Chapter 144
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Levatein (2)
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“Levatein...?”
“No need to remember it. You won’t be leaving here in one piece anyway.”
Park Ho-chil’s usual hot temper surged at that response, but even so, he couldn’t charge at Lee Seongmin.
The Destroyer alone was known to be far stronger than an average S-rank hero, leaving no chance of victory whatsoever.
“Why would a guy who even brought the Destroyer storm a place like this?”
“I was curious about the caliber of Korea’s national-level crime organizations.”
“Curious? You invaded here for something that trivial?”
“Well, seeing you, it feels like a complete waste of time.”
Transformed into the organization’s boss, Lee Seongmin spoke indifferently, as if it wasn’t even worth confirming.
“Still, since I’ve come this far, I’ll at least take the items you’ve gathered.”
Hearing that answer, Park Ho-chil realized the real reason they had invaded.
“You bastard... The items were your goal from the start.”
Having figured it out, Park Ho-chil quickly pulled a button from his pocket.
While Lee Seongmin eyed the button, Park Ho-chil explained what it was.
“Don’t move a muscle! The instant I press this button, every item in the warehouse vanishes!”
“Explosion button? Why would you even make something like that?”
“Hmph. Better to destroy them than hand them over and let you line your pockets, right?”
Lee Seongmin nodded with an expression that said he more or less got it.
Impact’s boss, Kim Yong-il, seemed like the type who’d rather suffer a loss himself than let others profit.
“But Kim Yong-il isn’t here?”
“...I’d rather ask you. How do you know all this?”
“Heard it from an informant. High chance Kim Yong-il would be at this secret auction house.”
“I’d love to see that informant’s face.”
Park Ho-chil was intensely curious about the informant who knew even the boss’s name and the secret auction house’s location.
Someone with that level of intel had to be an insider, but with Levatein right in front of him, there was no time to dwell on it.
“Looks like Kim Yong-il really isn’t here.”
At that moment, Lee Seongmin read Park Ho-chil’s reaction and confirmed the man’s absence, deciding to collect the bodies and items.
Step—
As Lee Seongmin took a single step forward.
“Didn’t I tell you not to move?!”
“How long do you plan to keep spouting nonsense not worth hearing?”
“You damn mutt.”
Honestly, Park Ho-chil hated to press the button and blow up everything in the warehouse too.
But he figured it was better than letting that Levatein outfit have them, so he resolved to do it.
“Fine, see how you like going back empty-handed!”
The moment Park Ho-chil shouted that and moved to press the button.
“...!?”
For some reason, the hand gripping the button wouldn’t budge an inch.
Not only that—he realized his entire body had been firmly bound, unable to even twitch.
“Guess you’re not pressing it after all.”
“Urk! What the hell did you do to my body?!”
Lee Seongmin glanced at the button, then clamped down on Park Ho-chil’s body with telekinesis.
Park Ho-chil’s strength couldn’t shatter Lee Seongmin’s telekinesis, so all he could do was yell about what he’d done.
“You think I’ll just take this lying down?!”
Crunch— Crunch—
With that, blue fur sprouted across Park Ho-chil’s entire body, his frame swelling to 1.5 times its size.
Lee Seongmin watched the sudden transformation unfold and saw his face and body morph into something beastly.
“Werewolf?”
As Lee Seongmin remarked at the werewolf-like Park Ho-chil, Lee Seojun gave a concise explanation.
That’s Park Ho-chil’s ability. By consuming a monster’s flesh and blood, he can transform into that monster.
“Too bad he didn’t eat a dragon.”
Dragons don’t show up often. Even tallying all that have appeared so far, it’s fewer than ten.
While Lee Seongmin and Lee Seojun chatted so casually.
“Grraaaaa!”
Park Ho-chil had transformed fully and tried to break free of the telekinesis binding him, but to no avail.
In his transformed state, his power could stand toe-to-toe with an S-rank hero, yet Lee Seongmin’s telekinesis surpassed even that.
“Damn it, damn it! Why won’t it break?!”
“You done?”
When Lee Seongmin asked, Park Ho-chil wore a humiliated grimace.
He’d gone to the trouble of taking on a monstrous form to amp his power, yet Lee Seongmin hadn’t so much as flinched.
“...Rot in hell.”
In the end, Park Ho-chil lost all will to fight, leaving those words behind.
He didn’t expect mercy from the guy, nor did he see any way out.
Snap! —
The instant Park Ho-chil finished speaking, his neck wrenched 180 degrees, killing him on the spot.
Lee Seongmin snapped Park Ho-chil’s neck with telekinesis, then gathered the surrounding corpses the same way.
Planning to store them in subspace and revive later?
“Yeah.”
After answering, Lee Seongmin paused to think, then manipulated the healer to open the subspace and deposit the bodies there.
“More importantly, the warehouse?”
This way. You might see some unpleasant sights along the route.
Puzzled by the mention of unpleasant sights, Lee Seongmin followed Lee Seojun.
Turning into a long corridor, Lee Seongmin recalled the underground layout and sensed a minor discrepancy.
“We’ve gone past the garden.”
Right. By position, we’re heading to the back of the mansion. Kim Yong-il bought up the whole district.
“Must have a ton of cash.”
He dabbles in anything that turns a profit.
As Lee Seojun said, Kim Yong-il was neck-deep in every crime imaginable yet never got nabbed.
A guy blessed with luck—maybe that’s why he slipped Lee Seongmin today.
Plus, he’s evaded capture for years. If I hadn’t gotten the info from the game, even I wouldn’t have tracked him down.
“Got an innate ability for laying low.”
He has two innate abilities: one related to binding, the other to luck.
Binding?
Think of binding as an ability that prevents mutual betrayal. That’s how he built his organization.
Lee Seongmin marveled at the sheer variety of abilities out there while scanning the corridor again.
Doors lined both sides; spotting one half-open, he halted.
“What’s that?”
Beyond the door lay a tiny room like a solitary cell, with a bed—and on it, a naked woman.
Her hands and feet bound to the bed, she lay still; up close, her eyes were unfocused, drool trickling from her mouth.
Woman addicted to drugs. They snatch women from remote spots to vent their lust.
“Not just one or two.”
Probably female monsters too. Vampires and the like.
“Hm.”
Lee Seongmin nodded, then unleashed telekinesis to wrench every door in the corridor open.
Bang—
Peering into each one, nearly every room held a woman.
They all had above-average looks—apparently faces were a must for their kidnappings.
“Incredible they never got caught pulling this off.”
Abilities make perfect crimes possible. Unless it’s something like Lydia’s memory observation.
While listening, Lee Seongmin looked around more and spotted monsters, just as Lee Seojun had said.
“That monster?”
He asked about the female monster with vibrant green skin evoking a plant.
Dryad. Looks like they captured that monster too.
On top of that, the dryad didn’t seem drugged and was thrashing against her restraints.
She even wore what looked like a mana suppressor. Lee Seongmin nodded and left the healer behind.
“Gotta contact Kang Ju-young.”
For cleanup?
Lee Seongmin gave a short nod.
“She can relay to the Hero Association for me.”
Then the Hero Association would handle the cleanup here.
Of course, first priority was grabbing the items from the secret auction house.
“Warehouse?”
Almost there. That spot at the end is the warehouse.
At the corridor’s end that Lee Seojun pointed out stood nothing but a blank wall.
Lee Seongmin deployed spatial power and confirmed a vast space beyond the wall.
“Camouflage wall.”
Yeah. Kim Yong-il’s haul is beyond that wall.
Boom!—
Lee Seongmin demolished the camouflage wall on the spot.
Amid the rubble: presumed artifacts, skill stones, and all sorts of items piled high.
They’ve amassed quite the collection even at this point.
“Some might be useful.”
Even with artifacts, the odds of anything suiting Lee Seongmin were slim.
Having passed through 14 worlds and gathered plenty already, he examined without much hope.
“This one’s decent.”
【B-Rank Rank-Up Stone】
【Raises one acquired skill to B-Rank upon use.】
“B-Rank Rank-Up Stone.”
B-Rank? You could upgrade all your skills to B-Rank then.
Lee Seongmin nodded once and searched for an A-Rank Rank-Up Stone.
Unfortunately, none turned up in the secret auction house’s stock.
“Guess I’ll have to settle for B-Rank.”
Still, bumping every skill to B-Rank would massively boost his clone count.
Scanning the rest, he found skill stones reaching Lv10 among them.
【F-Rank (Lv10) Mana Amplification】
【Acquires the F-Rank skill ‘Mana Amplification’ upon use.】
“Mana Amplification?”
Mana Amplification? I learned it too. Hits B-Rank and your mana stat goes up 1.5x.
“Skill that boosts the mana stat, huh.”
Put simply, a mana stat of 100 would jump to 150 the moment he learned it.
You’re picking up magic and spirits, so it’d spike your mana hard. Plus it stacks with the artifact Mana Amplifier.
Stacking with the S-Rank artifact Mana Amplifier meant a massive mana surge was guaranteed.
But with Absolute Clone as top priority, Lee Seongmin shook his head and passed on acquiring it.
“No need.”
Truth was, just pulling out items from his online game inventory could multiply his mana several times over.
Declaring it unnecessary, Lee Seongmin swept every item in the warehouse into storage, then contacted Kang Ju-young via the healer.