EP.97 Level 9 - Ung, Complete Empathy (11)
I pressed the doorbell again and again, but Seo Eunha showed no sign of responding from inside. Just as expected. I entered the passcode Hyeun had given me for situations like this and stepped into the apartment. The lights were off, plunging the entire place into darkness.
She was supposed to be holed up at home. Had she gone somewhere else? I moved past the entryway, and the living room came into view—decorated like some high-end bar. I’d heard that Yoo Chaerin’s team often gathered here, so they’d turned it into a meeting space that matched her tastes. Seeing every little detail made it painfully obvious that Seo Eunha herself had no place in any of it. Just how far did she go to erase her own presence?
“What the… this door’s locked.”
Strangely, the bedroom door was locked tight. I didn’t have the key to the internal locks, so going any further was impossible. She must have shut herself inside and locked it from within. Normally, someone like her would feel guilty for acting this way and hurting others. So just how shattered was her mind that she’d barricade herself in her room and refuse to come out?
“First, let’s cancel Tilted Playground…”
After that, I’d use Ung, Complete Empathy to read her thoughts. I could have used Do It For Me right away to force the door open, but confirming her current state took priority.
The moment I activated the trait, an icy chill slammed into me so hard it made me dizzy.
I'm sorry. To the bereaved families… everything happened because of me. If I hadn't done that…
Now my true demonic nature is finally showing after pretending to be kind. You're right. I'm not kind at all.
I'm truly sorry for building an image of myself as a good person. I grew up without a mother, and people called me a saint and put me on a pedestal. That's how I became this arrogant. I'm so sorry.
It's true that I dressed like a whore every day to lure in fans with revealing clothes. My combat suit is basically designed for maximum exposure, so of course people would see it that way. I didn't think that far ahead. I'm truly sorry.
I'm not in a lewd relationship with the president of the Hunting Yandere fan club, but I understand how it could look that way. I'm sorry for making everyone uncomfortable. But please don't blame the president. It's all my fault.
It's true that my team members are pitiful. I've only ever burdened them. I'll withdraw so that Yoo Chaerin's team won't be harmed. I'm so sorry for causing you all worry.
You're right that I should be chopped into pieces, tied up, and used like a potion factory. If that would make everyone feel better, I'll gladly do it.
I understand wanting me to hang myself, but please wait just a little longer. It seems I'm still useful for now, so I'll work as a potion factory like you suggested. Once I'm no longer useful, I'll hang myself then.
To everyone who believed in me, thank you always. But please don't try to protect me. Everything they say is correct. It's all my fault.
Please curse me instead. I'm sorry I couldn't express a single opinion even as this incident grew so large. But everything they say is right, so I can't refute any of it.
Yes. I apologize to everyone who felt wronged because of the incidents I caused. It's all my fault. Everything is my fault.
I've been soaked in arrogance this whole time, thinking my actions would bring more happiness to people. That's why everyone has no choice but to hate me. I'm always like this—constantly weighing people's happiness, wondering which side would make more people happy.
What right do I have to ruin the happiness of the minority? In the end, that's why this disaster happened.
If I'd been more thorough about safety measures for this incident, maybe it wouldn't have turned out this way. In the end, their only mistake was trusting me.
The nation's claims aren't wrong at all. If I hadn't failed the strategy… if I'd endured that attack properly instead of dodging it… then no one would have been hurt and everyone could have lived happily.
So it's right that I take all the responsibility. I'm a bitch who deserves every insult, so I have to hear them. Why am I always like this? Why do I keep making mistakes and only hurting everyone… I didn't want to do that.
I'm scared. I'm scared… I'm going to hurt someone again. I hate it. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it…!
In an instant, sticky, filthy emotions began crushing my entire body. The runaway thoughts pouring from her stabbed my heart like countless sharp awls. Even though she was only hurling curses at herself, reading those thoughts was painful enough to make me suffer too. It felt like being forcibly fed something disgusting while restrained.
“Ugh… fuck, I think I’m gonna puke.”
She was reading malicious comments in real time and seriously tearing herself down, reflecting on every single one. Yet at the same time, she was desperately insisting that she could still be helpful to people. It was utterly absurd.
If someone had been hurt this badly, wasn’t it normal to resent those people? Why was she only tearing herself down?
“Stop blaming yourself and just open the door. Do It For Me.”
In the end, I used the trait to stop her condition from getting any worse. This wasn’t the time to be picky about which abilities I used. At this rate, it wouldn’t be strange if she really ended up reduced to a state-owned potion machine and strategy slave.
“…Eunhyuk…?”
When Seo Eunha opened the door and stepped out, she wasn’t wearing a single thread. But what caught my eye first wasn’t her pure-white naked body—it was her hair, torn out in clumps, and her face, ruined by tears. The floor behind her was covered in dried bloodstains. She had clearly tried to harm herself.
Her half-dead eyes weren’t looking at me. They were fixed on the smartphone in her hand. I snatched the phone away and hurled it into the trash can.
“E-eh?”
“Stop with the pathetic act and follow me. You need to wash up first.”
I dragged her into the bathroom by force and began washing her face and hair. She stared at me with a look that said she had no idea what was happening.
“I-I’ll do it myself. This is a sin… Hiiik!?”
“Just don’t think about anything and let your head rest for a bit. There isn’t a single man in the world who would complain about washing the body of someone as beautiful as you, Miss Eunha. If it feels good, then just enjoy it.”
It was actually more surprising that she showed no reaction even though a man she barely knew was touching her body. The look on her face suggested that if I wanted to do this, she naturally had to accept it. This was driving me insane.
“Okay, close your eyes properly. Obviously you won’t get hurt if you keep them open, but it’ll sting. Does it hurt your heart if I say I’ll be sad if you keep them open on purpose while pretending to self-harm?”
“…Yes.”
A faint rose scent spread through the bathroom from the shampoo. I washed her hair with clumsy hands. Every time she tried to fall back into dark thoughts, I slapped her back and lathered her body with body wash.
“A body this beautiful will cry if you neglect it like this. Try feeling sorry for yourself instead of others for once.”
“I don’t have that kind of value…”
“You’re overflowing with it, you know? If only people whose lives you saved could attend, you could hold an entire rally. Do you think those fans who still shield you even after the controversy tilted this far exist for no reason?”
“I-I…”
“Sometimes think about the people who worry about you. The more you act like this, Miss Eunha, the more the people around you get hurt.”
While I was at it, I secretly engraved a small tattoo inside her cleavage where it wouldn’t be easily seen. It was the Study if You Don’t Know tattoo. I’d set it so that it would activate whenever I clapped my hands. I engraved it in the least visible place because I thought I’d use it later.
“That’s…”
“You know it, right? But it doesn’t go as you wish.”
“Yes… No matter how much I think about it, it seems like everything I did was wrong. At the time, I thought it was the right thing, but when I look back, every choice was a mistake. No, from the beginning, since I’m only capable of this much, even the people around me…”
“Sigh…”
I let out a deep breath and rinsed the foam off her body. How could a person be this negative? Even when I met her last time, although she was kind, it hadn’t been this severe.
“With these proudly large breasts, hair this silky, and skin like this—isn’t that already cheating? How can you lack confidence when you have a body like this? You’re even an S-rank hunter.”
“B-but…”
“You still feel like it’s not enough, right? I know. I know things aren’t going the way you want.”
Until now, the beliefs she held had protected her. But this incident and the flood of malicious comments had broken her so badly that even those beliefs had crumbled. The government bastards had probably intentionally tried to destroy Seo Eunha like this. After that, they would slowly gaslight her and use her like a slave. Fucking trash.
“The hairpin goes here, right?”
“Ah, yes…”
I dried her hair with a blow dryer and did my best to restore her usual hairstyle. Only then did we sit facing each other on the chairs in the living room.
Even though I’d placed a trait on her to stop her from self-blaming, her mental state still wasn’t improving.
‘If I had taken that attack back then…’
I’d blocked her self-blame, so now she was regretting the past instead. She was dragging herself down using every possible method. She really was a person with an absurdly low amount of self-love… Of course people feel regret, but this wasn’t a situation that warranted it.
“That was the correct choice, so stop regretting it.”
“…Pardon?”
“Ah, it showed on your face. You were regretting not blocking that attack, weren’t you? There’s no need for that.”
“…….”
‘But…’
But my ass. I pondered what would make this person feel even a little better, and my eyes landed on the pile of alcohol bottles behind her. Hunters didn’t get drunk easily, but there were quite a few people like Yoo Chaerin who enjoyed the taste of alcohol itself. Since this was a place where she spent happy times with her team members, drinking here would probably remain a good memory for her.
“Want to have a drink together?”
“…Do you like alcohol?”
“I don’t dislike it. Looks like you do, though. You even have a place like this at home.”
“…It’s because Chaerin likes it. I don’t particularly dislike it either.”
‘When I drink with the team members, my heart feels at ease and it’s really nice…’
Okay, jackpot. I pulled out a rather expensive-looking bottle of vodka and poured a moderate amount into what looked like cocktail glasses. I’d never seen it before, but since Yoo Chaerin had brought it, it was probably good stuff. I handed her a glass and clapped my hands.
“Let’s get a little drunk while drinking this.”
“Come on, how could I get drunk on this?”
She seemed to think I was joking, but thanks to the trait I’d placed on her earlier, she really would get drunk. Sure enough, she drank it without much thought, then lost focus in her eyes at an astonishing speed. Her face gradually crumpled, and soon tears began dripping from her eyes.
‘It’s too hard… It hurts. It hurts so much.’
She, who had only ever cared about other people’s pain, was finally pouring out her own suffering for the first time. She was more heavily affected by alcohol than I’d expected.