Chapter 89
Chapter 89
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Monkey's Paw / Laughing Buddha
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fortunately, the misunderstanding was cleared up quickly.
No explanation was even needed. Kim I-seo took one look at the severed necks on the corpses and immediately realized they were the work of an evil spirit. Her experience hadn't gone to waste.
"What did you do with the evil spirit?"
Kim I-seo pulled a sack from her pocket as she asked. Ian stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and answered.
"Killed it."
"Confirmed. Good work."
She spoke politely as she gathered the heads rolling around on the ground one by one into the sack.
The pristine white sack turned red in an instant. Blood droplets dripped steadily from the pooled blood at the bottom.
"Why are you taking those?"
"To identify the victims. That way, we can compensate their families."
"……Compensation?"
"It's not much. Things like winning the lottery or their work going well."
"So there was lottery rigging involved. I knew it."
No wonder he hadn't won once despite buying tickets for years. Who knew there was such a backstory.
Sure, it was manipulated, but since it was done with good intentions, it was hard to outright condemn it. If he were short on cash, it might have irked him, but Ian was more than comfortable financially these days. His expenses were high, but so was his income, so he didn't cling too tightly to money.
He let the lottery thing slide.
He hung his helmet on the bike's helmet lock and stretched his stiff body.
"What about the rest of the team?"
"They're on their way. Including you, Shin Ian, there are two mages assigned to this operation."
He was about to ask who the other one was when three people slowly climbed up the steep downhill path. Two of them wore Management Bureau suits—far tougher than any stab-proof or bulletproof vest. The black suits, optimized purely for defense, absorbed the sunlight and built up heat.
"Hello."
The third was a woman in a black short-sleeved T-shirt and white tennis skirt that didn't suit the winter chill. Her black hair stuck out messily, with bangs reaching down to her nose. Dark circles prominent under her eyes, she waved lazily at Ian.
"Long time no see."
It was Kim Yul. Ian eyed her outfit and narrowed his eyes.
"……Aren't you cold?"
"I can't feel cold because of my magic. My body temperature doesn't change either."
She trotted up to him as she answered.
"What do you think? Pretty impressive, right?"
"……Impressive, sure, but can you fight in that magic?"
"My main magic is something else. This is just a side effect that came with mastering it."
She grinned and gently wrapped her hands around his. Her cold body temperature raced through his skin across his whole body.
"Look forward to it. Your senior's gonna show you how amazing she is."
"……Senior, my ass."
Ian chuckled and pushed Kim Yul's hand away. She stepped back without resistance.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kim Mi-ryeo from Response Division Team 4."
"I'm Lee Min-su, also from Team 4. It's an honor."
The Bureau agents filled the space she'd vacated. They extended hands to Ian one after another. He nodded and shook them in turn.
"Shin Ian. Mage."
"We've heard about you. They say you did great at the hospital."
The man named Lee Min-su spoke calmly. Two small hand axes hung menacingly from his belt.
"Please take care of us again. We won't hold you back, so don't worry."
"Good to hear. And you don't seem to hate mages or anything."
"I know not all mages are detestable. Can't generalize like that."
He smiled faintly and pulled a cigarette from his pocket, putting it in his mouth.
"I'm a believer in innate goodness. I treat everyone as good until I personally brand them evil. Ah, mind if I smoke?"
"Go ahead."
"Thanks. You a smoker too?"
Ian slipped a sail out and placed it between his lips instead of answering. Lee Min-su smirked, pulled out a lighter, and lit it for him. Kim Yul backed away dramatically at the sight.
"Cigarette smell. We're in the mountains—cut it out before you start a fire."
"That's why I'm smoking before we go in. Once the mission starts, I won't get the chance anyway."
"……Ugh, you smokers."
Kim Yul made a disgusted face and sat on a rock, tilting her head side to side.
Ian narrowed his eyes at the puddle at her feet rippling slightly with her movements.
'Magic related to water?'
The power of the Four Elements.
To wield fire, one must endure pain close to burning alive dozens of times.
To wield earth, one must spend over a hundred hours deep underground, eating dirt to survive.
To wield wind, one must free-fall from great heights dozens of times without safety gear.
And to wield water, one must repeatedly awaken and pass out from near-drowning agony dozens of times—whether handling a droplet or a waterfall. In the end, to use water's power, the lungs must fill with it.
Given those conditions, Four Elements magic packed considerable power. Awakening in different places or environments could even unlock extra traits. But was it as impressive as the risks? Not really.
'Easy to say, but every one of those is suicidal. No sane person would even attempt it.'
No matter how talented in magic, no one would throw themselves into fire or drown dozens of times just to become a mage.
That said, it also meant people did become mages that way.
Kim Yul might be one of them.
"……."
Whatever the case, once they started the job in earnest, he'd get to see her magic. He could judge then.
Ian lit his sail.
Moments later, the two finished smokers walked over to Kim I-seo, who was tapping away at her laptop.
The black laptop screen displayed a list of victims taken by the evil spirit. Kim I-seo sent it to the Bureau and gathered the group.
"Briefing starting. Everyone, gather up."
*
"The goal of this operation is to destroy or secure the Monkey's Paw."
She showed the laptop screen to everyone. Kim Yul, glued to Ian's side, pouted and tapped her smartphone. A peek revealed she was posting to the community.
Title: [Day 3 without a shower—do I smell?]
"……."
Ian shoved her away and sat next to Lee Min-su to peer at the screen.
A fairly detailed PPT.
An aerial view of the village and a map appeared on the screen.
"Locating the missing recon team is our third objective. If we find them by chance, we'll rescue them, but we won't go out of our way."
"What if their mental corruption is too advanced?"
Kim Mi-ryeo asked. Kim I-seo answered without hesitation.
"If cleansing is possible, we rescue. Otherwise…… we secure the bodies at least."
"You're cold."
"That's how we complete the mission. Can't get hung up on rescues."
"I know. Just checking."
Kim Mi-ryeo smiled wryly and looked up.
"You've gotten colder, I-seo. The old you would've gone for rescue no matter what."
"……It's a necessary trait for an agent."
"Fair enough. Just saying—moving on. What's the second objective?"
"Deal with the Buddha."
Click.
Kim I-seo advanced the slide.
"Laughing Buddha. Threat level unknown, but it has its own followers, so it's no pushover. Almost no intel, so not much detail I can give."
"……."
"But we identified its appearance from records by recon agents who took their own lives."
The screen advanced again.
Up came a drawing.
A massive Buddha statue painted entirely in blood. Human eyeballs crammed densely into where eyes should be like insects, blood continuously leaking from its torn-up grin. Between its chest and abdomen ran a vertical slit revealing clear faces of laughing men and women.
"Drawing restored from agent eyewitness accounts."
Kim I-seo said.
"The moment you visually identify the statue, your mouth curls into a grin against your will. Keep listening to the laughter it emits, and you lose your sense of self. No countermeasures known besides suicide. No clue what happens after losing self either."
"Mind-attack anomaly."
"Not confirmed. Could suddenly jump up and throw punches too."
"Ah, that'd be fun."
Kim Yul giggled. Kim I-seo ignored her and closed the laptop.
"Unknown if physical attacks work, so if possible, handle the Buddha after the first objective. We'll assess post-Monkey's Paw and decide on withdrawal or finishing the Buddha."
"Hope we can just handle the Monkey's Paw."
Lee Min-su sighed.
"Two anomalies in one day is tough."
"One question, I-seo. Any chance the Monkey's Paw caused the Buddha to appear?"
Kim Mi-ryeo asked. Kim I-seo pondered briefly, then shook her head.
"No idea. But plausible. Worth considering."
"Right?"
The briefing wrapped up after another five minutes or so. Ian shouldered his bag and stood with the others prepping to move. Kim Yul scurried to his side and grinned.
"Shall we go, newbie?"
Ian swapped grimoires inside his coat and looked down at her with cold eyes.
"……Shower next time. You stink sour."
"Beauties don't smell."
"Absurd."
"Absurd squared."
Kim Yul clasped her hands behind her back and skipped after the Bureau agents leading the way.
A misty fog spread in her footprints. Ian exhaled long, catching the faint water scent wafting up.
"Let's go, Shin Ian."
Kim I-seo, his guard and rear watcher, slung her gun case over her back and said.
"……Yeah, let's move."
Ian nodded and started walking.
Splash. Mud squelched underfoot.
[Ahahahaha!!]
A clear laugh seemed to echo from somewhere.
+