Chapter 13 - Episode 2. Witch of Massacre (3)
Chapter 13: Episode 2. Witch of Massacre (3)
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Killing a Two-Horned Beast without using a skill.
Was such a thing even possible?
It was impossible not only for Mino, but for most Adapters. Perhaps the Hall Masters of the Ten Halls of Chaos could do it, but why would someone that powerful be in a place like this?
"You're Jaehwan, right?"
As she strode toward him, the Red Fox Clan members recoiled and took three or four steps back.
They probably thought she was showing interest in him. For now, that misunderstanding was convenient.
"Yeah."
"Did you perhaps come from a Great Family?"
At the words Great Family, the looks in the Red Fox Clan members' eyes changed strangely. In this land, the term had an obvious meaning.
"I've heard that young members of Great Families from the 《Great Realm》 sometimes visit here for amusement. Could you be...?"
The man seemed to think for a moment, then lightly shook his head.
"No."
Mino had assumed he was not from a Great Family.
Those born into Great Families usually traveled in groups, and their clothes were flashy enough to recognize at a glance.
Still, she had brought up Great Families and approached him for one reason.
- Skill, 「Precision Scan」 has been activated.
To use this skill.
- Skill, 「Precision Scan」 has failed.
...The scan failed at this distance?
It was strange, but no defensive message had appeared, so it was not the effect of a mental barrier skill. Perhaps the 《Interface System》 was unstable right now.
Mino gritted her teeth and prepared another method of investigation as she looked him over again.
The first thing that stood out was his clumsy gait.
It made no sense. If he was strong enough to kill a Two-Horned Beast with one stab, he should have learned good footwork or running techniques.
Footwork and running skills were the most important skills for survival. When faced with someone stronger, a person had to be able to run without looking back.
Yet the man did not seem to have learned any skills of that kind.
Then something even stranger happened.
- This individual's spiritual power value is '0'.
An unbelievable number appeared on the spiritual power meter she had used without thinking.
In the terms of the 《Great Realm》, having zero spiritual power meant one thing.
This man was a Non-Adapter.
"Let's rest here for a while."
Kanghun, the party leader, settled down a short distance away with the other three men. Soon, a hawk formed from spiritual power flew into the sky from his side.
The skill 「Messenger Hawk」.
It seemed he was reporting today's haul to the clan.
Mino sat on a fallen tree trunk beside Jaehwan.
Silence settled between them.
Unable to stand it any longer, Mino finally spoke.
"Who are you?"
For the sake of carrying out requests accurately, Black Forest Hall provided its assassins with specialized measuring devices. There was always a chance an assassination target might be hiding their true ability.
Even high-level Adapters capable of controlling their power could not evade Black Forest Hall's measuring devices. The man's spiritual power coefficient was lower than anyone here.
"I saw you kill that Two-Horned Beast in one blow."
She thought that was a meaningful opening, but he did not answer. Wondering if she had pressed too hard, Mino decided to be more polite.
"Even throughout all of 《Chaos》, it is hard to find an Adapter who can kill a Two-Horned Beast with a simple stab. Who are you, and where did you come from?"
"...What is 《Chaos》?"
Mino opened her mouth, then closed it. She asked sharply.
"Are you trying to mess with me?"
"No."
"Then why would you say that?"
"Because I don't know."
"...What don't you know? You're saying you don't know 《Chaos》?"
"Yeah."
"How could someone who doesn't know 《Chaos》 end up here?"
At that question, the man frowned, looking troubled.
"Could it be that you don't understand what I'm saying?"
As she watched him fall silent, Mino finally realized what was happening.
It seemed he had a language barrier.
In that case, it was only natural that he might not understand words like Chaos or identity.
"Um, so..."
Mino tried to explain the word identity in simpler terms.
It was not easy. She had never seriously thought about the word herself.
The identity she knew was entirely based on individual information defined by the 《System》.
A status window listing things like name, abilities, and affiliation.
"Let's see..."
Showing him her status window would help explain identity, but revealing personal information was taboo among Adapters. Showing one's skills or status values was no different from openly displaying one's weaknesses.
Besides, she was an assassin of Black Forest Hall.
In the end, Mino decided to show him one of the fake identification cards she had prepared for public use.
"Let's see..."
She had created many identification cards, but never one for a situation like this, which left Mino a little flustered.
Perhaps that was why.
"This is my identi..."
Mino's finger moved toward Public4.
At that moment, the identification card screen facing the man malfunctioned. As a result, Mino pressed Secret7 beside it instead of Public4.
+
Name: Han Mino
Height: 165 cm
Weight: 47 kg
Physical traits: A beauty mark beneath her left eye, a small mole on the inner side of her right breast
Hobby: Reading
Preferred type: Kind men, the type who loses by day and loses by night
+
Jaehwan tilted his head as he stared at the status window.
"This isn't the kind of thing I was curious about."
"Aaaah! No, wait! This is the wrong one..."
"It hardly tells me anything about who you are."
Mino was about to explain that this was a fake identification card she had made to assassinate a target hiding in a salon, but she stopped herself.
Did this man really need that much explanation? No, more importantly, was she not overlooking something?
"...Wait. You understand perfectly well what identity means!"
"I never said I didn't."
"You're suddenly speaking perfectly well now. Have you been fooling me this whole time?"
"Me?"
"Enough of this. Tell me who you are already!"
Jaehwan's lips twitched as he watched Mino shout.
The truth was, there was another reason he had hesitated to answer.
Identity.
The moment he heard that word, something stirred inside him.
Jaehwan could not tell what he was supposed to call himself.
Back when he was still on Earth, he had been someone's son and someone's friend. He went to university and had belonged to a club for a short while. He worried about finding a job, sometimes worried about the state of his country, and had many concerns about the future.
After entering the Tower, he had lost all of that.
Instead, he had gained new Companions and new memories.
Yoonhwan, Seoyul, Jay...
But when the Tutorial ended, they disappeared like a mirage. He alone remembered that terrible past now. The Companions who had been with him might still be alive somewhere on Earth, but they were no longer the Companions they had once been.
Not one of them would remember Jaehwan.
Everything had left him.
The past, the future, the people.
Yet he was still here, alive.
Then who am I?
"I don't remember."
It was the most honest answer Jaehwan could give.
An answer that was utterly honest, and utterly lonely.
Of course, Mino took it in a completely different way.
"Well, look at you. An 'Abyss powerhouse.'"
"...?"
"That's what Abyss powerhouses always say. 'I don't remember at all.'"
"Abyss powerhouse?"
"Oh, so you are pretending not to know that too. You're really thorough with your act. But do you know something? With skill like yours, pretending to be an Abyss powerhouse is..."
Just as Jaehwan was about to say she seemed to have misunderstood something badly, the sword in his hand suddenly began to hum.
The sound startled Mino into silence. She had known it was no ordinary sword, but she had not expected it to make a sound.
Then something even more astonishing happened.
"Fine, I get it. Stop pestering me."
Jaehwan crouched down and rummaged through his backpack. Then the blade of his sword opened wide like a mouth and began crunching through the things Jaehwan gave it.
Mino's eyes widened.
...A spirit weapon?
Footnotes:
Chapter discussion