Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Return (4)
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“Don’t do this!”
“You’re a good actor.”
“What are you talking about!”
“I get it. I know you’re trying to prove your innocence. But listen to me first, then act.”
Kim Jong-tae felt tension twisting deep in his gut at Suhyun’s attitude, which wasn’t buying his performance at all. Dealing with a guy like this was dangerous.
‘Damn it, no wonder something felt off...’
He shouldn’t have tested the waters. He should’ve just played dumb from the start.
‘Where the hell are my bodyguards?’
His line of work meant he rarely went anywhere alone. He always had at least two superpowered bodyguards with him. He was sure he’d posted two right outside his room...
“See this?”
“Yes?”
Suhyun wiggled his fingers in front of Kim Jong-tae’s face. Not understanding what Suhyun meant, he asked again.
“Look closely. This is going to decide whether you live or die from now on.”
“What...”
Snap!
With a flick of his fingers, an intense pain ripped through Kim Jong-tae’s chest like his veins were tearing apart. It was so sudden and fierce that he couldn’t even scream.
“Huhk, heuk, huhk!”
“Got it?”
“......”
“Guess not.”
“No, I...!”
Without waiting for an answer, Suhyun snapped his fingers again. He’d injected a deadly poison into Kim Jong-tae’s body, but he couldn’t let his guard down. The man was a viper. Guys like him needed to be broken until they submitted completely.
“I got... it. What the hell did I do to deserve this!”
“I told you to act later. Listen to me first. What’s in your body right now is a cocktail poison. Three neurotoxins, four vascular toxins, finished off with a superpower poison.”
Hearing Suhyun’s explanation, Kim Jong-tae finally realized the guy was a poison expert. And a superpower poison? If it wasn’t a lie, that meant he didn’t just have top-tier mixing skills—he had poison-related superpowers too.
“Right now, the membrane encapsulating it inside you is slowly dissolving. If I want, I can melt it instantly. Your head must be spinning, so I’ll keep it simple. Your life is mine. I’ll give you an antidote to slow it down every three months, so obey me if you want to live.”
“W-what are you saying? Is this about the superpower enhancers? Take them all. Just spare my life!”
Kim Jong-tae’s acting was convincingly desperate. Louiril watched, inwardly impressed. If Suhyun hadn’t warned her ahead of time, she might’ve been fooled too.
“The poison will spread through your whole body the moment it dissolves. No one will be able to save you then. A healer? With your blood saturated in poison? Fat chance. And don’t even think about surgery. It’s so sensitive it’ll dissolve on contact from the outside, and there’s no antidote anyway.”
Even the poisons Suhyun made before mastering poison arts had no antidotes. Now that he was creating superpower poisons with them, no one stood a chance at curing it.
Suhyun stuck to his script no matter what act Kim Jong-tae put on. Kim Jong-tae grew anxious but didn’t make the first move.
He had to hold out till the end.
“Please spare me. I beg you, just let me live! I can’t die here. I have family waiting for me!”
“Three local wives and two kids from affairs? Wait, one now?”
“!!!!!”
A chill slithered down Kim Jong-tae’s spine. This bastard hadn’t just attacked him out of greed for the enhancers. He’d thoroughly investigated and targeted him.
“I don’t care about your pathetic family. You’d ditch them and run alone if shit hit the fan. Family, my ass.”
Family was just Kim Jong-tae’s smokescreen. When things went south, he’d turn coward in a heartbeat. He’d actually used them as bait to escape before.
“You understand everything I’m saying, so stop pretending you don’t. Is this about the enhancers? Sort of. Where’d you get this?”
“Wha? Y-yes!”
“Don’t answer questions with questions.”
Suhyun flicked his fingers without hesitation.
“Th-the black market.”
Just as black market dealer Bjorn had taken interest in Suhyun as an expert, all sorts of goods—legal and illegal—flowed through the markets. Unlicensed drugs were one of them.
Kim Jong-tae had scored a recipe for an “elven tribal secret potion” from an elf drug dealer. It was highly addictive with severe side effects, but it explosively boosted one’s potential, granting temporary power enhancements.
Anyone else would’ve tossed it as useless, but Kim Jong-tae found a way to exploit it. Legal or not didn’t matter to him.
“I already checked it out. Insanely addictive. Perfect for ruining lives if you shoot it blindly.”
“Yes?”
“I said no ‘yes.’ Want me to start with a dose?”
Suhyun held up a syringe and pressed it to Kim Jong-tae’s arm. His face drained of color. A top drug dealer never touched their own product. They’d burn through their inventory.
“You knew?”
“...!”
Meeting Suhyun’s eyes, Kim Jong-tae gritted his teeth. He had to hold out somehow...!
“Sparing your life is easy, but only if you behave and prove useful. I don’t keep cocky bastards who play dumb in front of me alive. Convince me to let you live in five seconds. Fail, and I’ll send you to heaven.”
Pressing the syringe to his arm was the ultimate threat. Kim Jong-tae finally spilled everything. Suhyun, having heard it all, smirked and patted his cheek.
“Good. Now I’m satisfied.”
“What now?”
Thwack!
“Guhk!”
“Doesn’t mean you can grovel just because you showed your true colors.”
“Wh-what now?”
Cameron’s underground prison flashed in Kim Jong-tae’s mind.
“Don’t worry. I’m generous. I won’t hand you over to the government.”
“Then...?”
“I’ll send you somewhere you can use your talents.”
“?”
“Go to Beijing. Contact the guys on this list.”
“??”
“Come report your progress every three months. Don’t want to? Fine, but you’ll die, so better stay on track.”
“Contact them for what?”
“What else? Same shit you do here.”
“...!”
Kim Jong-tae looked horrified. Supply drugs in a city under tight Chinese security? He’d need ten lives for that. What ended in trials and prison in Korea or the US often meant execution in China.
“It’s impossible!”
“Impossible’s fine. Just die then.”
‘This fucking psycho?!’
Kim Jong-tae prided himself on his own villainy, backed by his cunning. But he’d never imagined meeting someone even more unhinged.
“Quit whining. You’ve got your money and your smarts. Plenty to work with. Get into Beijing and set up shop somehow. Hook these guys and addict them to the drug.”
China might lead Cameron projects at the national level, but not every superpowered individual blindly obeyed the government. Some hid normal identities, operating in the shadows when needed.
“You’ve never done a patriotic thing in your life, right? Didn’t even pay taxes. Time to serve your country. Work hard if you want to live. Finish the guys on this list, and you’re free.”
* * *
“...I got off easy.”
“What? Oh, you and that guy aren’t even in the same league.”
“Elves and humans, you mean?”
“No, he’s way more of a snake. You can’t lump together an elf who’d steal artifacts but can’t kill, and a human slinging drugs for cash.”
Louiril made a subtle face at that. If she’d shown her ruthless side at their first meeting, she might’ve ended up treated the same.
“Wait, so you could antidote me just fine...”
“Doesn’t mean I trust you because you’re nicer than him.”
“......”
Suhyun twirled the enhancer sample he’d gotten from Kim Jong-tae between his fingers, lost in thought. Kim Jong-tae would work loyally for at least a year. He’d try to find an antidote eventually, but that’d take time.
‘Those who don’t heed warnings get what’s coming...’
Suhyun had told him the truth: no antidote, and surgery would spread the poison. But whether Kim Jong-tae believed it was doubtful. He’d behave out of fear for a year, then scramble to remove it.
The enhancers were laced with a trace special poison. On the battlefield, he’d spot the addicted ones. Suhyun hoped Kim Jong-tae would distribute to as many as possible before offing himself trying something stupid.
* * *
“A guest is here.”
“Who? Development Planning Department? Where’s the president?”
“No, from Blue Bear...”
“?”
Suhyun looked puzzled at the unexpected name. Blue Bear—the American PMC he’d encountered in Kakrita Valley.
“Let them in.”
‘What’s this about?’
Everyone was busy now. Unscathed companies expanded territories; damaged ones rebuilt. Uncle Jo Company was no different, training new orcs for deployment.
“Been well?”
Robert still had that bearish build. Suhyun studied his face closely as he entered. No shadows of hardship.
‘Blue Bear dodged the damage?’
Not everyone who went took hits. Some got lucky; others skipped it.
“I’ve been fine.”
“Heard you went missing in Poshukan. Must’ve been rough.”
“...?”
Suhyun furrowed his brow. His disappearance wasn’t a huge secret, but it wasn’t public knowledge either.
“Did I say something rude?”
Robert asked more cautiously, noting Suhyun’s expression.
“Not rude, but where’d you hear that?”
“Oh, that. I sent some people to check. Was torn over the Dragon Slayer Project.”
Many joined because governments endorsed it, but some coldly calculated risks. Blue Bear was among the latter. Their Kakrita failure had been a lesson.
Even if they won expansion rights, heavy losses made it pointless. New cities sounded glamorous, but Robert wasn’t sold. They weren’t positioned to be shaken by a new city anyway.
So they met and debated. Then Suhyun came to mind—the young hotshot with sharp instincts.
Would Uncle Jo join or sit it out?
Robert’s scouts uncovered a stunner: Suhyun missing in Poshukan, halting all company ops.
Not surprising for a one-man show. Even greats could die on Cameron.
But Robert sensed something off in the chain of events.
-No Dragon Slayer Project!
The boss decided, so underlings followed without bitching. But knowing why would’ve shocked them.
“Judging based on someone else’s mishap? Isn’t that harsh?”
“Haha, sorry about that. Thanks to you, we dodged disaster. Thought it was rushed, but that bad...”
“Guess it’s a monster humanity can’t handle yet.”
“Lucky it stays in its turf.”
Robert shrugged. If monsters actively ventured out, human expansion would lag decades.
“So you came today to thank me for saving your asses?”
“No, got a proposal.”
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