83. My Buff is a Drug
83. My Buff is a Drug
July 11 (Wed) 5:32 PM
In front of the convenience store inside the facility
I was deep in research on holy relics when hunger struck. Figured I'd grab some snacks for dinner and headed to the convenience store.
That's when I spotted a very welcome face.
Kwon Jin-ah, laughing and chatting with friends as she passed by.
The protagonist of that pleasure killer virus incident from last time.
'She's doing well.'
I'd been meaning to track her down soon anyway, so this chance encounter was perfect. I started tailing her.
Obviously, I threw together a tailing proficiency buff and a presence reduction buff, so there was zero chance of getting caught.
To talk to her privately, I'd need to wait until she split off from her friends and was completely alone.
'She wouldn't go back to the dorm with them after dinner, right? That'd be a pain in the ass.'
I decided to observe the situation first.
"Huh? Jin-ah, you're not going to the dorm?"
"Nah, I still have something to do."
"I see. See you tomorrow!"
Oh?
It looked like Kwon Jin-ah was heading somewhere alone.
'Should I talk to her right now...'
No.
Let's tail her a little longer.
Who knows, I might pick up some unexpected intel.
I was also curious where she was going by herself at this hour, after already having eaten.
'Hmm... she's taking the shuttle bus.'
The fact that she was leaving the facility and heading all the way out to the street meant it was probably something important.
Hye-yong got on the same bus, covering his face as much as possible.
He got off when she did and kept following.
Kwon Jin-ah entered a shop.
Checking it out — a flower shop.
'Flowers? Why?'
Kwon Jin-ah bought a single white flower and came back out.
She held it to her chest and kept walking.
She walked for quite a while.
'This direction... there's nothing but the mountain.'
Just because the facility was built and a merchant street sprang up didn't mean all the mountains and forests got cleared out.
Some were left alone as long as they weren't in the way, and Kwon Jin-ah was heading straight toward one of those little hills.
'Why a place like that?'
Kwon Jin-ah started looking around, growing cautious.
Hye-yong hid more carefully too, moving with the instincts granted by his tailing proficiency.
Stealthily following her, he came upon what looked like a hand-built grave tucked into a thicket, several flowers already laid before it.
Kwon Jin-ah knelt and prayed, as if the dirty soil didn't matter at all.
I had a pretty good idea what this was about.
'Atonement in her own way... huh.'
Hye-yong's mind raced.
'Seeing her like that, she really is under the delusion that she killed Choi Ah-young.'
Some time had passed since the incident.
From the look of things, she still had no idea the person she supposedly killed was alive and well.
'I'd like to tell her everything and put her at ease, but...'
Hye-yong felt conflicted.
Should I blackmail her with what I know?
You killed someone!
You resist me even a little, you know what happens?
That kind of approach.
'Hmm...'
The rational mind spoke up.
'Of course I should. Is now really the time to be picky about methods?'
'She's infected with a virus. Shouldn't I use any means necessary to make her an ally?'
'If I told her the whole truth and slowly built rapport, how long would it take to establish genuine trust?'
'Look at her. She's utterly convinced she killed someone and got away scot-free.'
'Grab her weakness and shake her, and she'll have no choice but to submit. After that, smooth sailing.'
But the emotional mind argued otherwise.
'She doesn't seem like a bad kid. She was possessed by a virus. She couldn't help it.'
'She didn't actually kill anyone. Even if holding a weakness over her is useful, pinning a murder on her is a bit much.'
'Sure, blackmail is rational.'
'But can a properly educated, normal person just ignore other people's feelings and act purely on logic?'
'That's what psychopaths and sociopaths do. Are you a fucking mental case or what?'
Hye-yong wavered between rational action and conscience.
In Lanfang's case, he'd resolved to take responsibility for her unfortunate situation as compensation for the harassment, so he could act with some regret but without much guilt.
Plus, she was the one who tried to steal the party's capsule bag first.
Actually, Lanfang seemed way happier now than when her party had abandoned her and left her alone.
But Kwon Jin-ah's case was different.
Hye-yong knew full well that she was a pure victim.
Was it really okay to blackmail Kwon Jin-ah with something she hadn't even done and do as he pleased?
'You came here resolved to probe her, so why the hesitation? She's not even a real person anyway. They just got handed a personality and a body, spirit or whatever. You're special, so it's fine to go that far!'
'No. You know damn well. They're practically indistinguishable from real humans. Isn't there a better way?'
It was like a devil and an angel were trading whispers in his head.
'She's about to get up.'
Hye-yong had to choose.
'I...'
While he was still thinking, Kwon Jin-ah turned back and walked toward him.
Hye-yong stepped away from the tree he'd been hiding behind and blocked her path.
[ Persuasion ]
Increases the persuasiveness of your words.
Persuasion Increase Level 12
[ Acting ]
Increases acting ability.
Acting Increase Level 11
He created both buffs and cast them on himself.
"Kwon Jin-ah."
"Eek...!?"
Even in the dark, she seemed to recognize him — she swallowed her gasp of fright the moment her name left his lips.
Hye-yong slowly spoke.
"I'd hoped you'd turn yourself in. Rather than mourning in secret like this."
"......!!"
Kwon Jin-ah's expression flooded with sudden terror.
Hye-yong took a step closer.
"Y-you were tailing me...!?"
"You remember, don't you? That you killed someone."
Kwon Jin-ah stepped back.
"I-I don't know. I didn't do anything."
"Then why are you putting flowers on what looks like a grave and praying?"
"This is just, j-just..."
"The person you killed with your own hands was my fiancée. Did you know that? She was the one I loved."
"H-Hiiiiiiiick!!"
Kwon Jin-ah collapsed to the ground, her mouth opening and closing uselessly, trembling like mad.
"A-ah, th-that, a-ah, f-fiancée, ah, uh..."
Total panic!
With the Persuasion and Acting buffs stacking on top of the situation, Kwon Jin-ah accepted Hye-yong's words as absolute truth without a shred of doubt.
Hye-yong didn't stop. He moved closer, step by step.
"Why did a murder happen, yet no investigation took place?"
"Ah, ah, ah."
"Because you killed her, then buried the body to hide it."
"D-don't come any closer."
"Why did I see you doing that and pretend not to know?"
"Aaaaah! Aaaaaaah!!"
As if begging him to stop, Kwon Jin-ah screamed.
But a brief scream couldn't block out Hye-yong's voice.
"Because I wanted you — the one who killed my fiancée — to reflect and turn yourself in on your own."
By the time he said that, Hye-yong was standing right in front of her.
Kwon Jin-ah, tears streaming nonstop, grabbed the hem of Hye-yong's uniform pants.
"I'm sorry!! I'm sorrry!! I apologize!! I was wrong!! I didn't want to kill her!! I'm sorrryyy!! I'm sorry I killed her!! Aaaah! A-ah, aaaaah!!"
Hye-yong looked down at her — completely broken — and smiled softly.
"......It was a joke."
"Huh? Wha... bwuh...?"
Kwon Jin-ah, who had been squeezing out tears and snot, instantly froze in stunned disbelief.
"You didn't kill anyone. You almost did."
"Huh? Wh-what do you mean..."
Hye-yong wrapped his hands around both of Kwon Jin-ah's wrists — she was still clutching his pants — and pulled her to her feet.
And since he'd been spending a lot of time around girls lately, he'd kept a handkerchief in his back pocket just in case. He handed it to her.
"Wipe your tears and snot. Let's talk."
"Uh... u-uh..."
Once he'd calmed her down, he brought Kwon Jin-ah to a café.
This way, they could talk at their leisure.
Kwon Jin-ah followed as instructed, but the situation still felt awkward to her — she just fiddled with her fingers under the table.
"Kwon Jin-ah."
"Uh, yeah?"
"I know you didn't kill anyone."
"Uh, th-thanks."
"So tell me. Everything strange that happened to you."
Kwon Jin-ah hesitated.
"Uh, well, um..."
Five minutes passed and she still couldn't open her mouth. At this rate, no amount of time would get her talking.
'Guess I'll have to guide her after all.'
To deceive effectively, he had to choose his words with care.
The Persuasion and Acting buffs only added weight to plausible statements — they wouldn't make someone believe a man could give birth to a baby.
Still, with the boosts, minor slip-ups would slide.
'I've prepared some plausible supplements about aberrations and secret societies for exactly this kind of situation.'
Hye-yong organized his thoughts and spoke.
"You wanted to kill, didn't you? So badly you couldn't control it."
Jolt!
Kwon Jin-ah gave a small shudder, then her movements froze completely.
"You wanted to strangle the women passing by. Your hands itched to kill. Especially when a woman with a nice body and big chest walked past — the urge to strangle that pure white neck was uncontrollable, driving you insane. Isn't that right?"
It was a remark grounded in fact: the virus that had possessed Kwon Jin-ah was a pleasure killer.
"N-no..."
It must have landed, because she was thoroughly rattled.
"Kwon Jin-ah."
"Eek..."
Hye-yong whispered in a gentle tone.
"I know you didn't kill anyone. The girl you strangled is alive and well. She doesn't even remember what happened. I'm the only one who knows about this. So be honest. Then I can help you."
Help... me?
Kwon Jin-ah swallowed dry spit, almost on reflex.
'If I'd seen someone doing that, I would have reported it first...'
'But this guy didn't.'
'He also said he knew I didn't kill anyone.'
'And he perfectly guessed exactly how I was back then...'
'This guy definitely knows something.'
Eventually, Kwon Jin-ah made up her mind and nodded.
"You're right..."
Even saying that one line took tremendous courage.
Maybe this was just a leading interrogation.
Maybe he didn't really know and was only guessing.
Terrified that he might be recording this and would report her as a murderer, she squeezed her eyes shut and trembled.
"It's because of something called an aberration."
But the word that came out of Hye-yong's mouth was completely unexpected.
"Ah, an ab-berration?"
"Yeah. It may sound unrealistic, but it's the truth. I'm a member of a secret society created to eliminate them."
"A secret society...? Something like that actually exists?"
It doesn't.
But making her believe it did was the entire point of this conversation.
Well, looked at from a certain angle, you could say it does exist.
Aberrations definitely exist in the form of the Virus, and if Hye-yong formed even a one-man organization, that would technically be a secret society dedicated to exterminating aberrations.
[ Aberration Suppression ]
Suppresses the aberration dwelling within.
Psychological Stability Level 7 (Hidden Output)
Kwon Jin-ah Exclusive (Hidden Output)
Just like when he'd deceived Geum Na-rin, Hye-yong created an Aberration Suppression buff and cast it on Kwon Jin-ah.
This would reduce the cost invested in Persuasion and Acting, but right now giving her a strong sense of psychological stability was more important.
'Ah, some kind of buff.'
Kwon Jin-ah noticed a buff had been cast on her and checked its effect.
'Ah, Aberration Suppression...?'
So a skill like this actually existed?
'No way. Then aberrations and all that are real?!'
It was hard to believe, but now that she'd seen the skill Aberration Suppression with her own eyes, she couldn't just dismiss it.
The status window wasn't something humans could tamper with — it was like a law of nature.
'And... as soon as I received it, I somehow feel at ease... relieved.'
Was it really being suppressed, just like the skill description said?
The 「aberration」 dwelling within her.
"Do you believe me a little now? I'm like an agent on a mission for the secret society. Eliminating aberrations is my duty and calling."
"If you put it that way... I have no choice but to believe."
"So spill everything. What happened to you. Because I'm here to help you."
Kwon Jin-ah reluctantly nodded and opened her mouth.
"......That's how it happened. After that, I truly don't remember anything at all. Really."
"I see."
Having come this far, there was no way she'd lie, so her story was safe to believe.
'As long as the result is good, no matter how I deceive her...'
Hye-yong organized Kwon Jin-ah's story in his head and considered how to persuade and talk her around.
"Curious? Why I made up that story about a fiancée and turning yourself in when we first met?"
"......Why did you do that?"
"Because I thought you needed a shock. If you leave the aberration alone without doing anything, it might really happen. You need to get your head straight, starting now."
Saying that, he retrieved the buff, then created an Anxiety buff with the hide function and cast it on Kwon Jin-ah.
He quietly watched Kwon Jin-ah, who was staring at him with a shocked expression, waiting for him to continue, and calmly held the silence.
And once the mood seemed sufficiently steeped in anxiety, he asked.
"How do you feel right now?"
"I-I'm anxious... What the hell is this..."
"That's proof the aberration inside you is rampaging. Here. This should make you feel better."
The moment Aberration Suppression was cast again, the anxiety miraculously receded and calm began to return.
'Ah...! What do I do. Everything is happening exactly as he says. It must all be true...'
Watching Kwon Jin-ah's face relax with relief even as confusion lingered, Hye-yong was convinced she was almost completely persuaded.