Breaking Up with the Heroine of the Female-Oriented Game

The breath of flames, greedy to engulf everything in its path, scattered a deep crimson light.

Just looking at it felt like one’s eyes would burn and the body’s moisture would evaporate.

The fierce flames seemed to heat even the surrounding air. Yoo Seolhyun felt her own breath grow hot, and a sense of suffocation came inexplicably.

Any human would combust into mere flesh and char into ash upon contact with such terrifying fire.

Even a hero wouldn’t escape death if struck directly.

Hadn’t Yoo Seolhyun come close to death several times already from that very flame?

But, but… how could this be?

Yoo Seolhyun couldn’t easily calm the astonishment in her heart from the scene she had just witnessed.

Hadn’t it been sliced?

The flame.

‘He cut through the flame with a sword?’

As Lee Jinhyuk drew the sword, the breath of fire split in an instant.

The magic-laden flame dissipated emptily, and the fierce gusts fluttered away like a butterfly’s wings, soon extinguishing.

…How could this have happened?

Caught off-guard by the bewildering sight, Yoo Seolhyun could only stare in confusion at Lee Jinhyuk’s back.

Was it even possible to cut through a breath of fire without infusing sword qi?

Even if sword qi was used, it wouldn’t have been strong enough to extinguish such a magical flame.

Just as one can’t slice water with a sword, one certainly can’t slice fire with one.

Thus, what Yoo Seolhyun had witnessed was an occurrence beyond common sense and logic, naturally raising a question in her mind.

‘…A superpower? Could it be a superpower?’

Superpower.

The power to manifest one’s ideals into the world.

This peculiar power broke down the many established norms and laws of humanity and suggested new possibilities.

If a superpower was used to cut and eliminate the flame, it was somewhat comprehensible.

The types and powers of superpowers are so varied.

But if he had such a superpower, why had he hidden it until now? There seemed no reason to.

Besides, didn’t Lee Jinhyuk already possess the ability to foresee the future? Having foresight and another superpower? That seemed difficult to accept.

‘Could it be, not a superpower but pure swordsmanship?’

To possess such technique and skill, he would have to be a sword master, wouldn’t he? It wasn’t as if the title of master was as commonplace as the name of the neighbor’s dog. Yoo Seolhyun shook her head internally. It was impossible for him to become a master at such a young age. Unless he was an unprecedented genius among swordsmen.

Amidst Yoo Seolhyun’s deepening confusion, there was a commotion.

“You, you!”

“…”

“What did you do? How did you do that!”

“…”

Kate roared at Lee Jinhyuk, but he remained silent, just quietly observing her.

Unlike before, the coldness in his eyes and the sternness of his expression, along with the way he had swung his sword as if it were natural to fend off the attack, lingered in Kate’s mind.

It was an incomprehensible sight for Kate to see her breath of fire casually cleaved.

After all, none of the so-called heroes who had sought her out before had managed to block her attacks with a mere swing of their swords.

Even stronger foes had mostly been desperate to avoid her attacks, but how did this man do it?

He’d been hiding behind a girl, pitifully shooting arrows and using various tools until just moments ago!

“I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you for sure.”

Kate growled angrily.

“To think this time will be zero chance!”

She screamed, trying to shake off an inexplicable anxiety, as she quickly gathered her magic once more.

Whatever trick he’d pulled off, this time she wouldn’t give him a chance!

She would end it with a strike stronger than before.

While thinking this, Lee Jinhyuk silently raised his sword. What was he thinking?

“…You?”

“…”

An immense amount of magic began focusing on the raised blade. The sword glowed with a bluish light, heated to its core. The concentrated magic was almost comparable to the flames Kate had unleashed.

How could a mere archer, no, a swordsman, wield such an amount of magic?

Kate, once a mage herself, was taken aback.

If that boy could summon such magic, why had he only fired unremarkable arrows before?

Questions upon questions surfaced, but now wasn’t the time for answers.

Right now, the focus was to incinerate that man.

‘At this distance, I have the advantage. I’ll burn him before he can get close.’

The weakness common to all swordsmen was range.

The sword, being an inherently melee weapon, had its innate weaknesses, just as all melee weapons did.

No matter how fast that boy could approach, he would still be slower than Kate, who had nearly completed her preparations.

‘So now, just die…?’

Whoosh.

The sword swung out in an involuntary moment.

What’s he doing? Swinging a sword at that distance? She thought as she gathered the flames, but from his swing, a crescent-shaped magic shot forth.

Could it be… Sword Qi Wounder?

“?!”

Taken by surprise, Kate hastily spewed out the incomplete flames, but it was futile.

The swiftly advancing sword qi tore through the flames and reached right before Kate.

She instinctively extended her arms and remaining tentacles to shield herself.

But the moment they touched the searing sword qi, the tentacles were cleanly sliced, and Kate’s arms and bones were cut off cleanly, reaching her chest.

“Kuh, ugh, ahhh?!”

Overwhelmed by excruciating pain, Kate lost focus, and the vast magic she had gathered scattered aimlessly, causing havoc within her.

“Cough, gugh, ugh, blargh!”

Suffering severe damage, Kate fell with blood gurgling from her mouth.

“Ah, uh, impossible. I’ve been, by such a… creature…”

“…Sword Qi Wounder…? You, how could someone like you… possess such a technique…!”

Even with her mental age regressed, Kate vividly remembered the very few swordsmen capable of wielding Sword Qi Wounder.

So, she could never have imagined that this youngster could wield it.

Was he not a mere archer?

Could it have been a feint to catch her off-guard?

She didn’t know.

“…Ugh, ugh.”

“…”

As Lee Jinhyuk approached silently, very slowly, Kate screamed out.

She seemed like a delicate snake anticipating death.

Kate felt a surge of fear and tried to escape, but her body, wracked with the state of her tentacles, arms, and internal organs, wouldn’t cooperate.

Already in no state for an average person to be alive.

As a half-human, half-beast, she barely clung to life.

But that wouldn’t last much longer.

A man was approaching her, slowly enjoying the prey’s final moment.

“Ugh, ugh, cough, gugh.”

Thud, thud.

The slow, quiet footsteps echoed in Kate’s ears like thunder.

The unavoidable death reached right before her, and all Kate could do was spit blood while looking up at Lee Jinhyuk with powerless eyes.

Lee Jinhyuk paused for a moment, looking down at Kate. She didn’t know, but this was hesitation.

But the hesitation was brief. Lee Jinhyuk made a decision. He raised the sword.

“…Ugh, am I, cough, cough, really going to die?”

Without saying a word, Lee Jinhyuk ended the life of Kate, the Mad Synthetic Mage, as she reminisced about her past.

She had become a monster herself through relentless research in fusion magic.

Her greed had invited destruction; she didn’t want to die of old age, she had only desired to continue her research longer.

How many lives had she sacrificed to extend her own?

Now, she too lay defeated, her existence as fleeting as the next.

Kate closed her eyes in resignation.

Death was imminent.

Then, thump.

Lee Jinhyuk’s hand seemed to tremble slightly, but with a thrust, he delivered the final blow, piercing through Kate’s heart.

This was the end of the boss monster of Youngdeung Mountain Dungeon.

‘…Lee Jinhyuk.’

And Yoo Seolhyun, who had witnessed the entire sequence, was left with turmoil in her mind.

It was because she had seen so many unbelievable scenes.

‘…It was Sword Qi Wounder, wasn’t it?’

Sword Qi Wounder.

A secret technique dreamed of by countless swordsmen.

A distant attack only possible for swordsmen endowed with high-level skills in concentrating, accelerating, and releasing magic.

Among the current academy students, only a handful could wield Sword Qi Wounder. Many instructors couldn’t even use it.

In an institution like Union Academy, where geniuses congregated, such skills were rare.

Yoo Seolhyun couldn’t use it either. There was a similar technique in spearmanship to shoot out magic, but Yoo Seolhyun had only faced continual failure in learning it. It was that difficult.

‘The power was much stronger than what Lee Siwoon showed at the last performance assessment.’

It might not have been Lee Siwoon’s full strength during the test, but the force of Lee Jinhyuk’s Sword Qi Wounder was incomparable.

Didn’t it incapacitate that powerful half-human, half-monster beast in one blow?

Yoo Seolhyun knew well how strong and resilient Kate was, having fought for her life against the creature.

She had fought hard, bleeding and striving for tens of minutes, yet was unable to defeat the monster that now met such a desolate end.

Lee Jinhyuk, what are you?

Cutting through flames and using Sword Qi Wounder.

His skills were said to be so poor he barely got into the academy. Why, then, hide such abilities?

Whether it was a superpower, swordsmanship, or something unknown to Yoo Seolhyun… why?

If one dreams of becoming a hero, isn’t it better not to hide?

‘…Ah, consciousness.’

Was it the release of tension?

She could feel her grasp on consciousness waning.

Before losing consciousness, Yoo Seolhyun thought hazily of Lee Jinhyuk.

‘Why are you…?’

Questions swirled in her mind but soon, her awareness flickered out.

She thought she heard Lee Jinhyuk calling from beyond the dimness of consciousness, but then she lost consciousness completely.

***

“Ah, thought I was a goner.”

I collapsed with a thud. Oh, look at my shaking legs.