Ch.128Red Snake 8

An exceptionally plush bed.

A high view with direct sunlight.

When I open my eyes, the vast Han River comes into full view.

I stare blankly at the river for a moment.

Today marks one week since I started staying at Red Death’s home.

She left early for work at dawn, saying she had something important at the company today.

“She could have eaten before leaving…”

I mumble with a stiff body.

Then my eyes suddenly catch the medicine on the bedside table.

Fox transformation antidote.

“I still can’t tell if it’s working…”

Truthfully, I’m not sure if the medicine is effective even after taking it.

My fox ears just keep twitching as if they’ve become a permanent part of me.

“What if they actually take root completely on my head?”

I casually pop the medicine and stretch.

Well, let’s start another day.

The first thing to do is…

Cleaning.

This penthouse.

As spacious as it is, there’s plenty to clean.

Just mopping the floor takes a whole hour.

By the time I finish, the clock already shows 7 o’clock.

The next mission…

Waking up the Vice President.

Entering her room is a challenge from the start.

The moment you open that door, the air in the penthouse completely changes.

A musty yet fragrant smell.

Even the air in the Vice President’s room feels heavy.

It’s like entering my sister’s room back when I was Dohyun.

I never had many illusions about women to begin with.

Having witnessed my sister’s habits with my own eyes, I know that women can be just as messy—if not messier—than men. They’re absolutely not cleaner just because they’re women.

Yes, just like what I’m seeing now.

I take in the Vice President’s room with my vertically elongated eyes.

The Vice President sleeping with her blanket rolled up like a sleeping bag.

The blackout curtains tightly closed like a child of darkness.

And the messy snack wrappers and crumbs on the desk.

Plus a black plastic bag on the floor containing who knows what…

This is too much!

How is this any different from Siho’s place when I first possessed him!

I sigh deeply and carefully approach her bed.

Then I dramatically pull the curtains open.

“Ugh…”

The woman in the sleeping bag mumbles as light suddenly pours in.

Where did yesterday’s first-class ranker go, leaving only this sluggish bug behind?

“Vice President, it’s morning. You said you need to get up early for the shareholders’ meeting today!”

“What time is it…?”

Perhaps because she’s not fully awake.

She starts grumbling in dialect.

“It’s 7 o’clock.”

“Is that so…? Still plenty of time left…”

Don’t women usually take 1-2 hours to get ready?

Then she’s already running late.

“You need to have breakfast too!”

I rummage through the sleeping bag-like blanket.

Then I slide my hands under her armpits to pull her out.

“So heavy…!”

The Vice President is finally dragged out of the blanket like a limp cat.

Any charisma from our first meeting has long disappeared.

“Come on, go wash up!”

“Alright…”

She staggers like a zombie toward the bathroom.

The long strands of hair falling with each step are seriously irritating.

Following that sight, I look down…

The floor is visibly covered with hair.

“Seriously, she’s not even a cat…”

My eye twitches.

Unable to stand the mess, I immediately start sweeping the floor like a madman.

“—.”

Meanwhile, my phone starts ringing.

I balance it on my shoulder while continuing to sweep up the hair.

“Hello? Ah, Ms. Black Death?”

“Yes, is the Vice President still sleeping? I couldn’t reach her.”

“Yes… she just woke up. I sent her to the bathroom, so she’ll be out soon.”

“You’re working hard from early morning.”

Black Death speaks with an awkward tone, as if she feels sorry.

I respond with a smile, saying it’s fine.

“It’s okay. I’m used to this because of my sister… Oh, I hope it’s not rude to say the Vice President is like my sister?”

I quickly tried to apologize to Black Death.

She reassured me with a brighter tone than I’d ever heard from her.

“It’s fine. It’s just a fact.”

Black Death ended the call, saying she’d come to pick her up in an hour.

Today even the Vice President will be away.

Meanwhile, I’m supposed to be under the protection of my sister and Anna during the day.

I feel happy at the thought of seeing them after so long.

Even the ears stuck on my head seem to flutter with excitement.

I was in a good mood cleaning all morning, thinking about meeting them soon.

“Well, I’m off… my son-in-law…”

In the span of an hour, she transformed from a homebody into a proper young CEO.

But her mumbling voice, still not fully awake, remained the same.

“Yes, don’t curse at the shareholders, and don’t hit them either.”

“I got it, I got it…”

She staggers out into the apartment hallway.

I can see Black Death’s face through the open front door.

When our eyes meet, she gives me a wink and a smile.

I respond with a respectful bow.

“…”

The door closes.

Only then can I finally breathe a sigh of relief.

“Time for a little break…”

I stare blankly at the spacious penthouse alone.

Then my eyes catch the massive flat-screen TV in the living room.

I turn it on for a break.

A currently popular makjang drama was playing on television.

“Eh, who watches this stuff.”

I immediately switch to a sports channel.

But that channel was showing the 2002 World Cup, which was even less interesting than the makjang drama.

“I’ve already seen this dozens of times…”

After flipping through channels, I eventually return to…

The makjang drama I had initially turned on.

Too tired to look for another channel, I lay down on the sofa with the drama playing.

“What is this…”

Several women are clinging to one man, fighting over him as their property.

The man, with each arm grabbed by a different woman, eventually…

Dislocates his shoulder.

“This is truly absurd.”

Watching the show absentmindedly, I can’t help but snicker.

This might be more entertaining than I thought…

After sending the two of them off to work, I remained alone at home.

Until they return, I lounged on the sofa, chuckling while eating snacks and drinking coffee.

「—.」

I left for work without Siho.

I wanted to shower him with affection while he’s staying with me…

But the world has been unsettling lately, making it difficult.

Every time I return from work, it’s late at night.

By then, Siho is always asleep.

I heard foxes are nocturnal animals… but maybe not Siho…

Sitting in the team leader’s office, I absentmindedly twirl a pen.

The blank A4 paper is covered with fox drawings.

While lost in thought, the phone rings.

“Yes, Team Leader Han Surin speaking.”

“Sister…!”

It’s Sangmun.

But his voice sounds unusual.

Unlike his normal tone, he sounds very urgent.

“Something terrible has happened…!”

“What is it?”

“Our branches in Gangdong, Anyang, and Suwon have all been attacked.”

My brow furrows.

Who would dare attack Ilshim’s branches?

Moreover, completely unrelated branches being hit simultaneously.

This is extremely suspicious.

“By whom?”

“Well…”

Sangmun hesitates to answer.

It’s rare to see him this flustered…

“Just small-time hunters from the provinces.”

“Hunters…?”

Why would loosely organized hunters target Ilshim…

More importantly, how did our people lose to such nobodies?

“I’m sorry.”

“What’s the extent of the damage?”

“It’s… substantial. About 50 people were injured, and two are in critical condition.”

I stand up automatically at the mention of serious injuries.

“Which branch has the critical cases?”

“The Anyang branch.”

“Meet me there. I’ll check it myself.”

The entire drive to Anyang, I felt uneasy.

Lately, it’s become common for ordinary hunters to rapidly gain strength.

The reason is a bizarre pill circulating in the market.

Because of that drug called “Angel Tips,” all sorts of villains are running rampant in the provinces.

We’ve been just watching since we can’t handle them all.

But attacking our people?

This I cannot overlook.

Arriving in Anyang, my brow furrows automatically.

Several sinkholes have appeared in the road.

Ilshim’s black cars are crumpled like scrap metal, and there are pools of blood on the ground.

Sangmun and the executives who arrived earlier rush toward me.

They all bow their heads in greeting.

“You’ve arrived, Sister.”

“So all this was done by mere hunters?”

“Yes… I found it hard to believe too, but after seeing the CCTV footage, I’m convinced.”

Sangmun shows me the video file he prepared.

Watching it makes me extremely displeased.

Clearly B-grade thugs at best.

After taking strange pills, they started emitting energy comparable to A-grade or higher.

“This… is similar to the drug those Counters took.”

“Yes, it’s not the same grade as what they took, but the effect was certainly powerful.”

I light a cigarette.

Siho told me to quit, but today I simply couldn’t resist.

“We need to trace the source of that drug quickly.”

“Actually, we captured one survivor.”

“Really?”

“But… no matter how much we interrogate him, he refuses to talk.”

So he has some loyalty, does he?

I tap my half-smoked cigarette on a crumpled car.

“I’ll interrogate him myself.”

I carelessly drop the finished cigarette butt on the ground.

Then firmly crush it with my shoe.

Soon my subordinates bring the captured man.

A guy with a bag over his head.

When they remove it, a youthful face appears.

A man who looks to be in his mid-20s.

His eyes are bloodshot, probably a side effect of the drug.

“…”

“Where did you get that drug?”

“None of your business.”

The guy grins like he’s high on the drug.

As if he doesn’t even know who’s standing in front of him.

“Unlike the others, I lack patience. So if you want to leave alive, you’d better talk quickly.”

I look down at him coldly with red eyes.

But despite my gaze, he wouldn’t open his mouth.

As if he’s being threatened by something more frightening than my eyes.

“I have no choice then.”

In that case, I’ll have to show him that I’m scarier than whatever he fears.

I take out an awl from my pocket.

It’s a tool used to tear flesh from corpses.

But sometimes… it’s used on the living.

“He’s going to be noisy, so gag him.”

“Yes, Sister!”

Sangmun brings duct tape.

And firmly sticks it over the guy’s lips.

“—!”

The sound of his muffled cries echoes through the interrogation room.

However, I pay no attention and stab the awl into his arm.

“—!”

His eyes bulge as if they might pop out.

It must hurt, and that’s the point.

But I didn’t stop there.

Being a fan of symmetry, I stabbed his other arm in exactly the same way.

“You must have had fun.”

“Getting a little stronger from one pill, happily torturing innocent people.”

I whisper softly into his ear.

The hunter starts twisting his body desperately.

“Remove the tape.”

Sangmun immediately removes the tape.

Then the guy, unlike before, starts shouting in an excited voice.

“I can’t tell you..! If I talk, if I talk…”

“What happens if you talk?”

“They said I’ll explode…!”

The guy’s face twists grotesquely.

My expression sours at this sight I’ve never seen before.

“Explode?”

Does he have some self-destruct ability?

That’s a method I often used…

I can’t help but snicker at this unoriginal device.

Did Park Shinae take a lot of inspiration from me?

Everyone swallows hard at the mention of self-destruction.

But I calmly half-close my eyes.

And whisper to the insolent guy who hurt my children.

“Then explode.”

“…!”

“Either way, you’ll die exploding, or die being tortured here forever.”

I show him the awl covered in his blood.

And gently smear it on his cheek.

“Wouldn’t it be less painful to die exploding?”

I never let anyone who touches my family go unpunished.

Especially the woman who touched Siho.

I’ll find her somehow.

And make her part of my collection.