031 – The Tier 3 Calamity-Class Ability User #1
Long ago, Deoksun had likened a Tier 3 ability user to a critical force.
She said going against a Tier 3 ability user was pretty much like going against the entirety of our 3rd year Class D.
I had discovered a ‘fatal error’ in that analogy but had not explained what it was right then and there, as I thought showing through action was more efficient than words.
Now was the time to demonstrate the flaw in that analogy.
“Deathblow, Hanamjin Ki-i-i-iik!!!”
Peeeeeerrrrrk-!!!
A kick hurled at 120km/h, fueled by love, precisely struck Yeomhun’s groin, destabilizing his posture.
When one is in extreme pain, they can’t even scream.
“━━──!!!”
Yeomhun collapsed with a silent scream, seemingly unaware of what had just happened to him.
Instead, the guy lying beside him, Samajun, started shrieking as though the heavens had fallen.
“Aaak! d*mn it! Watching it hurts so much! Hey! You psycho b*stard, Hanamjin! Are you even human? Are you a man? You d*mn b*stard!”
The error in equating a Tier 3 ability user with Class D lies exactly here. Class D has around 14 male students, so there’s a total of 28 pearls, but— Tier 3 ability users only have exactly 2 pearls.”
To take down a Tier 3 ability user, all I need to do is aim for those 2 pearls.
“Uuauugh, uuaaauuugh!”
The attack was truly effective, causing Yeomhun to foam at the mouth and grind his teeth with delayed shock.
The pain was so intense it was enough to d*e from shock, yet he endured it.
“Hey, you b*stard! Why do you keep showing up in front of me? Why keep pestering me? Does making me this unhappy make you feel better? Why?”
As I was about to finish Yeomhun, Samajun started making noise. Honestly, I didn’t care what the guy said, but there was one thing I figured I should correct.
“You have no clue what real misfortune is.”
“What? What are you saying? Let’s just settle this here and now!”
Smack! Samajun spat out crude insults while clapping his hands.
Boom! A sudden explosion accompanied by a rush of heat in the air.
It was an explosion. The force reminded me of the time I set off butane gas in a wooden shack.
If you get caught in it, your thin bones would easily break.
Smack-Smack!
Pooong, Poooong-!
Samajun kept clapping and causing explosions in mid-air.
Even though, I was dodging left and right, his accuracy was terrible.
“sh*t! Why isn’t it hitting!”
“Name: Samajun
Holds: 《Explosion Lv.2》 — Possesses explosive power comparable to butane gas. Can cause explosions from a distance but has difficulty aiming.
Condition: 《Reduced Judgment》 — Having lost rational thinking due to excitement, confusion, and tension. Completely focused on killing you to eliminate the witness.”
Wants to k*ll the witness, huh?
Yeah, considering his life was about to spiral out of control since I had figured out that this so-called elite was involved with terrorists, it probably was.
He must have thought that once he closed my mouth, he could somehow figure something out.
“But why can’t you hit him!?”
But the guy’s attitude softened.
Is he really trying to k*ll me when his aim keeps missing?
Clearly, somewhere deep down, the moral safeguard that says “You shouldn’t k*ll people” is still operational.
No matter how much he behaves like a mad dog, this guy is still just a minor from a peaceful world.
“Just, why… why isn’t it working?”
I took advantage of the moment he let out a harsh breath and his stance faltered, to swiftly leap into the air.
“Idiot! You can’t dodge in the air, can you!”
His ability requires him to clap. That’s both the recoil and the trigger.
Which means, by watching his palms alone, you can guess when the explosion will occur.
Snap!
When his palms clapped, I was already airborne and propelled myself through the air again to evade the explosion.
Shooosh, Pwooosh-!
“What?! What is that? Where does such a thing exist!”
What do you mean? It’s the application of the 「Air Leap」 I used when kidnapping Seugal.
And with a little more application, you can do this.
“Fly like a bee—.”
Paaat!
I propelled myself through the air again.
This time, I twisted my body and leaped toward the ground.
Right now, I am quite literally a missile plummeting to the ground.
“Butterflies fly like this!”
“Guuuuuuuuhhhhh!”
Punched hard in the chest by my swift kick, Samajun collapsed, gasping out all his breath, and spat out a mouthful of bl**d.
Clearly incapacitated for the fight. But still, can’t let my guard down.
“Namjin Kick! Namjin Crush!”
“Ugh! Aggh! Th, that’s enough! Aggh! Igh! Gwaaagh!”
With the firm resolution to make this guy’s gender identity ambiguous, I was about to deliver several swift kicks to his groin when I felt an odd heat on the back of my neck.
A purpose I hadn’t sensed in Samajun’s attacks.
A purpose that meant to thoroughly k*ll me and erase me. What could be called murderous intent.
Whap!
I quickly propelled myself off the ground to create distance. Then where I had been standing, something like a fiery ball rushed past causing an explosion.
Pooong-! Whooosh-!
Turning my head, I saw Yeomra, holding a lit cigarette, glaring at me. I thought he wouldn’t be able to stand for a few days after being kicked in the groin by the Namjin Kick, but he’s tough.
“Who are you? You… hmmf-. Are you one of the survivors from that department store? Or family of the victims? I can tell just by looking. You want to k*ll me to avenge them, right?”
“Don’t tell me nonsense. You have no idea who I am.”
Suuuip-.
Instead of answering, Yeomhun put the cigarette in his mouth.
The small flame left a gray burn mark as it completely consumed all the cigar before he expelled a hot flame from his mouth.
Whoosh-!
It’s a true hellfire, the code name 「Yeomra」 wasn’t attached for nothing.
The problem was this flame started spreading to the abandoned houses around, burning and melting everything.
The scorching heat covered the area.
Naturally, my room for maneuvering got narrower.
Sooch.
「Yeomra」 Yeomhun, while rummaging in his pocket for a cigarette, discovering the carton was empty, apparently tossed the trash away and crushed it underfoot.
“Geez, it’s no place to live when the convenience store is more than 20 minutes away. Hmmf-.”
Yeomhun was an ability user who could spew flames like a torrent of smoke from a cigarette.
Since I know all about him,
Without cigarettes, he should be unable to produce ‘flames’ anymore.
Sooch.
Now, he took out a gas mask from the bag he had dropped on the ground and put it on, forming a strange fighting stance as he gestured with his hand towards me, like challenging me to attack.
Hearing from Yu Yeo-reum, I learned that at Myungsa High, practical and thorough training in 「Human Combat」 and 「Sparring」 were removed from the basic curriculum due to issues with the conduct of the first generation students.
They specialized in hitting and killing people, becoming too headstrong to control, and misused their strength in places like the current Yeomhun, causing many problems.
In other words, the Yeomhun before my eyes is a top-tier terrorist with no need for superpowers, having the special strength and endurance of an awakened one, and possessing close-range killing techniques.
Do I have a chance to win?
I think I have about a 120% chance, about when I noticed.
“Ha Namjin!!!!”
“—”
Someone shouted loudly.
It was a voice like madness.
“We are here! We’ll help you!”
“Friend! We came after seeing the explosion! Haven’t you been injured yet?”
“…Facing a Tier 3 ability user and still alive… this is a miracle….”
Looks like our friends from the “No Leftover Rice Day” group arrived after noticing the ruckus and explosions.
“This is the weakness of fire-type ability users. They’re too loud and noisy. They attract all kinds of looks, so their abilities have many limitations in the 21st century where law and order exists.”
Fire trucks and police are bound to swarm here soon sensing the commotion. If they do, a Tier 3 ability user like Yeomhun would not be able to overcome the numerical disadvantage.
“That means right now, I have the power of the state behind me!”
“—”
The fighting stance Yeomhun had been ready to fight me with relaxed a bit. Did he detect the incoming sirens from all around?
“Name: Yeomhun
Holds: 《Flames Lv.3》 — Can emit flames as intense as napalm.
Condition: 《Awkwardness》 — Confused by the current situation and decided to flee.”
Escape? If he escapes now, what will happen?
He will probably hide more tightly.
We might never find him until the world ends in a year.
Absolutely cannot let him get away.
But he will no doubt try desperately to escape.
I hesitated a lot knowing full well that a cornered beast was the most dangerous.
“Hey, you b*stard!”
At that moment, Bangdaengi Baek Yeo-ul shouted.
She pointed her 「Unhappy Baton」 threateningly, looking as if she would attack immediately.
“You rotten guy who burns people alive! Your kind must be castrated!”
“Friend! That guy will definitely try to escape! We must catch him!”
“—”
Not only Baek Yeo-ul.
Even Chang-sik and the usually quiet Deoksun showed fighting spirit.
Is this the calm group that was scared of the Demon Beast?
Baek Yeo-ul nudged my side with her elbow.
“Our family’s enemy! If we let him go now, who knows when we can catch him again! Also, Ha Namjin, you definitely have some plan we couldn’t think of, right? Isn’t that so? Say it is!”
These guys seem fearless of injury.
All of them are out of their minds.
Is it because of the heat from the flames, or because whatever dyed their heads pink has invaded their scalp?
What a series of unlucky friends.
But for me, they are absolutely fortunate.
“There’s a strategy. From now on, Bangdaengi will start cooking.”
“Cooking? Me? Suddenly!?”
“Just that, the guy can’t know about this strategy. In this regard, Deoksun, can you create a silent field around him?”
“Uh, around him, not us? My ability can only cut off sound within a 10-meter radius around me…”
Deoksun was trembling in fear.
I thought it was too much to ask of the usually quiet Deoksun, right then.
Baek Yeo-ul screamed loudly.
“Hey! I happen to have two concert tickets to a very lucky concert! I’ll give them to you, Deoksun! One from Tae-seong and the two of you can watch it together!”
“…!”
Deoksun shivered badly.
The determination began to appear in her eyes visible between her long strands of hair, then finally clenched her fists and started dancing as she ran toward Yeomhun, the arsonist.
Seizing that moment, I shouted.
“Bangdaengi and Chang-sik! Listen carefully, no time to waste! You see that gas mask he’s wearing? This guy is a fire user, but he must be prone to gas from the smoke of all kinds of things he burns!”
I also still have nightmares about the laugh I saw when the department store burned.
Yeomhun’s laughter, curved like a crescent moon behind his gas mask, that day.
I always thought about what happened that day.
Why was he laughing?
I even became curious about the manufacturer of the gas mask he was wearing.
And I suddenly thought of questions like “Why was he wearing a gas mask?”
The reason why he wore a gas mask was simple.
Because even for him, toxic gas was fatal.
The essence of this operation is to utilize that.
“That’s why, the Bangdaengi cooking operation.”
I explained to everyone why this operation was called the cooking operation.
Listening to my explanation, Chang-sik and Baek Yeo-ul’s expressions changed colorfully, then they covered their heads.
“Friend! That’s insane!”
“I agree! I’m Baekdaengi Baek Yeo-ul! If it’s about cooking, I’m confident!”
