Do Chae-hee is not an idealist.
Of course, she knew that perfect justice couldn’t exist in this world. Nevertheless, she always wanted her actions to fit within the framework of justice.
Even when she was criticized by those around her, even when she was mocked for living the way she did, the reason she didn’t compromise was because of this.
Always wanting to be righteous.
According to that justice, this is the right thing to do.
Han Seo-hyeon has been completely branded as a villain since the public wanted notice. Although they attached the word ‘suspect’, now on the 5th day of the public wanted notice, he has come to be known as the only identified member of Weltschmerz.
‘There’s no need to feel guilty. Han Seo-hyeon is clearly moving with Weltschmerz, no, he is Weltschmerz.’
After the public wanted notice, Do Chae-hee moved busily. Han Seo-hyeon, the recently revealed member of Weltschmerz, the hottest topic in Korea. Related information poured in to an unmanageable extent.
Foregoing sleep, Do Chae-hee tried to dig out even a little useful information from this swamp of information. Looking at her pitifully, Park Cheol-wan asked:
“Any results?”
“Nothing decisive, but it’s better than when we had nothing. Information is actually pouring in. It’s also attracted attention.”
“Coffee?”
“No, I’m fine. I think I’ve had about thirty cups just today.”
At those words, Park Cheol-wan shuddered. He couldn’t imagine how hard she was working.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Finally, the whole world knows that Weltschmerz are dangerous guys…”
“That’s not what I meant. I’m asking about that friend. Are you okay with putting out a public wanted notice?”
“What’s not okay! He’s a criminal anyway.”
Do Chae-hee’s voice trembled at the end of her words. At Park Cheol-wan’s gaze, Do Chae-hee bit her lip.
Although Do Chae-hee always said there’s no compromise with evil, this matter was a bit overwhelming. Han Seo-hyeon is not a good person. He’s evil because he associated with evil people, no, because he committed evil acts.
But despite that, the reason this fact troubles Do Chae-hee is probably because the real bad guy she wants to punish is someone else.
“The real bad one is that masked bastard, but it feels bad that only this kid is taking all the blame.”
It’s not simply about letting him off because he’s young.
Do Chae-hee had met Han Seo-hyeon in person before.
“I met that kid before. His brother was a victim in the Kang Yi-sin case. In front of someone who was about to die, I asked for a statement like a heartless person. At that time, the kid said to me.”
Do Chae-hee recalled what she heard then.
-My only family returned with a terminal illness. Is it such a difficult request to want to spend what might be the last time quietly?
So in fact, Do Chae-hee thought Han Seo-hyeon had given up on his brother, Han Jo-hee.
There’s no answer for mana addiction. It was a treatment that just consumed money mindlessly, impossible for Han Seo-hyeon to continue in his circumstances.
But later she found out that Han Seo-hyeon had somehow scraped together money to pay for Han Jo-hee’s hospital bills. Even after that, he had begged the hospital several times not to give up on his brother.
He’s only seventeen. A child who hadn’t even properly graduated from the academy was burning everything to try to save his brother.
“When he lost that brother, what do you think that kid thought? You know? They say that kid turned his brother into a skeleton. I feel like I know what that kid was thinking when he turned his brother into an undead.”
At Do Chae-hee’s words, Park Cheol-wan asked:
“Do you think he joined Weltschmerz to get revenge on ‘Kang Yi-sin’?”
Do Chae-hee carefully nodded.
Do Chae-hee, who had also lost family to villains just like Han Seo-hyeon, understood Han Seo-hyeon’s feelings better than anyone else in this world.
“Weltschmerz is using Han Seo-hyeon. Han Seo-hyeon, that kid’s only fault is that he trusted the most terrible person in the world. That he trusted the adult he should never have trusted.”
That’s why Do Chae-hee could never forgive Weltschmerz. Those bastards who wield a child’s desire for revenge as they please.
“I’ll definitely catch Han Seo-hyeon. And I’ll tell that kid that the path he’s going down is wrong. That’s what a real adult should do, right?”
Seeing the light in Do Chae-hee’s eyes, Park Cheol-wan nodded.
Do Chae-hee had grown up before he knew it. Enough to make him smile.
* * *
I waited in the living room for Han Seo-hyeon to come out. As soon as Han Seo-hyeon came out the door, I used the magic phrase.
“Sit down here.”
“W-why, what’s wrong?”
The power of that magic phrase was amazing, instantly draining the color from the face of that kid who had been shamelessly deceiving me for days.
“I said sit down here because I have something to talk about.”
“Ugh.”
While grumbling that he didn’t want to, Han Seo-hyeon reluctantly sat down in front of me.
“Why didn’t you tell me? You’ve become wanted nationwide.”
Han Seo-hyeon had ended up in the same situation as me, wanted nationwide. Thanks to his identity being certain, like ‘Kang Yi-sin’, there was no hole to escape through.
Han Seo-hyeon pouted his lips at my words and said:
“It’s not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal?”
I let out a deep sigh.
Well, considering everything that’s happened, it was only a matter of time. It’s not just Han Seo-hyeon’s fault. I was too complacent too.
But still. I was so angry I felt my blood boiling when kids who had attended the academy with Han Seo-hyeon made trashy comments like he was ‘originally a gloomy bastard’ or ‘I knew he’d be like this’.
I barely calmed my anger and said:
“Even if this is over, you can’t go back to a normal life.”
“What’s a normal life anyway?”
“Oh boy.”
Making such cliché statements. But considering everything Han Seo-hyeon has been through, this is all my fault.
—Well, it’s a bit much for someone who acts wearing such a mask to say others are being cliché.
‘Be quiet.’
As I was organizing my thoughts for a while, Han Seo-hyeon said:
“I like this life here. I like the life I spend here with Boss and Jae-ho hyung.”
—Hyung? Is that twisted family tree still the same?
At Ray’s words, I bit my lip hard.
‘I said I’d take it to my grave, didn’t I?’
My conscience stings even more. How did I, who has absolutely no talent for child-rearing, end up suddenly raising such a young kid.
“If you’re really worried about me, don’t say such nonsense and just think about taking proper responsibility for my life. Don’t come back all messed up like that.”
This is another valid point, so I have nothing to say. I just kept sighing deeply. Yeah, now that things have come to this, what can we do.
“Anyway, I understand. But don’t hide things from now on. The more you hide, the more I’ll have to deal with later. Honestly, you can’t hide things well either, understand?”
“Ugh.”
At my words, Han Seo-hyeon nodded with a stiff face.
“You’re not going to scold me more?”
“I’d scold you more if there was anything else to scold about. Anyway, I got it. You do what you need to do too.”
“What are you going to do?”
Han Seo-hyeon asked as he saw me staggering to my feet. What am I going to do?
“I have to try to clean things up somehow, don’t I?”
* * *
I said to Ray:
“This won’t do.”
It’s not the time to slowly recover my body.
—Didn’t you overdo it just recently?
“There’s a mountain of things to do.”
There’s no end to the things that need to be cleaned up. There’s a ton of internal work to do, but the external issues are even more problematic.
Externally, I needed to determine Weltschmerz’s direction of activities, and wrap up the Butcher incident. Even if nothing could be done about Han Seo-hyeon who had already become publicly wanted, I had to do something about the information related to us spreading like this.
I also need to somehow calm down the overheated dark web.
It’s been a week since the Butcher died.
During that time, all sorts of gossip has been sticking to the silent Weltschmerz. This alone is enough for false rumors to spread. That I was seriously injured (this is true), or that we were caught by the government, or that we were revenged upon by the Top. There’s no end to the rumors.
Our image must not be damaged.
We’re already hearing harsh words from here and there about bringing along a 17-year-old kid, and now with these rumors spreading on top of that. Anyway, we needed one big move to suppress those rumors.
There’s a lot to do internally as well.
We needed to properly reinforce the still shoddy base before winter comes, deal with Yebrica’s mana stone rolling on the floor, and somehow make the Butcher’s artifact usable.
Ah, I also needed to remake my broken mana bracelet.
Anyway, to do all this, my body needed to be in good condition.
Yeah, I can’t keep whimpering forever.
—So what do you plan to do?
‘I told you. I’m going to unlock the 3-stroke talent.’
For the past week, I carefully checked all the mana circuits laid out in my body. And I confirmed that the mana circuits connected to my arms were damaged.
The physical destruction had cut off even the mana circuits. This side feels completely dead, like my flesh is no longer flesh. Although it doesn’t rot or anything because it’s a body containing mana, it certainly doesn’t feel ‘alive’ at all.
But seeing that I can feel sensation in my fingertips, it’s probably just a feeling and not completely dead.
Super Regeneration should be able to revive it.
Okay, okay…
Actually, I have a rough idea.
—You have an idea?
“The more powerful the talent, the more mana circuits it requires. Like how Super Regeneration takes up 3 strokes.”
—That’s right?
“But even with a 1-stroke talent, you can produce high power if you pour in mana, right?”
It’s a matter of efficiency, but it’s possible. I realized it at the end of the battle with Park Sang-pyeon. What I did with the 1-stroke lightning ability was actually a power not befitting 1 stroke at all.
By intertwining lightning with lightning to create a massive lightning, I effectively produced the effect of 2 or 3 strokes, not just 1.
So I produced the same effect by pouring mana outside my body?
It was such a crude method that my arms that couldn’t handle the output ended up breaking, but anyway, I produced an effect beyond ‘1 stroke’ by pouring in mana.
“I think breaking through 3 strokes is similar.”
—Did you forget that your mana circuits were all damaged doing that?
“I know, I know. But it’s regeneration, right? Even if it breaks, it should recover again.”
My body has received massive mana several times. The mana circuits in my body have become much more elastic and stronger than before. Similar to how torn muscle fibers become stronger after recovery, my mana circuits became stronger after being injured and broken.
If more time passes like this, if I keep slowly pouring in a lot of mana, I might naturally unlock the 3-stroke talent at some point.
But I don’t have time.
I drew up mana. Then I started pouring that mana into the mana circuits related to regeneration. The mana circuits tear and split from the mana splashing around.
“Ugh.”
But the torn mana circuits soon began to ‘regenerate’. And they became a little stronger. I repeated this process incessantly. My mana quickly ran out. But it’s okay, I just need to draw out mana from the mana stone.
—You’re trying to draw mana from a mana stone without an artifact? Do you want to die?
‘It’s better if the circuits get overloaded and injured like that. They’ll become stronger after recovering through regeneration.’
I placed my hand on Yebrica’s mana stone. As I crudely drew in mana, the mana circuits broke and were injured once again.
But it’s no problem.
I just need to regenerate.
Destruction and regeneration. And regeneration and destruction. I repeated this process incessantly. For a while, I tempered my body through this crude process, absorbing the mana loaded in the mana stone.
My whole body became hot as if thrown into a furnace. My body trembled. It’s an overload phenomenon.
Mana that can’t flow through the mana circuits is no different from poison itself.
It’s not for nothing that people end up hospitalized with addiction symptoms due to mana seeping into their entire body.
But I believed in my recovery ability.
1 stroke: Recovery
2 strokes: Regeneration
3 strokes: Super Regeneration.
Up to 2 strokes, those mana circuits operate smoothly.
My body was now repeating a cycle of breaking and mending.
And the mana slowly approaches the 3rd stroke. The mana circuits that used to repel my mana, unable to withstand it, gradually began to accept my mana. Most of the mana bounced off to the outside, but there was clearly some mana seeping into the 3rd stroke among them.
And finally.
The 3rd stroke was activated by that seeped-in mana.
New flesh began to grow on my forearm that had looked hideously distorted. It’s not just new flesh growing. Severed nerves regrew, and my wrecked body began to recover instantly.
Finally, 3 strokes.
I’ve managed to unlock this super regeneration.