High-Grade Intel 3
Adel tapped her smartphone screen. Before Lee Han could interrogate Jang Yuk, she planned to scrape together any info on him from the Hunter Inside forum. She'd created a super ordinary ID to dodge tracking and logged into the board.
"......"
Adel scrolled down fast. She'd thought the bait was shifting to Jang Yuk, but no real info showed up.
—TOUCH
"Gah! Crap pic! Where the hell's the mod!"
Thankfully, amid the mud, a post with the real kind of info she wanted caught her eye.
Busan outskirts. Black & White Food Factory 1st Plant underground secret room.
"S-spare me... please."
Dozens of burly men hung upside down from the ceiling like bats. Black Moon 1st Branch elites caught in Adel's gravity reversal spell. Bound tight in sausage casings, they trembled, staring down at the floor in terror.
At the center of their gaze: a man with his entire skeleton crushed to pulp, half-dead. 1st Branch Chief Jang Yuk sat chained to a chair with mana shackles.
"Cough."
Jang Yuk spat a bloody clump onto the floor. The drug's effects fading brought waves of excruciating pain.
"Guh..."
His eyes still burned fierce. No—if anything, he seemed to enjoy the pain, a smile curling his lips.
"Feeling with it now?"
Lee Han dragged a chair over and sat nose-to-nose with Jang Yuk. Jang Yuk strained his swollen eyes open and glared.
"Heh, Lee Han, right? Not bad. Turning my bones to dust."
"Thanks for the praise. Straight to business."
Lee Han pulled out his smartphone with the recording he'd squeezed from Ma Gwang-su and shook it.
"2nd Branch Chief Ma Gwang-su? Useless. Just babbled about some mountain valley in Gangwon Province."
"Hmph. What would a small fry like that know? HQ ain't for just anyone."
"True. But as 1st Branch Chief, you're different. Core exec handling Black Moon's cash flow."
Lee Han leaned forward. His golden eyes bored into Jang Yuk like they pierced his soul.
"HQ location. And the Elder Trio—including the Silent Elder."
"......!"
Jang Yuk's face lost its smugness for the first time. Silent Elder. Elder Duo. Taboo words known to only a tiny few in the org—words they shouldn't know.
'How deep does this bastard know?'
He'd pegged him as just brute force. But he'd peered into Black Moon's deepest shadows.
Jang Yuk quickly schooled his expression.
"Kekeke. Fun. Real fun. No clue where you got that, but wrong tree."
"Gonna play dumb?"
"Nah. Even if I knew, couldn't spill. 'Cause those guys? They exist but don't."
Jang Yuk lifted his head arrogantly.
"Ever seen the black moon hanging in the sky?"
"Nope."
"That's them. Hanging in the night sky, invisible, gods looking down on us. Not for scum like you to name."
Jang Yuk was sure. Long as he shut up, Lee Han got zilch.
Torture? Violence? He'd endured countless pains. Useless.
—Slap!
His head snapped sideways. Lee Han's palm cracked his cheek.
"Not playing. Save the poetry for your diary. Spill the coordinates."
"Ptoo."
Jang Yuk spat a broken tooth on Lee Han's shoe and sneered.
"Do it. Rip nails, burn flesh. Won't scream once. Don't underestimate Black Moon loyalty."
Tough bastard. Forum rumors checked out—abnormal pain tolerance.
Lee Han raised his fist again.
—Grab. A pale, slender hand caught his wrist. Adel.
"Why?"
"Lee Han. You promised."
Adel eyed Jang Yuk with gleaming eyes.
"Give me a shot."
"...Hm."
"Pepperoni recipe in his head... and the info you want. I'll yank it all."
Lee Han met her gaze. Not justice or revenge—a kid with a new toy. Or a mad scientist before an unknown specimen.
"Fine. Your specialty."
Lee Han stepped back, arms crossed. Jang Yuk scoffed.
"Ha! Best you brought is a girl? What can a puny mage do? Mind magic? Won't work."
Adel ignored the taunt. She slipped on white gloves and murmured low.
"Alright then, performing bear—time to shine?"
—Vrrr!
Space tore. The grand mage's purple subspace opened. Grotesque machines poured out.
—Clang crash!Clank!
A massive chair tangled in complex wires. Helmet with dozens of electrodes. IV stand jammed with mystery ampules.
The bio-experiment kit she'd teased Red Skull grunts with.
"Wh-what the hell?"
Jang Yuk's pupils shook. Beyond any torture he knew.
"Lemme introduce my masterpiece: Neuron Scratcher ver 2.0."
Adel beamed, plugging cables.
"Originally for mana circuit blockages. But crank the output—a lot—and fun stuff happens."
"Wh-what're you doing!"
"Hold still. Setting you up."
Adel deftly fitted the helmet, pasted electrodes everywhere. Delicate but obsessive touch.
"Gel on temples for conductivity. Hits the brain zingy. Heart area safety. Can't die yet."
—Squish. Cold gel hit skin—Jang Yuk got chills. Her treating his body like lab parts creeped him more.
"Red lines hook pain nerves, blue hits memory core. Oh, this machine? No physical pain."
Adel fiddled dials at the console.
"Direct brain signals. 'Your body's burning,' 'Bones shattering into a thousand pieces'—illusions. No real damage, but brain thinks it's dying. Efficient, right?"
"Cr-crazy bitch."
Jang Yuk swallowed dry. He liked pain, but brain-hacking? Whole other level.
"Adel. Done?"
Lee Han lounged, munching popcorn.
"Yup. Chamber of Truth, set."
Adel hovered finger over red button.
"Let's start level 1? Theme: 'Tap-dancing in lava.'"
—Click.
"GRAAAH! UAAAAAAGH!!!!"
Button pressed—Jang Yuk's scream erupted. Beyond human—a beast's howl. Soul-ripping wail.
"Hahk! Guh! KAAAAH! Hot! HOT!!"
His body flopped like a hooked fish. No real fire. But his brain drowned in phantom agony of melting skin.
—Bzzz! Crackle!
Machine whines mixed with screams—hell symphony. Ceiling goons pissed themselves watching.
"Spare us! Please!"
"We just followed orders!"
Adel ignored pleas, glued to graphs on monitor.
"As expected. Beta waves spiking. Frontal lobe reacting great. Theory confirmed."
"Guh... guaaa..."
Three minutes later. Jang Yuk's eyes rolled back, head lolled. Massive frame slumped. Out cold.
"Huh? Already?"
Adel hit stop. Lee Han checked him.
"Tough guy, huh? Lamer than expected."
Lee Han grabbed a bucket, splashed water.
—Splash!
"Pwahack!"
Jang Yuk sputtered awake. Gasping, terror in eyes as he looked up at Adel.
"Y-you... you're demons."
"Aw, thanks."
Adel hummed, tweaking dials. Then tilted head.
"Huh. Hold up."
She tapped the monitor.
"Settings wrong."
"What?"
"Formula mislinked. No wonder."
Jang Yuk's face twisted oddly. He forced trembling lips into a victorious smirk.
"K-kek. That's your limit? Trying to break me with this?"
Horrific, but bearable. Blackout from shock buildup, not broken will.
'I can tank this. They get nothing.'
Confidence back. Bloodshot glare at Adel.
"Try again! Full power—I won't budge! Think this toy breaks me?!"
"Oh ho."
Lee Han popped more popcorn.
"Adel. Customer's unhappy with service."
"For real? Jang Yuk's special, huh. Gotta do A/S right."
Adel smiled down, satisfied.
"Lucky. That was 5% output. You passed out so fast, thought the machine broke."
"......What?"
Jang Yuk's grin froze solid.