Asha hung by her neck with her limbs severed.
Blood dripped from the severed limbs, spreading farther across the floor.
Haseol ran toward Asha.
Blood splashed wetly in every direction.
It also clung stickily to his shoes.
"Are you all right?!"
He shouted as he ran toward Asha.
There was no answer.
It was a wound from which it would not have been strange for someone to die.
Even so, he asked because blood was still dripping from the severed ends.
The distance between Haseol and Asha closed.
BANG!
With an abrupt gunshot, Haseol toppled over the pool of blood.
SPLAT!
The blood gathered on the floor splashed over his face and whole body.
"Nngh......"
Haseol groaned and trembled.
Pain shot through his left knee.
When he looked down, he saw that his knee was bent in a bizarre direction.
No, it was not bent.
It had been severed.
Half of the joint had been blown away.
When he saw the wound with his own eyes, pain stabbed into his mind as though piercing his brain.
[Look up.]
Even in that state, Bisan's words reached his ears.
"Nngh."
Haseol clenched his fist and lifted his head.
Sticky blood clung to his hand, but he had no time to care about that.
Click.
When he looked up, he saw a gun barrel aimed at his head.
It was not close enough to reach out and touch.
It kept its distance as it aimed a large sniper rifle at Haseol.
A face made of black smoke, jeans, a black shirt, and a bulletproof vest.
[It looks like an Assassin belonging to Type: Division. Its threat level was B-.]
"You. What are you?"
The Assassin asked while aiming its gun at Haseol.
[It does not know Bloodline State. Answer appropriately. If we can communicate with it, that gives us an opportunity too.]
"I am......"
Haseol began to answer, then raised his head higher.
He saw Asha hanging by her neck with her limbs cut off.
"I do not think we have time to talk."
Haseol muttered as he looked at Asha.
He could not leave a person with their limbs severed like that.
"Hmm? You have no intention of talking? I do not mind."
[Asha is still alive, and she has some time before she dies.]
The Assassin's and Bisan's words reached him at the same time.
"Come to think of it, we do have time."
Haseol said that and pushed off the floor to raise his upper body.
[Hide the fact that your leg is reattaching itself automatically.]
As he awkwardly got up, Haseol left the leg with half of its knee blown away behind him.
"Yeah. If you have the will to talk, I will let you live a little longer. What is your name?"
"I am Si Haseol."
"What is your purpose for being here?"
"Filming a video to upload online."
As he said that, Haseol took out his phone.
He deliberately rubbed the screen with a hand covered in blood, obscuring it.
"Ah, fuck."
He made it look as though he was irritated that his phone was broken.
"Your knee was blown away, but you are more annoyed that your phone is broken?"
"Huh? Ah, that is right."
Haseol scratched his head and grinned as though he had forgotten.
"Are you on drugs?"
"Drugs? Mister, are you a cop?"
Haseol asked as he stared at the Assassin.
The Assassin's head was made of black smoke from the outset.
If someone was not startled after seeing a being like that, they had to be either someone from the world of supernatural abilities or a strange person.
"Do I look like a cop to you?"
"You are carrying a huge gun, wearing a bulletproof vest, and covering your face with a mask. Are you not?"
"No. Tch. Was that a waste of time?"
"Ah, wait, wait."
When the Assassin moved to end the conversation, Haseol frantically waved both hands.
"Why?"
"You came here looking for something, right?"
"Hmm?"
"I saw something strange here. If I tell you about it, could you tell me what you are doing here?"
"Do you think you are in a position to bargain?"
"Then die without knowing. I will just keep my mouth shut and die."
Haseol spoke as he waved his bloody hand as though saying goodbye.
"Ha, this crazy bastard......"
The Assassin looked down at Haseol in disbelief.
"I am a ghost. I belong to Type: Division. I am an Assassin, and my threat level is B-."
"A ghost?"
"Yes."
"Why did a ghost come here? Did you die here? Are you an earthbound spirit?"
"An earthbound spirit? As if."
"Then why?"
"We are ghosts. We were born from the negative feelings that wish humans did not exist."
"So?"
"We were born that way, so that is what we do."
"You said you are an Assassin, right?"
"I did."
"What did you come here to assassinate?"
"Supernatural abilities."
"What are supernatural abilities?"
"Things born from positive feelings that wish for humans to exist."
"I do not really understand what you mean......"
"In any case, I answered you. You answer me too."
"Ah, just one more, one more question."
"What?"
"Why do you want to eliminate supernatural abilities?"
"Instinct."
"Hmm, then it should not matter if you spare me, right? I am not a supernatural ability."
"I am an Assassin."
"What does that have to do with it?"
"You were not my target, but you witnessed my work."
"Uh...... This?"
Haseol pointed at Asha with a finger.
"Yes."
"Was that not just some kind of film prop?"
"No."
"Oh...... Then I should record it, ah."
Haseol started to point his phone at Asha, then stopped again.
"Now answer me. You clearly said you saw something strange, did you not?"
"Yes. I did. But that......"
As he spoke, Haseol slowly moved the foot stretched behind him.
It moved.
It seemed his severed knee had reattached.
"Was it perhaps behind this building?"
Haseol raised one hand toward his face and scratched his shoulder with the other.
Tap.
He placed his thumb against his shoulder and turned it.
Haseol's body accelerated in an instant.
The hand that had been held near his face reached forward.
Haseol kicked off the floor soaked with blood.
Before the Assassin could pull the trigger, Haseol's hand reached the gun barrel.
He raised the barrel.
BANG!
The trigger was pulled, and flame burst from the muzzle.
Haseol's body, wholly unconcerned with the bullet, collided with the Assassin's body.
WHAM!
The Assassin's body fell backward.
They tangled together and rolled through the pool of blood.
SPLAT! SPLASH!
Blood on both their bodies scattered in every direction.
After rolling through the blood for a while, the two dragged across the floor until they reached a place without blood.
Unless he deliberately applied the brakes, Haseol's speed was not easily stopped.
"What are you?!"
The Assassin shouted urgently.
BANG! BANG!
The Assassin slid across the floor and pulled the trigger on instinct.
Haseol grabbed the gun barrel and did not let go.
Bullets grazed Haseol's head.
He could feel the barrel he held growing hot from the heat.
Haseol slipped a hand into his pocket and gripped Waycut.
A trajectory for cutting the Assassin appeared before his eyes.
Haseol swung the knife along that trajectory.
"Ghk?!"
The Assassin urgently raised an arm.
SQUELCH!
Waycut dug straight into the Assassin's arm.
Still entangled, they slid farther across the floor.
THUD!
Only after they struck a wall did they stop.
Haseol.
Tap.
Pressed down the gun barrel with one hand and checked Waycut's trajectory.
Waycut was still embedded in the Assassin's arm, aimed at its neck.
It meant he had to exert force while it remained embedded.
Haseol moved the Waycut embedded in the Assassin's arm along the trajectory.
He pushed it forward.
"What the hell are you?!"
The Assassin shouted and put strength into its arm.
Its whole body shook as it strained, and it even released the gun to use both hands to stop the arm being pushed, but.
"Aaaaargh!"
It was simply pushed back.
The force Haseol exerted with one hand was stronger.
Overwhelmingly so.
As smoothly as cutting a cake with a knife.
SQUELCH!
The tip of Waycut stabbed into the very center of the Assassin's black smoke.
And burrowed in.
"Kyaaaaargh!"
Black smoke exploded with the scream.
"Hoo."
Haseol let out a quiet breath and slowly got to his feet.
"Did you send me away so quickly before because of the Assassin?"
Haseol asked as he walked toward Asha.
"It was fortunate that I had grown strong enough to kill an Assassin."
Haseol went to Asha's side.
The game console and television Asha had been using did not exist.
There was not even a trace of them, as though they had never existed in the first place.
"Asha, you do not know much about games, do you?"
Haseol continued as he approached Asha.
"There is no game like that, no game console like that, and controllers are not made that way. Not a single cable was connected, either."
What Haseol had seen had been false.
He seemed certain of it.
"I think you were not playing a game at the time, either. I think you were hanging like this......"
Standing directly in front of Asha, Haseol looked at her straight on.
"Do I not have the strength to release these black cords?"
Haseol pointed at the black light binding Asha's limbs.
"That is why you told me to go out, work more, become stronger, and come back, right?"
Haseol reached out and gripped the black light.
He exerted strength and tried to pull, but the black light did not move at all.
"What do I need? I do not have much, but the people around me have plenty. We can solve it. Please tell me."
Crackle. Bzzzt.
Asha's body flickered with white light.
It became half-transparent.
"......Leave."
In the place that brightened halfway, Asha appeared.
She was seated in a chair and playing a game.
The television, game console, controller, and even Asha's body were all improperly formed.
Asha, with her limbs severed and body ruined, had projected an illusion to advise Haseol.
"Where should I go?"
"Run away."
She somehow managed to offer the advice once more.
The moment the advice ended.
Blood burst from Haseol's body.
Both knees and both elbows.
All four places disconnected from his body and flew backward.
BANG!
Only one gunshot echoed.
Haseol's body was driven backward by the impact.
SPLAT!
Haseol fell over the pool of blood.
[Four shots came at once. Judging from the damage to your body, they all seem to be Assassins.]
"......"
Haseol lay looking at the ceiling, his mouth closed.
Rather than merely closed, it was clenched shut.
[You have to run now. This state, with your arms and legs severed, is one of the few times the enemy will let its guard down.]
"......"
[You have some idea how to escape with both arms and legs damaged, do you not?]
"......"
[It seems you are still searching for the answer to whether to run or fight, but running is the correct answer.]
Bisan supplied the answer to what Haseol was silently considering.
"Leave behind someone who advised me even while hanging by her neck with her limbs severed?"
[Asha is telling you to run, and I am telling you to run. The majority is on our side, and so is the expertise, correct?]
Bisan spoke as though he would allow no objection.
"......"
Lying on the floor, Haseol slowly opened his mouth.
"I will come back."
He said it.
"Wait for me."
Words he left for Asha.
Haseol's body moved.
Flap!
Red bat wings burst from his back.
The wings struck the floor and dragged Haseol's body up.
The wings struck again, scattering red blood forward.
As the blood obscured the Assassins' vision, Haseol flew out of the building.
BANG!
Another gunshot rang out.
A hole opened in the wall of blood spread like a barrier.
The wall of blood burst apart and scattered.
Haseol's body, flying toward a window, lurched violently.
One shot struck his shoulder. One struck his flank. One struck his ear. One struck a wing.
Blood burst and scattered from Haseol's body.
Even so, he flew backward and shattered the building's window.
Crash!
Haseol fell to the ground without hands or feet.
Screeech!
His shoulder scraped along the ground, and as his body tipped, his face scraped along the asphalt as well.
Glass was embedded in his wings. He had gunshot wounds, and neither his hands nor his feet had regenerated yet.
Pain left him unable to think straight.
He could not do anything with his body. He only trembled violently.
[Make one more large movement in that direction now. Raise the angle slightly. That way, you can clear the building.]
"If I clear the building, what about cover?"
[Bullets cannot stop someone who is flying backward.]
At those words, Haseol simply laughed.
It meant he would be shot, but he should endure it anyway.
"Is there no way to kill those bastards?"
[There is a way for me, but it seems difficult for Haseol right now.]
"I see. Then......"
Lying on the ground, Haseol took a moment to catch his breath.
"Thanks for the information!"
Haseol suddenly shouted so loudly that all of Rootstream seemed to ring.
"Goodbye!"
Then he struck the ground with his wings and flew up.
Higher than before.
Farther than before.
His view changed.
The buildings lay below him.
And he spotted two Assassins in the distance.
The two Assassins were aiming guns at Haseol.
BANG!
Blood burst from Haseol's body, making it lurch sharply.
They had aimed at his wings.
They meant to kill his mobility first.
And.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Even as pain flooded his body, Haseol laughed.
As though provoking the two Assassins rushing over the building's rooftops toward him.
"Hahahahahahaha!"
He mocked them with all his might.