Chapter 820: Is She Crazy? (1)

“…Huh, I thought I recognized you. It’s Nari’s friend, Sihee, isn’t it?”

The sisters from the Geumhyang Group suddenly approached, mentioning Eunbyul’s real name. Sihee’s face instantly soured the moment she met their eyes.

“……”

“We haven’t seen each other in ages, what’s with that look? Loosen up, Sihee-ya.”

“Yeah, you’d better listen to Unnie if you don’t want to face the music.”

“…It’s not like I’m bothered. You know what they say, ‘You see what you are.’ Since your faces are already sour, I guess my expression just looked that way too.”

Judging by the fact that they weren’t exchanging pleasantries the moment they met, it seemed neither side had any intention of even pretending to be polite.

The woman who was just called ‘Unnie’ by the one next to her seemed to be Geum Jangmi, which meant the woman beside her must be her younger sister, Geum Dallae.

I had seen them once before at the Geumhyang Shin family’s residence, but back then, I didn’t have the luxury of observing them closely due to Eunbyul’s rescue. This was the first time I was properly distinguishing between the two women.

‘Just looking at their faces, they definitely have that twin vibe.’

Although they were twins, telling them apart wasn’t difficult. Looking at their expressions, overall impression, and hairstyles, there were several clearly distinct features.

The older sister, Geum Jangmi, had a sharp impression and a creepy smile, sporting what’s known as a ‘squinty smile’.

On the other hand, the younger sister, Geum Dallae, had a relatively gentle impression, and her expression was almost blank. Their hairstyles were also different: the older sister had a ponytail tied at the back, while the younger one sported a side ponytail tied to the right.

From what I heard about the family relationships from Eunbyul last time, Geum Jangmi and Geum Dallae were identical twins, and Geum Nari-Eunbyul-was their sibling, two years younger.

For now, I memorized how to tell the two sisters apart using the information I’d gathered. To handle Eunbyul’s family affairs going forward, it would be necessary not only to deal with these women but also to utilize them effectively.

“Hmm, we haven’t seen each other in ages, and you’re still so sassy. Still, since we bumped into each other here after so long, how about a handshake?”

Along with those words, Geum Jangmi took off her glove and extended her hand. Sihee looked at the offered hand with a disgusted expression and recoiled.

“Forget it! Do you think I don’t know your vile intentions?!”

Wary of Geum Jangmi’s awakened ability, ‘Phantom Pain’, Sihee spat out an accusation instead of taking her hand. Pretending to be disappointed by the reaction, Geum Jangmi quietly withdrew her hand.

“It was truly just a friendly greeting out of genuine pleasure, but you, Sihee-ya, are still so wary.”

“Don’t make me laugh. Those tiny, millet-seed eyes of yours are always hiding some creepy scheme.”

“I’m just deliberately hiding my gaze. Eyes are like a report card for all human emotions. As a successor of Geumhyang, one must always be vigilant. There’s no need to unnecessarily reveal my emotions to others.”

“It’s not that there’s no need to reveal them, it’s that you shouldn’t. Your mind is always filled with terrible thoughts like ‘how to threaten the opponent today’.”

“…Anyway, Dallae, because you don’t handle things meticulously, these unsettling rumors keep leaking out.”

-Flinch.

“…I’m being careful.”

“So, how is Nari doing? You didn’t go to all the trouble of bringing her here just to treat her like a servant, did you?”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about. Isn’t Nari been missing for several years now?”

“Hmm, is that so? Then, aside from Nari, is the personal maid you hired around that time still doing well?”

“If you’re concerned enough to care about someone else’s personal maid, then the Geumhyang successor must have quite a lot of free time. Or perhaps, since you aren’t a successor like me, you have the leisure?”

“It’s a problem that will be solved once we find the runaway Nari, so why worry? Besides, you have it easier than constantly being compared and overshadowed by your sister, so you don’t need to worry about it.”

“This woman…”

Apparently, the Geumhyang Group, much like Sihee’s Dokyung Group, was in the midst of a heated succession struggle.

In Sihee’s case, Do Yehee would probably yield the successor position at the right time, eventually leading to a fight against herself. But the Geumhyang sisters seemed absolutely unwilling to yield the successor position to Eunbyul.

They were dangerous women, even resorting to kidnapping and torture to forcibly snatch the successor candidate position from Eunbyul.

I could roughly grasp this woman’s personality just from our brief conversation, so if necessary, she would likely resort to even greater means.

‘Until now, I lacked any means to get to them and had just been waiting for an opportunity…’

The situation where these two women revealed themselves right before my eyes might perhaps be an opportunity that wouldn’t easily come again.

If I could pinpoint the location of these two sisters, who always moved as if shrouded in mystery, it would mean that executing the plan I’d only considered in my head until now was entirely possible.

“So, about the gentleman with you…”

“……?”

“I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before… What’s his relationship with Sihee?”

“……”

After a moment’s hesitation, I decided to give a suitable answer to Geum Jangmi’s question.

“I’m Kim Sungchul. I’m a Hunter affiliated with the Hunters’ Autonomous Union, and Ms. Sihee and I are in a normal relationship.”

“T-The Union? P-Pfft, Khh…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing… I never imagined Sihee would be dating some loser from the Union… It’s just so amusing, Kh, Khh…”

Seeing her burst into laughter without preamble, I thought I’d been caught telling too obvious a lie. Fortunately, it seemed she wasn’t laughing because she recognized me.

Instead, she was mockingly amused by the fact that I was a Union Hunter and that Sihee was dating someone from the Union. Thanks to the scarf covering half my face, she still seemed unaware that I was Sung Taekyung, a male Awakened Hunter, and that I had entered the mansion disguised as a butler alongside Do Yehee.

“D-Did you just say everything you wanted to say?! Sungchul-ssi might be from the Union, but he’s on a completely different level than those other random Hunters! And in terms of Hunter rank, you…”

“It’s alright, Sihee-ssi. You don’t need to say any more.”

“But that woman…!”

“Other people’s opinions don’t matter much. As long as you, Sihee-ssi, properly recognize my value, I don’t care at all what other Hunters, who have no relation to me, might say.”

“……”

And for now, letting those women underestimate me was advantageous in many ways. By limiting information and making the opponent lower their guard, the despair when they are eventually defeated would only be greater.

Geum Jangmi, seemingly pleased that she had properly provoked me and Sihee’s pride, offered her right hand to me with a slight smile.

“Since meeting like this is fate, shall we shake hands, Sungchul-ssi?”

“……”

“Ah, no, Sungchul-ssi! If you take that woman’s hand…”

“…It’s alright, Sihee-ssi. It’s just a handshake.”

Sihee, worried about Geum Jangmi’s awakened ability, tried to stop my hand reaching out, but I replied that it was fine and clasped the woman’s hand before me.

I knew about the awakened ability ‘Phantom Pain’ that woman uses, but being overly wary would only invite her suspicion.

Besides, I truly didn’t think she’d use something like Phantom Pain in this situation. No matter how ill-tempered she was, she wouldn’t attempt such a nasty attack right from the first meeting…

-Thump.

「Psychic attack detected. Installing emergency shield to block the attack for approximately 10 seconds. 8, 7….」

…Is she crazy?

It seems I had underestimated this woman’s danger level, based on what Sihee and Eunbyul said. If it weren’t for Esila, I would have been completely helpless in that moment.

…Well, if you’re going to act like a bitch towards someone, you should at least be prepared to face the consequences.

-CRUNCH!

“Ngh?!”

Naturally, I had no need to react gently towards this crazy bitch attempting a psychic attack right from the first meeting.

Therefore, grabbing the hand of the woman who tried to inflict Phantom Pain on me, I squeezed it hard enough for her to cry out in pain. As expected, a pained voice erupted from Geum Jangmi.

“Ah, Aah! Ack!!”

As if she never expected the attack to come back at her, Geum Jangmi screamed and tried to pull her hand away hastily. Naturally, I had no intention of letting her go that easily.

-CRACK!

“Aah!! L-Let go of my hand! Let go!!”

-CRACKLE!

“AAAAAAAHHH!!”

Instead, I held on tightly, intending to crush her finger bones, causing Geum Jangmi to writhe even more in pain. I wasn’t holding back intentionally, so her bones probably actually broke a little. Besides, there was no reason to hold back for a bitch who intended to enjoy seeing someone else suffer right from the first meeting.

After crushing Geum Jangmi’s hand for 10 seconds as she pushed against my body with her other hand, trying desperately to escape me, I unexpectedly let go just before Esila’s psychic shield disappeared.

Since Geum Jangmi was practically hanging onto me, the result of letting go on this slippery icy surface was obvious.

-Slip.

“Huh?”

-THUMP!!

Seeing Geum Jangmi fall onto the hard icy floor with a loud thump, landing right on her butt, I smiled quietly.

“What was that for? We were just shaking hands.”