Chapter 5

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Psychopath (3)

“Pfffft—hahaha!”

Secretary Kim grinned and gave me a double thumbs-up.

“Stop laughing.”

I was currently changing my clothes because a bit of the vomit had caught on me as well.

“Pffft—hahaha! Oh, I can’t help it. Park Chang-hee, that man’s appearance was truly a sight to behold!”

Since he was paying attention to the Mana release, the ‘extremely trained reflexes’ that came up when Seo Jin-wook tried to give him a flying kick didn’t reveal themselves, and as a result, it was truly an unfortunate event for Park Chang-Hee. I ended up ruining my clothes a little, but Park Chang-hee, who was showered with my vomit, could no longer maintain his skill.

While he was very distressed because of the gastric juice splattered on his eyes, I gently apologized for the aftereffect of the concussion, and he struggled to leave with his blood-boiling.

‘The foul stench isn’t going anywhere.’

I thought about what I had just heard and what Park Chang-hee tried to do. Things were way too fishy. Not about my vomit, but about this guild.

“Did I have a bad relationship with Team Leader Park Chang-Hee?”

Secretary Kim spoke, barely reining in his laughter.

“Most of the people in the guild didn’t make it obvious that they hate you, but Park Chang-Hee was a little different.”

“How?”

“Because he hated you boldly. He often expressed his disgust for you, Team Leader. Without minding others.”

“…”

What kind of stupid things did Seo Jin-wook do so far to make things this bad?

“Did that person learn Auxiliary Skills as well?”

Secretary Kim shook his head in reply.

“No. He is the head of the Exploration Team. He doesn’t even have enough slots to fill in the Offensive Skills. How can he afford to add an Auxiliary Skill?”

It meant that at least the guild members under Secretary Kim’s class weren’t aware that he had a Penetration Skill. The Celestial Dragon Guild’s inner situation, which wasn’t recorded in history, seemed more complicated and dirtier than I had initially thought.

‘There’s a team leader who secretly sees through the guild leader’s son.’

While walking, lost in thought, I arrived in front of the office, and Secretary Kim wouldn’t accompany me from here on. He looked at me and offered a reminder.

“Please don’t get emotional inside.”

There was a slight worry that I had never seen before.

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“I have told you earlier, right? You, Team Leader, have a specific point…so to say, in a specific situation, you lose yourself and go bat shi-…your words and actions get rough.”

Still, his words were rough.

“So, it grew on me to predict that point. In this situation, if the Team Leader and the Guild Leader were left alone, it’s highly likely that will happen.”

“If it grew on you, you must know me that much.”

Secretary Kim clicked his tongue at my words.

“A private secretary was assigned to you ever since as you needed a babysitter, but…this position is only called a secretary in the title, as the work is practically that of a servant. Anyway, among the servants, nobody lasted a month. Somehow, I am the one capable of holding this position for three years now. It’s a record.”

They all gave up, but it meant that Secretary Kim had been by my side for three years.

“What is the secret of your long-term service?”

He answered brilliantly.

“I do not know. Life’s wisdom?”

I guessed it from his self-talk before, but his livelihood must not have been easy, and his mouth was keeping him alive. I then replied with a snicker.

“I’ll be right back.”

As I turned toward the office door, Secretary Kim spoke from behind as if he were mumbling.

“And…I told you. There are times that it returns. Your sanity, I mean.”

*

The interior of the office was a bit dark as a thick blackout curtain covered the window. A large man was sitting at a mahogany desk in the center of the room, lit by a faint light. This was the Master of Celestial Guild, Seo Gyu-cheol. Seo Jin-wook’s mother died when he was a newborn child, and Seo Gyu-cheol raised Seo Jin-wook alone without remarrying. Although to be precise, most of the process was left to the nannies he hired.

He was looking seriously at the holographic documents before him. I could see the words of ‘Shi-heung 8 Dungeon’. I began to contrast that with the memories of the time in my head. Certainly, this was the time to be busy with that.

“You’re here.”

Finally, he took his gaze away from the papers and turned it towards me. Cold eyes scanned me and passed. After such a brief silence, he dove to his point without even asking how I was.

“A loss of memory, they say?”

“It isn’t confirmed yet.”

“You can’t remember anything?”

“Now, I can faintly…”

“Once you start recovering, your memories will come back soon.”

Seo Gyu-cheol, who diagnosed my condition instead of the doctor, was silent for a while. His calm but sharp eyes looked at me. The air flowed heavily between us, and I observed his Mana Core as I waited for his next words.

‘Oh, of course!’

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I sighed inwardly. He was the first Korean hunter to achieve the S-rank and the head of the strongest guild in Korea. Even if I were to look at the individual’s strength, he would certainly be one of the best in Korea as of this time. However, compared to having achieved such things so young, his vessel’s size and the potential mana weren’t overwhelming. After Seo Jin-wook’s death, I was looking at one of the reasons why the Celestial Dragon Guild had weakened rapidly.

“There’s only a week left.”

It was clear as to what he was talking about.

“For the time being, be cautious about your actions so that you can safely perform the awakening ritual. Just be careful for a week. In the meantime, do not let the long-term preparation for you in the Celestial Dragon Guild and dedicated efforts go to vain.”

To translate: Be careful and stay away from trouble so that the Hunter Management Department doesn’t hear about some strange rumors.

“Most of the guild members, including me, have great expectations. You may have huge potential mana unprecedented in the history of the guild…no, maybe in Korean history. It is not an irrational delusion. The events you have caused imply so.”

He must be referring to the case in which Seo Jin-wook lost his temper in anger, causing a telekinetic storm.

“You said you had a dispute with Park Chang-Hee?”

I didn’t remember it, but I didn’t even have to explain.

“Yes.”

“Should I ask why?”

“No.”

“Okay. Again, there must be no reason; the reason must be beyond logic, or you don’t know why as well.”

Emotion leaked into Seo Gyu-cheol’s eyes. They were filled with tiredness, irritation, and annoyance.

“The reason why your mind is sick is that your will isn’t strong.”

His blade-sharp voice pierced through my ears.

Vwoom!

‘Huh?’

Somehow, the moment I heard Seo Gyu-cheol’s words, a change began to occur with Seo Jin-Wook’s memory fragments, which were being moderately pieced together by [The Successor’s Eyes]. The sequence of scenes that gathered slowly one by one at random gradually became tangled. And suddenly, certain memories flowed into my mind. Most of them were memories of Seo Jin-wook with his father.

In all of those scenes, Seo Gyu-cheol was condemning Seo Jin-wook. The father’s cold gaze fell toward his son. They were words and an attitude toward the tool named successor rather than any emotional inclusion. Scenes began pouring out. After having a seizure beyond his control, Seo Jin-Wook always fought with his father. His father’s stern reprimand would follow. He would then try to plead, but what would return would be disregard and ignorance.

Anger reigned in Seo Jin-wook’s head. While concentrating on such past scenes, Seo Gyu-cheol began to speak.

“Whether it’s a sudden rush of anger, emptiness, or a vain voice that doesn’t exist… it’s just an excuse that you’re influenced by it and not able to control your actions. Being overwhelmed by such negative thoughts proves that your will is weak.”

With anger in his memory, Seo Gyu-cheol’s face in his mind overlapped with Seo Gyu-cheol’s frowning eyes beyond the desk in reality.

“You always say that it’s hard. That you can’t control it.”

He frowned as if he saw some damned thing.

“If it’s hard, try harder.”

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In Seo Jin-wook’s memory, the voice of his father that he had heard so far overlapped with reality.

‘Try, don’t say it’s hard, take control, you get sick because you’re weak, it’s your fault that you’re weak, strengthen your mental power.’

They were very confusing fragments.

“Don’t justify your weakness. Don’t try to be forgiven for all your actions on the excuse of being weak. You have to get through it. Only then can you inherit the Celestial Dragon Guild.”

I was in a strange mood. Seo Gyu-cheol saying that a lack of strength caused mental illness, so I needed to fight it off by putting effort into it, was just the mumbling of an older man who wasn’t worth listening to. To think, in 2038, there were still people speaking that way.

That was my reaction as Choi Seung-hyun, who returned from the future. However, suddenly, from deep in my chest, in that huge sea of potential mana, foreign energy began to rise and rise.

“Ugh!”

I realized it immediately. This was a trace of the involvement from a third person’s mana, not Seo Jin-wook. The energy that bloomed near my heart gradually took on a clear shape, like a tangled artery. Then, a system message came up.

-Unknown caster’s Skill [Seed of Mercardius (Rank: SSS, Semi-Active)] is activated!

My face gradually turned blue. This was a skill that someone else had long since implanted in this body. Why hadn’t I noticed until now? Not even with [The Successor’s Eyes]? I realized it soon enough.

‘There was too much potential mana stored in the core that I couldn’t see the hidden power in it!’

The energy, like red veins, expanded within my chest in an instant. Up and up, it stretched out, swallowing up more space. The thing that made its presence known quickly attacked my neck. And like a snake aiming for food, it tried to approach this brain.

At that moment!

-Skill [Seed of Mercardius] attempts to interfere with the user’s mind!

As soon as I heard the system messages, a different kind of whisper began to permeate my mind.

‘I’m sick of it. Is it all my fault in the end? The sickness is because I am weak?’

‘His subordinates beat his son, but he’s saying that?’

‘Yes, I’m just a tool anyway. You mean it’s okay because I didn’t break down even further?’

‘Always the same story. If it’s hard, try harder? It’s wrong to be sick and have a hard time?’

‘I’m angry! I can’t stand it!’

‘Blow it all away. Turn things over!’

‘Damn, shut him up! Tear off that mouth!’

‘What kind of dad tells you to overcome the disease with your will! Is that what he’s going to do when I was about to die by his subordinate’s hand? Tell him not to shit around and die!’

Red energy approached just below my ear as the whispering grew louder. As if to be possessed by that voice, my emotions boiled up unnaturally within me. I felt anger, even more, blind anger that seemed to make me lose myself. However, at that moment, another message resonated.

-Skills [The Successor’s Eyes (Rank: EX)] resists the skill [Seed of Mercardius (Rank: SSS)].

Then, the whispering voice, as if it were to induce my anger, suddenly turned into a strange sound.

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