Chapter 30: Ant Hell (3)
The moment the dizzying, overwhelming pain surged in, Min Hae-joon’s eyes snapped wide open.
It had been roughly a year since he had last felt pain like this — after he had perfectly mastered the ‘Demon Shadow (é”å½±)’ ability.
‘Did he have Sensory Manipulation too? Or could it be…’
Suddenly, the image of Jacob floated into his mind — hanging limply in midair, unconscious.
‘He absorbed Jacob’s ability?’
But the Sensory Manipulation that Jacob had used on him had never been this intense.
The multiplier of Sensory Manipulation increased in proportion to the amount of mana consumed — and Jacob had never had the reserves to push it to such extreme levels.
Back then, most of Jacob’s mana had been tied up in maintaining the Force Field.
Moreover, no matter how much mana Jacob poured in, he could never have produced this insane degree of amplification.
Min Hae-joon looked at the pitch-black aura enveloping Chae Jin-young and finally understood the reason.
‘How is he handling black mana…?’
Chae Jin-young was wielding polluted mana — just like him.
And not only that, he had completely separated it from his original mana.
The biggest problem wasn’t just the sheer quantity of black mana.
Its quality was on an entirely different level.
It felt like an abyss — pure, without a single speck of impurity.
At the very least, it gave off the aura of a 1st-grade Mine… or perhaps something even beyond that.
‘What the hell is he…’
But there was no time to continue thinking.
Pukwa-kwa-kwak—!
His limbs were mercilessly torn apart.
They regenerated instantly thanks to the Creep, but that did nothing to solve the real issue.
What was this unknown power?
He couldn’t even sense black mana from it, making evasion completely impossible.
Chwaaaak!
“Kuugh…”
Both legs ripped away, Min Hae-joon collapsed face-first to the ground.
His legs were already regenerating, but he deliberately stayed down.
“Surrender?”
Chae Jin-young’s irritating voice rang out, but Min Hae-joon didn’t bother answering.
He only needed one successful attempt.
As long as he remained on top of the Creep, opportunity would always come.
If he could just manage to grab Chae Jin-young with the black hands — with the Demon Shadow ability —
Then parasitization was inevitable.
After that, he could turn him into a puppet or simply drain him for nutrients — whichever he preferred.
Chwaaaaak—!
Black hands erupted wildly from the spot where Chae Jin-young had been standing.
But before they could fully emerge, Chae Jin-young had already escaped using Acceleration.
Pukwa-kwa-kwak!
The black hands that chased after him were blasted apart by an enormous surge of energy and disintegrated on the spot.
‘Pulverize? No way that’s possible.’
Min Hae-joon shook his head as he watched the black hands scatter into tens of thousands of fragments.
At this level, it wasn’t mere ability absorption — it was replication just by looking.
Jjeojeojeok—!
Soon, the ground in the area cracked open and rose upward.
The Creep-covered earth lifted away, revealing clean, untouched ground beneath.
Standing on bare dirt, Chae Jin-young pulled Min Hae-joon to the same spot.
“Thanks to the Creep, you can handle a thousand times the pain, huh?”
The moment Chae Jin-young finished speaking, Min Hae-joon felt his body change.
The next instant—
Puk—! Pukwa-kwak—!
His limbs were torn off again, and this time the pain that assaulted him was far worse.
“Grrrrk…”
Min Hae-joon gritted his teeth, barely enduring.
Since he was no longer covered in Creep, regeneration didn’t kick in immediately — but strangely, that was fortunate.
If it had regenerated, he would have had to suffer the same agony all over again.
To distract himself from the pain, Min Hae-joon forced an exaggerated laugh.
“Kuhuhu… Chae Jin-young-ssi, you really think doing this is going to change anything…?”
Instead of replying, Chae Jin-young simply stared into Min Hae-joon’s eyes.
Kwaddeuk—! Puhwak!
His red pupils suddenly shrank violently before exploding.
“KRAAAAAAAAAAGH!!”
An unimaginable agony erupted from every single optic nerve.
As Min Hae-joon thrashed wildly, the black Creep that had covered him convulsed along with him.
It looked as though it might peel off at any second.
“It’s only three thousand times so far. Already at your limit?”
Chae Jin-young drew Creep from the surroundings and draped it over Min Hae-joon’s body.
The Creep immediately crawled over him, rapidly repairing the lost body parts.
The moment regeneration finished, his limbs were pulverized again, and his eyeballs burst once more.
“KRAAAH! Fuck! Just kill me already!”
Overcome by indescribable pain, Min Hae-joon’s mind began to slip.
Chae Jin-young spoke in an indifferent voice.
“Oh? I just wanted to have a calm conversation.”
“Fuck off, you son of a bitch!”
Even as his consciousness flickered in and out, Min Hae-joon secretly prepared one final, desperate strike.
Swoosh—
A black figure suddenly appeared behind Chae Jin-young via spatial movement.
It was Layla — now fully parasitized and turned into a puppet by Demon Shadow.
Whether the surprise attack succeeded or failed didn’t matter. She was merely bait.
The moment Chae Jin-young reacted to Layla, Min Hae-joon planned to bet everything he had.
However—
Tzzzt—!
A pitch-black vortex formed behind Layla.
A portal — one Min Hae-joon was very familiar with.
Swoooosh—
Black tentacles shot out from the portal and instantly wrapped around Layla’s body.
“Guh…!”
Before she could do anything, she was seized, and the tentacles began draining her black mana.
And that wasn’t all.
Tzzzt-ztztzt…
The Demon Shadow that had covered her entire body peeled away and was sucked into the tentacles.
“What the hell is that…?”
Ever since he had merged with Demon Shadow, Min Hae-joon had never genuinely felt emotion.
He had only ever pretended.
In exchange for gaining Mine-like power through Demon Shadow, he had sacrificed his humanity.
And yet now, for the first time in years, he was truly shocked — and truly afraid.
Just like the day, two years ago, when he first met the entity known as the ‘Godfather’ of GODS.
***
『The absorbed Spatial Movement ability has fused with Subspace Storage and the makeshift Portal.』
The tentacle that had absorbed Layla’s ability reported.
Chae Jin-young had been curious about how the ability would change after fusion, but he could figure that out slowly later.
With calm eyes, he stared straight ahead.
“…”
Min Hae-joon, already tormented by pain, now faced the tentacles as well.
Part of the Creep covering his face had peeled away, revealing his bare skin.
He seemed deeply shaken; his hollow eyes stared blankly into empty space.
“Min Hae-joon. What exactly were you planning to do with my little sister?”
“…”
He didn’t answer immediately. Slowly, he turned his gaze toward Chae Jin-young.
“I was going to parasitize her with Demon Shadow and turn her into my puppet. I thought her potential would be more than enough to help carry out my plans.”
So Demon Shadow referred to those black hands that had covered Layla’s body.
The thought of him trying to turn his sister into something like Layla caused a slow, simmering rage to rise inside Chae Jin-young.
But he still had questions left to ask.
“…What plan?”
“To devour the GODS villains who come to Korea. Build an army of puppets and rise to a position equal to Godfather.”
It seemed the experiments on Mines and the development of Black Rose had all been stepping stones for that goal.
Ever since facing Chae Jin-young’s tentacles, Min Hae-joon had become noticeably docile.
He wasn’t insane like Oh Jong-yeon; instead, he gave off the feeling of someone quietly submitting.
“But your plan got exposed to GODS before you could even begin.”
At Chae Jin-young’s words, Min Hae-joon closed his eyes.
“Perhaps… Godfather already knew everything and was testing me. Those two probably came to the contaminated zone just to probe me.”
As that thought crossed his mind, goosebumps rose all over Min Hae-joon’s body.
“What were the GODS bastards planning to do in the Hongcheon Contaminated Zone?”
“Jacob said they were going to offer a sacrifice in this domain where he deployed the Force Field — and open a portal.”
Chae Jin-young had heard rumors of strange energy being detected in the Hongcheon Contaminated Zone, but that was right before he regressed.
The information available to him in his previous life had its limits.
“What kind of portal?”
“I don’t know that much. Godfather never tells everything.”
Min Hae-joon looked straight into Chae Jin-young’s eyes and continued.
“Who do you think has been suppressing GODS’ intervention in Korea all this time? Don’t celebrate just because you can kill me now. The moment I disappear, Korea will become a living hell because of GODS.”
But Chae Jin-young only snorted.
GODS? Godfather?
The moment those bastards set foot on Korean soil, they would never leave alive.
In fact, if they came willingly, Chae Jin-young would welcome them with open arms.
He already had a mountain of preparations to make for the events to come; this would save him the trouble of hunting them down.
“You worry too much.”
Just as Min Hae-joon said, Korea would become a hell.
An ant hell — using him as bait to lure in GODS.
“Any last words?”
“Kuhuhuhu… Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
Chwaaaaak—!
The black tentacles engulfed Min Hae-joon.
Even as his body’s mana was drained away, he was smiling.
Not the fake smile he had shown before — this was a genuine one.
His expression was utterly convinced that Chae Jin-young could never stop the villains of GODS.
Because there were far stronger, far more vicious beings than Layla or Jacob.
With all his mana absorbed, Min Hae-joon’s Demon Shadow ability finally lost its function.
Crack—!
His neck snapped instantly, killing him on the spot.
Chae Jin-young compressed the corpse completely and stored it in his subspace.
‘What about the fused ability you mentioned? Does proficiency increase?’
『It can be called a kind of evolution. You can now create two portals simultaneously, and the travel distance has increased significantly.』
‘That’s it?’
『You can now place living beings inside the subspace.』
Until now, the subspace storage had been unable to contain living creatures.
But if living beings could now be placed inside, the potential applications were enormous.
Chae Jin-young created a makeshift portal above the still-bound Jacob in midair.
Swoosh—!
Tentacles shot out from the portal and dragged Jacob straight inside.
He would make an excellent test subject to see whether living beings could survive in the subspace.
Now, only the ability absorbed from Min Hae-joon remained.
『The Demon Shadow ability has fused directly into me.』
The fact that Min Hae-joon’s Demon Shadow had fused into the black tentacles meant they were of a similar category.
Just like the spatial abilities that had fused earlier.
The tentacles had always given off a Creep-like sensation, and Demon Shadow was deeply related enough to assimilate with Creep.
More than that, though, Chae Jin-young grew curious about the “evolved” tentacles.
‘Show me.’
Chae Jin-young opened a makeshift portal and drew out the tentacles.
They still looked no different from octopus legs.
But then the tentacles began to wriggle and change shape.
Creak-creak—!
They transformed into blade forms at times, and at others into sharp, needle-like tips.
Chae Jin-young watched indifferently.
Then, when the final form appeared, he suddenly furrowed his brow.
“…A hand?”
For a moment, the memory of his last day in Renard right before regression flashed through his mind.
***
[SP Guild expedition team dispatched for Hongcheon Contaminated Zone restoration operation — entire force missing. Discussions for rescue operation continue…]
[SP Guild, having lost Guild Master Min Hae-joon and elite members — facing dissolution?]
[Shin Young Group, which had close cooperative ties with SP Guild, sees stock prices plummet…]
Three days had passed since the contaminated zone incident was wrapped up.
Under normal circumstances, the SP Guild should have returned the very night of the operation.
For the first two days, many had argued to wait and see, but as soon as the third day arrived, rumors of their deaths began to spread.
“The moment you announce that your little sister is the sole survivor, it’s going to cause a massive stir across Korea. Not just reporters — the government, guilds, everyone will come swarming.”
Inside a shabby commercial building’s private academy, Jeong Bo-hoon sipped tea as he spoke.
Chae Jin-young and Choi Hee-yeon, who had been deployed to the Hongcheon operation, sat across from him.
“I’ll trust only you, Director Jeong.”
At Chae Jin-young’s words, Jeong Bo-hoon paused mid-motion as he set down his teacup.
“You seem to think the Intelligence Department is some kind of invincible shield. We’re just one government agency among many. There are limits to how much we can block.”
“Then how about we try breaking through those limits this time?”
“Would you care to tell me specifically how we’re supposed to do that?”
Facing Jeong Bo-hoon’s formidable defense, Chae Jin-young stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Then, as if something occurred to him, he clapped his hands.
“Ah, I’ve got a great idea. Isn’t the classic way to divert attention from internal chaos to direct it toward an external enemy?”
“…That makes me nervous already.”
Jeong Bo-hoon’s tone was filled with worry about what insane idea Chae Jin-young might suggest this time.
Choi Hee-yeon, sitting beside him, also tensed up.
“I captured one GODS villain in the contaminated zone. If we announce his existence, won’t all the attention shift there?”
“And GODS’ attention will shift too. Are you really planning to dirty Korea’s reputation as a villain-free country?”
“If they take the bait and come, that’s even better. We can hunt bounties while we’re at it. I heard the bounties on GODS 1st-grade villains are in the hundreds of billions.”
“You psycho…”
A curse hovered on the tip of Jeong Bo-hoon’s tongue, but he swallowed it when he saw Chae Jin-young looking at him expectantly.
“Hm?”
“Just calling you by your codename — don’t misunderstand. Anyway, I’ll try to come up with a better plan, so can you wait just a little?”
“I think my method would be faster and cleaner… but since you’re stepping up personally, Director, I’ll wait.”
“I’m truly moved to tears.”
Jeong Bo-hoon closed his eyes — he genuinely looked like he wanted to cry.
Regardless, Chae Jin-young spoke innocently.
“The weather’s nice today. How about we go get some Chinese food?”
“You two go ahead. I’ve got cleanup to handle.”
Jeong Bo-hoon waved them off.
Just as Chae Jin-young and Choi Hee-yeon stood to leave the secret base—
Creak—
Awakener Intelligence Department Investigator Na Ji-hwan stepped inside.
“Ah, Senior Na. Perfect timing.”
“You were here, junior. I couldn’t reach you.”
“You were looking for me?”
Chae Jin-young tilted his head curiously, and Na Ji-hwan nodded.
“Seoul City Hall Vice Mayor Lee Ju-hong’s trial is being held today.”