Episode 6: Killing Yun Seong-ho [1]

 

After Seolhwa was practically kicked out of the house, Yun Seongho continued his investigation under the pretext of testing my abilities.

Well, I had planned to kill him immediately if he tried drawing blood or restraining me… But so far, he was only conducting simple tests to measure how much my abilities had improved.

“Hoh… Your Magic Power stat has truly increased significantly. The effort of painfully inserting that S-grade monster’s eyeball was worth it.”

“Is that so? Thank you.”

Yun Seongho began proudly boasting about his deeds, likely still believing I was under hypnosis.

Thanks to that, I could perfectly record everything on the recorder I’d secretly brought.

‘Illegally obtained recordings aren’t admissible as evidence… But if my voice is included, it can serve as proof.’

By the way, this research facility was too advanced for a private individual. Not only did it have Magic Power measuring devices only seen in the Hero Association, but I’d never seen an Augmented Reality Simulator this large before.

Yun Seongho’s lab had a ceiling height equivalent to 4-5 stories and floor space larger than 4-5 soccer fields combined.

High-grade monster corpses were scattered everywhere inside the lab, though I couldn’t tell where he’d obtained them.

‘Miss, we’ve retrieved the reverse scale of the Red Drake.’

‘Miss, I’ve also retrieved the vocal cords of the Nitro Wyvern.’

‘Excellent.’

Thanks to the brainwashed bodyguards, I could easily steal materials for making explosives. Still, it felt slightly uncomfortable.

‘I need to expand the explosive range. It seems larger than I expected.’

To achieve the perfect crime, Yun Seongho and all researchers needed to be gathered in the blast radius when the bomb detonated.

‘I considered brainwashing Yun Seongho with the [Hypnotic Evil Eye] to make him a half-puppet… But that would take too long.’

I knew he’d been conducting demonization experiments using monster corpses since Yun Se-ah’s death, but never imagined he’d progressed this far.

‘Yun Seongho’s demonization has already progressed considerably. Completely erasing the traces would only raise suspicion.’

Hence, the perfect cover story – all died in an accidental explosion during illegal underground experiments.

‘…I’ve become quite the psychopath.’

Thanks to the self-hypnosis I’d performed before the mirror, I felt like I’d become a madwoman who would stop at nothing to achieve my goals.

‘But this is the only way.’

If the story progressed normally, someone from the protagonist’s side would meet a terrible end.

Preventing that while taking all the blame myself? Easy enough.

‘I did this often when collecting endings anyway.’

Though I followed the story, this method surprisingly saved many characters.

Especially now that the story’s shackles had long since disappeared.

-Click!

“Perfect.”

After the simple ability assessment at the lab, I returned to my room and immediately crafted homemade explosives.

…

…

…

[“Haaahp-!”]

-Slice!

“Hmm… Excellent. Truly perfect.”

“Is the young lady’s output really that tremendous?”

“Of course!”

That evening. Yun Seongho laughed madly while looking at the data displayed on the screen.

“An S+! S+! Her Magic Power rivals that great sage from Raon Academy!”

‘Being praised by him makes me sick.’

Meanwhile, I watched Yun Seongho’s antics from the ventilation shaft.

‘The [Hypnotic Evil Eye] works wonders.’

Though my actual Magic Power stat was A+, the Hypnotic Evil Eye made him misperceive it as S+.

All stats above A-grade, with Magic Power overwhelmingly at S+.

Theoretically, this meant I could outperform A-grade combat hunters in close combat.

“We can perfectly establish the Battle Wizard concept that was only theoretically proven! This discovery is so monumental it renders the four positions – Striker, Defender, Ranger, Magician – meaningless!”

“Truly amazing, Chairman!”

‘Battle Wizard? Such a class doesn’t even exist~’

Strikers are those who charge into enemy lines alone and wipe them out. What nonsense is this Battle Wizard?

‘Since this might appear on theory exams, maybe I should briefly review.’

I pulled out notes from my bag and started reviewing. After all, I had nothing better to do until Yun Seongho said something important.

‘Striker – infiltrates enemy lines with high mobility and powerful attacks to disrupt formations.’

As mentioned earlier, those with all-round high stats can solo dungeons. Hence most S-rank hunters are Strikers.

‘Defender – protects Strikers or backline Rangers/Magicians with overwhelming stamina and defense.’

Though some possess both Striker and Defender talents, most choose to specialize due to mediocre stat distributions.

‘Ranger – specializes in eliminating monsters with long-range weapons like bows or guns. Unlike area-focused Magicians, they excel at single-target elimination, making them valuable against boss monsters.’

The classic ranged DPS. Useless without weapons and fragile, but becomes a siege weapon when given proper protection – a high-risk, high-return position.

Finally, Magician – arguably the most exploited position in <Academy Swordmaster>.

With frontliners protecting them and Rangers handling stragglers, they can comfortably chant spells to wipe out enemies with area magic. Those with high Holy Power can even heal allies.

The chairman of Raon Academy, the main stage of <Academy Swordmaster>, was a Magician. Though nearly devoid of Holy Power, he specialized in nuking and mass slaughter.

Considered the polar opposite of the Magician heroine who joins the same year as the protagonist, showing how diverse Magicians can be.

‘Given my current stats, my position would be… Support-type Magician?’

Using the Hypnotic Evil Eye to confuse enemies while employing psychokinesis to assist allies – a utility-focused position with decent versatility.

However, this skillset couldn’t solo the final boss.

-Vrrrr….!

“Right, next we’ll try injecting pure monster blood into Se-ah.”

“Understood! Adjusting the mixture ratio immediately!”

‘Blowing up such a nice research facility feels wasteful. Should take measures.’

Looking around Yun Seongho’s lab, I realized many things.

There were surprisingly many useful items. Too valuable to disappear in an explosion.

Hidden labs capable of such illegal experiments aren’t common. Therefore…

-Crash!

“Chairman! The young lady seems to have broken free of brainwashing! We found a sharp kitchen knife in her bag, and when confronted, she broke the window and escaped…!”

“What?! Capture her immediately! No, I need to be there to hypnotize her. I’m going!”

“Yes! Preparing the car now!”

‘Goodbye. I’ll put the lab to good use.’

Falling for the false information, Yun Seongho rushed out.

I already knew his favorite vehicle – a G-Wagen or some other expensive car.

‘I wonder how far that car with tampered electrical components will go.’

I’d made sure the tampering wouldn’t severely affect driving since the chauffeur would be operating it. Just enough for investigators to conclude it died from sudden acceleration due to electrical signal errors.

-Clang!

As the iron gate closed, I boldly dropped down from the ventilation shaft.

-Crash!

The researchers turned toward the source of the noise as the steel ventilation grate fell.

“Hello? You sons of bitches.”

I’d already activated my psychokinesis in preparation.

“Y-young la—”

-Splat!

The researcher who spoke had his head explode instantly.

“Could you not call me that? I almost couldn’t kill you because I grew attached.”

-Click!

“Y-you monster…!!”

Enraged by his colleague’s death, another researcher pulled a gun from his waist to shoot me…

-Bang!

“Hyungju…?”

“Oh dear, I’m over here.”

“W-what? I clearly aimed at her head… Hyungmin-nim..!!”

The bullet from the misaligned gun pierced the head of a burly researcher named [Kim Sangmin].

“Look carefully.”

-Shimmer!

I deployed psychokinesis thinly, creating crystalline panels around them like a hall of mirrors.

Just like in amusement park mirror mazes, they now saw dozens of fake Yun Se-ahs.

-Bang! Bang!

“Gaaah! Where are you shooting, idiot!”

“Hyung! Stop shooting at me!”

The [Hypnosis]-affected researchers began indiscriminately firing at what they thought were Yun Se-ahs – actually their allies – riddling each other with bullet holes.

“Here’s a gift?”

Since most bodyguards were B-grade or higher, bullets alone wouldn’t suffice. They needed bombs.

-KABOOOM!!!

The pristine white marble of the underground lab became the canvas for my masterpiece – “A Girl’s Revenge” painted in crimson blood.

-Click!

“I’ll put this gun to good use.”

Stealing car keys and a handgun from what appeared to be another driver’s pocket, I slowly walked toward where Yun Seongho had rushed out.

[“Yun Se-ah-nim’s fingerprint confirmed.”]

-Whirr…!

Descending to the underground parking lot revealed luxury imported cars numbering well over 20-30.

“Such expensive vehicles… Looking closely… The system shows all cars in this section are registered under my name.”

Among them were cars purchased under my name to evade taxes. How many cars did he even buy?

“Ferrari, Porsche, Bugatti… So many…”

A red sports car with a yellow rectangle and prancing horse emblem, a coupe SUV with BMW’s signature kidney grille – mostly sports cars, likely for track driving.

‘……..I dislike flashy cars. Should I take that one?’

Among the sports cars stood majestic luxury sedans.

My eyes landed on a massive vehicle that dwarfed the sports cars – a Rolls-Royce.

‘Rolls-Royce – a car I couldn’t even glance at in my past life.’

The rear badges read Phantom, Cullinan, and Spectre in English.

Among the purple, beige, and silver luxury cars parked in order, I opened the smallest one to find a note: [Merry Christmas, our daughter].

Checking all cars in my name section revealed identical notes, as if photocopied.

“Trying to play the good father now? Makes me nauseous.”

-Whirr…!

“Oh, electric cars are quiet these days. It charges by absorbing the user’s Magic Power? I like it.”

Familiar with the process, I pressed the ignition button and input the destination previously instructed to the driver.

A reservoir on the Seoul-Gyeonggi border – an accident-prone location where “sudden acceleration leading to drowning” would raise no suspicions.

[“There are autonomous and manual driving modes. Which would you prefer?”]

“Autonomous mode, please. I’m scared to drive such an expensive car myself.”

Yun Seongho – the worst father to Yun Se-ah and an outright villain in the story.

-Click!

“Remaining bullets… seven.”

Since you left me this magnificent lab… No pain? I’ll make sure it’s excruciating.