~roaROAR!
The dreadful atmosphere is suffocating as the intermediate-rank monster asserts its presence from outside the museum with a roar. The museum visitors scream and run aimlessly in panic at the monstrous sight in front of them. Some of them try to go outside, but that only makes things worse.
Surrounding it with over twenty subordinates, the giant monster blocking the museum from the outside makes a bloody mess of the panicking crowd.
Seeing this, they realize that the safest place is inside.
Finally, the security measures of the museum kick in.
Mechanical doors fall down in partitions, protecting the people from the inside and keeping the monsters at bay from the outside. Whether it is a natural phenomenon or an attack, no one knows.
But Nayun knows. And so is Hajin.
“Get inside, get away from the doors!” Nayun tells the crowd while she punches the glass panel and takes out the Seven-Branch Sword.
Meanwhile, Hajin offers a helping hand to the crowd by telling them everything will be fine. “Please do not panic. The rescue team will come anytime soon. The Heroes will arrive in about 20 minutes and they will be able to take care of the matters outside fast!” While he tries soothing the crowd of their anxiety, he carefully observes the people around him as he is too aware that there must be a Djinn lurking around.
Hajin will have more confidence if Suho is around. While this attack is specifically targeting Kim Suho, Hajin will not blame the guy for it, as it is the plot and something he cannot blame on someone.
“I can only rely on myself…” It is a cruel truth that he quickly grasps in this world where he is alone.
This is the first crisis of the story and the first confrontation that the protagonists will experience. As there are already too many changes from his own novel, Hajin becomes tense about the more dangerous changes that he cannot foresee.
His [Observation and Reading] turns up their gear as he extends his attention around him. Then, he has a hit. “Behind you!” He shouts to Nayun when a Djinn disguising a human is about to sneak attack her.
Chae Nayun stimulates her own Gift, [Sea of Magic Power], and unleashes a furious bright blade of pure magic behind her. The Seven-Branch Sword makes a clear arc as it connects to the Djinn’s neck and severs it completely.
“Close,” She comments, sweat dripping on her forehead. “Is everyone okay?”
To her question, she receives a positive response while the others back away from the headless Djinn.
Nayun gazes at the dead Djinn and realizes it is the same Djinn from her memory of a relative past when she miserably lost. She feels happy as in this revenge match, she comes out victorious. Ignoring the dead Djinn, she proceeds to tend to the fears and worries of the civilians.
Meanwhile, Hajin is in a world of his own. How is she so strong? Well, she is strong… But she should not be this strong. Another baffling yet welcome development.
But then, the headless Djinn stands up with explosive speed. It hugs Nayun, and its destructive black magical flames start bursting off in splendor. The head lying on the ground rolls over to within Hajin’s eyesight.
The Djinn’s head… is laughing. “Kekeke. Kakakaka!”
***
In a different area. Another bloody spectacle is on display.
Kim Suho is on his knees while a fellow cadet who is his pair is in his arms. Her name is Ryeo Dae, a classmate who he is pairing with. The girl after making a sudden confession to Suho quickly bleeds to death in a matter of seconds… and its culprit is standing right there.
The Djinn who is responsible for the death snickers. “Oh! Kim Suho. I am really sorry, but you have to di~e… Unfortunately, I kind of missed...” She playfully teases him, while she licks her gnarly claws in satisfaction of the pain she is inflicting.
In the original timeline, this should be not like this.
“I will slaughter you…” Suho wants to protect, yet he fails again… this time more miserable than he imagines. As a Transmigrator who once is a Knight and Survivor of the Devil Morax’s invasion, he knows death very intimately.
He grabs a sword from one of the displays and aims it at the Djinn.
Drawing power from the anger, Suho’s brilliant light of steel coats his sword in calm fury. It pulsates with rage, yet exudes tranquility. The contrast just makes Suho’s figure more terrifying.
But the Djinn after seeing this only laughs in enjoyment.
***
Yep. If there is something wrong ought to happen, it will always happen.
Yoo Yoenha is barely hanging on a thread between life and death as she acrobatically dodges the slow but bulky Djinn. She doesn’t even have a weapon with her. I observe from the sides while maintaining stealth through [Always Here], and hide in plain sight.
I worry for Yoenha, but she must hold on.
This should not be happening. This is not the same as the story I know. Not like the novel. Not like the manhwa. Heck, I don’t even remember this kind of Djinn appearing in the novel!
I feel the weight of the rusty old dagger I pilfer from the display.
Just by appearance alone, this dagger might be inferior to my training daggers, but the truth is… This dagger is a couple of levels better. It is because of the history that naturally dwells on ancient old artifacts.
While this dagger is nameless, I am at least confident that this dagger will do real damage to the Djinn. I concentrate. I cannot miss it. I can only make the kill.
***
“Grooarar! You slimy woman! LET ME TOUCH YOU!” The Djinn screams in perverse aggression, his drool pouring out from his mouth. He makes a big swipe almost catching Yoenha within the gaps of his fingers, however, Yoenha is able to dodge it at the last second as she flips twice backward and slides to her left.
The bulky Djinn may lack speed, but his rate of acceleration is explosive.
Yoenha is already done with her analysis, and what she needs is a helper. She looks for Hyon Hyung only to realize he is ditching her. “Unreliable… To think that even a crazy person has the natural instinct to save themselves.”
“DIE!” The Djinn makes an overhead swing, which Yoenha is able to easily see through. However, that’s not all there is to the big brute. From within his enclosed fist is a sizable piece of concrete small enough to hide in his palm. The thing is... the Djinn's palm is fairly big, and the piece of concrete he is about to hurl is at least half a human's head's size.
~fwoosh!
The sound of the projectile is crisp and creates a trajectory parallel to the ground. Yoenha is not able to react fast enough, and within that microsecond between her death and the flying small concrete... her life starts flashing before her eyes.
“Sigh… What a dog life… Died a virgin… Such a sad... sad... reality...”
She closes her eyes, rejecting the notion of death entirely. And then follows a boom, with the crisp explosion of the concrete. When Yoo Yoenha opens her eyes, she sees Hyon Hyung breathing haggardly in front of her.
“L-lend me your… shoulder a bit…” He coughs painfully, while a little bit of blood leaks from his mouth.
***
It is annoying. At my current level, using [Not Here] and its invisibility aspect is too much. Forcing myself to enter that state, I now find myself with this injury. I tell myself I should get rid of my fear, and go out there.
I reprimand myself for my incompetence. I know I am going too hard on myself, but it is death out there. Still, imagine. Instead of saving Yoo Yoenha, maybe if I have the courage, and just decide to go invisible much earlier and then straight stab the Djinn, then won’t there be a happy ending already?
I sigh at my foolishness. Of course, that will be impossible. Look at that muscles. They clearly possess resistance to damage of all kinds. And clearly, my method of attack is limited, and my physical attributes are lacking.
I peek at the giant brute, while I hold Yoenha’s shoulder.
She shows me a look of disgust. I almost forget that she is a clean freak. Perhaps, the only reason she is allowing me to borrow her shoulder is because her Cadet uniform has full-on sleeves. I sigh once more as I realize my thoughts stray to random topics again.
The big bad brute angrily attacks anything in his sight. Fortunately, his eyes have not landed yet on any of the museum visitors. I pity the various museum displays though as they must be worth a lot.
“Yoenha, do you know how to use other weapons?” I ask her while I stabilize my breathing through Suho’s method, and quickly, I regain control of my trembling body.
Yoenha offers me an answer quickly. “I am fairly below average on wielding other weapons. I simply work best with a whip, because I can do a lot of tricky attacks with it… But…” The museum doesn’t have any whips on display within our proximity.
Simply put, her main weapon is a whip, and her combat power is severely lowered because of this. The museum doesn't allow visitors to carry weapons inside.
“Hmmm…” I ponder on what kind of strategy I should take. But I guess, I can rely on Yoenha more. “What do you think?”
“What are your abilities first? Your Gift, and anything that can be useful.”
We are in a crisis, and I trust Yoenha’s unique intelligence which has direct applications that are immediately effective and rarely fails. So, I tell her what I have in my arsenal.
“My physical abilities are slightly inferior to average cadets, but I am confident in my dodging abilities. I practiced with Suho a lot. I cannot use my invisibility though in direct contact as you can see, It hurts like a bitch and eats magic like a hungry pig.”
“Yes, I understand…” Quickly, she doesn’t need to think for long as she lays out a strategy. “Hit and run. I will provide you cover fire, and you will provide me cover fire. Please be aware of the distance. I can use the bow, but my range is only 12 meters at best…”
12 meters. For an ordinary person, this is already amazing and is enough to kill someone. However, to a Hero who specializes in the role of a shooter, 12 meters is laughably short.
But it can work. It will work. Because it is Yoo Yoenha. Taking the terrain into account, and we are lucky, as there are not many civilians around us. We can do it.
"Be reminded, his speed is only so-so, but his explosive speed is something else..." She hurriedly adds, contributing whatever support she can give to boost our chances for survival.
“I will be the vanguard, please don’t shoot me…” I playfully tell her while I embrace the nervousness, make it my own, and use it to sharpen my instincts to the max.
For the first time, maybe in my entire life both from the past world and this world, I choose to wield bravery.
“Steroid Man! Look fucking here, I’mma cut your balls and feed it to the pigs so you better listen well.” I activate taunt, a non-existent skill. “Your ass is so fat, yo momma broke her uterus when she gave birth to you!”
And then, I flip him the bird.
~roaROAR!
The dreadful atmosphere is suffocating as the intermediate-rank monster asserts its presence from outside the museum with a roar. The museum visitors scream and run aimlessly in panic at the monstrous sight in front of them. Some of them try to go outside, but that only makes things worse.
Surrounding it with over twenty subordinates, the giant monster blocking the museum from the outside makes a bloody mess of the panicking crowd.
Seeing this, they realize that the safest place is inside.
Finally, the security measures of the museum kick in.
Mechanical doors fall down in partitions, protecting the people from the inside and keeping the monsters at bay from the outside. Whether it is a natural phenomenon or an attack, no one knows.
But Nayun knows. And so is Hajin.
“Get inside, get away from the doors!” Nayun tells the crowd while she punches the glass panel and takes out the Seven-Branch Sword.
Meanwhile, Hajin offers a helping hand to the crowd by telling them everything will be fine. “Please do not panic. The rescue team will come anytime soon. The Heroes will arrive in about 20 minutes and they will be able to take care of the matters outside fast!” While he tries soothing the crowd of their anxiety, he carefully observes the people around him as he is too aware that there must be a Djinn lurking around.
Hajin will have more confidence if Suho is around. While this attack is specifically targeting Kim Suho, Hajin will not blame the guy for it, as it is the plot and something he cannot blame on someone.
“I can only rely on myself…” It is a cruel truth that he quickly grasps in this world where he is alone.
This is the first crisis of the story and the first confrontation that the protagonists will experience. As there are already too many changes from his own novel, Hajin becomes tense about the more dangerous changes that he cannot foresee.
His [Observation and Reading] turns up their gear as he extends his attention around him. Then, he has a hit. “Behind you!” He shouts to Nayun when a Djinn disguising a human is about to sneak attack her.
Chae Nayun stimulates her own Gift, [Sea of Magic Power], and unleashes a furious bright blade of pure magic behind her. The Seven-Branch Sword makes a clear arc as it connects to the Djinn’s neck and severs it completely.
“Close,” She comments, sweat dripping on her forehead. “Is everyone okay?”
To her question, she receives a positive response while the others back away from the headless Djinn.
Nayun gazes at the dead Djinn and realizes it is the same Djinn from her memory of a relative past when she miserably lost. She feels happy as in this revenge match, she comes out victorious. Ignoring the dead Djinn, she proceeds to tend to the fears and worries of the civilians.
Meanwhile, Hajin is in a world of his own. How is she so strong? Well, she is strong… But she should not be this strong. Another baffling yet welcome development.
But then, the headless Djinn stands up with explosive speed. It hugs Nayun, and its destructive black magical flames start bursting off in splendor. The head lying on the ground rolls over to within Hajin’s eyesight.
The Djinn’s head… is laughing. “Kekeke. Kakakaka!”
***
In a different area. Another bloody spectacle is on display.
Kim Suho is on his knees while a fellow cadet who is his pair is in his arms. Her name is Ryeo Dae, a classmate who he is pairing with. The girl after making a sudden confession to Suho quickly bleeds to death in a matter of seconds… and its culprit is standing right there.
The Djinn who is responsible for the death snickers. “Oh! Kim Suho. I am really sorry, but you have to di~e… Unfortunately, I kind of missed...” She playfully teases him, while she licks her gnarly claws in satisfaction of the pain she is inflicting.
In the original timeline, this should be not like this.
“I will slaughter you…” Suho wants to protect, yet he fails again… this time more miserable than he imagines. As a Transmigrator who once is a Knight and Survivor of the Devil Morax’s invasion, he knows death very intimately.
He grabs a sword from one of the displays and aims it at the Djinn.
Drawing power from the anger, Suho’s brilliant light of steel coats his sword in calm fury. It pulsates with rage, yet exudes tranquility. The contrast just makes Suho’s figure more terrifying.
But the Djinn after seeing this only laughs in enjoyment.
***
Yep. If there is something wrong ought to happen, it will always happen.
Yoo Yoenha is barely hanging on a thread between life and death as she acrobatically dodges the slow but bulky Djinn. She doesn’t even have a weapon with her. I observe from the sides while maintaining stealth through [Always Here], and hide in plain sight.
I worry for Yoenha, but she must hold on.
This should not be happening. This is not the same as the story I know. Not like the novel. Not like the manhwa. Heck, I don’t even remember this kind of Djinn appearing in the novel!
I feel the weight of the rusty old dagger I pilfer from the display.
Just by appearance alone, this dagger might be inferior to my training daggers, but the truth is… This dagger is a couple of levels better. It is because of the history that naturally dwells on ancient old artifacts.
While this dagger is nameless, I am at least confident that this dagger will do real damage to the Djinn. I concentrate. I cannot miss it. I can only make the kill.
***
“Grooarar! You slimy woman! LET ME TOUCH YOU!” The Djinn screams in perverse aggression, his drool pouring out from his mouth. He makes a big swipe almost catching Yoenha within the gaps of his fingers, however, Yoenha is able to dodge it at the last second as she flips twice backward and slides to her left.
The bulky Djinn may lack speed, but his rate of acceleration is explosive.
Yoenha is already done with her analysis, and what she needs is a helper. She looks for Hyon Hyung only to realize he is ditching her. “Unreliable… To think that even a crazy person has the natural instinct to save themselves.”
“DIE!” The Djinn makes an overhead swing, which Yoenha is able to easily see through. However, that’s not all there is to the big brute. From within his enclosed fist is a sizable piece of concrete small enough to hide in his palm. The thing is... the Djinn's palm is fairly big, and the piece of concrete he is about to hurl is at least half a human's head's size.
~fwoosh!
The sound of the projectile is crisp and creates a trajectory parallel to the ground. Yoenha is not able to react fast enough, and within that microsecond between her death and the flying small concrete... her life starts flashing before her eyes.
“Sigh… What a dog life… Died a virgin… Such a sad... sad... reality...”
She closes her eyes, rejecting the notion of death entirely. And then follows a boom, with the crisp explosion of the concrete. When Yoo Yoenha opens her eyes, she sees Hyon Hyung breathing haggardly in front of her.
“L-lend me your… shoulder a bit…” He coughs painfully, while a little bit of blood leaks from his mouth.
***
It is annoying. At my current level, using [Not Here] and its invisibility aspect is too much. Forcing myself to enter that state, I now find myself with this injury. I tell myself I should get rid of my fear, and go out there.
I reprimand myself for my incompetence. I know I am going too hard on myself, but it is death out there. Still, imagine. Instead of saving Yoo Yoenha, maybe if I have the courage, and just decide to go invisible much earlier and then straight stab the Djinn, then won’t there be a happy ending already?
I sigh at my foolishness. Of course, that will be impossible. Look at that muscles. They clearly possess resistance to damage of all kinds. And clearly, my method of attack is limited, and my physical attributes are lacking.
I peek at the giant brute, while I hold Yoenha’s shoulder.
She shows me a look of disgust. I almost forget that she is a clean freak. Perhaps, the only reason she is allowing me to borrow her shoulder is because her Cadet uniform has full-on sleeves. I sigh once more as I realize my thoughts stray to random topics again.
The big bad brute angrily attacks anything in his sight. Fortunately, his eyes have not landed yet on any of the museum visitors. I pity the various museum displays though as they must be worth a lot.
“Yoenha, do you know how to use other weapons?” I ask her while I stabilize my breathing through Suho’s method, and quickly, I regain control of my trembling body.
Yoenha offers me an answer quickly. “I am fairly below average on wielding other weapons. I simply work best with a whip, because I can do a lot of tricky attacks with it… But…” The museum doesn’t have any whips on display within our proximity.
Simply put, her main weapon is a whip, and her combat power is severely lowered because of this. The museum doesn't allow visitors to carry weapons inside.
“Hmmm…” I ponder on what kind of strategy I should take. But I guess, I can rely on Yoenha more. “What do you think?”
“What are your abilities first? Your Gift, and anything that can be useful.”
We are in a crisis, and I trust Yoenha’s unique intelligence which has direct applications that are immediately effective and rarely fails. So, I tell her what I have in my arsenal.
“My physical abilities are slightly inferior to average cadets, but I am confident in my dodging abilities. I practiced with Suho a lot. I cannot use my invisibility though in direct contact as you can see, It hurts like a bitch and eats magic like a hungry pig.”
“Yes, I understand…” Quickly, she doesn’t need to think for long as she lays out a strategy. “Hit and run. I will provide you cover fire, and you will provide me cover fire. Please be aware of the distance. I can use the bow, but my range is only 12 meters at best…”
12 meters. For an ordinary person, this is already amazing and is enough to kill someone. However, to a Hero who specializes in the role of a shooter, 12 meters is laughably short.
But it can work. It will work. Because it is Yoo Yoenha. Taking the terrain into account, and we are lucky, as there are not many civilians around us. We can do it.
"Be reminded, his speed is only so-so, but his explosive speed is something else..." She hurriedly adds, contributing whatever support she can give to boost our chances for survival.
“I will be the vanguard, please don’t shoot me…” I playfully tell her while I embrace the nervousness, make it my own, and use it to sharpen my instincts to the max.
For the first time, maybe in my entire life both from the past world and this world, I choose to wield bravery.
“Steroid Man! Look fucking here, I’mma cut your balls and feed it to the pigs so you better listen well.” I activate taunt, a non-existent skill. “Your ass is so fat, yo momma broke her uterus when she gave birth to you!”
And then, I flip him the bird.
