The Mask of Vengeance
I pulled out my phone and checked the time. [PM 8:50]. In just ten minutes, the presentation would begin. I glanced around the hall. The banquet venue was already filling up with people. Tables that had been empty were now packed. Well, with only ten minutes left until the announcement, that was to be expected.
But those two aren't here?
I scanned the faces of everyone gathered, one by one. Yet I couldn't spot Urbashi in his disguise, nor the woman who had been with him. I could guess why they hadn't made it inside. It was probably because of the mana oath. If they signed it and entered, they wouldn't be able to cause any trouble in here.
Things are unfolding differently from what I knew.
Originally, there had been a way to subdue them once they entered the banquet hall. But now it was different. They hadn't come inside at all. This was getting a bit complicated.
At the table marked with a [Hunter Association] sign, Jeong Hayeon and Jeong Haesu were seated. Jeong Haesu glanced over at the table where Nam Doyun sat. The guy was there all alone, looking completely out of place. It seemed like he didn't know a single person here.
“Hmm—”
Jeong Haesu observed Nam Doyun carefully. The boy kept looking around, as if searching for someone. Jeong Haesu grinned.
“Hey. Hayeon.”
“What.”
“I think Nam Doyun is looking for you right now.”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
“No, seriously. Look over there.”
Jeong Haesu pointed at where Nam Doyun was sitting. Hayeon turned her gaze that way. Sure enough, Nam Doyun was scanning the room, clearly searching for someone. Before their eyes could meet, Hayeon quickly looked away.
“See? I was right, wasn’t I?” Jeong Haesu said.
“Ugh, so what? What does that have to do with me?”
“Hmm—”
Jeong Haesu stared at his sister intently.
“Are you sure it has nothing to do with you?”
“O-of course not. I have zero interest in him. Isn’t that obvious?”
“You really have no interest at all?”
“T-that’s right. I don’t have even a single bit of interest in him.”
“Really?”
“...Y-yeah. Obviously. Not even the tiniest bit.”
Jeong Haesu let out a small chuckle.
“They say strong denial is strong affirmation.”
“...Ugh, forget it. I’m done talking.”
Hayeon shook her head vigorously.
“Hey, but Hayeon. Didn’t you tell me before?”
“Tell you what?”
“That Nam Doyun’s parents were killed by demonic humans.”
“...Y-yeah. That’s right.”
Hayeon answered cautiously.
“I was a little worried about him, but he seems surprisingly fine.”
“What? Why would you be worried?”
“His parents were murdered by demonic humans. How could anyone’s mind stay intact after that? It’d be weirder if he was completely sane.”
“...”
“I figured he’d be completely twisted from the grief of losing his parents and a burning desire for revenge. But seeing him today, he seems okay.”
“....”
“Your big brother was a bit concerned, you know.”
“Concerned about what?”
“I was worried that the guy who likes you might be so consumed by revenge that his personality had become seriously warped.”
“...”
“So has that friend given up on revenge?”
“...No, I don’t think so.”
Hayeon spoke in a small voice.
“What do you mean he hasn’t given up?”
Jeong Haesu tilted his head.
“From what I heard from Jiyun, Nam Doyun is apparently tracking down some group of demonic humans.”
“...Then that group, could it be…?”
“Yeah. It’s probably the organization that the demonic humans who killed his parents belong to.”
“Huh…”
Jeong Haesu let out a sigh and continued.
“What’s the name of that demonic human group?”
“I don’t know that much…”
“...So that means he’s still burning with revenge, right?”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
Jeong Haesu glanced at Nam Doyun again. There wasn’t even a trace of vengeful intent in the boy’s eyes.
Has he already learned how to wear a mask at that age?
It didn’t look like the eyes of someone hunting the demonic humans who killed his parents at all. He just seemed like an ordinary student who had grown up comfortably in a normal household.
That’s actually pretty smart.
If you truly wanted revenge, paradoxically, you had to hide that desire. Demonic humans wearing human faces had already infiltrated every corner of society. There was almost no way to tell them apart. You could easily say something thinking the person was normal, only to discover they were a demonic human. And if that demonic human belonged to the very group Doyun wanted revenge on? Then that organization would immediately mark him as their top priority for elimination. Surviving after that would be nearly impossible. Revenge would become nothing but a distant dream.
So that’s why he’s wearing the mask.
That was why he had perfectly concealed his thirst for vengeance. Even though his heart must be boiling with rage over his parents’ murder, he had suppressed those feelings deep down and hidden them completely.
Is that really possible for a seventeen-year-old?
It was truly astonishing that a kid that age could pull it off. At that age, emotions usually showed clearly on one’s face.
How painful must the path have been to reach this point?
To suppress his burning fury, to learn how to live behind a perfect mask. How difficult must it have been? And how harsh must his life have been?
“Hey. Hayeon.”
“What?”
“I actually like that Doyun kid quite a bit.”
“...So what?”
“Honestly, wasn’t he pretty cool today?”
“Huh?”
“He completely destroyed the son of National Assemblyman ‘Kim Eulyong,’ who was throwing his weight around. And he did it perfectly, too.”
Hayeon recalled what had happened earlier that day.
“...Well… he was kind of cool, I guess…”
The words slipped out before she could stop them. Realizing what she’d said, she quickly shut her mouth.
“Hmm— What was that?”
Jeong Haesu looked at her with a mischievous grin.
“What… what did I say?”
“You clearly said he was kind of cool, didn’t you?”
“No. That’s not what I meant. I… uh, yeah. I meant the lounge bar looked cool.”
“Hmm— Is that so?”
“O-of course.”
“Sure, sure. Let’s go with that. So Hayeon, have you made up your mind yet?”
“Made up my mind about what?”
“About whether you’re going to choose the guy who likes you or the guy you like. Who are you going to pick?”
“Ugh. Can you please stop saying weird stuff?”
“Hmm. If you can’t decide, I’m totally in favor of dating both.”
“...What?”
“Honestly, with a face like yours, Hayeon, you could pull it off. Yep, yep, definitely.”
“Oppa, do you want me to make sure you spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair?”
Hayeon clenched her fist as she spoke.
“I’d rather not?”
“Too bad. I’m going to do it anyway. I think that’s the only way to shut that mouth of yours up.”
On the rooftop of a high-rise building overlooking the hotel, a man and a woman stood together. It was Urbashi and his colleague.
“...”
She was peering into the hotel through a telescope.
“Are they still making people write that oath or whatever?”
“...Yeah. Looks like you have to sign it to get in.”
“Ah… this is getting annoying.”
Urbashi scratched the back of his head roughly.
“...That’s not all.”
“What else?”
“...From now on, even if you want to enter the hotel, you’ll have to write the oath to get inside.”
“What? Give me that.”
Urbashi snatched the telescope from her hands. Sure enough, there were people conducting inspections in front of the hotel. They were only letting people in after they signed the oath.
“Fuck. The security’s gotten even tighter. That’s why I told you we should’ve just wrecked the place back then.”
Urbashi scowled deeply.
“No. If we had attacked according to your temper back then, we wouldn’t have achieved our objective.”
“What do you mean?”
“At that time, many of the key figures hadn’t entered the hotel yet.”
“...Tsk.”
“If we had launched the assault then, we wouldn’t have been able to inflict meaningful damage. That would have gone against the terms of our commission.”
The request they had received was to completely ruin the new drug presentation of ‘Samhwa’ Bio. To utterly destroy the company’s image in the process.
“To completely drag ‘Samhwa’ Bio’s image through the mud, quite a few key figures inside need to die. If we had gone in back then, it would’ve been impossible.”
“...Fine. Let’s say you’re right. So what do we do now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like you said, it looks like all the key figures are gathered inside the hotel now, but we can’t get in. So what’s the plan?”
“Don’t worry about that. This is actually an opportunity.”
The woman smiled faintly.
“An opportunity?”
“The people inside have all signed the mana oath, right? So they can’t use their power in there, correct?”
“...Well, yeah.”
“Then what would happen if the banquet hall were to be destroyed in that state?”
“...”
Urbashi stared at her with a blank expression.
“Exactly. If the banquet hall collapses while they’re unable to use mana, they’ll all be crushed to death under the debris. Of course, the hunters with exceptional physical abilities might survive.”
“...”
“But even so, quite a few of the high-ranking figures inside the hall will die.”
The woman grinned.
“Yeah, that all sounds good, but how exactly are you planning to destroy the banquet hall? Are you going to sneak inside and plant bombs?”
“No. There’s no need to enter the hotel. We’re already under suspicion, so we couldn’t get in even if we wanted to.”
“Then what are you suggesting?”
“We just need to break the mana barrier surrounding the banquet hall.”
“...Have you lost your mind?”
“What do you mean?”
“Can’t you see the mana barrier around the banquet hall? That’s not some ordinary curtain.”
“...Don’t worry about that.”
“What?”
“I have a way. Just do exactly as I say.”