Chapter 76

Man (1)

An average man would be unconscious by exhaustion, yet Seo Gyu-Cheol was still staring at me with bloodshot eyes.

"You bastard!"

Perhaps because the other host was still alive, the seed in my heart was asleep as if it were dead. I decided to force the seed to wake up, just as I used to do in front of the Iponia. As I was overpowered by [The Successor's Eye], I had to somehow re-stimulate the dead cell in my core. The Mana waves that occurred when the other seed was destroyed would get recreated inside my body.

'Geeeek!'

The curse had awakened. The red energy spread out of my heart.

"Now, what do you think? The host's still alive. Do you want to attack as before?"

Seo Gyu-Cheol couldn't see the seed in the form of red Mana. He struggled to understand what I said.

"What kind of bullshit are you...!"

Despite this suggestion, the seed in my heart seldom attempted to attack as it had done before.

'Geeeek?'

It danced around the red tentacles as if it were testing the water. I didn't see any prominent sensory organs, but I felt like it was looking at the condition. The seed waited as if it were doubting.

'Geeeeeeeek!'

Suddenly, it stretched out its tentacles, drawing sharp lines. What the end was aiming for was Seo Gyu-Cheol's seed! It penetrated my body without any resistance or injury; it was no different from pure Mana, having no physical interference. Even if it dugs into Seo Gyu-Cheol's heart, there would be no physical damage.

"Keup!"

As soon as he encountered my curse, Seo Gyu-Cheol breathed in, and his face hardened. His eyes soon turned upside down, and he became unconscious.

'Did the Mana exhaustion take place late?'

And then.

'Geeek!'

'Geeeek! Geeeeeek!'

The cries of the two kinds of seeds echoed in my mind at the same time. One sounded like that of a greedy predator. The other was like a scream from some creature in agony, as if on the verge of extinction. The seed was attacked while the host was still alive. The red energy that made it up was gradually disappeared.

'It's working!'

Seo Gyu-Cheol's curse was disappearing for sure. I couldn't shake my bitter feelings as I cheered inwardly. Without the power of Iponia, I could remove the curse with the host alive, but the way for me was to attack it by provoking a curse hidden in my heart. Either way, I couldn't get rid of my curse.

'Unless I found a way to force my seed to commit suicide.'

While I was thinking, Seo Gyu-Cheol's memory, which was stuck in the seed, flowed in at the speed of the light.

'Is it a copy of the host's memory? Or will Seo Gyu-Cheol forget all the memories since this is the original version?'

That question didn't stay in my mind for long as I witnessed the memories of his past flooding my brain.

'... It's been this long?'

I was expecting that Seo Gyu-Cheol's encounter with the source of the curse itself was about 15 years ago. But it wasn't like that in reality. The event of some being coming to see Seo Gyu-Cheol was a little over 100 days after Seo Jin-Wook was born.

*

Twenty years ago, Seo Gyu-Cheol was holding his head in his mediocre office. He felt like he was pushed into a corner.

'Was my growth as a hunter... just going to end like this?'

A year earlier, he was an A-Rank hunter in Korea, and his future looked bright. Until the day when his Mana capacity's growth was over.

'Was there truly no way to increase the amount of potential Mana?'

Years had passed since the Cataclysm, but the situation was gloomy because no one in the world had found a way to build more Mana or increase consumption efficiency. It was inevitable to rely on very rare items, and the supply was not released in Korea at that time.

'The Guild Master of the Grand Croix or Destructional Blade was rumored to have reached the potential Mana of S-Rank. If that were true, no matter how slow the activation rate was, an S-Rank hunter would be released in a few years. If the Celestial Dragon fell behind, it was inevitable for the talented to leave.'

The guild was also an issue, but it was bad news even for an individual such as Seo Gyu-Cheol.

'Was this really to be my end? No matter how good my skills were and how I have increased the masteries.... The difference in combat power that follows Mana seems absolute!'

This was not what Seo Gyu-Cheol always dreamed or what he always desired. For his position as a hunter, it reminded him of a time when he'd reached rock bottom but had managed to stabilize himself and to continue his successful life as a top-notch Awakened. The desire to become a stronger hunter had been driving Seo Gyu-Cheol so far, and despair overwhelmed him when he realized he had reached the end of the road.

'It can't end like this. I want to be stronger!'

He was deeply troubled by individuals, family affairs, and even the guild's internal situation, but this now cast a shadow over his face. It was then that he heard a strange voice.

"Congratulations on your latest son. I heard that your kind say it that way, am I right?" The moment he heard the voice, Seo Gyu-Cheol felt a chill down his spine.

"Who is that?" He quickly raised himself, ready for battle, "You!"

In front of him, a man sat on the armrest of the sofa and looked at him in a relaxed way. He was an ordinary looking man whose face was unremarkable and easily forgotten. He sat in such a way that looked comfortable, almost like he'd been there forever, like some ancient tree that had been rooted deep in the ground for hundreds of years, or even a rock-like inorganic fragment that had been tested by time.

'No, what am I thinking?' He shook off his confused thoughts, 'I didn't feel any presence at all! When... And how did you get in?!'

His heart thumped erratically. Perhaps he was an Awakened who has mastered a stealth skill. He could only think of one reason to break into the Guild Master's office this way. Assassination. He clenched his teeth.

"From which guild did they send you?" Seo Gyu-Cheol guessed at the identity of the opponent. Either the Grand Croix or the Destructional Blade. Although the tension had intensified due to the right to Clear, were they that pressured to the point of attempting an assassination? Or was it because his growth as a hunter has been dampened and thought to be eliminated? Otherwise, he could have been hired by a small and medium-sized guild to replace his position by defeating Celestial Dragon. While thinking these things, the man opened his mouth and spoke comfort.

"It's none of what's in your head right now."

"What nonsense!"

"The reason why I found you today is not that you are weaker than them, nor because you are stronger. To get to the point, it's because of your son."

At that moment, Seo Gyu-Cheol felt his heart tightening with tension. His wife, a non-Awakened, had died less than a month after giving birth to their first child. The cause of death was a disease diagnosed during pregnancy. Throughout the pregnancy, she suffered, but miraculously, she survived to give birth to their son. But then disaster struck, and she was taken. The pain of losing his wife was terrible, but he never forgot his son.

But the moment the assassin mentioned his son, Seo Gyu-Cheol lost his reason, "How dare you!" Seo Gyu-Cheol pulled out a sword. The blue Mana swayed on the sharp blade. Immediately, he rushed toward the man, leaving a blue trail of sword energy as he struck his blade towards the neck of the man! Seo Gyu-Cheol felt cold sweat dripping down.

'T-this is?'

As he flung the sword before the man's neck, an action he'd done so many times, the blade went through the body as if going through a mist. No tissue or bones were cut.

'Am I possessed by a ghost!'

Seo Gyu-Cheol barely suppressed the shaking of his hand that held the sword. He turned his eyes and looked around. Nothing has changed, but that was the problem. The man sat on the sofa's armrest, as he did from the moment he first appeared. It was as if nothing had happened.

'Hallucination?'

However, Seo Gyu-Cheol's sense of throwing his body was so clearly engraved in his head. Sweat began to pour down his wet back.

"I can't believe you ran right into me with a sword without care.... You tend to be easily swayed by emotions. Like most humans do. You need a heart transplant. You need to be calm."

The man gestured lightly towards Seo Gyu-Cheol's chest. Although there was no tactile sensation felt on the skin, Seo Gyu-Cheol felt as if there was a breeze. Seo Gyu-Cheol's heart, which had been beating like crazy, gradually regained calmness. The inner self, which had been swirling with anger, fear, shock, and suspicion, cooled down in an instant.

The man spoke in a monotonous tone, "From now on, you won't be necessarily swayed by your emotions. Except for the circumstances I intend, that is."

Seo Gyu-Cheol analyzed the situation in his cooled head, but he did feel like a new person.

'Unidentified skill. Strong enough to penetrate and activate in the short intervals of less than 0.1 seconds.'

After the agitation and intense emotions had died down, it was only then that he realized how dangerous the opponent was.

'Why did this kind of guy come in here mentioning my son? For a baby who is barely over 100 days old!'

The man looked at him and said, "Yes, it took more than 100 days to narrow the search and find him. I think it's rather late. But it took that long for your race's potential to be discerningly embodied. That was an area that I couldn't touch."

"Keup....!"

Once again, hot steam rose from the inside of Seo Gyu-Cheol, which seemed to have been frozen just a moment ago.

'I have to protect him! If he's here for my son... Even if it costs me my life to kill him here!'

As soon as he had the thought in his head, the man said again. "Ahh, the protective instinct for the offspring that inherited the gene. It is an instinct for mammals that breed for a strangely long time as mortals, continuing their lives through breeding. It also stimulates your feelings unnecessarily. Fatherly love... you don't need it either while you're working for me. Let's put it away from now on."

The man gestured again. There was a feeling of a wind blowing.

"How do you feel now?"

Seo Gyu-Cheol was immediately aware of the change. Any part that existed inside Seo Gyu-Cheol disappeared as if it were being cut out. He couldn't understand or empathize with what he was thinking just a second ago. Seo Gyu-Cheol realized that his attachment to his son had been completely erased. But the change did not lead to a sense of loss. He just observes himself calmly.

"Now, shall we get down to business?"

The man's two corners of his mouth drew a thin curve.

"Let's define your existence. What is the most important part that makes you, you? Tell me, what is the essential part that you operate in?" His voice's tone was extremely calm, but Seo Gyu-Cheol somehow felt that the words contained the light of temptation.

"What is your most stimulating desire? Also, what is the most prominent emotion you have?"

Like the mechanical motion of an anatomical sample that touched the nervous system, something came into Seo Gyu-Cheol's head regardless of his will.

'I want to be strong—more than anyone else. I don't want to be pushed back like this. I want to fill a page of history. I want to engrave the name Seo Gyu-Cheol in the world. I want to brag about my achievement and alter ego, the name of Celestial Dragon, next to me!'

The man laughed, "I see. You had a quite simple desire, too. I'll make it happen."

As he reached out his hand, Seo Gyu-Cheol felt something sharp and rough flowing into his chest.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

He rolled around on the floor of his office, struggling with pain. A few minutes after that...

"Huff... Huf...!"

The pain, like pouring boiling water, stormed his chest and finally stopped. Seo Gyu-Cheol got up as he struggled for breath. Something impossible unfolded before his eyes.

'Mana.... has increased?'

It was impossible for a hunter, who had exhausted his potential Mana, to activate more than that. An absolute rule that no one has ever doubted, and taken for granted, had been broken. Seo Gyu-Cheol saw his latent Mana, which was definitely "0" a few minutes earlier, increase by precisely 10,000.

- Active Mana: 11,900/13,100

- Potential Mana: 10,000

'If all of this potential Mana were to be activated ···.'

Seo Gyu-Cheol could become an S-Rank hunter with more than 20,000 active Mana.

The man said promptly, "It's a gift from me. You don't have to waste years activating it like ordinary hunters. If you only focus for a day, you will be able to activate all that potential Mana. In just one day."

If what he said was true, Seo Gyu-Cheol would become the first S-Ranked hunter in South Korea by the next day—making the impossible dream come true. It was an unconscious desire that filled Seo Gyu-Cheol's heart right after realizing the possibility.

"In return, you'll have to do something for me from now on. To compare it to your kind's expression... It's similar to a gardener's duty. When the day comes when your labor pays off satisfactorily, I'll give you a bigger gift than you had today."

Seo Gyu-Cheol was already kneeling in front of the man. If it were any other day, he would have been suspicious and would try to figure out the other person's intentions, even if he had just experienced the miracle. However, Seo Gyu-Cheol's head was filled with euphoria at the fact that a part of his desires had already been achieved, and his desperation to fulfill greater desires remained.

'More... More from here!'

He felt hunger as if he had a hole in his chest. The urgency of having to fill that hole with something rose and reached the throat.

"In five years, I'll be back. Then I'd like for your son.... and select two or three additional individuals for your son, to be planted with the seed."

He couldn't understand what he meant, but Seo Gyu-Cheol just fell on the floor and listened to the man. His head, already clouded and messy, led him to worship the man.

"Five years... was it?"

On the back of Seo Gyu-Cheol's head, the man's calmly uttered words fell, "Yes, they say it takes about five years for your species to develop a basic ego. I'll be back then. In the meantime, you just have to raise your son 'greatly.' The more central the void in the spirit that becomes the soil, the better my seed roots out."

The man said with a smile, "If it's you with the cleared and organized mind, I'm sure you'll be able to raise him well."

Seo Gyu-Cheol asked, feeling curious, "Then, why bother if you can organize my son's mind as easily as you did to mine....?"

Sitting on the sofa, he answered Seo Gyu-Cheol's question, "If your son were just at the level of you, it would be easy, but with a high probability, he wouldn't be. It doesn't grow by just planting the seeds, but the ground needs to be cleaned up and fertilized. I borrowed your expressions, but I don't know if this is the right analogy."

Whether the analogy was appropriate or not was not crucial to Seo Gyu-Cheol. He was already perfectly reconstructed enough to accept and carry out everything that the man said.

The reason why it was so easy was...the moment he spoke on the sofa, the seed had already penetrated Seo Gyu-Cheol's heart and deeply eroded his mind. Seo Gyu-Cheol, named the gardener, had no idea that the first seed he had to manage had already settled inside him.

*

And five years later, when Seo Gyu-Cheol was Korea's first S-Rank hunter, and with the help of Han-Seol, was rapidly expanding the Celestial Dragon Guild, the man came back to see Seo Gyu-Cheol.