The Returnee Wants to Live Comfortably

Chapter 151 : If You Want to Sacrifice Others, Bet Your Own Life Too (2)

If You Want to Sacrifice Others, Bet Your Own Life Too (2)"Huh?"

Kim Seonghun was stunned by the sight of Sang-ah helping him to his feet.

The others who had almost been killed by phantom spirits had the same reaction.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"..."

Kim Seonghun, speechless, stood up, taking Sang-ah's hand.

It was only natural to be surprised by Sang-ah suddenly bursting out from inside the monster's stomach.

And that wasn't the only thing worth being shocked by.

"Um... Are you the Underwear Mask?"

He had just witnessed her being swallowed whole by a monster.

He himself was about to be eaten when this girl came bursting out of that creature.

Even though her clothes were so torn up by the monster that they were unrecognizable, her voice could not be mistaken.

"Shh."

To Kim Seonghun's suspicion, Sang-ah put her finger to her lips.

"It's a secret."

"..."

"Anyway, it's dangerous here, so take everyone and run away quickly. I'm the only one here who can fight."

Looking around, there were no awakeners among the singers or ordinary citizens gathered here.

Sticking around would only get in Sang-ah's way.

"Ah, understood!"

Realizing that, Kim Seonghun immediately helped the fallen people to their feet, getting ready to leave as Sang-ah had said.

"Where do you think you're going!"

At that moment, Ai Hoon, who had been on higher ground, landed on the floor and yelled.

Her madness-soaked gaze and venom-laced voice triggered a sense of danger in everyone.

Realizing she was no longer human, they started to run, just as Sang-ah had told them.

"Not a single one of you is getting away!"

Ai Hoon also sprang after them. These were people who had just witnessed her harming others.

Even famous singers were among them—news of this would spread quickly. She had to stop it.

It could never be allowed to spread. She couldn't allow people to lose interest in her.

"DIEEEEEE!!"

Shrieking, she lashed her whip at people's necks.

The snake-like, electrified whip was a reflection of Ai Hoon's madness.

Just as it was about to strike Kim Seonghun's neck, Sang-ah moved swiftly and grabbed it.

"Go! Now!"

"Yes!"

Blocked by Sang-ah's hand, the whip could no longer touch them and they quickly disappeared from sight.

Seeing this, Ai Hoon screamed even more frantically.

"Who do you think you are! Why are you getting in my way?"

"Then why are you trying to kill innocent people?"

Sang-ah stood her ground against Ai Hoon's threats, unflinching. Ai Hoon grew angrier, her eyes bloodshot.

"Those people... saw me. They saw me cause trouble."

"So?"

"So? If they get out alive... you know what'll happen to me."

—I'll never be able to show my face again!!

The outside world didn't know it, but she was the Sura guildmaster's daughter.

Even if her crimes got out, with her father's protection she wouldn't end up in prison.

But what she craved was attention, an obsessive need for people to look at her with admiration.

Anything that interfered with that, she would destroy at any cost.

What was important to her was to remain admired by others.

"So please, just get out of the way! Okay? Then I'll let you live. I'll just pretend I didn't see you!"

At that desperate plea, Sang-ah rolled her tongue in disbelief.

In Ai Hoon's voice, there was only concern for herself.

She begged only for her own sake, not caring about anyone else. Understanding Ai Hoon's heart, Sang-ah laughed and spoke.

"That means I have even less reason to move."

"What? What did you just say?"

"Do you want me to say it again?"

For the speechless Ai Hoon, Sang-ah shouted out loud.

"I said I'm not moving, you asshole!"

"You...!"

"This is your own fault. What makes you think you're so special?"

The moment she heard that, Ai Hoon gripped her whip tightly and sent it snaking around Sang-ah's neck.

"Then you die first!!"

The whip, guided by Ai Hoon's hand, suddenly coiled itself around Sang-ah's neck.

Caught off guard by the strange movement, Sang-ah could barely breathe.

"Kugh!"

"You should have listened when you had the chance!"

As Ai Hoon shouted, a surge of electricity sparked from the whip.

Not only was she suffocating, but Sang-ah was also being electrocuted, suffering in pain.

The pressure tightened around her neck, and the electric shock was inducing paralysis, sapping her strength.

There seemed to be no way to escape.

"I'll just cut your neck off right now— Huh?"

"Cut my neck off and then what, exactly?"

"How!"

Sang-ah endured it all without much trouble.

Ai Hoon was visibly shocked.

The neck that had been strangled by the whip suddenly hardened, making further strangulation impossible.

〈Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain〉

It was the ability corresponding to "Mountain" among the four elemental forces, which reinforced her body.

Trying to throttle a hardened neck with a whip was impossible—like trying to bind a utility pole with yarn.

To make matters worse, scales appeared on Sang-ah's neck, as if she was wearing extra armor by further strengthening the elemental protection.

In the end, not only did she endure; she began tearing the whip off her neck.

"This can't be happening!"

"And as for the electric shock—"

Even though electricity coursed through her body, Sang-ah stayed calm, snapping the whip encircling her neck.

"Compared to Seongjin's Black Lightning, this is nothing!"

Crack!!

The whip, made from hunter equipment, snapped with a tremendous noise—broken by a middle school division hunter candidate's strength.

The shocking sight made Ai Hoon's eyes go wide.

"What kind of monster are you?!"

"Monster? Shouldn't you be saying that to yourself? You were the one trying to feed innocent people to monsters."

"You little... What are you?!"

As a last-ditch effort, Ai Hoon extended her hand.

But no electricity, which needed to be discharged through magic power, was coming out.

She realized why better than anyone.

"Don't tell me... I'm out of magic power?"

She had already used up her magic power fighting phantom spirits outside. Worse, she had to constantly suppress the crack on her arm, draining her magic even further.

The magic Jin Rain, her bodyguard, had shared with her was now all but gone.

"By the way, what's up with that arm? Monsters kept popping out of it, didn't they?"

"...!"

"So you really did cause this whole incident, didn't you?"

At Sang-ah's question, cold sweat poured down Ai Hoon's face.

That crack on her arm was originally supposed to open on Ma Seongjin's arm.

The plan had been to frame that boy as the culprit who summoned the phantom spirits.

But now the crack had formed on her arm, and she dreaded what might happen next.

"No! No, it's not! It wasn't me!"

"Then what is that?"

"This is..."

Sang-ah already knew the Sura guild's plan. She was just asking to scare Ai Hoon.

At that moment, Ai Hoon's arm began twitching again.

It seemed as if another phantom spirit might burst out of the crack, but Ai Hoon was almost glad.

"With my magic power gone, this is just what I needed!"

The phantom spirit would target Sang-ah immediately upon appearing.

She planned to escape while Sang-ah was distracted. However...

"What the?"

No phantom spirit appeared.

The crack on her arm vanished without a trace.

Normally, a crack wouldn't disappear until the rift in the sky closed.

Yet it was gone—did that mean the original rift had closed?

'That can't be.'

The original rift was guarded by a master-class phantom spirit.

Its whole body was encased in a special barrier. Not even the world's strongest hunter on Earth would be able to defeat it.

Yet the crack was gone, which meant... the master-class phantom spirit had been eliminated.

"What happened outside?"

Just as her curiosity began to rise, the monitors all around the underpass flickered to life with a new display.

When she saw it, Ai Hoon's pupils trembled.

****

On the rooftop of Hand central tower, there was a red dome. Violent sounds constantly echoed from within.

Ji Ryong-seong, the Sura guild's S-rank hunter and top executive, was emitting gas from his body to attack.

Vern countered by erecting a red barrier, similar to a dome, to hold off the attack.

However, the barrier melted almost instantly, forcing him to scatter the gas with a red wind before it could touch his body.

"As expected of S-rank, this is taking a good while."

Vern conjured a red spear in mid-air and hurled it.

But the moment it touched Ji Ryong-seong, the spear simply melted and vanished.

"Are you trying to say you're above me? You haven't even scratched me."

"Hahaha. True enough."

Vern, former legion commander of the Demon King's army, burst out laughing.

Hunters on Earth, especially those at S-rank, were formidable—even on par with a legion commander.

"To think someone of your strength serves that deranged Sura guild."

"Deranged? Don't make me laugh! The Sura guild is everything to me! Without it, I wouldn't be here!"

Ji Ryong-seong's trait, emitting gas from his body, was extremely dangerous.

Even a whiff could asphyxiate those around him, so he'd always been avoided.

He couldn't control this uncontrollable trait, but the person who'd reached out to him had been none other than Sura Guildmaster Jay Hoon.

"I won't let anyone who mocks the Sura guild get away with it!"

"I just don't understand why you use this power for such barbaric things."

"Shut up! What would you know—?"

Knock, knock, knock—

Just then, there was a knock on the dome. Recognizing immediately who it was, Vern dismissed the dome.

"He's here."

"You've arrived, Demon King!"

Once the red dome disappeared, Ma Seongjin came into view.

Still with his white hair, demonkin horns, and devil wings on his back.

"Sorry to keep you waiting?"

"It's all right! We haven't had any casualties yet. But about the rift..."

"It's closed. Take a look."

Up to now, the outside view had been blocked by the red dome.

Only now could they check: the massive rift in the sky had vanished without a trace.

"No... it can't be!"

Ji Ryong-seong, observing it too, was shocked.

Its closure meant the master-class phantom spirit had been defeated.

And the fact that Ma Seongjin—this boy—had done it was even more unbelievable.

"By the way... what are you holding in your hands?"

"This guy?"

Seongjin was cradling something in his arms.

–Whimper...

It was a puppy.

At first glance, it looked ordinary enough, but it was clear he hadn't just picked it up from the street.

"I brought it along."

"Brought it... you mean..."

"Don't worry. I operated on it, so its temperament is really gentle now. Right?"

–Yelp...

When the puppy met Seongjin's eyes, it cowered.

Ji Ryong-seong, who had watched all this from start to finish, felt his mind in chaos.

Nothing that had happened made any sense to him, but the worst of all was that the rift was closed.

"What is even going on here...?"

"Confused? Well, you wouldn't understand—you just attacked us with no idea what was happening."

Even now, his mind spun. Too many unthinkable things had happened and he couldn't keep up.

"But there's one thing you should be able to understand."

"What's that?"

Vern reached out, pointing somewhere. There stood a cluster of buildings with a giant electronic signboard. When Ji Ryong-seong looked over, a new image popped up on the screen.

"It means you guys are seriously screwed now."

On the screen appeared several figures connected to the Sura guild. The same footage was broadcast on every screen in Hand.