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In this world, there is no such thing as events flowing according to plan.

『Excerpt from the British Museum Collection - Stele for a Young Dragon』

* * *

"First, let’s go outside and talk."

As Jang Man pulled back his gun and spoke, the woman wearing the black dog mask… or rather, the girl accepted his suggestion.

From that point on, a silent journey, with no conversation, began. The group did not exchange a single word as they left the black market, passed through the abandoned distribution center, and returned to Incheon Market.

To begin with, Jang Man was not a talkative person, and Dung Beetle believed that talking now might only lead to more fighting. So, he decided to focus on organizing his thoughts from the earlier fight.

Naturally, the girl also kept her words to a minimum.

After following the two men in silence, she broke the silence when they arrived at Jang Man’s bar.

“So, when can I get the item? I can pay at any time.”

Although the girl spoke to Jang Man, the old man pretended not to hear her and simply took out some alcohol from the display cabinet.

“I don’t have a problem paying the full amount in cash either. But it would take about a week.”

Again, there was no reply.

Jang Man sipped on his drink while Dung Beetle began checking the weapons inside the carrier.

It was only then that the girl realized that something was off.

“Excuse me…? Sir? Are we not going to make a deal?”

“The deal should be made with him, not me.”

As Jang Man gestured with his chin, the girl’s gaze shifted to Dung Beetle.

“...With him? Why?”

“Because it would be faster to get the item you’re looking for if you speak with him.”

What did he mean by that? One of the girl\'s eyebrows arched gracefully, but Dung Beetle remained silent as he focused on his own business.

“Um, excuse me?”

Eventually, the girl was the one who started the conversation first. When it seemed like Dung Beetle didn’t hear her, she leaned closer to the carrier.

“Excuse me? Excuse me? Excuse me? Excuse me? Excuse me?”

Dung Beetle, who was taking out a shotgun, sighed briefly and responded.

“Why do you want a weapon to deal with Necromancers?”

“Pardon?”

“Did you not tell Joseph that you are looking for a weapon to deal with Necromancers? Was that just an excuse to find the rod, or are Necromancers your real target?”

“...It seems like my answer might determine whether the deal goes through or falls apart. Am I right?”

“Probably.”

The girl squinted slightly at Dung Beetle. Other than his golden eyes, his face was nothing special. Neither his expression nor his appearance stood out.

She shifted her gaze to glance at Dung Beetle’s carrier, then sat beside him as if she had just realized something.

“Grenades and a shotgun… You’re planning to fight a Necromancer, right? Am I correct?”

Dung Beetle did not answer her and continued reading the shotgun’s manual.

“Hmm, a big shot old man from the black market and a noob Superhuman chasing a Necromancer. This would get criticized as a cliché if it were made into a movie, wouldn’t it?”

“...Stop with the nonsense and answer the question.”

“Should we introduce ourselves?”

Still searching for the answer, the girl made a desperate attempt to change the topic of the conversation.

“No.”

Dung Beetle responded rather bluntly, nonetheless, the girl started introducing herself.

“My name is... Ho—, I mean it’s Park Seti. I’m Korean, but if you were to ask me why my eyes are blue and why am I named Seti…? You should ask my dad instead because I also get the urge to ask him that at times.”

“...”

“Since I’ve revealed my name, shouldn’t you reveal yours as well to be fair?”

Park Seti stared at Dung Beetle intensely. After a moment of silence, Dung Beetle raised the white flag.

“...I’m Dung Beetle.”

Park Seti’s delicate eyebrow twitched a little.

“...Since I’ve revealed my real name, isn’t it only fair for you to reveal yours?”

“That is my real name.”

“...?”

Wondering if she should laugh, she examined Dung Beetle’s expression once more. However, not a trace of humor was found on his face.

“Wow... I didn’t expect to come across someone even more serious than my dad. Are your parents named Mr. and Mrs. Dung¹?”

“No, I’m an orphan.”

“Oh... um...”

“There’s no need to apologize. I don’t even know what my parents look like.”

Well, knowing that made her feel even more sorry. However, she swallowed back the words that had already risen to her throat.

After fidgeting with her fingers for a while in the brief silence, she sighed and decided to come clean with her story.

“The Handle of the Uragan... I mean, the reason I need that rod isn\'t to fight any Necromancer. It\'s for my younger sister. There was an accident a month ago.”

She also added an unasked detail that her sister was cursed in place of her.

At the mention of a month ago, Jang Man briefly glanced over but did not intrude into their conversation.

“500 million won is more than enough to admit her to a top hospital or even summon a high-ranking priest.”

Said Dung Beetle.

“They didn’t work. Even renowned doctors and high-ranking priests of the Ulthvati Church were unable to cure her.”

"I don\'t think that ‘that’ rod can heal something even a high-ranking priest was unable to."

“...Yes, there is no guarantee that it will work. However, you know, unicorns\' souls and horns have been known to overcome all curses since ancient times, right? That’s why I want to give it a try.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Dung Beetle simply took a long box from the carrier and placed it on the table without saying a word.

The girl in front of him might not have imagined it, but inside that box was the very rod made from the horn of a unicorn that she had been desperately searching for.

What should I do?

Dung Beetle pondered over it.

The girl’s sincere desire to save her family was certainly touching, but that was all.

He was not the same Dung Beetle from before his death, nor was he a janitor moved by small acts of kindness.

He had no intention of giving up the weapon to fight the Necromancer just because of a touching backstory. There was neither a need nor a reason to do so.

What he was contemplating about were the benefits further down the line, after defeating the Necromancer.

Would it be more advantageous for him to help her and build a small connection, or ignore her?

Park Seti.

She was a Superhuman he had never heard of before. And as a result, the questions in his mind multiplied endlessly.

In a modern society obsessed with appearances, was it even possible for a female Superhuman with such looks to remain unknown?

As long as the paparazzi and social media existed, it was an impossible scenario.

Thus, only two possibilities remained.

She was either a Superhuman who was hiding her abilities thoroughly or a student at an academy for people with such abilities.

Given her youthful appearance and immature behavior, the latter seemed more likely.

Naturally, she should have been a student at the academy...

However, if he were to assume that she was an academy student, then every action she had taken so far meant a great deal.

The financial capability to generously offer 500 million won, the skill to expertly use the mysterious Flying Kick technique, and the information network to find the location of the black market.

These simple facts were more than enough to make it clear that she had a background that surpassed ordinary people or even Superhumans.

She must belong to some high-ranking family or an apprentice of someone so prominent that ordinary people rarely even get to see them.

Weighing the pros and cons in his mind, Dung Beetle reached a conclusion.

Would it be beneficial to befriend her or not?

The scale tipped towards ‘yes.’

Having made his decision, Dung Beetle pushed the bag with the rod slightly and spoke.

“...Three days.”

“Pardon?”

“Bring the money in three days. I will hand over the rod then.”

“Really?”

Unaware of Dung Beetle’s true intentions, Seti smiled brightly.

“Thank you! Dung Beetle-ssi².”

* * *

“Is it okay?”

Jang Man asked while sipping on his drink after Park Seti had left the bar.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if you’re okay with letting her go that easily. She seemed pretty suspicious to me.”

“That’s true.”

“But why? There’s a possibility that she might be connected to your enemies, and there’s also the risk of her leaking what the two of you discussed here.”

It was an undeniable argument. However, Dung Beetle simply shook his head.

“...It doesn’t matter.”

“Have you fallen for her or something? Well, it’s true that a pretty girl like her isn’t common.”

“It is not like that.”

“Then?”

“Since I received something that belongs to hers without her consent, I thought it was worth the risk.”

“Received something?”

Flying Kick Technique—The mysterious footwork used by Park Seti.

Dung Beetle didn’t explain how he ‘received’ it because he didn’t even know how to explain it himself.

And since Jang Man wasn’t particularly interested in an explanation, their conversation ended there.

* * *

The following day.

Dung Beetle had departed from Jang Man’s bar and was headed towards the closed Pier 13.

According to the dead operations director, this was the place where the janitors handed over the corpses they had collected to the Necromancer.

In the most secluded part of the closed ports, which represented the decline of Incheon.

Dragging his weapon carrier,Dung Beetle had arrived at a scene that reeked of abandoned land.

Thick layers of dust piled up, with garbage and containers scattered in disorder…

The landscape was neither worth admiring nor did it possess any aesthetic value. And the first thing Dung Beetle did was climb on top of a container to check the pier\'s terrain.

Only one entrance, but it looks like there are multiple hiding spots, thanks to the containers…

Close combat would be unavoidable on such a terrain and for him, who was armed only with a shotgun and grenades, it wasn’t a bad setup.

After surveying the area, Dung Beetle settled on top of the container and sat down.

As he looked at the sea from a high vantage point, the sea breeze, mixed with the smell of iron, tickled his nose.

He savored the sea breeze for a moment before recalling Park Seti.

To be precise, he recalled the Flying Kick technique she used.

The true Superhuman martial art.

Although the exchange between her and Dung Beetle was brief, what she had shown him was more than words could express.

How far could one extend their movements and control of their body using mana?

For Dung Beetle, who experienced a new world just by enhancing his senses before his trade with Joseph, seeing her was a shock in itself.

If he used mana to enhance his lower body muscles for increased durability and power, could his kick become as strong as a sledgehammer?

And if mana were infused into the jogger’s heel of his soles to maximize elasticity, could he bounce around like a spring?

Every kick and foot movement she demonstrated was a revolutionary revelation for Dung Beetle, akin to the Copernican Revolution³ in his thinking.

Of course, the most surprising part was that he had understood it all just by observing her.

Is this… because of the talent bestowed by Mignium?

There was no other way to explain the situation. Or, could it be that his inherent talent was finally blooming?

No, that seemed impossible.

Not once in his life did he think of himself as talented.

After all, it had taken him over three years just to learn the janitor\'s job, so he was actually quite lacking in talent.

Talent, talent...

The talent bestowed by Mignium was too broad to be classified by a single word. He was yet to begin to grasp the essence of the talent he had received.

Was it simply the talent to handle mana well? Or perhaps talent in Superhuman martial arts? Maybe it was both.

Having thought that far, Dung Beetle stood up and focused on each muscle of his lower body.

A kind of power from within his body… surely mana, followed according to his thoughts, wrapping around his thigh muscles and moving down to his lower body.

From the thighs to the back of his knees, through his calves, past the soleus muscle, and down to the soles of the feet.

When the mana reached the jogger’s heel, responsible for the elasticity, at the bottom of his feet, every muscle felt as if it were in his hand.

Seeing that Park Seti had maintained this state while performing the Flying Kick technique, this was probably the basis of the technique.

Dung Beetle recalled the trajectory of each of the kicks she had shown.

A powerful spinning kick executed by bending low to the waist, a flying kick cutting through the air, a short side kick, and a front kick…

And the strange footwork that supported all of these.

Dung Beetle tried to mimic the same postures awkwardly.

The first attempt was awkward.

On the second attempt, he realized that the awkwardness in the first attempt was due to the difference in physique between him and Seti.

By the third attempt, it had become somewhat similar.

By the fourth attempt, he was able to bounce off the ground at the same level as Seti.

Yet, the fifth attempt yielded no results.

He suddenly realized that to achieve anything beyond this, it wasn’t enough to solely rely on the parts of the Flying Kick technique he had seen yesterday.

Perhaps it might have been different if he had seen the training process of the Flying Kick technique or a martial arts manual…

Is this the limit for now?

The key point or core of martial arts.

It seemed like he was on the verge of grasping something in his mind, but he still couldn’t understand what it was.

However, he was able to realize something else.

His talent... no, the talent bestowed to him by Mignium was real.

A talent that allowed him to master the control of his senses, which others needed years to acquire, in an instant and to steal techniques after a single skirmish.

Ha...

The feeling he had right after the realization was neither discomfort nor joy.

It was a sense of chill.

The same chilling sensation he felt when holding a sharp knife or a loaded gun, was coursing through his body.

There was no way he could not use this talent. Revenge had to be achieved, even if it cost him everything he had.

...

Looking up at the sky, he saw that the sunset had already stretched long across the sea.

Using the same footwork as Seti, Dung Beetle jumped down from the container lightly.

Though it was almost a height of 6 meters⁴, the sound when he landed was no different from a feather falling to the ground.

“I need to prepare to meet the guests.”

The time for learning the technique he had secretly stolen was over. It was now time to prepare for /genesisforsaken