Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 031
Chapter Title: Succubus Incident (5)
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Yoo Hyun-ho. Kim Sung-hak. Park Ji-hyun.
Three Dawn Corps executives who had been tracking Ji Ye-won's whereabouts on orders from the branch chief. After two weeks, they gathered in one place again, at Park Ji-hyun's summons.
"Park Ji-hyun. Let me ask one more time. Are you certain you've found traces of the traitor?"
"I'm certain. I learned it through my ability."
Park Ji-hyun answered Yoo Hyun-ho's cautious question with full confidence.
The name of her superpower was Vampire Transformation.
Transforming into a vampire, an A-rank monster that appeared in dungeons. That was the true nature of her ability.
Through the transformation, she gained various powers: enhanced basic physical abilities, body deformation, increased regeneration, full-body mistification, and of course, the blood-sucking ability that every vampire should have.
Among them, the blood-sucking ability was the core of her power. Her act of sucking blood induced extreme orgasm and satisfaction in the target, making it an easy weapon to subdue enemies. But its true value didn't end there. Her blood-sucking came with various additional effects, such as weakening the target's physical abilities or enchanting their mind by draining their blood.
And among those diverse effects was the ability to glimpse the target's memories, proportional to the amount of blood taken.
"When I suck someone's blood, I can glimpse the memories they recall right before and after that moment. In other words, if I suck blood right after asking a question, I can see the memories related to that question."
Lies had no place before her blood-sucking. No matter how much the victim tried to deceive her, she was peering into the memories themselves.
"I heard that Ryu Tae-hyun resisted quite fiercely. Yet you managed to sink your fangs in."
"We grappled and stuck right together, so I thought, 'Now's my chance,' and sucked. I got counterattacked right away and couldn't suck much."
Most superhumans lost the will to resist the moment her fangs pierced them. But Ryu Tae-hyun proved he wasn't just handed the protagonist role for nothing, counterattacking immediately with a will of steel.
However, even in that brief moment of blood-sucking, Park Ji-hyun glimpsed the memory she needed.
"It was short, but I saw it clearly. The talisman that man had was handed to him by Kim Min-ah before she was captured by the organization. In the memory, there were two talismans, so she probably gave one to him and hid the other on the rooftop of an abandoned building with her ability."
"So one of the two talismans is with that Ryu Tae-hyun. And the other was taken by the mysterious collaborators who helped Ji Ye-won."
"Hey, old man. Didn't you say you'd investigate those collaborator bastards? Any harvest on that front?"
"I was just about to mention it."
At Kim Sung-hak's question, Yoo Hyun-ho pulled a single photo from his pocket.
"...Who's this kid?"
"Chae So-yeon. She's a member of the Green House Security Force's Special Countermeasures Division."
"What? Special Countermeasures? This kid, who looks like a total mid-tier at best, is in Special Countermeasures?"
"She has a distinctive appearance. Thanks to that, I could quickly identify her from the sniper's description of their looks."
The descriptions of the two collaborators reported by the sniper who chased Ji Ye-won. Ahn Su-ho had no standout features, making identification difficult, but Chae So-yeon's 'mid-140s cm blonde woman' was too distinctive to miss.
"The ones who took the talisman: one Academy freshman, the other an Academy Security Force member."
Kim Sung-hak added with a wicked grin.
"Obvious as day. The traitors hooked up with Green House."
"I don't think so. I don't know about that Chae So-yeon girl, but at least Ryu Tae-hyun ran into Kim Min-ah by pure chance."
"That encounter could have created a connection between them and the Academy! And what does it matter? The fact is both talismans are in the Academy. Let's storm in right now!"
"Don't rush it. We still don't know Ji Ye-won's whereabouts or the location of the remaining talisman. We move only after Park Ji-hyun tracks down both through Chae So-yeon."
"Ah, that might be tough."
A troubled look crossed Park Ji-hyun's face. As Yoo Hyun-ho stared at her questioningly, she shrugged and explained.
"While lurking in Green House these past few days, I kept watching the Security Force to map their patrol routes. But I never saw that Chae So-yeon once. I knew the description from the sniper, so I would've recognized her even passing by."
"I see. It could be coincidence, but we should consider she might not be in the Academy right now."
For example, hiding with Ji Ye-won in some secret hideout somewhere.
It was entirely plausible. If Ji Ye-won was collaborating with the Academy, assigning one Security Force member full-time wouldn't be a big deal.
'That's why I tipped off the Academy about Ji Ye-won's identity, but was it all for nothing?'
In reality, only three people including Min Chae-ryeong knew of Ji Ye-won's collaboration, and the Security Force was fully buying into the anonymous letter he sent, pursuing her. But Yoo Hyun-ho, an outsider, had no way of knowing that.
"See, old man? What do we do?"
"...The higher-ups prioritized recovering the talisman over executing the traitor."
He reviewed the current situation. They didn't know the traitor's whereabouts. They'd barely located one talisman.
Delaying could mean losing even that one. Even if Ryu Tae-hyun was originally clueless, yesterday's battle would have him on alert to their existence.
So they had to recover the talisman he held before he acted.
"I wanted to handle it all at once, but no choice. First, retrieve the talisman from that Ryu Tae-hyun."
"Hey, old man. That means—"
"Don't go wild. We need to resolve it as quietly as possible to avoid unnecessary suspicion."
"Kuhhuhu. As long as I can fight, it's fine. Hell, I've been itching just sitting around!"
Yoo Hyun-ho sighed at Kim Sung-hak's sinister laugh. Since even Park Ji-hyun couldn't beat him, this thug had to step up, but he worried about pointless mistakes.
"So, old man. When do we go fight?"
At Kim Sung-hak's question, Yoo Hyun-ho's narrowed eyes gleamed sharply.
"No point dragging it out now that it's decided. Let's handle it tonight."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
With the detention cell bars between them, Ryu Tae-hyun told Lee Tae-ho everything. About the battle with Park Ji-hyun, his prior encounter with Kim Min-ah, and the talisman.
He had no reluctance to spill the details. Kim Min-ah hadn't specifically asked him to keep it secret, and this mess was too much for him alone anyway. He needed help from professionals like the police or Security Force.
"...And that's how it happened."
"Thank you for the statement, Ryu Tae-hyun."
After hearing Ryu Tae-hyun's full story, Lee Tae-ho let out a weary sigh. His expression was the usual stoic blank, but his mind was a whirlwind.
He'd thought it was just a simple succubus attack, but the Dawn Corps was involved. Headache-inducing enough, but who was this Kim Min-ah woman, and what was a talisman?
This seemed far from ordinary. After racking his brain, he called Min Chae-ryeong and relayed everything he'd heard.
"...Got it. Bring Ryu Tae-hyun straight to me once he's released. I have a lot to ask him too."
After hanging up, Min Chae-ryeong pinched her brow and bowed her head. Like Lee Tae-ho, her mind was complicated. No, far more so.
Biting her nails anxiously, she slowly reviewed the situation.
One. According to Ryu Tae-hyun's statement, the culprit wasn't a succubus but a human with similar powers.
Two. The culprit targeted the talisman Ryu Tae-hyun possessed.
Three. That talisman was entrusted to him by Kim Min-ah, Ji Ye-won's ally, and its power matched Ahn Su-ho's.
Four. Kim Min-ah stole two talismans from the Dawn Corps initially. One went to Ryu Tae-hyun by chance, the other hidden on an abandoned building rooftop with her ability, later recovered by Ahn Su-ho.
Five. Neither Ahn Su-ho nor Ji Ye-won knew there were two talismans. At least, that's how it seemed.
Six. Ryu Tae-hyun had no prior connection to Kim Min-ah or the Dawn Corps. He claimed as much, and their meeting was pure coincidence.
Seven. Thus, the culprit running into Ryu Tae-hyun was also coincidence. If the Dawn Corps knew about the talisman, they'd have approached him sooner than two weeks later.
Eight. Incidentally, the talisman had already settled into Ryu Tae-hyun. Settlement odds were one in ten thousand, but by sheer luck, it suited him.
'Coincidence. Coincidence. More coincidence.'
Coincidentally, by chance. A bitter smile tugged at her lips with the thought.
Her conversation with Ahn Su-ho a few days ago flashed through her mind.
Ahn Su-ho, who through countless coincidences obtained a talisman tied to the Dawn Corps' core project—and even successfully settled it.
To him, Min Chae-ryeong had said: so many coincidences stacked up isn't coincidence, but inevitability.
The same here. Ryu Tae-hyun too had stacked coincidences to claim a Dawn Corps talisman—with the exact same power as Ahn Su-ho's, beating miraculous odds to settle it.
So was that inevitability too? Then this situation linking those two to her—was that inevitable as well?
Min Chae-ryeong let out a scoff at the utterly implausible scenario.
An atheist, but now she couldn't help suspecting some god existed—one who despised her, spamming coincidences around her to toy with her. The thought struck suddenly.
'The situation's gotten royally screwed.'
Ryu Tae-hyun, dubbed the sixth victim out of nowhere, dropping bombs like talismans and Kim Min-ah—the investigation would balloon. Anyone could see it wasn't ordinary.
An unwelcome development for her. The bigger the case, the more elements outside her control.
So Min Chae-ryeong compromised cleanly. Abandon orchestrating every detail. Set minimal goals and tailor actions solely to achieve them.
'First: Catch the culprit as fast as possible. Ideally without the rest of the Security Force knowing.'
Smuggling them out like the detained sniper was impossible. But she wanted a personal interrogation before handing them to Security Force or police. To squeeze out even one more scrap on 'Project Dawn.'
'Second: Somehow reduce attention on Ji Ye-won.'
The scale had grown anyway—shift Security Force focus from Ji Ye-won personally to the entire Dawn Corps, diluting her spotlight. Of course, if the culprit mentioned her in statements, it was all for naught. She'd need countermeasures for that.
'Third: This is optional either way, but it'd be nice to have Ryu Tae-hyun under me if possible.'
Top freshman class. A raw gem who reached B-rank superhuman at 20. Plus the same talisman as Ahn Su-ho.
She coveted his power, but separately, she wanted to manage him. At minimum, he'd need to keep quiet about this incident. If he blabbed Dawn Corps info everywhere, flies would buzz from somewhere.
With a rough plan set, Min Chae-ryeong began fleshing out specifics. She sipped her coffee, deep in thought.
-Knock knock.
"Team leader. It's Ahn Su-ho. May I come in for a moment?"
"...Come in."
She smiled seeing Ahn Su-ho enter the team leader's office. Talk about perfect timing.
"I was just about to call you—good thing you're here. You heard about Ryu Tae-hyun from Tae-ho, right? I'm planning next steps for that case..."
"I was thinking the same."
"Really?"
"Yes. I have a plan I've come up with. Would you like to hear it?"
His demeanor suggested thorough preparation. Min Chae-ryeong nodded.
He'd want Dawn Corps info from the culprit and less spotlight on Ji Ye-won too.
If their goals aligned, his plan might have merit. Worth hearing as one opinion.
She had no great expectations—just curious.
"...Hmm."
But when Ahn Su-ho finished explaining, Min Chae-ryeong wore a genuine smile, unlike before.
"Not bad. But your plan hinges on Ryu Tae-hyun cooperating fully with us. Will he go along so easily?"
"Yes."
Confident immediate reply. From his attitude, Min Chae-ryeong intuited: There's something I don't know. That's why he's so sure.
She wanted to pry, but held back. Not the time, and as her subordinate, she'd learn eventually.
With an enigmatic smile betraying nothing, she spoke in an excited tone.
"Fine. I'll adopt it."