Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: The End of Incompetence (2)
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Fingertip? Even a fingertip didn't matter. First the fingertip, then the arm, then the head. In the end, he'd truly become a hunter like Jin Seong-hyeok.
Su-ho replied with a resolute expression.
"Understood."
Jin Seong-hyeok let out a hollow laugh at Su-ho's response. Su-ho probably had no idea. No hunter in the entire world had ever matched even the tip of his finger. In other words, it was like saying he'd create the next strongest hunter after Jin himself.
No, what if he also had helper abilities on top of his own power?
Jin Seong-hyeok's eyes flashed. It was the gaze of a starving tiger spotting prey.
"That could be fun."
Su-ho tilted his head at Jin Seong-hyeok's mutter.
"Pardon?"
"Nothing."
Jin Seong-hyeok was feeling an emotion from a time he could barely remember, one he thought he'd never feel again.
An uncontrollable surge of excitement and anticipation.
It was nothing like the monotonous days of slaughtering monsters like a weapon. Who knew watching someone grow could be this thrilling?
"You'd better brace yourself."
And if that growth came from his own teachings, it would feel more rewarding than anything.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to take on a disciple before he died. Of course, the old Jin Seong-hyeok wouldn't have even considered it.
"You'll have to do exactly what I tell you, no questions asked."
He'd already decided to raise Su-ho, so he'd see it through until the day he left this body. Until Su-ho could match even the tip of his finger.
"I will."
"Anything?"
Su-ho nodded with eyes full of determination.
"Yes."
Jin Seong-hyeok nodded as if satisfied.
"Then first, we need to toughen up that weak mind and flimsy body of yours."
Weak mind and flimsy body. It was spot on, so Su-ho clamped his mouth shut.
"Alright, get up."
As Su-ho obediently rose at the command, Jin Seong-hyeok clicked his tongue.
"Staying cooped up here for a hundred days won't do a thing. You need to get up."
"Pardon?"
Jin Seong-hyeok raised his hand as if to strike, then pressed it to Su-ho's forehead.
"Snap out of it and get up."
Then, as if aligning his thumb and middle finger, he flicked Su-ho right on the forehead.
Snap!
A sharp crack echoed, followed by the sound of Su-ho's body being yanked backward.
"Gahhh!"
Su-ho squeezed his eyes shut at the sensation of falling, then snapped them open. Dazzling light made him furrow his brow. Reflexively, he covered his eyes with the back of his hand. That's when he felt something foreign above his eyes. Slowly opening them, Su-ho confirmed the source and let out a sigh of relief.
Beneath the hand resting on his forehead dangled an IV line. The large needle connected to it was plunged into his forearm.
Which meant Su-ho was alive. Only then did he understand why Jin Seong-hyeok had told him to snap out of it and get up.
Su-ho pulled his hand away from his forehead and scanned the room. A silent hospital room. Not the large one with windows from before, but one sealed off on all sides by machines. It oddly resembled an operating room—or so he thought, when Jin Seong-hyeok's voice cut in, as if reading his mind.
'Precisely, it's a lab.'
'A lab?!'
No one else was in the room, but Su-ho whispered internally just in case. Jin Seong-hyeok replied.
'Yeah. I usually come here for blood draws or checkups. For other hunters, it's where they get dragged right before rampaging—tested and locked up.'
No wonder it felt like a perfectly sealed chamber without a single window. There was a reason.
'But why am I here...'
'Who knows.'
Jin Seong-hyeok's voice sank low.
'Maybe they suspect something about your existence.'
Su-ho's breath hitched for a moment.
Suspect?
'Suspect?!'
'You rampaged.'
Rampage. The word made Su-ho's heart plummet. The vital signs monitor tracking his heartbeat went wild.
In his unconscious haze, he hadn't even thought about it. Blaming himself for Won Tae-il's death had consumed everything.
Now that he had time to reflect, Su-ho's expression turned grave.
'Mr. Jin... there's something I couldn't ask.'
Su-ho let out a small breath and continued.
'My memories are fragmented... so, how...'
'You know you rampaged like a hunter, right?'
'...Yes.'
He was dimly certain. After Won Tae-il died right in front of him, blood surged in reverse, and his body moved on its own. His memories cut out, but snapshot-like scenes remained etched in his mind.
'I killed all the monsters... right?'
'Yeah.'
'And Won Tae-il... he's dead.'
Jin Seong-hyeok paused briefly before answering.
'Yeah.'
'What about Takahiro and Mino who were with us?'
'They're fine. But Takahiro saw.'
'Pardon?'
'You rampaging.'
Takahiro saw?
'Ah. Toward the end, other hunters and helpers arrived and saw too.'
'Then...!'
'The whole Branch 1 will know by now. The Association too. It's the first time a helper's rampaged using hunter skills.'
'Ha.'
A ragged breath escaped Su-ho's lips. As he sat speechless in confusion, Jin Seong-hyeok spoke up.
'It was your rage that made my power rampage. I tried taking over the body to stop it, but it wouldn't budge.'
It was his own power, yet utterly uncontrollable. The rampaging force ran wild, and Su-ho, eroded by it, was the same. Jin Seong-hyeok himself, trying to hold it back, could only watch helplessly as Su-ho rampaged.
'I was worried you'd go after the remaining hunters and helpers after the monsters. But for some reason, the power suddenly subsided. You think that makes any sense?'
It was beyond miraculous—downright awe-inspiring. For someone eroded by power to stop their own rampage.
'Cha Su-ho.'
'...Yes.'
'Remember what you said? An Ji-young's a cheat character, and I'm some developer or absolute existence.'
He remembered it well. Just as Su-ho wondered why bring it up now,
'I think you're the absolute existence.'
The absolute existence? Su-ho's pupils trembled.
'What...'
'A helper using hunter skills from the start? That's already absolute. And you snap back even after rampaging?'
A thrilling jolt shot from his toes to his frontal lobe. Excitement bled through Jin Seong-hyeok's tone.
'If the Association finds out, it'll be pandemonium.'
Not just the Association—the whole world would erupt. Everyone would scheme to claim Su-ho.
Just like the Association and nations had fought over him.
Recalling the past made Jin Seong-hyeok's head ache thinking of what was to come.
'Whatever.'
'...Whatever? The Center Director already seems suspicious...!'
'You said you want to be both a hunter and a helper.'
'That's true, but...'
Jin Seong-hyeok scoffed.
'Then lay it all out. This ability is the best in the world.'
'If I reveal my ability, won't I have to reveal your existence too, Mr. Jin?'
'No.'
Jin Seong-hyeok cut him off firmly.
'Jin Seong-hyeok is dead and gone. You absolutely cannot let them know I'm in your consciousness. As long as you keep quiet, no one will find out.'
It was true. Unless Su-ho spilled it, no one would know Jin Seong-hyeok lurked in his mind.
'But the skills I used were yours, Mr. Jin. Won't they figure it out?'
'Say you admired me so much you mimicked them.'
Imitation didn't make it possible, but it was their only option now.
'Don't worry. Won Tae-il dying and you rampaging is fact. Just stick to that.'
'Say that his death mysteriously awakened me?'
'Yeah. They won't drop suspicions entirely, but it's plausible enough.'
Jin Seong-hyeok continued as if he had more to say.
'Anyway, remember this if you're the only one with dual hunter-helper abilities.'
Plus A-grade helper power and SSS-grade Jin Seong-hyeok's strength.
'Don't let them drag you around.'
Don't let them drag you? Before Su-ho could ask, Jin Seong-hyeok pressed on.
'Don't become a monster-killing weapon that just follows orders from above.'
Jin Seong-hyeok didn't want Su-ho trapped in the same mechanical, hamster-wheel life of slaying monsters.
'Your absolute power is what everyone will crave. They'll need you, so they'll grab your leash early. Force, threats, persuasion, worship—they'll try everything.'
Just like they did to him.
'They'll say the world's survival hinges on you. That your sacrifice is natural and noble, propping you up like that.'
All to bend Su-ho to their whims.
'Don't let them sway you. Not like me.'
'...Is that your story, Mr. Jin?'
'Yeah.'
A life lived solely as a wretched weapon. In the end, Jin Seong-hyeok had sought liberation in death.
'Mr. Jin.'
'What.'
'I'll get revenge for you.'
'...What?'
Su-ho spoke to Jin Seong-hyeok, who looked flustered for the first time.
'The people who used you only as a weapon, and...'
Those who hounded him until he gave up on life.
Those who sent young Won Tae-il to the field under the pretense of showing him the stars.
'I'll make them pay.'
He'd show it clearly to those who divided hunters and helpers into ranks and exploited them, despite claiming to treat them well.
'That hunters and helpers are people too.'
A chuckle leaked from Jin Seong-hyeok's silent lips.
'Heh, what a riot you are.'
To Jin Seong-hyeok, who'd only known boredom, Su-ho was a long-lost rush of adrenaline. Every time the pathetic, rock-bottom F-grade helper showed change, his heart raced.
'Yeah. I'll be watching.'
Maybe his true calling wasn't killing monsters, but raising someone.
'Looking forward to you smashing those smug higher-ups and the Association.'
A disciple. Would that be the simplest way to think of it?
'But first, you need to change yourself.'
He seemed to have shed his weak mind, so what remained was stamina and the ability to control his power.
'Of course.'
It was then, as Su-ho replied boldly,
that a series of clicks echoed from the door—multiple locks disengaging, not just one. The door creaked open cautiously.
Thud. Something hit the floor, and the nurse at the door went pale.
"Ch-Cha Su-ho Helper?!"
At the startled nurse's cry, security agents in protective gear rushed in. In their hands were restraints—the same ones that had bound An Ji-young's wrists during her rampage.