Reversal in an Instant
In the blink of an eye, four A-rank hunters were rolling across the room, drenched in blood. The desperate crisis flipped to total reversal in a matter of seconds.
Another boom! echoed from the living room, followed by a scream that could only have come from Kim Seol-bi.
Kang A-jin bolted out of the room at the sound. Kim Eun-bi and I followed right behind her.
The living room wasn't the desperate last stand I'd imagined. Kim Seol-bi was definitely struggling, but as a hunter whose specialty was lightning-fast movement, she could dodge his attacks even if countering Park Hyun-jun was out of reach.
But fighting indoors against his wide-area bombardment skill meant she couldn't evade everything cleanly. Her body was torn in places, blood seeping out, and her steps were growing visibly heavier.
BOOM!!
Park Hyun-jun's skill fired astonishingly from his fingers. I'd assumed he had some mortar-like weapon after hearing the shelling and seeing walls crumble. But that was just my ignorance of S-rank hunters talking.
He was shaping his fingers like a gun, aiming straight at Kim Seol-bi.
That's when he unleashed a barrage at the cornered Kim Seol-bi.
"Stop it!"
Kang A-jin hurled talismans into the air. They unfurled into a hexagonal barrier, blocking Kim Seol-bi's front.
KABOOM!!! Park Hyun-jun's skill scattered against the shield Kang A-jin conjured.
"Who the hell are you?"
Park Hyun-jun whipped his head around in panic. His face twisted at the sight of Kang A-jin hovering in midair.
"Where the fuck did you come from?"
He clearly had no idea she could traverse dimensions or teleport with sorcery.
While he gawked at Kang A-jin, Kim Seol-bi sprang into action. With her signature thunderbolt speed, she closed in on him.
By the time he yelped "Ah!", her hand blade had already sliced into his chest.
"You fucking bitch!!"
As Park Hyun-jun tried to fire his skill point-blank at Kim Seol-bi, dozens of talismans poured out, blackening the air.
They morphed into razor-sharp ice shards, raining down on him.
Shrieeeek!!!
"Gaaahhh!!"
In an instant, Park Hyun-jun was pierced like a porcupine. Dozens of ice spears impaled him, leaving him frozen in place—a shocking sight. He gurgled and twitched helplessly.
Unlike the A-rank hunters, he was still alive despite the holes riddling his body.
"Seol-bi."
Kang A-jin descended, wrapping an arm around Kim Seol-bi's shoulders.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes......"
Kim Seol-bi glanced at me and Kim Eun-bi, tears welling in her eyes.
"Thank you, A-jin......"
# Dealing with the Park Hyun-jun problem wasn't as straightforward as I'd hoped. Sure, four A-rank hunters were dead, but one S-rank hunter's life outweighed theirs in value. Arguments about equal human worth or him invading Kim Seol-bi's home first wouldn't fly. The common view was that S-rank numbers determined a nation's defense strength.
Killing him would complicate everything.
"I have a method in mind."
Kang A-jin spoke up.
"What is it?"
At Kim Seol-bi's question, she pulled a thick book from her inventory. It looked like a book on the outside, but I knew it was a bundle of talismans. Given the timing, these weren't ordinary ones.
"It's a precious talisman, and the sorcery can't be used again for a while after, but I believe it's worth it."
With that, Kang A-jin carefully began her ritual. She sent dozens of talismans flying to stick onto Park Hyun-jun's body, still skewered by ice spears.
It had been over five minutes since he'd turned into a pincushion, and he was still breathing. S-rank vitality was monstrous.
Kang A-jin sweated profusely as she chanted. Gradually, the talismans peeled off one by one, heavy like waterlogged sponges. They didn't vanish but left glowing orbs that absorbed into her body.
It took about twenty minutes for all the talismans to detach. I realized they'd sucked up Park Hyun-jun's mana—his exposed skin looked pale, like a man starved for days.
Kang A-jin's body began radiating brighter light as she absorbed his mana. Once done, she pulled out one more talisman, pressed her palm to it, and chanted. The mana flashing through her poured entirely into it.
Exhausted, she finally spoke.
"He won't wield his former power anymore."
On cue, the ice spears shattering from his torso. Park Hyun-jun slumped to the floor, his wounds slowly knitting closed. Kang A-jin said he couldn't match his old strength, but he was still an S-rank hunter. His recovery outclassed any normal hunter's.
"Urgh...... You fucking bitches. My brother Dong-geun won't...... let you get away with this......"
Regaining some strength, Park Hyun-jun spat the words. Pale from mana drain, they still carried weight. His "brother Dong-geun" was obviously Jo Dong-geun.
"He's serious."
Kim Seol-bi frowned.
"He came even after Jo Dong-geun warned him, so they must've talked privately."
"I agree."
Kang A-jin pulled a different talisman from the book.
"You won't lay a finger on us."
The talisman fluttered to Park Hyun-jun's rear and stuck fast. He immediately screamed.
"Gaaaaah!!"
He hadn't screamed that loud even from the ice spears.
I wondered what curse Kang A-jin had just laid. The spent talisman crumbled away.
"From now on, you won't be able to perform as a man."
"What?"
Park Hyun-jun jolted, clutching his crotch.
"Bullshit!"
"Doubt it? Try getting it up."
"You crazy bitch! You think I'd fall for that?"
Park Hyun-jun bellowed furiously, but soon he was writhing on the floor, howling.
"Agh! Aaaargh!"
His hands were between his legs. Something was clearly wrong down there, even if I couldn't see it.
"No! Spare me! I was wrong!"
Only facing castration did he start groveling through tears.
"In a year, you'll get a chance to recover. If you behave until then, I'll restore your manhood."
"A year? You psycho bitch! You call that a deal?"
In short, Park Hyun-jun was impotent for a year. Mana drained, powers weakened, and now castrated. In some ways, worse than death.
"Keep yapping like that, and the chance vanishes forever. Don't even think of seeking a cure elsewhere. No one in this world can fix it without my knowledge—and if I hear you're trying, I'll ignore you for life."
"N-No way......"
Park Hyun-jun's face was a mask of despair.
"Take your minions' corpses."
At Kang A-jin's words, he glanced warily and staggered up. He lumbered to the second floor and handled the bodies simply: stuffing them one by one into his inventory.
Before leaving, he turned back to Kang A-jin one last time.
"Keep...... your promise."
"Don't worry."
Park Hyun-jun vanished. The house was wrecked from his fight with Kim Seol-bi—blood from the A-rankers upstairs too. But we'd saved our lives and repelled the intruders. That mattered.
I asked Kang A-jin,
"You really gonna heal Park Hyun-jun?"
"No. His dick can't be fixed."
"What?"
"He thinks with it. Becoming a lifelong eunuch terrifies him more than death. He won't dare try anything."
"Ah......"
As a man, castration was dire—but I felt zero pity for Park Hyun-jun.
"Sung-gi."
Kang A-jin handed me a talisman brimming with mana.
"Why this......?"
"You can wield vengeful mana."
"Huh?"
I pieced together her meaning. Beyond my original general awakener mana, I had three new types: from Kim Seol-bi, Kim Eun-bi, and Kang A-jin.
"Ah......"
Suddenly, it clicked why she'd given me the talisman packed with Park Hyun-jun's mana.