Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Regeneration had already begun, and he'd be back to normal soon enough. The problem was the woman pinning him down. 'Jin... Seong-hyeok.''Yeah.''Who the hell is this woman?' Jin Seong-hyeok clearly knew her. He'd called her by name. 'An Ji-young. One of the only two SS-grade Hunters in our country.' An SS-grade Hunter. Just as he'd suspected. Even in a rampage, she was on a whole different level from an S-grade. Despite being bound head to toe with restraints channeling electric currents, she'd still unleashed her power
'How the hell did she go rampant?' Jin Seong-hyeok's voice was grave. They knew each other. She was the only one who treated Jin Seong-hyeok—the man everyone else idolized like a god—as just another person. It wasn't love or affection. It was simple pity for one another. Pity for two people doomed to live as weapons, slaughtering monsters for the rest of their lives, whether they wanted to or not. 'Cha Su-ho.''Yes.''Is there a way to bring a rampaging Hunter back?' Jin Seong-hyeok, a Hunter himself, knew better than anyone that there wasn't
Still, he'd asked Su-ho because he didn't want Ji-young's life to end in a rampage. Jin Seong-hyeok didn't want his own life to end that way either. Without a word, Su-ho lifted his gaze toward Ji-young, who was stepping on his body. A Hunter consumed by power was chaos incarnate. They'd lost their sense of self, reduced to nothing but killing machines. "Gurk." In an instant, Su-ho's throat was crushed. Her restrained hands gripped his neck tight. Crackle-crackle-. Sparks flew from the massive current surging through her restraints
But Ji-young didn't let go. Even as the electricity charred her hands, she showed no sign of feeling the pain. He could feel his pulse throbbing wildly in his constricted throat. His face was already flushed red from the rush of blood. His breaths came in desperate gasps. With great effort, Su-ho reached up and grabbed the hand Ji-young had clamped around his neck. Then he slammed his forehead into hers. Thwack-! Was this what they meant by seeing stars? For a split second, Su-ho's vision flashed white
She was a woman, after all—even a rampaging Hunter. Unable to bring himself to strike her properly, Su-ho's best option had been a headbutt. Ji-young staggered back, her body swaying. His head spun with nausea, but Su-ho didn't miss the opening. He scrambled away from her. "Hah... hah..." He'd succeeded in putting distance between them, but the real problem lay ahead. As long as he stayed trapped in this damn room—and no one stopped Ji-young—he was as good as dead. 'Jin Seong-hyeok.' Jin Seong-hyeok caught on to why Su-ho had called him
'An Ji-young has two abilities.' Just two? Su-ho asked incredulously. 'She's SS-grade, isn't she?!''The number doesn't matter. She's one of the rare few who possesses both mental and physical abilities.' Mental and physical abilities. Su-ho recalled something from the Helper manual. Hunter abilities were typically divided into two categories: mental and physical. Hunters already boasted superhuman physiques compared to Helpers or civilians, but physical-type Hunters took it to another level
Stamina, agility, strength—they were called beasts rather than humans. High S-grade physical Hunters could even fight mutated monsters with nothing but a single sword. Since such dual-ability cases were so rare, the Association or government often bumped their rank up by one grade. Ji-young was one of those cases. 'Her main ability is control. She can manipulate humans or monsters for about an hour, and she wields S-grade-level telekinesis.' Powerful mental abilities like control and telekinesis, plus physical prowess on top of that
'Th-That's... totally broken, isn't it?!''Broken?''You know, like an overpowered character. Totally unfair.''Then what am I?' Su-ho was at a loss for words at Jin Seong-hyeok's question—if that was overpowered, what did that make him? 'A bug, maybe... Nah, NPC fits better. One made by the devs.''What's that mean?''Doesn't matter. Not important right now.' Su-ho let out a short sigh, his gaze shifting back to Ji-young. 'You asked earlier if there's a way to revert a rampaging Hunter
The answer is no.''Right.' Su-ho spoke to the resigned Jin Seong-hyeok. 'But we have to find one.''What?''You want to save An Ji-young, right, Jin Seong-hyeok?' Jin Seong-hyeok didn't reply, but he didn't deny it either. 'Good enough.' There was no more time. Ji-young's crimson eyes locked onto Su-ho. 'Jin Seong-hyeok, you can absorb abilities, right? Even just part of them?''Part?''Yeah. Half of it.''Possible.''Then absorb half of An Ji-young's control ability.' Absorb Ji-young's control ability? Before Jin could even ask what that meant, Su-ho pressed on
'You said she can control humans or monsters, right?' A smile tugged at Su-ho's lips. 'Let's see if she can control a rampaging Hunter too.'Boom-! A deafening crash echoed as Su-ho's body smashed into the flimsy cot in the corner, crumpling it. "Urk..." With an emotionless expression, Ji-young charged at Su-ho. There was no time to dodge. In the blink of an eye, she was right in front of him. "Guh." This time, seeing her throttle him with murderous intent, Su-ho signaled Jin Seong-hyeok
'Jin Seong-hyeok...!' He didn't need to finish. As Su-ho's consciousness faded, Jin Seong-hyeok took over. Su-ho's eyes flashed for a moment. The instant Jin seized control of Su-ho's body, the choking pressure around his throat hit full force. Jin grabbed Ji-young's hand on his neck. No matter how hard he tried, Su-ho's body couldn't overpower her physical abilities. He had to absorb her power fast. Still gripping her wrist, Jin slowly closed and opened his eyes. Thump, thump, thump, thump-. Ji-young's erratic pulse transmitted through her hand
Normally, absorbing an ability required seeing or experiencing it firsthand. Fortunately, Jin had both witnessed Ji-young's powers and been on the receiving end before. 'Using me as a pack mule.' At Jin's mutter, Su-ho asked, 'Pardon?''Nothing. Starting the absorption now.' No sooner had he spoken than a burning sensation flared in his hand. Soon, heat spread through his entire body. As Su-ho panicked at the rising intensity, he released her hand. Ji-young's body trembled slightly, then went still
'Done.' Ji-young's head lifted. Her restrained hands shot up into the air, then slammed down toward Su-ho's head. Kaboom-! Seeing the deep crater in the floor, Su-ho shivered. If Jin hadn't taken control, his skull would've been smashed. 'That was... way too close.''Gotta stop her before you actually die.' Jin slipped a hand into his pocket. 'The examiners are probably watching the monitors. Can't use my power too obviously.' He had to be subtle. Staring at Ji-young, Jin recalled the time she'd used her control ability on him before
They'd locked eyes, he'd blinked slowly a few times, and the next thing he knew... 'Pisses me off.' His brow furrowed like crumpled paper at the unwanted memory. Right on cue, Ji-young moved again. As she charged with her hands raised, Jin stared into her eyes and blinked slowly. Once, twice, three times. It was over in an instant. Their gazes clashed in midair. Her pitch-black pupils rippled like a hypnotic swirl. The crimson eyes staring back wavered. 'Easy.' No sooner had Jin spoken than Ji-young halted abruptly mid-charge
'Already...? You absorbed it?''So, what's the plan?' Jin Seong-hyeok's skill never ceased to amaze, but Su-ho felt like he'd been smacked in the back of the head by his casual attitude after absorbing an SS-grade Hunter's power in one go. 'What... the hell are you, Jin Seong-hyeok...?''No time. Wrap this up in 30 minutes.''Got it. Checking her status first.' In an instant, control reverted to Su-ho. The moment he was back in his body, he hurried toward Ji-young, who stood frozen like a statue
Su-ho grabbed her restraint-burned hand and focused his mind. "Huh." A choked feeling gripped his chest, drawing a small groan from Su-ho. A rampaging Hunter's condition was the worst imaginable. Just touching her flooded him with filthy, repulsive emotions. Scary, disgusting, creepy, nauseating, grotesque. The negative onslaught eroded his mind, dragging his mood to rock bottom. His stomach churned. He desperately wanted to let go, but Su-ho gritted his teeth and endured. With every black clump he sensed, his face grew paler
Jin Seong-hyeok silently watched the negative thoughts flooding Su-ho's mind. The price of overusing power was steep. Mental collapse, self-loathing, self-destruction. How many Hunters had rampaged and died under the banner of protecting humanity? Jin knew all too well. He didn't want to let Ji-young self-destruct like that. She'd upheld a Hunter's duty harder than anyone. He thought calmly. Rampage happened when the clumps built up from power use weren't purified in time, leading to corruption. So..
'Why not just absorb those clumps?' Absorb them up to the point before rampage, then have Su-ho Clean the rest to restore her. The absorbed clumps in Su-ho's body would just... 'Wait.' Jin spoke up as realization dawned. 'Cha Su-ho.''Y-Yeah? Jin Seong-hyeok, I'm kinda busy right now...''When we dealt with those two trash Hunters, why didn't I need a Clean after using your body?''Huh? Well... Oh yeah. Probably 'cause you didn't use much power? Plus, I'm a Helper.' Didn't need a Clean because of low power use? He'd absorbed two S-grade Hunters' powers and erased their memories
And Jin hadn't felt it at all. No dirty sensation or headaches from power use. 'You...''Yes?' If Hunter and Helper were one body, and it auto-Cleaned during power use... Jin's voice grew low. 'Maybe you don't need Clean at all.'