Chapter 42 – I Was the Protagonist?

Se-min spoke toward Ahn Seong-jun.

“It’s been a while.”

“Lee Se-min.”

In the past, they were not people with a large point of contact.

However, that changed while testing their aura aptitudes. Just as other Raiders did now, Ahn Seong-jun at that time was drunk on his own power. Thus, he bullied weak students.

Se-min rebelled, and so a fight broke out.

Ahn Seong-jun was originally in a group that used physical force and had even learned martial arts.

Se-min lost.

At that time, he did not know how to use his power.

But what about now? Staring at Ahn Seong-jun, Se-min gauged the depth of the aura reflected in his eyes.

It was not shallow.

Nor was it deep.

Se-min felt something that had been lurking in his heart about him fade away.

“How are you here…”

“I came to meet a friend, but things got twisted.”

As he spoke, Se-min stared at the two men. They avoided his gaze. Se-min shrugged his shoulders.

“But I didn’t expect you to be here.”

Speaking of Peacemaker, there was a sense of mystery. They pursued a select elite, and every member was above the Platinum-mark. They were skilled enough to be called the special forces of the raid industry, and they even jumped into dangerous raids voluntarily.

Its leader, Oh Jeong-hee, was even more of an unknown identity.

Except for Ahn Seong-jun, no one’s face was known in Peacemaker.

If people knew that such individuals were drinking in a tavern and collapsed, what would they think?

“Because we received help from MNT.”

The company Park Jin-hoon and the two men belonged to was MNT. It was one of the mid-sized companies ranked below the Big Three. It was a place well-reputed for having a great aura method, just as he had conversed with Park Jin-hoon earlier.

“How do you two know each other?”

Oh Jeong-hee asked.

He was holding alcohol in his mouth alone again. He was quite a heavy drinker.

“You don’t seem close, though.”

Se-min laughed out loud.

“Not close at all. It’s the opposite. We’re high school classmates, and this guy was really nasty back then.”

“I heard too. He was really not great.”

“We know each other like that.”

“You two should talk a bit. I will scold him.”

Ahn Seong-jun smiled bitterly.

When Se-min suddenly checked his cell phone, a message had come from Lee Yu-jin. It asked if he had died after going to the restroom. Se-min replied that he was coming soon.

“Hey. Thanks for back then.”

Se-min spoke to Ahn Seong-jun.

When facing Kesia, he had killed one, but failed to block the other. At that moment, Ahn Seong-jun had stepped in and saved Se-min.

If not for him, Se-min would have died.

Ahn Seong-jun nodded. Unlike in the past, his words had decreased a lot.

“You did a bigger job. Because you saved the city.”

Since it was a line Ahn Seong-jun did not seem likely to say, Se-min felt uncomfortable.

“And, I’m sorry for back then.”

The ‘back then’ he spoke of would be further in the past.

“To you, and to everyone.”

Do people really change?

Se-min had thought that once he met Ahn Seong-jun again, he would beat him up for real this time, but the desire to do so vanished.

“Then, just work hard on raids.”

Perhaps having understood Se-min’s intention, he smiled faintly and nodded.

Se-min grabbed the bomb shot Oh Jeong-hee had made again.

Oh Jeong-hee, who was watching the conversation between the two with a strangely pleased face, offered drinks to the people again. The newly awakened members of Peacemaker also had to hold glasses in their hands.

“I will leave after accepting only this glass.”

“It’s a pity. Stay longer.”

“Because my companions are waiting.”

“Right. You’re Se-min, correct? Want to join our company?”

“I’m fine.”

“Contact me if your mind changes.”

And he said, raising his glass.

“For Se-min’s change of mind!”

Everyone drank down the alcohol.

Se-min returned to their room together with Park Jin-hoon.

He had thought it would be quiet since two had disappeared, but the room was noisy. Han Yeon-woo, Miki, and Lee Min-jae chattered about something.

“Se-min! More friends are coming! Our members are coming too!”

Lee Yu-jin said.

Se-min shook his head.

“I’m leaving now.”

“What? Why?”

“I’ve played enough. I have to go to a raid tomorrow.”

“Ah…”

Lee Yu-jin wore a disappointed face.

“Stay longer.”

“The world needs me.”

Se-min winked at her and stood up from his seat. He said goodbye to everyone and left the room.

He walked the street instead of returning immediately.

Thoughts passed through his head.

Many things happened since he met the Transcendent Network and became a Raider. He thought everything would be comfortable if he became stronger, but on the contrary, his world became more complicated.

The things he saw in the other world.

The Raider Bureau, whose inner thoughts were unknown.

The Triads from China, and the Limitless Association which was passed down their martial arts.

The matter of Geoseong Metal Industry, Seol Mu-jin’s request, and even Ahn Seong-jun, whom he met again here.

Those who were good turned bad, and those who were bad behaved like good people again.

The Tai Chi Wisdom comforted his heart.

Se-min thought of the principles of the Tai Chi Wisdom.

‘Tai Chi refers to yin and yang, heaven, earth, and human, and further refers to origin, prosperity, utility, and perseverance.’

Somehow, he felt like he understood what it was saying.

The world keeps changing.

Even he himself was like that.

That flow cannot be predicted.

But in the end, it aligns under the Tao of Tai Chi.

Se-min muttered.

“Black-mark.”

Oh Jeong-hee was strong.

If Ryu Gwan-cheol’s presence was magnificent, he was quiet but sharp. He was an existence that the current Se-min could not easily gauge.

But he was not afraid of him.

Se-min was confident he could become stronger than him.

Tai Chi means infinite possibilities.

***

Se-min focused on raids.

“Brother, you seem to train a lot lately?”

Bang Yu-bi, who came to perform the raid together this time as well, said.

It was a raid in which five Platinum-marks, including Se-min and Bang Yu-bi, participated together. The two grew closer than before while conducting raids together.

“Do you feel respect now?”

Bang Yu-bi smirked.

“Quit joking. Your body looks light; did you obtain some new martial art?”

“I only obtained a small realization.”

The expression that his body was light was only superficial; what Bang Yu-bi actually felt was slightly different.

Se-min began to conduct raids easily.

He clearly distinguished when to enter and when not to. Even when entering, he did not push himself and attacked the enemy lightly as if practicing.

It seemed not that Se-min was aiming for the enemy’s weak points, but rather that when he held the claymore, the enemy approached and offered their weak points.

It was a flow different from before.

“Teach me some too.”

“You should just practice Marble of Us.”

“That…!”

When Se-min mentioned something she did not want to think about again, her face flushed red.

“I really hate that.”

Bang Yu-bi muttered, then turned around sharply and moved away from Se-min.

Se-min tilted his head.

It was a common culture not to teach each other among different companies. Getting angry because he did not tell her the secret was an unprofessional appearance.

Se-min began to worry about the Iron Horse Company.

A Raider watching Bang Yu-bi and Se-min smiled strangely and tapped Se-min’s shoulder.

“You two have a good atmosphere today too.”

“What are you talking about? It’s as desolate as a desert.”

Se-min shook his head.

Soon, the raid briefing began.

The magic beast to appear this time was harmful magic beast system number 59, Mastakan.

It was a grade above Platinum and below Black. Considering that the grade of magic beasts was usually given by the possibility of a solo raid by a Raider of that mark, it was an ambiguous entity to set a grade for.

Several Platinums were needed, but it was insufficient to call a Black-mark.

That was Mastakan.

Five Platinum-mark Raiders gathered for safety.

“As you all know best, safety is important. We will get rid of the magic beast within a short time so that damage does not occur to the surroundings.”

The support team leader said. Everyone nodded. Once they reached about the Platinum-mark, the magic beasts they faced were all powerful, and they caused that much damage to the surroundings.

The raid location now was also in the middle of a controlled road.

A Gate forecast was issued in a busy street without even a proper empty lot. Because there was no suitable place, they decided to open the Gate on the road, bearing the damage.

Therefore, the stage given to them was the middle of the downtown.

Se-min felt a strange mood whenever he conducted a raid.

The landscape of the city, which was quiet without a single human trace because everyone had evacuated, was desolate. If they stood by, the roots of the other world would eventually pierce the asphalt, squeeze out, and wrap around the buildings, and the concrete would be buried in bizarre plants and become invisible.

And magic beasts would roam instead of humans.

They destroy not only humanity but also animals and nature.

Thanks to the magic beasts, humans stepped down from the position of the earth’s greatest villains.

“Who will take the command?”

Five Platinum-marks gathered.

It was not clear who was stronger and who was weaker.

However, everyone looked at Se-min at the same time.

Se-min grinned.

“I will take it.”

In terms of time, he became a Raider the latest, and putting on the Platinum-mark was even later.

However, he conducted several raids a day.

There was not even a holiday.

Regardless of time, there was no Raider in this place who had slain more magic beasts than Se-min.

“Yes. We leave it to you.”

Everyone stood up from their seats and checked their respective equipment.

Upon reaching the Platinum-mark, the attire of the Raiders rather became lighter. What they needed was not heavy armor, but freedom of movement. Defensive defense in case of emergency was substituted by aura.

Se-min held a single sword as usual.

Bang Yu-bi warmed up beside him.

“Listen well today too.”

“Just give the commands properly.”

She wore alloy armor that protected vital points over tough tights, and wore a T-shirt over it. The color scheme was quite harmonious. Raiders sensitive to outward appearance often cared about style even during raids.

Of course, Se-min also thought he belonged to such a category.

“Do you have plans after the raid?”

“Pardon?”

Bang Yu-bi’s eyes widened at the sudden question.

She stammered.

“I-I did agree to meet sister Seon-ha, but why?”

“Then never mind.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“It’s nothing.”

“What is it?”

Se-min shrugged his shoulders and did not say.

Bang Yu-bi’s face became complicated.

“Since everyone has a lot of experience, let’s scatter and face it.”

Se-min spoke and drew the claymore.

This claymore, discovered in the smuggling container of Geoseong Metal Industry, was still of unknown identity. According to the weapon workshop, it seemed to be an old item, but just by them sharpening the edge and doing a light check, it revived like new.

Upon investigation, the small patterns engraved on the blade were said to be the language of the Celts, rune letters.

If I meet that Triad gang again, whom they called Wudang Sect whatever, I should ask what this is.

[We will count to ten until the Gate unfolds.]

As always, at the end of the countdown, an ominous eye rose, and the magic beast appeared.

Mastakan revealed its body.

It was the shape of a giant snake.

The guy’s scales were practically biological cannons. The beast moved quickly to bite the enemy, and shot its scales to attack the enemy. And the scales were continuously regenerated as long as the guy’s breath was not cut off.

There was no blind spot.

The entire skin was hard armor, and at the same time, an offensive weapon.

Everyone tensed at that intimidation.

The magic beast and the Raiders stopped on the spot and stared at each other.

The one who broke the confrontation was Se-min.

He swung the claymore and emitted sword qi.

The sword qi struck Mastakan’s scales and vanished. A scratch appeared on the scales. Mastakan roared, dripping venom from its fangs.

The scales rose and bombarded the front.

They escaped the attack range in their respective ways.

Se-min turned his claymore and deflected them all, and Bang Yu-bi leaped into the sky. The rest split to the left and right.

The five personnel surrounded Mastakan.

Mastakan instantly twisted its body and attacked the Raider standing behind. It was Bang Yu-bi. Having not fully warmed up her body, she could not respond to the sudden turn and her body froze.

Mastakan’s teeth expanded before her eyes.

She closed her eyes tightly.

But nothing happened.

She softly opened eyes at the sensation of her body floating up.

“What are you doing?”

“Brother.”

She was held in Se-min’s arms in the air.

“Get a grip so you don’t get in the way.”

“Che. Thank you.”

He put Bang Yu-bi down and raised his sword toward Mastakan again.

He was fighting in a field of vision different from before. It was a change that came from a place he did not consciously realize.

He did not see the murderous intent to kill him from the magic beast’s attacks, but rather the fear and terror the guy felt.

Mastakan rushed at Se-min and tried to wrap around his body. The attack was excessive. It was dying to kill him. That was based on fear of the enemy, and soon represented the pressure Mastakan felt.

So he stepped back.

As Mastakan attacked again, Se-min stepped aside and slashed Mastakan’s scales. The tip of the claymore opened a path through the surface. Blood and bodily fluids poured.

The guy set its scales upright again.

While deflecting the scales flying endlessly, Se-min smiled instead at that pressure.

All things are connected by cause and effect, and all changes soon result back to the beginning.

The more powerful and hard Mastakan’s scales were, the greater the power the guy consumed would be. Since infinite power does not exist, the guy would bear the cost of the attack himself.

Tai Chi.

The logic of the universe is never distorted.

Mastakan relaxed its body and kept guard against the Raiders. The scales were sprouting again. But they were thinner and weaker than before. It was a microscopic difference, but Se-min saw it clearly.

Se-min lifted the claymore.

His aura was still energetic.

Se-min looked at Bang Yu-bi. She understood the eye sign and struck Mastakan first. Mastakan’s attention focused on her.

Se-min approached Mastakan’s back in that gap.

The other Raiders also stood beside Bang Yu-bi and took Mastakan’s killing intent from the front.

The guy’s scales opened wide again.

Scales were fired toward Se-min who approached from behind. Perhaps because it saved energy to check the Raiders in the front, the intensity of the attack was weak. Se-min smiled looking down at the scales flying toward him.

The opponent softened its attack.

However, it was the same for Se-min that he could adjust the tempo.

He now unfolded his attack powerfully.

The aura residing in the claymore burned fiercely. The aura applied to the blade collided and rubbed against each other. The violently rotating current soon condensed enough destructive power to slash the enemy.

Se-min struck down toward Mastakan’s head.

Feeling that something was wrong, Mastakan let out a bizarre high scream and turned its head toward Se-min. At that, the attacks of the other Raiders went toward the guy again.

The guy’s entire body scales opened wide, drawing out all the power it had to explode in all directions.

The gathered Raiders gathered aura to unfold a barrier. Although a few scales lodged in their bodies, there were no serious injuries.

[Are you okay?]

And Se-min struck down the claymore on Mastakan’s head.

At the same time, scales lodged all over his body like a hedgehog.

“Brother!”

“Se-min-nim!”

But that was only temporary; the scales that had been thought to have pierced his body fell to the ground.

The energy of Tai Chi surrounding Se-min’s body surged without being invaded. Aura rose from his entire body. The scales were all ruined with their tips crushed.

The Tai Chi Wisdom protected his body like a living organism.

Se-min nodded.

Clearly he had become stronger. It was not a level to reach the Black-mark, but a bridge to reach there had been laid.

Just emitting more aura was not the answer. Fast and strong was only one form of aura.

“It’s not over yet.”

Se-min said. Mastakan was in a disastrous state with its skull split by the claymore, exposing the interior, and the scales also mixed with places regenerating and places torn open.

However, it still raised its head and growled.

Mastakan now pounced on the Raiders, not Se-min. It seemed to ignore the aura flying toward it.

The guy felt death.

Since it was a life bound to die anyway, it launched a mutual destruction attack to take at least a few along as companions to the afterlife.

Se-min could not stop the attacks that had already been fired.

The guy’s scales rose, and its teeth bit Bang Yu-bi and the Raiders.

One person was caught in the guy’s maw. He shoved his spear into Mastakan’s mouth. Ignoring its own mouth bursting, Mastakan bit him. He raised his aura to protect his entire body.

The three Raiders standing nearby attacked Mastakan’s eyes and face, but Mastakan exerted force on its jaw as if to kill at least the one that entered its mouth.

Blood fell from the body of the Raider caught in the teeth. Mastakan’s tongue licked the Raider’s body.

The Raider’s eyes trembled. Its teeth pierced the aura and chewed his flesh once.

“Aaaaack!”

And at that moment, Se-min’s claymore pierced the guy’s crown again.

It pierced the skull.

That feeling was conveyed.

The claymore cut off Mastakan’s windpipe.

Se-min immediately came down from the head and checked the Raider’s condition. He was bleeding with his internal organs exposed, having been chewed from the flank to the lower body.

The combat support team rushed over and gave him first aid. The Raiders raised aura to activate first aid kits.

“Are you okay?”

“This much is nothing. Haha.”

By the time they become Platinum Raiders, they usually have an age range.

Se-min and Bang Yu-bi were exceptions.

So they had a lot of experience. They had experienced this kind of wound in the past, so they seemed familiar with it. Still, it was not a shallow injury. Se-min raised the Tai Chi Wisdom to assist his injured area.

When Se-min’s aura touched him, his expression changed.

“Se-min-nim, what kind of technique is this?”

“I sent my aura flowing in.”

“I don’t feel pain. Even the aura feels as if it were mine…”

Se-min smiled.

“It hurt, right?”

“It hurt.”

“That’s why. This fellow has granted what Raider Kim Jun-ho wants the most.”

The Tai Chi Wisdom had responded to Kim Jun-ho’s will and helped with what he wanted most.

He must have been in quite some pain despite pretending to be okay.

“It’s an amazing aura method.”

Admiring it was only brief; he was soon evacuated to the hospital in the combat support team’s vehicle.

Another raid ended.

Se-min kicked Mastakan’s corpse. The scales fell off. It was one of the strongest magic beasts he had faced, but somehow he did not think it was difficult.

“Good work, everyone.”

The Raiders exchanged greetings.

Since they met the same Raiders once they rose to Platinum, they would see each other again soon.

Even Bang Yu-bi, who was looking at him over there, conducted raids together with him two or three times a week.

Whether she was stimulated by Se-min, she was also one of the Raiders who performed raids exceptionally often. Therefore, the frequency of the two overlapping increased. Now, a sensation that could be called coordination also arose between the two.

“What are you looking at?”

At Se-min’s words, Bang Yu-bi made a ridiculous expression.

“I wasn’t looking at you, Brother.”

Se-min also made the same expression in return.

“I didn’t say you looked at me. I asked what you are looking at.”

“…”

Bang Yu-bi pouted her lips as if annoyed.

“Why did you ask earlier if I had plans?”

“If you have plans, never mind.”

“I’m asking because I’m curious what it was.”

Se-min pondered for a moment and said.

“I was going to ask you to pick out a gift that girls like.”

Bang Yu-bi stared intently at Se-min at his sudden words.

“What are you looking at?”

“Who is it for?”

“Friend.”

Se-min said. Bang Yu-bi wanted to pry further but hesitated.

What she was curious about was asked by someone else instead.

“Se-min-nim, do you have a girlfriend?”

It was a Raider who had conducted the raid together today. She was one of the Raiders whom Bang Yu-bi followed, calling her sister, and she adored the young Bang Yu-bi very much.

“No.”

“Are you just giving it to a friend? A birthday gift?”

“Yes.”

Soon it was Lee Yu-jin’s birthday. As a friend, and as the founder of Dragon Barbecue where she was a model, he decided to send a congratulatory gift.

The two women, with even more curious faces, asked Se-min.

“Is she a civilian?”

“No. But she is not a Raider either.”

“Then?”

“A celebrity.”

Bang Yu-bi pouted her lips strangely.

“Which celebrity?”

“Honey Biz.”

“Who?”

“Yu-jin. No, stage name So-jin.”

“How do you know her?”

“Are you that curious?”

“I’m asking because I can’t believe a person like you is friends with a celebrity.”

Se-min placed aura on his fingertips and flicked it at Bang Yu-bi. It was a shallow aura, so it was only slightly stinging. Bang Yu-bi groaned softly.

“Ouch.”

“She is a high school classmate.”

Bang Yu-bi rubbed her forehead touched by the aura slightly and said.

“Alright.”

“What?”

“I will help you buy the gift.”

“Didn’t you say you were seeing Seon-ha?”

“I have time until I meet sister. How long does it take to choose a gift? We can go right away.”

Se-min nodded.

***

Ahead of Lee Yu-jin’s birthday, deliveries that arrived for her piled up fully at the agency.

Honey Biz was also seeing the light now, and she was a highly popular main vocal within the group. Combined with all kinds of gifts from the fan club as well as personally sent ones, the room was to the point of being full.

Lee Yu-jin found a box in the midst of them.

“Sister, is that it?”

“Yeah.”

On the sender field, Lee Se-min was written.

It was sent by her classmate, who was now making a name for himself as a Raider.

“It’s really Lee Se-min.”

Honey Biz members stuck to her side.

“Isn’t there a ring inside?”

“Fuhuhu. What do you mean? And the size is large too.”

“It could be hidden inside a doll.”

“Sister, don’t forget we have a dating ban!”

The members surrounded her with laughter. Lee Yu-jin gave them a sharp look and tore open the box.

“…This?”

“Wow…”

“Ummm…”

Everyone showed ambiguous reactions.

The birthday gift Se-min bought for her was.

Legos.

It was grandly introduced as a limited edition modeled after a space battleship appearing in a famous SF series. It was an item that an enthusiast who liked Legos would brighten up at, but it was not the type of gift she anticipated.

Lee Yu-jin opened her cell phone and opened the chat window with Se-min.

The conversation shared with Se-min a few days ago remained.

Lee Se-min: I sent the gift.

Lee Se-min: I chose it together with a younger sister I know, but I don’t know if you’ll like it.

Lee Yu-jin: Yes, yes hahaha I’m grateful just for the thought, though TT TT I’ll receive it well!

Lee Se-min: Okay, happy birthday.

Lee Yu-jin: Haha by the way, what kind of friend is that?

Lee Se-min: She’s a kid I often do raids with. She told me to keep it a secret that she chose it, but it’s fine, right?

Lee Yu-jin: hhahaha I don’t care hahaha That friend’s personality must be very meticulous. Male?

Lee Se-min: Female

Lee Se-min: Anyway, she chose it saying a woman knows what a woman likes, so you’ll like it.

Lee Yu-jin: hahahahaha

Lee Yu-jin: haha yeah T T anyway thanks and T T I’ll send you a gift on your birthday too!

Lee Yu-jin: I should go to sleep now.

Lee Se-min: Okay, good night.

Lee Yu-jin smirked.

No wonder she had a strange feeling.

“Sister, did you like Legos?”

“No.”

“Does this person not think much of you? Or is he just thick-headed?”

Lee Yu-jin spoke instead.

“Or an unexpected interferer has appeared.”