It was a long-distance drive lasting 1 hour and 20 minutes, but thanks to the autonomous driving feature, I was able to sleep comfortably.
Five kilometers before reaching the destination, the car’s alert signal woke me up just in time; otherwise, I would’ve slept for another 30 minutes past the meeting point.
“As bad as my parents can be, they did give me a nice car.”
Money talks, doesn’t it?
“Yuseong Group, in the gaming world, took the lead in potion crafting technology, dominating the global potion market.”
I worried that if other guilds colluded and fixed prices, things might get complicated… but judging from the text messages, they’ve suffered quite a loss from price fixing.
“At least they gave something like costs plus labor. This is a structure where the more they sell, the less they lose, and all in all, they’re pretty good at business.”
“Well, the other guilds have become rather weak now.”
“Yoon Se-ah, you wretch…”
-Bang!
“Ahhaaahh!!”
‘Now, I only have 5 bullets left.’
Using her psychokinesis, Yoon Se-ah levitated Yoon Seong-ho’s car in the air, causing his eyes to bulge in shock.
After searching Yoon Seong-ho’s smartphone, Yoon Se-ah found numerous records of corruption and shocking information that, if leaked, could bring down both the major guilds and the Yuseong Group in an instant.
One of the large guilds, Spiral Guild, had been the ringleader in the potion price fixing conspiracy and, for this reason, issued a hit contract to kill the guild master of Spiral Guild by a group of ability-hunting mercenaries in Africa.
What a despicable character.
‘But this kind of issue… it can all be resolved like this.’
Yuseong Group holds the patent to the potions. Simply by accepting short-term losses and cutting off potion supplies to the large Korean guilds…
True, there’s a risk of public opinion turning against them if Yuseong Group is seen exporting potions out of the country instead of selling them domestically, but with exports in mind… the large guilds will eventually end up crawling on the ground.
“Using only people without legal identities as bodyguards or rather researchers was quite ingenious, wasn’t it, Mr. President? They don’t even have national ID cards, so if things go wrong, you could just kill them all – so convenient.”
Indeed, most of Yoon Seong-ho’s bodyguards lacked official identities. They were easy to dispose of, and even if they escaped and revealed secrets, who would believe someone without an ID? Everyone would just think they were lunatics.
Most likely, they were gathered from orphanages and brainwashed over time… and if I had been exposed to the hypnosis for longer, I might have ended up brainwashed by Yoon Seong-ho and following the same path as these bodyguards.
“Now, please stand up. What’s your name?”
“Oh, my name is Kim Deok-bae.”
“Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Deok-bae. Has my father retaliated in any wrong way?”
“Kim Deok-bae, you bastard…!!”
Using psychokinesis, Yoon Se-ah lifted the driver to a safe spot. Yoon Seong-ho looked at her with eyes pleading for help.
Meanwhile, the sight of him trying to hypnotize her was utterly pathetic.
“Se-ah, if you kill me, what will happen? Of course, suspicion will fall on you! Please save me, I beg you!”
“Hmm? There are no CCTV cameras here, and since I’ve already tampered with your car, the world will believe that your car malfunctioned and you died in a crash. Thanks to Mr. Deok-bae’s cooperation.”
‘If I kill Yoon Seong-ho now, the protagonist Yoo Hyun won’t have the materials to enhance his weapon in the mid-to-late stages.’
But does that even matter? I could just pretend I found it and gave it to him.
“Although my mother-in-law and father-in-law might be drooling over the Yuseong Group without Yoon Seong-ho… unfortunately, Yuseong Group is a company where Yoon Seong-ho alone holds 65% of the shares.”
Thanks to my biological mother who has fully stepped down from her business responsibilities, I’ll get that 65% inherited entirely by myself.
‘The inheritance law in this world isn’t complicated, which is a good thing. When Yoon Seol-hwa ran away, it secured half the shares for me without much problem. My biological mother has lost interest in corporate politics and other issues, so she’s pretty much staying cooped up in her room… I’ll likely get 100% of the shares.’
After that, to deal with the nonsense from those around me who might say I’m not of age, I’ll put up a figurehead president for the company.
‘This Kim Deok-bae is important.’
I intend to use him for that role.
The possibility of betrayal is negligible with sustained brainwashing, and since I’ll handle the real operations, it’s efficient.
“Since I can’t just let you go like this… how about a simple game? If you win everything, I’ll let you live.”
“…..!”
At the mention that he might be saved, Yoon Seong-ho’s eyes widened.
“There are 4 bullets remaining in this gun. With my Eye of Suffering ability, you’ll feel the agony of the experiments I faced. If you endure all 4 impacts, I’ll forgive you.”
“……”
Contemplating the thought of experiencing the experiments he inflicted on others firsthand, Yoon Seong-ho’s face turned pale. But before he could fully process it, the first bullet pierced into his shoulder.
-Bang!
“……Aaaahhhh!!!”
The second bullet tore through Yoon Seong-ho’s right knee.
Without allowing him to recover, the third bullet tore through his left knee as well, eliciting a bloodcurdling scream from Yoon Seong-ho.
‘And this isn’t even the main dish yet. So much noise.’
“Now, get up. We still have one bullet.”
After uncapping the top-grade potion prepared for Kim Deok-bae beforehand, Yoon Se-ah forcibly poured it into Yoon Seong-ho’s mouth, then dragged him back to his feet.
“Now, the fourth bullet. Let me know if it hurts, I’ll listen.”
-Twang!
“AAAAaaagh!!!”
The fourth bullet tore through Yoon Seong-ho’s stomach, causing him to scream louder than ever before.
The noise was so intense it could be heard from 5 kilometers away, as he let out a loud wail.
‘It might have been dangerous if he got any louder.’
A hero with sharp hearing might have come to investigate the screams.
As I contemplated cutting his vocal cords, he finally started pleading with me for his life.
“Alright, you’ve endured four bullets now! Please save me quickly!”
“……”
“What? Hurry up and release me!”
“Did you really think you felt all the pain I’ve experienced from you?”
As she said that, she reloaded the gun—Yoon Seong-ho’s face turned pale once again.
‘There were originally five bullets, and the four shots I fired at Yoon Seong-ho were just a taste.’
Assuming all the pain I’ve endured is rated at 100, I calibrated the first four bullets to inflict only 1%, 1%, 1%, and 2%, respectively, adding up to 5% overall. That means this fifth bullet represents the remaining 95%.
-Click!
“Se… Se-ah, please just save me once…”
-Beeep
[“Merry Christmas, President Yoon Seong-ho.”]
Coincidentally, the notification sound from Yoon Seong-ho’s car announced that it was December 25th.
“Mr. Yoon Seong-ho, Merry Christmas. The gift will be delivered on behalf of Miss Yoon Se-ah.”
-Twang!
The fifth bullet struck Yoon Seong-ho, and he collapsed lifelessly. Though it may look like he died from shock, he’s experienced all the pain I endured.
With psychic energy, I caught the limp body of Yoon Seong-ho and extended my hand toward Mr. Deok-bae, who was observing silently from the side.
“You brought gloves as instructed. Now, let’s start cleaning up.”
Placing Yoon Seong-ho’s body back into the driver’s seat, I erased all traces from the back seat where he had been sitting.
-Splash!
Using psychokinesis, I hurled Yoon Seong-ho’s car as if it had accelerated uncontrollably, crashing through the guardrail and plunging down the cliff. Watching the crimson blood flow down, I was lost in deep thought for a moment before quickly regaining focus.
“I still need to clean up the bodies in the lab. Busy day ahead.”
“By the way, this car…”
Turning around, I looked at the car I had just ridden in.
It had a rear seat, but it was designed for small children—so narrow that only someone of that height could fit comfortably.
“Let me check out your driving skills.”
“N, yes!”
With no choice but to appoint Mr. Deok-bae as the driver while I sat in the passenger seat, we faced an hour-long, rather uneasy drive back. Halfway through, I regretted not bringing an SUV.
When we arrived at what was once Yoon Seong-ho’s but was now my house, I sensed something was off.
“Mr. Deok-bae, you didn’t leave the refrigerator door open when you came out, did you?”
“Hmm… I don’t think opening the fridge would make the whole place freeze like this.”
“True, opening the refrigerator wouldn’t freeze the entire mansion.”
“Ah… She’s been locked up in her room, so I let her be, but.”
This isn’t just an unexpected change—it’s more annoying because I know exactly who caused it.
‘I should have put a hypnosis spell on Yoon Se-ah’s mother to keep her quiet.’
I expected her to stay shut in her room, trembling during Yoon Seong-ho’s human experimentation and during Yoon Seol-hwa’s brutal ‘training’ sessions. But it seems she called Yoon Seol-hwa for help.
“Eve knows the entrance to the lab, and even with a password, she could break in using her abilities.”
This complicates things.
Explaining things wouldn’t help since there’s a high chance she already reviewed the CCTV.
‘In winter, it’s inconvenient that the ice doesn’t melt.’
If it were summer, we could have approximated the timing by checking how much the ice had melted.
“Could you bring the car to the parking lot?”
“Yes, miss.”
For now, I thought I’d park the car and examine the situation in detail, but…
“… Se-ah?”
‘Unfortunately, I’m too late.’
Regrettably, I encountered Yoon Seol-hwa at a less-than-ideal moment.
