Chapter 28
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Chae Seol-ah and the Bizarre Shopping (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"What?"
The man scowled fiercely.
"Kim Hyun?"
The man turned his head to glance at the woman.
"Heard anything?"
"Not really."
The woman who answered like that furrowed her brows.
"Still, she doesn't seem like a total amateur."
"Looks that way."
The man grinned while twirling his wrist.
"Then let's see what she's got."
The next moment, the man vanished.
Pabababat!
The man leaped off pillars and walls all around, circling Kim Hyun. Laughing, he shouted.
"Confident in your speed?"
At the same time, the man's movements grew faster and faster. An insane acceleration. Now, he was too quick to follow with the naked eye.
But Kim Hyun still wore that languid expression.
'This bastard...'
Veins bulged on the man's forehead.
Even after seeing all this, she was still so relaxed?
He wanted to see that smug face crumble into ruins.
With that thought, the man kicked off a building pillar and launched himself.
Pa-at!
In an instant, his swung fist surged toward Kim Hyun.
That moment.
Ttak!
Kim Hyun flicked her finger.
Tszzzzz!
At the same time, the man's body was sliced into pieces.
Like a rectangular toy block kids played with, his entire body disassembled. The man's flesh grazed past Kim Hyun and scattered across the department store floor like trash.
"Uh, wha?"
What was astonishing was that even after being chopped into hundreds of pieces, the man was still alive.
"Wha-what the...?"
The moment the man, still not grasping the situation, muttered that.
Kim Hyun flicked her finger again.
Immediately, hellfire engulfed the man's body.
"Kwaaaak! Aaaak!"
The man screamed in agony. Every single chunk of his minced flesh began to burn without exception.
It was a scorching pain as if every cross-section of his severed body was being seared by flames. Far more intense than simply burning alive.
"Augh! Khaaaak!"
With the man's throat-tearing screams as background noise, Kim Hyun stepped forward calmly.
"...Fuck!"
At the same time, the woman ground her teeth.
'What the hell is that thing!'
She hadn't even properly seen what ability he'd just used.
More than that, this guy hadn't even twitched a finger before getting diced up?
This man was a top-tier S-Rank powerhouse. He wasn't someone who could end up as meaningless mincemeat like this.
'And yet that guy got neutralized with a single gesture?'
Then what kind of monster was that woman?
But that wasn't the issue right now.
The problem was that the monster was approaching her.
"Kuh, get lost!"
The woman shrieked and swung her hand.
Black chains shot out from behind her back, binding Kim Hyun's body. At the same time, black spears materialized above her head and flew at Kim Hyun from all directions.
But none of it could stop Kim Hyun.
The chains binding her body shattered into pieces right away, and the spears turned to a puff of smoke and vanished before even touching her.
Nothing worked.
That fact meant only one thing: despair.
"Damn it, die, die, die!"
The woman's eyes rolled back as she frenziedly unleashed spell after spell.
She summoned fetid river water, but it evaporated instantly. She fired arrows of flame, but they predictably turned to smoke.
A curse-laced whip tried to ensnare her, but it snapped before even a second passed.
Black magic using sacrifices didn't land, and the summoned black beasts couldn't even approach Kim Hyun.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
Even after throwing everything she had, she failed to stop Kim Hyun.
Only then did the woman turn and flee.
And she regretted it immediately.
"Aaaak!"
The instant she tried to run, her ankle was cleanly severed. She tumbled forward, her body trembling uncontrollably.
"Kuh... Damn it..."
How had things ended up like this?
'I thought it was just a simple job to hunt down some no-name A-Rank hunter...'
Of all the bad luck, to run into a freak like this.
Could luck be this rotten?
'...No choice. I'll suicide and wake up in a new vessel.'
But the woman wasn't worried.
She could die without consequence anyway.
She had mastered black magic that extracted the soul and transplanted it into another vessel.
Even if she lost her life, she could pull out her soul and transfer it to a spare body prepared in her hideout to revive.
'Not as good as the real thing, but better than dying for good.'
With that thought, the woman turned to glare up at Kim Hyun, who was looking down at her.
'You damn bitch, I'll remember your face. Next time we meet, I'll kill you somehow.'
Of course, even if they met again, she'd probably still get killed, but who knew?
'If I survive to the end and achieve transcendence, a punk like you will be...!'
With that thought, the woman clenched her teeth.
She planned to bite down on the hidden cyanide capsule in her mouth for any emergency.
But clenching her teeth was impossible.
"Where do you think you're dying on your own terms?"
Because Kim Hyun had ripped off her lower jaw.
"Aaaaa!"
In excruciating pain, the woman clutched her jaw and writhed.
Kim Hyun looked down at her indifferently.
Then, she muttered suddenly.
"Your eyes show no fear of death at all, so you must have some ace up your sleeve, huh?"
"...!"
At those words, the woman's eyes wavered.
Kim Hyun grabbed her head and smiled.
"Let's see. Shall I check what you're thinking?"
"Ugh? Uwaaaa!"
The next moment, Kim Hyun delved into the woman's memories.
A brain-rending agony overwhelmed her. Like an awl being driven into her brain. Unable to endure the pain, the woman's eyes rolled back.
"Ah, you're gonna extract your soul and run."
Meanwhile, having read the memories, Kim Hyun nodded.
"Go ahead."
"Uwa...?"
Kim Hyun flashed a wicked smile.
"Let's see if you can actually escape."
The next moment, Kim Hyun crushed the woman's head.
Immediately, her soul slipped out of her body. The hazy soul tried to flee the moment it grasped the situation.
But when Kim Hyun reached out, the soul couldn't go far and was sucked straight into her grasp.
Kim Hyun popped the soul, now like a small marble, into her mouth and stood up.
"Refreshing."
Kim Hyun turned and approached the fallen Chae Seol-ah. She placed her hand on Chae Seol-ah's stomach, who had collapsed to the floor.
"You did well."
With those words, Kim Hyun quietly healed her.
The blaring siren woke Chae Seol-ah.
"Ugh..."
Her whole body throbbed. Chae Seol-ah groaned and slowly sat up. Then she looked around.
'This is...'
Where she had been lying was a stretcher right next to an ambulance.
Sirens blared noisily from all sides, and she could see paramedics and police bustling about.
It seemed the terrorist incident had been resolved.
Only then could Chae Seol-ah check her own body.
'Doesn't hurt much.'
There was some lingering ache, but all the breaks and major injuries appeared to have been healed.
To be treated so cleanly without even going to a hospital.
Only one person in Chae Seol-ah's memory could do something like this.
'Lady Kim Hyun...'
But Kim Hyun didn't seem to be there now.
The moment she felt a pang of disappointment at that fact.
"You're awake?"
Lee Min-hyuk, the Team Leader, poked his head out from beside the ambulance.
"Team Leader? Why are you here...?"
"Why do you think? Came for backup."
"Backup?"
"Team 1 is completely paralyzed because of Gangwon Province, and Teams 2 and 3 are pulled for public security duty."
"Ah..."
Finally grasping the situation, Chae Seol-ah nodded.
"Th-then I should get back to work too..."
Lee Min-hyuk stopped Chae Seol-ah as she tried to stand up hastily.
"You joking? What work from someone not even fully recovered."
"Pardon? But it doesn't hurt much..."
At those words, Lee Min-hyuk gave her a pointed look. Chae Seol-ah wasn't oblivious, so she slowly lay back down.
"...What about Lady Kim Hyun?"
"No idea. Seems like she left."
A twinge of regret hit her at that.
Chae Seol-ah startled as she realized what she was thinking.
To such a Chae Seol-ah, Lee Min-hyuk tossed a question.
"More importantly, they say the terrorists were targeting you."
The moment she heard that, Chae Seol-ah's face darkened.
"...They definitely said they came to kill me."
"Any guesses?"
"...None."
Chae Seol-ah bit her lip as she answered.
"Just..."
She clenched her fist tightly.
'Would more people have lived if I'd died?'
'So many died because of me.'
'People who wouldn't have died if I weren't here.'
The focus slowly faded from Chae Seol-ah's eyes.
That moment.
"Agent Chae."
Lee Min-hyuk patted her shoulder.
"You did good anyway."
At those words, focus returned to Chae Seol-ah's eyes. To the dazed Chae Seol-ah, Lee Min-hyuk said calmly.
"You protected people."
"...Pardon?"
"Lots of people survived thanks to you, Agent Chae."
"Ah..."
"You did good."
'You did good.'
Only then did tears stream down Chae Seol-ah's face.
Lee Min-hyuk panicked at the sudden tears.
"Wh-what? Why are you crying?"
"N-no reason."
Chae Seol-ah quickly wiped her eyes and sat up.
"I'll help too."
"Huh? No, I said you don't have to..."
"No point lying here if it doesn't hurt. I'll work."
"Urgh... Fine. Don't overdo it."
Chae Seol-ah smiled and replied.
"Yes!"
In a dark office with the blinds drawn.
The man looking out the window spoke without turning his head.
"...So, we ultimately failed to take out Chae Seol-ah?"
"Yes."
"Tch. Those hunters. All talk and no results."
The man pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.
"Can't get anything done right."
"What will you do?"
"Eh, whatever. As long as it's sorted before the 'possession.' Worst case, we ship her overseas."
The man exhaled deeply.
"What about Kim Hyun?"
"How should we handle her? Just don't mess with her. She doesn't seem the type to rampage if left alone."
"But considering she killed the Third Young Master before..."
"...Well."
The man tossed his cigarette to the floor and ground it out with his shoe.
"We'll steer clear as much as possible. Doesn't seem like she has any grudge against Cheonhwa specifically."
The man turned his head and smiled.
"Once the 'possession' succeeds anyway, we won't need to care about trash like that. What can the likes of them do?"
"The power of the outer god."