The Returnee Wants to Live Comfortably

The Reason for Despair (1)

Without another word, I devoured them.

By combining the Consume skill with the Shadow skill, it was possible to manipulate an atmosphere of fear just as I had done.

[You have absorbed 20 magic power.]

[Karma has increased.]

[Lv has increased.]

[Abilities are enhanced as a result of leveling up.]

Twenty people.

There were as many as twenty of these bastards.

Each and every one of them had ended up in juvenile detention because of my father.

Not only had they caused trouble on purpose, they also blamed my father for why they were sent away.

Was that why they broke into our house and did what they did?

'And what? Kidnapping?'

I had overheard everything those guys said while drinking beer a little while ago.

If Yunhee had really been home at that time, she might actually have been kidnapped.

Above all, considering that they even stole valuables, their current fate was only natural.

But how did these guys manage to break into our house without leaving a single trace?

'The reason is probably....'

I gazed at the corpses of the police scattered on the floor.

I had thrown them there on purpose, to help manipulate the sense of fear in those bastards.

It was only possible because I adapted the Shadow skill.

And there was a girl sniffing at one of the corpses.

"Sssniff...."

"..."

A pink-haired girl with fox ears confirmed the scent of the corpses with the tip of her nose.

Putting aside her beautiful appearance, the girl acted as if the horrendous scene before her was nothing unusual.

"These guys aren't police. They're all members of the Sura guild."

Ah-rin coolly spoke after using her sense of smell to verify it.

Like me, Ah-rin had left school two days early without taking part in the final ceremonies before vacation.

And after hearing about what happened to our house, she started following me around.

"You could tell that just from the smell?"

"There's nothing easier than distinguishing the scent of those guys."

Once again, I was struck by how terrifying her sense of smell was.

At this point, it went beyond a bloodhound and was more like a sci-fi DNA scanner.

"For the Sura guild, erasing or tampering with evidence is a piece of cake. That's why there was no sign of an intruder at your house."

Our opponents were China's most powerful guild—the Sura guild.

No matter how amazing my father's workplace, the Forensic Bureau, might be, it couldn't compare to them.

Nowadays, even the chief prosecutor is subject to the power of Korea's four major guilds.

If it's the Sura guild, nothing would be impossible.

"Come to think of it...."

There was something I remembered my father telling me just a while ago at home.

He said that lately, Chinese hunters believed to be from the Sura guild had often shown up at the Forensic Bureau.

And now, considering these guys disguised as police, something about it all felt off.

"And these guys... They aren't ordinary Sura guild members."

"Huh?"

"Have you heard of Heaven and Earth Society?"

The Heaven and Earth Society was the original crime syndicate that birthed the Sura guild.

Thanks to Vern's investigation, I knew what kind of organization it was.

"In fact, the Sura guild is currently divided into two branches."

One side is devoted to the Sura guild as it is now.

The other side misses the days of the Heaven and Earth Society.

It's only natural that those from the Heaven and Earth Society side are dissatisfied with what the Sura guild has become, almost like a cult.

Their wish is a return to origins.

In other words, their primary goal right now is to take the head of Sura, the current idol of the Sura guild.

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Don't worry. Unless they're a top executive of the Sura guild, no one knows my face."

That was why Ah-rin always wore a white veil, to conceal her identity.

She hid not only her face but also her tail, making it hard to identify her by physical features.

In fact, she only revealed her tail in front of higher-ups.

"Is there a chance that someone from the Heaven and Earth Society is among those executives?"

"No. I've smelled the scents of all the higher-ups, and never sensed the kind of malice or foulness that would mean they're after me."

"Then these guys?"

I pointed to the corpses of those disguised as police.

Ah-rin nodded in agreement.

"Heaven and Earth Society members have subtly different scents than regular Sura guild members. These guys are a perfect example."

"Be specific?"

"Well... How do I put this? There's the base scent unique to the Sura guild, but with something different mixed in...."

"Like how regular and onion flavor chips both are the same chips, but taste different?"

"Exactly! That's what it's like."

Ah-rin was impressed by the accuracy of my analogy.

I was surprised the scent lingered, even though they were corpses.

Granted, they hadn't been dead long, so their bodies were still warm.

Although, in the end, it was mostly the stench of rotting flesh that filled the air.

"But why are they after our family?"

"..."

Even Ah-rin couldn't answer that—she fell silent.

The thugs who trashed our house were ordered to act by the Sura guild.

But whether that was officially from the Sura guild or a private act by Heaven and Earth Society, we still didn't know.

Why would they target an ordinary family living in Korea?

'And...'

I remembered what Karen had reported before.

A fake homeroom teacher who'd infiltrated Hand under Sura guild orders.

It's been months, so I didn't remember his name, but Karen had replaced that teacher now.

That impostor's true purpose had been to provoke me.

'They targeted me from the start, huh?'

Since then, Karen had kept a close watch on them.

But it seemed this recent incident involved a different group—even Karen had been oblivious.

When she left school, she had even bowed her head, apologizing for her carelessness.

'So why, then...?'

Why were all these people so desperate to go after my family?

—Do they really have a death wish?

****

A dark alley in Daerim Neighborhood, Seoul.

The bright neon sign of a massive club-cum-gambling den flashed there.

Being such a shadowy, seedy place, it was a perfect gathering spot for unsavory people.

Inside, rowdy music blared, and the place was full of people dancing to blow off steam.

The clinking of alcohol glasses mingled with the drunken singing.

Cleanliness was the least of anyone's concerns, both outside and in their hearts.

"If you lost, just get lost quietly."

"Hey, wait! Just one more round...!"

Thud—!

A man was thrown outside, nearly naked.

As suited men kicked him, it was clear he'd lost everything gambling.

At least he hadn't lost his organs—that was a small mercy.

Soon after the half-naked man vanished, a black car stopped in front of the club.

At the sight, the suited men immediately stood at attention.

Thunk—

The car door opened, and a man and woman got out.

The suited men bowed deeply to the man.

"Welcome, huikang-hyung!"

"What do you mean 'hyung'? When we're here, you should call me branch manager."

Lu Huikang. He was the boss of this club.

And this place was a secret Sura guild branch disguised as a club.

Branch manager Lu Huikang greeted his men, arm-in-arm with the woman who had come with him.

Then, he entered his hidden office in the club's basement.

"Sniff... haa..."

Lu Huikang took a drag on a cigarette lit by his lighter.

Enjoying the aroma, he exhaled smoke and asked the subordinate standing beside him,

"Everything's quiet, right?"

"Yes, there aren't any problems at the club, though."

"'Though?'"

Lu Huikang furrowed his brows as he stared at the subordinate.

That meant there were problems elsewhere, if not at the club.

"Starting a few days ago, we've lost all contact with those guys disguised as police."

"What?"

Lu Huikang scowled and kicked the man's ankle.

Ignoring the man's groans as he clutched his leg, Lu Huikang continued his tirade.

"You said they'd definitely succeed! Are you saying those guys are actually dead?"

"I'm not sure... but it looks like they may have failed...."

"How hard can it be to wreck a single family!"

Among his subordinates, there were Sura guild members perfectly disguised as Korean police.

They'd spent a lot of time and effort to blend in.

It shouldn't have been possible for anyone to discover their true identity so easily.

"And... none of those kids we pulled out of juvenile detention have been heard from."

"What...?"

He'd promised them jobs if the operation succeeded.

The more delinquent the kids, the better they would adapt to this kind of work.

With nowhere to go because of their criminal records, those kids wouldn't have turned down such a sweet offer.

"Shit, that job absolutely has to get done...!"

There was a top-secret order among Sura guild executives.

The mission: to kill a boy named Ma Seongjin.

The method was up to them, and the more they tormented the boy, the greater the reward.

One part of that reward was a promotion to top executive.

Currently, Lu Huikang was only a regular executive—this was his goal.

"If I can just get promoted, I'll finally see that damn Sura's true face!"

It wouldn't end with just seeing her face.

He had to take that Sura's head.

Only then could the Sura guild return to the way it was during the Heaven and Earth Society era.

"But if you're promoted, won't it be obvious we're part of the Heaven and Earth Society?"

"Idiot. How would they find out? Even the guildmaster can't tell them apart."

The Heaven and Earth Society was, in essence, one body with the Sura guild.

So even the Sura guild's top brass found it hard to distinguish between regular guild members and those of the Heaven and Earth Society.

"If we just get promoted, we'll have a chance to bring everything back to the Heaven and Earth Society days...!"

"But I heard Sura is still a kid?"

Just then, the woman beside him, arm-in-arm, spoke up.

A girl about middle-school age—that was Sura; even Lu Huikang had heard about it.

But...

"So what."

"..."

"What's so hard about killing some little brat?"

He didn't care about anyone else's situation, even if it was a child.

As Lu Huikang's reaction made clear, the woman beside him smirked with amusement.

"Hahaha! That's why I fell for you."

"Of course you did."

He would use any means, however underhanded, to achieve his goal.

Empathy or respect for another's circumstances had no place here.

That had been the Heaven and Earth Society's way even before it became the Sura guild.

"By the way, what do we do now? We've lost those valuable assets...."

The ones who could blend in had all vanished.

With the family belonging to an advanced-rank prosecutor, they must have enlisted an awakened with connections.

The idea of just attacking with regular subordinates crossed his mind, but that would be too reckless.

It would be too obvious, making the aftermath troublesome.

'I'm sure other Sura guild members are trying for it too.'

All of them want the promotion, so they're also aiming for the target.

But our Heaven and Earth Society must complete the mission before anyone else.

Take Sura's head.

"Shall we just wait until the Underworld Formation is finished?"

"Oh, that?"

"I heard the Sura guild is almost done with it. Why don't we just wait a bit?"

The Underworld Formation was the Sura guild's ultimate weapon, created to oppose hostile organizations.

In theory, once it was complete, there would be a way to uncover Sura's identity.

Not by coincidence, they were also involved in its development.

"We've done all this for it...."

"No. That's only the last resort. If we mess with that the wrong way, we could end up dead."

After all, it was something being developed by the Sura guild itself.

Touching it recklessly would only get them purged.

As important as their mission was, it wasn't worth risking their own lives.

"Babe. Should I step in myself?"

"You?"

The woman beside him struck a seductive pose and stood up.

As she did, her devil's wings and tail, hidden until then, became visible.

"Have you forgotten what kind of Mutamit I am?"

Kang Juhee, Lu Huikang's lover.

She was a succubus-type Mutamit. Licking her lips, she whispered the boy's name.

"You said his name was Ma Seongjin, right?"

****

By the time I got home, everything was already restored to normal.

That was because I had contacted Vern before I left.

After that, Vern had sent people over and had everything repaired.

Seeing the once-damaged furniture returned to its original state, he must've hired someone special to do it.

Anyway, with the house looking like time had been turned back, my parents and Yunhee were all delighted.

Even the valuables those bastards had stolen were returned.

Now, we could finally relax.

But....

.

.

"That doesn't mean we can just lie around and do nothing."

"I guess not."

A few days later.

Our family, agreeing with my opinion, sat at the restored dining table.

Sang-ah and Ah-rin, who'd both gone back to school after vacation ended, joined us as well.

"The Sura guild... This is really troublesome."

My father sighed deeply, looking very troubled.

There was no way he could think positively after being targeted by China's most powerful guild for no apparent reason.

"Don't worry, you two. I'll call over some Hwasan guild hunters and have them provide protection."

Sang-ah spoke up, trying to reassure my worried parents.

In truth, ever since Kang Minji fell into a coma, Sang-ah's standing in Hwasan guild had changed a lot.

She could probably order a few guild members about....

"There's no need."

"Why not?"

I declined Sang-ah's suggestion.

It wasn't because I doubted Sang-ah's sincerity.

It was just....

"Because there are even more reliable people."

"Who...?"

There was no need to tell them right now.

If they kept hanging around with me, they would find out on their own.

"...."

"What's with the look, Ah-rin?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing..."

Sang-ah noticed Ah-rin looking downcast and asked.

In response, Ah-rin hesitated, then fell silent again.

Of everyone, Ah-rin probably felt the worst right now.

Considering who among us had the closest connection to the Sura guild, it was easy to understand.

'Ah-rin is probably the actual head of the Sura guild, after all.'

If Ah-rin just went back to China and said a few words, this would all be over.

She could just order the ones behind all this to be purged.

'Huh?'

Suddenly, I felt something writhing inside Ah-rin.

Using the 'Soul Eyes' skill, I saw it for what it was.

A shape like black mist. It seemed to be seeping out of Ah-rin's body bit by bit.

It felt like the embodiment of despair.

Or perhaps that Ah-rin's body was unable to contain the despair any longer and it was spilling out.

Almost as if it was departing the body of someone unfit to bear it.

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