155 – Nymphs and the Hero of the Demon King’s Castle! #5
Villain.
A term referring to people who do bad things.
I’ve seen many villains in my life.
There were my first-year classmates like Ban Dong-joo and a female from the villain organization wearing a plague doctor mask.
Humans are not only good people; there are also those who are kind and warm-hearted.
I always understood this fact because I witnessed how people fall into chaos when many holes open in the world and many things pour in, and how lawlessness runs rampant.
Life can be described as living with at least one villain in your heart.
To put it another way, I could explain it as having both a light Haildo and a dark Haildo in my heart, constantly fighting for control over my body.
The stronger side will be the one I choose to support.
Thus, I thought it was essential to be cautious so that the whispers of the villain in my heart wouldn’t grow stronger.
However, most of the time, the whispers of the villain were loud.
“Cross the street illegally! It’s faster that way!”
“No one is watching; just throw that piece of paper on the ground!”
“Blast the air conditioning! Global warming? Not my concern!”
The villain in my heart always spoke in favor of my pleasure and comfort.
I tried to ignore such whispers from the villain and assumed most people lived similarly.
In that sense, the nymphs I saw were fascinating friends.
In the hearts of the nymphs, only benevolent nymphs seemed to reside, leading them to always act kindly.
Look at Inoi and Coris.
How kind and gentle they are!
If I say this, Seo Ye-rim might say, “Hey! Illinois is not nice!” but I think Illinois is just a bit unique and likes money; she’s not a bad nymph.
Of course, among the nymphs, there are some nameless ones who have fallen into villainy, but I thought I could excuse that as a shock reaction with reason behind it.
But what if there is simply a bad nymph?
What if a vile rascal of a nymph exists in this world?
“Muhuhuh, I am Morales, the muddy water nymph…!”
A nymph with a clenched fist shouted something.
Muddy water nymph Morales.
That seems to be her name, but it was intriguing regardless.
Moreover, she appeared too healthy and vibrant to be forcibly exploited.
“……”
At that moment, I realized that my body was not moving as I wished.
I looked up and saw Demon King Jun placing his index finger on his forehead.
“You won’t be able to move freely. Haildo.”
He temporarily seized control of my body.
Is this Demon King Jun’s ability?
What on earth was he trying to do?
Just then, Morales, with her round fist clenched, approached me.
“Nymph beating, go wild…!”
Dududududududu-.
Morales started to beat me mercilessly.
As I felt dizzy in various ways from the situation, suddenly – the door burst open, and someone screamed.
“Ahh…! It’s already too late…! If we stay like this, the owner of the house will be beaten by the muddy water nymph and become muddled like a swamp, turning into a villain who loves chaos…!”
“We have to save him…!”
Dudududududududududu-.
The fists of the nymph hitting my body.
It didn’t hurt, but I recognized that it had a very peculiar effect.
The ‘villain Haildo’ inside me was starting to raise its voice again.
“Pretend you’re not Haildo and write praises about yourself on the internet!”
“Downvote and report posts criticizing Haildo!”
“Upvote posts criticizing Seo Ye-rim!”
“Paper straws are real trash!”
Not long ago.
After being hurt by a parasitic creature, the “internet chaos villain” that had quieted down in me began to stir again.
“Ahhhh~”
I tried to stop the villain inside me, but it grew like an irresistible desire.
At that moment, Demon King Jun let out a hearty laugh.
“How does it feel? Can’t resist, right? The sensation of becoming a bad person. The feeling of crossing the line. I can see the line. The lines drawn under the name of petty morals! When we cross that line, we become stronger!”
It seemed that Demon King Jun had experienced something similar to me.
Had he also given up control to the villain in his heart after being beaten by this strange muddy water nymph?
“Inoi…! If we stay like this, the owner of the house will surely be polluted by ‘chaotic muddy water’…! Even Coris knows this…!”
“This Inoi thinks so too…! Those beaten by the muddy water nymph’s ‘wild beating’ will become bad people…! We need to stop this…!”
Pat-!
Pat-!
I felt Inoi and Coris approaching me.
“It’s a double punch…!”
“We need to gather our strength while my heart hasn’t been completely stained by muddy water…!”
They began to pummel me with their round fists!
Dududududududu-.
Dududududududu-.
Then something amazing happened.
The benevolent Haildo inside me started to speak up again!
“Do not recklessly post slanders about others on the internet or upvote them.”
“Paper straws are indeed real trash.”
“Naaaaah!”
I finally managed to regain my senses.
And I shouted towards Kkungkkungi.
“Kkungkkungi! It’s Rampage Time!”
“Kkungkkung…!”
Crash-!
Kkungkkungi broke through the window and lunged at Demon King Jun.
Then, he began to wildly attack with his body, crashing into Demon King’s head or shoulder, using his tail and front legs to create chaos.
“Grrr-!”
Although not powerful, Kkungkkungi was a useful distraction against anyone, like Demon King Jun, who used ‘channeling skills.’
For reference, ‘channeling skills’ refer to abilities that require concentration during use, preventing other actions.
Demon King Jun had his index finger on his forehead, which was precisely the case.
“Cheh-. Morales! Didn’t we agree not to interfere directly? If we cause problems, the media will chew us up! Then it’ll be a hassle!”
Demon King Jun clicked his tongue as he lost his ability to use skills due to Kkungkkungi’s attack.
At that, the muddy-haired nymph Morales grinned mischievously.
“Muhuhuh, is the island’s master a fool? By staining him with muddy water before that, it’ll become as if nothing happened on this island!”
Indeed-.
I began to understand why what transpired on this island was so thoroughly controlled that it never leaked outside.
These guys were turning influential figures and celebrities visiting this island into their allies by some means!
“Lee Jin-A! Yu Ara! Are you back to your senses!? We need to escape this island or bring down these guys!”
I shouted as loudly as I could.
At that, as if regaining their senses, Lee Jin-A and Yu Ara began to stretch their wrists or move their shoulders, marveling at their newfound mobility.
“I can move now!”
“It seems Demon King Jun can interfere with others’ minds and disrupt their ability to control their bodies! It resembles the ability of the former B-ranker, Hye-Seong Kim!”
I had a general understanding of Demon King Jun’s ability.
Psychic manipulators were incredibly tricky to deal with.
But their weakness was usually the lack of direct defenses against strong offensive firepower, so it was best to invest in strong firepower early on.
I turned to Kkungkkungi.
“Kkungkkungi, it’s Whirlwind Rampage!”
Swoosh-.
Kkungkkungi, enhanced by my magic power, puffed up its fur and leaped into the air.
Just as Kkungkkungi’s tail was about to hit Demon King Jun’s head, suddenly—.
Whoooooooosh-!
With a bizarre sound, Kkungkkungi’s attack stopped mid-air.
It looked as if an invisible wall or shield was set up in the air.
“That’s a kinetic shield!”
Since I often witnessed the abilities of Lee Joon-Hun, Korea’s top telekinetic user, I quickly grasped the situation.
Demon King Jun was blocking Kkungkkungi’s attack with psychokinesis?
At the same time, I felt puzzled.
Wasn’t Demon King Jun a psychic manipulator awakened?
Wouldn’t psychokinesis belong to the category of material manipulation abilities?
“The mana attributes of an Awakened can only handle one line of ability at most.”
I frowned and racked my brain to understand the situation as quickly as possible.
An Awakened’s attribute is one.
That was the rule of the world.
Seo Ye-rim handles fire and heat, and Cha Yura handles ice and cold. This was due to the properties of mana within an Awakened’s body.
“Are you surprised? Calling out common sense in today’s world. Haildo, as an old-fashioned Awakened, you can’t grasp the flow of time. Should I show you something more interesting? The Demon King’s cursed flame—.”
Flare, flarrr-!
As Demon King Jun clenched his fist, red will-o’-wisps began to rise around him.
It looked similar to fireballs mainly used by flame users.
“Fire-starting abilities too?”
An Awakened who can handle three abilities at once?
Does that even exist?
No, more importantly than pondering such things, I needed to consider ways to evade, defend against, or nullify his attack!
I turned to Jin-A.
“Jin-A! Disruption!”
“I’ll do it whether you tell me or not!”
Swoosh-.
Lee Jin-A placed her finger on her temple.
At that moment, Demon King Jun shouted in surprise.
“What is this, this is Lee Seon-A’s—!?”
Boom-!
Bam-!
Two will-o’-wisps that were hovering beside Demon King Jun exploded with a loud blast.
I clenched my fist in triumph as I witnessed the scene.
“Even though he can use several abilities, it seems he has multiple weaknesses as well! He revealed the weakness of an incendiary user, emotional turmoil!”
Back in my years as a perpetual D-ranker.
I used to imagine defeating Seo Ye-rim after being bullied and attacked by her all the time.
It was similar to a simulation of suddenly confronting a threat in the classroom and rescuing the most popular girl in school to gain popularity.
In that sense, I had stored quite a few simulations of battles with fire users in my head—.
Demon King Jun had dug his own grave.
“Gah! Haildo, you bastard!”
Coughing black and looking completely singed, Demon King Jun spat out a black cough.
Seeing that, I thought coolly.
“It seems he doesn’t possess the fire resistance unlike other fire users.”
“Brother!”
“Are you okay! Brother!”
Black-suited men rushed toward Demon King Jun, who had been caught in the explosion.
Simultaneously, I sensed some organization members who looked like Awakened approaching with weapons drawn.
A clear numerical disadvantage.
Seizing the moment of confusion, I pointed a finger at the hole in the wall created by the explosion and shouted.
“For now, we’re getting out!”
The stealthy Kkang Kkang, who had been hiding, must have filmed this situation with his camera.
If the happenings here were spread outside, public opinion would become a massive fist to strike down Demon King Jun’s paradise mercilessly.
Then, the strike teams, including S-ranker Cha Yura, would surely storm the island!
“Ari, you need to escape and call the support team! Evacuate the people!”
I thought it was best to get Ari, who had already stepped back from active duty, out of this island. Ari looked at me, seemingly bewildered.
“What about you…!?”
“I’ll confront Demon King Jun on this island. I know very well what someone like him might do next. That guy is a coward. So he will definitely try to run away. Someone has to buy time.”
Criminals are all cowards.
Cowards who lack the courage to fight and win in a fair system.
I intended to confront him so he wouldn’t be able to escape.
