Chapter 56
Starting with Kang Kaljin’s voice, the remaining members of the organization crawled out one by one from the surrounding grass.
Although only five of them remained, we couldn’t afford to let our guard down. Even though they were all executives under Jo Jinhyeon, Jeong Byeok-hyeon’s subordinates and Kang Kaljin’s were on entirely different levels.
If Jo Jinhyeon was the type of executive who commanded a large number of people all at once, Kang Kaljin’s subordinates specialized in assassination.
That meant they were more accustomed to using weapons like knives and daggers than guns, and as a result, their physical abilities and quick wits were naturally a little better than those of the other terrorists’ subordinates.
…And it went without saying that Kang Kaljin, who led people like that, was far more dangerous than the other executives.
-Shing!
“H-his fingers turned into blades….”
“Be careful. He’s the guy who was fine even with a bullet lodged in his forehead.”
“…I-I know!”
As if she had instinctively realized that he was far more dangerous than the others we had defeated so far, Han Sora’s expression hardened.
“I saw you last time too~. You’re really pretty, totally my type~.”
“……”
“You make me want to tear you apart just like that!!”
-Whoooosh!!
“Han Sora, dodge!”
With a sharp tap of her foot, Han Sora’s body sprang lightly into the air, and five blades cut through the space above where she had been standing.
If she had stayed there, the attack would have left a deep cut across her face by a hair. Even in a situation where his comrades were being killed one after another, I could sense that Kang Kaljin was deliberately avoiding killing her instantly so he could enjoy his hobby.
Or perhaps he simply knew that we were at the level of academy students and was deliberately taking it easy. He probably already had some rough information about us.
“You’re pretty nimble~? Well, it wouldn’t be fun if you died too easily right from the start~.”
“…Hey, Lee Seonho. I’ll handle him.”
“What do you mean, you’ll handle him? He obviously looks dangerous—are you out of your mind? How are you going to deal with someone who can withstand bullets?”
“…I can somehow hold out if all I do is dodge. We just have to avoid doing anything dangerous and hold out until reinforcements arrive from outside.”
She had determined that, since she herself was Kang Kaljin’s target and had the best physical abilities among us, the best course of action was to evade his attacks and buy time.
This was Han Sora from the original story, exactly. In 『Surviving at Hunter Academy』, when she had faced the same situation, she had said something like this and volunteered to buy time herself.
I didn’t like it, but here, I had no choice but to trust Han Sora with buying time.
If there were something I could do in her place, I would somehow do it myself, but even I couldn’t afford to be stubborn this time.
“Then, just this once, I’ll leave him to you.”
“Lee Seonho, go to Eun-joo and Isabel. Those guys over there also look more dangerous than the ones we’ve seen so far.”
“…Yeah.”
I was merely asking her to take on the role she had played in the original story. All I could do was hope that no variable more dangerous than the one in the original would arise.
Park Hana would probably join us soon, so we only had to hold out until then. By now, the Sky Bridge had probably been blown up, separating her from Park Cheon-ho, and she would be looking for an aerial lift to reach the western area.
To get from the Sky Bridge to the aerial lift, she had to pass through this plaza. And given Park Hana’s personality, there was no way she would simply walk past us after seeing us fighting a group of villains.
“Let there be light to bind you!”
“Ugh, you bitch…!”
“D-Dark Spear!”
“Ghk….”
While Han Sora faced off against Kang Kaljin and bought time, the two people behind her were fully occupied fighting the other members of the organization.
Whether they held guns or knives, they were ultimately just rank-and-file assassins. They were probably stronger than the ones we had fought earlier, but they were nowhere near skilled enough to dodge Kim Isabel’s binding magic or Cha Eun-joo’s dark magic.
“……”
“……”
-Nod.
Perhaps because they were a little more perceptive than the others, they exchanged glances, sent signals, and nodded to one another.
Excluding the dead and bound members, four of the underlings remained, but they would probably maintain that distance and remain at a standoff until the battle ended.
They knew that moving in at this point would only cost them their lives. But if they fled, Kim Isabel and Cha Eun-joo would also be able to join the fight against Kang Kaljin.
They were deliberately keeping their distance and waiting to prevent that. They probably thought it wouldn’t be too late to join in after Kang Kaljin had completely subdued Han Sora.
“S-Sora…! Help….”
“No, Cha Eun-joo! Focus!”
“O-okay…!”
The four members had briefly moved in, apparently trying to attack while Cha Eun-joo was distracted. The moment I restored her awareness, they hurried back to their original positions and maintained the standoff.
Until reinforcements arrived on either side or someone fell, whichever side’s formation broke first would inevitably lose.
“Don’t take your eyes off them for no reason. If those guys move in, neither Han Sora nor anyone else will make it out safely.”
“O-okay….”
“The same goes for Isabel. Right now, the best thing we can do is trust Sora to hold out as long as possible, so no matter what happens, never take your eyes off those guys.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
“And even if an unexpected variable arises, I’ll handle it.”
Cha Eun-joo and Kim Isabel nodded, seeming to have understood what I was saying.
This was only the second time we had fought together in coordination, but I thought I had built up enough trust with the two of them, at least.
There was a possibility that an unexpected variable might arise along the way, but I could deal with that somehow. All I could do was hope they believed in me and didn’t carelessly break formation.
“Haa, haa, haaa….”
“Hmm, already tired~? I thought I’d be able to play with you a little longer~.”
“Hoo, huff… hngh!”
-Grind!!
“You really are no fun, bitch~. I was looking forward to seeing that pretty face get ruined, but I really don’t like that you still have fight left in you~.”
The sound of Han Sora’s ragged breathing and Kang Kaljin’s blades scraping against the stone pavement continued to reach me from behind.
I felt sorry for her, already exhausted as she was, but this was the best formation we could maintain for now. The fact that she was beautiful enough to catch Kang Kaljin’s eye was both a misfortune and a blessing.
We only had to buy a little more time. Once Park Hana arrived, we would create a matchup between Kang Kaljin and Park Hana, while the rest of us finished off the organization members maintaining their distance over there.
It was a plan that had only narrowly succeeded in the original story, so unless another variable appeared, this was probably the best method.
“What~? Now that I look at you, that girl’s pretty too~?”
…Yeah, if only that damn other variable didn’t exist.
Perhaps he had grown bored after fighting Han Sora, who had done nothing but evade him the entire time. His gaze turned toward us, and before long, it was fixed on Cha Eun-joo.
Kim Isabel was wearing a veil, so he couldn’t see her face, but Cha Eun-joo’s face was only partly obscured by her bangs covering one eye.
Since another ‘beauty’ who hadn’t existed in the original story had entered the plot, this was, in a sense, an inevitable variable.
“I’m getting bored of playing with this sly bitch~! Then how about I get a taste of this young lady first~?!”
-Thak!
“Gasp, w-wait…!”
“Ms. Cha Eun-joo!”
The man who had spent all this time persistently trying to scratch Han Sora’s face suddenly changed direction and rushed toward Cha Eun-joo.
Han Sora was already exhausted from doing nothing but evade his attacks, while Kim Isabel was watching the group of members who looked ready to charge in at any moment. Neither of them could move.
“……Huh?”
Cha Eun-joo, who was watching the group of villains while following my orders without a hint of doubt, was no exception.
…That was why I was the only person here who could stop this variable.
-Slash…!!
“Ghhhhhh…!!”
Along with the sound of something being cut by a blade, a cold pain shot up my spine and into my head.
A deep slash ran from my shoulder down to my waist. Even without turning my head to look, the vivid sensation completely filled my mind.
Still, I had somehow succeeded in protecting Cha Eun-joo, and Cha Eun-joo, held in my arms, fell face-first onto the plaza floor together with me.
-Thud!
“…S-Seonho!!!”
“Ghh, ngh…! Hngh, hngh…!”
“Haa, what are you~?”
No. Don’t lose consciousness.
If I lost consciousness now, everything would be over.
I had already used my mana to its limit, and if I closed my eyes even for a moment, the Suggestions I had placed on the three of them would wear off. The cowardly Cha Eun-joo, the distracted Han Sora, and Kim Isabel, who was afraid of men, would never be able to win this fight.
I also had to keep the self-buff I’d cast earlier active until I faced Jo Jinhyeon, so, damn it…
“S-Seonho! Your wound….”
“Haa, h, hngh, haa….”
“You fucking bastard~! My right hand is reserved for cutting only the bitches who turn me on, and you dare get the blood of a filthy dick-bearing bastard on it~?!”
“R-run….”
I wanted to tell her to run because her attacks wouldn’t work on him anyway, but the damn pain made it difficult even to open my mouth.
If I could use Adrenaline Burst, I might be able to hold out, but I had no mana left for that, and Suggestions couldn’t be placed on two targets simultaneously in the first place.
All I could do was lift my body slightly so that Cha Eun-joo, pinned beneath me, could run away, but unfortunately, she had no intention of abandoning me and fleeing.
“D-Dark Spear! Dark Spear…!!”
-Clang, clang!!
“What’s with this pathetic shadow spear~? You think you can kill me with this crap~? You’re a cute one, really~?”
“D-don’t come…!! D-don’t come near Seonho…!!”
I could hear Cha Eun-joo desperately chanting her lethal magic, alternating with the sound of Kang Kaljin batting the spell away with the blades on his fingers.
I could occasionally make out the sound of Han Sora’s arrows striking Kang Kaljin’s body and bouncing off, or Kim Isabel binding another member who tried to rush in when an opening appeared, but I was so dazed that I wasn’t even sure whether I had heard any of it correctly.
I had tried not to think this way unless absolutely necessary, but at this moment, I wanted to become Seo Woojin rather than Lee Seonho. If I had his ability, the love I was receiving from Cha Eun-joo alone would have been enough to subdue someone like him.
I had used Suggestion to take the protagonist’s place and tried to follow the original story as closely as possible, but Lee Seonho’s ability couldn’t overcome the most basic physical limitations of a Hunter.
‘First, I have to buy even a little time….’
…Just in case.
Even if I happened to die to this guy here, by some stroke of bad luck.
At the very least, I had to buy Cha Eun-joo, Kim Isabel, and Han Sora a little more time.
I tried to force my body, twisted with pain, to rise, but even that was difficult. Maybe the cut had damaged my shoulder, because my right arm simply wouldn’t respond.
“Haa…. H, haa….”
“N-no, Seonho…! Don’t get up!”
“Heh~? You brats look like quite a mess~? You two in some kind of relationship, huh~?”
“Hoo, huff, hngh…!”
“D-don’t come near Seonho…!! Don’t come…!!”
“Did you enjoy playing prince~? Saving your girlfriend from danger made you feel like you were something special, huh~?”
-Crunch!
“Ghk, h, hgaaak…!”
“Don’t worry, pal~. I’m quite the gentleman with pretty bitches~. I’ll play with your girlfriend for a while and then send her on her way, so go on ahead and wait for me~!!”
“No, Seonho…!!”
“Mr. Lee Seonho…!!”
“Hey, Lee Seonho…!!”
My vision was blurry.
The pain and blood loss made it difficult to maintain a clear mind.
With Kang Kaljin looking down at me from above and grinding his shoe into my wound, I heard the women calling my name and squeezed my eyes shut.
-…Kraaang!!
…A sound like something hard colliding with metal rang out above my back.
-Thud!!
“Gyaaaaaaah…!!”
“Jeez, why are Seoul’s amusement parks full of nothing but bastards like this?! Hey, are you guys all right?!”
“Hoo, h, ghh….”
Kang Kaljin lay face-down on the ground as if he had been struck and sent flying, while a blue-haired girl with a bob cut stood where he had been moments earlier, looking down at me with concern.
The melee-fighting heroine Park Hana from 『Surviving at Hunter Academy』 had arrived.