Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: The Unseen Transparent Chu
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“Argh!”
The man's scream rang out as the dog pounced on him, and at that exact moment, Han Se-ri bolted upright and scrambled out of the car.
“You damn mutt!”
“Hey! You go after the kid!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Thud thud thud thud.
Se-ri ran for her life with everything she had, but there was no way a sixth-grade elementary school girl could outrun a burly young man. She didn't get far before he caught her.
“Urgh! Let go! Let me go!”
She struggled wildly.
“Hey, hey. Hold still, Se-ri!”
“Eeeek!”
Crunch.
“Ugh.”
The man groaned as she sank her teeth into the hand gripping her, but he didn't loosen his hold.
“Se-ri, Se-ri! Come on! Listen to me for a sec.”
“Waaah!”
He scooped up the sobbing girl and carried her into a nearby thicket of bushes. Staring into her tear-streaked eyes, he spoke.
“Hide in here. I'll lure them away by pretending you ran that way. Stay put until the uncles pass by, then head the opposite direction. Got it?”
“Huh?”
“...Sorry about this.”
He raised his bitten hand, gave her head a couple gentle pats, then slipped back out. Moments later, the sound of the other men running came from nearby.
Thud thud thud thud.
“Can't believe you still haven't caught her. You letting her go on purpose or what? This is why I said we shouldn't take young punks.”
“Huff, huff. Let's just go.”
Thud thud thud thud.
Once the footsteps faded into the distance, the girl emerged from the bushes. Panting hard, she ran in the direction the men had come from. Soon, she spotted Byeol-i collapsed near the car.
One side of her snow-white fur was stained bright red.
“Ah! Byeol-i! Get up. Please get up!”
“Hic, hic. Whine. Hic.”
The dog could only whimper pitifully through labored breaths, unable to rise.
“Don't die! You can't leave meee!”
Despite the girl's pleas, the dog's barely-open eyelids finally fluttered shut. Thick teardrops soaked into her fur as they fell.
“Nooo! Aaaah! Argh!”
The girl raised her fists to her face, clenching them tightly as she sobbed uncontrollably. But the dog's eyes stayed closed forever.
“No, sob. Ah. Urgh.”
As she wailed in gasping sobs, a man's voice came from behind her.
“See? Told you she'd be here. A young punk and a kid trying to outsmart us? That's the best they can do. This is what you get learning from soap operas.”
“Who says 'soap opera' these days?”
“Then what do you call it?”
“Drama, you know? Dra-ma.”
“Huh?”
The girl wiped her tears and turned. Her eyes fell on the two men who had passed her hiding spot earlier, chuckling away. The young man who had given her snacks was nowhere to be seen.
Noticing her wandering gaze, one man grinned.
“Oh, him? He's dead.”
“Huh?”
“We're getting old, you know? Didn't have the strength to haul him. Gotta deal with you first, then grab the car and load him up. Think carefully, kid, and answer me. Your parents really didn't leave anything behind?”
The man started approaching.
“No! I hate you!”
The girl screamed, throwing herself over the dog's body.
“Ah, you little brat. So noisy. Shut her up!”
“Hic, sob.”
He smirked at her sniffling, then took another step forward.
“...Kill... you...”
A mumble escaped the girl's lips, buried in the dead dog's fur.
“What?”
Crunch.
“I'll kill you. I'll kill you all. I'll kill every last one of youuu!”
“Gasp.”
When she lifted her head again, her face was terrifying—streaked with tears mixed with the dog's blood. The man shuddered involuntarily before steeling himself and closing in.
“Hic. I'll kill you. Kill you all...”
She hiccupped curses nonstop, but nothing happened even as he cautiously scooped her up. If anything, she was quieter now, murmuring entrancedly.
“Whew. Man, that was creepy. Damn, thought a ghost was gonna pop out.”
“Scared of a kid? Ghosts aren't real.”
“Dude, ghosts are totally real. Remember that story I told you? My mom, back when she had me and was still young... this monk came to the house...”
“Drop it.”
The man with the girl slung over his shoulder traded light banter with the other as they headed toward the car. So they didn't see it. The dog, surely dead long before, had silently opened its sad eyes and was glaring at their backs.
The moment those fierce, whispering eyes—“I'll kill them”—met the dog's mournful gaze, the shadow beneath the dog began to writhe and bubble. It surged up with a whoosh, swallowing the dog whole.
The shadow twitched jaggedly before contracting, matching the dog's volume exactly. It fused seamlessly, like an overlay. At the same instant, strange text began floating before the eyes of the girl draped over the man's shoulder.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Checking contract conditions fulfillment.] [Contract conditions: User with high 'Vengeance' (Fulfilled), Canine mammal with high 'Loyalty' (Fulfilled)] [The contractor of the Avenger, Shadow Wolf, can burn their own life to gain the power of vengeance.] [Do you accept the contract?] Staring blankly at the text filling her vision, the girl parted her lips.
“Y... yes.”
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ding! You have become the contractor of the demon beast Shadow Wolf.] [You have become a system user.] [Remaining lifespan (87 years) x days per year (365) = 31,755pt acquired.] [*Caution: Remaining points represent the user's remaining lifespan.] [You can check your status window by shouting or thinking 'Status.'] [You can check your skill window by shouting or thinking 'Skills.'] [Acquired basic skill (Shadow, N, Active, Lv. 0).] [Acquired basic skill (Language, X, Passive - Shadow Wolf).] Whoosh!
The darkness enveloping Byeol-i burst outward.
As the shadows lifted from the old dog's ragged fur, sleek but lusterless black fur emerged. A jet-black wolf, absorbing even the surrounding light and darkening everything around it, revealed itself.
Byeol-i's stopped heart pounded vigorously again, the vibrations rippling through the ground beneath her four paws. Her already sturdy frame swelled even larger, reminiscent of a small ox.
The massive beast rose, opening its jaws wide.
“Groooowl!”
Whoosh!
The leaves screamed as they were torn from the branches.
The two men froze in shock at the deafening roar.
“H-heh? Wh-what the—? Gaaah!”
“Ah, aaaah!”
In an instant, the dark shadow lunged, savagely tearing into them.
Crunch, snap.
“Gurgh, plea—...”
Rip, chomp.
Even their feeble pleas vanished into the beast's maw.
“...Good girl.”
Watching the two men, alive just moments ago, get torn into pieces, the girl smiled brightly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “Hey. What. So you're threatening me? 'If you don't save me, I'll bite you too,' is that it?”
I snapped after hearing Byeol-i's story.
Honestly, I was a little spooked.
“N-no, sir. I was just explaining how Se-ri and I ended up here...”
“Sigh. So? What's your exact situation? Did you possess the dog's corpse?”
“Less possession, more like a fusion of two beings. I have Byeol-i's memories of being raised by Se-ri's family, and the Shadow Wolf's memories of being born and growing up in the demon realm. If I had to pick one, the demon realm side feels slightly stronger, but no major difference.”
Byeol-i filled in the rest of the details.
Though Han Se-ri had contracted with a demon beast and gained powers, she was still just a 13-year-old child. Forget revenge—survival was the immediate worry.
Her relatives might not welcome her with open arms, judging by the vibes, and those thugs who tried to kill her today could come back anytime.
In the end, the girl buried only the young man who died luring them away, then hid with Byeol-i.
Her once-simple pet dog had become a fine advisor.
She taught the girl wilderness survival, hunting, and combat basics. Though tailored to quadrupedal movement, sparring with Byeol-i honed her fundamentals well enough.
Shelter and food came from the mountains, but it wasn't enough. Once her childhood morals from her parents' upbringing began to fade, she started robbing folks who looked well-off.
She targeted shady types when possible and only took the bare minimum, just in case.
Once survival was second nature, she began investigating her parents' suicide.
It wasn't easy. A 13-year-old girl, even with powers, couldn't unravel the truth or hunt down culprits alone.
Her advisor 'Byeol-i' knew next to nothing about the human world, so their probe hit dead ends.
But deep down, Byeol-i welcomed the stalemate. She shared not just Shadow Wolf memories, but also over a decade as Se-ri's family pet.
Now intelligent, she couldn't bear staining her little-sister-like girl's hands with blood.
Besides, Se-ri acting on revenge meant chipping away at her lifespan. Byeol-i wasn't ready to part yet.
But after two years, Se-ri couldn't hold out any longer.
One day, she tearfully confessed: She couldn't remember her parents' faces anymore. She was terrified of forgetting revenge altogether. Seeing her sob, Byeol-i finally allowed skill acquisition.
Not all at once. One skill at a time, maxed for proficiency. Drilled for versatility in any scenario.
Byeol-i hoped, when revenge ended, at least ten years of life remained.
But despite her efforts, right before meeting Choi Jun-young, Se-ri had just 300pt left.
They couldn't even decipher the ledger from their first target, Assemblyman Yang Du-chan's house. Forced to chase leads crudely, tragedy struck.
“Triple multiplier? Less than a year left now?”
I spoke, eyeing the girl still out of it. Byeol-i gazed at her with pity too.
“Over ten years yesterday. But chasing the invisible man, she pushed too hard learning skills. I should've stopped her...”
“So that guy we bumped into was the one you were after!”
What kind of coincidence is this? An invisibility user fleeing right past me and Pomi.
“Gr, growl. Seems so. We never imagined such luck. When Mia suddenly appeared, we couldn't even greet you properly...”
“Huh? Mia? You two know each other?”
“N-no. Just... didn't realize she was a demon.”
“...Right. Anyway, that Yang Du-chan bastard was pure evil.”
Before the dog's tale, I thought Yang was just a married woman's playboy at the villa. Now? Those women were coerced. And one victim? Se-ri's mom, apparently.
The part where Se-ri murdered countless for revenge sent chills down my spine with some revulsion. But honestly? I get it.
Anyone whose family shattered like that, with the perp living smugly unpunished, would want them dead. Only difference is having the power or not.
Sad, infuriating story. A little girl orphaned at 13, scraping by for revenge.
'Huh? Wait, this sounds familiar...'
A strange sense of déjà vu tilted my head until it clicked.
'Oh yeah. This one.'