Chapter 5
“KRRRROOOOAAARRRGH!”
Inside a container at an abandoned chemical plant. A harrowing scream, a blend of a beast’s roar and a human’s shriek, echoed through the air.
The body of the girl bound to the bed, Lee Soo-ah, was twisting horribly. Pitch-black scales, starting from her right shoulder, crept up her neck and devoured half her face. From her back, grotesque wings, slick with blood, burst through her bones and flapped erratically.
[Demonization Progress: 82%]
For an average Hunter, these numbers would mean they’d already lost their minds and transformed into a monster. But the girl, with her superhuman willpower, clung desperately to the last threads of her humanity.
“Hnngh… Unnie… K-Kill me… Please…”
“Soo-ah! Just hold on a little longer! The doctor is here!”
Inspector and Team Leader Lee So-yoon sobbed, clutching her younger sister’s hand. Even Lee So-yoon, the renowned ‘Ice Witch’ famous for her cold rationality, was just a helpless older sister in the face of her family’s pain.
Jinhyuk watched the scene impassively, pulling on latex gloves.
“Step aside. If the guardian cries and wails, it’ll only raise the patient’s heart rate.”
“D-Doctor. Is it really possible? Even S-rank Healers gave up on her…”
“That’s because they’re Healers.”
Jinhyuk approached the bed. His eyes glowed blue with [God’s Eye (A)].
Inside the girl’s body was a complete mess. A pitch-black energy had coiled itself around her heart. It was the unknown toxic energy that had leaked from the ‘Abyss Gate’ three years ago. This toxic energy was侵蚀 her mana circuits and forcibly reassembling her cells one by one.
“This isn’t an illness.”
Jinhyuk spoke up.
“It’s evolution.”
“…Pardon?”
“This toxic energy isn’t trying to kill its host. Rather, it’s struggling to turn her into something stronger. It’s just that the human body can’t handle that power, so it’s collapsing.”
The Healers had viewed this toxic energy as a ‘malignant tumor to be removed’ and showered it with holy light. But the Abyss’s poison, when exposed to light, resists more fiercely and proliferates. So the more they treated her, the worse her condition inevitably became.
“Then… what should we do?”
“Simple. We have to make her accept it.”
Jinhyuk opened his bag. He took out a surgical scalpel, forceps, and… a small lead box. Opening the box revealed a jewel-like crystal emitting a brilliant red light.
“Th-This is…?”
“A Dragon’s gallstone.”
Jinhyuk grinned wryly. It wasn’t actually a gallstone, but a crystal he’d refined overnight from the [High-Concentration Mana Residue] he’d obtained after performing an enema procedure on Balakas a few days ago. It was a condensed mass of pure mana from an S-rank Dragon.
“The Abyss poison runs amok because it lacks a ‘master’ to control it. So, we just attach something stronger. A clear hierarchy.”
Jinhyuk’s plan was nothing short of insane. He intended to implant the Dragon’s mana stone into the girl’s heart, creating an artificial [Mana Filter]. It was a major surgery to suppress the Abyss poison with the Dragon’s energy, refine it, and convert it into usable energy for the girl.
“Wh-What’s the success rate?”
“That depends on my skill. Well, if I fail, I’ll be monster chowder right here with you, so don’t worry.”
Jinhyuk spoke like it was a joke, but his eyes turned cold and serious. He ushered Lee So-yoon out.
“I won’t use anesthesia. If you lose your grip on your mind, the poison will consume you, Soo-ah. Can you hear me? Grit your teeth and hold on.”
The girl gave a weak nod. The scalpel in Jinhyuk’s hand flashed coldly.
“Beginning thoracotomy.”
Shrrrk.
With the sound of flesh parting, black blood spurted out. But Jinhyuk’s hands didn’t waver. Minimizing blood loss with the [Hemostasis (B)] skill, he swiftly opened the ribs and exposed the heart.
The girl’s heart was already half-blackened, pulsating feebly.
“Krrrgh… AAAAH!”
The girl screamed. Sensing the intruder, the Abyss poison surged up, climbing Jinhyuk’s hand. A curse that burned and decayed flesh. Yet, Jinhyuk didn’t even blink.
“Arrogant little thing. Where do you get off playing parasite on a doctor?”
[Skill: ‘Absolute Medical Authority (S)’ Activated]
[Resisting status ailment ‘Decay’.]
Jinhyuk suppressed the poison with sheer force and slammed the prepared ‘Dragon’s Crystal’ into the center of the heart.
KWA-BOOOOM!
In an instant, a tremendous shockwave swept through the operating room. The black energy of the Abyss and the red energy of the Dragon clashed, sending sparks flying. The girl’s body lifted into the air.
[Warning! Rejection reaction occurring!]
[Two opposing forces are conflicting, placing the host’s body at risk of collapse.]
“Tch, the Dragon energy is too strong.”
Jinhyuk clicked his tongue. As expected, an S-rank monster’s power was too much for a human to handle. At this rate, her heart would burst before the filter even started working. He needed an intermediary.
“Balakas, this is your mess, so you take responsibility.”
Jinhyuk activated the communication artifact on his left wrist. He connected it to the creature’s wavelength in the hospital basement.
“Hey! Earn your keep!”
At that moment. In the basement 5th floor of Zeus Medical Tower in Gangnam, Seoul, Balakas, who had been sleeping, snapped its eyes open. Mama was calling.
[KUUUUOOOOO—!]
The Dragon’s will, transcending space, flowed through Jinhyuk’s fingertips and into the girl’s heart.
‘Calm down, you insignificant beings.’
The command of an overwhelming apex predator.
The rampaging Abyss poison fell silent like a frightened mouse. The red crystal completely fused with the heart and began to rotate smoothly.
Woong… Woong…
A sound like an engine starting. As the blackened blood passed through the crystal, it was purified into clear, red lifeblood and spread throughout her entire body.
[Surgery Successful!]
[Abyss poison converting to ‘Mutated Mana’.]
[Confirmation of new species birth.]
The hideous scales covering the girl’s body transformed into smooth skin. But they didn’t disappear completely. On her right arm and back, refined, armor-like black scales settled in place like tattoos. The wings on her back also shed their bloodied membrane, transforming into sharp, powerful black wings.
“Phew.”
Jinhyuk wiped the sweat from his brow and put down the scalpel. This wasn’t treatment. It was recreation.
An hour later. Soo-ah, waking from her exhaustion—not anesthesia—opened her eyes.
“…Unnie?”
“Soo-ah! Are you conscious?”
Lee So-yoon, who had been waiting outside, rushed in and embraced her sister. Soo-ah looked down at her own body. The monstrous scales were gone, replaced by a light, powerful physique. She touched the black patterns remaining on her right arm, but there was no pain. Instead, she felt a tremendous power dwelling within.
“I… I’m alive?”
“Yes, you’re alive. The doctor saved you.”
Lee So-yoon wiped her tears and looked at Jinhyuk. Jinhyuk was in the corner, stripping off his bloodied gloves and tossing them into the trash.
“Skip the thanks. Just pay the bill.”
Jinhyuk said flatly, holding out his hand. Lee So-yoon bowed her head deeply. It wasn’t just simple gratitude. It was a debt she could never repay, even with her whole life.
“I’ll keep my… promise.”
Lee So-yoon pulled a small USB memory stick from her bosom. On the surface was a sticker labeled [Top Secret – CODE: ABYSS].
“This is the original ‘Black Box’ video footage from the Abyss Gate operation three years ago. The government and the Association deleted this footage and pinned the blame for the operation’s failure on Team Leader Yoo Yi-soo. But the truth is different.”
Jinhyuk’s hand trembled slightly. The truth he had been searching for so desperately. He snatched the USB as if grabbing a lifeline.
“I’ll send you post-op care instructions via text, so take care of yourselves. Oh, and those wings. Don’t spread them carelessly. You’ll tear your clothes.”
Jinhyuk hurriedly packed his things and left. For him now, the patient wasn’t the important thing.
Inside Jinhyuk’s car. He turned on his laptop and, with trembling hands, inserted the USB. Complex encryption codes appeared, but after entering the password Lee So-yoon gave him, a single video file began to play.
Ssshhh—
The screen flickered. It was inside the ‘Abyss Gate’, the worst disaster that had opened over Seoul’s sky three years ago.
[Team Leader! We’re running low on mana! We can’t close the gate like this!]
[We need to retreat! The collapse is starting!]
Screams from the team members could be heard. And in the center of the screen, amidst the pitch-black darkness, the back of a lone woman shining brightly was visible. A woman with silver hair streaming behind her, wielding twin swords.
It was Yoo Yi-soo.
Before her, countless mountain-sized monsters were charging in endlessly. The Abyss army, struggling to break into the real world.
[No.]
Even as the video flickered as if to cut out, her voice was clear.
[If I go out, this gate will open again. Someone has to stay inside and hold the ‘core’.]
[Team Leader! What are you saying! You have to come with us!]
[Go! Go and tell Jinhyuk. Tell him I’ll be right there. Tell him to have dinner ready and waiting!]
KWOOOONG!
Yoo Yi-soo crossed her twin swords, creating a massive shockwave. The recoil sent the team members flying out of the gate, and the gate’s entrance slowly began to close. No, it wasn’t closing. She was holding it from the inside.
Thousands, tens of thousands of monsters charged toward her. But she didn’t back down. Instead, she curled the corners of her mouth and gripped her swords tighter.
[Is this all you’ve got? Come on, you bastards. If you make my husband wait, I’ll kill every last one of you.]
FLASH!
The screen went white, flickering. And the video ended.
“……”
Jinhyuk couldn’t breathe. The laptop screen went dark, and his own face was reflected in the black monitor. Tears were streaming down his cheeks.
She wasn’t dead. Even now, three years later, she was fighting alone in that hellish place. Not to protect the world. To keep her promise to him. For that one trivial promise to have dinner together.
“…You idiot of a woman.”
Jinhyuk slammed his fist against the steering wheel.
HONK—!
The horn sound echoed through the empty lot.
He was furious. Furious at the colleagues who had fled, leaving her behind. Furious at the government that had covered up the truth. And most of all, furious at himself for knowing nothing and just earning money.
“Wait for me.”
Jinhyuk wiped his tears. His eyes had changed. If the Kang Jin-hyuk of before was just a ‘veterinarian who made good money,’ the Kang Jin-hyuk of now was a ‘runaway train charging toward his goal.’
“I’m coming for you. I’ll tear apart all of South Korea if I have to, to come get you.”
He pulled out his phone. And scrolled through his saved contacts. Lee Shin-woo, Seo Ji-hoo, Zeus Guild, Ares Guild… The most powerful figures in South Korea, all indebted to him.
Now it was time to collect those debts.
The next morning. Gangnam, Zeus Medical Tower.
Jinhyuk came to work as usual. But his atmosphere was subtly different. Sharper, more aggressive.
“Director, you’re here. We have 150 scheduled patients today.”
Chief Park Chul-woo handed him the schedule. But Jinhyuk didn’t even look at it, tossing it on the desk.
“Chief Park.”
“Yes?”
“We’re changing the payment policy from today.”
Jinhyuk sat down and crossed his legs.
“We won’t accept cash or card payments anymore.”
“Huh? Then what will you accept?”
“[Mana Stones]. S-rank or higher, or dimensional artifacts. We don’t need money, so tell them to bring tangible items only.”
“B-But… if you change it so suddenly, the clients will object…”
“Let them object. If they don’t like it, they can go somewhere else.”
Jinhyuk gave a sinister smile. To reopen the Abyss Gate, he needed a massive amount of high-purity mana stones and dimensional stones. An amount that would cost tens of trillions of won to buy. So, he’d make the Hunters bring them.
“And one more thing.”
Jinhyuk turned on his monitor. A news screen showed an advertisement for a large hospital.
[Hunter Specialty Hospital ‘Apollo’ – Korea’s First with 10 S-rank Healers in Residence!]
[Would you entrust your precious partner to a veterinarian? Experience dignified treatment at Apollo.]
It was a blatant ad targeting Jinhyuk. As his hospital rapidly rose in prominence, the established medical establishment, feeling threatened, had begun their counterattack.
“That hospital’s director is the Vice President of the Korean Healers Association, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. Lately, they’ve been playing the media hard. Calling our hospital an ‘unlicensed clinic’ and such…”
Park Chul-woo looked worried. But Jinhyuk laughed, seeming rather pleased.
“Perfect. I was looking for a warm-up. The punching bag walks right in.”
Jinhyuk grabbed the microphone. The hospital-wide intercom came on.
“Ah, ah. This is the director. Effective today, our hospital will completely refuse treatment to Hunters belonging to the Korean Healers Association and their associates.”
The Hunters waiting in the lobby began to murmur.
“If you don’t like it, go to Apollo. They’ve got plenty of S-rank Healers, right? Go get healed there, and when you come back later, crying about side effects, we won’t accept you either. That is all.”
A declaration of all-out war. Jinhyuk had nothing left to lose. To save his wife, he had to climb higher, faster. He would trample those who got in his way, and squeeze every last drop out of those he could use.
Dreureuk.
Just then, the clinic door opened and the first patient entered. It was Ma Dong-tak, the Guild Master of the Ares Guild, ranked 2nd in the nation. A burly, muscular man. But his expression was one of utter despair.
Behind him, a massive three-headed dog, [Hell’s Cerberus], was being dragged in, barking madly.
“W-Woah, Director! Please, I’m begging you! I took him to Apollo or whatever, and he just went crazier!”
“That’s why you shouldn’t have wasted your money going to those places.”
Jinhyuk took a leisurely sip of his coffee. His eyes flashed toward the Cerberus.
“Alright, let’s take a look. Since the doggy has three heads, you know the treatment fee is triple, right?”
The full-scale conquest of the Hunter world… no, the [Grand Operation to Secure Funds for Rescuing the Wife] had begun
