The First Plague (3)
“You didn’t say there was a woman coming with us.”
“Be quiet.”
“Why is she here? How long have you known her? Did you know her before me?”
“Please…”
I was trying to trace my memories to guess the location of Seong Hyun-woo, but Yeon-soo kept on talking.
Then, rather than trying to recapture a blurry memory, I decided to work instead with the information we have on hand.
The group that kidnapped Seong Hyun-woo is the Natasha crime family. The reason why a normal boy like him was held in captivity for several years was all due to a single hypothesis:
One of the conditions that could awaken superhuman abilities is extreme stress.
Some believed that when placed in a crisis situation, superhuman powers awaken. They based this theory on how most awakened people had a tragic history or grew up in a disadvantaged environment.
The Natasha group created several detention facilities around the world to prove this theory.
They kidnapped people of all ages, from young children and even men and women in their fifties. Perhaps, if the hypothesis could be proven true by their methods, they would have their own army of awakeners.
They were stupid to think that they could get away with something so horrible.
The Natasha group was wiped out when Seong Hyun-woo awakened.
It was not because the Natasha family members were weak. It was because Seong Hyun-woo was too powerful.
This time, he will be a little less powerful than he was originally, but the lack of a few teeth does not make a powerful predator weak.
Dealing with him head-on would be suicide. As much as possible, it was important to go as planned.
After Seong Hyun-woo’s death, his body was autopsied, and his cell was investigated.
One of the investigators had the skill to read memories, and through him, we were able to get a rough idea of what happened.
-They did everything to give their captives stress. They used drugs, gave them one meal per day, and tied them up in chains for years.
-Seong Hyun-woo endured it silently, without dropping a tear.
-Then… Ha, that was it. Because of their methods, Seong Hyun-woo’s abilities are insane.
-You know the Natasha family’s main business is trafficking, right? Human flesh, women…
-Of course, they also experimented with his parents. They were caught as a family but were kept in separate cells. Well, his parents had long killed themselves by chewing their tongues, unable to endure it anymore.
-Somehow, Seong Hyun-woo saw their bodies. They put dead bodies in a pile. Their flesh has rotted, but a family member can recognize another just by looking at their shoes or clothes, right?
-The first sign that Seong Hyun-woo has awakened is when he looked at his parents’ bodies and read their memories…
-He saw how his parents died. I mean, for a child, Seong Hyun-woo had great restraint and will power, but what child could hold their minds after that?
In that miserable sight, the boy’s mind completely collapsed, and all the stress that he had built up exploded.
The explosion was enough to cause the whole city to sink. It was a shocking sight and a revelation to the world about the coming of the plagues.
It was impossible to prevent Seong Hyun-woo to awaken.
Of course, we could blast the building or kill him before it happens.
However, if he could be on humanity’s side against monsters, he would be the best ally. If it wasn’t for these criminals who took him, his power would not have turned into a plague.
I had no intention of turning Seong Hyun-woo into an enemy.
The first plague has to be stopped. That doesn’t mean that we can’t make it disappear.
Unless something unforeseen happens… unless nothing goes wrong… we can use Seung Hyun-woo as an ally.
Yoo Ji-yeon, Han Yeon-soo, Lee Jin-woo. With these three, we will have enough time to get Seong Hyun-woo to control himself.
There is only one problem that I could not solve.
Though the Akashic Records can show me the building’s internal structure, it could not show me where Seong Hyun-woo is located.
The trait’s level is still too low that it could only show me the structure, not the contents within each floor or room.
Then, our only option is…
“Han Yeon-soo,” I called her.
“So… um, me?”
I pointed to the man in front of the building. “Take some slaves. We need guides.”
I was tired of thinking. I decided to let Han Yeon-soo handle it.
She smiled wickedly.
“You need my help now; then, you have to listen to my request later.”
Then, she walked casually to the front of the building and walked back after a few seconds with the guard panting like a dog behind her.
“That was too easy,” she remarked.
* * *
The man who was hit by Han Yeon-soo’s Queen’s Dignity skill guided us courteously inside the building.
“Queen, here it is. If we go this way, we’ll reach the Child Farm…”
“A Child Farm? That’s evil. You’re all insane,” Yeon-soo frowned as the horrible sights were gradually revealed. She was a freak and had a quirky personality, but she was clearly a good person.
As we walked on, we saw the children being abused.
Yoo Ji-yeon and Lee Jin-woo were not frightened but were rather furious at what they saw.
“Evil… certainly evil! How can they do this so casually?”
“It’s crazy…”
Unlike the first floor, which appeared no different from any other company building, the terrible sights were continuously unfolding as we went further downstairs.
Children in the same situation as chickens trapped in a chicken coop… they just stared into the air with eyes out of focus. Some were staring blankly and silently, without even a sound or a scream for help.
The stairs go further down…
“Hey, hey. Why are you here? Even if you’re on a break, you must have been gone too long to reach here.”
A man in work clothes approached our guide. He had a rough expression, then turned his gaze to us.
“And who are these people? Family members? Customers?”
The guide, who was still under heavy control from Yeon-soo’s spell, just gazed at him blankly, without responding.
“…”
“Why are your eyes that wide-open? Oh my, you’ve been taking drugs again. Shit.” The man spat. “You can’t come further with this bitch. I will guide you instead. This way…”
His work clothes smell heavily of blood.
Yoo Ji-yeo and Lee Jin-woo were unfamiliar with the smell of blood, but they frowned nonetheless at the foul stench.
I looked at them and said nothing. I brought them here partly for them to gain experience.
Han Yeon-soo, however, stared at the man furiously.
The man found it suspicious. “Woman, why are you staring at me like that?”
Pliook!
The man’s head exploded on the spot!
It was the work of Han Yeon-soo. The scent of the blood and the man’s attitude was too much for her to tolerate.
“I don’t like blood to get on my clothes…”
As she spoke, a long tentacle pulled back from the man to her shadow. The tentacle was dripping with blood. It shook off all the blood, before merging into her shadow.
Then, she turned to her slave.
“Continue.”
“Yes, yes! It’s an honor, Queen!”
The man snapped out of his blank stare and excitedly took the lead, and we followed him.
Yoo Ji-yeon smiled bitterly.
“She killed him without hesitation… he deserved to die.”
In the past, before I returned, she was reluctant to kill people even when she was a member of the five heroes. Of course, she had no mercy against monsters.
I looked at her and muttered, “No human deserves to die.”
Then, the Nightmare at the back of my hand transformed into a bow.
“But they don’t deserve to be called humans.”
[Cheon-ri Archery is activated.]
As I held the bow, my field of view widened, and I saw them.
Those who used knives to cut off people’s flesh little by little; those who give injections to little children’s bodies…
The expressions on their faces were not human.
“And hunters protect people from monsters…”
I shot an arrow. It flew silently through the air, before piercing the head of one of the monsters.
[You’re right. These are not humans. They are parasites.]
One of the monsters raised his voice. “Who dares to fight the Natasha family?”
The Natasha crime family is a large-scale organization, with many strong awakeners. As confident as I am with my skills, there will certainly be someone with a level I can’t handle.
But, of course…
“Are you okay? What can I do… My hands keep shaking, ah…!”
Han Yeon-soo suddenly screamed after fussing over me.
“Ah! Ah! Annoying-!”
Yoo Ji-yeon and Lee Jin-woo were obviously terrified and shocked at Han Yeon-soo’s reaction, but I stayed still. It’s better to stay still in this situation.
Meanwhile, Yeon-soo kept on muttering to herself.
“I can’t stand it. They can’t touch Si-woo, he’s still too weak… I can’t let them do it.”
We were slowly being surrounded by men who wore bloody work clothes, with muscular bodies and threatening gazes.
“No one…” one of them said, “has ever dared to face the Natasha family and get away with it!”
“From now on, if you shout one more time, I will kill everyone here. Don’t make me angry,” Han Yeon-soo said in a cold voice.
Tentacles suddenly rose from her shadow. However, it was not the same as before. This time, the tentacles were over a hundred. They spread all over like roots of a tree, wrapping each man’s necks and limbs in an instant.
“If anyone opens his mouth, he’s dead…”
“What are you doing? You…”
“Right.”
Before the man could even finish, a tentacle broke his neck at an odd angle.
The situation has been quickly reversed. The threatening men now had their mouths shut in fear.
Yeon-soo continued. “I am looking for a child. Whoever is the first to tell me where he is will be saved. Everyone else will be dead.”
She was in her own cold and charismatic self that I have been used to seeing in the past.
Again, that power is too much for one person to have.
[Characteristic: Queen’s Country]
Thousands of strange beings lived in her shadow.
[Name: Kraken]
[The underwater monster, known to cause huge whirlpools]
[*The soul rating of the subject is higher than that of the user.]
[*In order to check the detailed information, the spirit of the soul must grow more.]
And she didn’t even need to use the countless beings in her shadow to overpower the villains that surrounded us – just a single, faithful squid.
Yes, a single squid.
Its power was enough.
“Don’t kill me, please… I’ll tell you.”
One of the men, under the tentacles’ pressure, spilled everything he knew about the child. It took less than five minutes for him to betray his ‘family’.
Even if they call themselves ‘family’, they are, in essence, a group of evil people. Their bond is not as strong as they think.
Only
The tentacles began to tighten, even the one holding the traitor’s neck.
“Huh?! What are you doing? I told you everything!” the man panicked.
“Yes. I did say though that I’ll kill anyone who opens his mouth, didn’t I? Oh, I am one who keeps my promises.”
Of course, Han Yeon-soo had no intention to spare even a single villain’s life.
With a chilling laugh, she killed everyone effortlessly, and we watched their bodies drop to the floor.
“Let’s go,” I told them.
We went to where the man said Seong Hyun-woo was.
It was only the beginning.
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