Ch. 62 - You're mine

I never imagined Shin Chul-Min would fall so helplessly. The other heroes were all flustered and hesitated to attack the monster.

Alice, seeing the panicked heroes, urgently shouted.

“Everyone! Don’t panic and stay calm! If we don’t prepare for battle, we’re done for!”

“Y-yeah! Surprisingly, Shin Chul-Min was taken down, but we still have Baek Shin-Hwa and Jung Ha-Yeon with us!”

“The monster might be big, but it’s just one! We can defeat it!”

“What can that thing do on its own?”

......The dialogue seems like it’s setting up a defeat flag, but we should be okay, right?

Whatever happens, there’s only one thing I need to do: defeat that monster.

I summoned my magical power and unleashed dozens of spells at the monster. The monster screamed in agony and hunched over as the spells hit it.

Dust flew up as the spells exploded. I continued to bombard the monster with magic until its form was completely obscured.

“...Did we get it?!”

A hero from behind shouted that. At those words, Baek Shin-Hwa reacted vehemently.

“Wait a moment! If you say that...!”

—Kuuuaaaah!!!!

“...Look! It’ll stand up unaffected!”

“S-sorry!”

The hero apologized, folding his hands, for saying something unnecessary. I had thought it wouldn’t be defeated in one go anyway, but seeing it still standing like that made my resolve waver.

“Damn it, my magic isn’t working!”

“There’s nothing we can do. For now, we have to keep attacking until it’s dead.”

The heroes all charged at the monster at once. They swarmed it from all directions, like a raid, but the monster’s arm movements sent the heroes flying like leaves.

“Gyaaaaah?!!”

“Ugh?!”

No matter how much the heroes attacked, they couldn’t even scratch the monster. Instead, they fell one after another from the monster’s counterattacks.

“What should we do? This really seems hopeless.”

Baek Shin-Hwa sighed, catching her breath.

“If we knew its weakness, we might be able to do something about it.”

A weakness. As soon as I heard that, I thought of Ms. Hye-Rim.

Ms. Hye-Rim seemed to have extensive knowledge about magical creatures. Maybe she knows the identity of this monster as well.

This was exactly the time we needed Ms. Hye-Rim’s help, just as she had mentioned. If things continued like this, there could be casualties. Feeling anxious, I immediately transferred my hand to the necklace.

After about 3 seconds of the necklace glowing with magical energy, Ms. Hye-Rim’s voice came through.

[Oh, did something happen?]

“Ms. Hye-Rim! Do you know anything about a monster that disguises itself as a rock?”

[......What?]

“I mean, a monster that can transform into a rock…”

[I’m coming right away.]

“......Huh?”

Coming right away? To the demon realm? How?

It was at that very moment.

“Where’s that bastard?”

In front of me, Ms. Hye-Rim appeared, transformed into a magical girl.

I thought about going out for lunch and buying coffee when my necklace suddenly started glowing, so I received the call.

I wondered if it was just another call to chat, but that wasn’t the case.

[Ms. Hye-Rim! Do you know about a monster that disguises itself as a rock?]

A frantic voice asked me about a monster that disguised itself as a rock and the surrounding chaotic noises.

This meant something was going on. Moreover, I knew the monster Jung Ha-Yeon was talking about.

I gave the necklace to Jung Ha-Yeon partly because I thought they might encounter that monster.

“I’m coming right away.”

[......What?]

As soon as I said that, I shattered the necklace. The necklace didn’t just have a communication spell; it also had a spell to transport me to another necklace’s location if I broke it.

In the blink of an eye, I had already arrived in front of Jung Ha-Yeon, transformed into a magical girl.

“Where’s that bastard?”

“...Huh? M-ms. Hye-rim?”

Jung Ha-Yeon looked at me in shock with wide eyes. Rather than explaining how I got here, defeating the monster was the priority.

Turning my head, I saw the massive monster attacking the other heroes from a distance.

“Eek?!”

The monster charged at the heroes with a speed that didn’t match its enormous body, wielding its scythe-like arms as if to slice them in half.

I rushed out and stood in front of the heroes.

I caught the monster’s arm with my hand and blocked its attack.

—Kuuuh?

Seeing its attack being blocked suddenly, the monster showed signs of confusion.

“Huh...? Why is Ms. Hye-Rim here?”

Not only the monster but everyone present was bewildered by my sudden appearance.

In front of everyone’s astonished gazes, I pulled with all my might and ripped off the monster’s arm.

Crack!!!

Kuuuaaaah!!!!

The monster screamed in pain as its arm was torn off while still alive. The massive arm, which had been attached to the monster’s body, fell limply to the ground.

Seizing the opportunity while the monster was writhing in agony, I plunged into its body and struck its abdomen with my fist.

Smack!!

My fist pierced through the tough skin. I felt the monster’s internal organs rupture through my hand.

The monster collapsed helplessly from the blow. Approaching the fallen monster, I delivered a final punch to its head.

The tough skin shattered like glass. After confirming that I had penetrated the skull and smashed the brain, I withdrew my hand.

My clothes were drenched in the monster’s blood. The smell was awful and made me feel sick, but as no one had died, it was fine.

This monster was strong enough to kill all the heroes here and more.

“Why is Awakened Crime Division's Team Leader 5 here?”

“I’m not sure, but she killed the monster, right?”

“In just a few seconds...”

After the situation ended, the heroes looked at me with a range of emotions.

Eyes filled with relief. Eyes mixed with confusion and disbelief, even a hint of fear. Some were casting looks as if they had seen a monster worse than the one we just fought.

“You really are amazing, Ms. Hye-Rim!”

Among them, two looks stood out as particularly glad to see me.

One was Alice, who had a bright smile on her face.

“Hye-Rim! Are you okay?”

The other was Jung Ha-Yeon, who ran towards me with a worried expression.

Ms. Hye-Rim was indeed incredible, to suddenly appear and handle such a formidable monster in an instant.

It was surprising and bewildering, but more than anything, I was so relieved.

“A-are you okay?”

“I’m fine, of course. More importantly, how are the other heroes? I saw that some of them seemed to have lost consciousness.”

Although I saw Ms. Hye-Rim overwhelmingly dominating the monster, I asked if she was injured just in case. Ms. Hye-Rim replied that she was fine.

“...What? Shin Chul-Min is also down?”

Seeing the fallen heroes, Ms. Hye-Rim looked quite shocked when she saw Shin Chul-Min.

“Oh, he bravely charged at the monster first and...”

“Fainted first?”

“...Yes.”

While trying to frame Shin Chul-Min in the best light, Ms. Hye-Rim sighed as she realized the true meaning of my words.

“Anyway, it’s a relief that no one died. I gave you the necklace because I was worried you might face such a monster.”

“Did you use the necklace to come here? Did you anticipate this?”

“Exactly. I was worried about you getting hurt.”

“...I see.”

Seeing Ms. Hye-Rim smile made my heart flutter.

The fact that Ms. Hye-Rim did all this out of concern for me, and her heroic act of saving us all, made my heart race uncontrollably.

Ms. Hye-Rim, who always thinks of me. Ms. Hye-Rim, who saves me no matter what happens.

Yes, it’s time for me to admit what I’m feeling. I avoided it out of embarrassment, but now I don’t even want to deny it.

I like Ms. Hye-Rim. Not just like, but I love her.

“Thanks to you, you were able to stay safe. You did well. I’m glad.”

Ms. Hye-Rim, smiling brightly and patting my shoulder. Her presence was so grateful and lovely.

Yes, I won’t deny my feelings anymore. I’ll just accept them.

I want to be closer to Ms. Hye-Rim. Not just friends. Not just neighbors. I want to be a lover who shares everything and loves each other.

I love Ms. Hye-Rim. More than anyone. So much that she could be my whole life.

So I don’t want anyone to take Ms. Hye-Rim away from me. Ms. Hye-Rim is my hero and idol. I don’t want to lose to Ms. Alice or Ms. Seo-Eun. I won’t lose.

No matter what happens.

Ms. Hye-Rim is mine.

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