The Night of the Pioneers was held at a luxury hotel in Seoul called Briseur.
Briseur Hotel was frequently used for various events, as it boasted a spacious courtyard, an art gallery, and other cultural facilities.
Upon arriving at the venue, I saw people dressed to impress. Since it was already 8 PM, colourful lights illuminated the surroundings beautifully.
“Good evening. May I check your invitation?”
A hotel staff member greeted me at the entrance.
I took out a small card from my inner pocket—Han Se-yeon’s invitation.
The staff confirmed it, then offered a slight bow with a faint smile.
“Thank you. Please enjoy your evening.”
“Thank you.”
I stepped inside the hotel.
Pleasant classical music filled the air. Around me, I could see an assortment of delicious food and alcohol.
The event was taking place in a specially prepared hall on the first floor, as well as in the vast courtyard.
Upon reaching the venue, I noticed groups of people smiling and chatting.
“Oh my, Vice President Han Se-jin?”
“Ah, Manager Kim. Nice to see you.”
A familiar name caught my ear.
Turning my head toward the voice, I saw Han Se-jin elegantly dressed, laughing and conversing among a group of women.
Popular, huh.
It would be great to eliminate Han Se-jin now, considering he later becomes a major villain in the mid-to-late part of the story.
But security was tight, so that wasn’t an option.
His demise would have to wait for another time.
Right now, finding Jo Seong-hoon took priority.
Just as I was about to move, searching for Jo Seong-hoon—
“…Huh?”
A familiar face passed by.
My gaze instinctively followed them.
Choi Seo-yoon?
What the hell? Why was she here?
I stared blankly at her.
She always stood out, but tonight, with her beautiful dress and perfectly styled appearance, she shone even brighter.
Just then, a middle-aged man approached her with a friendly demeanor.
I recognized him too.
Choi Jae-hyung.
The head of the Choi family—one of the five prestigious mage bloodlines.
…So she came with her father.
* * *
For the next thirty minutes, I continued searching for Jo Seong-hoon.
Every time I ran into Choi Seo-yoon, I felt uneasy and made sure to avoid her.
Fortunately, she didn’t seem to register my existence at all.
She looked exhausted, constantly greeting people as she followed her father around.
I almost felt sorry for her.
Not my problem, though.
What mattered most was finding Jo Seong-hoon.
But no matter how much I searched, there was no sign of him.
At this point, I started doubting whether he had even shown up.
“Where the hell is he?”
As I continued scanning the area, I spotted Han Se-yeon talking with a group of people.
I didn’t acknowledge her.
Before coming here, we had agreed not to interact in public.
Then, as if sensing my gaze, Han Se-yeon turned to look at me.
And a moment later—
She made a strange hand gesture at me.
What? We agreed not to acknowledge each other.
I tilted my head in confusion.
Then she mouthed something urgently.
Look. Over. There.
Look? Oh… she means in the direction she’s pointing.
Realizing her intention, I shifted my gaze in that direction.
There, a middle-aged man was chatting excitedly with a woman.
A grin spread across my lips.
“…Found him.”
The face I had seen in the photos.
The perpetrator of the Incheon terror attack—Jo Seong-hoon—was right there.
* * *
As night deepened, the event reached its peak.
It was now 9:10 PM.
One by one, intoxicated guests began stepping out of the venue.
Jo Seong-hoon was no exception.
He chatted pleasantly with a woman, and before long, the two of them exited together.
I quietly followed.
“Haha. Come along, I’ll guide you.”
“Mm… No, it’s fine. I can go by myself…”
“No, no. Allow me to assist you.”
From a distance, I could hear their conversation.
It seemed this woman was the artifact maker who, in the original story, had been kidnapped by Jo Seong-hoon.
His target was likely her knowledge of magical devices for terrorism.
But something seemed off.
She looked drunk, but I had been watching her earlier—she had barely touched her drink.
Did he drug her…?
Jo Seong-hoon was both a mage and an alchemist.
Creating a potion to mess with someone’s mind would be easy for him.
What a piece of trash…
The two of them headed toward a deserted alley.
I followed them cautiously.
Inside the alley, six men appeared and bowed their heads toward Jo Seong-hoon.
He nodded in response before entering an abandoned building with the woman.
The remaining six men lined up at the entrance, standing guard.
It felt like a scene from a gangster movie.
Except these weren’t ordinary thugs.
They were mages—which made them even worse.
I immediately opened my subspace and pulled out a bottle of Mana Elixir, twisting off the cap.
“Phew…”
Unlike The Heart of Nature, which had an immediate effect, the Mana Elixir boosted mana regeneration for five minutes.
Since I had to fight multiple opponents, I needed every advantage.
Time to drink.
Gulp, gulp.
“…Ugh. Tastes disgusting.”
[Effect of Enhanced Mana Elixir: Mana regeneration increased by 500% for 5 minutes.]
[After the duration ends, you will suffer from Mana Exhaustion for 30 minutes.]
I tossed the empty glass bottle onto the ground.
Crash!
The sound of shattering glass startled the guards.
“What was that?”
“Did you hear something breaking?”
I gathered my mana.
It wasn’t as effective as The Heart of Nature, but I could already feel my mana replenishing much faster.
This should be enough to take them down.
I formed a magical sphere above my palm and released it at them.
The glowing orb cut through the darkness.
Boom!
A powerful explosion rang out.
One of the men screamed as the spell pierced his shoulder.
“Gahhh!”
The sudden attack put them on high alert, and they immediately began gathering their own mana.
Jo Seong-hoon also stepped outside, quickly scanning his surroundings.
But he hadn’t pinpointed my location yet.
“That’s one down.”
I calmly prepared my second spell.
I didn’t have much time—taking out these guards quickly was crucial.
This time, I compressed more mana before releasing it.
A single magical sphere shot through the air—
Boom!
—piercing another man’s stomach.
“Urghhh!”
“That’s two.”
Now, only four remained.
I conjured four spells simultaneously above my hands.
Then, I unleashed them at once.
Boom! Boom! Boom! BOOOOM!
“Graaah!”
“Ghhk! What the hell!”
All of the enemies, except for Jo Seong-hoon, lost consciousness and collapsed.
Thankfully, their combat abilities weren’t as impressive as I had feared.
“Hoo…”
With his six underlings down, it was now time for the boss.
Jo Seong-hoon, who had been scanning his surroundings, lifted his head and stared directly at me, hidden in the darkness.
“Who the hell are you?”
His voice was low as he questioned me.
I didn’t answer. Instead, I gathered more mana and unleashed a stronger spell at him.
BZZZT!
However, my magic dissipated the moment it struck the transparent energy enveloping his body.
Jo Seong-hoon brushed off the area where the spell had hit, then glared at me with bloodshot eyes.
Aura Shield.
A defensive technique unique to enhancement-type mages, where they envelop their body in mana to reinforce its durability.
To be able to wield an Aura Shield at that level…
This guy was skilled.
At the very least, he was a solid B-rank, maybe higher.
‘Well, in the original story, even Lee Seo-jun and Yoo Ara had to team up to take him down…’
As I was lost in thought, Jo Seong-hoon suddenly roared, his voice filled with fury.
“I asked you a question! Who the hell are you?!”
Again, I didn’t bother answering.
Instead, I fired another spell at him—this time, a more condensed magic sphere.
BOOM—!
However, just like before, he blocked it with his Aura Shield.
But because I had compressed the magic, a thin line of blood trickled down his forearm where the spell had struck.
“…Alright. You’re dead.”
CRACK!
The ground beneath Jo Seong-hoon’s feet caved in.
His calves swelled as they became reinforced with mana.
FWOOOSH!
With explosive force, he kicked off the ground and lunged at me.
As expected of an enhancement-type combatant, his speed was nearly impossible to react to.
I tried to reinforce my body and create distance, but against a professional enhancement-type mage, escaping was no easy task.
Before I knew it, he was already in front of me.
In that instant, I activated my trump card.
[Activating the ability, ‘Heart of the Great Nature.’]
[For 1 minute, mana recovery speed increases by 1,000%.]
THUMP!
My heart pounded violently.
My mana surged, overlapping with the effects of the elixir I had taken earlier.
It felt as if I had limitless mana.
I further enhanced my body using mana.
My muscles swelled, and an explosive force radiated from within.
BAM!
“Guhh!”
Jo Seong-hoon’s expression twisted in shock as he was sent staggering backward.
“What the hell? How can his mana increase so drastically in an instant?”
“Hoo… That was close.”
I let out a breath of relief.
Had I been a second slower, his attack could have been fatal.
“…Who the hell are you?”
He asked again.
I met his gaze and spoke.
“Incheon terror incident. That was you, wasn’t it?”
His pupils dilated.
“H-how do you know about that…?”
His reaction told me everything I needed to know.
But the conversation ended there.
I didn’t have time to waste talking to him.
A prolonged fight wouldn’t be in my favor.
‘I need to finish this in one shot.’
I gathered mana in my palm.
With both the elixir and the Heart of the Great Nature activated, an overwhelming amount of mana condensed in my hand.
VWWWWMMM—!
The magic sphere compressed infinitely.
Compared to when I had only used the elixir, the compression speed was on an entirely different level.
WOOOOSH!
A surge of mana radiated outward, shaking the entire area.
A single attack—But with this level of condensed mana, it could rival even an A-rank spell.
“…What in the…”
Jo Seong-hoon muttered in disbelief.
“This bastard… Does his mana have no limit?”
His eyes wavered as he stared at the spell forming in my hand.
But he quickly gritted his teeth and launched himself at me.
He wasn’t going to give me time to finish charging my attack.
“Die!”
I had no choice but to momentarily halt the compression and retreat, widening the gap between us.
But even as I evaded, I continued condensing mana into the sphere in my hand.
‘Almost there.’
I glanced at the glowing silver sphere floating above my palm.
With this much mana, I could definitely break through his Aura Shield.
“Haaaaah!”
Jo Seong-hoon roared as he lunged at me again.
This was my chance.
I extended my hand toward him.
And with absolute focus, I unleashed my spell.
FWOOOOOOSH—!
The silver magic sphere shot forward with a deafening roar.
The sheer force of it whipped up a violent gust, scattering dust and debris.
Realizing he couldn’t dodge, Jo Seong-hoon curled his body, bracing for impact.
But it was futile.
The overwhelming force of compressed mana could pierce through any defense.
A mere B-rank mage like him stood no chance.
The spell struck his body, triggering a massive explosion.
KA-BOOOOOM—!
“GAAAAAHHH!”
His scream echoed through the night.
And then—
A flurry of messages appeared before my eyes.
[B-rank Villain, Jo Seong-hoon, has been defeated.]
[Causality rate has increased by 0.6.]
[You have successfully defeated a villain solo for the first time.]
[Bonus: Additional 0.2 increase in causality rate.]
[Achievement unlocked: ‘A Powerful Strike.’]
[Reward: 3,000 points acquired.]
“…I won.”
I collapsed onto the ground.
With the Heart of the Great Nature’s effect fading, my body felt completely drained.
But despite my exhaustion, a wide grin spread across my face.
Tonight, for the first time—
I had taken down a villain entirely on my own.
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