Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: End and Beginning (6)
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Judgment on Oh Jong-hyuk.
Though I used the grandiose word "judgment," what I actually did wasn't anything special.
I opened my status window and activated the navigation function.
I used Ghost Form and flew over.
I hypnotized him and extracted the evidence. Done.
Oh Jong-hyuk looked far more gaunt than when I'd first seen him last week, probably from all the mental anguish.
Of course, I didn't feel the slightest bit of pity. I just thought his lowered mental strength and level would make hypnotizing him easier.
I entered the room where he'd installed several lights like some madman, put him under hypnosis, and called him to the bathroom.
Whenever some scandal erupts in politics or business, it seems these crooks with dirty secrets always have some escape route prepared.
Oh Jong-hyuk was no different. He'd diligently gathered information on all the villains he'd been colluding with up to now.
For starters, I made him confess everything related to Se-ri, and since I didn't know when I might need dirt on the others, I stored it neatly in my inventory.
And then...
"Gaegul! Are you really sending me back home?"
The frog bouncing around in my hand.
Unlike its appearance, its voice was some weird, solemn tenor.
To tempt this guy, I'd spent 1,000 points learning [Language, X, Demon Realm Frog]. I needed to learn foreign languages to seduce women, but it felt like I kept ending up with weird animal calls...
"I told you already. I can't give you a firm guarantee, but it's got higher odds than sticking with that girl."
"Gaegul."
"What about you? You okay leaving your contractor?"
"Gaegul. We never formed a contract. And I've repaid the favor plenty."
"...Got it. Hop in for now."
"Gaegul. And one more thing."
"...?"
"Don't summon me around that shadow wolf. It's scary, gaegulruk?"
The guy who'd been speaking so solemnly in my hand suddenly shot upward like a crane game prize.
"Whoa! Demon Realm Frog! It's been forever!"
The hand snatching the frog belonged to Pomi. She was grabbing it with sauce-stained fingers from eating chicken.
"Gaegul! Let go, that hurts! It hurts! Gaegul!"
"So cuteee."
"Save me! Human! Save me!"
The frog flailing desperately right in front of Pomi's face. That tenor voice had long since shifted to soprano.
"Hey. Quit tormenting it. You're not gonna eat it, are you?"
"Gah! Crazy? How could I eat a frog!"
"They don't eat them in the demon realm? Some humans do."
"Huh? Reallyyy? Is it tasty?"
"I heard the texture's like chicken..."
"What! Chicken? Chickeeen? Ohooo?"
Pomi's eyes sparkled as she eyed the frog again.
Se-ri, who'd sidled up beside her before I knew it, licked her chops too.
"I've had frog before. Taste is... okay-ish."
"Frogaaaah!"
"I said quit messing with it. You're gonna kill the poor thing."
I retrieved the frog on the verge of passing out and tried to shoo the kids away when Pomi turned to me.
"Junnie not eating chicken together?"
"You sure got to that quick. You save any for me?"
At my question, she shyly pinched her fingers together.
"A liiiittle?"
"I stashed mine separately in my inventory. Heh."
"Junnie evolving?!"
"But Star, can you even have chicken? I heard dogs can't eat chicken bones..."
"Grrrng! How rude!"
This house was way too small to keep all these brats cooped up!
Maybe I should've shaken down Oh Jong-hyuk for some cash.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The news was broadcasting Oh Jong-hyuk's appearance.
He stood before the reporters with a dazed expression.
-Mr. Oh Jong-hyuk! Regarding the past congressman's villa incident, is it true you kidnapped married women?!
-Do you admit to your connection with the late Assemblyman Yang Du-chan?!
-Give us an answer!
-Mr. Oh Jong-hyuk! Is it true you kidnapped the mother of suspect Han in the murder case?! Mr. Oh!
A barrage of flashes assaulted his face.
He didn't seem inclined to admit his crimes, let alone offer any excuses.
Then, at some point, his lips twitched ever so slightly on that vacant, silent face.
A few reporters held their breath without realizing it, and the hush spread one by one until silence blanketed the scene.
"..."
"Gulp."
In the stillness so profound even a swallow was audible, he finally spoke.
"...R."
The sound was so faint. People feared that was all he'd say, but soon Oh Jong-hyuk's mouth began pouring out words without pause.
"...Gul."
"...Gaegul."
"Gaegul, gaegul, gaegul, gaegul."
"Gae...gul."
💬 Live Reactions — Viewer123 What the hell is that? Goosebumps lololol — Netizen456 Another psycho cosplay? Hell Joseon lets you walk if you're crazy! — Troll789 +Booze, first offense, shows remorse lololol — FrogFan Singing the frog song! Gaegul gaegul! — GoosebumpsLive Actual chills rn. — HorrorManga Reminds me of Junji Ito manga. I glanced sideways.
I checked Se-ri's expression as she sat beside me. Her face stiff, she kept staring at the monitor, squeezing her eyes shut over and over.
Last night, fried crumbs on her lips, laughing happily while watching cartoons with Pomi. It hadn't even been days since I took her in, but feeding her well had plumped up those hollow cheeks nicely.
It'd be great if she could forget revenge in that smile forever, but fat chance.
In the end, that morning, I showed her the news.
"...Sorry for deciding on my own. But I don't want you killing anyone else."
"..."
"Oh Jong-hyuk won't die, but things are gonna get a lot harder for him from here."
Under hypnosis, he'd spilled not just his own dirt but a good chunk on all the big shots still kicking.
You think they'd leave him be?
"Your late parents' dishonor is cleared too."
The horrific stigma pinned on Se-ri's mother—adulteress or whore selling her body for cash. Now she'd be reexamined as a kidnapping victim.
And the truth about Se-ri's father too.
He hadn't killed himself leaving his young daughter behind. From Oh Jong-hyuk, I'd learned he'd been murdered on Assemblyman Yang Du-chan's orders. That'd come out as the investigation progressed.
...Though now she'd bear the yoke of being a murderer's daughter.
Even if it was for revenge, society wouldn't forgive that.
"..."
As time passed with Se-ri unable to unclench her lips, I started wondering if I'd overstepped.
"Thank... you."
Then her choked voice reached me.
I looked up at her again. She met my eyes straight on, tears streaming down her face.
Straining not to cry, yet wiping the tears trailing her cheeks with both wrists.
"...Thank you. Sniff. Haaang. Snort. Thank you."
"Se-ri."
As if my voice were the signal, thicker teardrops spilled from her eyes.
"Thank you. Thank you. Eeng. Th-thank, you. Haa. Heung. Eeng."
I pulled her into my chest.
Se-ri sobbed on, repeating "thank you" between wails.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Shaman Kim Do-yeon sat in her shrine, tapping her fingernails together rhythmically.
Her anxious fingers soon migrated to her face, drumming a beat on her smooth forehead.
"Ugh. Was it all just a dream?"
It had been two weeks since something calling itself the Lewd Demon—short for Lewd Ghost—had given her a "real" divine possession.
She was seriously rethinking if that day's events had been a dream. But what could she do? The dice were already cast.
Even after the ghost's voice vanished, she'd sat there stunned for ages, but eventually realized this was her chance. A chance to rake in cash!
She knew full well how much blind believers forked over to shamans—had learned it the hard way as a kid.
From that day, she shut the shrine doors and blew her remaining cash on ads everywhere.
[Come out of curiosity for my looks, and you'll get an earful! July 14th. The hottest possessed beauty in history arrives.]
An ad that tossed out all the shaman mystique.
But paired with her sexy face, it pulled massive aggro and created a bigger splash than she'd imagined.
Thanks to someone posting it in a huge online community, "Lotus Fairy" shot into the top 20 real-time trends!
She'd always avoided showing her face to quit this beggar life anytime, so this ad was truly her all-in gamble.
'Yeah. Compared to the money I'll make from now on, this is nothing. Embarrassment's temporary. Gonna hustle hard, fuck, buy a sports car, get a penthouse, date hot guys, snap selfies on overseas trips!'
The bragging pretty girls with hot bodies did on SNS.
When she saw their posts from her flyblown shrine, she'd curse that it was all sugar daddy money—but secretly envied them.
'Hmph! You live off men's cash? I'll earn my own!'
But her puffed-up dreams of a golden future deflated into despair as opening day approached.
'Said it'd be back in two weeks!'
The deadline the ghost gave was today, but it hadn't shown even by last night.
"Was it really a dream? No way, I wasn't sleepy that day! Yeah. Tomorrow. It'll come tomorrow."
Opening day morning after the massive ad blitz.
She'd even worn a mask just in case and despaired at the line snaking out front. Holy shit, so many people.
"F-fuck."
Thirty minutes past opening time, complaints started filtering into the shrine.
"Ah, what the hell. Why isn't it opening?"
"Saw someone go in earlier? Wasn't that it?"
"Pisses me off. Waited hours. Better not look different from the ad."
"Heard she's legit possessed?"
Kim Do-yeon, in full panic, spun her happy delusions.
"R-right. Maybe it'll show if I take customers."
After deep breaths, she yelled toward the door.
"Ahem! Come on in? Shit."
Her voice cracked from the sudden shout. They probably didn't hear outside...? N-no, they did.
The entering couple's faces bore grins.
"H-heh. Ahem!"
She sat them down and stared piercingly into their eyes.
"..."
"...?"
Yeah, no way it'd conveniently show up right on cue just 'cause I took a customer.
Shaman's either a con artist or a nutjob.
I thought I was the former, but looks like the latter. Well, duh—where'd Mom's crazy genes go? Straight to me.
"Heh, hehehe."
She laughed helplessly, shoulders shaking, earning weird looks from the couple.
"Aaah—haa, heh, aaah. Ah... so depressed."
What to do with all those people outside?
Thinking of the ordeal ahead brought tears pricking her eyes. But just for a moment—Kim Do-yeon squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them.
Fresh venom gleamed in her gaze.
What to do? Gotta earn back that ad money.
"Haa, fine. What brings you two he—"
The moment she steeled herself and opened her mouth.
Bang!
The shrine door flew wide open.