Chapter 11: Did you get a free apology?

“Kim Yejin. Take a good rest. Take a leave tomorrow and visit your hometown.”

“Yes, Battalion Commander. Thank you.”

Due to the severe psychological instability caused by the death of Hunter Seo Youngchul, Kim Yejin had applied for leave.

Her request was granted.

Kim Yejin, who had been waiting tearfully and with a shocked expression for the battalion commander to leave, lit a cigarette with an annoyed look as soon as he was out of sight.

“That bastard died and caused all this mess. This is fucking ridiculous. My military life is totally screwed.”

She frantically ruffled her hair.

Her short hair swayed wildly back and forth.

Taking a deep drag on her cigarette and exhaling, she finally felt her annoyance and anxiety subside.

Her military life was completely messed up.

But what could she do?

Since it was already ruined, she thought of going to a more comfortable place to recuperate while watching the situation and then returning once things calmed down.

After all, wasn’t this South Korea?

No matter how sensational an incident is, people forget and move on after some time.

The same would apply to her case.

“It’ll blow over. It’s not the first time.”

The frame of being an unfairly persecuted victim just because she was a woman was both a perfect shield and a weapon, even to herself.

It was an interesting defence mechanism where the attacker ended up being the one harmed.

A few tears, some publicity about seeing a psychiatrist, and a few haggard expressions would suffice.

The investigation itself would likely avoid her.

Being a woman was the best.

Desperately sucking on her cigarette, she was frantically thinking about how to save her future and career.

There was no guilt for the deceased Hunter Seo Youngchul in her rapidly turning mind.

“Damn it, why did he have to die and cause all this mess.”

She was just full of annoyance.

While she was racking her brains trying to somehow turn her life around, a wyvern suddenly descended from the sky amidst a dazzling explosion, spewing flames of rage and wreaking havoc on the surrounding area.

“What the hell is that!! There was no rift warning, where the hell did that come from!!”

Kim Yejin bolted from her quarters and started running frantically.

A rift.

Unlike the main gates, the rifts are very unstable passages that scatter mana everywhere the moment they form.

As a result, within a certain radius, all cars explode, electronic devices go dead in an instant, and explosives and gunpowder immediately detonate, causing great damage.

And because these rifts were so noisy with their precursory symptoms, the government could easily issue warnings before they fully formed, evacuate civilians, and deploy soldiers.

But not this time.

Without any rift warning, a wyvern suddenly appeared in the sky over the military base.

Following the secret instructions of Lee Younghak, who was hiding between its legs, the wyvern began its rampage, spewing fire everywhere.

“Don’t attack the soldiers. The officers are our main targets, so roast them. It’s better to destroy cars, buildings, and supply warehouses than people.”

Following Lee Younghak’s instructions, Youngil flew around madly, destroying everything.

The building storing CCTV records melted down completely, cars in the parking lot exploded in brilliant flames.

The ammunition and supply warehouses melted under the intense heat, turning the area into a scene of a fireworks display.

While people screamed and fled, Lee Younghak and Yongil flew towards the female officers’ quarters after two minutes of destruction.

“There are so many people running away. To pick out a specific person from them, I’ll need to drink this.”

Lee Younghak opened another can, a health potion, from his pocket and drank it.

Unlike a mana potion that would immediately restore mana, this one caused mana to slowly circulate through his body.

Not enough for combat, but sufficient for a simple search skill.

“Use Eye of Insight.”

[Skill Eye of Insight activated!]

Thanks to the activated skill, Lee Younghak quickly identified one particular officer among those fleeing in a panic.

“There she is. Go down and grab her without killing her. Then we’ll dash back into the rift.”

Yongil executed Lee Younghak’s instructions with precision.

Diving swiftly from the air to the ground, he snatched Captain Kim Yejin accurately and turned towards the gate, speeding through it, ending their short, yet long, three-minute expedition.

“That felt great. Well done! Go on Wyvern! Destroy the base!”

Lee Younghak chuckled as he watched the base engulfed in flames.

The hunters were tearing down the walls in a fit of rage, while Yongduri and Yongsam flew around frantically, melting every building with their fire.

After taking in the apocalyptic scene within the gate with satisfaction, Lee Younghak smiled faintly and roughly threw Kim Yejin, who had been frozen in Yongil’s mouth, to the ground.

“Yejin, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Lee… Lee Younghak?”

“You recognize me? Well, I suppose I should’ve caused a lot of trouble for you to forget me.”

“You went to America! If you’re here, it’s a violation of international law! You bastard!!!”

“I just decided to break the law. By the way, Yejin, I heard you killed Youngchul while giving him disciplinary action?”

Lee Younghak was smiling.

He was smiling so brightly, but Kim Yejin couldn’t find a trace of warmth in that smile.

It was only then that Kim Yejin realized she was in serious trouble.

She looked around anxiously.

The burning base, the hunters tearing down the walls, and the wyverns relentlessly spewing fire and turning everything into a sea of flames.

She frantically tried to think of something to say to get out of this situation.

She desperately concocted words.

“Lee… Lee Younghak, listen. About Youngchul’s death…”

But it seemed that Lee Younghak had no intention of listening to her.

His eyes were already burning with fury.

“Yejin, stop spouting bullshit. If I listen to your bullshit, I might just cut you down right here.”

As Lee Younghak drew his sword and made a slicing gesture, Kim Yejin immediately shut her mouth.

Inside the gate, a place overflowing with mana, the monster before her had survived over ten years eating sword slashes for a living.

“Yejin, I want to take revenge on you. I want to take really cruel and gruesome revenge. But before that, I want to confirm just one thing with you.”

Lee Younghak crouched down to make eye contact with Kim Yejin.

His blazing eyes met her anxious gaze.

“If you did this one thing, I’ll let you go outside without doing anything. You can go back and reveal everything we did here. I will guarantee your safety absolutely.”

Kim Yejin’s eyes widened at his words.

There was a possibility of survival!

“W-What is it? I’ll do anything. Please. Let’s not do this.”

“It’s very simple. It’s something so basic and simple that it’s even in first-grade morality textbooks.”

Lee Younghak stroked Kim Yejin’s cheek with a smile.

“Youngchul died while receiving disciplinary action from you. All his muscles melted. Yejin, he died brutally and horribly. Forget about police investigations and court rulings. I’m really curious about this.”

Lee Younghak’s smile deepened.

It was a smile that exuded a chilling fear, making her wish he would rather scream in anger.

“Yejin.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Did you apologize to Youngchul?”

Kim Yejin suddenly realized that a faint trace of mana was flowing from Lee Younghak’s hand, which was caressing her cheek.

He was an extremely sensitive physical ability user, possessing a skill called sixth sense, which allowed him to easily dodge even supersonic attacks from behind.

Standing at the pinnacle of such senses, Lee Younghak was reading her emotions and thoughts through her cheek.

“Did you at least attend his funeral?”

“Aaaah! Okay! I skipped the funeral! I could have been hit by the bereaved family there, so it’s understandable to skip it. But at the very least. At the very least.”

“Younghak, please listen to me. Please listen to me!”

“Was there not even a single journalist who wanted to stick a mic in your face so you could say, ‘Hunter Youngchul, I’m sorry. I was incompetent, lazy, and failed to properly assess your physical condition. I’m a terrible person. I’m really sorry. I’ll sincerely cooperate with the investigation and accept my punishment.’? Could you not even say that?”

“Younghak!! Younghak! Wait a minute! Please!!!!”

Kim Yejin cried desperately, flailing her arms.

But Lee Younghak did not stop.

He did not erase the smile on his face.

It was funny.

His mouth was smiling, but Lee Younghak’s eyes were crying.

“Did you do it? Yejin? If you were a properly educated normal adult who had completed both family and public education, you could have at least said sorry at the press conference, right? Did you? Huh? Yejin. Did you do it? It’s really simple. All you had to do was flap that tongue of yours and say sorry. A person died, and if you had flapped your tongue and said sorry, you could have lived. Where else can you find a deal like this?”

“S, sorry!! Younghak! I’m sorry!! Forgive me!! Please!!!!!!”

Kim Yejin cried, almost clinging to him as she begged.

But Lee Younghak brushed off her touch.

“You didn’t do it. Our Youngchul died a dog’s death. We’re in a fucking situation where the perpetrator doesn’t even apologize, huh?”

Lee Younghak lit a cigarette.

A long plume of smoke emerged.

“Fucking hell.”

Lee Younghak grabbed Kim Yejin by the scruff of her neck and dragged her somewhere.

There was a building within the base that was burning fiercely.

The intensity of the flames was ambiguous.

Not hot enough to melt steel, but hot enough to burn wood.

“This temperature is just right! Yejin! At this temperature, you can scream and burn for about 30 minutes.”

Kim Yejin’s face turned pale.

She screamed and struggled frantically.

“S, save me!!! Save me!!!!! Save me!! Please!!!!! I, I have a family!!! I have a family!!!”

“Wow! I didn’t know that! But Yejin, let me tell you something interesting.”

Lee Younghak stroked Kim Yejin’s head.

“Youngchul had a family too.”

Lee Younghak threw Kim Yejin into the burning building.

The smell of burning flesh and screams that were so horrific they hardly seemed human erupted.

Lee Younghak burst into laughter as if watching a comedy.

Every time Kim Yejin desperately crawled out of the building, he kicked her back inside.

For nearly 30 minutes, demonic screams echoed throughout the burning base.

All the hunters in the base gathered and quietly watched the spectacle.

None of them.

Helped Kim Yejin.

And after 30 minutes.

“She’s dead.”

Lee Younghak murmured as he looked at the charred corpse that had once been Kim Yejin.

“She died from ‘heat illness’. What a pity.”

After throwing his cigarette butt onto Kim Yejin’s body, Lee Younghak gave an order to Yongil.

“Burn that body until there’s no trace left, not even ashes.”

Yongil did so.

And after that, there was nothing left maintaining its shape in the base.

Leaving behind a desolate ruin with nothing but ashes.

“Let’s go, guys.”

Lee Younghak and 134 hunters rode three wyverns and began flying toward the US territory.

The steel basket that the US had prepared was much larger and sturdier than the previous ones, comfortably accommodating the hunters.

The hour and a half flight was peaceful and quiet.