My hand was caught.
By the very opponent I'd just attacked.
I'd clearly electrocuted him. His heart had stopped, too. And yet here he was, opening his eyes this quickly.
Is his ability some kind of recovery type?
Attacks using current didn't work on Choi Haegang. On top of that, Choi Haegang now knew Seo Sinwoo was an awakener.
The worst of everything I'd feared had come to pass…
A cold sweat broke out.
“Uh, this is…”
Grip.
To make matters worse, my caught hand wouldn't come free.
“…”
Seo Sinwoo blindly poured his ability into his hand.
Crackle! Crack, crackle!
Sparks scattered wildly, but Choi Haegang didn't so much as flinch.
As the standoff dragged on, the muscle melted by the heat began to go soft. Seo Sinwoo seized the chance to yank his hand free.
At the same moment, Choi Haegang swung his sword.
“Whoa!”
Choi Haegang set his stance in an instant. When Seo Sinwoo, having barely dodged, lifted his head, the man had already readjusted his grip on the blade.
And he rained down attacks without pause.
“H-hold on! There's a misunder-”
Swish—.
He dodged again.
About then, he caught on.
Compared to six years later, his movements are slow.
For now I set off a small explosion at my feet to put distance between us. The residual electricity on the floor crackled faintly.
“I think there's been a misunderstanding…!”
At the sight of Choi Haegang, not even listening, charging straight back in, my mind started to race.
“Hajae!”
I threw out the name of Yeom Hajae, the one he seemed to treasure. The opponent who, until then, hadn't even pretended to listen no matter what I said, faltered.
…What do I say?
Rolling his eyes, Seo Sinwoo roughly set the mood and spoke.
“I've planted a bomb inside Hajae's body.”
It was a childish lie.
But the swordsman's movements stopped for a moment. Seo Sinwoo quickly thrust a hand into his pocket and pulled out a fistful of whatever he could grab.
If a simple shock wouldn't work, then there was no choice but to try another kind of attack. That was the calculation.
But what came tumbling out of the pocket was nothing but various gem-studded accessories.
Fuck!
I regretted my past self for overestimating my ability and never buying any other weapons.
It wasn't a matter of them being useless as weapons or anything like that.
It's a waste to use these.
They were jewels I'd just lovingly lifted off the injured. Do you know how hard I worked, moving carefully so I wouldn't get noticed?
With tears welling up inwardly, Seo Sinwoo resolved to use the jewels.
Better than shooting electricity into thin air, I guess.
As long as I had my life, I could refill the pockets.
“So you see… an electric bomb…”
Seo Sinwoo drew out his words.
Choi Haegang was quietly observing Seo Sinwoo's movements.
As if soothing a wary cat, he met Choi Haegang's eyes. He gently crinkled his eyes into a smile, as though he had no intention of attacking.
“Like this…”
Using an electric field, he floated the accessories into the air. As he condensed the electricity, blue sparks crackled off the metal.
To keep the other from reacting in time, he immediately fired them off using electromagnetic force.
“Ta-da.”
The accessories shot out, leaving golden afterimages.
A speed the eye couldn't follow.
They lodged into the swordsman's body without giving him a chance to dodge. Some passed clean through his flesh and vanished into the distance.
And the small bombs that lodged safely in his body—
burst at once, releasing current.
Boom!
Along with the thunderous roar, colored powders scattered through the surroundings.
Fragments of metal and gemstone drifted, sparkling in the sunlight. It was a beautiful sight, wholly unsuited to the situation.
Huh? Pretty…
Captivated by the scene for a moment, Seo Sinwoo shook his head and snapped out of it.
“Ahem… Haegang?”
Choi Haegang didn't move.
Instead.
Splash!
Blood spilled onto the floor.
It had been a current strong enough to instantly kill an ordinary person by electrocution and then some. But death by electrocution couldn't be hoped for.
That was why he'd deliberately triggered a physical explosion inside Choi Haegang's body.
Let's see how this turns out.
Seo Sinwoo inwardly hoped Choi Haegang would collapse. He had seemed to lose consciousness briefly earlier, after all.
“Ah.”
Mocking his hopes, the wounds began to knit shut.
As if nothing had happened at all.
The fully-healed Choi Haegang kicked off the ground and charged.
No way. He bled that much, and…
Dodging the attack, Seo Sinwoo rubbed his goosebump-covered arm. The way the guy kept living and moving no matter what was done to him—like a cockroach—gave him the creeps.
Anyway, that bastard had been affected by the attacks. He paused for a moment whenever he got hit. Seo Sinwoo took that as consolation.
After that, he used various large objects as shields and just kept dodging.
Chair legs, walls, pots…
Slice.
It was the instant Choi Haegang cut through a ceramic jar.
“Kuh…”
The water inside poured out like a waterfall, drenching Choi Haegang.
The surroundings turned into a sea of water.
A situation favorable to an electricity user had been created.
While dodging attacks, Seo Sinwoo let his ability trickle out little by little to hinder Choi Haegang's movements.
Then, all at once, under thorough calculation, he left an opening.
He'd already bought enough time.
Thinking that, Seo Sinwoo deliberately let the attack graze him and fell.
[Karma: 59774(-5)]
Clang!
Beyond the karma window, sword clashed against sword. Yeom Hajae, having appeared at some point, blocked Choi Haegang's attack with his own blade.
“…Hyung.”
Choi Haegang rolled his eyes. Above, the very person who'd brought Yeom Hajae was flapping his wings. At the sight of the tense maknae's face, Choi Haegang clicked his tongue.
Shouting nice inwardly, Seo Sinwoo made his voice tremble as if frightened.
“H-Hajae…”
“…I heard a loud noise, so I came to check.”
Trading blows and dodging all over the place, the two had ended up in the center of the room before they knew it.
“Haegang. Did you threaten a civilian again?”
“…”
Yeom Hajae sheathed his sword.
Choi Haegang lowered his blade too, without a word. He didn't return it to the sheath, but it was an admirable reaction.
Whoa. This actually works?
To think that crazy bastard would stop attacking with the opponent he'd been fighting right in front of him. Choi Haegang of six years ago was far softer than I'd expected.
Seo Sinwoo, thinking he'd gained the upper hand on him, was secretly thrilled.
Choi Haegang, on the other hand.
“…It's not like that. Look.”
He opened his mouth as calmly as ever.
A civilian? It was an absurd claim. The one who'd taken more hits during the fight wasn't that suspicious awakener—it was Choi Haegang.
But.
“Look? All I can see is that this citizen is hurt, Haegang.”
Blood was flowing vividly from Seo Sinwoo's chest.
Choi Haegang's wounds, meanwhile, had all vanished. Even the blood that had remained on his body had been washed away by the water. Now that the opponent was bleeding, the bloodstains left on his clothes couldn't prove the injuries he'd taken.
Furthermore, aside from the single strike using the accessories, Seo Sinwoo had used his ability relatively inconspicuously.
There was no visible evidence left at the moment.
“Kp…”
Seo Sinwoo held back a laugh.
“…”
Choi Haegang glared at Seo Sinwoo. Yeom Hajae stepped forward as if to protect Seo Sinwoo, blocking that gaze.
“I misjudged. I guess I shouldn't have left you alone.”
It was a gaze laden with clear distrust.
Think about it calmly, and one could easily tell this incident wasn't a one-sided assault by Choi Haegang.
But the current Yeom Hajae didn't have the leisure for that.
A situation where every second counted for rescuing civilians. With no notable results from repeated scouting, Yeom Hajae had grown deeply anxious.
Choi Haegang had a past record of threatening ordinary people and causing incidents.
Add to that his usual aggressive disposition…
To Yeom Hajae, Choi Haegang was both a comrade and a cherished younger brother.
Which made it all the harder to trust him. He knew Choi Haegang well as a person. And his distrust of Choi Haegang ran just as deep.
Quietly hiding behind him, Seo Sinwoo saw Yeom Hajae's attitude and felt relieved.
Huh? Guess they're not all sunshine and roses after all.
Thanks to that, things got easier.
Seo Sinwoo immediately started turning the gears in his head.
The fact that he had an ability was already exposed. But killing Yeom Hajae, who was taking his side, would only be a path to provoking trouble.
In this situation, what should he do to survive…
Hmm… a hostage play?
About the time his thoughts reached that far, a low voice came.
“Hyung, get away. That guy is-”
Choi Haegang couldn't finish.
“Ugh, that hurts. I'm dying…”
“Are you all right? Ah, I'll stop the bleeding for you.”
Seo Sinwoo leaned against Yeom Hajae and laid a hand on his shoulder. It was a natural motion.
Just like that, he looked at Choi Haegang while fiddling with Yeom Hajae's shoulder.
Slowly, threateningly.
Seo Sinwoo mouthed the words.
So this is your weak spot?
Catching the meaning, Choi Haegang's face hardened coldly.
A hand, veins bulging, quietly raised the sword again.
That's when.
Thud!
Thud!
Everyone turned their heads toward the door. The air froze.
Thud!
The ground rumbled ominously.
Heavy footsteps.
Thud!
And they were drawing steadily closer.
That something enormous was approaching was at least clear.
How many dozens of seconds until it arrived? Sensing the danger, the people fell silent.
A monster?
Yeom Hajae instinctively looked around for a place to hide.
The objects nearby had all been destroyed by Choi Haegang. There was nowhere to hide.
Perhaps sensing that, the maknae descended to his side and hurriedly asked Yeom Hajae.
“Hyung! What do we do?”
“…”
“Carrying three at once is impossible…”
With the maknae's ability, they could move quickly to another location.
But three people couldn't escape at once. Two might be possible, though…
Even if it's dangerous, do we have to face it head-on like this?
Fighting without knowing the opponent's traits carried a heavy risk.
It was while Yeom Hajae was wrestling fiercely with the decision. Seo Sinwoo's eyes glinted.
A chance to bolt.
I'd just been at a loss over how long I'd have to keep up this dragging standoff anyway.
A lunatic who, when threatened to behave, only raised his weapon in return. It was a chance to get away from Choi Haegang.
The artifact and the core would be inside the monster that was coming now. I just had to smash the core, snatch the artifact, and make my escape.
I finished the calculation quickly.
At the same time, Yeom Hajae reached a decision too.
“Haegang, for now…”
Anxious as he was, he planned to send Seo Sinwoo and Choi Haegang off and buy time alone. He'd have to leave mediating the conflict between the two to the maknae and Minjun.
The moment he was about to explain that plan, someone's hand gripped Yeom Hajae's arm tightly.
It was Seo Sinwoo.
It was a face smiling as usual. But the hand clutching his arm was trembling faintly.
Yeom Hajae mistook the emotion in that tremble for fear. Seo Sinwoo's smiling face only fed the misunderstanding.
Steeling his resolve, Yeom Hajae opened his mouth, meaning to soothe the other.
I won't abandon you and run. I'll take down the monster, so rest easy.
It was a line he often used to reassure civilians and prevent rash actions.
But.
“Hajae, run.”
Seo Sinwoo got the strange words out first.
“If all three of you can't escape together, you can just leave me behind.”
