novelraw Chapter 219 : Chapter 219
Chapter 219 : Chapter 219
Chapter 219: Monster
Da-yeon took out her phone and sent a text message.
Then she stood in front of one wall.
A normal bookshelf that could be seen just about anywhere.
She pulled out one book, then put it back in a different place.
After that, she pulled out another book and put it back in yet another place.
How many times had she repeated that meaningless action?
Geugeugeugeung—
The wall vibrated, and the bookshelf split to both sides.
And a new space.
That wasn't the end.
The wall behind the revealed bookshelf even had a locking device that required a password to be pressed.
Only after pressing nearly 10 digits was the safe's lock finally released, allowing her to see beyond it.
A single sword, standing inside.
Da-yeon stared at it blankly.
The past dozen or so years of her life, living with a desire for revenge against the Sword Demon, and the memories before that.
In the past, when her mother was alive, her relationship with the Sword Demon was naturally not bad.
Around the time she used to run around freely in the Sword Demon's dojo, she had seen the Sword Demon's sword back then.
The sword wielded by the Sword Demon at that time was beautiful enough to leave a deep impression even on a little kid who could barely say her own name.
That was why she, too, naturally picked up the sword.
The truth she had tried to ignore because she didn't want to acknowledge it.
As if to prove she carried the bloodline of the Sword Demon, she was certainly a once-in-a-century genius the moment she held the sword.
However, that talent was locked away in a dark box to rot, in the name of revenge and rebellion against the Sword Demon.
She would rather give up being a hero, but she had no intention of ever picking up a sword again.
But that thought…….
“Professor.”
When she thought of Ho-cheol, she realized what a stupid thing she had done.
He had braved absurd dangers time and time again, just for the one promise of protecting her.
She had seen that much with her own eyes, and there were surely things she hadn't even been aware of.
She had been saved by him countless times.
Rescued.
How could she hesitate to pick up a sword for his sake?
With Da-yeon's skill, if she insisted on only using the bow, the possibility of saving the professor was close to 0.
She reached her hand toward the sword.
The weight she felt in her hand as soon as she gripped the hilt.
It had been almost several years since she held a sword, but it still felt like a part of her own body.
She let out a hollow laugh, as if in despair.
Even after handling the bow for several years, she hadn't grasped even a fragment of this sensation.
Is this what they call a real difference in talent?
In the midst of that, the door suddenly opened, and Ye-jin appeared.
Because Da-yeon had just texted her to come quickly, she burst in without even knocking.
“This body has arrived.”
Since she was staying in the sidekick dormitory in the building right next door, 3 minutes was more than enough time to come.
“So, what's up?”
Every time she spoke, a Crk, crk.
— Sound leaked out.
Of course, it wasn't candy or a normal snack.
Between her lips, which were much paler than others', her breath sparkled white and shattered.
What Ye-jin was holding in her mouth was none other than, dry ice.
For her, who had a cold-related Trait, this alone served as good training to strengthen her output.
Fortunately, it was recognized as a form of training at the Sword Demon's office, and if she applied, she could receive 100% of the cost of dry ice as support funds.
Right now, there was dry ice attached to her two pants pockets, wrists, abdomen belt, and various other places all over her body.
Ye-jin's gaze turned to Da-yeon, precisely to the sword she was holding.
She was flustered and tried to shout something at Da-yeon, who was holding the sword, but the dry ice got stuck in her throat.
“Uh, uh? Uh! Keheuk! Keoheokheok! Keukkak-kek!”
Barely swallowing the lump, she wiped the tears from her eyes and pointed at the sword Da-yeon was holding.
She didn't know the exact details, but she was vaguely aware that Da-yeon was at a level of hating, no, despising the sword.
For her to suddenly be holding a sword?
“What! Are you finally switching over to the sword? Is that what you called me to brag about?”
“……I'll explain this later.”
Da-yeon placed the sword back against the wall and pointed at the top of the desk.
“That notebook. You know what it is, right?”
“……No?”
A common notebook you could see anywhere.
At best, it was similar to the one Ho-cheol used to carry.
“What, did you get matching ones with the professor as a couple?”
“No. It's the professor's own.”
“Wha-wha-whawhat?!”
Ye-jin's eyes widened, even more surprised than when Da-yeon was holding the sword just now.
“Why do you have that?”
“I met him. He gave it to me before he left.”
“Heo-eo-eok!”
Ye-jin jumped up and down on the spot.
“How?”
Ye-jin was also vaguely aware of Ho-cheol's current situation, thanks to overhearing a few stories next to Da-yeon.
But how did she meet him?
Da-yeon explained everything, from the situation when they first met to the contents of the notebook, without leaving anything out.
And when that story was all finished.
Jjeojeojeojeok—
The desk Ye-jin was sitting on, from where her hand and bottom touched, a white frost spread.
“What is that…….”
Ye-jin knew well that Da-yeon didn't have the personality to spout nonsense.
However, the content was so unbelievable that she had to ask again.
Da-yeon caressed the notebook with her fingertips, and as if to crush Ye-jin's faint hope, she firmly drove the nail in again.
“It's all true.”
“……Don't be ridiculous!”
Ye-jin slammed the desk.
The desk quickly froze around her fist.
Da-yeon had no intention of pointing out her intense shout or the broken desk.
If their situations were reversed, that level of reaction would be cute.
Ye-jin bit her lip.
“We! At least I… At least that's not why I wanted to become a hero.”
“It's the same for me.”
Da-yeon was inwardly relieved.
She didn't know about the other 41, but at least Ye-jin was thinking the same thing as her.
“Then what are you going to do.”
Ye-jin's head turned to Da-yeon.
“Obviously, we have to stop it. We're supposed to watch the professor die, and because of us at that? Are you crazy?”
Of course, Ho-cheol hadn't gone so far as to write 'please kill me' in the notebook.
He had said that mobilizing ordinary heroes would result in considerable casualties, so he asked them, the students, to create an opening and stop him.
However, the two, who were united in their respect and affection for Ho-cheol, were not in a state of mind to distinguish that difference.
No, in fact, even if he had just written 'stop me', there was no way they could accept it.
“Let's make a plan.”
To save Ho-cheol, the two put aside their brief rivalry and held hands to cooperate.
The basic framework of the plan could be made using the 'how to defeat him' guide that Ho-cheol had created.
And while they were in the middle of planning.
Ye-jin flinched at a single question that suddenly came to mind.
“If we catch him……”
It was a mutter more to herself than a question to Da-yeon, but her voice gradually grew louder.
The emotion contained in that mutter was at first a question, but.
“The professor at that time will be a villain.”
At some point, it held a strange anticipation and heat.
“Doesn't that mean we can do whatever we want with him?”
At her following words, Da-yeon also momentarily sucked in her breath.
Of course not.
Naturally, if he was captured as a villain, he should be punished through the proper legal procedures; that was the thought one should have as a hero.
No, even if not a hero, it was the obvious thought to have.
Da-yeon's lips parted.
“That's certainly true.”
In the first place, Da-yeon also had no hesitation in using her family's power or influence to get what she wanted.
It was the same feeling when she first proposed a deal to erase his criminal record in order to make Ho-cheol her exclusive teacher.
Of course, it was a bit disappointing that she couldn't monopolize him in the current situation.
Concessions… I probably can't get any, right?
She barely suppressed the dark emotions that welled up momentarily and asked Ye-jin.
“Dividing him top and bottom is a bit, isn't it?”
“We have to split him left and right. The bottom side gets too much benefit otherwise.”
“Not the top?”
“Ah?”
An unexpected difference in preference.
The two exchanged glances wordlessly, then stealthily avoided each other's gaze.
Then, as if the conversation just now had never happened, they immersed themselves in planning again.
They absolutely could not tolerate seeing Ho-cheol sacrifice himself for others any longer.
***
There was some poison in the fog Ho-cheol had inhaled, but the biggest cause of him coughing up blood was the battle with the Giant.
Well, he had endured it somehow, but in truth, the pressure created by that Giant was a harsh space where even an S-rank would find it hard to even breathe properly.
It was just that his body couldn't withstand the burden of forcibly pulling out his full power without any allotment of strength or warm-up, and he had suffered as a backlash.
Fortunately, it wasn't a big problem, and just recovering his condition was enough.
He, who had returned to the hideout, openly showed his uncomfortable feelings.
“Sseup. My head hurts enough as it is, but another weird thing has popped out.”
A Giant monster.
Its combat power wasn't at an overwhelming level compared to him.
If he was determined, finished his preparations, and tore into it at the risk of his life, it wasn't at a level he couldn't kill.
Killing an opponent stronger than himself.
This, at least, was Ho-cheol's specialty.
The problem was the resurrection.
I worked so hard to kill it, and it comes back to life?
And I have to kill it every time?
How was he supposed to catch such a horrific bastard?
No, reviving quickly was a problem, but if it took decades to revive, that was a problem in its own right.
It might be different if there was a guy stronger than him among the next generation of heroes or villains.
If not, was he supposed to be dragged off while having his 60th birthday party?
He really hated that.
And pulling the monster into the mental world and killing it so it couldn't revive, like with Black Oskopf, was also impossible.
Honestly, that weight class was a foul.
At Ho-cheol's worries, Ha-rin offered a moderate opinion.
“Well, they caught a really big monster in the past, didn't they? Wouldn't something like that work?”
“But I don't know anything about that side of things.”
In the past, a 100m-class flying whale monster had appeared on the African continent.
Because they failed to prevent an Erosion-type Gate in advance, the Gate also grew to the size of a small country, and in the end, the entire continent was ruined.
Of course, the appearance of that monster was a story from before Ho-cheol was born.
Naturally, that monster had already been caught.
It hadn't died of old age, and if they caught such a monster in the end, he, too, should definitely be able to catch it.
However, since he didn't know the process at all, all he had to do was find out how they defeated it.
That damned transcendence?
Who cares?
They must have caught the whale monster just fine without something like transcendence.
And all the information related to that was also classified.
He could have found out during his organization days, but he had no interest in monsters in the first place.
And now, he had completely turned his back on the Association, so he couldn't find out through that side either.
“Anyone know anything related to it?”
At his question, all the executives shook their heads.
Well, in a situation without any Hunters, it was to be expected.
Even the Sage was an amateur when it came to foreign countries.
Ho-cheol sighed and got up from his seat.
“I guess it can't be helped after all.”
“What are you going to do?”
At Ha-rin's question, he answered briefly.
“I have to go find someone who would know.”
Fortunately, an overwhelming expert remained in his memory.
***
One of the 4 giant corporations that dominated the Battlefield, [The Top].
Ho-cheol had quite a connection with this corporation.
Another giant corporation, [Black Oskopf], had caused several accidents, saying they would achieve transcendence through fusion experiments of monsters and humans, and in the process, had thoroughly grated on Ho-cheol's nerves, so they fought him and were ruined.
And [The Top] had secretly supported Ho-cheol because if [Black Oskopf]'s experiment succeeded, their own business would be ruined.
And that support was the judgment of [The Top]'s acting president, Charlotte Lautrec.
It was a cooperation made possible because she held a strange goodwill toward Ho-cheol, beyond a simple relationship of profit.
And she would have enough information to solve all of Ho-cheol's questions.
Ho-cheol immediately sought out the Battlefield.
The atmosphere felt much more chaotic than last time, but it wasn't at a level where public order had completely collapsed.
Unlike the other futuristic buildings, a huge building that alone resembled a medieval palace.
Standing in front of [The Top]'s headquarters, Ho-cheol muttered with a sour look.
“Using someone else's goodwill isn't a method I really like.”
Charlotte, too, was a merchant of death.
Even if she wasn't committing murder directly, it couldn't be helped that she was still awkward to deal with.
He wanted to get involved as little as possible, but.
“Well, I'm the one in a tight spot.”
Meeting the president, Charlotte, was not that difficult.
All he did was give the mask he used in the Battlefield in the past at the lobby and say, 'She'll know if you show her this'.
In fact, not even 1 minute after the call was made, he was guided by a flustered employee and arrived at the president's office on the top floor.
“So. What brings you here?”
In the president's office, Charlotte, with her elbows on the desk and her palms brought together to form a flower-cup for her chin, asked with a bright smile.
“Because you missed me?”
Her smile was also mixed with a coercion, as if to say 'hurry up and agree'.