The figure was a man with a spear.
‘Boss? He’s alive?’
Jenny felt joy when she recognized Choi Yu-Seong. She had no idea how he had survived, but he looked quite alright and was right in front of them now.
"Ah… Ah…!" At that moment, Jin Yu-Ri cried tears of joy. Like a young child learning to speak, she couldn’t properly articulate her thoughts.
At that moment, a bright light flashed right by her. It was Geom-Gui as he sped toward Yu-Seong.
"Since you’ve taken away the most precious person to me, I will return the favor. Watch with your own eyes.”
Yu-Ri and Jenny’s eyes widened. Yu-Ri formed a black whip to try to hold Geom-Gui back, but her injuries slowed her down. Jenny immediately fired a bullet as well, but it couldn’t reach the madly speeding Geom-Gui in time.
‘No!’
The two women screamed inwardly at the same time.
***
Several seconds before the mana exploded in the warehouse, Yu-Seong recalled something written in the original novel [Modern Master Returns]
'The mana explosion during Re-Awakening is caused by mana colliding in the air.’
In other words, even if Ye-Ryeong disappeared, the mana explosion would still happen. The source of the explosion wasn’t Ye-Ryeong’s physical body at all. This meant that as long as Yu-Seong could get her out of the wooden warehouse, both of them could survive.
At that moment, Choi Yu-Seong remembered the ancient relic—the Jump Ring. It had been one out of two gifts he had received after passing Choi Ji-Ho's test last year.
He didn’t hesitate and took Chae Ye-Ryeong into his arms. The Jump Ring was a treasure that teleported people within ten centimeters of each other to somewhere a kilometer away.
He didn’t want to fail because he calculated the distance wrong. As a result, they appeared in the rice field, which was somewhat far from the explosion. From the rice field, they could only feel the tremors on the ground.
At the same time, the Jump Ring disintegrated into black powder and scattered away. It had been used up. It had once saved Choi Ji-Ho during a past dungeon accident, and this time, it had saved Choi Yu-Seong and Chae Ye-Ryeong. In total, it had saved the lives of three people.
‘So this is how powerful the S+ Rank ancient relics are.’
After breathing a sigh of relief, the first thing Yu-Seong did was to check Chae Ye-Ryeong's condition. She was unconscious, but the mana inside her seemed to still be fluctuating a bit as a glowing blue light was visible.
The Re-Awakening’s success or failure was unknown, but one thing was for certain.
‘She doesn’t seem to have any major health problems.’
Knowing that Chae Ye-Ryeong was safe, Choi Yu-Seong was relieved. With her in his arms, he used his cell phone to check the GPS. The signal was a bit weak since they were out in the countryside but he eventually figured out their location. After all, he lived in a country whose telecommunication system was incredible.
Yu-Seong began to run through the rice field once he was sure of the direction that the wooden warehouse was in. He took note of the landmarks and relied on his senses.
‘Jin Yu-Ri and Jenny must be really worried.’
Since there had been a mana explosion right in front of their eyes, it was only natural they would assume that he was dead. Because of that, there was a high probability that they would be overwhelmed with great anxiety. More importantly, Choi Yu-Seong also had to make sure that they were safe.
The Jump Ring only teleported people up to one kilometer away. It wasn’t too far a distance, so Choi Yu-Seong got to his destination pretty quickly. After that, he stopped running and placed Chae Ye-Ryeong on the ground. He started moving as quietly as possible.
'There may still be enemies left.’
Yu-Seong didn’t want to do anything stupid and become a hostage. Even if it took longer until he could reassure himself of their safety, he wanted to make sure he didn’t disturb Jenny and Yu-Ri’s concentration on the battle.
To check out the situation, Yu-Seong wore a yellow-brown suit using the Pharaoh’s Caprice to blend into his surroundings. Then, he moved to a position where he could check on them while keeping low.
Jin Yu-Ri sat on the ground while Jenny was standing with two guns. There was another person close to them. Choi Yu-Seong breathed a sigh of relief when he saw they were alive.
‘As expected, there’s still an enemy left. But who is it? Is he a villain?’
As of now, Yu-Seong had never heard of a villain wearing a demon mask dripping with bloody tears. He thought about it; if he had more time, he would have easily identified the enemy’s identity. However, he had no time for that.
‘The situation is really bad.’
Although she wasn’t bad in close combat, Jenny usually participated in fights from far away with her long-range shooting. However, right now, she was standing at a close distance from a villain who seemed to be a Physical-type player who used a sword. It was clear why she was blocking the villain’s path instead of widening the distance between them.
‘Jin Yu-Ri's condition seems to be bad. Jenny has no choice but to stay in that position right there.’
Yu-Ri had serious-looking injuries and her gaze looked empty. She was in such a state because of Choi Yu-Seong.
‘What should I do?’
While Yu-Seong was thinking, Jenny was being overpowered. He couldn't just sit and think about it any longer. He would be unbearably distressed if Jin Yu-Ri died in front of his eyes. He wanted to live, but he also wanted to protect the happiness of the people around him.
He had thought this before, but this world was no longer just a story in a novel. They were all living people who had managed to touch his heart and become like family to him, who had once been an orphan. That was why he had to be brave.
'I trust you, Jenny.'
Choi Yu-Seong jumped up from his hiding place and changed the Pharaoh’s Caprice to a spear. First, he could feel Jin Yu-Ri's gaze on him. Then, he felt Jenny’s and Geom-Gui’s.
Geom-Gui began running toward him with eyes brimming with murderous intent.
Jin Yu-Ri's whip and Jenny's bullet missed and failed to stop Geom-Gui, who was incredibly fast.
Choi Yu-Seong was so nervous that his heart pounded against his chest painfully, but he focused hard on his Insight skill to not miss the opponent’s movements.
Geom-Gui was so quick that he was as blurry as a shadow. He was too quick for a normal D-rank player to chase after.
‘He seems faster than Choi Byung-Chan, but…’
Geom-Gui wasn't as fast as Rachel, so Choi Yu-Seong felt confident to go up against him. Yu-Seong swung his spear and hit the dagger that was flying toward him with a red light. His spear vibrated violently, and he wobbled.
Choi Yu-Seong didn’t try to remain in position; instead, he rolled on the floor. He once thought that rolling on the floor was embarrassing, but he no longer cared. In fact, it was something he'd done a lot already. Besides, something else was more important than anything else.
‘If it helps me survive…’
If it helped him to protect his precious ones, Yu-Seong would roll on the dirtiest floor at any time too. In fact, that was what most people in the world would do too.
Another dagger passed right in front of Yu-Seong's nose. If he had tried to keep his initial position, he would have died with a dagger jammed through his throat. Yu-Seong then made an illusion using his Wind Control skill and rolled three times on the floor.
Geom-Gui clicked his tongue as he stabbed Yu-Seong’s illusion with the long sword he wielded. He grumbled, "You little weasel..."
After that, Choi Yu-Seong rolled on the floor several more times. He jumped up, using his spear as a support.
‘Where is he…?’
Before Yu-Seong knew it, Geom-Gui was approaching him with a bright smile. His gaze seemed to suggest that he had got Yu-Seong now. While Choi Yu-Seong's heart sank with a thud, Geom-Gui raised his sword and tried to bisect Yu-Seong at the waist.
At that moment, there was a sound of gunfire, and blood spurted from Geom-Gui’s back. However, he did not stop his sword, which drew blood from Yu-Seong’s waist.
Yu-Seong felt the cool touch of metal and the warmth of his own blood. He almost threw up from the intense pain that wrecked him. At the same time, something heavy hit him hard on the shoulder, and he flew into the air. He groaned as a portion of his intestines fell from his side with blood. "Ugh-!"
"Ahhhhhhhhhh-!" Geom-Gui roared even louder. He had intended to slash Yu-Seong’s entire waist with a single stroke, but he had failed to do so. He couldn’t stab all the way through.
There was one reason for it. On a rice field not far away, Ye-Ryeong was floating several huge water droplets in the air with her hands in front of her. She was sweating profusely.
‘That water drop!’
Yu-Seong had flown through the air because that drop of water had suddenly hit him. Therefore, Geom-Gui’s sword cut through the air without cutting entirely through Yu-Seong’s waist.
"I could have killed him...! I could have killed him!" screamed Geom-Gui.
"I can never forgive you for…hurting my boss," said Ye-Ryeong, who looked pale. She spoke with a water drop pointed at Geom-Gui. She obviously looked tired, but she showed no sign of backing down.
With bloodshot eyes, Geom-Gui tried to walk forward, but he soon reached his limit. He only took three steps in total, and they weren’t even proper ones. He leaned on his sword handle before collapsing slowly. He had been attacking Yu-Seong while ignoring the mana bullets striking his back. He muttered to himself, "Kkkhe… I must get my revenge on him…”
Jenny—who had been watching the situation—approached Yu-Seong, confirmed his injury, and aimed her gun at Geom-Gui’s ankle.
Bang, bang!
Two more shots resonated, and Geom-Gui completely fell down to the ground.
"Boss!" After confirming that Geom-Gui could never get up again, Ye-Ryeong lowered her hands, deactivated her skills, and ran toward Choi Yu-Seong.
Lying alone in the desolate field, Geom-Gui felt his death closing in on him. A chilly sensation spread throughout his body… The death of the grotesque murderer who once terrorized the Republic of Korea was awfully lonely.
***
Jenny and Ye-Ryeong headed straight to a nearby hospital with Choi Yu-Seong and Jin Yu-Ri. They breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that the two of them would have no problems with making complete recoveries. In fact, Yu-Seong regained his consciousness on the same day.
After ensuring that Jin Yu-Ri would be safe, Yu-Seong asked Jenny for some favors. "This incident, please keep it a secret for a while. To be exact... No one but my father should know that I was hospitalized.”
"Yes, sir," said Jenny.
"And find out more about the ones who were killed by Geom-Gui and Medusa, and support them as much as you can. First of all, please explain that they were attacked by the villains and say that we’ll tell them the details a little later. Make sure to say that we are very sorry about it. And come to think of it, Kim Doo-Jun was my age, right? He was part of the Hidden Team, right?"
"Kim Doo-Jun had no parents."
"...He was an orphan?"
Jenny nodded silently, expressionless. However, she couldn’t hide the brief sadness flashing past her eyes.
"Did he have any other acquaintances?"
"I don't think he had any outside acquaintances. However, he was close to everyone in the team… He was such a talkative and friendly agent."
"...The entire hidden team will be depressed. Let's hold a funeral with the utmost respect. Don't worry about the money, and I'll be there as well."
"Thank you." Jenny still had a calm expression on her face, but she couldn't hide the quavering of her voice. She looked at Yu-Seong with a deep gaze.
"Lastly, from now on, can you find out about the people I'm talking about, their recent movements, and movements of capital?"
"Boss."
"Yeah?"
"Our Hidden Team was originally built for that purpose. I'm a hunter, but that's why most of my people are retired mercenaries or soldiers."
Choi Yu-Seong understood Jenny’s words at once.
"Sorry, I kind of ignored the Hidden Team."
"You don't have to apologize. It's enough to just trust me," Jenny said with an easygoing smile.
Jenny identified herself as a hunter, but Yu-Seong guessed that she was probably a soldier or a mercenary, just like any other Hidden Team member.