Blue sword qi surrounded the Seven-Branched Sword. The blade shone from the pure mana. Sneaking a glance at Kim Suho’s Seven-Branched Sword, Chae Nayun asked.

“You ready?”

“Yeah.”

Meanwhile, I slowly backed away. There was nothing I could do here. Kim Suho would reveal his hidden power and easily take care of this djinn. Overwhelmed by Kim Suho’s might, Chae Nayun would give up being his rival and admire him instead.

“Support me.”

Kim Suho spoke as he adjusted his grip on the sword.

“Support? Please, I’ll be the one to kill him.”

Chae Nayun playfully rebutted and nocked another magic arrow.

“Guooo—!”

The djinn ignited his magic power before she could fire. An evil black qi hurled towards them like hellfire, but a single streak of light extinguished it. A sword saint could cut fire, wind, and even magic power.

Chae Nayun’s arrow flew through the lifted magic power. The condensed mana arrow pierced the djinn’s shoulder.

Kim Suho didn’t miss this opportunity. Leaping up, he slashed down diagonally. This attack should’ve immobilized the djinn, but he only smiled despite being cut. Kim Suho instinctively felt something was wrong. Immediately, fierce magic power shot out from the wound. The shockwave blew Kim Suho away as if a storm had crashed through. He didn’t even have the chance to scream and crashed into a wall across the room.

“…”

“…”

Both Chae Nayun and I became speechless. Strange. Something was definitely strange. This shouldn’t have happened. After being pushed back a bit, Kim Suho should’ve released his hidden power and overwhelmed the enemy.

“Uuu…”

Thankfully, Kim Suho stood back up, but he didn’t seem to be in good shape.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m fine… Kuu.”

Kim Suho needed time to heal. The djinn walked towards Chae Nayun as her face stiffened.

Chweek— Chweek—

Chae Nayun fired two arrows, but none of them worked. The djinn didn’t stop even though she continued to shoot until he looked like a porcupine.

“This isn’t regeneration.”

Chae Nayun murmured in a daze. As she said, this djinn didn’t have high regenerative power. He simply had a sturdy body. In the first place, I didn’t design him to be an opponent Chae Nayun could defeat.

Chae Nayun’s face turned pale as fear and horror crept up inside her.

“Just support me!”

Kim Suho jumped in front of her and blocked the djinn’s path. However, the djinn kept his eyes on Chae Nayun. Condensing his black mana onto his arm, he produced a giant wolf-like beast that bared its fangs toward Kim Suho.

“Uuuk!”

The djinn fought Kim Suho with one hand and grabbed Chae Nayun’s face with the other.

“Are we screwed?” 

I murmured.

By now, I had run away to the back of the exhibition. However, this place was already occupied by a father and child.

“Go that way.”

“Y-Yes?”

“There, go farther back. It’s dangerous here.”

I could feel my voice shaking. Honestly, I was scared to death.

“B-But…”

“While the djinn’s too busy fighting, hurry!”

At my urging, the two quickly scurried away. I took out my laptop from my cross bag. The djinn in my setting shouldn’t have been that strong. What was up with that arm? I sneaked a glance and saw the djinn’s wolf-like arm evenly fighting against Kim Suho. I didn’t recall making such a setting.

I had to do something. At this rate, both Kim Suho and Chae Nayun could die. I unloaded my gun magazine and placed a bullet on the laptop. My damned hands kept trembling. I checked the bullet’s setting with the laptop.

[Mana Bullet] [Null attribute] [Attack Power (3/10)] — A bullet with condensed mana. It is much stronger than a gunpowder bullet.

That wasn’t enough. With an attack power of 3, even scratching that djinn would be impossible. Would increasing the attack power be enough? Thankfully, I had a solution within my settings. The reason this world required a variety of heroes was because of attributes. An attack could have varying effects depending on attributes. Contradicting attributes like water and fire could allow one to overcome a difference in power.

The djinn clearly had a darkness attribute. The opposite of darkness was undoubtedly light. I just had to change the bullet’s attribute.

[Mana Bullet] [Light attribute] [Attack Power (5/10)] — A bullet with a condensed essence of light. Will explode a second time after hitting its target.

[This modification requires 104 SP. Would you like to save this setting?]

It was expensive. That cost 80% of what I had earned in the past week, but I still wasn’t sure if that was enough. It was better to overdo it than fall short. I tried adjusting the attack power to 6.

[You do not have enough SP. The value will be adjusted.] [Attack Power (5.6/10)] [Would you like to save the adjusted modification?]

I hit save. White light erupted from the laptop before melting into a magic bullet with a shiny iron casing. Modification complete. With this single bullet loaded, I took a deep breath and peeked past the wall. Chae Nayun struggled to escape from the djinn’s grasp while Kim Suho fought the djinn’s right arm. No, Kim Suho was pushing the djinn back now. We were at an advantage. It seemed he would defeat the right arm soon. The problem was Chae Nayun. Either she couldn’t breathe or the djinn’s magic power was poisoning her, Chae Nayun’s neck had turned purple. I clicked my tongue and jumped out.

“Hey!”

Then I shouted.

“Move!”

Kim Suho rolled to the side without even turning around. The djinn’s right arm chased after him, but that only increased the target for me. I pulled the trigger with a slightly calmer mind. A bright light flashed from the barrel as though a flash bomb had gone off. The bullet emitted as much pressure and heat as its brightness. The handgun couldn’t withstand the power and exploded in my hand. The broken parts fell as I writhed in pain. Thankfully, the trajectory of the bullet didn’t change. It accurately struck the djinn’s left shoulder.

Bull’s eye.

The bullet exploded and purified the djinn’s arm, which was now gone.

Chae Nayun, on the brink of death, fell to the ground. Kim Suho didn’t miss this opportunity. A metal attribute surrounded his sword. He finally used the sword saint’s all-severing technique. It should be limited to just once or twice a day, but that was enough. I could just watch from the side now.

“Hmm?”

A child suddenly approached me. It was the child I met before with a pretty face, but it was hard to discern a gender from the short hair. The child grabbed my hand and completely healed it. I see, this must’ve been the child the Hero Association barely managed to find. The child with the authority of healing.

“Thanks.”

I stroked the child’s hair with a grin.

Guuuu—!

A deep growl rang out and I quickly turned. The djinn gasped without an arm and kneeled in front of Kim Suho.

He managed to win.

“Huuu…”

I felt all my strength leaving my body and sprawled onto the ground.

***

“Gueeek!”

Chae Nayun regained consciousness and began to vomit. She continued vomiting everything she ate and drank. She seemed frantic like she was coughing blood. I empathized with her at the horrific scene.

The reason Chae Nayun chose a bow was similar to mine. She acted tough on the outside, but was still a sheltered lady on the inside. It wouldn’t be until much later that she overcame her delicate nature.

“…”

Kim Suho approached her to pat her back, but Chae Nayun angrily slapped his hand away. He reluctantly backed off.

“Leave her be. I’m sure her older brother will come to comfort her.”

I thoughtlessly said as I recalled what would happen. Her older brother would arrive first. Then her father would come to clean everything up, but it seemed Chae Nayun took my indifference as an insult.

“You, you… Gueeek!”

Her bloodshot eyes stabbed at me. Did she want something or someone to blame? It was understandable. Unlike Yoo Yeonha, Chae Nayun was a real lady. Anything but the highest quality food would upset her stomach. A cockroach or a rat would ruin her mood for an entire day.

“… You.”

“I’ll head out first.”

Kim Suho tried to say something. For some reason, his face went stiff. I ignored it and turned around. I also needed to reflect. The djinn’s strength was far greater than what I had set. I couldn’t understand why.

***

A single sword cut through the air. The blade slashed out white magic power in every direction and obliterated every monster. A clean execution. Yun Seung-Ah retracted her sword and turned around. Her hair fluttered in the gentle breeze. Dozens of ordinary people who saw her were left speechless. Their eyes contained unshakable respect and admiration. Seeing the world’s most popular hero would become a great story for a long time.

“You can rest assured.”

“Vice-leader!”

A coarse voice interrupted Yun Seung-Ah. She was slightly surprised as a man quickly ran over and relayed surprising news.

“A djinn appeared at the National Weapons Museum!”

“What?”

“You should head over immedi… What? What?” He tilted his head and focused on the transceiver in his ear. “… Ah, yes.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Um… Apparently, the djinn has been taken care of. Three cadets from Cube happened to be at the museum.”

“Oh? That’s great. Who were they?”

“Kim Suho, Chae Nayun, and… Ugh!”

Before he could finish, a violent gale rose and momentarily blinded him. By the time he opened his eyes, the hero who decimated dozens of monsters disappeared.

Yun Seung-Ah quickly arrived at the museum as an ordinary young man walked out. He flinched before quickly bowing when he saw her.

“Hello.”

Does he know me? Well, there aren’t many who don’t. Something felt off, but Yun Seung-Ah greeted him without much thought.

“Ah, yes, did something happen inside?”

“Yes. A djinn appeared. He just died though.”

“I see… And you are?”

“I’m a cadet.”

The young man replied with a grin.

Yun Seung-Ah was taken aback. She finally understood the strange feeling. She acted humble, but Yun Seung-Ah was still one of the most popular heroes in Korea. Most cadets would freeze or act nervous in front of her at the very least.

“Oh, I see.”

“Then I’m off. The ones you’re looking for should be inside.”

The young man introduced himself as Kim Hajin and walked away smiling without a hint of nervousness. Yun Seung-Ah observed him for a moment.

“Who is he?”

Quite daring for a young cadet. But Kim Hajin…? I wasn’t familiar with the name. How did he know who I came for? Yun Seung-Ah sauntered into the museum.

Inside was a mess. The tiled floors were destroyed and an ominous magic power still lingered as proof of the djinn.

“Nayun!”

An emotional voice rang out from the entrance. Yun Seung-Ah turned and saw a middle-aged man looking around with reddened eyes. It was Chae Nayun’s father, Chae Shinhyuk.

“Chae Shinhyuk?”

“Vice-leader Yun Seung-Ah?”

“Ah… You must be busy lately. It’s been a while. Should we go together?”

Yun Seung-Ah smiled and pointed further inside.

***

I managed to find a seat on a bench beside a curved telephone pole. A car stuck out of a nearby window. In this strange place, heroes busily ran around cleaning up while I inwardly panicked.

The story had changed. This shouldn’t have happened if this world was the one within my novel. Of course, an oddity known as Kim Hajin existed, but his role was minimal. Everything had been fine until now. I most certainly hadn’t done anything that could’ve affected… A thought flashed across my mind.

“Ah, that’s right.”

I forgot. I wasn’t the sole author of this story anymore. To be precise, this world wasn’t the novel I wrote. This world was the remake of my novel.

“There’s a co-author…”

An unknown emptiness rose within me. Why was I so relaxed this entire time? Live a comfortable life? No, that was impossible from the start. Just like when someone stopped me from modifying invariable stats, that someone wouldn’t let that happen.

Wiing— The laptop suddenly vibrated. I saw a message when I opened it.

[Flaw. There was no semblance of danger for others and the main character. If the story continued like that, readers would become bored thinking, “The main character will always win anyways.”]

“This crazy motherfu…”

No danger? Of course, there was no danger. Readers didn’t like extreme danger! This thoughtless amateur…

However, there was another line below.

[Makeshift solution. Even if things become a mess, antagonists have increased in power.]