Yubyeol-ha was a specialist when it came to fighting.
She had undergone countless training sessions at Arcana Dimensional Beast Hunter Academy and was a genius who shone in battles against people, Dimensional Beasts, and other superpowered individuals alike.
By comparison, I was a complete rookie.
I was certain that if I went head-to-head with her for real, she'd kill me 100% of the time.
I'd managed to push her back with ridiculous physical prowess and a surprise attack using my traits, but that wouldn't last.
Yubyeol-ha began radiating explosive killing intent.
"I should've just snapped your neck when I first grabbed it. You idiot!"
In an instant, a blinding flash filled my vision.
The light forced my eyes shut involuntarily, creating an opening for her.
The gunshot rang out the moment the trigger was pulled.
One fortunate thing was that the illusion I'd planted on her beforehand was still in effect.
However, she started taking in all the information through sound rather than sight.
Yubyeol-ha focused on every noise—footsteps, breathing, heartbeat—and pinpointed my location.
As a result, the bullets grazed past me by a hair's breadth.
"Wow, you're lucky! Or is my aim just that bad!?"
Her exhilarated voice echoed. Caught up in the heat of battle, she was laughing despite her severe injuries.
"Puhaha! Alright, fuck it... let's go!"
The click of her pistol being reloaded rang out.
I couldn't see properly either.
She had a way to attack me, but I had nothing—not even a means to protect myself.
All I could do was manipulate her optic nerves to blind her temporarily.
It was the worst possible situation.
Was it over?
Should I have just broken her neck when I had it gripped, screw persuasion and all that?
Or was the real mistake walking into this place on my own two feet like an idiot?
Maybe I got cocky after beating fate in the prologue.
Did I take this too lightly?
As my life hung in the balance, a flood of regrets filled my mind.
I bit my lip hard.
If I were the type to give up easily when things turned against me, I never would've come to see Yubyeol-ha in the first place.
There had to be a chance left. Giving up would end it right there.
I'd never chosen despair or submission. I'd always pushed forward.
This time was no different.
The situation was a bit more violent than my past trials, but it wasn't all that different.
With my resolve hardened, my mind cooled.
Cold reason accelerated my thoughts, and in that moment, a scene from Red Ark flashed through my brain like lightning.
It was the moment Zero One and Yubyeol-ha first confronted each other.
'Zero One knew all about Yubyeol-ha. He was the villain who ordered the deaths of her biological parents.'
'That day, Zero One watched everything from the shadows. He savored the sight of her parents dying and the little girl trembling in hiding.'
'So naturally, Zero One was shocked. The girl he'd spared for amusement had grown into a hunter who slaughtered members of the 21st Century Secret Society, now standing before him with a blade to his throat. People really are unpredictable.'
'Zero One gathered magic. He transformed his form into that of a massive sphinx with a human face. Upon seeing it, Yubyeol-ha dropped the weapon in her hand.'
'Terror twisted her face. She was a hunter prospect rated the strongest in Academy City, having slain countless monstrosities, but she was still a fragile girl who hadn't overcome the trauma of that day. She lost her will to fight and knelt before Zero One.'
The reason Yubyeol-ha took risks infiltrating Academy City to kill those monsters was because they were the enemies who murdered her parents.
From that day on, she'd vowed to become a "hunter,"
Unlike other prospects who hunted Dimensional Beasts, her goal was to hunt down monsters.
That's why, even before their true nature was public knowledge in the story, Yubyeol-ha knew about them and was hell-bent on killing every last one, including me.
Originally, I planned to subdue her easily and leak some info about the monsters to ease her suspicions a bit.
But things had gone sideways, so there was no helping it. I'd have to steel myself for some bloodshed too.
The trigger was pulled again.
Bang bang bang! Her pistol spat fire relentlessly until the magazine was empty.
I bolted out, dodging bullets in the total darkness.
She couldn't see either, so unless my luck hit rock bottom, I wouldn't get shot and sent tumbling.
"If I'd known it'd come to this, I should've practiced shooting with my eyes closed!"
Realizing her gun was useless, she tossed it aside.
At the same moment, the blinding white flash faded.
Only then could I open my eyes.
Even with white afterimages lingering, I could make out the surroundings well enough.
I hurriedly checked on Yubyeol-ha.
She was gathering light in both hands, preparing her next technique.
A powerful energy capable of obliterating the entire area began forming in her grasp.
Unable to see me, she planned to wipe out everything around her in a wide sweep.
She was going to burn the whole house down to kill one flea? What a brute...
I'd barely survived the earlier explosion with my barrier field and vampire physical abilities, but this was impossible.
I had to twist away or block it somehow before she unleashed it.
I solidified the scene etched in my memory.
A scene that would deeply trigger Yubyeol-ha's trauma.
A deep, dark night.
A little girl hides in a wardrobe, peeking through a slight gap at the living room, where a horrific event unfolds.
A grotesque sphinx devours the meat chunks that were once her parents.
With the rough sketch done, I began painting the scene in earnest on the blank canvas of my brain.
Using imaginary graphite and paints, I generated the images.
The drawn images overlapped like animation, dynamically moving within my mind.
A moment later, just as the light in her hand was about to explode, I succeeded in implanting the illusion in her a hair's breadth ahead.
Her face twisted in an instant, and the compressed light in her hand dissipated.
The battle-fueled fervor that had burned in Yubyeol-ha moments ago flipped completely.
Her terrified gaze stared into empty space, like a different person entirely.
"Ah, aaah..."
She squeezed her eyes shut, but there was no escaping the illusion.
It must have been visible even through her closed eyelids.
"N-no... M-Mom... D-Dad... P-please don't..."
Moisture gathered in her golden eyes.
Her trembling voice dripped with fear and sorrow.
She sank to the ground right there, like a helpless child regressing to that fateful time.
PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) is a condition that appears in people who have experienced extreme stress threatening their life or body, such as war, terrorism, natural disasters, fires, assaults, sexual violence, or car accidents.
It often comes with depression, anxiety disorders, panic attacks, and the like.
I'd forcibly triggered Yubyeol-ha's PTSD through illusion, causing her to collapse and tremble uncontrollably.
The situation was over.
I looked down at the crumpled Yubyeol-ha.
I'd dispelled the illusion just moments ago. However...
Her slack face showed golden eyes devoid of life.
"Stop, stop, please, I'm sorry. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong..."
Still trapped in PTSD, she mindlessly repeated negative words, making conversation impossible.
"You said you couldn't kill me. As long as you can't overcome your trauma yourself, your fangs won't reach Zero One—or even me."
I pulled a notebook from her backpack scattered in the alley.
"What I had to tell you from the start was just one thing. I'm not your enemy."
I'd written down an address and time inside.
"We'll talk details then."
I left the alley.
Once I felt I'd put enough distance between us, the tension snapped loose.
I grabbed a streetlamp lining the alley and vomited everything up onto the ground.
"Urghhh..."
I dropped to my knees and took deep breaths.
As someone who'd just cheated death, my honest take? It fucking sucked.
Profanities spilled out naturally. It felt like all my mental strength and stamina had been sucked into the void.
I never wanted to go through a life-or-death fight again.
I wiped the gastric acid and saliva from my mouth and stood.
First things first, head home and rest. I had no energy left to think or do anything else today.
Leaning on the wall for support, I staggered forward.
you can read more chapters at novelshub.org