Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: Regional Conflict (2)
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Suhyun smiled, and Xiao Mei suddenly felt uneasy. It wasn’t a wicked grin or a sneer—in fact, that made it all the more unsettling. The current situation wasn’t one that called for such a warm smile.
Suhyun walked forward slowly. It was a situation where they could have stopped him easily, but no one did. Suhyun crossed through the village and approached the orcs lying in the corner.
“You’re hurt?”
“…Yes.”
“The injuries look pretty serious.”
The orc, wrapped head to toe in bandages, seemed to have trouble even moving. He let out a groan as Suhyun approached.
“A fight broke out—how could we not get hurt?”
“Shouldn’t humans stay out of conflicts between other races?”
“I know that’s the principle, unless there’s an exception…….”
“Well, you’re right in theory.”
Suhyun stood in front of the orc and spun around once.
“But is this all the treatment they’re getting? No rapid healing agents?”
Quick recovery didn’t have to rely solely on healing abilities. It was possible to make rapid healing agents from troll blood or other materials.
Of course, the cost wasn’t trivial.
“Rapid healing agents? We don’t have any to spare.”
“Is that so? Well, since we’ve crossed paths like this, how about I ease your pain a bit?”
“!”
Xiao Mei panicked. One of Kim Suhyun’s superpowers was healing. With injuries like that, he could heal them in an instant.
The problem was…
That these orcs weren’t actually hurt.
She wasn’t a healing user herself, so she didn’t know exactly how healing worked. But what if using healing allowed him to detect uninjured people?
‘Guess I’ll have to play dumb?’
If it came to it, she’d have no choice but to deny everything. Her only hope was that Kim Suhyun wouldn’t go too far.
“Captain. What the hell are you doing?”
“You beautiful little bastards……. Really…….”
She vowed to retrain her subordinates when she got back. They needed to memorize dangerous figures’ faces first and foremost.
In truth, it wasn’t unreasonable that her subordinates didn’t know Kim Suhyun’s face. What use would knowing it be? Any operation targeting him would be handled by another team anyway……
“But it’ll be fine, right?”
“?”
When Suhyun asked for permission, Xiao Mei looked at him with slight bewilderment. She hadn’t expected him to ask.
‘Why is he acting like this?’
“Healing takes a lot out of you, so there’s no need. The injuries are severe, but not life-threatening.”
If he was asking permission, she could use it to her advantage. Xiao Mei gave a textbook response. Suhyun grinned and replied.
“Healing? Seems like there’s a misunderstanding. That’s not what I meant.”
Suhyun drew a pistol from his coat. He aimed it at the orc lying down.
“There are all sorts of ways to ease pain, aren’t there?”
He pulled the trigger right away.
“Gaaargh! #&^$!”
At the same time, the orc shrieked and shot up from his spot. He lunged at Suhyun desperately, flailing to knock the gun away.
Thud!
Suhyun fluidly grabbed his neck and slammed him back onto the bed. The orc blinked, still held by the neck. The trigger had clearly been pulled first, but there was no pain.
“Oh, wondering why it doesn’t hurt? Because the bullet was a blank, obviously.”
Suhyun tapped the pistol as he spoke. The orc’s face paled as realization dawned.
‘A mistake…! I should’ve trained them more thoroughly.’
Xiao Mei’s judgment wasn’t wrong. Upon hearing about the dispute with the elves, she’d thought: With so many humans around, some must be siding with the elves and trying to meddle.
The orcs had invaded first, so they lacked justification. They were trying to persuade the orcs to use as pawns. If the orcs got chased off, that would be a problem.
That’s why she’d ordered the act. Her subordinates had grumbled, “Why go to such lengths?” but her call was right.
Except for one thing: the opponent being Suhyun.
Suhyun had seen through the orcs’ act immediately and used intimidation to make them stand.
“The injuries seem lighter than I thought? You’re jumping around like nothing.”
“Anyone would show superhuman strength staring down a gun barrel…….”
“Still sticking to the story? Why not say I worked a miracle and healed a cripple instead?”
Xiao Mei didn’t respond. The situation was already ruined; all that was left was admitting the ploy and finding a way to escape unscathed.
Wu Shangkai would throw a fit, and she’d have to write dozens of reports, but what could she do? The living had to survive.
“Fine, we put on a little show. What’s wrong with that?”
Xiao Mei hoped Suhyun would say something like, “If you don’t back off, I’ll show you what I can do.” Then she could pretend to yield and withdraw with her team.
“Your attitude changed fast. Whatever—come in for a sec. Let’s talk.”
Suhyun holstered his pistol.
“?”
“Come on in. We’ll use this building. That okay?”
The bandaged orc lying there nodded hesitantly.
“Captain, why are you being so meek…….”
Suhyun pointed a finger at the soldier who’d spoken. Powerful telekinesis yanked him right in front of Suhyun.
“Gasp!”
Thud!
A precise strike to the gut. His body folded in a V-shape. Suhyun kicked him forward and clicked his tongue.
“This is why you need to stay meek. Thank your captain later for saving your life—bow a hundred times. Got it?”
“You little…….”
When their comrade was dragged and hit, the other soldiers reached for their weapons. They were well-trained. Of course, it wouldn’t change the outcome.
“!”
Their weapons floated into the air and tore apart. Few Koreans came to mind with that signature telekinesis control. And if their captain was this flustered……
‘Kim Suhyun!’
They stared at Suhyun awkwardly. Xiao Mei felt a headache coming on and rubbed her forehead.
“I’ll come in. Let’s talk, okay?”
“Good judgment.”
* * *
As she entered, Xiao Mei ran through dozens of thoughts. How to play it off? How much had Kim Suhyun figured out?
Her subordinates had slipped up, but nothing decisive yet. With luck, she could pass them off as mercenaries.
But all those worries shattered in an instant.
“Your name wouldn’t happen to be Xiao Mei, would it?”
“?!?!”
“Guess so.”
His expression didn’t change, but Suhyun was watching her eyes. A flash of bewilderment crossed them. That confirmed he’d nailed it.
“H-How…….”
“Oh, Wu Shangkai mentioned you.”
“?!”
Xiao Mei’s knees trembled.
‘What’s going on? Wu Shangkai? Did he sell me out to Kim Suhyun?’
No other explanation fit. If Kim Suhyun knew her and had shown up here……
It meant it was a trap from the start, and she’d danced right into it without noticing.
More than anger or sadness, she felt wronged.
‘No way—he sold me out?! I’m nobody!’
She could understand if it were someone like Jin Luo Gong or Liu Xin, famous superpowered users in China. Kim Suhyun probably held grudges against Liu Xin.
But her? She was nothing. Her missions were trivial ones anyone could handle, and she’d barely ever struck a blow against Kim Suhyun. If anything, she’d taken more hits from him.
“Sit down first? You planning to stand forever?”
“Please spare me!”
“…Bigger reaction than I expected.”
Suhyun pulled out a crude chair the orcs had made and handed it to Xiao Mei. He’d thought she resembled him in situational judgment and behavior, but now he saw a difference.
Suhyun’s survival instincts weren’t quite that sharp.
“I’ll do anything! I can even defect!”
“Defect? What’s that… Calm down. I’m not planning to kill you.”
“Just guarantee my life, and I’ll defect and write a declaration criticizing the Communist Party…!”
“Is this drinkable? Maybe something to drink will calm you.”
Xiao Mei kept babbling, but Suhyun ignored her. He picked up a dented pot and checked its contents. No poison. He poured some into a cup, and the smell of alcohol hit him.
“Oh, orc booze? One sip won’t hurt.”
“Uh, that’s… the orcs chew corn and ferment it with their spit…….”
“You’ve got to be kidding!”
“It’s not my fault!”
Suhyun, who’d nearly taken a sip, hurled the pot to the floor and shook his head grumpily.
“Wu Shangkai didn’t sell you out. To be precise, he’s in a similar position to you.”
“?”
Xiao Mei tilted her head. Him, in a similar position to her?
“Poor phrasing on my part. I meant you’re about to end up like Wu Shangkai. I’ve got dirt on him.”
“Thank goodness…!”
She felt relieved at that. At least she hadn’t been sold out. At first, she’d truly thought Wu Shangkai had offered her up as a sacrifice to cut a deal with Kim Suhyun.
‘Wait— isn’t that actually worse?’
Didn’t that mean he’d leverage her weakness to use her?
“I’ve heard about you from Wu Shangkai a few times. Said he had this one cowardly subordinate.”
“That jerk—talking behind my back just because he’s got leverage…….”
“Well, his judgment’s obvious. I just thought it was amusing when I heard. Not many handle things that way.”
Xiao Mei felt a flicker of emotion. No one had ever acknowledged her methods before. Her superiors hounded her for results, her subordinates complained about her cowardice.
And now a foreigner—practically at the pinnacle of superpowered users—was validating her. Despite warning herself not to fall for it, her resolve wavered.
“So that’s how you figured it out?”
Xiao Mei tried to steady herself and revert to her usual demeanor.
‘Stay calm. Stay calm.’
“Huh?”
“I mean, how you identified me right away…….”
“Oh, that wasn’t from Wu Shangkai. I suspected you because you assumed I was a healer. I haven’t used healing once, but you thought I was a healer?”
‘Oh no…!’
Xiao Mei finally realized her blunder. She’d been so flustered by Suhyun’s appearance that she’d done something stupid. He hadn’t used healing, yet she’d brought it up.
“A Chinese person who recognizes my face well enough isn’t just some regular mercenary—high chance they’re with the state. And your antics were so distinctive, I took a shot.”
“…….”
“So, shall we get to the point? What brings you here?”
Xiao Mei pondered briefly. How should she respond now?
The answer came quickly.
“The objective of this operation is to secure friendly other races around the Anes region.”
“…You didn’t even hesitate for a second?”
“Command anticipates more operations around Anes in the future, so the more usable other races we have, the better. We’ve already reaped plenty from our relations with the orcs in Haimken…….”
Here, Xiao Mei glanced at Suhyun.
“Why look at me? What, did I do something?”
“Anyway, that made the orcs prime recruitment targets. Being a nomadic tribe was a bonus.”
“Easy to exploit, right? I get the gist.”
Suhyun paused in thought before asking.
“How close are you with the orcs?”
“Huh?”
“How much influence do you have over them?”
“Oh… We can give them orders.”
“!”
Suhyun was a bit surprised. The Anes region hadn’t been in the spotlight long. Even if Xiao Mei’s team arrived before him, it wouldn’t be by much—yet they’d already secured them?
“What did you use to recruit them?”
“Sincerely…….”
“Cut the crap.”
“Yes, sir.”
Xiao Mei answered promptly.
“They said they weren’t originally nomads but ended up here out of necessity. So we promised them farmland in the pioneer zones.”
“That’s it?”
“Of course they’ll have to work for it…… We’re not a charity.”
“Fair enough. So you’re keeping them here until the jobs start?”
“Yes, for now.”