Chapter 32: Esper (2)
Chae Jin-young stared intently at Chae So-young, who stood there with her legs trembling.
‘She can’t focus.’
The pattern repeated: just as she approached enlightenment, stray thoughts pulled her back again.
Even now, the psionic energy within her mind hesitated, flickering before retreating inward once more.
Chae Jin-young didn’t want to torment his sister any further, but this was unavoidable.
The best way to awaken psionic energy was to push someone to their absolute limit.
In truth, he didn’t know many other methods.
“Haa… haa…”
Chae So-young panted heavily, yet she absolutely refused to collapse.
Breathing through an oxygen mask should have made it even harder, but she endured with sheer willpower.
The more exhausted her body became, the stronger her mental fortitude grew.
The magnitude of her psionic energy had increased, albeit only slightly compared to before.
But until Chae So-young herself could sense it, no amount of growth would make a difference.
“At this point, you should have realized it by now, but you think too much. Empty your head.”
Chae Jin-young had only awakened to the energy after getting beaten by his master for about a week, but Chae So-young didn’t need that.
She possessed physical abilities befitting a 4th-grade Hunter, a mental resilience similar to his own, the extreme environment of the contaminated zone,
And on top of Sensory Manipulation, this ultra-efficient training regimen.
‘Still, she should at least be able to manipulate the energy within a week.’
From the wavelength of the energy Chae So-young carried, it felt slightly different from his own — a ‘Psychic.’
‘An Esper, was it?’
According to his master, there had only ever been three such beings throughout the entire history of the Renard continent.
Espers were said to possess extrasensory perception capable of telepathy, psychometry, and even precognition, according to ancient records.
‘I never imagined So-young would have that kind of talent.’
Of course, talent alone wasn’t enough — blooming it was entirely up to her.
“Uwaaaaah!!”
Chae So-young rolled across the ground, then charged at Chae Jin-young with a furious shout.
To still have the energy to scream and run like that…
She really was sturdy at 4th-grade.
‘Nice.’
With that kind of tenacity, a little more pushing and she would definitely shine.
Tzzzt—!
As Chae Jin-young released even more psionic energy, blue and red bands of light wrapped around his body.
“There’s no malice here, little sister. This is all for you.”
Right now, it must feel like dying, but once she gained the power, she would surely thank him.
For a moment, Chae Jin-young recalled memories of his master.
‘Well… she might hate me a little, though.’
***
After the all-day training from morning till night finally ended, Chae Jin-young visited the underground secret research facility in Gukgoyeon.
It being Saturday night, the place was quiet and nearly deserted.
First, he carried the utterly exhausted Chae So-young to the rest area.
Since her survival from the contaminated zone hadn’t been announced yet, she would continue staying here for the time being.
Choi Hee-yeon had returned home to rest, and Dolsae had gone back to Gunsan to carry out his role as the boss of the villain organization ‘Tricksters.’
Villains didn’t get weekends off.
Chae Jin-young headed toward the isolation chamber at the far edge of the secret research facility.
This completely sealed room was originally used for researching viruses transmissible to humans.
Since no research was currently underway, it stood empty.
Swoooosh—
When Chae Jin-young opened a makeshift portal, black tentacles spat out a single person.
Jacob Harrison — the 1st-grade GODS villain he had captured alive in the Hongcheon Contaminated Zone.
“…!”
Having been trapped in total darkness for so long, he squinted and shielded his face as if suddenly exposed to bright sunlight.
“Jacob, how was the subspace?”
At Chae Jin-young’s question, Jacob’s shoulders flinched violently.
Then he looked up at Chae Jin-young with a bewildered expression.
As if he were a foreigner who didn’t understand Korean.
“…”
“You know how to speak Korean.”
Chae Jin-young raised Jacob’s pain level with Sensory Manipulation, then used psychokinesis to snap one of his fingers.
Crack—
“Guh…!”
It wasn’t the thousands-fold agony Min Hae-joon had endured, but for Jacob, the mental torment outweighed the physical.
Because Sensory Manipulation had originally been his own ability.
Being tortured by the very power that had been stolen from him was the height of humiliation.
“I asked how the subspace was.”
Jacob’s face darkened sharply at the question.
“…It was a horrific place.”
“Be specific.”
Jacob didn’t want to recall those memories, but he had no choice.
“It was filled entirely with black mana — pitch-black like an abyss. And sandstorms raged endlessly from all directions… it felt as eerie as a graveyard.”
From his description, it sounded completely different from the subspace Chae Jin-young had known before.
Normally, objects placed in subspace were unaffected by the passage of time and didn’t decay.
But the presence of raging sandstorms and the fact that Jacob could still move freely meant time had begun to flow inside.
Something must have changed after the ‘fusion.’
‘The flow of time might not match reality exactly — it could be slowed, like in a dungeon.’
He decided he should soon acquire a dungeon-grade hourglass and test it by placing it inside.
“Is that all?”
“And… there was this constant, chilling feeling that something enormous was watching me…”
Jacob shuddered unconsciously and bit his lip.
There was only one being inside the subspace that could observe him.
The black tentacles that lived there as parasites.
For even a 1st-grade villain from GODS to feel fear toward it — the tentacles were undeniably extraordinary.
『It’s not that I’m extraordinary. It’s that humans are weak.』
‘I’m human too, you know?’
『We are kin.』
‘Don’t lump us together however you like.’
Ignoring the tentacle’s remark, Chae Jin-young spoke to Jacob.
“Thanks for the vivid review. I’ll look forward to the next one.”
Jacob, still processing the words, widened his eyes and asked,
“What?”
“Let’s have you stay a few more days.”
Swoosh—
“No— wait!”
With those final words, Jacob was seized by the tentacles and sucked back into the subspace.
If, as he described, the subspace turned out to be somewhat livable, then Jacob would probably emerge relatively intact in a few days.
‘Oh, right — he won’t need food, will he?’
He had forgotten to ask, but Chae Jin-young didn’t consider it a big deal.
Awakeners classified as upper-tier — 3rd-grade and above — could usually go about a week without water.
Of course, there were minor issues: Jacob had had all his mana drained, and his body was in terrible shape.
‘Well, if he dies, I can just hand him over to the International Awakener Federation.’
He had also stored Layla Piper’s corpse — another 1st-grade villain — in its original state inside the subspace (without compressing it), so it could be used when needed.
The International Awakener Federation’s policy for villains with red-grade bounties or higher was summary execution on sight.
Depending on their abilities, restraining most 3rd-grade-and-above Hunters was practically meaningless anyway.
In that sense, Korea would soon need to establish proper protocols for dealing with high-grade villains.
So far, there had been no red-grade villains domestically, but it was only a matter of time.
The level of villains that would appear in the future would only continue to rise.
‘For now, since we’ve dealt with Jeon Su-yong and Eun Ji-eun, we should be fine in the short term… but I should look into the Dark Horse boss too.’
Dark Horse played a central role in the production and distribution of Black Rose, which meant it had a massive influence on nurturing future villains.
Thanks to the Intelligence Department agents tracking down and destroying the hidden factories based on Chae Jin-young’s future knowledge, their operations had been greatly reduced.
But the key was to locate the main headquarters where the boss and executives were hiding — and uproot them completely.
‘I never heard of Ma Du-hwan being caught even in the pre-regression timeline… but that doesn’t mean there’s no way to find him.’
The SP Guild, which had a cooperative relationship with Dark Horse, was already on the verge of collapse, so they wouldn’t be much help.
Ransacking another villain organization, the Black Society, might yield some answers.
Since they controlled most of the black markets scattered across the country, they were inextricably linked to Dark Horse.
He had already been planning to visit the Black Society sometime soon anyway, in connection with the Jeon Yu-hwan matter.
‘Might as well go while I’m thinking about it.’
***
“Here’s a small token of my sincerity, Assemblyman.”
A man with a black snake tattoo on his forearm placed a sleek black briefcase on the table.
Assemblyman Park Jeong-jae looked at the briefcase and grinned.
“Haha, you didn’t have to go to all this trouble. As expected of President Jeong.”
The man referred to as President Jeong gave a light smile as well.
“Hunter Yoon Soo-ho may be young, but his innate talent is extraordinary. Not just as a Hunter — in many fields. The fact that he’s already serving as Association President at that age makes me think he’d do well in politics too, don’t you agree?”
“Of course, of course. We view Hunter Yoon Soo-ho very favorably as well. However, that’s separate from the issue of nomination. The moment a top-tier Hunter gets involved in politics, there are many concerns that the entire political landscape could be shaken.”
President Jeong’s mood soured at Park Jeong-jae’s long-winded explanation.
“So are you saying it’s possible, or impossible?”
At the slightly heated tone, Park Jeong-jae swallowed unconsciously.
As long as Yoon Soo-ho joined the same party, the Black Society had no reason to harm him.
But the other party was the boss of one of the top three villain organizations in the country.
It was impossible not to feel tense.
“I’ll do my absolute best. If Hunter Yoon Soo-ho becomes an assemblyman, it would be a tremendous asset to our party as well.”
“Then I’ll leave it in your hands, Assemblyman.”
After seeing Park Jeong-jae off with a smile, President Jeong sank back into the sofa.
Lately, he could physically feel how rapidly the situation in Korea was changing.
He never would have imagined that the SP Guild would be completely wiped out in the contaminated zone.
The media was still using the word “missing,” but President Jeong was convinced they were dead.
‘Dark Horse’s position will be shaken from now on. That’s good news for us.’
While they had cooperated with Dark Horse — the largest villain organization in the country — as much as possible to avoid conflict, they were still clear rivals.
The land called Korea was simply too small to share the pie.
With SP, who had been secretly supporting Dark Horse, now gone, this was an opportunity.
‘If Yoon Soo-ho can stably establish himself in politics, expanding our business will be child’s play.’
Just then—
—President, we’ve received contact from Hunter Lee Ju-hong. Shall I connect the call?
The secretary’s voice flowed from the speaker on the desk.
“It must be about Jeon Yu-hwan. Put him through.”
As soon as President Jeong finished speaking, Lee Ju-hong’s voice came through the speaker.
—President Jeong, it’s Lee Ju-hong.
“Yeah. I heard you’re looking for Jeon Yu-hwan on my behalf. Any progress?”
—I’ve pinpointed the location of his hideout. To capture him alive, it seems we’ll need something like anesthetic gas.
“Are you saying you want me to provide it right now?”
When President Jeong spoke in a displeased tone, Lee Ju-hong paused briefly before replying.
—No, that’s not it. I just think it’ll take a bit more time to obtain the gas.
“I can’t wait forever, Director Lee. Oh, right — you’re not a director anymore, are you? Just Mr. Lee now.”
—I’ll contact you again soon.
Lee Ju-hong hurriedly ended the call.
“Heh, if you want to live, you’ve got to do all sorts of shit. Kkhuhu.”
President Jeong sneered.
At the sound of knocking, he let his subordinate in.
The subordinate rushed in panting and said,
“President! Big trouble! The Yongsan branch has been turned into a complete mess!”
“…What do you mean?”
President Jeong, who had been in a good mood just moments ago, hardened at the sudden news.
“Some crazy bastard showed up and crippled every single member’s arms and legs!”
“Who the hell is this crazy bastard? Is he alone?”
“Yes. He’s alone. We’ve never seen him before…”
President Jeong shot up from his seat, then suddenly turned to look at the employee.
“You’re from the Yongsan branch too, aren’t you? How are you perfectly fine?”
“Well… he told me to hurry and bring the President…”
The subordinate trailed off, cold sweat dripping down his face.
At those words, President Jeong’s lips twitched violently.
Punishing the incompetent subordinate could wait.
First, he had to put out the urgent fire.
“What arrogant son of a bitch… Call all the executives. Now.”