Chapter 47 – Butterfly Dream

Chapter 47 – Butterfly Dream

I attached several observation probes to the guy named Museong and his companions. I asked Minju if she knew anything about him.

“Why that guy? I don’t even want to think about him.”

Minju had a look of disgust. When I said he might be a Villain, she even seemed to understand.

“He could be like that. No, he definitely would be.”

After hearing the full story from the woman, I learned that Museong had been bothering Minju for a long time.

Even the man himself had been avoiding being in the same place as her, as her behavior was unusually intense.

He said he had a strange feeling.

Meanwhile, when I explained that the man was a villain and needed to be dealt with, the woman paused briefly before quickly making up her mind.

“Okay. He’s a stranger anyway. He only caused me trouble. I don’t care what happens to him. I’ll just ask you to take care of my foolish younger brother.”

Such a quick and cold judgment. The woman was not just a survivor who had managed to survive alone in the previous timeline for no reason.

The woman soon began to tell me what she knew. As I listened to her, I kept examining the Observation Probe.

While planning the next operation.

* * *

The college student, Taejun, who had just come out after a long scolding from Museong, spat on the ground with an unpleasant expression.

“Hah, seriously. Where did that woman disappear to?”

Because Minju had thoroughly hidden her loyalty ability, the men never dreamed that she had fled to another area. They only expected her to be hiding somewhere in Daegu.

“Hey, just in case, keep a close eye on that woman’s house.”

It was perhaps natural for these men to assume that the woman might return to her own residence.

It was when the men returned to Minju’s residence.

“Huh?”

“Ta-Taejun, big brother?”

Minju’s residence was in chaotic disarray.

Taejun stood still and examined the room.

‘Did a rat come and go…?’

Nearby survivors might have taken advantage of their absence to steal the very small amount of water left in the house.

That was Taejun’s first thought.

But that thought soon changed. This was precisely when Taejun pointed to an empty spot in a corner of the bookshelf and spoke.

“Hey, what was here last time?”

“Huh? Wasn’t it a graduation album and family photos?”

“She took the photos…?”

Photos don’t mean much to other survivors. No matter how pretty Minju is, it’s just a piece of paper in the end.

At best, it could be used as kindling.

If they were desperate for kindling, there would be no reason to take only Minju’s photos when there were so many other books. The only people who would specifically take Minju’s photos would be Minju or the woman’s family.

Knowing that Minho is Minju’s only blood relative and that the man is also captured, the man quickly came to a conclusion.

‘Anyone can see that that woman came and went.’

Taejun’s face stiffened.

‘How did she know we weren’t here…?’

It was ridiculous.

They had only been gone for a very short time.

Only when Museong, who was angry like a fire manipulator about missing Minju, brought all his subordinates to lecture them, claiming it was for training.

There was no other time.

It was only about 2-3 hours at most.

But Minju precisely targeted that time, took only what she deemed necessary, and left.

It was as if she was mocking them, as if she could come and take anything else she wanted at any time.

“This bitch, seriously.”

Taejun cursed profusely. After pondering for a long time as if he hadn’t manipulated fire, he finally picked up his cellphone.

“Uh, that… Museong, big brother?”

He began to speak hesitantly.

“Yes, no, that…”

A brief conversation.

“That, it seems Minju came and went when we were away… I’m sorry.”

Taejun even added an apology. In fact, he knew that it wasn’t his fault. After all, it was Museong who had called them all out for training in the first place.

However, he was afraid of Museong, who was becoming increasingly violent. Moreover, Museong was the best action leader in the Plunderer Group. And he reportedly had connections with the higher-ups.

‘I mustn’t displease him…’

It was perhaps natural that the Man feared Museong.

Fortunately, Museong seemed rather pleased to have found traces of Minju. Moreover, he even gave the order to track her down.

Taejun also, of course, held hope.

‘If I show my abilities well this time… climbing higher isn’t just a dream. Like the Man, I too could have women and be in a better place—’

After all, he was a Man who wanted to look good to his superior.

‘But I’m not a dog. How am I supposed to track that woman?’

As he pondered this and looked down at the floor, that’s when it happened.

“Oh?”

On the floor of the bookshelf where the album was, faint Green Footprints were imprinted. It looked as if someone had stepped in paint and then walked.

“Everyone stay put. Don’t move a single step, not even Dongjak Man.”

Taejun gave that order to his Subordinates and then—

Thud—

He lowered his body to the floor.

And began to follow the increasingly faint Green Footprints.

Following those footprints, he came out of Minju’s dwelling, entered an alley, and by the time he turned a corner, the footprints were almost completely gone.

“Please, please just a little more…”

As Taejun anxiously scanned the alley floor, looking for even the slightest trace, that’s when it happened.

In the Man’s eyes, something distinctly green appeared.

An overturned Green Paint Can, and the alley in a mess, as if someone had stumbled over it.

Behind that, the footprints he had been following were once again clearly imprinted.

‘He stepped in this not once, but twice? Isn’t he an idiot?’

The Man smirked.

“Lucky for me.”

It felt as if someone was helping him, telling him to follow properly this time. The Man, like a predator tracking its prey, lowered his stance and quietly began to follow the footprints.

‘I won’t miss him this time.’

The man composed himself.

***

A moment later.

“Here it is.”

Taejun pointed to the shabby private house, where a soft fire manipulation light was on, and grinned with a confident expression. Museong patted the man’s shoulder a few times and praised him in a weighty voice.

“Your name is… Taejun, right? You did very well.”

“I-I just did what I had to do!”

Taejun bowed deeply with a touched expression.

Museong didn’t pay any attention to the man.

Creak-

He opened the gate of the private house with a sly expression and entered.

“Minju? Are you here?”

He said with a disgusting voice.

But what awaited Museong inside was…

“What is this?”

A wooden mannequin, as if covered in green paint. It looked like a knight’s armor, but it was clearly not a person.

“This… what the…?”

Museong’s expression instantly turned grim.

Creak creak-!

The wooden mannequin, which had been still, suddenly moved-

Whoosh!

It hugged the man tightly.

“W-what is this!”

It was when the man was flustered.

Creak-creak-thump.

Several round wooden balls dropped from somewhere towards The Man.

Museong had a bad feeling.

Kwaaaang-!

The wooden balls began to explode like bombs.

Each explosion wasn’t that powerful, but when they accumulated, they had enough destructive power to blow up a small private house.

“It, it exploded!?

It was natural that Taejun, who was waiting outside, turned pale. He shouted in disbelief.

“W-was it a trap after all?!”

He had considered going inside to check himself, but he remembered what Museong had said when he was training everyone in Fire Manipulation, and he had left it alone.

Museong had clearly boasted and emphasized several times that if it came to this, he would personally check if only the location could be identified.

But now that it had come to this, he even wondered if someone was targeting Museong.

‘No, that can’t be. Right?’

It would have been impossible if someone hadn’t been eavesdropping.

Meanwhile, the trap wasn’t over yet.

Suddenly, balls of light began to fly from nearby buildings.

“W-what is that now!”

But there was no time to be surprised.

The balls of light, as if on cue, simultaneously began to accurately hit the private house.

Tukwakwakwakwakwakwang-!

“It’s an artillery barrage! Take cover!”

Taejun felt helpless in the face of overwhelming firepower. In the end, he and his subordinates, who were monitoring the surroundings, had no choice but to take cover.

***

“Cough, cough, cough.”

Taejun coughed, mixed with dust.

He quickly turned his eyes to where the private house had been.

The first thing that caught the man’s eye was Museong.

The man Museong, the successful Action Leader of the Plunderer Group.

Taejun thought that the man’s ability and output were strong enough to be considered the strongest in Daegu. After all, the man wasn’t cleverly sticking with Museong for no reason.

The man Museong… was now lying on the floor, dead.

‘I… I can’t believe it…’

But what Taejun saw next was…

Standing over Museong’s corpse.

“Alright, shall we collect some money?”

It was a man holding a small dagger and searching the corpse.

‘What… what is he doing?’

The man pulled out what looked like a large Mana Stone from Museong’s corpse and smiled contentedly.

“Oh, it’s quite big, isn’t it?”

Taejun was horrified by the sight of the man.

‘Is that… a human…?’

The man’s relaxed attitude flowed naturally. Even in this world, he didn’t seem to have an ounce of fear or Fire Manipulation.

Taejun felt… beyond [horror] from the man…

He even felt a sense of [Reverence].

The man didn’t seem to be merely an ‘Apex Predator’ like Museong. If he had to compare, he was like a being who came from another world all by himself.

Like an alien, for instance.

‘S-surely he’s not a Villain, is he?’

It was around this time that the man recalled the concept of a Villain, which he had heard rumored.

And the moment the man’s eyes met the man’s-

“Please, just spare my life! I’ll definitely keep it a secret that you’re a Villain!”

It was perhaps natural that he immediately prostrated himself on the floor and began begging for his life.

“What, what? I’m a Villain?”

The man let out a silly laugh, as if dumbfounded.

“No… there might be such a thing, right?”

This time, he showed malice.

Taejun trembled as he watched the man-

“Oh, by the way, do you know someone named Minho? Chae Minho. Where did you hide him?”

“Chae Minho! He’s in the restroom next to the tennis court!”

He answered immediately to the man’s words. The options of hiding him, making excuses, or negotiating were already unavailable to Taejun.

“Oh, you hid him in a peculiar place.”

The man grinned. After a brief phone call with someone-

“Ah, that’s good. So, should I return to my residence and hide well?”

He ended the call, even reaching such a conclusion.

Then, he turned to Taejun and said-

“Alright, so what was your name again? Taejun, was it?”

“Yes, yes! I’m Hwang Taejun!”

“Alright, Taejun. Do you see that?”

The man pointed to the places where the balls of light had just been fired from.

Boom! Boom!

At the same time, the sound of artillery barrage echoed once again.

Taejun flinched, wondering if the ball of light would come towards the private house where they were standing. However, this time, the ball of light was being thrown far away, perhaps even outside the city.

Taejun looked at the ball of light with a confused expression, then collected himself and answered the man’s words.

“Yes, yes! I see it clearly.”

“That’s being fired at a nest right now. Do you know what a nest is? It’s like a home where monsters live.”

“A, a nest, you mean?”

“The university is so close… Do you know what happens if you provoke a nest so blatantly?”

Gulp-

Taejun’s eyes widened, and he swallowed.

“Screeeeech!”

Because from all directions, the roars of Monsters began to be heard. It was an overwhelming number of Monsters, something they had never experienced before.

“You guys seem pretty confident in a fight… Go on and do your best. Wouldn’t it be great to clean up the surroundings and serve society?”

The man grinned at him and said.

“W-Wait a minute—!”

It was just as Taejun was about to cry out to the man for help.

Swoosh— Poof!

Next to the man stood Chae Minju, the woman he had been searching for.

“Why are you here…?”

But his words didn’t reach her.

“Oh, you’re here?”

Only the man smiled warmly and greeted her.

“H-Hehe! Thank you so, so much! You’re my hero!”

Meanwhile, Minju, contrary to her tearful eyes, was wearing a bright smile, as if she was overjoyed.

‘Wow… She could look even prettier like that…’

It was an expression of Minju’s that Taejun had never seen before.

The moment he was staring in admiration—

“Alright, shall we go?”

“Yes!”

Swoosh— Poof!

The two disappeared again without a trace. As her face vanished, Taejun finally came to his senses.

“W-What on earth was that?”

It was as if everything had been a dream from the beginning.

“Screeeeech!”

Only the ruined Private House and the swarming Monsters…

They merely confirmed that everything the man experienced was true.