* * *
“Agent Yoon Youngin, head over there, enter through the wall, and let us in. The rest of you, evacuate the people outside. Hunter Lee Yuje and I are enough to go in.”
-Okay. Heading there now.
“I’m going too!”
Anise rushed out to help with the evacuation.
Yoon Youngin arrived at the tent just a few seconds later.
Seohwa was startled when he saw the person stepping through the entrance.
“This is crazy. Are you the same person? Your eye color and hair color are completely different. You even look taller.”
Originally, he had light brown hair and a clean, sorrowful aura, but now he was a young man with a red ponytail and sharp, cynical eyes.
His physique was also bulkier than Seohwa’s.
Yoon Youngin gave Kang Yigeon a short, respectful nod and then shot a crooked glance at Seohwa.
“Hey. Don’t you Awakened have any eye for detail? I can change my eye and hair color with hypnosis, but my body shape doesn’t change. I was always tall.”
“Really? You didn’t just shove in some emergency insoles?”
“You want to die?”
“Mr. Yoon Youngin… with four circles in your name, I didn’t expect you to be so prickly. Oh, is your real name different? Is it something like Kang Pal-seok or Ma Seokpal?”
“I can’t take this, fuck. Let’s start with me giving you a beating.”
“Strangely, the surname Hong seems to suit you too. How about changing it to Hong Youngin?”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
He was exactly the type Seohwa loved—the kind who reacted to every single poke.
The clean-cut Yoon Youngin was nice, but the prickly one was much more fun.
“To think not only your appearance but your personality changes to the complete opposite. It’s a truly amazing skill.”
“It’s not a skill, it’s a natural ability.”
“Even more impressive. A rare Mentalist trait plus transformation? Danbaek really lost a great talent to the Bureau.”
Seohwa added that last part out of genuine regret, then immediately realized his slip.
Why would Lee Yuje, a mere mercenary, feel regret over the Danbaek Guild losing a talent?
“…….”
Sure enough, Kang Yigeon was staring at him intensely with deep purple eyes.
Seohwa looked away.
“Anyway, entering the Market is the priority right now. Mr. Hong Seokpal, please.”
“Fuck. I’m killing you first when this is over.”
Yoon Youngin swore loudly and closed his eyes.
“It only works within the range of my imagination, so I don’t know if this will work…” he muttered.
“I have consumed a Market NPC. A part of an NPC…”
‘Ugh.’
Yoon Youngin couldn’t even finish the sentence before retching.
“Ha, damn. I can’t do it. It’s too disgusting to even imagine.”
His face turned blue as if he had actually swallowed poison.
Imagining himself as a cannibal was certainly no easy task.
“Then imagine something else. All we need is to enter, so how about imagining you are-a Market NPC?”
“…That might actually be possible.”
At Seohwa’s suggestion, Yoon Youngin closed his eyes again.
“I am a Market NPC. I am not a person, I am an NPC. I am a Market NPC. I am not a person, I am an NPC.”
After whispering it exactly three times, a chilling energy gathered around him.
An eerie, damp atmosphere—like a poisonous mist—wrapped him from head to toe, leaving not even a strand of hair visible.
The mist, clumped like a cocoon, soon began to thin out.
When Yoon Youngin was revealed, he was the spitting image of a Market NPC.
His coloring had faded, and parts of his body—shoulders, arms, waist—sparkled as they pixelated.
“Awakened, follow me. We must remove the bombs immediately!”
Yoon Youngin took the lead.
The three of them left the tent.
The outside was in a state of chaos due to the sudden terrorist warning.
Many people were stubbornly refusing to evacuate.
Whether to persuade them or force them out was the job of the other team members; for this group, entering the Market came first.
Yoon Youngin placed his hand on the pink wall of the Market.
Normally, he would have been repelled instantly, but the space opened up smoothly.
At the same time, Yoon Youngin’s body reverted from its NPC form.
It seemed that even with his self-hypnosis ability, maintaining the NPC form for long was difficult.
Fortunately, through the space he had opened, Seohwa and Kang Yigeon were able to enter the Market.
The opening closed as soon as the three entered.
Welcome to the Market!
Oh my goodness! You’ve entered through an abnormal route (•̆ꈊ•̆)
This is quite troublesome · · ·
I’ll give you 30 minutes of stay time, so please resolve everything and leave within that time (•︠‿•︡ )
“If they came in through an abnormal route, you should kick them out.
The system is a total dummy if you look closely.”
I’m a nice dummy ʘ̥﹏ʘ
The interior of the Market was pink everywhere.
True to the “Love Effect” name, it was plastered with pink heart balloons, pink ribbons, pink cakes… every kind of pink accessory imaginable.
Seohwa, who was at the Market for the first time, wanted to look around, but there was no time for that.
「Are those people humans?」
「More humans have entered!」
「I saw several humans entering earlier too!」
「What do we do in this case?」
「Someone go guide them, quickly.」
「Let’s find the manual!」
「The manual!」
The NPCs were scurrying around in a panic, not knowing what to do.
They looked like terrified hamsters whose cage had been invaded by humans.
Kang Yigeon touched a watch on his wrist.
A blue laser shot out from the watch, quickly mapping the building’s layout and projecting a structural diagram.
There was no basement, and it was only a six-story building, but the high ceilings made it quite large.
If they were to search it with only three people, they would have to move fast.
“The Type 679C bomb emits a very large and unique wave, so we’ll be able to find it quickly.”
“I’ve never seen that bomb before. I don’t know the wave.”
“Hunter Lee Yuje and I know it. We will search for the bombs, so Mr. Yoon Youngin, please find and subdue the elders and cultists. Besides the Type 679C, they’ll be wandering around planting numerous small bombs throughout the building.”
“Okay.”
Since only NPCs existed here besides them, finding actual people wouldn’t be hard.
Yoon Youngin beckoned the NPCs over.
They approached with expressions of fear and curiosity.
“Hey. We’re on your side, so talk straight. You said people came in here earlier, right? Where are they?”
「They scattered. Are you allies with those people?」
「They were very violent people.」
“Don’t worry, we’re the good guys here to catch those violent people. Now, start the guidance!”
Yoon Youngin left with the NPCs.
Seohwa made the first move with Kang Yigeon.
“I’ll check from the 4th floor up. Mr. Kang Yigeon, you take the 1st to 3rd floors. I’ll buy the forced opening items too, so you don’t need to come up. Let’s meet back here in 20 minutes.”
He ran off before any objection could be made.
Fortunately, Kang Yigeon didn’t stop him.
∗ ∗ ∗
Luck was on Seohwa’s side; as soon as he stepped onto the 4th floor, he found a large bomb.
“There! Who is it?”
“What are you doing!”
Soldiers were guarding the bomb.
The “soldiers” the terrorist organization spoke of were synthesized humans injected with MSB.
While they still had human forms, they pulled out various firearms and weapon items toward Seohwa.
The weapon items were all modified for non-Awakened use.
Seohwa wanted to have a chat, but the cultists seemed to have no intention of making small talk.
Bang! Rat-tat-tat!-Against the rain of bullets, Seohwa pulled out a wand.
Since no one would recognize it anyway, he used his own instead of Lee Yuje’s.
A violet mist surrounded Seohwa.
As soon as the dozens of bullets touched the mist, they corroded rapidly—faster than their forward momentum.
“That ability… how did an Awakened get in here…!”
Even though they thought he was a non-Awakened, they had opened fire immediately. Seohwa found it ridiculous.
“Why? This is a Market that sells items for Awakened, so are Awakened not allowed to enter?”
“The only way into a Market that hasn’t opened yet is by consuming an NPC! There’s no way hypocritical Awakened bastards could do such a thing…!”
“You’re right. We would never do such an inhuman thing. One of your cultists betrayed you. He opened the door for us himself.”
“That…!”
True to his nature, the mage didn’t miss a chance to sow discord while he was at it.
“That’s impossible. Do not be fooled by his lies! We spent three years filtering and re-filtering for those who would participate in this grand cause, selecting only those who would never betray!”
“Human hearts are like reeds; they flinch and sway even at a breeze. Do you think they wouldn’t change when faced with death? They probably decided to live first, regardless of the ‘grand cause’.”
“Shut up! Do not listen to him!”
“If this bomb goes off, you guys die too. It’ll be a very painful death.”
“We know. If it is for the great cause, we do not fear death!”
“Through our deaths, the Earth will be born anew.”
“The new life that blooms on Earth will one day honor our sacrifice!”
The soldiers, armed with twisted convictions, looked like they would never be persuaded.
“Everyone, activate the Divine Grace!”
That meant activating the MSB.
If they all turned into monsters, things would get messy.
* * *
