be alert of my surroundings.

“it’s too late, it’s too late. What am I going to do if I realize this so late?”

The voice I heard at that moment made my face pale. It was the moment when my suspicion turned into certainty.

“Who…?”

In response to the tense voice, a man walked out from inside the construction site building.

“Foreigner?”

He was a man with long brown hair tied tightly behind his head, and various traces of being of Arab descent, such as deeply-set eyes, a large nose, and brown skin, were visible all over him.

“I gave you hints all along the way, but what’s the use if you figure it out after you arrive?”

Despite being momentarily surprised by the fluent Korean coming from the foreigner, Lim seon-hee clenched her lips and stepped back, eventually turning around in surprise.

There was definitely nothing here, but now something invisible was blocking her retreat.

As a Hunter major, she quickly guessed the answer.

“A barrier?”

“That’s right. You can consider this area to be my exclusive space.”

The man slowly approached her with a polite tone.

Lim seon-hee’s expression hardened.

Despite passing the Hunter major exam based on her awakening, she was still a novice, which was not an exaggeration.

Although she was above the lowest F-Rank, at the E-Rank, which was higher, without equipment, she was in a position that was no different from an ordinary person when facing a level 1 rift.

Naturally, she could only feel despair in confronting an ability user who could even use a barrier.

However, she did not crumble.

She gritted her teeth and stood firm, awakening her small ability and raising her guard to the extreme.

After half a year of learning at college, and even through various martial arts training, she has trained her body from time to time through various martial arts.

“I was considering punishing you for disturbing the goddess’s rest, but hmm… I suppose it’s alright to play for a little while.”

As the man scanned her body, she couldn’t help but feel a chilling sensation, like a bug crawling all over her.

“Since we’ll be together for a while, we should introduce ourselves, right? My name is Crewell, but I’m not very famous outside. I’m what they call a hallucinator, though, which I’m sure is a strange name for you.”

“A hallucinator…”

She knew the term, even if she didn’t know Crewell’s name. It was another word for those crazy people.

“Those lunatics!”

As if to overcome the pressure and fear that was building up inside her, she activated her power.

“Fire…”

Crewell nodded and said, “So it’s pyrokinesis. It looks like you’ve combined it with martial arts. Good. Your eyes are still alive, which is good to see. It’ll be fun to see your eyes filled with despair. Hmph…”

Crewell licked his lips and gained momentum.

Barrr…

The air changed in an instant, and Lim seon-hee’s legs began to shake. Her heart raced and her mind swirled with terror, as if it would collapse just from facing his momentum.

“Just to let you know, my evaluation in the world is A-Rank. Well, I’m confident of being superhuman, but that’s how I’m perceived around here.”

Was this the finishing blow?

Although it was small, the fiery light in Lim seon-hee’s flames became blurry.

As her will weakened, Crewell’s lips curled into a sly smile.

“Game over.”

With just a few words and setting the mood, he ended the situation.

“Not that it’s bad to resist a little more.”

It wasn’t exactly pleasing either.

‘I don’t like damaging my merchandise.’

he licked his lips and advanced, and then a momentary crack appeared in his expression. Then he quickly crossed his arms.

Whoosh!

He was pushed back by the sudden pain, and his face deeply wrinkled.

“Who’s there?”

Either due to pain or due to being interrupted, he shouted in an angry voice and looked intently in one direction.

“What? It’s my duty to stop you. Did you even find out my location?”

At that moment, along with a voice, a man appeared behind Lim seon-hee, causing her to startle. He was someone that Crewell had observed before.

He remembered him from the dirt that was sporadically attached to his clothes.

“You bastard! You damn beggar!”

“…Shit! I can’t argue with that.”

The man suddenly appeared and, as he licked his lips, glanced briefly at Lim seon-hee.

“What are you so scared of?”

“…How did you get here, mister…?”

“Let’s just say I came for the price of a meal.”

He shrugged and stepped forward in front of Lim seon-hee, blocking her from Crewell’s view.

At that moment, the dizzying pressure and creepy fear that had pushed against her as if she were suffocating disappeared as if it were a lie.

Lim seon-hee wanted to ask something, but Baron walked away quickly, leaving her with no choice but to quietly swallow her breath.

Rustle…

As Baron approached, he furrowed his eyebrows and lowered his head. It was because he felt a tingling pain around his eyes.

“Kuluk!”

And Crewell stumbled backward with a cough.

It was because he had failed to control the field of vision he had acquired through awakening as an observer and developing it into a skill.

Beyond monitoring the target, he could shared the target’s vision and even interfered with it, providing false information. The effect of this field of vision was what brought Lim seon-hee to this place.

Even to the intruder, it was not easy to easily deflect it.

‘Nonsense! That bastard is on the same level as me?’

The result of the short friction was surprising, and contrary to his mood, his senses began to warn him to be cautious.

“You damn beggar!”

“I…I have nothing to say.”

It was not completely untrue, so he couldn’t argue with it.

“Are you ready to be beaten by a beggar?”

Baron twisted both fists and wrists and asked, as Crewell chewed his lips and pulled out a gun from his arms.

“Oh? That’s cheating…”

Bang!

A beast called the Desert Eagle in the world spat fire.