Chapter 203: Heroes Are Made
I had definitely ordered Lee Jihye to do this properly.
‘It would be nice to make it feel like a real crisis… If it feels too awkward, it won’t work.’
‘Isn’t it just enough to neutralize your party? It won’t have a chance if it’s a common guild member.’
‘Ah, you think so?’
‘Hmm…The executives are busy right now…I don’t think it will change much if I send one executive… I’ll just do this on my own. I can’t help it. I don’t know if it will work or not, but if the deal goes well, you will probably get satisfactory results.’
‘Do you have some people in mind?’
‘It’s a secret. Please just wait and see.’
Obviously, I was not expecting something to this extent. I had never doubted Lee Jihye’s ability to handle work.
I knew she would have prepared some great event, but I couldn’t even imagine that she would bring the master of the guild she belonged to. It was easy to understand what kinds of conditions were offered.
She must have decided to participate in this event on the condition of meeting Kim Hyunsung.
Of course, it was undeniable that Lee Jihye’s work was perfect.
‘But…’
Once again, she did it too well.
“Run!!”
After receiving the wave of magical power and the murderous aura right in front of him, Park Deokgu’s reaction was natural.
Of course, all of us here could be classified as strong. We had Jung Hayan and Kim Ye-ri, and even Park Deokgu, who had the lowest specs, had also achieved tremendous growth compared to most people.
However, this definitely did not indicate that we would be able to defeat her.
“W-what is this all of a sudden…”
“Hyung-nim! Run quickly! Quickly!”
Seeing his distressed expression meant that he cared about my safety, but assuming that this was not acting, I could understand why he was raging like that.
This was different from when I ran into Cha Hee-ra. Back then, the balance had been maintained with the presence of Kim Hyunsung and Cho Hyejin, plus the fact that Cha Hee-ra could still distinguish me as her ally.
Now alone, Park Deokgu would not be able to hold the front lines. He must have also realized this, hence his current attitude, but he had also grown stronger compared to that one time.
Reflexively, Jung Hayan chanted a spell, and Kim Ye-ri readied her dagger and began to watch out for the woman, who was currently looking at us coldly.
‘Fuck… What if that really is a brigade?’
Looking at the covered woman with Mind’s Eye, I could confirm that it was indeed Park Yeon-joo, and yet…
‘I feel scared.’
Not only did she disappear from view in an instant, but seeing her materialize while running towards us proved to be a horrifying sight.
“Oh!!”
Because since there was a certain distance between us, Jung Hayan’s spell reached her first.
Baang! Along with the sound, dozens of spells begin to pour out toward Park Yeon-joo.
Though they all intended to track her down, she continued to rush toward me, blocking all attacks with the one dagger she was holding.
Since Hayan’s magic had been thrown for exploration purposes, it would be hard to affect her.
Of course, I had no choice but to put magic power into the dragon breath potion.
Forget resisting. It would be better to get rid of the murderous vibe we were receiving.
Zaaaaaaaaap!
Baaaaaaaannnng!!
After hitting Jung Hayan’s strands of magic, what awaited us was a huge explosion.
Of course, I didn’t think we would get hurt. Even if we did our best, she would still be more than fine.
Park Deokgu, who was surprised upon seeing the dragon potion’s effects, looked at me, but I couldn’t answer him.
“Focus, you bastard!”
“O-okay. Hyung-nim!”
Now, there was nothing that Park Deokgu could do. She was currently trying to close the distance between us, and we were trying to increase it.
Jung Hayan continued to chant spells to get rid of her, and I responded to variables just in case.
‘Ugh, my pride hurts.’
This was also a test to show how strong Jung Hayan and I have become.
“The winding step!”
Jung Hayan’s body began to light up due to her spell. Even so, compared to that woman’s agility level, hers was inadequate, but it would definitely help her.
After the explosion was over, Park Yeon-joo passed through the smoke as if it was nothing. There was annoyance plainly written on her expression.
‘Did we piss her off? Fuck…’
I threw a legendary-grade potion, so it would make sense for her to feel that way. Now, she moved a little faster than before.
Once again, I put in my magic power.
My potions took two seconds before exploding. However, it would take less than two seconds for Park Yeon-joo to reach us.
Zaaaaaaaap!
Still, it was only right for me to throw it. The explosion would reach us, but that didn’t matter.
Immediately after throwing it in front of us, a dragon’s tail materialized and wrapped around us.
Baaaaannnnngg!!!
Due to its protection, only Park Yeon-joo got caught up in the next explosion.
Again, Park Deokgu looked at me with a shocked expression.
“This, this…”
“I have had some achievements recently.”
“I see…”
The moment the dragon’s tail disappeared, Jung Hayan’s magic burst out.
‘Actually, can we win?’
I daydreamed about this for a moment, but this was soon shattered when Park Yeon-joo continued to move again.
‘Oh, my God…’
I thought we had a little more distance between us, but this turned out to be a fluke.
‘Is it an attribute?’
All that I could check with my Mind’s Eye was her name.
Park Yeon-joo probably had an attribute or ability that could shorten the distance in an instant.
When I hurriedly touched my catalyst, a crackling sound sprang from my hand once more, but there was no way I would be able to do anything else.
At this point, Park Yeon-joo was swinging her dagger straight towards me.
Before Park Deokgu could even react, Kim Ye-ri jumped in front of me, holding her own dagger.
Baang!
“I heard that there are many talents in Blue… I guess it was true?”
I felt like praising Kim Ye-ri for being able to block her attack. However, though she was the only one fast enough to respond to Yeon-joo, this didn’t mean that she would be able to defeat such a powerful woman.
One attack was prevented, but, naturally, subsequent attacks couldn’t all be avoided.
After recovering her dagger, Park Yeon-joo struck Kim Ye-ri with her foot straight away, and the child began to spew blood, flying to the other side and eventually getting entangled into the branches of a large tree.
‘Retire.’
“Ye-ri!”
“It would be better to start worrying about you, Lee Kiyoung.”
“Ahh!”
After the incident, a startled Park Deokgu began to run towards Ye-ri’s direction.
“Ahn Ki-mo, treat Ye-ri!”
“Yes… Yes!”
Right after his response, dozens of daggers and swords struck the back of Ahn Ki-mo, who had been running towards Kim Ye-ri in a hurry.
‘Is that also an attribute?’
“Cough!”
It would be natural for him to die immediately, but looking at the screaming Ahn Ki-mo, it didn’t seem like he had received a direct damage attack. Park Yeon-joo had probably used a specially-processed dagger.
“Groaaannnn…”
Nevertheless, looking at Ahn Ki-mo, crawling and acting so naturally, was a spectacle to behold. He must’ve been born with such talent.
‘However, it’s not necessary for him to do that much…’
The way Ahn Ki-mo acted, one would think he had just lost Kim Ye-ri, who was a comrade. However, he was not the star of this show.
It was Park Deokgu.
All these stages were indeed made just for him.
Biting his lips anxiously, I saw him gradually facing Park Yeon-joo.
Of course, there was no way he could win a match against her. There was a vast difference in their agility stats, so it couldn’t be helped.
There was no way that he would be able to stop Park Yeon-joo from running to Jung Hayan.
In the end, Jung Hayan also had a black dagger stuck in her chest, which signaled her retirement from the play.
At this, I approached Jung Hayan with a startled look and sprinkled a potion on her chest.
‘This isn’t really stuck in, right?’
I confirmed this fact when Jung Hayan’s eyes opened slightly. It appeared as if nothing was wrong with her. Though I was curious about how the sword was made, it wasn’t important right now.
“Op… pa… I love…”
“You can live, Hayan.”
“I love you…”
“Hayan!”
After acting as the heroine of misery, which I had never ordered, Jung Hayan’s breath gradually began to subside.
Upon seeing this, Park Deokgu screamed while raising his shield.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
I had expected this, but he looked pretty desperate. His expression contained resentment for his own helplessness.
I didn’t know what he was thinking about right now, but I felt a little sorry upon seeing the tears flow down his eyes.
‘It’s all for you, Deokgu. You can do it.’
Park Yeon-joo did not aim at me after she had attacked Jung Hayan. This granted me the position to continue crying while holding onto Jung Hayan. She probably knew it would be more dramatic to deal with me once the change within Park Deokgu occurred.
Though she allowed Deokgu to rush at her, his sword could not reach her.
“Shit!! Shit!!!”
There was no way a sword that couldn’t reach Kim Ye-ri would be able to reach Park Yeon-joo.
It looked like he was being thoroughly harassed.
Seeing him getting bloodier by the second, I felt sorry for him. Nevertheless, he did not let go of the sword. The reason for this was obvious.
He was trying his best to protect me.
“Run! Hyung-nim! Get away quickly!”
He kept repeating the same words over and over again.
“Hyung-nim!”
‘I’m very sorry…’
If he discovered that all of this was just acting, I would not resist it if Park Deokgu beat me to death as a result. Seeing him telling me to run away with tears flowing down his own eyes made the whole thing more emotional.
Once again, I could see just how much he valued me.
We knew all this was fake, so we didn’t think of it much, but all of this obviously felt real for him.
To tell me to run away while holding her back meant he valued my life more than he valued his.
Of course, passion and determination did not solve everything.
As more time passed, a bloody Park Deokgu panted heavily, his shield and sword still in his hands. However, it appeared as if he was not able to move his body anymore.
As Park Yeon-joo raised her hand, a black dagger floated in the sky, signaling his execution.
“Run… Hyung-nim… With Hayan… Quickly…”
The moment the black dagger aimed right for Deokgu’s heart, I jumped out, taking the hit for him.
I knew I moved only because of Park Yeon-joo’s signal, but there was no denying as to how dramatic it was.
Though the black daggers struck my body, I felt no pain, just discomfort.
A small voice protruded from behind me.
“Hyung-nim?”
“Ah… ”
“Hyung-nim?”
“Bastard, run… run…”
When I looked at Park Deokgu while spitting out the red potion I had prepared in my mouth, his expression was severely distorted.
“Hyung-nim… Hyung-nim… Hyung-nim….”
Looking at him crying and calling out to me like a child made my heart squeeze. I couldn’t even imagine that he thought so highly of me.
“Hyung-niiiim… Haaaah… Hyung-nim!!”
“Ah…”
“Hyung-nim! Hyung-nim!!”
“Always remember… Deokgu.”
“Don’t go… Don’t go… Because I remember… Hold on a little more… a little bit more…”
Though his face was still covered in tears, his expression had taken on a more serious note.
Perhaps Park Deokgu was also aware of it.
‘He can still save us.’
Jung Hayan was still breathing hard, and Kim Ye-ri was doing the same. The same went for me.
‘Good.’
The bastard, who had done nothing but tremble in fear up until now, slowly began to stand up, despite it being hard to move due to the sustained injuries.
He had chosen to stand up in order to fight and defend, rather than squeeze and die with a body in a pitiful state.
‘Good! Fuck! That’s it!’
As he tightened his hold on his sword and shield, moving to block me, Park Deokgu began to look more and more like the heroes found in movies.
His murmuring reached my ears.
“I… I can do better.”
It was the line that had continued to support him up until now.
All the preparations were completed, and the situation was dramatic enough.
Originally, heroes reached past their limits during this time of the battle. Of course, I believed in him.
Just seeing him lift the sword and shield once more made him well-qualified to be a hero.
“I… I can do better.”
The moment Park Yeon-joo, who still maintained a cold expression, swung her hand again, dozens of daggers struck me once more.
At this, Park Deokgu lifted his shield up higher, and I saw his body turning gold as he began screaming something I couldn’t understand.
“Change…”
[Checking the unique characteristic of the player Park Deokgu.]
[A hero that does not fall]
‘That’s it!!!’
I knew this would eventually happen.