119 – Qualifications of a Hero – 4

If she had to stay with this man for even a single day more, she surely would have been unable to hide her disgust and shoved a fireball into his disgusting face.

An appearance that seemed to have gathered only all kinds of beautiful things among the elements that could make up a human—an unbearable sense of strangeness felt from it.

A chilling sensation as if a grotesque monster would tear through that beautiful human skin and burst out at any moment.

Perhaps it was a backlash of forcibly binding and converging multiple possibilities that should have naturally radiated in countless directions.

Ji-hye felt as if she understood why Frankenstein Junior pursued the word ‘universal.’

It was because he could never blend in with others.

“What made you decide to research a mana circuit that everyone can use? I find your attitude of pursuing the public good very impressive.”

“It wasn’t for some grand cause. I just wanted to help my friends.”

The moment he realized that brainwashing using black magic, various curses, and poisons did not work on her, this play would end, and the operation would fail at the same time.

Therefore, Ji-hye had to pretend that ‘the brainwashing was working but still incomplete,’ somehow drawing Frankenstein Junior and the rest of the Magic Tower’s dregs into the environment she desired.

“Indeed, for your friends. …You give an honest answer to a personal question. But why…”

No, he was already doubting her.

His gaze, which sparkled like a gem as it swept up and down Ji-hye, was so disgusting that her stomach churned, but she endured it somehow.

“Well, fine. For a magician who made such an invention, it wouldn’t be strange if you could put up this level of resistance.”

“Resistance? Are you talking about the mana circuit I made?”

“No, it’s nothing. …A decline in judgment is certain.”

Frankenstein Junior listed various conditions and checked the progress of the brainwashing as if he were conducting an experiment on a person right in front of him.

Against such a guy, Ji-hye had to act as if she was neither overly suspicious nor too compliant, pretending to be in the middle of ‘sinking into the brainwashing.’

If this were a movie, the Academy Award for Best Actress would have been in the bag… If she couldn’t be the lead, at least give her a supporting role.

“Then, is today at 3:00 PM fine? The location is the first basement floor, the breeding room… no, the main auditorium.”

Didn’t you just say breeding room?

Faced with a monster uttering such an extremely ominous word, Ji-hye had to try desperately not to cast a strange look at him.

Even though she was terrified.

Recalling Gi-jun’s reliable back, she calmly reminded herself of her mission.

“Let’s do that. But can you really gather everyone? It seems I haven’t even met the Tower Lord yet.”

“Ah, the Tower Lord. The Tower Lord…”

Frankenstein Junior, who seemed to ponder how to answer for a moment, eventually said with a strange smile playing on his lips.

“Unfortunately, the Tower Lord is currently bedridden. I am acting as his deputy. So, there will be no problem in conducting the exchange meeting.”

While thinking she knew for sure who had made the Tower Lord bedridden, Ji-hye racked her brain to squeeze out a suitable answer.

“Then I will trust you and wait. Ah, by the way, what is your name, Deputy Tower Lord?”

“My name, you say?”

However, the monster’s reaction to the question she had thrown without much thought was completely unexpected.

There was no way he would obediently answer that he was Frankenstein Junior, and she had only asked out of courtesy, expecting him to give a reasonable alias.

The bastard shook visibly and stepped back about half a step, staring at her with an expression as if he had seen something unbelievable.

“Um… Deputy Tower Lord? Did I make a mistake? Ah, as you already know, my name is Ji-hye.”

“Ah, no. It is nothing. Just… no, it is surprising. Is it because it only worked halfway, or is it…”

Frankenstein Junior stared intently at Ji-hye while muttering incomprehensible words.

Ji-hye suppressed the rising urge to vomit.

She could not reveal her feelings here.

Holding back her brow, which was trying to frown, with all her might.

She forced the corners of her mouth, which were trying to distort, into the shape of a crescent moon.

—You look like you want to cry so badly right now, but you’re smiling. It’s like you’re reporting that you’re doing well in front of your deceased husband’s tombstone.

At Lucy’s sudden words, she almost burst out laughing for a moment.

She couldn’t blame her out loud, so she just cursed inwardly.

What kind of horrible thing was that to say when she didn’t even have a boyfriend, let alone a husband!

“If it’s hard to tell me your name, that’s fine. I must have asked a rude question.”

“Ah? Ah, ah. My name. Name… My name, huh.”

Fortunately, Frankenstein Junior was so lost in his own thoughts that he failed to see through Ji-hye’s clumsy acting.

While she wondered why he was so shaken by the keyword ‘name,’ the bastard slowly nodded and said:

“I shall think about it. I never imagined that someone would ask for my name first. Yes, the name I have right now is a bit inappropriate to introduce to you. Yes.”

“Deputy Tower Lord…?”

“Then, I shall see you at the exchange meeting, Ji-hye. …Should I modify the plan a little? Yes.”

Casting a strangely sticky gaze, the monster left the room while muttering incomprehensible words.

Ji-hye remained silent all the way back to her room, guided by the brainwashed magician who had stood in place like a corpse without a trace of presence, and only when she returned to her own space did she finally shudder and mutter.

“What is with that monster bastard, why is he suddenly acting like that again?”

—Shall this Lucy, who also knows a thing or two about love, speak up?

“Love?! No, don’t.”

—Isn’t he into you?

“I told you not to say things like that!”

Horrified by Lucy bringing up the worst possible outcome without any hesitation, Ji-hye retorted.

Because it was true that she had felt some sort of emotion from Frankenstein Junior’s lukewarm gaze, she got goosebumps for no reason and denied it even more strongly.

“What nonsense are you talking about? I’m not Min-i, so there’s no way I’d captivate even a monster with my face! Of course, my looks were quite popular in our neighborhood!”

—Setting aside how you subtly talked yourself up, that monster seemed to attach a huge meaning to you asking for his name.

“What’s that… What is so special about asking for a name?”

—It might have been special to a monster.

A name was a distinction, and the exchange of names was proof of a relationship.

Therefore, if it was someone who would not be involved, there was no need to know their name.

It was even more so for a monster that made people want to run away in terror just by looking at its face.

Frankenstein Junior had probably lived like that since the moment of his birth.

If so, it was no different from living in the world all alone.

Because if one was all alone in the world, a name would not be needed.

“No way. There’s no way he lived all this time without a single person asking for his name.”

—If his relationships with others were entirely about killing and being killed, or brainwashing, couldn’t that be the case? Just look at the magicians outside.

Even when they first infiltrated the Magic Tower, Ji-hye and Lucy had thought that the magicians were helping Frankenstein Junior’s research of their own free will.

However, seeing their strange behavior, speech, and crucially, their attitude toward Frankenstein Junior, they finally realized that all of them were already brainwashed.

It was only natural.

Frankenstein Junior made people feel disgust and aversion just by looking at him, and it was impossible to endure that and stay in the same place for a long time.

No matter what his purpose was in coming to this Magic Tower, he would have had no choice but to brainwash people in order to stay here.

With his ability to corrupt dryads, naiads, and tsukumogami, it would not have been that difficult either.

—He brainwashed them using lethal poisons, curses, and black magic without even considering the aftereffects, all so they wouldn’t even question his words. Could you build a relationship where you call each other by name with people like that?

“No… That’s just playing with dolls.”

—Exactly. So isn’t that what that monster is worrying about right now? Whether he should really turn the person who was curious about his name for the first time into a doll.

Lucy’s fairly convincing words sent a shiver down her spine.

Of course Ji-hye wanted to be loved, but the object of that love was absolutely not a monster like him.

—Don’t you feel any pity for him?

“Look. Sympathy is something you feel when you are well-off, or when you are in a superior position to the other party. It is not an emotion you can feel toward a monster that devoured an entire Magic Tower.”

Moreover, he was the one who had tried to brainwash Ji-hye.

And what? Pity?

She snorted and said.

“Just connect me to Jun. Since the location and time are confirmed, we need to refine the details of the operation.”

—Right. I just hope it goes according to plan.

“What you just said is called throwing a wet blanket on things, so remember that well. …By the way, what about Nabinya? We already found the monster, so what is she doing and where?”

—She is running an errand for me. Here, take this as well.

Taking a small, dark brown lump from Lucy, Ji-hye caught a faint sweet scent, blinked, and asked:

“Is this… brown sugar?”

—Does this look like ordinary brown sugar to you? Just take it, thinking of it as insurance.

Lucy uttered words that one would only see in a cheap horror comic.

Hearing that, Ji-hye carefully examined the brown sugar, but she could not discover anything.

It was only natural, since she did not possess spiritual power.

* * *

The speculation she had hoped would end as just Lucy’s conjecture unfortunately became reality.

When the time came and Ji-hye stepped into the first basement floor—the place Frankenstein Junior had referred to as the breeding room.

There was no one there but Frankenstein Junior.

—Aaaaargh!

—Kee-eek, kekekek!

—Kill… me… Please kill…!

That was, if one did not include the test subjects trapped in iron cages, howling in all sorts of ways.

Ji-hye, who had almost screamed in that instant, racked her brain to figure out how to handle the situation, and decided to continue acting for the time being.

“Um… Have the others not come yet?”

Frankenstein Junior, who was standing in the center of the breeding room, quietly stared at Ji-hye for a moment before slowly shaking his head and speaking.

“They will not be coming. By now, they are probably activating the Magic Tower’s defense system.”

“D-Defense system?”

“Yes. The defense system that will protect the Magic Tower from the invaders you must have called.”

“Ah.”

She was screwed.

Was the Academy Award for Best Actress indeed too early for the rookie actress Ji-hye?

“As I thought, you were not brainwashed from the very beginning.”

While Ji-hye broke out in a cold sweat, a wider smile spread across the monster’s lips.

“Because you possess such incredible mental strength, you did not run away from me, calmly introduced yourself… and asked for my name.”

“Is… Is that really so special?”

“Very special. Because it means you are someone who has the potential to not reject me.”

Taking a large stride forward, the bastard closed the distance to Ji-hye.

Ji-hye reflexively gasped and retreated, but a barrier had already been erected over the stairs leading to the surface.

“You must have wanted to capture me as safely as possible. But how unfortunate. Even if they succeed in neutralizing the Magic Tower, they will only see the empty space where you and I used to be.”

“Please don’t do this. Even if you treat me roughly, it will only make Jun angry, you know? There is nothing special about me. I will talk it over with Jun and make sure we find the person you want, so…”

In her panic, Ji-hye spoke faster and faster, babbling nonsense that even she could not believe, but the bastard did not listen to a single word.

“It is you. You, who possess outstanding comprehension; you, who have the potential to advance my research to become like everyone else; you, who asked for my name first! You, who can face me head-on and overcome your disgust for me without any brainwashing!”

“The world is huge! If you look carefully, there are bound to be women who are much prettier than me and who will actually like you!”

“You are beautiful—to me, the most beautiful in this world!”

“Thank you so much, you are also quite cool, you know? So let’s calm down and talk first! Sir!”

“C-Cool? As expected, you can be my wife!”

“Wife?! Wi-i-ife!”

Just as Ji-hye, in a complete panic, manifested her Pterodactylization skill and resisted to somehow block the monster’s approach.

—I knew it would turn out like this.

Lucy clicked her tongue and snapped her fingers.

At that moment, her body materialized on its own to endure the excessive consumption of spiritual power, and at the same time, a dazzling light erupted from the entire Magic Tower!

“W-What?!”

“Aaargh!”

Ji-hye rolled her eyes as she saw light radiating from the pocket where she had roughly stuffed the brown sugar earlier.

However, seeing Frankenstein Junior—who had approached as if about to pounce on her at any moment—screaming and backing away while covering his eyes, she got the gist of it.

“You, this…”

—I had Nabinya place items containing my spiritual power all over the Magic Tower. I don’t know much, but the magicians whose minds were encroached by curses and black magic are probably completely out of commission by now, rolling around on the floor.

And if that was the case, then naturally.

It meant that the Magic Tower’s defense system, which operated under the control of the magicians, had also gone haywire.

—Crash!

The ceiling shattered, and a Draconian holding a greatsword dropped down in front of them.

Seeing Gi-jun leap down right after him and immediately block her front as if to protect her, Ji-hye cried out in emotion.

“Oppa!”

“Yeah, Ji-hye. Sorry I’m late.”

“That monster bastard tried to pounce on me! He didn’t even know his place and said he would make me his wife! Kill him quickly, kill him!”

—…

At her rapid attitude shift, Lucy could only marvel.

“Ha… Right, how can one be full from the first spoonful? Let’s save the rest of the talk for when it is just the two of us. For now…”

—Aaaaargh!

—Kyao! Kyaoooo!

Meanwhile, Frankenstein Junior bit his lip at Ji-hye’s harsh words, but apparently unable to give up on her, he released all the dangerous and horrifying test subjects locked in the iron cages all at once.

“Fortunately… all the dangerous things are here.”

Checking the situation, the Hero nodded in satisfaction, raised his greatsword, and drove it deep into the floor.

In that instant, the entire space reached by his power turned into a pitch-black cave.

—[The Unique Territory ‘Golden Draconian’s Lair’ has been activated. Within this area, the abilities of everyone recognized as a guardian by the territory master are enhanced, while the abilities of everyone hostile to the territory master are reduced and their movements are slowed.]

—[The Unique Territory ‘Golden Draconian’s Lair’ has been activated. Within this area, the abilities of everyone recognized as a guardian by the territory master are enhanced, while the abilities of everyone hostile to the territory master are reduced and their movements are slowed.]

“From this moment on, this place is my nest.”

The Draconian declared, his vertically slit eyes flashing.

“Without my permission, no one shall leave this place.”

Ji-hye, who had regained her composure after joining up with her allies, muttered in deep emotion as she felt the Draconian’s magic power overflowing in all directions strengthening her.

“Nuclear launch detected…”

Even if it was thanks to Lucy’s super play.

Ji-hye’s mission was successfully completed.