Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Simultaneous Incidents (18)
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-Rustle.
A small shadow darted swiftly through the dense forest underbrush.
It was Na Eun-joo. The tiny ten-year-old girl bounded down the rugged mountain path as lightly as if she were playing in a playground.
But her heart raced with urgency.
Na Eun-joo had currently taken control of Kali's mind, forcing her to buy time for the escape. The problem was that Kali's body was in such a critical state that she could die at any moment. To shake off pursuers, they had to get as far from the scene as possible before Kali's life ebbed away.
Though Na Eun-joo was a superhuman, she was still just a child. Her underdeveloped body was little more than a shackle to her. Even if she ran for a full ten minutes at full speed, it was a distance any ordinary superhuman could cover in three.
"!!"
Suddenly, Na Eun-joo's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
'She's dead...'
Na Eun-joo felt the connection with Kali, whom she had been controlling, sever. She wondered if it was due to distance, but no. Her superpower's range was about 3 km. Yet she hadn't even covered a quarter of that.
'Damn it. I didn't think she'd last less than a minute...!'
-Pew!
At that moment, a fierce wave of vertigo assaulted Na Eun-joo's mind.
"Hic?!"
Na Eun-joo's foot caught on itself, sending her tumbling to the ground. The backlash from using mental control twice in a row hit her all at once the instant the link with Kali broke.
"Ugh... It hurts..."
As she looked down, she saw her knee scraped raw and red. Na Eun-joo's body was this fragile. Her athleticism was at least on par with an adult's, but her physical durability was no better than a sturdy ordinary person's.
Clutching her stinging knee, Na Eun-joo struggled to her feet. Then she hurriedly started running again.
'Why, just why...!'
Na Eun-joo bit her lip hard as she ran.
'If only I could have controlled that oppa, it would have been a total win! Why couldn't I control him!'
It was infuriating for Na Eun-joo. Though her superpower had varying effectiveness against people, even in the worst matchups, she should at least have been able to bind their movements. At least, that's how it had always been until now.
But with Ahn Su-ho, her power hadn't worked at all. Nothing like that had ever happened before.
'Yeah, I'll ask Dad when I get back. He'll know the answer!'
With that thought, Na Eun-joo panted heavily and ran even faster. Asking Na Joo-yong could wait until after she escaped this place.
The ragged breathing of a child echoed faintly through the rugged mountain path.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
In the forest clearing where the sounds of battle had ceased.
"Hic... sniff..."
A woman's soft sobs echoed through the air.
Ahn Su-ho looked down at Kali, collapsed in ruins before him. Controlled by Na Eun-joo, she had charged recklessly without regard for her own body, but now she lay limp on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
It hadn't even been a proper fight—just a brief, one-sided exchange.
Kali's body hadn't been in any condition to fight from the start. But Na Eun-joo had forced her anyway, and as a result, she hadn't lasted even a minute before collapsing. Even that was only possible because she had been controlled without reason or regard for her life.
"P-Please... I don't want to die... Please..."
Kali reached out weakly. Her fingertips clutched at Ahn Su-ho's pant leg.
As if begging for her life.
But Kali's injuries had already passed the point of no return.
Deep gashes across her body and massive blood loss from her reckless movements.
Her skin was deathly pale, her flesh rapidly losing warmth.
Kali would die soon.
Her regaining her senses now was only possible because she had sustained "life-threatening wounds." The fact that Kali had reclaimed her self and was pleading with Ahn Su-ho not to let her die paradoxically meant her death was imminent.
Ahn Su-ho knew this all too well.
And Kali sensed it instinctively as well.
"Please... I'll do anything. Just save me..."
Yet seeing Kali cling desperately to life stirred an uneasy feeling in Ahn Su-ho. Perhaps pity. The intense rage and sadism he'd felt toward her before Na Eun-joo arrived had vanished as if washed away.
Because she was pitiful? It would be a lie to say that wasn't part of it.
But even more so, the fierce emotions he'd felt back then now felt utterly alien to him.
As if he had become someone else entirely.
As if someone else's emotions had been slammed directly into his brain, Ahn Su-ho thought.
'...I must have gotten really worked up, huh.'
He brushed off the disconnect like that. What other explanation could there be?
He couldn't even imagine that Pleasure Heavenly Demon could influence his emotions too.
"P-Please..."
"Begging me won't help. You're going to die soon."
"No... If you heal me, I can live..."
"No. It's too late."
"......"
Kali gazed up at Ahn Su-ho with lifeless eyes. The desperate light denying her fate gradually dulled and faded into the distance.
Death crept over those distant pupils.
This was the first time Ahn Su-ho had witnessed someone else's death up close. He had killed a Dawn Legion pursuer before by accident, but that had been in the heat of the moment, and the body had evaporated without a trace, so it didn't count. But now, he was watching the flame of another's life flicker out in real time.
It wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't disgusting or horrific either.
Just indifferent.
Through meeting Ji Ye-won and Kang Ha-neul, and interacting with various people, Ahn Su-ho had begun accepting this world as real, not a novel. But he wasn't so overflowing with morality that he'd pity an enemy he'd fought tooth and nail.
On the other hand, Kali.
Having witnessed countless deaths as a contract killer, Kali trembled at the first taste of her own death.
Her own pure death, unlike all the others she'd seen.
It was cold.
Gentle.
Yet steadily, relentlessly tightening around her throat.
When her fear-filled mind finally reached that threshold, only one thing filled her head: regret.
'If I'd known it would end like this, I never would have taken this damn job.'
With that, the light faded from her eyes, and Kali's head slumped forward.
Kali was dead.
Ahn Su-ho reached toward the corpse rapidly cooling. A glow from the talisman gathered in his right hand as black smoke swirled.
Kali was dead.
But he couldn't just leave the body. Someone might find it and cause trouble.
-Crunch.
Ahn Su-ho shoved his hand into Kali's wounds. Still warm. And sticky. Amid that unpleasant warmth, the black smoke compressed endlessly.
-Boom!!
When he released the smoke, an internal explosion tore Kali's body into hundreds of chunks that scattered everywhere. Not only that—the ground where she'd fallen was literally pulverized by the blast, erasing even the bloodstains she'd left behind.
Wiping the blood splattered on his face with his sleeve, Ahn Su-ho thought.
'It's over.'
At that moment.
-Ding.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Extra Quest Cleared.] [You safely rescued Kang Ha-neul, who was kidnapped by an unknown assailant. Hurry and take her to a safe place.] Rewards 1. ■■■■■■■ (Activate the Rewards tab to claim your reward.)
Ahn Su-ho relaxed at the system message floating before his eyes. Followed by a sharp pang in his abdomen.
"Kuh."
Ahn Su-ho grimaced. Fatigue from the battle, the talisman's backlash, and the deep wounds from Kali. Even though the quest was complete, his condition was far from good.
'Right, it's not fully over yet.'
They say a picnic isn't over until you're home. It wouldn't be finished until he got Kang Ha-neul to safety. Ahn Su-ho headed toward Kang Ha-neul, whom he'd carefully laid on the outskirts of the battle site. Checking the quest reward could wait.
"Ha-neul-ah."
No response. The anesthetic she'd been given would last at least until tomorrow. Unless she somehow pulled out an avatar like Na Eun-joo had, she wouldn't wake.
'Na Eun-joo...'
Ahn Su-ho glanced in the direction Na Eun-joo had fled. Naturally, no one was there. Thanks to Kali's desperate interference at the cost of her life, he'd had no choice but to let her go.
Today's events had made Na Eun-joo's danger crystal clear to Ahn Su-ho. But chasing her now would be futile.
Abandoning the pursuit, Ahn Su-ho hoisted the unconscious Kang Ha-neul onto his back and slowly descended the mountain path. His side wound, temporarily patched, was worsening, but he couldn't stop.
How far had they gone?
-Rustle.
"Ahn Su-ho...?"
Ahn Su-ho sighed in relief at the sight of Ji Ye-won emerging from the brush just ahead.
Her coming to find him meant the situation at the warehouse below had likely been resolved.
"What happened? That contract killer? Wait, is that Kang Ha-neul on your back?"
"Yeah. It's a long story..."
As Ahn Su-ho started to explain, he trailed off. He raised a hand to stop Ji Ye-won as she approached.
"Hold on. Don't come any closer."
At the same time, Ahn Su-ho muttered softly.
"...Status window."
But.
-Ding.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Status window viewing denied.] [Target is not an Academy affiliate.] [[Skill: Academy Guard] cannot view the status window of non-Academy affiliates.]
Ahn Su-ho jolted in shock at the message. But he soon realized what he'd overlooked.
'Ji Ye-won isn't a student anymore.'
Ji Ye-won's enrollment had already been revoked. Thus, she was no longer an Academy affiliate.
"What's with you? Why all of a sudden?"
Ji Ye-won tilted her head. But Ahn Su-ho couldn't answer. Doubt was sprouting in his mind—could the Ji Ye-won before him be a fake?
It might seem overly paranoid at first glance. But from Ahn Su-ho's perspective, it was different. Today alone, he'd already been fooled twice by transformation users. Never mind that one was a copy ability user, not transformation.
In any case.
Ahn Su-ho was 99% sure the Ji Ye-won before him was real, but he couldn't ignore the 1% chance. Without lowering his guard, he asked her.
"Prove you're the real Ji Ye-won before coming closer."
"...What?"
"I've already been tricked by fakes twice today, so I'm on edge. Prove it. Like, tell me something only you and I know. Then I'll believe you."
"In this situation, what kind of nonsense is..."
Ji Ye-won, who had rushed up the mountain out of worry for Ahn Su-ho, found it absurd. But the sincerity in his demeanor left her no choice but to comply.
'Something only Su-ho and I know...?'
She couldn't just spit something out on the spot. Ji Ye-won fidgeted with her lips, pondering deeply.
"Mm."
Soon, her cheeks began to flush red.
"What? Hurry up and say it."
"...Five times."
"What?"
"Five times. That day, in your room... you and me..."
Ahn Su-ho tilted his head at Ji Ye-won, who trailed off bashfully. He'd asked for something only they knew, but she wasn't being clear—just blurting "five times." How was he supposed to know what that meant?
"Dodging like that won't work. Say it straight."
"There are ears listening behind you. Do I have to say it?"
"Kang Ha-neul's asleep. No need to worry—just tell the truth."
Even then, Ji Ye-won hesitated.
Her reluctance only fueled Ahn Su-ho's budding suspicion. He'd asked half-jokingly, but was she really fake?
'Wait, five times?'
A flash of insight struck Ahn Su-ho.
"...Ah."
He quickly realized what she meant.
Five times. The meaning of that number Ji Ye-won mentioned was...
'This crazy...'
The number of times they'd had sex.
It was the count of how many times Ahn Su-ho and Ji Ye-won had been intimate that day they first overlapped bodies.
The ultimate secret shared only between them.
"......"
But upon hearing the answer, Ahn Su-ho couldn't speak for a while, awkwardly lowering his head. Countless thoughts raced through his mind.
Of all things, why say that?
She could have said something else.
Then again, maybe that was the perfect answer. No one else could possibly know.
But still...
Ahn Su-ho's head throbbed at Ji Ye-won's bold, sudden revelation. A solemn silence settled between them.
"I-Is that enough proof I'm real? Or do I need to say more...?"
"...No. That's enough."
Ahn Su-ho replied with a weary expression, though relief was evident on his face.
Because Ji Ye-won was the real Ji Ye-won? That too, but more importantly...
'...Thank God Ha-neul's asleep.'
Feeling the weight of Kang Ha-neul on his back all too clearly, Ahn Su-ho let out a deep sigh.
"How's it going down below?"
"What do you think? It's all wrapped up, obviously. Hand Ha-neul over to me. You look like hell yourself."
"Yeah..."
Ji Ye-won took Kang Ha-neul from Ahn Su-ho and hoisted her up with a grunt. Glancing over her shoulder at the limp girl, she muttered softly.
"...She's really out cold."
She'd said it half for him to hear.
Ahn Su-ho's ears perked up at the faint murmur.
"What'd you say?"
"Huh? Nothing. Here, put this on your wounds while we go."
"What's this?"
Ji Ye-won tossed him a red-tinted potion vial from her pocket.
"Potion. Seol A-hyeon brought it."
"A-hyeon did?"
"Yeah. She grabbed it from the guild just in case. Mid-grade potion. Being guild master has its perks, huh?"
With that, Ji Ye-won took the lead down the mountain path.
"Mid-grade potion..."
A item he'd once received as a tutorial quest reward. Back then, he'd gotten it for saving Ji Ye-won; now she was giving it to him. The nostalgia hit different.
'This thing's worth at least ten million...'
He wondered if he should accept such a gift, but as the pain flared anew, he uncorked the potion.
'Whatever. I approached Seol A-hyeon for stuff like this anyway.'
Dismissing it casually, Ahn Su-ho applied some to his wound and downed the rest.
Never once considering what emotions Seol A-hyeon had felt when handing it over to Ji Ye-won.