novelraw Chapter 67 : Chapter 67
Chapter 67 : Chapter 67
Chapter 67. The Intangible Killer (1)
The recipe for that potion itself existed.
In Ji Byeong-seo's pharmaceutical notebook.
The name of the medicine was likely
Of course, it was a medicine that had never been made in reality, so it was merely a working title.
Anyway, Ji Byeong-seo had also recently rented a laboratory at Doban Brewery.
There was enough equipment usable for pharmaceutical manufacturing.
And Riman had enough money to commission the drug manufacturing.
But the most important thing was missing.
The ingredient, that is.
‘Fruit of the Eye-opening Flower…….’
A fruit that blooms from a plant called Eye-opening Flower.
It was an absolutely necessary ingredient to make this potion.
And the problem was that it was an ingredient one couldn't obtain even with money.
‘There is no stock in the market.’
Ultimately, to procure this ingredient, he had no choice but to run around personally.
‘I know the locations of the Eye-opening Flower colonies, so do I have to move personally…….’
While he was thinking that.
Piririri—
Riman's phone began to ring.
Riman's expression upon seeing the phone screen began to rot instantly.
“Why is he suddenly calling now……?”
After sighing shortly and clearing his throat, Riman answered the phone.
“What.”
“What? You ask what? Why has your hunting suddenly stopped?”
It was Lancelot.
Externally, the Sword Saint.
But to Riman, a monitor.
He began to interrogate Riman over the receiver.
“There has been absolutely no movement related to bounty hunting for over ten days recently. Is there an acceptable explanation?”
“It’s because of an injury.”
“Injury?”
“Yeah. I suffered a pretty severe internal injury. But doesn't your side know everything? You even put a leash on me.”
Saying so, Riman tapped the tracking choker on his neck.
A location-tracking necklace put on by contract.
It was certain that location information was transmitted through this, and it seemed voice or health information was also transmitted.
Just like when Lancelot intervened during the night raid on Ork Corporation last time.
Though seeing how there were surprisingly few restrictions despite him saying all sorts of things and doing all sorts of things, there was also a possibility that surprisingly little information was being transmitted.
Well, maybe he knew but just didn't care.
Anyway.
“The hunting will restart soon. My recuperation will end today too.”
“Do well. Because I'm watching continuously.”
Tuk.
Lancelot hung up the phone.
Riman looked down at the phone and muttered.
“His tone is sharper than usual.”
It was understandable.
Currently, Lancelot must have been on the verge of his head exploding due to excessive work.
Confusion was accelerating in other countries except for Korea currently.
Of course, it was a mess originally too, but it meant it was becoming even more of a mess.
Because of the escapees from Mugan.
Villains for whom the word 'worst' was insufficient for each one.
Furthermore, they were guys possessing strength allowing them to reveal that malice without restraint.
Hundreds of such specialists in crime were scattered all over the world.
Extremely adept at hiding location and tracks, the aftermath of their crimes was considerable, and the martial power of each one was at a tremendous level.
Added to that was the existence of power holders and criminal organizations protecting them to borrow the escapees' power.
Even the locations of most escapees hadn't been identified.
Riman, who figured out the escapees' locations at once, was truly a unique case.
Since the situation was like this, resolving the situation was bound to be far off even if personnel of Lancelot's level clung to it.
It would have been strange if confusion didn't escalate.
Of course, Korea was on the better side.
Because Riman quickly cut the throats of guys who would cause big trouble.
But that didn't mean it was time to relax and do nothing.
For now, Lancelot showed signs of discomfort, and the guys not caught were still roaming the streets and committing crimes.
It was time to set out on a human hunt again.
No, but that's that.
‘If you're going to work for me, at least pay me properly while working for me, geez.’
Taking 95 percent of the bounty was honestly too much.
Well, anyway.
‘Shall I look at the list again once.’
Riman checked the escapees in Korea.
The number of Mugan escapees in Korea is a total of 12.
Among them, 5 have been killed so far.
‘Who should I make the sixth prey?’
Among the remaining guys, there were no easy ones now.
Furthermore, there was one variable to consider in this hunt.
Riman's physical condition, that is.
It was a body hard to call good originally, but it was worse now.
Because of the internal injury from Heuk-gwang.
Of course, he recovered considerably through ten days of recuperation.
But the aftermath of the internal injury didn't completely disappear with just that.
Therefore, he had to choose a guy he could catch while exerting as little strength as possible.
‘…But there isn't any particularly easy guy among the remaining ones.’
Still, looking closely, an answer came out to some extent.
Again, there are no easy guys.
But there is one guy he can catch with the least effort in his current state.
However, there was one condition.
A new magic Riman is developing recently.
The guy was an easy opponent only under the assumption that it activates properly in actual combat.
‘…Will it work?’
Wong Chen's corpse confirmed at the police station, information obtained from it.
Basics of magic theory solidified over the past ten days.
Riman's innate senses.
Finally, the mysterious tattoos engraved on Riman's body.
Magic created by combining all these elements.
It was magic completely invented by Riman, never appearing in the game.
If this activates properly, he could catch the guy easily, but if not……
‘I will die.’
Faint tension rose along his spine.
But he had to bear it.
Dealing with the seeds of Mugan was something one had to risk one's life for originally.
Hulleong—
Riman took off his top and stood in front of the mirror.
Tattoos covering his body were reflected in the mirror.
Tattoos composed of all sorts of geometric patterns including millions of alphabets, symbols, numbers, Chinese characters, and runes.
Of course, Riman still didn't know what the sum of these tattoos meant.
Even though he mastered the basic parts of magic theory, there were seriously many parts uninterpreted.
Still, one thing was certain.
That these tattoos had some connection with magic.
Although distinctly different from the grammatical structure of current magic formulas, there were parts that touched slightly.
And the part Riman dug into was exactly that point.
“I should do a final test and depart.”
Riman carefully rotated mana while tracing the characters of the tattoo with his fingertips.
Whenever he traced with his finger, the characters on his body glowed lightly and then went out.
“…Wait, Jae-byeok.”
The Slaughterer of the Downtown, Gong Jae-byeok.
The name of the sixth target flowed from Riman's mouth.
* * *
I have been rehabilitated.
Most perfectly, flawlessly, and cleanly, I have been reborn.
Of course, I was locked in Mugan due to a momentary mistake.
But doesn't everyone make one or two such mistakes in life?
Ultimately, what is important is not what sin one committed, but how one repented and reflected on that sin.
Because everyone has an opportunity to reflect and live a new life.
If it were a society that does not tolerate any mistake, all members would suffocate.
I do not want such a society.
And I believe there is enough tolerance in the society I live in.
With such thoughts, Gong Jae-byeok got up from the bed.
“Eu-cheu-cheu-cheu…….”
It is morning.
A sunny weather without crime.
How long has it been since I didn't get human blood on my hands?
“Ah.”
How can a daily life without sinning be this clear.
Of course, there was a slight discomfort in my heart.
But that wasn't discomfort arising from not committing a crime.
It was discomfort about breaking a promise.
The day before escaping from Mugan.
The Red King received one pledge from all escapees.
Go out and confuse the world widely.
Use the talents each possesses to the maximum to push the world into chaos.
The Red King said.
Almost all great buildings start from unsightly cement dough.
So to open a new world, one must return the world to such a mixed-up state.
That was the Red King's logic, and there were no escapees who objected to this.
Of course, it didn't seem like they understood the Red King's logic.
They just roughly accepted it as a fancy expression for telling them to go out and commit crimes big time.
However, Gong Jae-byeok alone did not agree to this pledge, nor did he intend to carry it out.
Because—
‘I repented.’
‘I reflected.’
‘I showed remorse.’
As a result of years of thinking in Mugan.
Gong Jae-byeok decided to become a new person.
He decided to shake off his dark past and quit crime.
Still, he escaped.
Because being reborn as a new person in the corner of this dark prison was impossible.
Killing a few guards in the process of escape couldn't be helped either.
Since it was an inevitable sacrifice for a new life.
It's okay.
This much was acceptable.
Even a running car gathers dust; where in the world is a person who doesn't yield dust when shaken?
Only, what was important was how one would live one's life.
“Hmm, good.”
Gong Jae-byeok tidied his attire looking in the mirror.
It was a good-looking outfit.
Although it was a bit difficult to find fitting clothes in the closet, a decent combination came out after searching well.
Today is the day to go to the mart to buy groceries.
Although it was a mart he went to several times, Gong Jae-byeok fluttered every time he went.
Because when he was in prison, he could only receive something similar to brown bricks as rations.
Compared to those days, a mart where all kinds of vegetables, meat, and processed foods were piled up was no different from heaven.
“Hmm, hm, hm.”
Gong Jae-byeok came out of the villa humming.
At that time, a man approached toward the villa entrance.
A man in a suit walking while busy making a call somewhere.
Gong Jae-byeok raised his hand toward him and greeted him with a bright smile.
“Good morning!”
However, the man distracted by the phone just passed Gong Jae-byeok and entered the villa.
Busily responding to a call from someone.
Like that, Gong Jae-byeok's greeting scattered into the empty air.
Gong Jae-byeok awkwardly lowered his raised hand and scratched his head.
Eventually closing his mouth awkwardly, Gong Jae-byeok started for the mart again.
His expression had stiffened hard.
Even while going to the mart, the stiff expression didn't loosen.
Like that, the remaining distance to the mart was about 30 meters.
Gong Jae-byeok, stopping at the crosswalk in front of the mart, caught his breath shallowly and muttered.
“…Son of a bitch, really.”
Gong Jae-byeok couldn't understand.
How can one ignore a greeting offered by another person so thoughtlessly?
Is greeting such a difficult task?
No, greeting is not difficult.
Just smiling slightly, raising a hand, and saying ‘Hello’ is an extremely simple task that ends with one word.
No, it doesn't even have to go that far.
Just ‘Hello,’ one word was enough.
Just with that much, Gong Jae-byeok could have felt good.
But why didn't that man do that?
‘Did he not see me?’
No way.
Our eyes clearly met.
He couldn't have not seen me.
‘Nevertheless, he chewed (ignored) my greeting. He ignored me. This is an act completely ignoring my labor and courage of offering a greeting before anyone else.’
Gong Jae-byeok's breath began to tremble little by little.
‘Why is everyone giving me such a hard time?’
I live trying this hard too, why doesn't the world try?
Ki-i-i-i—
At that moment, an unnatural light began to linger on Gong Jae-byeok's fingertips.