Chapter 85:


    A few minutes ago.


    “We’ve secured Jang Jongsik!”


    “Cough, cough! Ugh, the smell of gunpowder.”


    After the nned arrest operation waspleted.


    <i>‘Huh?’</i>


    Seonwoo Yeon btedly noticed Kiryeo’s absence. Until now, she had been distracted by the rampage caused by gang members drunk on Blueshell.


    <i>‘Where did he go?’</i>


    She wondered if the appraiser had lost his way, so she btedly set out to find Kim Kiryeo.


    – Kyaaak!But something was strange.


    – Help me!


    The closer she got to where her skill was directing her, the more she heard what sounded like a woman’s desperate cries echoing around…


    – I’ll tell you!


    Eventually, she reached the hallway in question. It was only then that Seonwoo Yeon realized one thing.


    – I’ll tell you everything without hiding anything! I’ll somehow remember what you asked about earlier too. Please…!


    Amidst these desperate pleas, there was a familiar male voice mixed in.


    <i>‘What?’</i>


    However, Kiryeo’s voice was so quietpared to someone else’s screams that she couldn’t understand what he was saying.


    <i>‘What is it?’</i>


    She feels an unexpected sense of anxiety. So Seonwoo Yeon hurried her steps, and soon she entered the room where they were.


    “Ah.”


    “….!”


    However, as soon as she arrived in the room, what she saw was such a sight.


    “You came quickly?”


    Kim Kiryeo was squatting on the floor and holding someone’s head. Now there is no sign of trying to hide that appearance. Moreover, what was the meaning of that bloodstain? The woman held by him was covered in blood all over her face as if her head had been scratched somewhere…


    “Hiik!”


    At that moment, the bloodied woman nced at the ID badge of the association hanging around Seonwoo Yeon’s neck and immediately jumped up. And wouldn’t she have run over with all her might, grabbed her crotch, and shouted like this?


    “Y, you’re from the association, right? Please help me! I’ll surrender. I’ll turn myself in for using Blueshell!”


    Seonwoo Yeon’s heart sank for a moment because it didn’t take much effort for her to understand the situation.


    <i>‘Did you hit someone?’</i>


    She looked in the direction where Kim Kiryeo was with startled eyes.


    <i>‘And to ordinary people?’</i>


    But what he returned was nothing more than a cold look in his eyes.


    “This person really misunderstands…”


    <i>Tak, tak.</i>


    Suddenly, the hunter stood up and approached her. Then, he turned to the trembling woman.


    “Excuse me. Even if your lips are twisted, you should speak properly.”


    “H, hiik!”


    “What did I do to hit you? Huh?”


    Then the mysterious citizen immediately corrects her statement.


    “Yes, yes! Th, that’s right. This person didn’t do anything to me.”


    But how credible would such fearful words really be?


    “….”


    Seonwoo Yeon’s mind went nk.


    Perhaps… Perhaps, Kim Kiryeo was far more dangerous than she had previously thought.


    Maybe I had made a huge mistake. Otherwise, how could a stranger end up like this…


    “Seonwoo Yeon-ssi?”


    The B-ss hunter raised her head when she heard a voice calling her, but she couldn’t make eye contact with the other person.


    As she looked at the gaze of the awakener looking down at her, forgotten emotions began to resurface slowly.


    “What’s wrong? You’re covered in cold sweat.”


    It’s scary and unpleasant.


    “Are you hurt? Should I take a look at it?”


    A considerate attitude. Blood-stained hands. A calm voice. A sobbing woman.


    “No, I’m fine.”


    <i>What on earth should I believe?</i>


    ***


    “Oh my, everyone is working hard!”


    A young man’s voice suddenly echoed in the dimly lit warehouse corridor. It was the voiceing from Kim Kiryeo’s corpse.


    “You must be tired, right? Here, let me help you. We’ll move together.”


    “Huh? Hunters, you can sit down too.”


    “Why are you only focusing on us? It’s fine. Please give it to me.”


    I approached the police, speaking in a bright tone.


    Then they dly handed over the box they were holding, and these were the Blueshell in question.


    “If we carry everything, we’ll be exhausted, won’t we?”


    “Haha, you’ll be surprised how quickly it all gets done with a little effort.”


    So I meticulously searched the warehouse and confiscated every trace of Blueshell.


    “Ugh.”


    <i>Dung.</i>


    And as thest box was loaded onto the truck, I turned my gaze toward the bustling noiseing from somewhere.


    “Damn it, open it! Open!”


    “Ah, geez. That damn drug addict is at it again.”


    If I look closely, I can see that the arrested criminal is going crazy in the back seat of the police car. Was his name… Jang Jongsik?


    “Is this window open?”


    I walked up to the police car and knocked on the ss door. Please open this for a moment.


    “Is this enough?”


    “Yes, thank you.”


    Then unnecessary barriers must havee down as well. Now it’s time to get on with things.


    “What are you again! You b*stard!”


    I ignored the shouting that wasing out and looked intently at the man in the backseat. Then I felt a faint magical energying from his body even though the opponent is clearly non-awakened.


    <i>‘Oh.’</i>


    Magic power felt from an ordinary person—it could only mean one thing.


    <i>‘You’re under a magic spell, right?’</i>


    As I suspected. That brainwashing sorcerer from the temple got his hands on this man too. He’s been caught red-handed.


    <i>‘Hohoho.’</i>


    So where should I try my skills? I took out the hidden magic booster and drank it. I was trying to trace the magician backward.


    “Hunter Kim Kiryeo, wait a second.”


    However, I couldn’t help but pause my actions at the voiceing from behind.


    “What are you trying to do?”


    “Ah, Seonwoo Yeon-ssi.”


    What am I trying to do…? Of course.


    “Like I promised, I’m going to find out who the high-ranking person in that bad organization is.”


    As I spoke calmly, Seonwoo Yeon frowned as if she was suspicious of something, but then fell silent. It was an ambiguous reaction, to say the least.


    <i>‘Are you worried about failing?’</i>


    No wonder I felt a chill down my spine… And so, I proceeded with the task under Seonwoo Yeon’s watchful gaze.


    It’s something that would be over in three seconds anyway.


    “What, what’s up? Can’t you look away? What are you looking at! What are you seeing!”


    I rolled up my shirt sleeves and clenched my left fist for a moment.


    1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds. At this level, there would have been enough mana for the magic circle drawn in advance.


    “Huh?”


    <i>Sssk.</i>


    The blueshell addict suddenly became quiet when he saw the palm extended towards him.


    Surprisingly. I thought the resistance would be fierce. Could it be that they’ve somehow realized I’ve hidden a magic circle beneath the skin of my palm, in the dermalyer…?


    <i>‘Is that possible?’</i>


    I finished my short daydream and focused on work.


    <i>-Jiiiing.</i>


    I activated a high-level magic to extract the necessary information from the person in front of me.


    “Aaaargh!”


    “What, what’s happening?”


    “Don’t worry. He just makes a fuss. Make a fuss.”


    To exin in more detail, should I say that I stole his memories of the moment the brainwashing skill was activated?


    <i>‘Originally, the standard is to trace back magical power and find the caster, but that is impossible for an F-ss…’</i>


    Wherever you go, as long as you end up in Seoul, it’s fine. Ugh. I didn’t stay up for three nights for nothing. This word.


    In the end, I managed to find a way to give the Rakshasa Temple a taste of its own medicine.


    “Hey, I know it doesn’t hurt, so stop fussing.”


    <i>Tuk, tuk, tuk.</i>


    I pounded on the car wall and urged the Blueshell addict. Now, let’s get to the point.


    “Jongsik, let me ask you one thing.”


    “Heuk, heugh…”


    Then, the name in my memory came out of my mouth.


    “What kind of person exactly is ‘Soo Yehwi’?”


    ***


    I nned to keep trying until it worked, but surprisingly I found it quickly. Fortunately, his memory still held the introduction of the brainwashing magician.


    “The name is Soo Yehwi. He’s about 160cm tall, with white hair and veryrge eyes.”


    I traced the stolen memories and exined the characteristics of an awakened person. Then Seonwoo Yeon, who was listening, nodded her head.


    “You have amazing skills.”


    “Yes, well.”


    “It’s a relief. I thought I was going to be med for a bloodbath in front of the detectives again…”


    “Yes?”


    “Oh… it’s nothing.”


    It’s a relief that it’s nothing.


    “Anyway, that’s all the information I can provide right now.”


    By the way, the ce we’re sitting at right now is the staircase in front of a police station in Seoul. Seonwoo Yeon suggested going to a cafe, but I resisted because I didn’t want to go.


    “Is that person really a member of the Rakshasa Temple? It’s a bit hard to prove that kind of problem now…”


    But eventually, I couldn’t avoid my fate of drinking coffee.


    After a while, I went back into the police station in response to the detective’s urgent call, and suddenly received coffee from a vending machine in return for my visit…


    “Seonwoo Yeon-ssi, could you please check this document?”


    “Ah, yes.”


    “First of all, when we searched, there was only one hunter named Soo Yehwi.”


    I sat there holding my coffee, feeling uneasy regardless of what they said.


    “Let’s see. Soo Yehwi, C-ss hunter, registered skills include something like Water Ball…”


    “I think the picture is correct.”


    But this statement cannot be ignored.


    “C-ss? It can’t be!”


    I couldn’t stand it any longer and suddenly said something. Instantly, all eyes turned toward me. It was burdensome.


    “Something’s wrong.”


    “What’s wrong?”


    “Because a C-ss awakener wouldn’t have enough mana to maintain the brainwashing of so many people.”


    What followed was simple arithmetic.


    “To pull off something like that, you’d need at least A-ss in terms of calctions. No, maybe even barely scraping into S-ss…”


    After thinking about it for a while, I came up with a suggestion.


    “Hunter Seonwoo Yeon!”


    “Y, yes?”


    “Let’s start with the re-examination decision.”


    First of all, I’m sure he lied about his grades.


    “Soo Yehwi can’t possibly be a C-rank, so let’s start by investigating the possibility of a disguised awakening level.”


    “Ah!”


    “That’s a major crime in itself, right? We can investigate the brainwashing issue gradually.”


    What happened next was a swift and smooth process.


    The confession of the Blueshell distributor.


    Suspicious gaps in the gate entry records.


    And due to the information found in the auction house usage records, the Association has confirmed a re-examination of that awakened individual.


    [September 29th Infinite Power Core Auction – Won by Soo*hwi]


    <i>‘Hahaha! I caught you, you brat!’</i>


    If that awakened person named Soo Yehwi is arrested, the Rakshasa Temple will definitely suffer a huge blow.


    “Well, looks like this one didn’t get caught in the end.”


    I returned home with a sense of relief, and in my pocket there were three blueshells.


    And the next day.


    “Are Earthlings God?”


    Late lunch. It was around the time I first encountered the concept of delivery food.


    “The food you wantes to your home with just a flick of your finger, as expected of an Earthling. No, Koreans are gods…?”


    <i>Drrrt, drrrt.</i>


    I btedly lifted my phone from the table after hearing the vibrating sound. But what came out of the speakers wasn’t very hopeful news.


    “No, what did you say?”


    ording to Seonwoo Yeon, who called, a person named Soo Yehwi suddenly disappeared as soon as the re-examination decision was announced.


    “This means it won’t be affected by searchers’ skills, right?”


    The final oue was that the Korean police publicly issued a wanted notice for the suspect involved in the cult. For me, it’s an unpleasant ending.


    <i>‘Just a wanted notice in the end?’</i>


    Wait a minute, under normal circumstances, the call would have ended by now


    – Kiryeo-ssi.


    The call was still connected. So, I listened closely to the voiceing from the speaker.


    – …I have something to ask.


    “Yes.”


    – By the way, why were you interested in the investigation of the Rakshasa Temple?


    “Yes?”


    – Come to think of it, you haven’t been like this at other times…


    It’s so sudden.


    – What was the intention behind your direct involvement in this case? I want to hear the reason.


    But, well, there’s nothing I can’t answer.


    “So, what are you saying is why I specifically aimed for Rakshasa Temple?”


    <i>Srrk, srrk.</i>


    I said as I carried the delivered stir-fried pork to my desk.


    “There’s nothing special.”


    The tone was light, but the answer was more sincere than ever.


    “I just don’t like what they do.”


    But right after this. For some reason, a coughing sound rang through the receiver.