36

Kim So-Eun’s uncle, Kim Tae-Yang, took a deep breath to stay calm. After that, he turned to me.

“I admit. It was rude of me to say that to a person I just met, but you also pressed the bell nonstop to annoy me, so let’s call it even. Next, who are you?”

I decided to answer him.

“I’m Lee Hwan, the supervisor of ROKHA.”

His eyes were smiling. If anyone saw him, they would think that he is a nice person. That was his superficial aspect. I’ve seen a lot of these kinds of people before.

“Lee Hwan… Supervisor of ROKHA… I see. I saw you in the news. You do look like your brother.”

I didn’t respond to that. There was no need to.

“Alright. Shall we continue? I heard that you wanted to recruit my dear niece. Is that correct?”

It was quite strange; the news should not have been released. There was a news ban about it, but this man knew what I was talking about. There had been news released that two unique skill holders have appeared, but they didn’t broadcast who they were. It was my and Ho’s intention to hide their identities. Even the government tried to do that as well.

She was still young, and she was just about to start her life as a Hunter. She didn’t have to reveal herself and she should hide her identity. But this man has already heard the news from someone, and his next words were proof of that.

“Ko-gu-Rea guild told me that my niece is a unique skill holder.”

As I expected, he had heard it from those who were in the registration center.

“Honestly, I did more than my duty. I raised her for about twelve years, and if it weren’t for me, no one else would have done that.”

“And you bought a used uniform for her? I also heard that you never gave her money.”

“I see that you are young. Well, listen here, young man. Children should be raised strong so that they can be independent. I’m doing this for my brother. Pocket money? Why would she need that? There’s a lot of food for her.”

“Then why is she abnormally thin? “

He chuckled, and So-Eun lowered her head, I suppose to hide. She then spoke out softly.

“He always…”

“Always?”

“Gave me the food he’s already eaten. The leftovers were all I could get.”

I immediately frowned, but Kim Tae-Yang was standing as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“What’s important is that I gave you food. It’s you who didn’t want to eat.”

“How can I eat that? Those are leftovers…”

Tears were dripping down her face. I could see that the shame and sorrow in her eyes. Tae-Yang shrugged.

“It’s your fault anyway.”

Then he looked at me, spouting some more bullshit.

“That’s how I raised her. She is an independent child. She got all As in high school, I raised her like this.”

I knew that the world was huge, but I was always surprised that there are sons of bitches like this man here. I did encounter these types of men in Valhalla, but he was certainly one of the worst.

I wanted to hear what he had to say.

“I’m not married, but I’m her father, her family. I was a busy man who couldn’t care much. I never abused her sexually. I’m just an uncle to her.”

“And so?”

“As I mentioned, it was hard to raise a child that’s not my own. Also, everything I did was to prevent her from obesity. Look at her. She is not fat at all.”

Except she is extremely skinny. She wasn’t obese, but we still had to worry about her health. I had to laugh.

“Just get to the point and tell me what you want. How much did that guild offer?”

Tae-Yang was surprised to hear that. Geez, how did he know?

“Let’s make this short. How much did they offer you?”

Without a word, he raised his hands into a ‘one’ and a ‘four.’

“1.4 billion dollars?”

Tae-Yang smirked.

“It’s 14 billion. Cash, of course, and excluding the tax.”

His smile became more sinister. “Now, how much will Cheon-Myeong offer? Ko-gu-Rea offered 14 billion.”

“So you want more than that?”

“It will be better for you to offer more. I see that you are training her in ROKHA and leading her to Cheon-Myeong. What a scale.”

It was just done by my will, but the decision was framed as Cheon-Myeong guild’s specialized plan to train her.

“Using authority as a training center? The scale of Cheon-Myeong is impressive. If my niece is the first case like this, then aren’t you more desperate for her? Now, I expect a higher price.”

He was confident. He looked like a salesman who was selling his own niece at a high price.

“If Cheon-Myeong offers more money, then Ko-gu-Rea will quit their offer, and I can get a reward for raising her. It’s good for both of us.”

I stood still and watched him. He was laughing at my attitude.

“The hero’s brother? You can’t win over me. If I call Ko-gu-Rea right now, they’ll come to protect me. Even if they are behind Cheon-Myeong in terms of power, they are one of the strongest in this country. If you intend to recruit my dear niece, don’t you have to pay more?”

He spoke to me as if I was a psycho, and his tone was trying to persuade me. I tried my best to restrain myself, but I suppose that didn’t work well.

“Don’t you remember what I just said?”

“…What the hell are you talking about?”

“If you show me rude behavior, then I’ll kill you. Remember?”

He reacted to my words quickly.

“What kind of absurdity is that? Killing me? You know that Hunters and ordinary people’s laws are different.”

He didn’t know that the card he was trying to play is useless to me. As he spoke, he emphasized the connections he had. That was just useless.

“Do you think I’m just a normal person? I have connections with Raul from the US. I took care of one of the strongest unique skill holders in the world. If Ko-gu-Rea and Raul unite, even Cheon-Myeong will experience difficulties.”

I stopped smiling. Our conversation was now over.

“So-Eun.”

“Yes…?”

“You remember my exact words, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Let me be clear. You have a chance that will never come again. So choose wisely.”

Tae-Yang was just watching us silently. He still thought that he was in control of everything.

“Your first choice will be to just go for the guild he mentioned. Being sold, if you want to be technical about it. The amount they offered is quite expensive, but you will suffer a lot. I don’t know much about a Hunter’s life, but I can assure you of that. That’s your first choice, but the second is…”

I looked around. This house was isolated from the others.

“Next is about dealing with issues. To be more specific, cut the chain that’s tying you down. Kill this guy and start a new life.”

Kim So-Eun’s eyes widened at my words, and Tae-Yang gaped in surprise. I ignored his reaction.

“…You told me you’d help me.”

“Yes, I did.”

“You told me that you’d offer something that others won’t.”

That was also true.

“That’s what I’m giving you.”

“…Huh?”

“Your second choice, only I can offer that. Let’s be honest, Lee Ho doesn’t think that you can be a successful Hunter. He is not sure. Money? If I say so, then he can give you that. But that will be because of me. To the Cheon-Myeong guild, your value is just that.”

“……….”

“You can join somewhere else and live as you want, but that will eventually make you dependent on me. You want to be independent. This is not the type of life you want.”

“…….That’s true.”

“What I’m offering you now is different. That’s because it’s just a promise between you and me.”

To be honest, my emotions had told me to recruit her as a member of ROKHA. I won’t deny the fact that it was just because of my will. Because of her eyes, I wanted to train her.

However, my plan was solid.

She would be a big help in the future. Not just for me but also for my brother. So-Eun listened to me intently.

I hated those who did not have any responsibilities. If I chose to do something, I would go with it until the end. I was paying her back for what she would do in the future.

I realized that this girl saw the world as easy. Her desire to change was admirable, but she must face the harsh reality first.

“Choose. You have an opportunity to stand up for yourself.”

I was not a fool. Her ability looked useful to me, so I’m offering her a deal. Though it was only because of the system, her unique ability is equal to those of mine or Ho’s.

There might be some concerns if her regeneration ability only applies to her. But I know the characteristics of such abilities. They could grow further. As her supervisor, I could teach her how to use that ability on someone.

I could offer her two things that others couldn’t.

First, I could train her and enhance her power so that she could regenerate someone else as well. Second, I could give her freedom so that she didn’t have to rely on someone else.

I would do anything to keep my promise. I couldn’t do that in Valhalla, so I lost my allies. I wouldn’t repeat the mistakes that I had made.

“Where are the eyes you showed me before? Did that just last for a day? What a shame. If you need more time, I can still wait.”

Kim So-Eun lowered her head. She sure was a clever one. I could see that she understood exactly what I was saying.

At the playground, she had told me that she wanted to live a separate life from her uncle. But that was impossible to do now. Their conflict would only end when one of them dies.

So-Eun raised her head.

“…Release me.”

“From what?”

“The chain that has been tying me down.”

“And?”

“…Set me free.”

That was enough for me.

I turned my head. Kim Tae-Yang was using his smartwatch to call someone. I didn’t stop him. As I approached him slowly, he stepped back. Simultaneously, someone picked up his call.

“Hurry… Hurry and save me!”

From his watch, a voice was coming out.

[ What’s that? ]

“I’ll give you that bitch! So be quick!”

He tripped on his own feet and fell to the ground, looking up at me.

“So-Eun.”

As I called out to her, she answered quietly.

“…Yes, sir.”

“I’ll teach you how Hunters live. First, if you are attacked, fight back. Never let yourself get hit.”

“………..”

“Second, if you lack power, wait and look for a chance.”

Tae-Yang tried to stand up. Before he could rise, I broke his right leg with a stomp.

“#@^#$&$%^*%^&(&*(“

He screamed out loud, but because of the pain, he could not speak properly. All I could hear were random screeching sounds.

In cases of extreme distress, a person could sometimes exceed his limits. This was exactly what happened now. Tae-Yang, despite his broken leg, stood up and tried to run.

I grabbed his head and pulled him back.

“Third, if you get a chance, do it immediately.”

“Who—who do you think you are!”

I ignored his words and exerted more force onto him.

“Ko—Ko-gu-Rea guild! They will kill you, and Cheon-Myeong will get hurt! I already signed the contract with them!”

I stopped for a bit, and a smile broke out of my mouth.

He probably didn’t have an idea about the path I had taken. There were a lot of corrections needed for his statement, and I decided to give him a few.

“Do you know how many people have tried to kill me?”

He was nervous. He was eagerly thinking about the answer, but it was no use.

“You don’t know?”

“Wh—what the hell are you saying. Let go of me, you piece of…”

“It was at least more than a million people. Do you know what happened to them?”

“I said let me go!”

I laughed out loud and answered the question that I had asked him.

“Everyone died. You’ll be following their path in about five seconds.”

Like what I did to Joo-Heon, I broke his other leg and both arms. He continued to scream before I grabbed his throat and slowly exerted pressure to choke him.

“One.”

“Ah…”

“Two.”

“P—plea…se…”

“Three”

“S…pa…re…me…”

“Four.”

“P—please…Spare…me…”

“Five.”

With a loud crack, Tae-Yang was dead. He was like a marionette that had its strings cut off. I looked down on him for a while, then turned around.

With fear in her eyes, Kim So-Eun was observing me. I guess she never thought that I would really kill her uncle, but I didn’t care much.

“How much time do you need?”

“…Huh?”

“I know that you have some things to bring. Five minutes enough for you?”

She nodded and slowly walked forward. As she moved to go inside the house, I sat down and checked Kim Tae-Yang’s smartwatch.

I don’t have any intentions of stealing it; I just wanted to check. The watch was still on. As I held it, a man’s voice came out.

[ …What on Earth did you just do? ]