Chapter 89: Enemy or Ally

• Ttuk…
• Ttuk…

The blood started flowing inside the arena. Although Lee Hyun-seung’s bullet didn’t penetrate Baek So-yoon’s hand, it caused enough damage to make her hand bleed, lodging itself in her palm.

Lee Hyun-seung, seeing this, was internally shocked.

‘That monster…’

In some ways, it was entirely natural and expected for Baek So-yoon to block Lee Hyun-seung’s attack. She had awakened ten times faster than him and had more time to train and increase her abilities. Above all, her power had already been proven as she was active as an elder in the Artemis Guild.

But the real problem was that she had just been in a “perfectly defenseless state.”

‘She hasn’t even fully recovered her vision yet, but she blocked it?’

Baek So-yoon had been temporarily blinded by a flashbang. When her vision had just begun to return, she never expected Lee Hyun-seung to attack.

She had been preparing to chase down Lee Hyun-seung, intending to catch him while he fled, exposing herself fully to attack in the process. And at that moment, Lee Hyun-seung had successfully pushed a bullet through her defenses.

‘I thought a bullet would pierce her palm…’

Despite being in a perfect defenseless state and lacking time to reinforce her body with mana, Baek So-yoon had blocked the bullet without taking a fatal injury, only bleeding from her hand.

In that short moment, even though it wasn’t perfect, she must have instinctively gathered mana at the point of impact to minimize damage. This wasn’t a planned action, but a natural reaction driven by her instincts.

• Ttuk…
• Ttuk…

The important thing now wasn’t the surprise. The real issue was Baek So-yoon’s reaction.

‘Did I… do well…?’

The reason Lee Hyun-seung had acted recklessly was that he understood Baek So-yoon’s personality. She liked capable people and those who were fearless or a bit insane—essentially, psychopaths.

It wasn’t about simply blocking a dagger. But did Baek So-yoon really intend to let him live after that?

‘I guess we’ll see.’

It was hard to believe she’d let him live just because he blocked a dagger thrown at him. So he chose a different route. If the chance of survival was low, he would make sure to leave an impression, hoping to increase his chances of survival.

Anyone could defend against an attack. But attempting to counterattack with a bullet to the face in the same moment was something no ordinary person would dare to do. Who would try something so insane unless they had nerves of steel?

Of course, deep inside, he had wondered if he could take Baek So-yoon down with just this one attack. However, as expected, she had withstood it. That was nothing surprising.

‘This was within my expectations.’

Now, the only remaining factor was her reaction. He hoped she wouldn’t be offended or upset. He hoped that his actions would pique her curiosity. No, he needed it to be that way. His chances of survival would increase slightly if he could spark her curiosity.

• Ttuk…
• Ttuk…

Her blood fell to the ground. But eventually, the bleeding stopped. It was assumed that she had used mana to staunch the flow.

• Swiik

She slowly lifted her head and looked at Lee Hyun-seung. In a cold voice, she spoke.

“I distinctly remember saying I would spare you if you blocked my attack. So, why did you run, and why did you attack me? I just don’t understand your actions.”

That was a decent response. She was ‘curious.’ Curious about Lee Hyun-seung’s thought process. Curiosity always stemmed from wonder.

Lee Hyun-seung purposely took a moment before responding naturally.

“I didn’t trust the words of some random person who suddenly appeared, brandishing a knife at my neck, threatening to kill me. I didn’t believe that you’d spare me after throwing a dagger. I didn’t believe any of it. You attacked me as if you were going to kill me, so I dodged. And when I saw an opportunity to kill you, I took it. More importantly, you’ve been looking down on me. That’s why I thought this attack might work.”

Lee Hyun-seung casually raised a shoulder as if it was no big deal and added,

“Looking at your condition, I guess my choice was wrong.”

Baek So-yoon seemed to mutter to herself as if deep in thought before turning her gaze to Lee Hyun-seung with a question.

“So… you were trying to kill me…?”

“That’s the plan, if possible. You were trying to kill me too, weren’t you? If I had been less capable, your dagger would’ve hit and I’d be dead by now. So, is it really so strange that I attacked you?”

Lee Hyun-seung spoke naturally, but inside, he was repeating to himself.

‘I need to think from Baek So-yoon’s perspective, from her mindset.’

Lee Hyun-seung tried to imitate Baek So-yoon’s way of thinking as best he could, speaking as if it were his own thought process. This was the only way he could make her accept the justification for his actions.

No matter how logically sound his words were, if the other person couldn’t understand them, convincing them would be impossible. But if his words aligned with her usual thinking, persuasion would come easily.

“Pfft.”

Baek So-yoon chuckled once, and then a chilling laugh escaped her.

“So, you tried to kill me…?”

She hesitated for a moment, repeating his words.

“Me? You?”

Lee Hyun-seung responded.

“If it was possible? Of course, as you can see, I failed.”

Thud

Thud

Thud

Baek So-yun walked toward Lee Hyun-seung. He stood still, unmoving.

“Oh? You avoided the attack earlier, but why aren’t you running away now when I approach? You tried to kill me, and if you failed, shouldn’t you be running away?”

“Because you’re the one who wants to talk. Earlier, when you threw the dagger, I could feel the murderous intent in your eyes. But now, that’s not the case. I don’t feel any killing intent from you. I don’t see the need to run from someone who doesn’t have the intent to kill me. I don’t want to provoke and die like a fool. In this changed situation, I judged that the probability of me surviving is higher by talking to you rather than running away.”

He controls his emotions. Then, he thinks logically. When he speaks, he doesn’t care about the other person’s reaction, speaking honestly and directly. He conveys the cause and effect of his actions without exaggeration, sarcasm, or pretense—even if it might be rude.

“You really are honest. Should I call you pure? No, that’s not it. If you were pure, you wouldn’t think of putting a bullet through someone’s face. If you did, you’d at least feel some fear.”

Swish

She stepped closer to Lee Hyun-seung and whispered in his ear.

“Have you killed many people? What did you think when you killed someone for the first time?”

Lee Hyun-seung paused, thinking.

‘My first kill…’

He hadn’t killed many people. But he had killed someone since coming here.

‘Hileon…’

Hileon, who framed Lee Hyun-seung and fled to the cave. The goons who had planted evidence of stalking in Lee Hyun-seung’s locker. They had tried to kill him, and in response, Lee Hyun-seung had killed them.

He recalled that memory and answered.

“It felt refreshing. He was a piece of trash.”

Baek So-yun stared blankly at Lee Hyun-seung’s pupils.

Grin

After observing for a while, Baek So-yun smiled slightly, then grabbed Lee Hyun-seung’s hand and brought it toward her face.

Slither

The back of Lee Hyun-seung’s hand brushed against her face. Slowly and deliberately, he felt the texture of her skin.

Swish

Then, she moved closer to his face and gave a quick kiss on the tip of his nose.

Peck

She took a step back and spoke.

“You’re an interesting little guy. I like you. I don’t like weak people, liars, or idiots pretending to be humane. But you don’t seem to fall into any of those categories. I guess you’re passable for now?”

Swish

She lightly ruffled Lee Hyun-seung’s hair, muttering to herself.

“Maybe… you could understand me?”

Then, she spun around quickly.

Lee Hyun-seung called out toward her back.

“Are you going to spare me?”

She responded.

“Oh, you’re more humble than I thought? I didn’t spare you. You ‘survived’ on your own.”

Thud

Thud

She walked a little further, then stopped to speak.

“I’ll see you again, little cutie.”

Thud

Thud

Just as she disappeared from sight.

Thud

Lee Hyun-seung collapsed to the ground.

Shiver

His hands started trembling uncontrollably, and his heart pounded as if it were broken. Cold sweat poured from him, and his throat began to tighten.

‘Sht…’*

He survived. He had made it. His head was filled with those thoughts, and there was one more thought that enveloped his mind.

“I need to become stronger.”

He made a firm resolution that he must become much stronger than he is now, so that he wouldn’t die if something like this happened again.

Screech

The Artemis Guild’s office.

“Hehe~”

Baek So-yun hummed cheerfully, and her secretary, Pyo Kang-woo, asked.

“It seems like you enjoyed your meeting with Lee Hyun-seung.”

Baek So-yun smiled slyly and replied to Pyo Kang-woo.

“Yeah, he was much more interesting than I expected. He’s younger than me, so that’s a bit of a shame, but I guess I felt a little excited?”

She pulled the crumpled bullet stuck in her hand and placed it in a small storage box.

Clink

Pyo Kang-woo, who was watching her, asked with a confused expression.

“Grandmaster… surely that bullet…”

“Yeah. You’re right about what you’re thinking. I was careless, but… well, that’s just an excuse. He’s stronger than I thought. He hasn’t even been awakened for six months, but he’s impressive, right?”

Baek So-yun spoke as if she were proudly showing off a pet. Looking at her, Pyo Kang-woo thought to himself.

‘Grandmaster has never reacted like this before. What kind of person is Lee Hyun-seung, for her to be this friendly in such a short time?’

She was keeping the bullet that had attacked her in a glass bottle, and humming in a way she never did. There was more than one odd thing.

Rustle

Moreover, Baek So-yun had even started looking through additional documents related to Lee Hyun-seung.

“By the way, did you know? There’s a record stating that Lee Hyun-seung requested the use of the mana database to verify that he wasn’t a stalker, but why hasn’t it been approved yet?”

“Ah… that’s…”

Thud

For a moment, Pyo Kang-woo was about to say something but quickly covered his mouth. Baek So-yun glanced at him and spoke.

“If you don’t tell me exactly what you know, I’ll kill you.”

“Th… that’s not… I wasn’t trying to hide anything, I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m not sure about the details…”

“Tell me what you know, then.”

“It seems that Madam Kim Hee-ra is putting pressure on it. In order to approve the use of the mana database, several institutions are involved in the review, and Madam Kim Hee-ra has connections in those institutions. So, the situation looks like…”

“Hmm… really? What institutions are involved?”

Pyo Kang-woo quickly checked and pulled out a document listing the institutions connected to the mana database permissions. He handed it over to Baek So-yun.

Swipe

Baek So-yun glanced at it, thought for a moment, and then spoke to Pyo Kang-woo.

“These are all people I know?”

Scratch

Scratch

She checked off a few names under the institutions and handed the paper back to Pyo Kang-woo.

“Contact those people. Tell them to approve the mana database access as soon as possible.”

She then spoke coldly.

“And if they keep stalling, let them know I’ll come after them.”