Chapter 251

Broadcast accidents refer to unexpected situations that disrupt the flow of a broadcast.

Examples of such accidents include accidentally clicking on an ad that opens a pornographic website or insufficient operation skills leading to an abrupt end to the stream without any prior notice.

While there have been various kinds of broadcast accidents on Twish, what just happened clearly diverged from the norm.

The incident began when Neme suddenly yelled and sent Yoonseul out of the room.

Viewers thought Neme was just playing around and didn’t take it seriously when she wrapped her body in an aura.

Creating an aura is not an easy feat; it is rare for a person to go through their entire life without knowing the color of their own aura.

Then, light burst out from the music box, filling the screen, followed by a loud explosion that shocked the viewers.

The camera, which had been set up on the desk, seemed to have been swept up in the chaos as the screen crackled and shook.

Soon, the vision was darkened by black smoke, and the communication was cut off.

[The broadcast has ended.]

With the explosion sound that seemed to have exceeded the volume limit and Neme’s desperate scream, there was no one who could deny that what just happened was real.

The comment section was in a frenzy of collective panic.

Eventually, even the Twish Korea operator joined in and reported to the police, attempting to calm the anxiety by forcibly dispersing those remaining in Neme’s stream, but by then, people were out of their minds.

In fact, blowing up the remaining chat room was counterproductive.

The 30,000 viewers gathered from various countries scattered in all directions.

In particular, 20,000 viewers from Korea were busy delivering unbelievable news to the community and currently streaming streamers.

[‘Han Yongcheol’s Broadcasting Studio]

[‘loop1004’ donated 5,000 won!]

– Neme is undergoing a bomb attack during her live broadcast. If you know the address, could you quickly report it on her behalf?

“Neme is being bombed. Please report it quickly… Wait, what do you mean bomb attack?”

– Don’t draw aggro, just leave.

– Ban it, go, go.

– It’s really happening, you fools.

– This isn’t even the worst of it.

– ???

– What’s going on?

– Terrorism?

– It’s urgent, please hurry…!

– A bomb? Is it really a bomb?

[‘Raki Chiti’ donated 5,000 won!]

– It is a real situation. The T.K.O operator and managers have already reported it, so let’s calm down and keep an eye on the situation…

“Is it a real situation? Wait.”

Han Yongcheol paused his game and seriously reached out to Neme.

[The customer’s phone is off -]

Before the ringtone could ring, he could feel the severity of the situation by checking the community.

[What the hell is happening in Korea… ]

[Bomb attack, crazy;;]

[Please, Neme must be okay.]

[My heart is trembling; I can’t hold anything right now, what should I do?]

[That was definitely Neme wrapped in an aura, right? Neme must be fine, please say she is okay.]

[The end of the world is upon usㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

Just as Han Yongcheol was about to call the police, a flood of internet articles started appearing on the portal site’s main page.

[Breaking News) ‘Bomb attack’ occurred during a Twish personal broadcast… Police Special Forces dispatched]

Terrorism was no longer a distant issue for Korea.

When national-level disasters happen, citizens tend to be alert even to minor incidents.

Endless inquiries flooded into the Seoul Gangnam Police Station.

The police confirmed that Special Forces had already been dispatched for the incident and advised to be particularly cautious when opening delivery packages that had an unknown sender.

[Nona Me seems to live near me. I can hear ambulance and police sirens loud on the main road.]

– I can’t believe a bomb attack happened in Korea.

– Neme, please just stay aliveㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

– It seems like they were determined to kill someone…

[If it’s a magical bomb, to be honest, I can’t guarantee survival… Be prepared mentally.]

– Why are you saying such things, you bastards!

– If it’s just chemical agents or weak explosives, it’s one thing, but a magic bomb penetrates all auras and hearts.

– They said Neme deployed an aura barrier!

– You really think a child could block that? They burned the whole room down!

– F*** ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

After a while, emergency vehicles, including fire trucks, broke through the main gate of the Parthenon apartment complex.

Several residents were already gathered in their slippers and pajamas, evacuating.

Black smoke was coming out of the window from the nearly top floor of building 102 on the 40th floor.

It was presumed that the fire did not spread since no light was seeping out.

But it was still daytime, so they couldn’t let their guard down.

Twelve members of the Special Forces in black protective gear arrived; half dashed to the first-floor entrance, while the other half secured ropes to the rooftop and climbed the exterior wall toward the source of the smoke.

Now that it was confirmed that the bomb attack involved magic, preparations for secondary or tertiary explosions were crucial.

“On three, we will enter simultaneously. Three, two, one!”

The operation brief was completed while in motion.

To rescue the victims as quickly as possible, the Special Forces members, shielded by a one million kE barrier, entered the room.

Though there was no fire, black smoke continuously billowed because, when magic of fire-type was cast incompletely, the mana condensed in the magic circle tries to return to a stable state.

“Cut off the mana first!”

The members attached specialized devices to the walls to reduce the mana concentration as much as possible, preparing for a possible secondary mana storm.

As the medium disappeared, the smoke densely filling the room began to gradually dissipate.

Sounds of a woman crying and signs of life could be heard from the living room.

They received radio communication that the members who had entered through the staircase had safely rescued those still in the living room.

“Hey… Team Leader, look over there!”

“Huh?”

The tactical team leader maintained his composure, even if a ghost appeared and brandished a knife at his neck.

But he accidentally dropped the walkie-talkie from his hand.

What appeared in front of the man was such an outrageous sight.

“A barrier?”

In the room, four magic circles rotated in the air, maintaining a tetrahedral shape.

Within that barrier, pieces of the shattered magic circles were floating.

It was undoubtedly the magic circle that acted as the trigger for the magical bomb.

That was the moment.

Clank!

The core stuck in the debris of the magic circle fell off with runes.

“It’s about to explode!”

The Special Forces members instinctively raised their aura barriers to the maximum.

For a moment, bright light erupted, but the magical storm struck the tetrahedral barrier, extinguishing its light.

Soon, another barrier magic circle was activated.

Refined mana, having lost power, began to gather into a single point and transformed into a black sphere.

The now massive black sphere rolled back down to the floor.

Like a smoke grenade that burst, the sphere emitted a torrent of black smoke.

It was the source of the black smoke seen from outside.

“Could you throw that out the window?”

“…!”

As the smoke cleared, a girl’s silhouette emerged right behind the magic circle barrier.

Though she was trembling with both arms, she was tightly clutching her magic formation maker.

The failure to execute magic had not occurred without reason.

Someone had been maintaining the form of incomplete casting just before detonation.

Realizing the situation quickly, the tactical team leader contacted the magic circle disposal team that had just arrived in the living room via radio.

“Disposal team! Hurry in and collect the magic circles!”

The door to the room swung open roughly as people in thick helmets staggered inside.

They thrust their specialized wands deep into both sides of the barrier, causing the magical bomb fragments inside to slowly lose their light and vanish.

The girl with soot all over her face finally seemed to relax and crumpled to the ground.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Just wait a moment, I will get you to the hospital soon.”

“Yes…”

The tactical team leader passed the child to another member of the Special Forces and continued to lead the operation.

The magical terrorist is a dangerous entity that permits immediate lethal action.

Finding the perpetrator was of utmost importance.

“Where’s the core?”

“We’ve recovered all of it.”

“Hand it over to the National Institute for Scientific Investigation and check the magical usage records at the Magic Research Institute. If the culprit is identified, contact the investigators to issue a warrant.”

“Yes, understood.”

While checking magical usage records requires court authorization like a warrant, the process could be simplified immediately for counter-terrorism activities.

This was also a change in the legal provisions due to Valpurgis.

If the perpetrator was still in Korea, it was clear they would be arrested within twelve hours at the latest.

As they cleaned the mana-contaminated scene and looked at the scorched wallpaper, the team leader sighed.

A bomb attack in Korea.

Although there were no significant human casualties, and the core of the explosive magic circle had been perfectly collected, there was an unsettling feeling that couldn’t be shaken off.

“Who is the owner of this house?”

“It was the woman who was in the living room earlier.”

“Does she live with a child?”

“No, she lives alone.”

“Then who was that earlier?”

“Are you talking about Neme?”

“Neme?”

“Yes, No Name… She lives right below here, and they were both streaming together.”

The team leader recalled the child who had already ridden the elevator down in the arms of a member earlier.

He tossed aside his goggles that obscured his sight and rubbed his eyes vigorously.

No Name?

Isn’t she the genius little girl who recently became famous after streaming?

Moreover, coincidentally, she is also a survivor of the Valpurgis terrorist incident.

“How did she manage that?”

“What do you mean?”

“About the spinning thing from earlier.”

“I’m not sure? Wasn’t it something you installed, Team Leader?”

“Ugh…”

The magic circle obviously went off with a bang,

and it not only absorbed all mana storms but even condensed it into particle form.

This was magic he had never heard of in his 15 years of service in the Special Forces.

Furthermore, if he recalled correctly, the number of magic circles in simultaneous operation was definitely four.

He furrowed his brows.

In his focus on solving the urgent incident, he overlooked something important.

He asked the member once more.

“How long did it take us to deploy?”

“Exactly 7 minutes and 47 seconds since the incident was reported.”

“7 minutes, 8 minutes… 9 minutes… yes, 9 minutes. That’s 9 minutes.”

That’s at least nine minutes.

Did that little girl really withstand an explosive magic that must have a lethal radius of at least 10 meters for nine minutes?

He closed his eyes softly and sank into thought.

But he could not easily find a solution to this conundrum, shaking his head as he left the room.

“The world is coming to an end.”

Unthinkable events had been happening far too frequently lately.

* * *

I was transported to the hospital in an ambulance along with Yoonseul without any issues.

Just before departure, I could secretly overhear Professor Cheon, who arrived late, furiously yelling at the Special Forces members to catch the perpetrator and bring them to him right away.

With a confident reply insisting they would surely catch him today, it took only 4 hours, and in fact, it took less than 2 hours for the detectives to thrust into the perpetrator’s house and cuff him.

[Breaking news) Terrorist who sent a magic bomb to a streamer arrested in Paju, Gyeonggi-do]

[Breaking news) Identity of the assassin terrorist ‘No Name’ is 27-year-old university student J… What was the motive for the crime?]

The police announced the results of their investigation.

The perpetrator was a chemistry major who learned to create TATP explosives using acetone and hydrogen peroxide generation magic circles learned at university.

He confessed that the core magic circle crucial to ignition was engraved on a music box, allowing all other magic circles to activate the moment he turned the gear once.

Subsequent reports stated that Yoonseul and I were not in life-threatening conditions.

The news returned to its original platform, reporting the same content again.

I turned off the television and sighed softly.

There were inconsistencies.

Acetone and hydrogen peroxide are easily obtainable materials.

Of course, they are also substances that can be easily generated with magic.

But the problem is that the perpetrator must have known that all magic is traceable.

Did he want me dead for sure, even if he got caught by the police while using magic?

And above all, the ignition magic circle engraved on the music box was the root cause of everything.

The other magic circles could easily be countered.

While ‘ignition’ is commonly used as a 2nd circle, here it was twisted to form a complex 4th circle by adding two dimensions.

As if he anticipated that I would counter it.

If I had known from the beginning, it would have been different.

But in that brief moment, there was not enough time to write a 6th circle counter-spell, and the only solution was using the lithography formation I had learned before to maintain the shattered magic circle.

By gradually causing an explosion to weaken the magic circle’s power, I condensed the incompletely combusted mana into smoke and gradually released it outside.

It was a difficult and complicated task, but it wasn’t entirely impossible.

Had the situation persisted, my body’s mana would have run out first, but thankfully, the South Korean police were much quicker.

Being able to utilize unique magic was fortunate, in a way.

I took out my phone to contact worried acquaintances, only to remember that it had been swept away during the first explosion.

Ultimately, I found it better to watch something rather than lie in bed and did turn on the television again.

A segment about a vendetta investigation was just starting.

The viewers of the Twish broadcast had frequently utilized the Streamer Gallery and various hate community sites to post defamatory posts about me.

I realized that such information is now disclosed instantly.

Internet culture seemed to protect privacy rights, but perhaps because he was a terrorist, there were no exceptions.

He was banned from several other streams while disparaging me across various broadcasts.

I felt nothing but wronged that I had to suffer such consequences over such trivial matters.

There are far too many crazy people in the world even now.

In the past, people with such dangerous ideologies would have had their heads broken by street thugs, never to be heard from again.

[Here’s the condensed news. The police announced they are further investigating accomplices involved in the actions of J, who is suspected of magic bomb terrorism. J communicated with accomplices through an anonymous encrypted messenger application called ‘Wicked,’ claiming to belong to the Valpurgis Iraq branch, suggesting that he might have received schematics for bomb-making from them.]

My thoughts shifted. I hope their heads stay intact until I can see them myself.