Chapter 8
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Out of Control (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"So..."
Director Park Cheol-ho of the Superhuman Management Bureau opened his mouth with a grave expression. Standing before him with his hands clasped behind his back was Lee Min-hyuk. Park Cheol-ho tapped his desk rhythmically with his fingers.
"The new returnee got into a brawl with Seosung's Hwang Won-uk, and they clashed."
"Yes."
"And Hwang Won-uk got utterly demolished? No, his limbs exploded, so demolished doesn't even cover it. He couldn't even put up a proper fight before getting murdered?"
"That's correct."
"And in Hwang Won-uk's sub-dimensional space... anyway, they found a heap of drugs and bodies, and the investigation showed they were women who'd gone missing from clubs recently... something like that?"
Lee Min-hyuk nodded.
Park Cheol-ho grimaced and asked again.
"What kind of drama plot is this? You writing a movie script?"
"It's all true, Director."
"I know. I get that it's true. I saw the bodies on my way in. I'm just... dumbfounded. Completely dumbfounded..."
Park Cheol-ho raised his right hand and pressed his brow firmly.
He then lifted his head and looked at Lee Min-hyuk.
"Kim Hyun. She's quasi-S-rank, right?"
"I'm sorry. It was my misjudgment. She's definitely beyond that."
"If she murdered Hwang Won-uk without him even resisting, that makes sense. But why the hell did that bastard Hwang Won-uk show up here all of a sudden?"
"Seems like he heard rumors about the returnee Kim Hyun somewhere. We might need to conduct an internal audit..."
"I'll handle that."
Park Cheol-ho cut Lee Min-hyuk off with a wave of his hand. He then flipped through the notebook where Lee Min-hyuk had recorded details about Kim Hyun before tossing it onto the desk.
"A 10,000-year-old demon..."
"......"
Park Cheol-ho stood from his chair and walked over to the window.
He pulled back the blinds and gazed toward the main entrance.
A wide control line had been set up at the entrance. Beyond it, forensics teams and police were milling about.
No reporters in sight yet, but that was only a matter of time. Considering how well they sniffed out stories.
Park Cheol-ho, who had been looking down at the control line, turned his head.
His sharp gaze fixed on Team Leader Lee Min-hyuk.
"Here's what I think. Controlling the returnee Kim Hyun? Seems impossible. What do you think?"
"Her power is the real deal. Even just what she showed puts her at the top of S-rank. Maybe even national power-level."
Park Cheol-ho's face twisted at those words.
"Who asked about that? National power-level or whatever, if we can't control her, she's a walking nuke! One that could go off any second! And she has no family left, right? How the hell do we control someone like that?"
"......Maybe, but that doesn't mean we can take her out either."
Park Cheol-ho clamped his mouth shut at that.
Lee Min-hyuk was right.
If Kim Hyun was a returnee with national power-level strength, South Korea had no way to deal with her.
Even corporate S-rank hunters were barely manageable. National power-level in that situation?
To take her down, they'd have to be prepared for half of Gyeonggi Province and Seoul to be wrecked.
And considering the combat feats of existing national power-level hunters, they might not even fully eliminate her after all that damage.
Not missing Park Cheol-ho's hesitation, Lee Min-hyuk spoke up.
"If we can't eliminate her, we have to embrace her. Better to guide her toward adapting to society than rashly antagonizing a national power-level and setting her off."
Lee Min-hyuk said with a serious face.
"From my experience with her, the returnee Kim Hyun is more reasonable than she seems. I think she's controllable enough."
"After just one day? And she killed Hwang Won-uk right in front of you despite your attempts to stop her? That's controllable?"
"......I'll control her somehow."
"And she started the fight? Even if Hwang Won-uk struck first, doesn't this basically count as intentional murder?"
"Kim Hyun claimed Hwang Won-uk leered at her first with sleazy eyes..."
"That's..."
Park Cheol-ho groaned at the response.
Hwang Won-uk was infamous for picking fights with female hunters over sexual harassment issues. Everyone knew his womanizing was a mess.
Of course, no one knew he raped, killed, and stored their bodies in his sub-space, but still.
Kim Hyun's claim had some merit.
Of course, that didn't make killing him right...
Park Cheol-ho covered his face with both hands.
"This is insane. What did I do to deserve a bomb like this...? What the hell am I supposed to tell Seosung?"
After groaning for a while, Park Cheol-ho let out a deep sigh.
"Damn it. No choice. Sighing won't solve it."
Park Cheol-ho looked straight at Team Leader Lee Min-hyuk.
"I'll handle Seosung and the press somehow. You take responsibility and control Kim Hyun, no matter what it takes!"
"......"
"I'll provide all the support I can. Got it?"
"......Understood."
"You can go."
Lee Min-hyuk bowed once and left the director's office. He paused in front of the closed door, head bowed.
"......Haa."
This is insane.
He'd said he'd take responsibility and control her, but honestly, Lee Min-hyuk wasn't that confident.
There weren't even any means to control her.
Not someone you could physically restrain, after all.
When Kim Hyun crushed Hwang Won-uk like a bug, all Lee Min-hyuk could do was evacuate with Choi Eun-ji.
Stand in her way? He couldn't even dream of it.
Despite being an S-rank hunter himself.
'No, I couldn't have stood in her way.'
Lee Min-hyuk remembered.
The glance Kim Hyun had shot him, even if just for a moment.
A gaze that said she'd kill him too if he interfered. Overwhelmed by its intensity, Lee Min-hyuk could only watch helplessly as Hwang Won-uk was pulverized like a bug.
"......"
Recalling that memory made his body tremble involuntarily.
Lee Min-hyuk clenched his fists to steady himself.
Then he gritted his teeth.
Well, what could he do?
He had to do his job, fear or no fear.
"......Civil servant life is rough."
If he'd known, he'd have joined a big corporation. Why'd he have to go and get a sense of duty, leading to all this suffering?
Lee Min-hyuk sighed and walked away.
"Uwweeeek!"
Choi Eun-ji clung to the toilet and kept vomiting up her guts. Chae Seol-ah, standing behind her, asked with a worried face.
"Should I rub your back...?"
"No, I'm fine... Uuuk!"
How long did she hurl?
Only when there was nothing left but bile could Choi Eun-ji finally stop. With a pallid face, she tore off some toilet paper from the wall and wiped her mouth.
"Ugh... It's gonna haunt my dreams for a while. No doubt."
"Haha..."
"More importantly, Agent Chae. Are you okay?"
At Choi Eun-ji's question, Chae Seol-ah made an awkward expression.
"I-I just heard about it. I didn't see it myself, so I'm fine."
"Ahh, lucky you. Why did I have to witness it firsthand...? I don't think I can eat tomato-based dishes anymore."
Chae Seol-ah's face darkened at Choi Eun-ji's grumbling with a forced smile. She could tell Choi Eun-ji was trying to act cheerful on purpose.
It must have been that shocking.
'Crushed and burst someone's limbs...'
Even just imagining it made her skin crawl with fear. To do that so casually—what kind of being was that woman?
'First time the Manual couldn't provide a method.'
Until now, the Akashic Manual had always given methods for any target, without exception.
Yet for this one, it offered no and instead urgently told Chae Seol-ah to run.
Leaving Choi Eun-ji to dry-heave again, Chae Seol-ah stepped out of the bathroom. She then asked cautiously.
"Manual, is there really no way to her?"
[Never cross paths again.]
The Manual gave its usual response to Chae Seol-ah's question.
Except it was utterly useless.
"That's not a method."
[Flee to another dimension.]
"You call that advice? Is that really the best option?"
[......]
In response to Chae Seol-ah's probing, the Manual fell silent. Chae Seol-ah let out a deep sigh.
'Kim Hyun... was it?'
Chae Seol-ah quietly closed her eyes.
She recalled the woman's face again.
It wasn't easy to forget.
Her overwhelming appearance drew the eye, and that unique intimidating aura sealed it.
Especially after that incident—even with eyes closed, the face floated vividly before her.
Chae Seol-ah slowly opened her eyes.
Kim Hyun's face appeared before her.
Covered head to toe in blood, as if the tales of bursting people weren't lies, staring at her with sharp, piercing eyes.
An afterimage so vividly real.
......Afterimage?
"Eh?"
Chae Seol-ah's eyes widened.
Kim Hyun smirked at her.
"Found you."
Chae Seol-ah fainted on the spot.