Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Gu Taeil had suffered from an inferiority complex about his appearance since around middle school.

Even during his days as a shock-value internet streamer in adulthood, and even after receiving the blessing of Ether and becoming a Hunter, Gu Taeil's disposition hadn't changed one bit.

Perhaps that was why he'd always been obsessed with money, power, and muscle.

It was the only way he could stand being himself.

For such a man, the sight of himself now--drained of life force--was the very past self he had so despised.

Withered skin.

A scrawny, wasted frame.

Muscles shriveled like a burst balloon.

"Ah......"

Gu Taeil broke.

It was the despair of a man who had just watched everything he'd built over a lifetime crumble to nothing.

"How...... how did I get this far...... chugging soy sauce in front of a camera...... crawling on all fours and barking like a dog...... doing every degrading thing imaginable...... and I finally made it this far...... hic...... hic, hic......"

Gu Taeil wept aloud.

"Ugh."

Eunseong grimaced as if fighting back nausea.

His handsome features bore naked contempt and irritation.

"All that effort just to end up living like that. I suppose that's a talent of its own......"

"What would you know."

Gu Taeil glared at Eunseong through bloodshot eyes.

"I know plenty."

A cold smirk curled on Eunseong's lips.

"A pathetic piece of garbage whose entire life depends on what others think of him. And yet he tramples over everyone else just to prop up his own self-esteem. A revolting vermin."

"Shut up, you bast--"

"A bug that can't even Bloom."

"......!"

"That's what you are. Something that deserves to be culled."

Eunseong's words tore Gu Taeil's rotten soul to shreds.

"Defective."

The assessment was unwavering.

"......"

Gu Taeil was silent for a long while, then crawled toward Eunseong.

"What do you want?"

Eunseong asked, guarding against a possible ambush.

"A grenade...... if you've got a grenade, give it to me......"

"A grenade?"

"Even better if it's a bomb......"

"What the hell are you on about?"

"I don't want to die looking like this...... I'd rather be blown to pieces......"

"......"

"Burn me alive, hack me apart...... I don't care...... please......"

Even as he slowly died, Gu Taeil clung to Eunseong's pant leg and begged.

How deeply he must have despised his own appearance--it was beyond anything an ordinary person could fathom.

And Eunseong's answer to that plea was--

"Why should I?"

"Please...... I'm begging you like this......"

"Get off me."

Eunseong shoved Gu Taeil away with his foot.

"Die looking the way you are. It suits you."

"Suits me, you say......?"

"Perfectly."

"......"

"Is there some kind of crime museum anywhere? Your current state would look perfect stuffed and put on display."

"You...... you heartless...... bast-- huk, haaaah!"

Gu Taeil drew one great, shuddering breath, then went still.

As if time itself had frozen.

His head lolled to the side.

The leader of a criminal organization that had ruled an entire city remained, forever, in the form he had spent his whole life denying and despising.

For eternity.

***

Surprisingly, Gu Taeil didn't have much on him.

[Acquired Claws of Evil.]

[Acquired Vitality Ampoule.]

[Acquired Ether Ampoule.]

"Nothing worth using."

Eunseong was disappointed.

He'd been the leader of the Nine-Tail Crew, rulers of Bucheon, so Eunseong had expected at least some entertainment from looting him.

But aside from a bare minimum of supplies, not a single useful Rune or item had dropped.

"Must be because of the tributes."

Perhaps so.

At the end of the day, the Nine-Tail Crew was just one of the Incheon Union's subordinate organizations.

It was possible that anything worthwhile--items, Runes--had all been sent up as tribute.

Though he doubted that human garbage like Gu Taeil had actually been diligent about paying tribute.

"KILL ME! PLEASE, JUST KILL ME! AARGH! AAARGH! AAAAAARGH! AAAAAAAAAARGH--!"

From the distance came the sounds of Jeong Mujin being punished.

'She's in the middle of it, I see.'

Eunseong decided not to interfere.

Not because he wanted to avoid witnessing something cruel and grotesque.

He'd grown so numb to bloodshed that he felt nothing at all.

'Not sure how much good it'll do, but.'

Eunseong was someone who, for the sake of his mother's revenge, had killed his own comrades without a second thought for humanity's survival.

He knew all too well what life as a revenge-driven ghost was like.

What feelings waited at the end, after vengeance was finally achieved.

And that even after a successful revenge, the dead don't come back.

'Well, actually, maybe not.'

Eunseong's expression went blank for a moment.

After all, he'd succeeded in his revenge only to travel back in time, reuniting with not just his mother but his father as well.

'I'm the exception though......'

Eunseong scratched his head.

'Urk.'

A faint dizziness washed over him, likely from seeing too much blood.

He needed fresh air.

Eunseong headed for the underground parking garage entrance.

RUMBLE--!

A wall of Defense Strategy Department Hunters and special forces operators blocked his path.

"Get down!"

"Hands on your head and get down!"

Dozens of muzzles and Spirit Swords trained on Eunseong.

"Hold fire! Hold fire! Friendly! He's friendly!"

Captain Im rushed forward.

"Hunter Cha Eunseong, are you injured anywhere?"

"No, I'm fine."

"That's a relief."

Captain Im's face was more rigid than usual.

It was likely because he understood all too well just how serious the chain of events Eunseong had set off over the past day was.

"KILL MEEE! JUST KILL ME! PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU! AARGH! AAAAAAARGH!"

Jeong Mujin's screams echoed from the distance.

"Alpha! Bravo! Right now--"

Just as Captain Im was about to issue an urgent order--

Eunseong quietly placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

"But......"

"I think it'd be best to leave her be."

"......"

"She deserves time to vent."

There was a strangely irresistible weight to his voice.

"......"

Captain Im fell silent.

For a soldier, turning a blind eye to vigilante justice was unacceptable.

But with things having come this far, was stepping in to stop it truly the right call......?

"All units, stand by."

"Stand by."

At Captain Im's command, those who had been preparing to enter the underground parking garage lowered their weapons.

"AAAAAAARGH--!"

"JUST KILL ME! KILL MEEEE--!"

"PLEASE, PLEAAASE--!"

Jeong Mujin's screams from the distance broke and reconnected, reconnected and broke.

Some time passed.

The screams stopped.

Before long, Choi Yura emerged from the underground parking garage entrance, drenched in blood.

The soldiers and Hunters parted to either side, clearing a path for her.

"......"

Choi Yura said nothing.

And yet, her expression and her eyes were surprisingly calm.

If anything, she looked unburdened.

"Cha Eunseong."

Choi Yura spoke as she passed by Eunseong's side, walking in silence.

Eunseong was leaning against the wall, quiet and still.

"......Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Eunseong replied briefly.

"Debts have to be repaid."

"Debts......?"

"You saved me. The day we first met."

"Oh."

"I can't stand being in anyone's debt."

Eunseong smiled faintly.

He had never forgotten. Not for a single moment.

Before the regression.

The hand that had pulled him from the brink of death after he'd lost his father and fallen apart.

***

On a bench in front of the wrecked hotel.

Eunseong's group sat in a row, drinking flavored milk.

Eunseong had banana, Choi Yura had strawberry, Duhyeon had chocolate, and Oh Taegwon had coffee.

"Can't they let me go home? Mom must be worried sick."

Eunseong murmured while exchanging messages with his family.

He wanted nothing more than to go home right now, but until the Defense Strategy Department gave clearance, he had no choice but to remain at the scene.

In truth, getting home wasn't even the real problem.

Given the scale of this incident, he could conceivably be detained and investigated for months, put through years of trials, and end up rotting in prison for life.

But that was a concern from the era before the Transference Crisis.

South Korean law was famously absurd, but since the Transference Crisis, it had been exercising a fair degree of flexibility.

With various immunity provisions and plea deals being actively employed, Eunseong's group wasn't particularly worried.

They just wanted to go home and get some proper rest.......

- Young Master.

Lumos' voice whispered in Eunseong's ear.

'Yes, elder?'

- This old man took a thorough look at that building.......

Eunseong's interest was piqued.

It seemed Lumos, the Card Spirit of the [Search] card, had found something.

- It appears a hidden chamber exists, Young Master.

'A hidden chamber?'

- Yes, Young Master. There is a space somewhere between the top floor and the floor directly below it. The specifics will require entering the building and locating the entrance.

'Hmm.'

Eunseong deliberated.

"A hidden space......"

"Pardon?"

Duhyeon blinked, confused.

"What was that, hyung?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

Eunseong feigned innocence and continued his train of thought.

'That's interesting. Should I come back later? No. If the Defense Strategy Department finds it first, what's the point?'

He was itching to go inside the hotel and investigate right now, but the watchful eyes around them were so intense they bordered on oppressive.

Not only Captain Im but Defense Strategy Department Hunters had formed a perimeter around Eunseong's group.

Security purposes, sure, but not just that.

'Should I give up?'

Just as Eunseong was smacking his lips in frustration--

- Shall I lend a hand?

Helkiyan, the Card Spirit of the [Mutation] card, whispered.

'Go in my place?'

- Well now, even so, it would be better if you went in person.

'That's true.'

- The Ether expenditure would be significant, but it does not seem impossible.

'Hmm. All right.'

Eunseong accepted Helkiyan's proposal.

'What do I need to do?'

- Please wait just a moment until the opportunity presents itself.

'Sure.'

About five minutes passed.

The moment a group of special forces operators walked past Eunseong's group--

In a fluid motion, Eunseong's outfit shifted to match a special forces operator's.

- Now, Master.

Helkiyan, wearing Eunseong's appearance, settled onto the bench.

Quietly, cautiously.

Eunseong, head slightly bowed, slipped seamlessly into the passing group of operators.

Just then, Captain Im--who'd glanced away for a moment--turned his gaze back to the bench.

What his eyes saw was Eunseong, wearing an exhausted expression, sipping banana milk.

In reality, it was Helkiyan, the Card Spirit of the [Mutation] card.