Chapter 84
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: 82. Police and Thief (3)
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Little Yong-yong launched a kiss attack on Blazing Bat!
"You crazy bitch! My first kiss!"
The effect was spectacular! Blazing Bat flew into a rage!
"Hmph. None of my business. At your age, still having your first kiss? Honestly, isn't it about time you lost your virginity too?"
How old was she anyway? Whatever the case, by that age, most people would've done it at least once—either properly or just messing around.
Was this the heroine correction at work too?
"You won't get away with this!"
"Puhahaha! Try and stop me!"
Shiiiik! Kang!
At that moment, a sword strike came flying from behind, and I parried it with my axe.
"Oh my. Attacking a lady from behind isn't very gentlemanly, is it?"
"I knew you'd block it, so I went all out."
Yoo Jin-seok had closed in on me before I knew it and swung his sword.
Kang! Jjaeng!
Oh, as expected of the original Divine Sword user—strong and heavy. Pressuring me with just a plain weapon like that. For a second, spite nearly made me unleash White Flame.
But come on. Wasn't he going a bit too hard on his little sister?
No, of course Yoo Jin-seok only saw me as Baek-hwa. Still, it stung all the same.
"Not using the Divine Sword, I see?"
A bit annoyed, I spat it out spitefully.
Yoo Jin-seok didn't have the Divine Sword right now.
No, the sword itself was still there. But it was just an empty shell—a plain weapon stripped of its constellation.
Why? Because there was only one Divine Sword in the world.
That was why Choi Si-woo possessed it. During the Pyongyang Incident a few years back, he'd lost his constellation.
Not because the constellation had grown tired of Yoo Jin-seok. It died. To slay the monsters in the Pyongyang Incident—the day the world nearly faced another cataclysm—Yoo Jin-seok had poured out everything alongside the constellation, and it vanished in his place to save him.
And the one that filled the void was Choi Si-woo's Divine Sword, Choi Sia.
"I'm not fighting to take you down anyway. But you're no pushover."
Kiiing! Kaang!
The sword and axe clashed dozens of times.
"No idea what you mean. The Divine Sword himself calling me no pushover?"
"Holding off my attacks with just an axe. Your combat ability is top-notch."
"Now!"
In the middle of our conversation, Kim Ji-hye's bat hurtled straight at my face.
Tukwaang!
Of course, Reina's Corrosion Arrows rained down before it could connect.
"Can't forget about my friend now, can you, Blazing Bat?"
"Kim Ji-hye! Stop right there! I need to talk to Baek-hwa!"
"Talk all you want. But don't expect me to go down easy."
If I fell here, it'd be straight to a spanking and a drag-away.
Did I need an excuse? Something to stir up sympathy?
"How'd you end up as a monster anyway?"
"Simple. Just like Hunter Yoo Jin-seok was chosen as the Divine Sword user, I got lucky and absorbed an S-rank core's power. The old Black God Cult territories were crawling with them."
"No way. We disposed of every last one."
Blazing Bat's face twisted in disbelief.
I shook my head with the most pitiful expression I could muster—the kind I'd make if Rachel really refused to touch me.
"Did you really get them all?"
Back then, A-rank and S-rank monsters had guarded the Black God Cult hideouts. Yoo Jin-seok had struggled hard. Pyongyang was hell, but Juaan in the Black God Cult's turf was no different. The era's top forces had been thrown in to crush the cult and mop up the monsters.
So I decided to roll out some cunning here.
"Five years ago, during the Black God Cult subjugation, civilians got swept up too. The clash between hunters and the cult drowned the area in demonic energy, and the fallout claimed countless lives."
"No."
"A girl was there. From a wretched, beggar-filled world, she'd become a nun out of sheer faith, hoping to make a difference. But she died in the hunter-Black God Cult crossfire. Then, an SS-rank core leaking from a monster the hunters had slain just happened to embed in her corpse, reviving her as a monster."
Yeah. That was Baek-hwa's origin story, in a nutshell.
The backstory for the character Baek-hwa I'd created.
"No, we confirmed everyone had evacuated back then."
"Like a little girl had time to evacuate?"
"Do you resent us?"
Resent? No point. It wasn't even my story.
"Surprisingly, no. Maybe if she'd stayed dead, but turns out your values really do shift when you become a monster. No urge for revenge or anything. Honestly, I prefer peace. Call me a peace villain?"
Peace Villain Yong-yong, at your service.
"A monster preaching peace."
"Saying all monsters are evil to begin with? That's just a stereotype from the psycho ones. Me? Lonely in the corrosion zone, soon as I powered up, I wiped out villains and started hunting for survivors."
I kicked off a full sympathy campaign.
As if I'd forgotten the drone tagging along. I explained it all to Yoo Jin-seok.
The viewers were probably just hearing voices over a black screen.
"Where are those survivors you saved?"
No reason to spill that for free.
"Secret."
I tossed in a playful wink.
But damn, these guys had stamina.
I'd underestimated Divine Sword user Yoo Jin-seok. Even without the constellation, you couldn't forget the body that had been chosen worthy of its power.
What now? My goal was just to chase them off far enough to keep them from Songdo. Somehow it'd turned into this mess.
Best I'd managed was fleeing into Reina's range and circling around.
Huuk. Huuk. "Damn girl."
Blazing Bat looked pretty winded, at least.
It was past midnight already. Just bolt to Busan?
Now that I was outed as a monster, maybe fly off?
Actually, did I even need to show up?
"Then we could suspect you're up to no good with those survivors."
"I'll show you on tomorrow's stream."
That shut down any baiting to scout the survivors' zone in person.
Worrying about corrosion zone survivors now was ridiculous anyway. Technically, I'd earned all the credit while the association scooped it up.
"What're you saying?"
"If you knew where they lived, you'd drag hunters there. Can't have that. And I hate being painted as some cannibal or salt-slave overlord. Residential area goes live on stream."
It was next episode's content anyway.
No reason to stick around. The heroines were probably fretting by now—best to head back.
Who knew? Yoo Jin-seok might not, but Kim Ji-hye could've called for association backup. They might dispatch guild-master level heavies.
"Think I'll let that slide?"
"This is a one-way announcement."
"What?"
"I just came out for tag. Getting caught? Not happening."
I scooped up the drone and shot up to a height they couldn't spot.
"That bitch can fly?"
"If fate wills it, catch you later?"
I blew a coquettish smile at the dumbfounded Yoo Jin-seok and Blazing Bat, then headed for Songdo.
Hunter Association
They'd met Baek-hwa but only heard bittersweet backstory. No real gains. Yoo Jin-seok and Kim Ji-hye returned to headquarters.
"See? Told you she's no ordinary girl."
Kim Ji-hye—who'd solemnly sworn her first kiss to Yoo Jin-seok—was still fuming and didn't hold back her bitching about Baek-hwa to Choi Cheol-sik.
Yoo Jin-seok, meanwhile, was lost in thought after the encounter.
A familiar scent. Arrogant, sure, but as the titled strongest human alive—even sans Divine Sword—he trusted his own power.
He'd gone easy, but failing to nab one lone monster called Baek-hwa? Unacceptable.
She hadn't even used her abilities.
"Hm. Hate to say it myself, but honestly, that Baek-hwa kid's seriously strong."
"How strong?"
"Close-quarters weapon fight? I'd win eventually. But from her streams, she puppets people into offing themselves or each other. Ability's unclear, but she didn't deploy any against us."
How far did Baek-hwa's power extend? Even he couldn't say.
"Same goes for you."
"Yeah. Point is, she's a legit powerhouse. Average hunter? She'd steamroll them. Lucky if they survive."
Yoo Jin-seok was convinced Baek-hwa could at least overpower Kim Ji-hye. But she was reasonable.
If tomorrow's stream verified survivors, compromise was possible.
"Monsters do have their share of heavies."
"Then next time, we smash her flat!"
Kim Ji-hye, grudge unspent, vowed to catch and thrash Baek-hwa.
"That's not the issue. What Baek-hwa spilled in front of you? It's all over the net."
"What."
"Perfect timing—our image's in the toilet, and her truth bombs drop. Back in the day, association could've shrugged it. But Kim Jae-su mess, reputation in freefall, and now Baek-hwa outs as Black God subjugation victim? Sympathy's exploding."
Choi Cheol-sik sighed like the earth's crust cracking, cracked his knuckles, and spun his laptop toward Yoo Jin-seok and Kim Ji-hye.
Fresh-off-the-press news from minutes ago.
Corrosion Zone Monster Baek-hwa: Her Tragic Tale?
Black God Cult Subjugation—Did They Only Purge the Cult?
Victims Aren't Just Baek-hwa. What Is the Hunter Association Doing?
S-Rank Hunter Inolbu: Survivor Habitats Outside Corrosion Zone? Prime Investment...
Worst-case scenario. Association's rep tanked harder.
Small mercy: some headlines dragged the Blue House into the mud too.
"No need to spell it out."
"Articles just dunking the association? Ha Jeong-seok's fingerprints all over. Hansung, you might salvage with your pull. But association prestige? Baek-hwa nuked it."
At this rate, the association might shutter.
"So... what do we do about Baek-hwa?"
"Hate to say it, but we meet her. Bring her into Seoul. Even President Ha Jeong-seok's leaning in."
Ha Jeong-seok had called Choi Cheol-sik the second the news hit.
"Ha Jeong-seok?"
"Association crumbles, hunter society's next. Get the picture? Dirty as it is now, gotta play his game."
Hunter Association falls? Blue House takes the reins.
Fine, say Korea pivots president-first. Problem: said president was Ha Jeong-seok.
Guild regs could flip overnight.
"We go back?"
"Nah—she bolted from you. Might ghost you forever. No clue where she's holed up."
"True. So?"
"Ha Jeong-seok's sending Heung-bu. I'll counter with Seo Ji-yeon. Baek-hwa's vibe? Better a girl she can talk to. Ji-yeon's power might even force a sit-down."
Heung-bu: Blue House direct hunter. S-rank Korean, but low profile thanks to the gig.
Slotting him in? Ploy to cement Blue House cred amid association woes—for public and hunters alike.
Pair with an association hunter.
Blue House vs. association showdown.
At least they picked Seo Ji-yeon for the association side.
"Ji-yeon should do fine."
Her ability might even bag Baek-hwa.