Chapter 34 – Magic Boy (12)
“Ugh…”
Under a cliff, where only an experienced herbalist might venture, lay a black handbag, discarded like lost property.
‘She disguised it as lost to cover her tracks!’
Fearing retaliation, Vice Director Seo Hye-joo meticulously planned every detail to erase any connection.
As long as I kept my mouth shut, no one would ever trace it back to her.
This also eased my pressure to avoid failure, which I preferred.
Even if this was a dream.
By the way…
“Now what?”
I successfully retrieved the handbag, but I couldn’t fathom climbing back up the cliff or trekking down the mountain.
Did her plan not consider the person retrieving the treasure at all?
For Vice Director Seo, tossing a bag of cash down a cliff was the end of it, but for me, who had to climb up or navigate the mountain to get out, it was a grim situation.
The one silver lining?
The stamina I’d built as a swimmer was proving incredibly helpful.
“…Hm?”
A sudden chill ran down my spine, and I glanced back—
‘Holy—!’
I bolted without hesitation.
Direction? Path?
Didn’t matter. Anything but standing still.
Why?
Screech—!
Because I saw a bizarre bipedal creature I’d swear I’d never seen before!
“What the hell is that?!”
Its four arms and one pair of legs were shaped like blades, its body so emaciated that the ribs and spine clung tightly to the skin.
And its head—
A woman with striking beauty, her rust-red hair glowing.
Though she said nothing, her lips slightly parted as if entranced—
Screeech—!
“Argh!”
The creature kept scraping its blade-like arms and legs together, like playing a violin.
Screeech—!
“This is driving me nuts!”
I’d only been wary of Magic Boy Choi Kang-min as a threat, so this was a completely unexpected disaster.
Swish—
The creature sliced through the underbrush with its sharp limbs, closing in on me at an alarming speed.
Its movement was like a figure skater!
‘Is that even possible?!’
I could accept it on a slippery ice rink, but this was rough terrain littered with gravel and twigs.
It defied physics.
But physics or not,
Swish—
The eerie sound of the creature cutting through grass grew closer.
‘I’m going to die if this keeps up…!’
Complaints about the monsters in Choi Kang-min’s dream could wait! I forced myself to calm down to avoid being shredded.
The creature dashed forward, barely touching the ground with its blade-like toes.
But that came at a cost—
“Hup!”
It leaped off a rock in my path, sharply changing direction vertically.
Meanwhile,
Screech—?
Crash!
The creature couldn’t turn and slammed straight into the rock.
‘Just as I thought!’
Its unique skating-like movement made it fast but vulnerable to inertia due to minimal friction.
“Phew!”
By not running blindly, I’d widened the gap again, earning a moment to catch my breath.
And to look back.
‘It’d be nice if it gave up… Am I asking too much?’
Slash—
Rumble…
The creature, venting its frustration by slicing the rock it crashed into, kept pursuing me.
Screeech!
“Damn it!”
Slash—
Small obstacles were simply cut through, unable to slow it down.
In other words, unless I kept finding large rocks, it would eventually catch me.
I needed another plan.
‘But how?’
Fighting a monster that sliced rocks like tofu was suicide.
Especially since I was unarmed, bare-handed.
“Ugh!”
My body was a wreck.
Scratches from grass and branches covered my skin, and my stamina was rapidly depleting.
Meanwhile,
Screeeech!
The monster showed no signs of tiring.
“Just a bit more…!”
This was a small mountain in the heart of the city. As long as I didn’t circle around aimlessly, I’d soon reach a populated safe zone.
The monster probably wouldn’t follow me there.
Why was I so sure?
If it couldn’t distinguish territories, it would’ve been discovered and hunted down long ago.
…Or so I naively thought.
“Huh? Eek!”
“A m-monster…!”
“Help!”
“Gasp!”
Hikers waiting for friends or family at the mountain’s entrance screamed and scattered in all directions upon seeing the monster chasing me.
And I—
“Monster! Over here…!”
I made a choice completely opposite to my previous actions.
Screech?
“Come on! I’m your prey, aren’t I?”
I stopped fleeing and provoked it. Even if this decision led to an early death.
It’s just a dream, right?
That careless thought played a big part, I think.
“…”
“Eek?!”
The monster, about to slash a fallen hiker with its raised arm, lowered it and turned toward me.
Directly at me.
And there were no obstacles between us.
Skrrrr—
Making a different sound than when it glided over grass and dirt, the monster charged straight at me.
‘…I’m dead.’
I shouted boldly, but I had no secret plan to defeat it.
I just didn’t want anyone to get hurt or die because of me.
Even if they were fictional beings in a dream.
Screech!
“Run away, quick!”
I yelled at the fallen hiker and turned to run again, trying to buy as much time as possible, even if it meant being caught and killed.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
Screech—?!
The monster lost its balance and tumbled sideways.
Who fired the shot?
The answer was in the sky.
Whop-whop-whop-whop—
A helicopter carrying a sniper slowly descended.
Then, a voice over a loudspeaker.
“Dear citizens, fear not the monster! The Earth Defense Force is here!”
Scree… Screech…
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The monster, futilely slashing at the soldiers attacking from above, was taken down.
***
“Thank you! You saved my life!”
“No need. It’s our duty as the Earth Defense Force.”
“Still, thank you.”
“Show us your injuries.”
“I’m fine.”
“Moving around like that will scare other citizens.”
“…Then, please.”
The Earth Defense Force.
While Magic Boy, with his unfathomable power, handles major incidents, the Earth Defense Force deals with smaller issues.
Sidekicks against evil’s minions, so to speak.
Composed solely of elites verified by P’s aptitude tests, they’re treated like errand runners because the threats to humanity are so absurdly irrational.
That was the grumbling I heard while riding their helicopter to the rooftop of Elmolance Hospital.
“We meet again so soon.”
“Ha, ha, ha… Yeah.”
I ran into the doctor who previously introduced herself as a genetic engineering expert.
Due to severe anemia and fatigue, I wanted to go to a nearby hospital, but without an ID, this was the only place that would take me.
“Bad luck, running into a Blade Demon…”
“So that’s what it’s called.”
Blade Demon.
An intuitive name anyone could relate to.
Also, a ‘fictional monster’ that could only exist in a dream.
However,
‘It’s too detailed to be a world built solely on Choi Kang-min’s imagination…’
I didn’t have time to leisurely ponder the occult now.
Magic Boy Choi Kang-min.
Just pulling this guy back to reality from his dream was overwhelming enough. Still, I mentally noted some precautions.
“The Blade Demon is a new type of monster that’s recently appeared.”
“Recently…”
“The cause is unknown, but Blade Demons have intense hostility toward living humans. Almost like… the dead envying the living.”
“I see.”
“I heard this secondhand, but Blade Demons ambush people traveling alone. So never stray from the path when hiking.”
“Got it.”
I didn’t stray on purpose! It’s because Vice Director Seo hid the money in such a place!
I wanted to storm her office and give her a piece of my mind, but I couldn’t risk meeting her again and putting her in danger.
“Mr. Kang Moon-soo.”
“Yes.”
“While you’re here for treatment, how about a thorough check-up—”
“No way! Absolutely not!”
Cutting off the doctor’s suggestion, I fled Elmolance Hospital like I was escaping.
‘Alright, then…’
Even in that life-threatening chase with the monster, I didn’t let go of the handbag full of cash.
Just the money?
No.
“I hope the USB’s data copied safely…”
I took full advantage of the fact that items, including clothing, transfer with me into the dream from reality.
The letter Dr. Seo sent to her future self was one example.
What I prepared wasn’t a paper letter but a video.
But first,
‘Time to hide.’
Delivering it directly to Choi Kang-min, who could kill at the speed of light, was practically suicide.
Let the life-or-death game of hide-and-seek begin.
***
Recently feeling uneasy and unsettled due to physical changes, Choi Kang-min was relieving his stress by toying with a female employee chosen purely for her looks.
“Ch-Chairman! I’m sorry! It’s too much, I can’t…”
“Who told you to speak?”
“…”
Unlike his aging wife, who couldn’t keep up with his stamina, employees were like batteries—replaceable as needed.
He was finally feeling a bit—
Bang!
“Chairman! We’ve got a big problem!”
The office door burst open as his secretary rushed in.
“Eek!”
The startled employee covered her upper body with her arms and hid under the desk.
“…I said no one was to enter.”
“Sorry! But it’s an urgent matter you need to know…!”
“…Get out.”
The employee, her makeup ruined by tears, quietly left, closing the office door.
The chairman and his secretary.
Just the two, close enough to share secrets, remained.
“A big problem?”
“Yes.”
“Bigger than the trashy public opinion whining about the damage caused by my late arrivals?”
“This isn’t the time to worry about Magic Boy’s reputation!”
“…What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It hit the TV news as a breaking story, without warning!”
As the apostle of justice, Magic Boy couldn’t be criticized, but Chairman Choi Kang-min, businessman and politician, was different.
He’d dealt with detractors by any means necessary.
But on public broadcasting?
Unless they wanted their company ruined, they wouldn’t dare cross him.
“Where?”
“Pretty much everywhere.”
“…”
Too bold.
It meant they had a solid grip on a weakness he couldn’t legally counter or retaliate against.
In other words, the situation was dire.
“…Turn it on now.”
“Yes!”
(Kang-min, how long will you keep running from the fact that you incited your friends to bully your brother Kang-hoon?)
“Gasp?!”
Seeing his father’s face on the TV, Choi Kang-min shuddered, drawing in a sharp breath.
“This, this is…!”
(If anything happens to me, all my assets will go to my second son, Choi Kang-hoon. I hope this video reaches a righteous person.)
“It’s a recording of the late chairman from 20 years ago. It was circulating online—”
“It’s a fake! Definitely computer-generated manipulation…!”
Haunted by a nightmare from 20 years ago, Choi Kang-min shouted in desperation.
Who did this?
‘Kang Moon-soo!’
The face of the man who’d been nagging at his mind naturally surfaced.