The man's face went pale.
The Awakened guards who had suddenly lost their minds were already making their way toward the skybridge connected to the exhibition hall. How could anyone not be terrified in a situation like this?
But it was already too late to chase after them. Iori, Japan's second S-rank Hunter, had been assigned to protect the items being auctioned at the Tokyo Auction.
'Damn it!'
With every guard having rushed outside, the artifact storage room had been left completely unattended. If he wanted to protect the equipment, there was no way he could simply abandon Building D now.
And what if this entire commotion that had just erupted... was actually some phantom thief's carefully planned diversion?
This was no time to stand around staring at the gaping hole in the hallway. He needed to return to the storage room immediately.
But the guards who had escaped were two A-rank physical-enhancement Awakened, now tearing through the building as though they meant to bring the whole place down, along with one B-rank Awakened who possessed a defensive-type skill.
Just watching them was enough to make his head spin.
"Anyone, just get over here, quickly! Especially to Hall A! If those people run into the visitors in the exhibition hall, it'll be a disaster...!"
In the end, Iori gripped his radio and called for his colleagues.
Unfortunately, an unexpected obstacle meant that even getting help from his teammates would not be easy.
At the same time, in Hall C at the northern end of the venue.
After briefly speaking with the Ranker who had come from Korea, the four Japanese S-rank Hunters had remained together for a while. But once Kim Giryeo assured them that there was no need to worry about him, they had each returned to their respective duties.
One of them had already set out toward the area near Hyogo Prefecture to deal with a higher-level gate that had appeared there.
Meanwhile, the blue-haired woman was escorting a high-ranking political figure from their country alongside Ito.
"Ito, why on earth do we have to clean up after such useless people?"
"...Try not to call people useless."
"Even Giryeo-kun from Korea refused to take part. He said he'd had enough and went off to enjoy the event by himself. So why should I help promote a political party I didn't even vote for?"
"I don't think discussing politics out in public is a very good idea either..."
"Look at that. Look at him. He's taking more photos than some influencer. He's clearly enjoying the event more than anyone else here."
Moritake Ito awkwardly adjusted the formal suit he had not worn in quite some time.
As a guild master, he made a constant effort to maintain at least some degree of social decorum.
The two S-rank Hunters from Imabari were still exchanging a few quiet words when—
Emergency! This is the storage room in Building D. The Awakened guards suddenly lost their sanity...!
"Hm?"
The radio crackled to life.
...!
The cheap device distorted the sound considerably, but judging from the voice...
'Iori's asking for help?'
The Imabari Hunters shot to their feet the instant they recognized him.
Their first instinct was to head straight for Building D, where the incident had occurred.
But then an unexpected obstacle presented itself.
The moment the atmosphere around the Imabari group turned tense, a politician wearing a brown wig whispered something to an aide standing nearby.
After listening, the aide immediately relayed the politician's wishes to the country's Hunters.
"What?! You want us to stay here?"
"From what we heard over the radio, some sort of incident appears to have occurred. However, as I understand it, the venue has already hired high-ranking Awakened from private security firms. So, for the assemblyman's safety, we ask that you remain here and stand by for the time being."
After having his aide deliver such a shameless excuse, the politician himself merely stood there wearing a benevolent smile, pretending he had nothing whatsoever to do with it.
'He's keeping two Rankers here just because he feels uneasy?'
The Japanese Hunters immediately began arguing with them.
As a result, their response to the emergency was significantly delayed.
Of course, even as Ito found himself trapped in the middle of the dispute, he still had no idea what was actually happening inside Building D...
***
I suddenly miss my new friend from Earth.
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing—————!
"Huh?"
"What is it?"
"It's so loud!"
"What's going on?"
Exactly.
You mammals.
If I could, I'd really like to know what the hell is going on too.
'Hmm.'
Only seconds after I pulled the fire alarm, a tremendous thud! rang out from the floor above.
And judging from experience, sounds like that were never a good sign.
'I've heard them often enough that I can categorize them now.'
Thud, thud...
I don't know about Earthlings, whose lives rely far more heavily on sight than sound, but even through the deafening shriek of the fire alarm, I could still distinguish certain noises.
'That's concrete breaking.'
But judging from the flow of mana, it didn't seem to be the work of a gate.
Then what kind of fight could possibly break out at an official international event like this?
'Hmm.'
I turned and started running.
Chaos was chaos, but I still had something of my own to finish.
"Fire!"
I waved frantically at the people inside Hall 1 of Building A while pretending there was a fire.
Unexpectedly, the outfit I'd thrown on without much thought ended up helping quite a bit.
'Oh!'
Originally, if people refused to move, I had planned to either make use of this body's notoriously intimidating expression—which people had complained about more than once—or resort to shamelessly throwing my status around.
"Do you know who I am?"
"I'm an S-rank from overseas."
Something along those lines ought to have been enough to drive them out.
"Yes? A fire?"
"There really must be a fire! Hurry, let's get out!"
To my surprise, the visitors evacuated almost immediately.
A man in a suit was waving at them and yelling for them to leave in three different languages through a translator. They must have assumed I was one of the event staff.
Well, if I had been in their position and seen the same thing, I probably would have evacuated without a word too.
'Easy?'
Good.
Normally, this would have been the point where I intensified the flame I'd started on the poster,
creating enough confusion to accomplish my original objective...
'Why does it feel like my plan is falling apart far too easily?'
I never imagined the entire universe would go this far just to interfere with me kidnapping one person.
Boom!
It happened immediately after that thought crossed my mind.
The event poster had been smoldering slowly, the scorched patch spreading like a cigarette burn where sunlight had struck it.
That very promotional poster—the one I had intended to use as an excuse for the supposed fire—was suddenly obliterated along with the wall behind it.
The cause was the appearance of two Awakened from the floor above.
Either one of them alone could have produced a tremendous amount of force, but together they had smashed straight through the structure, connecting the floor above to the one I was standing on.
'Now that there's a hole in the building like that, it really does look like the cave I lived in during my previous life.'
Oh dear.
Now that I think about it, I really do suddenly want to see that Earthling, Seonwoo Yeon.
The moment I saw the violent high-ranking Awakened, my hand moved instinctively toward my pocket.
And then—
Two strange Awakened with red eyes glanced around the room.
A moment later, they came charging straight at me.
'I was hoping I was wrong, but they're coming directly at me?'
There was no time to wonder what was causing the strange light in their eyes.
I stopped reaching for my phone and pulled out a different tool instead.
The speed with which I retrieved it was incomparable to that of Earthlings, who needed several seconds just to locate a single object.
'That was absurdly fast, even from that far away...!'
I pulled my usual piece of equipment from the item box.
【Surprise Box!】
And activated it.
Thud!
At least one of them was successfully knocked unconscious.
Unfortunately, those thugs were too highly ranked. The other one resisted the box's magic and remained conscious.
'Though I'm not sure that state can really be called conscious.'
In other words, an A-rank physical-enhancement mage was now charging at me while radiating murderous intent.
'Ugh.'
Seriously.
What kind of trouble is this, after I've come all the way to a foreign country?
'It happened so suddenly that I can't make sense of it. Could they be... assassins sent by the Japanese?'
Damn it.
The thought came to me a little too late.
What if the hundred billion Imabari sent me hadn't merely been travel expenses?
Maybe I'd been through too much lately, because the sight of an enemy charging toward me sent such a rush of fear through my body that my entire life flashed before my eyes.
And that was despite the fact that I'd properly applied the Sacred Tree's effects this time.
So I moved on to my next option without hesitation.
'Ah... I didn't want to bring this out. It's simply too cruel.'
A high-quality Korean-made magical tool.
The [Screaming Stake].
Not that I intended to swing it myself.
My physical strength was practically on the level of an insect's. If I tried to fight a real Awakened with a weapon in hand, it would immediately become 'Beast Incident: Part 2.'
'One bad impact and the shock alone would make me drop it.'
And if I was going to lose the weapon anyway, wouldn't it be better to throw it from the very beginning?
"!!"
Whoosh!
For that reason, I immediately hurled the Screaming Stake I had raised.
And while the weapon flew through the air like a dart, I turned around and sprinted away at full speed.
Aaak...!
Clank!
As expected, it wasn't long before I heard a groan behind me.
That Awakened must have reached out to knock away the [Screaming Stake], only to touch the bladed edge and become afflicted by its status effect.
My original plan had been to put as much distance between us as possible while my opponent was incapacitated by the pain.
But it seemed I had underestimated the physical ability of an A-rank enhancement user.
'H-Huh?'
Even without looking back, instinct told me that my pursuer was closing the distance at an incredible speed.
'No way. What is that guy, an actual assassin or something?!'
When fighting Earthlings like Changho, it was common for a punch to arrive in the instant it took me to blink.
Because of that, I'd developed a bad habit of lowering my guard whenever an enemy's running speed looked comparatively manageable.
But the A-rank Hunter chasing me now covered the entire distance in only four seconds.
And that was while still suffering from the lingering effects of the [Screaming Stake].
Thanks to that absurd physical ability, there were barely three meters left between us.
'Aaack!'
Boom!
Before I could properly react, the Awakened's attack slammed into my body.
The force sent me tumbling sideways. I rolled once across the floor before collapsing.
'That person's completely insane!'
If I had been an ordinary F-rank Hunter, a single blow like that could have turned me into mashed potatoes.
A psychic was unleashing their full strength in the middle of an event packed with visitors from all over the world.
In other words, this was happening in a place where countless eyes were watching.
At this point, even an outsider from another country could reach the obvious conclusion.
'This isn't normal.'
And then, as if things weren't bad enough already, more bad news arrived.
'Are there even any allies left?'
The two A-rankers who had come through the ceiling were enhancement types, which explained their extraordinary speed.
Ordinary Awakened didn't move this fast.
As my disoriented senses began settling, I picked up another presence.
From somewhere on the breached floor above, another Awakened—noticeably slower than the first two—was rushing toward us.
'That amount of mana... roughly B-rank.'
Damn it.
I'd only just used the stun item, so there was still a long cooldown before I could activate it again.
'This really makes faith spring up in my heart. Unless some god is punishing a wizard for attempting evil deeds, there's no explanation for such a perfectly timed crisis...'
I glanced at the floor for an instant, then immediately regained my stance.
Although the attack had sent me rolling sideways, once my mind caught up, I landed cleanly.
After all, I was a soul with complete control over this body.
Perhaps irritated that his victim hadn't suffered any serious injuries, the opposing Awakened tightened his muscles and changed direction, preparing to charge at me again.
'Whoo.'
On the surface, the situation looked desperate.
But I was no longer the same person I used to be.
Now I was a fully developed archmage who had healed my lungs, resolved my defensive weaknesses, and accumulated a considerable collection of useful items.
'Somehow, I've ended up living such a pathetic life...'
Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrr—....
The fire alarm was still shrieking loudly enough to drown the entire area in noise.
And thanks to the alarm I had activated beforehand, I was able to carry out my next move much more discreetly.
Ssshk.
Using psychokinetic magic, I quietly slipped the [Screaming Stake] down the back of the mammal's clothes.
"....!"
Despite carrying around a sharp weapon that was practically a dagger, all I ever seemed to do with it was play childish pranks, like slipping ice down someone's T-shirt.
Thud.
The violently charging, mindless man stopped dead in his tracks.
Less than a second later, the Eastern mammal let out a deafening scream.
"Ugh, ugh!"
Well then.
So even without reason, pain still registers normally, huh?
All of his earlier momentum vanished.
The man curled up like a shrimp and writhed across the floor, twisting his entire body.
Judging from his muscle mass, he must have spent a considerable amount of time on physical training.
Ironically, because he had built up his body so much, he couldn't properly reach his own back.
'This is a new combat technique I came up with recently, and it seems especially effective against someone who's not in their right mind. Still, if he keeps thrashing around like that, the dagger will probably fall out soon.'
I'd better leave before reinforcements arrive.
With that thought, I turned away.
But my escape was cut off before it even began.
The reinforcements I'd just been thinking about arrived one step ahead of me.
And what made matters worse was that I couldn't tell whether the newcomer was an ally or an enemy.
"Aah! It's here!"
Boom!
The mammal who appeared out of nowhere like a bolt from the blue was an S-rank Electromancer from the company called Imabari.
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