Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: You'll Think of It Before Bed
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Association headquarters.
As Siwoo stepped out of the black sedan, the air around him froze in an instant.
It was because of the person who followed behind him.
"Hmm~."
Kim Yaeun was humming a cheerful tune.
Hunters and staff passing through the Association entrance spotted her and recoiled in horror, backing away.
"Gasp! Kim Yaeun?"
"Why is the Sword Ghost here again...?"
Perhaps because of her past record of half-destroying the Association building.
People parted like the Red Sea, avoiding her gaze.
Siwoo pinched the bridge of his nose amid the flood of fearful stares.
'Haa.'
He was just about to press his throbbing temple when someone came rushing breathlessly from inside the lobby.
It was the same Association staff member who had greeted him last time.
"Y-You've arrived!"
He bowed at a perfect ninety degrees, tense as could be.
Siwoo nodded lightly and started walking.
Kim Yaeun followed behind him like she was on a casual outing, humming all the way.
In that bizarre scene, someone somewhere swallowed hard.
"This way, please."
The staff member took the lead and began guiding them.
As they walked down the corridor, Kim Yaeun's eyes sparkled, and she spoke up.
"Ah! I think I know where this is! Over there, right?"
She tried to push past the staff member and take the front.
But Siwoo's voice stopped her.
"Yaeun."
A low, calm tone.
Those two words halted her steps dead.
"The staff is kindly guiding us. Wouldn't it be rude to go ahead?"
"...Yes."
Kim Yaeun deflated instantly and slipped back behind Siwoo.
She looked just like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs.
The staff member stole a glance at the scene and was inwardly shocked.
'He's handling that mad Sword Ghost—no, S-rank Hunter—like a pet dog.'
Even the Association President found her uncomfortable.
Yet Siwoo had tamed her with a single word.
'As the director said, he's no ordinary man.'
Awe filled the staff member's eyes.
A short while later, they arrived at a special interrogation room deep underground.
"Do whatever you need. The cameras are off."
He flashed the friendliest smile he could muster and opened the heavy iron door.
He didn't want to imagine what might happen inside, but he endured for the sake of impressing Siwoo.
Siwoo entered the interrogation room with a relaxed demeanor.
Screeech—.
As the scraping metal door swung open, the scene inside came into view.
Red's limbs were bound in special mana restraints, and his body was covered in mana seals.
He lifted his head at the sound of footsteps.
His blazing eyes lit up the moment they landed on Siwoo.
"Y-You little rat."
Siwoo met the grinning, toothy sneer without a change in expression.
"Still less than an animal, I see."
"What?"
"From the looks of you, well-fed and well-rested..."
Siwoo turned to glance at the staff member standing guard by the door.
"I can tell how incompetent the Association is. Healthy complexion and all."
"Y-Yes?"
The staff member floundered in confusion.
His words weren't wrong at all.
In truth, the Association had been too hung up on human rights and procedures to conduct a proper interrogation.
And Red's enhanced physique made torture ineffective anyway.
Siwoo continued smoothly.
"Ah, no need to worry. I know you're not in charge. Just following orders from above, right?"
"Yes! Exactly. Even the director was frustrated and furious about it..."
Grateful that Siwoo understood, the staff member nearly teared up.
Siwoo gestured toward the door with his eyes.
"Could you close the door for a moment? Things might get a bit noisy."
"Yes! Got it!"
He replied energetically and shut the door.
Bang.
The heavy door sealed shut, blocking out all external noise.
Now, only Siwoo, Kim Yaeun, and Red remained in the sealed room.
Siwoo turned his head.
The gentlemanly smile he'd shown the staff was gone.
His chilling gaze pierced through Red.
"Listen carefully from now on. Or rather, listen well."
"...What're you doing?"
Red sneered.
But Siwoo ignored him and took a step closer.
"You might not know what's about to happen to you. Of course you wouldn't. How could a beast understand human speech?"
"I knew it from the start, you—"
Before Red could finish, Siwoo cut him off.
"You'll think of it every night before bed."
Siwoo leaned down, bringing his face close to Red's.
"You'll feel stressed. Very stressed."
"Kahah! Crazy bastard. What, gonna torture me? Go ahead, do your worst."
"Beasts like you only learn from experience. Yeah, you need that kind of stress. You'll have to go through it to understand."
"Ha! You're insane too, huh?"
"It'll be a real life lesson."
"Bring it. It'll just tickle."
Red spat on the floor with a bored expression.
His body was engineered with advanced tech.
He had resistance to ordinary pain and recovery beyond imagination.
Arrogance that nothing could be done to him dripped from his words.
Siwoo turned to Kim Yaeun, who waited behind him.
"Extract every location of their facilities. Leave nothing out."
"Yes—!"
Kim Yaeun replied brightly and walked behind Red.
Red scoffed at her light footsteps, as if it was ridiculous.
"Both of you are nuts...!"
Before he could finish—
Whoosh—!
A sinister aura erupted from Kim Yaeun's entire body.
Murderous intent bordering on resentment thickened the air.
It was suffocating pressure.
"......?!"
Red's pupils contracted.
Instinctual fear crawled up his spine.
Without warning, Kim Yaeun grabbed the back of Red's head with one hand, crushing it roughly.
Ghostly energy infused her five fingers, burrowing into his skull.
"A-Arghhh!!!"
A scream exploded out.
His sturdy bones offered no resistance.
His brain boiled, and it felt like red-hot needles stabbed every nerve fiber—a horrific agony.
"You're noisy."
Kim Yaeun whispered chillingly into his ear.
Ghostly energy flowed through her hand into Red's mind.
"Gaaaahhhh!!"
Red was a manufactured fake S-rank.
He might mimic a body, but his mind couldn't be engineered to match.
He had no way to withstand the overwhelming mental pressure of a true S-rank like Kim Yaeun.
He screamed, trying to hold out with willpower.
But that resolve crumbled like a sandcastle.
"Hii, hi... I-I'm sorry... No more..."
Soon, Red's eyes glazed over, losing focus.
Drool spilled from his mouth.
But Kim Yaeun mercilessly rummaged through his brain.
'Found it.'
Fragments of Red's memories flooded into her mind.
Dark laboratories.
Screams.
Truck routes.
Coordinates.
She relentlessly rolled her eyes, sifting only the needed information.
A moment later, Kim Yaeun withdrew her ghostly energy and released her hand.
Red slumped like a puppet with cut strings, gasping for breath.
"Haa..."
Kim Yaeun let out a refreshed sigh, turning to Siwoo with a bright smile.
"Got it. One each in Incheon, Busan, Mokpo, and a mountain valley in Gangwon Province."
"Well done. Did you turn him into a vegetable, by any chance?"
"Ah, can I kill him?"
Siwoo stared blankly at Yaeun for a moment before shaking his head.
"No. Not yet."
Siwoo approached the limp Red.
He grabbed a fistful of Red's hair, yanking his head up forcefully.
"Can you hear me?"
"Ah... Uh..."
Terror soaked Red's eyes.
The man before him looked like a devil.
"No matter how much you fake it with modifications, you're still counterfeit."
Siwoo snapped coldly.
"Starting today, I'll torment you every day. So go ahead—resist all you want."
"N-No... Spare..."
"Every day, every hour, every moment it hits you. Even as you breathe, you'll regret it."
That was when it started.
Red's lower jaw trembled faintly for the first time.
Even as a modified human, he'd known no fear since becoming S-rank.
But now, he felt primal terror toward Han Siwoo—a supposedly weaker human.
It dragged him back to those powerless days bound in the lab.
"Let's go."
Siwoo dusted his hands as if done with business, standing up.
His gaze was already fixed on the next target.
As he approached the door, it opened as if on cue.
The staff member waited outside.
He'd been terrified by the agonized screams from within.
But seeing Siwoo emerge unscathed reignited his awe.
What on earth had happened inside to make that monster scream?
"Kim Yaeun will visit again tomorrow. Take good care of her."
"Yes!! Understood!!!"
The staff member barked back like a disciplined soldier.
He took the lead once more, guiding Siwoo's group.
Even as they climbed the stairs, he kept glancing back.
'......'
Siwoo's face under the fluorescent lights.
The staff member stared absently and suddenly felt his breath catch.
'...Does God not know the meaning of fair?'
His work ability went without saying.
Charisma to command S-rank Hunters, political savvy to toy with Association executives.
That could be overlooked.
But Han Siwoo's looks, seen up close, were beyond "handsome."
Flawless, transparently glowing skin.
Thick eyebrows and blue eyes drawn like with a ruler.
Above all, the perfect line of his nose bridge—impossible even with a sculptor's chisel.
In his eyes, Siwoo seemed to glow on his own.
Like he lived in a higher resolution, with reflector boards from a movie set.
A figure straight out of fiction walking in reality felt surreal.
'He's ridiculously good-looking.'
The staff member thought dazedly.
A capable guy with that visual?
This was cheating.
'Maybe.'
A ridiculous thought crossed his mind.
The reason S-rank Hunters joined Miracle.
The reason even the prickly Kim Yaeun turned meek.
Could it be because of that face? A rational suspicion.
'...But some are married. And guys wouldn't join a guild for a man's face.'
He shook his head, trying to dispel the thought.
But every glance at Siwoo's face pulled him back into doubt.
Before long, they reached the main entrance.
He bowed politely to Siwoo.
"Safe travels, President."
Siwoo suddenly asked,
"May I have your name?"
"Y-Yes? My... name?"
As the staff member stammered in surprise, Siwoo smiled faintly.
"Yes. We've met twice now, but I haven't caught it."
His heart skipped at that smile.
He blurted out loudly,
"Ji Hanbin!"
"...Yes, Hanbin. Looking forward to tomorrow."
"Yes!"
Siwoo gave a light nod and turned to leave through the gate.
Watching his back, Ji Hanbin thought, entranced.
'Maybe it's possible after all.'