The Protagonists Are Murdered by Me
chapter-33

Three months quickly passed.

Seodam has not gone on another protagonist hunt due to spending all of his time studying swordsmanship and magic while personally teaching Celeste.

Though, as a veteran hunter, he could go monster hunting whenever he wanted, so there wasn’t much trouble except for when Taylor wanted to tag along.

Over the last three months, there have been many changes within him.

[Skill White Swordsmanship’s second form has opened.]

The first form was Apathetic Introspection.

It was like seeing oneself as a blank piece of paper and finding one’s limit.

Which kind of sword fits, which swordsmanship is best suited, which technique to complement it, and even how to breath.

The moment he grasped all that, the second form opened.

Seodam hasn’t had many chances to use his sword these days except when hunting monsters since aether blades were the most efficient.

So recently he has started swinging his sword day and night, and the results have finally begun to show.

Celeste, who was learning swordsmanship from Seodam, was also growing at an alarming rate.

And unlike Seodam, Celeste was able to imitate the Almus Swordsmanship to a respectable level.

Seodam’s current physical ability is almost D-Rank, but fighting Celeste now would be more difficult than when he was F-Rank.

Pah!

“Ugh!”

When their wooden swords collided, Celeste fell backwards, then Seodam wiped away his sweat.

Although it has gotten tougher, he did not lose.

Still, it was a close fight, meaning Celeste has improved significantly.

“It hurts.”

“It’s normal to get beaten to grow stronger.”

“That sounds like something an aging adult would say.”

“I don’t know about the aging part, but you did get beaten…”

Bringing in the New Years, Seodam is now in his 30s.

It was the age where hunters with no superpowers would retire.

However, Seodam is now in better shape than when he was in his early 20s.

Even Taylor had mentioned that his muscles were much toner, his face younger, and his skin looked better.

In fact, Taylor is the same age as Seodam, but she looked so young that everyone thought she was a college student at most.

It was hard to believe how old she actually is.

This is one of the phenomena that occurs when a S-Rank superhuman is able to control their aether to its limit, and is a similar case with Seodam who uses mana.

However, it was peculiar that Seodam’s mana is already similar to S-Rank superhumans, even though at best it’s D-Rank.

“Let’s take a break now. Didn’t you say you were leaving today?”

“Yes.”

After being told to take a break, Celeste went and sat in a corner as she wiped her sweat with a towel, then she turned on her phone.

At first, Seodam would show her one or two videos of Sanagi every day so they could strategize on how to beat her, but now she was accustomed to watching videos of Sanagi herself.

‘Another video was uploaded today.’

Sanagi has tens of thousands of subscribers on the internet, a pretty and fierce face, and an extraordinary superpower.

She’s been posting videos of herself doing kendo, all of which became a motivation for Celeste.

Celeste, who was watching the video absentmindedly, thought to herself.

‘No matter how much I see it…I don’t think I can lose.’

Recently, Celeste can be seen with a smile on her face.

When she first came to the gym, she seemed like a child who was just going through the motion of living.

Lately, she found herself looking forward to the sword debate, which was quickly approaching, and facing Sanagi again.

Seodam activated White Witch’s library to study while they were taking a break.

His magic has gone a long way after three months.

Even though he has no talent for magic, the witch’s magic books were clearly explained, so it was easy for anyone to learn as long as they understood the gist of it.

It’s like going from studying high school level magic to suddenly studying middle school level magic.

Thanks to the skill, Seodam is now able to use ‘Tier 1’ magic somewhat competently.

‘But it’s still not enough.’

Both swordsmanship and magic takes time to develop.

Unlike superpowers where one can simply release more aether.

Although it’s still possible for swordsmen and mages to train, Seodam couldn’t.

Because his level limit is F-Rank.

The only way for him to increase this limit is by hunting protagonists and leveling up.

One month left until the swordsmanship debate.

Celeste was scheduled to leave for her tour soon, so there wasn’t time to teach her anything else.

Seodam thought it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to take this time to ask the Client for another mission.

While he was reading a magic book from the witch’s library, Taylor came into the gym as soon as Celeste came back from her shower.

“Are you blanking out again? You’re carrying that flowerpot with you everywhere.”

Seodam cherished the flowerpot Taylor gave him, and lately, has always carried it with him.

Taylor felt proud of herself, but also felt unhappy.

The reason why she’s unhappy…

‘Just, you’re a fool.’

…It was that simple of a reason.

“By the way, you don’t mind me going with Celeste?”

Originally, Celeste couldn’t find a senior to go with her, so she was planning to ask Yoo Seodam.

But Taylor, who often came to the gym, volunteered when she heard about it.

The reason was simple.

“I’m going to make a hell of a lot of money riding along, aren’t I?”

Celeste, a peak D-Rank hunter, had to complete her ‘performance’ report soon.

If a hunter did not complete their performance report in a timely manner, they will be disqualified as a hunter.

So Celeste plans to do an ‘extra curriculum’ for her performance report.

Extra curriculum is a special course where new hunters tour a C or B rank dungeon with talented senior hunters.

It was also used by many guilds these days because even if a B or A rank dungeon was successfully cleared, it would be seen as the act of ‘riding a bus’ to some extent.

Seodam and Taylor, who have spent their lives hunting without caring about the public, found the performance report ridiculous.

In any case, Celeste plans to tour a dungeon with Taylor and elite hunters from the Costantini family.

She wasn’t fond of Taylor going with her, but there was also no reason to refuse a S-Rank hunter’s help.

“By the way, is it okay for me to take over your job?”

“Actually, there’s something I have to do, so you go ahead.”

“Is that so.”

Taylor shrugged and continued.

“Then, I’m going to leave the apartment for awhile.”

“…It’s my apartment.”

“Don’t get too lonely while your sister is away. Ah, right. When I’m done with this, I have another matter to take care of in Jamsil. I might be gone longer than expected.”

Jamsil?

Seodam tilted his head when he remembered that the swordsmanship debate was also held in Jamsil, Korea.

‘Taylor doesn’t use a sword, so I don’t think she has to worry about the debate.’

---

Thanks to my monopoly on the deformed dungeon from last time, my financial situation was quite good.

At least that was the case until I bought a 1st-Grade aether suit.

Now my savings was barely enough to last a few months, still, I think the investment was worth it.

…I’m sure.

An aether suit is every hunter’s top priority.

The 3rd-Grade suits were a combination of a shirt with circuits underneath a vest, followed by a protective suit, then finally a coat.

The 2nd-Grade suits increased several folds in performance while easing some of the covering.

Then what about the 1st-Grade suits?

Even if I have both of my hands in my pockets and wearing gym clothes, I can automatically deploy it.

Truly a state of the art technology.

If there’s one drawback, it’s that aether is constantly consumed while the suit is worn.

Still, it’s easier to carry and the defense was worth investing in until I grew stronger.

Isn’t my life more important than money?

If money was more important, I wouldn’t even consider it.

Also, 1st-Grade suits not only had temperature control, but also simple digital features, and depending on the price range, there were even ones that had guns, blades, and missiles attached to the suit itself, so it can be said that hunters lived and died by their suit.

My suit as a whole was black, glossy, and ergonomic in appearance as if it has been painted on my body.

Although the design is simple, there was a beauty to its simpleness.

Putting my mega shooter on my back and jumping, I could definitely feel my body being lighter.

1st-Grade suits also have the effect of increasing the wearer’s power and speed, enough to give ordinary people F-Rank attributes.

As I was casting a protective magic circle around the flowerpot and putting it in a hidden aether safe, the spirit spoke.

[Where are you going…?]

“I’m leaving to make money.”

[Materialism is ephemeral…]

“…Do you have to put it that way?”

[I’m scared of being alone…]

“Even so, I can’t take you.”

For some reason, hearing that shaky voice made my heart uneasy.

After comforting the flower for some time, I spoke to the Client.

“Prepare my next mission.”

< Yes, I’m on it. >

Because of the flower, I was rather in a hurry.

I have to gather the materials for the flower so it can blossom as soon as possible because I read in the magic book that if it’s delayed the flower will wither.

And, it was my golden opportunity to get a Spirit, so I don’t want to miss this chance if I can help it.

That’s why lately I’ve been thinking of ways to help the spirit grow.

I was pondering over it as I looked through the missions.

“Erm…”

The universe was vast, filled with many worlds and many protagonists.

“The missions from the recommendation list have a level bonus reward, right?”

< That’s correct. >

“Then let’s go with this.”

Clicking on one of the missions from the recommendation list, a message appeared.

#The_game_I_made_has_become_a_reality

#Fusion_Fantasy #Constellation #Observer #Growth #Thriller

< Do you wish to go now? >

With my mega shooter tightly attached, I nodded my head.

My vision quickly blurred.

[Traveling to Arash’s Battle Royale Role Playing Survival Project. The world of the Level 73 protagonist, Arash.]

[10…9…8…]

[Travel completed.]

The world slowly collapsed and reconstructed.

Opening my eyes.

Under the vast sky, an expanse of land came into my view.

“…W-what!”

Right, I was flying in the sky.

Unfortunately, my suit does not have a flight function, so in the end, I could only panic and flounder in the air…

‘Huh?’

Strangely, there was no sensation of falling.

As if I was floating.

[You became the Keflox Nebula Constellation (temporary).]

[Your current state is ‘Astral’ and cannot interfere with reality.]

“…Constellation?”

Suddenly, a very different kind of message that did not belong to the Client appeared in my mind.

{ Constellation Yoo Seodam has appeared like a comet! Welcome to the world of Arash Project! }

{ Do you find eternal life boring? }

{ Do you want an avatar representative? }

{ Do you want to discover a new kind of entertainment? }

{ Then vote for your very own avatar! }

Ding!

[Skill Channel Allotted (temporary) acquired.]

Only

[Skill Channel Interference (temporary) acquired.]

[Skill Channel Search (temporary) acquired.]

[Skill Channel Sponsorship (temporary)…]

Looking at the series of messages, I became dazed.

Constellation?

Before I could even digest what was happening, like having a bucket of cold water poured on me, another message appeared.

{ Note, Constellations cannot directly interfere with reality! }

…Uh, then how do I kill the protagonist?