Ch.28Catharsis 4

“I’m sure it was here…”

I look at the watch on my wrist.

The time points to exactly noon.

I’m waiting for someone below an upscale family restaurant.

Before long, I spot a chubby man and another man wearing sunglasses.

“Ms. Jaehee-.”

It was quite a distance.

But the chubby man seems to have recognized me immediately just by my silhouette.

Despite walking slowly, he approaches me panting and offers a handshake.

As I grasp the man’s hand, I feel a moist, sticky sensation on my palm.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“No, I just got here myself.”

“Let’s go inside, it’s hot out here.”

He waddles ahead of me.

Then he guides me to a window seat.

I was uncomfortable with that seat where anyone could clearly see in from outside, but I had no choice.

I’m in a position where I need to ask him for a favor.

“I’m Jiho, the one who received your call.”

“Yes, I’m Jaehee.”

I glanced around as if meeting with a broker.

It feels like someone is watching me.

“Actually, I’m a big fan of yours, Ms. Jaehee. I usually avoid such impromptu meetings, but I made an exception specifically because it was you.”

“Thank you…”

Lee Jiho.

He’s a famous journalist who covers entertainment industry issues.

He’s such a heavyweight in journalism that entertainers’ careers can be determined by just one of his articles.

But despite such power, I never imagined he would look this creepy.

His face is covered with acne scars, and his black hair lies limply plastered against his forehead.

Anyone would consider him ugly.

Instead, my eyes are drawn to the man sitting beside him.

The man wearing sunglasses sits nobly drinking coffee with a longsword strapped to his back.

Probably a security hunter.

“Ah, this is Jack. He’s an A-class hunter from America. He’s in charge of my security.”

Jiho introduces him, noticing my gaze.

Jack slowly nods his head and then returns his focus to his coffee.

“Will you be able to handle what I mentioned…?”

“You’re referring to the collusion between the congressman and the CEO. And the sexual entertainment at room salons.”

As I start discussing the details of my request, the ugly man’s eyes change.

He makes a gesture of tapping on a calculator with his fingers.

“A case of this magnitude could certainly deal a significant blow to the company. However… proving it will require considerable effort.”

Considerable effort…

I repeat those words in my head.

Soon, the ugly man’s thick eyes narrow.

Those eyes slowly scan me up and down.

“It will probably cost a lot too.”

“Money… I’ll try to prepare it somehow.”

I hastily answer, wanting his help by any means.

But he waves his hand as if that level of sincerity isn’t enough.

“I don’t need money. Isn’t it my role to expose society’s injustices?”

He smiles and picks up the menu.

Then he orders a steak in broad daylight.

Jiho recommended meat to me as well, but I only ordered a salad because my stomach was churning.

Even then, I could barely eat any of it.

My mind was filled with anxiety about betraying my CEO.

Soon, a plate of steak is placed on the table.

Jiho sniffs the meat aroma with his nose buried in fat.

“Doesn’t it smell good? This place always uses young heifer meat.”

I didn’t give any response.

I just stared blankly at the bloody chunk of meat.

“Young heifers have a uniquely fresh aroma.”

He chews the meat ravenously.

“And the texture is very tender.”

The ugly man speaks in a low voice, almost whispering.

Then, as if his stomach is churning, he gulps down some cola.

“There’s only one thing I want from you, Ms. Jaehee.”

Now that he’s full, he starts to get to the point.

His demand was very simple.

“Spend just one night with me.”

“…”

Jiho smiles as if he’s said something perfectly reasonable.

But hearing those words, I couldn’t manage my expression at all.

The area under my eyes trembles and my heart pounds.

“Don’t worry too much. Many singers have slept with me besides you. And they’re still doing very well in their careers afterward.”

He boasts as if he’s made a fair proposal.

“Honestly, you’re not exceptionally beautiful compared to them.”

Jiho lowers his gaze to observe my chest, stomach, and then my crotch.

“But that sensual scent that emerges whenever you move. I think that’s a truly excellent charm.”

Jack, who had been listening beside us, silently finishes his coffee.

Then he turns his head as if avoiding his employer’s words.

“What do you think, isn’t it a good deal? Just one night and everything troubling Ms. Jaehee will disappear.”

Jiho laughed heartily.

As he laughed, his saliva thoroughly sprayed my face.

Those droplets of saliva slowly trickle down my chin.

That murky drop, mixed with the blood of the young heifer, soon falls onto my collarbone.

And it forms a lump.

“…”

It’s strange.

These are the same degrading words I always heard from the congressman, but now they don’t upset me.

Rather, it’s refreshing because it’s simple and clear.

So in the end, everyone sees me this way.

The public doesn’t care about “me” as a person at all.

They’re just fixated on this disgusting pheromone.

The ability I gained because I wanted attention from people all my life.

In the end, it couldn’t save me.

Instead, it only makes me miserable.

“Ms. Jaehee, are you okay?”

Jiho asks with concern.

I couldn’t answer his question.

Because I was imagining accepting his proposal and entering a hotel, as he suggested.

I can see Jiho clinging to my slender body like a cicada.

As our flesh rubs together, the acne on his skin would burst.

And that yellow liquid would get all over my body.

His thick hands would freely knead my breasts and stomach.

Then those dirty hands would travel down from my navel, lower and lower.

The moment I imagined that scene.

A single phrase escapes from my mouth.

“I fucking hate it.”

Jiho’s eyes widen at those words.

He asks again as if he thinks he misheard.

“Wh-what did you say…?”

The eyes buried in fat flash.

I smirk.

Then calmly grab my shirt collar.

I slowly unbutton the buttons that were constricting my chest.

The ugly man who had been staring at me as if he could kill me is naturally surprised by this.

“This is what you want, right?”

I deliberately show them my cleavage.

Soon, a thick scent begins to spread throughout the restaurant.

Seeing me, Jiho shakes his head frantically.

“That’s right. We really understand each other well.”

His pockmarked face approaches my chest.

Until he’s close enough to touch with a finger.

Jack’s eyebrow twitches.

He immediately grabs Jiho’s shoulder and pushes him away forcefully.

The chubby man falls flat on the restaurant floor.

“Ja-Jack! What are you doing!”

The ugly man who had his happy moment interrupted squawks loudly.

But the hunter doesn’t respond to his words and instead stands up.

Then he rushes toward me at high speed.

He lays me down on the sofa and holds a knife to my throat.

“Turn it off.”

“Turn what off?”

“That thing you’re emitting right now.”

“Why should I? Your master wants this…”

I spoke with a resigned heart.

The hunter shakes his head at my attitude.

“You’re completely unreasonable.”

The blade pressed against my neck gradually cuts into my skin.

It was the swordsman’s final courtesy.

A signal to stop before the knife completely slits my throat.

My heart pounds as the pain becomes more distinct.

I could overpower the swordsman if I used more of my ability here.

But I don’t have the courage to release it.

If that really kills everyone…

It would be irreversible.

Blood trickles down, staining the chair.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

And started to draw back the scent as the hunter told me to.

But I soon stopped that action.

Because his blade stopped even before I could withdraw my pheromones.

“—.”

Someone enters the restaurant.

Given the current atmosphere, there would be almost no one who would openly enter the restaurant.

But he approaches us very naturally.

Who could it be…?

Who would dare to walk confidently toward an A-class hunter?

“Jaehee.”

This voice…

The moment I realized who it was, my entire body froze.

A very familiar and frightening person.

It was the CEO.

“I told you to stay quietly by my side. Why did you seek out this trash? Getting yourself hurt-.”

The long-haired CEO removes his sunglasses.

He stares at Jack who is mounted on top of me.

“For a mere trash journalist, you hired quite an expensive hunter?”

Jack smirks as if finding it absurd.

Then he immediately points his sword at the CEO.

“—.”

The moment his blade approaches the long-haired man.

The twin bodyguards who usually give me orders appear and catch his sword with their bare hands.

But Jack is no pushover either.

He immediately twists the sword, slicing the twins’ arms with the sharp edge.

Thanks to this, they lost the sword they had tried so hard to grab, and Jack was able to jump back and create distance.

The twins stagger, clutching their arms.

“I’ll deal with these small fry first.”

The CEO calmly says as he takes out an electronic cigarette.

After exhaling a puff of smoke, he looks down at me.

“You’d better prepare yourself for later. How dare you repay the kindness I’ve shown you with betrayal?”

His acrid eyes flash.

I trembled as if pierced by that gaze.

Even though I could endure when a knife was held to me, my whole body shudders in fear at just one look from the CEO.

Then I realized.

It’s impossible to escape from him…

The twins rush at the black hunter simultaneously.

They strike different areas at the same time, as if they’ve been coordinating for years.

If one aims for the side, the other aims for the leg.

If one targets the face, the other goes for the knee.

Jack faces these formidable attacks.

He flexibly blocks their arms, which are three times larger than his, with the back of his blade.

“Jack-! Are you struggling with just this? Do you think I spent big money to see this kind of performance?”

Jiho flails on the floor.

Meanwhile, the CEO’s expression is quite serious.

“You two, step aside. He’s one of the toughest among A-class hunters.”

The CEO gestures dismissively.

The twins loosen their stance and step back with apologetic expressions.

“No need to get blood on our hands. Right?”

The CEO smirks as if he has something up his sleeve.

Then he lightly flicks his finger.

“—?”

Suddenly the restaurant becomes quiet as if time has stopped.

It’s eerily silent.

Sensing something strange, Jiho looks around.

And tactlessly shouts.

“What’s going on? Is everyone just watching? Don’t you have anything better to look at?”

“—.”

All the customers are staring at us.

With lifeless eyes.

“You stupid journalist. You still don’t get it?”

The CEO bursts into laughter.

He laughs so hard that he claps his hands on his knees.

“Wh-what do you mean?”

Soon Jiho could understand why the CEO was laughing.

Because all the customers were staggering toward him.

His ability is “Mass Psychology.”

It’s group hypnosis.

The CEO was formerly an S-class mental hunter who was active in the past.

Anyone who breathes in the smoke from his cigarette and stays in the same place for an hour…

Loses their rationality.

And moves according to his commands.

This means that all the customers in the restaurant, except for us who arrived late, were already intoxicated by the smoke.

In other words, the CEO had already released the smoke in anticipation of my arrival here.

“Let’s see the skills of this proud American hunter, shall we?”

He gestures leisurely.

“—.”

The mindless people walk calmly.

Then, with just one gesture from the CEO, they begin to charge while twisting their bodies grotesquely.

Jack hesitated momentarily to cut them down.

Even as a hunter, he couldn’t bring himself to kill innocent people.

But he eventually made his decision.

He realized that to survive, he would ultimately have to kill them.

However, that small shred of morality put him in danger.

Soon the distance between the customers and the swordsman narrowed to the point where he couldn’t cut them all down with a single stroke.

From the chef to the part-time server, to the son celebrating his birthday with his mother.

Everyone rushed like moths to a flame at just one gesture from the CEO.

Eventually, a human wave crashes over Jack as he begins to tire.

He is soon completely buried beneath them.

The S-class hunter walks slowly toward Jiho.

Then he firmly grips the back of his neck like capturing an animal.

The sound of a pig squealing fills the restaurant.

But no one came to help him.

Because the restaurant is now filled only with the CEO’s faithful puppets.

He throws the captured pig as if feeding livestock.

With a heavy thud, customers rush toward Jiho who has collapsed on the floor.

They mechanically trample the pig diligently.

Soon, like the young heifer meat he enjoyed, his flesh becomes tender.

The sound of bones breaking and flesh being pulverized penetrates my ears.

“Now, let’s talk about us.”

The CEO stares intently at me with my shirt lifted.

I know where his gaze is fixed.

“Given how big this has become, it will be difficult for you to continue as an idol, right?”

He grabs my collar.

And whispers.

“So what happens next? You’ll have to go to the congressman, won’t you?”

His crawling hand enters my clothes.

And slides like a bug toward my chest.

“But before that, I need to fix up the merchandise a bit. So it feels good when he touches it.”

His cold hand grabs my flesh.

I screamed at that filthy sensation.

The CEO covers my mouth as if performing a familiar task.

And intends to continue what he was doing.

It’s unfair.

I wish I had power too.

I don’t want to be controlled by anyone anymore.

I want a different ability, not this disgusting smell.

An overwhelmingly strong power….

“—.”

Was it then?

That God showed me the ability I had been longing for.

The CEO, who had been acting as if the world belonged to him, suddenly stops.

He looks like a human caught by an angel while doing something impure.

He stares at the black silhouette sitting gracefully on the broken window.

Beautiful silver hair.

Fair and distinct features.

And cloudy white eyes that view everything with contempt.

A woman in a black jacket was staring directly at the CEO.