When she acts like that, it makes me a bit anxious because she reminds me of my mom.
“I get it, so don’t worry unnecessarily. Seriously.”
I reply curtly without even realizing it.
I used to respond like that to my mom when she worried about me staying out late.
Now I regret it.
After hearing my response, Rin beams at me with maternal affection.
“I trust you, Deok-Sung.”
Rin releases my hand.
“Junior, you can’t mess this up. If you recklessly steal the heart of a girl and something goes wrong, I swear I’ll curse you for life… So if you’re afraid of curses, don’t get hurt, okay?”
Kasumi-senpai approaches with fierce words for me.
It’s all good, but why the talk of curses?
“My lord… You’ll come back safely, right? I believe in you.”
Makoto tells me.
A pretty average encouragement. But for timid her, that must have taken considerable courage.
“I got it.”
“Yes!”
Makoto’s face reddens at my reply.
She rushes over and hides behind Eri.
“Brother, Kurosawa. Hope you both return safely.”
After Ishihara’s greeting, it’s Olivia’s turn at last.
Crunch.
Olivia places her hand on her chest.
She points her finger at me.
“Hey you, if you come back injured because you went off on your own, I swear you won’t ever see my face again!! So, don’t get hurt even a hair, got it! Idiot, fool, sea cucumber, sea squirt, anemone! Hmph!”
Having said her piece, Olivia turns her head and crosses her arms.
Her earlobes turn red.
Worrying, isn’t she?
Anyhow, the farewells are over.
“Let’s go, Kurosawa.”
“Got it, Kim.”
Now that it’s settled, we head to the Blue House.
*
Two figures cross the blue summer sky.
Two men in full-sleeve suits.
It was Kurosawa Yuji and Kim Deok-Sung.
The fierce wind envelops Kurosawa Yuji.
In his eyes is the image of his friend Kim Deok-Sung flying alongside him.
Thoughts of what just happened pop into his mind.
“I wasn’t in my right mind just now.”
His sister, whom he thought was dead, is alive.
Still fallen into the enemy’s clutches.
He must save Haru.
So consumed by that thought, he didn’t notice the trap.
“If it hadn’t been for Kim’s advice…”
If he hadn’t stopped him by striking him from behind.
He would have charge headlong into the enemy’s trap and died like a foolish moth.
Yuji can easily picture that future.
He bites his lip.
“I was foolish.”
Now gone from this world, the hero he respected the most and his family—his father.
The words of the Swordmaster Kurosawa Akira echo in Yuji’s mind.
It crossed my mind.
“Yuji, when facing enemies as a hero, you mustn’t be swayed by emotions; think carefully.”
Recalling his father’s words, Yuji bit his lip.
Haru definitely wouldn’t want to see her brother die recklessly charging in like a fool.
“Ugh… I was disqualified today, as a hero and as a brother.”
Yuji spoke in a low voice.
His gaze turned to his friend, Kim Deok-Sung, who was flying beside him.
[Haru and I will save you, Kurosawa Yuji.]
Kim’s voice echoed in Yuji’s mind.
When he was about to recklessly charge in like a child swayed by emotions, when he tried to solve everything alone with stubbornness disguised as responsibility, Kim calmly convinced him.
Then he reached out his hand.
To save them together.
“…I can’t not take that hand.”
Yuji clenched his fist.
Thinking back, he was always like this.
Even when Ishihara bullied him, Kim saved him, and he had fought tirelessly against the enormous enemy known as the League without hesitation.
“Kim. You truly are…”
“What?”
Kim Deok-Sung snapped back with a gruff response.
Hearing this, a faint smile appeared on Yuji’s lips.
“You’re the true hero, Kim.”
“What nonsense is this all of a sudden?”
Kim Deok-Sung’s brow furrowed.
He was genuinely repulsed.
Nevertheless, Yuji let his overwhelming emotions spill out.
“If you’re the true hero, my best friend, then I can entrust my back to you without a doubt!”
“You’re insane, really.”
As Yuji’s smile grew wider in response to Kim Deok-Sung’s words…
Buzz.
The sword at Yuji’s waist trembled slightly.
[Haa, master.]
A faint voice brushed past Yuji’s ear.
Kurosawa Yuji tilted his head.
‘What was that? Did someone just call me?’
Was it his imagination?
Yuji dismissed the unidentified voice as no big deal.
It’s almost time.
The Blue House, emitting rough waves of magical energy, came into view for the two.
On the second day of their return, the gate opened.
Seoul, South Korea.
The capital city of South Korea with a population of ten million.
This city, so significant that half of South Korea’s population resides in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, was now in chaos due to a terror attack.
A street in the eerily empty Gangbuk District of Seoul.
A hunter party in hunter suits, armed and alert, walked along the deserted asphalt road amidst the concrete jungle.
“There’s no way a high-level otherworld species is nearby, right?”
“Could they even come this far? It’s the rear area. Those so-called American heroes should be managing the gate just fine. That’s why we formed the Korea-US alliance.”
The team leader, who cut off the bespectacled male team member, held a large shield in hand.
Though an A-grade hunter from Cheonseong, one of Korea’s three major guilds, he knew his place.
High-level otherworld species were practically disasters for hunters.
No matter how much magic energy and skills were poured in, facing a monster that could withstand damage without a scratch was impossible for the current level of Cheonseong Guild’s first team.
“It’s an emergency, but it’s nothing to worry about. We just need to deal with ordinary otherworld species like usual as directed by the guild.”
“Ah, yes… But I still feel uneasy, team leader.”
“Shut up, man. Don’t say negative things.”
“What do you think Kim Deok-Sung’s friends are doing right now?”
“Maybe Kim Deok-Sung, but do you think those guys will help our country? Especially between Korea and Japan? I’m a bit skeptical. They might help if they were US troops, but they’re just guests visiting Korea.”
“I’m a bit skeptical. If it were the US military in Korea, that’s another story, but those guys are just visitors having fun in Korea; they have no obligation.”
The team leader lets out a small sigh.
While the Kim Deok-Sung fandom and civilians might bicker about the ladies around Kim Deok-Sung, as a team leader directly involved in the hunter industry, he couldn’t see them so naively.
If it were the unapproachable sanctuary that is Hero Kim Deok-Sung, it might be different, but because of the lack of heroic power from this minor nation, he had been subjected to countless abuses from the Japanese hero industry until now. It was hard for him to see heroes from Japan with anything but contempt.
Moreover, it was true that those cadets had no obligation to help Korea.
“Let’s just ignore the heavenly realm nonsense and focus on our own tasks. Hey, guide, you said you detected a goblin group nearby, right?”
“Yes, just a moment… Team Leader.”
The guide team’s member’s face stiffens upon hearing the team leader’s words.
It was because he sensed an immense amount of magical energy with his detection skill.
“We’re screwed.”
“What?”
“M-Magic level! Minimum Zeta rank or higher interdimensional species’ magic waves have been detected!”
“Oh shit.”
The team leader’s face contorts.
“Hey, request support from the higher-ups quickly.”
“Yes, got it!”
The team leader sighs as he requests support from the guide.
Korea’s hero power is entirely dependent on the US military.
Now that nearly all heroes from the US military are deployed to the gates, the chances of a support hero arriving here are nonexistent.
The support request felt like a desperate gasp right before death, merely a flicker of hope.
Zzzzzt.
The team leader’s skin tingles.
AA high-level interdimensional species was closing in, so close that even hunters without detection skills could feel the magical waves.
“We’re about to die here.”
Just as the team leader readied his shield.
KWA-BOOM!
A building right in front of the hunter team crumbles as a two-headed snake monster soars up.
[KYAAAAAA!]
A Zeta rank interdimensional species.
It was the Double Head Snake.
The overwhelming magical wave left everyone on the hunter team frozen, sensing their imminent death.
“Team Leader! Support! It’s coming!”
An unbelievable voice reached the team leader’s ears.
“What? Support? Who…”
All the available hero power from the US military should have been inside the gate.
Just when the team leader’s head was filled with question marks.
Pyo-ro-rong☆ Pyo-ro-rong★
A childish sound effect that didn’t match the urgent situation resounded from the sky.
“A wicked monster invading the land of Junior! I won’t forgive you★”
A line so cringeworthy it sounded like a magic girl anime tore through the sky.
Just as the team leader, who learned Japanese for business, grimaced at the ridiculousness.
“Starfall── Buster!!”
Pyo-ro-rong☆
A stream of destructive purple magic, out of place with such childish sound effects and skill name, came crashing down from the sky like divine punishment.
KWA-BOOM!
The asphalt shattered, and buildings crumbled.
“KYAAAAAAA!”
Both heads of the Double Head Snake burst as it let out its final scream.
Splash.
Blood splatters and flesh is scattered everywhere.
Its overwhelming power was terrifying.
Even as a veteran hunter who had collaborated multiple times with both the US military and Japanese organizations, the sheer strength of this skill was something he had never witnessed before.
One hit.
With a single strike, the Zeta rank interdimensional species was killed.
“T-Team Leader…”
The team members were left speechless by the overwhelming power.
The team leader was no different.
Pyo-ro-lo-ro-n~♪
As childish sound effects chimed, someone descended from the sky.
Someone is descending.
In contrast to the sleek Hunter team from Team 1 of the Guild of Conquest, wearing tactical gear like a pair of night vision goggles, a beautiful girl dressed in a magical girl outfit, straight out of an anime, was fluttering down with her lavender hair blowing in the wind.
“Here comes the magical girl Magical☆Kasumi, evolved into a magical girl after special training from Teacher Mayuzumi Mayu! Yapp★”
Kasumi makes a V sign with her left eye while blushing.
The absurdly inappropriate light novel-style reaction put awkward smiles on the faces of all the Hunters in the team.
Hoshino Kasumi laughs.
“Are you okay? Hunters?”
“Ah, yes, we’re, we’re okay.”
The team leader nods with an embarrassed voice, speaking in Japanese.
He knew who the girl in front of him was.
Hoshino Kasumi.
One of his school friends who had come to Korea with Kim Deok-Sung.
He felt like he was going to die of embarrassment for just having been trash-talking Japanese heroes, specifically Kim Deok-Sung’s friends, just a moment ago.
“Don’t worry! I took care of the bad monster that was threatening you just now! Is there anything else I can help with?”
Whether she knew the team leader’s feelings or not, Kasumi kindly smiled and asked.
A pure smile without a trace of selfishness.
“A, ah, no! Th, thank you!”
The team leader bows his head.
To talk behind the back of such a nice person…
He felt like dying of embarrassment over himself just moments ago.
He wanted to hide in a mouse hole.
“You’re so kind. You don’t need to thank me; it’s a hero’s natural duty to help you!”
Kasumi beamed.
‘A hero’s natural duty…’
Hearing those words, the team leader bit his lip.
When was the last time he had heard such a straightforward phrase? He couldn’t remember anymore.
Regardless of the Hunter team’s embarrassment, Kasumi felt good.
‘Junior, this time I was a help to you!’
Finally being a help, not a burden, to the junior she liked.
*
Han River.
On the majestic waters flowing through Seoul, countless bridges were built.
But now, with the terror attack happening, even the Han River wasn’t safe.
“Hurry, we need to get to the shelter. Yeon-ah, run fast.”
“Mom, my legs hurt…”
On the desolate Hangang Bridge, a mother and daughter were running toward the shelter.
Almost all civilians had finished evacuating.
There were hardly any civilians left on the streets, but unfortunately, the two were among the few remaining.
“If we just cross this bridge…”
They would reach the Gate Shelter.
The bridge seemed long under normal circumstances, but today it felt even longer, and she cursed at it in her thoughts.
Just as she thought that…
The bridge shook slightly as if an earthquake had struck.
“Mom, it just shook.”
Her daughter’s voice rang in her ears.
Her face hardened.
Though she was a civilian without any magic power, she understood.
This tremor was not a natural earthquake.
It was a precursor to the appearance of an otherworldly being.
“Yeon-ah, duck!”
The moment she shouted sharply, grasping the situation…
Swoosh!
A massive serpent erupted from the Han River, accompanied by a spray of water.
The Zeta Rank otherworldly being, River Serpent.
Having spotted its prey, the River Serpent opened its gaping maw.
[Kyahahahahahah!]
Drip, drip.
The acidic saliva of the River Serpent dripped onto the asphalt.
Szzzzz.
The asphalt began to melt as she closed her eyes, looking at the countless sharp, blade-like teeth packed tightly inside its mouth.
