Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Exam (5)
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‘W-what are you talking about...’
It was a tone that said he couldn’t comprehend.
‘You don’t need Clean? Of course not. I’m a Helper, after all.’
‘No.’
Jin Seong-hyeok’s voice was firm.
‘Every power comes with a price. The greater the power you use, the greater the price.’
Like last time, if he had absorbed the power of two Hunters and erased their memories, clumps should have formed in Su-ho’s body. It would be normal for him to feel nauseous, suffer headaches, or develop insomnia as a result.
But Su-ho was fine. More than fine—his body actually felt refreshed.
‘Even now, after absorbing half of an SS-grade Hunter’s power, you don’t feel a single trace of impure energy.’
Su-ho’s pupils trembled faintly, like they were shaken. He truly felt nothing. Not when Jin Seong-hyeok used his power, nor afterward.
‘...Jin Seong-hyeok.’
Staring at Ji-young, who stood frozen in place, Su-ho continued.
‘How about we run a little test?’
‘I was just thinking the same thing.’
‘Me too. Absorb An Ji-young’s power and...’
‘See what happens to your body.’
Laughter laced their words.
‘Alright. Let’s do it.’
Su-ho slowly closed his eyes, then opened them. Unlike before, his pupils now held a subtle chill. Having handed over control of his body, Su-ho spoke to Jin Seong-hyeok.
‘Jin Seong-hyeok, I’m counting on you.’
‘Don’t worry.’
Jin Seong-hyeok strode toward Ji-young and took her hand without hesitation.
He’d told Su-ho not to worry, but this was Jin Seong-hyeok’s first time trying it too. Absorbing not monster or Hunter power, but the clumps and negative energy within.
He didn’t know if it would work, but they had to try. This was the only way to save Ji-young.
Jin Seong-hyeok closed his eyes slowly and focused. He began absorbing the clumps that had infested her body, one by one. Whenever he took in a large mass, he felt like vomiting.
Su-ho, too, was swept up in an inexplicable, indescribable sensation.
A powerless, nauseating feeling. As if all sorts of negative emotions had been packed tightly into lumps, they now piled up inside his body.
Su-ho’s body sagged. It felt like someone was grabbing his ankle, dragging him downward. There was no time to collect his thoughts amid the endless sensation of plummeting.
Along with his growing daze, stabbing headaches started intermittently.
‘Jin... Seong-hyeok.’
Jin Seong-hyeok spoke to Su-ho, who barely managed to voice it.
‘Cha Su-ho, start Clean.’
The moment Jin Seong-hyeok finished speaking, Su-ho’s mind snapped back into his body.
“Hoo.”
Su-ho exhaled shortly, his gaze shifting to Ji-young in front of him. Confirming her state, his pupils quivered faintly. He stared at her for a long moment, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes, then hurriedly began Clean.
‘Her eyes... they’re back. Not red...!’
‘Yeah.’
Ji-young’s pupils weren’t red. They were somewhat lifeless and cloudy, but definitely a deep brown.
‘Then that’s the sign she’s back?!’
‘I don’t know. I’ve cleared out some of the energy built up in her body, though. How’s the Clean going?’
‘Better than the Hunters I Cleaned earlier.’
With her eye color restored, Ji-young’s condition had clearly improved. The energies that had infested her body were mostly gone, and the remaining clumps began bursting one by one in a chain reaction the moment Su-ho started Clean.
‘The clumps are already loosening up a lot, so if things go well... An Ji-young might really...’
Su-ho couldn’t finish his sentence.
“Huh...?”
Something began trickling from Su-ho’s nose, soon dripping onto the back of his hand.
A nosebleed. He’d pushed himself too far. Cleaning Hunters on the verge of rampage one after another, and now even a rampaging one.
‘You okay?’
As Su-ho started to brush off Jin Seong-hyeok’s concerned words, the ground seemed to shake. Then darkness swallowed his vision in an instant.
‘...Ah.’
With a short groan, Su-ho collapsed limply in front of Ji-young. At the same moment, the iron door—which had seemed stuck—swung open, and someone rushed in.
“Helper Cha Su-ho!!”
The examiners called his name, but Su-ho didn’t stir.
A single ray of light pierced the pitch-black darkness. In the center of that light sat a figure. Bronze skin, muscular build, and even seated, an imposing tall frame. Su-ho realized and spoke up.
“Jin Seong-hyeok?”
The face he slowly raised was brimming with ease.
“You’re finally awake.”
“No way... Is this my subconscious?”
“Yeah.”
Su-ho glanced around and approached Jin Seong-hyeok.
“I didn’t expect my subconscious to be this barren.”
It was all black. The only light was where Jin Seong-hyeok sat—and even that was cramped with both of them standing.
‘...Can we change this place up a bit? Being here alone would drive me nuts...!’
‘I like it.’
‘Huh?’
‘No monsters, and it’s so quiet. Perfect for some alone time.’
Liberated from days of moving like clockwork on a rigid schedule.
Jin Seong-hyeok was genuinely enjoying it.
‘Oh. If it bothers you that much, at least give me a bed. So I can lie down comfortably.’
‘A bed? Can we even put one here?’
Jin Seong-hyeok raised an eyebrow as if to say he didn’t know, then lowered it.
‘It’s your subconscious, so you should know.’
Su-ho nearly retorted that he’d never been here before either, but clamped his mouth shut. In the short time he’d spent with Jin Seong-hyeok, Su-ho had oddly come to heed him.
‘Got it. Alright, bed, appear... Just picture it in my head... Huh? It appeared? Just like that?!’
Su-ho gawked at the bed that had materialized beside Jin Seong-hyeok, his face saying it was impossible. It was identical to the one in his room at the Helper lounge. Unlike the stunned Su-ho, Jin Seong-hyeok remained nonchalant.
‘Perfect.’
He’d already settled comfortably on the bed, lips curving lightly.
‘Glad you’re satisfied. So, Jin Seong-hyeok—what happened to me? I remember the nosebleed, but...’
‘That’s where it ends.’
‘Huh?’
‘You collapsed, and the examiners rushed you to the hospital. You’re probably in a room right now.’
Su-ho asked the dryly responding Jin Seong-hyeok,
‘Then what about An Ji-young?’
‘Don’t know. But given how much better her condition was, she should pull through.’
Relief washed over Su-ho at the words. Before losing consciousness, Ji-young’s eyes hadn’t been red.
He’d blacked out while sensing the chain reaction of bursting clumps, but as far as Su-ho remembered, her body was in better shape than the pre-rampage Hunters.
‘Whew, that’s a relief. I couldn’t have done it without you, Jin Seong-hyeok.’
‘You came up with the idea. Asking me to absorb half of An Ji-young’s control ability. Who knew it’d work?’
‘Anyway, it’s resolved well, right? I hope An Ji-young returns to normal completely.’
Jin Seong-hyeok chuckled at Su-ho’s words.
‘Worry about yourself instead of others. Time to wake up soon, yeah?’
‘Wake up?’
‘Yeah. It’s been exactly a week since you were admitted.’
‘A week?!’
Su-ho was shocked, though not entirely surprised. Unlike last time, he hadn’t woken right away.
‘Is that okay...?’
‘Not the time to worry about that. There’s something more important.’
‘More important?’
Jin Seong-hyeok spoke to Su-ho, who looked puzzled.
‘Remember our test?’
‘Test? Oh, you mean absorbing An Ji-young’s power and seeing what happens to my body?’
‘Right. All those clumps you absorbed from her into your body. Completely.’
Jin Seong-hyeok let out an incredulous scoff.
‘They were completely purified.’
Completely purified.
Come to think of it, Su-ho couldn’t sense any of the negative energy absorbed from Ji-young anywhere in his body. As if he’d never absorbed it.
‘Wait. Did someone Clean me while I was out?’
‘No. Helpers don’t need Clean.’
In other words, Su-ho’s body had purified itself automatically.
‘You’re saying...!’
Jin Seong-hyeok nodded silently.
‘You’ve caused a huge stir.’
A being that might surpass both Hunters and Helpers could have just been born.
Trevor stared piercingly at the monitor in front of him, forgetting even to blink.
‘Chief Examiner Trevor.’
Only then did he tear his gaze from the monitor and turn his head.
‘What’s Helper Cha Su-ho’s status?’
The examiner answered Trevor’s question.
‘He still hasn’t woken up.’
‘And Hunter An Ji-young?’
‘She hasn’t woken either, but her condition is improving. Brain waves are stable too.’
It was unbelievable. Impossible. Until now, the Association and governments worldwide had tried everything to restore rampaging Hunters.
They’d thrown multiple A-grade Helpers at them, used drugs, even called in mind-control Hunters.
But despite massive funding and manpower, it always failed. Without removing the clumps infesting the rampaging Hunter’s body, there was no way.
They could only watch as the Hunters self-destructed.
Yet Cha Su-ho had succeeded. An F-grade Helper until recently.
His sharp gaze returned to the monitor.
Trevor had replayed the footage of Su-ho Cleaning and facing off with Ji-young dozens of times, but found nothing unusual. It looked just like any Helper performing Clean.
If anything felt off, it was the odd sense of déjà vu from Su-ho’s actions now and then.
As if he wasn’t Cha Su-ho.
He should report stabilizing the rampaging Hunter to the Association and government immediately, but Trevor decided to hold off. He wanted to observe Su-ho more.
How far his power went, if he had more abilities. And why he kept associating him with Jin Seong-hyeok.
Right on cue, a knock sounded, and the door burst open. A panting examiner rushed in.
‘Chief Examiner! Helper Cha Su-ho—he’s awake!’