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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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Among the criminals in Korea, there were those who were connected to the Korean higher-ups.
Of course, it wasn’t to the extent that the higher-ups openly supported or protected these criminals, but just thinking about how they had sold off the people who had been implanted with monster genes, one could roughly guess what kind of relationship they had.
Of course, the criminals in question had already been dismantled by Han Geon-woo, that is, the Artist, a long time ago, and the higher-ups who had feared the Artist’s pursuit had fled abroad.
Those higher-ups who had fled abroad like that had sold the information they had gathered about the Artist, and among those who had bought this information were also the higher-ups of Japan.
“(Are you really sure this is okay? Isn’t that social misfit called the Artist going to come looking for us?)”
In a certain building, one man asked another man in the room.
In Japanese.
“(They say that the Artist is only active in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, and Incheon. He did go out to Gangwon-do once, but that was because he was chasing some guys who were fleeing from Gyeonggi-do. So we, who are in Gyeongju, should be fine.)”
“(If that’s the case, then that’s a relief….)”
The man who had heard the answer lifted the curtain and looked outside.
Beyond the curtain, the sight of Gyeongju, with many students walking around, unfolded, and the man who saw that clicked his tongue and muttered.
“(Tsk… Even if this is a job, it’s still a bit much to do this kind of thing while knowing that many people will die or get hurt.)”
“(What? Are you trying to back out now?)”
“(No way. You have to separate your public and private life.)”
“(Then that’s fine.)”
The man, who had confirmed that his colleague had no intention of quitting the job because of a guilty conscience, ate a snack that was on the table.
At that moment, the door of the room they were in opened, and a woman entered.
“(The order has come down. Attack a total of 5 accommodations at the same time to create as many casualties as possible, and for a smokescreen, to kill a few students including the target.)”
“(Only the Japanese students?)”
“(Yes.)”
“(Haaa… So that’s how it is.)”
It was a relief that there was no need to do something crazy like killing all the witnesses besides the target.
Though a few students would die.
“(They said that the reason we’re doing this in Korea is to turn the people’s anger towards Korea, right?)”
“(That’s right. And right now, many schools from Japan have come to Korea for a school trip.)”
But if the Japanese students were to be injured or killed in a terrorist attack, the Japanese public would naturally blame Korea for not being able to protect the students properly.
An investigation into those who had carried out the terror would also be launched, but they would probably think that it was the act of a Korean who hated Japan, and not a Japanese person.
“(…The target was definitely a miko of Shinto, right?)”
“(Yes. The higher-ups who have fallen out with the Shinto-affiliated ability users probably intend to use this opportunity to erase the most promising miko.)”
“(Aah… I was a fan of that miko.)”
They had such a conversation while spreading out a map and began to plan.
And in their room….
“……”
…Was a familiar that was unique to Japan and couldn’t be seen in other countries.
A Shikigami.
The small, paper human-shaped Shikigami was quietly eavesdropping on their conversation and was reporting what it had seen to its master.
“(…I had a feeling something like this would happen when the fortune I got from the omikuji before coming to Korea was ‘good and bad luck mixed’….)”
As she expected, a terrorist attack targeting her was being prepared.
And a terrorist attack by fellow Japanese people at that.
The owner of the Shikigami, a high school girl, a miko, then muttered.
“(However, the fortune of ‘good and bad luck mixed’ means that good and bad things will come at the same time… It’s certain that the terror attack is the bad thing, so then….)”
What on earth will the good thing be?
She, who had stopped muttering to herself, took out a few talismans from her pocket.
And she placed the talismans between her fingers and chanted a spell.
Then….
“!”
The talismans burst into flames in an instant.
The spell she had just used was to check if there was a strong person nearby.
Although the exact location and distance couldn’t be known, it was a type of spell where if there was a strong person within a certain distance, the speed at which the talismans burned increased according to the person’s level of strength.
‘…But for it to burst into flames in an instant means….’
The miko who had just used the spell herself had never seen a talisman burn this quickly before.
Even when she had used it near the person who was said to be the strongest in Japan, it had burned quickly, but it had never burst into flames in an instant like this.
In other words, it meant that there was a strong person in this vicinity who was stronger than anyone the miko had ever met.
Basically, since this spell didn’t distinguish between friend and foe, there was no guarantee that the strong person was an ally of the miko, but….
‘This is the good luck, then.’
Good and bad luck mixed.
Since it had been confirmed that the bad luck was the terror attack, could it be that the good luck was that this strong person would become her ally?
Although it wasn’t certain, the miko wanted to believe so.
In that case, all that was left was to figure out who that strong person was and where they lived.
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“…Tsk….”
“Hm? What’s wrong, Geon-woo? Does it taste bad?”
“No, that’s not it.”
I, who was eating dinner, clicked my tongue at the sudden vibration I felt.
What kind of stunt was this while I was eating?
I was in a foul mood because a sudden vibration had swept past me.
‘It’s not magic, psionic power, or spirit art. If I had to say, it’s similar to magic, but the system is a little different. That means….’
…It’s a spell.
Someone nearby had used a spell.
Someone had secretly used a spell.
A spell so stealthy that unless you were a person with senses on my level, you wouldn’t feel any sense of incongruity.
‘…What a bastard.’
However, since my senses had become outstanding from training in Samādhi, I felt as if I had been doused with water while eating because of the vibration from the spell.
Although it wasn’t targeted at me, I thought that my existence had probably been made known to the caster by the vibration just now.
Though considering the form of the spell, they probably didn’t know who or where I was.
“…Ha-eun.”
“Yeah?”
“Can I borrow Sarang for a moment?”
“Sarang? Okay, I got it.”
At my words, Lee Ha-eun lightly summoned Sarang.
Although it was called a summon, it was nothing more than taking out Sarang, who had been sleeping or playing in her subspace.
“? Woof!”
“Sarang, Geon-woo is asking for your help.”
“Kyiing?”
At Ha-eun’s words, Sarang approached me.
Seeing that, I spoke so that only Sarang could hear me.
“Sarang. You can feel the residual traces left on this spell, right?”
I said that and held out the energy of the spell from a moment ago to Sarang.
Then, Sarang stuck its nose out and made a show of sniffing my hand to check the residual traces on the spell.
And….
“…Woof!”
Sarang, who had confirmed the residual traces, barked.
“Good. Then go and bite them while avoiding other people’s eyes. Ah, don’t kill them… just play with them like a toy. Got it?”
I said that to Sarang and injected my internal energy into it.
Sarang, who had eaten my internal energy, quietly nodded its head and then quietly left the restaurant we were in.
I watched Sarang leave and erased the traces of the spell left on my body with Samadhi True Fire.
“Geon-woo, it’s free time after we eat dinner, right?”
“That’s right. But don’t go outside the lodging, okay? You might get lost.”
If they were middle or high school students, it might be different, but there was no way I could let elementary school children out at night.
Originally, I had been thinking of secretly going out at this time to quietly appreciate the cultural assets of Gyeongju, but….
“Then you’re not going out either, right, Geon-woo?”
“Right.”
“Great! Guys! Let’s take Geon-woo and go to our room!”
The girls, led by Lee Ha-eun, began to drag me away.
I could have shaken them off if I wanted to, but….
‘Since I made a promise….’
The promise I had made before coming on the school trip.
Since I had already promised to spend my free time with them, I decided to hang out with the children this evening.
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“(Ugh… Why on earth…?)”
The miko had identified the existence of an overwhelmingly strong person and had been trying to pinpoint his location right after, but for some reason, no matter how much she tried to use her spells, she couldn’t catch them at all.
It was as if the fact that the talisman had burst into flames in an instant at first had been a lie. Her spells couldn’t detect anything.
It was the same even when she tried using the spell she had used at first, just in case.
Although the talisman had burned, it hadn’t burned as quickly as before.
The miko wasn’t one to not know what this meant.
It was possible that the strong person whom she had detected at first had moved out of her spell’s range.
Or…
“(Don’t tell me they figured out my spell and started to block it…?)”
Up until now, far from blocking her spell, there had been no one who had figured out her spell unless they had seen her use it right in front of them.
But the miko thought that it might be possible for a strong person of a level that would make her talisman burst into flames in an instant.
Although she couldn’t find that strong person, if such a strong person were to become her ally….
“(Great!)”
She was already convinced that the unidentified strong person would help her.
Because for a strong person of that level to have been unknown up until now meant that they were at least not a criminal who ran wild as they pleased.
In that case, if a high school girl like herself was in a situation where she was about to be attacked by dangerous mercenaries, such a strong person wouldn’t just stand by and watch.
Of course, Han Geon-woo, who had been caught by her detection, had no such intention at all.
But she, who blindly believed in her fortune, was completely ruling out that possibility.
Since the mercenaries who would cause the terror attack were the bad luck, she was convinced that the strong person who would help her and suppress the terror attack would be the good luck.
“(It was this hotel, right?)”
And so, she entered the building where her Shikigami had eavesdropped on the mercenaries’ secret meeting.
But no matter how promising she was said to be, in the end, she was still just a high school student now.
Moreover, in a situation where the opponents were targeting her, for her to enter the enemy’s camp on her own was truly a crazy act.
She did all of this because she had overconfidently believed in her fortune and had overconfidently believed that someone would come to her aid.
“(…What’s with her?)”
“(It’s the target miko, isn’t it? Why is she here….)”
Naturally, it took only a moment before she was discovered by the mercenaries, who had familiarized themselves with the target’s face.
And the mercenaries thought that…
If they were going to kill the target anyway, wouldn’t it be better to kill her in advance now rather than killing her when she was mixed with other students later?
If they just threw her among the corpses of the dead students later, there would be no major hitch in their plan.
“(…Let’s go.)”
The mercenaries’ thoughts were all similar.
Because dealing with her in a place with no witnesses would make the cleanup easier.
Therefore, all the mercenaries present moved at once.
Of course, the miko, who was only a high school student, had not predicted at all that they were about to attack her, and….
Chae-chae-chaeng…!
“(…Kyaak?!)”
Only after someone had blocked the attack aimed at her was she able to realize that her life had been in danger.
Meanwhile, the miko….
‘(Ah, just as I thought, when I was in danger, the strong person who was nearby saved me…!)’
She was having such thoughts.
She raised her head to check who her savior was, and….
“Grrrrrrr….”
“(…Eh?)”
She belatedly realized that her savior wasn’t a humanoid that she had imagined in her head, but a giant wolf standing as if to protect her.
Sarang had been ordered by its master’s friend.
To follow the residual traces of the spell and bite its owner.
Hearing those words, Sarang was happy.
“Grrrr….”
Sarang’s essence was Fenrir, that is, a wolf.
A wolf that bit the neck of its prey.
Perhaps because of that instinct, Sarang was pleased with that order.
Therefore, Sarang had intended to faithfully carry out the order given by its master’s friend.
However….
“(What’s with that wolf? Is it a monster? Appearing so suddenly?)”
“(A variable. Deal with it quickly.)”
“(Don’t tell me the target is controlling it?)”
For some reason, its prey was attracting the attention of other people.
And Sarang remembered that the order it had heard wasn’t just to bite the prey’s neck.
[Then go and bite them while avoiding other people’s eyes.]
Bite them while avoiding other people’s eyes.
This meant that it should bite the prey in a place with no witnesses.
And the simplest way to get rid of witnesses was….
“Awoooooooo…!”
…To eliminate them.
Of course, Sarang had been taught not to kill people carelessly, but the ones in front of its eyes now weren’t ordinary people.
They were people heavily stained with the smell of blood.
And Sarang remembered how Han Geon-woo had dealt with such people while accompanying Han Geon-woo’s doll, which was active as the Artist.
Annihilation.
That was the method of disposal that Sarang had learned from Han Geon-woo, and the method that it had decided to use for these witnesses.
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T/N – Oh, good. For a second there, I thought Sarang would massacre people indiscriminately to get rid of witnesses. Good thing it only decided to do that now because it smelled the heavy smell of blood on them. As expected, Sarang is the goodest boi! It wouldn’t murder innocents. I wish there was a dog petting emoji I can place here.
Also, this miko is pretty ditzy, to just walk into the base of the people who were planning on killing her just because of her fortune. Then again, her fortune played out exactly as it said, ‘good and bad luck mixed’. Though rather than the miko’s interpretation, it’ll be being saved from the criminals as good luck, and being bitten by Sarang as bad luck. 😅
Lastly, of course there’ll be an assassination attempt on the MC’s school trip. What timing! Though I’m glad that it’s Sarang who’ll handle it instead of him personally stepping up.
If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.
