Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Hunter Market Plans
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Seol Do-yoon stared piercingly at Lee Yoo-hyeon, whom he hadn't seen in ages. Then he suddenly flashed a brilliant smile.
“It's the first time seeing you since your ability awakened. Did you talk it over with the Association President?”
Having heard that Seol Do-yoon had survived a brush with death last time, Lee Yoo-hyeon asked with a worried look.
“You seem better now. Are you okay?”
“Ah, yes. It was nothing. Thanks to the Association's ever-advancing tech, I'm good as new after just one day.”
It was exactly as Lee Sa-byeok had said.
Lee Sa-byeok, who had been nodding off with her head bowed, opened her eyes at the gentle voice drifting from beside her.
“This suffocating fake-polite tone of Seol Do-yoon's.”
“Just go back to sleep.”
“I'm awake.”
She stretched out her stiff body with a yawn, blinking her eyes open slowly.
“Why'd you call me here?”
Lee Sa-byeok rolled her eyes at Lee Yoo-hyeon's question. Drug experiments, test subjects, this is your little sister's future, Hunter Market, and so on.
Unsure where to even start, Lee Sa-byeok poked Seol Do-yoon.
“You explain.”
“First off, there's something I want to show you in person. And a favor to ask. I'll explain as we go.”
“Ah, okay. Mind if I ask where we are?”
“That forbidden zone earlier was just for show. This is where the real research happens. There is a main entrance, but security's airtight—can't crack it yet. This is an emergency accessway.”
Seol Do-yoon reached a lab after descending the stairs.
“But is it really okay to just stroll around like this? It's weird—nobody's nearby...”
“I cleared the area before Uncle got here, so no worries.”
“What?! How are you gonna handle the fallout?”
“I've got a plan.”
Places that should have been bustling with people were deserted. Lee Sa-byeok snickered at the anxious Lee Yoo-hyeon.
The lab was stocked with all sorts of drugs.
Seol Do-yoon rummaged through them and found one labeled 'MANA 4.2', drawing it into a syringe.
“Yoo-hyeon hyung, one sec.”
Seol Do-yoon approached Lee Yoo-hyeon with the syringe, wearing a bright smile that somehow felt sinister.
“?? What're you doing?”
“Don't worry. I tested it—this batch is safe.”
Lee Yoo-hyeon couldn't help but tense up at Seol Do-yoon suddenly trying to jab him with some mystery drug.
“Can you tell me what that is?”
“It's a newly developed mana booster. Version 4.2 was fine for every kid who got it. Early versions were sketchy, though—Lee Sa-byeok took one and her brain kinda melted.”
“What?”
“Seol Do-yoon got double-dosed by a researcher's screw-up, so no brain left. Tap his head—thunk, thunk.”
“What???”
“Sa-byeok-ah, my brain's fine.”
Lee Yoo-hyeon's hypothesis from his chat with the Association President lined up through their banter, but the grim reality exceeded his worst imaginings.
Lee Yoo-hyeon stared at Lee Sa-byeok in shock.
“What're you staring at? His brain's good now, and so's mine.”
“No, that's not... It's all just figures of speech, right? Joking?”
“Obviously exaggerated. How could we be alive without brains?”
“There were dementia-like symptoms right after the brain bleed, for a bit.”
“Ah, that scared me bad—thought I was done for.”
Lee Yoo-hyeon rubbed his forehead.
He could sort of see why Seol Do-yoon hadn't spilled this before the President meet. First impressions matter, and keeping a straight face would've been brutal.
“What the hell did I just hear...?”
“Huh. Your face is priceless. Spooked?”
Lee Sa-byeok crouched in front of the slumping Lee Yoo-hyeon, smirking.
“Hyung, straight talk—help us out. Your sister's itching to join the Association. You don't want her dealing with this crap, right?”
“...That's not the point.”
The lab brimmed with mystery drugs. These must all be verified by now.
Lee Yoo-hyeon recalled the assortment of drugs the Association had handed him over time. All clinically tested and safe, they'd said—and these kids were the guinea pigs.
He'd found it fishy that such hyper-effective drugs were cleared for use, yet their source group stayed under wraps.
Too many potions in the lab. Too many varieties.
“Even so, if your sister joins, I'll make sure she skips this. Me and Lee Sa-byeok adapted, so we're mostly okay, but regular kids lose it. Even Ra-hee noona would buckle.”
Lee Sa-byeok shot a derisive look when Lee Ra-hee came up.
“Uncle Yoo-hyeon's sister won't deal with this. She's got a guardian—unlike us orphans.”
“Hospital setting makes secret tests a breeze. Your current hospital could flip to the President's side too, putting her at risk. We won't go overboard, but it'd still gnaw at you. Right?”
Lee Yoo-hyeon clamped his lips shut for a long stretch, silent.
“Yoo-hyeon hyung?”
“Hand it over. I'll do it myself.”
Guilt slammed into his chest like a weight.
Lee Yoo-hyeon took the mana booster syringe—he'd balked earlier out of caution—and injected it into his arm.
Mana surged through him fast and steady, power flooding his body, which only twisted the knife deeper.
“What? That wasn't mana booster—you slipped me something weird? Your eyes are glazing out.”
“Gave you exactly what you needed.”
Seol Do-yoon dug through the drugs and pulled out one marked 'MEM-312'.
“Yoo-hyeon hyung, shake it off and step up. Mana's topped off now. No time left. Duplicate this for me. Bet duplication's one of your awakened skills. Grip it and say 'Item Duplication'.”
“Ah, Item Duplication.”
'No time' jolted Lee Yoo-hyeon alert; he parroted the words.
He didn't even question how Seol Do-yoon knew his powers amid the frenzy.
[Ability unlocked! You can now use Item Duplication. 49/50]
A window popped up before his eyes. Another identical vial appeared in Lee Yoo-hyeon's hand, matching the one Seol Do-yoon had given him.
“How many more can you make?”
“49... What is this stuff?”
“Blurs the last 24 hours of memory. We kicked up such a storm, tons of folks need a mental wipe.”
“Tell me what to do—fast.”
“First, duplicate this one for every knockout we did. Then one extra of each drug type.”
Lee Yoo-hyeon swallowed his surging pity and regret, biting his lip till it hurt.
He got to work in a rush.
After duplicating the requested drug and one spare of every type, Lee Yoo-hyeon handed the bundled vials to Seol Do-yoon.
“Now we restore the folks we took down, right? Let's move.”
Lee Yoo-hyeon administered the drugs to bring everyone back and exited the lab with the kids in tow.
Lee Sa-byeok led Lee Yoo-hyeon to where all the knocked-out staff were piled.
He dosed them all with the memory drug from Seol Do-yoon, then hauled each back to their room and tucked into bed.
Lee Sa-byeok and Seol Do-yoon jabbed the face-smashed supervisor with a quick-recovery potion and hoisted him up together.
“This uncle's not half bad. Let's wrap and crash.”
“Yeah. This is fun—we nabbed all the drugs.”
Seol Do-yoon beamed with pure delight.
“That stoked? Your grin's ripping ear to ear.”
“Millions per vial.”
“Money fiend... You're basically Association President tier.”
“I'll kill you for real.”
“Eek, too scaryyy.”
The staged chaos was tidied up. Supervisors fully recovered and returned to quarters; the CCTV monitors slumbered deep.
Silence blanketed everything.
“No more tasks?”
“Gotta toss busywork at the staff when they wake—keep 'em too swamped for unease.”
“That's the game pod update thing?”
“Yep. Favor, hyung—grind these folks hard.”
“I'll all-nighter that, so can you two come here?”
“?”
“?”
Work done swift, Lee Yoo-hyeon took one small hand in each of his.
The sudden touch repulsed them; both yanked their fingers free with grimaces.
“Mind holding hands while we walk? Dark paths kinda freak me out.”
Seol Do-yoon's eyes narrowed; Lee Sa-byeok sighed.
Two small hands thrust forward indifferently.
Lee Yoo-hyeon clasped them tight and walked on. Something hot welled fiercely in his chest.
“Hey, uncle, you're crying! Dark path got you bawling? Lame as hell.”
“Dumbass, you think I'd cry over that at my age? It's you two—makes me tear up.”
“So sappy. Why cry over strangers? We ain't shedding any.”
“High EQ.”
“Sensitive soul? Like that whiny Lee Kyung-seop team lead? Nah, different vibe.”
“Dunno—not a shrink, can't read every mind.”
“You claimed total knowledge before.”
“That was flexing.”
Lee Yoo-hyeon let tears fall wordlessly, then chuckled softly. Their back-and-forth felt heartbreaking yet adorable.
“Cries, then laughs—what's your deal, uncle?”
“Quit play-by-play on my feelings. It's awkward.”
“It's fine by me. Just hurts seeing you two tough it out so well.”
Seol Do-yoon's gaze chilled as he watched Lee Yoo-hyeon brush it off.
* * *
Lee Sa-byeok and Seol Do-yoon led Lee Yoo-hyeon back to their room.
The instant they entered, Seol Do-yoon yanked his hand free and stealthily wiped it on his clothes. Lee Sa-byeok caught it and tsked.
“I'll lay out the full plan ahead. They'll clamp down hard on contact till we bust through, so meetings'll be tough for a bit.”
Seol Do-yoon laid out every drug type swiped from the lab before Lee Yoo-hyeon.
“Hyung, ever hear of Hunter Market?”
“The one hunters use?”
“Yeah. It's booming overseas, but Korea's got no official one—despite having the most stock.”
“Association's getting licensed soon, so markets should pick up.”
“Right. We gotta claim it first. Can't do it myself. Still just a powerless lab rat—if busted, I'm disposable. And...”
Seol Do-yoon trailed off mid-sentence. How to spin this right. One slip, and their hard-won rapport crumbles.
As Seol Do-yoon mulled, Lee Sa-byeok cut in.
“And uncle—this means betting your life. Sorry, no opt-out. Bail, and we drag in your sister. That was Plan A from jump.”
“......”
“Think I'm clueless? Sugarcoating's still a threat—might as well own it. Pathetic prick.”
Seol Do-yoon pinched his brow. Lee Sa-byeok had a sliver of logic there.
He'd been President-level scum since targeting Lee Ra-hee with intent, nudging her toward hunter life.
Knew pity would sway Lee Yoo-hyeon, but it wasn't enough.
Pity-driven moves spoiled quick. Others' massive woes get overshadowed by your own tiny gripes.
Seol Do-yoon didn't bank on such fickle feelings.
“I still hold full say over my sister.”
He'd yanked Lee Ra-hee from the President's clutches, but hadn't ceded total control to her guardian, Lee Yoo-hyeon.