A/N: Another chapter hits the web! I deeply apologize that this one took a bit longer than usual but I'm sure the wait you guys endured for it will be well worth it. This chapter is... well, certainly not a going to be a fun chapter for those who like the Yunhonmoon. I'll leave it at that and let you find out what I'm referring too.
REMINDER!
You can find some avatars of the OC's that I've made for the story by going to my DeviantART page by googling "TheBlackDuelist".
I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: TheBlackDuelist does not claim any ownership of "The Gamer" Manwha written by Sung San-Young and Sang-Ah. I am not using this fan fiction to make profit off of this story.
The Gamer – Restart
Chapter 21
In the midst of the day two individuals flew across the sky, soaring over countless buildings beneath them as they aimed to reach their current destination. The man leading the charge, his identity being Sun-Lai, turned his head as a frown appeared over his wrinkled face to gawk at the young woman following him, who just so happened to be Shi-Yun.
"There's no reason for you to accompany me, brat. I can handle this myself" He stated in a firm and direct tone.
"Forgive my selfishness elder Lai, but I believe it is dangerous for you to go alone"
Sun-Lai groaned in disdain at Shi-Yun's response as he turned to look back in front of him.
"You kids these days... always so damn troublesome" It was small but there was a present smirk on his face even as he continued forward.
"Do whatever you want"
After hearing that, a sigh of relief escaped the red head's mouth as she followed closely behind her elder. Shi-Yun was relieved that he accepted her selfish decision as she was still a bit astonished at the man's change in attitude. The grumpy elder she was accustom too definitely would have cursed at her to leave him alone while he dealt with the situation by himself. Instead, he had allowed her to freely accompany him, begrudgingly of course as she never expected him to lose that aspect of his personality.
She really wondered what had brought upon this change.
"To think some rogue cleaner has the balls to make an Illusion Barrier in our district" Sun-Lai snorted, his tone having faint traces of mockery sprinkled within it "The fool will learn the true power of the Yunhonmoon after I'm done with them"
While Sun-Lai was raring to throw down against whoever stood in his way, Shi-Yun on the other hand was far less excited and more concerned regarding the identity of this mysterious individual. Under normal circumstances, if someone were to create Illusion Barriers in their territory without permission, it would be a task that the regular clan members would handle while the executives would keep out of it. However, due to the incident involving Sung-Gong crippling most of their members, things had changed and now the executives were much more active in their patrols as her grandfather, Shi-Sen, didn't want a repeat of what happened before.
In regards to this specific instance, right after Jee-Han had left the Yunhonmoon property after healing their injured members, they had gotten a report from a scout that an Illusion Barrier had been created in one of the weaker surveyed areas of Seoul. The Yunhonmoon were confident that it was just some random cleaner trying to snag an easy catch but Sun-Lai had insisted on going this time, something that surprised everyone as it was extremely rare for him to clean up stray cleaners. Even though Shi-Yun was confident that with Sun-Lai with her, there wouldn't be any problems in subduing this rogue cleaner; what she was more worried about was the possibility of the cleaner being the same one who had been targeting someone she knew, more specifically, her dear friend Jee-Han.
"If it really is the same person, I want to stop them myself" Shi-Yun tightened her fists as her eyes flared with a burning gaze. Jee-Han was her friend now and if she had the opportunity to help protect her friend by taking care of a cleaner who was after him, then she would do so immediately without hesitation.
"We're here"
Sun-Lai's sudden comment snapped Shi-Yun out of her thoughts as they both landed on a building and immediately felt the atmosphere change, the sky darkening as the Illusion Barrier had transformed the area. It didn't bother them as they both received training that specialized in fighting in darkened spaces but something else was poking at their nerves as Sun-Lai frowned heavily.
"...I can't sense them"
He had tried searching for their ki but to his utter confusion, he could feel nothing even inside this Illusion Barrier and he momentarily let his guard down while looking around. That would prove to be a fatal mistake however as something sped right past the clueless Shi-Yun and aimed for Sun-Lai's back. Being a trained martial artist, Sun-Lai reacted almost instantaneously as he tried to dodge to the left but was a step too slow as his right hand was chopped cleanly off.
"GAH!" Sun-Lai's agonized scream echoed throughout the Illusion Barrier as he clutched his right shoulder and fell to his knees.
"...E-Elder Lai!" Shi-Yun finally seemed to notice something was off as she quickly rushed over to his aid to help him, her face paling at the grievous wound that had been inflicted onto her senior.
"S-Shit..." Sun-Lai spat in frustration at his ineptitude. He was a man and could stomach the pain but the fact that he had made such an amateur mistake infuriated him to no end as he cast his gaze forward at seeing the identity of the individual who had sliced his hand off.
"Hmm, what a shame. I was hoping to take your entire right half off but your reflexes saved you. Darn, that's no fun at all~"
It was a voice full of childlike malice and amusement as a silver haired man with a frightening smile appeared before Shi-Yun and Sun-Lai.
"Bastard!" Sun-Lai shouted as he was already over most of the pain from his missing hand and stood up "You must be the cleaner that had the nerve to intrude in our territory!"
"Hehe, your both right and wrong at the same time~" Mellow answered whimsically as he tossed Sun-Lai's severed hand away and smiled even wider at the duo.
"What do you-
BANG!
The sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the Illusion Barrier as Sun-Lai coughed up blood and fell onto one knee.
"What!?" Shi-Yun screamed in terror as she turned around and paled when she saw a brown haired man who was wearing an expensive trench coat and smoking a cigar holding a pistol in his hand with an impassive look on his face.
Mellow's smile widened at the sight.
"See? You were both right and wrong as while I am a cleaner, whoever said that I was the only one?"
The stench of blood and burning skin filled the air as Sun-Lai's chest was pierced by the laser coming from Krash's pistol.
"E-Elder Lai!"
"D-Damn..." Sun-Lai groaned as he placed his hand on the open hole on his chest, coughing up blood as the damage to his internal system was no laughing matter. Thankfully, he had avoided a fatal attack but he needed to close the wound while also dealing with the two enemies both in front and behind him.
No matter what angle Sun-Lai looked the current situation from; he couldn't see a way out of this mess without a gruesome end.
When Shi-Yun finally reached Sun-Lai's side, she tried to reach out to hold him but he pushed her away and stood on his own with trembling steps.
"You stupid girl... worry less about me and keep your eyes focused on the enemies around you" Sun-Lai scolded as he breathed roughly and tried to act tough but Shi-Yun saw through his act immediately and frowned. Even if he was right, wasn't it only natural to worry about him when he had a hole in his chest? This wasn't even mentioning his severed arm and how it looked as if it took a significant amount of effort just to stand. He definitely was in no condition to fight as Shi-Yun wanted to knock some sense into the stubborn old man in front of her but still obeyed his orders as she cast a murderous gaze at Krash.
"Identify yourselves!"
Instead of an answer, the brown haired man completely ignored Shi-Yun's inquiry as he instead focused his gaze over at the injured elder.
"Impressive" He praised as he lowered the pistol in his hand and inclined his head "Your reflexes are indeed worthy of someone from the Yunhonmoon Clan. Your clearly no run of the mill grunt, perhaps an executive?"
"...I feel nothing but disgust from being praised by some low life scum" Sun-Lai retorted as he spat on the floor and then calmed his breathing, activating the『Yunhon Spirit Technique』as he directed the flow of energy in his body directly into the center of his being. Using the『Yunhon Soul Recovery』was pointless as he couldn't use it to heal such a grave wound on his body and so, the only choice he had was to go all out and defeat them as quickly as possible.
"Soul Blaze Form!"
At those words, an eruption of spiritual flames exploded outwards from Sun-Lai's body as Shi-Yun marveled at the strength of those flames and compared them to her own. No doubt, Sun-Lai truly deserved the title of elder as his mastery over the Soul Blaze Arts was indeed phenomenal.
However, Krash seemed unimpressed by Sun-Lai's showcase of flames as he moved his eyes towards Mellow who appeared eager to jump right into battle.
"You deal with the girl. I'll handle this one"
"Okay~"
It was a short and simple command but Mellow needed no further instruction as he jumped off the building he was standing on and flew towards the startled Shi-Yun.
"Oh no you don't!" Sun-Lai roared as he acted fast and charged towards Mellow to intercept him. There was little time to think as his priority was ensuring Shi-Yun's safety that he feared for against these two mysterious ability users.
"Where do you think your going?" Krash exclaimed in a deathly voice and brought his pistol forward again, shooting off another laser towards Sun-Lai's back. Unlike before however, Sun-Lai was able to avoid the laser but it prevented him from moving to protect Shi-Yun as he grit his teeth in frustration.
"Don't worry about me, Elder!" Shi-Yun yelled as she took a stance and activated her own spirit technique, enshrouding her body in a pit of red flames "Focus on your enemy, I'll be fine!"
"Idiot! These aren't opponent's you can handle!" Sun-Lai retorted but his warning was useless as Shi-Yun moved to engage the incoming Mellow. At this point, Sun-Lai's only option of ensuring both of their lives was to swiftly defeat Krash and back her up but the problem was, could he?
"You have a good head on your shoulders. It's a shame that for our plans of capturing that boy, your deaths are going to be necessary" Krash explained, causing Sun-Lai to widen his eyes in astonishment.
"Boy? Your talking about that brat over at the Chunbumoon, right?"
"Who else would we be after in this pathetic dump of a city? We don't know the specifics of what kind of ability he possesses but we've done our research and we're confident we can make a fortune off him. Make no mistake, Paradise will have him"
"P-Paradise!?" Sun-Lai had been unable to contain his shock when he heard the name of the organization that these two men belonged too as there wasn't an ability user in Korea who hadn't at least heard of them. What really surprised Sun-Lai however was the fact that they had come to Seoul personally just for that kid, meaning that whatever kind of power he possessed was something that even top ranked Cleaners would risk their lives for.
"At the very least however, they don't seem to be aware of what kind power that brat has. Regardless, I have to inform Shi-Sen and the others..." Sun-Lai needed to get this information to his guild immediately and tried to think of a way to escape but before he could think of a solution...
"Agh!"
Sun-Lai's ears picked up the sound of a young girl screaming and he darted his head backwards, the color of his face draining when he saw Shi-Yun being held up by her neck by the white haired man. Needless to say, Shi-Yun had failed at her confrontation of her enemy and was being toyed with as a frightening grin appeared over Mellow's face.
"You have such beautiful eyes, it makes me just want to reach out and pluck them..." Mellow slowly raised his other arm and moved it towards Shi-Yun's eyes as she screamed in agony at the vicious choke hold, her eyes losing color as her gasps for air became weaker and weaker.
"Get your hands off her!"
Sun-Lai's rage couldn't be contained as he shot towards Mellow like a rocket, ignoring Krash entirely.
"How rude, I wasn't finished speaking" Krash spoke as he loaded another mana bullet but this time with far more power than the last round and shot out a much wider laser than before directly at Sun-Lai. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to save Shi-Yun and avoid the attack at the same time, Sun-Lai took a deep breath before raising one of his arms and covered it in spiritual flames.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
The collision between his arm and the laser caused a widespread explosion to appear as Krash raised his eyebrow at the insane tactic used before his very eyes. His surprise didn't last long as Sun-Lai emerged from the smoke and continued forward towards the smiling Mellow who finally seemed to notice his approach but reacted a second too late as Sun-Lai twisted his body so that his back was facing Mellow and proceeded to elbow Mellow straight in his ribs that sent him flying backwards and crashing straight into a nearby window.
"Puuhhaaa!" Shi-Yun breathed out heavily as she fell to the ground and clutched her aching neck that had Mellow's hand print edged onto it. The pressure of his grip was so ferocious that Shi-Yun believed that her lungs would have been crushed completely had Sun-Lai not saved her when he did.
"T-Thank you, Elder..." Shi-Yun struggled to stand but knew that they weren't out of the clear yet as she saw Mellow's figure regain his composure while emerging from the rubble of the destroyed window he had been thrown into.
"Quite impressive, Yunhonmoon elder" Krash once again praised Sun-Lai's skills before settling into an annoyed frown towards Mellow who still had a smile on his face but instead of his usual whimsical one; it was a smile out of embarrassment.
"You let your guard down idiot, you should have sensed that he was approaching you"
"Sorry~" Mellow apologized as he vanished from his spot and appeared standing next to Krash with his tongue stuck out "I was just so busy staring into that girl's eyes. They're really pretty you know?"
"Cut the crap already" Krash reprimanded before turning his eyes back to the figures of Sun-Lai and Shi-Yun, his lips curving into a pitiful smirk towards the former due to his missing limb "Your not very bright are you? Why would you sacrifice your own arm just to save that useless girl? Does she really mean that much too you just because your from the same clan?"
At those words, Shi-Yun solemnly lowered her head as she didn't have the confidence to refute them. He was right, she was useless in this fight and because of her, Sun-Lai had suffered immensely because he was trying to protect her. She gripped her fists and couldn't stomach allowing someone else to have to come save her like she was some helpless princess. This feeling of being such a burden was beyond humiliating to someone like Shi-Yun who spent countless hours training and honing her skills to be of use to her clan.
"Your right" Sun-Lai spoke as he looked over at the startled red head "She is quite useless..."
Shi-Yun looked even more depressed at those words while Krash found it surprising that the man agreed with him but sneered nonetheless. However, Sun-Lai's next choice words threw everyone off.
"...for now at least"
"...What?"
Krash raised an eyebrow while Mellow tilted his head, confusion written over his face.
"What's that supposed to mean? I don't like secrets ya know~?"
Sun-Lai chuckled as a few drips of blood fell from his mouth "Hehe, you two punks could never understand the power that those within our clan possess. This girl especially" His gaze softened as he turned towards the young disciple he had watched develop from a baby into the fine young woman she was now.
"She's beyond incredible. Though she may be clumsy, weak, and not anything much as of right now... one day, she'll become the burning pillar of the Yunhonmoon and will carry our clan to the top of the Abyss! Engrave that into your souls you bastards!" He declared with a ferocious scream.
"Elder..." Shi-Yun was speechless at the words that were spoken of her by the elder who criticized her the most and was never one to issue out praise so easily. A warm feeling emerged from Shi-Yun's heart as she wanted to apologize sincerely for her uselessness once again.
Krash on the other hand didn't share in their tender moment as he scowled.
"...What nonsense. Mellow, let's finish this quickly before any more pests arrive" Krash decided to waste no more time and moved to finish the duo off.
"Mkay. Sorry guys, I'd love to play around with you some more but the boss' orders are absolute" Mellow also pulled out a weapon, a slim silver dagger and followed his boss' lead as the two of them hastily approached Sun-Lai and Shi-Yun.
"D-Damn..." Sun-Lai cursed as he had hoped to buy more time in order to come up with a way to escape the dire situation they were in but seeing how swiftly the enemies were approaching them, they had to make a decision now.
"With my injuries, there's no chance in hell I can take the two of them on while keeping Shi-Yun safe, and with no way to get some back up... there's only one option left..."
Sun-Lai sucked in a cold breath and closed his eyes, resolving both his body and mind for what he was about to do. He had to be resolute in his decision, any second thoughts or doubts plaguing his mind would derail his concentration and would make the technique he was going to use useless.
With his mind clear and his will firm, Sun-Lai slowly reopened his colorful eyes and spoke towards his junior.
"Shi-Yun"
Sun-Lai had spoken so unexpectedly that Shi-Yun was startled for a second but regained her composure and looked at the back of Sun-Lai who continued on.
"I'm going to destroy this Illusion Barrier by using the forbidden technique of the Soul Blaze Fist. The moment that I do, I want you to get out of here as quickly as you can. Report everything that happened here to the clan leader and make sure to inform him that the Paradise cleaner group has come to Seoul for that gamer boy"
"...What?"
She must have misheard him.
"W-What are you talking about, Elder Lai? Y-Your not making any sense, why would I have to tell grandfather all that stuff when you can tell him yourself? And what do you mean you'll use the forbidden technique? W-Why would you do that? Your only supposed to use that technique when your-
"-certain that your going to die, right?" Sun-Lai had cut her off as he, for the first time since she could remember, smiled back at her "I'm sorry for always being hard on you, Shi-Yun. I just wanted you to grow up to be the perfect leader of our clan to make us stronger than the Chunbumoon but perhaps somewhere along the way, I began projecting my frustrations out on you. I truly am sorry"
Shi-Yun shook her head vehemently as her eyes began to moisten "Stop speaking nonsense Elder! I don't want to hear that kind of talk from you!"
In response to seeing his treasured junior worry so much over him, a warm smile curved onto Sun-Lai's lips. It looks like he wasn't as despised as he believed he was and that was all he needed to know to put his heart at ease.
"Tell Shi-Sen and the others that there was no other way" In one swift motion, Sun-Lai concentrated all of his inner ki as his body began to erupt into a powerful flame, one that was massively greater than what he had produced before.
"He's up to something, let's move!" Krash had noticed Sun-Lai's strange actions earlier and urged Mellow to move faster as the two of them suddenly increased their pace.
"Elder Lai, stop! You don't have to do this!" Shi-Yun shouted tearfully as she hadn't even noticed that tears were now dripping from her eyes but her words were lost on Sun-Lai who had already activated the technique.
There was no turning back now.
"Soul Blaze Arts Secret Technique: Soul Explosion!"
Moments later, Sun-Lai's body was covered from top to bottom by white flames as the flames grew larger and larger with each passing second. Krash and Mellow instantly froze when they saw those flames and wisely decided to retreat as they backed off by jumping backwards to find some shelter to hide behind.
After the white flames had built up to an overwhelming degree, they exploded outwards in every direction as they destroyed the several buildings in the area and covered the Illusion Barrier from every corner. It was a technique designed to weed out any and all threats as the white flames approached Krash and Mellow who both raised their arms and created a large force field to nullify the flames. The flames however were much stronger than either of them had anticipated and their force field began to crack under the immense pressure.
"Your output is too weak, Mellow!" Krash shouted towards his smiling companion who for a brief moment, lost his usual smile and adopted a cold expression, one that was completely opposite of his usual disposition.
Instantly, the force field doubled in size and fortitude as the flames were repelled and Krash sighed in relief towards seeing the additional help. Even though he was usually annoyed with Mellow, this was one of the few times that he was glad that he was a member of Paradise as his strength was unquestionable.
Unlike Krash and Mellow however, who had to protect themselves from the flames, Shi-Yun was unaffected as she stood in the same spot and was still in a daze towards the loss of her senior elder. Every member of the Yunhonmoon knew what technique he had used, a forbidden secret technique of the Soul Blaze Arts that gathered the very essence of one's soul and then exploded it outwards. It was one most powerful techniques their clan possessed, along with being one of their most lethal as it was a suicidal move that cost the user their life in exchange for the immense power held within it.
"W-Why..." Shi-Yun could not understand why he had resorted to using such a technique but knew that she couldn't afford to waste his sacrifice before she took off running in the opposite direction. The moment that she began running, the Illusion Barrier that had trapped them was broken and she returned back to reality and used every last ounce of her strength to run back to the Yunhonmoon Center.
She wiped away her tears with her sleeve, turning back once with a sorrowful gaze before looking forward once more, a pit of anger bubbling within her stomach as she clenched her fists.
"I promise one day, I'll avenge you... Elder Sun-Lai..."
As Shi-Yun left the area, the flames began to finally subside as Krash and Mellow were seen standing on the destroyed building, drips of sweat having been built upon their faces at having to expend a great deal of their mana to protect themselves.
"That was close, I wasn't expecting him to kill himself like that..." Krash noted, genuine respect building for the deceased martial artist. Though they were enemies, someone who was willing to die to protect those that he cherished was someone Krash could never look down upon and he found it to be a pity that the one they had to kill turned out to be such a loyal fellow.
"Aww~, I can't find that girl anywhere..." Mellow grumbled as he looked around the area that was back to normal after the Illusion Barrier had been destroyed "She must have escaped when we were blocking those flames"
"It's fine" Krash spoke, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it in his mouth as he puffed out a cloud of smoke "Though it's not exactly how I planned it, this might work out better for us. Judging by that guy's strength and how that girl referred to him with such respect, he definitely must have been a high ranking member of the Yunhonmoon. I'm certain that girl will tell the other elders about our presence here in Seoul, which will make us the primary target of the Yunhonmoon"
"But how is that a good thing? Isn't our goal not to start a war with these guys but too instead capture that boy with the mysterious ability?"
Krash snorted at Mellow's inability to see through his plan and plucked the cigarette in his mouth.
"Think about it for a second. You really think those martial artists are going to be worried about protecting that boy when one of their executive members was just killed? They'll believe that we're not just after that boy but also their members as well, which will make our job much easier as they'll exhaust their resources trying to pin point our location and won't have as many members to spare to protect him"
"Oooh!" Mellow finally understood Krash's aim as a wide smiled formed on his face. "You sure thought things through~"
"At least this much is needed to ensure this capture goes smoothly"
Krash was a careful man, a bit more careful than necessary but he found that it was better to be careful than careless, no matter what anyone else said.
That, and there was also the matter concerning Jackal that made Krash believe that he couldn't afford any unexpected variables in this situation.
"But what about that other clan? Are we going to attack their members too?" Mellow asked with a hopeful gaze.
Unfortunately, Krash shook his head to deny his subordinates lust for another battle.
"There's no need for that. I researched those two clans extensively and learned that while they may be rivals, they also exchange information and are sworn to defend Seoul as allies along with the Irregular Magician. Now that we've attacked one of the clans, the other one will surely rally to also eliminate us, so in essence we're killing two birds with one stone"
"Irregular Magician? Whose that supposed to be?" Mellow frowned as he had never heard that name before.
Krash waved his hand to dismiss Mellow's worries "Don't worry, everyone already knows the Irregular Magician never gets involved in conflicts within Seoul as he's completely neutral in matters regarding the Abyss. In fact, most people believe he's just a legend or a myth since they've never seen him. We shouldn't have to worry about him getting involved"
Mellow immediately lost interest when Krash had mentioned him being a myth and shrugged his shoulders.
"So, how much longer will we have to wait before we can capture that boy?"
Krash didn't respond immediately as he reached into his coat pocket and brought out his cell phone before dialing a few numbers.
"We'll catch him today"
Following Jee-Han's rather bold and bizarre statement towards the delinquents surrounding Yuri, an eruption of laughter exploded out from the various young men gathered in front of Jee-Han. It was clearly evident that none of them were taking him seriously as they mocked him openly.
"Low class mobs? Pft, did this guy seriously just say that?" One teen said as he clutched his gut in pain at his excessive laughing.
"M-My sides!" Another one screamed as he placed his hand against the nearby wall to catch himself from falling to the ground.
"What a loser. He's probably trying to act cool in front of this girl"
"Oi, Hei-Ran! You want us to take care of this punk or will you han... Hei-Ran?" One of the teenagers who was close to Yuri stopped mid sentence and arched an eyebrow when he saw the nervous expression that appeared over his friend's face. It was rather unsettling as it looked like he was actually a bit scared of the weirdo standing in front of them.
"Hey, the hell's the matter with you?" The delinquent asked as he nudged Hei-Rain in his elbow but to his annoyance, he didn't respond and just kept staring at the strange brown haired boy with a questioning glance.
"...How the hell did this guy enter my Illusion Barrier?"
Hei-Ran wasn't like the simple minded brutes that were hanging around him, he didn't find anything about the current situation funny or amusing at all. How could he? If that guy was inside his Illusion Barrier without Hei-Ran's permission, only one truth could be drawn from the mysterious teenager.
"He's an ability user? Just like me? Then what's his objective coming here?" Hei-Ran's eyes slowly trailed over towards the quiet but still frightened Yuri. "Is he seriously trying to save this girl?" He guessed that must have been it as he saw the surprised and hopeful look coming from Yuri towards the brown haired boy. Good, if they were acquainted then he could use her as a hostage.
Jee-Han on the other hand paid no attention to the rambling delinquents around Yuri and found his gaze staring directly at the middle teenager who looked as if he was the leader of these troublemakers. What made him definitely sure of that was the info that was seen above his head as he narrowed his eyes towards it.
«Level 16 Gang Hei-Ran»
"Level sixteen huh..."
It was a level that was pretty weak compared to the monsters that Jee-Han knew such as Sun-Il, Sung-Gong, and Shi-Yun, but rather strong to average humans such as Yuri. He looked around and sighed in relief that no one else had any levels above that as Jee-Han feared he might have gotten into a fight with a Cleaner group by accident.
Just to be safe, he whispered a command.
"Observe"
Name: Gao Hei-Ran
Class: Rogue Dropout
Title:《Leader of Outcasts》
Level: 16
Next Level: 0.00 %
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Nationality: Korean
Age: 21
Affection: 0/100
Magic Attribute: None
Natural Ability: None
Special Skills: None
STR: 31
VIT: 28
DEX: 29
INT: 12
WIS: 31
LUK: 17
WIL: 14
Background: A high school dropout who is now an acting gang leader of a rising gang in Seoul. After dropping out of high school, he gathered other academic failures like himself and made a gang to take over the streets of Seoul. He is heavily inexperienced as he has just recently discovered the Abyss but has promise due to his talent for fighting and has undergone intense physical training in mixed martial arts, making him stronger than an average human.
Emotions: Arrogance, Selfish, Cowardice
Alignment: -30
"Huh, so this is what a person's status looks like with max level『Observe』?" Jee-Han stared at the information page with a sparkling gaze as he noted the new information. The max level Observe was able to tell him everything he needed to know about a person in regards to not only their stats but also their personality, their attributes, their affection towards him, and even what their magic affinity was. Hell, even their moral alignment was listed!
However, the most shocking line of information that Jee-Han saw displayed was the "Natural Ability" heading. This meant that he was able to now see what ability a person was gifted too by Gaia! How crazy was that?
Putting this insane discovery to the side for the moment, Jee-Han relaxed his body posture as he cast a pitiful gaze towards not just Hei-Ran but also the crowed group of teenagers that were gathered next to him. Outside of Hei-Ran, who wasn't even much of a threat due to just finding out about the super natural, no one else here was even mildly threatening to say the least.
"These guys are nothing but small fry" He spoke out loud unintentionally, earning annoyed reactions from the Korean's that had previously found Jee-Han's presence amusing but now irritating at the words he had just spoken.
"Hey asshole" One of the men in the back said as he stepped forward so that he was eye level with Jee-Han "You got something to say to us? Huh?"
If it was a month ago, Jee-Han would have been scared out of his wits from the thug threatening him, but now? After he had already been through various life or death battles and spent the last several hours fighting one of the toughest bastards he's ever faced?
It was beyond laughable.
"I said that you were a small fry, or in technical terms, a weakling. Your even weaker than the goblins that I kill in the morning"
"You fucker!" The man roared as his face heated up and he unsurprisingly resorted to violence by aiming a punch directly at Jee-Han's face. He didn't know or care where this punk had come from as he couldn't tolerate a wimpy looking guy like that talking smack about him in front of his boys.
On Jee-Han's end, a look of utter astonishment appeared over his face at the incoming punch. He couldn't believe his eyes; the punch was so... the punch was so...!
"...Slow!" Jee-Han keenly observed as the fist felt like it would take an eternity to reach his face. Were people's punches supposed to be this slow? No way right?
Effortlessly, he side stepped and avoided the clumsy punch thrown by the thug who tripped on his own two feet after Jee-Han threw the man's entire center of gravity off when he moved out of the way. Before he could fall to the ground however, Jee-Han reached out and grabbed the back of the man's shirt and yanked him forward with a throw that sent the man zooming across the field as he crashed head first into the wall.
It took a moment before everyone else could react but when they did, they quickly darted their heads backwards to see their companion on the ground, knocked out cold as he laid against the wall with a dazed expression.
"...What... the hell?"
"H-How the hell did he just do that?"
"Who the fuck is this guy!?"
As expected, none of the men were showcasing their arrogance from earlier as they began freaking out after seeing their friend tossed back at them by someone much smaller than them in size.
Hei-Ran and Yuri were both stunned at the scene they just witnessed as they stared wordlessly at Jee-Han, who was looking at his arm with a shocked look on his face.
"That guy looks like he weighed over two hundred pounds... and I just threw him as if he was a baseball..." It was so shocking that Jee-Han thought he was dreaming for a moment. Even if he knew that the new passives that he had acquired,『Superhuman Strength』and『Swift Structure』were what allowed him to perform such an incredible feat, it was still a surprise to his mind to see how strong he had become against ordinary people.
Unexpectedly, a look of disappointment flashed across Jee-Han's face as he realized something.
"I can't use these guys to test out my new skills then..." He was itching to try both the『Senpo』and『Senkai』secret techniques but since these guys were so weak that he could beat them with just his base stats alone, there really was no chance to use his new skills. He sighed heavily but chose to let it go as he believed he'd get another chance later today.
"So" Jee-Han began as he took a step forward, glaring at the startled thugs "Anyone else want to have a go?"
The guys all traded looks between each other and hoped that someone other than them would step up. They weren't completely stupid, after seeing their friend got chucked like a rag doll into the wall and knocked out cold, they'd be stupid to try and fight a guy like that who must possess ridiculous strength, just like their leader.
"H-Hei-Ran, what do we do?" One of the men asked Hei-Ran with a nervous gaze.
"..."
Hei-Ran didn't say anything as he was trying to gauge Jee-Han's strength. At this point, he knew full well that Jee-Han was no ordinary individual and that he must also be a part of the Abyss. Hei-Ran was confident against beating any average ability user with his mixed martial arts but he wasn't sure if the guy standing in front of him just had monstrous strength or was also hiding something else. He scanned around his "friends" and smirked a bit; he could find that out by using these guys.
"Hey, what's the matter with you guys? Go-Rei was just careless against that guy, he's not that strong. Besides, you have me and if we all rush him together, we can easily take him" His words were venomous and deceptive but none of his companions doubted his words as their nervousness from before quickly evaporated.
"Y-Yeah, your right. We can take him!"
"He just got lucky! Let's beat his ass!"
"With Hei-Ran backing us, we can't lose to this skinny bitch!"
"Get him!"
Their sense of reason was lost and they all charged at Jee-Han, unaware that the man they placed so much faith in was sitting back and watching their charge with low expectations while also holding onto Yuri just in case.
"...What a bunch of idiots" Jee-Han sighed, unable to comprehend the mind's of other people who would stupidly charge at someone that was clearly out of their league. He cracked his knuckles before adopting a solid stance and then also rushed into the crowd of gathered thugs as they aimed their punches and kicks at him.
To the surprise of no one, Jee-Han easily avoided all of their strikes while also parrying a few as he spun around and round house kicked the living tar out of someone that sent their body spiraling backwards. Next, he jumped and then spun before landing a devastating drop kick on another, swiftly using their body as a spring board before jumping towards another target and slamming his foot directly into their nose. Landing on the ground, he moved once again at a speed far too fast for any average human to keep track of and positioned himself right underneath the last standing thug and proceeded to elbow the man in his stomach, causing the man to spit out saliva as his vision blurred and he fell to the ground with a large thud.
Thirty seconds had yet to pass before every thug excluding Hei-Ran was down and out on the ground as Jee-Han took a deep breath and he closed his eyes.
"Welp, it's official. I'm a badass" It took every fiber of control in his being to stop him from screaming that out loud and doing a jolly dance after just performing the equivalent of a Bruce Lee-esque combo. It wasn't a surprise though as Jee-Han's『Unarmed Combat Mastery』had reached a proficiency of B, giving him the hand to hand combat skills of an «Expert» fighter. You combine that with Jee-Han's outrageous physical stats when compared to such weaklings and it was easy to see how Jee-Han's performance was spectacular.
Yuri and Hei-Ran certainly seemed to think so as the two of them had their mouths hanging wide open and unable to understand how Jee-Han had performed a bunch of moves that looked straight out of a high budget movie. Hei-Ran was at least confident that his gang could expose some weakness in Jee-Han but the guy had just dealt with his entire group in less time than it took to heat up a pop tart.
"Even if I brought the whole gang, there's no way I could beat this guy" Hei-Ran hadn't even been able to keep track of all of Jee-Han's moves and could only see slight blurs whenever he moved. There'd be no question that he would get his ass whopped if he tried fighting that guy.
And since that was the case...
Reaching into his pocket, Hei-Ran pulled out a small swiss army knife and held it against the frightened Yuri's throat and directed a fearful gaze towards Jee-Han.
"Hey friend, I'd appreciate if you could quit showing off and not make any sudden movements. If you so much as twitch, I'm slicing this bitch's throat"
Jee-Han frowned heavily at the scene before him as he watched Yuri, who had been standing there like an idiot the entire time instead of taking the opportunity before to run away, become a hostage to Hei-Ran.
"...Damn. How the hell did I even get myself into a situation like this? This is only supposed to happen in movies and cartoons" Jee-Han always criticized the hero's who would drop everything if an innocent civilian was taken hostage but now that he was in that same position, the idea of him just saying 'So, who cares if you slice her throat?' didn't sit well with him at all and he reluctantly did as Hei-Ran told.
Yuri on the other hand was having a mental breakdown as she saw the knife aimed at her neck and paled when Hei-Ran applied more pressure to the knife as a thin trail of blood dripped out from her neck. It didn't hurt all that much but knowing that she was just moments away from being killed right after she had survived that incident with the killer wolf was enough to drive her mental state right into the ground. She began to hyper ventilate, her eyes became watery, and her body started to tremble uncontrollably.
Hei-Ran, who was unaware of the changes happening to Yuri, smiled wickedly when he saw Jee-Han stop moving and prepared to make his escape.
"Good, now stay right there you fucker as I... what the hell?" He finally seemed to notice something was off with Yuri as her body was trembling in an unnatural way.
"Hey bitch, the hell is wrong with you? Who said that you could move?"
"...go"
"Huh?"
"...et go"
"Speak up, I can't understand what your-"
"I SAID LET GO!"
It was a titanic scream as Hei-Ran felt his body forcibly pushed away from Yuri's as he was catapulted backwards, his head slamming straight into the wall. His head cracked as blood appeared on the back of his head and his eyes dimmed before he fell to the ground, unmoving.
"H-Huh?" Yuri finally seemed to gain control of her emotions as she glanced backwards and saw the damage that had been caused and shrieked horrifically.
"W-What happened!? W-What did I just do!? I...I... I!" Yuri was freaking out when she saw the bloodied Hei-Ran. Unable to handle the stress, Yuri immediately ran in a random direction, leaving the startled and confused Jee-Han alone to figure out the mess that just happened.
"This is...?"
Wisely, Jee-Han had casted his [Observe] skill on Yuri the moment before she had run off god knows where to try and make sense of what kind of power she had just used and to his astonishment, the answer to that was something he was not expecting.
Name: Mae Yuri-Sook
Class: Brainy Student
Title:《Studious Mathematician》
Level: 13
Next Level: 0.00 %
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Nationality: Korean
Age: 16
Affection: 5/100
Magic Attribute: None
Natural Ability:《Psychokinesis》
Special Skills:
•『Mind Push』
STR: 11
VIT: 9
DEX: 10
INT: 64
WIS: 65
LUK: 7
WIL: 6
Background: An incredibly intelligent high school girl who has been forced to study her entire life due to the pressure from her parents. As a result, she has developed an inferiority complex towards anyone who she deems as smarter than her and is so focused on getting good grades that she has become unsociable and mentally unstable. Her recent dilemma involving a street gang and a natural ability user caused her to awaken her dormant natural ability, Psychokinesis.
Emotions: Self Doubt, Instability, Studious, Attentive
Alignment: +25
"Psychokinesis..."
Jee-Han read the information with a half interested gaze as while he didn't really care all that much for the reason why Yuri had become the way she was in regards to her studying habits, he was definitely interested in what kind of ability she possessed. To think that she awakened a natural ability at this very moment, it was quite unexpected for Jee-Han who had never seen an ability user be born before.
"Hold on, these stats... they're just like Sung-Ah's..." Jee-Han dutifully noted the comparison between the two and came to the conclusion that they were both aligned towards becoming magic casters as opposed to physical monsters like Sun-Il or Shi-Yun.
Putting that aside for now, Jee-Han looked in the direction that Sung-Ah had run off too and realized that they were no longer inside of Hei-Ran's Illusion Barrier as he saw a few moving cars in the distance and heard the chattering of strangers around the corner. He looked over at Hei-Ran and saw that his HP bar was almost completely depleted, meaning that while he was still alive but clearly in no condition to use his mana to maintain the Illusion Barrier.
"So what am I supposed to do now..." Jee-Han sighed but already had an idea as to what his next move should be.
Obviously, he had to pay a visit to the Chunbumoon and tell them everything that had happened today. The fusion of the two inner ki techniques, his battle with Haku, and of course the awakening of Yuri's natural ability; he needed to come clean on all of this. The real problem that Jee-Han was facing at this moment however was...
"...Do I just leave these guys here?" He dryly spoke as his pitiful gaze was cast around the numerous knocked out thugs. Killing them was definitely out of the question and he would rather dance in a ballerina outfit than go through the trouble of taking them all to the hospital.
"What to do..." Jee-Han contemplated the matter as he placed his hand under his chin and just as he thought about running away, another idea flashed in his mind that would ensure he wouldn't have to worry about these guys ever picking a fight with him. With his mind made up, he bent down and placed a hand on Hei-Ran's shoulder and activated a skill.
"Yunhon Soul Recovery"
A flash of radiant light enveloped the slumped over body of Hei-Ran whose injuries began to heal, the huge scar on his neck slowly receding through Jee-Han's spell. It wasn't enough to heal the wound completely so Jee-Han activated the Soul Recovery technique a few more times until Hei-Ran's body was completely healed.
Satisfied, Jee-Han then shook Hei-Ran's body a few times to wake him up, an act that succeeded as the young man's eyes slowly began to open and he began mumbling some nonsense.
"W-here...W-Where am I?" It took a minute for Hei-Ran to gauge his surroundings as the last thing he could remember was him holding that girl before he felt some unnatural force catapult him backwards, after which he lost conscious. When he finally regained his bearings, he looked up and saw the mysterious brown haired boy from earlier smiling at him, causing Hei-Ran to jump in fright and back up against the wall.
"Morning sleeping beauty" Jee-Han greeted.
"Y-You.!" Hei-Ran was on edge as he could vividly remember the scene of this boy beating up his underlings without so much as the faintest trace of effort and feared for his life as he bowed before Jee-Han.
"L-Look, please don't kill me. I-
"Relax, I don't plan on killing anyone" Jee-Han interrupted, causing Hei-Ran to sigh in relief and look up at him.
"R-Really?"
Jee-Han nodded before he squatted down and placed a hand on Hei-Ran's shoulder, one that sent shivers down his spine.
"I don't want to kill any of you but if I ever see you guys attacking bystanders again..." He trailed off as the grip on Hei-Ran's shoulder became tighter, causing the man to hurriedly bow his head.
"We won't! We won't! I swear this by the gods!" Hei-Ran wasn't stupid, he knew there were many more monsters like Jee-Han wandering around the world who could squash him like an ant and he had no interest in angering those kind of people.
"Great, glad we understand each other then" Jee-Han smiled genuinely as he patted Hei-Ran's shoulder and stood up, turning to leave.
"W-Wait a minute!" Hei-Ran called out unexpectedly, causing Jee-Han to turn his head and raise his eye brows.
"What?"
"W-Who are you?"
Jee-Han wasn't sure how to answer that question since he didn't feel like he'd see Hei-Ran again but an amusing idea floated in his brain as he merely continued forward but raised a hand in the air.
"Just call me 'The Gamer'"
Hei-Ran didn't get the chance to respond to Jee-Han's answer before he disappeared around the corner, leaving the former with a stupefied expression before he looked around at his underlings and vowed to change his group's ethics, lest he encounter that guy again. He thought just because he was a bit strong and had magical powers, he could do whatever he pleased but he quickly found out that way of thinking would only lead to ruin. Today was a wake up call and he feared how many monster powerful entities existed within the Abyss, one's that made him and his group look like nothing but ants.
On Jee-Han's side, he had already cast Hei-Ran aside and was focused on heading back to the Chunbumoon to inform Sun-Il and the others of the spiral of events that had transpired today. Of course, Jee-Han had no way of knowing of the tragic fate that had befell one of Yunhonmoon elders, even after his senses had told him that something bad was going to happen.
The mood inside the Yunhonmoon Center was extremely tense as the occupants inside of the meeting room had been informed of the tragic fate of Sun-Lai by Shi-Yun, who had made it back to the Yunhonmoon safely and rushed to her grandparents along with Shi-Mai regarding the news of their dear friend having lost his life in battle.
"T-This can't be..." Shi-Mai spoke slowly, his brain unable to accept the reality in front of him. He wanted to believe that Shi-Yun was lying and that Sun-Lai had just been careless and received a minor injury but judging by the teary eyed look on the young girl's face, there was no possibility of that happening.
"Lai..." Shi-Yan spoke very solemnly, unlike her usual cheerful and welcoming self as her fists were clenched and she covered her eyes with one of her hands to prevent herself from becoming too emotional.
"..."
Shi-Sen was the only one who didn't say a word as his face was not visible due to the dark shadow that loomed over him. Shi-Sen was always a man who wore his emotions on his sleeve and never looked like the friendly type but right now, there would be very few people willing to strike a conversation with the man if they saw the dreadful look on his face.
"It's all my fault" Shi-Yun admitted with heavy remorse as her gaze was cast downward and she felt the pressure of being the one responsible for the death of her senior elder "If... If I wasn't so useless, Elder Lai wouldn't have had to..." She couldn't even finish her sentence as she choked on her words. Right now, it felt as if she didn't even deserve the right to speak his name anymore.
That's how badly she felt about it.
"...Who was it?" Those short but powerful words came from Shi-Sen who wasn't even facing Shi-Yun and kept looking out the window inside of the room.
"I'm not going to ask you again child, who the hell was it!" Shi-Sen roared thunderously as he slammed his fist forward, smashing the wall in front of him to pieces as Shi-Yun flinched at the showcase of power and hastily hurried to answer her grandfather's question.
"They... They called themselves Paradise..."
Immediately, the looks on all of the adult's faces in the room hardened when they heard the name of the ones responsible for Sun-Lai's death
"...Are you absolutely certain that's what you heard?" Shi-Sen needed to know immediately as if it truly was them, then the entire situation had changed drastically.
"...Yes grandfather. Before Elder Sun-Lai's passing, he told me to inform all of you of the name of their group..."
"...So it really is them" Shi-Sen was non too pleased with the revelation of what he was dealing with.
"I-If I may grandfather, who exactly are these people that call themselves Paradise?"
"I'll tell you" Shi-Mai stepped up before Shi-Sen even had the chance as he took a deep breath and folded his arms "They're a professional A-Ranked Cleaner group that considered among the best within the Cleaner business. They're quite infamous as anyone who has been in the Abyss long enough has at least heard several rumors about them, especially regarding how they're capture rate is almost one hundred percent guaranteed"
"Do we have any information regarding their current members?" Shi-Yan inquired but Shi-Mai unfortunately shook his head.
"None. Information on Paradise is beyond scarce as they're constantly on the move and make sure to eliminate any and all leaks regarding them. The one thing I do know however is that if they're really the group that has come to Seoul, the situation is far worse than we thought"
Shi-Yun swallowed her spit when she saw the anxious expressions written on her grandmother's and Shi-Mai's faces and turned to her grandfather, who may have had his back turned to her but seemed like he was worried about them as well.
"Grandfather... I heard them speak about Jee-Han, that they're after him..."
"I know" Shi-Sen responded, a fierce scowl on his face as his body trembled in rage. "...but I cannot worry about protecting that boy when one of my brothers has been killed"
"...I just don't understand why they would kill Sun-Lai if their objective was to get to that boy. What purpose would it serve to anger us if they're trying to capture him discreetly?" Shi-Mai tried to piece together all of the facts but was unable to come up with a solution. If they were really set on capturing Jee-Han, then angering one of the strongest clans in Seoul region was beyond foolish. Shi-Mai desperately felt as if he was missing something here.
"It doesn't matter"
Six pairs of eyes turned towards Shi-Sen who had finally turned around; his body radiating a powerful red glow as the glare on his face was powerful enough to strike fear into the hearts of his family.
"I will kill those two bastards who were responsible for Sun-Lai's death. This, I promise you"
"...Right"
"...Of course"
Shi-Mai and Shi-Yan felt the same as their leader and while they may still have been suspicious about Paradise's movements, they also were raging towards the death of one of their own. Besides, if they managed to kill the Cleaners, then Jee-Han would be safe anyway so they decided to make that their priority.
"Shi-Mai" Shi-Sen turned towards the man "Gather every member across Seoul and have them investigate the area where Sun-Lai was killed. We will leave no stone untouched in our hunt for them"
"Understood" Shi-Mai replied as he hastily left the room to carry out his order.
"Shi-Yan" Shi-Sen's eyes now wandered to his beautiful wife "Have the scouting division transfer their central command over to you. I want you to inform Shi-Mai or myself the moment you detect an unauthorized Illusion Barrier being created anywhere in Seoul"
"...Alright" Shi-Yan accepted her beloved's orders without question and turned to leave the room before she glanced over at Shi-Yun and smiled reassuringly at her "It's not your fault, Yun-Yun" She then left the room as only Shi-Yun and Shi-Sen remained.
A talk between a grandfather and his granddaughter was usually more relaxed and happy but the mood between these two was quite dark as Shi-Yun fidgeted while stealing glances towards the unhappy Shi-Sen.
"Shi-Yun"
"Y-Yes!" She answered hastily, startled that he had called her name and straightened up.
Shi-Sen remained quiet for what seemed to be an eternity before he stepped forward and grabbed Shi-Yun by her soft shoulders and embraced her into a tight embrace. Shi-Yun was too stunned by the sudden action to react to it and felt her grandfather's strong and powerful arms tightly squeeze her as she slowly looked up at him.
"...Grandfather?"
"Thank god that you came back to us..."
Shi-Sen's words were filled with warmness as he squeezed Shi-Yun even further, as if he didn't want to let her go. He didn't show his concern openly but there was no denying that he loved his granddaughter immensely, not just because she was one of the few remaining family he had left but also because she was the treasure that his son and Shi-Yun's father, Kwon Shi-Ru, had left behind. Shi-Ru had died many years ago but the pain he felt that day was still lingering in Shi-Sen's heart and he never wanted to experience losing another blood relative again.
An insurmountable amount of gratitude erupted from Shi-Sen towards his deceased comrade, Sun-Lai as the man had protected Shi-Yun and allowed her to escape by sacrificing himself. Though Shi-Sen could never forgive the man for dying on him, he thanked the late man from the bottom of his heart for allowing his beloved granddaughter to make it back home safely.
Shi-Yun remained quiet, content on staying on her grandfather's embrace as she silently wept for Sun-Lai. They weren't particularly close but Sun-Lai had been one of her guardians that she respected and admired due to his loyalty towards the clan. He may have been harsh but she knew that everything he did was for the prosperity of the Yunhonmoon, which was why she never resented him for his harsh treatment of her. Now that she had been saved only because of his sacrifice, she felt even more admiration for him and wanted to apologize for being such a useless burden. Would he have been happy or angry to hear that from her?
Minutes passed before Shi-Sen finally decided to end the embrace and then patted his granddaughter on her shoulder, staring at her with fierce and determined eyes.
"Shi-Yun, do you want to avenge Sun-Lai's death?"
"Absolutely" Shi-Yun answered immediately, her vulnerable state from before having vanished as the same look that Shi-Sen was known for appeared over her face.
"Good, then I want you to head over to the Chunbumoon and inform them of what happened"
"The Chunbumoon?" It was an unexpected command that Shi-Yun never anticipated her grandfather would assign as she tilted her head "Why do they need to be involved?"
"I'm not taking any chances with a group like Paradise moving actively in our borders. It pains me to admit it but we'll need their assistance in tracking those bastards down. However, we'll be the ones who will confront them and finish them off. They will not take this right from us as we have already declared war against them. Do you understand?"
"Yes" Shi-Yun needed no further instruction and she was prepared to head out immediately.
"Then leave immediately. Also, I want you to stick close to that boy. If Paradise is truly after him, then we need someone who has a close connection to him and can notify the rest of the clan if the enemy has appeared. Can you handle that?"
"Of course. I will not fail this mission grandfather, this I swear" After what happened to Sun-Lai, Shi-Yun wasn't about to let her grandfather down as she resolved herself to stick as closely to Jee-Han as possible if it meant having another encounter with Paradise.
"Then be off. Be careful, Shi-Yun"
"Yes"
With that short exchange, Shi-Yun immediately ran out of the room as Shi-Sen watched her figure leave with a tender gaze before he shifted his eyes towards the open window and at the bright sun still in the sky. His pupils began to change as they became crimson and the same red aura from before began to cover his body, an indication that Shi-Sen's rage was becoming unstable and was about to burst.
"Paradise... you will pay for what you did to my brother..."
"Haaaa..."
A heavy sigh escaped the mouth of a certain individual as they sat on a bench in the middle of a park crowded with numerous people, kids and adults alike just having a good time or enjoying the scenery. Namsan Park; that was the name of the park that this individual had come too and they had done so for the simple reason of trying to clear away the fatigue written on their face.
Aaron Leonhart, the youngest member of Paradise and an ability user, was exhausted after spending nearly an entire hour running around the entirety of Seoul trying to find the weakest link of security for the Yunhonmoon and Chunbumoon. Per Krash's orders, he had scouted every district and had found the perfect area for an ambush as he sent the coordinates to his boss who then ordered him to remain on standby and keep an eye on the primary target.
"Just where did that guy go?" Aaron wondered as he had traveled to every location that Jee-Han usually took but was unable to find any trace of him. It was as if he had disappeared into thin air and it made Aaron annoyed as he hated being unable to find someone when scouting was his specialty. In the end, Aaron had decided to give up on his search for now and try to relax within the open park and believed he'd show himself sooner or later anyway.
Pushing that thought aside for now, Aaron arched his head backwards and stared at the floating clouds that seemed to drift endlessly within the sky. He couldn't count the amount of times he had done this whenever he was alone or when he was with his sister many years ago and somehow, it just became a habit for him. It made his restless heart feel at peace whenever he saw those clouds, he couldn't explain the reasoning behind it.
Aaron then gently gripped the pendant around his neck and flicked it open, revealing the image of himself and a brown haired girl who was embracing an embarrassed Aaron from his neck.
"Claire..." He spoke softly as he was unable to get the woman in the photo out of his mind. His sister, the one that had taken care of him since he was a little boy and the one that he cherished the most in this world. The feeling of wanting to see her again after being separated for so long became stronger with each passing day. It was made even worse by the sudden appearance of that high school girl that resembled his sister to a frightening degree as Aaron recalled seeing her battling alongside the primary target yesterday.
"I wonder... what her name was?"
"Who are you talking about?"
"Oh, nobody I was just-bwah!" Aaron nearly fell off of the bench he was sitting on when he turned to his left to see a young girl staring at him with a curious gaze. He wouldn't have bat an eyelash if it was someone random but the girl that had surprised him was someone that Aaron couldn't forget about and who had been on his mind.
"I-It's her...!" Aaron couldn't understand why but the girl that had been with Han Jee-Han was now sitting next to him on the bench with her head tilted, wondering what was wrong with him.
"Sorry, did I scare you? I saw you talking to yourself and couldn't help my curiosity" She spoke honestly with an innocent gaze that made Aaron flinch as her mannerisms and manner of her speech were also remarkably similar to his sister.
"N-No, you didn't scare me. I was just taken a bit off guard" He answered hastily before avoiding her gaze and stared randomly at the ground "I was uh, just thinking out loud by accident. Forget you heard anything" He wanted to shoot himself at his awkward attitude towards her but couldn't help it as he felt a bit embarrassed about the entire situation that he moved on instinct.
"Oh, is that so?" If Sung-Ah was bothered by Aaron's attitude, she didn't show it as she smiled brightly "I'm Hwan Sung-Ah, may I ask who you are?"
The moment that Sung-Ah had spoken her name, Aaron was unable to hide the disappointment in his face when he finally confirmed that this girl was not his sister. No matter how much she resembled her, they weren't the same person and he needed to accept that. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Aaron turned around to meet Sung-Ah's smile as he answered her.
"The name's Aaron. Aaron Leonhart"
"Wow, you've got a really cool name!" Sung-Ah expressed happily, causing Aaron to blush a bit as he scratched his cheek awkwardly and looked to the side.
"Y-You think?"
"Yeah! It sounds like the name of a superhero, the ones who are always trying to save the day to keep their friends safe"
"...Huh?" Aaron deadpanned with a raised eyebrow as he found Sung-Ah's answer to be perplexing regarding his name. A Superhero? How in the world did she come to that conclusion?
Shaking his head, Aaron tried to redirect the conversation. Since she was clearly acquainted with the target that he and his group was after, this was a good opportunity to get some information out of her.
"So.. what made you decide to come to the park today?"
"I wanted to go outside and enjoy the view" Sung-Ah responded immediately as she stretched her legs and looked at the beautiful sun in the sky. "It's... been a long time since I've been outside like this and I want to enjoy it"
"What prevented you from coming outside before?" Aaron asked, feigning ignorance as he had already heard from Jade regarding the girl's circumstances.
Sung-Ah looked back at Aaron with a blank stare, as if trying to decide whether she could answer his question truthfully. Aaron froze a bit under that neutral gaze but sighed in relief when he saw Sung-Ah smile brightly once again.
"I had very serious illness until recently and because of that illness, I was always stuck inside and unable to visit parks like what I'm doing now" Sung-Ah's smiled dropped a bit as she slowly shifted her feet. "My father tried his best to help me through those times and if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here right now"
"...What about your mother?" Aaron asked with notable interest as he, for some odd reason, wanted to learn more about this girl but he flinched when he saw the shadow that loomed over her face when he had mistakenly mentioned her mother.
"...She's not around anymore"
"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything" Aaron quickly apologized, surprising himself as he wasn't a person known to try and comfort others but found it to be appropriate during this situation as he was the cause of her discomfort.
Sung-Ah shook her head and smiled back at Aaron. "It's not your fault that she's no longer here so don't concern yourself with it. She died when I was very little so I don't remember very much about her. I really... wish that I got a chance to talk with her now that I'm older"
Aaron remained quiet, unable to jump into the conversation as he had no idea what kind of words he could say to cheer her up. He quickly searched around the park for a solution and saw an ice cream truck selling ice cream to the kids in the park and smirked when he saw it. Why didn't he think of it sooner? Whenever his sister was down, a fresh cone of ice cream was always a good way to get her to cheer up!
"Wait right here"
"...Okay?"
Aaron left the confused Sung-Ah on the bench as he got up and walked over towards the ice cream truck.
"Two vanilla sprinkles" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a few bills before handing them to the man inside the truck and walked back to where Sung-Ah was.
"Here"
"...?" Sung-Ah confusedly accepted the vanilla sprinkle in her hand from Aaron as she looked back at him with a puzzled gaze.
"What? You've never eaten ice cream before?" Aaron proceeded to lick his ice cream and enjoy the cold and soft delicacy in his hand.
"No, I have eaten this before it's just... why did you buy it for me?"
"...You looked a bit down so I thought maybe, you needed something to cheer you up" Aaron explained but refused to keep eye contact with the surprised girl as he continued licking his ice cream. "Hurry up and eat it before it begins to melt"
Sung-Ah stared at him for a bit longer before she decided to follow his advice and slowly licked the tip of the ice cream. The flavor of the vanilla added with sprinkles made her body shiver in delight and she gleefully licked the entire cone this time, unaware of the happy look on Aaron's face.
"Good, she's not depressed anymore..." Aaron was relieved but found that it was strange that he had spent any effort in trying to make the girl in front of him feel better. Was it just because she looked so much like sister that he felt compelled to talk more with her? Or was it because she was someone who Aaron could speak with on a normal level, despite being relative strangers? He seriously pondered which answer it could be.
"It's delicious! Thanks alot, Aaron" Sung-Ah beamed joyfully, her bubbly and lively personality rubbing off on Aaron as he felt a bit embarrassed and nodded at her thanks.
A comfortable silence befell the two of them as they sat on the bench and licked their ice cream, with Aaron finding it much more difficult to start a conversation as he tried to think of a topic to bring up. As he was doing so, he was caught off guard by Sung-Ah suddenly asking him a question.
"Do you mind me asking who Claire is?"
"...!" Aaron immediately darted his head over to Sung-Ah who was looking at him while cocking her head to the side.
"H-How do you know that name?"
"You said her name out loud so I was curious to know who she was. Is that okay?" Sung-Ah asked, showcasing a puppy dog eye look as Aaron swallowed his spit at that face. He dreaded it because it was the same face that Anna and Jade would make towards him when they wanted something.
"S-She's..." He hesitated, unsure on whether it was safe to reveal such an important figure in his life to a total stranger but strangely enough, he still continued talking "...My sister. I've been looking for her but I haven't been able to find her..."
"Oh..." Sung-Ah realized she must have brought up a sensitive subject and made haste to apologize "I'm sorry if I-
"No" Aaron cut her off as he closed his eyes "It's alright. I'm not a child, I can handle talking about it in public" He then grabbed the pendant he was wearing once again and flipped it open, showing Sung-Ah the picture inside of it. "This is her"
Sung-Ah inched forward to get a closer look and nearly felt her heart stop when she got a good look at the woman in the photograph. If her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, she would have sworn that this was a photograph of her! The resemblance between herself and the woman in the photo was uncanny.
"...This is Claire?"
"Yeah. I know, you must also see the resemblance between you" Aaron chuckled a bit, not sure what he found funny about this situation at all.
"I thought I was looking into a mirror at first" Sung-Ah joked before inching backward and stared at Aaron with a curious gaze. "Is it alright if I ask what happened to her?"
Aaron flinched but remained calm on the surface nonetheless as he avoided Sung-Ah's gaze.
"She and I were both orphans when we were young and grew up in the same orphanage. Back then, I was always crying and afraid of everyone and so Claire took it upon herself to look after me as I was her real brother"
Sung-Ah must have realized something as she looked at Aaron with a confused stare "So she wasn't your real sister?"
Aaron nodded, a faint smile curving onto his lips "We were siblings in name only. I never knew my parents or if I had any brothers or sisters so Claire was the only family I had. She was kind and gentle, but also strong and unwavering whenever she protected me. It always frustrated me that I was never able to protect her instead and I wanted to become a man capable of looking after her"
"She sounds completely different than me. I'm not strong enough to protect someone else..." Sung-Ah reflected on herself and began admiring Claire even more as she wished that she had enough courage to be like her and stand on her own two feet.
"It was rough surviving back then but as long as sis and I were together, I knew everything would be fine. But..." Aaron's face contorted and he began to clench his fists tightly, unaware of Sung-Ah flinching at his mood change "...Claire and I were separated when all of the kids in our orphanage were kidnapped by a group of strange men wearing black suits"
Aaron could remember that day very clearly, the day that his entire world changed as he was taken away by a strange group of men and taken to some laboratory where he and numerous other kids were drugged and used for various experiments. Whether it was because he couldn't or simply didn't want to remember that torturous experience, Aaron's memories of the time he spent as a lab rat were fizzled to say the least and he had a hard time even remembering how long he had been captured for before finally escaping.
After awhile, Aaron began to calm down but failed to realize that he was beginning to scare all of the other passengers within the park because of the apparent rage surrounding him and came back to his senses when he felt someone poking his shoulder. A bit annoyed, he glared at the person who was poking him but found himself losing all of his rage when he saw Sung-Ah making a silly face at him, like the ones adults did when trying to make a baby laugh.
"P-Pffft!" Aaron had to hold back the urge to laugh as he turned his head away to hide his laughter.
"Ah! You just laughed!" Sung-Ah expressed happily as she stopped making the face and smiled.
"I-I did not!" Aaron tried to deny it but the flush on his cheeks was a poor way of trying to disguise his genuine laughter.
"Hehe, it's okay. There's no need to deny it, I've read in books that laughter is a great way to get your mind off of something"
"...Laughter? Wait, were you... trying to cheer me up?" Aaron asked skeptically. To his slight surprise, Sung-Ah nodded without hesitation.
"Yup. You bought me ice cream to try and cheer me up so I wanted to return the favor"
"...You..." Aaron was speechless at Sung-Ah's integrity and found himself staring deeply at her colorful face and cheerful smile. She may have claimed that she had nothing in common with Claire except for her looks but Aaron knew that couldn't be further than the truth. Everything about them was so similar, even the way they cheered him up when he was feeling either down or upset.
Sung-Ah then grabbed onto Aaron's hand unexpectedly and inched herself forward so that she was only a few inches away from his face.
"No matter what, you have to promise me that you'll find your sister. You absolutely must promise me, okay?"
Aaron resisted the urge to back up immediately from the close proximity with Sung-Ah, who smelled wonderful, and obediently nodded his head "Yeah, I will..."
Sung-Ah smiled widely at his response "That's good" She then let go of his hand and continued to lick into her ice cream as Aaron looked a bit puzzled by her sudden change but remained motionless and thought about what he should say next. He knew that he didn't have the right to try and be friends with Sung-Ah, considering the profession he was in, but he also understood that being involved with Paradise was the fastest way to get any leads on his sister as their ability to gather information was second to none.
That said, Aaron wanted to do everything he could to make sure Sung-Ah didn't get involved in Paradise's affairs.
"If if it's just to protect her..." Aaron thought about it deeply and tried to think of a way to warn Sung-Ah without revealing his own group's motives but as he was doing so, he was completely oblivious to the strange behavior of Sung-Ah who spotted someone in the distance.
"Hey, isn't that...?" Sung-Ah muttered, standing on her two feet as she threw the ice cream she was holding into the garbage and bowed towards Aaron "I'm sorry, something has come up so I must go. I hope to see you again sometime" With that, she quickly sped off in the direction of the individual she had spotted, leaving Aaron still muttering in his mind on what he should do about Sung-Ah.
"I got it!" Aaron said, taking a deep breath before he turned to face Sung-Ah and spoke his next few words "You have to be careful, Sung-Ah. There's a lot of dangerous people around and you should especially be wary of those that- huh?"
It just dawned on him that Sung-Ah was no longer sitting next to him and he looked around the park frantically to find her but had no luck and looked completely puzzled.
"Where in the world did she go?"
Yuri had no idea where she was going or where she was even at as she passed a corner and stopped to catch her breath, her hair a complete mess and her body sweating profusely. It was quite unbecoming of a lady to look so ragged but those were probably the least of Yuri's worries as she glanced at her trembling hands, recalling what happened earlier.
"Just what the hell is wrong with me!" She shouted towards no one in particular and began weeping as she didn't even understand what was going on in her life anymore. Her only aim today was to see what that gamer boy, Han Jee-Han was up to and somehow it had ended up with Yuri almost being assaulted by a bunch of thugs and her somehow being able to send one of those thugs flying with some strange power.
"T-This has to be a dream right? It can't be real..." Yuri's sense of logic and reasoning was quickly disappearing and she desperately wanted to wake up from whatever nightmare she was having. She pinched her cheek and slapped herself numerous times but no matter how many times she did, she wasn't waking up. Which would mean that...
"This is reality..." Yuri felt her world shattering as everything she had learned or come to believe was crumbling right in front of her. To continue to deny reality when it was staring her right in the face would be the epitome of self delusion as Yuri fell to the ground and hugged herself while leaning against a wall.
"Somebody... help me" She weakly cried out, not actually expecting someone to come to her rescue but found herself flinching when she heard a familiar voice speak next to her.
"...Are you alright?"
Yuri slowly raised her head and her eyes widened in disbelief when she saw none other than Sung-Ah looking at her from around the corner with a sympathetic gaze.
"...What are you doing here?" Yuri couldn't actually consider it a good thing that Sung-Ah was here as she didn't trust the girl after realizing that she had lied to her.
"I was just about to ask you the same thing. I saw you running across the street in a panic and so I was curious to know what you were doing" A frown then appeared over Sung-Ah's face "You don't look so good"
"Oh gee, you think?" Yuri thought sarcastically but kept that comment in her head as she scoffed at Sung-Ah's concern and turned her head.
"It's none of your business why I'm here. It's not like you could do anything to help me so just leave me alone..."
"Oh, is that so? Alright then"
"H-Huh!?"
Yuri practically yelped in fright when she actually saw Sung-Ah turning to leave and she hastily grabbed the girl's sleeve to prevent her exit.
"W-Wait, your not supposed to actually leave!"
"But I thought you just said you wanted me too?"
"W-Well yes I did but..."
"So which is it? Do you want my company or not?"
Yuri almost coughed blood at Sung-Ah's straightforward response as she was sure that she was supposed to be comforted in a less direct way. Before, her pride would never allow herself to ask for someone else's help but considering the situation, Yuri lost any of her previous arrogance and lowered her head with rosy cheeks and whispered.
"...Please help me"
Sung-Ah smiled happily as she had gotten an honest answer out of the stubborn student "Then you should have just said so" Sung-Ah turned around and then bent down so that she was eye level with her. "So, what's problem?"
Yuri couldn't believe how blunt and cunning Sung-Ah was and sighed inwardly before turning her gaze downwards. Where could she even begin? Could she really try to explain the ridiculous story she had just experienced to this girl? Would she even believe her? Although, Yuri did believe that if anyone knew what was wrong with her, Sung-Ah did as she seemed to know more about these supernatural phenomenon's than she let on.
Jee-Han also came to mind but Yuri had no desire to speak with him, especially after she saw what he did to those thugs and chose Sung-Ah to console her problems too.
"...I... I think I'm losing my mind. I don't know what's going on with me anymore..."
"What do you mean?" Sung-Ah asked with a puzzled expression.
Yuri knew that Sung-Ah wouldn't understand with just that much of an explanation and inhaled before she proceeded to replay the events of what had transpired earlier, including her meeting with Jee-Han and even her mysterious power that sent that thug flying backwards.
When she finished explaining, a look of disbelief appeared over Sung-Ah's face as she expressed her doubt.
"You sure you didn't just hit your head?"
"Are you trying to pick a fight!?" Yuri retorted with an enraged face as Sung-Ah tried to defuse her anger with an awkward smile.
"I was joking" Though she may have said that, there was no doubt that Sung-Ah was heavily worried regarding Yuri's story that she had just heard and a dark realization had washed over regarding what the implications of what this meant.
All of a sudden, Sung-Ah stood up as she grabbed Yuri by her hand and yanked her up, proceeding to walk out of the street comer.
"H-Hey, where are you taking me?" Understandably, Yuri was confused by Sung-Ah's latest actions and tried to make sense of what was going on.
"We're heading back to the hospital" Sung-Ah announced, causing Yuri to tilt her head in confusion.
"And why are we going back there?"
"Because I'm going to explain to you what the Abyss is"
A/N: Boom! How was that for a return chapter?
So we have several new developments happening in the story, especially the big revelation that Yuri has become a natural ability user! Shocking huh? I dropped some hints before when she was attacked by the Shadow Wolf with Jee-Han and Sung-Ah so I wonder how many of you saw it coming? The ability Gaia picks for you is usually related to something you cherish, like how Jee-Han was gifted a power involving games. In this case, Yuri was given the power to manipulate objects with her mind as her brain is her most precious asset.
I'm sure some of you may have saw Sun-Lai's death coming but it was only the beginning of the dark events that will transpire during this story and will motivate Shi-Yun to reach new heights.
Aaron finally made contact with his sister's look alike? Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. Just know Aaron will have to make a rather tough decision very soon.
Look forward to the next one!
Name: Han Jee-Han
Class: The Gamer
Title:《Wielder of Divine Ki》
Level: 39
Element Affinity:
• Nature - 20
• Earth - 83
• Darkness - 12
HP: 3030/3030
MP: 4810/4810
SP: 1150/1150
STR: 77
VIT: 77
DEX: 77
INT: 79
WIS: 83
LUK: 55
WIL: 59
Available Points: 11
Money: 7,575,006
Skills
Offensive:
• Energy Bolt (Active) Lv: 2
• Mana Arrow (Active) Lv: 2
• Spiral Javelin (Active) Lv: 2
• Life Drain (Active) Lv: 1
• Blazing Spiral Javelin (Active) Lv: 2
• Vine Control (Active) Lv: 4
• Meteor Shot (Active) Lv: 5
• Vine Drain (Active) Lv: 2
Defensive:
• Mana Shield (Active) Lv: 8
• Steel Skin (Active) Lv: 3
• Senpo (Active) Lv: MAX
• Senkai (Active) Lv: MAX
Support:
• Yunhon Soul Recovery (Active) Lv: 10
• Observe (Active) Lv: MAX
• Spirit Channel (Active) Lv: MAX
• Sensory (Passive) Lv: MAX
• Replication (Active) Lv: 12
• Senbu Spirit Technique (Active) Lv: 5
Resistances and Masteries:
• Physical Endurance (Passive) Lv: MAX
• Blunt Weapon Mastery (Passive) Lv: 5
• Unarmed Combat Mastery (Passive/Rank B) Lv: 15
• Sword Mastery (Passive) Lv: 5
• Earth Magic Mastery (Passive Active) Lv: MAX
Miscellaneous:
• ID Create (Active) Lv: 10
• ID Escape (Active) Lv: 9
• Shadow Step (Active) Lv: 3