Chapter 103: Messing Up Is A Hero's Basic Skill (1)"
Gangneung City.
In the middle of the flight, I transformed into my ethereal form and landed in a hotel penthouse in Gangneung, together with Gunggi.
If the penthouse hotel in Samcheok was the command center for the beginning of the operation, then this penthouse in the Gangneung hotel was purely a space for Gunggi to stay.
“Argh…”
I released the transformation as soon as I entered the penthouse through the glass window in ethereal form.
“Are you okay?”
Gunggi also assumed human form and examined the condition of my hand. Even though I had managed to handle Snow White’s attack in some form, it was still too much to take the full force of an S-class attack with my hand in the state it was, even if it was covered with a mana glove.
“My goodness, it looks like you have frostbite.”
“Not just frostbite, the bones are somewhat broken too.”
“We don’t have a healing magic user right now… Want to go to the hospital?”
“A person from Seoul in Gangwon Province? That won’t work. If I have to go, it should be to a Seoul hospital. Argh…”
I sat in a chair and put my arm on the tea table.
“Sigh…”
The magic that was in my body went back inside Gunggi once the fusion with Gunggi was released. Ultimately, I had to tend to my broken left hand with only my own magic.
“Self-healing… Accelerated regeneration… Ugh, this is going to be a bit tough.”
“That’s what I’ve been telling you on our way here. Just cut her next time. You might not get hurt.”
“But she could get hurt. It was a sword created by Gunggi’s magic. A sword condensed with your power. Do you think Snow White wouldn’t be cut by that? She would have spurted blood right there.”
“…Well, you have a point.”
Gunggi came over to my side and started a very weak flame magic on my hand. As if thawing a frozen body with a very warm hairdryer, the heat of the magic slowly spread, starting to drive out the chill left in my hand.
“Snow White is really vicious. How can she use her freezing ability in such a way? It’s not just frostbite. She leaves her magic in the target’s body.”
“She is an S-class, after all. The second best in this country. She has to have this level of ability as a base.”
Baek Seol-hee’s frost magic didn’t just end with freezing the target. Just like the power remaining in my hand, her freezing ability stayed in the body, maintaining the frostbite condition.
The frostbite remained until the energy in my body naturally pushed out the energy left by the S-class.
Staying still would allow it to heal quickly, but Baek Seol-hee’s ability was definitely terrifying.
“I get the magic extraction part, but what about the broken bone? Can you handle a bike handle?”
“We agreed to fly me to Seoul. But it’s urgent. I probably have a fire in my Taeguk Watch right now.”
“Why?”
“Well.”
I explained the situation roughly.
“So she got so pissed because she couldn’t contact you?”
“Yes. And I need to get in touch with another girl right now.”
“Do Ji-hwan, are you two-timing right now?”
“Looking at the situation, it’s not two-timing but multiple.”
The situation where I, as the Goblin, and Do Ji-hwan were romantically involved. Baek Seol-hee strictly distinguished the two, and Yumir assumed that the two were essentially the same person.
“To Baek Seol-hee, I can just say I woke up late, but not Yumir. She is almost 99% sure that I am the Goblin.”
“Is it? Are you sure she’s not two-timing between Do Ji-hwan and the Goblin?”
“Absolutely not.”
“What’s your proof?”
“My intuition says so.”
After sorting out my thoughts on the way to Gangneung, I concluded that she was half-suspecting that Do Ji-hwan was the Goblin even before meeting him as the magical girl Golden Priestess on the beach.
One of the abilities she had stolen from a devil that gave her a clue to my identity. Or she realized something through my help.
“Okay. Then we’re going to Seoul, but going to Yangyang Airport now would be a mess, right?”
“That would be the case.”
Since four S-classes fought each other there, Yangyang Airport would not be able to fly any planes until this morning.
The runway would need to be cleaned, and above all, the road from Samcheok to Yangyang would have to be repaired.
We escaped from Yangyang Airport, but from a national perspective, there was too much to clean up.
The problem of Yuliana Feygreen’s genetic theft. The source of the rifles stolen by Hwalbindang and information control issues. The issue of the Goblin and Gunggi Pair, Armored Taejo, and Snow White appearing at Yangyang Airport for no reason in a civilian situation.
While there would be a mess cleaning up such issues, I also had a lot of cleanup to do.
“Phew, then slowly…Huh?”
Gunggi’s Taeguk Watch began to ring.
It wasn’t just a regular bell sound but very distinctive, sounding like a child singing a nursery rhyme haphazardly.
“Oh, Chairwoman!!”
[Good job, Gunggi.]
Gunggi received the call in a very formal posture.
[You’ve done a fantastic job. There are so many things to commend you on that it’s impossible to summarize them all in 3 minutes, so please excuse me for skipping the compliments.]
“Ah, yes!”
I was worried for no reason that the Chairwoman might have a surveillance system deployed over the Gangneung area, but surely the Chairwoman wouldn’t make a call via a channel that could be intercepted by something like that.
[The other directors are really envious of you. So, they’ve started competing for the next opportunity. Therefore, Gunggi, you don’t need to worry about that aspect.]
“Whew……”
Gunggi sighed deeply.
“Thank you so much, Chairwoman!”
[Not at all. You just did what you had to.]
Apparently, she had been worried that the other executives would be jealous of her being fused with me, so she was genuinely delighted that the Chairwoman was taking care of the other executives.
[However, Mr. Do, the manager, will have a hard time. Mr. Do?]
“Yes, Chairwoman.”
[I will develop a special Taeguk Watch and send it to you so you won’t have trouble with GPS tracking next time. And how about your wounds? If you need medication, I will send you some.]
“That’s fine. I intend to use these wounds.”
[Use? Ah, I see. To appeal?]
“Yes.”
I checked the condition of my damaged left hand from which Baek Seol-hee’s magic was draining out.
“I plan to walk around with a cast on my left hand in front of Baek Seol-hee.”
[To naturally make her suspicious?]
“Yes. I want her to realize who she has been violent against and then create a sense of guilt.”
[Just as I expected. Ah, time’s almost up.]
Somehow, it was already nearing 3 minutes.
[You both have worked hard. I will take care of October Travel, so both of you get some rest.]
Click.
The call ended.
The call duration displayed on Gunggi’s Taeguk Watch was ‘2:57’.
“Ha. It’s really inconvenient. What will we do when it gets reduced to 1 minute?”
“The Chairwoman will surely find a solution.”
“I suppose. Sometimes, I think that we should just get rid of Cheonrian.”
“…From my perspective, since he hasn’t committed any murder or wrongdoing, it seems excessive to kill him. Phew, anyway… Director, could I ask for a ride to Seoul?”
“Sure, sure. But since we’re heading there… Can I stay in Seoul for a day? At your house.”
“…Excuse me?”
“I said, is that okay?”
Gunggi squinted her eyes at me and reached out her hand.
“…Tch.”
Hopefully, no one will come to Seoul.
Suppressing my unease, I followed behind Gunggi.
An hour later, Yangyang Airport.
“What was the reason for fighting with the Goblin at the airport! Who was on that airplane?!”
“Did the Goblin appear while you were suppressing the villain? Who was trapped behind Kangcheol’s back?”
“The plane has been identified as October Travel’s private aircraft! What’s your relationship with the Feygreens?!”
The reporters gathered at the airport, microphones on their Taeguk Watches turned on and reached out their fists toward the heroes.
Normally, they should have been holding microphones, but the sight of them extending their fists because they didn’t bring microphones was somewhat comical.
“I can’t tell you. It’s confidential.”
“Are you ignoring the citizens’ right to know!”
“It’s for the safety of the citizens. For more details, please contact the association….”
Amidst the standoff between reporters bearing the gaze of countless citizens and the management agents sent by the association, Baek Seol-hee hastily entered the hastily set-up tent.
“You worked hard, sister.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“It’s a shame. We were close to catching them.”
“…Perhaps.”
Baek Seol-hee fiddled with her right hand and then received an iced americano from Tae Irin.
“I’m tired.”
“It’s Tae Irin, though.”
“…Yes, Irin. Did you find a way this time?”
“No! He just flew away on a winged tiger. There was no way to figure it out even if you were there.”
Tae Irin shrugged her shoulders with both hands raised.
“I didn’t expect him to escape in such a classic way. Tsk. If he had disappeared like fog, as he used to, I would’ve noticed right away.”
“…Maybe he used Gunggi to disappear because he was conscious of you.”
“Ah, I doubt that.”
“Really?”
It’s just a coincidence.
The Goblin used the power of Gunggi, who happened to be able to fly, and escape. Thanks to Gunggi’s power, he could face Baek Seol-hee in a fight.
“…….”
No.
He could have won.
If.
If Baek Seol-hee had been a ‘target for execution,’ the Goblin would have cut Baek Seol-hee off before she could even respond, using some method.
He didn’t because he harbored ill-intent to recruit her, as a hero, into his organization, Gyeolsa.
“Useless….”
Next time, she would definitely catch him.
“But, sister. You did manage to injure the Goblin once. How did you do that?”
“What?”
“It’s in the video. In the footage where you and the Goblin are facing off between the split glacier. Look here. The Goblin’s hand is frozen white.”
“…….”
The Goblin got hit.
There was no other way to put it.
“…It was luck.”
It wasn’t her ability but the wound the Goblin had inflicted on himself.
“It’ll be different next time. …Irin, I need a moment.”
Baek Seol-hee picked up her coffee and the Taeguk Watch and went outside.
Outside, people were overflowing, but Baek Seol-hee tapped the Taeguk Watch at an angle that others could not see.
“……What?”
Still.
The ‘1’ on the SNS sent text did not disappear.
“Why hasn’t he read it yet…? Considering all the chaos, is he sleeping…? Or maybe….”
Baek Seol-hee covered her mouth with her hand.
“With his wife…?”
-Honey, who keeps sending these messages?
-Snow White? Honey, are you cheating?
She felt a sinking feeling.
-I told you to get rid of all the other women! Who is this woman!
“…Did I, just make a mistake…?”
Baek Seol-hee’s eyes began to quiver.
“Are they, even now, serving the country as a couple…?”
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on (f)reeweb(n)ovel.com