Chapter 2009 – 2009. Newtype
Jeong Suyeon walked down the street. It was early evening, so there were many people passing by, but no one paid any attention to Jeong Suyeon. Despite her striking appearance and the coat that didn’t suit the season.
A faint presence.
The ability to reduce her presence, making her less noticeable to people.
‘It’s not a very helpful ability in combat… but it’s good for times like this.’
She blended into the street and headed towards a basement bar in an alley. The bar was open and had quite a few customers. She pretended to go to the restroom and headed to the cleaning supply room. Going down the hidden basement stairs, she found a bar that smelled strongly of dust.
In the center of the bar sat a middle-aged woman. The middle-aged woman, who was typing on a laptop, had a blank expression. Broker Kang Eun-sook. She glanced over Jeong Suyeon’s body.
“That’s the latest protective coat from Taeyoung Group. It must be worth at least a billion won… Where did you get it?”
“This? I got it, along with a weapon and shoes, from the erosion phenomenon yesterday. The shoes didn’t fit me.”
Jeong Suyeon spun around, showing off her protective coat. The protective coat had various additional functions. One of them was temperature and humidity control. Just wearing it kept her feeling comfortable. The sword at her waist was also stylish, with a pretty decent design. The sword was worth over 2 billion won.
“You didn’t get that as compensation from the erosion phenomenon, did you?”
“I killed the youngest son of the Cheonil Group.”
Kang Eun-sook paused at the unbelievable words. Her eyes twitched slightly.
“…You crazy bitch. No, before that, you? With your current skills?”
“I got lucky. There were no guards around. He was doing drugs on the rooftop of a building. He was so high that he didn’t even notice me approaching.”
Kang Eun-sook let out a hollow laugh. It was absurd in many ways. Seong Yu-jin, the youngest son of the Cheonil Group, was a natural Force Awakener. It meant he had been handling Force since birth. It was common knowledge that they were far superior to other Guardians. Even if Jeong Suyeon was talented, she had only awakened her Force two years ago. Normally, she wouldn’t be able to kill someone like him.
“You crazy bitch… It’s not even certain if that guy was related to the Yeonggwang Society.”
“You’re right not to know. I interrogated him briefly before he died, but he just kept spouting nonsense. He was a typical drug addict.”
“It’s a well-known fact that he was obsessed with drugs and sex. Why else would his nickname be ‘the degenerate’? The problem is his status. The youngest son of the Cheonil Group. You killed too big of a fish. How are you going to handle the aftermath?”
“I wasn’t caught. I won’t be caught. I didn’t leave any traces.”
Jeong Suyeon said calmly. Kang Eun-sook was also her mentor, so she knew her psychology to some extent. She must have seen Seong Yu-jin, who was high on drugs, and calculated the situation. She would have been fully aware of the risks. However, she prioritized the gains over the risks.
“Did you get his ability?”
Jeong Suyeon nodded. Her ability was to steal. She could steal the abilities of those she killed. Seong Yu-jin’s ability was famous, so it was understandable that she would be tempted.
Jeong Suyeon opened her palm. Crackle! A blue electric spark flashed.
“You really got it.”
“…It’s not easy to handle, given the nature of the ability.”
“Go into hiding for a while and train. Things will get big now that Seong Yu-jin is dead.”
“But.”
“But?”
“…Seong Yu-jin had three abilities, didn’t he?”
“Was he a multi-ability user? Well, it’s not unusual for a natural Force Awakener.”
Stealing only allowed her to obtain one ability if the person she killed had multiple abilities. She didn’t know what the other abilities were, so she chose the lightning.
Jeong Suyeon had an uneasy expression. She didn’t know why, but she felt very uneasy. But she shook her head.
“Give me a request.”
“Didn’t you hear me say to go into hiding?”
“There’s no better training than real combat.”
Kang Eun-sook sighed. She could tell just by looking at her eyes. Even if she ignored her, she would cause trouble on her own. It was better to give her a suitable request and keep her within sight.
Kang Eun-sook tapped on her laptop keyboard. She paused as she was about to check the request.
“…You said you killed Seong Yu-jin, right?”
“I killed him. This ability is proof. I’m showing it to you right now.”
“Then what is this guy? A fake… but he’s even using his abilities.”
“?”
Kang Eun-sook turned the laptop to show Jeong Suyeon.
A live broadcast. A press conference.
It was a press conference to clarify the drug party of Seong Yu-jin, the youngest son of the Cheonil Group.
“……!”
On the screen was Seong Yu-jin, who should have been dead. He was grabbing a reporter by the collar and throwing punches. Lightning flashed around his fists.
“Thunder Punch! Thunder Punch! Thunder Punch!”
He was actually beating up a reporter live on air. At least until now, he had pretended to be fine on the surface, but this time he wasn’t even trying to hide it, and was calmly doing crazy things.
‘That crazy bastard.’
Jeong Suyeon’s face twisted.
Why is he alive? Is it one of his other abilities? How is he using the ability I stole? Her mind became complicated in an instant.
“Did he see your face when you killed Seong Yu-jin?”
“Yeah. I was planning to kill him. And I did kill him.”
“He’s alive.”
“……I killed him. I even stole his ability.”
“He’s alive.”
“……He was high on drugs at the time.”
“If you interrogated him, that means he was conscious enough to have a conversation, right?”
“……I’m screwed.”
Sweat trickled down Jeong Suyeon’s cheek. She was genuinely flustered. If he saw her face, he should be doing something right now. The Cheonil Group had the power to do so. But there were no signs of anything. She wasn’t being followed. Did he not remember her because of the drugs? If it’s a resurrection ability, does it also have the ability to erase memories? Or is he planning something else?
Then the door opened. Jeong Suyeon was startled without realizing it. It was a man wearing a hood who entered.
“Oh, Jeong Suyeon? You were here too? Whoa, why are you sweating so much? Did you work out or something?”
“Shut up.”
“Ah, yes. Auntie. The request is complete. I burned all the drugs too.”
Kang Eun-sook nodded at Tay’s words and then looked at Jeong Suyeon and asked.
“What kind of drugs was he on?”
“…It was Carbin drugs.”
“Tay. Do you know about Carbin drugs?”
“It’s a popular drug these days. It’s one of the worst kinds of drugs. You get a crazy hallucination. If you do it a few times, your life is over. The drugs I just burned were also that.”
Kang Eun-sook asked in a lower voice.
“Can you have a conversation with someone while on that drug?”
“No way. What can you do with a guy who’s just flailing around in a hallucination?”
“……Can a Guardian withstand it?”
“They could withstand it a few times. But if they can withstand it, why would they do drugs?”
Tay’s words were the truth. If they could withstand the drugs, there was no reason to do them.
Kang Eun-sook and Jeong Suyeon’s faces hardened. They had no idea what was going on.
“……”
“……”
“Why is everyone so serious except me?!”
• • •
Thinking about it again, complete recovery was a cheat.
It completely eliminated even the drug addiction. And it even recovered the ability that Jeong Suyeon had stolen. It seems to recognize the ability as part of me. Considering that even the original mana is fully recovered, it wasn’t that strange.
‘I can’t help being addicted to drugs. My body was already addicted. Besides, I was on drugs as soon as I entered this world.’
This body had been steadily doing drugs for years. It was a miracle that he hadn’t died. If he wasn’t a Force Awakener, he would have died without being able to withstand it if he hadn’t been consistently receiving drug treatment.
‘It seems meaningless since it’s a setting from before I entered this world.’
Carbin drugs were trash.
On the other hand, the drug cigarette I’m smoking now had an awakening effect. It boosts concentration. As it’s classified as a drug, there are quite a few side effects, but I had complete recovery. If I used complete recovery, I could get rid of the addiction symptoms as well as the tolerance.
‘Increased concentration also means that my senses become sharper.’
There were also doping-type drugs. One of them was the cigarette I was smoking now.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
Kang Ji-ho entered. He immediately knelt in front of me.
“I’m sorry. I was negligent and failed to protect the young master’s equipment. And I also failed to capture him alive…”
He was punished for being last. My left arm didn’t move. I couldn’t feel anything. My left arm was just attached. Of course, I could fix it immediately with complete recovery. But I couldn’t use it because of the cooldown.
“It’s fine. What was the reward for first place?”
Kang Ji-ho respectfully presented an item. It was a strange-looking object that looked like a combination of a black cat’s tail and an octopus’s leg.
“I can feel strange mana.”
“Mana, you say?”
“Force. My mistake. So, what is the effect of this item?”
“You can command the cat-squid. You can give it Force and throw it on the ground.”
I did as Kang Ji-ho said.
The cat-squid tail that fell on the ground transformed into a small animal. A black cat with octopus tentacles sprouting from its back. Wet octopus legs wriggled on its back.
“Meow!”
“Cat-squid. Was it this kind of monster?”
“…Originally, it was a monster over 3 meters tall. I think you’re supposed to command it.”
Crackle.
Sparks flashed on my right foot.
“Thunder Kick.”
I kicked the cat-squid’s body. It flew into the wall and exploded. Red blood and guts splattered the room.
“It looked disgusting, so I killed it. Clean it up.”
“May I take it to the research lab? Cat-squid corpses are rare, so the researchers will be happy. The researchers will be grateful to the young master.”
“I don’t need the gratitude of pigs and dogs. Do as you please. Bring me some drugs.”
“Carbin drugs, you mean?”
“Not that.”
“…Understood. I will have someone clean up the traces.”
Kang Ji-ho retreated with the cat-squid’s corpse.
Kang Ji-ho. He was a guy I didn’t like. How could a man be my secretary? Should I just kill him? I hesitated for a moment and then gave up. It wasn’t easy to find a beautiful female secretary with Kang Ji-ho’s abilities.
‘Jeong Suyeon said she’d give me her body… Should I go? I have a rough idea of where she is.’
I pondered while puffing on my drug cigarette. My mind started to race.
The Yeonggwang Society that Jeong Suyeon was chasing. Maybe finding and killing them is the condition for completing the quest.
‘This body’s father, the chairman of the Cheonil Group, would know. Should I go to the main house and interrogate him?’
I started to search through the information about Seong Yu-jin, the youngest son of the Cheonil Group, in my head. It was quite easy thanks to the increased concentration.
‘So, this is why people dope.’
If I do a lot of concentration-related drug doping, wouldn’t I be able to become a genius, even if it’s just for a moment?
‘That’s kind of tempting.’
