Chapter 191. Collapse (2)

Somehow, the back of his neck stiffened. His skin prickled, like the plucked flesh of a featherless chicken.

What gave him the right to act like that? No matter what nonsense he spewed, it didn't matter—once the skill had activated, it was already over.

[Invitation to Dreams (Active)]

[Description: Traps the target's mind in a designated space, gradually breaking it down. The skill cannot be undone by any means without the owner's permission.]

This skill was even recorded as such on the PIXY site. As long as it is successfully activated, its effectiveness is so overwhelmingly threatening that nothing can truly compare to it on a psychological level.

"What on earth are you talking about as if you're so great? Do you still not understand the situation?"

But in truth, the foreign errand runner here had overlooked one crucial detail.

"Hahaha."

So it's not like the description of the skill is wrong.

"Do you know what the mechanism of this skill is?"

Dyed blonde hair. Dark eyes staring off into some distant void.

The hunter named Giryeo crossed his arms behind his back and spoke.

"Actually, this is a duel where the skills of the guest and the host are put to the test."

"Hmm?"

"In this kind of illusionary form, the control shifts depending on who handles magic better. The criteria for judgment are quite complex, though."

"W, what did you say?"

"It's not like the host has an absolute position of power, as you might think. But seeing your reaction right now..."

Soon, the guest's expression slowly changes.

"You've never met an awakened one with stronger control than you, have you?"

Talented?

The smile on his face widened until his eyes narrowed into slits, clearly expressing amusement. He was definitely smiling. Now, he wore a very human and natural grin. However, for some reason, the other side couldn't shake the uneasy feeling churning in their stomach ever since earlier.

"Not even realizing that the enemy deliberately fell into the invitation, and running around happily like that... it's almost pitiable now."

"What?"

"Anyway, it's been a while since things have gone well. The truth is, lately... I've been under a lot of stress because I couldn't use my skills properly due to various circumstances."

The unpleasant tone in the opponent's voice slowly grew stronger. It was strange. This white space was originally a place where he could overwhelmingly dominate and manipulate anyone. Every time the Awakener of Ally entered this space, he would usually feel a sense of comfort and excitement, like having a pleasant dream. But now, everything felt different from usual.

"Mental attack."

The foreign Awakener finally opens his eyes wide.

Before long, the situation changed drastically. More specifically, the blonde Hunter in front of him changed his appearance. The face of the man, who had been smiling, slowly distorted into an indescribable form, and from the twisted structure, like noise, came sounds of an incomprehensible pitch.

"Good."

With a brief sentence,

"Let me show you the correct example this time."

Clap.

The unfortunate sorcerer felt an unfamiliar sensation at the tips of his toes.

***

Meanwhile, outside the mental realm.

"As expected, my partner is the best."

Heh.

The woman Awakener, who remained outside, smiled with satisfaction at the situation unfolding before her eyes.

The blonde hunter, who had been flustered and unable to decide what to do because of Ahn Yoonseung, suddenly stared blankly and froze in place. This was clear evidence that their plan was working perfectly.

"Ugh... Ugh! W- What the hell are you doing to Hyung-nim right now...?"

The bald-headed Korean, who had fallen into a state of paralysis, trembled his eyelids and glared at them. When Giryeo suddenly stopped moving and fell silent, he belatedly noticed his comrade's unusual behavior. However, the effect of the status condition was still active, and Ahn Yoonseung couldn't move a single finger.

And this was the same for the attackers as well. With such a wide-range item that dispersed smoke, there was no way the owner wouldn't be affected by it. However, it didn't matter. After all, the goal wasn't to fight and win against the A-rank Hunter.

"Hmph."

The woman's lips curled into a sly smile. She was already imagining the huge sum of money she would receive, and her expression brightened. Furthermore, once this job was over, wouldn't her reputation in the industry skyrocket?

By now, the hunter Kim Giryeo was probably in a state of shock, experiencing the brutal skills her companion had unleashed. As an S-rank, he had never encountered such high-intensity torment. His arms might have been twisted and broken, needles piercing the soft flesh of his throat one by one, or perhaps there were other forms of pain, all within the realm of human imagination.

"Everything, it's over now."

In the dream world created by the skill, killing the opponent doesn't affect their actual life. If they are tortured to the point of death, the connection bridge will be severed halfway through. However, if they experience an illusion where their arms are pulled out repeatedly, even when the skill ends, they are unable to move properly. The mental aftereffects are devastating.

In other words, after neutralizing the target, all that's left is to leave them behind and escape.

"Is it about time...?"

Keugh.

At that moment, a sound of agonized groaning echoed from somewhere. The consciousness of the two people caught in the skill was released. And soon after, someone uttered the first syllable in a cracked voice.

"H, haugh..."

A few seconds later, a new scream erupted from behind her.

"Aaaack!"

The foreign awakener screamed an unbearably horrible scream, one that was hard to believe came from a human's throat, as they woke up from the dream.

"Huh?"

Startled!

The other half of Ally flinched at the sound, turning her head. What she saw was her trembling comrade, his body shaking like a reed in the wind. Constant cold sweat streamed down, and his pupils were constricted, as if exposed to a blinding light.

"AHHHH! Ugh, uhh, uuu..."

What's going on? What happened? The woman shouted desperately in Spanish, but the awakened individual couldn't respond. He only shook violently, barking in terror.

"Yoonseung-ah, are you okay? You weren't hurt in the meantime, were you?"

"Hyung-nim...?"

But at that moment, a new voice suddenly intervened from the opposite side. Shockingly, Kim Giryeo, who had just come out of the hallucination, appeared completely unfazed, with not a single change in his complexion.

Strong footsteps. A rigid posture. His complexion was even bright, as if he had just woken up from a pleasant dream. Unlike all the targets up until now, he had endured Ally's mental attack without a hint of distress.

"By the way..."

Ssshk.

Kim Giryeo took out the Hydra and gripped it in his hand, holding it sheathed over his shoulder. He then looked at the attacker writhing on the ground in pain and spoke.

"You're acting like you're about to die just because I teased you a little."

Haha.

A dry smile curled on his face, its meaning impossible to decipher. The moment the laugh reached their ears, one person began shouting something at the top of their lungs. The psychic mage of Ally repeated the same sentence over and over, but in that moment, there was only one person present who could understand what was being said.

No es humano.

A scream like Spanish. The female awakener, who had been facing Ahn Yoonseung, seemed to finally realize something and hesitated, stepping back. However, there was no way they were going to let those who caused such a huge incident go without consequences.

"N, no way... Could it be that the mental strength of that S-rank Hunter...?"

Tak!

By the time he realized it, Kim Giryeo had already reached the center of the aquarium. In response, the errand boy instinctively took a defensive stance.

However, what followed was the sound of the box's lid opening with a 'click.'

***

A while later, inside Kim Giryeo's studio apartment, beside the brown desk.

"... No, what you're saying is that they were actually hitmen from overseas, working for money?"

By the way, today is Friday. I've been getting calls from the police since this golden Friday morning. And of course, the reason for the sudden police contact is the aquarium attack incident from before.

After that, I activated [Surprise Box] and handed the criminals over to the police.

"Moreover, the client turned out to be that researcher, Kim something..."

By the time I felt like I was going to die, Kim Ki-ryeo had already run out to the center of the aquarium.

The errand boy instinctively took a defensive stance.

However, what he heard right after was the sound of the top of the box opening with a 'click'.

***

Some time later.

Inside Kim Ki-ryeo's studio apartment, next to the red desk.

"... No, so you're saying that they were actually overseas hitmen who were paid to work?"

By the way, today is Friday.

I've been receiving calls from the police since that golden Friday morning.

Why are they suddenly here? It's obviously because of the aquarium raid incident a while ago.

After that, I activated [Surprise Box] and handed the criminals over to the police.

"And the client was that researcher named Kim..."

However, the truth of the incident was revealed was quite shocking.

After investigating the attackers, the police uncovered the SNS chatroom they had been using, and the conversations revealed there was something truly outrageous.

[me: Then why, of all people, is an S-rank Hunter the target of such a request?]

[client: That guy betrayed my trust. I thought of him as a good man, but it turns out everything was a play. The illusion was shattered! And I was angry because he rejected a very important request for my career.]

[client: I want revenge.]

[client: It's not like I'm killing him, just a little bit of torment should be fine.]

Just for reference, the original text in this chat room is in English.

'Oh my, he's angry enough to do this just because his proposal for research collaboration was rejected?'

The initial conclusion drawn by the police was that it was a fanatical revenge executed out of disappointment from the cold rejection of a hunter whom the person had admired for a long time.

The researcher who had come to the gym where Jeong Ha-seong was training. Surprisingly, the chat room contained numerous messages that seemed to be from this researcher. Furthermore, in the 'Fairy's Oath' (*a sub-item of the Knight's Oath) sent to the Ally's servants, there was a note written in the researcher's handwriting, stating that payment would be made once the mission was completed.

"Huh... Are you crazy?"

He only saw my face once, and now he's holding a grudge, spending a whopping 1 billion won just to torment me? But that's not the only thing that doesn't make sense...

.

.

.

"Seriously, why do I have to go through this absurd account investigation over such nonsense...?"

At a police station in Seoul, a person, visibly enraged to the point of their neck turning red, abruptly stood up from their chair at the entrance of someone. They were wearing a striped polo shirt and somewhat thick glasses. It was the researcher they had met earlier.

"Ah! Hunter Kim Giryeo!"

Researcher Kim was currently giving a statement to the police for inciting assault. The moment he saw me enter the police station, he grabbed my sleeve and shouted.

"Hunter, please listen! Not I swear, I had no idea about any of this!"

He claimed that the client's personal information posted in the chatroom was stolen, and that he was completely unrelated to the whole incident.

"This is truly ridiculous. Lately, I've been eating and sleeping in the lab because of a new project. Do you think I had any time to do something like this?"

"Hmm."

"Please, Hunter Kim Giryeo, please say something!"

"Saying what?"

"I'm not the culprit! You know from last time, right? No, I'm actually rooting for you, Hunter! Why would I call in goons and cause a scene like that?"

For reference, the police were planning to check her bank statements to confirm if she had actually purchased crypto currency. The researcher argued that this had put her in a difficult situation.

In this world, there's no one without a little dirt. During her doctoral studies, she received an allowance from her family every month. At the same time, the school paid her a small wage, meaning that all the allowance from the past seven years could now be considered as gifts.

"It's not even a large sum that would get flagged by the National Tax Service, but now I'm being hit with hundreds of thousands in taxes over this ridiculous situation...?"

Anyway, it seems like there's some kind of issue with the taxes, but honestly, since I'm from another world, I couldn't understand it right away.

Besides, that wasn't the important issue right now.

"Anyway, you really have nothing to do with this case, right?"

"Yes!"

Lowered eyebrows. A reddened neck. Heels tapping anxiously. For now, the researcher with the surname Kim seemed genuinely aggrieved. On the surface, at least.

But I didn't believe it so easily. From the start, I was never one to deeply empathize with human emotional expressions. And no matter where you go in the universe, there are always liars.

'After all, I myself am a con artist...'

Because the client had used the complex element of cryptocurrency, tracking the flow of funds was extremely difficult. In addition, the only suspect, a female researcher, insists on her innocence every second and actually has a weak motive for the crime.

'If I look at it from the perspective of someone who has lived two lives, there is definitely something strange.'

Still, when I thought about it carefully, luckily I had a way to solve the problem.

A magic that discerns truth from lies. Thanks to the Blueshell I obtained not long ago, I could now use that intermediate skill—though only barely and just once.

It wasn't exactly for my body, but humans on Earth sometimes chugged energy drinks, so pushing myself just this once should be fine.

"... This conversation is getting a bit long. Since it's about time for a meal, why don't we stop by a restaurant and continue talking there? It's on me."

"Oh, really?"

Since using magic on civilians is illegal in this country, I need to change locations first.