Chapter 185: Lewd Yokai After School[R-18] (49)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 185: Lewd Yokai After School[R-18] (49)
"Kim Hyun-woo."
For a moment, I felt a tingling sensation run down my fingertips.
‘…Kim Hyun-woo?’
The moment I heard the name, a jarring feeling rose in my mind.
I immediately looked at the man and asked again.
"Did you just say Kim Hyun-woo?"
The man nodded with a puzzled expression.
"That's right. Is there a problem?"
I ignored his question and sank into thought.
‘What? Kim Hyun-woo was caught six months ago?’
I quickly pulled out my smartphone to check the date.
-December 27th.
‘…What? Why is the date like this?’
I hadn't needed to use my phone, so I hadn't paid any attention to it… but checking it now, I saw that half a year had passed since I last remembered the date.
‘I lost consciousness for a while when I absorbed the Black Dragon's heart… but I never imagined half a year had gone by…’
The unexpected situation was bewildering.
Half a year.
It meant I had been gone for six months. I had to get back to Baekyo Village quickly.
I took a short breath and asked the man again.
"Hey, are there any other wanted fugitives?"
The man searched his memory for a moment, then nodded.
"Ah, there's one. A succubus named Han Chae-yeon. They say she killed an exorcist."
"What happened to her?"
"She hasn't been caught yet. Hasn't shown her face in six months, no idea where she's hiding."
I let out a silent sigh of relief.
‘Looks like she hasn't been discovered yet.’
It was a relief just to know that Han Chae-yeon was safe.
"What about the exorcists? Are they actively looking for Han Chae-yeon?"
The man shrugged and answered as if it were no big deal.
"No major movements. They seem to be preoccupied with the half-yokai, so most of their personnel are focused on that."
"So they're just leaving Han Chae-yeon alone?"
The man scoffed and added.
"Well, it's not so much leaving her alone as she's been pushed down the priority list. Plus, bounty hunters have been flocking in, so it's been chaotic lately. There's a massive bounty on the half-yokai's head, so everyone and their mother is trying to catch it."
I took a short breath and watched the road the truck was speeding down.
‘It seems the attention that would have gone to Chae-yeon has been diverted because of Kim Hyun-woo.’
The vehicle drove on, day and night.
The original men took turns driving, pushing forward without rest.
Then, while we had stopped for a meal, I felt a heavy presence approaching from a distance.
I stopped my chopsticks and narrowed my eyes.
‘Three strong presences… the rest are average, but there are quite a few of them.’
Twenty in total.
They were moving in an orderly fashion, heading our way. Before long, they revealed themselves.
A figure with red skin and horns on his head stood at the forefront.
He was large, and his dark eyes glinted sharply.
‘A dokkaebi?’
He stepped forward and spoke in a low voice.
"Who's in charge here?"
A brief silence fell. The men around me exchanged glances, remaining quiet.
Then, a man who had been sitting on the ground eating cautiously stood up.
"That would be me…"
His voice was slightly tinged with nervousness. The red-skinned man took a step closer and asked again.
"Have you seen anyone suspicious near the Valley of Yokai?"
The air grew heavy at his words. The men's gazes turned toward me.
‘…They're looking for me.’
I quietly reached for the Flying Heaven Sword hanging at my waist.
Following the men's gazes, the man who looked like a dokkaebi strode toward me.
"You, were you near the Valley of Yokai?"
"No. I only stopped by Jami-dong for a bit. I didn't go near the Valley of Yokai."
"Where were you headed?"
"Baekyo Village."
"The village where the white foxes live… What business do you have there?"
"I'm traveling. Wandering wherever the road takes me."
I answered calmly. But before I could finish, the dokkaebi's red eyes flashed sharply.
"A traveler…"
He smiled meaningfully, then nodded at the subordinate next to him.
"So-baek, inspect this man's body."
At his command, the man called So-baek stepped forward.
He was holding a small, pure white crystal in his hand.
I narrowed my eyes and watched him.
"Hey, stay still until the inspection is over."
"What are you trying to do?"
"You don't need to know. Just be quiet."
So-baek said, bringing the crystal close to my body.
The moment the crystal touched me, the once-transparent stone slowly began to turn black.
"C-Captain…!"
So-baek's face instantly went pale. The moment he tried to take a step back—
-CRASH!
I caught the massive club that came smashing down toward me with my bare hand.
"Attacking so suddenly? That's a bit much."
I gripped the club the dokkaebi had swung in a surprise attack.
-CRUNCH!
As I tightened my grip, the sturdy club began to crumble.
He shouted urgently.
"Contact them immediately and tell them we've found the target—"
But before he could finish his sentence, the Flying Heaven Sword cut through the air and sliced his neck.
-Thud.
The severed head rolled across the ground with a dull sound.
His remaining body lost its strength and collapsed.
The yokai around us stared in horror at the scene that had unfolded in an instant.
"C-Captain?!"
"You… you bastard…!"
I flicked my sword lightly to shake off the blood and muttered under my breath.
"I was trying to leave quietly, but this has become a pain."
I released the energy I had been concealing. In an instant, an intense yokai energy spread out, and the ground around me cracked.
The yokai flinched instinctively and took a step back.
"Don't bother trying to run."
I swung the Flying Heaven Sword lightly.
-SWOOSH!
A black arc of sword energy, swung in a semi-circle, split the air.
It was over in a flash.
The yokai's bodies collapsed, one by one. Those who tried to flee, those who tried to attack—all of them fell in a single moment.
The ground was stained red. Blood flowed from the corpses, forming small puddles.
I turned my head to look at the men who had collapsed to the ground.
They were trembling like leaves, their faces filled with terror.
On the blood-soaked ground, they didn't even dare to think of escaping.
I approached them slowly and spoke in a low voice.
"A pity. If it weren't for them, you wouldn't have had to die."
At my words, the remaining men's faces grew even paler.
"P-Please, spare—"
I swung my sword.
*
A man threw open the door and rushed in.
"Lord Tiger King!"
The man sitting behind the desk slowly raised his gaze.
His deep golden eyes shone with a sharp light.
"What is it?"
The scout gasped for breath and reported.
"We've… lost contact with Reconnaissance Team 3!"
He quietly rose from his seat and asked calmly.
"Where was their last known location?"
The scout's face hardened.
"Midway between Jami-dong and O-chon. They've been completely silent since their last report."
The Tiger King's eyes grew cold.
"…I will go myself."
His subordinates tensed at his words.
"Lord Tiger King, there's no need for you to go personally…!"
But the Tiger King raised a hand, cutting them off.
"We cannot afford to waste time."
He stood up and gave a firm command.
"Establish a perimeter centered on that area. But do not act rashly."
"As you command!"
The scouts immediately began to move.
A large force, led by the Tiger King, flew swiftly toward their destination.
Riding on the backs of large, eagle-shaped yokai beasts, they tore through the wind.
Before long, the target location came into view.
"We're going down."
The moment he finished speaking, the yokai beasts turned and descended rapidly.
From a distance, they could see the red-stained ground. Corpses were strewn about.
The Tiger King dismounted his beast and surveyed the area. Bodies were everywhere, all cleanly severed.
"Impressive swordsmanship."
Judging by the cuts, it was the work of a highly skilled individual.
"Lord Tiger King."
A subordinate approached and reported.
"There are faint traces left. It seems he headed south."
"We pursue immediately. And contact Cheong-yeom. Tell him to reinforce the southern perimeter."
"Understood!"
The Tiger King scanned the area once more. Faint traces of an ominous yokai energy remained.
‘Has what I feared come to pass… The price of carelessness is steep.’
Many yokai had coveted the Black Dragon's heart until now, but none had been able to control it perfectly.
The moment they accepted its power, they were either consumed by the yokai energy or self-destructed in a rampage.
"I must capture or kill him before he fully matures."
The Tiger King muttered, tracing the remnants of yokai energy on the ground with his fingertips.
*
As I moved quickly, I suddenly felt an intense yokai energy from above and turned my gaze upward.
I looked up at the sky.
"…It's only been a day, and they've already figured it out?"
Their response was faster than I expected.
They must have found the bodies and moved immediately.
‘It would be dangerous to head to Baekyo Village like this.’
I took a short breath and changed direction without slowing down. As I moved, I could sense the energy of yokai spreading out from all directions.
A wide encirclement.
It seemed they had already predicted my movements and set up a perimeter.
I concealed my energy as much as possible and moved quietly through the trees.
I could feel the movements of the yokai in the distance.
"The encirclement is tightening to the south."
Now that I understood the enemy's intention, there was no reason to fall for it.
I lowered my body slightly and scanned my surroundings again. After absorbing the Black Dragon's heart, my detection range had more than tripled.
The movements of the yokai now felt as clear as if I could touch them. If I released the power I was hiding, my detection range would increase even further, but that would also increase the risk of exposure.
I sharpened my senses without fully unleashing the Black Dragon's power.
I searched for the weakest point.
‘The west.’
The western side was relatively loose. I had to use this opening to escape.
I immediately headed for the weak point in the west. I moved silently through the branches, aiming for the gap in the encirclement.
“……”
In the distance, a yokai scanned the area before turning its gaze away.
I slipped past in the brief moment the yokai looked away.
Just as I thought I had escaped the perimeter.
I felt an intense killing intent from above. With a powerful impact, someone landed on the ground. The wind kicked up a cloud of dust.
Tiger ears perched atop his head, a tail swaying behind him. A large man with golden eyes was glaring down at me.