Chapter 271

Chapter 271
## Chapter 271

Outing (3)

I sat back and casually took a drink of my coffee while scrolling through the web.

“Just as I suspected, this has thrown everyone into a frenzy.”

The hospital raid pulled off by the villain was an event where I had been right in the thick of things.

Because of that, I was tracking the updates very closely…

‘It barely even happened a moment ago… ‘

Yet the internet’s response was already far more explosive than I had anticipated. It had all the makings of a massive, long-lasting scandal.

While I was deeply engrossed in analyzing the digital feedback with a focused scowl,

“Oh? He’s finally waking up. Shorter nap than I predicted.”

I detected a stir from the adjacent bedroom, the spot where Kang Tae-san had been resting.

Getting up from my seat, I pushed the door open to find him sitting upright on the mattress, looking completely dazed.

“You’re finally back with us.”

I had intentionally put him under to accelerate his physical mending, but given his rugged constitution, the slumber didn’t hold him for very long.

“Uh… What gives? Was I out cold? Where… where am I exactly?”

He rubbed his eyes sleepily, scanning the environment with utter bewilderment written across his face.

He canted his head to the side, searching his memory for why this particular, recognizable setting was staring back at him.

This happened to be the residence I occupied before relocating to my current place.

I kept the property because I wasn’t strapped for cash. It served as an excellent staging ground within Seoul, and it had proven its worth today.

“Hold on a second…”

His state of disorientation faded rapidly, however.

His brow furrowed as recollection washed over him, and his eyelids snapped wide open.

He bolted straight off the mattress.

“What the hell?! What happened to the blast?! Where is Grandma?!”

“Right over there.”

I shifted my posture, pointing toward a quiet space in the room.

His grandmother was resting peacefully underneath a blanket, completely oblivious to the panic.

“Phew…”

Kang Tae-san rushed across the floor to verify her well-being, letting loose a heavy sigh of relief.

Though he lacked medical training, he could see her skin tone looked drastically healthier, and her chest rose and fell in a rhythmic, untroubled cycle.

Once his panic subsided, we stepped out into the main living space to keep talking.

“Are you doing okay? You threw yourself over us to block that detonation…”

“I’m perfectly fine. My body is built like a tank, you know. You’re the one who needs to hit the gym. Stop rotting away in an office chair all week.”

“Are you kidding me?! Hey, I’m out in the field way more than I’m trapped behind a desk! Besides, being the rookie means I get saddled with every single grunt task imaginable! You have absolutely no clue how brutal life is for a bottom-tier public servant!”

After trading a few more petty jabs, we steered the conversation back to the matter at hand.

“Seriously though, what went down? I feel bizarrely energetic for someone who just survived a bomb blast.”

“It was a coordinated terrorist strike. Just flip on the television, every channel is covering it non-stop.”

“…A terrorist strike? And here I thought the world was finally chilling out. I knew those degenerates wouldn’t stay crawled up in their holes forever. A literal act of terror drops right in the middle of my paid time off, which means a mountain of paperwork is waiting to crush me… This is an absolute disaster…”

Kang Tae-san, holding a low-ranking position within the Supernatural Management Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Department, clutched his temples and let out a miserable groan.

He instinctively reached into his pocket for his cellular device to view the headlines… only to remember it had been completely fried by the electromagnetic pulse. Swearing under his breath, he clicked the TV remote.

-Earlier today at roughly 1 PM, a coordinated terrorist assault shook a major medical facility located in Heuksang-dong, Seoul. The perpetrator initiated the attack by knocking out all local power grids and electronic systems via…

The news broadcast, which had undoubtedly been looping for hours, filled the screen once more.

An act of terrorism wasn’t a completely shocking anomaly on its own.

Such occurrences were a regular part of life, even if the vigilante Hahoe Mask had successfully driven down global crime statistics.

Yet this specific event was capturing an unprecedented level of public fixation.

And for quite a few distinct reasons.

-Suddenly, this blinding radiance just wrapped completely around me! Man, I swear I’ve never witnessed anything like it in my entire life!

-It was an absolutely magnificent sight to behold. I happened to be glancing out the window, and in a flash, the entire area lit up, and this brilliant illumination, resembling a roaring bonfire…

The television program displayed cellular recordings gathered from around the perimeter.

While the electronics inside the structure had been rendered useless by the EMP, individuals on the exterior managed to capture the phenomenon.

“…Hold on, we were standing right inside that? In the center of all that light?”

“Yep.”

Kang Tae-san stared blankly at the glass display, whispering in sheer shock.

His disbelief was entirely warranted.

Beholding the event through the lens of an outsider, it truly looked like a legendary spectacle.

Goooo—

An incredibly vivid, shimmering blend of gold and silver radiance.

A massive, conical vortex of energy spun wildly, blanketing the targeted zone while its tendrils flickered and pulsed like a sentient entity—.

It was a breathtaking, divine display.

The broadcast pressed onward, introducing additional video clips and firsthand accounts.

-Hospital Patient: I legitimately believed my life was over. I’m dead serious, the shockwave slammed me violently into the concrete, and I was literally spitting up blood. I thought that was the curtain call for me…

-Hospital Visitor: The initial detonation knocked me completely unconscious. My eardrums ruptured instantly, so when my eyes opened, the world was totally silent. Then out of nowhere…

-Hospital Security Guard:… Right when I accepted that death was coming, he manifested out of thin air.

These were the raw accounts of the survivors trapped inside the zone.

And every single one of their stories aligned perfectly.

The moment that radiant, flame-like holy power washed over their skin, individuals who were drawing their final breaths suddenly felt life flooding back into them.

Their sapped stamina surged, gaping lacerations stitched themselves closed, and chronic ailments vanished entirely.

This wasn’t an isolated fluke experienced by a mere handful of bystanders.

It was a bona fide miracle, far outstripping the known capabilities of any recognized priest on Earth.

An act of celestial grace, offering redemption to those trapped in absolute hopelessness and doom.

“…This defies logic. There is zero precedent for a holy power manifestation of this magnitude… Yet the proof is right there. Hell, my grandmother and I are living proof… That guy is the only reason we’re breathing.”

While Kang Tae-san, whose professional background made him well-versed in supernatural anomalies, racked his brain to make sense of the data, the media coverage pivoted its attention toward the “holy knight clad in white plate armor” responsible for the phenomenon.

A champion who arrived precisely when doom seemed certain, neutralized the threat, and preserved hundreds of lives.

What was his identity?

What were the true boundaries of his capabilities?

And where had he vanished to?

Naturally, the hostile assault had still inflicted deep scars on the facility and its occupants.

No matter how immense the holy power was, it possessed no mechanism to reverse death itself.

Even so, it had successfully averted a catastrophic body count and insulated thousands from harm, leaving an indelible mark on the hearts of the populace.

The segment concluded with a spokesperson from the local Pantheon branch in South Korea offering reverence to the celestial savior, but the digital space remained in absolute meltdown.

I pulled up the primary internet boards on my cellular device.

-I can smell it from here… The undeniable aura of an absolute titan making landfall back on Earth! And he chose Korea!

-Holy crap; Earthlings can actually scale their holy power to that degree? I always heard grinding levels in that specific class was a nightmare.

-Active priest checking in. Based on the sheer density of the holy power exhibited on the news, this guy would easily hold the rank of Archbishop in his home realm. My devotion is totally revitalized. On that note, allow me to enlighten you all on the path of Tarakmin…

The overwhelming majority of threads were packed with immense wonder and hype regarding this enigmatic paladin.

Given that an infinite number of deities presided over an infinite number of planes, each with distinct moral alignments, not every individual wielding divine energy was a force for good.

It was actually quite common for zealots of malevolent entities to operate as catastrophic villains.

Consequently, the sudden arrival of an overwhelmingly potent holy knight who used his gifts to preserve life during a crisis was a massive breath of fresh air.

To the average civilian, who spent every day enduring existential dread and volatility, the addition of powerful, benevolent protectors was always a massive win.

Ever since Hahoe Mask, another high-tier returnee, began making moves, violent crime statistics had dropped off a cliff.

Yet unlike Hahoe Mask, whose abilities relied on an ominous, terrifying brand of dark mana, this new holy knight’s essence was perceived as untainted and honorable, which sent public adoration into overdrive.

-If his mastery over holy power is that absurd, he’s easily sitting in the top 3 rankings of Korea, right? Is it possible he could actually take down Hahoe Mask, that creepy dark sorcerer?

└Keep dreaming, buddy. He’s a powerhouse for sure, but there’s always a ceiling. Drawing that much divinity probably drains him to the point of fainting after one use.

└Are you functionally blind? Did your eyes even process the video footage?

└Must be a newcomer to the forums. Have you completely missed what Hahoe Mask has pulled off? Stop comparing some fresh face to a living legend.

└Oh word? Then where is your precious Hahoe Mask hiding right now? Did he kick the bucket in a ditch somewhere? lmao

└Tell me you don’t actually reside in Korea without telling me. No wonder your take is so garbage. Clear bait is clear.

└[This comment has been removed by the moderator]

The friction between Hahoe Mask’s loyal defenders and his vocal critics rapidly snowballed into full-blown digital warfare.

‘They’re tearing each other apart over absolutely nothing.’

From my perspective, considering both of these figures were nothing more than my personal constructs, watching them bicker was just a funny, empty expenditure of human energy.

I kept skimming the entries, monitoring the general trajectory of the public mindset while idly scratching my jaw.

-I put together a digital rendering of the hospital paladin based on descriptions from the survivors. Granted, it’s just a mockup of the plate armor.

└Whoa, that looks incredible. Dropping an upvote.

└The aesthetics go incredibly hard. But seriously, how did he materialize and vanish so instantly while lugging around that heavy gear? He has to be packing some ridiculously high-grade spatial artifact.

-Paladin-nim, I’m begging for your assistance! My mom is suffering from a terminal illness. I am prepared to offer a life-changing financial reward…

-I’m a talent scout for MBS Broadcasting. If anyone possesses any lead on his current whereabouts, please slide into our inbox immediately…

It felt incredibly surreal to watch his fame explode exponentially across the globe, despite the total absence of a high-definition photograph or clear video file.

Furthermore, this frenzy wouldn’t remain confined to internet message boards.

Countless syndicates, both native and overseas, would currently be mobilizing assets to hunt him down.

‘They’re chasing a ghost, though. I took deliberate steps to completely saturate the entire zone with residual holy power.’

No matter how specialized or bizarre the investigative superpowers in this era might be, extracting an accurate trace from a zone choked with such an immense, pure spiritual resonance would be an exercise in futility.

Besides, I had utilized “Blessing: Leap” to blink directly from the hospital interior straight into a closed restroom stall, leaving absolutely zero physical footprints behind.

‘Deploying Heinrich would have technically been the cleanest path to handle the crisis… but doing so wasn’t practical.’

The entire Revolutionary affair had only just drawn to a close.

I had recently spent an “Interdimensional Transfer Formation Summon” to send Hans back across the veil to Auterica, meaning triggering Heinrich right afterward would have induced a multi-day operational cooldown.

‘Right on the heels of the Supreme Pontiff’s burial… ‘

Still, it would be simple enough to bring him out into the open every now and then to establish a solid public record.

I exited out of the forum app and gave a light shrug.

“Ah… Now that I think about it, everyone on my squad is well aware that Grandma was checked into that specific clinic. And they all know the exact reason I put in for leave.”

Kang Tae-san mumbled under his breath, staring blankly down at his ruined phone.

He looked like he was already visualizing the brutal interrogation session waiting for him the moment he got back online.

As the absolute lowest man on the totem pole for his division, happening to be at the exact epicenter of a historical event on his day off…

Even if he had been completely blacked out from the jump, his superiors would grill him to no end, desperate to squeeze out even a microscopic piece of intelligence.

“…I guess I have no choice but to grab a replacement device later.”

Naturally, dodging that responsibility wasn’t an option for a low-level bureaucrat.

He eventually went out and secured a replacement unit, and the very instant it activated, a torrential downpour of unread texts and missed alerts flooded his screen.

On the bright side, his immediate superiors were understanding of his trauma and didn’t outright cancel the remainder of his personal time.

“Aaaaagh—! I swear to god, if they try to rope me into searching for him too, I’ll lose it! Come on, mysterious paladin guy, just do us all a favor and go log your identity with the registry! You’re literally a champion of righteousness…! Don’t go rogue like Hahoe Mask…!”

Kang Tae-san shivered, staring down the barrel of a miserable work week.

‘My bad, man.’

Leaving my companion to grapple with his impending bureaucratic doom, I made my way back to my own apartment, drawing the curtain on an unexpectedly hectic afternoon out.

Reflecting on it, it seemed like a solid strategy to bring Heinrich into rotation far more frequently moving forward.

Now that his grand introduction to the world was officially out of the way.