Of course, Hajoon didn't remember the faces of all the villains that appeared in the game, but even at a glance, the face of the girl beside him was unfamiliar.
However, seeing the system react as if this woman was a villain, one thing was clear: she was a puppet of the Puppeteer.
"You're not the Puppeteer, are you?"
"··········?!"
At that moment, the girl, or rather, the Puppeteer, flinched.
Soon after, the villain lowered his head slowly, lost in thought, and an oppressive silence ensued. Hajoon couldn't help but chuckle at the Puppeteer's reaction.
There was no need to hear the answer.
From his reaction, it was evident he was the Puppeteer.
And then Hajoon glared at him, his face contorted with anger.
Obviously, the first reaction would be toward the criminal who audaciously showed up after destroying his home. Hajoon's hand naturally moved towards his pocket, reaching for the hammer.
"Irregular."
"··········?"
It was then.
The Puppeteer finally spoke.
Lifting his head slowly, he looked at Hajoon with a stern expression and slowly opened his mouth.
"I've come to make a proposal."
“...”
At those words, Hajoon gazed at the Puppeteer with an expressionless face, and a heavy silence lingered.
The boy, known as an irregular in the outside world, neither exerted magical pressure nor did he intimidate. He simply observed the Puppeteer.
The mere weight of that gaze suffocated the Puppeteer with fear.
A pressure emanating from his very existence.
The Puppeteer, more aware than anyone of the boy's true monstrous nature, felt this inexplicable intimidation and dread.
“It’s a proposal unrelated to the Villain Alliance. It’s solely my decision.”
“...”
The irregular, pondering those words, remained silent, clearly lost in thought. The Puppeteer, unable to deduce his thoughts from his expression, waited anxiously for the boy's response.
On the other hand, Hajoon was musing,
"Hmm..."
His concern was simple.
Judging by the bold appearance before him, that figure was likely another puppet.
Of course, destroying a puppet was always an option. The challenge would come afterward.
He doubted this was the only puppet present at this festival.
"A proposal, you say..."
Thus, Hajoon found himself intrigued by the Puppeteer's offer.
Initially, he considered swiftly destroying the puppet. But when it mentioned an offer independent of the Villain Alliance, curiosity piqued. Plus, seeing its expression made him wonder what the proposal might be.
For Hajoon, to hear it or not made little difference. So, he decided to listen.
Hajoon asked, “What’s your proposal?”
The Puppeteer, with a tense expression, studied Hajoon. Before disclosing the offer, the Puppeteer felt compelled to ask one pivotal question.
“Before that, do you recognize me?”
Hajoon smirked in response.
Only then did he begin to understand why the Puppeteer had approached him fearlessly with a proposal.
Hajoon remarked, “Today, you appear in a form that matches your gender, don’t you?”
“...?!”
The Puppeteer’s face momentarily betrayed surprise.
With that, the Puppeteer felt certain.
The boy before him was aware of its true identity.
The one who had overwhelmed Karthon.
If the boy recognized its face, it was only a matter of time before its identity was fully exposed.
“Ugh...”
She grimaced, taking a deep breath.
Watching Hajoon with a tense gaze, she spoke deliberately, “Are you aware that villains have infiltrated this festival?”
At that statement, Hajoon involuntarily chuckled.
The Puppeteer’s revelation slightly strayed from his expectations.
Announcing that fact essentially meant declaring its intent to betray the Villain Alliance.
Although Hajoon was already aware of this, he feigned ignorance and posed a question to the Puppeteer.
“Villains?”
“Including myself, four. One belongs to the Alliance, but the other two are from a new villain organization called The Altar.”
Only then did Hajoon grasp the proposal the man was hinting at.
He was certainly contemplating betraying the Alliance.
Hajoon closed his mouth, urging him to continue, and then looked at the Puppeteer.
The Puppeteer, catching the cue, continued.
“I'll provide you with the location of the A-rank villain from the Alliance, Terrorboom. I might not know the exact locations of the guys from The Altar, but I can search for them using my dolls. Going forward, I'll provide various information to you. This is the offer I'm making.”
“How am I supposed to trust you?”
“If you don't, you'll surely kill me.”
Hajoon fell silent for a moment, pondering.
What the man was suggesting amounted to betraying the Alliance and siding with him.
He didn’t think the information was false.
It was something Hajoon was already aware of.
While it wasn't necessarily information he needed, Hajoon saw significant meaning in the Puppeteer's actions. the Puppeteer had chosen to betray the Alliance and side with him.
And Hajoon felt he knew what the Puppeteer desired, without even asking.
“Where is Terrorboom?”
Just to be sure, Hajoon posed one final question.
If this also aligned with what Hajoon knew...
“He’s at the arena where the fighting tournament is held.”
Hajoon smirked, satisfied with the response.
The time was just past noon.
Kim Hajoon was still enjoying the festival in his own way.
Of course, it wasn't that he was purely immersed in the festivities.
"Where is Haruna Ruel?"
"Yes, I've found her."
From the pocket on the chest of Hajoon's academy uniform, a small doll peeked out and spoke.
The doll appeared to be a shrunken version of the girl he had seen earlier, resembling the size of a hamster and belonging to a puppeteer.
"Why are you monitoring her?"
Kim Hajoon remained silent, offering no answer.
Although he had accepted the proposal, he didn't entirely trust the Puppeteer. Yet, the reason he had accepted was simple. The Puppeteer's ability would be annoying if it were used against him, but beneficial if the Puppeteer was on his side.
"Just keep an eye on her. Notify me if any suspicious figures approach."
"Alright, I understand."
The Puppeteer responded with slight apprehension but didn't utter any further words, likely thinking of doing as instructed. Considering the Puppeteer's previous betrayal of their alliance, there seemed to be no other path for him.
"What about the Full-Power Man?"
The A-rank villain named Full-Power Man.
Given the nuisance of his abilities, Kim Hajoon planned to locate him before he went after the members of the Altar. Given the Full-Power Man's power to cause anything he touches to explode, it would be wise to catch him before he causes any harm.
"I know where he's hiding. He's probably waiting underground in the Colosseum's spectator stands."
At that, Hajoon nodded. Soon after, he sighed deeply with a tired expression.
Thinking of the Colosseum reminded him of the combat tournament, and thinking of the tournament gave him a headache. What should he do? Hajoon pondered.
Of course, his contemplation wasn't about 'how to win', but rather 'how to swiftly exit the tournament'. There was one method, of course.
To simply forfeit or lose as soon as it started.
'Well... I'll decide once I get there.'
The current time was 12:30 in the afternoon.
In any case, the tournament was about to begin, and he decided to contemplate his next moves once he arrived.
The hours rolled by, and it was now 1 in the afternoon.
The first preliminary round of the combat tournament held at Rokia Academy had begun. Crowds of spectators surrounded the colosseum-style arena, and there was one name that everyone had their eyes on.
“Is it true that Kim Hajoon is participating?”
“If you look at the scoreboard, his name's on it. Seems real enough, right?”
From journalists of various media outlets to renowned guild leaders and celebrated heroes from Korea, all of them were focused on a single name.
Kim Hajoon, the top incoming student at Rokia Academy, was surrounded by mystery and the subject of numerous rumors.
Whispers ranged from him being the disciple of a great hero, to being a top-ranked hero who had simply aged, or even a superhuman secretly raised by the association.
Though many of these stories were clearly baseless, the public was questioning not only his enrollment at Rokia Academy but even his very existence.
It was amidst this whirlwind of speculation that news of the boy's participation in the academy’s traditional combat tournament surfaced.
The reason for the noticeable increase in the number of people attending the tournament compared to last year was precisely this.
Those gathered held high expectations.
What did the face behind these massive rumors look like?
Of course, there were skeptics who believed the rumors had been overly exaggerated, but still, everyone was curious about the boy’s appearance.
In another section of the stands,
“What do you think, senior?”
A man seated among the audience asked. This was Kim Seunghwan, a top-tier hero commonly known as Wingman. With a look of keen interest, he turned to a woman next to him, her face obscured by sunglasses, a hat, and a mask, and posed the question.
The woman by Wingman’s side, Jin Ahhan, one of Korea's top heroes and the guild master of Mirrors, responded with a subtle smile, “Well, our Hajoon will surely win.”
“Wow… 'Our Hajoon'? Did you meet him? You seem quite fond of him.”
“We did handle that department store terror incident together. More than that, I’m a bit curious.”
With that, Jin Ahhan’s gaze landed on the tournament bracket.
The student paired with Hajoon in this first preliminary round was named Soohan from the first-year advanced class. Though he was in the advanced class, he was known for giving Han Siyoung a tough fight back in middle school.
That very fact aroused Jin Ahhan's curiosity.
'I wonder…'
She didn’t doubt Hajoon would win, but she was curious about how he would claim victory. After all, Soohan’s abilities would likely pose a challenge to any superhuman whose strength lay solely in brute force.
Ten minutes passed, and the preliminary round began.
The first and second matches concluded swiftly.
Considering these preliminaries featured players like Han Siyoung and Liam Martel, it made sense that the matches were decided quickly.
As the third preliminary match began, the audience looked to the arena with anticipation-filled eyes.
"Our third match features Kim Hajoon, the top student from the special class, versus Kim Soohan, the current top student of the advanced class!"
Indeed, the third match was set between Kim Hajoon and Kim Soohan.
Shortly after, a young boy with black hair draped in a robe appeared from the right entrance of the arena. The staff in his hand clearly indicated he was a magic student.
Though he had a fairly handsome face, the dark circles under his eyes gave him a somber appearance. This was Kim Soohan, the top student of the advanced class.
Almost simultaneously, another boy slowly emerged from the left entrance.
While the audience immediately recognized that this was Kim Hajoon, his appearance was peculiar.
He had walked into the arena with his face obscured by sunglasses and a mask.
"Is that Kim Hajoon?"
"Why is he hiding his face?"
Despite the growing murmurs of the audience, the boy did not remove his sunglasses or mask.
Of course, Hajoon had his reasons.
Why would he want to show his face in front of so many people? He hadn't even enjoyed the festival properly, and with the holidays coming up, of course, he'd want to stay incognito.
For reference, he had borrowed the sunglasses and mask from Liam. And he had no intention of giving them back after the match.
Soon after, the referee, Instructor Han Eeseul, stepped between them.
After glancing at Hajoon, he spoke with a somewhat exasperated expression, "Kim Hajoon, do you intend to compete in that get-up?"
"It's not against the rules."
The statement was... technically correct, but it was both frustrating and ridiculous to hear.
While the referee found it baffling, the audience might've found it even more so. Several shouted, demanding Hajoon to unveil his face.
Of course, Hajoon chose to ignore them.
"Sigh... Alright then. Players, take your positions!"
With that, Kim Soohan and Hajoon positioned themselves at a distance, preparing for the match.
Instructor Han Eeseul then stretched out his hand towards the sky, signaling the start of the match. With a swift downward motion, he declared, "Begin!"
Immediately, Kim Soohan began waving his staff, initiating his spell. From his spell emerged a dark, ominous aura.
Shortly after, a smoky substance, like the aura, emerged and formed clouds. These clouds hovered above Kim Soohan's head.
This was Kim Soohan's signature magic - the Curse Magic.
Subsequently, Kim Soohan fixed his gaze intently on Hajoon, opening his mouth to speak.
"I've heard much about you, Kim Hajoon. You're stronger than Han Siyoung, aren't you?"
With those words, Kim Soohan looked at Hajoon, wearing a confident smile.
Memories of his past confrontation with Han Siyoung came flooding back to Kim Soohan. Recalling his inadequacies from that time, he had prepared accordingly. The magic he had newly developed was now on full display.
"Originally, I intended to use this on Han Siyoung."
With that said, Kim Soohan reached out toward the looming cloud above him.
"No matter who you are, you won't be able to avoid this spell. Descend!"
Immediately following his shout, countless thread-like rays shot out from the ominous cloud floating above Kim Soohan's head, converging upon Hajoon.
These rays spread out in all directions, leaving virtually no space for Hajoon to dodge.
For that reason, Kim Soohan believed that even Kim Hajoon would be unable to avoid the countless rays. Would the unfolding situation go as anticipated?
Instead of dodging, Kim Hajoon chose to take the rays head-on. Seeing this, the corner of Kim Soohan's mouth began to lift into a smirk. He was convinced of his victory the moment Hajoon took the full brunt of the rays.
But then, the unexpected happened.
"Arghhh!!! Ugh! Choke!"
Suddenly, Hajoon let out agonizing screams and collapsed onto the ground.
The volume and intensity of his screams even startled the spectators in the stands.
"My goodness... How much curse did he pack into that?"
"That's not a typical curse spell if it causes that much pain."
However, the bewildered Kim Soohan, who had cast that curse magic, wore a puzzled expression.
'What's happening? The magic I used wasn't meant to cause pain but to weaken one's strength...'
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