Chapter 133.

A poor hillside town on the outskirts of North Hamgyeong Province .

In this dilapidated place was an office with a half-broken neon sign .

[Yoo Jinhyuk Office]

Despite there being an office that carried Yoo Jinhyuk’s name, only ordinary shops and stores were set up around it . From its location, no one would believe that this office was the home of such a powerful ability user .

In truth, this place was initially a wasteland with nothing but Yoo Jinhyuk’s office .

Because Yoo Jinhyuk’s clients came from Violet Banquet, the location of his office was irrelevant . This hillside town didn’t even exist before he arrived .

In other words, the arrival of Yoo Jinhyuk marked the creation of this town .

The monsters Yoo Jinhyuk drove away to found this office, the monsters Yoo Jinhyuk killed because he wanted to have a peaceful night of sleep, and the monsters Yoo Jinhyuk hunted to earn money .

His selfishness transformed the area within a 1 km radius of his office into habitable space . As a result, poor and ignorant people flocked to this place .

At first, Yoo Jinhyuk was apathetic . He didn’t care who came to live next to him, nor did he believe he had anything to do with them . Even when monsters invaded the town while he was gone, killing residents and destroying farmland, he believed it was something they had to deal with themselves .

But 3 years, 5 years, 7 years, 10 years, then 12 years went by…

What started as a tiny village came to form a little town . Witnessing the flow of time and seeing familiar faces give birth to new lives, Yoo Jinhyuk couldn’t help but admit that he was now bound to the town .

As such, he didn’t run away at Chae Joochul’s beckoning .

Yoo Jinhyuk the Investigator .

Before he realized, he had become the patriarch of a town .

Wiing—

His helmet vibrated, signaling that he was out of magic power .

Yoo Jinhyuk took off his helmet and got up from the couch he was sitting on .

“What did you find out?”

The secretary asked . Yoo Jinhyuk silently walked up behind her .

On the secretary’s computer screen was a picture of a large tattoo .

Three streaks, two forming a cross and one forming a crescent moon above it .

“… . ”

Yoo Jinhyuk stared at the tattoo .

Although he figured out the location of the murder, this was the only thing he could find out due to the density of magic power in the area . When the barrier surrounding the area exploded along with a storm of demonic energy, Yoo Jinhyuk shot his eyes open, fully prepared to suffer from magic power deficiency . It was then that he saw it, a brilliant tattoo that was shining on someone’s upper arm .

“…Is it Jesus?’

“Are you mad?”

“I mean, there’s been a monster suspected of being Fenrir, and we’ve even seen a Cyclops . Who says there can’t be Jesus?”

The secretary scowled at Yoo Jinhyuk’s groundless murmuring .

“Stop messing around and just tell me what you saw . This is important . ”

“…I found something out, but it’s not related to the culprit . ”

Yoo Jinhyuk couldn’t identify the culprit from the tattoo he saw . Since he couldn’t find anything out about the culprit, he decided to trace the victim . He figured he could discover the motive by doing so .

However, even after exploring the past for dozens of days, there were no clues leading to the culprit other than the tattoo, and today he even discovered a more shocking truth .

“What is it?”

“Chae Jinyoon… became a Djinn . ”

“…Huh?”

The secretary’s face stiffened .

“No, I shouldn’t say Djinn . The examiner said what he became was above a Djinn . So… a devil, I suppose?”

“A devil?”

“I’m not sure . But Chae Shinhyuk wanted to hide this fact, and the medical examiner seemed to have accepted his request . ”

However, it seemed the examiner couldn’t abandon his conscience and duty, as he didn’t cremate the real corpse and kept it stored in his basement . The body that was cremated was shockingly a fake that was made to look just like the real body .

“Then… what about the culprit?”

“There’s nothing more I can do . There’s not much time left, and finding the culprit is outside my capability . It’s impossible . But this tattoo…”

Tok, tok . Yoo Jinhyuk’s finger poked the computer screen .

Although it wasn’t so unique that only one of such a tattoo would exist in the entire world, it wasn’t an entirely common tattoo either .

“Tell Chae Joochul that this is the only evidence . As for the information we found out about Chae Jinyoon, encrypt it and keep it archived in our Violet Banquet database . ”

“W-What if people find out?”

Chae Joochul .

After slowly losing his emotions from a side-effect of his Gift, he became a sociopath who was unlike his old self .

This old man was so frightening that he could terrify even Yoo Jinhyuk’s level-headed secretary .

“That’s exactly why we should keep it archived . Not even that old man can touch Violet Banquet . Plus, don’t you think we should hold on to the only card we have against him?”

“…You want to fight back?”

The secretary asked with a trembling voice .

“No, I wouldn’t say I’m fighting back . ”

In Korea, there were few who could fight Chae Joochul . Only a member of the Nine Stars or Shin Myungchul, who died five years ago, would be capable of doing so .

“If I’m killed, it’ll be on you to tell the world . You’ll get revenge for me, right?”

Yoo Jinhyuk smirked and looked out the window .

The scenery was outdated, as though he was looking at Seoul in the year 2000 .

He wondered when this town would catch up to the modern era .

“I… still want to live on . You see, there’s still a lot I want to do and see— aak!”

PANG—!

At that moment, a soccer ball suddenly hit the office window .

“…Haha . ”

Yoo Jinhyuk laughed feebly, then opened the window .

“Hey, you little brats! I made you a playground, so why are you playing soccer here!?”

“Huh? Oh, we got chased out by hyungs . ”

“…That’s none of my problem! Don’t play soccer here!”

KWANG . Yoo Jinhyuk slammed the window closed .

But at that instant, a lightbulb went on inside his head .

He could practically hear the electric pulse flickering through his synapses .

“Brats… children… a kid…”

Someone who didn’t have a grudge against Chae Jinyoon but had a grudge against Chae Joochul .

There was one such person .

His niece, Yoo Yeonha, had once asked for a background investigation… .

“…No way . ”

However, he laughed and shook his head . That boy didn’t have the ability to cast such a powerful barrier . If he did, he would have attacked Chae Joochul directly . After all, a sociopath like Chae Joochul wouldn’t feel much from his grandson’s death .

“Oh right, Chief . ”

The secretary suddenly spoke up, as though she just remembered something .

“Gangwonland contacted us . The anti-monster system is apparently completed . ”

“Oh? Great, tell them I’ll be there to pick it up . ”

“There goes our money again . ”

“We need to pay for it somehow . ”

Yoo Jinhyuk let out a deep sigh and looked outside the window once again .

How much he was attached to this town was something he had to hide from Chae Joochul no matter what .

**

Friday’s final afternoon training .

[Tactics against Monster Armies]

It was one of the classes I applied for . There wasn’t a special reason for it . I just thought it suited me .

“Rachel-ssi, do you want to team up with me today too?”

Of the 40 cadets gathered in the park, the only cadet I knew was Rachel .

“Yes, gladly . ”

Rachel smiled brightly and nodded .

Just like that, Rachel and I paired up, and I received envious gazes from the other male cadets .

“Alright, hold your partner’s hand and gather in front of the cave!”

The instructor in charge of the training shouted .

Him telling us to hold our hands was undoubtedly a figure of speech . However, Rachel looked back and forth between her hand and mine .

Seeing that my hand wasn’t moving, she tried to reach out to grab my hand, then hesitated and looked up at me like a puppy .

“Ah, um… . ”

“We don’t need to hold hands . ”

“…I, I see . ”

She let out a dry cough .

“Alright, line up! Each team will go in, starting from Team 1!”

Following the instructor’s directive, we entered the cave .

Perhaps because there were only forty cadets in the class, the cave didn’t seem crowded at all .

“Ah, there’s something there . ”

After walking for a bit, we arrived at a ten-way crossroad . Next to each road was a sign that read O or X . Ones that read X were likely taken by other teams .

We chose one of the open paths and walked in .

Ssss—

A chilling wind swept over us .

“It looks like we’re up against skeletons . ”

“Skeletons?”

“Yes, it looks like there are at least a thousand of them . ”

Clack, clack, clack .

The sound of bones clacking .

Sssh, sssh .

The sound of wind blowing through bones .

An army of undead warriors was waiting for us .

“Two against a thousand… it looks like we’ll be graded on how we deal with the situation . ”

Rachel quickly came to a conclusion .

“Maybe not . They’re only skeletons . We should be able to take care of them . ”

I held up my handgun with one hand and my two knives with the other .

“You’re using two knives?”

“Yes . ”

This was the first time I was using two knives with my gun . Using all three weapons was too hard for me previously, but it was different now that I had Dexterity .

“They must have a commander . I’ll crush his head . ”

My eyes could clearly see a skeleton commander sitting on a palanquin, surrounded by thirteen skeleton magicians . As long as I dealt with those fourteen, it should be a piece of cake to defeat the rest .

Rachel looked at me fixedly, then smiled bitterly .

“…As I thought, Hajin-ssi is always full of confidence . ”

“Yes? Oh… um, I guess that’s why I’m your master . ”

“Oh, right . ”

Rachel snickered as though she just remembered it and nodded .

“Then let’s go . Wait until I make the first attack . ”

I released Stigma’s magic power and infused light attribute into the knives . Then, I threw them in opposite directions .

My first target was the commander .

My attack didn’t need to be strong . Just a simple snap of a wrist was enough .

Whoosh—

After leaving my hand, the two knives drew a huge arc around the left and right area of the cave and flew toward the skeleton commander .

Clack, clack .

As expected, the skeleton commander was nimble . It raised its hands to easily block the knives, but a light attribute bullet was already shooting toward his head .

As all three attacks were simultaneous, there was no way it could have avoided all attacks .

With its head pierced by the bullet, the skeleton commander’s skull cracked in half and crumbled .

*

After the battle .

“Haa… haa… . ”

It seemed fighting a thousand opponents took a toll on Rachel’s stamina as she sat on the ground, breathing heavily . Her clothes were disheveled, and her hair was drenched with sweat .

“Are you tired?”

“Yes… haa…”

To be honest, I wasn’t . I couldn’t possibly be tired when all I did was pull the trigger from the back .

Suddenly, a voice rang out from the speaker phone above us .

—Perfect! Team Rachel and Kim Hajin, perfect score! Collect your breath and come out!

The instructor seemed impressed to say the least .

Rachel was glad to hear it . She widened her eyes and held her arms up .

“Whoo~”

While I was looking at her with a smile, I noticed her disheveled hair .

“Ah, Rachel-ssi, do you have a comb?”

“Eh? N-No, I don’t . ”

“Mm… . ”

I still walked up to her . A sudden, unbearable urge sprouted up within me .

“Sorry, your hair is too disheveled… . ”

“My hair?”

“I’ll fix it for you . ”

I put my hands on Rachel’s hair . Immediately, Rachel froze .

“W-Wait, w-why… aahng, that tickles . ”

“Hold on just a minute . ”

“Wait, why so suddenly… . ”

My hands moved by themselves, ignoring Rachel’s resistance . I honestly didn’t know why I was doing this either .

I just followed my instinct . Soon, Rachel’s disheveled hair became cleanly tidied, with a portion of it tied in a pretty ribbon .

“…There . ”

I showed Rachel a mirror .

When she looked at her hair, she widened her eyes in shock .

“H-How? You didn’t even have a comb . ”

“I’m wondering the same thing . ”

I looked down at my hands .

“Maybe my hands have a magical touch . ”

**

11 p . m .

I walked to an empty park near my apartment and focused . I was training my Stigma usage .

Concentrating Stigma’s magic power for instantaneous movement – Dash .

Emitting Stigma’s magic power under my feet and leaping up vertically – Jump .

Enveloping myself with Stigma’s magic power and teleporting dozens of meters away – Blink .

“…Kuaa . ”

After using all three Streaks of Stigma trying out different movement abilities, I sprawled out on the ground and collected my breath .

Bzzzz—

At that moment, I received a call on my smartwatch .

The caller was Chae Nayun .

I sighed as soon as I saw her name .

Should I pick it up? Or should I ignore it?

The call ended as I was hesitating, but she called me again immediately .

Bzzzz—

I calmly stared at the smartwatch vibrating on my wrist .

Without a choice, I closed my eyes and picked up the call .

“Hello?”

—Hey, where are you?

That was the first thing she asked .

“I’m home . Why?”

—…I heard you’re commuting .

“Yeah, did you just find out?”

—What? That’s because you never told me! Do you wanna die?

Chae Nayun blurted out angrily and then fell silent .

—You should have told me earlier .

Her voice was full of disappointment .

“What difference would that make?”

—I could live next door .

“…Someone’s already living there . ”

—That can be solved with money .

“… . ”

—I’m rich, you know .

Chae Nayun quiet laughter flowed into my ears .

—Did you forget? As long as you’re with me, you won’t have to worry about money .

I let out a slow sigh and looked up at the night sky .

Seoul’s sky was no different than any other night . A stifling darkness, a darkness that made me suffocate and tremble .

—…Say something .

“I’m just sleepy . Can I hang up?”

—N-No, wait, don’t hang up .

Chae Nayun’s hurried voice echoed in my ears .

—Um… not until I fall asleep .

She continued with a frail, trembling voice .

—I-It’s not like I’m having trouble sleeping . Just that, um, my room is a bit too big .

Her excuse was Chae Nayun-like . I lowered my gaze silently . An ugly rock was lying on the ground .

—Just, just a little bit longer…

I knew I shouldn’t agree to her because of momentary guilt and sympathy . I knew very well that it would only lead to a vicious cycle .

Even so, the reason I couldn’t hang up… had to be because of my guilty conscience .

—I want to hear your voice .

A chilling loneliness grazed my body . Goosebumps rose up and my knees trembled .

With forlorn eyes, I looked up at the night sky .

The darkness seemed to be devouring me .

Up above, there were no stars, light, or moon .

—Hey, just so you know, you’re a re~al bad boy if you hang up after I said all this .

Chae Nayun’s feigned cheeriness was unable to get through me .

I replied quietly .

“I won’t hang up . ”

—…Then reply quicker . You’re making me embarrassed for nothing .

“Just talk . I’ll at least listen to you . ”

—Talk about what?

“…Did you hurt your head?”

—No, hahaha .

Chae Nayun laughed . Then, she began to talk about what happened today .

What she ate, what happened during class, etc .

But eventually, she brought up something I didn’t expect to hear .

—Oh right, Yeonha’s uncle told me something about the murder…

“…Murder?”

Yoo Jinhyuk . Although his name made me nervous, I had a certain degree of certainty about this matter . Even his power should have restrictions .

—…No, it’s nothing . I don’t want to talk about these things with you .

“What, why, tell me . ”

—No, I don’t want to . I only want to talk about good things with you .

When I heard Chae Nayun’s bashful laughter, I couldn’t bring myself to ask her any further .

—Oh, I think I’m getting sleepy now . It looks like the sleeping pills I took are working .

“…Don’t eat too many of those . ”

—What, are you worrying about me?

“…Oh please . ”

I picked up the water bottle I brought . When I tried to take a sip…

—Hajin .

“… . !”

Chae Nayun’s sudden attack almost made me snort water up my nose .

As I coughed, Chae Nayun muttered with a relaxed yawn .

—Good night .

“Ah, erm, yeah, good night . I’m going to bed too . ”

—…Hey .

Contradicting what she said a moment ago, she continued .

What was it now?

I strained my ears .

—I want to see you .

The words that seemingly came out of nowhere left me speechless .

—Ah, wait, nevermind . I must not be thinking straight because of the sleeping pills . I’m hanging up! Sorry—!

While I was trying to come up with words to say, Chae Nayun quickly hung up first . I could imagine how she was doing on the other side of the call .

“…Why is my face heating up . ”

While I was feeling the temperature of my cheeks, I saw a familiar figure walking over .

“Boss?”

“Hm?”

As I thought, it was Boss .

Last week, she spoke like she wasn’t going to show herself until June 1st, but she seemed to be enjoying Seoul, as this was the third time I ran into her on the streets .

“Kim Hajin?”

“We’re running into each other quite frequently . ”

Boss was holding onto a bag of Baskin-Robins ice-cream .

It wasn’t just a pint, but a huge bucket .

“Good, I’ve been wanting to see you . ”

Boss hopped over .

“…What, why? Is it another test—?”

“It went up . ”

Boss glared at me angrily .

“Went up?”

“Stocks! It’s up 2% compared to when I sold them!!”

Then, she blurted out uncharacteristically .

“…Oh, you really sold all those?”

I spoke thoughtlessly . Although I was confident it would plummet soon, nothing about the Tower campaign was finalized at the moment . It was only natural that their stock price was fluctuating .

“…What did you say?”

However, Boss’ eyes flickered with true killing intent .

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