Chapter 23: Not Hiding Spoilers (2)

 

The current 7th rank S-class, and my friend from before the regression. Kkong.

 

He eventually succeeded in defeating the zero-class villain, the ‘Necromancer’, and became a hero in Vietnam.

 

Ten years from now, when I turned thirty and had regressed back to the present.

 

『Future Sight (S Rank) – Observes the future.』

 

“When it comes to drawing lots, sure, but I definitely don’t want to meet that guy as an enemy.”

 

That great achievement was entirely thanks to Kkong’s ability.

 

Kkong was an awakened individual who could even glimpse the future.

 

He was known as a specialist in gate strategies and as the leader of the Vietnamese Liberation Army.

 

All thanks to that fraudulent innate talent.

 

“How could he fight so well with such a tricky ability?”

 

Of course, there were side effects that matched the scam-like effects.

 

Like my hypnosis, the no-cost foresight range was only three seconds ahead.

 

If he foresaw ten seconds ahead continuously, he would be exhausted within an hour, and if he extended the range to one minute ahead, he would collapse with a high fever in three minutes.

 

The human brain couldn’t withstand the overwhelming amount of information.

 

It was much better to foresee only fragmented scenes…

 

But even that increased the brain’s burden exponentially as the range expanded.

 

When it came to seeing the future an hour ahead, even an S-class like him couldn’t endure it for even one second.

 

In other words, unlike my omnipotent hypnosis, it was truly a difficult ability to use.

 

However, Kkong handled this ability freely.

 

With just one finger.

 

“He only told me the secret after ten years…”

 

Kkong’s method was extremely simple.

 

Whether to dispatch someone somewhere or not.

 

Whether to attack at this timing or not.

 

He only endured the brain overload at these critical binary decision moments.

 

It was his way of minimizing the brain’s burden.

 

He even minimized the casting time.

 

Like taking a photograph with his brain, he only saw a single desired scene of the future and released the foresight.

 

According to him, this allowed him to see up to a day into the future.

 

“Not that anyone else could follow it, anyway?”

 

It sounded easy, but it was an insanely difficult skill.

 

The former required extreme quickness and strategic insight.

 

The latter required judging how one’s choice would change the future from a single photograph.

 

And all this in real-time.

 

His intelligence stat being in the high nine range made sense for this method.

 

“Moreover, the more he used it, the more his mentality would be damaged.”

 

But, even he had a problem he couldn’t overcome in the end.

 

In a binary decision moment. What if a loss occurred no matter what action he took?

 

As a leader, at the timing of setting tactics.

 

If someone would die no matter what he did?

 

He had to face this trolley dilemma tens, hundreds of times.

 

The fight against the zero-class villain Necromancer was that harsh.

 

“In the end, even after saving Vietnam, he whined while drinking every day.”

 

Thanks to that, I had to suffer as his drinking buddy too.

 

Even after everything was over, he would always say things like, “Nguyen Xuan Thien, I’m sorry…” whenever he drank.

 

I just listened quietly without saying anything.

 

For a hero who saved his country, it was a rather bitter end.

 

“Still, your hard work wasn’t in vain, Kkong.”

 

“The Necromancer’s weakness is that if you know her unique magical pattern, you can neutralize the zombies.”

 

“……?”

 

However, now that I had regressed.

 

Kkong didn’t have to suffer like that again.

 

The drunken rant I had heard enough to have calluses in my ears before the regression.

 

The strategy for attacking the ‘Necromancer’ stained with regret.

 

The future ten years from now, even he couldn’t glimpse.

 

Here comes the spoiler of a lifetime.

 

“What kind of weakness is that? How could we even find out….”

 

“The Vietnamese national… was it the marching song? If you match the frequency with its scale magic, the zombies will fall on their own.”

 

“……?”

 

The zero-class villain Necromancer.

 

A villain who endlessly raised corpses as zombies.

 

She protected herself with an elite zombie force at the A-class awakened level and ravaged the Vietnamese area with hundreds of thousands of B-class and C-class zombies.

 

Even my master and I were overwhelmed by her sheer numbers…

 

Wasn’t it incredible that a single person controlled such a massive army?

 

The control method couldn’t be complicated.

 

The zero-class villain’s ability boasted smartphone-level security that could be cracked once you knew the pattern.

 

“Well. It was a miraculous discovery made after ten years of hard work by Kkong and the Vietnamese researchers.”

 

His expression when he told me about it was priceless.

 

How could the forced reset code for the zero-class villain’s zombies be ‘Tiến Quân Ca (Marching Song, the national anthem of Vietnam)’?

 

That was exactly the expression on his face.

 

“How do you even know that?”

 

“Basic implants… ahem. Utilization. My ability is also in the mental manipulation category, so it’s similar.”

 

“Even so, you’ve never seen the guy directly….”

 

“He’s at most S-class. I’m EX-rank. Okay?”

 

“…Then I have nothing more to say.”

 

Anyway, I shortened a mindless trial that took him ten years to just one minute.

 

Furthermore,

 

“Even so, I noticed his pattern is quite straightforward. I’ll tell you.”

 

“Even the pattern? That’s really unbelievable. No matter how EX-rank you are….”

 

“Just watch. If you do this, he’ll react like this, you see?”

 

An appendix of the pattern strategy guide Kkong had acquired after fighting for ten years.

 

These were things I learned from listening to him drunkenly ranting, “If he does this, then I do this! Like this!”

 

If ordinary people did it, it would just be drunken rambling…

 

But since both he and I are S-class, we could roughly estimate from just that.

 

In fact, seeing something in it, Kkong’s expression grew more puzzled.

 

“No, it does resemble my fighting style….”

 

“Because it’s you who did it.”

 

“I’ll record a video and send it later.”

 

“………?”

 

Blinking in disbelief, Kkong finally raised his finger.

 

To activate his ability, ‘Future Sight.’

 

“Wait a moment. Let’s see….”

 

– Drip.

 

“…Why is this actually true?”

 

Peeking into the future, he stared in disbelief, even ignoring his nosebleed.

 

He probably saw himself neutralizing the zombies.

 

Feeling awkward boasting, I just patted him on the shoulder.

 

“So, there’s no need for interrogating the first-class villain, right?”

 

“Huh? Ah, um, yeah… I guess so.”

 

“Then can I leave now? My wife… ahem, my colleagues must be waiting.”

 

‘We’ll have some soup and soju… after saving Vietnam.’

 

A typical Korean reunion promise was a bonus.

 

However, despite looking like that, he held onto me with an un-Korean clinginess.

 

“Then I’m leaving. Later….”

 

– Squeeze.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Wait. Yu-jin.”

 

Turning around at his call, I saw Kkong looking up at me.

 

The angle made him look like a cute girl, which was a bit annoying.

 

“Assuming all this is true. Then… why are you telling me this?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Neutralizing the zero-class villain’s ability is invaluable information. You could demand anything in return… even me, the 7th rank S-class.”

 

‘Oh, come on, what a creepy thing to say.’

 

He even said something disgusting for a guy.

 

He probably meant naturalizing to Korea, but given his looks, it sounded weird.

 

I frowned and pushed him away.

 

– Flick.

 

“Ugh, impossible. I like women.”

 

“…? No, I’m not joking. Yu-jin. Why are you showing such goodwill to me, to Vietnam?”

 

However, his serious mode didn’t seem to want to go away.

 

Well, considering I granted his earnest wish without condition. I understood, but…

 

It was a bit cringy when a really close friend acted this serious.

 

So, I just gave him a vague answer.

 

“You would have found out this information in about ten years anyway, so there’s no need to thank me… but later, much later. If anything happens in Korea, come and help.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“In this harsh world, you never know what might happen, right? An actual EX-rank gate could open, for instance.”

 

‘In fifteen years.’

 

A supermassive gate that would appear fifteen years later.

 

A disaster that even I, the number one S-class, couldn’t resist.

 

Thinking about that, having more human forces was always better.

 

…Well, I would have helped even without this reason.

 

It would be a bit unscrupulous to take advantage of my friend’s hardships just because I regressed.

 

I smiled slightly with that meaning in mind.

 

“You’ll come to help, right? Because we’re friends.”

 

“…….”

 

As for his answer…

 

There was no need to listen.

 

Since we’re friends.

 

“Yeah. I’ll definitely come, Yu-jin.”

 

“Alright, then….”

 

“In the name of Bojji Kkong, the 7th rank S-class Awakened.”

 

“———Pfft!!!!”

 

Even making assassination attempts until the end.

 

He really is my friend.

 

* * *

 

After a time that could be described as either moving or confusing had passed, Kkong took a photo with me and left.

 

“Ah, why are two guys taking a photo together?”

 

“I don’t like it either, but I have my reasons, so just bear with it.”

 

“Ugh.”

 

It wasn’t much of a photo.

 

Just the two of us standing awkwardly, posing as if with a caption ‘Two problem children but the strongest.’

 

Anyway, after receiving a phone from a robed woman, Kkong smiled at me.

 

“Then I’ll be off now, friend. There are people suffering even at this moment.”

 

“Uh, okay. Next time, let’s have some soup and soju.”

 

“Pfft. Sure.”

 

A typical Korean farewell was a bonus.

 

Then he left the teachers’ office in a hurry, leaving the robed woman behind.

 

“…? Hey, aren’t you taking your secretary or deputy with you?”

 

– Halt.

 

Kkong paused for a moment.

 

He turned his head back toward me.

 

To be precise, toward the robed woman.

 

“As you might have noticed, he’s a good guy and my only friend, you know?”

 

“….”

 

“Please take care of him gently.”

 

– Whirl.

 

And then he said some incomprehensible words.

 

I only understood one thing.

 

His lips silently mouthed ‘sorry’ towards me.

 

It didn’t take long to realize why he was apologizing.

 

– Rustle.

 

“…?”

 

Only then did the woman reach for her robe.

 

As the garment with a proper hood was pulled back, her face gradually became visible.

 

– Slide.

 

“…Phew.”

 

“…………!!!!!!!!!!?”

 

Her silver hair tied back elegantly.

 

Mystical purple eyes.

 

Her face held a maturity that women in their twenties could never achieve.

 

And lastly…

 

A fierce personality that would kick anyone she didn’t like.

 

– Wham.

 

“Ugh!!!?”

 

One kick from the woman who had discarded her robe sent me flying onto the sofa.

 

But I didn’t feel bad.

 

Because the woman who sat down in front of me, with her clothes loosening to reveal her cleavage, was…

 

“I enjoyed the farce. Your skills are quite good.”

 

– Thump.

 

“However, I did not seek you out to see such trivial tongue tricks.”

 

Undoubtedly the number one S-class, and the strongest human since her awakening.

 

The pinnacle of the Awakened who sparked the katana craze with her mere presence.

 

The hidden heroine only accessible by clearing the final entrance exam in the game.

 

Before the regression, the last of my three wives.

 

The master who taught me the Zaha Swordsmanship.

 

“Thus, I ask you.”

 

“Your swordsmanship. From whom did you learn it? If you lie, I will cut you down.”

 

The Sword Saint.

 

Ninomiya Aika.