< Chapter 107: Entangled (2) >
Stumbling over his words due to Unknown’s tone, Kang Seo-yul managed to say,
“Th-thank you.”
Unknown looked at Kang Seo-yul in front of him and thought to himself.
‘Kang Seo-yul. The officer candidate who is friendly with Yu Hwa and Shin Jia, the ones who trapped Jayce.’
He was a first-year student at the Korean Superhuman Officer Academy. Known as an F-rank dropout at the time of admission, he had rapidly risen to prominence within a semester.
He was now widely known as one of the most promising candidates.
He was also the key person who had interfered with the tasks of Sword Spirit and Ghost Spirit.
‘The probability of this man being the mastermind behind all this is less than 0.1%.’
But that was it.
The time when he became friends with Shin Jia and Yu Hwa coincided with when Kang Seo-yul began to rise to prominence. There was a strong possibility that he had been approached for scouting by the Shinwa Group and the Behon Guild.
‘It was a bit odd to think that a mere officer cadet could interfere with Sword Spirit and Ghost Spirit, but…’
Having seen today’s battle firsthand, it made sense. With skills like his, it was plausible that he could have bought time from Sword Spirit and Ghost Spirit until Yu Hwa arrived on the scene.
‘According to Maestro’s report, it seems like he possesses some sort of instant doping-type skill.’
But you never know.
There was still that 0.1% of doubt. But today’s encounter eliminated even that 0.1% possibility.
‘Kang Seo-yul is not hiding his strength.’
Unknown chuckled to himself as he looked at Kang Seo-yul, who was trembling before him.
He had only slightly exerted his aura for testing, and the young man had completely frozen. It was as if he were a wounded cub.
‘If he were hiding his strength, he wouldn’t have reacted like that under sudden pressure.’
It was definitely not an act.
‘He doesn’t even have the unique aura that strong people have. He’s still just a fledgling.’
Unknown chuckled again, reining in his aura.
“You’re sweating profusely. Is something wrong with you?”
He asked, smiling kindly and full of concern, not forgetting to withdraw his aura.
“No, not at all. I just haven’t been in good condition today.”
“Ah. So that’s why you were sluggish earlier on.”
“Yes, yes.”
The more he saw, the more he was convinced.
‘This guy isn’t worth worrying about.’
Unknown completely lost interest in Kang Seo-yul at that point.
That’s when it happened.
“Boss, it’s time for the meeting.”
A woman approached with dignified steps. She was dressed in a clean-cut suit.
“Ah, has it already gotten that late?”
Checking the time, Unknown gave a slight smile at Kang Seo-yul.
“I must be going now. I have an appointment.”
He turned and started walking, the woman following closely behind.
“Boss, did you check on that vixen?”
The woman’s expression changed dramatically in a split second. All caution was gone; only a seductive smile remained.
“Ai, haven’t I told you not to call me ‘Boss’ when I’m outside? Especially when I’m undercover with a fake identity.”
Shirakawa Ai.
One of the seven executives of the Truth Seekers, her real name was known only by the code name ‘Lust’.
“Aye, there’s nobody around. What’s the big deal? Anyway, how is Yu Hwa? Is she Black?”
Lust joked around.
“Well, I can’t say for sure; I only saw her from a distance.”
Unknown twisted the corners of his mouth.
“Ah, what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Has the VIP arrived?”
Today, Unknown’s entry into the Superhuman Officer School was not for observing or dealing with Yu Hwa.
He had another reason.
Watching the ranking battle was merely a side activity due to having some extra time.
“Yes, they’ve already arrived. You just need to walk for about three minutes.”
Thus, after walking for approximately three minutes, the man and woman arrived and stood in a quiet park.
“There’s a limousine up ahead. You can get in there. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”
The woman untied her neatly bound hair, flicking it back with a mischievous smile.
“Be moderate,” Unknown cautioned.
“You mean not to kill them, right? I know~ Don’t worry~ I’ll just drain some of their energy moderately and come back.”
Unknown casually waved his hand, taking a quick glance at Lust as she walked away. Then, he moved toward the spot where the VIP was waiting. A limousine could be seen in the distance.
He opened the door and entered the limousine.
“Ah, you’ve arrived.”
Inside the limousine sat a middle-aged man, forehead slick with nervous sweat, and trembling lips.
“Report,” Unknown crossed his legs.
“Every single detail, if anything is lacking…”
He glared at the middle-aged man, and a fierce, red light burst from his eyes.
“You’ll die.”
The middle-aged man, Chief Secretary to the President, Kim Hu-hyun, let out a terrified squeak.
* * *
After Unknown disappeared, I took deep breaths to calm my racing heart.
My head was blank. My hands and feet were shaking, and my brain wasn’t functioning properly.
The man who had just been in front of me was undoubtedly Unknown. Even if I didn’t know his face, I was certain. That gaze, that aura. Only Unknown could exude such an energy.
I covered my mouth with my trembling hand and composed myself.
Calm down. Calm down.
However, my heart didn’t stop racing. And why would it? It was Unknown after all.
In the original work [S-Class Status Window], he was the first opponent who gave the overpowered protagonist Kang Seo-Yul a hard time. The only opponent Kang Seo-Yul couldn’t guarantee victory against throughout both parts 1 and 2.
Such a monstrous figure had appeared right before my eyes. If anyone could keep their composure in this situation, I would like them to step forward and fight in my place.
I continued to take deep breaths. I had to calm down somehow.
“……Phew.”
As time passed, the trembling began to subside. Eventually, my mind returned to a somewhat rational state. I immediately began to reflect on my recent encounter with Unknown.
First, that unsettling aura. It was almost certainly an energy Unknown deliberately emitted.
To test me. To observe how I would react when faced with that aura.
I had been unsettled when I encountered that aura. Given that I was already aware of Unknown’s existence and had been on edge, how could I not have been?
“…I was lucky.”
What would Unknown have thought after seeing my unsettled reaction? Most likely this:
‘This man probably isn’t the mastermind.’
If I had tried to counter the aura, or had been awkwardly cautious, or had pretended, his suspicions would have grown.
I was truly lucky.
“Sigh.”
And next, the reason Unknown had watched my ranking match was probably not due to Yu Hwa.
After Unknown withdrew his aura, a woman appeared. She was dressed in a neat suit and had her hair neatly tied back. She looked like a secretary to anyone, but…
“Lust.”
That secretary was Lust. The charming point at the corner of her mouth, which was never left out of Lust’s description, was also present on this woman. It was certain.
Coming to Korea with Lust meant that Unknown had utilized his fake identity as the president of JT Technologies. Probably to make contact with the South Korean government. To make the national war raid go more smoothly.
The timing seemed about right.
There was no way Unknown, who pathologically hated making his existence known to the public, would take such a bold action of moving personally right before a national war raid.
From all this, it seemed that Unknown coming to observe Yu Hwa was just incidental.
… Fortunately, it seemed like there was no immediate danger.
Just when I breathed a sigh of relief,
“Hello.”
Someone whispered sweetly into my ear like candy. I turned around in surprise. A woman was smiling.
“Would you like to have a cup of tea with me?”
The woman had a charming point at the corner of her mouth.
“Ah, I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Shirakawa Ai.”
Lust was smiling charmingly.
…I was doomed.
I had forgotten.
Lust’s unique ability was ‘Siphon.’
A true ‘succubus’ who absorbed vital energy from the opposite sex to use as an energy source.
She had a setting where she loses patience when she sees a handsome man. Apparently, the vital energy of a handsome man tastes better or something.
“I find you so appealing. I hope you won’t refuse.”
I looked at Lust, who was smiling brightly and broke into a cold sweat.
It seemed my crisis was not yet over.
* * *
I couldn’t refuse Lust’s offer.
There were several reasons why I couldn’t say no.
This woman was obsessive.
The kind to become even more inflamed if rejected once.
‘How dare you reject me? Why? What’s wrong with me? Do you have good self-control? Or maybe I was a bit off today?
That can’t be. Wow, you’re indifferent, huh? Not even giving me a glance? Gaining some interest? Knowing how to play hard to get? Is this deliberate?
Pretending makes you look even more attractive? What is it? What is it?’
She gave off that kind of vibe.
She was not in her right mind.
Who would dare to refuse an offer from such a woman, knowing what could happen?
I also aimed to gather information about Lust.
Lust, or Shirakawa Ai, was a character who had the most trivial death in the original work.
Apart from her unique ability ‘Siphon,’ there was practically no information about her.
So, I thought maybe I could turn this crisis into an opportunity and extract information from Lust.
It could have been risky, but as long as Unknown was in the vicinity, Lust was unlikely to take any aggressive actions.
For these reasons, I accepted Lust’s proposal.
“The cafe has a nice view here. The coffee is just perfectly delightful.”
“Indeed.”
What a lie.
Delightful my foot.
‘You couldn’t even taste the coffee.’
This woman couldn’t taste flavors. It was the cost of her unique abilities. The only way for her to experience taste was by absorbing a man’s energy.
“Can I call you ‘Oppa’? I’m also 20 years old, but you just seem like an ‘oppa’ to me.”
“Sure, whatever makes you comfortable.”
“Yay! Yes! Oppa!”
I chuckled inwardly.
Oppa? I’m also 20?
What a joke.
Lust, or Shirakawa Ai, was exactly 30 this year. A whole carton of eggs.
They say a lot can change in 10 years, but here she was, shaving off 10 years from her age.
Where was her conscience?
Well, I couldn’t reply like this, so I decided to wear a mask as well.
“By the way, who was that person earlier…?”
“He’s our president. I serve as his secretary.”
“Ah, is the president by any chance a superhuman?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“I thought so. I sensed an extraordinary aura coming from him.”
“Ah, it seems our president may have been rude while testing a potential talent. I apologize.”
“No, no, it was a good experience, thanks to him. Haha.”
We continued our conversation, each of us hiding our true intentions behind a mask.
“By the way, being a secretary for a company at the age of 20, you must be an elite.”
“Ah, don’t even mention it. What about you, the world’s most promising talent, Kang Seo-yul!”
Sweat had filled my back.
I was so tense I didn’t know if I was managing my expression properly.
“Feel free to speak casually.”
“Really? Then you should also speak casually. We’re the same age, right?”
“Ah, I’m more comfortable using formal speech.”
Wow, what pretense.
A woman who speaks informally to her own boss says she’s more comfortable using formal speech.
“…Really?”
“Yes. So, feel free to speak casually.”
Her sly smile was something else. With that face, that expression, and that line, including the honorifics, how many men wouldn’t be taken in?
“Ah.”
At that moment, Lust moved from the seat across from me to the one next to me.
She then subtly moved her body closer to me and brought her face near mine.
“What skincare do you use? Your skin is so fair.”
She looked directly into my eyes while grinning coyly. It was an enticing look that seemed designed to awaken a man’s protective instinct.
“I don’t use any?”
Given that I usually looked at the face of Jia, known as the most beautiful person in the world and a facial gangster, her tactic didn’t work on me.
At that moment, Lust’s eyes widened as if she were startled. She seemed a bit flustered.
“So, you don’t do any skincare?”
However, she soon hid her fluster and returned with a bright smile.
“Not really?”
“Wow, that’s amazing.”
By now, she had fully leaned her body against mine. At this point, it felt blatantly obvious.
“This is skin without any care…”
Suddenly, Lust brought her hand to my face.
Her movements were enchanting.
For some reason, I felt chills without even knowing why.
“Oppa, you’re so cool,”
She says, leaning her voluptuous body against mine, placing her hand on my cheek, and looking straight into my eyes with a captivating smile, like a blooming lily.
Was this some sort of ultimate three-piece set for seducing men?
“I’ll take the compliment for now.”
But it wasn’t working on me.
And honestly, Lust wasn’t my type.
“Your proximity seems too close, doesn’t it?”
“Eh…”
At my calm response, Lust’s expression turned blank again. Her pupils were shaking back and forth, a clear sign of great discomposure.
“Why?”
“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”
In response to my words, Lust removed her body that had been pressed close to mine and blushed.
…Why was she acting like this?
* * *
An hour later, all conversations had ended.
“…”
Kang Seo-yul had long since left the cafe. Lust, who was left alone, sat in her seat, blankly staring into space.
“So men like that do exist.”
She was completely zoned out.
‘I never knew there would be a man who wouldn’t harbor lustful thoughts toward me.’
Lust’s ability was “Siphoning Energy”—she had the power to drain men’s energy. As an added feature to manage this siphoning more effectively, she also had an ability called “Amplification of Lustful Thoughts.”
As the name suggests, it amplified the lustful thoughts of the opponent.
Triggered by eye contact or physical touch, it was an ‘automatically activating ability.’ Whether the person was a monk or a celibate, as long as they had even a tiny bit of lust, it would amplify it to the max instantly.
For anyone recorded in the ‘system’ as ‘gender: male,’ it was almost like a curse that ‘unconditionally’ worked.
Until she met Kang Seo-yul, Lust had never encountered a man on whom her ability didn’t work.
“Kang Seo-yul…”
A mysterious heat radiated from Lust’s eyes.
‘I’ve finally found him. A man not affected by my Siphoning!’
Licking her lips with a seductive gaze, Lust made a phone call.
“Honey, it’s me. Can you give me a month off?”
From the speaker came the cold voice of Maestro.
“The remaining work? I don’t know~ Just tell the boss it’s ‘fulfilling the contract,’ and he’ll take care of it. Anyway, I’m taking a month off, okay? Bye~”
Lust hung up the phone and got up from her seat. As she left the cafe, a glint of excitement appeared in her eyes.
< Chapter 107: Entangled (2) > End.
