Chapter 102 – Surprise Attack (２)

A high-grade Magin, reduced to a wreck in a single blow.

What the….

Kim Gyeongho.

Even he turned his head, disbelief etched on his face.

Is that… really him?

The rookie who had set the world ablaze not long ago.

No, should he say an old rookie instead?

Either way.

The magic he’d just witnessed was beyond what any rookie should be capable of.

Was it not?

How could a single blow reduce a high-ranking Magin to nothing but a rag?

‘…Even I have to struggle to deal with a high-ranking Magin.’

Kim Gyeongho.

He might not be a top-tier Ranker, but he’s a powerhouse any guild would be eager to recruit.

Even for someone like him, fighting a high-ranking Magin was never an easy fight.

Especially against a new entity that had never appeared before, like this one.

‘…Hah…’

All Kim Gyeongho could do was gape at Gijun, a gasp of awe spilling from his lips.

That was when it happened.

“G-get back…!”

A beam of light erupted from the dying Magin’s eyes.

The Magin regenerated its body at an explosive speed.

Hardly a moment after, the Magin lunged toward Gijun.

In the blink of an eye, it had closed a gap of over ten meters, its hand reaching for Gijun’s abdomen.

It all happened in an instant.

But then, something even more astonishing occurred.

A massive spray showered the air!

“…?!”

In that very moment, the Magin’s entire body was torn to shreds, its pieces flying through the air.

“…What the hell just happened…”

It happened in less than a single second—that blink of an eye.

*

‘So this is what an upper-rank Magin can do.’

Gijun clicked his tongue inwardly.

Even after taking a hit from ten Fireballs fused together—shaped and transformed on top of that—the bastard still managed to regenerate.

It wasn’t arrogance.

Gijun had grown strong.

Incredibly so.

And those Fireballs had even been imbued with light attribute.

What he’d just thrown was practically an all-out strike—no exaggeration.

Yet the upper-rank Magin regenerated like nothing had happened.

Then lunged at Gijun.

Which meant its battered, mangled state had been nothing but an act from the start.

‘Still…’

Gijun recast Strong Wind.

The spell tore the Magin’s body apart again.

But it still wasn’t over.

Even in that instant, the thing was already regenerating.

A truly sickening level of recovery.

“Still—his Magi has dropped sharply.”

That was good news in its own way.

The fact that two attacks had drained that much of the creature’s life-energy meant—

Gijun’s strikes were landing effectively.

Crrrrrrack—

The thing’s body twisted grotesquely.

It was healing fast.

“Can’t let that happen.”

Gijun recast Fireball and hurled it at the creature.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Boom!

Spinning rapidly, the Fireballs hung midair, slicing across the Magin’s torso as it regenerated.

Again. Again.

And finally, the Magin’s body scattered apart in the air.

Shhhhh—

Only after confirming the Magin’s energy had vanished completely did Gijun reverse-cast the Fireball.

“Still… that’s satisfying enough.”

Taking down a high-rank Magin without a scratch—that was clearly something to be proud of.

It had been barely any time at all since his fierce fight against a lower-grade Magin, when he thought about it.

“G-Master Gijun!”

That was when Kim Gyeongho came running from the other direction.

He had already evacuated all the nearby civilians.

“Looks like things are mostly cleaned up around here. The civilians have all been evacuated too.”

At that, Gijun also took a look around.

The number of monsters that had filled the city center had dwindled considerably.

Emily’s performance, in particular, had been remarkable.

Using area-of-effect spells he had never seen her use during their spars, she had taken down the monsters in the blink of an eye.

‘She really is incredible.’

Gijun marveled.

Emily’s mana control was so precise it was startling, even to him.

She froze and attacked the monsters without so much as touching a single parked car nearby.

Just how finely did one have to handle Mana to achieve that level of control?

He had a nagging thought that if he ever had to fight an Emily like that for real, it might not be easy for him either.

‘And she’s growing entirely on her own ability, too.’

That was the more astonishing part.

After all, Gijun was getting stronger quickly by relying on something like a cheat key.

Of course, the fact that he could grow this fast was also because he possessed an exceptional talent himself, but still….

‘I need to work harder.’

Watching Emily, Gijun felt a quiet surge of motivation.

Their eyes met for a moment.

Emily gave Gijun a small, bright smile.

It was an innocent smile, just like a child’s.

To think that a girl with such a naïve, carefree smile was a 7th-Circle mage.

For a split second, the thought flashed through his mind that it really didn’t suit her at all.

‘Anyway…’

Just as Kim Gyeongho had said, the situation was being cleared up quickly.

And then it happened.

“Cheonhwa here!”

A loud voice rang out from the other side.

Over there, Superhumans from the Cheonhwa Guild had just arrived on the scene.

“…Huh?”

But they all wore slightly bewildered expressions as they took in the already-resolved situation.

Then,

“…No way…?”

The leader of the Cheonhwa group spotted Gijun and his eyes went wide.

“I heard a high-grade Magin appeared… surely you don’t mean to say….”

“Yes. Thanks to the support from the Hwarang Guild, we were able to get the situation under control quickly.”

Before Gijun could answer, Kim Gyeongho explained the situation for him.

“…I see.”

Even as he said that, the Cheonhwa leader stole another glance at Gijun.

His expression was one of utter disbelief.

But since it was Kim Gyeongho of the Association, of all people, who was saying it, there was no point in doubting the fact.

“Understood. Then we’ll head inside the Dungeon to have a look.”

Having confirmed the situation outside was mostly under control, the Cheonhwa Guild Superhumans said so.

Kim Gyeongho chimed in at that.

“I’ll go with you.”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

With that, Kim Gyeongho shouted out.

“Association Superhumans, please wrap up the remaining situation here! I’ll be searching the inside of the Dungeon with the Cheonhwa Guild Superhumans! And….”

He looked back at Gijun.

“I’m deeply grateful. Your dedication saved the lives of civilians.”

*

The day’s events made headlines everywhere.

It was only natural.

In the middle of Gangnam.

And all because a Dungeon Break had spawned a high-ranking Magin — an unprecedented crisis.

[The Superhuman Association’s Incompetence! How Much Longer?]

[On the Interests of Giant Guilds and the Safety of Citizens….]

[The Reason Superhumans Exist: They Only Have Eyes for Profit….]

[Hwarang and Ure: The Dark Side of Top-Tier Guilds….]

Naturally, a torrent of criticism poured down on the Superhuman Association and the guilds.

The giant guilds, in particular, were taking the brunt of it.

Even with a disaster of this magnitude erupting in the heart of Gangnam, Hwarang and Ure had sent almost no Superhuman support — and that was the issue being raked over the coals.

Of course, people knew.

They knew Hwarang and Ure had dispatched a massive force for a Level-9 Dungeon currently underway.

Even for a Level-8 Dungeon, at least a hundred personnel are sent beyond the Raid participants.

That includes replacement reserves for anyone injured inside the Dungeon, teams analyzing the Dungeon’s changes mid-Raid, and dedicated squads handling post-Raid cleanup.

And for this Level-9 Dungeon, the scale of deployment was the largest in history.

To conquer a single Dungeon, each guild had sent over 500 members; combined across all guilds, well over a thousand personnel were now stationed in Siberia.

But in the end, what sells is sensationalism.

Especially when you can pit civilian safety against the lavish lifestyles of Superhumans raking in astronomical sums — that’s irresistible bait.

– Fucking Superhumans lol

– Pisses me off how much those bastards pull in for salary

– Hey, they risk their lives fighting. They deserve to earn big.

– Who’s forcing them? Who’s holding a knife to their throat making them be Superhumans?

– Fuck, I’ll risk my life too if you pay me 10 billion a year lol I’d sign up right now

And of course, the hyenas wouldn’t miss their chance to feast.

The situation hadn’t even been fully cleaned up yet — no one even had a clear picture of what happened inside.

Normally, reporters would have swarmed by now.

But the emergency had been so severe that all civilians were barred from approaching, so no proper articles had surfaced yet.

All that was confirmed so far: a Dungeon Break and the appearance of a high-ranking Magin.

But who fought that Magin, and which Superhumans were involved — that information had yet to be released.

And then it happened.

[URGENT FOOTAGE! This is HUGE]

A video appeared on ViewTube.

It was filmed inside a building in Seoul.

The footage was shaky and the quality poor — likely shot in a hurry on a smartphone.

But the moment that video went up, it spread like wildfire—within five minutes of being posted, it had already blown past hundreds of thousands of views, that was how explosive it was.

-The fuck is this?

-Who the hell is that?

-No fucking way

-Is this real?

Everyone who watched it was reacting like it couldn’t be true.

-Wasn’t that an Upper-Grade Magin?

-And it gets turned into that ragdoll mess?

-Did an Upper-Grade Magin actually show up?

-The Association already made it official, dumbass

That video showed a battle between an Upper-Grade Magin and some Superhuman.

The shocking part? A flash of light, and in an instant, the Magin was shredded into a wreck.

And then, its body rapidly regenerated, and it charged in again—only to have its entire form torn apart once more, sent flying into the air.

-So basically, that Superhuman took down an Upper-Grade Magin in no time, right?

-Hey, you assholes who were trashing Superhumans earlier—come say that again now

Slowly, the tide of public opinion was shifting back toward superhumans—all thanks to that unidentified Superhuman’s overwhelming combat spectacle.

If that upper-grade Magin hadn’t been dealt with quickly, and I mean quickly…

The situation had been dangerous enough that civilian casualties were the least of it—the whole city might have been torn apart.

But there was one problem.

-Can’t see the Superhuman’s face at all, no way to tell who it is

-So who the hell is that, anyway?

You absolutely couldn’t make out their face.

-Looks like a mage, but what kind of spell is that supposed to be?

Even the magic being used was hard to identify—that was the real issue.

-Saw some big flashy thing, figured fire element… but is that really fire magic? Isn’t it way too flashy to be fire?

-Yeah, no matter how I look at it, it doesn’t feel like fire element… What the hell is it

Those questions were growing louder when—

[The Association’s official interview just dropped!]

[Kim Gyeongho is being interviewed right now!]

[Kim Gyeongho just came out of the dungeon search and is briefing the situation!]

Posts went up saying Kim Gyeongho had started an interview.

True to the rumors, Kim Gyeongho from the Association had gathered reporters and was already fielding questions.

The very first question, naturally, was about the Magin.

And at the same time, about the mysterious mage who had killed it.

“Mr. Kim Gyeongho, a lot of citizens are curious about the mage who took down that high-ranking Magin! Can you reveal their identity?”

Kim Gyeongho answered with a faint smile.

“That person is Superhuman Baek Gijun of the Hwarang Guild.”