Instant Kill, Time-Stop Spellcaster

At dusk, they’ll strike the loan shark branch.

So, today is a perfect day for a break.

Gotta save some mana.

Aden went out to film for a broadcast.

And just in time, it comes on.

A storm of questions directed at Aden.

Questions chosen directly by the viewers through comments.

She was extremely nervous.

Is she going to pass out from this?

However, the next question made her eyes change.

Her face immediately brightens up.

Like a true otaku hearing a question about their favorite topic.

‘Oh. Not like, but exactly like.’

Then, a rapid-fire response pours out.

The otaku has found their element.

It’s driving me mad.

The conversation goes on for a while.

The MC starts to look uncomfortable.

Kang Hyun feels the same.

Isn’t all this just about Kang Hyun?

Hearing someone buttering up their own face?

Not easy for someone with his personality.

“Sigh…”

Should I turn off the TV?

“Hey!”

He jumped up and shouted.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

Then, Aden on the screen looks startled.

She starts looking around wildly.

A miraculous coincidence.

Kang Hyun tilts his head.

‘What’s going on?’

Aden definitely didn’t hear that shout.

It was a recorded broadcast.

Seems like a coincidence.

Anyway.

“Phew…”

That was close.

That guy… I need to make sure she keeps quiet.

Laughter erupts from the audience.

The cheers of how cute it is.

The questions keep coming.

Without even being asked, she answers up to the second one.

“Heh.”

Ugh, so embarrassing.

But still, it didn’t feel bad.

There are people who notice.

How exactly does she pick those two?

Even though they likely think she’s talking about other people.

The net is gradually closing in.

Aden looks flustered.

Suddenly, a hot topic.

The viewers must be losing their minds.

The MC is feeling the excitement.

The ratings are rising.

The conversation takes a dangerous turn.

Aden seems to sense it and stammers.

Aden desperately tries to steer the conversation.

Wouldn’t this be a problem?

I check the online reactions.

└Seems like they’re not from another country.

└If they’re from Thea, could they be naturalized?

└Is a new A-class coming!?

└Is there really something in Korea lately?

└The Dangun Grandpa real estate coin is soaring.

Awakened power is soon national power.

You can feel the anticipation in the comments.

└If their teacher is A-class, they couldn’t be as strong as an S-class, right?

└No, no. They’re probably an A-class at most, maybe a B-class who’s mastered theory.

└S-class isn’t just anyone’s dog name.

They’ve reached E-class.

At last, Aden returns.

“I’m back…”

She looks really tired.

It seems she’s not made for broadcasts.

“Hey, you’re on TV.”

“Ah! Don’t watch it! Turn it off now!”

“Heh heh.”

Aden scrambles to turn off the TV.

“Are the guilds still calling you?”

“Yes. Especially ‘Seonghwa’ and ‘Palan,’ their offers are getting better and better.”

After Aden became famous through media exposure, countless guilds reached out.

Especially ‘Seonghwa’ and ‘Palan.’

They were the 3rd and 5th largest guilds in the country.

The so-called top 10 guilds.

Every Awakened person dreams of joining them.

A truly dream job.

“You should join a guild.”

Guilds are essential for any Awakened person, aren’t they?

There’s too much to manage on your own.

“It’s definitely Seonghwa for me.”

“Right, that Yoo Chae young, the team leader there, treated me well.”

“Can’t you come along with Master?”

“I don’t like being tied down.”

A typical response.

“They probably won’t accept me yet. I’m still E-class.”

You need at least D-class to put in a resume.

“I’m disappointed…”

Aden looks crestfallen.

Like a puppy soaked in the rain.

But she quickly brightens up.

“I’ll ask Team Leader Yoo Chae young!”

“She’s probably busy. Don’t bother her.”

“Team Leader Yu treats me really well! I’ll definitely convince her!”

“Do as you like.”

Whatever.

Kang Hyun just wants to visit his ‘friends’ houses.

Hurry up and let the night fall.

###

Seonghwa Support Team Leader Yoo Chae young.

As usual, she’s living the busiest days of her life.

Trying to find the Word Mage and perfect Clearer Awakened.

But suddenly, a troublesome phone call comes in.

She frowns.

“E-class?”

And then a rapid-fire response begins.

Yoo Chae young is stunned.

What’s this energy?

Wasn’t this person supposed to be shy?

“…I’ll consider it.”

Although she subtly declines.

Aden’s excitement doesn’t register.

She hangs up.

And Yoo Chae young’s discomfort grows.

“Team Leader, I heard, are you really going to approve them?”

“No.”

A firm, cold response.

“Aden is a kind and cute person, but we have to separate business from personal matters.”

“She’s really cute, though. I heard she even has a fan club now.”

An A-class with bizarre mana.

A new face with no affiliations to any organization.

From Seonghwa’s perspective, she was a potential treasure.

Plus, the person herself was pure.

Like someone you’d want as a younger sister.

But!

Yoo Chae young’s glasses shine.

“No parachuting!”

Moreover, E-class?

To Seonghwa, ranked 3rd in the country?

“Good thing she called and asked.”

“Really.”

If they had met in person?

Would she have been able to refuse?

The sparkling blue eyes.

The doll-like blonde hair.

The cute height and unmatched mana reserves, even if she was right in front of her?

The subordinate sympathizes strongly.

“Honestly, we wouldn’t have been able to refuse if we had seen that energetic side of her.”

“Right. It’s a shame we didn’t record it.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, no parachuting.”

But at the same time, curiosity arises.

“Who is this Kang Hyun person, for Aden to be so serious about them?”

“Who knows, maybe they’re a lover?”

“You saw them once, right? Is he handsome?”

“He was wearing a black mask, but his eyes were quite striking.”

Could it be that Aden is this excited about her lover?

Cute, and a little jealous.

But healing is brief.

Yoo Chae young’s glasses glint.

At that, the employee flinches.

“Oh, no, workaholic mode…!”

“Alright, enough healing! Move quickly! No time for fun!”

“Yes! Fully recharged by the cuteness! Searching for the S-class Word Mage and perfect Clearer Awakened!”

“For Seonghwa!”

Finding one of those two!

Would make Seonghwa the greatest guild in the world!

Make Seonghwa Great Again!

###

That night.

At midnight, in the dark.

The loan shark branch.

The branch manager yelled at his subordinates.

“Has the team leader’s punishment still not been decided?”

The team leader.

A security team leader from the Awakened Management Bureau who had infiltrated.

He had been sending new Awakened registration information.

And now, the team leader had been suddenly arrested.

Naturally, the company’s ‘weed removal’ team was on high alert.

“Yes. It shouldn’t have taken this long… It seems like it’s outside the normal punishment procedures.”

“Brother, is it true that the team leader wasn’t just arrested by the police but was dragged to the National Intelligence Service?”

“Don’t talk nonsense, you bastard!”

“I’m sorry!”

The subordinate quickly bowed.

Despite the harsh words, the branch manager was inwardly anxious.

‘If he got exposed, it makes sense he’d be taken to the National Intelligence Service… But did he really get caught?’

Things had been going well until now.

He had even climbed to the position of security team leader.

But suddenly, he got arrested?

Something felt off.

‘The two execution squad members have also gone missing, and the flow is strange.’

To survive while doing shady business in a country ranked number one in security.

This ‘gut feeling’ was essential.

The branch manager trusted his instincts.

“Youngest.”

“Yes!”

“Bring me the profiles and family information of the two missing execution squad members. The ones they were assigned to handle, the ‘weeds.'”

“Yes! I’ll bring it right away!”

Let’s see.

‘Kang Hyun….’

There’s nothing odd about it upon a second look.

The academy director.

This guy had always paid back on time.

He wasn’t from the backdoor either.

‘…Hmm? Wait a minute.’

Now it comes to him.

This guy, he was quite the troublemaker.

It was a few months ago.

As kids usually do, they went to threaten him, but they came back with black eyes and bruises.

Back then, it was just brushed aside.

Still, he kept paying on time.

And since the police were busy at the time, he didn’t want to escalate things.

But who would have thought it would come back to bite him?

‘No, but this is still weird.’

No matter how much a person who was already a tough guy awakens, after awakening, everyone starts at F-rank, even geniuses are in the E-rank.

Meanwhile, the ones who got beaten up were D-.

There were only two of them too.

“Agh, my head hurts….”

What the hell is going on?

“First, let’s go visit this guy’s family and scare them a little—”

“What, you son of a bitch?”

“…Who just spoke? Who the hell do you think you’re talking to, bastard—”

Fwwoosh-

Something pierced the branch manager’s stomach from behind.

It was a crimson blade.

“…Uh, ack?”

“Boss! Behind you!”

“Who the hell is that!? Where did they come from! Grab them!”

“Save the boss first!”

“Who the hell are you! Take off your mask!”

Then a chilling mutter came from behind.

“【Silence, Blind, and forget.】”

At that moment, the room turned pitch black.

The incantation had affected not a living creature, but the ‘thing’—the room itself.

It was invisible.

It was pitch-black.

The branch manager gritted his teeth and tried to give orders to his subordinates, but no sound came out.

His mouth moved, but no words were spoken.

“It’s not that You can’t speak, it’s that you can’t hear.”

This was a complicated space where three words of an incantation intertwined.

A space where ‘traces’ would vanish as a concept.

Kyle called it the “Shadow Chamber.”

Anything done in this space could not be traced by anyone.

“I thought about just settling this with words.”

The knife slid smoothly out of the branch manager’s stomach.

“You crossed the line hard. So, let’s just end it here.”