Chapter 49…
Smoke.
After every explosion, all that’s left behind is that damn smoke.
I bit my lip and stomped the ground.
Boom! KWAANG!
The explosion site was still pure chaos—
Screams, sirens, dust, shattered glass.
And weaving through it all—shadows, black and swift.
…This is bad.
The Garden of All Things was destroyed.
If that’s the case, the compensation will at best be delayed—
or, with bad luck, canceled entirely.
Crack—
Just thinking that made my jaw clench.
Those bastards…
What was the terrorists’ goal?
What kind of power struggle caused this?
Could it be the Hawks? Did they find out about the Commissioner’s request?
My mind reflexively spun through possibilities.
No… the Hawks are still part of the government.
Even if they’re hardliners, this would cross a—wait. Cross a “line”?
That moment, I remembered what Seo Gyeoul had said at the barbecue place.
“They’ve always been hardliners, but lately… they’re going way too far.”
There it was.
That foul smell—
the stench of something rotten.
Thoughts chased thoughts, but I cut them off.
Deal with what’s in front of you first.
The priority was to hunt down the bastards who caused this mess.
Analysis could come after.
Fwip—
Blown back by the explosion’s shockwave, I sprinted toward the heart of the incident, scanning the area as I went.
“E-east gate explosion confirmed! Chain reaction!”
“Sniper spotted on HQ rooftop! Requesting support—AARGH!”
“Multiple civilians trapped in the Garden plaza! Send rescue teams now! Damn it, anyone, just move!”
At the front, agency staff struggled to respond.
At the rear, radio chatter crackled nonstop.
And in the middle of it all—an unexpected figure.
“Where’s the event director?! Not here?!”
“Barrier-stone handlers, stay put!”
“Everyone stay calm! You, in white! Call the special ops team! You there, report to Strategic Planning! Yes, you, glasses guy!”
Seo Gyeoul.
She had taken over command, standing in for the missing director.
…What? Gyeoul’s in charge?
Few people can step up and take control in a crisis like this.
It takes quick judgment and a heavy sense of responsibility.
She really has both the skill and the character.
In the rigid, hierarchical bureaucracy we worked in, acting like that was no small feat.
Maybe I underestimated her…
I’d respected her, sure—but maybe she was even more impressive than I’d thought.
A nod to a barrier handler, a radio tossed smoothly to a support agent—
and even amid the chaos, she kept an eye on Rebecca beside her.
That kind of composure meant she’d seen her share of real crises.
Thank god she came along.
Without her, this place would’ve fallen into hell in minutes.
Good. I’ll leave crisis control to her…
But even as all that chaos unfolded,
the perpetrators moved calmly, as if none of it concerned them—
executing their plan with perfect precision.
Refined movement. Efficient division of labor.
Like actors who’d rehearsed hundreds of times.
These guys are pros.
Even a fool could tell—they’d done this before.
As I neared the center of the disaster site—
Swish—
A faint shadow tried to slip past me.
I twisted reflexively to block him.
Where do you think you’re going, bastard…
A bald man in a black mask.
Knuckle dusters on his hands—definitely a Monk.
As soon as I stepped in front of him, he threw a punch.
BOOM—!
The air itself split.
…Trained. Very trained.
His fists shot forward fast—too fast for his size.
And not just fast—strong.
“Not bad.”
“…”
I tilted my body to dodge his first blow,
then deflected the follow-up hook with my shoulder.
Clang—!
Even grazing it rattled my shoulder bone.
That’s a skill… or an item effect.
My lips curled upward.
It’d been a while since I’d had a fun close fight.
Well, aside from that time with Ju Geon-ryul, my “beginner monster” sparring partner…
Let’s not think about that freak.
He was a melee specialist.
Comparing this bald guy to him was an insult.
This one was just strong enough to be fun.
Which made it all the more unfortunate.
“Sorry. I’m a little busy right now…”
“!”
I murmured that and dashed into his guard.
He tried to backstep and reset his stance—
Too late.
“Here’s a free tip. When you’re fighting someone barehanded—”
Thud.
I drove my left foot into the ground and snapped his chin upward.
“Guh!”
“Keep your attacks short and sharp.”
Wobble—
His eyes went glassy.
The fight was already over.
In close combat, a tenth of a second decides everything.
BOOM—!!
I grabbed his neck and slammed him into the ground.
“—Guh!”
Speed matters less than timing and angle.
A strike in the right instant.
“And if you’re gonna rely on your gear—make it count.”
Crack—!
I reversed my grip on the edge of my blade and plunged it down.
The sharp metal tore through his armor and pierced his heart.
“Guaaah—mmph!”
“Shh. Quiet.”
I pulled off his mask and stuffed it in his mouth.
His lower face was revealed—
…This guy.
From the corners of his mouth up to his ears,
a tattoo like a grotesque smile was carved deep into his skin.
A smile so disturbing it sent chills down my spine.
Could it be…
I rummaged through his clothes—
and found a small paint can.
A sticker of a smiley face with X-shaped eyes was stuck to it.
That confirmed it.
Damn. It’s Smile’s crew.
Everything fit now.
Smile—the contractor who’d take on any job for the right price.
Whoever hired them… must’ve paid a fortune.
Expensive, but with an almost perfect success rate—famous in the underworld.
Even my pre-regression self had known about him.
And there was one more reason Smile was infamous—
“Ahem! Alriiiight—everyone, your attention pleaaase!”
A voice rang out, cheerful and echoing through a loudspeaker.
I instinctively looked up.
On the cracked glass dome of the Garden stood a man.
“To all our lovely audience members, thank you for attending our show!
I’m ‘Smile’—nice to meet you?”
White clown mask, lips painted in a huge grin.
He leaned lazily on a long paintbrush, standing crookedly.
Still wearing the mask, huh.
He couldn’t lie.
Couldn’t even hide his expressions.
That’s why he wore the mask.
“Now that the opening act’s done, let’s begin the main show!
It’ll be quite different—very special, in fact!
Oh, and I don’t have a busking permit, so let’s hurry, shall we?!”
“Same damn annoying tone as ever…”
As he finished, Smile twirled his long brush.
And suddenly—zap—a jolt of recognition hit me.
As memories resurfaced, I realized what I’d missed.
“Ah, shit—”
I scanned the area fast.
Once I focused, I started seeing them—
hidden all around.
At the bases of building pillars,
under the trees,
near manholes where utility pipes ran—
Everywhere, tucked away—
paint cans with smiley stickers.
“Damn it, should’ve brought Pyeon-on…”
He would’ve spotted them immediately.
They must’ve been hidden with some illusion spell.
But regret was useless now.
It was time to act.
“Sung-sik!”
Beep!
A little lizard popped into the air.
I grabbed him and activated my skill.
[User activates skill: “Demonic Resonance Lv.1 (B–)”]
[Sync with familiar ‘Sung-sik (Kakan)’ successful!]
Every second counted.
I was the bomb squad now.
Those paint cans—Smile’s custom explosives.
Can’t screw this up. If I black out mid-process, it’s all over…
I focused, narrowing everything down to the cans.
Too much force, and all the metal around would fly up too—
draining my mana and knocking me out.
And if that happened?
Everyone here becomes roast meat.
No—
knowing Smile’s twisted personality, it’d be worse than that.
He did say it’d be a “special” show.
Which meant—failure wasn’t an option.
“Paint cans, paint cans, paint cans…”
I muttered, mapping the surroundings in my head.
Then opened my hand wide.
A simple gesture helps focus.
Grip—
And clenched my fist.
[User activates latent ability: <Supermetal Assimilation & Manipulation> (S+)]
Something tugged at my power.
No time to look—too urgent.
When they were close enough—
“Hup!”
I flicked my finger upward.
Dozens of objects shot into the air.
Whoosh—!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!
But I couldn’t detect everything across the vast site.
In the distance, more explosions erupted.
“…Huh?”
Only—
the explosions weren’t what I expected.
No scorching blast. No shockwave.
What I saw through the clear air was something that shouldn’t exist.
What the hell? Am I seeing this wrong? Illusion magic? A trick?
My head spun.
I needed to read his intent.
But Smile had thrown a fastball disguised as a curve.
“Kyaaah! T-the people—they turned into dust—!”
“The building’s collapsing! Get a wizard up here!”
“Shit! The concrete debris—it’s gone!”
No blood. No flesh.
No wreckage. No dirt.
Instead—
red party glitter, sparkling ribbons, whirling confetti.
You sick bastard…
Everyone and everything caught in the blast
had turned into confetti—
fluttering in the air like some twisted celebration.
