52 – The person who is watching and laughing
After clearing out the villains who caused the terrorist attack outside, the first thing Jihyun encountered upon entering the opera house was a sight more horrifying than expected. .
“-Child! “Hyunya!”
“Jihyun…”
High-rising shadows and goblin fire circling around. Two friends look exhausted after blocking the rubble of collapsing buildings and protecting citizens.
“Iceberg.”
Ji-hyeon, who discovered it, hardened her expression, approached them, and immediately activated her ability to erect ice walls.
Bloody enemy-
“Thank you. “Thanks to you, I survived.”
“Are you okay? Are you okay?!”
“No, you are not safe. “I think she used her powers too much-“
“My head hurts so much… I want to lie down… I want to sleep…”
The rising ice walls blocked the debris that was currently collapsing, and those who were able to stop using their abilities immediately fell to the ground and were able to catch their breath –
“What about Hangyeol? “Where did he go?”
“…Wasn’t it outside?”
“We didn’t see it either, so what? “There’s no way out there?!”
She soon realized that there was no consistency, and she froze, realizing that something was wrong.
“Then what do you mean, you’re still inside?!”
“For some reason, the building collapsed. I have to go find it right now-“
So-ah was shocked after understanding the situation, and Hyun-ah, who staggered, immediately tried to find Han-gyeol, but-
“…Oh my.”
“Hyeon-ya!”
She immediately fell to the ground again, clutching her head and groaning, and Jihyeon, who saw the scene, rushed over and tried to support her.
“It’s okay. “I’m fine, so I’ll ask for Hangyeol.”
“But-“
“It’s really okay, so please take care of Hangyeol.”
But Hyun-ah smiled bitterly and shook her head, and So-ah smiled bitterly as she looked at the people in panic.
“We can lead people to evacuate, but you are the only one who can fight further.”
If Han-gyeol is fighting with others, the only one who can help right now is Ji-hyeon. When Jihyun heard that, she bit her lip, but she quickly nodded her head and turned her back and started running inside.
Heroes must do what they can according to their respective roles. There are no villains inside yet, so there will be no more people who can threaten them.
Ji-hyeon trusted her friends and immediately moved inward to find Han-gyeol and those in need –
“…I will definitely kill you next time.”
“Damn, who is saying what to say?”
When he finally found the villains, his expression crumpled.
On one side are villains wearing masks, and on the other side are villains wearing masks. A situation where people who are clearly on the same side are glaring at each other and swearing.
“Iceberg- What?!”
Jihyun was thinking of using her abilities to attack them right away, but her eyes widened when she saw the villains starting to run away as the firepower of the rising flames became stronger.
Escape? Here?
Ji-hyeon clicked her tongue as she watched the villains running away in different directions, and then carefully looked at their appearances and tried to make a judgment –
“…No way.”
Red eyes, burning flames, and even burns visible on the skin.
Finally, he saw the female student he had seen before the performance started, but his eyes were glowing red differently than before, and his expression distorted.
Villain Ash. A villain she once faced, and a villain who probably knows Hyunwoo’s location. She is seen moving with a villain who appears to be male.
“Hangyeol-“
Ji-hyeon belatedly found Han-gyeol sweating coldly behind the flames, but she soon clenched her fists and lowered her head –
“…I’m sorry.”
Taking comfort from the fact that he could no longer see the villains, he made an excuse to himself that he would be safe now, and immediately started chasing them.
The wall is collapsing, and the people continue to run. Ji-hyeon continues to chase after them.
-Hey, Choi Ji-hyeon! Where are you? You’re safe, right?!
“…I’m sorry.”
As time passed, her friends’ cries continued to ring in her ears, but Ji-hyeon gritted her teeth and put her hand to her ear, then took off her earphones and put them into her arms. Soon he started running in front of her.
Despite the fact that she knows that the safety of those who depended on her and her friends has been secured, she continues to run even though her role is now over as most citizens have completely evacuated.
“But-“
She knows too. What she’s doing now is far from heroic.
It is against the law to chase someone after the case has already ended. Of course, even if those people were clearly villains, it was clear that it was wrong to move without informing other colleagues, and above all-
“I have to go.”
The fact that she does not see the villains as villains, but the same as her childhood friend, and the fact that she is chasing the villains for personal reasons rather than a righteous action to catch them, is an action that would be a failure for a hero. .
However, even if that were the case, she had already made up her mind and couldn’t stop chasing after them.
“-I need to check.”
Is this voice in her head screaming that she must confirm the identity of the authors, her instinct, or is it a rational inference about the scene she saw? Or is it just a cowardly excuse?
In a situation where her judgment was clouded and she could not make an accurate decision, she continued to run forward, and when she finally got closer to them-
“-Villain!”
She cried out with all her might, and used her powers as-
Kagagagagak-
“…What?!”
When I saw her ability bounce off the crack that suddenly opened, I froze.
.
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“Boss. “Can’t we just rest for a little while?”
“…Is that so?”
Hyeon-woo, who continued to run through the wall of her building and avoid people’s gaze, stopped in his tracks when Eun-ji heard her helplessly mumbling words and looked back at her.
“Thank you…”
“What am I thankful for? “You worked hard.”
Eunji sits down with a haggard expression and catches her breath. Hyunwoo looked at her and stroked her head.
“hehehehe…”
“Why are you laughing so hard… I’m sorry.”
“Hey, I’m sorry. “It’s something I enjoy doing.”
My clothes are already a mess. Except for the charred parts, everything has burned away and the scars where the skin has melted due to the burns are exposed.
Even though he continues to receive treatment thanks to Eugene’s abilities, new scars appear on top of the remaining scars. The more you increase your firepower, the more your body burns. A trace of a double-edged sword that burns everything but also yourself.
“…Let’s go back quickly and get treatment.”
“Ah, looks like he’s going to be crazy again.”
“I will tell Eugene, so don’t worry.”
“Thank you…”
The sight of Eunji looking up at herself with a smile, even though she was clearly in pain. It hurt even more because I already knew what emotions she was laughing at, but Hyunwoo just smiled bitterly and comforted her.
“I got out. “I’ll transmit your location here, so come pick me up quickly.”
What we can do for her now is to get her treated as soon as possible and then let her get some rest. Hyunwoo immediately put his hand on the in-ear and called the man, then looked around and became alert.
It took longer than expected, but we still made it to a location quite far away from the opera house where the terrorist attack took place. Since it is a place where other people cannot appear, of course heroes and villains, as well as citizens, are not visible.
It didn’t go perfectly as planned, but it wasn’t a bad harvest just to realize what the enemy’s plan was. Now, all I have to do is wait here, go back to the hideout, and make plans for the future.
Hyeonwoo sighed, feeling a mixture of a little relief and an uneasy feeling for some reason, and was waiting for an answer, but-
“…Hey?”
For some reason, no sound was heard from the in-ears, and only then did Hyunwoo realize what was strange and frowned.
“Eunji. “Let’s get up quickly.”
“…Boss?”
“Quickly.”
“Why are you doing that?”
“Because it feels strange.”
Eun-ji got up from her seat even though she was puzzled by his words, and Hyun-woo grabbed her hand and made her nervously turn her head and look around.
“I don’t know if my in-ears are broken or not, but I haven’t heard from them at all.”
“Isn’t it just broken? “Every time I try to remove it, it gets burned by the heat and gets ruined, but this time too-“
“Okay, let’s say that’s true. But, no matter how much we look around, this place we are in is not a place where there would be no people, right?”
“…Right? “Even if a terrorist attack occurred, this is a busy area.”
“But why can’t I see anyone?”
Eunji listened to him blankly and looked around, then his eyes widened and his alertness went up.
The place they are in is a place lined with numerous shops. Even if you choose an alley where there aren’t many people, there’s likely to be one or two people passing by. But now not only is there no one around them –
“…Were there any people you encountered before we came here?”
“There was none. sh*t.”
Does it make sense that we haven’t encountered a single person since the place where the opera house was originally located?
The two looked at the street where no one came and went, as if it were a ghost town, then their expressions hardened and they looked around –
“…Over there!”
I immediately left the alley and headed toward the downtown area, toward the main street where many people would pass by, but-
Tooong!
“Ugh-“
From Noble mtl dot com
Hyunwoo, who was running ahead, was thrown backwards with the sound of hitting something.
“Boss?!”
Eun-ji looked at him and quickly walked over to help him, but Hyeon-woo didn’t even give her a look and just glared right in front of her.
“What on earth is happening-“
When Eunji finally followed his gaze and looked straight ahead, her expression wrinkled and she froze.
An empty space where there should clearly be nothing. It is an intersection where an alley and a main street are connected, and an open space – refracting and shaking continuously as if a haze is blooming.
“…What on earth is that?”
Eun-ji finally realized what hit Hyun-woo and threw him away, and she stiffened and asked him what that thing was, but-
“-f*ck.”
Hyeonwoo didn’t answer and instead swore, he raised his sword and glared ahead.
There is no need to answer her question. Anyway, this strange phenomenon is-
-We finally got to talk.
No, to be precise, the fact that this, one of the abilities of a person who cannot appear in this place right now, one of the abilities to block space, has occurred-
“Really – even if things don’t work out, it won’t work out like this.”
Because it meant that he was here.
-Nice to meet you, is this your first meeting?