episode_0101

An hour has passed since my colleagues left.

Under the languid afternoon sunlight, Siho fell asleep curled up next to Misha.

Every time she squirms, a sweet breath comes out.

Misha looked down at her sleeping figure, his fingers touching her breath.

How nice it would be if peaceful days like this could continue in the future.

The girl doesn’t really like fighting or anything like that.

In fact, he is the only one among the Counters rankers who has fought less than 5 times.

But there is a clear reason why she is the number two person in Park Shin-ae’s household.

And as if to prove why, someone opened the front door of the villa.

Rep. Park.

Among the other members, she was the only one who had a deep connection with Misha.

The woman enters proudly, her beautiful long hair fluttering.

“Misha.”

“Yes, are you here?”

The girl carefully got up, afraid that she might wake the fox.

And then she slowly approaches her mother.

“Nothing much has happened so far, right?”

“Yes. No one came and it’s quiet.”

The woman turns her head slightly and looks at the sleeping fox.

And then he extends his palm towards her.

A white, soft light hovered on Shin-ae’s palm.

It feels like telepathy, almost like empathy.

“…”

“Why are you like that?”

“No. I don’t feel this energy from that kid anymore.”

Eventually, the congressman withdrew his hand.

And he smiled with satisfaction.

“Yes, because it was completely extracted.”

Shin-ae didn’t react at all to Misha’s words.

Instead, he slowly paced the hallway of the villa with his luggage on his back.

Then suddenly he stopped and stared down at the girl.

With a very cold smile.

“Really?”

“Yes…?”

Misha froze at the firm and sharp question.

She swallows deeply and stares at her mother.

“Did you really completely extract the Angelic Hand?”

“Of course… why would I lie to my mother?”

Misha’s expression hardened.

And then again, with a leisurely smile, he answered his mother confidently.

But despite that smile, the congressman still remained suspicious.

“That’s weird.”

She stared down at the palm of her hand.

“I’ve definitely mastered most of the techniques for this ability.”

The congressman reached out to Misha.

Then, remotely, the wound on her finger was healed.

And in an instant.

“But I just can’t seem to learn the last technique.”

“The last technique?”

Misha asked cautiously, as if she had a bad feeling about it.

Then the congressman raises the corners of his lips subtly.

“All of Angelic Hand’s skills are connected to the caster’s life force.”

“So, does your lifespan decrease every time you use your ability?”

Misha’s mouth opened in disbelief.

But unlike her reaction, Shin-ae’s expression was very calm.

“That’s right.”

“Then the risk is too big.”

The congressman nodded in response to Misha’s question.

There was another reason why she was so lukewarm.

“It’s okay, there’s a way to refill that life.”

“How…?”

“Angelic Hand’s last technique is to take away the opponent’s life.”

Take away.

At those words, Misha’s lips parted slightly.

I thought it was a beautiful technique, literally like the technique of an angel.

The ultimate ability was life stealing.

Only then does Misha realize why Congressman Park brought Siho here.

It’s vitality.

She knew.

That Congressman Park had a strong desire for eternal life since long ago.

That was also the reason why she took Misha into her retinue.

Misha’s ability is reincarnation.

Even if you die, you can extract your essence and transfer it to someone else.

The girl lived her entire life that way.

Congressman Park highly regarded Misha’s abilities and took her into his group, studying the secrets of reincarnation.

But ultimately it failed.

Misha could only transfer her own essence.

However, it was possible to draw out the opponent’s abilities.

So, he killed the target, extracted its abilities, and absorbed them all into the councilman.

And Siho was destined to be like that too.

But Misha wanted to protect her somehow.

Even if I end up becoming your pet fox.

“Before Do-hyeon was possessed by Si-ho, he clearly transferred the rest of his life to Ji-soo.”

“That is, if you squeeze out your abilities to the max, you can give or take life from your opponent.”

“If a guy who didn’t even know how to use his abilities properly could do it, how could I not do it?”

Shin-ae slowly approached Misha.

And he gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

“It seems like the ability wasn’t fully extracted.”

Misha felt the weight of his mother’s hand on his shoulder.

Her touch is so hot that I feel like my shoulders are melting.

“If Siho doesn’t have it, and I don’t have it, then where on earth is the last essence of Angelic Hand?”

01’s eyes look down at the girl.

Misha stood upright, frozen in those eyes.

“daughter.”

“Yes…”

“Can I read your memories?”

Misha’s blue eyes flutter madly.

She lowered her head so as not to let her mother see her.

“Yes… Read it.”

The girl muttered to herself.

Then Shin-ae stared at her for a moment.

Soon, a white light begins to swirl around her hand.

Misha’s legs tremble as she feels the light.

“—!”

But soon the congressman’s arms were forced to detach from the girl.

“You…”

Because Siho suddenly got up from the sofa and approached the congressman.

She pricked up her ears as if recognizing her master.

And then he rubbed his own scalp against her light-filled hand.

Thanks to that, the memory reading was passed on to Siho, not Misha.

The congressman began to appreciate the changed memories of Siho and Misha.

The congressman, who had been silently reading the memory, suddenly burst into laughter.

“Are you having a fun day?”

The congressman looks down at Misha with strange eyes.

Then the girl rolled her eyes and avoided his gaze.

“Yeah, from your perspective, it would definitely be better for this child to lose his abilities completely.”

The congressman stroked Siho’s head with satisfied eyes.

The fox closed his eyes and enjoyed the touch, as if he liked it.

“Of course.”

Misha answered while touching Shiho’s arm.

Only then did the congressman stop using his powers.

“It seems that I still lack training.”

“I’ll help you as much as I can.”

“I’m sorry I doubted your family.”

The light that had been emanating from her hands had completely disappeared.

The congressman rubbed his shoulders and relaxed, as if his strength had been sore from exerting himself.

“Are you here to ask about ability extraction?”

“No, not necessarily.”

Rep. Park shook his head slightly.

And he handed the paper bag he had brought to the girl.

Inside were several small glass bottles.

“What is this?”

“A buff pill made with Angelic Hand.”

Misha tilted her head at the word buff.

And with a curious look, he picked up a glass bottle.

The white pill inside rattles.

The pill had a faint glow, as if it had been coated in white.

“Siho made some stupid cocktails with this great ability.”

“Actually, it would be much more effective if you made it into a pill like this-.”

Misha carefully opened the bottle cap.

And I picked up a small pill.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆(Artifact)

Effect: All stats increase by 10 for 5 minutes. Multiple doses are possible.

Information: The ultimate elixir created by Park Shin-ae. Using Angelic Hand, she condensed numerous buffs into this small pill.

“I gave it to other kids too, so take this one.”

The congressman said, tickling Siho’s cheek with his finger.

The fox smiled and rubbed his cheek against her finger.

“Did you meet other kids too?”

“Yes. Today, the true value of my work will be revealed.”

Misha chewed on her words.

Do you think I’ll need to take a pill today?

The daughter stared blankly at her mother.

“What do you mean? Are you saying there’s going to be a fight?”

Shin-ae cleverly ignored her gaze.

“You never know. Right now we’re being chased.”

Misha shook her head as if she couldn’t understand.

If a fight arises, just run away.

But now my mother is like…

It feels like sending children to the brink of extinction to test the effectiveness of medicine.

Misha likes her other colleagues.

Because I’ve spent countless days with them so far.

Even though they bicker with each other and sometimes act incomprehensibly cruelly, they are ultimately family.

But now my mother…

I feel like I’ve become a different person since I gained my powers.

It feels like even the slightest bit of family love has disappeared.

Misha looked at Siho with anxious eyes.

The fox enjoyed the touch of the congressman without knowing anything.

“Okay, I’ll go. If anything comes up, let me know.”

The congressman stepped out into the hallway.

When she grabbed the doorknob, Misha asked her urgently.

“What if this gets leaked too?”

Shin-ae paused for a moment at her daughter’s question.

And then he thought deeply about something and smiled strangely.

“Get rid of everything and come find me.”

“If you want me to get rid of everything…”

“Yeah, that kid too. Everything about us.”

The congressman who had been petting the fox until just a moment ago spoke nonchalantly as if nothing had happened.

Her words completely disgusted Misha’s already pale face.

Kill my sister…?

Her whole body trembled at the prospect of the future to come.

Because a servant cannot disobey his master’s words.

If they really catch on here, Misha will have no choice but to follow her mother’s words.

Shin-ae knew the truth, but she still encouraged her children to fight.

After all, her relatives, whom she called family.

It was just a long-term measure to confirm the power of Angelic Hand.

Misha is the ‘king’ who deserves to survive among them.

The front door is closed.

The sound of the congressman’s shoes gradually fades away.

Even after the sound completely disappeared, Misha was unable to move at all.

Siho approached her like that.

The fox looked at her with a worried face.

Misha’s eyes turned red at the sight of her worried expression.

She hugged Siho, trying hard to swallow her tears.

“Sister… What should we do…”

Siho looks at Misha flustered and looks puzzled.

Then, soon after, he realized that she was anxious and sad, so he silently hugged her.

“It’s okay.”

A short word.

Misha tightly closed her eyes at the sight of her husband trying to comfort her without knowing anything.

She loved this side of Siho.

Ever since I started watching her.

What if she wasn’t a Counters ranker, but just a girl named Misha?

At that time, I could have met Siho with confidence and lived as a good sister.

However, Siho unfortunately ended up on Rep. Park’s radar.

Misha, unable to disobey her orders, ended up dragging the bartender here.

Misha was overcome with guilt.

But the more the guilt grew, the less I wanted to give up on her.

Misha’s blue eyes sparkle.

I wanted to protect Siho from everyone somehow.

“—.”

The car in 06 is rattling.

The golf course located in Anyang has a rough road so it’s annoying every time I go there.

But it is not that crowded.

Thanks to this, it is an ideal place for conducting secret transactions.

08, sitting in the passenger seat, fiddles with the bottle of pills his mother gave him.

The boy looked blankly down at the contents inside.

As we climbed the hill and reached flat terrain, the car came to a halt.

The boy looks at 06 and asks why he stopped when it wasn’t even the meeting place yet.

“You have to walk from here.”

The bald man got out of the driver’s seat first.

And then he took out Jihu’s medicine case from the trunk.

08 accepted the case.

The two rankers leisurely headed to the meeting place together.

A backyard that feels completely deserted.

There, only golf balls flying from the golf course roll around on the ground.

As we followed the balls deeper into the cave, the silhouette of a man came into view.

The transaction target is Lee Dae-eun.

He greeted the two rankers with his usual cold face.