The Predator of Evil Annihilation
Wh-what in the world just happened...?
Michelle replayed the second test in her mind and swallowed hard. The instant Pierrot had burrowed into Dohyun's mind, it was Pierrot who had let out a horrific scream — as though he were the one being tortured by psychological magic.
And the truly shocking part was that it hadn't ended there.
Flash!
Pierrot had gone into a violent frenzy, then desperately bitten through his own tongue and killed himself on the spot.
Mind Overflow? But Pierrot is a Level 7 Psychologist.
It was true that an unskilled mental-type mage occasionally failed to hold his own psyche together and did something like that — but none of it should ever have applied to Pierrot.
"...Do you have any idea what Kim did in there? What does Kim himself say?"
"...He claims he simply did his best to defend against the mental magic."
"Pure mental defense alone triggered a Mind Overflow in a mentalist of Pierrot's caliber? Isn't that impossible even for a Level 8 superhuman?"
"It's impossible... yes. Frankly, we can't even be certain Pierrot killed himself because of a Mind Overflow."
Brigadier General Frankie and Michelle sank into a heavy silence, and another figure seated at the table spoke up.
"Be that as it may, this test has made one thing certain. Kim is no ordinary S-rank. The probability that Kim and Xenosider are one and the same has grown considerably higher."
It was the chief officer of the CIA's Awakener Affairs Division.
Ever since the Cataclysm, the CIA's highest priority had shifted to awakener intelligence, and its agents worked in close coordination with the US military across the globe.
"...This is far too dangerous. If he possesses this kind of mental power on top of the operational capability he displayed in Korea, he could go beyond Devil-class and become a Satan-class villain," the section chief of the FBI's International Operations Division said gravely.
Unlike the CIA, which handled foreign intelligence, the FBI investigated crime within the United States. If Dohyun became the villain everyone feared, it would be the FBI left dealing with the fallout.
"Isn't this mere suspicion without a shred of evidence? Kim lived as an upstanding, law-abiding citizen until his awakening — never committed a single wrong in his life. If we let him slip away over baseless doubt, it would do enormous damage to America's national interest."
That was the opinion of the director of the Awakener Immigration Bureau.
Opinions divided along each agency's interests.
"A little too convenient to call it baseless doubt, wouldn't you say? If someone with abilities like his turns to villainy..."
"Look at it from the other side. If Kim works as a hero of justice, imagine how many villains he could take down."
"Is that how the Immigration Bureau operates — accept anyone off the street and let the National Guard mop up Los Angeles and San Francisco? Now they're saying Chicago's fallen to the villains too."
"And how is that our bureau's fault? Without the Immigration Bureau's efforts, do you really believe America would be this far ahead in the race for awakeners?"
Deciding awakener immigration was entirely the Immigration Bureau's authority. But when the applicant was a person of interest like Dohyun, a committee was formed drawing in the FBI, the federal government, and military representatives alike.
The Immigration Bureau's delegate still held the greatest authority on that committee, but if every other member opposed, they couldn't simply force it through.
"What is the federal government's position?"
"The same as always. If someone benefits America's national interest, we welcome them — past transgressions included."
"Benefiting the national interest, my ass—!"
The CIA officer cut in.
"I understand the FBI's concerns, but even if Kim really is Xenosider, he may not become the villain you all fear."
"You're saying Kim will become a vigilante?"
A villain who killed only other villains and left innocent citizens untouched. Vigilantes often enjoyed even greater popularity than heroes.
"Xenosider never harmed innocent civilians either, did he? Everyone who died at Xenosider's hands was a depraved villain."
"A vigilante is still a villain."
"Aren't vigilantes a far greater help to the American people than those pathetic hero types who cherry-pick commissions based on the payout? You know it's true."
The FBI representative fell silent. Because it was true that vigilantes were useful.
Even so, the FBI could not afford to be anything less than cautious.
"...Saying Xenosider will become a vigilante is still just speculation, isn't it?"
"Then let's verify it with the third test."
Brigadier General Frankie, who had been listening quietly, stepped in.
The third test wasn't merely an evaluation of mission performance. It also scrutinized, in minute detail, what kind of morals and values an applicant held.
"I will prepare a third test capable of revealing Kim's true nature."
The Predator of Evil Annihilation has devoured a wicked soul!
Please select the abilities to digest!
Dohyun examined the list of abilities from Pierrot and Little Joker. Even with a Demi-God class, he couldn't absorb every ability an enemy possessed, so he had to choose carefully.
As expected of a Psychologist. Plenty of useful things here.
An awakener's power fell broadly into two categories: Stats and Skills.
Stats were objective numbers — vitality, strength, mana, and the like. Skills were what everyone knew them to be. Skills, in turn, divided into Common Skills that all awakeners of the same class lineage could learn, and Unique Skills belonging to the individual alone.
Just as I thought — he had a Unique Skill.
Dohyun's eyes gleamed as he reviewed Little Joker's Unique Skill. It was even better than he'd hoped.
Mind Control
It was one of the most useful Unique Skills among mental-type magic — the ability to dominate a target's mind, exactly as the name implied. For Dohyun, who intended to become the absolute sovereign of America, it would prove invaluable.
Mind Control isn't a skill that turns people into literal puppets, of course — but as its proficiency with mental-type skills rises, its uses become endless.
Mental-type skill proficiency could be raised quickly simply by preying on mentalist villains. Mentalist mages were few in number, but perhaps because so many of them were deranged, their villain ratio was high, which made opportunities to devour them relatively easy to come by.
"I'll let you know once the third test is scheduled. Until then, feel free to rest comfortably."
"Am I required to remain within my quarters?"
"Not at all. As long as you stay out of restricted areas, you're free to move around the base. If you'd like, you could even visit Waikiki."
"I'm not fond of noisy places, so Waikiki doesn't appeal to me — but would it be alright to look around Downtown?"
"Downtown? Well..."
"I visited Hawaii once with my parents. I have memories of walking through Downtown, and ever since I came back here, I've wanted to see it again."
It wasn't nostalgia, of course — not even a little. He had a purpose.
In a few days, the Pearl Harbor massacre would take place. He intended to come here to prepare for the hunt.
"...Downtown looks very different from what Kim remembers."
"Does it matter? I'm not an American citizen yet, but if there are any bad villains around, I might as well play the hero of justice."
When Kim quipped with a grin, Michelle hesitated a moment before nodding.
"I'll arrange a vehicle for you."
Downtown.
In Korean, the word simply meant a city's bustling center. But the downtown of a Korean city and the downtown of an American city were two very different beasts.
An American city's downtown was, as a rule, its most blighted and dangerous district. That had been true even before the Cataclysm, and after it, things got far worse.
Now the downtowns of America's cities had become wastelands ruled by gangs, drug addicts, and villains — small cities within cities. Sin Cities.
"We'll be waiting here on North King Street. If anything comes up, radio us immediately."
"Understood, thank you. I won't be long."
Dohyun's claim that he'd once visited Hawaii's downtown was no lie.
Back then it hadn't exactly been safe, but tourists still passed through in fair numbers. Now, from the very edge of the district, the streets seethed with menace.
The moment he stepped in, every kind of gaze fixed itself on him.
Mostly gangs. A few agents disguised as gang members, too. FBI?
The US military's approval of Dohyun's Downtown trip had been a test in itself — a way to confirm what intentions he truly harbored.
Dohyun walked the same route he'd told Michelle about, the one tourists had once strolled.
It's its own kind of nostalgia, I suppose. Revisiting the places I once visited with family in America isn't so bad.
His moment of reminiscence was short-lived.
Shadows began to slink out of the alleys.
"A cute little baby? What brings you here?"
"Come to sell your body? Which is it — ass, organs, your life, or your soul? Ah, don't worry. I can buy all of it."
Black gangbangers.
In the old days, meeting armed robbers meant losing your wallet at worst. Now, as they said, you had to be prepared to surrender your life as a baseline — and in the worst case, your very soul.
"That's not why I'm here. This place holds memories of family I've lost, so I came to walk it again."
"Ahh, you came to see your dead family? Then you came to the right place. Killing people is what we do best. We'll send you right to their side. Oh — but we'll need to strip the organs out of your body first, so wait just a moment, yeah? Harvesting while you're still breathing keeps them fresh."
"Mm... that won't be necessary. Would you move along? You're getting in the way of my memories."
One of the gangbangers smirked and threw a knuckle-wrapped fist at Dohyun's face.
CRACK—!
"Huh?"
Another thug behind him tilted his head. It wasn't Dohyun who'd gone down — it was the gangbanger who'd thrown the punch. White fluid was trickling from the fallen man's nostrils.
Somehow, Dohyun had turned the man's brain to mush. He was dead, his brains pouring out through his nose.
"Holy shit!!"
The thug behind hastily drew a gun, but too late.
CRACK—!
His vision flashed white, and that was the end of him. Like his friend, he died with his brains dribbling from his nose.
Wicked souls have been devoured!
Please select the abilities to digest!
They'd been ordinary gangbangers, not awakeners, so there were no abilities worth absorbing. That didn't mean they were useless, though.
Dohyun absorbed their memories instead — intelligence on which gangs controlled Hawaii's Downtown, and which villains were hiding there.
...Astonishing. These gang numbers are in the hundreds, at least. And Hawaii is supposedly one of the least-bad states in America. If it's this bad here, what on earth are the big mainland cities like?
He hadn't absorbed the memories just to take a census of Downtown, though. He headed toward the street where the villains were said to gather — the same street his family had once traveled with him, so he murmured a few nostalgic thoughts along the way.
"...Shadow Knights, hm. At least A-rank, I'd say. What brings you here?"
A white man of imposing bulk appeared — a build that fit the phrase human weapon perfectly.
From the gangbangers' memories, Dohyun already knew him: one of the executives who ruled this Downtown's gangs. Despite his brutish appearance, the man recognized that Dohyun was an awakener, and unlike the thugs before him, he carried himself with caution.
"Like I told your friends, I'm here because of my family's memories."
"Motherfuck. Cut the crap and state your business. Who sent you?"
"It's the truth. I have no intention of causing trouble — I plan to leave quietly."
Dohyun gave a slight shrug, met the man's eyes, and manifested the Unique Skill he'd devoured from Little Joker — Mind Control.
"So don't touch me. Then we can be friends."
"...Friends?"
"That's right. Friends. Buddies."
"Buddies..."
With hazy, unfocused eyes, the man nodded along to Dohyun's words.