266 – Seo Ye-rim, Losing the Flame!? #1
Dokbi Xiao Xiao.
Sosohee.
She was the only S Ranker in China, with a population of over a billion – no, now there were only two.
Her skill was so exceptional that she was firmly established as a top S Ranker.
Any problem that fell into Sosohee’s hands would be resolved in less than a day.
“Phew, it’s finally over. I’ve been dealing with so much hassle.”
But even for Sosohee, protecting and monitoring more than a billion people was a difficult task.
Every day there were incidents, and every day there were problems, leaving Sosohee a bit exhausted.
“So, you know. I talked to Haildo about how to raise bees? Haildo definitely likes bees. So, he’ll come to be our Tang family’s son-in-law.”
The newly promoted S Ranker, Tang So-hae, seemed unbothered as she chattered on.
Since returning from Korea a little while ago, she had talked about Haildo every time she opened her mouth.
Sosohee enjoyed hearing about Haildo.
‘If only I weren’t so busy, I would have gone to Korea with her to play.’
Sosohee disliked the entities that kept her busy.
Right in front of her were the villains.
“Damn it! You too, Nige!”
“I got caught up in this too, it seems.”
“You guys don’t look like you’re from the ‘Old Communist Party,’ do you? You’re Japanese, right? It would be better to tell the truth about what you know.”
In China, there was a somewhat large villain organization.
Known as the ‘Old Communist Party,’ they weren’t particularly difficult to deal with, aside from their large numbers, which were remnants from the collapsed old regime following the start of the 5th Industrial Revolution.
However, the villains that Sosohee and Tang So-hae had teamed up to defeat at the Shanghai port didn’t appear to be members of the Communist Party; they seemed to be Japanese.
They were wearing skintight clothing and made strange sounds like “Hiiiee-!”
“I’ll use Confession Poison.”
Sosohee blew out a breath that transformed into an extremely potent poison from her body.
At that, the Japanese began to spill what they knew.
“We are the ‘Psycho Shockers.’ We collaborated with China’s villain organization, the ‘Communists,’ to execute our operation. And I like to put lettuce in my ramen. My preference is for short-haired women.”
“I don’t care about your preferences; just confess. More importantly, collaboration? What are you talking about?”
Sosohee was greatly surprised.
Villain organizations each had strong colors so it was impossible for them to mix, wasn’t it?
That they were collaborating was astonishing.
“Hehehe, we collaborated. Not only that, but the ‘Jihad Warriors’ in the Middle East, the ‘Iron Blood Battalion’ in Germany, and the ‘Patriots’ in America are also sitting at the same table. We are now walking the same path.”
“Villains from around the world joining forces to establish a new organization? What on earth is your goal?”
“I don’t know. But our operation was successful. We lured the two S Rankers from China to this port’s warehouse. You know that this storage contains explosives that could blow the entire area away, right?”
Only then did Sosohee listen intently to the surroundings of the warehouse.
Creak, creak-.
She heard something that sounded like gears turning.
“Sosohee! Look! The containers are filled with bombs!”
Tang So-hae’s bees discovered bombs in the warehouse.
There was an enormous amount, and if these explosives detonated at once, the Shanghai area would be obliterated, and a tremendous number of people would be injured or killed.
“Disregarding people─. The fog of the demon─.”
Sosohee released a large breath.
She spat out the poison that had been contained in her body.
It was an incredibly powerful toxin strong enough to melt objects, and among those who could withstand it was only Tang So-hae, who had trained for resistance to poison since long ago in the Tang clan of Sichuan.
“Ugh, that’s some vicious poison.”
Even Tang So-hae coughed a little from the strong purple poison. The explosives melted away in an instant, disappearing without leaving even a small trace.
However, Sosohee clicked her tongue, frowning.
“At this rate, we’ll have to seal this warehouse for about 500 years. Tang So-hae, form a reinforced acrylic dome around this location so no one can step foot in. The poison that has leaked is more dangerous than radiation.”
“Don’t give me orders! I’m an S Ranker just like you, okay? Of course, I’ll do it as you say! I’m not listening because you ordered me to; I’m doing it for the citizens’ sake─.”
Zing-!
Tang So-hae felt a prickly sensation on the nape of her neck.
A feeling like being stung by a bee.
It was a bad omen that something unpleasant was about to happen.
“Sosohee! Be careful!”
Schhh-!
Just as Tang So-hae shouted, something black sliced through the poison cloud, targeting Sosohee’s neck.
Sosohee tried to lean back to dodge the attack, but her whole body wouldn’t budge.
Crack-.
It felt as if she had been ‘frozen.’
In the end, a black blade cut Sosohee’s neck.
Snap-!
However, at the last moment, Sosohee could envelop herself with the mana of the extreme poison like a curtain to block the attack.
The black shadow spoke.
“Even after spewing out such powerful poison that could melt explosives and seal the area for 500 years, you still have the capacity for defense. Indeed, impressive-.”
“Who are you?”
Sosohee asked the shadow that looked like black ink.
Then the shadow responded.
“Me? There’s no need for you to know urgently. One day, the whole world will know me. But it seems this operation was a miscalculation. Sosohee, you’re much stronger than I heard. It seems I have failed to obtain your shadow.”
Swoosh-.
The shadow grabbed the villains lying on the ground.
And then it vanished with a swoosh.
It literally disappeared.
“Teleportation…!?”
Sosohee was greatly startled.
Soon, Tang So-hae, who had been watching the situation nearby and was ready to join in, was also shocked.
“Is teleportation a real ability? More importantly, that woman just handled ‘stasis’ and a strange ‘shadow’ ability, right? Is it possible for a single Awakened to wield multiple abilities?”
Awakened individuals generally possessed a single characteristic of magic.
Fire. Ice. Extrasensory perception. Poison. Emotional control abilities; each Awakened had a talent that suited them and could not use abilities that went beyond it.
Yet the strange woman who had just appeared handled multiple abilities simultaneously.
Soon Sosohee asked.
“A woman? Is she a woman? Tang So-hae, was that shadow a woman?”
“Yeah. She had a vibe like a cunning fox. Her voice and shape were hazy but.”
“……”
Sosohee thought in various ways that things were going awry.
An alliance of villain organizations worldwide.
And a ‘woman’ possessing multiple abilities─.
Sosohee recalled the stories she had heard like ‘rumors.’
“I’ve heard about such experiments. If that’s true….”
Sosohee recalled the time when human experiments were conducted on Awakened individuals simultaneously across various countries. The name of the experiment that was carried out collaboratively in different parts of the world was ‘Second Impact.’
And the trigger for such experiments and research was that… a certain Awakened from Korea first reached the ‘Second Path.’
“I think I need to convene an S Rank meeting. S Rankers are in danger. That person will surely target powerful ability users.”
# # #
“So, is this ‘flame of destruction’ said to burn the world? Are you saying that I might suddenly go insane and burn down a city?”
One afternoon.
I met Seo Ye-rim at a café in Primal Village to discuss the ‘flame of destruction’ that the demon king imp Barbatos had told me about.
Seo Ye-rim looked utterly unconvinced.
“Why would I do something like that?”
“Muhuh, I think it wouldn’t be bad to think about the possibility that this Illinois could ignite…! If Core Ye-rim’s extreme anger were to come incoming, then for sure, the world would perish… Hieek…!”
“Core biggie, pinch!”
Squeesh-.
Illinois’s cheeks, which were sitting next to us and sipping a strawberry smoothie, squished out as if they were bouncing back like a resilient rice cake.
“Did Illinois’s cheeks not stretch…? Did Illinois finally become truly Illinois…?”
While Illinois teared up and checked her face with a cellphone selfie, Seo Ye-rim chuckled and said to me.
“That’s an absurd concern. I used to get easily riled up, but ever since I met the Nymphs and experienced various things, I’ve learned to control myself perfectly.”
Seo Ye-rim’s proud words were indeed true.
Ever since meeting the Nymphs, Seo Ye-rim’s attitude had softened considerably, and she seemed to manage herself well.
But it was also true that I remained worried.
“Midlands were destroyed by demons with the flame of destruction. Look at the Elf world too. They say a giant flame giant named Surtr burned the world tree, causing its destruction.”
It was said that a shattered world would break into countless pieces.
That was the identity of the ‘fractures’ we often discover.
“Is it possible that our Nymph world also has a probability of being destroyed by intense and hot fire…? Isn’t it completely Armageddon…! Should we seal Core Ye-rim underground…!”
“Illinois, you—.”
Seo Ye-rim frowned and snarled.
Soon Illinois covered her cheeks with both hands and said.
“Pinching a Nymph twice a day is against the Nymph protection law that was agreed upon with George of Washington…! It’s punishable by two dollars…!”
“Hmph, anyway, you don’t need to worry about me. I’m perfectly in control of myself.”
That seemed to be the case.
Enduring Illinois’s cheek pinching.
Was there any evidence that Seo Ye-rim was completely in control of her anger and her inner self?
However, what I was worried about was this side.
“But, there may be people who will intentionally provoke your anger. Seo Ye-rim, if you fall into an uncontrollable state, you might face some risks. It would be best to protect you.”
I recalled the time when Kang Cheol-Min had thrown Seo Ye-rim and me onto a deserted island.
At the time, I had vaguely thought he had truly lost it.
What if Kang Cheol-Min knew about Seo Ye-rim’s constitution—and was trying to seal her away to prevent the world’s destruction? Several aspects of the story seemed to connect.
I also knew that Kang Cheol-Min had hidden some information from me.
Right now, I wanted to call him, ask him various questions, but surely Kang Cheol-Min was following the escaped teleportation ability user, Lee Dong-Sik.
In the first place, he wasn’t someone who would show up if called, and even if he did come, he wouldn’t be honest.
“I think we need to protect you, Seo Ye-rim.”
“Ha? You think someone hanging by a thread at A rank could protect anyone? Totally laughable! It’s insulting! Do you think I’m weak enough to be protected by you? I’m Seo Ye-rim!”
Seo Ye-rim’s face turned bright red.
Watching her, Illinois was horrified.
“Hieek…! That is surely Core Ye-rim’s extreme anger state…! Everyone, run away…! The world is facing a Core apocalypse…! Let’s escape…!”
“Truly amusing.”
Swish-!
Seo Ye-rim grew red as if she had taken a significant insult and stood up from her seat.
Was she going to the restroom or something?
For Seo Ye-rim, with her strong pride, it would be natural to feel insulted when a barely A-ranked individual like me said, “I need to protect you.”
But I had no choice.
Seo Ye-rim’s ‘flame of destruction’ was said to be the hottest among those who had wielded it that Barbatos had seen.
# # #
“Seriously, how absurd. Who’s protecting whom?”
Seo Ye-rim went to the café restroom and looked in the mirror.
To fix her makeup.
“Haildo, you little brat. You can be quite thoughtful sometimes.”
Upon closer inspection, the makeup around her eyes was slightly smudged.
While rummaging through her handbag to fix it, Seo Ye-rim felt a prickling mana.
It could be described as a killing intent.
“Whoever you are, you better not mess with me. I’m in a very bad mood right now. That means to only do bad things while considering the situation and the opponent.”
Seo Ye-rim looked behind her in the mirror.
Then she saw a black soot-like mark appear on one of the restroom walls.
“You, you’re the new S Ranker Gumihee, right? Everyone knows a little about what you’re plotting, okay? I know your capabilities as well. You absolutely cannot defeat me with your abilities.”
At Seo Ye-rim’s words, Gumihee appeared from within the shadow.
She was a woman with a fox-like face and slightly slanted eyes, which made her look annoying.
“Oh, is that so? You already knew about me? But you didn’t know this. Stasis-!”
As Gumihee reached out her hand, Seo Ye-rim’s body became unmoving.
Seo Ye-rim quickly deduced that this was the ability of one of the prison team leaders from Namsan’s underground jail.
The way to escape from stasis was the same as when one feels pressure while sleeping — concentrating strength on one spot.
Seo Ye-rim clenched her fist tightly.
But Gumihee was faster in her movement.
“Seo Ye-rim, I’m going to take the flame within you! Is that okay? After all, it was never yours to begin with.”
Swoosh-!
Gumihee approached Seo Ye-rim.
Seo Ye-rim, having freed herself from the stasis ability, swung her tightly clenched fist towards Gumihee, but Gumihee ducked to avoid Seo Ye-rim’s punch.
Then, she caught Seo Ye-rim’s shadow that stretched out beneath her feet with her hand.
“I got you! Come here!”
Swoosh-.
Seo Ye-rim’s shadow was dragged out by Gumihee and began to struggle like a hostage.
Seeing that made Seo Ye-rim panic.
“What… what’s that? My shadow…!?”
But there was no time to marvel.
Vroom-.
The space around Gumihee started to ripple.
It was the precursor to a ‘teleportation’ ability.
“Where do you think you’re running off to! Give me my shadow back!”
No matter what, Seo Ye-rim thought she had to catch Gumihee and reached out her hand.
A concentrated flame bullet-.
To use that, Seo Ye-rim raised her mana but noticed something unusual.
“…Huh? My flame….”
“This is what I’m talking about? Flame bullet!”
Gumihee pointed her finger at Seo Ye-rim.
Pishh-!
A powerful flame bullet lashed at Seo Ye-rim’s body.
Seo Ye-rim was enveloped in flames along with a piercing pain and collapsed onto the ground.
Briiing-!
Soon, a fire alarm blared loudly as it detected the heat.
Amidst the stream of extinguishing sprinkler water that began to pour down, when Seo Ye-rim regained her senses, Gumihee had completely vanished.
“Hey! Give me back my shadow! My fire! My flames! My shadow! Heyyy! You thief!!”
