CH 457

“Eh? You wanna know more about Kang Jin-Ho?”

Elena smiled and nodded. “Yes, him.”

The university student tilted his head in confusion. “Hmm? I guess he's... not back in class yet?”

“Yes, I know that. I just want to know more about what he was like on campus.”

“Noona, are you of Korean descent by any chance? Your Korean is super crazy good, you know that?”

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“...I'd like to hear more about Kang Jin-Ho if you don't mind?”

The university student beamed brightly. “If I tell you, will you give me your phone number? Then I promise I'll provide you with top level information~!”

'...Should I just kill this punk?'

Elena expertly hid the bulging vein in her forehead with her blond locks and smiled enticingly. “Well, I might think about it if your answer is satisfactory enough.”

“I see! That's good enough for me! But, uh... You were asking about Kang Jin-Ho, yes?”

“Yes, him.”

“When I think about it, I don't have much to say about that guy, actually...”

“...”

“Oh, wait. Kang Jin-Ho drives a super expensive car. And he's really good looking, too.”

“Right, right! And he was popular too, wasn't he?” The friend of the university student quickly chimed in.

“Yeah, he was. Other girls couldn't approach him because of Han Se-Yeon, but man... Kang Jin-Ho sure was popular. Good looking, is obviously loaded, great academic records... Holy sh*t, every time I saw that guy, this sense of defeat was just... Getting a girl's phone number has always been tough for me, you know? And even if I did get one, they'd block me soon afterward, too. But Kang Jin-Ho? He wasn't even trying to do something fancy, but the girls were tripping over themselves to…”

A cramped smile formed on Elena's face. “Thank you for regaling me with your dark personal history, but can you just tell me about Kang Jin-Ho?”

“Oh, sure... Well, there's not much to talk about him besides that, you know? Kang Jin-Ho was always hurrying home after lectures, going to PC Rooms in between lectures with his pals, or staying in the campus library, so... Lots of people wanted to get close to him, but... Hmm, how should I describe this...?”

The friend chimed in again. “Kang Jin-Ho had that aloof, hard-to-approach air about him, right?”

“Yeah, that! He had that air about him. For sure. But, just look at his face. He's just got that charisma, am I right? So, it was hard to approach him.”

Elene nodded slightly. “I see. What about his personality, though?”

The two university students seemed to ponder her question before staring at each other as if they wanted reaffirmation.

“He... was a nice guy, right?”

“Yeah, he was, I think? I mean, a dude with specs like that is usually so full of himself, know what I mean? But he never caused a problem on campus. A regular dude wouldn't be able to do that.”

The students turned their heads to look at Elena.

“I think he was a nice guy, noona.”

Elena furrowed her brow. “He was... nice? Really?”

“Yes. What's the matter?”

“N-no, it's nothing. Well, then. Thanks for your help.”

Just as Elena turned around to leave, the student called out to her. “What about your phone number, though?”

Elena replied without even looking back. “I don't own a cellphone.”

“...You could've just said no, you know? Now I'm guilty of making a perfectly-good phone disappear from this world, too.”

Elena heard a depressed voice of a university student coming from behind her but couldn't care enough to retort to him.

***

“You... want to know more about Jin-Ho?”

Elena nodded intently. “Yes, him.”

The man before her eyes slowly rubbed his chin. “Jin-Ho is a bodhisattva, basically.”

“Bodhisattva?” Elena tilted her head in confusion.

“Uh, maybe I should've said he's like a Buddha?”

“Buddha? Like Gautama Siddhartha?”

“Oh, uh... Yes, something like that,” the man sheepishly nodded. This man was one of Kang Jin-Ho's high school classmates.

And Elena, who had tracked this man down, could only stare at him in stupefaction. “Okay, so are you trying to imply he's got a saintly personality or just... laid back?”

“It's both, actually,” the man shrugged his shoulders. “He's a saint who happens to be a laid-back person, too. Actually, Jin-Ho's closest friend is Park Yu-Min. You must've heard of him, yes?”

Elena nodded. “Yes, I know who he is.”

“Well, he's now famous for being a pro gamer, and his personal style has improved a lot these days, but back when we were still in high school, well... How should I put this? A loser? I know it's uncool to speak about the dark history of someone who's finally made it in his life, but... Well, yeah, I guess that's the best way to describe Park Yu-Min back then. You know the type of guys that are just so... frustrating to hang out with? He was like that.”

“I see,” Elena slowly nodded. “Yes, I understand what you mean.”

“But Jin-Ho, he looked after a loser like that. Bought him snacks, hung out with him, and... Well, that's not something normal people like me could do, you know? We all saw Jin-Ho as someone classy and stuff like that, so other kids with backgrounds or bright futures tried like crazy to get friendly with him, but...” The man chuckled wryly at his own recollection of the past. “Jin-Ho didn't even spare a single glance at them and just hung out with Park Yu-Min and went to PC Rooms all the time, so... That's not something anyone could do, you know?”

“I see...”

“Considering those things, he must be an incredibly kind dude. People usually hang out with others on their level, you know what I mean? Even in kindergartens, super-popular kids wouldn't want to associate with losers, so... Yeah, Jin-Ho has to be a bodhisattva since he didn't complain once even though Yu-Min was acting like a loser back then.”

Elena started nodding in spite of herself. “Hmm... If that's Mister Jin-Ho's personality, annoying flies must've constantly tried their luck with him back in school.”

“Nope, not at all,” the man corrected Elena without hesitation. “Jin-Ho is kind, yes, but there always were rumors of how scary he could get if something pissed him off. There was one incident like that, too. But, rather than calling it a rumor, it's more like... Everyone could sense it, you know? It's like, Jin-Ho's the type that can't be stopped if he's pushed past the boiling point. Something like that?”

“I see. In that case, has he ever reached that boiling point you speak of?”

“Mm? Not really?”

“...”

The man frowned a little while trying to articulate his thoughts. “Okay, so... I'd say Jin-Ho is like a bomb without a fuse. A bomb with such an over-the-top safety device that it won't blow up even if you tried your hardest to make it explode. And it's all wrapped up in this fluffy wool, so you can just hug it like a plush toy and roll around on your bed. I guess that's the best description I can think of.”

“...I see. Thank you for sharing your insight,” Elena furrowed her brow slightly.

“I'm not sure why you wanted to know more about Jin-Ho, but... That dude really is a nice guy, miss. Everyone acknowledges that.”

“I see…” Elena nodded halfheartedly while repeating her answer.

While walking away, she could only grimace at what she learned so far.

'That man is just so meticulous, isn't he?'

Elena boasted considerable experience in taking on various personalities and identities in many different countries to carry out the Round Table's orders. So, she was deeply confident of her skills to blend in and hide her true self, but... She couldn't help but think her skills were child's play compared to what Kang Jin-Ho had pulled off.

Would Elena be able to hide her true nature from everyone around her to this degree? Not for a short term either, but for a long, long time, too?

If Kang Jin-Ho had managed to hide his true self for this long, maybe Elena should admit that this was actually his nature all along? However...

If a serial killer hid his true nature and spent decades working for his community all the while looking for opportune moments to strike but lost his life to a sudden accident... Should he be called a saint or a villain?

Although a terrifying monster was clearly lurking inside Kang Jin-Ho, he should be seen as a saint as long as that monster wasn't unleashed into the open.

'...A saint, is it?'

Elena couldn't help but scoff at that notion. A saint? Kang Jin-Ho was a saint? That implied he was a kind and generous man, now didn't it?

'Don't make me laugh!'

If Kang Jin-Ho qualified as a saint, then everyone on this God's green Earth also deserved to be called a saint! All those unlucky enough to witness Kang Jin-Ho's true nature would've unhesitantly agreed with Elena on this one.

'My problem is that there aren't too many people like that...'

Elena groaned deeply. If only she had someone who could understand her plight...!

***

'Crazy son of a b*tch!'

Yi Myeong-Hwan's body left his brain's control and started spasming all on its own.

'Insane! This bastard is crazy!'

Yearning? He yearned for this?! If he could, Yi Myeong-Hwan wanted to turn back the clock and viciously trample on his own mouth for yapping on about wanting to become like Kang Jin-Ho.

The 'Kang Jin-Ho' Yi Myeong-Hwan thought he knew was not the real Kang Jin-Ho. Sure, the 'Kang Jin-Ho' capable of chopping living people up like chunks of meat was terrifying to behold, but that sight of him back then hadn't even been half of his darker half!

Yi Myeong-Hwan finally learned the truth. And that was the true terror Kang Jin-Ho presented! Even though it should've been nothing more than getting his face grabbed, Yi Myeong-Hwan couldn't do anything. Not even lift a single finger! He had no idea that getting his entire body thoroughly suppressed like this could be so terrifying!

Besides, he had never experienced a situation where he couldn't fight back against a hostile enemy right before his nose. In that case, how was he supposed to describe this terror?

Yi Myeong-Hwan would've rather preferred that Kang Jin-Ho did something to him already. Even if that was Kang Jin-Ho choking the life out of Yi Myeong-Hwan...! However, that was still a hundred times better than shivering pitifully without knowing what might happen to him next.

“You see, this thing called death is...”

Kang Jin-Ho's voice finally entered Yi Myeong-Hwan's eardrums. However, it sounded completely different from Kang Jin-Ho's usual voice. The low voice echoing in the room began gnawing at Yi Myeong-Hwan's heart. It felt like each and every word Kang Jin-Ho spoke caused his heart to shrink and wither.

It was unimaginable to think that Kang Jin-Ho, who usually had this laidback attitude, could ever speak in such a creepy voice. Only a demon squeezing its own vocal cords dry could've produced such a sound!

“...Is not something you can casually experience,” said Kang Jin-Ho as a weird smirk floated up on his face.

A human couldn't experience death. A person would lose their qualifications to be called a living human at the moment of experiencing death, after all. Unless they were an exception like Kang Jin-Ho, that was.

“That is why people weirdly do not fear death all that much. I mean, death is the end of everything, isn't it? So, why don't you fear it?”

Kang Jin-Ho's voice was definitely registering in Yi Myeong-Hwan's brain, but understanding the contents was proving to be too difficult for him right now. Was it because Yi Myeong-Hwan was in a state of panic? Or were Kang Jin-Ho's words too cryptic for him to figure out? Yi Myeong-Hwan couldn't tell.

“Did you say you're not scared of death?” Kang Jin-Ho asked.

“...!”

Why was Kang Jin-Ho asking a question while blocking Yi Myeong-Hwan's mouth? That question, asked without expecting a reply, was as meaningless as a scream aimed at the empty skies above.

“That means you don't mind losing a small part of your body, right? You'd lose everything in death, but a part of your body isn't... Well, it's not your everything, wouldn't you agree?”

“Wuuph...!” Yi Myeong-Hwan thrashed about to free himself. The truth was, though... The thrashing was done entirely in his mind, and in reality, his body was barely moving. However, he really was using every ounce of energy he could summon to force his body to move.

Yi Myeong-Hwan finally understood it. He understood what Kang Jin-Ho was thinking of doing to him. And that understanding was as perfect as it could get.

“Well, it's fine even if you don't agree,” Kang Jin-Ho cackled. His grip on Yi Myeong-Hwan's fingers gradually strengthened. Slowly, never in a hurry, but unmistakably...

Cruuuunch!

...The sound of bones breaking entered Yi Myeong-Hwan's hearing. But that sound seemed so unrealistic for something produced by his own hand. However, he soon had no choice but to admit that that sound had indeed come from his own body part.

...Since intolerable pain suddenly rushed up from his hand just then!

Crunch...

Cruuuunch...!

Unfortunately for Yi Myeong-Hwan, it seemed Kang Jin-Ho couldn't care less about what his victim was feeling at this very moment, judging from how he only focused on breaking each of Yi Myeong-Hwan's fingers. As if he was an unfeeling machine, no less!

“So, does it hurt?”

“...?!”

“Kekekeke…” Kang Jin-Ho cackled quietly. He seemed to be enjoying this situation so much. “So, can you comprehend this pain?”

Kang Jin-Ho leisurely raised his hand. When Yi Myeong-Hwan sensed his arm being grabbed by Kang Jin-Ho, his entire body began shivering pitifully again. It was as if he was suffering from a seizure now.

“Someone once told me that... Pain is your body's warning to you. A warning that only death awaits you if this continues, so you must escape from this situation as soon as possible.”

There was a hint of genuine mirth in Kang Jin-Ho's voice. That was when Yi Myeong-Hwan was hit with a brutal fact. Kang Jin-Ho, this bastard...! He was actually laughing right now. He was laughing like an innocent little kid while breaking someone's bones and torturing them!

As it turned out, becoming like Kang Jin-Ho was impossible. Yi Myeong-Hwan knew he could never do something like this, even if he had successfully attained godly strength. Only truly insane bastards would even think about acting this way.

What could be more terrifying in this world than a lunatic possessing all-conquering power?

“Which means... A man who is prepared to risk death will also ignore his pain. Am I right so far?”

“Wuuuph...!”

Kang Jin-Ho's grip on Yi Myeong-Hwan's face gradually tightened. At this rate, Yi Myeong-Hwan's facial bones might get crushed into powder. All the drool, snot and tears coming from Yi Myeong-Hwan's mouth, nose and eyes soaked Kang Jin-Ho's hand.

“So, I wanted to find out, you see?”

Yi Myeong-Hwan heard it again. 'It' being the cackling voice of the devil!

“I wanted to know how prepared you are to risk death. However, you don't have to worry. I promise I won't kill you. I swear it.”

Yi Myeong-Hwan suddenly realized that death as a means of escape from this situation was no longer available. Unfortunately, his realization was accompanied by a loud crunching noise, followed by his arm breaking loose off his shoulder.

“Kkkkuuuuuhk...!”

A twisted whimper leaked out of Yi Myeong-Hwan's lips, but that only brought another cruel smile on Kang Jin-Ho's face.

As if he was a devil... A devil that had found another delicious prey!