Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Even before enrolling in the Academy, he possessed high B-rank stats and a Unique-tier trait.

To anyone who looked at him, Gu Chi-sung was an unmistakably promising hero prospect, someone who had a brilliant future ahead of him.

And yet, he  never became a hero.

“To be honest, I was pretty hurt when it seemed like you didn’t know who I was.”

“……”

“I’m not saying I show it, but still, I’m a fairly well-known figure, you know.”

No—more precisely, in the future, he does not exist at all.

Because he will be murdered in today’s incident; The ‘Sprout Stomping.’

“Kim Chang-sik?”

At the sound of the boy calling his name, Chang-sik snapped out of his reverie.

“Ah, sorry.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I just had something on my mind.”

Suddenly, a faint scream drifted in from somewhere far away.

Startled by the sound, Gu Chi-sung glanced around.

“Didn’t you just hear a scream?”

Chang-sik already knew that the terrorist attack by the organization ‘Vaylun’ was about to begin, but for now, he quietly observed the situation, careful not to draw attention to himself.

Gu Chi-sung glanced sideways at Kim Dae-chun, who was lying collapsed on the floor, and spoke.

“Kim Chang-sik, want to go check out what’s going on together?”

“…Yeah.”

Chang-sik nodded without resistance and moved to leave the lecture hall alongside Gu Chi-sung.

And then, at that very moment

BOOM!!

A deafening crash rang out, and the entire building shook violently.

At the same time, the status window flooded Chang-sik’s vision.

Ding!

So-called "Sprout Stomping.”

A meticulously planned terrorist attack carried out by an organization targeting promising candidates who had only just enrolled in the Academy.

It was unfolding exactly as he remembered.

What he had already seen was played out before his very eyes.

It was unmistakable.

Then does that mean He is already at the Academy right now?

"The thought struck Chang-sik like a blade, freezing his expression into a mask of ice.

Sensing that something deeply unsettling was happening, Gu Chi-sung let out a low, uneasy sound.

“What the hell is going on…? In all this chaos, where are the candidate instructors, and what are they even doing?”

As far as Chang-sik knew, at this moment, the candidate instructors were Probably too busy trying to save their own skins. Not that instructors for candidates would have been of much help anyway…

Gu Chi-sung spoke again, urgency creeping into his voice.

“Kim Chang-sik, let’s get out of here now.”

The two of them kicked the lecture hall door open and rushed out.

Clack!

The instant the door swung open, a wave of scorching heat washed over their faces.

Along with it came the acrid stench of burning.

“What… Did a fire break out or something?”

Beyond the corridor windows, the lawn outside was completely engulfed in flames.

“What in the world is happening?”

“…….”

The scene caught Gu Chi-sung off guard, but Chang-sik had seen it coming.

So he really did come.

Chang-sik moved straight to the window, pressing close as he carefully surveyed the inferno spreading outside.

Fwoooosh!!

A searing wave of heat lashed against his cheek.

The scene outside the window, where Chang-sik looked, was complete devastation.

Kyaaah!!

The candidates screamed, scattering through the sticky, clinging flames. Beyond the chaos, a handful of hooded figures stood, detached and observing.

“Found you.”

Chang-sik’s eyes locked precisely onto one man among them.

Positioned at the center, the man continuously spewed adhesive flames from within his oversized hood.

Villain — Flame spewer.

BLORRGH!!

With an eerie, distorted sound, he belched fire from his mouth. He was one of the executives of the organization Vaylun, whose boss was Jang Docheol.

The sticky flames he expelled burned at such extreme temperatures that they could simply melt a human body away.

Kyaaah!!

Before Chang-sik’s eyes, candidates who were touched by those horrific flames screamed in agony, writhing in pain.

And at that sight, Chang-sik curled the corner of his lips upward in a cold, emotionless smile.

I didn’t expect to run into you this soon.

One of Jang Docheol’s subordinates the very man who had driven Chang-sik into the abyss.

This one, too, was a target of Chang-sik’s revenge.

And then, right beside him, a voice rang out, tight with urgency.

“Run!!”

“Huh?”

Gu Chi-sung was staring out the window, his expression rigid with tension.

“That guy if I’m not mistaken, he’s the infamous villain known as Flame spewer!”

And then, without warning, he began forcing his body through the window.

“Hey…what do you think you’re doing?!”

“I’ll try to buy some time! You run while I do!”

Tap-tap!

“…!!”

It was an abrupt, completely unexpected move from Gu Chi-sung.

Before Chang-sik could even try to stop him, he leapt outside.

Thud!

A sound rang out that would have shattered the bones of an ordinary person.

Watching the scene unfold, Chang-sik muttered under his breath,

“Is he insane?”

Gu Chi-sung immediately let out a battle cry and charged straight ahead.

While everyone else fled in terror from the horrific flames, he alone rushed in the opposite direction; straight toward the fire.

“Kraaah!!”

With a strange, burning fervor etched across his face, he charged straight into the flames like a yaksha, a demon born for battle.

Flame Eater, huh…

By the time he burst through the fire barrier, the boy’s hands were dyed a deep crimson, the same shade as his hair.

Boom!

Gu Chi-sung lunged directly at Flame Spewer, swinging those red-stained hands at him.

Barely evading the blow, Flame Spewer staggered back, clearly flustered.

A villain at the height of his power, facing a hero prospect whose strength was yet to mature.

A fight with no chance of victory at least on the surface.

And yet, precisely because of that, it stirred an unreasonable sense of anticipation.

“How does it taste?!”

As if he had no intention of giving him even a moment’s respite, Gu Chi-sung raised his hands now glowing as if overheated and launched another blow at Flame Spewer.

Bang!

Each time he threw a punch, flames burst forth as though his fists themselves were exploding.

“Who cares if you’re not a hero?! Please Gu Chi-sung, save us!”

“Gu Chi-sung! Hang in there!!”

“Please…stop him!”

Seeing Flame Spewer dodging and weaving without directly counterattacking Gu Chi-sung, made some of the candidates start to think victory might actually have been possible. Emboldened, they didn’t hesitate to hurl abuse.

“Gu Chi-sung!! Kill that bastard!”

“Die already, you piece of trash!”

“Stop running around and fight him head-on!!”

All of them seemed to believe that Gu Chi-sung who had appeared at the brink of their annihilation, was the hero who would save them.

But…

“If it were that easy, he wouldn’t be an executive of Vaylun.”

Of course, Gu Chi-sung possessed skill far exceeding what his status and experience would suggest, but his opponent was on an entirely different level from an Academy student.

From physical ability to combat experience, it was never a fair fight to begin with.

Creating distance, Flame Spewer suddenly stretched his mouth wide open.

FWOOOM!!

Sticky flames erupted outward.

Gu Chi-sung failed to properly react to the torrent of fire blasting toward him at blistering speed and was struck head-on.

BOOM!!

With a thunderous explosion, his body was hurled into the air.

CRASH!!

In the end, he was flung far away, smashing straight through a window right beside where Chang-sik stood.

KRA-BOOM!

As Gu Chi-sung attacked with ferocious intensity, several candidates who had been fleeing cried out.

“H-Hero!! A hero’s here!”

“No, wait that’s Gu Chi-sung!!”

From a safe distance, those who had managed to get away shouted toward Gu Chi-sung.

As he was struck down so pathetically, several voices lashed against Chang-sik’s ears.

“Damn it!! Everyone, run!!”

“If he was going to go down in one hit, why did he show off like that?!”

“Hero!! Where’s a real hero when we need one?!”

Watching a few of them desperately search for a new human shield, Chang-sik frowned.

Then he slowly walked toward Gu Chi-sung, who lay collapsed on the ground, twitching.

That aside… a time limit, huh.

Unlike the first two times, this one came with a time restriction.

“Judging by this, the time limit must be the amount of time it takes for professional heroes to arrive. If everyone else just survives until then, will they all be rescued somehow?”

Murmuring to himself, Chang-sik examined Gu Chi-sung’s body, now glowing red-hot all over.

“Hm.”

“Ghh…!!”

Fortunately, his injuries weren’t severe enough to be life-threatening.

From Chang-sik’s perspective, it almost looked as though Gu Chi-sung’s trait was devouring Flame Spewer’s fire.

“Impressive.”

If he simply survived this place, the boy would be more than capable of rising to the ranks of top-tier heroes.

Indeed, it felt increasingly certain that the greatest reason Jang Docheol had orchestrated Sprout Stomping in the first place was Gu Chi-sung himself.

That said… Flame Spewer. Taking him head-on in my current condition would definitely be pushing it.

Above all else, what the system demanded was simple survival within the time limit.

Even then, the clock continued to tick down.

Following the system’s instructions hiding, avoiding danger, and surviving safely was the true essence of the mission.

But…

“Don’t make me laugh.”

If Gu Chi-sung were to die, just as he had in the original future, then Jang Docheol would get exactly the outcome he wanted.

And Chang-sik had no intention of sitting back and watching that happen.

“I’m not about to sit here sucking my thumb.”

More importantly, Chang-sik currently knew two critical weaknesses of Flame Spewer.

Even if it means pushing myself, I’ll take down Flame Spewer and throw Jang Docheol into disarray.

That was, in effect, Chang-sik’s declaration of war against him.

Just then, Gu Chi-sung seemed to regain consciousness, shaking his head from side to side.

“Ghh—damn, that hurts!”

“Hm? You’re awake?”

Gu Chi-sung stared beyond the shattered window, his eyes trembling with fear.

Then, seeing that Chang-sik still hadn’t fled, he shouted in panic.

“Run!”

The reckless momentum with which he’d charged Flame Spewer earlier was nowhere to be seen, at that point he was completely gripped by fear.

Of course, it was a natural reaction after realizing the sheer gap between himself and his opponent.

Still, for some reason, Chang-sik felt a flicker of disappointment.

“Why would I?”

“…What?”

“Why should I run?”

At Chang-sik’s calm reply, confusion flooded Gu Chi-sung’s face.

“Idiot! You just saw it too! That guy really is Flame Spewer!”

“So what?”

“You’re insane…! You want to get killed by a villain or what?”

When Chang-sik didn’t answer, Gu Chi-sung pressed him urgently.

“I’ll say it again ghk…! Run! This isn’t a level that candidates like us can handle!”

But Chang-sik only shrugged, offering no response.

At that, an uncontrollable frustration surged through Gu Chi-sung, and he grabbed Chang-sik by the collar, hard.

“Don’t push your recklessness past its limit, you idiot!”

Yet Chang-sik didn’t even blink.

“Let go.”

“Ghk—! You…!”

With a sigh, Chang-sik pried Gu Chi-sung’s grip off himself.

And just like that, he activated [ Trait Modification ].

Ding!

“…Flame Spewer, of all people. What the hell are you even thinking?”

Knowing nothing of Chang-sik’s past, Gu Chi-sung only saw him as absurdly, inexplicably reckless.

Leaving the stunned Gu Chi-sung behind, Chang-sik began heading down through the building.

“Just stay there and watch how I take him down.”

Of course, judging purely by physical ability, the present Chang-sik was inferior not only to Flame Spewer, but even to Gu Chi-sung himself.

But…

“Combat isn’t decided by physical strength alone.”

When it came to battle, he was a specialist without peer.

And now, armed with knowledge of two fatal weaknesses of Flame Spewer, Chang-sik understood that for anyone else, confronting the villain would be pure recklessness.

Chang-sik slowly smiled.

In fact, since he was just a candidate meant to lure him into lowering his guard, now was the perfect opportunity.

The first moment of revenge had arrived, sooner than expected.