Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: The Long Road Toward Poison Technique (3)
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“Why are you out here?!”
Shayna jumped in surprise when Suhyun emerged, having eavesdropped on the conversation outside. Even if he wasn’t drinking it himself, shouldn’t he be watching over Kang In-gyu while he did?
“What do you mean, why? You want me to drink it too?”
“Didn’t you teach him how to block it? Is it really okay to just leave him like that?”
“It’s fine. I’ll keep an eye on him from here.”
The reason Suhyun had come out wasn’t because he didn’t want to breathe in the fumes. It was because he wasn’t sure Kang In-gyu wouldn’t start hurling curses indiscriminately if he awakened midway through.
Suhyun didn’t scare easily, but there was no dodging a curse unleashed in such close quarters. He’d have to kill the caster to stop it, and that wasn’t an option. He had no intention of suffering needlessly from one.
Curses were among the more complex superpowers mechanistically, and Suhyun had only heard about them secondhand, so he couldn’t predict exactly what might happen.
“Ugh…… Ah……”
Kang In-gyu began trembling violently in all four limbs while still seated. Saliva drooled from the corner of his mouth, and the whites of his eyes were already showing.
“Is he really okay?”
“Yeah, that’s how it’s supposed to be.”
“Hmm……”
Suhyun stroked his chin as he observed Kang In-gyu’s condition. Just when he thought a good amount of time had passed, Kang In-gyu suddenly shot up from his seat.
“!”
Boom!
Kang In-gyu started swinging his fists at the wall. Suhyun had put him through training, but that didn’t mean he’d instantly gain a physique on Suhyun’s level.
“What’s that about?”
“Maybe he encountered an enemy in a hallucination?”
As more time passed, Kang In-gyu stopped punching and turned his gaze to the door. He then reached out his hand. Suhyun could’ve sworn he saw purple smoke rising from it before vanishing.
“?”
“Huh……?”
Shayna staggered. She’d been standing fine until then, but now she couldn’t keep her balance.
“What’s wrong?”
“M-My legs suddenly……”
‘It’s a curse!’
Suhyun realized immediately what had happened. Kang In-gyu had just cast one. There was no other explanation for Shayna’s sudden state.
Clunk!
Suhyun flung the door open. If he’d cursed Shayna outside the door, it was only a matter of time before he targeted Suhyun too. As soon as Suhyun appeared, Kang In-gyu whipped his head around.
‘Ugh.’
Kang In-gyu’s eyes were pitch black. Even Suhyun, with all his experience, felt a chill from the eerie aura. Kang In-gyu reached out toward Suhyun, aiming at him.
“Is extending the hand the activation condition?”
It was hard enough to beat Suhyun with a clear head, let alone without reason. Kang In-gyu’s arm didn’t even rise before it was pinned firmly to his side.
“Good work. I had my doubts, but……”
Thud!
Kang In-gyu crumpled easily. Suhyun hoisted him over his shoulder. He planned to dump him in the infirmary.
“Can you stand on your own?”
“I’m…… f-fine……”
“……”
Suhyun silently supported Shayna as well. Her symptoms suggested a mild curse affecting her balance. As a superhuman herself, she’d recover with some rest.
* * *
“Huh?!”
“You’re awake?”
Kang In-gyu bolted upright and looked around frantically. It felt like he’d had a horrific nightmare.
“How’s your body feel?”
“Huh? Fine, but……”
“Anything feel different?”
At Suhyun’s question, Kang In-gyu glanced around as he pondered.
“Come to think of it, something inside me…… Ack!”
“Hand. Don’t point it at me.”
When Kang In-gyu unconsciously aimed at Suhyun, he promptly twisted the man’s arm.
“You’ve got a long way to go, but congrats anyway. You’re a superhuman now.”
“Me?! Really?!”
“What else would that feeling be? Anyway, I’m curious what you saw. You were going wild.”
“It’s all fuzzy, but…… I think I saw everyone else dying because of me.”
“That’s pretty creepy in its own way.”
It was a bit unexpected. He’d figured it’d be visions of family or loved ones dying. Seemed his usual burdens weighed heavily on him.
Kang In-gyu still couldn’t believe he was a superhuman and just stared at his palm.
“Get up. Let’s do a quick check and report it. Testing can……”
Suhyun trailed off mid-sentence. There wasn’t a good place to test Kang In-gyu’s curse. It had to be cast on a living thing, and with unknown effects, he couldn’t experiment on the squad members.
‘Any easy targets? Maybe on a monster……’
Most superhumans instinctively knew how to use their powers upon awakening, but that wasn’t always the case.
He could test later; reporting came first. Now that they were officially working with the government, withholding info could lead to misunderstandings.
But Suhyun had overlooked one thing. He hadn’t just brought Kang In-gyu along—he’d traded an artifact from Jindogae for him. Word that such a man had awakened as a superhuman was bound to spread.
* * *
“Procedures are done, so let’s train that superpower a bit. You need to know the basics if you want to use it in combat. You can use it, right?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know what’ll happen……”
Suhyun had seen it and knew it was a curse, but Kang In-gyu wasn’t convinced.
“You’ll find out by trying.”
“On wh-who?”
“There are plenty of punks in Pyongyang you could pick a fight with just by thinking about it…… Oh, better bring Shayna too.”
Suhyun called for Shayna. While the others wandered outside during downtime, she rarely did. She had no friends, and a dark elf wandering a human city wasn’t likely to end well.
“Alright, walk as thuggishly as possible.”
“Th-that’s……”
In the back alleys near the black market, you could spot Franjo or his ilk easily. They always started fights on sight. Especially with a dark elf in the group.
“Is it okay if I’m here? Won’t it cause trouble?”
“If trouble starts, the Development Planning Department will handle it. Don’t worry.”
Having just gained authority, Suhyun was already flexing it freely.
“What the? A dark elf?”
“Hey, hold up there……”
Suhyun dropped one with a single blow, then slammed the next into the wall with a follow-up. The last one was too shocked to move.
“What?”
“I-I’m not with them!”
“You look involved.”
“No! First time seeing them today!”
The two Suhyun had hit writhed silently, leaving only the unscathed one babbling.
“Whatever. Curse him.”
“Huh?”
“Do it. You’ll know once you try.”
Kang In-gyu squeezed his eyes shut at Suhyun’s urging and cast the curse. Purple smoke rose from his hand, and the man ahead began rolling on the ground.
“Gah! Gack!”
“Can you stop it?”
“Uh…… Yeah.”
“Then stop.”
When Kang In-gyu halted, the man’s screams stopped. He looked up at Suhyun with tear-filled eyes.
“How’d that feel just now?”
“Huh……?”
“I said, how’d it feel? Can’t you hear me? Want him to do it again?”
“N-No! My stomach hurt so bad……”
Terrified, the man spilled everything.
“Stomach pain…… Hmm. You, get up.”
Suhyun hauled the writhing man to his feet.
“Curse him.”
The second one cast without much hesitation.
“Grurk?!”
After several repeated tests, by the time the punks were sobbing snot and tears, Suhyun had his results.
“Really…… No pattern at all.”
“S-Sorry.”
“No need to apologize. It’s plenty useful as a superpower……”
Stomach pain, balance disruption, stamina drain, misfortune, reduced superpower resistance—the effects varied wildly. The randomness was the biggest issue.
“Well…… Practice for now. Not sure if you can control it.”
“Yes……”
Despite awakening, Kang In-gyu still seemed unsure. Unlike most new superhumans who puffed up with pride.
‘Better than arrogance.’
“Neat power. First time seeing one like that.”
As Kang In-gyu left to rest, Shayna spoke up.
“Curses are a unique branch. Makes them tricky too……”
Rare superpowers were double-edged swords. High value, but hard for the user to gather info on. Flame powers had tons of accumulated data, for example.
“In the end, only he can get a feel for it.”
“Think he can?”
“Dunno. We’ll use it however it works. Not in a position to be picky.”
Awakening him was half the victory. Randomness was a hitch, but usable. Plus, he’d later be called a curse master, so growth potential was high.
* * *
“Suhyun.”
“Oh, here about Kang In-gyu?”
“What? No. Did he do something?”
“You haven’t heard the report? He awakened as a superhuman. I handled all the procedures, so no need to worry.”
“What?!?!”
“So, if not him, why are you here?”
Jo Seung-hyun regained his composure after Suhyun brushed off a squad member’s awakening like chit-chat.
“The Development Planning Department’s looking for you. Something to say.”
“Calling me directly? Must be pretty secretive.”
‘Anything worth that?’
Suhyun stood, pondering internally. What could they want from him right now?
“No, wait! What happened with Kang In-gyu?!”
“He’s resting. Ask him yourself—that’s fastest. I’ll be right back.”
“Hey!”
* * *
“First off, congratulations. One of your squad members became a new superhuman?”
“Yeah.”
“The one you brought from Jindogae?”
“That’s right.”
“……Kim Suhyun, don’t take this the wrong way. It’s not a demand…… But the government can pay plenty.”
“?”
Suhyun couldn’t follow Lee Won-jae’s words.
“What’re you talking about?”
“Kim Chang-sik, and now Kang In-gyu from outside…… Do you know something about awakening superpowers? The trick to it, or if not…… How to spot potentials……”
“!”
Suhyun finally grasped the misunderstanding.
‘Damn it……’
He’d focused solely on gathering them quickly, overlooking how it’d look when everyone he brought awakened.
“It’s a misunderstanding. Kim Chang-sik and Kang In-gyu awakening was pure coincidence.”
“Is that so?”
Lee Won-jae accepted Suhyun’s denial at face value but looked skeptical. Suhyun chuckled inwardly. What a misunderstanding.
‘Useful, though.’
A positive one. If the department suspected this, rumors would spread elsewhere. Then……
‘Even if I don’t want to scam, they keep pushing me.’
Kim Suhyun of Uncle Jo Company knows superpower awakening secrets. That rumor alone would shake people. They’d approach, desperate to learn.
“Anyway, is that why you called? You could’ve just asked over normal channels.”
He’d come tensed, only for pointless suspicion. Suhyun eyed Lee Won-jae, steam leaking out.
“No, not that.”
“?”
Lee Won-jae waved it off.
“That was just me asking after hearing. I contacted you for another reason.”
“What? Important enough to summon me?”
“First, keep this quiet until it’s decided. Not even your team.”
“Got it.”
“There’s an under-the-table plan to build a new city in cooperation with America.”
“!”
Suhyun’s spine chilled at the words. Not from the city itself, but what it connected to.
‘No way……’
“Where?”
“Not finalized, but likely south of Euturf, in the Dragonia Basin.”
That sealed it. Suhyun swallowed unconsciously.
‘Dragon Slayer Project……!’
A massive personnel loss where the department’s team got wiped out. That event was now looming before him, jaws wide.
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