Chapter 111 – Action (4)

Rachel contacted the Royal Court as soon as she returned and revealed everything to her butler. Lancaster had appeared and murdered the agent protecting her, but returned without hurting her.

— Can you describe the situation before Lancaster appeared in more detail?

The butler seriously asked.

“Yes? Ah, um… A friend gave me a present.”

— By the way, Princess, you can speak to me in English.

“Ah, right, sorry. So um, about the situation…”

Rachel reported what happened in English. The butler rubbed his chin before continuing in a low voice.

— Hm… perhaps Lancaster wants Princess to suffer the same pain.

“Yes?”

Rachel tilted her head.

— Lancaster lost his most precious people in the London Incident. He must want Princess to share the same fate. He must’ve misunderstood Princess’ relationship with this friend.

“Ah…”

It seemed possible now that she thought about it. After all, Lancaster said he saw an amusing scene.

“But that’s not it…”

Rachel looked at the bracelet on her wrist. Lancaster was gravely mistaken if that’s what he thought. She wasn’t in any position to be intimate with someone.

— Anyways, Princess. I see you’ve changed a lot.

“Eh? In what way?”

— In the past, you used to love eating and playing around like a child. Now, you’re calm and collected.

“T-That was before I grew up.”

Honestly, Rachel acted quite playful until she turned six. She always fulfilled all her responsibilities before playing. The queen, the royal consort, and Rachel’s butler could only watch with a smile, but her playfulness disappeared after that incident.

— It’s getting late, Princess. You should sleep. We will notify you soon whether we’ll send another agent or hire a skilled mercenary.

“Yes. By the way, did that agent… have a family?”

The butler bitterly smiled and shook his head.

— No, he didn’t.

“I see. Please treat him well. I will also participate in the funeral.”

— Yes, understood.

Someone had died to protect her. That put a heavy burden on her heart, but Rachel hung up without showing any weakness.

“Haa.”

However, she couldn’t prevent a sigh from escaping. Rachel took out her earphones to relieve her stress. She looked at the music app on her smartwatch.

[If – Kim Hajin] [Now I Wish It Was So – Kim Hajin (karaoke)] [You In My Arms – Kim Hajin (karaoke)] [To J – what I sang (karaoke)]…

She secretly made several recordings when they went karaoke and managed her insomnia to some extent thanks to Kim Hajin’s voice. On a side note, she also realized her terrible singing after listening to herself.

“Today, let’s go with…”

Now I Wish It Was So. Rachel hit the play button and hopped into bed.

***

[I can start tomorrow.]

Boss contacted me the next day after my positive reply.

Apprentice Mercenary Mission [Difficulty: D] [Reward: 400,000,000 Korean won or an item of equivalent value] [Goal: Attack a djinn group under Jehon’s human trafficking.] [Jehon operates a human trafficking truck once a week. Two guarded trucks will cross the Weike Bridge at 10 P.M. Attack and rescue the hostages.]

The mission took place in China. To be more precise, it would occur on a road connecting China to Mongolia. Djinns often used this smuggling route.

According to my settings, the Russian region neighboring Mongolia was a lawless zone where strength reigned supreme. It also served as a lair for djinns who committed all sorts of crimes. However, a society operated by djinns also inhabited this lawless zone. The UN refused to recognize it, but most referred to this place as Pandemonium. It equaled in size to a small city.

I went to Beijing through Seoul when classes ended the next day. I made sure to wear a mask and sunglasses once I arrived.

The northern region of Beijing was considered an intermediate rank danger zone filled with monsters. I arrived at a worn bridge above a river after an hour of driving.

“It’s kinda creepy.”

Intermediate rank monsters frequently appeared and I didn’t spot a single person.

“Let’s see.”

I knocked down several trees to block the bridge’s only entrance. Then I received a message.

[There will be multiple enemies, but not all will be djinns. Some became the dogs of devils and others are simply evil people who lead despicable lives. These are your targets.]

“Hm.”

Contracts with devils amplified a djinn’s negative emotions. Weaker djinns tended to commit harsher crimes using all sorts of methods. Their instincts grew stronger with unmet desires that led to rage and pure evil.

“That’s nice to know.”

I could deal with them easier without being mentally burdened. I looked around for cover. The surrounding area looked like a desert. The trees in the nearby forest were all too short. I had no choice, but to directly confront them.

I got on my bike and drove about 600 meters over the bridge. Then I faced the bridge and saw everything around it in full view.

I checked the time at 9:35 P.M. They would arrive at 10. I weaved aether into a chair and sat as I took out a cloth and wiped the Desert Eagle. Finally, I spotted two trucks and four escort vehicles after about 30 minutes.

“Here they come.”

I slowly stood up and infused the Desert Eagle with Aether, transforming it into a sniper rifle. Then I aimed at the truck drivers. The driver in front seemed drunk or high as he snickered. I had no reason to hesitate and pulled the trigger.

TANG! My clothes fluttered from the pressure. The bullet blew up the driver’s head without a scream. The window shattered and the driver immediately scattered into black dust. It didn’t stop and pierced the truck’s cargo compartment.

Click—

I ejected the bullet casing and aimed for the second driver. He had no clue and made an easy target. I fired and a white bullet immediately pierced through. Kiiik— The trucks skidded and crashed into trees. The escort vehicles finally noticed and stopped. The doors shot open as a total of 18 djinns ran out. Three with swords, four with spears, two with axes, three with bows, and the rest with assault rifles. I observed their movements as I took out a ginseng pill with modified effects.

[Medicinal energy has spread throughout your body.] [All variable stats except magic power will increase by 1.5 points for 5 minutes.]

This modification only required 5 SP. It didn’t cost much since I changed a permanent stat boost into a temporary one. I swallowed the pill and activated the under armor’s haste. Then I transformed the Desert Eagle into an assault rifle. I could feel my body swirling with energy.

“Huu…”

I took a deep breath and stared at the incoming djinns.

— 他妈的是什么？

— 你想回去吗？嘿！你这个婊子的儿子！

They spoke among themselves. Of course, I didn’t understand Chinese. Honestly, I didn’t care.

“Would you shut up?”

I calmly aimed at them. They charged like raging bulls and kicked up a cloud of dirt. However, I activated bullet time and they felt like snails. First, I targeted the djinns with assault rifles. I fired a bullet into each of their heads. They couldn’t even use magic power reinforcement and easily scattered into dust. Then I aimed for the ones rushing in with spears. They managed to close in about 200 meters away, but wouldn’t proceed any farther.

“Hm?”

However, they could use magic power reinforcement. That surprised me, but magic power reinforcement was different from qi reinforcement. It was only a low rank defensive skill from randomly releasing magic power. I could easily break through such an elementary skill.

I fired three bullets at the djinn in the front.

The first made the magic power reinforcement unstable, the second destroyed the unstable magic power reinforcement, and the third pierced through the gap to kill him.

I only needed 3 bullets to kill each spear warrior. The world remained still as I fired nonstop. Multiple sparks of light flashed from my barrel and slaughtered all the weaklings. I aimed and fired like a machine.

“…”

I fired a total of 30 shots and killed ten warriors. Not even a minute had passed since they got out of their cars.

Now, only two djinns with bows remained. They pulled their bowstrings, but I only needed to flick my finger. White light flashed from my barrel.

The two djinns scattered into dust.

“Haa.”

Time returned to normal. I felt slightly lightheaded and walked over the bridge. Then I opened the cargo compartment of the right truck.

“Uaaaaaa!”

A man charged at me with a dagger. He caught me completely off guard as my head momentarily blanked. His eyes flickered with killing intent and blue magic power covered his dagger. A giant wolf shot out of my chest and bit his neck before it could reach my heart.

“AAAK! AAAAAAAK!”

The wolf equaled the size of two adult men. I rubbed my chest as the wolf restrained him. I… wasn’t hurt.

“Whew.”

I sighed in relief at the potentially fatal mistake. I should’ve been more careful.

“Kuaaaak…”

Crunch. His neck broke and the djinn scattered into dust. I looked around the cargo compartment full of kidnapped people. Their eyes filled with fear and sorrow.

“…”

[Mission completed.]

I sent Boss a message before throwing the djinn’s smartwatch to them.

“The djinns are all dead. You can use that to call heroes and go home now.”

The wolf that saved my life approached me. He panted for my praise, so I stroked its head. Boss quickly replied.

[Confirmed. We’ll deal with the cleanup.]

***

I stayed up all night at the Beijing Hotel and returned at 6 A.M. when the Cube portal opened. The dorm room felt oddly warm for some reason. Was it because of Hayang on the couch and Evandel’s nightingales on the TV?

I smiled as I walked into the bedroom. Evandel had already gone to sleep. I sat on the edge and stroked her head. I realized that this child had been my emotional support for a long time now. I couldn’t help but wonder when I started relying on such a young child.

“Sigh.”

Only a year had passed since I fell into this world. I had reached this point after only a year. Once I spent another 10 years like this and returned to Earth… Could I go back to normal? Could I forget everything like it never happened?

“Yaawn.”

Evandel opened her eyes and stared at me. Then came into my arms with a warm smile.

“It’s Hajin. Hajin, Hajin…”

She murmured as she rubbed her cheeks against my chest.

“Oh right, Evandel. You saved me today.”

“Yummy, yummy food…”

Evandel didn’t seem to care.

“We can eat yummy food later. Go back to sleep.”

I rubbed her back.

***

I slouched over my desk 3 hours later in class. I only slept less than an hour and felt exhausted.

“Auu…”

I struggled to stay awake as someone sat next to me and tapped on my shoulder.

“Yo, Kim Hajin.”

I turned to face Chae Nayun while still slouching. She practically beamed with joy.

“What.”

“You didn’t forget your promise tomorrow, right?”

“Promise?”

Kim Suho joined in. “You forgot, Hajin? We said we’d eat together.”

“Hah?”

Only then did I raise my body. I spoke while looking at Chae Nayun, “I thought you said you planned on eating with Kim Suho.”

“Uh… ah, didn’t I tell you we would all eat together?”

“I’ll be there too.” Yoo Yeonha appeared next to Chae Nayun. “Jonghak and Yi Yeonghan will also come.”

“Yeah, it’ll be for all members of the time travel group.”

Chae Nayun placed her hand on my head as she said that. Startled, I stiffened up. Meanwhile, she straightened my hair with her hand.

“There.”

She smiled in satisfaction. I glared at her dumbfounded. Even my mom stopped doing that after I hit puberty.

“Anyways, don’t forget to come. We’re going to karaoke after.”

“I’m busy that day—”

“Otherwise, we’ll invite you to a group chat.”

“That’s…”

I frowned. Please spare me from that.