Chapter 199
Chapter 199
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 199
Chapter Title: Self-Harm Blackmail Squad (1)
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‘Who came up with this? They’ve got a real knack for strategy.’
It didn’t seem like something Rio Shin would have thought up. He was a rigid stickler for principles. Back before Suhyun returned to the past, even with his formidable superpowers, Rio Shin had always been toyed with by Suhyun.
It was hard to believe such a scheme had come from his mind. Suhyun pondered for a moment before shrugging it off and letting go of the thought. It didn’t really matter who had devised it. This kind of tactic was bound to emerge eventually.
When a powerhouse goes on a solo rampage, others will inevitably find ways to stop him, no matter the means. And with all the people in China, surely someone would come up with something like this.
“Gu Jung-chul, Kwak Hyun-tae, front and center!”
Gu Jung-chul stepped forward with a calm expression, while Kwak Hyun-tae looked anxious. The two were the most crucial for this operation. They’d worked together before Suhyun’s time travel, and their abilities meshed perfectly with the plan.
Gu Jung-chul would do whatever he was told without issue, but Kwak Hyun-tae seemed deeply uneasy about being called aside alone.
“What’s up?”
“You two have a job to do together.”
“…….”
* * *
“You sure this is okay? Even so, three’s a bit much…….”
“Three’s what makes it work. Hey, think about it honestly. If we drag Blue Bear and Eclipse along and get beat up by the Chinese, no matter how convincing it looks, who’s gonna buy it?”
“You’re a mage too, aren’t you?”
“I’ll bail at the right moment. Besides, you guys have no experience with this stuff. You’d just come off awkward.”
Jack and Jennifer exchanged incredulous looks at the claim that lack of self-harm blackmail experience made it impossible.
‘So you’re saying you’ve got experience with self-harm blackmail?’
Jack wanted to ask but held back, sensing a scary answer might come.
“Anyway, once we snag those Chinese suckers, it’ll be easy to use them. Send ’em straight to the Debrao region to set the mood. Once heavily armed guys start wandering around, the underlings will know we’re not lying.”
“Isn’t that a scam?”
“Everyone’s heading to Debrao eventually, early or late. What’s scammy about giving a heads-up first and claiming the spot? I’ll be back, so keep the kids in line. No trouble.”
“Who’s gonna cause trouble…….”
* * *
As they walked alongside Suhyun, Kwak Hyun-tae cautiously asked.
“Uh… Jung-chul’s a top-tier superpower user, so that makes sense, but why me?”
Even to Kwak Hyun-tae, Gu Jung-chul’s body hardening ability was impressive. It was unbelievable that a talent like him had been relegated to porter duty before. He could smash through thick tree trunks with a body slam and tank autocannon rounds. It was jaw-dropping.
By comparison, Kwak Hyun-tae was a firefly before the full moon. Gu Jung-chul’s simple nature was a blessing; normally, someone with that level of power would strut around arrogantly, looking down on everyone. Kwak Hyun-tae had seen plenty like that on Cameron Planet.
“Your superpower’s useful too. Stop putting yourself down.”
“Huh? What superpower are you talking about?”
Gu Jung-chul stammered. Kwak Hyun-tae hesitated before answering.
“…Invisibility.”
“You never even revealed your power back in the army. Sneaky bastard.”
“Wh-what’s sneaky about it! I just didn’t wanna deal with the hassle. Hey, it’s not like that!”
It stung when Gu Jung-chul shifted from respectful admiration to contemptuous stares. He felt like some kind of superpower pervert.
“An invisibility power just brings trouble. In the military, they’d send me on all the risky, low-pay jobs. And since I don’t have much combat ability myself, my odds of dying would skyrocket. Plus, if anything went wrong in the unit, I’d be suspect number one.”
“But you did embezzle, didn’t you?”
“That’s beside the point.”
Kwak Hyun-tae swiftly changed the subject. Suhyun chuckled. This wasn’t the first time he’d heard excuses like that. Kwak Hyun-tae was always like this.
“We sent our coordinates, and backtracking from the departure date, they’ll probably arrive here within a day. I explained the plan, right?”
“Uh… absolutely no charging in…….”
“And take a beating.”
“Perfect. Jung-chul, you get why I picked you now?”
“N-not really?”
“Because you and I can take a beating and walk away fine.”
“…….”
Gu Jung-chul tilted his head, unsure whether to be happy or not. He still didn’t understand why someone like Suhyun had to pretend to get hit.
“Huh? Me too? Bullets will kill me, though?”
“I’ve got healing, so as long as it’s not instant death. And you don’t even need to get hit. Why’d I call you? To use invisibility.”
“Ugh, figured as much.”
The fate of an invisibility superpower user: sneaking into enemy territory alone for dangerous ops.
“Don’t wanna?”
“Nah. For the pay we’re getting here, I’d go even without it.”
Mid-sentence, Kwak Hyun-tae paused.
“Wait, what if they’ve got superpower nullifiers?”
“They won’t. Don’t worry.”
The ones baiting self-harm blackmail wouldn’t activate nullifiers. Most would be desperate gamblers staking their lives. Few pulled off technical plays like Suhyun while clinging to survival. Normally, you picked disposable guys, promised rewards, and sent them to die.
“They really won’t, right? For real?”
“If they do, we surrender. Flat out. I’ll bust you out later.”
“No Chinese underground prisons for me! Ah, damn…….”
Grumbling, Kwak Hyun-tae followed Suhyun’s orders and activated invisibility once in position. It had the advantage of long duration.
-I’ll let you know when we arrive, so wait at the designated spot.
-Got it.
Kwak Hyun-tae wondered how Suhyun pinpointed even the Chinese arrivals as he walked. Pre-contact intel had limits.
‘Eh, he’ll handle it. Guy’s no ordinary joe.’
* * *
“Found ’em. Over there.”
“How many?”
“Two.”
“Just two? Figures for mages. No need for a crowd.”
The man nodded. Their vibe was grim and resolute. They hadn’t gathered to fight Suhyun. They were here to pick a moderate fight, get attacked by him, and record it.
They knew full well how monstrous he was. A flick of his finger, and they’d be shredded. Even braced, fear was inevitable. Someone gulped loudly.
The government promised huge compensation to their families if they died. Already rotting in prison for 20+ years or life, they accepted without hesitation.
“What now? Make contact?”
“Slow and steady. Don’t wanna rush in and die, right? Comms working fine?”
“Yeah. Even the spares are good.”
They’d meticulously prepped comms gear to send footage up to the moment of total wipeout, even if all recorders were destroyed. No way Suhyun could instantly find and smash every hidden device.
-Approach from northwest. Watch the noise. They don’t seem elite, but not total greenhorns either. Loud sounds will tip ’em off.
No elites here, but not utter newbies. Probably scraped together soldiers or mercs with flaws.
Suhyun patted Gu Jung-chul’s back, whistled, and strode forward. Spotting him emerge between trees, the Chinese tensed up, bodies rigid.
“Ready, Jun?”
“Yeah!”
“Good. Let’s go!”
They had to act as obnoxious as possible. Enough to piss off a mage into attacking.
“Whoa, didn’t expect to run into folks here. Coincidence?”
Suhyun grinned casually, scanning the Chinese.
“Might be. Might not.”
“What? Not a coincidence? What’re you saying? You’re not stalking me, are you?”
The man twitched his lips, forcing a sneer. Sneering at a monster up close was tough. Any second, he could be torn apart—but he sneered anyway.
“P-paranoid much? Why would we stalk you?”
“Plenty of Chinese tailing me already.”
“Just coincidence. Might happen again.”
That attitude would’ve earned fists from Jin Luo Gong. Suhyun just shrugged.
“Fine. If not, no biggie. Let’s go our ways.”
As Suhyun turned without attacking, the man panicked. This wasn’t the script……
He signaled his men. They openly trailed Suhyun. He stopped, letting out a hollow laugh.
“What? Not following, huh?”
“Our paths just overlap by chance.”
“You love that word. If I swing and your heads fly, that chance too?”
‘Finally!’
The man gritted his teeth. Now Suhyun reaches out, wipes them…… trap sprung. He’d claim self-defense, but footage said otherwise.
Bang bang bang!
“Urk, ugh!”
“Jung-chul!”
“?!”
But his head didn’t fly. Gunfire erupted from behind. Stunned, the man whipped around.
He was temporary leader only because of seniority. All had military or merc experience. No one would fire from nerves or accident.
“Have you lost your mind?!”
“N-no! Someone pressed my finger!”
“Bullshit!”
“You bastards! How dare you shoot Jung-chul!”
Gu Jung-chul lay fallen, unable to rise, red pooling around his gut. Suhyun’s furious glare made them blanch.
Things had gone wrong.
Firing first ruined any edit to frame Suhyun.
‘Th-this…….’
“Jung-chul! Get up! Don’t pass out!”
If they’d stayed cool, they’d recall Suhyun’s healing. But panicked, they instinctively backed away.
“All of you, on your knees. You fucks.”
“Huh?”
“Disarm and kneel now. One twitch, and heads roll.”
They knew he wasn’t bluffing better than anyone. Caught off-guard, they froze.
Without a word, they began dropping weapons.
‘Damn, this guy’s a ghost.’
Kwak Hyun-tae, watching invisibly, nodded. He closed in, activated a comms jammer, grabbed the nearest man’s arm, and pulled the trigger. Now it looked like the Chinese attacked first.
Kneeling in confusion, they bickered—mostly cursing the triggerman.
“You idiot! Why pull it there!”
“I didn’t pull it, swear!”
“You’re a spy, aren’t you? Fucking spy!”
“A spy wouldn’t do this!”
Clap clap.
Suhyun clapped to silence them.
“Talking’s fine. But first, one more thing.”
“?”
“Strip. All of you.”
“Huh?”
“Strip naked and follow. I’m merciful—I’ll let you grab a poncho.”
“What the fu—gurk!”
“Any more rebels?”
None, naturally. They slowly undressed. Gu Jung-chul, baffled, asked.
“Why strip ’em?”
“Can’t have ’em hiding stuff. Gotta stay clean no matter what. Good. All naked? You look like elves. Line up, single file—move!”
Suhyun kicked the rearmost one’s ass. Heads bowed, they marched.