Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Frontal Breakthrough
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Beep—!
A shrill alarm that seemed to tear eardrums shook the entire facility.
"Damn."
Choi Yuna swallowed her curse. It seemed the enemies had realized the barrier was gone.
She roughly hoisted up the barely breathing healer onto her back. He was the sole survivor who could testify to White Tiger's atrocities.
"Found them! Over there!"
"Basement level 4! Intruders spotted! Heading this way!"
At the same time, noisy footsteps poured down from the upper floors. At least dozens of them. And they were heavily armed hunters.
"Hoo."
Choi Yuna's face hardened coldly as she carried the healer.
Fight them while protecting a witness? Impossible. No matter how superior she was to her rank as a hunter, there was no chance against a group like this—especially while carrying a patient who couldn't even move.
But Choi Yuna's goal wasn't victory.
'Get out alive. No matter what.'
As if resolved, she pulled a recovery potion from her pocket. The red liquid sloshed precariously.
There wasn't even time to hesitate. As she uncapped it, she poured the potion into her mouth.
'No time. Just break through.'
Choi Yuna readjusted the healer on her back and kicked off the ground. Her body sprang forward like a coiled spring.
"Wha...!"
While the hunters blocking the stairwell entrance were caught off guard, Choi Yuna was already right in their faces.
"Block her! Block her now!"
The lead hunter shouted desperately.
At that moment, flames filled the corridor, engulfing Choi Yuna. Sharp sword auras crossed, slicing diagonally across her forearms and thighs.
Kaboom—!
The attacks kept coming.
Injuries severe enough to disable most hunters on the spot—or even threaten their lives.
"Ngh...!"
Choi Yuna swallowed her groan. The pain of burning flesh and bone-piercing agony assaulted her entire body. But she didn't stop. She couldn't.
'I thought chugging potions to tank hits was just something you could do in games.'
Something astonishing was happening.
Her charred, tattered body from the flames, her deeply gouged forearms and thighs from the sword auras— they began regenerating at an unnatural speed. She sipped the potion in her mouth bit by bit, maximizing the recovery effect.
Torn flesh knitted together, blackened skin peeled away as new flesh sprouted. The rate of injury matched the rate of healing almost perfectly.
Instead of dodging or blocking, she charged straight ahead, taking the barrage of magic and sword strikes with her body.
"Wh-what the hell! That thing!"
Terror and horror filled the hunters' eyes at the surreal sight. How could anyone charge through that level of concentrated fire unscathed? Was that human... or a monster?
"Don't just stand there like idiots! Block her! Block her!"
The security captain's desperate shout echoed. But the hunters' movements were already a beat too late.
Choi Yuna didn't miss that split-second gap.
Bam—!
She shoulder-charged the shieldbearer at the front, crumpling his shield with a crunch as he tumbled backward.
"Guh...!"
She burrowed through the weakest point in their encirclement like a beast. The layered enemy formation tore apart like paper in an instant.
"Chase her! If we lose her, we're all dead!"
Desperate cries came from behind, but Choi Yuna never once looked back.
Covered in blood and dust, she madly dashed up the emergency stairs toward the surface.
National Assembly Main Building Hearing Room.
Hundreds of camera lenses and hostile gazes focused on the center podium. 'Rabbitfoot Company CEO Seo I-hyun.' He sat alone in front of that nameplate.
In the suffocating tension, with flashes popping nonstop, the committee chair rapped the gavel.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"We will now begin the public hearing on the 'Strategic Materials Management Special Act'."
The moment it started, questions poured out like they had been holding them in. As expected, they were committee members heavily influenced by White Tiger.
"CEO Seo I-hyun!"
One committee member barked into the mic in an overbearing tone.
"Rabbitfoot Company produces and monopolizes healing potions equivalent to national strategic materials, yet keeps the core production process secret! This is a heinous form of prioritizing corporate profit over public safety!"
As if waiting, camera flashes exploded again.
"For the lives and safety of the people, Rabbitfoot Company must immediately disclose all technology to the state for verification. Do you agree?"
A sharp question. But Seo I-hyun's expression didn't waver even slightly. He calmly pulled the mic toward him.
"Committee member. The safety of our products has already been perfectly verified by tens of thousands of cases in the market."
His low but clear voice echoed through the room.
"I must ask if the purpose of the disclosure you're demanding is truly safety verification... or if there's another motive."
The committee member who asked cleared his throat and grabbed the mic again at Seo I-hyun's counter.
"CEO Seo. This isn't the place to question motives. Don't evade the point—answer only whether you intend to disclose."
"Exactly as you said."
Seo I-hyun met it head-on without dodging.
"All raw materials we use are already transparently disclosed through our partners. What you're contesting is the processing method—the core technology."
He took a breath, then continued in a firm tone.
"To be frank. Even if we disclosed the process right here, no institution on Earth today—not even White Tiger Bio's labs—could verify or comprehend it."
The room buzzed momentarily. It was tantamount to dismissing both the committee and White Tiger. The chair intervened, unable to hold back.
"CEO Seo. This hearing isn't for expressing personal opinions."
The chair adjusted his glasses and glared at Seo I-hyun.
"Incomprehensibility is Rabbitfoot's issue. The committee is asking if you intend to disclose. Yes or no. Answer with one."
An oppressive rebuke. But Seo I-hyun didn't back down.
"I'm stating the facts, Chair."
His gaze turned to the chair.
"Rabbitfoot's technology is based on principles entirely different from existing magic or science. Demanding the process under the pretext of safety, without even the ability to verify it... is a blatant attempt at tech theft."
Reporters' typing sped up. Seo I-hyun continued immediately.
"Rather, I'd like to ask."
His gaze shifted to the White Tiger Guild seats.
"The White Cell from White Tiger Bio, presented here today as Rabbitfoot's alternative—has its safety and origin truly been verified?"
A man at the White Tiger seats hurriedly grabbed the mic.
"CEO Seo. That product has already passed the Association's strict standards. Don't change the subject."
Seo I-hyun cut him off mercilessly.
"I'll show you just how lax those Association standards are right now."
He connected his personal terminal to the podium. Before the chair could stop him, a video played on the large central screen.
Two beakers sat side by side. Left held Rabbitfoot's red potion, right held the clear White Cell.
All noise ceased. Only Seo I-hyun's voice dominated the hearing room.
"Left is our product, right is White Cell collected from the market. Now, we'll add a special reagent developed by our lab."
In the video, reagent made by Seha dropped one drop each into the beakers.
The left Rabbitfoot potion stayed clear, unchanged.
But the right White Cell was different. Upon contact, dark red impurities clumped grotesquely in the clear solution and sank to the bottom.
"Turn that off now! Kill it!"
White Tiger reps shouted. The room erupted in chaos.
"......!"
"What... is that...?"
"As you see, White Cell contains these unidentified impurities. Now, what happens if you administer them to a living body?"
The screen switched.
A lab rat injected with the dark red impurities writhed on the floor in severe convulsions. Soon, blood flowed from its eyes and nose, and it went limp.
Chilling gasps erupted here and there. The hearing room froze.
"We conclude White Cell is an extremely unstable mana aggregate that can cause severe organ damage and fatal mana poisoning upon consumption."
Seo I-hyun turned the mic toward the frozen White Tiger rep.
"Shouldn't White Tiger first reveal exactly how this hazardous product is produced and the source of its materials?"
The moment Seo I-hyun finished, the hearing room descended into pandemonium.