Chapter 632

〈 Chapter 632 〉 Part 2, Chapter 2, Section 32

Keeeeeek!

The C Rank Monster turned into a honeycomb and died thanks to the magical bullets. Park Pyeong-sik and the rest of the defense team couldn’t believe what they had just done.

“Uh, how…?”

“Thank you all. You followed my instructions perfectly.”

The magical girls bowed deeply and gathered in one spot. Though numerous D and C Rank Monsters lay scattered around, the girls didn’t seem particularly interested in the cores of these beasts.

“Captain. We’ve just received our final orders from ‘that person’…”

“Speak, please!”

“We need to retreat from here immediately. Right now.”

The magical girls pointed toward Gangneung City. The defense team members, who were replacing their empty magazines with fresh ones after firing off all their magical bullets, began to wrestle with conflicting emotions as they rolled their eyes back and forth.

“Huh, but…!”

“Look at those cores!”

In front of their very eyes lay the corpses of the monsters they had hunted. Each corpse had its core exposed, within easy reach if they were to dash forward just a little past the fence.

“No, we must leave right away!”

But the men couldn’t resist the sweet temptation before them. Despite the hologram warning lights flashing red, urging them to flee, they threw off their cumbersome Magical Gears and scrambled to collect the cores.

“Hmph! One of these is worth an old car, damn it!”

“Just three! Let’s grab three each!!”

“Where’s that C Rank one?”

Drunk on victory or perhaps blinded by greed for the abundant cores, Park Pyeong-sik hesitated to issue a retreat order as his team dove headfirst into the pile of cores.

“……gulp.”

There were easily over a hundred cores lying there. Just grabbing five or six good ones would fetch at least 100 million won. A Hero like himself could escape with that much in under a minute.

“You need to run NOW!!”

“But thank you all so much, go ahead first!”

“Yeah! We’ll grab these and then leave!”

Ignoring the magical girls’ warnings, the defense team stuffed monster cores, stained with blood, into the inner pockets of their reserve uniforms. Their eyes only saw the cores, deaf to the girls’ cries and the retreat signals from their Magical Gears.

“Cores, cores!”

It was as if their vision had been clouded by the ominous magic power emanating from the cores. And the price they paid was horrifying.

Puck!

“Eh…?”

The uniform of the man who had plunged his hand into the belly of the hornet-like monster to retrieve its core was pierced clean through. A spike-sized stinger had penetrated his abdomen from front to back.

Trrrrrrk, Trrrrrrk….

The hornet monster, still clutching its core, jabbed its poisonous stinger into the man’s stomach. Whether it had been playing dead or using its last ounce of strength before dying, the hornet’s strike had certainly hit its mark.

“Ughhh, kheugh…!”

The man spat out dark red blood. Crimson stains spread across his digital camouflage uniform, and his Magical Gear began to lose its glow.

“Aaaah!!”

As one member fell, the rest of the defense team snapped back to reality and scrambled out of the monster graveyard, heading back toward the fence.

“What the hell?! Why is this thing so high?!”

Though they hadn’t noticed when they jumped down, the fence was naturally tall, designed to keep monsters out. In their greed for cores, they hadn’t even realized they’d injured their own legs.

“Eh, eh…?”

“My leg…why is it suddenly…?”

And at that moment…

Aaaaaiiiing—!!

The alarm from their discarded Magical Gears began to blare. It wasn’t the Dimensional Gate warning; instead, it signaled the approach of a dangerous monster.

[A-Rank Monster approaching!!]

On everyone’s Magical Gear screens, an image appeared: a humanoid-shaped monster running on two legs through the mountains, looking much like an ostrich sprinting through the forest.

The problem was that this beast was heading straight for the defense team.

“Ah, aaaagh!”

Paralyzed by fear of death, the defense team members started shaking the fence in panic. Those attempting to climb up from below shouted in surprise.

“Idiots! You’re going to collapse the fence!”

“Help us! Save us!”

“These morons!!”

Having lured themselves into danger by greedily collecting cores, they now endangered everyone else. Leaving them behind meant the fence might collapse, allowing not only the A-Rank but also the C-Rank monsters to break onto the road. Saving them meant risking annihilation by the incoming A-Rank.

“F***…this is so unfair.”

Why should they risk their lives because of a few crazy individuals? As Park Pyeong-sik’s fists trembled in frustration…

[Isn’t moving in unreasonable situations exactly what Heroes do?]

From beyond the fence, three magical girls leapt down.

* * *

– What? Are they really going to save those guys?

– Cheongnyeon, this is all your fault!!

He isn’t even dead yet, and the commotion has already begun. The instant the command came to rescue the defense team members blinded by greed for cores, the chat exploded.

‘Technically, it’s Yuna who drew the aggro, but it’s definitely their own fault.’

The A-Rank monster is charging directly toward Yuna, and thus toward us. Without Yuna, the monster probably would’ve gone elsewhere. But because of Yuna—and the plans of our team and my orders—they got the chance to collect those cores.

‘But folks, isn’t this a Hero game?’

Even in absurdly unfair situations, isn’t it the role of the protagonist to move for the peace of Earth and the tranquility of the world?

‘This is a game where even trolls need protection, after all.’

– I really want to kill these guys.

– But if we leave them, they’ll become villains. Haha.

– Still, if we save them, we might get rewards later… maybe… haha.

And heroines are those who bravely face such absurdities, risking their lives for others.

‘That’s why they’re heroines.’

The kind of people who leap into action without hesitation when ordered by the protagonist to save someone in danger.

The kind of people who can argue against an order to abandon others and retreat.

‘Heroes.’

While talent and character don’t necessarily correlate, those who possess heroic qualities and self-sacrificing willpower are what we call heroines.

“It’s good that you’re trying to save people, but doing so might wipe out Customer’s teammates.”

“That’s true. Even with an A-Rank suit, one wrong move against an A+ monster and you’re dead.”

Yuha voiced the viewers’ concerns. However, despite Yuna drawing the aggro, the A-Rank monster wouldn’t reach her while the magical girls were busy rescuing the endangered team.

“But that’s assuming the chimera reaches them before they finish the rescue.”

Of course, games have stories, and level design provides some basic adjustments.

No matter how much we’ve been leveling up like we started the game with cheats—recruiting talented individuals and boosting our levels—our team’s average power is still quite low.

‘Even in a world where dragons rage madly, the dragon you meet in Chapter 1 is bound to be cuttable by a guard.’

Even the average power of the trio brought here, combined with their gear, barely reaches C+. Yet an A+ ranked monster twice as powerful as that is rampaging? Not even DLC can break the fundamental rules of the game.

‘If it did, it’d be trash DLC.’

– Isn’t this non-dateable trash anyway?

– P-Jang is dead, so it’s trash.

– The game became 108 times more abundant, but without P-Jang, it’s trash.

‘That’s not what I’m saying though.’

“Yuha, if this were a game, what event do you think would happen right about now?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not really into games.”

“Hehe, let me tell you the answer then.”

I pulled up the satellite map via my Magical Gear. Two green triangles were rushing toward us from different directions, heading straight for the red blob charging our way.

“The event where senior heroes show up to handle enemies that are impossible for the protagonists to handle.”

“…Didn’t Customer orchestrate that?”

“Puuhh.”

When an A+ monster runs amok, how could A-rank heroes possibly stay idle?

* * *

“Uwraaah!”

Nuri grabbed the last soldier by the neck and hurled him over the fence. The men remaining atop the fence caught the rescued individual and placed him on a makeshift stretcher made of wooden planks.

“Sorry, I’m leaving first!”

“Thank you!”

Nuri waved goodbye to those carrying the wounded man toward the city. With her final rescue complete, no one remained stranded outside the fence.

“All saved.”

“Then let’s retreat too, shall we?”

Grrrrr.

The moment the three magical girls regrouped, new monsters surrounded them. Attracted by the scent of the dead monsters’ cores, these creatures cautiously approached, eyeing the cores while sizing up the girls.

“Sis, do we have to kill all of them?”

“Monsters eating cores to grow stronger…grr. This is a personnel shortage problem!”

“But regardless, we need to escape right now.”

Yuna checked the location of the chimera through her Magical Gear and swallowed hard. The real threat wasn’t the monsters scavenging nearby cores—it was the A-Rank monster charging directly toward them.

“Nuri, let’s go.”

“Okay…wait?”

Just as Nuri was about to leap onto the fence, she grimaced upon seeing the body of the man pierced by the hornet monster. Though his stomach had been punctured, his body twitched as if he were still alive.

“Sis, look—!”

[Retreat.]

A firm command came through the hologram. Nuri’s lips quivered, but she clenched her eyes shut, turned around, and leaped onto the fence.

“…”

“You did well.”

Raon patted Nuri’s head and rubbed her back. Yuna aimed her staff at the man writhing from the hornet sting.

“Rest peacefully.”

A burst of light from the tip of her staff obliterated the man’s head, killing him instantly.

“…”

Yuna bit her lip, troubled.

If someone turns into a zombie, shooting them is common sense. But what should you do when a human appears to be transforming into a monster? She acted according to the Hero Academy handbook, but her stomach still churned.

“Boss, did we really…”

[You simply followed my orders.]

The once rigid voice softened, filled with kindness.

[Monster transformation. They may twitch like they’re alive, but it’s just a trap to lure heroes. Good job holding it together, Nuri.]

Unlike the stiff, authoritative tone used during commands, this was her usual voice. Yuna felt reassured.

[All three of you worked hard. Full score out of 17 points. From here on out…]

Kyaahh!!

Which is why the A-Rank monster’s proximity didn’t worry them. Turning their heads, they saw the chimera spreading its wings skyward from the forest opposite the fence.

[Watch experienced A-Rank heroes fight live.]

“Wooohooo—–!!”

Someone leaped high into the air from the fence. A streak of white light shot from the northern sky, striking the chimera’s wings.

[Let’s leave guarding Gangneung to the local Gangneung heroes.]

<Tundra>, <Half-Moon Bear>. The trio of magical girls witnessed the battle between two A-Rank heroes up close.

* * *

“Meow, fights are always most fun when they involve food.”

Perched on the rooftop railing of the tallest building in Gangneung, Penril cradled a tub of mint chocolate ice cream, scooping a spoonful into her mouth. Though she was about 10 kilometers away from where the chimera fought two A-Rank heroes, the distance was negligible to her.

“Tsk, the Commander sure is cruel. Breaking the kids’ self-esteem like that.”

The three magical girls watched the heroes’ battle with complex expressions. Hidden slightly away from where the fight took place, they closely observed the heroes’ movements.

As if yearning to move in the same manner themselves.

“Will they grow from witnessing this gap, or fall into despair? Either way, it’ll be interesting to watch…”

Penril’s tail shot up.

No matter how skilled a commander may be, no matter how talented someone might appear, once their ‘heart’ breaks, everything collapses. Having faced countless A to S-Rank heroes across Europe, Penril understood this truth deeply.

Can the Commander truly serve as their psychological anchor?

“Nyahahaha. Such an intriguing human.”

Penril twirled the Commander’s gun in her hands. Imbued with wind magic, the weapon’s internal structure transformed into detailed data, stored neatly within her Magical Gear.

“Is this gun’s size really proportionate to the real deal?”

“…..This is merely to verify the lie, meow.”

Absolutely not because she has time to spare or is bored. Penril steeled her resolve.

Creak.

On the rooftop.

Within the invisible barrier of wind magic, where no one could see, the scent of mint chocolate wafted through the air.