Chapter 65
“Aura Formula. This is the skill you will learn from me.”
I felt a shiver run down my spine as I watched the skill unfold before my eyes.
Of course, I wasn’t seeing this technique for the first time, I’d seen it a few times in the game.
A skill in which an aura-forged sword is unsheathed and surrounded by his aura, killing all within its range.
I thought it was just a cool effect in the game, but seeing it in person was beyond my imagination.
Have I ever seen anything like it in real life?
No, definitely not.
Neither my father nor Parnello had ever demonstrated their abilities in front of me, which meant that the technique that had just unfolded in front of me was the strongest I had ever seen.
“Ha, by the look on your face, you’re quite surprised.”
The stern face of a Grandmaster returned to that of a humble old man.
“To be honest, I was surprised, but that’s not your secret weapon, is it?”
“Ha, don’t worry too much, I won’t tell you the secret from the beginning, I’ll save it for you so you won’t run away, and then I’ll tell you when the time is right.”
“Why would I run away?”
I haven’t gotten to the good stuff yet.
As I swallow my words, Kwak Chun-sik gives me a toothy grin.
“Okay, no need to run away. Let’s just check to see if there’s anything we need to take with us, and then get out.”
With that, Kwak Chun-sik starts walking towards the kobold queen.
Upon entering the boss room, we looked around to see if there were any unusual items, but unfortunately, as expected of a dungeon so young, we didn’t see anything worth taking with us.
“Does the Association take care of the byproducts?”
“Yes, usually the Association collects the byproducts and sends a part of the fee to my account. Why, this time you have a share, do you want it?”
“I have a lot of money.”
“Well, you’re not the only one with a lot of money…….Anyway; rich people don’t think money is precious, tsk tsk.”
I mean, it’s the byproducts of a kobold dungeon, how much could they be worth…….?
“In exchange, could you do me a simple favor?”
“……Favor? It’s not that you don’t value money, but you’re after something more valuable. Come on, tell me.”
“So…….”
* * *
As we exit the dungeon, back the way we came, two Association employees and the one who brought us here come running out of the tent.
“You’re done already?”
“Thanks for the trouble.”
“Good work, old man. And, disciple, I’ll take you right back to your home.”
The staff member tried to hold my hand and Kwak Chun-sik’s hand just like when we came here but at that moment, Kwak Chun-sik pulled his hand back and shuddered.
“My stomach is a little nauseous……I’ll walk like I used to today.”
“Is that so……then so be it.”
“Are you going to walk too?”
“No. I’m just a little tired from all the rolling around I’ve been doing in the dungeon, since he insisted on seeing my skills……I’m going to take a little rest, so if you don’t mind my asking, could you wait for me?”
The employee pauses for a moment as he listens to my words. But then he nodded.
“Well, I’ll do that, it’s my job to help you move on.”
“In that case, we’ll go clean up the internal byproducts and do some exploring, thank you very much, you two.”
The two employees headed to the dungeon to do their jobs.
With that, Kwak Chun-sik descended from the mountain first, leaving me and the staff alone.
I slowly opened my mouth.
“Shin Chul-Gwimol, did the miners arrive successfully?”
“Yes?”
But his eyes widened at the words that could never have come from the mouth of a Hero Academy student.
Shin Chul-Gwimol, one of Korea’s most famous villains, who used his ability to travel through space to commit robberies and disappear into thin air.
He hadn’t been seen in years, and now he stood before me in the guise of an Association employee.
How did I know about this?
It wasn’t much, just seeing him face-to-face and using his abilities was enough for me to realize his true identity.
[A new character is added to the <Character Book>!]
<Character Book (N)>
[Name: Gong Gyo-won]
[Affiliation: South Korea, Hero Association, Villain Association]
[Age: 34 years old]
[Specialty: Spatial Magic, Long Distance Space Travel]
[Description: A spatial mage in the Gangwon Province branch of the Hero Association and a member of the Villain Association under the villain name Shin Chul-Gwimol. He uses his ability to travel long distances to accumulate vast amounts of money.]
“Avoid the sun and hide behind the clouds. Since it’s just the two of us, we have nothing to hide.”
To prevent him from suspecting me and running away immediately, I start by saying the secret phrase used by the Villain Association.
It’s the same one they use at this point in the game, so it’s probably the same one they use now.
In fact, as I said it, I saw him relax.
“How could you, Kwak Chun-sik’s disciple, use that…….?”
“Shadows are everywhere. Do you think it’s possible for an ordinary person to become a disciple of Kwak Chun-sik in the first place?”
I smiled wryly as I said that.
Since I’ve been causing so many incidents at the academy lately, the notoriety about me has turned into a charm due to my trait, [Bad Guy], which instills a sense of trust in anyone I encounter.
However, as if that weren’t enough, he still had his doubts.
That’s simply because he’s too cautious by nature. Of course, that’s probably why he hasn’t been caught yet.
I sighed and continued.
“Dark Medicine. It’s my villain’s name.”
“You’re Dark Medicine? I thought Dark Medicine never showed itself to others……?”
“Do you think I’m the real me standing in front of you?”
He flinched as I spoke with power in my voice.
Dark Medicine was a legendary assassin of the Villain Alliance and the power in his name is enough to strike fear into even the strongest of men.
Of course, he’s a long way off from being able to do that, so this is how he sells his name.
“Why did you seek me out?”
“Why did I come for you, that’s funny, I came for you…….”
I slowly approach him, slipping my gloves onto my hands.
“It’s not that important, but I’ll answer it.”
Slowly, I walk toward him, stand in front of him, and smirk.
“If I don’t do this, you’re going to jump, asshole.”
“Holy shit──”
Sensing the strangeness, he spun around and tried to run away, but──
“You can’t.”
I released the aura I’ve been building up as I confronted him, and it dispersed in an instant.
“……What is this?”
“I heard something from the old man when we came out of the dungeon, and it works just fine.”
Kwak Chun-sik said that my aura is not yet controlled, so it spreads outward by tearing or pushing things around it.
Based on the new description, “Controls and enhances the user’s equipment and skills,” I could see that my Aura would have the ability to dominate and take control of something.
The key here is that it takes control of the space around it.
This meant that as long as I scattered his energy with my aura, he wouldn’t be able to escape.
“You say you’re a villain, so why are you trying to get me?”
He yells at me as he quickly backs away.
Why would I want to catch him? For a reward, of course.
When I first encountered him, a quest window appeared in front of me.
Hidden Quest]
[Hunt a Hidden Villain]
[Hidden Quest – Hunt a Hidden Villain: Gong Gyo-won is a spy who infiltrated the Hero Association to gather information, but his magic of spatial travel has prevented him from being captured for years. As a student of the Seoul Hero Academy and a Hitman, will you be able to capture such a prey?]
[Objective: Subdue or kill Shin Chul-Gwimol]
[Reward: Strengthening the attribute [Hitman]]
It was an important opportunity to strengthen an attribute and since it has come my way, I’ll hunt it down.
“I need to catch you to get the reward, you little bastard.”
I lunge at him, swinging my fist straight at him.
He tries to teleport away with a burst of energy, but when my fist gets close it once again scatters his energy and he makes a despairing face.
“Wait a mi-──”
With a clang, his body flies backwards.
“Kahak!”
To minimize the damage, he creates a wind behind him to keep his balance.
He had realized that unlike the teleportation spells that used external magic to lift him up, it didn’t take much effort to cast a spell that was triggered by internal magic.
“What the hell are you doing to stop me, you little brat!”
He finally attacked me seriously as he had recognized me as an enemy.
“I thought I explained to you when we first met, I’m Mr. Kwak Chun-sik disciple.”
The aura’s magic disintegrates and explodes in my [Hand of Midas] clenched fist.
Shouldn’t it actually be called an anti-mage weapon?
Of course, I didn’t know if it worked because he wasn’t a combat mage, but it would be easy to get the upper hand against a mage.
“I’m a member of the Hero Association, and you think I’m going to let you get away with this shit, when you have no proof that I’m a villain?!”
“Proof? I don’t know about proof, but I have witnesses, isn’t that right, old man?”
Just then, from a gap in the trees not far away, Kwak Chun-sik, who had planned to walk home first, walked out and let out an absurd laugh.
“You know, I thought it was crazy at first……but now that I’ve seen him confess to being a villain, I can’t help but believe you.”
“You crazy…….”
With Kwak Chun-sik’s appearance, the odds were effectively stacked against him. But I didn’t want him to give up completely, so I told him not to worry.
“The old man won’t interfere but if you try to run away he’ll slit your throat. You’re a scarecrow used to test my performance today.”
“I’m……a scarecrow?”
“What can I call you if you’re not a scarecrow, always running away because you’re afraid to fight?”
“I’m a……I’m a scarecrow. You can’t use me as a scarecrow!”
“You say you’re a wizard, but why are you only using your mouth?”
“I’ll kill you!”
Even if he’s a spatial mage, he’s a proper villain who belongs to the Villain Association so there’s no way he’s only practiced spatial magic.
Light emanated from his arms, sending countless violet bolts flying toward me.
At that speed and concentration of magic, they’d reach my body before they disintegrated and try to pulverize me so I could only hope to minimize the damage with minimal dodging.
Having made a call, I lunge forward, releasing aura into the air around me.
The trajectories of the bullets begin to curve slightly, like droplets of water flying towards a scorching heat, and I slowly close in on him, squeezing through the gaps.
I punch out the ones that would be effective, and the ones I can narrowly avoid, I let slide past.
This causes a few tears and fraying in my cadet uniform, but I’ll just have to buy another one.
“So, you can’t do anything but run, after all.”
The closer I get to him, the harder it is to dodge the bullets, but I move my aura, remembering Kwak Chun-sik’s aura maneuvers from the dungeon.
I formed my aura into a tight bundle and then dispersed it to each target’s location.
So, what happens if I try to force my auras into a tight bundle?
The red aura surrounding my fist begins to tremble wildly and make strange noises, consuming the space around me like a flame that burns everything around it and then, instead of deflecting, the shots that hit the Aura literally dissipate.
If there’s one thing I don’t like about it, it’s that…….
“If I hit him with this, I won’t be able to subdue him.”
This is hard to control, even for me.
“Please keep your form.”
Boom──!
My fist slammed into his chest, causing him to collapse.
