Relentless Pursuit
“Aaaagh!”
Lee Minchan’s scream tore through the air.
Kang Yoonsoo drove his fist into the boy’s mouth again and again.
Lips split, blood poured, and a front tooth snapped free.
The blows were brutally efficient. Pain exploded through Minchan’s skull until even his screams collapsed into thin, broken whimpers.
“Ugh… uuuugh…!”
Kang Yoonsoo did not stop.
This violence was not born of justice or the desire to punish a serial killer. It came from something far colder.
If I don’t do this, Shanette will die.
The first time he had encountered Lee Minchan, Shanette had been murdered in this very inn. In every life since, whenever Yoonsoo met the boy, he killed him without hesitation.
This time would be no different.
“S-save me!”
Minchan’s bloodied face twisted in terror.
Kang Yoonsoo’s expression remained empty as he gripped the hilt of his greatsword.
The boy’s face went white.
“You’re… really going to kill me?”
“Yeah.”
At that moment, Shanette’s voice came from beyond the door.
“Someone’s coming up.”
Kang Yoonsoo released the hilt.
The footsteps belonged to the innkeeper.
“Look, I don’t like saying this, but keep it down. What in the world are you two doing up here that the whole floor can hear?”
“Sorry. We were just swatting bugs. Must’ve been louder than we thought.”
Shanette poked her head through the gap, tongue out, smiling innocently.
The innkeeper frowned but turned and descended the stairs.
The instant he was gone—
“Kyah!”
Lee Minchan thrashed to his feet and bolted for the door.
Shanette moved to block him. Minchan drew a dagger from his coat and swung wildly. She dodged, but the opening was enough. He shoved past her and vanished into the hallway.
Shanette started after him, but Kang Yoonsoo caught her shoulder.
“I’ll go alone.”
Shanette’s eyes trembled with worry.
“You’re not… really going to kill him, right? You’ll just catch him and hand him over to the investigators?”
“Yeah.”
It was a lie.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I’m going to rip his goddamn head off.”
Lee Minchan clutched his bleeding face, muttering through clenched teeth.
Glass shards glittered in his skin. Every touch sent fresh agony through him.
He trembled as he pulled them out one by one, cursing with each extraction.
“That fucking bastard. I’m going to kill him. I swear I’ll fucking kill him!”
No one—not even his parents—had ever beaten him like that. Kang Yoonsoo was the first adult who had struck him without hesitation.
“Piece of shit!”
Minchan stormed down the street, rage boiling over. Passersby stared, but he didn’t care.
His eyes scanned the crowd.
Fuck it. I’m relieving stress today. I’ll brainwash the first pretty face I see and gut them.
He ignored the investigators’ surveillance entirely.
Soon he spotted a target: a girl carrying a basket of apples, walking alone.
She wasn’t stunning, but she was pretty enough.
You’re mine today.
Even though he had never seen her before, Minchan ground his teeth as if she were his mortal enemy.
He quickened his pace and tapped her shoulder.
“Hey.”
“Who are you?”
“Doesn’t matter. Come here.”
“Aah! What are you doing?!”
Minchan grabbed her roughly and dragged her into a narrow alley.
She stared at him in panic, but he paid no attention.
Once they were hidden in the shadows, he raised his right hand.
Would you like to brainwash the apple-selling girl, Hanna?
The spell that pierces the target’s will is: “Did your parents abandon you and now you sell apples every day?”
Brainwashing magic is more effective on those with strong emotions or weak minds. It is less effective on those who have lived long or possess a dry temperament.
“Did your parents abandon you and now you sell apples every—ugh!”
A crushing blow struck the back of his head.
Minchan’s vision exploded with pain. He spun around, eyes wide.
Kang Yoonsoo stood there.
“W-what the hell?! How did you find me?!”
Minchan stumbled backward.
The man’s face was expressionless, his greatsword held ready. Those cold, lifeless eyes sent ice down Minchan’s spine.
In the dim alley, the fear doubled.
How had he followed without a sound?
“To kill you.”
Again, it was as if Yoonsoo had read his mind.
Minchan’s back grew slick with cold sweat.
Yoonsoo swung the blade lightly. A thin line of blood opened across Minchan’s neck.
“Hrk—!”
Minchan dropped his hand. The brainwashing spell broke. He turned and fled.
“Get away! Get the fuck away from me!”
Terror drove him through the streets. The memory of the beating burned in his mind like trauma. Sweat drenched his clothes.
He ran until his lungs burned, then stopped, hands on his knees, gasping.
When he lifted his head, a figure stood in the distance.
Kang Yoonsoo.
“Aaaagh!”
Minchan screamed and bolted in the opposite direction.
Passersby watched him with strange looks, but the sight of that expressionless man gripping a greatsword terrified him more than anything.
“Don’t come near me! Stay away!”
He sprinted into a cramped, empty alley.
Yet at the end of it, Kang Yoonsoo was already waiting, sword reversed in his grip.
“You’re late. As always.”
“Aaaaaagh! I’ll brainwash you!”
Minchan’s eyes blazed. He thrust out his right arm, pouring every drop of mana into the spell.
The target’s mind contains 20,004 years of memories. Even if the skill is mastered, this existence cannot be brainwashed.
“W-what…?”
Minchan collapsed backward, paralyzed by fear.
Twenty thousand years? How long had this man lived?
Was he… even human?
“W-what the hell are you?! Are you even a person?!”
Kang Yoonsoo approached without a word.
Just as Minchan tried to run, the flat of the greatsword slammed into the back of his skull.
Thud!
“Guh!”
Minchan’s vision went black.