Chapter 175
Chapter 175
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 175
Chapter Title: Taste True Love
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While Kim Shin-hwa was on the phone with Tudor.
It was a dark hour when storm clouds had blotted out even the moon, but the buildings filling Paju's downtown streets emitted dazzling lights, making it easy enough to make out shapes.
What really obstructed the view was probably this relentless downpour that had been raging all day.
"What the hell is that?"
A man in a raincoat patterned with urban camouflage gripped a pair of binoculars.
His outfit alone marked him as no ordinary guy, and sure enough, he clung stably to the side of a skyscraper despite the torrential rain.
He was a special combat squad cultist dispatched by Hee-in of the Descended Yellow King Prayer Society.
*'Do not approach until the cause is identified.'*
If not for Hee-in's prior orders, he too would have been swept up in that procession.
That procession.
Roooar—
A pristine white Cull van raced down a road where water had risen to waist height.
And clinging to that Cull van were dozens of people.
"Gaaah!"
"Kieeeek!!"
They moved with the ferocity of drowned ghosts.
The rainwater had dredged up all the filth rolling through Paju's streets. Maniacs soaked head to toe in that muddy sludge thrashed desperately to latch onto the van, as if they'd stake their lives on it.
Bang bang bang bang!
Those somehow clinging to the vehicle pounded on it with terrifying strength, screaming.
"Open up! Please! Let us in!"
"Take me with you!"
"I love you! I love you! I love you to death!"
"Please eat me!"
"I want to become one with you!"
It was a cacophony that could drive anyone mad just from hearing it.
They were the members of the Descended Yellow King Prayer Society's Proselytization Squad 1—and Squad 2, who had rashly approached the target.
"That's... some kind of ability, right? Like a mind-ensnaring spell from the heart-and-soul category gone haywire?"
Most cultists of the Descended Yellow King Prayer Society operating in Paju underwent shamanic brainwashing. That's why they possessed such fanatical loyalty and faith in the [King in Yellow] that they could cast aside their own lives without hesitation.
To charm them even through that brainwashing... It was a bizarre ability he'd never heard of. No, if Kim Shin-hwa—or even Hee-in—saw this scene, they'd offer a clearer explanation, but both were still en route.
"Jun, what are you spacing out for?"
His colleague Hyo called out.
"Ah, nothing. But... doesn't something smell weird?"
"Hmm, not to me. What smell in this downpour? Hey, over there!"
Hyo signaled with hand signs to comrades positioned at another spot farther away.
Despite the massive storm, the Descended Yellow King Prayer Society cultists scaled building exteriors, pursuing Jang Hyun-deok's Cull van.
"So the guy's name is Jang Hyun-deok? Or was it Seo Sang-hyeon?"
"Does it matter? He's just the target."
"Fair point."
Jun activated the radio clipped to his ear and spoke.
"The target's vehicle has gone into Gongneung Stream."
Jang Hyun-deok felt the world flip upside down as despair washed over him.
The car had overturned.
No, gravity felt wrong. In any case, as a pro driver, Jang Hyun-deok instinctively knew what kind of mess he was in.
"Ugh— Gongneung Stream!"
Gongneung Stream flowed between Geumchon-dong, where Basilissa was located, and Jangmyeong Mountain, where Kim Shin-hwa lived.
The car had plunged into Gongneung Stream.
*'Oh God, I'm done for.'*
Jang Hyun-deok let go of the wheel and sighed.
Driving was pointless now. The Cull van, twisted at an odd angle, spun several times before getting swept away by the raging floodwaters filling the stream.
"Ah, Bungbung. Should've installed an oxygen tank if I knew it'd come to this."
The Cull van he called Bungbung was a custom job he'd paid top dollar for. Bulletproof glass, special alloy plating.
Thanks to that, it'd held up against the attacks from ability-wielding cultists until now—but no one had thought to add submersion capabilities.
*'What kind of lunatic taxi driver outfits his ride for underwater ops?'*
It had flood defenses, so water hadn't breached yet. But without oxygen, they wouldn't last long.
"What did I do to deserve this shit?"
Even without Kim Shin-hwa there, he should've just stayed put at the house.
The eerie atmosphere pervading the entire mansion and Seo Sang-hyeon's appearance had triggered his fear and madness. He couldn't endure staying there any longer, so he'd bolted.
"Should've just gone to Ansan?"
If he was going to run, maybe leaving Paju altogether would've been smarter.
But fear, confusion, madness, and headaches gripped his mind, making cool judgment impossible.
And some vague worry that Kim Shin-hwa wouldn't find him if he left Paju had led Jang Hyun-deok to the worst choice.
"Wizard! Please!"
He'd spent a full day circling between Geumchon-dong and Jangmyeong Mountain, waiting for Kim Shin-hwa to save him.
Truth be told, if his only pursuer had been that one stalker, it wouldn't have been a terrible decision. Having escaped Yeon's clutches, Jang Hyun-deok had then run into 'those cult weirdos from the bar.'
And sure enough, they too came at him with the same madness and delirium.
"Ugh!"
Jang Hyun-deok plugged his ears and squeezed his eyes shut as their horrific gazes and screams resurfaced in his mind.
*'Eat me! Eat me, please!'*
*'I love you! I love you! I love you!'*
*'Make me one with you!'*
Aside from the reversed intent of their ravings, it was no different from a zombie horde attack—a nightmare scene.
"I'm dead. This is it."
Which was worse: getting mauled to death by those maniacs, or drowning here?
With trembling hands, Jang Hyun-deok pulled the pistol hidden to the left of the driver's seat.
What final choice does one eroded by fear and madness, bereft of hope, make?
The pistol barrel slowly turned toward Jang Hyun-deok himself.
Goodbye, goodbye, shithole world. Goodbye, goodbye, you shithole bastards. Goodbye, goodbye, Wizard. Goodbye, goodbye, my siblings....
Suddenly, he remembered the gift shoved onto the dashboard.
A meaningless paper origami thing crumpled together and a letter envelope with a crooked heart drawn on it.
And the pill packet rolling under the passenger seat. Nirvana? Night Owl—that old-timer must've dropped it.
Bang!
Jang Hyun-deok slammed the wheel with his pistol hand.
"You think I'm dying like this!?"
Swallowing the Nirvana pills said to suppress madness and delirium, Jang Hyun-deok vowed.
He'd make enough money to get out of this shithole town with his siblings!
"Hang in there, Bungbung! I called the Wizard! He'll come! He will!"
Jun, binoculars in hand, tracked Jang Hyun-deok's vehicle as it sank completely into Gongneung Stream.
The car was fully submerged in the muddy torrent.
Under normal circumstances, tracking it would be impossible, but Jun could pinpoint its location.
"Those crazy bastards!"
Over sixty cultists howled as they leaped into Gongneung Stream.
"I love you to death!"
"I love you! I love you!"
"Hyun! Hyun! Hyun! Hyun!"
It evoked lemmings hurling themselves off cliffs en masse—an insane spectacle. Even Jun shuddered in horror, swayed by their fervor.
Boom! Boom!!
They were all ability users, if varying in power.
"Oh God!"
In the end, they dragged the submerged Cull van from Gongneung Stream with their bare hands.
Those lacking the strength got swept away by the current. Even as death loomed, the cultists shrieked and chanted.
"I love you! I love you! I lo—"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Open up! Open up!"
"Please eat me! Eat me!"
It was a panic-inducing situation, but Nirvana's effects were real. The moment he realized he could drive, Jang Hyun-deok floored it.
Vroooom!!
They'd passed the worst, but the situation hadn't improved much. Cultists clung to the vehicle, howling and thrashing. Too many of them.
The bulletproof glass and alloy body could only hold out so long.
Screeeeech—
Someone pulled out a vicious-looking laser cutter. A fixer cultist?
Crunch! Crack!
The bulletproof glass finally tore free!
"Uwaaagh! Get away! Get the hell away!"
Bang bang bang!
Jang Hyun-deok couldn't bring himself to shoot at people, so he fired blindly, but it posed no threat.
"Eat me!" "Eat me!" "I love you!" "Make us one!"
The instant Jang Hyun-deok revealed himself, even the cultists observing from dozens of meters away changed.
"Fragrant."
"Truly divine fragrance."
"I want to become one too."
Cultists on building walls and rooftops observing the scene leaped one after another toward the frenzied celebration.
They swarmed at tremendous speed.
"Me too! Eat me!"
"Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too!"
"Eat me!"
"I love you! Make us one!"
Screeech! Boom!
The vehicle finally smashed into a massive tree and halted.
Dozens of hands reached for Jang Hyun-deok.
"Joy—! Our Savior— has come—!"
"Receive— him, faithful—!"
The cultists sang as they seized Jang Hyun-deok and dragged him from the car.
"Joy—! Our Savior— has come—!"
"Joy—! Our Savior— has come—!"
"Joy—! Our Savior— has come—!"
"Receive— him, faithful—!"
Dozens of people desperate to touch Jang Hyun-deok even once, to feel his hand even once, to kiss him even once. Their numbers now approached a hundred.
Jang Hyun-deok was lifted up by dozens of hands.
"Uwaaagh! Wizard! Wizard!"
Jang Hyun-deok screamed.
"You lunatics, singing that song makes actual churchgoers uncomfortable."
A familiar voice echoed from the sky.
"Waaah! Wizard! Wizard! Save me! Help!"
Jang Hyun-deok begged toward the heavens, and Kim Shin-hwa answered his plea.
"Yeah. It's me, you idiot."
If left like this, Jang Hyun-deok would die. What kind of screw-up creates this clusterfuck?
I carefully modulated my mana.
[Grand Cyclone]
Whooooosh—
A massive whirlwind formed centered on Jang Hyun-deok.
"Kwaaagh!"
"Gaaah!"
"I love you! I love you!"
The cultists were flung away by the cyclone. At its eye, Jang Hyun-deok rocketed skyward at tremendous speed.
"Wizard! Wizard!"
Tears streamed from Jang Hyun-deok's eyes as he screamed at me.
"Hey, don't call me out in the rain. Who'll take responsibility if I catch a cold?"
Do you know how frail my body is? I have [Disease Vulnerability]. Of course, the rain itself wasn't my fault, but I hadn't expected to slog through it like this for so long.
Down below, the cultists raved.
"Hyun has appeared! He's flying through the heavens!"
"He's a god! A true god!"
"I love you! I love you!"
"Come back! Come back!"
"Hyun! Hyun! Hyun!"
I pulled the thoroughly soaked Jang Hyun-deok into my distortion field's range and said.
"Playboy's got limits, you know. How many legs did you wrap around in that short time?"
"Wizard! Wizard!"
"......"
Excitement, fear, madness, delirium—huh? Why's his gaze like that? Did this guy pop some pills? Anyway, his condition was shit.
Coincidence or not, Jang Hyun-deok coming this way was a good call. Thanks to nearing the barrier I'd set up, I could locate him immediately.
"Give him back! Give him baaack!"
"Return him! Return him!"
The rampaging cultists piled up like a human tower in frenzy.
"Jesus, what a headache."
I scratched my head for a moment. Judging by those guys, they'd track Jang Hyun-deok anywhere—running wouldn't cut it.
At this level, I'd normally just smash them, but today came with too harsh a handicap.
[Mania: Hemophobia]
The message window popped up like it wanted to remind me. Ugh, go away!
Crackle!
Just seeing those words soured my mood.
*'Endure it for a while, huh?'*
I left Jang Hyun-deok floating midair and descended to the ground.
I was used to challenges like this.
"Alright. Let's try no-kill mode."