Chapter 1062 – 1062. Divine Might
The Light Source Church was annihilated.
It was a cult that had brazenly committed human sacrifice, a practice that shocked the entire world. There was no way they could continue to operate normally.
The captured cultists were deprogrammed and returned to being ordinary people. However, not all of them returned to their original state. Some of the cultists, those who were deeply immersed, still believed in their fanaticism even after being deprogrammed. Most of them ended up committing suicide or being executed.
The Suwol Guild suffered a disgrace by failing to clear the dungeon.
In the past timeline, they had dispatched a second raid team, but now, with the Japanese government and association actively involved, they couldn’t send a second team.
Japan actively promoted their achievements.
The news that Japan’s proud S-class hunter, Amatsuka Koyori, had destroyed the evil Light Source Church’s temple and rescued the kidnapped civilians and the Suwol Guild raid team was easily accessible online.
The Suwol Guild’s reputation plummeted.
People didn’t heavily criticize the Suwol Guild’s failure. Only a small number of people did.
There were opinions circulating online, such as, “They’ve done well so far, so we can let this one slide,” “They can do better next time,” and “Everyone experiences failure.”
‘That’s just how the public opinion is. It’s certain that the Suwol Guild’s reputation has dropped because of this failure.’
I also tried to change public opinion by exposing one of the Suwol Guild’s corruptions. It was about how the Suwol Guild had colluded with one of the association’s executives to monopolize several dungeons. However, it didn’t have a big impact. Every time I posted something, comments defending the Suwol Guild appeared.
‘There’s no need to hack this. It’s 100% comment manipulation.’
They must have also bribed reporters because not a single online article was published. To change public opinion, I needed to expose an even bigger corruption.
‘Not now. It might become an issue for a while, but it’s impossible to bring down the Suwol Guild with just this.’
Now wasn’t the right time.
‘Still, I need to expose their corruption from time to time. These things need to accumulate so that when they finally explode, they explode bigger.’
Anyway, the matter related to the Light Source Church was over.
What I gained this time was influence over Japan. Amatsuka Koyori, who absolutely believed in and followed me, had risen in status, and Japanese politicians had begun to believe in the Wind God. In particular, the Japanese Prime Minister had become a fervent believer in the Wind God.
‘The Japanese Prime Minister benefited from the things I predicted. His approval rating also went up, right?’
There would come a time when I would need Japan’s power again. It would definitely be helpful then.
***
June 15th, Tuesday.
I drove to Gangwon Province from early morning. Normally, I would be sleeping with Han Harin, but… I had something to do today. It was quite important.
‘Thorn Mask. I need to catch that bastard who made me suffer in the past timeline.’
Before my regression, the Korean Hunter Association had not been able to catch Thorn Mask, let alone find out his identity.
‘I suffered quite a bit because of that bastard.’
Today, Thorn Mask would appear in a remote mountain village in Gangwon Province and cause a massacre. He would kill all the villagers except for one young girl. Right in front of the girl’s eyes.
I contacted Baek Ji-eun while heading to Gangwon Province.
“…Hello? Yujin? What’s going on so early in the morning? Does this older sister miss you that much? When I asked for your help last time, you said you were busy and couldn’t.”
Baek Ji-eun’s voice was hoarse, probably because she had just woken up.
“I was really busy back then. But the information I gave you was helpful, right?”
I had passed on some of the information from the past timeline to Baek Ji-eun, making various excuses. Since I usually received information from her, this time I gave her some information.
“It was a big help. How did you find out about criminals who haven’t committed crimes yet? Do you have the ability to see the future? Seeing that you even predicted the accident where the lights fell in the studio, it’s 100%…”
“That’s not it. There’s a way. The studio accident was predicted by a shaman.”
“That’s a powerful shaman. Where is that shaman? I want to go see them too.”
“It’s a trade secret… Actually, I regressed.”
“Ah. I see. Can you tell me the lottery numbers?”
“The lottery doesn’t even have that much prize money. You don’t believe me, do you?”
For an A-class hunter, lottery winnings were not even worth considering.
“I believe you. How can I not believe you when you gave me such detailed information?”
“Don’t tell anyone else.”
“I won’t.”
I easily confessed to Baek Ji-eun that I had regressed 30 days into the past.
I could trust Baek Ji-eun.
To be precise, I trusted the absolute hypnosis that was on Baek Ji-eun. As long as the absolute hypnosis was maintained, Baek Ji-eun would not betray me.
“So, what’s the matter with calling so early in the morning?”
“Thorn Mask.”
“……!!”
I could feel Baek Ji-eun’s surprise through the phone call. Baek Ji-eun was still chasing after the awakened criminal, Thorn Mask.
“…Do you know Thorn Mask’s identity? Tell me quickly!”
“I don’t know his identity. He wasn’t caught even before my regression. So, I’m going to confirm his identity now. And catch him while I’m at it.”
“Where are you! I’m going there now!”
“So, the location is…”
I didn’t hesitate and told her the location. It didn’t matter if she came. She wouldn’t interfere with me.
“Ji-eun, are you making good use of the information I gave you?”
“Of course. Do you know how high my status has become recently thanks to that information? Even the executives are wary of me. If I catch Thorn Mask too… I’ll be able to get promoted faster. I’m grateful to you.”
It was good for me that Baek Ji-eun’s power was increasing. That was also why I was providing her with information from the past timeline.
“I’m going to bring down the Suwol Guild. Ji-eun, I need your help.”
“You’re about to do something crazy. Is the Suwol Guild some pushover?”
“I’ll bring them down someday. Will you help me?”
“…You’re serious. Well, I know the Suwol Guild is shady. I don’t like the Suwol Guild that much either… I’ll help you if I get the chance later.”
“Thank you.”
***
I sat on a tree and looked down at the mountain village.
A peaceful village. The sky was blue, and the people were working as they had done yesterday.
It was so peaceful that it was hard to believe that a tragedy would occur in a few hours.
I quietly watched the young girl. I didn’t go directly into the village because Thorn Mask might not appear if he saw my presence.
‘Thorn Mask appears in front of the girl first. He subdues the girl and shows her the scene of him massacring the villagers.’
That scene included the girl’s parents and grandparents. And the other villagers would also be like family to the girl. That was the nature of such mountain villages.
I looked at the girl. The girl had been walking around the village since morning. Every villager she encountered smiled and greeted her. I enhanced my hearing and found out the girl’s name. It was Yu Chae-ah.
The time was approaching noon.
Baek Ji-eun hadn’t appeared. She must have gotten lost on the way. She had a license, but she rarely drove herself, so it was something that could easily happen.
‘…He’s appeared.’
A man wearing a black coat that didn’t fit the season appeared at the entrance of the village. And a white mask on his face.
It was Thorn Mask.
As soon as I saw him, I moved, and he approached Yu Chae-ah, who was observing insects near the village entrance.
“Little girl.”
Thorn Mask called out to Yu Chae-ah.
“Yes? Who are you, mister? Why are you wearing a mask?”
“I’m just a passerby. Isn’t this mask cool? Shall I show you something fun?”
“Something fun? Yes! Please show me!”
Yu Chae-ah smiled brightly, and Thorn Mask let out a low laugh and reached out his hand to Yu Chae-ah.
Clack.
I grabbed Thorn Mask’s hand with my left hand. Thorn Mask’s head turned towards me, who had suddenly appeared. The pupils of his eyes, visible through the mask, widened.
“Sung Yujin…?!”
“You know me? Well, I’m kind of famous in the hunter world.”
Stab.
I stabbed a knife into Thorn Mask’s side. He reflexively bent his upper body forward. I pulled at his mask. It didn’t come off easily. It seemed to be a mask with special effects. I used my fingers to break the mask.
A distorted man’s face was revealed. I paused for a moment.
‘…I’ve seen that face somewhere?’
I couldn’t remember well. I wasn’t the type to bother remembering the faces of men.
‘I don’t know. I’ll beat him up first. I’ll find out later.’
Just as I was about to punch him in the head with my right fist, thorny vines shot up from the ground and climbed up my left arm. I had no choice but to let go of his hand. Otherwise, I could lose my left arm to the vines that were wrapping around me. Even though I had complete recovery, I didn’t want to easily give up my left arm.
The guy who had escaped my grasp distanced himself from me.
“Damn it! Sung Yujin! Why are you here?!”
“Why are you here?”
“I have no intention of telling you… Is that it? If the association knew, you wouldn’t have come alone. I’ll kill you here and kill all the witnesses.”
“…Hey. Have we met somewhere?”
“Is this a trick to find out my identity? Heh heh. Unfortunately, you and I are strangers. You don’t know my identity and you’ll die here.”
The guy held the thorny vines in his hand like a whip.
I narrowed my eyes.
If the guy wasn’t lying, he had never met me before. But I felt like I had seen him somewhere.
‘I saw him in the past timeline. He’s not Japanese or from the Light Source Church… Before that, I was with Baek Ji-eun, so…’
I remembered what Baek Ji-eun had said. Maybe Thorn Mask was a member of the association.
“Ah.”
I let out a sigh. I remembered.
“You’re Jo Jin-sung, right?”
“……”
Jo Jin-sung’s face hardened menacingly. It seemed I had guessed correctly.
“From the association’s special investigation department. B-class hunter, Jo Jin-sung. I bumped into you a few times while you were following Baek Ji-eun. I remember now. You were Thorn Mask’s identity? Wow, that’s surprising. To think the culprit was so close. The association doesn’t know about your ability? Did you have a second awakening?”
As expected, regression was the best.
Even if all sorts of shitty things happened, I could solve them all with one regression.
“To think… you would know me. You must die here.”
Jo Jin-sung swung the thorny vines. He swung the vines, which were over 10 meters long, quite well. But they looked slow to my eyes. He was an A-class awakened criminal, but his actual skill was closer to B-class.
I kicked the whip with my foot. Jo Jin-sung bit his lip tightly.
“Try to block this too!!”
Seven thorny vines came straight at me. Three each from the right and left, shooting up from the ground.
“They’re like tentacles, it’s disgusting.”
If I dodged, Yu Chae-ah would be hit by the thorny vines and die. It was also a bit too late to summon a sword and block them. So, I decided to just take the hit. I strengthened my body with mana and faced the thorny vines.
The thorny vines didn’t just hit my body. They wrapped around me like snakes. My skin tingled. Even though I had strengthened myself with mana, the thorns were piercing my skin. It was because mana was infused into the thorny vines.
“Ha, hahahaha! You’re so stupid, not even blocking or dodging? Your arrogance is what killed you! Hahahaha! To think that Sung Yujin would die by my hands! Today is my lucky day!! Hahahaha!”
Jo Jin-sung laughed and approached me. Thorn Mask was known for killing people cruelly. He must be planning to torture me to death as well.
“Did you strengthen your skin with mana? Let’s see how long you can last. If you last 10 minutes, I’ll let you live. I’ll promise you in my name, so you can trust me.”
“Who would believe that? You idiot.”
“You’ll believe it. Because you have no other choice. Now, little girl. Watch carefully. The sight of the stupid guy who tried to save you slowly dying. Hahahaha!”
“U, ugh…”
Yu Chae-ah fell backward and trembled. Her eyes were full of tears. I looked forward again. Jo Jin-sung was approaching me triumphantly. 5 meters. 4 meters. 3 meters. It was a sufficient distance.
‘Heavenly Heart.’
[Activating Heavenly Heart. Lasts for 1 minute.]
The thorny vines that were restraining my body were released by an unknown force. I jumped forward and punched the guy in the face. Corn kernels scattered along with blood from his mouth. This time, I punched him in the abdomen with my left fist. Jo Jin-sung’s body floated about 5 meters and then fell to the ground.
“Kuaaaak!”
The guy screamed but still counterattacked. A single thorny vine aimed for my neck. It was slow. I grabbed the thorny vine with a thud.
Crackling.
Lightning sparked and burned the thorny vine.
I stepped on the guy’s body with my foot. First, I stepped on his legs. I kicked his calf, and crushed his knee.
“Aaaah! Aaaaaaaah!”
I also broke his arms. I crushed his fingers one by one, and caved in his shoulders. I didn’t step on his torso. He could easily die if I did. Instead, I used lightning. It was electric torture time.
Crackling.
“Aaaaaaaaaaah! P, please stop!! I was wrong! Please stop! Aaaaaaaaaah!”
“Do you know how much I suffered because of you?! I couldn’t sleep well in the early morning! I was called out all the time!”
Baek Ji-eun had made me work like crazy, saying she would chase after this bastard’s trail. If it weren’t for this bastard, I would have had sex with Baek Ji-eun at least 7 more times.
Crackling! Crackling!
“Stop! Stop it! Sung Yujin!! Stop it, you bastard!!”
Baek Ji-eun was shouting from afar and running towards me, panting.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Yu Chae-ah burst into tears.
I calculated the distance to Baek Ji-eun. I could do two more rounds of electric torture. I quickly generated electricity.
“Kueeeeeeeeeeok!”
The guy’s screams echoed loudly in the mountain village.
