I touched my mask and roughly created the face of another young person. As Yoo Seon-je said, Team Leader Lee Hye-won was confined in prison.
—What a terrible sight.
As Ray said, her condition didn’t look good. It seemed she hadn’t received proper wound treatment, as her wounds were still there, and her clothes and face were all covered in blood that had flowed from those wounds.
Examining her wounds, I clicked my tongue. According to Yoo Seon-je, it was Han Seo-hyeon who made Team Leader Lee Hye-won this way.
Even so, to drive that person to this extent.
No, should I rather praise him?
—Praise?
‘Isn’t it amazing? To attack without mercy even against someone you knew? Normally, people can’t do this.’
—That kid would be really happy if you said those words to him.
Hmm, I can tell that’s sarcasm.
I approached the iron bars and spoke to Team Leader Lee Hye-won.
“Team Leader, can you hear me?”
Team Leader Lee Hye-won inside the iron bars was in a state where not a single word got through, as Yoo Seon-je said.
Examining Team Leader Lee Hye-won’s pupils that were still glowing yellow, I clicked my tongue.
—How did that guy far away give orders?
‘He must have input an algorithm in advance. To stab Yoo Seon-je when a chance comes as the clear gets close.’
Primarily, use the Top villains to kill all the hunters here and lower the possibility of clearing. Taking away the escape route and escaping to crush morale is a bonus. And if they still somehow try to clear the Gate, use Lee Hye-won to target Yoo Seon-je.
It was a perfect plan.
The command input into Team Leader Lee Hye-won for this plan was probably ‘Kill Yoo Seon-je’.
‘She’ll stay in that state until she kills Yoo Seon-je.’
What’s scary about Seol Rok-jin’s brainwashing is that once the trigger is pulled, they completely lose themselves until the operation is finished.
They become Seol Rok-jin’s puppet itself.
“Let’s try getting close for now.”
—Will it be okay?
“Team Leader Lee Hye-won is only targeting Yoo Seon-je. Rather, because she’s only targeting Yoo Seon-je, it’s safer than ever for other people.”
If Seol Rok-jin had ordered self-protection too, it might be different, but that’s unlikely.
As expected, Team Leader Lee Hye-won showed no reaction even when she saw me entering the iron bars.
To think she can’t even think of leaving these iron bars to target Yoo Seon-je.
Her condition is gradually worsening. Even if they break free from Seol Rok-jin’s brainwashing, many people become idiots.
I heard it’s a bit better in cases of main targets, but I don’t know if she’ll be fine even when the trigger is pulled like this. Maybe it’s already too late.
Approaching Team Leader Lee Hye-won like that, I frowned seeing her state.
I could see blood dripping from wounds that still hadn’t stopped bleeding.
“Oh no.”
I took out a potion from my pocket and sprinkled it on her wounds. Fortunately, she still stood there without any reaction to my approach.
—You’re treating her wounds even though you said you might have to kill her?
If we can’t break the brainwashing, we have to kill her. We can’t let Seol Rok-jin find out what we’ve seen and heard here.
Just as I’ve done until now, this person might have to be killed too. But unlike then, I now had a reliable helper.
‘How is it? Can you see?’
—Hmm, it’s severe. That guy’s magic power is binding this person’s brain. Like a parasite. But still, well, it’s not entirely impossible.
‘You mean you can remove it?’
—Yeah.
My heart raced at those words.
“Really?”
—It won’t be easy. But it’s possible. It seems that guy’s control has weakened here.
Slowly, my mana entered Team Leader Lee Hye-won’s body. Ray delicately examined Team Leader Lee Hye-won’s body. To find mana planted by someone else in another person’s body and burn only that magic power.
It was such delicate mana operation that I couldn’t even imitate. I thought I had become quite skilled at mana operation until now. But in front of Ray, I was at the level of a pupa showing off.
How long had it been since burning Seol Rok-jin’s golden mana like that? Team Leader Lee Hye-won slowly opened her eyes. Clear eyes looked at me.
“Wh-what is this…”
“Are you awake?”
I explained what had happened to Team Leader Lee Hye-won, who looked dazed. Clearing the Gate, and then the story of Team Leader Lee Hye-won going berserk at that moment. Team Leader Lee Hye-won was very surprised at my words that she had been brainwashed by someone.
“I, I did such a thing? Brainwashed? Who on earth…”
Does she have no memory at all? Well, Seol Rok-jin’s brainwashing ends in an instant. She must have encountered him somewhere at some point.
“I don’t know either.”
I calmly continued lying. To Yoo Seon-je of course, and even to Lee Hye-won. I had no intention of telling them about Seol Rok-jin’s identity.
As I said, if you make him an enemy clumsily, you won’t see a good end. It’s better to not know at all.
“So, Team Leader Lee Hye-won, it would be better for you to pretend to be dead for a while.”
“What?”
Seol Rok-jin’s brainwashing has been omnipotent until now. Unless deflected by a relic-class artifact, there have been no cases of breaking someone who was brainwashed.
Although the condition ‘inside the Gate’ is attached, breaking Lee Hye-won’s brainwashing was an incredible feat.
And I had no intention of letting this be discovered.
Only fools reveal their hidden cards right away. So it’s better to hide Team Leader Lee Hye-won in a safe place as a dead person as much as possible…
“Well, the wrong I committed is quite big…”
“What?”
I don’t know how she understood my intention, but Team Leader Lee Hye-won quietly presented her neck to me.
“Please make it painless.”
“No! That’s not what I meant!”
I hastily waved my hands and feet.
Slowly, I explained my plan once again. Team Leader Lee Hye-won’s face, which had turned pale, finally began to regain its color.
“You mean pretend to be dead.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But where should I stay after leaving here…”
“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that.”
At my words that I would take care of everything once we get out, Team Leader Lee Hye-won bowed her head.
After hiding Team Leader Lee Hye-won in a suitable place, I immediately went to find the supporter team.
Since I couldn’t kill everyone who had seen my face, I had to tell appropriate lies.
“Hello.”
At my greeting, Lee Jae-eun welcomed me with a surprised face.
“Oh, oh! You woke up? Oh? Oh.”
“Your face is different from the one we saw before.”
At Oh Hyo-jun’s words, I nodded and said:
“This is my ‘real’ face.”
At my words, Lee Jae-eun asked excitedly:
“You can change your face like that?”
“Is, is that an ability too?”
I nodded. It’s difficult to completely make them forget the face of Kang Yi-sin they’ve already seen. Especially if they know ‘murder suspect’ Kang Yi-sin. But how many people would accurately remember the face of a criminal who was publicly wanted several months ago?
Only Yoo Seon-je, who already knew me, recognized me right away, these people probably didn’t look at my face carefully.
So it wasn’t difficult to replace that memory with another person’s face.
There was one more problem. Han Seo-hyeon’s voice. I easily told lies about this too.
Like the famous soccer player David Beckham. I said it was a voice to have a complex about, so he refrained from talking.
As I continued my explanation mentioning celebrities, people soon nodded.
And there was one more thing I had to say.
“Team Leader Lee Hye-won…”
I continued speaking with a sad expression.
I said that Team Leader Lee Hye-won was cursed here. I tried to remove the poison, but it was difficult now without a proper healer or cure potion, and in the end she lost her life.
The supporter team was shocked at my explanation, but they believed this lie better than any other lie. That means the state of Team Leader Lee Hye-won they saw last was that bad.
After finishing the last lie, I caught my breath.
The cleanup was roughly successful.
I added several more ‘lies’ just in case, so there should be no information leaking from this side. Even if it leaks, it will just go round and round within the lies I’ve set up.
Now it’s time to leave the Gate.
After finishing all preparations and standing in front of the Gate’s exit, Yoo Seon-je came to me.
“Come to think of it, I didn’t ask. What exactly is your ability? How on earth did you get that ability?”
At Yoo Seon-je’s words, I shrugged.
“Just somehow. It’s just various miscellaneous things, so it’s not something you need to care about.”
Yoo Seon-je seemed to have become unnecessarily interested in me, but I brushed him off with the excuse of not having time.
“When can we meet again?”
To Yoo Seon-je asking like that, I roughly nodded.
“Well, we’ll meet sometime as we live our lives.”
In fact, I just answered like that, but I had no intention of meeting him at all.
Because the fate of Yoo Seon-je I know ends here. Saving him once is enough, I had no intention of cleaning up after that unpleasant guy anymore.
Standing in front of the Gate, I said to Yoo Seon-je:
“Take care of yourself.”
Because I don’t plan to save you again. At my curt words, Yoo Seon-je opened his mouth.
“You too.”
I blinked at the unexpected answer.
And at the same time, the Gate swallowed Yoo Seon-je.
“Really.”
—Wasn’t that guy smiling just now?
‘What a creepy thing to say. You must have seen wrong.’
A smiling Yoo Seon-je, it’s scary even in dreams.
I turned my head back. Han Seo-hyeon, who had been hiding well until now, poked his head out.
“Let’s leave too.”
* * *
The reporters waiting for news of the conquest were sitting in formation in front of the Gate again today. Most were rookie reporters with less experience.
“Damn, it’s been three weeks today? Why is it taking so long?”
“Don’t tell me they’re failing?”
“What nonsense.”
No one thought the Sirius conquest team would fail to conquer the Gate. They just had questions about the unprecedentedly long conquest.
“Maybe the scenery inside the Gate is so beautiful that they’re conquering slowly and enjoying it before coming out. Didn’t someone from the Constellation Guild say that last time?”
It was when they were killing time with such nonsense talk. The Gate in front of their eyes began to ripple.
The reporters around all turned their gaze to the Gate. There, the Sirius hunters they had been waiting for so long appeared one by one.
“Wow!”
“It’s the conquest team!”
But before they could even properly take photos, a black sand storm swallowed the surroundings.
“Wh-what’s going on!”
The reporters who had been sitting there for a scoop all screamed. After that raging sand storm ended, the Gate closed in front of their eyes.
“W-wait a minute!”
On a night when even the moon was hiding behind clouds, the reporters hurriedly turned on the lights they had placed around.
And they discovered a conquest team that wasn’t even half of half of half the size it was when they entered.
“This, this can’t be!”
“Where are the rest of the people?”
“Did, did they succeed in the conquest?”
“The Gate closed so they must have succeeded! Who from where asked such a stupid question?”
It was chaotic.
Yoo Seon-je, who had to answer those questions, said with an exhausted face:
“There will be a press conference tomorrow. Please step aside.”
“Excuse me, just one word!”
“Tomorrow, there will be a press conference.”
People hurriedly distanced themselves from him after seeing Yoo Seon-je’s pupils distort.