Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: A Spark of Hope
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I thought everything would be over once I received the divine descent.
Grandma had told me that when you receive the divine descent, the family's misfortunes vanish, and all the blessings that had been suppressed by those misfortunes come flooding in at once, bringing harmony to the home.
So I tried to accept the changes happening to me now as well.
I was even willing to embrace the persistent, subtle headache that came from suddenly being able to see things I couldn't before.
But.
'What the hell has changed...'
Neither Grandma nor the shaman's hall where I'd gone to receive the divine descent.
The harmony everyone had talked about never arrived.
Instead, the seed of discord that had taken deep root in my heart was sprouting, growing into a tree.
Thud.
A punch from one of Han-ul's gang slammed into Seong-min's gut.
Dizzying pain hit him, and his lungs refused to obey.
He couldn't breathe, saliva drooling from his mouth.
Thud.
A kick to his side from another gang member sent Seong-min's body flying sideways.
Pain that made breathing impossible, along with a different kind of agony, wrapped around his entire body.
"Guh... guh..."
Even a scream of pain was beyond him in this excruciating torment.
Clutching his side and stomach, Seong-min shed tears.
It didn't hurt as much as the loan sharks' fists at Grandma's bedside.
But this unrelenting, unaccustomed agony was rotting away both his body and mind.
'Well, at least something's different.'
As Seong-min curled up in pain, he lifted his head.
Thump.
His heart pounded irregularly along with the pain.
And each time it did, a gray ghostly energy became clearly visible in Seong-min's eyes, slowly accumulating on the bodies of Han-ul's gang, one by one.
It was something that had never happened before.
'So what?'
But this change made no difference to the thugs, who were grinning with the thrill of violence.
In other words, from before the divine descent to now, after receiving it.
Nothing had changed.
'I'm so damn unlucky...'
「I thought I was unlucky. Imagine being trapped in a pure white room as a lab rat. Everything I touch dies— that pain is horrific.」
'Why does this only happen to me...'
「It was really tough. They always called me a cursed child. Every time, I'd resent why it only happened to me.」
'I don't want to live... Someone like me should just die.'
「Every time I killed a target, I'd drink myself senseless. With a clear mind, the target's resentful eyes before death wouldn't fade, and I couldn't sleep. Back then, I thought I was evil incarnate. Trash that the world would be better off without if I died.」
"......"
It was then, as he sank into a swamp of pain, sorrow, and resentment, unable to escape.
The moment his negative thoughts reached their peak, Seong-min's eyes widened.
「After meeting the Supreme One, I gained control over my poison. I no longer kill anyone against my will. So...」
「After meeting Supreme One hyung, I started to like this power. I'm no longer a cursed child. I can use this strength to help others. So...」
「I took the hand the Supreme One offered, and I was reborn. From an assassin born to kill, into a Ghost Demon Soul Exterminator born to save lives... So...」
His eyes snapped wide.
「I'm so happy now.」
Seong-min, who had felt everything was the same as before, stared with wide eyes and stopped his trembling body amid the pain.
Nothing had changed, he'd thought.
He shook his head fiercely, biting his lip until it bled.
'No, there is a definite change.'
The Seong-min from a week ago, living in hell.
And the current Seong-min, still believing he lived in hell.
The Seong-min before meeting the Ghost Demon Soul Exterminators.
And the Seong-min after meeting them, resolved to become a Ghost Soul.
He could feel the stark difference between them.
'I can do it.'
Hope.
For Seong-min, plummeting into an endless hellish abyss, the Ghost Demon Soul Exterminators and the Supreme One became his lifeline.
The first hope to gift him the desire to live, where none had existed before.
That hope spread through his heart.
"Hey, move aside. It's my turn now."
As Seong-min slowly began to rise, Han-ul smirked as if amused and shoved his gang to the sides.
"This was getting fun, punk."
"Han-ul, you go first. Kick his leg. I'm curious what'll happen, heh heh."
Han-ul's gaze shifted to Seong-min's leg.
The scrawny limb looked like it would snap with a single tap.
Sneer.
"Here I go~"
Han-ul charged at Seong-min along with his gang.
Just like before, he swung his foot wide with a grin, as if to shatter Seong-min's leg.
"Whoa!"
Right before Han-ul's full-force kick could smash into Seong-min's leg.
From behind him, Seong-min's shadow—cast by sunlight filtering through the warehouse window—twitched.
And then.
Thud!
With a dull sound...
Han-ul fell backward.
"Ah..."
Han-ul, who had landed hard on his butt, stared at Seong-min with a blank expression.
"What...?"
The gang, who had watched with eager anticipation, were dumbfounded.
They glanced at the fallen Han-ul, then at Seong-min standing tall.
Seong-min's fist extended forward.
Swipe.
"Bl-blood...? Nosebleed, I'm bleeding from my nose!"
Han-ul, still on the ground, wiped his nose and screamed at the top of his lungs.
'Wh-what just happened?'
Seong-min, who had squeezed his eyes shut, slowly opened them.
There was Han-ul, sprawled on his butt amid his gang, wiping blood from his nose.
'How... did that happen?'
He had braced for his leg to break as he swung his fist.
He had become a proper Ghost Soul of the Ghost Demon Soul Exterminators.
For the first time, he tried to overcome the fear right in front of him, determined to stand proudly among those who had found happiness in even worse misfortunes.
But something entirely different had occurred.
"That bastard's a hunter, right? Did he use a skill?"
"Han-ul's foot should've hit first! You okay, Han-ul?"
"N-nosebleed! Th-that bastard hit me. He hit me!"
The gang had seen it clearly too.
Seong-min's fist extending just as Han-ul's foot was about to connect with his leg.
They'd thought that punch would just flop uselessly.
It should have.
"A hunter using a skill on a regular person? On a student, no less?"
The gang scowled and yelled.
At that moment, Han-ul, who had been screaming, spoke in a suddenly calm, icy voice.
"Hey..."
"Y-yeah?"
"Kill that bastard."
The gang stared at the abruptly composed Han-ul.
"Y-your eyes..."
His gaze had changed.
Killing intent emanated from his eyes, as if he were someone else entirely.
"Don't you guys get paid by me to attend school? Fucking tell your dad to get you all expelled."
The gang flinched and trembled.
"Kill him."
Han-ul handed hammers and monkey wrenches from beside the warehouse to his gang.
"I said kill him!"
The gang took the tools from Han-ul with shaking hands.
'Th-this wasn't the plan...'
The initial order from Han-ul had been just to give him a light beating.
But what was this situation now?
Beating someone up and murder were worlds apart.
It was beyond what high school status or Han-ul's backing could cover.
"If you can't kill that fucker, you'll be taking his place."
Gulp.
The gang swallowed dryly.
That was something they absolutely had to avoid.
Seong-min's position was hell itself.
Seong-min panicked as the gang closed in step by step.
'I-I'm gonna die...'
Even without weapons, the size difference meant he'd lose any fair fight.
But now they were coming at him with murder in their eyes, hammers and wrenches in hand.
Dying by his own choice versus dying at another's hand.
The difference was crystal clear.
'Wh-what do I do?'
The terror of death, something he'd never felt before, began to choke Seong-min.
But then.
Twitch.
Something unbelievable happened.
'Huh...?'
Seong-min's shadow, projected behind Han-ul's gang, suddenly moved.
Unlike his stationary self, it writhed as if possessing its own will.
Swipe.
And from within that shadow emerged a familiar face.
Sa-gwi-hon of the Ghost Demon Soul Exterminators.
Leader of the Night Killer Society, Mu-hee.
She poked her face out from Seong-min's shadow and winked at him.
"Ah..."
Just seeing Mu-hee's face made Seong-min feel all strength drain from his body.
The fear that had made his heart race vanished, replaced by relief that sent his legs buckling beneath him.
And that relief became reality.
Swipe.
"You've got some guts."
The warehouse door was shut tight, with only Han-ul's gang and Seong-min inside.
Yet a completely unfamiliar voice echoed through the space.
"H-heek!!"
Startled, the gang dropped their hammers and wrenches, falling on their asses.
They were already terrified at the thought of killing Seong-min.
Now someone had appeared out of nowhere in an empty space.
"Uwaaaah!!!"
Their reaction was perfectly natural.
Except for Han-ul, who sat staunching his nosebleed, the gang scrambled toward the door, pounding on it.
Bang bang bang bang.
"Open the door!!! "
"Ghost! There's a ghost!!! Help us, teacher!!!!"
But no matter how much they banged, the door wouldn't budge.
And the owner of the voice they feared slowly stepped out from the shadows.
"You okay?"
Il-gwi-hon of the Ghost Demon Soul Exterminators, arms crossed in his black suit.
Myung-su stood in the center of the warehouse, looking down at Seong-min.
"Y-yes, I'm f-fine."
"Good job."
Myung-su smiled at Seong-min's swollen fist.
Then he slowly walked past Han-ul toward the gang.
"Uwaaaah!!!!!"
They screamed and huddled, curling into balls, arms wrapped around their heads, faces buried between their legs, bracing for whatever was coming.
Creeeak.
But contrary to their imaginations, the sound was the warehouse door opening.
"If it's locked, you gotta unlock it. Bunch of idiots, tsk tsk."
"Uwaaaah!!!"
As the warehouse door swung open, the gang crawled out in terror, fleeing outside.
Myung-su turned from watching their retreating backs to look at Han-ul.
Then he leaned in close to the terrified boy and said,
"So you're the one who ruined a Ghost Soul's life."
Sneer.
Myung-su glanced briefly at Seong-min before turning back to Han-ul.
And he said coldly,
"Jeong Han-ul, second son of the thug from Cheon-yeong Corporation. I'll give you a day you'll remember forever. Just like what you did to a Ghost Soul who now belongs to the Supreme One."
As Myung-su smiled and straightened up, a group of people entered from the warehouse's opposite entrance.
"They're here,"
Mu-hee, who had appeared unnoticed, stood beside Myung-su and reported.
Myung-su nodded once and extended a hand toward the slumped Seong-min.
"Let's go, Yuk-gwi-hon."
Tears in his eyes, Seong-min nodded vigorously and rose to his feet with determination.
And he shouted loudly,
"Yes, sir! Il-gwi-hon!"