Chapter 21: Transformation! That's Not How It's Done! (1)
The moment Yumir embraced me, I began to feel a surge of rampaging magical power from afar.
What was a rampage?
Think of it as a simple outbreak of ‘middle school syndrome’ for ease.
It wasn’t a case of someone’s Black Flame Dragon rampaging wildly, but rather an inner demon.
And furthermore, the problem lay in the augmentation of abilities based on the real power of the devil.
Just like how Red Scarf, who was previously of rank A, suddenly gained a power close to rank S, the girl over there, who had her hood on, also longed for power and was currently in a state of rampage.
“Kyahahahahaha!”
The girl who busted through the wall began to recklessly swing her arms.
The black magic bullets spewing from the girl’s hands bombarded the inside of the restaurant, and the people in the restaurant hurriedly took cover-
“She’s rampaging! Stop her!”
Not really. Instead, they each started to protect themselves by using their abilities.
This place was Sejong Island.
A place where the guests at the restaurant, the part-timers, and even the restaurant chefs could be ability users.
“What is she?! Who is she?!”
“She’s in a high school gym uniform! Damn, a high schooler has middle school syndrome!!”
“Then isn’t she suffering from high school syndrome?!”
“It’s not the time for jokes! She’s extremely strong!!”
Although the phenomenon of a rampage was somewhat common among ability users, and everyone’s reaction was quick, the problem was that the girl’s magic power was quite strong.
“You weaklings dare to resist!”
Bang!
When the girl stomped her foot lightly, the entire restaurant shook.
“Teacher, are you okay?!”
“I’m okay, but what about student Yumir…?”
“I’m okay.”
Yumir was still sprawled on top of me, keeping an eye on the situation.
“Can you get up? For now, I think it would be difficult for us to escape towards the entrance.”
She quickly glanced at the exits and evaluated the girl’s abilities while supporting me at the same time.
“If we can’t do that, we’ll have to fight….”
“Fight? That’s dangerous. I don’t have a clear sense of whether I’m an ability user or not….”
“Huaap!!”
A boy in a high school uniform rushed towards the girl, wrapping his fist in green flames.
“Fire Punch!”
“Get lost!”
Kwaang!
The girl swatted the boy away like a fly.
For a moment, a huge snake-like tail flashed behind the girl.
“That, what was that just now? Did I see it wrong?”
“…It looks like that rumored rampage.”
“Rumor?”
“Yes. The strange rumor that’s been spreading in Korea recently… Ah, you might not know since you’re Korean because there’s strict information control in Korea. I’m sorry. Please forget what I just said.”
“More importantly.”
I pointed at the boy embedded in the far wall.
“That guy is ‘Mint Fire.’ He’s an ability user with a promising future, with a rank B ability. But to deal with a B rank so easily….”
“You can’t easily gauge the full power of a rampager. But most of them…are suddenly enhanced from A rank to S rank, shortening their lifespan.”
“Lif…espan?”
How did she know that?
“What do you mean?”
“I’m sorry. If I talk more about it here, you could be in danger. Um…I have a request.”
Yumir winked at me subtly.
“Can you keep what will happen next a secret?”
“A secret?”
“Yes. I don’t… really want to be known to people yet.”
I unknowingly nodded at Yumir’s words.
Not because Yumir was an ability user but because her words sounded like something I had heard somewhere before.
“I will protect you, teacher. And…please watch over me. My…”
Yumir pulled something out from her possession.
That’s…
A belt?
“Transform.”
Yumir fastened the belt around her waist.
Soon, Yumir’s body sparkled in gold and disappeared with the light.
“What….”
I unknowingly brought my hand to my face during this sudden turn of events.
“Kyahaha! These useless things are messing around!!”
The rampaging girl roared in madness.
“Kyahaha, die, die!!”
With her eyes becoming those of a demon - black irises and inverted white pupils, the girl started bombing the restaurant with black spheres that formed around her.
“Cough!!”
A man who seemed to be an ordinary person was directly hit in the stomach by a sphere.
It was just a small sphere the size of a fist, but his body flew and rolled on the floor as if he had been hit by a truck.
“Dad!!”
A female student who came with the man screamed and rushed to support him, but the man was already collapsed, bleeding from the back of his head.
“It…it…!”
Perhaps.
Most likely.
He might be dead.
In this world.
The places associated with ability users were full of death.
The girl must be much older than the age of legal majority, but the number of people killed by underage ability users was far greater than the number of people dying from liver cancer.
“Dad, open your eyes, Dad!!”
“Kyahaha. You used to ignore me all the time…! Serves you right!”
“What has my dad done to you!!”
Protecting the fallen man in front, the female student stretched out her hand.
“You evil child! You’re not even a human!”
“That’s right! I’m not a human! I’ve gained power that can’t even be compared with you pitiful ability users! I am…a demon! Ahahaha!”
She had turned into a mad woman who called herself a demon.
“I am the herald of darkness who will destroy this land, [Darkness Nebulutias Lilith]!!”
This was madness.
To shout such a title as if it were her own.
“Behold, my power!”
The problem now was that her voice started to ‘overlap’ with the voice of a beast, an old man, and a fierce warrior.
‘A demon is coming.’
A demon born from human evil and lust, hatred, and anger was slowly beginning to appear in reality, based on the girl’s ‘imagination’.
Crimson wings spread out from behind the girl, and the girl began to transform into a typical demoness - a succubus.
“Kyahaha! I am-”
[What a pity.]
A woman’s voice echoed through the restaurant, sounding as though it had been distorted.
[Your wicked deeds end here.]
Speaking clear and precise Korean, a golden light burst forth from outside the restaurant.
“That’s….”
“What are you?!”
[Me?]
Beyond the girl there appeared…
A golden figure that was dressed like a character from a tokusatsu show.
[You don’t need to know.]
They seemed to be adopting the concept of a ‘golden dragon’.
[The moment you hear my name, you will be defeated.]
What was this?
Was it some new type of hero suit?
Or perhaps it was a concept of a medieval knight covered in gold?
Has this world finally gone crazy over heroes and implemented the legendary golden warrior in this world?
Such thoughts lasted only a moment.
“……!”
That was mana.
On the surface, it appears to be a powered suit, a culmination of scientific technology from a cutting-edge laboratory that enabled ordinary humans to counter ability users who use mana.
In reality, from helmet to toe, every piece was made up of ‘mana’.
In other words.
‘The defense mechanism is well set up!’
I didn’t know who it was, but the mana shield enveloping their body was structured like the real parts of a powered suit.
And…
She - even if her voice was distorted, it was still a woman’s voice - had a belt I saw just moments ago.
“Ah.”
I see.
It was Yumir.
‘That’s a really weird design.’
Why would an ability user, who demonstrated mana control abilities incredible enough to wear a power suit skin as a protective shield, adopt such a concept?
‘It’s so lame!’
In terms of design, too.
‘What’s up with that girl’s appearance?! It’s just a full plate of gold!’
It was not bad.
It just didn’t fit the sensibilities of this era, 2025.
Well, it didn’t feel old-fashioned even for the year 2025, but-
“Sigh.”
Wasn’t it more villain-like than hero-like?
‘A transforming hero doesn’t look like that…!’
Observing the situation, I moved away from the public gaze.
“……Hah. Sigh.”
The situation was still chaotic.
Fortunately, the CCTV was broken thanks to the girl who turned into a demon named Lilith.
“…….”
Slowly, I ran my hand over my face, avoiding the crowd, and moved toward the restroom.
“……After transforming, the clothes are, hah. Whatever. Since it’s come to this, I’ll use my ultimate move.”
Nobody noticed me.
“Even if I don’t know anything else, the girl isn’t going for a ‘monster’ concept.”
Also…
The fact that I was here, the fact that I would appear here.
No one would ‘be aware’ of it.
So.
The possibility of my identity being revealed was 0%.
Unless there was a clue, I wouldn’t be caught by anyone.
Click.
I put on a mask.
“An attack before I even finished unpacking.”
Baek Seol-hee ran towards the scene, holding her throbbing head.
Correction.
Using her abilities, she ran as if snowboarding on high heels on a path made of ice.
“Are accidents and incidents usually this frequent?”
[Haha, no. It’s just a case of students’ stress-induced ability running away….]
“Even when it looks like there’s been a casualty?”
Baek Seol-hee arrived at the scene soon after.
Although it was a little distant from the scene, she could see what was happening there from a high hill nearby.
“Kyahaha. What’s that? What’s with that foolish look?”
[True heroes don’t easily show their appearances.]
In front of the ruined restaurant.
Two people were confronting each other in the parking lot.
One of them was a girl who anyone could see had run rampant as if her ‘inner middle school syndrome’ had exploded.
And the other one was…
“……!”
Baek Seol-hee saw it.
The reality of the powered suit, which looked like a golden dragon turned upside down.
“This is unbelievable.”
That mana control seemed even more intricate than her own.
To create an armor of that level by releasing mana inside the body, and not just any armor but to create it in such a way?
“First, let’s get the people-”
The moment Baek Seol-hee was about to jump down from the hill while holding the railing,
A black shadow landed in the parking lot from far away.
“……!!”
It was impossible.
Even if she could overlook that golden armor as a possibility, that man could not possibly be here.
“How could the Goblin…!!”
Goblin.
A man in a black suit, casting a golden glow from his eyes, landed between the golden dragon suit and the demon.
[Who are you…?]
[I am the Goblin. I appear wherever villains do.]
[Goblin…?]
While the golden dragon suit was confused,
“Kyahaha!! So you’re that legendary Goblin I’ve only heard about! Then, I’ll show you! Just how strong of a being I, Lilith, am!!”
[You want to prove your strength? Then I’ll show you the difference in our powers. But.]
As the Goblin lightly brushed his mask with his hand, a suspicious belt-like object appeared in the Goblin’s hand that had brushed the mask.
[It’s been a while, so maybe I should show you the real thing.]
“What is that…?!”
[READY!]
[Transform.]
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)