Chapter 145.

Today’s Seoul was cloudy . The sky was filled with grey clouds as though it would rain at any moment .

“Hm…”

Yoo Yeonha stared at the scenery outside her limousine and sighed .

“I think Hamgyeong had better air and weather . Don’t you think so?”

“…Pardon?”

Her driver was taken aback . During the week Yoo Yeonha spent in Hamgyeong Province, the driver also had to stay there . It was because he didn’t want to risk going back alone and facing an accident .

“Y-Yes, you’re right . ”

“If it wasn’t for the Shudderwock, Hamgyeong Province would have developed a lot . ”

Hamgyoneg Province’s mountains were deep and secluded . Pure magic power filled the atmosphere, and the morning air was especially refreshing due to the mountains’ vital energy and life energy .

If it wasn’t for the dokkaebi, ‘Shudderwock’, that lived in Hamgyeong Province’s mountains, Yoo Yeonha would have loved to come by more often .

“Y-You’re right . ”

The driver agreed reluctantly .

“…Hm, I’ll have to look into the price of the land around here . ”

Yoo Yeonha solidified her desire to buy Hamgyeong Province’s land . Afraid that Yoo Yeonha would want to go back, the driver stepped on the accelerator .

“We’re here . ”

The limousine quickly drove off and soon, it reached Daehyun Hospital’s VIP hospital .

Chae Nayun was moved here from the Gangnam Severance Hospital four days ago, and today, she finally woke up .

“You can go ahead . I’ll call you when I’m leaving . ”

“Understood . ”

Yoo Yeonha got off the limousine with nervousness in her heart .

“Ah, it’s Yeonha!”

In front of the VIP hospital’s entrance were Kim Suho, Shin Jonghak, and Yi Yeonghan .

“You’re here, Yeonha . ”

“Un . ”

Yoo Yeonha smiled at Shin Jonghak .

“You were waiting for me?”

“No . ”

“…Then why are you standing here?”

“No reason . ”

“…Whatever, let’s go in . ”

Yoo Yeonha went into the hospital with the others .

After walking past the VIP hospital’s beautifully cultivated garden, she reached Chae Nayun’s room .

The four of them drew in a deep breath .

“You can go in . She’s fine . ”

Encouraged by a nurse’s soft voice, Kim Suho turned the doorknob .

Kiik .

The door slowly opened .

First, they were greeted with a soft breeze from the opened window in the room . Chae Nayun was standing in front of the window, looking out silently .

Kim Suho and the others hesitated a bit before going in, but Chae Nayun didn’t pay attention to them whatsoever .

“Nayun, your friends are here . ”

Chae Shinhyuk, who was already in the room, spoke . It was only then that Chae Nayun turned around .

“…Hey guys . ”

Chae Nayun slowly approached the group . Yoo Yeonha felt her heart beat . She couldn’t look straight into Chae Nayun’s eyes .

“I heard I slept for a week . ”

However, she laughed like usual as though nothing happened .

Yoo Yeonha worked up the courage to speak .

“Y-Yeah . ”

“Are you feeling okay?”

Kim Suho asked .

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be standing otherwise . ”

Chae Nayun even stretched to show that she was fine . Shin Jonghak gave her a warm smile .

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you . ”

“Kim Suho, Shin Jonghak, do you guys have time today?”

“Hm?”

“I do, but… . ”

Chae Nayun spoke to Kim Suho and Shin Jonghak .

“Help me train . I slept for a whole week, so I need to regain my dulled senses . ”

“Shouldn’t you rest for today?”

“No, I don’t have the time . ”

“Time?”

“Yeah . ”

Chae Nayun smiled and muttered .

“There’s someone I want to kill, so I have to work hard . ”

She sounded indifferent, yet resolute and full of hatred .

When Yoo Yeonha heard her, her heart sank .

“K-Kill?”

Kim Suho asked in surprise .

“So? Are you going to help me or not? If you’re not available, I’ll just train with Shin Jonghak . ”

“Um, what about me, Yi Yeonghan? I’m here too, you know . ”

“…I can help you train, but I don’t think you should… kill someone . ”

“Shut it and follow me out . Oh, Yeonha, are you coming too?”

Yoo Yeonha shook her head . Unable to maintain her composure in this situation, she left the room first . She could hear Chae Nayun’s voice behind her . However, she couldn’t distinguish her words .

**

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling blankly . It was the white color I painted .

I felt comfortable on the alligator skin couch I made .

The boundary between reality and dream was faint, but what woke me up was the sharp pain on my upper arm .

“Uuu . ”

I couldn’t move my arm . The aftereffect was much worse than when I got the third streak of Stigma .

Did Stigma put more burden on my body as it grew in capacity?

Unable to move, I sighed .

“Haa… I have to go home . ”

Evandel was waiting for me . Though, she seemed too busy lately playing with her friend to pay attention to me . She might even be happy that I wasn’t there to nag her .

“… . ”

Feeling wronged, I clenched my teeth and forced myself up . My eyelids trembled from the intense pain that followed my movement .

“You’re up?”

At that moment, a voice rang out . It wasn’t Boss’ . This heavy and deep voice… was Khalifa’s .

“… . ?”

“Do you remember my name?”

“Of course, Khalifa-ssi . ”

I figured out how to address each member on the first day .

“Um, how long was I asleep?”

“At least 24 hours . ”

Khalifa tapped on the ground with the back of his foot . A pathway of magic power spread out from that point .

It was a Portal .

“Boss asked me to stay, since you wouldn’t be able to go back without me . ”

“Ah… thank you . ”

“You don’t need to thank me . But…”

Khalifa paused for a moment and looked around the cave that looked significantly different than five days ago .

“…I’d like to be next . ”

“Next? …Oh . ”

He was likely talking about the next color’s room .

“Of course, I don’t intend to take it for free . ”

Khalifa threw something the size of a baseball .

“It’s a blue rockstone . It looks like you love making things . You can use that as a material . ”

Blue rockstone, a gem containing magic power . As it was quite an expensive item, I received it gladly and put it away .

“Then I’ll make your room next . ”

“Thanks . So, what do you think about the mission?”

“…Oh, that?”

Four days ago, Boss made an announcement in front of all members . That she would annihilate past traitors who scorned and ridiculed the Chameleon Troupe when they were down .

She called the operation ‘Old Revenge’ .

Although most of our targets were Djinns from Pandemonium, there were some Heroes and businessmen too .

“So, are you confident?”

“… . ”

I looked at the Stigma on my upper arm .

Four streaks .

A circle was now surrounding a cross .

“I am . ”

I retorted .

**

Using Khalifa’s Portal, I returned to Seoul and quickly ran home where Evandel was waiting .

Beebeebeep—

I pressed the password . Immediately, tiny footsteps rang out, and by the time the door was half-opened, Evandel and Hayang were right in front of the door .

“Hajin~”

“Meow~”

“Sorry, I’m late . ”

I picked them both up . They didn’t blame me for not coming home every once in a while, but I still felt like I had to apologize . When I went to the living room, I found someone else there .

“Hello~”

“Oh, hey . ”

Evandel’s friend, Yun Haeyeon, was here .

Judging by all the Lego pieces lying on the ground, it seemed they were playing together .

I put Evandel and Hayang down, then patted Haeyeon’s head .

“Hajin Hajin, where were you?”

“Hm? Oh, I just had something to do . Anyways, did you eat dinner?”

“Un~ we ordered food . ”

“Chicken again? Good job . Ah, hold on a second . ”

There was something I had to check .

When I got my fourth streak of Stigma, I remembered being alerted about a laptop update .

===

[Laptop Update]

…(Currently in progress) Remaining time: 3y 13d…

===

What? It’s still not over? And what’s 3y 13d? Don’t tell me it’s 3 years and 13 days!?

Ding—

Suddenly, the doorbell rang .

I turned around and shouted .

“Who is it?”

—Ah, I’m Haeyeon’s aunt… I heard she was here, so I came to pick her up .

“Ah, no… I want to stay and play more…”

Haeyeon reacted cutely at the voice outside .

Haeyeon hid behind Evandel and Evandel announced ‘I’ll protect you’ seriously .

“Ah, yes, hold on . ”

I opened the door without much thought .

Click—

“…Eh?”

I couldn’t help but doubt my eyes .

“…Hm?”

In front of door was… Yun Seung-Ah .

**

Under the dark 9 p . m . sky, I came to a nearby park with Yun Seung-Ah . As expected of a rich neighborhood, there were all sorts of recreational equipment . However, Yun Seung-Ah and I went straight to the swings as though we almost promised to sit and talk there .

“… . ”

“… . ”

Neither of us said much .

Since we knew each other and Haeyeon wanted to play more, we came out to give them more time, but there wasn’t much to talk about .

After riding the swing for about five minutes, I started the conversation .

“…Kuhum, I didn’t know vice-leader had a niece . ”

“I also didn’t think Cadet Hajin had a… um, she’s not your daughter, right?”

“Of course not . She’s my… niece . Also, you don’t have to talk so politely . ”

“…Ah, okay . ”

Yun Seung-Ah didn’t ask any further . Because of everything that happened recently, she seemed exhausted and weak .

“Do you live here? I never knew . ”

“Me? No, I used to have a mansion elsewhere, but I sold it . I’m living with my older brother right now . ”

“… . ”

I ended up poking her where it hurt . The reason she sold her mansion had to be to pay off the class action lawsuit among other things .

“Rather than that, I didn’t know you lived in such a nice place, Hajin . ”

“I do stock trading on the side . I made a lot of money with it . ”

“I see . I wouldn’t expect any less from someone ranked 1st in theory . ”

That was the end of our first conversation .

Yun Seung-Ah looked up at the crescent moon in the sky and fell silent . I didn’t say anything either . It was just too awkward .

Should I have just let her leave with Haeyeon?

“…Cube’s cadets . Are they disappointed?”

Yun Seung-Ah muttered .

“Disappointed? No, not really—”

“I’m thinking of dropping everything and going to the Association . ”

“…The Hero Association?”

“Yeah . The Temple of Justice apparently has an empty seat . ”

“Eh?”

Temple of Justice .

Even among Hero Association’s numerous departments, the Temple of Justice was the strongest . They were similar to the United Stations’ Peacekeeping Corps . Well, no, I guess they weren’t that similar . After all, the Temple of Justice only had 13 members .

“Aileen-ssi is also in that group, right?”

“Yeah . ”

Yun Seung-Ah snickered .

“You didn’t care much about me, but it seems that’s not the case with Aileen Unni . ”

“…She’s the human dragon . I’d be an idiot if I didn’t know her . ”

Aileen, the Hero who uses Spirit Speech .

She was one of the most overpowered Heroes I wrote about .

“Heh, she’s too small to be a dragon . Her official height is 153 cm, but she’s actually shorter . ”

“Eh?”

“I’m not kidding, she’s tiny . If you look down, all you’ll see is her head . Ah, but don’t do that . She gets mad when you look down at her head, even though that’s not something you can control… ehew . ”

Yun Seung-Ah mumbled randomly, then suddenly became sad and dropped her head .

It seemed she had depression like me . Maybe I should tell her to also smoke like me .

“…Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that . It’s just that I haven’t talked to anyone for a while . ”

“No, it’s fine . ”

Although the public and the media were talking about Cube’s Djinns invasion incident, the amount of attention Creator’s Sacred Grace received before that was astronomical . Yoo Yeonha surely had something to do with it too, as she was merciless when it came to exploiting her opponent’s weakness .

“Why don’t you try aiming for the guild leader position?”

“…Guild leader?”

“I mean, it’s not your fault that you guys failed the Tower campaign . It was the guild leader’s fault for pushing for the campaign . I think this is the best opportunity . ”

I tried bringing up this topic . Yun Seung-Ah should be voting to fire the guild leader in the board meeting soon .

“…You think like a kid . ”

“Because I am a kid . ”

“I guess you are . Well, I’ll think about it . ”

“Sure . To be honest, Creator’s Sacred Grace doesn’t feel right without Yun Seung-Ah . ”

I grinned and got up .

“Pft, yeah, I think so too . Are you leaving?”

“Yep . Oh right, Haeyeon said she wanted to sleep over . What should we do?”

“…It’s fine . I’ll tell Oppa about it . ”

“Got it . Good night, vice-leader… Oh, also…”

Suddenly remembering something, I turned towards Yun Seung-Ah .

“Suho is waiting for you to call him . ”

Yun Seung-Ah’s face immediately lit up .

“H-Hm? W-What are you talking about?”

“You don’t have to feign ignorance . All of our close friends know about it anyways . ”

“A-About what? I’m too old compared to Suho…”

Although Yun Seung-Ah was 9~10 years older than Suho on paper, that wasn’t really the case . Suho was actually 3~4 years older than his official age .

“Don’t worry, he’s into older women . ”

“Older women?”

“Yep, only older women . ”

“Only… ah, no, I keep telling you, that’s not it!”

I grinned seeing Yun Seung-Ah’s girlish side .

“Ah, Hajin-ssi! It’s really not like that! D-Don’t you spread that rumor!”

I ignored the shouting behind my back .

**

…10 days quickly went by and the Chameleon Troupe’s mission day arrived .

Currently, I was standing on the outskirts of Pandemonium for my first mission as a member of the Chameleon Troupe .

—Can you see that tower in the distance, Hyung?

Droon’s voice rang out in my ears .

“Hold on . ”

I took a look around and discovered a tall clocktower . It was easily 200 meters tall, but I headed towards it without hesitation .

With Parkour, 30 seconds was enough for me to reach its peak .

“Whew . ”

I stood on the support fixture and looked into the distance from a lofty height . My clothes fluttered in the breeze mixed with demonic energy and blood .

Pandemonium, a city governed by Djinns, had many buildings and people .

“Yeah, I see it . ”

My target was particularly eye-catching even in the bustling city .

—yep, that’s the one .

A 10-floor tower with a sleek design . The giant obsidian on its rooftop made it look like a Magic Tower . This building was ‘their’ base .

—That building apparently took 50 billion won to make . Let’s crush it! Crush, crush!

“…Yeah . ”

Today’s target was one of Pandemonium’s private organizations, ‘Hatred’s End’ . To be more precise, it was to destroy the new base they completed .

—By the way, your clothes are cool, Hyung .

“Thanks . ”

—Did you put in special care for your first mission?

“No . ”

I was wearing clothes I made . It’s not that I designed it with special care, it was just that anything I made turned pretty or cool because of Aether .

The cape I created to conceal myself became the ‘Assassin’s Hooded Cape’, which looked like a main character’s equipment, and the mask I created to cover my face was given a chrome decoration and became the ‘Mastermind’s Mask’ .

—It must be because of all the black color . Can you make me something similar later?

Droon was quite talkative .

But since he was a kid, I forgave him .

…It definitely wasn’t because I was afraid of him .

—Hyung, Hyung, will you be fine? That tower should be really sturdy .

“I don’t have much choice . I’m the only one here . ”

—You don’t have to do it alone .

“…Really?”

I pondered .

Blessed Bow of Horus, magic amplification medicinal effect, Master Sharpshooter, Random Consolidation System, and finally, four streaks of Stigma .

A small smile emerged on my face .

With all these, blowing up a tower should be a piece of cake .

“No, I think I can do it . ”

—Ooh~ are you going to use a bow?

“Yep . ”

I couldn’t use guns in Chameleon Troupe’s missions . The entire world knew that I was the only gun-using Hero .

That was why I brought a bow .

—Okay, when you succeed, I’ll leave the mark .

“Mark?”

—Yep . The mark of a new Black .

“…Do you have to?”

—Of course . We’re attacking as a warning, to tell them we’re back .

“…Okay, okay . ”

—Un!

I took a deep breath .

“Scan . ”

Murmuring softly, I pulled out the bow hanging on my back . Its wooden frame clacked enjoyably .

Sssss—

Aether adhered to Horus’ Bow and strengthened it .

I held the bow in one hand and concentrated Stigma’s magic power with the other…

—Take this! Invisible Sword!

“…Don’t say weird things . ”

—Ah, I forgot to turn off the radio . Sorry, Hyung .

I reset my focus, willing Stigma to transform .

Form, arrow .

Property, explosion .

Goal, destruction .

Color, black .

Just in case, I only used 3 . 6 streaks of Stigma .

Shoooong—

Stigma’s magic power danced and compressed down to an arrow, forming what looked more like a javelin than anything else . I added an ‘external magic power amplification’ medicinal effect on top of this arrow .

“I’m ready . ”

Radiating with black light, the arrow was shining destructively .

I nocked the arrow .

“I’m shooting . ”

—Count down .

Wasn’t he supposed to turn off the radio?

I counted down .

Three .

Two .

One .

Chweeeek—

The arrow shot through the sky, drawing a beautiful, straight line .

Without even a bit of error or shaking, it hurled towards its target which was at least 1 . 5 km away .

However, the arrow reached its target in the blink of an eye .

KWANG—!

The moment my arrow touched the tower, a huge explosion erupted . A fierce gale blew, sucking in air from all directions . Next, a thunderous sound roared out .

It took only a second for total destruction .

Where their tower proudly stood was now covered in dust . Soon, I could see pieces of the obsidian raining down .

“…Is that good enough?”

—Wow~ it’s perfect, Hyung .

“Then I’m leaving . ”

I turned around without hesitation .

—So cool~

Hearing Droon’s praise, I put my hand in my pocket .

Although my arm was throbbing from draining Stigma’s magic power, I endured the pain and took out a cigarette .

Putting it in my mouth, I lit it with Stigma . It tasted bitter .

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