Chapter 79: 79

Episode 79. Difficulties always happen at once (3)

“Maybe we should have worked harder. If we had cleared the Rift quickly, it wouldn’t have affected the area outside……. The Analysts said the mana concentration was so high that it must have caused changes to the outside of the Field.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Now that we’re done, I think it’ll be okay to make rounds outside and clear things up. Staying here won’t lead to much anymore. We should get ready like you said before… Um, Si-woo. What are you doing? Are you listening?”

“Yes, I’m listening. Why?”

“Well… you’re dipping your pork cutlet in doenjang stew right now.”

“Oh, I was thinking about something else. But this is still delicious. Korean traditional food is the best.”

“…….”

I saw Kim Seung-hyun’s face and laughed it off. I pretended I was okay, but I guess I was really distracted. Normally, after clearing a Rift, I would have been starving and would have eaten in a hurry. But right now, I couldn’t taste anything, let alone feel hungry.

‘Why the hell is she here?’

My head was full of Seol Ah-rin, the Third Disaster that suddenly appeared. I couldn’t take my eyes off Seol Ah-rin, who was acting like a mournful woman as she picked at her food for an hour.

“Si-woo, you must have a lot on your mind. Go get some rest.”

“Oh, no. It’s okay.”

The people nearby thought I was feeling guilt. But in fact, I was distracted because I was nervously wondering when that ticking time bomb would go off.

‘…I can’t beat her on my own yet. And honestly, even if I ask the Field hunters for help, I’m not sure we’ll be able to defeat her.’

If Seol Ah-rin was the opponent, it was better not to make any uncertain moves.

This was an opportunity to stop the tricky Third Disaster in advance. But it was also a dangerous situation that could end up blowing up the Monster Fields’ office building, as well as countless hunters.

And…

No matter how much I analyzed it in my head, all I could say was that it was impossible to defeat Seol Ah-rin right now.

‘Because of her damn characteristic.’

An all-out war against her was the worst possible scenario. The best course of attack was to snipe her swiftly from a distance so she couldn’t notice, or use something to disable her ability.

“Well… I’m tired, so I’m going to head in now. Thank you all for your kind words.”

Looking like she had gone through all the hardships in the world, Seol Ah-rin stood up from her seat. The hunters around her said a few last words of consolation.

‘She’ll go back to her room and laugh all day.’

I took a deep breath and held back the urge to jump in and blow her head off. Hang in there. Seol Ah-rin was powerful enough to wipe out the Monster Fields and casually cross over to North Korea. I didn’t want to see the horror I already saw once in the past.

“I’m heading in now. I’m a bit tired.”

“Oh, yeah, Si-woo. Good job. Get some rest.”

I put my spoon and chopsticks on my half-finished pork cutlet and left, dragging my feet.

I was going to look at the notes I wrote down on Seol Ah-rin earlier and revise my plan.

But…

“Hunter Jeong Si-woo… right?”

“…….”

Seol Ah-rin stood looking at me. She was leaning against the wall of the hallway leading to the lodgings.

“I saw you watching me. It’s not your fault. I know you work harder than anyone else.”

“Oh….”

“I read a lot about you on the internet. Actually, I admire you the most. You’re such a righteous hunter. You destroy Rifts to save more people instead of making a profit.”

She smiled chillingly. Others would have seen an ordinary female college student smiling, but I could strongly feel the faint coldness in her smile.

“You’re entirely different from the guilds and the Association that treats Rifts as farms. They use monsters like livestock and try to accumulate more money. To me, you’re the best hunter.”

“Oh, thank you.”

What was she playing at? It was as unpleasant as a knife in my throat.

“So… stop looking uncomfortable.”

Tap, tap.

Seol Ah-rin smiled and patted me on the back. Then she came closer and whispered very quietly in my ear.

“I won’t harm you, hunter Jeong Si-woo. It’s not like you’re that damn head of the Association.”

And with that meaningful whisper, Seol Ah-rin casually walked towards her room. I stood frozen in place, thinking over her words for a long time.

* * *

[What kind of person is she?]

“What?”

[What kind of person is she? I’m asking because I can’t tell for sure from her appearance.]

The Traveler asked me as he watched me writing notes back in my room. He was probably asking about Seol Ah-rin.

[And what did she say in the end? I’m asking because she seems different from the villains you’ve taken care of.]

“She is different.”

Hmm. How can I explain this? I tapped on the table as I thought for a moment. Then I spoke.

“Do you happen to know that saying?”

[Which saying?]

“The saying that men with strong faith are the most dangerous. That they don’t care to know the truth.”

[I know it. Isn’t it a saying by a philosopher who said many famous words?]

Although he talked about Moorim all the time, he was strangely familiar with famous quotes.

“Seol Ah-rin fits the saying perfectly. To be exact, she’s an example of how ignorant people with great power can become terrible monsters when they are trapped in their beliefs.”

I put down the pencil I was holding in my hand. My notepad was covered in letters.

“I don’t know what happened to her in the past. What’s certain is, she went through something terrible a long time ago, and it has caused a mental problem.”

[A mental problem?]

“Yes. She went crazy. Like me, she hates monsters and Rifts. But her case is extreme.”

I couldn’t say I didn’t hate them that much. However, compared to the hatred that Seol Ah-rin felt, my hatred was nothing.

“Seol Ah-rin is a madwoman who cannot accept the fact that she breathes the same air as monsters. She can only relax if she destroys all Rifts and exterminates all monsters.”

[Then doesn’t that make her a good hunter? You said that she was also powerful.]

“That’s where the problem lies. Because she just focuses on the extermination of monsters and the elimination of Rifts, Seol Ah-rin became a villain.”

A person who doesn’t consider their surroundings and insists on their beliefs will inevitably become a villain.

“She blows up whole cities to destroy Rifts. Even when thousands of people are dying and screaming for help, she’s more eager to kill one more Goblin and one more Orc.”

[…….]

“And she thinks everything that interrupts her is just like a monster. If someone diverts her from her goal even a bit, she kills them.”

[She’s insane.]

“Yes, she’s crazy. But some strange people are attracted to her. People who are sick and tired of the Association sacrificing people to pursue profits, people who don’t care about the process and only see the results, and people who praise Seol Ah-rin as a dark hero. Extreme madness tends to fascinate some people.”

Just looking at the facts, Seol Ah-rin’s actions only aggravated the situation. If you destroyed Rifts without thinking about mana concentration and dimensional strength, it would distort the structure, and more Rifts would appear.

But she had no intention of considering such things. She only focused on immediately destroying and killing monsters and Rifts.

[Fortunately, she won’t kill you. Your goals are the same.]

“Well, she doesn’t view people like that. She might kill me just because she’s in a bad mood, same goals or not.”

[…….]

“She’s one of the worst self-centered villains I’ve ever seen. She’s the boss monster.”

Moreover, her ability was enough to fascinate generations that missed the old days, unable to break away from their pre-Rift pasts.

So much so that if I were born 30 or 40 years earlier, I might have been captivated by her way of thinking. I might have ended up hunting alongside her.

[Since this Disaster is an individual, I thought she would be like Sung Hyun-woo. But I suppose there is no chance.]

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“Yes, no chance. Sung Hyun-woo is a controllable bomb, but Seol Ah-rin is a nuclear bomb that can go off dozens of times a day.”

Tap.

I closed my notepad. But luckily, she was hurt, so it didn’t look like she was going to wreak havoc unless something provoked her.

So, figuring out her location and predicting her future movements and actions would probably be enough.

Because originally, I wouldn’t have known where she was and what she was up to.

Boom-!

“…….”

As long as no one provoked her, it definitely wasn’t a bad situation…….

“What is this sound?”

A loud boom rang out as if someone had detonated an explosive. I carefully opened the door to the hallway to grab a hunter and ask what caused it.

But before I did, I could tell what the reason was.

“Come out!”

A dry, crackling old voice shook the area like the roar of a ferocious beast. The voice was full of huge amounts of mana that exceeded most kinds of great magic.

So much that apart from civilian staff that wasn’t used to dealing with mana and a few experienced hunters, people couldn’t cope.

“Ugh, what…….”

One of the staff members waiting in the hallway collapsed to the floor as if he was anemic. And a sharp siren-like sound rang out from the speakers installed here and there.

It was probably because most of the staff in charge of the facilities collapsed. They couldn’t stand the voice that erupted outside.

Kaboooom!

One more explosion burst out. This time, I could also hear painful screams all over the place.

Who the hell was it? Who was doing this? Was it some kind of terror attack? Had Seol Ah-rin’s forces already come this far?

No. She couldn’t have gathered forces that were this strong. At the very least, she had probably earned the support of a small group of villains. Then what was this….?

I moved quickly. When I left the hallway, I could see staff members lying on the floor. I broke the lock of the management room and kicked the door open.

I could see people with their heads buried under the tables and operating devices.

That’s what’s causing this mess.

I activated Mirage to stabilize the messed-up facilities quickly and laid down the staff in a corner next to the wall. Fortunately, I was quite good at handling the machines because I learned how to do it a while ago.

“Why is this damn situation happening?”

Only after confirming that the situation had improved, I turned my attention to the CCTV screen. And then I was able to see what had caused this.

“The Flame Queen?”

I could see an old lady yelling, her face red. Her wrinkles were deeper than when I saw her before. In response to her emotions, her mana surged like a flame, and the land around her boiled like a swamp.

‘Seol Ah-rin and the Flame Queen…. How did things go this wrong?’

It felt like something hit me hard on the back of the head. I closed my eyes and tried to think. It felt like my brain was heating up. If I measured my temperature now, it would probably go over 40 degrees Celsius.

-Backup… Requesting backup!

But even now, the situation didn’t allow me to think in peace. A desperate voice came out from the radio connected to the entrance of the Fields.

-Part of the system was paralyzed due to the impact of unknown mana. The door opened, and we closed it immediately, but we can’t deal with the monsters that got in on their own. At this rate, the door will be breached! We need immediate backup!

“Ha…!”

It said that the Flame Queen had caused the system to malfunction with a single shout. And I had no idea why she was here.

Damn it. The security was poor. The Association had stopped paying attention to the Fields since there was no way to make money from it. Despite being an important place, the facilities here were rubbish, and the hunters deployed here were much weaker than those in Seoul, which was the safest place in Korea.

My head hurt like it was about to burst.

What should I do? I needed to prioritize.

Should I go and talk to the Flame Queen, who was the main culprit of this mess? No, it wasn’t a good idea to face a wizard that was so emotional right now.

Then, should I respond to the backup request and run over? Then the system could go more wrong with no one in the maintenance room. Worst case, all of the doors could be forced open.

Then Seol Ah-rin? Before Seol Ah-rin gets agitated and starts to act out, I should…….

No, none of these would work. They were all risky options.

Bang!

I hit the table.

“This is bringing back old memories.”

[‘Outstanding Insight’ has been activated.]

[‘Information Access’ has been activated.]

My nose bled, perhaps because I was thinking too much. I wiped the blood with my sleeve and drew my mana to activate my brain to the limit. Some situations can only be resolved physically. But sometimes you need to use your head.

Let me think. Let me think hard.

I’ve experienced situations like this more than a few times.

My head felt like it was about to explode. But I didn’t stop. My head wouldn’t actually explode from this. Now was the time to focus and concentrate even more.

“Dammit, difficult situations always happen at once.”

[Very relatable words.]

The Traveler was calmly watching me from behind as if he were enjoying a movie. He was especially annoying at the moment.

‘Suppose that the letter I sent to the Flame Queen was the trigger and that she destroyed Seol Ah-rin’s forces.’

Tap, tap.

I tapped the table.

‘But only Seol Ah-rin survived, and in the process, the Flame Queen’s hunters were seriously injured.’

Then it made sense how Seol Ah-rin came here alone with a bad injury, and also why the Flame Queen was flipping out.

It was natural for her to be furious when a villain involved with her dead husband killed her hunters, who were like her family.

And assuming that Seol Ah-rin came to the Monster Fields to escape to a foreign country, everything fit together.

‘Multiple coincidences happening one after another caused this situation.’

And somehow, I was at the center of it. Damn it. I always had the worst luck.

I quickly operated the CCTV to locate Seol Ah-rin, but I couldn’t see her anywhere in the hallway. She was damn good at reading the situation.

‘If I’m right, I need to find Seol Ah-rin first.’

The Flame Queen wouldn’t listen to any reason right now.

So, the first thing to do was to send out the two ticking time bombs, Seol Ah-rin and the Flame Queen. Then, I had to get rid of the monsters and block the facility’s equipment.

And in the worst case, the entire Monster Fields might need to be collapsed.

‘So, in short, I need to get rid of the bombs before they detonate.’

I was done thinking. I gave the Mirage a simple order to manage the place, and the clusters of light hummed and flew around.

This would settle things for now. I knew I couldn’t fight those two without Mirage. But at this point, with or without it, I probably couldn’t defeat them anyway.

‘After all, the important thing isn’t stopping those two beasts right now. I need to make them fight somewhere else.’

It wouldn’t matter much. I jumped onto the broken door and ran, slipping down the hall.

My first goal was to bring Seol Ah-rin, the great actress, to the Flame Queen.

Ring, ring.

I took out my cell phone and made a call.

“Oh, Hyun-woo. I’ll send you the coordinates, so come over here right now and help me! I need to find someone.”

I never felt more relieved that Sung Hyun-woo was on my side.

He was capable of finding a needle in the desert. A small boy slowly appeared in the air.

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