#100
Kim Sehyun froze, his mind blank with incomprehension. Soon, others approached and roughly grabbed Kim Sehyun, lifting him up, while helping Shin Serim who had fallen to the ground.
“Ah!”
Kim Sehyun let out a short scream as a strong esper’s hand gripped his arm. He meant to ask to be let go, but the grip only tightened with crushing force.
“Serim unnie, are you okay?”
Guides close to Shin Serim approached, murmuring words of comfort. Kim Sehyun bit his lip hard, realizing there was no escape. He felt he had fallen into Shin Serim’s trap. He was filled with hatred for Shin Serim, who was receiving comfort from others while looking stunned.
“Look at how he’s glaring.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
People felt betrayed by Kim Sehyun’s glare at Shin Serim. His previous act of being sensitive and kind now felt even more deceptive.
Anyone can have arguments or put on a persona for social interactions. But Kim Sehyun had acted as if he was inherently kind and gentle, cultivating an image of someone who couldn’t harm a fly. If he hadn’t tried to strangle Shin Serim, his image might not have changed so drastically, but what was revealed when the tent split open was too blatant.
Moreover, his conversation with Shin Serim was disturbing. The idea of stealing someone else’s power was enough to make people want to distance themselves, even if they had been close to Kim Sehyun before. Not knowing how it worked, people were reluctant to approach Kim Sehyun, fearing their power might be stolen, except for the two espers who had to hold him out of necessity.
“Ha… Haejun.”
Kim Sehyun looked around desperately and called out to Shin Haejun. As he looked at Shin Haejun with tears streaming down his face, Shin Haejun stared back expressionlessly.
Perhaps Shin Haejun was behind all of this. It might all be a trap set up with Shin Serim.
But Kim Sehyun didn’t have many options to begin with. Even if that were the case, he was in a position where he had to beg for Shin Haejun’s mercy. The reason he had rushed here at Shin Haejun’s call, even after being arrested for trespassing and desperately finding a new place to live, was because Shin Haejun held all the cards.
Not only was it difficult to live in this country after falling out of favor with the Hae-seon Group, but there were no other espers with a meaningful matching rate. It was also a problem that he couldn’t undergo a matching test that verified guiding ability, as he couldn’t guide properly without Jaeha.
Surprisingly, Shin Haejun just looked at Kim Sehyun without condemning or saying anything. However, given the situation, Kim Sehyun naturally felt intimidated. He closed his eyes tightly, hoping desperately for help just this once.
“First… let me hear about your motives. We haven’t defeated the boss yet, so everyone stay put and don’t scatter.”
As Shin Haejun spoke in a cold voice, Kim Sehyun’s face brightened slightly. He felt hope that if he could just persuade Shin Haejun, he might somehow get out of this situation.
Moving to a slightly secluded spot, Kim Sehyun looked around and pleaded earnestly with Shin Haejun.
“Can’t we… talk somewhere farther away?”
“Do you understand your position?”
Shin Haejun frowned slightly as he spoke, but Kim Sehyun wanted to have the conversation where others couldn’t see. He didn’t want others to witness the process of him trying to persuade Shin Haejun.
The espers who heard Kim Sehyun’s plea shook their heads. They whispered that Shin Haejun must have ended the partnership because he had known about these issues for a while.
Shin Haejun eventually took Kim Sehyun to a much more distant location. After moving to a place where people were rarely seen, Shin Haejun glared coldly at Kim Sehyun.
“Ha-Haejun.”
“We both know each other’s true colors now, so why don’t you drop the act?”
At Shin Haejun’s words, Kim Sehyun hesitated for a moment, then bit the inside of his cheek and laughed awkwardly.
“I… I must have gone crazy then. I’ve been so blessed all this time, but I didn’t realize it…! Ah! You know how sudden celebrities sometimes get celebrity disease, right? When I became an S-class guide, I felt like my status suddenly rose… so I went a little crazy. Really, really.”
Kim Sehyun rambled on as if embarrassed. However, as Shin Haejun’s expression remained unchanged, his voice gradually grew quieter.
“I see you’re going to keep this up.”
“Of… of course you must be disappointed… but can’t you believe me just once? We’re pairs…”
“We were pairs.”
Shin Haejun was unyielding. Feeling frustrated, Kim Sehyun glared at Shin Haejun with an aggrieved face and shouted.
“Then why did you call me here? You just wanted to humiliate me, didn’t you!”
“What are you talking about? I was going to address your attempted murder of Guide Shin Serim just now.”
“At… attempted murder…?”
Kim Sehyun’s face turned pale at hearing the frightening words.
It was true that he had harbored murderous intent, and if he hadn’t been stopped, he would have killed her, but…
“Attempted murder, that makes me sound like a serious criminal!”
“You are a serious criminal. You tried to kill Guide Shin Serim.”
Kim Sehyun bit his lip hard. It was true, so he had nothing to say, but he didn’t want to admit it.
“That’s… that… it’s because that woman kept saying nonsense!”
“What nonsense?”
Kim Sehyun, who had been making excuses randomly, froze at Shin Haejun’s sudden question. He regretted his poor excuse, realizing he shouldn’t have let the conversation flow this way.
‘Did Shin Haejun not hear?’
If so, it would be incredibly fortunate. Seeing a glimmer of hope, Kim Sehyun started making various excuses to Shin Haejun.
“She kept spreading bad rumors about you… and after badmouthing you so severely, she even mocked my status as an orphan! Because of that… I just lost control…”
He spoke with his head down, trying to appear pitiful. Being an orphan was the easiest way to gain people’s sympathy, so he was trying to take advantage of that.
And it seemed Shin Haejun had fallen for it, as a large hand soon touched Kim Sehyun’s head. Just as he thought Shin Haejun was going to pat his head comfortingly, Shin Haejun sneered and yanked Kim Sehyun’s head back.
“It’s true that you took Jaeha’s power. You think you can try to kill someone over just that?”
“Ah, agh! It, it hurts!”
It felt like his scalp was being ripped off. But as he tried to scream, Shin Haejun’s other hand firmly covered his mouth. Kim Sehyun’s eyes widened in terror, unable to do anything.
“Cowardly assaulting others like this by force. Did you think that would cover up everything?”
Haejun, that’s not it.
The desperate words turned into meaningless mumbles, muffled by Shin Haejun’s hand.
Shin Haejun’s eyes were very cold. And chills kept running down Kim Sehyun’s spine. Not realizing this was his body’s response to murderous intent, Kim Sehyun trembled while being held.
“How could you suddenly snap like that? How scared must Guide Shin Serim have been? Hm? I should at least give you a warning.”
“I… I’m sor-”
Just as he was about to say he was sorry, Shin Haejun cut him off. Like a prophet receiving a revelation:
“You’re going to die soon. No one will know that you died because you were just a parasite interfering with Jaeha’s life. You’ll go down in history as a criminal who stole Jaeha’s power and pretended to be S-class. Your theft of someone else’s power will be recorded in the history books of the Awakened. You’ll be cursed for generations to come. Now Jaeha will regain his original abilities, receive proper treatment and public acclaim, and become even safer. This is all happening because of your wrongdoing.”
Each syllable struck Kim Sehyun’s ears like lightning. He stared blankly up at Shin Haejun, unable to control his trembling body. It was terrifying and horrific.
“You think I won’t be safe if I do this? Don’t worry. This will all end as a tragic accident in the dungeon. People will be horrified, but they won’t even feel sorry for you because you were such an inhuman criminal.”
After finishing all his words, Shin Haejun smiled with a refreshed expression. He could have killed him secretly, but he decided to make the dungeon Kim Sehyun’s grave for a reason.
He had decided to send a warning to the dungeon and the author who kept trying to kill Jaeha. That he had personally killed Kim Sehyun because they kept making attempts.
Tears poured from Kim Sehyun’s large eyes. But Shin Haejun didn’t care. He threw Kim Sehyun far away with inescapable force.
‘I have to… run away.’
Kim Sehyun desperately tried to move his legs that wouldn’t budge. He pushed the ground with his buttocks, somehow managed to stand on his two legs, and ran wildly in the opposite direction from Shin Haejun.
He wanted to cry out for help, but he knew it would only waste energy. It was because he had asked to come to a place far from the base camp. There were no people around, so shouting wouldn’t help, and above all… his mouth simply wouldn’t move.
As he focused solely on running desperately, he rolled down hills and got scratched and stung by grass all over. Kim Sehyun ran like mad, tears streaming down his face. Every time he heard deceptive words like “Be careful” or “You’ll get hurt” from behind, he kept falling and getting injured.
As fear and anger gradually welled up together, he suddenly realized that a chilling sensation was brushing past his body, front and back.
“Ah… aagh!”
His vision, blurred with fear and anger, cleared for a moment. Kim Sehyun witnessed a giant statue in front of him, its mouth wide open. It was a statue five times his height.
“Sa-save me, please save me!”
He desperately pleaded with Shin Haejun, who was trying to kill him. But with no answer from behind, he hesitated and moved backwards, turning his head for a moment.
Shin Haejun was smiling.
“If you turn your head, you die.”
Before he could even grasp the meaning of those words, his body suddenly floated into the air. Kim Sehyun realized that the statue had moved at an insane speed and grabbed him, lifting him into the air.
And at the same time, he realized that people were approaching from a distance.
“Hel-!”
Before he could call for help, he was smashed into the ground at a speed faster than a roller coaster, turning into a pulp.
Shin Haejun was still smiling.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
Omg I know it’s literally in the title but I did NOT expect that to be so…simple?💀