Why Is Everyone in This Dating Sim Trying to Kill Me?!

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: Butterfly Effect (3)

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Whoosh—

A desolate gust of wind brushed past, caressing their hair.

Various buildings stood in rows like trees in a forest, but most were empty.

And ivy vines clung to the walls, entwined like parasites.

Having been abandoned for a long time, the roads were lined with cars sporting shattered windows, and broken concrete shards lay haphazardly scattered.

Even after the baptism of time, the landscape clearly bore the scars of violence left by the monsters that had once trampled and crushed this place.

Their current location was Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

It was one of the ghost cities that still hadn't recovered from the aftermath of the first Gate appearances.

Seoul, where I primarily operated, had seen far greater advancements in civilization and convenient technologies than it had in the original world,

but just a short distance outside, ghost cities like this were common.

In other words, it was an environment highly suitable for demons and criminals to hide in.

However, some civilians, unrecorded and unable to escape, still lived in such places, and the demons were said to target and abduct only them.

Ghost cities were typically restricted areas blocked off by the state, so Im Ga-eul and Sophia, seeing one for the first time, let out murmurs of dismay.

"...There's no life here at all."

"Yeah, it's like a dead city."

Baek Seol-hee, who had been silently gazing down from the rooftop of their target building alongside them, turned her head and spoke.

"Alright, we're going according to plan."

At her words, we nodded, our faces tense.

This operation was quite simple.

I would infiltrate the enemy's territory alone and draw their attention.

Meanwhile, Baek Seol-hee, Im Ga-eul, and Sophia would rescue the hostages.

In a rescue operation, the most crucial thing was to prevent the enemies from using the hostages' lives as weapons.

That's why it was natural for Baek Seol-hee, not me, to lead the rescue team.

And for the sake of the hostages' potential safety, Sophia and Im Ga-eul were also assigned to the rescue team.

"Acceleration—!!!"

Im Ga-eul, holding a magic stone in one hand, cast a full-power buff on all party members.

Even Baek Seol-hee herself seemed unfamiliar with a buff that amplified her physical abilities by 10%, letting out a small gasp of admiration.

"...Not bad."

At her words, which left Im Ga-eul unsure whether it was praise or indifference, she wore a subtle expression.

'She's really overestimating me. Well, a 10% increase for Instructor Baek Seol-hee's specs would feel completely different from ours.'

I nodded inwardly.

Baek Seol-hee, her expression hardening once more, clenched and unclenched her fists a few times, completing her checks, then issued a stern command.

"Jin Yu-ha. Infiltrate."

"Yes."

As soon as the infiltration order fell from her lips,

I immediately dropped down from the building's rooftop.

Whoosh—

Wind whistled past my ears.

Two demons stood guard at the entrance.

Their heads, initially appearing as small dots, gradually grew larger.

Shing—

When the ground was sufficiently close, I drew Moonlight from my waist.

Thunk!

Thunk!

"Gah!"

"Ugh!"

As I descended, I plunged my blade into each demon's neck at an angle, and they died on the spot without even a scream.

Thud.

Then, I flipped my body mid-air, utilizing Shadow Walk to suppress my footsteps, and landed,

then carefully laid the two demons, who were about to fall backward, onto the ground.

Holding my breath, I activated my detection ability and sensed the presences of those chattering inside the door.

"...What in the hell are we even doing?"

"Damn it, exactly. Every time I stand guard in the underground prison, those brats scream their heads off, it's driving me crazy."

"Why can't we just kill them? Or at least let us torture them. Or even let us have them! Fuck. If they're gonna keep saying no to this and no to that, why did we even bring those bastards here in the first place?!"

"Hey, hey, do you think the Demon Council is a joke? You'll lose your head talking like that."

"Hah, damn it. Things are already shitty enough these days because of that Demon Empress bitch, so why this kind of—!"

I lowered my gaze and assessed their strength.

'Their strength seems to be about the same level as the demons I fought back then... But why are there so many demons?'

Individually, their strength didn't seem much different from the guys I fought at the end of the mid-term evaluation.

However, just the ones gathered in the hall numbered nearly a hundred—a large group.

If counting the entire building, there might be even more.

I pressed the earphone in my ear and spoke in a low voice.

"Total detected personnel: one hundred and two. There might be more. And the hostages are confirmed to be imprisoned in the basement."

[Understood. Commence infiltration immediately.]

I stared at the massive iron door before me, then enveloped my sword in mana and slashed diagonally.

Slicing—

The thick iron door was sliced clean through as if it were tofu.

Then, I kicked the closed iron door with a forceful thrust.

The severed door, with its massive weight, tilted inward.

Screeeech—

CRASH—!!!

The door fell over with a sharp metallic screech.

At the sudden turn of events, the demons gathered inside looked towards the entrance with bewildered expressions.

"...Wh-what?! Who the hell is that!!!"

"Who is it!!! What bastard is this!!!"

"Huh? A b-boy...!?"

"I've seen that face somewhere before..."

I immediately lowered my gaze and surveyed my surroundings.

It seemed this place had originally been used as a hospital, as I saw a grayish-white background, old hospital equipment, and a cracked marble floor.

'First, the one who looks most troublesome.'

Having made a quick assessment, I immediately swung my sword horizontally.

My first target was a short, curly-haired woman sitting on the reception desk with a blank expression.

One Strike, Two Halves (一刀両断)

Swoooosh—!

A sharp surge of sword energy tore through the air, flying towards her.

Slice!

"Guh!?"

She noticed the sword targeting her and immediately threw her body sideways,

but couldn't completely escape the range of One Strike, Two Halves, and more than half of her torso was severed.

"Gwaaah..."

Her face contorted at the sight of her spilling guts, she collapsed to the floor.

She was still alive and twitching, but it wouldn't be for long.

"C-commander!!!"

"Son of a bitch!"

"You, what are you! What bastard are you!!!"

Wham—!

I didn't answer their shouts, instead kicking off the ground.

My sword flashed.

The head of one of the guys in front of me flew into the air.

Pshaaaah—

A fountain of red blood erupted from the headless body.

"This madman!!!"

Another guy, standing next to the beheaded demon, hardened his expression, rotated his ankle, and swung a fist at me.

"Dieeee!!!!"

A spiked knuckle came right at my face, but I calmly ducked to evade it.

Thwack!

From that position, my sword shot upward.

"...F-fuck."

The sword, plunged through his jaw, pierced through the back of the demon's head. His eyes rolled back.

And the guy who had been targeting me from behind.

As I pulled the sword out of the jaw, I simultaneously extended my leg backward.

Thump.

"Guh!"

The demon, struck in the abdomen by the back kick, grimaced and staggered backward.

I spun around, extended my sword, and thrust it towards his heart.

Then, pushing forward with my shoulder, I impaled the guy behind him as well, skewering them both.

"Gwaaaaaah..."

Thwish!

As I pulled out my sword.

Thud.

Thud.

The demons collapsed to the floor.

"..."

A black-haired boy had suddenly appeared.

In the blink of an eye, five demons had been cut down.

Even as the demons tried to grasp the situation as it was,

they simply couldn't comprehend it while sane.

"...M-monster."

One demon pointed a finger at me, calling me a monster, but I remained unfazed.

It was slaughter, no different from the mid-term evaluation.

However, my mindset towards it was different this time.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

My heart beat slowly.

My mind was chillingly calm.

There was no guilt over killing people.

In this world, becoming a demon meant just that.

They were creatures who could kill humans simply for being in front of them.

They were human in form, but not human in nature.

Just then, one of the demons cried out in a terrified voice.

"...J-Jin Yu-ha!"

"What did you say?"

"Jin Yu-ha! It's Jin Yu-ha! Why is that crazy bastard here!!!!!"

"Jin Yu-ha? The Utopia!?"

"The bastard who killed Rebecca!?"

The demons, having realized my identity, raised their guard higher than before and aimed their weapons, but...

they couldn't immediately charge.

It seemed that my swift dispatch of five of them just now, coupled with the public release of the video showing me taking down Rebecca, had been effective.

That momentary hesitation.

I curled the corner of my lips upward.

'If they do that, I'd be grateful.'

Because it bought me time to stir things up.

'If I'm going to draw attention, I might as well do it properly. Especially since Instructor Baek isn't alone; Im Ga-eul and Sophia are with her.'

I raised my sword.

And brought it down with full force onto the filthy marble floor.

CRACKKKKKK—!!!

With a deafening roar, a thick cloud of dust billowed up.

[Rescue team, commencing infiltration.]

Taking this as a signal, Baek Seol-hee's voice came through.