Chapter 50 : Guardian and the Unwelcome Shadow
Iris let out a hollow laugh, speechless.
Still unable to calm her anger, she pounded the densely wired fence with her fist.
Thud—!
The absurdity didn’t end there.
She had thought the chain flute and the shield were a single unit, but apparently, they could be separated.
As soon as Iris stepped back, the chain flute that had been poking out from the hole in the fence slid back in.
Because it was connected by a thin chain thread, she couldn’t completely detach the shield and move it elsewhere.
But if she pushed her waist forward, the chain flute would suddenly pop out of the hole, and if she pulled her hips back, it would retract again.
Standing behind the wire fence, putting the chain flute in and out like that… seriously, what could one even call this?
She looked like a pervert in some back alley doing something obscene with a hole in a fence.
Watching the chain flute dart in and out through the fence hole while wiggling her hips in front of a full-length mirror, Iris burst into laughter.
“Heh, heheheh… This is ridiculous.”
Then suddenly, flaring up in anger, she struck the chain flute hard with the edge of her hand.
The chain flute sharply bent downward, then crept back up between her legs as if sensing the mood—along with the shield.
The new skill obtained through fusion was incredibly useful, but at the same time, it looked more grotesque than ever.
Iris pressed her deeply furrowed brow with her finger and slowly inhaled and exhaled like she was meditating.
Otherwise, she felt like she might lose control and go on a rampage, forgetting it was nighttime.
Phew.
Don’t get mad.
It’s not like this is the first time seeing something like this.
The skill got stronger, so it’s a good thing.
Now, let’s check the status window.
She opened her status window to inspect the new skill and check her overall state.
LV.12 Chastity Belt Girl
[Skills Possessed]
Alarm LV.15
Running LV.14
Stealth LV.1
Twin Pincer Attack LV.3
Hair-Shedding Between the Shields LV.1
Pocket Fit LV.3
Speed Spring LV.2
Whip Swing LV.6
Show Me That Back LV.7
[Special Skills]
Smash the Skull Repeatedly
Insight
[Condition]
Tired / Post-Clarity / Slightly Proud
“It reverted to level 1 after fusion. There might be added functions, so let’s check the description.”
LV.1 Shield + Chain Flute Fusion Skill
A new skill created by combining the shield and chain flute.
Blocks enemy attacks with the shield while launching long-range hair projectiles.
The description was simple.
She decided to look on the bright side.
In a way, wasn’t this a great skill, like the Turtle Ship that Admiral Yi Sun Sin made?
A powerful skill that lets you attack monsters by sticking the chain flute in and out through the shield, which resembles a wire fence!
“This is fine. Actually, it’s great. What better way to confuse the enemies? If I launch a surprise attack while they’re thrown off, it gives me a big advantage. These monster bastards are done for! They panic just from the pincers—imagine how they’ll react to this! They’ll be knocked flat.”
Iris muttered self-affirmations while lying on her bed.
“They’ll freak out when they see this, the bastards.”
But as she kept talking to herself, her expression gradually turned sullen.
She realized that the stronger she became, the more burdens she would have to carry.
It was a complicated night.
“Hmm, where was it again….”
Sitting in the driver’s seat of a beat-up car, Iris tapped the navigation screen as she turned a corner.
Today’s mission was different from usual.
It wasn’t monster extermination—it was VIP protection.
Like an undercover cop in plain clothes, she had to patrol the area and jump in if the VIP was in danger.
In other words, it was a job where she got paid even if nothing happened.
If something did happen, she had to ensure the VIP’s safety, and if successful, she would earn even more.
She hadn’t known this before, but apparently, the Hero App assigned these kinds of high-paying gigs only to heroes who had completed several missions without incident.
As soon as she logged in, a congratulatory message popped up, saying she’d be given priority for good missions.
When she closed the popup and checked the listings, there were a few posts in a different color at the top—these were the protection assignments.
“I used to avoid these because I was afraid of getting exposed… but now that I think about it, would anyone really come after me if my identity was revealed? It’s not like psychopaths go around killing ability users at random. As long as I don’t make villains my enemies first.”
There was no reason to turn down this kind of cushy job out of fear.
Of course, since it wasn’t a monster extermination mission, she wouldn’t level up unless something happened, but the pay was amazing.
She could just take another extermination mission afterward.
Smiling, Iris parked in a nearby building’s lot.
She bought a kebab from a street vendor and took a bite.
The VIP she was supposed to guard was a man giving a speech on an outdoor stage set up in the middle of a busy area.
He stood out in a black priest’s robe.
“There are so many people, I won’t stand out as long as I don’t transform. There must be other heroes on this mission too, right? Wonder who the ability users are. The mission said to just keep the VIP safe during the event, so I’ll just stay put here.”
Iris sat on a bench between some street trees.
There was a huge crowd because multiple performances were scheduled alongside the speech.
Part of her wanted to skip it all and hole up in a PC café, but she couldn’t.
While it would be fine if nothing happened, the mission details mentioned a penalty if she failed to guard the VIP properly.
Apparently, if she messed up, she wouldn’t be able to use the Hero App for a week.
She didn’t know how they monitored it, but someone must’ve been watching.
For a hero like Iris, who had no other source of income, that was a huge penalty.
“Is this a festival or something? What’s with the speech? Whatever, I’ll just watch and get paid.”
She didn’t care whether it was a festival or a concert.
All she cared about was the money.
Other people were also sitting on the bench.
Soon after, as the audience turned toward the stage, the MC greeted them with a mic, and a performance by a guest idol group began.
Iris kept a close eye on the man in the black priest’s robe talking with staff below the stage.
She also scanned the crowd for any suspicious individuals.
“Doesn’t look like anything will happen. But that priest robe… where’s it from? That’s a symbol I’ve never seen.”
In the harsh and gritty Gyodam City, many religious groups existed.
Some were so famous even the agnostic Iris knew of them.
But the symbol on that man’s robe was completely unfamiliar.
Well, it’s not like she knew every single religious insignia.
It was probably from one of the many minor religions.
Thinking that, she lost interest.
Then, she turned her head absentmindedly—and was so startled that she dropped her kebab.
“Yoha…nes?”
“…Huh? Ah, hey. What a coincidence.”
Dressed head to toe in black, Johannes had silently appeared next to her without her noticing.
She hadn’t expected to meet him here in a million years.
Johannes pulled his hoodie even deeper over his face and looked at the ground as he responded.
Judging by how casually he greeted her, it seemed Johannes already knew she was sitting next to him.
“This is bad.”
She was shocked to see him, sure, but more than that, it was the fact that she ran into someone she knew—during a mission—that made things worse.
Johannes wasn’t even someone she was close to.
Having him here would only distract her from the protection task.
She didn’t want him finding out she was an ability user, and he might restrict her actions in other ways too.
Feeling troubled, she unconsciously snapped at him with a sharp tone.
“Why are you here?”
“Uh, just… passing by. It looked fun…”
“Ah… Passing by? This place is pretty far from our neighborhood.”
Since Johannes visited the bakery daily, she assumed he lived nearby.
But the place they were now was quite a distance from her area.
Too far to be “just passing by.”
Like the distance between Ilsan and Gangnam in Seoul.
However, there was one thing Iris had absolutely no idea about—something that would shock her if she ever found out.
Johannes’s actual home wasn’t near the bakery he frequented.
In fact, it was much closer to this bustling downtown area.
After graduating high school, his family had moved here.
He had only gotten that officetel near Iris’s place so he could see her often.
It was something Iris would never know—unless Johannes told her himself.
Still, Iris’s suspicion toward him wasn’t entirely misplaced.
Johannes hadn’t just been “passing by.”
He had rushed here after being contacted by a watcher stationed outside Iris’s house.
He had a lot of questions for her.
Why had she been roaming around so much lately?
Why had she suddenly started working part-time as a film crew member?
And even though they exchanged numbers via the chauffeur, why hadn’t she contacted him?
But most of all—
“Iris… when did you awaken your powers?”