One Day, a Villain Fell into My Wardrobe – Chapter 119

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119

The Protagonist.

Yeon Ji-ho didn’t pay attention to Hadad calling him the ‘protagonist’. At the time, he was more focused on the fact that the world he had lived in was all a ‘novel’, so the words about him being the protagonist didn’t even register.

“……”

Yeon Ji-ho quietly looked down at his open palm. It smelled of the peculiar iron scent from the handrail he had grasped while climbing the factory stairs with his heavy body.

Could he… perhaps accomplish something too?

Until now, Yeon Ji-ho had been busy running away. Even when Baal was fighting surrounded by knights, Yeon Ji-ho, being an ordinary human, had no way to help him and could only go look for Set. Although he said he would return, wasn’t that still running away?

Going further back, it was the same when Set left Yeon Ji-ho with Chain and Nen and headed to Hwangseong. He was in a position where he had to be protected by Gorgon’s beasts because he couldn’t even protect himself.

Yeon Ji-ho hated that fact terribly.

So when he was separated from Set, he tried his best to protect his child somehow. Rather than despairing at the fact that he could do nothing against Hadad, he struggled to survive somehow.

What Yeon Ji-ho wanted was not just to be protected by Set. He wanted to help him. Suddenly, Yeon Ji-ho recalled when he first met Set.

‘Ah, it’s really a shame… I wish I could do something like being transported into a novel and save him. Really.’

Hadn’t he muttered like that, wanting to help him who had lived a life full of hardships? It was then that Yeon Ji-ho clenched the palm he had opened.

Bang!

Yeon Ji-ho’s head jerked up at the loud noise. The direction of the sound was the top of Factory 4. Yeon Ji-ho’s steps became hurried. Even as he ran up the stairs, holding his stomach, Yeon Ji-ho didn’t stop for a moment.

Beyond the broken windows and walls, something red was falling. The outside, which should have been dark, repeatedly flashed with red light and then faded.

Finally, Yeon Ji-ho stood in front of the iron door leading to the rooftop of Factory 4.

“Haah……”

Taking a deep breath, Yeon Ji-ho held his breath and opened the rusty iron door. The scene that unfolded was horrific.

On the rooftop, there were several pieces of furniture scattered around, including a broken wardrobe. And between them were two people.

“…!”

The moment he saw the red sword in Hadad’s hand, Yeon Ji-ho’s eyes widened as if they would tear. It wasn’t the red light flickering due to the red sword aura. The sword, which should have been gray, was stained dark red with someone’s blood.

Yeon Ji-ho somehow ran towards him, straightening his knees that were about to give out. Before Yeon Ji-ho’s hand could reach him, Set staggered as if he was about to collapse.

“Ah, Ji-ho. You’re here?”

Hadad, who had pulled the sword out of Set’s stomach, was shaking the blade of Arondight as if the blood on it bothered him, dropping the bloody water. Meanwhile, when the door opened and Yeon Ji-ho arrived, he looked at him without hiding his pleasure.

“Hm? Why are you looking at me like that? …Oh. Because of Set?”

When Yeon Ji-ho, who had barely supported the collapsing Set, looked at Hadad with wet eyes, he shrugged his shoulders. Hadad spoke as he struck his sword on the ground with a thud.

“It can’t be helped. That’s how novels are. To gain something, you have to defeat the opponent.”

Hadad opened his mouth with a ‘hmm’ and added.

“Still, the narrative is a bit disappointing. Don’t you think? If Set had gotten angry and attacked first, it would have been a prettier picture.”

“Hadad.”

Set, holding his stomach, was still conscious. He called him quietly, minimizing the force with which he leaned on Yeon Ji-ho.

“Did you covet even what you shouldn’t have touched?”

Hadad’s head tilted slightly. Set was looking at Hadad without even frowning, despite being stabbed in the stomach. As if he had lost all sense of pain.

“Your ability to handle the sword aura has improved in a short time.”

“Of course. I’m the protagonist, after all.”

“No. The protagonist of this novel is Ji-ho.”

Set looked at Hadad with a sunken expression. It was then that Yeon Ji-ho turned his head to look at Set at the sudden mention of his name.

“The place where you were the protagonist was Asterra… no, ‘The Star of Hadad’.”

“……”

“I’ll ask again, Hadad. Did you touch something you shouldn’t have?”

At Set’s interrogating tone, Hadad’s chest swelled greatly. The sensation of anger rising to the top of his head was unpleasant no matter how many times he experienced it. However, Hadad tried to shake his head to calm his anger somehow.

Every time Hadad used the red sword aura that was granted to him one day, he felt as if his emotions couldn’t be controlled at will. But the newly acquired ability was thrilling. It was natural that he needed new abilities even more now that he had a new goal in ‘Yeon Ji-ho’, who had been boring to him.

So Hadad was incredibly displeased with what Set was saying now. Something he shouldn’t touch? Where in this world is there such a thing?

“Should I stir that stomach once more?”

Hadad muttered, then added with a smirk.

“No, this time I should stab the throat so you can never speak again.”

Without hesitation, Hadad raised Arondight and pointed the tip of the sword at Set and Yeon Ji-ho. Now he didn’t even need to use the red sword aura. Set was injured, and Yeon Ji-ho was an ordinary person. His victory was as good as decided.

However, Set stood up straight, putting strength into his two legs, even as blood dripped from the hole in his stomach. It was then that he raised his blue sword aura and took a proper stance.

“Did I say we should exchange swords with your life and mine on the scales?”

A blue energy poured out, surging behind Set’s back. It was so brilliant and dazzling that Hadad could barely look at it properly.

“No, Hadad. That’s not possible.”

“……”

“The weight of my life is twice as heavy as yours, so it can’t even be compared.”

It was then that Hadad, gripping Arondight tightly, flew towards Set. At the same time, Set gently pushed Yeon Ji-ho’s shoulder. Even with Set’s very small push, Yeon Ji-ho staggered back.

Bang!

An explosion erupted as the two people’s swords clashed. Set’s sword, which was the sword aura itself, and Hadad’s sword wielding the sword aura, did not allow each other even an inch of retreat.

Several exchanges followed. However, the longer the stalemate continued, the more disadvantageous it was for Set. Blood was still flowing from the hole in his stomach.

Hadad, who glanced down at that wound, spoke without erasing his smile.

“Set, is this how you felt when you first faced me?”

It’s really shitty.

It was the moment Hadad muttered briefly. Arondight slid diagonally. Set, who hadn’t let his guard down, tried to block it immediately, but the pain creeping up from the wound he had just received created a very brief moment of vulnerability.

“Set!”

At that moment, Set turned his head and took in Yeon Ji-ho with his eyes. His shocked face was imprinted on his retina. Set opened and closed his mouth, trying to tell him that he was alright.

But no voice came out. It was because Hadad’s Arondight had pierced deep into his collarbone.

“……”

Far away, Yeon Ji-ho was crying. Set tried to reach out his hand to comfort Yeon Ji-ho. But before that, Hadad violently kicked Set’s chest.

Thud.

Set’s heavy body rolled onto the ground. Yeon Ji-ho, who had rushed over, grabbed Set’s fallen body and began to wail.

“Hic, Se, Set, no, no……”

Yeon Ji-ho stretched out both hands to stop the blood gushing out of Set’s wound like a fountain. But he couldn’t stop all the blood that was leaking. Set, looking at Yeon Ji-ho, barely moved his blood-stained lips.

“Ji-ho.”

“Huu……”

“Listen carefully.”

Set was endlessly regretful that he couldn’t wipe away the crying Yeon Ji-ho’s face himself. They didn’t even have time to grieve over their parting.

“I’m about to explode my sword aura.”

“Do, don’t talk, Set, the blood, the blood……”

“If I exchange it for my death, I can at least take Hadad with me.”

Yeon Ji-ho acted as if he couldn’t hear anything Set was saying. As he kept trying to apply pressure to the wound with his trembling hands to stop the bleeding, Set finally raised his own hand to stop him.

“Ji-ho.”

“……”

“I have finally fulfilled my wish.”

Death had come right up to him. Set gently pulled up the corners of his mouth, deliberately showing a big smile for Yeon Ji-ho to see.

“Ji-ho, you have fulfilled my wish.”