Chapter 90
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: 88. The Evil Dragon and the Photographer
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Making Seo Ji-yeon an ally.
Not to the point of turning her into a monster, but still worth attempting a negotiation.
As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot—I left Songdo and followed the intense mana purifying the demonic energy once more.
Seeing that one side had already come to a halt in a single spot, it looked like Choi Sia was locked in battle.
"This way."
Then the side with Seo Ji-yeon had to be over here.
The presence wandering far to the east of Yeonsu-dong.
If they meant to provoke me, it was a solid strategy. Yoon Ji-seok must have tipped her off—something like, "If she hangs around this area, she'll show up again."
Not that far from Songdo, after all.
Honestly, even if I'd lost the trail, I planned to track her down anyway. Seo Ji-yeon was one of my favorite characters. Doesn't everyone want to get a little taste of their fave?
So here I was.
"Heh. This the right spot?"
"Death Photographer. Seo Ji-yeon."
A woman who ranked as the number two hunter in all of Korea.
Noah of the Flower That Kills with Fragrance, master hunters from other guilds—they all got utterly wrecked the moment they fell into her camera lens.
Someone you absolutely never wanted as an enemy.
"Oh, you know me? Then we can talk?"
"Yes. That's why I came—to negotiate."
"Join up with Seoul?"
"No."
Joining Seoul was out of the question.
Seo Ji-yeon gave a wry smile at my words.
I wondered how this bitch Seo Ji-yeon would cry in bed.
"Then we do this the hard way?"
A fight would hurt.
"I'd rather not battle if I can help it."
"Well, as a monster, I've got no choice but to play by the hunters' rules. Believe it or not, I was in the running for apostle."
Before I knew it, I'd been sucked into the camera gripped in her fingers.
And then she spoke.
Click!
The instant her photo captured me, I tumbled into her inner world.
A blindingly white expanse, but picture frames lined the surroundings, as if teaching me about her mental landscape.
Clap clap clap clap clap.
Seo Ji-yeon applauded.
"Impressive. It's been ages since anyone resisted my click."
"My, that's hardly fair. Even between girls, isn't this straight-up kidnapping?"
I'd never dreamed I'd end up in Seo Ji-yeon's mental world.
Just like in the original story—an empty space with nothing else.
"No helping it. You're no ordinary opponent."
"In here, you can even launch mental attacks, right?"
This was why Seo Ji-yeon was such a terrifying woman.
She trapped strong foes in her mental world and unleashed any attack she pleased—until she broke their minds completely.
To win out, you'd need ironclad mental fortitude to endure until she faltered, or else possess similar mental manipulation powers yourself.
"Yeah. Like this, for example."
Snap!
In an instant, our surroundings crumbled into ruins.
It seemed she'd conjured an illusion based on the backdrop I'd created for Hwayeon—the Black God Cult and hunter forces still clashing amid the wreckage, untamed.
The hunters were led by Yoo Jin-seok, followed by a lineup of heavy hitters, while the Black God Cult had lost all its named bosses but pressed on fiercely with its horde of monsters.
"What are you waiting for? Kill all the Black God Cult scum!"
"P-please, spare us! We're innocent!"
"Don't make me laugh! How many hunters died because bitches like you kept blowing yourselves up!"
Civilians near the Black God Cult territories were being massacred by the hunters too.
Was she trying to rattle me? Or maybe just bragging that she could twist minds this much.
But if this was the stage, I could turn the tables and strike back.
"I'm pretty good at mental attacks myself."
This mental world felt like something I could bend to my will.
Why? Because it smelled just like the author Yoo Eun-ha's space. I'd entered the author Yoo Eun-ha's mental world a few times during my century with Rachel.
The author Yoo Eun-ha was the one who'd invented the mental world concept in the first place. As her alter ego of sorts, I could control mental worlds with my intent.
Which made the author Yoo Eun-ha Angra Mainyu? I'd gotten smacked for saying that once. Good times.
The very notion of a mental world was tied to me.
"No matter what mental attacks you throw here, they won't work on me."
"This place is my domain too."
So I could rule this space right back.
Seo Ji-yeon tilted her head at my words.
"What're you talking about?"
Snap!
"Garden of Lilies!"
I lightly flicked my fingers.
And showed her a new world.
Women kissing each other messily, tangling together, fingering pussies, rubbing clits, scissoring in sweet sex with no cocks inserted. I beamed those fantasies straight into Seo Ji-yeon's brain.
"Wh-what is this? How can girls... do that?"
Seo Ji-yeon had an unexpected reaction.
Normally, she'd freak out seeing me mirror her powers, but this woman fixated on the yuri.
She was always like that.
Insatiably curious. The type to dive into anything intriguing, even if her life was on the line.
"Of course they can. When women love each other."
God, I wanted to pounce on her right now.
"You've learned too much. Who the hell are you?"
"Can't you guess?"
"I'm pretty mannerly myself."
Don't go looking for manners now.
"Before I reveal who I am, I've got a request."
"What?"
"Join our White Lily Cult."
Become my comrade!
In short, ally up with me. Even the evil dragon Azidahaka was bending the knee this much.
"You want me to join a villain group?"
"The White Lily Cult isn't a villain group. It's a villain org made up almost entirely of women. Y'know, a group where girls just love each other?"
I said it half-jokingly, but excluding the men who'd stuck with the old Black God Cult, women dominated our ranks completely.
"Isn't that weird?"
"Weird, sure—but why's your crotch soaking wet then?"
Her hot pants were visibly damp at the groin.
Dripping so much it trickled down her thighs—lewd as hell.
"N-no, this is... uh, just a physiological thing."
"Still means you're sexually aroused. Right?"
Of course, it wasn't really her leaking. I'd just tweaked her brain to feel wet.
She still preferred Yoo Jin-seok, after all. I'd only sparked some curiosity about girl-on-girl.
But at my words, she cutely shook her head and snapped back.
"Anyway, it's not! This is a world of minds only. Whatever trick you're pulling, you didn't mess with me just now, did you?"
"Heh. Busted?"
Busted. This might not be easy. Unlike the heroines from the early game who'd been ripe for the taking in multiple ways, Seo Ji-yeon was rock-solid. She'd need some buildup.
"Caught red-handed. Alright, mental power showdown after all!"
"Actually, I've had my eye on you for a while."
"What do you think you can do to me?"
"Drop the manners and figure out who I am."
Seo Ji-yeon pouted, then stared me down.
In that moment, the veil over my body lifted, my nun guise shifting to Yoo Eun-ha, Yoo Jin-seok's little sister.
"!!"
"Your shock tells me you get it."
"Wait, hold up. This is weird, right? Why's Hwayeon Yoo Eun-ha? Hang on—if going beyond the barrier means... Explain properly, or I'll drag you to Yoo Jin-seok and spank that ass first!"
Her little hand miming a smack was just too cute.
"Fine. Sit down. I won't tell you everything, but enough for you to understand."
I gave her just a glimpse of future events. I'd peered into the Akashic Records at the cost of a splitting headache—sins could invade, so we needed to prepare. Being her mental equal here, she'd know I wasn't lying.
After hearing me out, Seo Ji-yeon nodded slowly and spoke.
"Assuming the Akashic Records are legit. Then shouldn't you join Seoul instead? Building up a villain force is bad news!"
"Honestly, the villains under me are the ones who had no choice but to go villain. I kill off the real trash myself. But let me flip it on you—the Hunter Association's a mess right now, and the Blue House dogs are just exploiting this chaos."
Ha Jung-seok would absolutely try to milk me dry if he learned I had the Akashic Records.
That's the kind of scum he was—squeezing talented folks like tools until they dropped dead, all for his ambitions.
No room for compromise there.
Seo Ji-yeon knew it well. In the previous story, she'd suffered because Ha Jung-seok coveted her powers.
"True, but... hmm."
She's coming around.
I teared up and clung to Seo Ji-yeon. With looks like these, a little puppy-dog act melts any woman.
"At least until we catch Gluttony Sin? Please?"
"Even as an Association hunter, I can't just look the other way!"
Such pointless righteousness. Can't hate a woman like that. Worth dyeing in my colors.
"I'll make it up to you in bed."
"Not falling for that! And I'm straight anyway!"
Straight or not, once she fell for me, she'd turn into a bitch who didn't need cock.
One swish of my tail and she'd be done! Even Geum Tae-yang would weep at its perfection.
"Just try it once—you'll see. Won't you?"
"Hold on. You're into girls?"
Only noticing now? Kinda hurts.
Can't you tell by looking? Why do you think I showed you that earlier?