The S-Rank Character Is My Alt

Chapter 4: Shin Bitnari (3)

‘It… it’s working!’

Thank goodness. One of them had completely fallen for it, and while it was not perfect, it seemed to be working fairly well on the other one too.

Lude broke out in a cold sweat but let out a sigh of relief.

This skill practically forced him to use syrupy speech on autopilot, and even with heightened charm, whether it succeeded or not depended entirely on the target’s taste. That was why using it always felt like a gamble.

“F…Fine! we will release the child! But in exchange…!”

“In exchange?”

“...You come up here yourself.”

“Once I see with my own eyes that the child has come down safely.”

“Hey, hurry and get down!”

The guard monsters nodded and untied the ropes binding the child. The elementary schooler burst from the castle wall, crying as he ran out.

Before the child could say a word through his tears, Lude spoke in a surprisingly gentle voice.

“Run toward the back forest. There are no monsters there. If you keep going, you’ll find a safe place where other people are gathered. Stay there with them. Can you do that?”

The child stopped crying and nodded quickly, over and over. Lude reached out, ruffled the boy’s hair, and spoke quietly.

“And whatever happens, do not look back. Promise me that. This is a promise between us.”

He held out his pinky finger. The little boy hooked his own pinky around it and nodded. Lude smiled faintly.

“...T-Thank you, Hunter sir. Thank you so much!”

“Mhm, that’s a good boy. Now hurry.”

Watching the child run off, Lude’s eyes hardened. He pulled out his phone and checked the time.

“The time now…”

He had declared earlier that he would finish everything within twenty minutes, so there were about seven minutes left.

His motto was always speed clear. It was better to finish quickly before the tainted power he carried spread any further inside the dungeon.

He opened a portal and stepped onto the castle wall. The guards swallowed nervously, clearly not expecting him to arrive so soon.

“Just like you said, I came up.”

“T-Then now… You can…”

Crunch. That was the last sound one of them made before his head rolled on the ground. Lude flicked the blood from his black half-scissors and strode toward the remaining guard.

The atmosphere was utterly different from before. The guard tightened his grip on his spear.

“You swagger as if you’re strong because you held a child hostage? You pathetic trash.”

“Hgh…!”

Lude lightly raised his scissors and let them drop. The guard’s spear crumbled like paper and fell to the ground. Their eyes met.

The guard froze. In Lude’s black eyes he saw something writhing, and in that instant he was paralyzed. It was the reaction of prey before a natural predator. For several long seconds, his mind was filled only with terror.

This was… pure evil. Absolute, unyielding evil. It was as if fear itself had taken human form.

His amplified charm overlapped with that terror, creating something irresistible. It was terrifying, yet impossible to look away. Even knowing death was certain, the guard felt a twisted urge to remain by his side.

Just standing near him seemed enough to unravel one’s sanity. Could anyone endure such a presence? No. No one could.

“Where is your master?”

Still staring into his eyes, Lude asked coldly. Sweat streamed down the guard’s back.

After watching him silently for a while, Lude continued in an icy voice.

“Where is he?”

* * *

“These bastards again…”

Having cut down the guards, Lude entered stage three. In the garden, he found hostages bound tightly. His eyebrow twitched.

Several office workers were tied up in the thorny vines of a rose, the boss of stage three, a plant-type monster.

[They look like they were caught while working late, says the Lord of Chaos with a shrug.]

‘Yeah. Even though it’s an unwritten rule that you’re not supposed to mess with office workers pulling overtime.’

That was always the problem with stage fields that had intelligent monsters. To prepare for Hunters, they captured civilians and used them as hostages.

[They are all adults. Let’s just speedrun this, says the Lord of Chaos.]

If it were not for the hostages, he would have cut the boss down in an instant... Lude hesitated, then locked eyes with the boss.

“H-Hey! Don’t think your seductive eyes will work on me! You can’t save the hostages and you won’t learn where our master is!”

The stage three boss, the Lady of White Roses, wore a white dress. Her long white hair framed a body where rose vines coiled under her skin, blooming into white roses all over. Her cheeks flushed as she glared at Lude.

‘Huh, so it works on her too.’

Lude muttered, touching his chin. It seemed the monsters of this gate all shared a taste for his type.

Good. If he could finish this without using mental domination, all the better. His gaze softened, and he spoke.

“Hey… Why don’t you let them go, just for me? And guide me to your master.”

“Ah… if you look at me like that…”

The Lady of White Roses hugged her shoulders and stepped back. Lude approached slowly, and she shyly whispered.

“S-Still, I can’t... My faith won’t...”

“You can repent later. You might not see someone like me again. Please? Come on. Release them for me, will you?”

He stepped closer and spoke. The white roses on her body flushed pink.

“T…The truth is… I’ve been waiting for a Hunter like you for a long time…”

The Lady of White Roses had turned completely pink. Lude tilted her chin with his scissors and spoke softly.

“To be honest, I’ve been waiting too.”

“Really?”

“Just kidding.”

Stab. His black half-scissors pierced her. With a twist, he pulled them free, and clear sap spilled from the wound.

“A-Ahh…”

Her voice was filled with sorrow.

Lude shook his scissors clean, thinking she was finished after all, and that she had been easy for a tier-four boss.

But then she screamed, looking up at him.

“How could you… How… could you trample my pure heart like this?!”

‘...Wha?’

Her voice was far stronger than he expected. As he stared in confusion, her body hardened, filled with transparent sap.

She rose, spreading both arms. From beneath her dress, countless white rose vines shot out. With a furious cry, she declared,

“You’ll… pay for this!”

[Exclusive skill of the Lady of White Roses :: The Noble Battle of Roses]

A massive canopy of vines spread from her dress, enveloping the hostages and the entire castle.

“Hey, wait…!”

“Kyaaa! Please save us!”

The vines pulsed. Something drained from the hostages and flowed into the Lady of White Roses.

“Damn it…!”

Lude tried cutting the vines with his scissors, but it was useless. With no choice, he swung them in the air.

Black flame conjured by illusion clung to the vines, but they scattered harmlessly. The Lady of White Roses laughed.

“I told you, illusions and domination don’t work on me! My father taught me that illusionists are liars, so if you don’t believe, you cannot be caught!”

“Damn,” Lude muttered, biting his lip. So she had natural resistance to illusions and mental attacks.

Already, the hostages’ vitality was draining into her. With each pulse, her body grew larger.

There was no choice. He raised his scissors high. He needed a deeper illusion, one that could dominate this space itself.

[Trait :: Natural Lucid Dreamer activates!]

Power flowed into his scissors. If the hostages saw this, their minds would break just as the stage two survivors had. But they could recover. Eventually. Months later, perhaps.

He really had no other choice though.

‘Still, it’s better to lose their sanity for a time than their lives forever, right?’

[At last, you act decisively. Our Nari is always too soft, says the Lord of Chaos, shaking his head.]

Yes, saving that child was luck. He was evil by nature. There was no clearing dungeons without harming others.

He recalled the priest’s words, that there was always a best way. But that was only an idealist’s excuse.

Most people could never act in the best way, and Nari was one of them.

So he had to do what he could, not what he wanted.

That had been Shin Bitnari’s philosophy for twenty-five years.

Still, the unease he felt now was probably because of the words of that little boy who had thanked him. No one had ever thanked him directly before, not under mental domination. Normally, he only read comments online afterward.

Well, it still didn’t matter. He only did this job for money anyway. Gratitude just felt unfamiliar.

This work offered no satisfaction, only mistakes that could cost lives or bring down criticism on his head.

Never. Never. Never!

[You are about to enter the transition. Relax your body.]

“No matter how fine your illusions are, they won’t work on me! I just have to not believe them!”

The Lady of White Roses spread her vines in attack, but Lude’s black energy clung stubbornly to them.

“We’ll see.”

Flash-! The illusion cameras flickered, filling the gate. Soon, he would enter the dream. Then this space would be his.

“Can you really not believe?”

Lude’s voice was cold. His black energy spread further over the vines.

He had felt conflicted enough already, and now he thought he might as well vent on this monster. But then…

“Lude!”

Crash. A sword stabbed down from above. A familiar youthful voice rang out. Golden flame blazed from the blade.

[Trait :: Unquenchable Flame activates!]

The holy fire spread instantly across the ceiling, consuming the vines. Ash rained down.

“Argh! It burns!”

The Lady of White Roses shrieked, tearing away the flaming vines. The canopy vanished in a cloud of cinders.

A white-armored priest descended lightly and pressed his flame against the vines binding the hostages, burning them away.

Kang Ihyun retrieved his sword and shouted,

“Run! Quickly!”

“Thank you, thank you!”

Revived by his flames, the hostages bolted to freedom.

His golden hair shimmered in the firelight. Some called him the absolute master of holy power. Others said his mere presence brought peace.

“…”

Lude stared silently at Ihyun, with his expression gradually twisting. Ihyun gave him a sheepish smile.

“Are you alright?! I wanted to come help sooner, but I was delayed treating the survivors in stage two so…”

“Get lost!”

Lude glared at him. He had already been bothered by Ihyun’s earlier words, and seeing his face now only made him angrier.

‘What I struggled so hard to do, this guy manages it so easily…’

Grinding his teeth, he shouted,

“You came to preach again?! To brag that unlike me, you don’t taint anyone?! Is that it!?”

“N-No, it’s not like that at all…!”

“I know it better than anyone, so shut up and disappear! Get out of my sight!”

Ihyun looked back at Lude and replied. He seemed very frustrated.

“Please, just let me finish speaking!”