The Omen of Disaster (3)
“Huh…”
As Han Yeon-soo said, the price of the red and the black beads was beyond imagination.
The bids were at the level of a guild’s or a country’s, not something an individual could match.
No matter how much I worked to make money, it would be useless.
In the past, the marbles were evaluated as ‘very good artifacts.’ While it does give an increase in attributes and total mana, it was by no means something that could command this price.
Han Yeon-soo was watching my expression. Then, she opened her mouth.
“Well, Si-woo. Are those things really important to you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it might be faster to get them in other ways rather than buying.”
“What do you mean?”
“The price they put on them… it seemed like they don’t really want to sell them. It seems like it was just part of a strategy to capture global attention. In my case, since I was interested, I searched all the information related to the guild…”
It makes sense.
As I remembered from the past, the beads did not move from the country where they have been found. The news of the sale made headlines, but in the end, nobody bought them.
It was just a publicity stunt of hunters and guilds.
The very same hunters and guilds that were the first victims when the beads summoned the Monster Waves.
“What’s the other way you were talking about?” I asked her.
Han Yeon-soo made me read her lips.
“Let’s steal them.”
* * *
Today, I skipped class, making an excuse that I need to rest after the crack attack.
There wasn’t much time left until graduation anyway, and I already have the hunter license, so no professor stopped me.
“Whew…”
I let out a deep sigh.
As Han Yeon-soo said, there seems to be no other answer than to steal the marbles.
I scratched my head before putting a hood over it.
[The effect of ‘Shadow Hood’ is activated.]
[It enters the state of ‘hidden’.]
[Detection skills and characteristics below ‘D grade’ are invalid.]
[The movement becomes faster.]
An artifact that Han Yeon-soo said would be helpful.
It looked like a simple hoodie, but its price was the same as the price of a house.
A small hand pulled my sleeve.
“Uncle, when are we leaving?”
Sung Hyun-woo was wearing the same hoodie as me.
“Well…”
Seong Hyun-woo and I were going to steal the red marble; Han Yeon-soo will go to steal the black marble. As much as I wanted to go alone, it seemed honestly impossible at my level to freely navigate a guild without fear of confrontation.
Besides, Seong Hyeon-woo’s abilities were perfect for infiltration. This child was more capable than me.
“Shall we start now?” I asked him.
“Okay!”
I laughed at him. His mood was as if we were going to a picnic. Staying with Han Yeon-soo seems to be influencing him.
“Do you remember the coordinates?”
“Huh!”
Seong Hyun-woo gripped my sleeve tight and closed his eyes.
Koouk-!
At the same time, a strange sensation rose.
It was a strange feeling as if I were being sucked into somewhere.
The ceiling and the floor quickly changed; the things that were around me disappeared and changed into different things.
It was a new ability that we learned to be part of an Esper’s Comprehensive Gift Set.
Teleportation.
“I need to train more for this,” the child said, “but look! We arrived at the right location in one try!”
Fortunately, Seong Hyun-woo’s accuracy was superior to that of most veteran awakeners.
I stroked the boy’s head as I looked around.
A dark warehouse. Various items were piled up all over the place. It was full of dust and dirt, and a foul odor filled the room as if it was a place that hasn’t been cleaned for a long time.
Tuk-!
I touched the subspace pocket. The blue bead was vibrating.
According to my analysis in the past, the marbles resonate with each other. Probably, we can quickly find the red marble just by going the direction where the vibration gets stronger.
“Let’s go.”
With my hand in my pocket, I stepped toward the side where the vibrations were getting stronger. Seong Hyun-woo followed me without taking his gaze off the things that were piled up in the warehouse.
* * *
“Please… don’t kill me…”
“Who said I was going to kill you?”
The woman laughed. Its sound made the man’s face whiter. It was a simple laugh, but it was more terrifying than wordy threats.
“Why me… what do you want? Why are you doing this to me?”
“Well?”
Cool eyes looked down at the man. Her expression was as if she was looking at a bug. The nickname ‘Queen’ looks very well-suited. The man trembled violently.
“Why am I doing this to you?”
From Han Yeon-soo’s shadow, several shapes rose. He could feel their eyes on him. Hundreds? No, thousands of eyes were staring at him.
He felt an extreme fear that he has never felt before.
“Hey… ahh!”
The man felt hot liquid soak his pants. He couldn’t stand up. He doubted whether he was really facing a human.
How can someone deemed ‘Queen’ by these beings be human?
Han Yeon-soo was slowly approaching him, each step of her heels clicking on the floor. The man tries to step backward, but he collapsed on the ground again, his knees weak with fear.
“Uh… Ahhh..”
There is no strength left on his legs. He couldn’t get up again.
The man started to crawl on the floor. But he wasn’t able to get far.
Something grabbed his ankle.
“Ahhh!”
A massive tentacle pulled him. The man, who was screaming as his stomach rubbed on the floor, was eventually dragged in front of Han Yeon-soo.
“Where are you going?” Han Yeon-soo muttered in a playful tone.
The man could no longer scream. Instead, he was sobbing while shaking his head from side to side.
“I’m not going to kill you.”
Han Yeon-soo put her hand on his head.
And…
“Ah…”
The man’s eyes turned white as if he became unconscious.
“You are beautiful, my Queen.”
“Huh, I know.”
Then, she put her hand on his chin and whispered in his ear.
“The black bead you got some time ago. Can you give it to me as a gift?”
“Of course, I will give it. I’ll give it to you right away.”
Han Yeon-soo smiled and took her phone out of her pocket.
-I got the black marble! Is it going well? Is there anything I can do to help??
“Ah… It’s been 14 seconds since I sent it, but there is no reply. Is he very busy?”
* * *
“There is someone over there,” Seong Hyun-woo muttered.
I couldn’t see anything, but he would definitely see beyond those boxes.
“Wait a minute,” the child added. “I’ll read that person’s memory, to find out more about the structure here…”
Thanks to continuous training, Seong Hyun-woo was now very familiar with his abilities. He’s now able to pick the specific memory he wanted to read and not get lost in reading all the memories.
“I got the coordinates. Let’s go quickly,” he said after a few moments.
I had nothing compared to him. I thought I had grown rapidly, but I was nothing compared to the First Disaster.
The little boy grabbed my hand, and at the same time, I felt the same sensation of being sucked in.
He could see through walls, read the memory of the person beyond the wall, and teleport to the coordinates he found on the person’s head.
He was the best thief. How could anyone catch him?
When we arrived at our destination, the blue bead immediately vibrated violently. It meant that the red marble was very close.
“Uncle, I’ll look for it. Probably inside one of these boxes… ouch.”
The kid suddenly looked nauseous. The light hovering around his eyes went out.
Someone forcibly deactivated his ability.
[The ‘stealth’ status has been lifted.]
[A detection skill exceeding the ‘D’ level is being activated against you.]
At the same time, the item effect of Shadow Hood was also canceled.
I immediately activated Excellent Insight and <View Information>.
“Hyun-woo, are you okay?”
“Eup, uh… I’m dizzy…”
He didn’t look good. His mental strength was very powerful, but his physical defense was poor.
Moreover, in this condition, he was not a powerful Esper but an ordinary child.
Someone was walking towards us.
“How on earth did you get in here?” a voice boomed in Chinese.
As I looked up, I saw a middle-aged man with a fedora.
[The information recorded in the Akashik Records is loaded.]
.
.
.
[Name: Jang Min]
[A wizard famous in China, mainly deals with the flame magic. He has the ability to be counted as a first-class wizard.]
[*Shield magic to defend against projectile attacks is active.]
[*Mind shield magic that defends against detection skills or characteristics is active.]
[*Oracle magic that detects stealth skills or characteristics is active.]
[*Armor magic to defend against melee attacks is active.]
[*The mana burning magic that amplifies the power of the magic is activated.]
He’s crazy.
How many active magic can he keep active? A first-class wizard wasn’t an enemy I could deal with.
It was an unfavorable one-on-one. He had shields active for any attacks that I could do.
“How did you get in?”
The man, Jang Min, raised his hand. At the same time, I felt heat around my neck. I immediately leaned back.
Poof-!
Almost at the same time, a big flame broke out where I was standing.
If I moved a second slower, my head would have exploded.
[Now, you can detect magic well. You certainly improved your senses.]
Jang Min then began moving his hands up and down. Fire burst from place to place, making it hard to avoid.
However, I predicted the trajectory of his magic every time through Excellent Insight and my improved magic senses.
If he hits me, it’s over. Each one of his attacks was fatal.
“You dodge well. Then, I should deal with the easy one first.”
Jang Min clicked his tongue and turned his gaze toward Seong Hyun-woo. Seong Hyun-woo seemed as if he had not come to his senses yet.
Instead of worrying about him, I stared at Jang Min with curious eyes.
The easy one?
Jang Min raised his hand and fired at Seong Hyun-woo.
Whoowoong-!
A hot ball of fire flew towards the little boy, whose hood has come off.
“…”
At the same time, Seong Hyun-woo’s face turned white…
“Ah.”
The boy’s eyes also turned white.
“Hot.”
It meant that the stress accumulated in him had reached its limit.
“I don’t like it.”
The boy’s little hand moved once.
Along with it, the fireball dissolved.
“What?!” Jang Min was stunned. However, before he could do anything more…
Crunch-!
His body flew in the air as if he had been hit by a truck.
Tuduk-!
Only
His body rolled on the floor; his limbs were bent in bizarre angles.
Probably, he doesn’t even know what hit him.
“What… but the shields…”
He wasn’t dead. He whined as if it was unfair.
Seong Hyun-woo, indifferent to Jang Min’s appearance, began walking towards a few boxes.
“Got it.”
Soon, he held a shiny red marble in his hands.
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