Chapter 257
Chapter 257
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 258
Chapter Title: I'm Not a Demon
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Past midnight.
I stepped out briefly from the hotel provided by Hanseong Pharmaceuticals where I was resting.
It was because I needed to have a quick talk with Yoon Ha-young about the demon-exterminating power.
But even as our meeting time approached, Yoon Ha-young was nowhere to be seen—not even a glimpse.
"Hmm."
It wasn't urgent, so I figured I'd wait patiently.
Leaning against the building wall, I took in the surrounding scenery.
Crumpled buildings and wrecked vehicles.
Association staff and Hanseong Pharmaceuticals employees were cleaning up the site.
There were a few clusters of reporters with cameras, too.
It was such a massive incident that even late at night, everyone was still working.
Then, purely by chance, I spotted Han Se-yeon off in the distance, helping with the cleanup.
She was darting around here and there, issuing orders, her expression dark with a sense of responsibility for the incident.
She must have been through a lot mentally.
Maybe I should send her a comforting message.
"Seonwoo!"
As I was admiring the scenery, a voice called out to me.
It was Yoon Ha-young, changed into casual clothes.
Wait, isn't that pajamas?
"What happened to you?"
Yoon Ha-young came right up to me and blurted it out.
"With what?"
"Your arm. It was practically torn off..."
Yoon Ha-young muttered as if it still made her dizzy just thinking about it, then looked me up and down.
She opened her mouth.
"Seonwoo, are you by any chance..."
Yoon Ha-young trailed off.
"...a demon?"
"Huh?"
For a moment, I thought I'd misheard.
"No, common sense says a demon couldn't heal a mangled arm like that in such a short time."
To be precise, she wasn't wrong. And the ability that healed my arm was indeed a demon's power.
But it was a demon's power, not proof that I was a demon.
"There's no way I'm a demon. My arm healed because of my trait."
But Yoon Ha-young didn't drop her suspicion.
She seemed lost in her own deductions, then spoke cautiously.
"...Seonwoo, even if you were a demon, I wouldn't think of you as an enemy."
"What?"
"Just tell me honestly. Whether you're a demon or not, nothing changes between us."
What nonsense was she spouting so seriously?
The words themselves were touching in a strangely emotional way.
"Haa..."
I let out a small sigh.
"Want me to show you my blood? Black or not?"
"You can hide blood color with spells, traits, or mana."
She had a point.
That's how demons had infiltrated human society.
Still, was this really Yoon Ha-young? Her brain was spinning faster than usual—she wasn't brushing it off like she normally would.
"Then try using your demon-exterminating power on me."
At those words, Yoon Ha-young's pupils trembled slightly as she looked at me.
"The demon-exterminating power?"
"Yeah. It shouldn't be that threatening to anyone who's not a demon or devil anyway."
If I wanted to prove I wasn't a demon, nothing was more reliable than this.
"...I don't want to."
"Why not now?"
"You could get hurt. Isn't there another way?"
"You wouldn't believe any other method. And like I said earlier, the demon-exterminating power doesn't do much damage to humans. Probably less powerful than a basic neutral magic spell."
"Still, it could hurt. And I'm not skilled enough to control it properly yet."
Yoon Ha-young muttered that, then let out a deep sigh.
"...Fine. I'll just believe you're not a demon."
In the end, Yoon Ha-young raised the white flag.
With such a soft heart, could she really face demons in the future? Tsk.
"No. Better to settle this for good. Use the demon-exterminating power. You won't hurt me badly, so don't worry."
Though Yoon Ha-young refused at first, after persistent convincing, she finally nodded.
I looked around and spoke again.
"Let's move to a better spot first."
And so, Yoon Ha-young and I slipped into a deserted alley.
No one would be watching us here, so we could relax.
"Let's get started."
Yoon Ha-young held out her palm and manifested a small amount of demon-exterminating power.
At the same time, an arrow the size of her palm floated above her hand.
She said she couldn't control it, but she'd made it surprisingly small.
I approached her and pressed my finger against the demon-exterminating arrow.
Crackle!
Sparks flew as a strong surge of mana repelled my finger.
I forced the tip of my finger into the arrow.
The mana stabbed around my finger like spreading flames.
A wound opened, and red blood dripped down my finger.
"See? If I were a demon, my finger would've burned."
Only then did Yoon Ha-young dispel the spell and sigh in relief.
"Good. I was worried you might actually be a demon."
I chuckled softly.
"Didn't you say nothing would change between us even if I was?"
"Th-that's true, but...! Still, it might feel like a betrayal... So, your arm really healed because of a trait?"
I nodded.
"Yeah. Can't use it often, though."
"Wow. How many traits do you even have, Seonwoo? ...Wait, is that one from a rare clan?"
"Rare clan?"
I asked back, wondering what she meant.
"H-Han Se-jin from security said you were from the Rune Clan, so I thought maybe."
Elin had blabbed unnecessarily.
I shook my head first.
"I'll explain that later."
"...Hmm. Okay."
Yoon Ha-young replied in a disappointed, sulky voice.
Seeing that made me feel unnecessarily guilty, and a wry smile formed.
From another dimension, I lightly patted her shoulder in comfort.
"Oh, and the reason I called you here... Be careful from now on."
Yoon Ha-young looked at me with puzzled eyes.
"Be careful?"
"They'll know from today's incident that someone with demon-exterminating power was at the exhibition."
"Ah."
Yoon Ha-young nodded as if she understood.
"Your power is special. The demons will start moving soon. Stick to crowded places as much as possible wherever you go."
The demon-exterminating power was the only key to killing the 'King,' who had near-immortal regeneration.
It was the sole means to suppress the King's near-infinite regenerative abilities.
Her power was essential for what lay ahead.
"And if... anything happens, contact me immediately. Got it?"
"Yeah. Got it."
Yoon Ha-young, who had been wearing a worried expression, smiled brightly as she answered.
Meanwhile, Lee Seo-jun sat at a table by the hotel window, recalling the events of the exhibition presentation.
The mysterious man in the hat who had ambushed the hidden demons inside during the presentation.
He hadn't noticed in the chaos at the time, but judging by the fighting style and build, the man's identity was definitely 'Kim Seonwoo.'
As someone he'd felt competitive with and observed since last year, Lee Seo-jun recognized him instantly.
"...Kim Seonwoo."
But even with that certainty, something was off.
During the fight, the hatted man's arm had been completely shattered.
Unless he'd used a 'mystery,' it was a fatal injury that would've left him unable to use that arm for life.
Yet less than 20 minutes later, Kim Seonwoo had returned with a perfectly fine arm.
If Kim Seonwoo was indeed the hatted man as he suspected, there should have been some sign on his arm.
But there wasn't—which meant they were different people.
"...Hmm."
Still, Lee Seo-jun couldn't shake the connection between them. The hatted man's fighting style was unmistakably Kim Seonwoo's, after all.
No one was treating him like an idiot—they'd spent over a year together; he couldn't be wrong.
The mystery was how the destroyed arm had healed...
Lost in thought, Lee Seo-jun stared out the dark window before accessing a portal site on his smart student planner.
[Rune Clan]
The search results poured in.
['Rune Clan' exterminated by terrorist Ja-un. Treasures already gone. Many missing persons.]
[Over a dozen rare clans exterminated by Jin Cheon-woo in the past three years, estimated...]
Most articles were from 14 years ago, when Ja-un was active.
A keyword jumped out immediately.
'Ja-un,' 'Jin Cheon-woo'...
Thoughts flooded his mind.
Kim Seonwoo's suspicious behaviors.
The way he'd approached me, someone he barely knew.
Me, with my deep ties to them...
He'd already found it suspicious how Kim Seonwoo fixated on the Seonhyeon family and Jin Cheon-woo's secret experiments, but now the puzzle pieces clicked perfectly.
Of course, some parts weren't confirmed yet.
Like Kim Seonwoo's ties to demons. Or what other Rune Clan members meant by calling him the 'clan successor'...
Kim Seonwoo seemed too young to be called the successor, didn't he?
"Hmm..."
...What was Kim Seonwoo's goal?
Probably preparing revenge for his clan?
That thought sparked new curiosity.
What did Kim Seonwoo think when he looked at me, the son of his enemy, Jin Cheon-woo?
An odd feeling crept in.
[Rune Clan, known worldwide for the greatest talent in support systems...]
Reading that line, Lee Seo-jun gave a wry smile.
"His spell interpretation skills were extraordinary, after all..."
He never imagined he'd uncover that secret after a full year.
Meanwhile, a heavy atmosphere hung over the Ten Demon Society's interior today as well.
They had lost yet another key asset: an S-Rank demon.
As their forces dwindled over time, some executives felt bitter resentment.
But the 'King' was satisfied with this outcome.
He had gained rewards impossible without his personal involvement.
"...Your Majesty. What happened there?"
A demon spoke from the darkness.
The King, leaning back in his chair, pondered briefly before replying.
"There were two gains I couldn't have achieved without attending personally."
"Two gains?"
"One is that I found the being who possesses the demon-exterminating power."
"..."
Everyone wore shocked expressions at the King's bombshell.
"The demon-exterminating power for sure?"
"Yes. Jingeon was killed by it."
The demons recalled the news of today's demon attack at the exhibition.
Surprisingly, Jingeon's subjugators were students from the Korean Magical Academy.
The King checked the documents in his hand.
[Exhibition Participants: Korean Magical Academy 3rd Years]
[Lee Seo-jun, Kim Seonwoo, Shin Young-jun, Yoon Ha-young]
"...So the Child of Prophecy is one of these four."
A grin spread across the King's face.
If he could eliminate the Child of Prophecy, no one could stop him...
Not even Chairman Kim Jin-cheol...
As a brief commotion arose over the prophecy child's list narrowing to four, another demon spoke from the darkness.
"Your Majesty, what is the remaining gain?"
At the question, the King recalled the moment Han Se-yeon's presentation began.
The mysterious hatted man.
He had dispatched the demons hidden inside the stage one by one, as if he could distinguish them.
That had caused chaos before the demons could even execute their plan, ruining it—and he'd used an unknown binding spell to immobilize Jingeon.
"The other gain is..."
Truth be told, the King didn't think the man's mana abilities were that exceptional.
The binding spell on Jingeon had been powerful, so it must have consumed immense mana.
He'd assumed the man had little mana left. But Jingeon was subjugated.
Though by the demon-exterminating power, the King figured the mysterious man's contribution to Jingeon's defeat was significant.
"We've identified in advance a being who will be an obstacle to us."