Chapter 188
Chapter 188
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 188
Chapter Title: The Pleasure Killer's Video
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Under the boiling sun, a sandstorm whipped through.
Men armed with guns and cloths covering their mouths stood there. Sharp screams echoed from inside the building.
"Shh."
The man held a scalpel in his hand, his eyes sparkling with glee. He had the expression of a child.
If not for the red blood splattered on his face and the chunks of flesh spilling onto the floor, that's exactly how it would have felt.
"Stop, pleeeease!"
A red marker floated above the head of the woman shrieking like she was having a fit.
"You can't faint. You can't resist."
The man moved the scalpel with glazed eyes as he spoke.
"The human body is a mystery. Do you know how many muscles and tendons are in just one arm?"
He muttered like he was singing a song, wielding the scalpel as he went.
"Long palmar muscle, short palmar muscle, flexor digitorum superficialis, flexor pollicis brevis, flexor digitorum profundus, flexor carpi ulnaris..."
With each name that left his lips, the scalpel in his hand severed another muscle from the woman. Amid the flowing blood, the man trembled with ecstasy.
Suddenly, the video cut off with a snap.
"This is footage secured by the UK government."
Shriya turned off the projector as she spoke. It depicted the atrocities committed by Seo Shin-cheol, the pleasure killer and former hunter that Headhunter would have to deal with in Dakar.
"No one secretly filmed this."
"Right. He sent it himself."
Sa Seung-hee, who had been listening to Shriya's explanation, spoke up.
"Seo Shin-cheol is known to have synesthesia. He experiences smells and tastes through sound."
Synesthesia. In Seo Shin-cheol's case, he perceived flavors and scents via auditory input. Hearing certain sounds would suddenly fill his tongue with sweetness or sourness, or his nose with the scent of roses or lemons.
"It's generally believed that his synesthesia is why he became a pleasure killer."
For Seo Shin-cheol, it seemed human screams satisfied his sense of taste. Just like people seeking out gourmet spots for the best flavors...
He killed people to get them.
"Human voices are diverse enough to be used for identification purposes..."
From Seo Shin-cheol's perspective, people's screams were an endless gourmet paradise, always offering new flavors no matter how much he indulged.
"If we catch that bastard and try to throw him in prison, does he end up in a mental hospital instead?"
Sa Seung-hee answered my question.
"Who knows. If we capture him alive and extradite him to Korea, he'll face trial, of course."
"That won't happen."
He's slated to die there anyway. I'm not spouting nonsense about delivering heavenly punishment on behalf of the skies.
Dangerous beasts need to be caged. And the surest isolation is death.
"Have you been in touch with the UK?"
Shriya responded to my question.
"Yeah. They're begging us to tell them when Headhunter will arrive since you're handling it personally."
The Brits must have been seriously stressed by those maniacs. They're already in a welcoming mood just hearing we'll take care of it, ready to wave placards.
"We can count on their cooperation, then."
Sa Seung-hee nodded at my words.
"The fastest way is the train through Siberia... but the UK made a different request."
A different request.
"Let's hear it."
"There's cargo we need to send from Korea to the UK."
I could already guess what she was getting at just from that.
"No time for that."
Tell us to take a cargo ship from Incheon to the UK without the Suez Canal? That's at least a month, conservatively. No thanks.
"We're flying."
We need to get there fast and wrap this up. It's a 14-hour flight, and I have zero interest in wasting a month dawdling on a boat.
"I'll pass Headhunter's decision on to the UK."
"If it's not this way, then forget about taking a cargo ship from the UK to Dakar."
We can just drop near Senegal from the plane and start from there. I'm trying to do some good deeds while on the job—don't push it.
After the discussion wrapped up, I turned the projector back on and watched the full loop of the video Seo Shin-cheol had sent.
"A pleasure killer."
As he tore, sliced, and ripped into human flesh, his Adam's apple bobbed constantly. Every time he opened his mouth, saliva pooled visibly inside.
Clearly, this guy tasted flavors through human screams. Not all synesthetes go mad like that.
"He's just a lunatic who happens to have synesthesia."
Games don't incite violence and crime in people. It's just that violent people happened to play games.
I kept watching. Seo Shin-cheol had sent five videos, each with its own theme.
"Pleasure killing, mysophobia, and exhibitionism too."
He's a complete package of every moronic trait crammed together. Once I finished viewing them all, I stood up.
Most people would have vomited from the graphic footage I just watched.
"Well, I'll be heading out."
I said goodbye to Sa Seung-hee and Shriya, then left.
A few days later, I headed to Daebak Scrap Dealers to meet Choi Seung-gi.
"Ah, you've arrived!"
Choi Seung-gi, who knew I was coming, rushed over to greet me right away.
"Looks like you've been doing well. New watch, huh."
He let out an "ah" and laughed haha at my comment.
"All thanks to Hunter Yoo Chan-seok. But more importantly, shouldn't you check out the item we prepared first?"
I followed Choi Seung-gi inside the building.
"It's a full-body suit. Maintains a constant internal temperature from -60°C to +400°C, regardless of external conditions."
The suit was black, with silver protective plates attached to vital areas vulnerable to lethal hits.
"Areas with plates can fully block APFSDS rounds from tank guns without damage. Other parts can withstand up to 35mm autocannon fire."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the roar of a tank gun rang out, shells slamming into the suit one after another. Not a single scratch on the plates.
What the hell did they do to this suit? I know they poured money into it, but is this even possible?
"And furthermore..."
Choi Seung-gi fiddled with some controls, and blue hexagonal clusters formed around the suit before fading away.
"Enemies targeting the wearer must first breach the shield generated by the suit."
The shield draws on the user's mana to activate. For someone like me, I could keep it up indefinitely.
"The suit's fibers actively adjust elasticity, functioning like C-tape or kinesio tape to prevent injuries, aid fatigue recovery, and even provide emergency hemostasis at wound sites."
Plus, since it's woven from the clothes I secured after killing the Water Demon, it can self-heal injuries too.
"EMP and CBRN protection, mana resistance—no need to mention those. Everything's top-tier. Officially, no gear on Earth outperforms this."
Choi Seung-gi declared proudly, then added,
"It even integrates the Mimir MK.II external environment analysis system to detect threats, viewable via the holographic display on the wrist."
Then, scratching his head, he continued.
"We originally planned powered exoskeleton functions too... but current tech couldn't keep up with Hunter Yoo Chan-seok's movements. It would only hinder you."
Can't be helped. Assisting hunter movements with exoskeletons is insanely difficult.
"Same for sensory augmentation—it's questionable in practice, so..."
"It's fine. It'd just get in the way."
It'd only create dissonance.
"Oh, and the full automation lets you don or doff it in seconds. When off, auto-repair activates to fix damage."
Self-repair uses the Water Demon clothes' effect, so it doesn't work while worn.
Normally carried on the back like a backpack, it deploys into the suit and equips in a flash when activated.
"CEO Choi, how much did this cost?"
He grinned sheepishly at my question.
"A ton. We got massive tech partnerships and external consultants. Probably about the size of a municipal budget."
For one suit? Are they all insane?
"Here's the list of companies we collaborated with this time."
"Figured you wanted something in return..."
Choi Seung-gi replied,
"Wear the gear in action, and we'll handle the advertising. We'll make the money—you just wear it."
Makes my head spin. But given how he boasted about pouring his company's full might into this masterpiece, it's clearly something special.
They probably crammed in all the byproducts we secured too. This thing's a walking fortress. If I need to use Paradox Flame like in the Gonzalo incident, I'll have to stash it in Jung No-hun's sub-space first.
Too much of a waste otherwise.
"Oh, you're still planning to take down Great Eight, right?"
"Of course."
Choi Seung-gi gave a thumbs-up at my response.
"That's plenty. Wiping out Great Eight in this will rake in huge cash. Public opinion already rates Headhunter at least grandmaster level, and some say your achievements surpass even that."
If a real grandmaster showed up, it might shift things a bit.
"Just doing my best. Thanks for the gear—I'll put it to good use. Oh, did you get government funding?"
Choi Seung-gi answered,
"No. I've heard some things, so I avoided it on purpose. Not a whiff of Korean government influence in this suit."
"Appreciate it."
From my standpoint, they're not trustworthy. It showed how much effort Choi Seung-gi had put in.
"Oh, and I heard Hunter Han Sang-ah and Hunter Jeong No-hun are sparring to climb Hope's List. Hope it goes well."
I checked my phone and replied,
"Looks like it did."
While I handled my business, Han Sang-ah and Jeong No-hun wrapped theirs up successfully.
It was a match they couldn't lose from the start. Why else would they endure the agony of rewiring their nerves, even in nightmares?
If they'd lost by some fluke, I'd have spanked them black and blue.
"Time for the maniac extermination op."
Preparations for heading to the UK were nearly done. Talks with the UK government and Hunter Association were settled.
We'll pass through skies controlled by warlords entrenched in Europe en route...
What can they do about it?
The gap between our first trip to Europe and now is night and day.
SAMs or AA guns? We can swat them down visually now.
If they interfere, I'll shave their jaws clean with a five-blade razor. They've got sense enough to steer clear if they don't want to die.
[Congrats. Time's short—grab a nice dinner tonight and fly out at midnight.]
I sent the message to Han Sang-ah and Jeong No-hun.