Chapter 95. Iro (5)
The woman's identity came not from her, but from the mouth of the sprawled researcher.
“How dare you say that! Do you know who this person is?!" Iro cried out.
Based on how Iro referred to her, Eun-Ho thought she was his superior for a moment.
"Center Director!" Iro shouted.
Huh? Center Director? Eun-Ho thought.
She was the head of that place called the Future Research Center.
"Iro," the woman said.
She was noble and elegant. Her white hair, as pure as snow, had been swept up and pinned with a jade hairpin. Her figure was delicate and generously curved, layer upon layer of thin fabric nearly revealing the silhouette beneath. She looked every bit like a goddess from an Eastern myth.
"You foolish child," she said, her voice soft as spun sugar.
"I-I can’t believe you came here in person...” Iro replied.
The researcher, unable to even spit out the blood filling his mouth, trembled as tears threatened to fall. Even though he’d laughed when he turned his colleague into a monster with his own hands and crushed dozens of people underfoot.
As Iro was running away, Eun-Ho stepped on him like he was a crawling insect.
The woman paused mid-motion, her hand frozen in the air as if surprised by Eun-Ho’s move. "Your skill... It’s as remarkable as I've heard. It’s quite extraordinary."
The Basilisk slithered toward Eun-Ho, drawing nearer at the woman's sideways glance. It hissed and rustled as it approached.
Hisss! Sssssss!
How dare you move. Should I kill it? Can I kill it? Eun-Ho thought.
"Would you stop there for me?" the woman asked.
The Basilisk flicked its red-and-black tongue. Its bright yellow eyes shimmered with a strange purple energy, making Eun-Ho head spin.
“I’ll personally request it. And I will pay the price in full,” she said.
Eun-Ho made a move to seize Iro to use him as a hostage. “Acceleration.”
However, the woman’s fingertip brushed his cheek. “It’s best to listen when the words leaving my mouth are a request.”
She moved at the exact same speed and spoke at the exact same tempo as before.
"But how?" Eun-Ho muttered.
His Acceleration skill had no effect on her. She hadn’t just overcome a thirtyfold slowdown. The chilling truth was that she’d sped herself to match his speed.
She knows exactly how slow the world became and is speaking in response to that!
He felt the overwhelming difference in power. Even without steel meeting steel, without fangs sinking in, the gap was palpable.
"If it ever became known that a child I named was taken down by a mere Subject, it would put me in quite an awkward position," she explained.
Her finger stroked past his ear, brushing the rim of his ear. Then, her breath touched his ear, which was a most elegant warning.
"I refuse. If I let him go like this, he’ll try to strike again,” Eun-Ho replied.
This was a matter of life or death for Eun-Ho.
“Of course, I don’t intend to leave any room for that. I guarantee it.”
“If you wanted to gain my trust, you should have greeted me first, instead of trying to poison me as soon as you saw me.” Eun-Ho replied.
The woman’s eyes widened. Raising a hand to cover her mouth, her eyes became crescent-shaped as she smiled. Then a clear, melodious laugh followed, rolling like beads across a silver tray.
Tick—
His Acceleration skill ended without any gain.
"How amusing. It's been ages since I spoke with a stranger.” The woman laughed for some time, gently touching the corner of her eye, seemingly to wipe away a tear. Then, with a voice still tinged with amusement, she proposed an alternative. "One hundred years."
Iro seemed stunned. "Huh?"
"For interfering in the internal affairs of another nation and disturbing its order," she said.
"B-but Center Director...”
Iro's eyelids fluttered.
“And for abandoning your duty and obsessing over a mere creature, an additional three hundred years.”
“W-what?” Iro stammered.
“And lastly...” she added.
Iro, trembling and crawling, could no longer see the blade aimed at his neck, as if it were invisible to him.
“For disgracing my name by being defeated by a mere Subject, an additional five hundred years,” the Center Director said.
The Flame Sky-Shattering Blade automatically dug into Iro’s neck. Though blood seeped out, Iro paid it no mind.
“Would nine hundred years be enough for you, child? she asked.
“N-nine hundred! C-Center Director! Ah, no please! I can’t go back to that hell again! Please, please, just give me one more chance!” Iro begged.
After all, a hell far worse awaited him.
“Even if you say that, there’s nothing else to be done. We must finish this quietly,” she replied.
“If it’s nine hundred years in purgatory, you'll live out your natural life and still never meet him again. Are you satisfied now?”
Purgatory. The hell spoken of in ancient myths... What happens if one goes there? Eun-Ho thought.
Eun-Ho couldn’t bring himself to ask what exactly happened there.
Seemingly having read his thoughts, the woman answered, “You will burn in eternal flames. Your skin will melt away without a trace, then regrow and melt again, repeating a million times... The child will beg to have their breath taken away every time their throat grows, screaming for it to stop.”
Whatever this world’s hell looked like, it was beyond his comprehension.
“Please! Just kill me instead! Yes, that’s it, Eun-Ho... You can kill me! Please!” Iro cried, as if the only mercy would come from being slain by Eun-Ho.
Seeing the man try to plunge his own throat onto the blade, Eun-Ho felt it’d be better not to know more.
“Center Director, do you know what I’ve done for you? Kuk...” Iro whimpered.
“How unfortunate. I did care for you quite a bit too... But with my position, there are too many eyes watching.”
“I still have unfinished research! Please!” he begged.
“If that’s the case, you shouldn’t have crossed the line,” she said.
Briefly, her gaze flashed sharp as a blade. It felt as if the temperature around them plummeted instantly. Though her look wasn’t aimed at them, a chill swept through the crowd.
“I will transfer your research to your juniors tomorrow, so the work will continue. Do not worry about its thread being cut,” she said.
He choked on a sob.
“Do you understand?” she asked, not really expecting an answer.
Then, with a delicate flick of her finger, the sound of the heavens trembling rang out.
Ruuuumble—!
[The Gate of Purgatory has been opened!]
A door to a sea of scarlet flame swung open. It was a huge abyss, as if trying to swallow the entire world with its gaping mouth.
“That’s the gate...” Eun-Ho muttered.
It was a crater of blistering red fire, a maw that seemed ready to swallow the entire world. The red blaze licked and threatened everything in a grotesque, living display.
Beeeep—!
[Caution!]
[You have been exposed to excessive karmic fire!]
[In 10 seconds, you will develop a status effect, Soul Burns.]
[Please evacuate immediately!]
As chaotic system messages rang in their ears, a colossal serpent slithered toward Iro. Spreading its maw wide, it swallowed him then spat him out, depositing him right into the center of the flames.
“Aaaargh!” Iro screamed. “P-please! Lady Blue Lotus! Lee Eun-Hooooo!”
Then, as if its task were done, the gate of karmic fire began to close.
[The Gate of Purgatory has been closed!]
The gate had opened and shut in an instant. Eun-Ho felt as if his mind had been hollowed out by what he had just seen—as he’d glimpsed a secret he should never have.
What in the world was that today? In a single day I’ve nearly crossed the threshold of the afterlife, peered into the mouth of hell itself and... Eun-Ho thought.
“It seems like you were quite shaken,” said the Center Director.
“... Ah,” Eun-Ho replied.
He forced himself to gather his wits. Even with a woman who could open and close the gate of Purgatory standing before him, he had to steady himself. That was because the most important matter hadn’t been addressed yet.
“It seems my business here is done, so I shall—” the woman began.
“Wait.”
At Eun-Ho’s call, she turned back.
“How do you intend to pay the price?” he asked.
“Mm?” she tilted her head.
“You said you would pay the price in full, didn’t you?” he reminded her.
The woman, belatedly understanding his words, replied with an “Ah” and said, “I swear upon my name that should an obstacle ever lie in your path, I shall personally—”
“I’m sorry, but...” Eun-Ho cut her off. He fixed his gaze firmly on her jade-colored eyes and said clearly, “I would prefer it if you gave it to me right now. The price for his life.”
If she wanted peace, she would have to offer a price immediately. The woman’s straight brows twitched slightly.
Still, Eun-Ho didn’t back down. This was someone who spoke of years in the hundreds as though they were currency. Any vague, distant promise was nothing but a worthless check.
“I don’t like running a tab,” he added.
“A tab?!” she exclaimed.
Ssss—
The serpent raised its head, tongue flickering angrily. However, the truth was simple. Thanks to her, Eun-Ho had seen far too much today. Things better left unseen.
“You’ve come this far to wrap matters up quietly...” he said, his tone deliberate.
Which means she wants no unnecessary witnesses, no escalation, Eun-Ho thought.
“You don’t wish for this to spread further, do you?” he asked.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she replied, feigning ignorance. Even her faintly arched brows and lightly opened hand exuded elegance.
“If word of this reached your company, I imagine it would cause you significant difficulties,” Eun-Ho said.
After hearing his words, she could no longer maintain her usual composed demeanor. Eun-Ho recalled her own words earlier.
“N-nine hundred! C-Center Director! Ah, no please! I can’t go back to that hell again! Please, please, just give me one more chance!”
“There’s nothing else to be done even if you say that. We must finish this quietly.”
She’d confessed her weakness herself. Not using it would’ve been foolish.
“... You are quite sharp,” she admitted.
“Call it professional curiosity,” he answered evenly.
“Or perhaps I underestimated you far too much,” she murmured.
It wasn’t the first time Eun-Ho had heard that, so he accepted it calmly.
The woman shook her head slowly, then pulled a fan from her sleeve and tapped it thoughtfully against her chin.
“How should I pay you...” she mused aloud.
She seemed genuinely troubled by the demand.
“There’s no need to overthink it. An item, a skill, if not, then information will do just fine,” Eun-Ho said.
“Information, you say? About what?” she asked.
He pressed. “What happens after this restructuring process? Or tell me about the company’s true intentions. Or whether you people are even human at all. Anything will suffice.”
His curiosity was vast, yet those who actually knew anything were scarce. The only ones who had spoken honestly were the twins, but they were just dispatched workers like him, meaning they were hardly reliable sources.
“If I revealed that kind of information beforehand, the Management Bureau would flip.”
“I just need to keep quiet, don’t I?” Eun-Ho replied.
However, it seemed she couldn’t just tell him everything, even if she knew it. Eun-Ho added a word of protest, but she only circled around it with evasive grace.
“There’s nothing more boring than being told things in advance, don’t you think?” she said.
“I don’t need entertainment. Life and death aren’t a game,” he countered.
A gentle smile spread across the woman’s face. It was as though she found amusement in his disinterest in entertainment.
“You’re the kind of human who forges your own path.”
“My path?”
“So there’s no need to rush. As long as you don’t stop moving forward, the future will naturally come to you.”
Eun-Ho’s point had been that he wished to prepare for that future now, before it arrived. He clicked his tongue at the thought.
“In that case, I’ll look for an item. There’s no treasure for a subject who hasn’t even attended the initiation ceremony yet, but...” she said.
Tap. Tap.
She flicked her fan. “Show me your palms.”
Her eyes curved slyly.
“Gladly,” Eun-Ho replied.
Then, he raised both hands, palms facing the sky. The woman traced her fan smoothly across them. Where the fan passed, wisps of smoke like contrails gathered and disappeared.
Whooosh-!
Suddenly, heavy objects appeared, one in each of his hands.
“Choose between the two,” the woman said.
In his left hand lay a stiff and rough scroll. In his right, a marble-sized orb from which cold droplets fell, slick against his palm.
“This is...”
Before he could ask what they were, translucent message windows appeared above each item.
[Manual of Severing Muscle and Dislocating Bone]
- A martial text containing techniques that separate flesh from bone, inflicting pain upon foes.
- Upon completion, the scroll disappears and grants the skill Severing Muscle and Bone(Lv.1).
- Required Stat: Intelligence of 15+.
It was a close-range offensive skill.
[Millennial Fire Carp Core]
- The inner core of a carp that has lived a thousand years, nurtured by sacred energy.
- Consuming it increases all stats by +1.
- Warning: If not consumed immediately, the carp will seek its lost core and exact vengeance.
The second item was an extraordinary elixir, capable of raising every stat at once.
The natures are completely different, Eun-Ho thought.
At first glance, the skill-up item seemed the better choice. Stats could be raised through other rewards, but skills were rare outside of exceptional circumstances. However, if all stats increased by one, that meant a total of seven, or six excluding Resistance.
Six points... That’s an enormous reward, Eun-Ho thought.
“Now, choose,” the woman prompted.
Well, if I have to choose one...
“I’ve made my choice.”