Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: That Woman (1)
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It appeared out of nowhere. As Lawyer Lee Chung-jae sat in his office chair reviewing documents, his shadow stretched unnaturally long. Before long, it formed the silhouette of a woman behind him.
Jet-black straight hair cascaded down like a waterfall. Her beautiful eyes gleamed just as darkly as her hair. She had a cute face, but her eyes held not a shred of emotion, giving her the air of a lifeless doll.
Oh Jong-hyeok, who was hiding in one corner of the office, felt an eerie sense of familiarity the moment he saw her face. She definitely looked like someone he'd seen before, but he couldn't for the life of him remember where.
Meanwhile, oblivious to it all, Lee Chung-jae stroked his chin as he pored over the papers. In the meantime, the woman standing behind him slowly raised her hand.
A dark energy gathered thickly around her forearm, forming a black blade. The moment it touched his neck, his body began to tremble violently.
"H-heh...!"
"Quiet."
A young yet chillingly cold voice cut through Lee Chung-jae's terrified gasp.
"Lee Chung-jae?"
"Wh-who are you? What is this?"
"Yang Du-chan, Kim Ho-jin, Park Su-yeol, Lee Jeong-gi, Shim Su-min..."
"H-huh... H-heh!"
As the woman recited the names of men who were now corpses, Lee Chung-jae's eyes began to quiver. Even the arm of the Viper, who was peeking at the whole scene from the side while using his concealment ability, prickled with goosebumps.
'What the hell is that bitch!'
At a glance, her power was on a completely different level from his own, which could barely manage invisibility. While Oh Jong-hyeok clamped his own mouth shut, the woman's questions continued.
"Lee Chung-jae."
"N-no, I'm not. I'm just an employee in this office... Aaaagh! Aaaaaah!"
"You won't die."
"H-heeek! Heeek."
Blood seeped from the back of Lee Chung-jae's neck, trickling in a round path down his throat and staining the collar of his shirt red. Feeling the creepy edge of the blade against his skin, he frantically nodded his head.
"Pl-please spare me. Please let me live."
"Answer honestly."
"Y-yes."
"Are you Lee Chung-jae?"
"Y-yes, I am! I am Lee Chung-jae! Uh-heuh..."
The woman looked down at him coldly as he sobbed.
"Lee Chung-jae. Forty-seven years old. Wife twenty-seven years younger. One son and one daughter."
"Y-yes, that's right. Please. Don't touch my family... I beg you."
For a fleeting moment, the coldness in her eyes seemed to soften as she watched him bawl his eyes out, snot and tears streaming. But seconds later, it hardened again.
"Seven years ago. Yang Du-chan's aide Han Jeong-su and his wife Kim Su-jin. Know them?"
"J-just a second. Give me a moment to think..."
He rolled his eyes desperately trying to squeeze out the memory, furrowing his brow. Eventually, his jaw began to tremble, and he started gnawing at his nails.
Lightning struck in Oh Jong-hyeok's mind as he listened to their conversation. The name Kim Su-jin from the woman's lips—one of the women who had been commissioned by Yang Du-chan.
A woman he'd secretly sampled before handing her over to the assemblyman. Her alluring beauty mark under her eye. The tragic tears she'd shed as she was ravished right in front of her drugged, unconscious husband. The memory still lingered vividly.
Now he remembered. He finally remembered who the girl in front of him was! The family photo Yang Du-chan had handed him. The little girl beaming innocently between her mom and dad!
'Ah... Aah!'
While Oh Jong-hyeok shuddered in horror, Lee Chung-jae also dredged up the old memory and haltingly spoke.
"I-it came back to me. I remember! The woman had an affair with Assemblyman Yang Du-chan and..."
Lee Chung-jae trailed off, trembling as if realizing something, barely correcting the word affair that had almost fully formed on his lips.
"Th-the woman committed suicide over some scandal, and the husband... he definitely committed suicide too."
"Watch your words."
"H-heuh, yes."
"Anything else?"
"Uh, ahh, th-there was something. Just a moment. Just wait. I know I'll remember."
"..."
After rolling his eyes and thinking hard for a long while, Lee Chung-jae's mouth opened again.
"Oh, uh, ah, y-yes! A little before that incident, Yang Du-chan was at a drinking party and told a gang boss that married women were the best. Said he was craving housewives lately. Eek! I-it wasn't me who said it, it was that guy!"
The woman, who had unconsciously gripped her hand tighter, realized it with an oh and slightly pulled the blade away from Lee Chung-jae's neck. Seeing a glimmer of hope for survival, he grew even more desperate and started spilling information.
"Th-that boss definitely... Sss. Hah. Wait a sec. He called over one of his underlings and whispered something in his ear, then that guy dragged a young punk outside with him... Sss. That's when I ran into that guy in the bathroom? Uh, his name, his name... Hold on. Asking so suddenly, it's hard to..."
"..."
"H-heuh, h-heuh, ah, aah! Got it! I remember! That bastard, those slit eyes. His name was definitely Dok! Gack, guh, glurk."
Lee Chung-jae's face, twisted in the ecstasy of survival, suddenly widened in agony and disbelief.
"Gl-glurk, wh-why, whyyy."
As he tried to turn his head to ask why she'd stabbed him without hearing everything, he slumped forward without even seeing the face of the woman standing behind him.
"Eut!"
A startled gasp escaped the woman behind him. She hadn't killed Lee Chung-jae.
Though flustered, the woman didn't rush. She narrowed her eyes, scanning everywhere cautiously as she backed away step by step. After a few paces, Lee Chung-jae's body twitched again. A gaping hole tore open in the front of his throat, and blood gushed out.
Watching her retreat hesitantly, Oh Jong-hyeok—who had once crossed paths with her in a bathroom and pulled a knife from a man's throat—steeled his resolve.
'I can take her.'
He'd seen her terrifying power firsthand, but precisely because of that, he couldn't let her uncover his identity.
That's why he'd stepped out reluctantly, but she was even more defenseless than expected. He could have just gone for her instead.
'Yeah, let's do this.'
Until moments ago, survival had been his focus, but his mindset shifted. If he could take down the woman before him, maybe he could claim that insane power for himself.
But contrary to his rosy fantasies, reality started to twist. Was he too excited? Or perhaps because he'd been out of the field for far too long? Oh Jong-hyeok made a mistake he never would have in his prime.
Drip. Drip.
Droplets of blood from the knife he'd pulled from Lee Chung-jae's neck fell to the floor, leaving a red trail!
'Hup!'
Realizing his blunder too late, Oh Jong-hyeok tossed the knife aside and flung himself flat on the ground. A remnant of his old field instincts. And that choice was the right one.
Clang!
The sound of the knife hitting something hard rang out immediately after.
Shiiik—.
Something black whistled past his head as he lay prone.
Scratchscratchscratch.
It sliced off a few strands of Oh Jong-hyeok's hair and gouged the wall, leaving horrific marks and sounds.
'Hoo, hooo.'
He pushed off the floor with his palms, inching carefully away from his spot.
'Stay still like this. Just let her go. If I die, it's all over.'
The excitement and fighting spirit from before vanished the instant he witnessed her otherworldly power. Then, suddenly, the woman's mutter reached him.
"What is this?"
Oh Jong-hyeok perked up his ears, focusing on her voice.
"...Contractor? Invisible?"
'Hngh.'
He'd been made. He didn't know what she was talking to, but she'd pinpointed his ability exactly. Maybe she had something like his frog attached to her too, and unlike him, she could actually communicate with it.
Oh Jong-hyeok grew more urgent.
"Detection level to 2... Please. I still have about 4,000 left, so I want to get revenge before I die..."
One word from her mutter slammed into his ear like thunder.
Detection! Just the name alone screamed it was the perfect counter to his ability.
'Should I bolt? But moving now will give me away. Still, if that detection thing can find me, I'm 100% dead. H-heuh, h-heuh.'
As Oh Jong-hyeok agonized, her voice came again.
"...Thanks."
'Damn it!'
Thudthudthudthud! Whoosh! Crash!
Oh Jong-hyeok desperately charged and hurled himself through the second-floor window. Her mutterings convinced him staying meant disaster.
Whoooosh, thud!
"Ughack!"
Thankfully, a sedan parked below cushioned his fall, so it hurt less than expected.
Oh Jong-hyeok ran for his life. Regret hit as his breath quickly grew ragged.
Why had he neglected his training these past few years? Why had he stabbed Lee Chung-jae instead of that bitch earlier! By the time his legs gave out, he darted into an alley ahead.
'Hoo, hoo, hack. Gulp. Hah, hah. Hoo...'
He hid to catch his breath for a moment, but then a horrific sound echoed in his ears.
Click, click, click.
"Heh... heh heh."
A hollow laugh escaped him. He didn't know what she'd done, but unlike earlier when she'd missed him right in front of her nose, she was definitely on his tail now.
'Uwaaaah!'
He mustered every ounce of strength and ran again. He boarded a bus just before the doors closed, got off at some random stop, stole a parked car and drove before ditching it and repeating. The chase that began at night dragged into the next day, as the sun rose and midsummer heat scorched the streets.
"Wh-where am I? Keh, kuh."
As he gasped roughly, it came again.
Click, click, click.
"Ugh, this is driving me insane, fuck. That goddamn brat!"
How the hell did that kid have such power...!
He spat curses under his breath, straightened his bent waist, and started running again.
That alley—if he turned the corner, he'd hit the main road. Then steal another car and head to the countryside to hide out for a while...
Thudthudthudthud.
As he neared the alley while running, voices came from the other side.
"Pomi, eat slower. Anyone would think I'm starving you..."
Thud!
"Ow!"
"Ah! My doooonut!"
***
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Succubus's Eye detects the invisible human male ‘Oh Jong-hyeok’. The donut destroyer was fleeing. But I was too dazed by the status window message in front of me to even think of chasing him.
I'd heard from Pomi when we first contracted that, rarely, there could be other contractors besides me. But I never imagined I'd run into one like this.
"Hey, Pomi. That guy is also a contract—"
I turned to ask Pomi about what I'd just seen.
"Hey! Why'd you pick that up and eat it! That's dirty, dirty!"
-B-but I just brushed off the fur.
"Did I raise you starving? Huh? I'll buy you another, so hurry and toss it in a corner of your inventory."
-U-uwung. Gulp.
The rascal had already swallowed the bite in her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut, giving up on the fallen donut.
-Sob. My doooonut!
No, that donut was mine to begin with.
I shook my head and turned back around. The man had already shrunk to a dot in the distance. But no problem. I had Status Reveal level 1! Once I'd locked onto a target, I could track their location anytime.
-Status!
I cast the skill toward the man's back as he desperately fled, and detailed info unfolded before my eyes.
⚔ TARGET STATUS ⚔ Oh Jong-hyeok (Human Male, Lv. 29, 35 years old) *Monster Contractor 178cm, 82kg Location: Seoul, Mapo, Hapjeong Station Street *Map* HP: 8/36 ... "Ooh. First time seeing another contractor's status window. This guy's not contracted with a demon, but a monster..."
The moment I slowly scrolled through the stat info.
"Got you."
Suddenly, a woman's voice rang out.