Episode 7: Killing Yun Seong-ho [2]

Meanwhile, shortly after a massive explosion echoed through the villa. A luxury SUV sped away from the estate, racing toward an unknown destination.

-Vroooom….!

“Secretary Kim, is it true? Seah broke free from the brainwashing on her own? And the first thing she did after breaking free was… try to kill me?!”

“Yes, it’s true, Chairman. We found a kitchen knife in the young lady’s luggage, along with professional cleaning tools used by murderers to dispose of evidence-though I’m not sure where she got them.”

“Ugh… Yun Seah, that bitch Seolhwa-if only she hadn’t run away, she would’ve just been another test subject…!”

-Thud!

Yun Seong-ho slammed his fist down so hard it shook the car, prompting the driver to glance at him through the rearview mirror with a worried expression.

“Chairman, please calm down. At least we found out before the young lady could ambush you. With your sharp insight, we can resolve this quickly…”

“Calm down? How?! The whole plan is ruined! Once Seah breaks free from the brainwashing and stops seeing me as her father, she’ll run away just like Seolhwa did! And if she leaves, she’ll expose everything!”

But Yun Seong-ho couldn’t calm down. The memory of losing his nearly perfected Battle Wizard resurfaced.

Yun Seolhwa-now going by Lee Seolhwa after leaving home-his first daughter.

In the past, using Seah’s experimental data and the corpses of high-grade monsters, he had created various elixirs to raise Seolhwa to the level where she could challenge for the title of South Korea’s 11th S-Rank Hero…

“D-Dad, what is this…?”

But one day, by sheer accident, he had forgotten to lock the lab door, and Seolhwa witnessed the entire experiment.

While Seah had required strong brainwashing to be treated like a lab rat, Seolhwa was his precious daughter-so the only “hypnosis” he used on her was amplifying her disgust toward Seah. That had been his mistake.

“H-How could you treat a person so cruelly…?!”

Seolhwa had lunged at him, ready to freeze the entire research facility. In that moment, Yun Seong-ho had only survived thanks to the very person he despised-Seah.

He had threatened Seolhwa, leveraging the deep brainwashing he had placed on Seah.

If she ever exposed his research, he would kill Seah immediately. Only then did Seolhwa-perhaps trying to play the role of an older sister for once-pack her bags and leave. The sight of her walking away had filled him with both relief and the hollow loss of his successor.

So, he used Seah.

Brainwashing? No problem. As someone whose skill was hypnosis, he simply intensified it, turning Seah into a perfect puppet. If she died, he could always make another child. With that mindset, he subjected Seah to even more extreme experiments.

Thus began the Eye Transplant Project.

Originally meant for Seolhwa, he had gone to great lengths to obtain the eyes of an S-Rank monster-Medusa’s Eyes-and painfully replaced Seah’s own.

To prevent regeneration, he had mutilated Seah’s eyes beyond recognition.

The result? A resounding success.

She didn’t gain Medusa’s petrification or hypnotic abilities, but her magic power skyrocketed exponentially. That alone was enough.

After Seolhwa ran away to the academy, he feared Seah might never return. To create a second Seah, he kidnapped countless nameless orphans, conducting unethical human experiments to quell his growing paranoia…

[Yun Seah]

[Looks like I’ll be back on the 24th.]

She had returned home with confidence, declaring her abilities had improved.

The moment he saw her overwhelming magic power-far surpassing even Seolhwa’s-Yun Seong-ho had long since erased Seolhwa from his mind.

Thinking he had played his cards right, he had prepared luxury goods and expensive cars to win Seah over. With her as his perfect puppet, he planned to establish a new guild and use it to crush the arrogant trash who had looked down on him for lacking one…

-Thud!

“Damn it! Now I have to deal with those bastards again!”

But Seah had already broken free from the brainwashing-and had come to kill him. That realization shattered Yun Seong-ho’s sanity.

“Should we contact a mercenary guild?”

“No, they’ll just demand an exorbitant fee. They’ll probably keep extorting money afterward under the pretext of keeping this quiet.”

Seah’s stats on the screen were on par with an S-Rank Hero. To subdue her, they’d need more than just any mercenary. In fact, the bodyguards at the mansion were all former C to B-Rank Heroes, but judging by the explosion and the lack of contact, Seah had already taken them all out.

“That monstrous bitch…!!”

They’d need at least a raid team capable of clearing an A-Rank Gate to have a chance.

“Dammit! I’m already swamped with the potion price-fixing scandal-who knows what they’ll demand if I ask them to deal with Seah…?!”

Recently, the major guilds had begun looking down on Yuseong Group, mocking them for lacking a guild.

Back when they were just small guilds, their leaders would kneel and beg for potions. But now…

-Ding!

“Chairman, we’ve received a message.”

“I can see that!”

[Guild Master Ryu Seong-ho of the Spiral Guild]

[Your potion prices are too high. Unless you sell high-grade potions for 15 million won, mid-grade for 5 million, and low-grade for 500,000, we’ll organize a boycott with other guilds. Oh, and if you’d like, you could just give my guild 10 top-grade potions for free, and I’ll put in a good word…]

-Bang!

“Aaaargh! You goddamn mutt!!”

Now, as major players, they colluded to set potion prices, threatening to boycott if he didn’t lower them.

“C-Chairman, please calm down!”

“Shut up! You damn mutt…!! Come to think of it, you’re the one who let Seah slip away back then! You should’ve noticed the brainwashing was wearing off!”

-Wham!

“Ugh…!”

Yun Seong-ho’s foot struck the driver-one of his bodyguards.

-Screech!

“Drive properly, damn it!”

-Thud! Wham! Wham!

“I-I’m sorry…!”

After several more kicks to the driver’s seat, Yun Seong-ho finally seemed to calm down.

“Anyway, we got away, but where are we going?”

“I anticipated this and contacted a group of ability users who can subdue the young lady.”

As he spoke, the driver handed over his smartphone. Yun Seong-ho snatched it and scanned the screen-then broke into a childlike grin.

The message read: “We’ll assassinate Yun Seah for just one top-grade potion.”

“They’ll really take care of Seah? With no additional compensation?!”

“Yes, they only asked for one top-grade potion. They must have someone they desperately want to save.”

“Good, send it immediately! Tell them to come to this location now!”

Yun Seong-ho was ecstatic.

It was only natural.

He had considered contacting the guild that had procured Medusa’s Eyes, but their priority was money. He had been prepared to bleed funds, but… killing Seah for just one top-grade potion?

What a bargain.

“If they need potions, we might even be able to leash them. Driver! Contact them immediately and get details on that fallen child’s condition. We’ll adjust the potion’s effectiveness to keep them under our control!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

“Phew… What a relief.”

After overcoming a crisis, most people would relax or even faint.

But Yun Seong-ho was meticulous. Until Seah was dead, he wouldn’t let his guard down. Eyes wide open, he watched the passing scenery through the car window.

…

…

…

-Creak

“We’ve arrived, Chairman.”

“Good. Once this is settled, I’ll promote you to secretary.”

“It would be an honor to serve you, Chairman.”

They had arrived at a secluded mountain road. Yun Seong-ho and the driver scanned their surroundings.

“By the way… It’s awfully dark. I don’t see any cars passing by.”

“This road only sees one or two cars a day. Even street racers avoid it because of the frequent fatal crashes.”

“Perfect for a meeting like this.”

As they chatted, Yun Seong-ho gulped down water from a thermos handed by the driver.

Perhaps because of the falling snow, the cold made him irritable, and he began venting his frustration on the driver…

“So, when are those mercenaries arriving?!”

“Uh… Ah, there they are!”

Spotting headlights in the distance, Yun Seong-ho smiled brightly, ready to greet the approaching car with his best business smile…

-Bang!

“…GAAAHHH…!!!!”

Unfortunately, instead of the driver, a bullet flew through the open window.

“AAAAAAHHH!! AHHH!!!”

As Yun Seong-ho rolled on the ground, blood splattering, the figure that appeared before him was…

“You seem quite shocked, screaming like you’ve seen something horrifying…”

Staring at him with an eerie pattern glowing in one eye.

“AAAHHH…!! You bitch…!!”

“Including the time you were driving… it’s been 1 hour and 20 minutes, Father.”

Yun Seah-that is, me.