Chapter 38: Reformation Through Force
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 38: Reformation Through Force
7
The sudden piss show left me flustered, and I had to send an SOS to the two behind me.
Thanks to Eunhyeon's help, Catherine reappeared in fresh, clean clothes, but she still flinched and shrank away from me.
I mean, she was sealed for quite a while. It's natural she had to pee.
“Why are you making excuses for the incontinent woman?”
Baeksan just gave Catherine a pathetic look.
Because of the cleanup, we had to move rooms. I now found myself sitting across a desk from Catherine.
Naturally, no one else was with us.
Ahyu, who clearly disliked Catherine for trying to kill me, had shot her a glare. But she didn't seem curious about our conversation and said she'd wait somewhere else.
Despite her grumbling, Ahyu seemed to trust the World Returnee Association a lot.
Otherwise, she never would have left me alone with Catherine.
‘Besides, Eunhyeon told me the seal was only partially released, just enough for her to be conscious. She can't move freely on her own.’
Meanwhile, Catherine remained hunched over, her gaze fixed on the floor.
Where had that confident woman I first met gone?
Now, she was just a fragile girl in a large frame.
“Um, Ms. Catherine?”
When I called her name, Catherine flinched before quickly nodding to show she was listening.
Before entering the room, we were both given language translators.
They said they were enchanted with high-level magic, so communication wouldn't be an issue.
“Ye-yes.”
She answered, biting her tongue, clearly tense.
Watching her strange behavior, I whispered to Baeksan beside me.
“...What did you do to her?”
“I zapped her with the intent to kill. She was lucky she survived, probably because she has a lightning attribute too. Your body was a mess, so the output was sloppy. Instead, she got to feel every nerve cell in her body being fried by electricity before barely surviving. Wouldn't you say that would imprint a little fear?”
Damn it.
Now I understood why she was acting like this in front of me.
Knowing Baeksan's personality, he probably made it just as painful as he described.
At the same time, it was a stark reminder of just how powerful Baeksan—the man who always acted like he was the sole master of heaven and earth—truly was.
In my memory, Catherine was an absolute monster.
But Baeksan, using my powerless body, had reduced that formidable woman to this state.
‘I know ‘regressors are strong’ is a cliché, but still…’
I couldn't even begin to guess his true strength.
“Still, in this state, she'll listen to whatever you say, won't she? You should be thanking me.”
“Yeah, thanks a lot.”
I sighed and looked back at Catherine.
The reason I came to see her today was none other than Kwak Sa-yeon.
Baeksan had told me that Girasung was going to contact JMC.
And that Kwak Sa-yeon would be involved.
‘My own revenge is part of it, but as long as the siblings, Seo-ho and Si-ho, are involved, I can't just let it go.’
I had to resolve this.
And for that, I needed Catherine's help.
“I heard Girasung has been opening artificial dimensional gates.”
She flinched at my words.
The World Returnee Association might know Girasung's objective, but I didn't.
At the same time, even when Baeksan tried to tell me, something was blocking him from speaking.
That's why I had to get the information from Catherine.
“And I also know you planned to kidnap Si-ho and use her power for it.”
I glared at her.
The situation may be what it is, but I felt no sympathy for her.
She's a returnee who tried to kill me and kidnap Si-ho.
Of course I wouldn't feel any pity.
“Speak.”
My tone was forceful.
Catherine, trembling, seemed to hesitate.
As a former soldier, she had a strong sense of loyalty to her organization.
Telling me their objective was tantamount to betraying Girasung, so her reaction was understandable.
But that wasn't my problem.
I glanced at Baeksan, and he offered some advice.
“Focus your power at your fingertip. Imagine the amount of strength it takes to lift a feather.”
Hearing his words, I lifted my finger.
As I did, I recalled the struggle I'd gone through this morning trying to learn how to use aura from Baeksan.
“Listen carefully. Aura differs from person to person, but it's something that already resides within your body. It's just that ordinary people can't awaken that sense. Returnees may have learned it under different names and training methods depending on their worlds, but the essence is the same.”
A sense that's always there.
I didn't know what that sense was, but Baeksan said I already knew it.
“To put it simply, it's like consciously moving the blood in your body.”
“How can you consciously move your blood?”
“You don't know because you aren't conscious of it. But your body does it naturally all the time. Aura is that kind of sense.”
It was confusing, but not entirely incomprehensible.
“On top of that, because I used aura while I was in your body, you should be much more sensitive to that feeling. It's a kind of awakening, like what hunters experience. Do you know what those hunter bastards say after they awaken and use their power for the first time?”
“‘I don't know why, but I could just do it from the start.’”
“Exactly. There's a difference in proficiency, but it's a power they've always had. A hunter's awakening is just them realizing that power exists. It's not something they didn't know. You've experienced the same thing, so your body remembers. It means that once you find it, you'll be able to use it freely.”
Still, I just couldn't get the hang of it.
“Your body may be lacking, but it's practically no different from a hunter's now. I've cleared all the blockages, which means if you can just learn to use aura freely, you won't even need to go through the process of enlightenment. Though I guess that's why you've been having muscle aches.”
“Wait, those muscle aches were because of you, Baeksan?”
“You would have died if I hadn't done that, you idiot. I go to all the trouble of saving your life, and all you do is complain. You should be glad we have the same aura attribute. If we didn't, it wouldn't have ended with just that.”
I'm remembering useless details.
Returning from my memories to the present, I once again began to focus aura at my fingertip.
Aura was a sense I'd always known, just without realizing it.
Engraving those words into my mind, I had finally grasped that sense this morning.
Just as Baeksan said, once I awakened to it, I understood what aura felt like.
However, there was one problem.
“Control it. As much as you can. Slowly, very small. If it explodes again, you're truly hopeless.”
I was trying to concentrate, but Baeksan started nagging again.
He should try it himself. But knowing Baeksan, he'd probably just pull a ‘I just did it, and it worked,’ so I couldn't say anything.
Just control it. Control it.
Pzzzzzt!
At that moment, a red spark flared at my fingertip.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaah!”
The spark was strong enough to make even me flinch, and Catherine shrieked, fell out of her chair, and curled into a ball.
She looked quite pathetic, trembling uncontrollably. I waved my hand to dispel the aura.
“You're a real mess.”
“It's your fault.”
The situation should be obvious by now.
Yes, I could now use aura, but I couldn't control its intensity.
The reason was simple.
Baeksan had shattered every single 'wall' inside my body.
These 'walls' are normally broken through enlightenment as one's aura grows, allowing them to advance to the next stage.
As a regressor, Baeksan had already experienced all that enlightenment long ago. As a result, he could easily break down the walls when he was in my body.
But that's where the problem arose.
Baeksan had handled aura his entire life and could use it freely, but this was my first time.
I was inexperienced, which meant I couldn't control the output. Even trying to use a little, like just now, resulted in a massive burst of aura.
That's why this morning, the moment I got a feel for it, the lightning I unleashed destroyed several trees and caused a huge mess.
‘It feels like I'm going downhill on roller skates for the first time, damn it.’
I don't know how to stop, and I can't control my power because I just keep sliding.
That was my exact situation right now.
“I'll-I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll do anything! Just please don't fry me with electricity!”
Thanks to that, Catherine was now on the floor, pressing her forehead to the ground, looking ready to lick my boots as she begged.
It seemed the red spark had triggered her trauma.
“If you keep wasting aura like that, your untrained body will collapse from exhaustion. You could even get internal injuries, you idiot.”
“What am I supposed to do? I can't control it.”
“Then you have no choice but to keep using it until you get used to it.”
I could only sigh at Baeksan's words.
Yeah, I knew I couldn't go on like this. I had no choice but to train.
But first things first.
“Alright, Catherine. Let's talk.”
It was time for a fun little session of trash-talking Girasung with Catherine.
8
Girasung.
Why had they recently started to artificially induce these dimensional shifts?
The answer was quite simple.
Hunter companies make money by marketing their hunters as star models, but the profits from hunting dimensional entities make up a larger portion of their income.
The resources obtained from dismantling dimensional entities have been useful for a long time, and they contributed greatly to the growth of the hunter industry.
But recently, as hunter companies have grown, competition over dimensional gates has intensified.
In response, Girasung came up with a solution.
Artificial dimensional gates—a way to obtain the resource known as dimensional entities anytime, with little risk.
At first, the companies were probably skeptical, but Girasung is a criminal organization of returnees.
They don't care about the law, and they flaunted their use of artificial gates all over the world for the companies to see.
And the promotional effect was explosive.
Girasung showed them that if they were doubtful, all they had to do was experience it for themselves.
It would be illegal if Girasung did this alone, but what if every hunter company in the world started using artificial gates?
I was certain.
It wouldn't be long before artificial dimensional gates were legalized.
That was the reason Catherine gave for why Girasung was creating them.
“And Si-ho was going to be used for that.”
“Ye-yes. The number of dimensions we can open right now is limited, so the target…”
“Target?”
“H-heeik! Si-ho, we needed Ms. Ha Si-ho's help!”
Hearing that, I crossed my arms and started tapping my finger on my bicep.
I understood. I understood, but…
I looked back at Baeksan.
Baeksan met my gaze and nodded.
“Just because she's a member of Girasung doesn't mean she knows everything. This woman is low-level.”
Right, that's what was bothering me.
What Catherine said probably wasn't a lie, but it wasn't enough to explain why Baeksan was blocked from telling me the reason.
‘Just legalizing artificial gates to make some money…’
The fundamental reason was missing.
‘In the end, it just means Catherine doesn't know everything.’
I pressed my fingers against the bridge of my nose for a moment.
Even with a regressor attached to me, I was still just an ordinary citizen.
I definitely had a dream of helping returnees, but that didn't mean I had the power to do anything about a global organization like Girasung.
It was best to set aside things I couldn't handle for now.
What was important to me right now was Kwak Sa-yeon and the Ha siblings.
“Catherine, is Girasung scheduled to make contact with JMC?”
She seemed surprised that I knew about it, but then she asked a question.
“...Could you tell me what today's date is?”
So there is a plan.
I checked the date on my phone and told her.
“July 24th.”
July was already almost over.
Soon, August, the true start of the summer heat, would be upon us.
“There was talk of contacting JMC on August 1st.”
August 1st. Not much time left.
‘The problem is whether I can even stop Girasung.’
Of course not. It was impossible.
Thanks to Baeksan, I may have gained a body like a hunter's, but it was just a means to protect myself. Confronting Girasung head-on would be insane.
Besides, if I did something like that, I'd be breaking the law.
Because I'm an ordinary citizen.
‘As for that part…’
I looked at Catherine.
She's a criminal, so the law doesn't apply to her. She has information on Girasung, and she's highly skilled.
Isn't she the perfect person to use?
Plus, with her, I felt like I could prevent any unexpected situations that might arise during Girasung's meeting with JMC.
‘The only problem is how far she's willing to help me.’
When I looked at Catherine, she flinched and lowered her head.
Seeing her at a complete loss, it seemed like she would agree to any request I made.
She was, in a sense, a wish-granting Catherine.