Chapter 24 : Who Is The Real Madman?

The Awakened, Yoo Isul.

Yoo Isul is a veteran among veterans, having been active as an Awakened for over a decade.

Starting her activities as an Awakened during her high school years, she has faced countless extraordinary phenomena and had to confront all sorts of bizarre situations.

There were times she nearly died.

There were times she almost lost her limbs.

Nevertheless, she survived.

And the countless experiences became the source of her strength.

There is one fact she realized over the course of resolving extraordinary phenomena for ten years.

When collaborating with other Awakened individuals, the difficulty of resolving the phenomena actually increases.

Unlike Yoo Isul, who is completely immune to mental attacks, other Awakened individuals rely on the effects of items to counter mental attacks.

Naturally, there are limits to defending against mental attacks using items.

While Yoo Isul is dealing with the phenomenon, the other Awakened individuals are drenched in sweat, desperately using items to fend off mental attacks.

It gets to the point where it’s actually more efficient for her to resolve the phenomenon alone.

The same applies to physical attacks.

Yoo Isul, wielding Excalibur—no, an iron sword marked as “No. 3″—could theoretically cut through all physical attacks from extraordinary phenomena.

So, while the other Awakened are hesitating, it ends up being just Yoo Isul attacking the phenomenon alone.

The point is, collaborating with other Awakened individuals disrupts her tempo and becomes more of a hindrance.

After concluding that handling extraordinary phenomena alone was more effective, Yoo Isul began resolving them solo without collaborating with others.

Humans are social animals.

Since she didn’t interact with others, it was only natural that Yoo Isul developed an abrasive personality.

It was the inevitable consequence of her overwhelmingly superior abilities.

But then…

“Kyahh! I got stabbed in the butt!”

The woman over there, with her pink hair flying as she gets stabbed, is a bit different.

Unlike Yoo Isul, who is completely immune to mental attacks, this woman seems to be completely immune to physical attacks.

Well, she might get injured if she takes an overly strong hit,

but look—she just got slashed with a blade, and there’s not a single wound.

No matter how durable an Awakened may be, they’re bound to get cut by such sharp blades.

But not her.

Her ability to gather information about phenomena is on another level as well.

If Yoo Isul had tackled that golden piggy bank phenomenon alone, it would’ve taken her at least an hour just to confirm that it was safe to attack.

Thanks to Lee Jia’s information-gathering ability, though, Yoo Isul was able to gain the confidence to attack the golden piggy bank the moment they encountered it.

Her ability drastically lowered the difficulty of resolving the phenomenon.

‘I’m not sure how resistant she is to mental attacks, but…’

Maybe, just maybe, Yoo Isul thought, for the first time, that it might not be so bad to collaborate with this woman.

‘Her personality seems a bit crazy, though.’

In a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, Yoo Isul criticized Lee Jia’s personality.

And with good reason.

“You pig-faced bastard! Eat this!”

That woman, no matter who you ask…

“Shining Starlight Punch!”

It didn’t look normal, to say the least.

“Shining Starlight Punch!”

“Shining Starlight Kick!”

“Shining Starlight Headbutt!”

If I told someone that I landed more effective hits than Yoo Isul, the veteran of veterans among the Awakened, who would believe me?

But it’s true.

Whether I got stabbed or not didn’t matter—I simply covered the important parts and charged at the golden piggy bank, unleashing a flurry of attacks.

It was an unrefined, reckless barrage of punches, but the results were undeniable.

The number of blades decreased.

From that point onward, everything fell into place smoothly.

Thanks to my “Shining Starlight Punch” and Yoo Isul’s slashes, the golden piggy bank soon dropped all the gold coins it had been holding.

“Hah… Hah… Hah… It’s over. The blades are gone.”

Having dropped all its coins, the golden piggy bank lost all its power and crumbled into dust.

This was the first time I had ever witnessed the end of an extraordinary phenomenon.

It feels…

strange somehow.

I didn’t kill a living creature, yet I still feel a pang of guilt.

Maybe it’s because the piggy bank was just so cute.

If the phenomenon had been grotesque in appearance, I probably wouldn’t feel this way.

Step, step, step.

Yoo Isul, who had sheathed her sword, walked toward me.

With a rough gesture, she ruffled my hair and opened her mouth to speak.

“You’re… not bad.”

“…I’m not some kind of tool, you know. What’s with ‘not bad’?”

It wasn’t exactly the kindest tone, but it still made me feel good.

Anyway.

“How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“The swordsmanship. You practically cut through all those blades.”

Anyone watching would think she had some kind of advanced swordsmanship ability.

Awakened individuals who possess more than one ability are so rare that they’re barely one in a thousand.

The only person I know who has more than one ability is the chairman of the Awakened Association.

That old man.

Yoo Isul, on the other hand, has just one ability:

immunity to mental attacks.

I checked the information on the wiki, so I’m sure of it.

The wiki doesn’t lie.

But what I just saw—her cutting down dozens of blades with that divine swordsmanship— anyone would think that was an ability.

When I asked, Yoo Isul replied indifferently.

“The result of effort.”

“Doesn’t seem like something you can achieve with effort alone…”

“Hey, think about it. I’ve been working as an Awakened since high school, and this is my 10th year. If I’ve been swinging a sword every day for ten years, wouldn’t I at least be this good?”

The bodies of Awakened individuals are different from normal people.

Even without abilities, their basic physical stats are on a whole other level compared to ordinary humans.

When she puts it like that, it kind of makes sense.

“Anyway, let’s just collect the items and head back.”

“Okay. The items aren’t as dangerous as the phenomena themselves, right?”

“They can be dangerous sometimes, but you can always use your ability to figure that out, can’t you?”

“…That’s true.”

“Are you dumb?”

According to Yoo Isul, the chances of finding a jackpot item are pretty slim.

Not all items are helpful to Awakened individuals.

Nine out of ten are garbage, and you’re lucky if you get one decent item.

“Got it? Now cover up those holes in your cardigan; it’s embarrassing to look at.”

“Holes? What holes…?”

Lowering my head to check myself after Yoo Isul’s comment, I realized.

“…Oh.”

I let out a short sigh.

My clothes were full of holes, completely torn through.

Right.

After getting stabbed so many times, it’d be strange if my clothes were perfectly fine.

I was definitely wearing a t-shirt and jeans that didn’t expose any skin.

So how did my outfit devolve into something this ragged?

Panicking, I quickly took off my cardigan and used it to roughly cover the torn areas.

The part with the most holes was, undoubtedly, my chest.

This, well…

It’s probably because it’s such a large surface area, making it an easy target for the enemy’s attacks.

“It’s still not fully covered.”

“I-I think I’ve covered it all, though?”

“From the back, it’s a disaster.”

The back?

Why the back…

Ah, crap.

Reaching my hand behind me to touch my butt, I found, as expected, that it was full of holes too.

That golden piggy bank bastard.

I take back feeling sorry for it.

It really went all in on targeting the biggest areas.

Flustered, I adjusted my cardigan again to strategically cover the torn parts.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best I could manage.

Watching me, Yoo Isul sighed as if she couldn’t believe it.

“Even if your body’s tough, how many hits did you take? You’re Awakened too, aren’t you? Next time, try dodging a little. It’s embarrassing to walk around with you like this.”

“…Yes.”

I didn’t dodge because it didn’t seem worth dodging.

I didn’t think it would lead to side effects like this.

Wait.

Hold on.

Did she just say it’s embarrassing to walk around together?

That means…

“S-So, you’ll come with me again next time?”

“Let’s go check the item.”

“Please answer me!”

“Let’s go.”

“…Okay.”

Just like Yoo Isul said, the item was nothing special.

[Diffuser (Item)]

Overview:

A tool that can spread [CENSORED] scent within a 100-meter radius.

Characteristics (Effects)

Can spread [CENSORED] scent within a 100-meter radius.

The intensity of the scent can be adjusted with the stick.

When the scent is spread, all other smells within a 100-meter radius are completely eliminated.

Once the liquid is fully consumed, it can no longer be used.

This is supposed to be an item?

This isn’t all that different from a regular diffuser.

And with the censorship, we can’t even tell what kind of scent it spreads.

Sniff sniff.

Since the stick wasn’t inserted, the liquid in the diffuser had no scent at all.

“Trash.”

After hearing the description of the item, Yoo Isul paused to think for a moment before responding.

“Not necessarily. This might surprisingly be useful for dealing with phenomena.”

“Why?”

“It says it can completely eliminate all other smells. That effect alone is perfect for removing variables.”

“Okay, but… why is that important?”

“…You. By the next time we meet, you better study up on phenomena properly. I swear, you’re making me want to flick your forehead right now.”

Seriously.

She could’ve just explained instead of getting mad.

Honestly, whether this item is good or bad doesn’t matter to me.

With this, I’ve fulfilled all the

“obligations of a Field Clerk.”

Sniffle.

Suddenly, tears welled up and rolled down my cheeks like chicken droppings.

It’s done.

I survived.

I’m alive.

I don’t have to be discarded like trash!

Of course, I’ll have to enter another phenomenon zone a month from now.

But for now, I’m alive…!

It felt like a heavy burden was finally lifted off my chest.

The relief was so overwhelming that my legs nearly gave out.

As I sat down and started bawling, Yoo Isul, for the first time, looked flustered and asked.

“…Are you crying?”

“Yes, I’m crying! Boohoo!”

“Why—why are you crying? Did I talk too harshly? I mean, honestly, you were chattering so much next to me, and yeah, I did want to flick your forehead!”

“That’s not why I’m crying! Sniff… Shining Starlight, thank you! Shining Starlight is a god and invincible!”

As I suddenly began offering an impromptu prayer, Yoo Isul stared at me like I’d lost my mind.

No, but…

You’re the crazier one between the two of us.

So don’t look at me like that.

You’re interrupting my worship!