The Weapon Genius: Anything I Hold Can Kill

The ring shimmered at the far end of the hall, golden light curling outward in soft pulses. It flickered like a warning, or a whisper.

Areum was already moving before the last flicker hit the floor.

She’d been patrolling the west wing, pacing the outer halls on instinct more than rotation. Ever since the monster sightings in the distance, the school had been sealed tight. No one came in. No one went out.

So when the light appeared, sudden, silent, wrong, she didn’t hesitate.

"Who’s there?" she shouted, a glass shard forming in her palm in a breath. It grew instantly, shaping into a blade with a quick shimmer and settling into her grip like it had always belonged there. "Step forward! Now!"

No answer.

Then a footstep.

She raised the blade higher, until the ring of light rippled, and a figure stepped through.

She almost let the blade fly.

Almost.

Then her breath caught. Her arm wavered.

"...Jin?"

Her voice cracked slightly.

The glassblade shattered a second later, slivers scattering across the tiled floor.

He looked exhausted. And not in the way he’d been after sparring sessions or training drills. This was something deeper. His shoulders were tense, jaw clenched. His shirt was torn near the shoulder, faint soot streaks trailing down one side. And his eyes, they didn’t look like someone returning home.

They looked like someone still in the middle of the storm.

"I thought you were—" she began, but her voice trailed off.

A shadow shifted along the wall beside her.

Hanuel emerged from it a second later, his form peeling away from the darkness like water running off ink. His eyes scanned the room first, then zeroed in on Jin.

He blinked. "You’re back."

Jin gave a curt nod.

"I heard Areum shouting," Hanuel said. "We thought we were under attack."

"You’re not," Jin replied. "At least, not yet."

Areum stepped forward slowly. "Then... what’s going on? You took care of the thing, right? The monster in the city?"

Jin met her eyes. "It’s still alive."

That landed like a stone in the room.

Hanuel folded his arms, his expression unreadable. "So this isn’t a check-in."

"No."

Areum’s hands curled slightly at her sides. "You need help."

"I need the two of you," Jin said. "We’re stretched thin, and the others, Seul, Echo, Joon, we’re doing everything we can. But it’s not enough."

Hanuel didn’t ask questions. He turned to the side. "Doyun’s on the third floor, sorting water supplies. I’ll tell him you’re pulling us."

"Tell him he needs to hold the line here," Jin said. "Everyone’s panicked. If we’re lucky, this place won’t see action. But if it does... I trust him to keep people alive."

Areum’s eyes searched Jin’s face. "You trust us that much?"

"I fought beside you both," Jin said simply. "I know what you can do."

The silence that followed was heavy, but it wasn’t hesitation. It was agreement.

Jin stepped back through the ring, holding it open with a steady hand.

Areum glanced once toward the dim hallway, toward the murmurs of recruits too young and too afraid to understand the weight of what was coming, and then followed him through.

Hanuel emerged a heartbeat later, silent as a passing shadow.

The ring behind them flickered, holding steady for a breath longer before another figure stepped through.

Areum followed, breath caught mid-motion, eyes darting warily until they settled on Jin’s back just a few feet ahead. Her steps slowed. The glint in her eyes shifted, not fear, but realization.

The rooftop around them was quiet, but only in the way broken cities could be. That awful kind of quiet where every breath felt like it might echo off rubble and reach someone who wasn’t there anymore.

The ring held a second longer, and then disappeared behind them with a faint hum.

Hanuel’s gaze swept the city. Areum stepped closer to the edge, taking in the skyline. What was left of it.

"It’s really... all gone," she murmured.

Jin didn’t answer at first. He didn’t have to.

Areum’s hands curled into fists at her sides. "We grew up here."

Hanuel nodded, silent. freewebnσvel.cѳm

The buildings looked like skeletons. Places they used to pass by on the way to school, now twisted metal and scorched stone. A shop they once raided for snacks after a long patrol, crushed flat beneath a snarl of blackened vines.

"It wasn’t supposed to end like this," Areum said softly. "Even after the system hit. I thought if anything lasted, it’d be this."

Jin said nothing, but he looked at her for a long second. Then, toward the city again.

The wind howled past them, carrying dust, the faint scent of ash, and something sweeter. Faint. Wrong.

Hanuel’s eyes narrowed.

"I keep thinking," Areum said, barely audible. "How many people might’ve still been in those buildings. Hiding. Waiting."

"I tried," a voice said behind them.

The ring user, still in his navy-blue hoodie, silver accents dim under the smoke, leaned against a half-bent metal vent nearby. He didn’t look at them when he spoke.

"I really did. Got out as many as I could. Anyone I heard. Anyone I saw. But..." He shrugged, a little helplessly. "Not everyone was lucky."

Areum turned to him. She opened her mouth to say something, but then nodded instead. Quiet thanks in the shape of silence.

Jin walked forward, joining Echo and the others near the ledge.

Chul was on his feet now, still pale but steadier. Joon stood beside him, eyes sharp. Seul watched the far distance with a furrowed brow. Even the detective looked more alert now, scanning the horizon as if waiting for the next shoe to drop.

And then, it did.

Another ring opened, wider this time, more stable. It shimmered against the rooftop’s broken frame, casting golden light against the charred blackness.

Seo stepped through first.

Her coat still flowed behind her like she hadn’t stopped moving since their last encounter, her gaze sharp and focused.

And behind her, three more stepped through, shoulders squared, eyes forward, ready.

Nam Kyungjoon. Cool, precise, already scanning everyone like he was taking mental notes on their posture and battle readiness.

Baek Seungmin. Casual on the surface, but there was steel in his movements. That calm lethality of someone who’d already survived dozens of fights.

And Kang Daeho. Mountainous. Silent. One hand flexed at his side, knuckles already tight.

Hanuel tensed slightly. Areum’s eyes narrowed.

Jin didn’t say anything, but even he could feel the moment of tension ripple through the air.

These weren’t just names. These were people who had stood across from them in battle once before.

Seo didn’t let it linger.

"We’re not here to reminisce," she said. "We’re here to win. Everyone, form up."

Her voice cut clean through the rooftop. It wasn’t loud, but everyone moved.

Chul took a step forward, but Seo stopped him with a glance.

"You’re not on the front this time," she said.

"I’m fine."

"You’re not." Her tone wasn’t harsh, just certain. "You’re support. That last move drained you. Let yourself recover. You’ll be needed before this is over."

Chul grit his teeth, but nodded.

Seo turned back to the group, her eyes scanning quickly.

"Echo, forward team. You’ll be our advance detection and disruption. Joon, you’re with him. Power support. Strike hard, strike first. If it can bleed, you’ll find it."

They both nodded.

"Hanuel," she continued. "Your ability with shadows will help navigate terrain. You’ll work with Seungmin."

Hanuel didn’t flinch, though his glance toward Seungmin was brief.

"Areum," Seo added, "I need precision. You’re with Kyungjoon. His movement will keep you mobile, yours will keep him sharp."

"Got it," Areum said, already adjusting the straps on her armguards.

"Seul and Daeho, you’re containment. His brute strength, your control of weight, you’ll keep the battlefield on our terms. Box it in."

"And me?" Jin asked.

"You’re with me," Seo said.

Of course.

She didn’t elaborate, and he didn’t ask.

The teams began to move, each one separating just slightly, checking weapons, checking footing, watching the horizon.

Seo stepped up beside Jin as they prepared to move.

"You trust them?" she asked, low.

Jin looked at the others. At the people who had stood beside him every step of the way since day one. Recruits. Friends. Survivors.

"Yeah," he said. "I do."

She nodded.

"Then we start."