Chapter 731

〈 Chapter 731 〉 Part 2, Chapter 5, Section 24

“Hey! What’s this nonsense about Kyoopoints or whatever? Why are you causing such a ruckus?”

A white-haired young maiden in a white tank top and denim jacket, Seok Harang, stuck out her lower lip as she glared at me with irritation.

“You’re upset, aren’t you, Harang?”

“Tch. I’m not.”

“You’re mad. I’m also… feeling quite heated down there right now…”

I raised my hands in surrender at Seok Harang’s murderous gaze. She was clearly on edge.

It wasn’t her period; it was because she’d been excluded from the first round and was preparing herself mentally for a one-on-one duel.

Banargande vs. Snow Queen.

The Spirit of Wind versus the Spirit of Water.

Already, people were going wild over the big match happening just in Chapter 2.

Both at Level 99. Both empowered by magic power supplied by me. And both attribute-less.

Just like how Fire Attribute and Durability cancel each other out, Wind Attribute and Water Attribute have no clear advantage. If anything, they complement each other well.

One loves mint chocolate obsessively, while the other is fanatically into blueberries. It’s simply that their chosen paths differ.

“Hey, let me ask you something.”

“Anything.”

“If I get beaten by Penril, will my Kyoopoints really drop to zero?”

At Seok Harang’s anxious question, I pulled her into a tight hug. Initially resisting awkwardly, she eventually buried her head in my chest.

“Don’t worry. If you want, I’ll rush to Busan anytime to back you up.”

“…What am I, some kind of host asking for backup? Stop talking nonsense.”

“But for Harang, I would!”

“Fine. You focus on commanding your team.”

“I am.”

While frantically typing commands on my Magical Gear, I monitored our scattered team members. None of the magical girls had lost their Kyoopoints yet.

“Look. They’re all protecting the citizens properly.”

Xroids modeled after Baek Cheonghwa trembled fearfully like real civilians. The magical girls guarding them were fully aware of the intense determination shown by the enemy monsters.

[Hehehe, ladies, step aside! I’m interested in that Xian-kun!]

[Crazy! Don’t touch our boss! And you’re male anyway!]

[Hohoho, where can I find a guy with a hole?!]

[I will definitely kill you!!]

In various locations, heroes held a slight advantage. Magical girls trained to fight opponents stronger than themselves easily matched B-Rank monsters despite being C+ Rank.

“See? Everyone is handling their one-on-one battles perfectly.”

C+ Rank Yuna, Raon, Nuri, and Ha Yu-eun faced three Mint Monsters each.

[Xian-kun, I’ll protect all of you!]

[The strength I honed in England… I shall show it to you!]

[Big Brother Youth Shield, I’ll guard you!]

Each displayed their unique powers while protecting the citizens. Meanwhile, participating as an Xroid, Ha Yu-eun…

[Aaaaah! Why are these Xian-kuns so heavily armed?!]

[Du-du-du-du.]

Commanding a battalion of B-Rank Core Weapons, the mercenary team of Xian-kuns hunted the monsters instead. Her golden eyes gleamed as she personally handled her share of monsters with the Core Weapon.

“Even though they don’t pay much… wasting ammo on worthless things…”

Yun Yuhwa genuinely got irritated dealing with monsters. D-Rank monsters provided ammunition money, but monsters left only cores which had little use.

Technically and ethically, using monster cores to create Core Weapons or energy was problematic. Unless there was a genius tech wizard around.

“But seriously, is what you said true? That monsters can be reverted to humans?”

“Of course. There are two methods, actually.”

“Holy crap. What are they?”

“One involves inviting a world-class inventor to extract magic power from monster cores, and the other involves publicly proposing marriage in front of everyone to awaken their spirit.”

“…Damn, I’d kill myself out of embarrassment if I were you.”

That method worked to awaken you from a rampaging monster into a spirit. Swallowing my words, I gave instructions to Penril.

“It’s time to deploy the A-Rank ones.”

[Understood. Can we really unleash all 30 at once?]

“Absolutely. A+ isn’t just for show.”

Following Penril’s orders, a large number of monsters began moving. I opened three screens simultaneously.

<Flame Demon>, Jeong Shuri.

<Undine>, Kim Gaon.

And <Masquerade>, Cheon Gaeul.

[Die just by brushing against me! Ugh, what’s that smell of melting ice cream?!]

[Uh…this is awkward! I’m not used to defensive fights…]

[Ah, good thing I copied Shuri earlier. Hehehe.]

With barriers erected, they could unleash their full power without restraint. Since this battle wouldn’t be officially recorded, all three could go all out.

“Shuri, you’ve gotten stronger.”

“Even with S-Rank magic power, her full strength is still A+ Rank, right?”

“When facing an S-Rank opponent, she’ll naturally awaken further. Let’s wait and see.”

[Burn to ashes! Ugh, what’s that smell of melting ice cream?!]

True to her Fire Attribute, Shuri effortlessly dispatched monsters. With the surroundings already devastated, she had no qualms about destroying the environment as she obliterated the monsters.

“Shuri, remember to fight while protecting the citizens!”

[If I kill the monsters before they reach the citizens, isn’t that enough?!]

Shuri incinerated the monsters before they could even approach the citizens. Thanks to her, not a single citizen was lost, and her Kyoopoints remained intact.

“Alright. Do it your way.”

I entrusted Shuri with autonomous actions. I issued minimal instructions based on radar responses but refrained from interfering with her movements or skill usage.

“Reasonable, but still lacking experience.”

Sighing, Seok Harang scratched her head. Agreeing with her comment, I switched to another screen.

[Oh no, stay away! Go away!]

Surrounding the citizens with a wall of water, Gaon launched water bullets at approaching monsters. Excelling in water manipulation, she gathered the citizens within her protective barrier.

“Oh, that’s Siren’s <Torika>?”

“A water wall surrounding and launching water bullets from inside… a balanced offense and defense. This could be useful.”

Seok Harang found Kim Gaon’s tactics intriguing. If A+ Rank Kim Gaon could create a Torika accommodating 50 people, perhaps Seok Harang could build a fortress.

‘Maybe it’s possible.’

She could create an icy stronghold to combat monsters. Of course, despite sharing the same attribute, Kim Gaon and Seok Harang’s abilities differed greatly in flexibility.

[Haaah!]

Gaon deformed her water wall towards an advancing monster. In an instant, the contracted wall caused the monster to slip and tumble outwards due to inertia.

“…Me too, someday…”

Seok Harang’s chronic issue: despite being Water Attribute, her abilities are specialized in ice. Without awakening as a spirit, she might forever handle only ice.

“Gaon’s fine too. So then…”

<Masquerade>, Kyoopoints -1!

An alarm sounded. I quickly scanned the parking lot where Cheon Gaeul was stationed.

“…What is she doing?”

Seok Harang sighed at Cheon Gaeul’s antics.

Cheon Gaeul surrounded the citizens with a wall of flames, combining the strengths of Gaon and Shuri.

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

[Ahhh… Commander, it looks exactly like your penis…]

[Uh, wha-?!]

Cheon Gaeul stood beside an Xian-kun, comparing my appendage with the Xroid.

“Can a hero sexually harass citizens?”

“Should we rather consider it a villain helping the hero’s side for the greater good? Haha.”

[Commander, I’m seriously curious… Would having sex with this count as masturbation or NTR?]

“……”

Cheon Gaeul’s question left me speechless. Using an Xian-kun identical to mine for sexual purposes? Though technically considered self-pleasure with a machine, it’s unacceptable.

“NTR. That’s not allowed.”

[Regrettable… sigh…]

“In return, I’ll permit you to defile Xian-zhang.”

[…I don’t know what that means, but okay. My skills have improved too.]

Cheon Gaeul pushed the Xian-kun aside and lifted Xian-zhang. She bent the Xian-kun forward and forced Xian-zhang’s face between her legs.

[Hey, suck it. I’m protecting you guys right now…]

[Ugh… P-please stop…?!]

“…Is this lady a lesbian?”

“More accurately, a bisexual.”

Cheon Gaeul, Kyoopoints depleted. With Xian-zhang, who has higher points, starting to be violated, Cheon Gaeul had no remaining Kyoopoints.

[Even if we do it last… since it’s one person per day, it’ll take two weeks at most… haaah.]

Though ranked lowest in points, she didn’t lose a single citizen.

– “I wish to suck it.”

“…Hey, do you like that sort of thing?”

“Yeah. It’s truly regrettable not being born as a girl.”

How great would it have been to play as a female character?

“…Ahem. Anyway, everyone’s doing well overall.”

C+ Rank and A+ Rank alike are putting their best efforts into battling monsters. Even against newly appearing villains, they’re holding their ground.

“Everyone’s fighting well against external enemies. Puhehe, but what if an internal enemy appears…?”

BAM! I tapped my Magical Gear. The eyes of the nearby Xian-zhang, whose hair had turned mint green, began sparkling like golden stars.

“Then let’s activate code ‘AC-8’ now.”

“Churp.”

Having just synchronized with Xian-zhang, Yun Yuhwa started laughing mischievously.

“Code AC-8 mode activated. Now the citizens…”

[Kyaah! Nooo!]

[Wh-what are you doing?!]

[…Dear me, what the hell?!]

“Trolling begins.”

Some of the diligently protected Xian-kuns began exhibiting abnormal behavior, overtaken by terror.

[Aaaaah! We’ll die if we stay here!]

[Mommy, Mommy! Hero sir, please take us somewhere else! I feel like I’ll go crazy staying here!]

[We’re all going to die… We’re definitely all going to die…]

“Citizens needing rescue become hindrances to heroes. A common pattern.”

[Ahh…]

[Ah, damn it—!!]

Shuri’s curse echoed through the entire channel.

Simultaneously,

[This is the moment we’ve been waiting for!!]

Enemy commanders began attacking the citizens who had started trolling.