C24
Super Regeneration
Even though it was already late at night, the villain Jo Dong-seok happily headed outside and began wandering around.
Whenever he was in a good mood like today, he would often roam the dark streets like this, breathing in the cool night air.
Refreshing.
As Jo Dong-seok wandered down the street while humming to himself, he happened to bump shoulders with a man walking from the opposite direction.
─Thud.
Jo Dong-seok was about to pass by without giving it much thought, but the other man grabbed him by the shoulder.
“Hey.”
As luck would have it, the man who had bumped shoulders with Jo Dong-seok was also a villain.
And he wasn’t the type to simply let something like this slide.
The man glared fiercely and threatened Jo Dong-seok in an angry voice.
“You son of a bitch… Don’t you watch where you’re going?”
However, Jo Dong-seok looked at the man’s face and let out a mocking laugh as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Then he waved one hand and simply continued on his way.
“Get lost. I’ll let it slide since I’m in a good mood.”
At those words, the villain who had bumped shoulders with Jo Dong-seok flew into a rage and immediately pulled out the knife he had been carrying inside his coat.
He rushed forward in an instant and, without hesitation, plunged the knife into the back of Jo Dong-seok’s head.
Stab!
The knife quickly pierced through the flesh and sank deep inside.
The blade, which had completely penetrated his body, even tore through Jo Dong-seok’s heart.
“I’ve never seen such an arrogant bastard. Just fucking die.”
It was a fatal penetrating wound that would normally be certain to result in death.
The villain pulled the knife out of Jo Dong-seok’s body and gave a satisfied smirk.
At this rate, that idiot who had dared to bump into his shoulder without even apologizing would stagger around for a while before collapsing.
“…Huh?”
But something was strange.
For some reason, Jo Dong-seok, who should have fallen immediately, turned around with a frown on his face.
“…If I let you live, you should’ve just said thank you and gone on your way.”
That wasn’t all.
The wound that should have been carved into Jo Dong-seok’s chest had somehow already disappeared.
The villain who had attacked him flinched and took a step backward.
─Crack!
But it was already too late.
Jo Dong-seok had no intention of letting the man who dared to attack him live.
He charged forward and pierced straight through the man’s chest with his bare hand.
“Guh, guh… How…?”
The villain who had attacked Jo Dong-seok began to stagger before collapsing right where he stood.
─Thud.
Jo Dong-seok possessed a special ability in addition to basic physical enhancement granted by his personal trait.
It was known as ‘Super Regeneration.’
Even if his heart was pierced and every bone in his body was shattered, he could completely heal in a short amount of time.
Most people who didn’t know Jo Dong-seok well ended up like this villain after fighting him.
The Villain Task Force from last time had suffered the same fate.
They believed they had completely subdued Jo Dong-seok and let their guard down, only to have their lives taken by him in return.
Heh-heh! Why are there so many idiots?
Even if one was fully aware of this ability, fighting him was still a troublesome affair.
No matter what kind of attack was inflicted upon him, he would completely recover shortly afterward.
It was practically a zombie-like ability.
Thanks to this Super Regeneration ability, Jo Dong-seok was able to possess combat power comparable to an A-rank Awakened despite being only a B-rank Awakened.
The National Police Agency was currently underestimating Jo Dong-seok.
They considered his ability to be nothing more than an ordinary regenerative ability, and therefore judged that his killing potential wasn’t particularly high.
That judgment was an obvious mistake.
Jo Dong-seok was such a dangerous villain that even if an A-rank Hunter were deployed as part of a response team, there was no guarantee that they could successfully capture him.
If things continued like this, it was obvious that he would create even more victims.
Whoever comes, I’ll gladly kill them.
Jo Dong-seok
[Jo Dong-seok] — Level 5.5 Threat Villain
◎ Bounty: 350 million won
◎ Criminal Record: 47 counts of murder
◎ Originally classified as a Level 5 threat due to being a B-rank Awakened, but recently upgraded to Level 5.5
◎ Awakened Abilities: Physical Enhancement and Regeneration
…
“Hm… A regeneration ability.”
After reading through the information on Jo Dong-seok on the wanted criminal website, Gwang-hyeon nodded.
Compared to other ordinary villains, the only thing particularly special about him was this regeneration ability.
Gwang-hyeon thought about it for a moment.
The Villain Task Force that went after him ended up getting wiped out in return. There must have been a reason for that… Just what kind of regeneration ability does he have?
The Villain Task Force wasn’t made up of idiots.
If it were merely an ordinary regeneration ability, they wouldn’t have been defeated to that extent.
Thinking this, Gwang-hyeon slowly stood up.
I’d better make a little preparation, just in case.
After getting up, Gwang-hyeon prepared to head outside.
Soon, he left his house and made his way toward the Hunter Equipment Free Market that he had visited before.
After arriving at the free market, it didn’t take long for him to find and pick up a certain piece of equipment.
I’ll probably need this.
What Gwang-hyeon had picked up was a restraint device.
Until now, he hadn’t felt much need for such equipment, but this time, he thought he might have to use it.
Normally, whenever Gwang-hyeon captured a villain and handed them over to the Villain Task Force, he left them in a completely helpless state, so there had been little need to restrain them further.
However, if this villain’s regeneration ability was exceptionally powerful, even after being rendered completely incapable of resistance, he might recover before long and attack again.
So this time, once I knock him down, I’ll put the restraints on him immediately.
If he could kill Jo Dong-seok instantly, Gwang-hyeon thought that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad option either.
Still, there was always the possibility of something going wrong, so he figured it would be better to have the restraint equipment ready.
The price… Hmm, that’s a little expensive.
The restraint equipment Gwang-hyeon intended to purchase was extremely durable, strong enough to withstand considerable amounts of force.
Naturally, equipment like this came with a rather hefty price tag.
Then again, if something like this were cheap, there’d be a risk of it being abused.
Even so, it wasn’t expensive enough to put a significant strain on him, so Gwang-hyeon completed the purchase without hesitation.
Now, the question is how to find the bastard.
Having finished his preparations, Gwang-hyeon decided to look for Jo Dong-seok’s whereabouts next.
He had already checked Jo Dong-seok’s area of activity on the wanted criminal website.
However, the area was quite large, so simply wandering around aimlessly would make it difficult to encounter him.
How can I get some information… Hmm.
The first thing that came to mind was the Villain Task Force.
Although the outcome hadn’t been very good, it was only recently that the Villain Task Force had tracked Jo Dong-seok down and located him.
Furthermore, they were probably assembling a new response team and preparing to track him down again, so there was a high possibility that they knew his current whereabouts.
But I’d rather not.
Now that Gwang-hyeon was concealing his identity, establishing a connection with a public organization like the Villain Task Force wasn’t ideal.
He needed to obtain the information through another method if possible.
Can’t be helped.
Eventually, Gwang-hyeon thought of another option and slowly nodded.
Let’s go see Bang Su-bin.
When Bang Su-bin was reunited with Gwang-hyeon, whose face was covered by a mask, she greeted him with a rather awkward smile.
She hadn’t expected him to come back again so soon.
“Uh… You’re back again?”
Despite noticing her reaction, Gwang-hyeon paid it no mind and spoke.
“I need something.”
“Oh, well, uh… Sure.”
Using Bang Su-bin to obtain information was a relatively good option.
For people who made their living through illegal activities, trust between themselves and their clients was everything.
Trying to uncover each other’s personal circumstances in such a financial relationship, however, could easily break that trust.
For that reason, Bang Su-bin made absolutely no attempt to find out what kind of person Gwang-hyeon was behind the mask.
“I’d like to find someone, just like last time.”
Gwang-hyeon had obtained information through Bang Su-bin when he was tracking down the Blood Demon, Bae Yun-ji, so he figured it would probably be possible this time as well.
With that thought, Gwang-hyeon continued.
“The person I’m looking for is a villain named Jo Dong-seok.”
At that, Bang Su-bin flinched and asked again.
“Jo, Jo Dong-seok?”
“Would that be possible?”
“Uh… I can do it, but investigating a villain is a little…”
“Just like last time, I’ll give you five million won.”
“…Hmm. Even so…”
Bang Su-bin seemed quite hesitant.
Villains often disappeared and went into hiding, making investigations into them considerably more complicated.
On top of that, there could be some risk involved during the investigation itself, so it was only natural for her to hesitate a little.
“Then I’ll double it. Ten million won.”
Having read her expression, Gwang-hyeon raised the payment without much hesitation.
“Ten million…?”
Bang Su-bin’s expression immediately changed.
The worry that had filled her face just moments ago completely disappeared.
Ten million won just for finding some information?
Even Bang Su-bin couldn’t bring herself to refuse such an offer.
In the end, she nodded.
“Um… Okay. I’ll give it a try.”
Bang Su-bin accepted the request without asking anything about the reason or what kind of person Gwang-hyeon was.
And not long afterward, Gwang-hyeon was able to obtain information about Jo Dong-seok.
Jo Dong-seok lived an irregular life without any fixed daily routine.
Today, he had woken up particularly late.
When he checked the clock, it was already five in the afternoon.
“Yaaawn…”
Jo Dong-seok had no particular plans for the day.
He was simply planning to kill some time before going out to kill one or two people.
Where should I go?
In truth, Jo Dong-seok wasn’t the kind of villain who felt some sort of catharsis from the act of killing itself.
To him, murder was merely a means to an end.
A means of making a name for himself.
A means of making money.
He wasn’t a completely deranged psychopath, but he was a villain who treated murder as something incredibly trivial and carried it out without much thought.
Today, he intended to kill someone in hopes of drawing the Villain Task Force that was pursuing him out into the open sooner.
He gave a sly smile as he thought about the Villain Task Force that would soon come looking for him.
Come find me quickly. Otherwise, I’ll just keep killing people.
11:30 p.m.
Jo Dong-seok stepped outside his hideout and stretched his body.
Then he began wandering around the surrounding area, looking for a suitable target to kill.
“Isn’t anyone around…?”
But there wasn’t even a shadow of a person in sight.
Jo Dong-seok scratched his head, wondering if he had come out too late.
“Ah, I should’ve come out a little earlier.”
Just then, he spotted the silhouette of someone approaching from across the street.
A smile naturally spread across his face.
Yeah. There’s no way there wouldn’t be anyone at all.
Jo Dong-seok assumed a stance as if he were ready to pounce at any moment.
And when the silhouette came within a certain distance, he suddenly charged forward.
“Kyahahaha!”
In no time, the distance between the two became close enough for them to reach one another.
A split-second before the confrontation.
At that very moment, they finally saw each other’s faces.
What the hell? Why is he wearing a mask?
“Ah, found you.”
The masked man, Gwang-hyeon, confirmed Jo Dong-seok’s face and immediately shifted his stance to evade the attack.
Then he delivered a counterpunch straight into Jo Dong-seok’s chest as he charged toward him.
─Crack-crack-crack!
Gwang-hyeon’s gauntlet slammed directly into Jo Dong-seok’s solar plexus.
“Guaaaargh!”
Gwang-hyeon’s already formidable strength combined with the momentum of Jo Dong-seok’s own charge, creating an incredible amount of force.
Jo Dong-seok took the full force of the impact directly to his chest, causing every one of his ribs to shatter.
Overwhelmed by the tremendous pain, he had no choice but to collapse to the ground.
“Urgh…!”
But he could endure it.
The pain was severe, but there was no actual damage left to his body.
Jo Dong-seok knew that his Super Regeneration ability could heal an injury of this magnitude.
─Tap!
As his opponent approached, apparently intending to do something to him while he was down, Jo Dong-seok quickly got back up and created some distance between them.
Gwang-hyeon looked at Jo Dong-seok with slight surprise.
“Guh… You’re not an ordinary person… Looks like you’re some Hunter bastard who can pack a punch. I’ll take my time killing you.”
Even if I take a few more punches like that, I won’t die.
Thinking this, Jo Dong-seok calmed his heaving body.
“…”
Gwang-hyeon had looked surprised for a moment.
But before long, his expression became relaxed again.
“Bullshit.”
