NOVEL NEXT Chapter 45
Lee Seong-han is the type who can’t stand silence.
“I can’t be dead.”
“You’re dead.”
“I’m not!”
“Really? I saw it clearly with my own eyes.”
“You must have seen wrong. He must still be alive.”
“Can’t believe it, right? I was the same at first. Honestly, it’s hard to believe. One S-Rank is dead, and the other is a traitor. Huh, even a soap opera would be more believable than this.”
Baek Ji-sun’s hollow laugh. It was as cold as ice. Her words, her demeanor. She sat on a dead log, looking almost like a witch.
Of course, all the superiors were dead. In South Korea, when an Awakened One dies, the military service is redistributed. It’s like a group assignment.
Moreover, wasn’t Kang Mi-young the strongest?
“I’m now permanently enlisted!”—Lee Seong-han wanted to say that, but he couldn’t say such things in front of a child.
He swallowed the rising anger. The excitement faded, and reason returned. Suspicion began to creep in.
“Is it a ghost? Or some other kind of monster?”
Among the demon species, there are phantoms of mental distortion, like Eros. All of them are types that mess with the mind, creating illusions.
But the practical exam site always maintains the best conditions, so they don’t cultivate such types.
No wonder the four major guilds, lacking real combat experience, begged to use it for training.
“You can’t believe that a puppet cut everyone down, right?”
Lee Seong-han sighed after hearing this.
“There’s only one Puppet Master in South Korea. Of course, it’s suspicious.”
“She was arrested, right?”
“Think about it. Does that even make sense?”
“It makes perfect sense.”
The suspects were narrowed down, and soon they stopped thinking. The answer was already decided. They skipped the tedious process.
Hong Seo-min.
That woman moved. Whether it’s the original or a replica, they’ll find out soon enough.
“That’s a replica. I saw it.”
Baek Ji-sun said nonchalantly.
“How do you know?”
“Intuition. I’ve seen a lot.”
“With S-Ranks?”
“No, similar monsters.”
Lee Seong-han snorted.
“How was it?”
“How was what?”
“Her demeanor. Stuff like that.”
Baek Ji-sun explained in detail. As he took notes and compared them with his memories, he concluded that it was strikingly similar to the original.
She skillfully uses high-level puppets?
Even if it’s a replica, the synchronization rate with the original must be high.
Moreover, during the attack on the Awakened Market, only low-level puppets were seen day and night. Meaning, she was deliberately conserving her strength. Some were used for terror attacks, though.
It was fortunate there were no casualties.
Lee Seong-han clasped his hands together with a serious expression.
‘If necessary.’
……He didn’t like it, but he had no choice but to use the item in his backpack.
It would be poison to Hong Seo-min, but it would also greatly affect him. It seemed best to handle it as quietly as possible.
Lee Seong-han quickly tidied up. He put out the campfire and erased the traces.
He couldn’t just sit here.
If Hong Seo-min—the replica—is here, and the Kang sisters are dead……?
“Then the next target is me.”
“Why?”
“We have a bit of a bad history.”
Baek Ji-sun hid the rotten log in the bushes and cheerfully tore into her military rations. Eating combat rations so deliciously. She’s definitely military material, that kid.
He touched his cheek. His body temperature had returned to normal. It should be okay to move now.
“Hehehe.”
When he touched Baek Ji-sun’s cheek, she let out a sinister laugh.
This kid isn’t normal either. Too calm, if anything.
It’s like she was waiting for this situation, even laughing now.
Though covered in dust, the area was small, so her white clothes retained their original color, and her face was unharmed.
“How are you still alive? But.”
“Can you answer my question first?”
“What goes around comes around.”
Why didn’t Hong Seo-min touch her?
This kid isn’t normal. Like the Kang sisters, she’s missing something.
Her back was bent like an old man’s, and her head was tilted forward like a turtle’s neck. She looked like an old child. It wasn’t an act, it was real. Was she emotionally numb?
Or…… maybe she has mental issues. Baek Ji-son walked through the forest with large strides.
“Is there a need to be sad? In this era, people dying is all the same. He wasn’t even my real dad anyway. Cough.”
Not her real dad. Well, that makes sense. After the Great War, all sorts of war refugees came in. People who couldn’t even register their birth or nationality were everywhere.
Baek Ji-sun coughed and continued.
“Now, your turn. Oppa, you’re an Awakened One, right? Related to Hong Seo-min! I didn’t think that woman would be looking for you.”
“Oppa?”
“Should I call you uncle instead?”
Lee Seong-han was startled.
“No.”
Uncle?
That’s a bit harsh.
If he were in his 30s, he might have seriously considered the title “uncle.” But he’s in his mid-20s.
He was dragged into the military, and the Kang sisters poked and prodded him, saying they’d take care of him, so his face looks a bit worn out.
[‘Regeneration’ says it will restore you once it’s done.]
Yeah, sure.
Lee Seong-han ignored the chatter of his traits.
“Anyway, I’m not an uncle. Oppa. Just call me oppa. Okay? I’m pretty capable, you know.”
“Wow.”
“I caught Hong Seo-min along with the great Kang Mi-young.”
“Oh?”
Baek Ji-sun’s eyes widened. She was genuinely surprised.
This wasn’t public information.
The conversation at headquarters came to mind.
“Are you really not going to reveal it?”
“Yes!”
“Really?”
“Yes!!”
Sigh.
“……Alright.”
Kang Mi-young’s defeated look.
Kang Jin-young took pictures with her camera. Click, click.
“Puhahaha!”
Then she let out a genuine laugh.
Three seconds later, she didn’t expect to be in the same position.
Snap.
Baek Ji-sun’s eyes turned golden. Surely the eyes of a general. They resemble Kang Mi-young’s eyes.
It’s a smirk.
Like a mopoke phone master shouting, “Found. It!”
A gaze that scans the whole body. It felt like looking at a product.
“You caught Hong Seo-min?”
“Yeah.”
He said it nonchalantly. No one would believe it anyway.
“Hmm. You look like you’d lose to me too. Not much muscle. Oppa, are you strong?”
“Yeah, I’m strong.”
Lee Seong-han answered absentmindedly while looking at the map.
“Promotion through achievements and promotion through exams are different, right?”
“I know. I have to do it to get discharged. Awakened Ones have strict discharge criteria, and they change every day. So you have to ride the line well.”
“Discharge?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re trying to get discharged?”
“Of course. I’m still young.”
He thought of his age. Still in his youth. He didn’t want to waste his youth in the military.
“First, I’ll meet Kang Mi-young again.”
“She’s dead, I told you.”
Baek Ji-sun’s words were lightly ignored. Even if her own husband died, she wouldn’t bat an eye.
The scariest thing in the military?
The company commander, the platoon leader, the professional sergeant. These are things that rookies do.
It’s the green camp reserves and the rejects.
If you have some mental issues, ignoring them is the answer, but you can’t do that with them.
This kid is the same. Lee Seong-han glared at Baek Ji-sun.
‘He must still be alive. What kind of people are they?’
Moreover, staying here means getting eaten by monsters or dying a dog’s death.
“Alright, I’ve decided on the path.”
“Now?”
“Yeah. Let’s head to the emergency exit.”
The emergency exit. The only exit from the practical training site, blocked by a barrier. And that place…….
“The town.”
The gathering place and farming spot for the Blue Dragon Guild. Considering the screams heard, something must have gone wrong.
Well, what can you do.
We just have to push through.
***
The town was like a rural area hit by an apocalypse.
It’s fortunate there are no corpses. Well, not that anyone would faint from shock.
Lee Seong-han quietly walked through the town streets. He checked the machine gun he was carrying.
30-round box magazine.
Considering the rate of fire, the barrel would overheat before the ammo ran out. Reload or knife fighting. Ah, should’ve learned some magic.
While Lee Seong-han was berating his past self.
“It’s quiet.”
Baek Ji-sun, who was looking around, said a word. Lee Seong-han also surveyed the area. Naturally, he got the same result.
No sign of Hunters.
No sign of Monsters.
It was empty. Containers were scattered everywhere. They found leftover ammo and rations. Thanks to that, they could relax a bit.
The emergency exit was at the end of the town.
A ladder leading to the top of the barrier. The wall was visible in the distance. A gray concrete wall. It was literally plastered.
“Oppa, are you always this calm?”
“You get like that when you live long enough.”
The Kang sisters made me this way!—Lee Seong-han didn’t want to explain pathetically like a slasher movie villain.
Click.
“There’s something.”
Lee Seong-han aimed his gun forward.
[‘Super-Reconnaissance’ detects multiple movements.]
[‘Regeneration’ adjusts mana to raise body temperature.]
“Follow me.”
“Yes.”
Lee Seong-han leaned against a nearby farm machinery engine. Though abandoned on the road, it was enough to hide an adult and a middle schooler.
“Ugh, ahhh!”
Right in front of them, a person was dragged away.
It was Kang Jin-young.