Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Invitation (2)
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Siwoo arrived at the underground parking lot and gripped the steering wheel, turning the key to start the car.
The passenger door opened, and Ye-eun slipped inside with fluid grace.
She fastened her seatbelt and glanced back through the rearview mirror.
Lee Jia stood there, clutching the car door.
Her lips were pressed tightly together, her face on the verge of tears.
"Um... Representative."
Lee Jia tightened her grip on the door, her white knuckles turning even paler.
"Could you... take me with you too?"
Her eyes trembled.
Guilt and the fear of losing her place to Ye-eun were driving her to the edge.
Siwoo held the steering wheel in silence for a moment.
He slowly turned his head to look at her.
"Jia."
"Yes..."
"No. It's still too dangerous."
At Siwoo's refusal, Jia's shoulders visibly slumped.
Her disappointment matched the height of her expectations.
"But...!"
"Besides, you're currently under a rental contract with Daesung Guild. Don't you have a dungeon raid scheduled for tomorrow morning?"
"......"
"If you bail without permission to tag along on my personal business, forget the penalties—the damage to Miracle Management's reputation would be the real issue."
"......"
Those words silenced her.
"It puts me in a tough spot, Jia."
That one sentence was the final blow.
She didn't want to trouble Siwoo.
"...Okay. I understand."
Jia reluctantly let go of the door.
It was as if her feet were glued to the ground.
Siwoo rolled down the window and gently ruffled her dejected hair.
"Get used to your power as soon as possible, Jia. Even one day sooner."
"...Yes."
"We'll be back."
Vroom—
The engine roared to life, and the car glided out of the parking lot.
Lee Jia stood frozen in place, staring at the fading red taillights.
'Damn it...'
She clenched her fists.
I'm an S-rank too.
Yet the fact that it was Ye-eun moving at Siwoo's side burned into her bones.
Lee Jia bit her lip until blood seeped out.
'Wait. I will...'
A vow to reclaim that passenger seat etched itself into her heart.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Gyeonggi-do, Gapyeong, deep in the mountains.
Their hideout lay buried far underground in a dense forest not marked on any map.
A special bunker designed to withstand a nuclear war.
It severed all external communications and featured its own power generation—a perfect fortress.
The entrance was cleverly camouflaged, with dozens of guards lying in ambush nearby.
"Kahahaha! Look at him squirm!"
Kang Tae-hyung, CEO of Jenia Management, lounged arrogantly on the sofa, swirling a glass of top-shelf wine.
The red liquid trailing down the glass looked just like blood.
His face twisted into a vile grin.
"That bastard Han Siwoo must be chilling in the morgue freezer by now, right?"
He cackled, eyes on the monitor.
The screen showed the forest outside the bunker.
Infrared cameras pierced the darkness, scanning relentlessly.
"Even threw Black Spider at him. No way he survives that. Not with five B-ranks gunning for him."
Kang Tae-hyung was utterly convinced.
Killing a mere civilian like Han Siwoo was child's play from the start.
The only annoyance had been the hunters glued to his side.
"Miracle's done for now. With the rep dead, the hunters will scatter. Lee Jia, Choi Min-seok—all of them."
He was already drunk on victory.
His heart raced at the thought of monopolizing the market without rivals.
"Just hole up here for a month, then bounce overseas. Got plenty of cash."
Kang Tae-hyung downed the wine in one gulp.
The alcohol burned down his throat, delivering a sharp thrill.
That was when it happened.
Rumble— rrrumble—
A faint vibration hummed through the air.
The wine bottle on the table rattled, ripples spreading across the liquid in his glass.
"What the hell? Earthquake?"
Kang Tae-hyung frowned and stood.
The shaking intensified.
Beeeep—! Beeeep—!
Alarms blared, filling the bunker.
Red warning lights flashed wildly on the monitors.
The once-peaceful fortress turned into pandemonium in seconds.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Intruder detected! Intruder detected!] [Sector 1 defense line breached!] "W-what?! Who's coming?!"
Kang Tae-hyung screamed and lunged at the monitor.
His eyes widened in disbelief at the footage.
On the CCTV feed.
The massive steel door guarding the bunker entrance crumpled like paper and flew off.
"W-what the hell is that...?"
Through the dust cloud, two shadows strode in.
A man in a pristine suit and a woman soaked in blood.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Awakened hunters burst from the shadows.
The moment they spotted the intruders, they unleashed skills without hesitation.
Whoosh! Boom!
Fireballs and mana bullets rained down.
Beams of light sliced through the darkness.
Shing.
Ye-eun drew the Ghost Sword Star Blade.
As the pitch-black blade gleamed, the air grew heavy.
Dark mana rose from her body like heat haze.
"Too noisy."
Ye-eun gripped the sword and swung it horizontally with ease.
Swoosh—!
A black crescent slashed through space.
The sword qi created a vacuum, tearing the atmosphere.
"Uh, wha...?"
Three charging awakeners froze mid-stride, thin red lines appearing at their waists.
Thud.
Their torsos slid to the floor.
Their lower halves remained standing.
Sizzle—!
Blood fountained from the severed stumps.
"What the—?!"
"Shoot! Fire!"
The remaining awakeners panicked and fell back.
But Ye-eun didn't stop.
She advanced, twirling the blade like a dancer.
That was when it happened.
A sniper hidden in the shadows pulled the trigger.
A silenced mana rifle.
Stealth skill active, presence completely erased.
But.
Clang—!
Ye-eun deflected the incoming mana bullet backward—without even looking.
As if she had eyes in the back of her head.
She then reversed her grip on the sword.
"Filthy rat."
She thrust into empty air.
Dark mana exploded from the tip, forming a black spear that shot forward.
Pfshk!
"Gaaah!"
A scream erupted from nowhere.
Stealth broke; the man tumbled from the wall.
A gaping hole punched through his chest by the sword qi.
"Stealth? Please."
Ye-eun scoffed.
"Raaah!"
The surviving awakeners charged in terror.
Slash.
Each swing severed limbs or heads.
Flesh parted like tofu, the air thick with the stench of blood.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Bang!
The final bunker door ripped free.
Ye-eun infused it with dark mana and slammed down; the special alloy bent like taffy and crashed to the floor.
"H-heek...!"
Kang Tae-hyung cowered in the corner, trembling like a leaf.
His face was ashen white.
Siwoo entered the room slowly.
He righted a toppled chair, dusted it off, crossed his legs, and sat.
Perfectly at ease, like he owned the place.
That nonchalance drove Kang Tae-hyung mad.
"Long time no see, CEO Kang."
"You—you! How?! You should've died! How are you alive?!"
Kang Tae-hyung shrieked in disbelief.
"Turns out life's thread is tougher than I thought."
Siwoo picked up the wine bottle from the desk.
He checked the label and smirked.
"Toasting your victory?"
"You little shit...!"
Kang Tae-hyung reached into his jacket.
"Die!"
As he drew an artifact to slam into the floor.
Crunch.
"Aaaagh!"
Kang Tae-hyung's scream echoed through the bunker.
Siwoo's shoe crushed the wrist holding the artifact, bones pulverizing.
It twisted at an unnatural angle.
"No suicide pacts. I've got too much left to do."
"Even after this... you think you'll get away with it?!"
Kang Tae-hyung spat threats through the pain.
But Siwoo gazed down coldly.
"Who knows."
Siwoo leaned in, meeting his eyes.
"CEO Kang. You're already listed as missing, aren't you?"
"...What?"
"You know better than anyone what this place is."
Kang Tae-hyung's face drained of color.
"What are you...?"
"Meaning, even if your heart stops here, the world thinks you're living it up on some South Pacific island."
The perfect hideout he'd chosen to vanish into.
Was equally the perfect place where no one would ever find him.
"No one will look for you. Ever."
Only then did Kang Tae-hyung realize.
The trap he was in.
"P-please! Spare me! I'll give you money! All my fortune! Please!"
He crawled, grasping at Siwoo's pant leg.
Siwoo kicked him away without mercy.
Thud!
Kang Tae-hyung tumbled back.
Terror-stricken, he pulled a defensive dagger from his pocket and swung wildly.
"Stay back! Don't come closer!"
The moment he raised it.
Slash.
A chilling sound, and his right arm hit the floor.
"Ah... Aagh?"
He stared blankly, not realizing at first, then screamed at the gushing blood.
"Gaaaaah!"
Ye-eun sheathed her blade with icy eyes.
Not a drop of blood on the gleaming edge.
"Don't draw weapons in front of the Representative."
Her voice was colder than ice.
Kang Tae-hyung rolled on the floor clutching the stump, blood pooling into a crimson puddle.
Siwoo grabbed his hair and yanked his head up.
"One question only."
Siwoo's blue eyes bored into his pupils.
"Who gave you the Black Spider."
"H-heok... If I tell... y-you'll let me live?"
"Who."
Kang Tae-hyung trembled as he spoke.
"I-I don't know...!"
"Don't know?"
Siwoo's brow twitched.
"I-It's true! Never saw his face! Always wore a robe... but...!"
"But?"
"I heard... the name."
Kang Tae-hyung's eyes widened in fear.
Just uttering it terrified him.
"Clozer. I definitely heard that name!"
"...!"
Siwoo's expression hardened.
A name from his memories.
No, anyone in the hunter world would know it.
S-rank villain. Living catastrophe.
The worst criminal who massacred countless hunters and razed an entire city.
'Clozer... why?'
It made no sense.
Why would a titan like Clozer target him specifically, even using Jenia as a proxy for assassination?
Siwoo fell deep in thought.
Kang Tae-hyung seized the moment, dragging his bloodied body toward the exit.
But.
"Ye-eun."
Siwoo's low call.
"Yes."
Ye-eun placed her hand on his head as if waiting.
"W-wait! I told you! I told you everything! You said you'd let me go!"
"No such promise."
Siwoo replied coldly.
"Ye-eun."
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ [Ghostly Aura] [Brain incineration / Memory erasure]
"No! Gaaaaah!"
Kang Tae-hyung's screams didn't last.
Black haze burned through his brain.
Thought ceased. Memories vanished.
He collapsed, mouth agape.
Breathing, but a soulless husk.
Siwoo turned away expressionless and eyed the wall safe he'd spotted earlier.
Creeeak.
The door swung open, revealing Kang Tae-hyung's ill-gotten hoard.
500 billion in bearer bonds.
S-rank artifacts of unknown origin.
"Thanks for the gifts."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Boom! Rumble—!
Explosions shattered the mountain's silence.
The bunker entrance collapsed, sealing it completely.
Siwoo climbed into the car.
Ye-eun in the passenger seat wiped her blade clean, reeking of blood yet looking refreshed.
Like she'd just stepped out of a bath.
Siwoo gripped the wheel, staring into space.
'Clozer.'