Breaking Up with the Heroine of the Female-Oriented Game - Chapter 38

Chapter 38 – Whether It’s Good Luck or Bad Luck (3)

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An empty clearing in the forest with an eerie atmosphere.

‘What should I do now?’

Lee Jinhyuk gulped nervously.

He couldn’t easily calm his anxious mind.

He glanced at the villains stealthily, thinking to himself.

Three men and women who looked like villains.

They were staring directly at him.
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Their gazes were anything but ordinary.

‘I’ve shown them the Sword Qi Wounder, and one of their members is severely injured… Surely, they won’t keep attacking, right?’

A hint of tension lingered on Lee Jinhyuk’s face.

He had deliberately blocked their magic with his sword and used the Sword Qi Wounder to appear threatening.

It was a kind of bluff.

He didn’t know what their intentions were, but fighting an unknown formidable opponent would do them no good.

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So, instead of dodging the sudden magic clumsily and running away while shooting arrows, he chose to destroy it boldly with his sword.

To give the impression that he might possess some unusual abilities.

He also inflicted a severe wound on the female mage by releasing a substantial amount of mana as sword energy.
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The artifact enhanced by 1.5 times when using the absorbed mana allowed him to break through her defensive magic.

Thus, to these villains, Lee Jinhyuk’s impression was, ‘An unidentified swordsman who can cut through powerful magic in one strike and use Sword Qi Wounder.’

They couldn’t be sure of his exact skill level, but judging from what he displayed in this brief moment, he wouldn’t seem like an easy opponent.
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Of course, they might have a reason why they had to kill that pair right now, but they didn’t necessarily have to kill them at this moment.

With one of their comrades severely injured, it would be better to retreat and regroup.

“…”

However, it seemed the man with the twin swords was determined to fight.

With his grip tight on the sword’s hilt and mana rising slowly, it wouldn’t be surprising if he charged at any moment.

‘Damn, did it not work?’

Lee Jinhyuk cursed inwardly and slipped his left hand inside his jacket, clutching a few powerful magic-infused parchments.

One of the items he brought to deal with the monsters inhabiting this forest was a magic scroll.

An expensive item that only a large clan could afford.

Lee Jinhyuk also had various useful items like special arrows for large monsters, smoke bombs, clay grenades, electric wires, and stun guns neatly packed in his bag.

With these, he could handle most villains.

‘If they were the usual villains, that is.’
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Lee Jinhyuk let out a nervous, bitter smile inwardly.

The reason he hadn’t used the magic scroll from the start was that the man with the twin swords didn’t seem like an ordinary villain.

It was that man who first noticed the hidden Lee Jinhyuk.

If Lee Jinhyuk had taken out the items from his bag and jacket to fight, it could have turned into a dangerous situation.

It didn’t seem like the man would give him such an opportunity.

After all, he showed that he could cut through defensive magic with a single strike using Sword Qi Wounder, yet he seemed full of the intention to fight instead of retreating.

Perhaps, he thought he could handle it.

Maybe the man was an opponent beyond Lee Jinhyuk’s current capabilities. What should he do? A drop of cold sweat trickled down Lee Jinhyuk’s temple.

“…Hoo.”

‘Are they coming? Damn, I don’t know anymore.’

Lee Jinhyuk steadied his resolve inwardly.

He had tried to make them retreat with his bluff, but now there was no choice.

He would have to face them using his items.

Lee Jinhyuk was about to take out the magic scroll from his jacket when it happened.

“…You, could it be?”

“…?”

Suddenly, the man’s eyes shook violently.

Though his expression was hidden by a mask, his eyes clearly reflected his shock.

They were filled with vigilance, anxiety, and tension.

Why on earth?

“…Damn.”

Matteo quietly let out a curse.

The thought that the young man might be the Vigilante made his entire body tense up. His mouth went dry, and he swallowed involuntarily. His spine felt chilly.

The memory of that day was messing with Matteo’s mind.

Because the man known as the Vigilante was a fragment of a terrible nightmare he wished to forget.

A nightmare he never wanted to face again.

The memory of his long-time comrades being brutally slaughtered by one man had become a trauma for Matteo.

Hadn’t he run away pathetically back then?

Even with his comrades’ voices echoing in his ears.

Just to save himself.

Like a piece of trash.

‘Could that man really be him?’

Matteo bit his lower lip hard.

The seemingly ordinary sword that man held.

But he clearly remembered the green jewel embedded in the guard.

Whenever the green jewel emitted a faint light, his comrades would scream in agony.

So, was that man really the Vigilante?

‘Was the clumsy sword stance a taunt? Or was he deliberately creating openings to lure us in?’

Cutting through magic, using Sword Qi Wounder, breaking defensive magic.

Compared to what he had shown so far, his movements were unusually clumsy, but recalling the Vigilante’s mocking behavior, it made sense.

If it was the Vigilante who toyed with villains as if they were insects, pretending to be clumsy to mock them was plausible.

“Leader? What’s wrong?”

“…”

Lee Han called out quietly, noticing Matteo’s unusual hesitation.

Matteo, always calm, was unusually tense.

Lee Han felt a creeping sense of unease.

Could that man be skilled enough to make the leader nervous?

Matteo was a specialist in combat against humans.

He might be less effective than Lee Han and Park Sooyoung in fighting large monsters, but in human combat, they couldn’t even compare.

Seeing Matteo so tense, that young man might be no ordinary person.

Though his face was mostly hidden by a sunblock hat and a cool multi-scarf pulled up to his nose, had the leader figured out who he was?

“…Would you retreat?”

“Ah.”

“…Would you leave quietly if I let you go?”

“Leader?”

Lee Han couldn’t help but be surprised.

Despite Park Sooyoung’s injury, he never expected Matteo to retreat quietly.

Moreover, saying, ‘Would you leave quietly if I let you go?’ implied that if the other party didn’t agree, retreating might not be an option.

‘Wait, the scarf… Hoo. Almost fell.’

Lee Jinhyuk quickly adjusted the multi-scarf that had started slipping down his face.

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A summer hiking cool scarf. It was nice to wear because it kept his neck cool when soaked in water. He was glad he had it on.
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Worried about future retaliation if his face was fully exposed, Lee Jinhyuk pulled the scarf tightly up.

Of course, that possibility was extremely low, but you never know.

Korea was a small place, after all.

‘Anyway, it’s a relief if that man retreats quietly.’

Whether his bluff worked or for another reason, if they retreated quietly, it would be a welcome outcome.

There was no benefit for Lee Jinhyuk in clashing with them.

While they seemed like villains, Lee Jinhyuk had no reason to risk his life fighting them.

It wasn’t a blood feud or anything.

“If you don’t leave quietly, we’ll have no choice but to take your lives.”

‘No, we’ll leave quietly. Please, just go…’

Unaware of Lee Jinhyuk’s thoughts, Matteo dispersed his killing intent and looked at Roxanne and Kim Deoko.

With a resolved expression, he seemed determined to take their lives.

The overt killing intent made Roxanne’s skin crawl.

Goosebumps rose on her skin, and she swallowed nervously.

She realized that the man hadn’t shown his true abilities when fighting Kim Deoko.

The suffocating killing intent was something Roxanne had rarely experienced in her life.

Yet, was someone of that caliber willing to retreat?

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Who was that young man to make him retreat…

“…What will you do?”

Matteo glared at Lee Jinhyuk with wide eyes.

He didn’t intend to risk his life to kill Roxanne and Kim Deoko. It was a bluff.

It was a tactic that might work on heroes, and the Vigilante, in a way, was a hero.

Though he treated villains like insects, he hunted them more heroically than actual heroes.

Whether this threat would work or not, Matteo couldn’t know.

Maybe the Vigilante simply hated villains and punished them.

So, Matteo watched Lee Jinhyuk nervously, and after a brief silence, Lee Jinhyuk nodded, as if to say “get lost.”

Matteo felt an immense sense of relief. Though he wasn’t entirely relaxed, he couldn’t help but feel relieved. Damn it.

“Alright, then…”

Matteo glanced at his teammates.

Lee Han and Park Sooyoung seemed slightly perplexed but nodded silently, trusting Matteo’s judgment.

They cautiously stepped back, watching Lee Jinhyuk, Roxanne, and Kim Deoko.

They kept their weapons at the ready, prepared to retaliate if attacked.

Slowly, very slowly, they retreated until they faded into the distance.

‘Haa…’

As they disappeared from sight, Lee Jinhyuk finally let out a small sigh of relief.

He thought he was truly screwed, but it seemed to have worked out.

How could he walk around alone with villains like that lurking?

All he wanted was to farm the Interdimensional Ring, but what a disaster.

‘By the way, that monster didn’t show up. I thought it might.’

Maybe because the cave of the Large-Horned Black Boar was too far?

The Large-Horned Black Boar never appeared.

In fact, Lee Jinhyuk had aimed the Sword Qi Wounder at the female mage as a ploy to induce bleeding and attract the Large-Horned Black Boar.

The monster was highly sensitive to the scent of a woman’s blood, and he thought it might come and cause chaos.

If the monster attacked the female mage, he could escape or join the attack.

But since they retreated, it was fortunate the monster didn’t show up.

“Um…”

Then a woman cautiously spoke up.

“Thank you…”

Though it was the first time he saw her, her voice seemed somewhat familiar.

Lee Jinhyuk didn’t recognize Roxanne through her disguise.

He just thought her voice sounded familiar and tilted his head for a moment before shaking off the thought.

There were countless similar voices. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on such things.
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Lee Jinhyuk took out a healing potion from his bag and handed it to her.

It was meant for the man with the shoulder injury.

Healing potions were quite expensive, but given the money he had made and would make from the stock market, it wasn’t a burden.

“Thank you, but I can’t just accept without…”

“Monsters might come due to the blood scent.”

With that, Lee Jinhyuk walked away.

There was no point in further entanglement with them.

The villains might return, or monsters might come, attracted by the blood scent.

Having no more reason to help, Lee Jinhyuk hurried on his way.

The best kindness he could offer now was giving the healing potion.

Of course, that would be enough in this situation.

“…”

Roxanne watched Lee Jinhyuk’s retreating figure before quickly opening the healing potion and pouring it on Kim Deoko’s wound.

As soon as Kim Deoko’s wound was somewhat treated, they began to move again.

Roxanne thought about the man whose face and voice seemed familiar despite the hat and scarf.

He seemed around her age or a year or two older.

To be so skilled at such a young age…

Like Seong Yura and that man, this world had many capable individuals unknown to Roxanne.

But something felt off.

Had she seen him somewhere before?

Unable to clearly see his face, she couldn’t be sure, but she had a nagging feeling.

Was it just her imagination?

Or had they really met before?
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For now, Roxanne couldn’t know.

End of Chapter.