Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 080
Chapter Title: Lifting the Curse (1)
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That made sense.
“Not connected to the main body, but curse proxies set up instead……”
A curse vicious enough to devour a person down to their blackened core. It wasn’t your run-of-the-mill hex, so it stood to reason they’d prepared countermeasures.
“Then these aren’t all tangled up everywhere, but connected one by one to the proxies?”
[That’s right!]
“Alright. Guess we’ll have to hunt them all down one by one.”
After that, things progressed smoothly.
Once they realized the threads weren’t knotted together but linked individually, there was no reason to get lost. No need to rack their brains untangling—just doggedly follow each one.
And then.
“You can’t just barge into the chairman’s office like that……”
“Let him in.”
Woo Do-gyeom silenced his secretary with a low voice.
In the meantime, Yeonwoo flung open the door and strode into one of the rooms without a second thought.
He’d felt it inside the company building too—this room was stark and barren.
Without so much as a glance around, Yeonwoo headed straight for one spot.
“Is this important?”
What Yeonwoo picked up was a framed photo.
Woo Do-gyeom looking even younger than now, a man who resembled him just a little, and a stern middle-aged man, all gathered together.
“Not at all.”
“It might get broken.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’d welcome it.”
“Looks like a family photo?”
“So what?”
“Well……”
Everyone had their own family stories, after all.
Yeonwoo didn’t dwell on it and simply lifted the frame.
An unnaturally clumped mass of eerie energy.
A sticky, cloying, repulsive texture clung to it.
One thread extended long from that lumpy, sticky blob of malice.
Solving it was simple.
*Clang!*
He just smashed the frame to bits without mercy.
That’s when the bizarre happened.
*Keeek—*
Along with a strange noise,
“Eek! Daddy! It’s blood!”
“The frame’s bleeding!”
The shattered frame was stained with blood.
Eerily, the stain artfully avoided Woo Do-gyeom’s face in the photo, smothering his brothers’ instead.
Woo Do-gyeom picked up a piece of the broken frame and muttered.
“Fascinating.”
“Flip it over and open the back. Something’s definitely inside.”
Woo Do-gyeom silently pried open the back of the frame.
Where only the reverse of the stained photo should have been, there were small, curved fragments.
“Nails. Charred black ones.”
Over ten scorched nail clippings were packed inside.
“Is that the end of it?”
“Nope.”
[Yeonwoo! Found another one!]
Just then, Dongja-ryeong flapped in on his wings.
The moment they found another curse proxy.
***
Hunting down the curse proxies went surprisingly fast.
The reason was simple.
[They’re all inside the house? Lucky for us…… Weird, though. Usually, no one hides them in such obvious spots.]
No need to wander far—they were all right here.
[If they’d stashed them deep in some secure hideaway, it would’ve been a nightmare to find. Whoever did this has a real sense of humor, huh?]
Yeonwoo muttered while holding the last one they found—a teddy bear doll.
“That too, but this guy’s seriously creepy.”
Whoever it was, they were more thorough than expected.
And more low-down and dirty, too.
Setting up curse proxies right in the target’s home?
That was basically saying:
[Thrashing around cluelessly with the solution right under your nose—drop dead in agony.]
‘Whoever it is, they’ve got rotten taste.’
The twins spotted the doll in Yeonwoo’s hands and shouted.
Thanks to destroying the first proxy, their shoulders and up were now visibly clean, unlike before.
They had promising features, concave and refined like Woo Do-gyeom.
“Hey! That’s my doll!”
“The teddy we got for our birthday!”
No need to mention the clumps of chicken feathers matted with dried blood inside the teddy.
“Why smash the first one on sight but collect the rest?”
“Bad luck.”
“……Huh?”
“Having them flaunt it like this is bad luck, so I figured I’d gather them all first and decide later.”
“And now that you’ve got them all?”
“Who knows.”
Woo Do-gyeom’s eyes crinkled at the smile creeping onto Yeonwoo’s lips.
“Whatever it is, I like that look.”
It was true.
Curse proxies absorbed the backlash meant for the caster.
Breaking the first frame had likely already struck a blow.
So.
What if they destroyed all the proxies at once?
‘Wonder how massive the backlash would be?’
Wouldn’t lumping it into one big hit pack more punch than doling it out in installments?
‘Let’s find out.’
A sly grin tugged at Yeonwoo’s mouth.
***
[I get what you’re thinking, but reconsider, Yeonwoo. Wouldn’t it be safer to take them out one by one? Messing with them all at once could be dangerous!]
Yeonwoo had found nine curse proxies total.
One was smashed on discovery, leaving eight.
Enough to worry Dongja-ryeong.
[Detonating eight at once is way too risky!]
Risky, sure.
‘The one who cast the curse.’
Yeonwoo shrugged.
[Why doesn’t Yeonhwa mess with curses? Does this kid really not know and that’s why he’s so fearless?]
If Yeonwoo ignored Dongja-ryeong’s nagging, the plan would’ve gone even smoother.
“That dangerous, Dongja-ssi?”
While Yeonwoo roamed freely through the massive house, Kwon Sung-hyun had been kept outside as an outsider.
Now that Yeonwoo had gathered all the proxies and emerged, he approached, peeked, overheard Dongja-ryeong, and stiffened.
“It’s just severing the connections, so probably not that dan……”
If the chatty sparrow hadn’t chimed in, he could’ve bluffed it off perfectly.
But.
[Oh, obviously! Any normal person would’ve collapsed from just one, but you’re fine, so it’s no biggie.]
“Then I definitely need to stop you.”
[Actor-ssi, talk him out of it! He never listens to me.]
“Yeonwoo-ssi.”
“Yeah. I’m doing it.”
“I haven’t said anything yet.”
“I know. I’m doing it anyway. People don’t say one thing and mean another. Gotta be professional.”
Oof. Kinda guilty.
But not a total lie.
The kids nearly getting slaughtered bugged him, sure.
But there was another thing nagging at him.
[‘Intent Discernment’ impossible on target.]
That system message.
Plus,
[New function available.]
That piqued his curiosity too.
‘Sounds like an upgrade’s coming.’
Too late to back out now.
Better see it through and reap the sweet rewards.
“You’re not planning to hand a ready meal to someone else, right?”
“……Did you learn mind-reading?”
“Don’t need it—that was obvious.”
“I’m not that easy to read……”
Kwon Sung-hyun looked flustered, stroking his face after trying—and failing—to tell him to handle the aftermath himself.
Meanwhile.
Woo Do-gyeom approached Yeonwoo from behind his men, who were busily inspecting the gathered proxies.
“We’ve collected everything usable as evidence. The rest is yours.”
“Ready to start?”
“Yeah.”
“Bring salt and a knife.”
“Salt’s fine, but…… a knife?”
“Sharper the better. One that’s tasted blood is ideal.”
“I’ll have it ready.”
As Woo Do-gyeom said, the items arrived promptly.
The salt was premium sea salt, but the knife was what stood out.
“Problem?”
“……No. It’s almost too good.”
The blade gleamed with a deadly edge—nothing ordinary.
“You’ve got an eye. Belonged to my right-hand man. He maintained it even after retiring.”
No way this was for normal use.
Not a kitchen knife, not a fruit knife, not for filleting fish.
If anything, it resembled a cleaver…… but how often does a civilian use one long-term?
‘Perfect for the job, though.’
Deny it all you want—it’d send backlash flying.
“I’ll leave it to you.”
Woo Do-gyeom’s voice sank low.
With evidence secured, his mood had plummeted inevitably.
The man already simmering with dangerous vibes grew even more menacing.
‘Internal job—has to sting.’
Setting proxies right under his nose wasn’t just bold.
It meant someone who could roam the house freely.
Close enough to Woo Do-gyeom to face no checks, even giving birthday gifts to the kids.
Getting stabbed in the back by someone that close? Hard to swallow.
As Yeonwoo unearthed each proxy, Woo Do-gyeom’s face had hardened.
His silence grew—he suspected too.
‘Whoever it is, they’re in deep.’
Those eyes glinting on the verge of snapping evoked Woo Do-gyeom’s mad dog nickname.
“Just sprinkle it there?”
“Yes. Pile it thick, don’t scatter. Don’t forget the corners outside each door.”
“No worries. We’ll handle it.”
The suited men scattered with salt at Yeonwoo’s orders.
The salt at door corners was pure energy to ward off potential backlash.
As the men regrouped after finishing, Yeonwoo took the knife from Woo Do-gyeom.
And.
*Slash—*
Drew it across his arm without hesitation.
“What the—Yeonwoo-ssi?”
[Oh no, he’s starting. Actor-ssi, shh! Stay quiet. He needs focus!]
The knife was so sharp, just pressing it split skin, blood dripping steadily.
But what horrified everyone wasn’t that.
“……!”
“Oh god, the blood……!”
“What the hell……?”
Yeonwoo looked moments from a bloodbath.
Yet impossibly, the blood vanished the instant it touched the blade.
As if the knife were absorbing it.
“Quiet, everyone.”
Woo Do-gyeom’s heavy command silenced the murmurs instantly.
The tension lingered, though.
‘Good. Tool for severing’s ready.’
He’d infused the blade—drenched in others’ blood—with his special Kang Yeonwoo flair.
Drew a talisman, burned it to amp the energy.
Dragging the knife, Yeonwoo silently swung it around the proxies.
*Shwick! Shwick!*
Each eerie whoosh through the air triggered something grotesque.
“Huh, wh-what?”
“It’s moving……?”
People instinctively freak at the unnatural.
The crowd’s eyes widened in shock anew as the lifeless objects twitched with every swing.
‘Take it all back—properly.’
*Whoosh!*
Every swing.
*Snap! Snap!*
The threads binding the kids faded, severing bit by bit.
The foul dark-red tangles snapped on the blade, ricocheting away into nothingness.
Whoever it was, they were probably in hell right now.
With flesh-infused blade energy, doubly agonizing.
‘This should do it.’
How long had he slashed murderously in all directions?
The twins were now nearly free of curse threads.
***
With the rough cleanup done.
One task left.
“Got fire?”
Finish it clean.
*Flick!*
Lighters sparked from all sides instantly.
“Oil or something flammable would be great to help it catch.”
Someone dashed off and returned with thinner.
……No normal household item, but whatever.
“Soak them good.”
The suits doused the pile methodically.
“Fire.”
Yeonwoo took the lighter Woo Do-gyeom silently offered and lit a paper.
Then tossed it straight onto the stack.