Chapter 95: Scream

• Bang!
• Bang!

The sound of gunfire echoed several times in the room.

“Cough…cough…”

Bullets pierced the body of the man wearing a mask, and he writhed in agony. However, he refused to open his mouth.

• Swoosh

“Are you really not going to speak? I already know everything you’ve done, you just need to admit it,” said Lee Hyun-seung.

“J… just kill me… I… I’m just a rookie who can’t even shoot for the head…”

“Do you think I can’t?”

Lee Hyun-seung aimed the gun at the man’s head and fired.

• Bang!
• Thud

The man’s breath stopped. Lee Hyun-seung muttered, looking at him in disbelief.

“You stubborn bastard. You knew who did this from the start, but you just wouldn’t admit it?”

The man who had just died had immediately sent a transmission after spotting Lee Hyun-seung and was about to shoot him on sight.

What reason would Lee Hyun-seung have for becoming a target? No matter how broadly you think about it, the only

ones who would want to target him would be either Kim Hee-ra or Hileon. And out of those two, only Hileon, a

criminal organization, could be behind something as widely chaotic as this. Even if Kim Hee-ra was insane, she

wouldn’t go this far.

There’s no need to overthink it. After only a few seconds of thought, it became clear that the man had been sent by Hileon. Of course, proving that to others would be another issue.

But for now, with the evidence at hand, it was clear—this was the work of Hileon.

‘A tough bastard. Still wouldn’t speak, huh?’

‘Well, even if he had spoken, he’d be dead anyway.’

This wasn’t some child’s game. An unknown group had infiltrated the academy and tried to kill students. In a

situation like this, if the intruder was killed, no one would be able to say anything. It would fall under the category of

perfect self-defense.

Lee Hyun-seung had killed someone, but now it didn’t even faze him. Perhaps it was because he had already killed

Hileon’s subordinates before, or maybe because he did it through his pistol. He felt no different than if he had killed

a monster. It felt strange to him, but in a way, it wasn’t bad. If he let himself be afraid of killing, it would only allow

his enemies to defeat him.

‘Yeah. This had to be done. So, no more useless thoughts.’

He chose not to feel guilty or regretful about taking a life. After all, it was them who first targeted him, and they were from the vile organization Hileon.

Of course, not everyone could accept things the way Lee Hyun-seung did. Especially Cha Jeong-hoon, the head of the magic research institute, who had witnessed everything unfold before his eyes.

“Y-You… you just… killed someone…”

“Yes, I did,” Lee Hyun-seung said flatly.

Cha Jeong-hoon, horrified by the gruesome scene, gagged.

‘Yeah, this is the normal reaction.’

Cha Jeong-hoon had been locked away in the magic research institute and had never experienced a life-and-death

battle. It was only natural for him to panic and crumble under such circumstances. Lee Hyun-seung knew that at

times like this, the best course of action was to remain calm. He spoke again.

“Don’t panic. He deserved to die. Cha Jeong-hoon, do you remember the dagger you were stabbed with? The poison

on it was meant to kill you, not just injure you. That’s obvious, isn’t it? In fact, if I hadn’t used a mid-level antidote

and a high-level healing potion, you’d be dead by now.”

• Swoosh

Cha Jeong-hoon trembled and looked at his own hand. The wound that had been torn open by the dagger had already healed.

Lee Hyun-seung glanced at the healed wound, confirming the effect of the healing potion once more.

[High-Level Healing Potion]

▶ A high-grade healing potion. When applied to the body, it restores physical damage. *The high-level healing potion can even restore minor amputations.

‘As expected, the effect is undeniable.’

He confirmed that although the advanced recovery potion alone had no detoxifying effect, when used together with an antidote, it not only removed the poison that had deeply penetrated the body but also restored wounds to their original state.

‘I need to make some high-grade antidotes as soon as this situation calms down.’

The advanced recovery potion can heal almost anything. However, poisons come in thousands of different types, and

sometimes even mid-tier potions fail to neutralize them. The one that had attacked them was fortunately of a lower-

mid-tier poison, but it was uncertain how things would go in the future.

‘I thought I was prepared, but it’s still not enough.’

To prepare for any possible scenario, Lee Hyun-seung had been tirelessly crafting a variety of items after the class

eradication battle. The antidote was one of them. It had proven useful now, but if the enemy’s abilities were stronger,

it might have been useless. There was still a need to be more thorough in preparation, to become stronger.

“Uh… Excuse me…”

Chae Jeong-hoon, who had been in a panic, seemed to have regained some composure. He spoke to Lee Hyun-seung, who was looking at the potion.

“I… I’m sorry. I was startled by the sudden situation, and I vomited and reacted strangely. I’m worried that I may have offended you… I… I didn’t mean anything bad. I was just surprised…”

Chae Jeong-hoon stuttered as he continued.

“…That man over there, he attacked first, so it’s fine if he dies. I… I don’t think badly of you. Please… would you accept my apology?”

Lee Hyun-seung, who had no hesitation in shooting bullets through a person’s entire body and killing them, was not

someone Chae Jeong-hoon could easily read. The reason was simple. Just a moment ago, hadn’t Lee Hyun-seung

been spouting nonsense about not being allowed to access the mana database, saying things like not understanding

the importance of money at his age? Now, in this situation where Lee Hyun-seung could easily take his life, it was

hard to feel certain that his life would be spared.

Frightened, Chae Jeong-hoon looked at Lee Hyun-seung, who shook his head in response.

“I don’t intend to harm you. So, you don’t need to be afraid.”

Chae Jeong-hoon looked at him with a blank stare and asked.

“Are… are you saying that even though I was so rude earlier, you’ll forgive me?”

In fact, given the current situation of the terror attack, if Lee Hyun-seung were to kill Chae Jeong-hoon right now

and claim it was the work of the terrorists, it would be unlikely for him to be identified as the culprit, considering

there were no witnesses.

Of course, if things became complicated due to mana analysis and other processes, it could turn messy, but that was

something to deal with later. The important thing now was that Lee Hyun-seung could easily kill Chae Jeong-hoon,

and the risk was minimal.

‘Is… he really going to forgive me?’

Chae Jeong-hoon couldn’t understand. Lee Hyun-seung had been suffering from unjust accusations, and in order to clear his name, he needed permission to access the mana database. But Chae Jeong-hoon had refused him, even for something as trivial as money.

Of course, one might think, “Does it make sense to kill someone over something like this?” But those with power, if given the chance, would kill over even more insignificant matters.

Just think of Baek So-yoon. She had killed several high-ranking officials just because they refused to grant her access to the mana database.

This world is like that. People like Lee Hyun-seung, those with power and the ability to cover up their crimes, can take lives just based on their moods. But Lee Hyun-seung was different.

“You blocked the dagger for me, so I won’t harbor any bad feelings. But let me be honest. Even if you hadn’t blocked

that attack, I could have avoided it. Of course, since I could see you weren’t a bad person, that alone made it

meaningful.”

Lee Hyun-seung spoke with a hint of flattery. Was it just meaningless flattery? Or was it gratitude for saving his life?

No, the truth was, Lee Hyun-seung could have easily avoided that attack. It was the kind of blow that was no trouble

at all to dodge.

Yet, the reason he was expressing his thanks and speaking gently to Chae Jeong-hoon was for future considerations.

Once this matter was resolved, and if Chae Jeong-hoon survived, he would still be the head of the “Magic Studies Institute,” which directly controlled the access to the mana database. This meant his vote would still be valid.

‘After everything that’s happened, there’s no way he’ll refuse the mana database request again, right?’

Lee Hyun-seung had already mentioned that he could avoid the dagger, and he had demonstrated his physical

abilities right in front of Chae Jeong-hoon. Because of that, Chae Jeong-hoon’s action of blocking the dagger became

less important, while Lee Hyun-seung’s help with the potion and antidote took on more significance. In other words,

he had now acquired a debt to him.

‘If Chae Jeong-hoon dies, and a new head of the institute takes over, I’ll have to convince that person again. It’s better this way.’

For now, it was a small, one-off act, but as the case continued, Lee Hyun-seung was building up a debt in Chae Jeong-hoon’s heart. That debt would be a step closer to getting approval for the mana database access.

“Really… really, thank you…”

Cha Jeong-hoon lowered his head deeply and muttered his thanks repeatedly.

Lee Hyun-seung reached out and helped him up.

At that moment.

“Kyahh—!!”

A scream echoed from the hallway.

Cha Jeong-hoon’s face turned pale immediately.

“M-My… My researcher…”

The reason Cha Jeong-hoon’s face turned pale was because the scream he had just heard came from Seo Hyeon-ji, a researcher from the Magic Academy.

He had completely forgotten. Other researchers were still here.

-Wrack

Cha Jeong-hoon clutched the hem of Lee Hyun-seung’s clothes, trembling all over as he spoke.

“P-Please, help me… I’ll… I’ll do anything. P-Please, save… save my researcher…”

Lee Hyun-seung smiled at the trembling man and responded.

“You just said you’d do anything, right?”

“Y-Yes… Yes… I’ll do anything, so please… please…”

“If you don’t keep your word, you’ll regret it.”

“I-I swear on my life! I-I will… so please…”

“Good.”

-Swoosh

Lee Hyun-seung turned his body and headed toward the direction of the scream.

-Tap tap tap

As he ran, he thought to himself.

“Hileon, targeting me is going to backfire. I’ll take everything I can from this incident.”

In a matter of seconds, Lee Hyun-seung ran wildly toward the source of the scream.

-Thud

Finally, Lee Hyun-seung stopped in front of a place where a young girl and a man were.

The man was bringing a knife down from above, aiming for the girl’s neck.

Lee Hyun-seung mentally counted down.

“3…2…1”

Now.

“Kyahh—!!”

Just as the man with the mask’s knife was about to hit Seo Hyeon-ji’s neck.

-BANG-!

Lee Hyun-seung’s bullet hit the man’s knife precisely.

-Cling clang-

The knife dropped to the ground, and the man’s gaze shifted toward Lee Hyun-seung.

“Leave now, and I’ll let you go… I don’t care about your mission. I just want to have fun with this girl, so get out of here.”

Lee Hyun-seung replied with a sneer.

“Or what?”

The man pulled out another sword from his cloak and spoke.

“If dying is your wish, I’ll make it come true.”

Hearing this, Lee Hyun-seung whispered softly.

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