Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Leap (5)
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Is this... really the lounge?
It felt like stepping into a hotel suite. The room was impeccably clean and luxurious, with every amenity imaginable. A king-sized bed dominated the space, surrounded by pristine furnishings, and the minibar was stocked full of snacks and drinks.
As Cha Su-ho scanned the room, Derek spoke up.
"This will be your lounge for the duration of your stay, Helper Cha Su-ho. If you need anything, there's a tablet on the table—feel free to contact us anytime. Rest well."
Cha Su-ho gave a light nod, and Derek left the room. Su-ho flopped onto the plush bed with a thud.
'They must have some serious money. Investing this much in a lounge...'
'You'd pass out if you saw the rooms for the 5th Branch Hunters and Helpers.'
Jin Seong-hyeok's words piqued Su-ho's curiosity.
'Doesn't the 5th Branch use lounges too?'
'They live here more than at HQ, so they have private rooms. Each one's customized to personal taste, so no two are alike. Some have pools or gyms...'
'Hold on—private rooms with pools?!'
'Yeah.'
A pool in a private room. The 5th Branch's wealth was overflowing. There were even jokes that they had more money than all the other branches combined.
On top of that, the 5th Branch was famous for treating its Hunters and Helpers well. It left others regretting not being part of it or itching to transfer over.
The 5th Branch knew this full well and flaunted their financial power even more.
'Anyway.'
Su-ho collapsed onto the bed, utterly spent. He had reached his limit.
'My condition's in the gutter.'
Ever since absorbing Eric's overload, the nausea churning in his gut showed no signs of letting up. If anything, it was getting worse.
'If I knew it'd be this bad, maybe just passing out would be the way to go.'
Jin Seong-hyeok let out a dry chuckle at Su-ho's playful remark.
'Get some sleep. You'll feel better than now.'
'Hope so. Would be nice if the Clean skill worked its magic while I'm out.'
Normally, Su-ho would have showered before bed, but not tonight. It might have been an excuse, but every movement only made the urge to vomit surge stronger. And the unpleasant emotions from all that overload kept weighing him down.
Su-ho closed his eyes. He pitied the Hunters who had to endure this every time they used their power.
'Jin Seong-hyeok.'
'Yeah?'
'You said you've never had a proper Clean in your life.'
Day after day of headaches and nauseating emotions—how agonizing must it have been for Jin Seong-hyeok?
'...Must have been really tough.'
Jin Seong-hyeok fell silent at Su-ho's sincere words. He stayed quiet for a long while, as if lost in thought, before finally speaking.
'You get used to it. Doesn't feel that bad after a while.'
It wasn't the kind of pain you could get used to. It wasn't just physical—it gnawed at your mind.
SSS-grade. Su-ho felt pathetic thinking Jin Seong-hyeok must have had it easy, enjoying everything.
'You were pathetic, yeah. Or maybe the king of pathetic losers.'
Jin Seong-hyeok, reading Su-ho's thoughts, laughed and continued.
'As long as you've changed now.'
'Was gonna argue, but it's too spot-on. Can't even refute it.'
As they bantered and laughed internally, Su-ho's nausea eased a bit. Drowsiness finally set in. Soon, his consciousness sank deep. He was asleep.
Now, Jin Seong-hyeok could even sense when Su-ho's mind drifted off or woke up. Like they were synchronized.
'Too used to it, huh.'
Still, he didn't seem to mind. Trapped in a body with nothing to do might have been stifling, but he appeared to be enjoying it.
Su-ho's consciousness sank even deeper. Perfect timing. Time to move alone.
Su-ho's closed eyelids slowly lifted. Pushing aside the sleeping consciousness, Jin Seong-hyeok took control of the body and rose from the bed.
The raw unpleasant emotions and nausea hit unfiltered, but compared to what he'd endured before, it was nothing.
Stretching his neck side to side, Jin Seong-hyeok opened the door.
CHA.
Su-ho's surname was posted outside the door. The lounge could be locked from inside but not out, and the name tag kept people from barging in.
No other lounge in the row had a name—Su-ho's was the only one. No one would bother him for a while.
Jin Seong-hyeok stepped into the hall and glanced at the ceiling. No CCTV. Hunters and Helpers hated invisible surveillance from the Association or the state. Who'd like cameras everywhere?
Especially in the 5th Branch, where Clark—fiercely protective of privacy—had banned CCTV from everywhere except the arena, training room, and exam hall.
Exiting the lounge corridor, Jin Seong-hyeok headed upstairs. Unlike downstairs, the doors here had security. He narrowed his eyes at the fingerprint scanner.
It wasn't set to Su-ho's print, of course. But that was no issue.
Right now, Jin Seong-hyeok controlled the body.
A black aura rippled from beneath Su-ho's feet and slipped through the narrow door crack. Moments later, the door unlocked on its own. The aura had mimicked a person's shape exiting from inside.
Now he had to move fast. Only 5th Branch Hunters, Helpers, and Jin Seong-hyeok himself could enter here.
The 5th Branch had pulled out all the stops to recruit him. When building private rooms for their Hunters and Helpers, they'd made one for him too.
Thanks to that, during Dead Zone sweeps or joint ops, he could crash in his own space.
The 5th Branch crew had just returned from a Dead Zone run, so they were probably all dead to the world by now.
Jin Seong-hyeok moved with familiar ease. His room was at the far end, from memory.
Wonder if it's still there.
He stopped short in front of a door.
JIN
Jin Seong-hyeok's surname. Definitely his room. He'd half-expected it gone. But it was still there. Why they'd left it untouched was a mystery, but now he needed to check inside.
From the moment he'd heard they were heading to the 5th Branch, he'd planned to stop by.
Unlike the lounge, these rooms had security—fingerprint locks at the doors.
Short of smashing the lock, there was no way in, but Jin Seong-hyeok didn't care. No one else could shape aura into a form like he could.
Aura rose from his toes and slipped into the crack. Sure enough—click. The door opened.
The rippling aura subsided, retracting into Su-ho's feet with a soft whoosh.
Jin Seong-hyeok stepped inside. Click. The door shut behind him.
Blackout curtains blocked the windows, but faint light seeped through the imperfect seal. The room's details emerged slowly.
Everything was stark white. Floor, walls, ceiling. The vast space held only a bed. His room at the 1st Branch had been identical. Just a bathroom, bed, and a dressing room crammed with the same clothes.
It was pure Jin Seong-hyeok. The 5th Branch had tried decorating lavishly for him, but he'd shut it down flat: just the bed.
And so it remained.
Even back in his own space after so long, Jin Seong-hyeok felt no emotion. Get what he came for and leave—that was it.
He approached the bed and knelt, flipping back the bedding and sliding his hand under the mattress.
Should be around here.
If no one had tampered with it, it'd still be there. As he groped left and right, his fingertips snagged on something. He'd found it. He reached deeper and pulled it out.
A thumb-sized transparent vial—not glass, but a shatterproof container. Inside writhed a mysterious red blood clot.
This was his last stop before dying. After a Last Zone run, he'd meant to rest here briefly, but SS-grades heading to the Dead Zone forced him out again. Then he met Su-ho... and died.
It twitched. Confirming the clot's movement, Jin Seong-hyeok pocketed it swiftly.
Mission accomplished—time to go. No reason to linger. As he turned, his eye caught clothes hanging on the rack.
Black shirt and pants. His battle gear, like a second skin.
He'd never cared about clothes. As long as they were comfortable, his closet was filled with identical black shirts and pants.
Staring at his old gear, Jin Seong-hyeok grabbed it impulsively off the hanger. A whim: maybe passing it to Su-ho would awaken some Hunter instinct in him.
Deep down, he wished Su-ho were a Hunter, not a Helper.
Thud. The hanger hit the floor. Battle gear tucked under his right arm, Jin Seong-hyeok left the room. Click. The door shut on a silent hallway.
If he ran into anyone, he could just use power to wipe their memory. But hassle was his pet peeve—better avoid it.
He traversed the long corridor toward the entrance.
Whirr— The motion-sensing door slid open as he passed.
As the door closed and he headed downstairs, he crossed paths with someone coming up.
Only one person strutted around indoors wearing sunglasses.
"What the hell."
The one guy who'd openly shown hostility toward Jin Seong-hyeok amid all the sycophants.
"Aren't you supposed to be in the lounge?"
Clark furrowed his brow and looked up. Scanning Su-ho's body—controlled by Jin Seong-hyeok—from head to toe, he continued.
"Why are you here?"