Chapter 106
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Deal (1)
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"Ah, got it. I'll become your subordinate."
She must have figured she couldn't endure that pleasure again, because she agreed to become my subordinate.
I nodded, feeling like things had gone more smoothly than expected, and Della pointed at the corpses beside me.
"But... are you going to make those guys your subordinates too?"
"Of course."
"If it's okay with you, could you show me you reviving them too?"
She apparently wanted confirmation that I was the healer she'd seen in Lydia's memories.
Since I'd have to revive the remaining two anyway if I wanted them as subordinates, I first pulled out the restraint devices and revived them one by one.
Pababat!―
I started with Lydia, reviving her body and restraining it before using the sealing power to lock away her strength and mana.
Della watched the process with considerable surprise in her eyes as she stared at Lydia slowly regaining consciousness.
"With power like this, why are you even at the Hero Officer Academy...?"
"That's none of your business."
Next, I reached out to Lorella and fully revived her.
As I was about to move her to the restraint device, Della, who had been watching, suddenly shouted.
"Die!"
The moment she said it, tiny water droplets appeared around Della and flew toward me.
—Mr. Lee Seongmin! It's poison!
Lee Seojun shouted the moment he saw the water droplets Della created that they were poison.
I figured it was poison potent enough to kill a person in one hit, but I took it without a care.
"I don't know how you sealed my mana, but failing to seal my innate ability was a mistake..."
Della spoke confidently as she watched me get hit by the poison, but her words trailed off.
She realized something was wrong when I stood there perfectly fine despite being poisoned.
"I forgot that innate abilities and mana are separate."
Come to think of it, my current innate ability, Absolute Clone.
I could summon it freely as long as I had the capacity, independent of my mana.
Della's innate ability, Poison Collection, seemed to work the same way without mana.
'Anyway, better restrain Lorella first.'
I ignored the flustered Della and restrained Lorella.
After restraining her, I sealed her strength, mana, and innate ability completely, covering every possibility.
"Tch!"
In the meantime, Della created more water droplets and sent them flying, but I easily neutralized the poison.
Given my abilities, it didn't make sense if I couldn't detoxify something like this.
"How in the world...?"
"Did you forget I'm a healer?"
I meant that poison like this was no big deal for me to detoxify.
"Anyway, you tried to rebel against me, so you need to pay for that."
With that, I immediately sealed Della's innate ability as well.
Della's face darkened rapidly as even her last resort—her innate ability—was sealed.
'That takes care of the school raid incident.'
I'd finished building my house on the uninhabited island and was now lounging comfortably inside.
Of course, my clones—including the one who'd started working as a healer—were all off doing their own things.
'Now I just need to spend a week on this uninhabited island.'
Spending a week here was a simple task, so I wasn't worried.
'Might as well think about what to do with that bastard U Yun-hak while I'm at it.'
I pondered what to do with U Yun-hak, the torture instructor and Doomsday Cultist.
His innate ability wasn't as dangerous as Lydia's, but it was still risky, so it was better to deal with him quickly.
'The problem is that he's a Doomsday Cultist.'
So far, I'd gone after the Villain Alliance and the Geneva Cult, but not the Doomsday Cultists.
All I'd done was take down an online gambling operation, so it shouldn't affect the events.
'Should I wait until next month's event after all?'
But if I acted now, next month's scheduled event might turn into a random one.
Even for me, it was easier to prepare for fixed events, so I couldn't move just yet.
Step―
'Hm?'
That's when I heard footsteps approaching from outside the house.
They said your score drops if anyone gets within 10 meters on the uninhabited island, so I got up to check who it was.
"What the...? There's a house here?"
The voice sounded familiar, and when I stepped outside, there was a female student there.
She had relatively short hair and a boyish impression—Hwang Yeo-jin, ranked 6th in our year.
'Hwang Yeo-jin.'
According to Lee Seojun, she had an innate ability related to superhuman strength, making her the strongest in raw power.
The moment I came out of the house, Hwang Yeo-jin looked at me with inner surprise and asked what was going on.
"Lee Seongmin? Did you claim this house?"
"Claim it? I built it myself."
"You built a house? No way, how did you even...?"
Hwang Yeo-jin eyed the sturdy house I'd made, her face full of curiosity about how I'd done it.
Instead of answering, I used Warlord's Weapon on a nearby rock to slice down a tree, then shaped it with telekinesis.
"I shaped each piece like this."
"......"
She clearly hadn't expected me to build a house without lifting a finger, and the surprise didn't leave her face.
"Wait a sec."
Suddenly realizing something, Hwang Yeo-jin alternated her gaze between me and the house.
"If I make you drop out here, this house becomes mine, right?"
"If I drop out, it'll be empty, so yeah. But how do you plan to make me drop out?"
"Subdue you and mess with your watch to hit the dropout button."
Apparently, there was a dropout button on the watch.
Kang Ju-young had mentioned there was a way to forfeit before we started, and that must be it.
"If you subdue me and tamper with the watch like you say, I suppose I would drop out."
Anyway, I agreed with her words and floated six nearby rocks with Warlord's Weapon.
"On the flip side, you might be the one dropping out."
Hwang Yeo-jin licked her lips at my words, sizing me up.
She must have thought she could dodge those rocks and close the distance easily.
'Well, yeah. She didn't even go all out against Cheon Seo-yun.'
In short, Hwang Yeo-jin had no idea how powerful my Warlord's Weapon really was.
That's why she was hesitating like this, but then she relaxed her stance.
"Nah, forget it. I just get this bad feeling whenever I think about fighting you."
"Hm."
Lee Seojun had once said Hwang Yeo-jin had beast-like instincts, and it seemed true.
She was backing off purely on a hunch, so maybe she had some ability related to that.
'Sensing the opponent's strength... no, intuitively knowing outcomes unfavorable to her?'
While I was lost in thought, Hwang Yeo-jin waved casually as if she had no more business here and turned to leave.
"Take care in there. I've got monsters to hunt for points."
I watched her go without a hint of regret, then released Warlord's Weapon and headed back inside.
I figured other students would start showing up now that Hwang Yeo-jin had kicked it off, but I'd deal with that when it happened.
Song Bi-yeon, known as the Madam in the black market, moved in various ways to fulfill the healer's instructions.
First, she contacted major players in the black market separately, letting them know about the Elixir of Youth and selling two bottles—one at a time.
The Elixir of Youth fetched 60 billion for the first bottle and 270 billion for the second, spreading rumors quickly, so she moved on to the next step.
"So this is the Elixir of Youth everyone's been talking about?"
Song Bi-yeon handed an elixir to her bodyguard before meeting Han Seok-ho, chairman of Daeyang Corporation.
"Yes. Drink it, and you'll become ten years younger. Note that it won't make you younger than twenty."
Thanks to that, she only had three bottles left, but she was confident.
The healer had asked for three level 10 skill stones—one per bottle.
"Why not younger than twenty?"
"Anyone under twenty is less 'youthful' and more 'childish,' don't you think?"
"Fair enough. But if you've come to me with this Elixir of Youth, you must want something in return."
"Of course."
Song Bi-yeon had no intention of beating around the bush with a major corporation chairman like Han Seok-ho.
She admitted it outright and got straight to the point.
"A level 10 skill stone. Trade one for one bottle of the Elixir of Youth."
"Straight to the point. As if you know I have a level 10 skill stone."
Song Bi-yeon nodded in agreement.
"Anyone who knows anything knows the chairman of Daeyang Corporation collects rare artifacts and skill stones."
"But they don't know I have a level 10 skill stone."
"I just figured a man like you would."
"Hm."
Chairman Han Seok-ho nodded as he glanced at the man standing quietly behind Song Bi-yeon.
Anyone with even a passing interest in heroes would recognize him immediately, and even Han Seok-ho was inwardly surprised.
"Speaking of which, isn't that man behind you Park Jung-woo? It's been a while."
On top of that, Park Jung-woo was one of Korea's rare S-rank heroes.
He was unaffiliated, and despite recruitment attempts from the Hero Association and various guilds, all had failed.
"He's here to protect fragile little me. You've got bodyguards behind you too, Chairman."
"That's not what I'm asking, and you know it."
The reason the Hero Association and guilds had failed to recruit him was the condition Park Jung-woo had set.
He'd join any group that could cure his wife's incurable disease, but no one had succeeded.
Yet here he was, openly accompanying Song Bi-yeon from the black market—it was only natural to assume that side had succeeded.