S Chapter 32

“You wanted to meet me?”

“What an honor.” Jukyeong said smoothly, pulling out a chair and sitting down.

“You’re the boss here?”

Shin Jukyeong asked with a significant tilt, but the man responded lightly.

“Does it look like a lie?”

“……”

“We can just confirm the abilities, right?”

He was very composed. It seemed this was what they meant by “the darkest place is under the candlestick.” Shin Jukyeong clicked his tongue secretly.

“I can show you right away. Should we start the transaction immediately?”

The fellow gestured towards a guard. It seemed like a message to bring Won Go-yu. Already? Not yet. Shin Jukyeong quickly cut off the flow.

“Wait a moment.”

“……Hmm?”

As if asking “What now?”, the man silently raised an eyebrow. Shin Jukyeong paid no mind and pointed his thumb at himself.

“I’m gay.”

“……?”

“And I loved a man.”

Drr-ruk. The man got up from his chair and looked around. He seemed to be anxiously checking if there was a hidden camera, with his heart pounding. It was almost a pity, he was making such a fuss.

“It’s a story about my first love! Sit down!”

Shin Jukyeong snapped.

“I loved him so passionately. I gave him everything!”

“Aren’t you nineteen right now?”

“Does age matter? Don’t act like you’ve never been in love.”

Three skull bombs exploded next to the man’s face.

“Then… well, it happened like that.”

“No, tell me.”

“Anyway, long story short, we reunited fatefully here.”

“One way to drive Koreans crazy is to stop talking mid-sentence, and—”

“The end of the story.”

“Look at the plot development. I’d believe it if you said it was Shakespeare.”

“Are you from Chungcheong Province?”

“Argh.”

Shin Jukyeong chuckled and continued. To summarize, it was: ‘I want to make a good impression on that man, so I want to give him a special item (S-rank) as a gift. Therefore, I need another item, so I will see it in person and choose.’

“The share for two people would be quite expensive, wouldn’t it?”

“Are you worried about that now? You approached me intending to pick my father’s bones clean anyway.”

He was sure of it. He could bet his wrist on it. If the current situation was real, and he crossed the line blinded by greed, a more horrific situation would unfold.

This swindler would constantly blabber things like, ‘Do you know what your son has done~ You don’t want to be thoroughly exposed by the Hunter Association Chairman, do you~ If the truth comes out, UA Group will fall~ You know how to make us keep quiet, right~’ He would have treated his family as a convenient ATM.

“No?”

“Of course not.”

The man smiled sweetly. “As if.” Shin Jukyeong didn’t back down and curled his lips into a smile too.

“So, the deal?”

“Let’s do it. Yes. Let’s.”

The man nodded and received a ledger from a guard.

“Currently, our special items are just one S-rank we acquired today. There’s nothing better than that. At most, there are two A-ranks and—”

“I’d like to see them and choose myself.”

“The cages? What’s the point of seeing them directly? We’re only taking their abilities anyway. Everything is listed here, so you can just look and choose. There’s no need to go there. It smells, it’s dirty… It’s not a suitable place to show a client, so please understand.”

…Cages? Shin Jukyeong blinked, and the man muttered dismissively.

“There are quite a few homeless people.”

So they only captured those who had manifested abilities among the displaced? Hmm. I see. Shin Jukyeong’s eyes turned pitch black.

Kidnapping? Illegal.

Imprisonment? Illegal.

Forced extraction? Illegal.

Three strikes, you’re out. There’s nothing more to see.

“Hey.”

Kwang. Shin Jukyeong struck the table with his knee. The hand that was flipping through the ledger flinched and stopped. The man frowned, looking at Shin Jukyeong. Displeasure crept into his snake-like eyes.

“‘Hey’? Ha… Customer, no matter what, I hope you’ll maintain proper courtesy—”

“The thing is.”

Shin Jukyeong abruptly cut off the man’s words. Then, he blurted out something completely unexpected.

“I died once and came back to life.”

“Huh?”

The man replied in an incredulous tone. It was a look that said he’d seen all kinds of crazy people. Nevertheless, as Shin Jukyeong didn’t stop talking, he no longer hid his irritated demeanor.

“Ha, goddamn it… Stop messing around and let’s proceed with the contract.”

He even muttered curses and pressed his forehead.

“No, listen.”

Regardless, Shin Jukyeong remained steadfast. Head tilted. Sunken gaze. In a melancholy voice, he picked at a hangnail on his finger as he continued.

“I killed my younger brother with my own hands, and then I was stabbed to death by another younger brother. But when I opened my eyes, it was 11 years ago.”

“Hey, Shin Jukyeong!”

“I’m working hard. I need to be a good older brother, and this time, I mustn’t fail. I’m really trying my best… but why do people like you keep crawling out and getting in the way? Tsk.”

Hmph, a sigh filled the room.

“Still, I have to do it, what can I do?”

Shin Jukyeong shrugged his shoulders. Then, he quickly snatched a ballpoint pen from the ledger and threw it. Shwik—after a brief sound of cutting through the air, the guard’s body crumpled. He fell without even a groan.

“……What just.”

The man turned around with a bewildered expression. His subordinate, face down on the floor, didn’t even twitch, and only the carpet slowly turned red. Kkik, kki-gik—it took quite some time for his stiff neck to return to its position.

“You, what are you… What, …no, wait a minute…”

Nineteen years old. And an unmanifested individual at that. Such a person kills someone with just a ballpoint pen? Without any hesitation, without a single mistake? Don’t joke. That couldn’t be possible. But it happened right before his eyes. The man stammered in panic, then thump! urgently stood up from his seat.

“Ugh, ah!”

Then he let out a hic sound and stumbled around frantically. He wasn’t overreacting. The man was genuinely feeling terror. In truth, subordinates being murdered or having their lives threatened was countless. It wasn’t a rare occurrence. Nevertheless, goosebumps prickled his skin.

The reason was simple. He couldn’t understand it. If there were a criminal record, he wouldn’t have been flustered. Because that’s just the kind of guy he was. If he had overwhelming physical ability, he wouldn’t have made a mistake. Because he would have prepared in advance. Even if he were just an adult, he would have accepted it.

But none of it was true. Does it make sense? No, it doesn’t. And yet, an incomprehensible situation had unfolded. To the man, Shin Jukyeong was just a tall gigolo, an immature young master, an incompetent ordinary person. In other words, a weakling. But the weakling had killed the strong. He murdered a professional without batting an eye.

Survival of the fittest. The defined hierarchy shattered instantly. Common sense broke, and values wavered. The man was confused. Confusion quickly bred fear. Events outside one’s personal scope of understanding push people into terror.

“Where are you going?”

Kwang! Shin Jukyeong grabbed the man’s hand and slammed it onto the table.

“Ugh, let go!”

The man thrashed wildly with his whole body but couldn’t escape.

“You son of a bitch…!”

“Your ability is to steal others’ abilities, right? Do you possess them, or do you transfer them?”

Shin Jukyeong whispered gently. The man wriggled like an insect pinned down. No matter how hard he tried, his hand wouldn’t come loose. The crushing strength was immense. It was even more bizarre because it wasn’t the force a mere nineteen-year-old should possess.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

Bing-geure, Shin Jukyeong’s lips curled upwards. To the man, it was hardly something he could call a smile or laughter. Kung-kung-kung—his heart pounded fiercely. He tried to calm down but simply couldn’t.

‘Ability? Should I use my ability to subdue him?’

It was at that moment of deliberation.

“Go on, try.”

Shin Jukyeong spoke as if he had read his mind. His black eyes gleamed, staring directly at the man.

“Try to take it.”

“Ugh, ah, ugh…!”

“Eve!”

When Shin Jukyeong shouted, pitch-black smoke billowed into the air. The man’s pupils widened to their utmost. This was because a distinct sound of laughter emanated from within the swirling black smoke.

「Cackle, cackle!」

It sounded like a child, and also like an old man with white hair. In any case, it was definitely an unpleasant sound that made one want to cover their ears. Goosebumps spread across the man’s body.

「Ahahahahahaha!」

“Ugh, ugh… Aaargh!”

Finally, the man screamed. The entire situation felt like a lie. What, on earth, was this?

“Is… is anyone out there! Anyone?!”

It was an urgent cry for help, but strangely, no one came in. Shin Jukyeong looked at the man and uttered a single phrase.

“It’s been a long time since we last ate out.”

As permission was given, the black smoke engulfed the man. There was fierce resistance, but within a few seconds, all movement ceased. When the smoke cleared, what appeared was an emaciated skeleton… no, the man. His once gleaming skin was gone, completely dried up, and his skin clung to his bones, no longer functioning properly.

“Ugh… ah…”

A metallic voice emerged, then he collapsed.