Chapter : 99
Return (4)
“Please, don’t do this!”
“You’re a good actor.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“Alright. I understand that you want to prove your innocence. But listen to me first, then act.”
Kim Jong-tae felt a deep tension in his gut at Su-hyeon’s completely unyielding attitude. Dealing with someone like this was dangerous.
Damn it… no wonder something felt off…
He should have just played it cool and kept his distance instead of testing him.
Where the hell are the bodyguards?
Because of the nature of his work, he rarely went anywhere alone. He always had at least two psychic bodyguards with him. He had even stationed two outside his room… so where were they now?
“Can you see this?”
“Huh?”
Su-hyeon held up a finger and wiggled it in front of Kim Jong-tae. He didn’t understand what Su-hyeon was saying, so he asked again.
“Watch closely. This is going to determine your life from now on.”
“What…?”
Snap!
When Su-hyeon flicked his finger, Kim Jong-tae felt an intense, vein-shredding pain in his chest. It was so sudden and violent that he couldn’t even scream.
“Hah… hhh… hhh!”
“Understand now?”
“…”
“Guess not.”
“No, I… I do!”
Su-hyeon didn’t even wait for a reply before flicking his finger again. He had already injected Kim Jong-tae with a deadly poison, but he couldn’t afford to be complacent. Kim Jong-tae was like a venomous snake—he had to break his spirit first before he would behave.
“I… I did it! What exactly did I do wrong for you to do this?!”
“I told you to act later. Listen to me first. What’s in your body right now is a cocktail poison. I mixed three neurotoxins, four vascular toxins, and finished it with one psychic toxin.”
Hearing this, Kim Jong-tae finally realized that Su-hyeon was a poison expert. A psychic toxin, no less. If he wasn’t lying, Su-hyeon didn’t just have exceptional skills in mixing poisons—he also had a superpower related to toxins.
“Even now, the membrane protecting it inside your body is slowly dissolving. If I want, I could dissolve it instantly. Let me simplify this since your mind seems overwhelmed: I control your life. I’ll give you a drug every three months to slow its effect. If you want to live, obey me.”
“I-I don’t understand… Is this because of the psychic enhancer? Take it all! Just spare my life!”
Kim Jong-tae’s acting was convincingly desperate. Luiril watched him inwardly impressed; if Su-hyeon hadn’t warned her beforehand, she might have been fooled too.
“The moment the poison dissolves, it spreads throughout your body. No one will be able to save you then. A healer? Your blood will be saturated with toxins—impossible. Don’t even think about surgery; it’s a delicate poison. Any external contact will dissolve it, making detox impossible.”
Even when Su-hyeon had no poison skills, nobody could neutralize the toxins he created. And now, with psychic-enhanced poisons, there was absolutely no one capable of detoxifying them.
Su-hyeon stuck to his point regardless of Kim Jong-tae’s acting. Kim Jong-tae felt anxious but didn’t take the initiative. He had to endure.
“Please… spare my life! I can’t die here! My family is waiting for me!”
“Three legal wives and two illegitimate children? Oh, now just one, huh.”
“!!!!!”
Kim Jong-tae felt a cold shiver run down his back. This wasn’t just a psychic-enhancer-induced attack. Su-hyeon had carefully investigated him and came prepared.
“I have no interest in your pathetic family. When trouble comes, you’d abandon them anyway. So spare me the sob story.”
His family was just a smokescreen. When trouble arose, Kim Jong-tae could easily act cowardly. In fact, he had used his family as a decoy during past escapes.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t understand me. Is this about the psychic enhancer? Close… Where did you get it?”
“Huh? A-ack!”
“Don’t answer my question with a question.”
Su-hyeon flicked his finger without hesitation.
“Ah… I got it from the black market.”
Just like Bjorn, a black market dealer who had shown interest in Su-hyeon’s expertise, the black market sold all sorts of things, including unlicensed drugs.
Kim Jong-tae had obtained a formula called “tribal potion” from an elf drug dealer. Highly addictive with severe side effects, it temporarily boosted human potential and enhanced abilities. While others might dismiss it as useless, Kim Jong-tae found a way to utilize it. Legal or illegal didn’t matter to him.
“I’ve checked it before. Quite addictive. Taking it without knowing could ruin your life.”
“Huh?”
“I said don’t say ‘huh.’ Shall we start with one shot?”
Su-hyeon raised a syringe toward Kim Jong-tae’s arm. His face went pale. A skilled drug dealer never used his own product—it would deplete his stock.
“You knew?”
“…!”
Locking eyes with Su-hyeon, Kim Jong-tae gritted his teeth. He had to endure somehow…
“It’s easy for me to spare your life, but only if you behave and remain useful. I won’t tolerate anyone pretending to act cool in front of me. Convince me to spare you in five seconds. Fail, and you’ll see heaven.”
With the syringe near his arm, Kim Jong-tae’s resolve broke. He finally confessed the truth. Su-hyeon, having heard everything, smiled and lightly tapped his cheek.
“Good. Now I’m somewhat satisfied.”
“What will you do now?”
Smack!
“Ugh!”
“Just because you’re cowering doesn’t mean you get to act insolent.”
“W-what will you do now?”
Kim Jong-tae suddenly recalled Cameron’s underground prison.
“Don’t worry. I’m generous. I won’t hand you over to the government.”
“Then…?”
“I’ll send you somewhere your talent can be put to use.”
“?”
“Go to Beijing. Contact the people on this list.”
“??”
“Report progress every three months. If you don’t want to report, fine—but you’re the one who dies, so it’s better to do it properly.”
“Contact them for what?”
“Same thing you’ve been doing here.”
“…!”
Kim Jong-tae’s expression turned pale. Go to a city under Chinese control and supply drugs? Even a lifetime wouldn’t be enough. In Korea or the U.S., this might end in prison, but in China, it could mean death.
“Impossible!”
“Even if it’s impossible, that’s fine. You’ll just die.”
This bastard…!
Kim Jong-tae had taken pride in his own cunning and evil. But he never imagined meeting someone more ruthless.
“Don’t whine. You have the resources and skill. Find a way into Beijing, establish your position, and get those on this list addicted to the drug. You’ve never been patriotic, paid taxes, or cared. Now’s your chance. Finish the work on the list, and you’ll live.”
“…I guess I had it easy compared to him.”
“What? Oh, you’re a different breed from him.”
“You mean elf vs. human?”
“No, he’s just far more ruthless. An elf who can’t even commit murder to steal artifacts versus a human spreading drugs for profit—you can’t equate them.”
Luiril’s expression shifted subtly. If she had first met someone merciless, she could have received that treatment too.
“Wait, then I can detox him safely…?”
“Just because you’re nicer than him doesn’t mean he can be trusted.”
“…”
Su-hyeon twirled the enhancer sample between his fingers, lost in thought. Kim Jong-tae would work diligently for at least a year. He might try to detox later, but it would take time.
Those who don’t listen deserve punishment…
Su-hyeon had clearly told him the truth: the poison was untreatable and surgery would spread it. Whether Kim Jong-tae believed him was another matter. For about a year, fear would keep him in check, but after that, he’d try to eliminate the poison.
The psychic enhancer contained trace amounts of a special toxin. If encountered on the battlefield, it would identify anyone already poisoned. Su-hyeon silently prayed that Kim Jong-tae would spread the enhancer to as many people as possible before killing himself.
“Someone’s here to see you.”
“Who? The Development Planning Bureau? Where’s the boss?”
“No, from Blue Bear…”
“?”
Su-hyeon raised an eyebrow. Blue Bear—an American mercenary company he’d met in the Kakrita Valley.
“Let them in.”
What could it be?
It was a busy time for everyone. Companies without damage were expanding, while those affected were recovering. Uncle Joe Company was no exception; they had to train new orcs for use.
“How have you been?”
Robert still looked bear-like. Su-hyeon scrutinized his face as he entered. No shadows lingered.
Did Blue Bear avoid damage?
Not everyone suffered. Some lucky participants avoided it entirely, others weren’t involved.
“I’ve heard you went missing in Poshukan. Must have been tough.”
“…?”
Su-hyeon frowned. His disappearance wasn’t exactly a secret, but it wasn’t common knowledge either.
“Did I say something inappropriate?” Robert asked cautiously.
“Not inappropriate… where did you hear it?”
“Oh, I sent someone. There were concerns about the Dragon Slayer Project.”
Many trusted only the governments’ involvement, but some calculated risk coldly. Blue Bear was among them. Failure in Kakrita Valley had taught them a lesson.
Even if granted rights in a new city, heavy losses made it meaningless. A “new city” sounded impressive, but Robert wasn’t interested—they weren’t affected by its creation.
During a meeting, Robert thought of Su-hyeon—a rare prodigy with exceptional judgment.
Should Uncle Joe Company participate or not?
The agent Robert sent discovered something: Su-hyeon went missing in Poshukan, and all Uncle Joe Company schedules halted because of it.
Of course, it was unsurprising—the company’s activities depended entirely on Su-hyeon. No matter how great, anyone could die in Cameron.
Yet Robert sensed something unusual in the series of events.
-They would not participate in the Dragon Slayer Project!
Once the boss decided, subordinates obeyed without question. If they knew why, they would have been shocked.
“Making decisions based on someone else’s accident? Isn’t that harsh?”
“Haha, sorry. But thanks to that, we avoided danger. I thought it would proceed too quickly, but the damage was worse than expected…”
“Still, humans can’t handle that monster yet.”
“Lucky it stayed in its territory.”
Robert shrugged. If monsters had moved beyond their territory, human progress would have slowed decades.
“So you came today because of that? Just to thank me for avoiding losses?”
“Oh no, I’m here with a proposal.”
