Chapter 128 - I Want to Rest

* * *

Villains were always strong. The major players were no exception.

Hadn't he been injured again today? A hair's breadth had made the difference, leaving him critically wounded. If he had panicked or failed to find a way, he would have been the one to die.

This wasn't a world inside a game. Measures of strength weren't absolute. Matchups mattered, and even someone weaker could defeat an enemy if they found a way.

When your life was on the line, why be picky about your methods?

"You have only two choices left: die peacefully or die in agony. I've already shown you what dying in agony means."

The instant Hyeonyul finished speaking, the Eyepatch Octopus looked down. Directly beneath him lay a shadow.

"Who gave you that drug?"

The drug that turned powerless people into people with abilities. That discarded drug, which also brought death.

"..."

The Eyepatch Octopus remained silent, his gaze darting around as though he were trying to think.

"Would you like to go down there?"

"No! Wait..."

Hyeonyul moved a finger. Darkness extended outward and engulfed the man's face.

As he quietly waited, Hyeonyul took out another syringe and injected himself to try to stop the bleeding.

'The Doctor will scold me. ... Hmm.'

His eyes shifted slightly.

'Should I take tomorrow off?'

He briefly considered sending Haeryeon a message, then flicked a finger. He retrieved the rabbit mask that had been thrown far away and held it against his chest before moving his finger again.

Darkness pulled the Eyepatch Octopus up by his hair, lifting his face. Hyeonyul could simply kill him, but there were things he needed to learn, so he had to go to this trouble.

"... Th-the Drug Merchant!"

The Eyepatch Octopus blurted it out first.

"The Drug Merchant gave it to me! So don't put me in there! ... Please."

"Why are you begging for your life? The Red Witch died with dignity. Shouldn't you die with your head held high too?"

Hyeonyul sounded surprised. He had expected the man to preserve his pride even in death. Perhaps because he wasn't quite a true major player, he was no different from a lackey after all.

'I suppose that's why they don't call him a major player.'

"... What?"

The Eyepatch Octopus couldn't believe his ears. The Red Witch?

"Oh, I killed the Red Witch."

"... Y-you killed her?"

How was that possible? Wasn't she known to be capable of standing against the Poison King?

"I'm the one asking the questions."

Shh.

As Hyeonyul raised a finger to his lips, the Eyepatch Octopus shut his mouth. He didn't want to go back there. He felt ready to cling to Hyeonyul's trouser leg if that was what it took.

"The cosmetics company Linda. I know they use the same emblem as you—a snake coiled around an apple. Who do you work under?"

You even know that?

The Eyepatch Octopus seemed to ask the question with his eye.

"... If I answer, you'll make sure you kill me, right?"

His response, as though something worse than death existed, puzzled Hyeonyul.

'Does the person he serves have some strange power?'

Hyeonyul stopped thinking. The airflow had changed. The Eyepatch Octopus's tongue moved oddly.

Left.

That seemed to be the direction it moved.

"Take this!"

The Eyepatch Octopus, who had mustered the last of his strength in preparation to flee, stared blankly. Hyeonyul hadn't moved an inch. He remained seated in his chair.

The man's face went pale. Hyeonyul's feet were rooted in the darkness.

He had expected this. Why would the man give up before the very end?

"You need to speak, so I won't cut out your tongue. But I hope you understand that I can't leave your remaining eye alone."

"... W-wait! I, I was wrong!"

"Too late."

Hyeonyul rose and plunged his dagger into the man's eye without hesitation. He controlled the depth so it wouldn't kill him.

"Aaaaaagh! My eeeeye! My eye! It's burning!"

"Be quiet."

To keep him from dying of pain, Hyeonyul took a narcotic painkiller from his supply and injected it. When the thrashing man went limp, he returned to his seat.

"Now, I'll ask again."

Hyeonyul's voice remained calm.

"Kill me! Just kill me! Aaaaagh!"

The world had suddenly gone dark. There was nothing he could do now. Despair swept over him.

"I told you I wouldn't simply kill you. Your ears still work, don't they? You'll be able to hear better now. Would you like to go inside?"

At the mention of going into the darkness again, the Eyepatch Octopus trembled as though he were standing outdoors in the depths of winter.

Never. He would rather die than go there.

"Wait...! I, I don't know anything except that it's the Drug Merchant! It's true!"

He heard something approaching. The moment he heard it, he screamed as though having a fit.

"Y-yes! Yes, I thought a major corporation was involved!"

The sound seemed to draw closer. Was that not enough? But what was he supposed to say? His mind kept going blank. It felt as though insects were crawling in his eye.

"I met him at a clothing store...! He held my weakness over me! He found out I, I had parents and tried to kill them! What was I supposed to do?"

He erupted in anger. But the approaching sound grew louder and louder. He felt as though he would die.

He hated that place. Absolutely hated it.

"He brought up the weakness I'd hidden so carefully, over and over, right to my face, so I bowed to him! I did what he said! All he wanted was for me to spread the drugs. That... that was all! So I did! Whatever it took, wherever it was, I just did it!"

CLICK, CLACK.

The sound wouldn't stop.

"Milk... I started the milk company because of my parents' rare disease. That's all, so stop coming closer! Please, stop..."

Hyeonyul, who had been listening quietly, tilted his head. He had simply been sitting still for a while now. Though he had done nothing, the Eyepatch Octopus kept talking all on his own.

'He must be hearing things.'

It was understandable. After looking into the darkness and suffering terrible pain, how could he remain sane?

"I, I don't know where the Drug Merchant is either. I thought it was a major corporation because of the, the size of the factory. C-clothes! Yes, they were making clothes! I told you I met him in a clothing store, didn't I? Look for that emblem you said you saw—it was stamped all over the factory! That should do it...!"

The Eyepatch Octopus was frantic and impatient.

Holding his chin between his fingers, Hyeonyul gathered the man's statements and considered them.

The Drug Merchant was behind him. The Drug Merchant presumably owned a major clothing corporation. He needed to find the snake-and-apple emblem somewhere in that factory.

Those were the three points. Judging by his rambling, the man truly seemed to know nothing more.

"Understood."

Hyeonyul answered evenly. At the sound of his voice, the Eyepatch Octopus's breathing became audible.

"Do you know REX―3333?"

"What's... that? I really don't know."

As expected. This wasn't the man.

"I'll be taking your phone."

"... Wh-why?"

"Didn't you say you had parents?"

"Don't touch them! Don't touch my parents! I'll kill you!"

Despite all his trembling, the Eyepatch Octopus flew into a rage. Anyone watching might have thought him a devoted son.

"I don't harm civilians. In return for answering me, I'll send them a final message for you."

"... What?"

"Frankly, I don't want to. You've already killed countless parents. I don't think you have any right to say that. As though only your own parents matter."

After finishing, Hyeonyul exhaled. Villains were villains, and civilians were civilians.

"I'll take it."

He approached the man and first placed a hand on his shoulder. He could feel him trembling.

"Why... would you do that for me?"

"You aren't my prey. More importantly, your parents aren't villains. You're the only one who needs to suffer. Your suffering will cause them pain too, but there's nothing I can do about that."

How could he resolve the pain of losing a son? That wasn't something he could do for them, nor did he need to.

Hyeonyul took the phone from the man's inside pocket.

"Tell me the password."

The Eyepatch Octopus hesitated, then told him.

"Go ahead."

Hyeonyul waited. A promise was a promise. His thumb moved as the Eyepatch Octopus dictated. When the man stopped speaking, Hyeonyul's hand stopped as well.

"I'll send it tomorrow. It's late tonight."

"... If their treatment stops, they'll die."

"You're disgusting, so don't push your luck. I clearly said I wouldn't touch them."

Give him an inch, and he took a mile. Hyeonyul truly wanted to kill him right then. This was merely a final, desperate struggle to keep himself from becoming a monster like them.

"... Can I ask just one thing?"

"Why should I answer?"

"I might know something, mightn't I?"

"Why should I believe that?"

"... Because this isn't fair."

"Ha."

Hyeonyul let out a sound of disbelief. Not fair? The nonsense he was spouting would make even a passing dog laugh.

"There's a secret room in the hospital basement. The password is my name, HaChanwon8221. Search it."

"Why are you suddenly giving me information?"

"Because my parents can only live if you crush that Drug Merchant bastard."

"That does make sense. Go ahead."

"... Are you a test subject, by any chance?"

"Yes."

After answering, Hyeonyul put on his rabbit mask.

"What... were those hands?"

Chanwon wanted to know what he had seen.

"The countless children who died to create me. Some of the drugs you received from the Drug Merchant and sold were used to create me."

A dagger appeared in Hyeonyul's grasp.

"Make sure you kill that Drug Merchant bastard."

"I will, whether you run your mouth or not."

As he answered, Hyeonyul drove the dagger into Chanwon's chest.

SHUNK.

"Watch out... for the nobles."

"Yes."

"There'll be... some involved."

Chanwon's body slid downward. Hyeonyul stepped back and pulled him completely out of the darkness. Both of the man's hands had turned stark white.

Leaving him there, Hyeonyul went outside. People stood in a ring around the abandoned building, keeping a fixed distance from it. Seungyu had summoned them all.

"... A-are you all right?"

Seungyu's voice came with the sound of footsteps.

「Seungyu.」

"Yes."

Seungyu, who had been looking Hyeonyul over, answered his message immediately.

「He's dead. Clean it up.」

"He's dead...?"

So quickly?

Seungyu briefly looked toward the abandoned building. Not even ten minutes had passed. Apart from a slight dent in the rabbit mask, only splashes of blood were visible. Yet the smell of blood was fairly strong.

「Did you think I couldn't kill him?」

"That's not it. Of course I thought you would win. More importantly, are you hurt?"

「I'm fine, I'm fine.」

「Seungyu.」

"Yes, please go ahead."

「Don't touch civilians.」

「You'll come across his parents during the investigation. Leave them alone.」

"... Pardon?"

Parents? What was he talking about?

「I'm telling you not to touch them.」

"Understood."

Seungyu didn't understand, but answered anyway.

「I'll be going, then.」

"Yes. I'll take care of the cleanup."

「Everyone worked today, so give them tomorrow off.」

「You get some good rest too.」

Hyeonyul lightly squeezed Seungyu's shoulder. He would check out what lay behind that password next time. Anything more would only lead to overwork.

'... I'm going to get scolded.'

As soon as he thought of Jeongmin, Hyeonyul exhaled. He walked forward and quietly vanished.

Seungyu continued staring for a long time after he disappeared. After briefly looking at the spot on the shoulder Hyeonyul had touched, Seungyu entered the abandoned building.

"... Ha."

The first thing Seungyu did was laugh. Blood covered everything so thoroughly that one could have said the place had been wallpapered in red. Among the decapitated bodies lay one man whose head was still attached. His eyepatch was gone, but it was the man from earlier.

"... Did you see?"

Seungyu spoke and turned around. The underlings crowded behind.

"Did you see the power our king possesses?"

He had handled all of this alone. The extent of his power was beyond imagining. The sheer emotion welling up made Seungyu feel as though every inch of the body would tremble.

Seungyu laughed. The laughter grew louder and louder.

"This power belongs to the one you and I serve!"

Seungyu's eyes and voice filled with intensity. Once, Seungyu had served the Poison King, but only now realized how hollow he had been.

"For our sake, he stepped forward himself...!"

Seungyu knew better than anyone how many people had come with them. And yet, he hadn't allowed a single one to be killed or injured in this fight. Rather than mindlessly crushing everything with sheer force, rather than seeing them as mere numbers, he saw them as people.

"Who died? Who was hurt the most in this fight?"

At Seungyu's questions, the underlings merely exchanged uncertain glances.

"... He was."

"Is that... true?"

"He also ordered that you be given time off."

"Pardon...?"

Everyone looked bewildered. Time off? Why? No one could understand this astonishing turn of events.

"That's how much he cares for you. So follow him. Whatever orders he gives, follow him."

Seungyu smiled at the confused underlings. It had been the same for Seungyu at first.

"That is the right answer."

Seungyu thought of Hyeonyul. Whatever his injury was, he needed to have it treated properly.

* * *

SMACK!

Hyeonyul rubbed the forearm Jeongmin's hand had struck. It stung badly.

"... I'm a patient, Doctor."

"A patient?"

"... Yes."

"What was it this time? What happened to leave your head like this?"

"I'm sorry."

Hyeonyul lowered his gaze, avoiding Jeongmin's fierce glare.

"You think an apology is enough? Where did you go and get into trouble again?"

"I went and killed a villain."

"You're going to be the death of me, honestly!"

SMACK!

Jeongmin was far angrier than he had expected. This was bad. Figuring out how to handle it was far too difficult. All he could do was avert his eyes. This was harder than fighting.

Hyeonyul squeezed both eyes shut.

'How on earth am I supposed to calm the Doctor down in this situation?'