Chapter 151
Chapter 151
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 151
Chapter Title: Mad Blood Witch (2)
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Kang Hyun-soo quickly eliminated orcs at the great chieftain level or higher, turning them into summoned beasts.
Afterward, he called in Song Ha-na and the Beast Emperor, explaining the situation.
“You found one of the players listed as a criminal against humanity from your future foresight?”
“Yeah.”
“Then we should take them out right now.”
“Ha-na’s right. Guys like that need to be nipped in the bud before they grow stronger.”
Song Ha-na and the Beast Emperor made aggressive remarks.
*Well, that wouldn’t be wrong in a normal situation.*
Kang Hyun-soo had been steadily using his future foresight skill.
He hadn’t gotten any useful information—just a string of duds.
Instead of telling the straight truth, he gradually revealed bits of information from before his regression that he knew.
And among that...
*There was info on humanity’s criminals too.*
In fact, the right call with anyone designated as a criminal against humanity was to eliminate them on sight and cut off their growth.
“Hold on, calm down a bit. Here’s the situation...”
Kang Hyun-soo explained the Mad Blood Witch’s actions.
“That’s a little weird. If she hasn’t turned yet, recruiting her might be better. Who is she, anyway?”
The Beast Emperor asked with a curious expression.
“The Mad Blood Witch.”
“That Earthling-beastkin hybrid?”
“Yeah.”
“The one with purple hair and eyes?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s ominous.”
“What’s ominous about it?”
Kang Hyun-soo asked with a puzzled look.
“Purple itself is just ominous. Earthlings see red as unlucky, right? It’s like that.”
“Some kind of superstition?”
“Yeah, a beastkin superstition. There aren’t usually any beastkin races with purple fur. I don’t know if it’s because it’s unfamiliar, but there’s this notion that anyone with purple fur is cursed.”
“There’s a superstition like that, huh.”
This was news to Kang Hyun-soo.
*Humans instinctively reject what’s unfamiliar.*
Even in modern Earth, racism existed.
Even within the same race...
*People get shunned for disabilities, exotic looks, or lacking melanin, which changes hair, skin, or eye color.*
The Atlantis dimension had far worse discrimination than Earth.
Human rights concepts were much more backward.
The Mad Blood Witch, a Japanese-beastkin hybrid, was from the Mulan Kingdom.
Why had the Mad Blood Witch been active in the Frank Kingdom, far from her homeland?
*To avoid discrimination, probably.*
Her appearance as a Japanese-beastkin hybrid?
*Alien to humans and beastkin alike.*
In cases like that, fitting into any group is tough.
*And with that superstition about her ominous purple hair and eyes on top.*
She’d likely faced all kinds of discrimination in the Mulan Kingdom.
*Life in the Frank Kingdom probably wasn’t easy either.*
The Saclant Empire and its vassal states had very few beastkin.
So she’d probably eaten plenty of dirty looks there too.
*On top of that, the Mad Blood Witch is an orphan.*
Her player parents had died hunting monsters, leaving her with a rough life from a young age.
In a way?
*It’s a miracle she hasn’t turned yet.*
But the potential was still very much there.
*I’ll eliminate that potential myself.*
He didn’t know what would turn the Mad Blood Witch into a maniac gleefully slaughtering tens of millions.
*But there’s still a chance.*
And Kang Hyun-soo had no intention of letting it slip.
* * *
Crunch, crunch.
Footsteps approached, putting Hayato’s party members and the civilians on high alert.
“I’m back.”
But at the familiar sound of Kang Hyun-soo’s voice...
“Phew!”
They finally let out sighs of relief.
Kang Hyun-soo had brought two companions.
*The numbers are low.*
Tanker player Hayato had expected at least eight, maybe up to ten, when Kang Hyun-soo said he was fetching his team.
Typical parties consisted of 9-10 people.
*Good.*
Tanker player Hayato breathed a sigh of relief.
*No chance of Yuka defecting now.*
With such a small group?
They could stick together for a while without issues.
“You’re back.”
Golem sorcerer Yuka greeted Kang Hyun-soo with a bright smile.
“Yeah, we’re back. Let’s get out of here first.”
Everyone agreed with Kang Hyun-soo.
The battle inside the border city had been nearing its end.
No real need to flee.
But Hayato’s party and the civilians didn’t know that.
So...
“Better to get as far away as possible.”
“You never know when orcs might pop up.”
They wanted to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the orc-infested border city.
“Got it.”
For Kang Hyun-soo?
It was a choice with zero downsides.
-Clear the city interior, grab all the items, then scatter and hunt orcs.
He gave the order to his battalion-commander-level summoned beasts, whose intelligence had nearly fully returned, then quickly moved out.
With non-players slowing them down, progress wasn’t fast.
But fortunately, before night fully fell...
They found a cave big enough for over 30 people.
It was midway up a mountain with a clear view, so orcs would be spotted easily.
“We’re alive.”
“Can’t walk anymore.”
The non-players collapsed onto the cave floor.
“We’ll have to spend the night here.”
“Yeah, that’s best.”
“Too dangerous to move at night. This is good.”
Everyone agreed with Kang Hyun-soo.
Once they decided to camp in the cave...
“Let’s set up quick.”
“Got it.”
Under tanker player Hayato’s orders, his party efficiently prepared camp.
“We should get ready too.”
Kang Hyun-soo said as he removed his helmet.
All eyes turned to him.
They were all curious about his identity.
When he took off the helmet, revealing his face...
“A beastkin?”
“And he looks super young?”
Everyone was quite shocked.
Especially...
Golem sorcerer Yuka, who’d been smiling and prepping camp moments ago, went pale as a ghost.
*What? A beastkin? We’re done for.*
Meanwhile, tanker player Hayato’s face broke into a wide grin.
Zero chance of losing golem sorcerer Yuka now.
Kang Hyun-soo’s group removed their helmets next.
“Another beastkin.”
“Yeah. But one’s not.”
Hayato’s party and the civilians whispered among themselves as they finished prepping.
Crunch, crunch.
Then Kang Hyun-soo approached golem sorcerer Yuka.
“I have something to discuss privately. Could you spare a moment?”
At his question...
“Uh, that’s...”
Golem sorcerer Yuka hesitated, looking quite flustered.
Tanker player Hayato stood up.
He planned to refuse on her behalf, since she clearly disliked it.
“Sure.”
But golem sorcerer Yuka agreed outright.
*What? Why?*
Tanker player Hayato was a bit surprised.
*Well, could happen. The guy’s probably a named player.*
He brushed it off.
Golem sorcerer Yuka hated beastkin.
No way she’d fall for one’s seduction.
Kang Hyun-soo and golem sorcerer Yuka stepped outside the cave.
“You’re a beastkin?”
Golem sorcerer Yuka spoke to Kang Hyun-soo with a betrayed expression.
“Nope, I’m human.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Golem sorcerer Yuka gave him a what-nonsense-is-this look.
“This appearance is just from the Beastification skill.”
Golem sorcerer Yuka looked confused at his words.
If anyone else said that?
She’d call bullshit.
But thanks to the Marionette skill, she felt significant trust and fondness for Kang Hyun-soo, so she couldn’t say it to his face.
“More importantly, your skills are impressive. Why not join my party?”
“You’re scouting me right now?”
Kang Hyun-soo nodded at golem sorcerer Yuka’s question.
“You know I’m an ominous beastkin, right?”
“I’m not a beastkin. And neither I nor my companions believe in that superstition crap.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
“Don’t I look weird to you?”
Golem sorcerer Yuka had an ambiguous human-beastkin hybrid form—neither fully human nor beastkin.
To someone ignorant of beastkin?
They might assume that’s just how they looked.
But a beastkin or someone with beastkin friends?
They’d instantly see she didn’t belong to either side.
“Not at all. You look special and beautiful, actually.”
“R-Really?”
Golem sorcerer Yuka’s face flushed at the compliment.
“I’m not rushing you. Think it over until we part ways.”
Kang Hyun-soo left after saying that.
“I don’t believe in superstitions. More special and beautiful. I don’t believe in superstitions. More special and beautiful...”
Golem sorcerer Yuka repeated his words to herself for a long time.
* * *
The next morning.
Kang Hyun-soo’s group, Hayato’s party, and the civilians set off for a safe place.
Orc packs popped up everywhere, making it quite a ordeal.
This was by Kang Hyun-soo’s design.
*Experience keeps climbing.*
[You’ve achieved the unbelievable feat of defeating numerous demon orcs.]
[Title: Demon Slayer B-Rank has grown to A-Rank.]
[You’ve achieved the unbelievable feat of defeating numerous demon orcs.]
[Title: Demon Butcher F-Rank has grown to E-Rank.]
His achievements were steadily growing too.
All thanks to...
His battalion-commander-level summoned beasts, including Song Ha-na and the Beast Emperor, sweeping nearby orcs at tremendous speed.
*They’re doing great.*
The two players he’d brought as “companions” looked like Song Ha-na and the Beast Emperor.
But they were doppelgangers mimicking the pair.
If he’d brought the real ones?
*They’d miss out on power-leveling opportunities.*
Kang Hyun-soo leveled insanely fast without hunting personally, thanks to his summons.
Song Ha-na and the Beast Emperor needed direct kills to level.
Kang Hyun-soo had kept in constant contact with Mad Blood Witch Yuka.
Building rapport at an incredible pace.
The Marionette skill was paying off big time.
*I thought its effect was too weak at first.*
It wasn’t.
*This is a terrifying skill.*
Ever had that?
Meeting someone and instantly clicking, feeling total trust.
Spending just days together but feeling like old friends.
Inducing those feelings in someone was immense power.
*He’s visibly anxious.*
As Kang Hyun-soo grew closer to Mad Blood Witch Yuka...
Tanker player Hayato started getting extremely uneasy.
*He’s been her pillar all this time.*
Through talks with Mad Blood Witch Yuka, Kang Hyun-soo learned a lot about her.
He uncovered a few key facts.
*Mad Blood Witch Yuka suffers from affection deprivation and good child syndrome.*
She was very attuned to others’ opinions.
She craved being seen in a positive light by everyone.
*More precisely, she wants to be loved by all.*
That made her easily swayed by others’ words.
Put nicely, she was a good person.
*Put harshly, she lacks backbone.*
But among them, she cared most about tanker player Hayato’s opinion.
Tanker player Hayato had been her companion since the Mulan Kingdom.
However...
*No talent.*
Not total bottom-barrel.
He’d broken through countless walls to hit level 700, after all.
But...
*That’s his ceiling.*
Combat sense, skill ranks, class, unique skill.
All mediocre high-level player fare.
*Even reaching level 700 by breaking walls was thanks to Mad Blood Witch Yuka.*
Harshly put?
*He leeched off her like a parasite to grow.*
Like a hustler latching onto a sucker.
And...
*Classic petty type.*
As his bond with Mad Blood Witch Yuka deepened...
Tanker player Hayato snapped at her more often.
He kept dredging up the past to undermine her self-esteem.
*And always ended with ‘this is all for your own good.’*
Textbook gaslighting.
Tanker player Hayato was Mad Blood Witch Yuka’s final pillar...
And the malignant tumor mentally poisoning her.