After filling their stomachs at Antonio's restaurant, the Cheong-Am group was practically kicked out by him.
The four were on their way back to the Center in a despairing mood.
"Guess we have to wait until that bastard Lee Sang-Deok finds Yang Jin-Mu again..."
"While dealing with enemies coming for the bounty... right? Can we endure it, really?"
"Alice. If you don't endure, you lose. The end of a loser is more terrible than you think. There are plenty of cases where death would be preferable..."
As Yu-Han spoke seriously, Alice looked slightly scared. Yu-Han watched her for a moment, then summoned something from the void.
"Here, take this."
"This is... a trench coat? Out of the blue?"
"If you wear it, you'll look more like a Director, and you'll feel more confident, right?"
"True... I have been dressing a bit too casually for a Director."
Alice put on the trench coat, fluttering it ostentatiously.
"Alice C! You look cool! (...Not as much as Yu-Han C, though.)"
"...I'll take that as a compliment for now."
Alice's auditory sensors clearly picked up Kim Ga-Eun's words, but she decided to pretend she didn't hear them. More importantly, wearing the trench coat made a serious feeling well up inside her, and she thought about getting a tailored suit later.
"Target... confirmed."
At that moment, Alice heard someone speak from a short distance away. Not long after, an object cut through the air and flew threateningly toward Alice. Alice reflexively bent her waist backward, barely dodging it.
It embedded itself into the building wall. Alice was dumbfounded upon checking the object's identity.
"A-A feather...?"
"Are you the Cheong-Am Center?"
A cold, businesslike woman's voice was heard. It was a woman in office lady attire with a brown bob cut and eyes like a raptor.
"I see. You mean a Director can dodge this much easily..."
"Director? How did you know?"
"If you're the only one wearing a serious trench coat, wouldn't anyone see you as the Director?"
Alice shot Yu-Han a look that screamed, 'Did you make me wear this to use me as bait!?' Yu-Han was protesting with his eyes, 'I really didn't know this would happen either!'
"Yu-Han C! That's Manager Yu Seo-Yeon from the Seo-An-Dang(舒安堂) Euthanasia Center!"
"Who is that?"
Alice asked at Kim Ga-Eun's words. Yu-Han explained as if frustrated.
"She's Yu Seo-Yeon, holding the rank of Manager at Seon-An-Dang, the number one center in the euthanasia industry... A woman who once had a bounty of hundreds of millions on her head."
"Once? Then not anymore?"
"Now it's zero won. Because the factions that put the bounty on her... were all crushed by her hands."
At Yu-Han's words, Yi Rang and Kim Ga-Eun were shocked. Yu Seo-Yeon sighed at their exaggerated reaction and spoke.
"You make me sound like some crazy slaughterer... I didn't kill them all alone; I did it with my colleagues. When you work, enemies like that tend to appear."
Alice was relieved that Yu Seo-Yeon seemed to be a reasonable person who could communicate normally.
"Then, Yu Seo-Yeon C. What is your business? Throwing a feather out of nowhere is dangerous!"
"You seem to be rookies... It's an initiation. A new Center with a high bounty in a short period... We test your skills to see if you're a partner worth cooperating with. If not, we'll kill you and take the bounty, or capture you alive."
"Wh-What kind of violent initiation is that!?"
"No more questions!! If you surrender, I will peacefully capture you and end this!"
As Alice tried to pull out her beam sword, Yu-Han stopped her with one arm.
"You can't handle this with your skills yet. I have no choice but to step in."
"Then, I'll leave it to you. Deputy."
"?"
Yu-Han tried to refute Alice's words, but Kim Ga-Eun and Yi Rang chimed in from the side.
"Our Deputy Director Nim! I'm cheering for you!"
"Damn~ As expected of our Deputy! Ya lookin' reliable!"
"These damn bitches... Hey, don't misunderstand. Officially, I have nothing to do with these guys..."
Before Yu-Han could finish speaking, Yu Seo-Yeon fired feathers at him again. Enhanced by magic, those feathers had the power of arrows. Yu-Han hurriedly deflected them with his carbon-coated sword.
"How long are you going to keep blabbering? If you're the Deputy Director, come out and fight proudly!"
"Haah... Not a single one of them knows how to listen."
Yu-Han wrapped himself in pure mana, then unhesitatingly tried to stab Yu Seo-Yeon's heart. She endured with a mana barrier, then created a circular balance in the void. It was Portal Magic.
"That's the Portal Magic I've only heard about... Yu-Han C! Behind you!"
Kim Ga-Eun relayed Yu Seo-Yeon's position in the midst of it all.
Yu-Han naturally turned around and blocked Yu Seo-Yeon, who was firing burning feathers.
'This man... did he already know my position?'
Yu Seo-Yeon already sensed that Yu-Han was a formidable expert. However, she was also a top-tier expert within Korea; this level wasn't uncommon.
"Interesting... Try blocking this too!"
The feathers deflected by Yu-Han flew back at him through new portals. It felt as if the feathers would endlessly attack through the portals until they hit Yu-Han.
But Yu-Han's movements were somewhat strange. His body seemed as light as dust, looking as if the wind pressure pushed his body away before the attack even reached him. It gave the illusion that Yu-Han was dodging automatically without any effort.
After knocking down only the feathers coming at him with minimal sword strokes, Yu-Han charged and began attacking Yu Seo-Yeon's main body directly. In the process, Yu Seo-Yeon witnessed an unbelievable sight.
'The sword... is bending...?'
The carbon-coated swords Yu-Han wielded were all mass-produced in straight lines, a fact Yu Seo-Yeon knew. However, every time Yu-Han swung, there was an optical illusion as if the blade bent and stretched like rubber material.
"Kugh...!"
Yu Seo-Yeon, dodging Yu-Han's blade, eventually allowed a slash on her left arm. However, her arm was not severed. Because what was there was not a human arm, but a grotesque yellow talon.
"Manager Yu Seo-Yeon. You don't seem to have much desire to kill me, do you? Then, I will kill you."
Sensing abnormal killing intent from Yu-Han, Yu Seo-Yeon could no longer act moderately.
"Fine... Then I will face you with all I have."
The jacket Yu Seo-Yeon was wearing vanished, revealing a sleeveless white dress shirt. But instead of human arms, giant avian wings were spread out there. Her office skirt suddenly had side slits for ease of movement, and extending from beneath were avian reverse-jointed legs.
"To think I'd see the true form of the rumored Harpy Manager in person..."
"You're acting composed. You'll soon regret seeing this form!"
Now, it wasn't just four or five feathers flying; dozens were fired every time she flapped her wings. The sight was reminiscent of buckshot.
While Yu-Han was busy blocking, Yu Seo-Yeon went somewhere through a portal. The place she arrived was tens of meters up in the sky. She dive-bombed at top speed, pouncing toward Yu-Han. Clad in storm magic, she was no different from a giant arrow.
"If you don't want to die, you'd better dodge on your own!!"
"...How kind."
Amidst the dive, Yu Seo-Yeon felt something strange from Yu-Han again. A terrifyingly disturbing mana, something she had never felt before, was rising from him.
'This human... Is he planning to clash with me head-on!?'
Yu-Han's posture looked like a batter stepping into the batter's box. The difference was that he was gripping a carbon-coated sword instead of a bat, intending to slice Yu Seo-Yeon.
The moment Yu-Han and Yu Seo-Yeon were about to collide, arrows suddenly flew toward them from all directions.
"!?"
Both stopped their attacks right before impact and dodged the arrows. Alice, Kim Ga-Eun, and Yi Rang were also already surrounded by numerous figures. They were all dressed in attire resembling military officials from the Joseon Dynasty.
"What are you people!", Alice asked calmly.
"How insolent! A wrench dares to talk back fiercely before the King...!"
The path opened up, and a stout man appeared wearing clothes made of red silk with dragon embroidery on the front and back. It was the legendary attire worn by the Kings of Joseon, the Gonryongpo.
"I am the last descendant of the Joseon Dynasty, Yi Gwang-Cheol...! Kim Je-Hyeon Nim ordered me to dispose of you."
"Kim Je-Hyeon's assassin!"
"However, I am a sage king whose problem is overflowing love for the people... I will give you a special chance to live as my people instead of killing you!"
A circular realm began to spread around Yi Gwang-Cheol. The realm spread as if to swallow the entire B-4 District.
"Wait... Why me too...!"
Yu Seo-Yeon's complaint was in vain, as everyone was swallowed by the light emitted by the realm...