Chapter 22: Psycho (1)
Chae Jin-young arrived at the district office driving an ordinary white domestic SUV.
It was a new car provided with support from the Intelligence Department.
A vehicle that wasn’t too flashy for a civil servant Hunter to drive, yet perfectly unremarkable.
After parking and stepping out of the car, Jin-young ran into Jin-sol, who was just arriving for work.
“Good morning, Team Leader. Looks like you got yourself a new car?”
“Yeah. Public transportation was too inconvenient.”
“Really great choice!”
Jin-sol said, giving a thumbs-up.
“Sol-ssi, how’s the training going these days?”
“Of course. I’ve been stamping my attendance card at the training center right in front of my house every single day.”
Even though Jin-sol awakened later than Jin-young, she had risen to 8th grade quite quickly—proof of both talent and relentless effort.
Roughly two years from now, she would reach 6th grade ahead of Team Leader Kim Young-jae and be transferred to Seoul City Hall.
After that, Jin-young hadn’t kept up with her news.
They had never been particularly close to begin with.
In some ways, they were actually closer now than they had been before the regression.
“Sol-ssi, you’re someone who’s going to go much further in the future.”
“Really? Thank you!”
Jin-sol’s eyes sparkled at the praise from her team leader.
She didn’t seem to care at all that the team leader’s grade was lower than hers.
“By the way… have you heard about the personnel transfer?”
“Huh? Wait—no way! Are you being transferred somewhere else, Team Leader?”
Jin-sol’s eyes widened in genuine shock at Jin-young’s words.
She looked quite shaken.
The two continued their conversation as they walked into the district office building.
“It’s not like I’m being sent to another region. It’s a transfer within the district office. They’re creating a new Awakener Personnel Team in the Awakener Department, and I’ve been assigned as its team leader.”
“Ah… I see. Still… it’s a bit sad that we’ll be in different teams now…”
Jin-sol murmured, lowering her head.
It wasn’t as if he was leaving Seoul entirely—did she really need to look this disappointed?
Jin-young couldn’t quite understand it, but he didn’t show it.
“Still, we’ll be sharing the same office space. And we’ll eat lunch together like always.”
“That’s… at least a relief.”
Jin-sol’s expression brightened slightly.
Once inside, Jin-young headed straight to the new desk that had already been prepared for him.
Just as he remembered, it was placed right next to the Support Team’s area.
While Gangseo-gu District Office had never had an Awakener Personnel Team before, larger offices like Gangnam-gu or Jongno-gu already had one.
It was a desk job rather than field work, usually assigned to civil servant Hunters whose combat ability was low.
On the surface, it was the perfect position for Jin-young, whose combat power was publicly considered close to zero.
The personnel management of civil servant Hunters would be handled by regular civilian staff members.
Jin-young’s actual job as team leader would be to identify and recruit newly awakened individuals within the district’s jurisdiction.
He could be away from his desk without anyone raising questions, and there would be almost no reason for people in the district office to look for him.
Just as Jin-young sat down at his new seat, Go Ju-min, the department head, appeared.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning, sir.”
“What brings you here?”
The other staff members, including Jin-sol, greeted him politely, while Jin-young was the only one who directly asked the purpose of the visit.
On a normal day, Go Ju-min would have glared and sighed heavily, but today he looked unusually cheerful from the morning.
“Team Leader Chae. I came to congratulate you on officially becoming a team leader instead of just acting one. Looking forward to working with you going forward.”
“Ah, yes. The pleasure is mine, sir.”
“And one more thing. Jin-sol, 8th grade.”
“Y-yes, sir?”
Jin-sol stiffened nervously at being called by the department head.
She was probably remembering the time she had raised her voice at him before.
But the words that came out of Go Ju-min’s mouth were completely unexpected.
“You are now the new Support Team Leader. We plan to recruit one more team member soon, so don’t worry about being short-handed.”
“Ah… Thank you so much, sir!”
Jin-sol beamed with joy at the unexpected promotion.
Jin-young clapped along, congratulating her.
This was something that had never happened in the past when Kim Young-jae was still around, so it felt quite fresh.
In truth, whether judging by ability or character, Jin-sol was far more suited to be team leader.
“We’ll hold the official appointment ceremony after lunch, so make sure you’re all aware.”
“Yes, sir.”
***
After the appointment ceremony, Jin-young left the district office under the pretext of receiving training for his new Awakener Personnel Team Leader duties.
Since the position had never existed in Gangseo-gu District Office before, the official reason was that he needed to receive training from another district office.
Of course, it was just an excuse.
In reality, he was heading to the Intelligence Department’s secret safehouse.
While driving, he briefly spoke with Na Ji-hwan on the phone.
―The more we dig into the corruption committed by the Chief Prosecutor, the more judges, National Assembly members, and others keep getting entangled. It’s going to take some time to organize everything.
“Good. It’s not just the Chief Prosecutor—now we have leverage on judges and members of the National Assembly too. Please keep investigating to see if any other politicians are involved. I’m counting on you, sunbae.”
The call ended with a faint smile tugging at Jin-young’s lips.
“Yes, understood.”
Ending the call, Jin-young stepped out of the car.
He took the elevator from the underground parking lot of the commercial building up to the 11th floor, where a multi-level marketing company’s office was located.
Inside, Intelligence Department Director Jeong Bo-hoon was already waiting, along with a woman whose aura felt familiar.
“Ah, you’re here. You two already know each other, but you’ve never formally introduced yourselves, right?”
Jeong Bo-hoon alternated his gaze between Jin-young and the woman as he spoke.
“Let me introduce her properly. Codename: Advisor. She is a 3rd-grade Hunter.”
Advisor Choi Hee-yeon bowed her head in greeting.
Today she wasn’t wearing her fake face—she was showing her real appearance.
Long, wavy black hair, flawless skin, and a sharply tailored suit made her look like a successful young CEO.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Psycho.”
Jin-young greeted them and approached.
“Agent Advisor will be deployed on this Hongcheon mission together with Agent Psycho.”
“Just the two of us?”
“Originally, Executor was supposed to join as well, but as you know, the injuries he sustained in the last contaminated zone were quite severe. His mana recovery is progressing very slowly.”
“I see.”
It was because Jin-young had absorbed every last drop of Executor Hong Jun-su’s black mana.
Not a single speck remained in him.
Normally, even if a Hunter depleted all their mana, they could recover naturally over time or by drinking potions.
But for some reason—whether due to mana contamination or the effect of the tentacles—Hong Jun-su’s mana recovery was abnormally slow.
Still, he hadn’t died, so there was nothing more Jin-young could do for him.
Jeong Bo-hoon didn’t dwell on the matter any further. He turned to Choi Hee-yeon and said,
“Advisor, you have something to report regarding the Hongcheon mission. Let’s get started right away.”
“Yes. This is very important information for… our junior, Psycho.”
“For me?”
Jin-young tilted his head curiously and sat down in a chair.
Choi Hee-yeon operated the remote, and a large presentation screen appeared on the wall.
[SP Guild – Hongcheon Contaminated Zone Restoration Operation Participant List]
Jin-young’s eyes narrowed as he quickly scanned the list.
“Your younger sister is included on this list. Were you aware of that?”
“……”
Jin-young gave no immediate reply. He simply fell silent for a moment, deep in thought.
Chae So-young had clearly told him she wouldn’t go.
He had even heard that the guild accepted her refusal.
And yet, suddenly, her name was on the list.
There were only two possibilities.
‘Either Chae So-young lied… or the SP Guild forced her.’
Jin-young naturally leaned toward the latter.
‘I was only planning to wipe out the ones directly involved in the incident…’
Of course, SP Guild had its share of villains, but the majority were ordinary Hunters who fought to protect their homes from dungeons and monsters.
Still, judging from past events, the people listed here were the kind that everyone tacitly agreed could be used as “disposable scapegoats with no fallout.”
Even if Chae So-young were removed from this operation, someone else would simply take her place—and Jin-young had no intention of standing by and watching that happen.
‘Guild Master Min Hae-joon… Assault Team 1 Leader Oh Jong-yeon…’
As he skimmed the list compiled by the Intelligence Department, familiar names—starting with the Guild Master—jumped out at him.
The ones he had suspected even before the regression were included without a single deviation from expectation.
Neither Jeong Bo-hoon nor Choi Hee-yeon spoke while Jin-young remained quiet.
They simply waited, sensing the unusual atmosphere radiating from him.
“There’s about a month left until entry into the Hongcheon Contaminated Zone, correct?”
“That’s right.”
Jin-young’s voice had sunk low and heavy.
Jeong Bo-hoon answered quietly.
“Do we have data on SP Guild’s Oh Jong-yeon, Team Leader?”
“Yes.”
Choi Hee-yeon displayed information related to Oh Jong-yeon on the screen.
Starting with basic Hunter details—3rd-grade Hunter, unique ability: Flame Manipulation, skills including Acceleration and Emergency Protection—
All the way to personal information: his home address, frequently visited bars, training centers, and more.
Choi Hee-yeon continued her briefing.
“Oh Jong-yeon is a core guild member who enjoys the full favor of Guild Master Min Hae-joon. In addition to being the Raid Assault Team Leader, he also serves as the guild’s internal ‘cleaner.’”
“Meaning he takes care of people.”
“Yes. Whenever a guild member becomes a target for elimination, it’s usually Oh Jong-yeon and his close associates who handle it.”
“Many of the so-called ‘accidental deaths inside dungeons’ that occasionally occur in the SP Guild are likely the work of Oh Jong-yeon and his group.”
At Jeong Bo-hoon’s comment, Jin-young suddenly asked,
“Then why have you left them alone?”
“As you already know, SP is deeply connected to the Shin Young Group. If the Intelligence Department were to interfere in SP’s internal affairs, the reverse situation would immediately occur.”
“Why only think about arresting them? A 3rd-grade Hunter like him isn’t going to come quietly anyway.”
“We suspect that Oh Jong-yeon has one additional hidden unique ability that hasn’t been revealed. Deploying agents when we don’t have a complete grasp of his full combat power would be problematic. If we were to get caught instead… it could escalate into an all-out war between the government and the guild.”
It was not uncommon for 3rd-grade Hunters to awaken an additional unique ability.
Of course, if they never manifested it, no one would ever know—so hiding it was a frequent occurrence.
Just like Jeon Su-yong, who had hidden his Blink ability his entire life.
“In any case, our first target has been decided.”
Jin-young said as he rose from his seat.
Jeong Bo-hoon furrowed his brow.
“You’re not seriously…”
“Oh Jong-yeon is about to embark on a very long trip. And only the three of us will know where he went.”
“I won’t oppose it. However, it would be best if you could extract as much information as possible related to this mission before eliminating him.”
“Well… that depends on how long he can hold out.”
As soon as Jin-young finished speaking, Jeong Bo-hoon replied,
“I was already prepared for something like this to happen, so I won’t stop you. If it’s you, I’m sure you can handle it without even revealing that you’re from the Intelligence Department.”
“In the meantime, please thoroughly investigate what the SP Guild is plotting. And also keep an eye on my sister’s safety.”
“I’ll pass the word to the agent embedded in SP.”
With that, Jin-young left the safehouse.
***
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.
A heavy bass that seemed to press down on the body, accompanied by piercing electronic music, echoed through the space.
In the pitch-black basement, men and women lost in ecstasy were dancing in a trance.
From the VIP room overlooking the basement through the floor-to-ceiling glass window, several men were watching.
SP Guild’s Assault Team Leader, Oh Jong-yeon.
He had reserved the VIP room at his usual club and brought along two more male guild members.
“I’ve already picked mine. What about you guys?”
Having already chosen a woman, Oh Jong-yeon glanced at the other two.
“I’ve picked too.”
“Same here.”
Hearing their answers, Oh Jong-yeon rang the bell to summon the MD (club manager).
Soon after, there was a knock, and the club MD entered.
“You called, hyung-nim?”
“That one in the red dress with the bob cut, and…”
As Oh Jong-yeon pointed out the women, the MD nodded repeatedly and stepped back out.
While waiting for the women to be brought in, Oh Jong-yeon spoke.
“Your roles in this contaminated zone restoration operation are extremely important.”
“What do we need to do, hyung-nim? We’re not actually planning to purify the contaminated zone, right?”
“It feels even more cautious and secretive than usual. Something big is definitely going down.”
“That’s right. Something very big. If this operation succeeds, our guild might be able to dominate not just Korea, but the entire world.”
At that moment, a knock—tok tok—sounded.
“What? Already brought them?”
“As expected, the MD here works fast, hyung-nim.”
The door opened.
And the man who entered was not the MD they had just seen.
Dressed in a black suit, he looked completely different.
“Who the hell are you? I’ve never seen you before. Where are the women?”
Assuming a new staff member had been sent instead, Oh Jong-yeon looked around for the women.
But the man had entered alone and closed the door behind him.
Swoosh—
At the same time, the curtains over the floor-to-ceiling glass window closed, completely blocking the view from outside.
Oh Jong-yeon tried to stand up abruptly, only to realize his body wouldn’t move.
He could still turn his head, however.
When he looked to the side—
“……!”
The two guild members beside him already had their necks twisted at grotesque angles, lifeless corpses.
Oh Jong-yeon wanted to scream immediately, but his mouth wouldn’t open.
The man in the suit approached with an expressionless face.
His mana felt so faint that one might mistake him for an ordinary person.
Yet the killing intent radiating from him was overwhelming—enough to crush even a 3rd-grade Hunter like himself.
He wanted to ask who this man was, what he wanted—but he couldn’t speak.
Finally, the man stopped right in front of him and spoke in an indifferent tone.
“Choose one of two options. First: you die painfully.”
Before Oh Jong-yeon could even process what the next words might be—
“Second: you die less painfully.”
The low, calm verdict rang out.