I Killed the Game's Heroine - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Arc 01: Today, I killed one of the main characters in the game. Or maybe it was yesterday.

***

Exorcists in this world are often treated as strange monsters by ordinary people.

While the existence of malevolent spirits, which threaten human lives, is known to the general public, malevolent spirits born from the accumulation of negative human emotions cannot even be seen without spirit power, a basic requirement for exorcists.

Unless a particularly dangerous malevolent spirit appears or someone is attacked by one, ordinary people cannot see these spirits with their own eyes.

As a result, people have a dual attitude toward both malevolent spirits and exorcists.

They praise exorcists as heroes or celebrities for defeating malevolent spirits, but at the same time, they shun and bully children who can see things they cannot, considering them cursed before they become exorcists.

That’s just how humans are.

Society worships what it deems great, but small children who resemble those worshipped, yet are different, are treated as outlets for people’s inferiority or hatred.

This is not something that happens only in Korea; it’s a phenomenon observed worldwide.

This is why academies all over the country are putting great effort into securing children with spirit power.

It’s not just about increasing the number of exorcists to deal with the sudden appearance of malevolent spirits.

Children born with spirit power, but who grow up in families or among acquaintances who hate exorcists, or under those who cannot accept anything different, often suffer terrible abuse.

In the worst cases, they become disasters known as possessed beings.

Although the academy has a dedicated team to find children with spirit power to prevent the emergence of beings more deadly and powerful than A-grade malevolent spirits, such cases are rare.

In fact, those with spirit power are so strong compared to ordinary people that there are more incidents where they retaliate and kill their abusers.

Other departments even mock the dedicated team, calling them the blanket that quietly covers up incidents where children with spirit power attack civilians…

The important thing is that they are experts in tracking down incidents involving children with spirit power, and even these experts are baffled by something.

“I just can’t believe it…”

Nokra, a woman from the top exorcist academy in Korea, Mijeongyu, and a member of the spirit power search team, rubbed her temples as she dragged out her words.

It’s not uncommon for children with spirit power to attack civilians for various reasons.

But to hear that a spirit, not a malevolent spirit, was killed?

Nokra couldn’t believe it when she heard the report from a student she had been watching closely at the academy.

Isn’t it obvious? Spirits resemble humans but possess transcendent power, making them impossible to kill—that’s why they’re called spirits [神靈].

Exorcists can’t defeat malevolent spirits with just their spirit power, so they pray to spirits for blessings [power] by offering their faith.

Spirits, in turn, maintain their position by granting power to those who offer their faith.

That’s the common sense of this world. But a human killed a spirit?

And the spirit that the boy allegedly killed was none other than Yeong Hyeong, one of the most vicious and malevolent spirits?

It made even less sense.

Yeong Hyeong was born from darkness and the fear of that darkness.

Because of her nature, she was especially hostile to humans, but exorcists couldn’t stop her.

Even though it’s known that those who worship Yeong Hyeong are not ordinary exorcists but rather those called sorcerers, who use their spirit power to harm people, exorcists still couldn’t stop her.

That’s what spirits are—unreasonable and absurd beings.

Of course, even spirits struggle to deal with other spirits, so exorcists have created at least some safety measures.

But the demon known as Yeong Hyeong hides in the shadows, avoiding these safety measures. No one even knows what she’s usually up to.

It’s all just the nonsense of the sorcerers who worship Yeong Hyeong’s power.

But for Yeong Hyeong to be dead?

Even though Nokra would normally dismiss such unbelievable news as a misunderstanding, especially coming from a student she cared about, she couldn’t laugh it off this time.

She had heard that the sorcerers who worshipped Yeong Hyeong had suddenly gone into hiding.

Exorcists who had been monitoring and tracking Yeong Hyeong also reported that they could no longer sense her presence.

For the past week, Yeong Hyeong hadn’t been seen.

There was quite a bit of evidence suggesting that Yeong Hyeong had disappeared from this world.

So, half in doubt, Nokra went to find the alleged spirit killer, the student she cherished.

And what she found was the boy, pushing her away and leaving.

The first time she met him was in a ruin where a recent surge of malevolent spirits had been reported.

There, the boy, using a sword imbued with spirit power from who knows where, was slicing vertically through a grotesque malevolent spirit that looked like it had melted into jelly.

He kicked another malevolent spirit, which had a human head crudely attached after removing the eyes, nose, and mouth, shattering it with a display of his strength.

In that moment, Nokra forgot all about the unbelievable news of a spirit being killed and simply watched in awe as the boy moved.

The malevolent spirits that naturally appeared inside the ruins were at most E- or D-grade, but even such spirits had the power to kill humans.

The sight of an untrained boy fighting fiercely against malevolent spirits, which were like beasts intent on killing, was truly astonishing.

Even with spirit power, such movements were not easy. In fact, his movements were better than most exorcists, and the spirit power he exuded was also remarkable.

With that level of power, he could handle even C-grade, no, B-grade malevolent spirits without receiving blessings from a spirit.

It was rare to find an exorcist with as much spirit power as that boy.

Although she had come to find him based on the report that he had killed Yeong Hyeong, the boy, who was exorcising malevolent spirits without any formal training, had such remarkable talent that Nokra, as an exorcist, couldn’t help but admire him.

For that reason, Nokra decided to put the matter of Yeong Hyeong aside for now and take him to the academy.

Letting such talent go to waste was unacceptable as an exorcist and as an instructor at the academy.

If, by any chance, the boy really had killed a spirit, then even more so, he was destined to shake the foundations of this world and needed to be at the academy.

“But still…”

Yes, but there was one problem.

The boy had no intention of coming to the academy.

No, it seemed like he had no intention of talking at all.

Whether or not he had killed a spirit, Nokra approached the talented boy with the usual prepared lines she used for students with spirit power.

Spirit power is extremely rare, as evidenced by the small number of exorcists, and it’s hard to meet others with spirit power unless you’re in a special place like the academy.

There’s also an invisible wall of misunderstanding between those with spirit power and those without.

Exorcists in the spirit power search team are trained to create a sense of camaraderie when meeting someone with spirit power for the first time, by explaining that they can see malevolent spirits or things ordinary people cannot.

But despite her efforts, the boy cut off the conversation with Nokra as if he had no interest.

He treated her like a door-to-door salesman no matter how many times she visited.

Realizing that indirect approaches wouldn’t work, she tried a more straightforward one, telling him she was there to invite him to the academy.

“Academy? You mean StarCraft? Recruiting a Medic? If you’re asking me to play at a PC bang, I’d rather not. I don’t play StarCraft with people worse than me.”

“You little…!”

Nokra continued her investigation into the strange boy.

Here’s what she found: He had a lot of spirit power and combat talent, enough to fight B-grade malevolent spirits without blessings from a spirit. He was also annoyingly good at StarCraft.

His name was unknown. He had no parents. He was presumed to be a street orphan, with an appearance suggesting he was of high school age.

Surprisingly, he had no registration number or any trace of existence, as if he had just appeared out of nowhere in this world.

Yes, he was a truly bizarre boy.

Despite investigating for any suspicious details, she found nothing unusual. There was no evidence that he had smuggled in from overseas.

She observed him carefully, just as she would when investigating sorcerers, but after a week of observation, she reached only one conclusion.

The boy was someone who needed help from adults.

From what Nokra had gathered, the boy was at the bottom of society. He had fallen through the cracks of the legal system, living without a name or anything, and would disappear without anyone knowing.

The fact that he had survived until now without even making the news was probably thanks to his strong spirit power.

He was earning money by taking on cheap exorcism requests from shady businessmen or people looking to get rid of malevolent spirits on the cheap, but he wasn’t even using that money to buy proper food.

He often slept in ruins, where he could barely avoid the rain and wind, or on park benches.

It was a mystery how he had survived this long, but as mentioned, with spirit power like his, survival wasn’t impossible.

But how long could he last?

It would be much better for the nameless boy if he entered the academy.

“…I don’t know what kind of life you’ve lived, boy. But I think now you can get help. Come to the academy. If you come to the academy, you’ll live a better life than you are now. I can promise that. I can take responsibility. As an adult.”

“Ugh.”

Even though Nokra spoke sincerely, the boy only grimaced as if he had heard something unpleasant.

With that reaction, the boy turned his body, showing no intention of listening any further.

As he crossed the dark road, Nokra could do nothing but watch.

Though she had denied her own nature to understand and save as many children as possible, the boy was slipping away, reminding her how difficult it was to save someone.

Watching him disappear, Nokra let out a slow sigh.

End of Chapter