Chapter 37

Chapter 37

The moment the possibility of obtaining Immunity to All Poisons opened up, that Berserker bastard got excited.

“Immunity to All Poisons, huh. With this, I could have a much more heated showdown with you…”

The face that had been grinning, steeped in madness, was now looking at me. At some point, his eyes had filled with competitive spirit.

Was he asking for a fight right now?

I was about to tell him that if he came at me, I'd gladly oblige. Immunity to All Poisons—I wanted it.

But he came to his senses faster than I could answer.

“…No, not happening. There's no reason to kill myself right now.”

…You ghostlike bastard.

Anyway, once the settlement was finished, the Berserker packed up his things and said his goodbyes.

“Contact me again if you need me. That little lamb's talent is quite something—I'll gladly cooperate so she can see the moment of the star. And unlike someone, I seem to have a fair bit of talent for teaching. Kuhuhu!”

If the one who gained the most from today's meeting was Berserker, does that make me the strange one?

I shook off my thoughts and spoke to Jung Dahyun, who was blankly staring at Berserker's camping car receding into the distance.

“Let's go.”

“Yes.”

The two of us headed for Seoul.

“……”

During the drive, little conversation passed between us. Jung Dahyun looked like she had a lot on her mind.

As for me, I spent the time thinking about Immunity to All Poisons.

The talk about wanting to steal it was a joke, of course. What amazed me was that the eccentricity he'd built up over the years had carved itself into his blood and created the potential for a gift awakening of that caliber.

I wish I could have engraved that kind of potential into myself.

The gifts engraved in my own blood were unreadable to me. Why was that?

Then a dry laugh slipped out.

Here I was, in possession of ten gifts, and still greedy for more.

As we neared Seoul, Jung Dahyun emerged from her thoughts and spoke up.

“Berserker was a more interesting person than I expected.”

“Yeah?”

From where I stood, he was just a lunatic.

“It gave me a chance to rethink what I know about villains. Setting aside my preconceptions, he was simply a cheerful man.”

“Being a villain doesn't necessarily mean being evil.”

There were all sorts of reasons someone became a villain—circumstances, being swept along by the people around them, their home environment, a single moment's mistake. But even if they weren't evil at first, the moment they became a villain, they were eventually steeped in evil. As long as the world wouldn't tolerate it, I, Blood Lord, and Berserker were all evil.

I had returned to a time before I became evil, but once you've stepped into evil, it isn't easy to pull your foot back out.

“Sometimes I feel like my sense of justice is growing muddled. As it gets harder to tell what's justice and what's evil, I start doubting whether I'm doing the right thing.”

“Trust what you see and feel. Your standards haven't wavered.”

“Yes. And also…”

Jung Dahyun looked like she had something she wanted to say.

“What is it?”

“How is a dual gift even possible?”

A dual gift refers, literally, to an Awakened who possesses two gifts. It appears with an extremely slim probability.

“Fundamentally, it's difficult. Awakened are inherently specialized for their gifts. Awakening a second gift diminishes your efficiency.”

That's why almost none of the Awakened with dual gifts ever reached a high level.

“Then, oppa… No, never mind. I asked something pointless. Sorry.”

“My case is different.”

I had ten gifts, but every one of them was a gift that ‘someone’ had already specialized and I had taken.

Put nicely, it was copying. Put badly, it was plunder.

“For now, focus on making the Level 7 senses your own. Once you get the feel for it, you'll climb right up.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Jung Dahyun nodded, her eyes blazing with resolve.

* * *

It's something I notice watching Yunhee, but she definitely has a clear On/Off switch.

When she goes to work at Shinseong Guild, she gives everything her all. At home, she fuses with the sofa and clings to it.

I, on the other hand, seem quite different from Yunhee. I feel like I'm always walking around with the switch flipped on—and as I gained recognition as a Level 8 and the way people treat me changed, that trait only grew more pronounced.

My current situation was reasonably satisfying. That said, this point in time was the honeymoon period, the stage where I was enjoying the perks of my position as a transcendent. Before long, the obligations I had to fulfill would come pressing in.

The nation was making that level of investment to make use of my power, and I had agreed to it.

On my end too, even if there'd be some give-and-take in the bargain, I had no intention of forcing one-sided losses on the other party.

Anyway, how am I supposed to deal with that?

While I was agonizing over how to peel the girl off the sofa, she caught on with ghostlike speed and shouted.

“Stop right there! You were about to nag me, weren't you?”

“Are you a ghost or something?”

Did she awaken telepathy instead of Indomitable as her gift?

“Where in the world is there anyone who trains harder than me? That damn Indomitable! Indomitable! You should've just named the gift Absolute Indomitability!”

Looks like she'd picked up the Three Bonds and Five Relations somewhere and wanted to show off.

Even so, Yunhee's resistance was stronger than I expected.

Poking her now felt like she'd explode. I was curious what that would look like, but seeing the killing intent dripping from both her eyes, I dropped the thought.

“Did you at least look into some decent places to live?”

“Yeah, I told the Administrative Office, and they had me fill in a few conditions and recommended some right away. I just need to have the money ready.”

“It'll be ready soon.”

“Some people prepare thoroughly and barely manage to hunt, while others go out like they're taking a stroll and come back with kills. The world sure is unfair.”

“If you want to be like me, just work hard.”

You'd have to live a pretty dynamic life in exchange, though.

But Yunhee wiped the playfulness from her face and asked me cautiously.

“So, the monster—did you really hunt it alone, oppa?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Nothing, just. I was wondering if there was any talk going around.”

“Haven't heard anything.”

“Yeah? Then that's a relief.”

As she said that, Yunhee fidgeted like she had something to tell me, but in the end she didn't open her mouth.

What was it she wanted to say?

Yunhee acting like that meant there was something she really wanted to let me know, but found it too burdensome to say out loud.

It seemed related to the monster, so I figured I'd create an opening later and ask.

“I'm heading out.”

“Okay.”

I set my questions aside, checked the time, and went outside. Today I had an appointment with Lee Sehee.

There was a Shinseong Group event today, so Lee Sehee, already dressed up, greeted me in a more dazzling state than usual.

Since we'd met for business, we went straight into work talk.

“The monster's heart you handed over, Junho, is vastly superior in efficiency compared to others of the same level. Last time it was three times the value, but with a premium attached, it could rise to five times.”

“That's a good sign.”

“Yes. In that sense, how would you like to do business with us? If we can monopolize this crafting method even briefly, we stand to make an enormous profit.”

According to Lee Sehee, the crafting I'd learned was advanced technology, but it couldn't be monopolized for long. So the goal was to solidify the brand during that lead time and rise to first place in the monster's heart crafting industry.

“This isn't something just anyone can do.”

“No, but all of our Group's jewelers are first-rate.”

She says that, but this requires an innate sense. I lacked that sense, so I'd been activating it with an absurd quantity of Force.

Sure enough, you need the original.

“For now, I'll introduce you to someone who can handle this technique better than I can.”

“There's someone like that? Why didn't I know until now?”

“Because he's in the shadows.”

“Ah, the shadows. The black market…”

I told Lee Sehee I'd bring in the Heartworker from my past life before long.

He'd passed the technique on to me, so in this life I should settle that debt. He was a money-grubbing bastard, but hearing the scale Lee Sehee was talking about, it seemed I could satisfy that greed of his well enough.

When I said we could continue the business discussion later, she looked disappointed but nodded.

“And how are things when you hunt monsters?”

“How are things?”

“I was wondering if there's any difficulty.”

“None?”

“That's a relief, then.”

“Is there some kind of problem?”

It was a field I'd never once thought about, so I felt puzzled.

“No, there isn't. If there's no problem, that's a relief. Shall we go, then?”

Lee Sehee pretended to hurry and turned away from me. Between Yunhee earlier and Lee Sehee's behavior now, something felt suspicious.

Today, Shinseong Group is holding the opening of the Shinseong Department Store Premium Gallery for Awakened.

I'd received an invitation to this event as well, and had agreed to escort Lee Sehee.

“By the way…”

“Is there some kind of problem?”

“You want me to ride in your car? Hmm, I don't mind, but.”

Would it really be okay to show up in a compact car while wearing jewels worth hundreds of millions apiece?

The trailing hem of that voluminous dress might get caught, too.

Lee Sehee spoke with an incredulous look.

“Of course we're taking my car.”

* * *

The Shinseong Department Store's Awakened gallery was a place established under Lee Sehee's leadership, stocked with every supply an Awakened could need.

Starting with the armor needed when dealing with monsters, it displays all manner of weapons, recovery potions and status ailment recovery potions like antidotes that make use of Force, as well as various disposable items and survival goods.

It even included a shop that buys monster's hearts and byproducts, so Awakened could purchase everything they needed in one place.

The highlight among them was armor made in collaboration with designer luxury brands from around the world. Having captured both practicality and beauty, it seized the attention of female Awakened everywhere.

The era had arrived where you wore armor to fashion shows.

Lee Sehee, who had appeared in place of Chairman Lee Youngmun—who had been refraining from frontline appearances due to recent health issues—was the center of the event.

I stood at her side, watching Lee Sehee enjoy the spotlights pouring in from every direction as if they were her own.

“How is it?”

“Anyone with an Awakened girlfriend is going to come flocking here.”

“Correct. That's exactly what I was aiming for. Performance has now been standardized across the board. That means competitiveness comes down to how pretty it is.”

At least for female Awakened, this definitely worked, she said.

And just as good-looking rice cakes taste better, male Awakened also preferred stylish gear even if it cost a bit more.

It was an era of ten million Hunter aspirants. The government wanted the public to revere Awakened with transcendent power as heroes rather than enemies. The more people became Hunters, even by one, the stronger the nation's power would be.

That's why Hunters who were both skilled and beautiful enjoyed more popularity than most celebrities, and equipment design was growing more important by the day.

For me, standing out is a bit… no, that's not it. That was the mindset of a villain on the run. As a Level 8 transcendent who drew attention, I too should learn to appreciate flashy things.

Looking again, I supposed it was pretty.

Lee Sehee handled interviews skillfully too, wittily unpacking Shinseong Guild's trajectory and what Shinseong Group was aiming for.

“Hm?”

Just then, a stir rose from one side, and a tall, handsome young man dressed immaculately approached. Decked head to toe in luxury brands, the man looked to be in his late twenties, wearing a friendly smile, but I could sense something sinister beneath it.

“It's been a while, Sehee. Have you been well?”

“…What brings you here, oppa?”

The one who greeted her so familiarly was Lee Sehee's older brother and Shinseong Group's eldest son, Lee Sechan. And the two were rivals competing over Shinseong Group.

“My little sister achieved something this splendid—of course I had to come.”

“Thank you for coming.”

It was a conversation between siblings, but awkwardness hung over it. Lee Sechan glanced at Lee Sehee, then looked at me and introduced himself.

“Pleased to meet you. I'm Lee Sechan, Sehee's older brother.”

“Choi Junho.”

“I know of you, of course. The youngest transcendent, the talk of the town.”

There was a mocking edge to his voice.

I took the hand Lee Sechan extended. Veins bulged on his hand as he applied pressure—about the strength of a gentle scratch with a back scratcher. Wondering what he was playing at, I looked at his face, and his expression was grotesque.

“Our Sehee has no experience with men, so her eye for people is weak. There's no end to the men who try to look good in front of her. All of them worthless nobodies. Sehee lacks the ability to tell them apart. If she'd just listen to her oppa, she'd be better off.”

So this was him putting me down.

The truth is, I'm quick on the uptake.

“Team Leader Lee is the most capable person I've ever met. People see only as much as they're capable of seeing—and those with narrow vision sometimes fail to understand people of great ambition. That's a clear difference in ability.”

Lee Sechan's expression twists.

“Are you saying that to me right now?”

“The listener can decide.”

“You half-baked…”

Half-baked? What did he mean by that?

Don't tell me it's a new epithet. As if Head Breaker and Erasure weren't bad enough already. What's 'half-baked' supposed to be? Because I got folded in half?

I decided not to think too deeply about it.

“And also.”

I looked at the man's hand trembling as he poured on excessive force, then applied a light squeeze of my own.

“Kghhk!”

“People in high places get the wrong idea and think no harm will ever come to them. I have a preexisting condition that makes me want to stomp on that kind of idiot until they grasp their own place.”

If I applied a little more force here, Lee Sechan's hand would shatter. Looking at the hand barely holding its shape, I felt that my strength control had improved too.

“Would you like to find out?”

“Hngh! Hff!”

Lee Sechan barely managed to shake his head once. When I released the pressure, he staggered and nearly collapsed as his legs gave out.

“Director!”

“L-Let's go back.”

People gathered around Lee Sechan, then surrounded him so his panicked state wouldn't show as they left the scene.

Half-baked, though.

Sensing the mood had turned strange, Lee Sehee approached.

“Junho, did something happen?”

“It's nothing.”

I don't know why people only come to their senses after getting hit. Monsters at least leave behind a heart and byproducts when they die, but people don't even leave that.

I gestured with my eyes toward the camera shutters.

“Reporters are taking photos over there. The star of today should shine even brighter.”

“Yes.”

The moment Lee Sehee heard me, she naturally struck a pose.

* * *

After the event, I met with Cheon Myeongguk to report on the villain subjugation.

On the first day he'd looked gaunt, and I'd wondered if he had health issues, but he recovered before long and was now active and vigorous.

“From the villain subjugation operation to all sorts of events. You've truly worked hard.”

“It was work I had to do.”

“However, the foreign villains…”

Trailing off, he looked at me, and I felt puzzled.

“Wasn’t it already resolved?”

“There’s a high chance this will become a headache in more ways than one.”

“If we missed the timing to kill him, how about issuing him a citizen ID and registering his residence?”

“A citizen ID and resident registration?”

“He is one of our citizens, after all.”

“…That is a very tempting method.”

Cheon Myeongguk muttered with a look of admiration. I couldn’t understand what was so difficult about this that he had to agonize over it.

“How have the past few days been, as a transcendent?”

“Satisfactory.”

“We’re also preparing a helicopter for when you need to leave the congested city center.”

“That will make it easier to deploy to operation zones.”

“I will simply do my utmost to match what you need, Transcendent. And you, in turn, must fulfill your role as a transcendent belonging to South Korea.”

Cheon Myeongguk stopped speaking and quietly looked at me. His face was waiting for my answer.

“I will naturally fulfill the role given to me.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s a mutually beneficial exchange.”

“However……”

As Cheon Myeongguk hesitated, seemingly troubled, I spoke up.

“You may speak freely.”

“Truthfully, there have recently been concerns in certain quarters regarding you, Transcendent Choi Junho.”

Concerns about me? Had Erasure’s trail been exposed, by any chance?

The only ones who could guess my identity were Lee Sehee and Berserker.

Had that bastard Berserker been running around blabbing that I’d gotten a taste for blood?

“Transcendents belonging to the state protect state power from external and internal threats, and shield citizens from the threat of villains.”

“I am aware.”

“And the last one. Transcendents belonging to the state must protect citizens from the threat of monsters.”

“……”

Cheon Myeongguk spoke while looking at me, but I couldn’t tell what the problem was.

Hunting monsters was a given.

“Subjugating villain organizations is good, and protecting state power is good. But the time a state-affiliated transcendent truly shines is when hunting monsters.”

He said the reason large guilds had grown powerful enough to even covet state authority was monster hunting.

In the end, it comes down to money. Because monster byproducts turn into money.

They invest that money and craft equipment from byproducts, and that’s how their power grows.

But why was he telling me this?

“There is talk circulating in certain quarters regarding your monster-hunting ability, Transcendent Choi Junho.”

“What kind of talk?”

“That you are a half-baked transcendent who can’t hunt monsters……”

So that’s why Lee Sechan called me half-baked earlier.

What a relief. I’d thought I was getting another strange epithet like Head Breaker or Erasure.

So that was why Yunhee had been acting that way toward me.

Now I finally understood.

“Please tell me in detail.”

“…They are merely rumors drifting around behind your back. I hope you won’t pay them any mind.”

“Yes.”

What followed was, quite literally, absurd fabrication.

Though I had become a Level 8 transcendent, my only experience amounted to catching lower-level villains, and though my greatest achievement was eliminating the Puppeteer, the Puppeteer was merely famous as an immortal and his combat power was only low-tier.

In particular, the reason I didn’t go out to hunt monsters was because I suffered from ‘monster phobia,’ and the government had signed a sucker’s contract to tie down a transcendent who couldn’t even hunt monsters.

The proof, they said, was that I never went out to hunt monsters.

Officially, I had not gone out to hunt monsters even once.

Cheon Myeongguk carefully gauged my reaction.

“If there is a secret reason you cannot hunt monsters, I would be grateful if you would tell me. We will do our utmost to help.”

This man also seemed to think I had some hidden reason.

I just felt dumbfounded.

When I was the Blood Lord, they exaggerated that I would destroy the world, and now they treated me as a half-baked transcendent who couldn’t even properly catch a single monster.

I could only let out a hollow laugh.

“I will prove it soon enough.”

I, who had lived that past life, remember.

One month from now, the 8th Monster, ‘Nuri,’ appears in Seoul. Everything will be revealed then.

At my words, Cheon Myeongguk’s expression brightened slightly.

“And, Director.”

“Yes.”

“Could you start compiling a list of the people who spread that rumor right now, and give it to me once I hunt a monster?”

“……”

“It’s just out of curiosity. Curiosity. I’ll only look.”

“……”

He didn’t look convinced in the slightest.

At this rate, it felt like I’d have to live up to his expectations, didn’t it?

“Please, I’m begging you……”

Cheon Myeongguk’s complexion turned ashen as he clutched his stomach.