99 – You, Too, by Now – 3

“Hehehe…”

Ye-min’s party had received instructions from Bella and had been on stakeout duty since evening in the middle of one of the paths leading to the Union Guild’s guild house.

Although they had to hide secretly so as not to be caught by the enemies, a woman’s eerie laughter was constantly leaking out from among them.

“Hehehehe…”

“Um… Min-i Nuna?”

“Shh. If you mess with her right now, we will die too.”

While Mok-su held onto Eun-shin, who was trying to calm Ye-min down somehow, rather firmly.

Ye-min, who did not give them even a shred of attention, quietly muttered with her head bowed.

“So that was it. That girl Ji-hye met Oppa but didn’t say a word to me…”

“B-but we don’t know for sure if it’s really Jun-i hyung or not yet.”

In the end, Eun-shin ended up piping up and speaking.

However, Ye-min replied while shaking her head back and forth as if stirring a large pot with a ladle.

“It’s Jun-i Oppa, for sure. Otherwise, there’s no way Ji-hye wouldn’t return to us and keep staying in that party.”

“That’s… because she received instructions from Bella-ssi.”

“She would rather give up on a quest than join another party for a reason like that; she isn’t that kind of girl.”

“Ehey, you never know. He might be so handsome that she fell in love at first sight.”

“…What? Hye Nuna, falling in love?”

At the joke Mok-su cracked, this time Eun-shin wore an expression as if the world had ended.

Mok-su realized his thoughtless mouth had caused trouble again and hurriedly waved his hands.

“No, it’s a joke! A joke, of course! I also think it’s that fellow Jun. The fact that he uses a shield and walks around wearing a mask fits too!”

“But there’s still a chance it’s not. If it’s not Jun-i hyung, and if Hye Nuna really fell for that man and wants to leave our party…”

“It’s Jun-i Oppa.”

Ye-min asserted once again.

“I can tell. The fact that Ji-hye hasn’t contacted us in any way all this time is the proof.”

“How is that proof…”

“Because she knows that if she tells me she met Jun-i Oppa before me, I will be absolutely furious.”

At those incredibly convincing words, Eun-shin and Mok-su shut their mouths at the same time.

They could not bring themselves to deny it, but agreeing with her would be tantamount to calling Ye-min a narrow-minded, petty girl.

No, wait, wasn’t she admitting it herself right now?

“But she was in the wrong. She should have thought of persuading Oppa somehow to come along with her.”

Ye-min muttered in a chilly voice.

Glancing at Eun-shin, who was inwardly relieved, Mok-su spoke cautiously.

“Wouldn’t they have their own circumstances too?”

“…Right, there might be some reason.”

Ye-min, who nodded, added with a dark smile on her lips.

“I’ll find out when I meet Oppa today and confirm it myself. And if the reason is not convincing… Hye-ji will die.”

“Shin-ah, she’s so scary…”

“You were right, Uncle. I shouldn’t have messed with her…”

They did not know why she was already taking their reunion for granted, let alone why she would kill Ji-hye instead of Gi-jun, but the two men could no longer challenge Ye-min and were merely trembling in fear.

In the midst of that, Eun-shin came up with a bright idea, which was to change the subject.

“By the way, is that person going to be okay? Choi Kang-ssi…”

“He didn’t look like the type of guy who would cooperate with vampires.”

Mok-su eagerly caught onto his words, thinking it was a perfect opportunity.

Returned to reality by those words, Ye-min shrugged and spoke.

“We can just think of it as only two representatives of Earth remaining.”

“You’re giving up way too fast, Nuna.”

“But he’s not a bad guy. It would be nice if we could help him if possible, right?”

The two still seemed to wish for Choi Kang to hold out as one of the representatives of Earth’s humanity, but Ye-min’s reaction was lukewarm.

“But he’s stupid. Besides, it’s annoying how he openly checks me out every time he sees me.”

“Still, seeing him this time, it looked like he was trying quite hard to restrain himself.”

“Doing that makes it even more obvious, though.”

“Could it be that you just dislike that guy?”

“Yes? …No, it’s not that.”

Ye-min tilted her head at Mok-su’s words and thought for a moment, then denied it and added.

“If a huge bug is hovering in front of your eyes, it’s annoying and irritating, but you don’t discuss whether you like or dislike a bug, do you?”

“So you don’t even see him as a human being.”

To Mok-su, who shook his head and sighed, Ye-min smirked and replied.

“If I paid attention to every single person who likes me, I wouldn’t have a life of my own, Uncle. That’s why I only care about the people I like.”

It was a remark that anyone whose Charm had not reached the legendary realm would not dare to utter.

Moreover, it even naturally made the listener realize that he was someone she liked, increasing his favorability.

Touched, Mok-su raised both hands and gestured as if clapping.

“Shin-ah, write down what Min-i just said. I should try using it myself later.”

“Nuna, Uncle.”

At that moment, Eun-shin called them in a serious voice and pointed beyond the iron fence of the guild house they were monitoring.

“I think they’re fighting inside.”

“Hmm?”

“…Indeed.”

While Mok-su tilted his head, Ye-min caught the noise right away.

A man’s shouting, sounds of collision, and even the faint flow of mana.

“This voice…”

“Ah.”

Just as she was thinking that the man’s voice sounded familiar from somewhere, Eun-shin showed a look of realization before she did.

Mok-su blinked and asked.

“What’s wrong with both of you? Did someone infiltrate first?”

“No, it seems like an uprising broke out from the inside.”

“It’s Choi Kang-ssi! I’ll go inside first.”

Eun-shin melted into the shadows and disappeared before anyone could reply.

The remaining two blinked as they looked at each other, and soon, without anyone having to say it first, they sighed and stood up.

“Looks like we have to go.”

“At least it’s a relief that the operation time is near.”

Eun-shin’s innate ability was certainly outstanding, but once a full-scale battle began, it was impossible even for him to remain completely hidden.

Ultimately, he could only perform properly if there was support and aggro from the party members, so they could not just leave him alone and wait.

—Boom!

However, the moment the two crossed the iron fence and trespassed onto the Union Guild’s private property, a huge explosion occurred in what looked like a warehouse building, and the ceiling tore like a sheet of paper and flew into the sky.

The first thing visible was the massive flames, and the next was the sight of the man, Choi Kang, running wild with his shirt off like a madman.

Behind him, those who appeared to be his party members were gathered, and one of them was seen kneeling on the ground, perhaps already heavily injured.

Ye-min, who was watching the scene while hanging on the iron fence, nodded and spoke.

“Shin is there too.”

“No need to hesitate, let’s go right now.”

“Who is it!”

Leaping toward a Union guild member who shouted and ran at them as soon as he spotted them, Ye-min trampled his face to land, then crushed it once more with her heel.

“Let’s go, Uncle.”

“…Right.”

Fortunately, it seemed that the forces surrounding the Union Guild had no choice but to initiate their action due to the explosion that had just occurred inside.

As the situation rapidly grew chaotic with guild members pouring out from inside the Union Guild, Ye-min and Mok-su dealt with those rushing at them appropriately as they ran toward the warehouse.

Meanwhile, sensing killing intent, Mok-su put his axe forward to block a greatsword flying toward him.

“Who is it!”

“It’s a vampire hunter, you bastard!”

Mok-su immediately activated his skill, shouting as he swung his fiercely heating axe with force to fling the greatsword away.

A silver thorn sprouted from the neck of the man who flinched and stepped back from the strength that was much stronger than expected, then disappeared.

Ye-min had already taken his back and taken his life with a flash-like stab.

“Over there!”

“There’s one here too!”

“Ha.”

Pulling her sword out of the neck of the enemy who had already become a corpse, Ye-min picked up the enemy’s greatsword rolling on the ground with one hand, infused it with mana, and threw it with all her might toward those running at them.

“Heup—!”

“That wench—!”

—Kaboom!

The greatsword containing Ye-min’s mana exploded, shooting tens of thousands of fragments in all directions, which not only knocked down the entire crowd but also collapsed the nearby buildings.

It was the skill ‘Bombification’, which had been a Rare-grade skill when she first acquired it but had been grown to Unique-grade by Ye-min. Originally, it was a skill that could only be obtained in the tutorial by proceeding through the quest of an unidentified alchemist via a hidden route.

‘This was also a skill I learned about thanks to Jun-i Oppa during the first round.’

Although it had a serious flaw in that she had to waste a perfectly good piece of equipment each time she used it despite its outstanding power—

Since the damage increased in proportion to magic power, it was great for utilizing Ye-min’s high Magic Power, and there was no better skill than this to immediately use items looted after killing opponents on the battlefield as weapons.

“Let’s go, Uncle.”

“Mmm, right. We should.”

Mok-su could not help but smile bitterly, reminded once again of the second round of the tutorial by Ye-min’s decisiveness in stabbing to death and blowing up fellow humans without hesitation.

Thinking about it like this, did that regression, which did not even feel like a proper regression, really have some meaning?

Was that actually a good thing…

“Don’t worry about it, Uncle.”

Ye-min spoke as she converted the items looted from the enemies she had just killed into bombs and threw them again at the crowd rushing out of the building.

“Those who remain inside the guild even at this point, when Union has been completely ruined in the capital, and who immediately point their weapons at us while calling us intruders, are without a doubt ‘evil’.”

“I truly admire you for being able to move with such conviction. You really are the leader of the party.”

“Is that so…”

Ye-min nodded with a complicated expression at those words.

She was thinking of Gi-jun, who was active as the leader of another party.

The Gi-jun of the past was certainly a man who was more righteous than anyone else and knew how to embrace many people, but he was by no means someone who wanted to step forward in front of others.

While she was sure that the man named Jun the Flame Human, who was currently a hot topic throughout Gratia, was Gi-jun, this was also the reason why she felt a strange sense of incongruity in his actions, which were different from the Gi-jun of the past.

‘If that person is really Oppa—just what on earth happened to Oppa during the ten years we couldn’t meet?’

However, there was no luxury to get lost in deep thought here.

The two soon arrived at the factory and found Choi Kang and Eun-shin fighting against dozens of vampires together.

“—Ah!”

Confirming Ye-min’s neat appearance, which did not have a single speck of dust on it despite entering the factory through the absolute chaos, Choi Kang opened his eyes wide and let out a single exclamation.

However, because the enemies immediately lunged at him, targeting his opening, he had to hurriedly throw his body to avoid them.

During that short time, all of Choi Kang’s other companions had collapsed, and the figures of other humans splayed around could be seen near them… As if by agreement, Ye-min focused on the wounds on the necks of those who had fallen.

“Don’t tell me, their blood…?”

“Yes! These damn bastards—we were fooled by their words to change the Union together!”

“If you have time to talk, concentrate!”

Eun-shin shouted at Choi Kang’s words as he moved quickly to block the enemies’ attacks.

There had been a disturbance inside Union as well due to what happened in Cor, and Choi Kang had foolishly fallen for the vampires’ words and walked into their trap on his own, resulting in losing his companions and going wild—

It was probably something like that. He was a fool after all.

However, they could not just make fun of him for being a fool while people were dying to the vampires, so Ye-min sighed and joined them along with Mok-su.

Meanwhile, the vampires maintained a leisurely attitude even though they knew there was a commotion outside.

“To think a fool would crawl into an unfavorable place on his own!”

“There is no such thing as an unfavorable place for me. Twin Wings of Nike.”

—Fwooooosh!

The two-pronged sword energy of light that Ye-min drew and unleashed in a surprise attack swept through the vampire crowd, annihilating nearly half of them.

Since it was the strongest among her skills and possessed the power of light, it exerted truly overwhelming power.

“W-what is this!”

“Damn it, what on earth has been going on since earlier with these guys too—!”

The vampires flinched and retreated at the divine power of Ye-min, who deserved to be called a hero.

However, some of them realized that Ye-min had overexerted herself slightly from her very first move to overcome the disadvantageous battle situation.

“Even so, we still have the advantage. If we just drain these guys too, there might be a chance!”

“That’s right, I can feel the woman’s magic power weakening.”

“And today… is a night with a full moon!”

Was it because they were reflexively drawn to those words?

Without distinction between ally and enemy, everyone’s gaze turned toward the night sky revealed beyond the open ceiling.

The full moon that made the vampires stronger.

Who on earth set the operation date for today? Just as Ye-min was gritting her teeth and trying to look back—

A sun that covered the full moon rose.

It was a brightly burning sun, though somewhat small in size.

“Who—Gasp!”

“N-no way.”

Immediately after two fireballs shining like flashes of light cut through the air and rushed forward, literally grinding down the vanguard of the vampire crowd that was sweeping toward the party.

The burning sun landed straight on the ground, emitting a heavy vibrating sound.

They realized only later that the identity of the sun was a giant fire cat.

“The guys you were trying to help escape by drawing aggro like this, I killed them all.”

A man wearing full plate armor lightly jumped down from the back of the fire cat.

Easily catching the fireballs that had circled back through the air—two shields—and equipping them on both arms, he looked at the vampires who were frozen in place, unable to move, and spoke.

“Since all your schemes went down the drain, you can just go wild like madmen now and drop dead.”

“You son of a—bitch—!”

“The Flame Human—!”

Was it really the vampires’ plan to blow up the warehouse and run wild against Choi Kang?

Seeing the vampires who rushed at him in a frenzy the moment the words left his mouth, the man smirked and began to pierce and kill them all with two fangs imbued with light.

To describe it, the word ‘overwhelm’ was not enough, and the expression ‘slaughter’ was insufficient—simply saying he was ‘trampling’ them seemed to fit best.

A despairing difference in strength was bound to invalidate any strategy.

Just as dozens or hundreds of ants would all die once a human stepped on them, the enemies were dying just like that.

“Ah…”

Ye-min felt a bit drained seeing the divine power of the man who easily resolved a battle situation that she would have had to risk her life to navigate, but right now, there was something far more important than such a minor sense of defeat.

The moment she heard his voice.

No, in truth, she knew even before he opened his mouth.

“Jun-i Oppa!”

That the person she had desperately searched for over ten years had appeared before her eyes so casually.