Chapter 157 – Seo Ha-ran"s Wish #1
In the end, the Bomber got his revenge, at the expense of his life. Tae-hyuk felt regret.
"Aigoo. There aren"t a lot of bombs left in the inventory, so if you die like this…"
If he had known this, it would"ve been better to learn the skill "Bomb Manufacturing" by disposing of the Bomber directly.
The aftermath of his death was enormous.
A few years ago, the researchers at Taesung Chemicals" research inst.i.tute caused a virus to mutate and an incident to occur. Since then, the inst.i.tute had been closed and all projects had been frozen indefinitely. Yet they continued working on it in an underground facility?
It was a great event that brought tremendous repercussions. Unfortunately, the fearsome substance called Psychotropic Incense all burned up. However, the media loved conspiracy theories and snapped it up like rice cakes.
Furthermore, all the dirty work done on behalf of the Yakuza were revealed. From the position of the Taesung Group, it was pouring oil on a house that was already on fire.
Tae-hyuk used his smartphone to access the Internet. Most of the news were related to the Taesung Group.
"In the first place, the Taesung Group was a company with a ridiculous amount of influence.
It would be within the top 10 of all the big companies. Once someone went abroad, they would be able to know the scale of the company. However, Mister Park had been able to control the media until now.
Mister Park became his identical twin brother and entered the political circle.
"After 10 years, did the company climb up to seventh place?"
Thanks to the sacrifice of the Bomber, that future would never happen. This meant…
The cause of Tae-hyuk going to jail had vanished.
‘Since Mister Park died, there is no one else to act as Park Jung-hwan. Furthermore, the Taesung Group can now barely take care of itself. Then the Yakuza controlling everything from behind…"
Along with the Chinese Triads and the Russian Red Mafia, they were walking around with a chain around their necks.
It was the b.u.t.terfly effect. The theory that a b.u.t.terfly"s wings flapping could cause a hurricane on the other side of the earth.
Tae-hyuk changed his and many others" fates by using his knowledge of the future. Every time he received a reward, it was like he got another piece of the puzzle. In the end, a great picture was formed. He had overturned the table so thoroughly that even the b.u.t.terfly effect couldn"t occur anymore.
Tae-hyuk looked at the Demon Revealing Mirror with a satisfied expression. There was a message to find out about the G.o.d of Crime. Nothing had been revealed yet about the conditions required.
However, there was no need to rush. It had been one year since he had first obtained the Demon Revealing Mirror and his crime skills. In the end, he was able to win the fight against fate.
First of all, he decided to relax and enjoy this.
"By the way, I think I am forgetting something very important. What was it?"
Tae-hyuk scratched his head and wondered. Then something suddenly popped into his head.
"…Ah, Noona"s wedding gift!"
He had been busy for a while, thanks to the mafia game and the Bomber"s revenge. In the meantime, Seo Ha-ran"s wedding was imminent.
“What would be good…?"
Tae-hyuk was deep in thought.
"…In the end, it is a house."
The place where they were living now was like a mansion compared to their previous rented room. However, Kang-suk was taking care of children. Tae-hyuk recalled that Ha-ran wanted to live in a two-storey house with a garden.
After Kang-suk and Ha-ran got married, Tae-hyuk and Tae-min agreed to live with them until they graduated from university. There would be six people living together so a large house was needed.
Anyway, it was okay if the house was in the suburbs because Kang-suk had bought a car recently.
“Well, how much money do I have now?"
He decided to check the balances of his various accounts. He had collected a significant amount of money while working as Phantom. It increased greatly after the mafia game.
"…4.07 billion?"
Winning the normal lottery gave a jackpot of 500 million won. In one year, the amount he earned was like winning the lottery several times.
Tae-hyuk laughed.
First, he would be able to buy a house for his family for one billion won. He decided to go to a real estate agent in the suburbs.
There were smartphone apps that allowed him to search for businesses that specialized in certain things, such as apartments or housing. He finally decided on a single family home and started wondering what to wear.
"This is the house that I am going to live in so why should I change myself?"
Tae-hyuk wore his usual clothes and went to visit the real estate agent. The agent in his 50s was watching TV with a sleepy expression.
"Welcome. Have you come to see the house?”
The agent studied Tae-hyuk before making a listless expression.
At best, he was a freshman who just entered university. He was wearing a leather jacket and his hair wasn"t even trimmed properly. His body was wet with sweat, like he had been running. Maybe he came to look for a room.
“Ah, yes. I wanted to look at what was on sale."
"Hrmm. I"m sorry but I don"t think we have any guest rooms suitable for you. The cheapest one is an officetel that requires a basic security deposit of three million and monthly rent is 1.2 million."
His words meant to leave now. However, Tae-hyuk shook his head and said,
“I came to see about buying a place, not renting."
“B-Buying?"
“I was wondering if there was a suitable single family home. There should be a lot of rooms. It doesn"t matter if it is new or not But there should be a small garden."
"Ha, ha, ha… Guest-nim… You seem to be mistaken about something. Such a house is at least one billion won…"
“I have that much."
"Huh?"
The agent"s eyes widened. This guy had one billion won? The agent turned red and he thought about calling the police.
“Are you joking right now? This is obstructing my business…"
Tae-hyuk"s eyes narrowed as he watched the agent. It seemed like he would have to take out his bankbook and show his balance for things to go smoothly.
It was at that moment. Two guests entered through the half open door. It was a young woman with colourful makeup and a man who seemed to be in his late 40s. The two of them were stuck close together like they were dating.
No matter how he looked, it seemed like an affair. The atmosphere of the agent changed as the couple entered.
“Oh, Boss-nim is here! I have found a house that fits your requirements."
The middle-aged man chuckled and replied,
"Really? Is it was two-storey house with lots of rooms and a yard? I thought I would buy one due to the redevelopment happening nearby. We need a house to live in."
A fresh smile appeared on the agent"s face. The real estate agent would receive a percentage of the sales price as a commission fee. Selling a house was much better than renting one.
“Please sit here and look at the catalogue. I"ll go and get you some tea."
The middle-aged man started talking business with the agent.
“It is cheaper than the market price in a nearby area. In this location, a house for one billion won is cheap."
Coincidentally, the house he was looking for had the same specs that Tae-hyuk was interested in. Tae-hyuk"s eyes narrowed as he stared at the couple.
"If you want to live, then get out quickly."
However, the couple ignored him.
"Hrmm… It seems a bit more expensive than I thought…."
"What, Oppa. Buy me a house~"
“No, not that one. The price is a little…"
It seemed like the price was a little expensive just for an affair. The two people started to argue for a while.
“Argh! Annoying! By the way, who is the person who keeps looking at us?"
“That reminds me, he was here from the beginning."
Then the agent said with embarra.s.sment,
"Ah, no. I"ll get rid of him straight away."
The agent approached Tae-hyuk and waved his hand like he was shooing away a fly.
“I have an important deal to take care of, so please come see me about the house next time."
Tae-hyuk made an absurd expression. The house that the couple was buying. Tae-hyuk had enough money to buy two or three of them if he wanted, yet he was being treated as a troublesome fly?
"What? That person came to see you about a house?"
"Ah, yes. It seems like he wants to buy a small house."
"Haha! Is it a rooftop house? By the way, I truly don"t know how people can live in that. I would die if I needed to live in a rooftop house. Huh? Right Oppa?"
“Okay, okay. Oppa believes you."
"……"
All expression disappeared from Tae-hyuk"s face as he listened to the conversation between the couple and the agent. His family had lived in a rented semi-bas.e.m.e.nt room for years.
"Well… What a disagreeable couple. Should I just take them out quietly? Then I will buy that property. It is a good idea."
He touched the Tokarev TT-33 pistol that was hidden on his body. He had obtained it from the mafia members who attacked Caterina. It had been really useful in the meantime.
Tae-hyuk heard the whisperings of the couple.
“But are we going to live in the same neighbourhood as a person like that? It is disgusting…"
"Aish, surely not. This is an expensive area. Don"t worry."
His grip on the gun tightened. He instantly started planning the crime in his head. The opponents knew his face. Therefore, he needed to get rid of everyone here. After all, the dead couldn"t talk. This place had CCTV but it wasn"t on an external server. If he knew the exact location then it wouldn"t be that difficult…
-The most important thing that Mother left isn"t this Rosario."
Pajik!
At that moment, he felt like something was breaking on his face and there was a strange pain.
His wildly beating heart calmed down.
"Eh? I thought I heard something strange just now. Was I mistaken? Um… Didn"t I come here for Noona"s gift? There is no need to do such annoying things. First, let me ask what gift Noona would like to receive. Then I can buy them a house if it isn"t enough."
Tae-hyuk let go of the pistol and quietly left the rest estate business. The couple looked after him and muttered,
"Aigoo. An empty-headed fellow like that. Boss-nim. Don"t rent a house to someone like that in this neighbourhood. It will bring the quality down."
"Haha, of course. Anyway, I doubt he would have the ability to obtain any of the properties. He will probably go to the slums."
“Don"t you think the quality of the person living there is important to increase the value of the house? Then let"s go see this property."
"Yes. Oppa, let"s go see the room."
"Ah, yep! I will go start the car. Boss-nim, please be at ease."
The agent and couple laughed happily without realizing that they had almost died.
Chapter 158 – Seo Ha-ran"s Wish #2
His sister was waiting for him as he opened the front door. Ha-ran waved her hands with a strange look.
“Wow, I just sent you a message, but you came so quickly!"
"Eh? Message?"
"Yes, I wanted to buy clothes you clothes for my wedding. Didn"t you come running after seeing it?"
Tae-hyuk groaned.
It was just before the wedding. Even though she was surely busy… Was his sister worried about his clothing now? She seriously wanted to talk about this.
She had no one to help with the wedding plans, so she had to do everything herself. Her dark circles reminded him of An Eun-young in her prime studying days. Even so, she was beautiful. She was like a flower that had just fully bloomed.
Ha-ran had started studying at the Wolsang Inst.i.tute not long ago. She wasn"t even an intern yet, but her face was filled with hope.
“I’m still a student so I can wear my uniform. So don"t worry about it."
A small smile appeared on Ha-ran"s face.
"My Tae-hyuk is all grown up. I knew you would say that. But in this situation, I want to buy you some clothes as thanks."
“Don"t you have to do more wedding invitations? It looks like there are a lot of pamphlets in the living room. It is hard to do alone, so shall I help you?”
"Of course! This is important too! But first, shopping for Tae-hyuk"s clothes! …In fact, I feel really sorry that you are wearing the same clothes every day. Oh look at this!"
Seo Ha-ran pulled out a folded envelope from her pocket. She showed him the contents with a cheerful expression.
"I saved this to buy Tae-hyuk"s clothing. Let"s find something stylish."
10,000 won bills were crammed inside. There were around 50 of them?
At that moment, Tae-hyuk felt a lump in his throat. In the meantime, he had hidden the fact that he made a huge amount of money from his crime skills. He decided to reveal it after changing the future completely. He could use the excuse of winning the lottery or receiving a blank inheritance. If he used the crime skills then he could make a plausible lie.
Until then, he lived sparingly. In such a situation, Ha-ran had collected 500,000 won.
"…This is obviously something she collected by living sparingly."
Tae-hyuk licked his dry lips and asked.
“Noona, if we were rich then what would you like to have?"
"H-Huh?"
“You told me that you wanted to live in a two-story house with a garden while we were watching a drama. That is good. Or do you want something else? Or maybe a wish that you want to fulfill?"
Tae-hyuk decided to confess the day before her wedding that he was rich by showing her the bankbooks. The fight with Mister Park was over so the timing was good.
However, Ha-ran suddenly hugged Tae-hyuk with red eyes.
“My wish? Tae-hyuk. Noona only has one wish…"
“So that wish…"
“W-Why are you asking? I"m embarra.s.sed."
"I just want to hear it."
Ha-ran took a deep breath and said,
“Yes, my wish… It is to see you and Tae-min living well."
"…Is that it?"
"Yes. The end."
Ha-ran closed her eyes and opened her mouth like it was time to confess something.
"Mother and Father… they died in an accident… I was always anxious. I confidently said that I would be your parents instead… I always wondered if I was doing well…"
Ttiring.
[The Forgery skill has found an intense image.]
At that moment, an image appeared in Tae-hyuk"s mind. A scene from his childhood that he had forgotten.
Tae-hyuk"s eyes shook wildly. It couldn"t be…
Did that actually happened?
The scene on the Demon Revealing Mirror was of the accident. A truck carrying steel pipes slammed into a car after a sudden stop. The person sitting in the driver"s seat and the pa.s.senger seat died instantly. Only the three children sitting in the backseat managed to survive.
It was a miracle since some of the steel pipes penetrated the car. A girl in a school uniform threw herself around two elementary school students. There was a thick pipe in her stomach and blood was flowing down. Despite that, she smiled at her brothers.
"It"s okay.
I will protect you, so rest a.s.sured—."
"Ugh… W-What…?"
Tae-hyuk swallowed his saliva. Why was the scene so familiar? It was like he saw it directly in front of him.
The facts overlapped in Tae-hyuk"s mind. Ha-ran never went to the swimming pool after the death of their parents.
Ha-ran whispered to Tae-hyuk,
“I want Tae-hyuk and Tae-min to live better lives than before… As if that accident never occurred…"
"…Noona. I"m sorry to say this all of a sudden. Can you show me your belly?"
Ha-ran blushed and asked,
“W-What are you saying?"
“There is something I would like to check."
"……"
Ha-ran was very embarra.s.sed by his sudden request.
“Did you remember that time?"
"…Maybe."
Ha-ran struggled for a moment in silence. Then she nodded.
“Yes. I understand. Instead, you must absolutely keep it a secret from Tae-min."
Ha-ran carefully lifted the shirt she was wearing, exposing her belly. A smooth belly without any fat appeared. However, there was a fierce scar on Ha-ran"s lower abdomen.
"Hehe… Ugly isn’t it?"
Yes. It was there.
Pajik. Pajijik.
Tae-hyuk realized how much Ha-ran had sacrificed for her siblings. She threw away her precious life to save her brother during the accident. How could he have ever forgotten such an important thing?
His head hurt. At the same time, his ears heard the sound of something breaking.
Ahh, yes. He was alive because his sister saved him.
"Eh? T-Tae-hyuk?"
Tae-hyuk literally ran towards the bathroom. He couldn"t stay any longer. Tears constantly flowed from both eyes.
Did Kang-suk know this fact? He couldn"t not know. His sister didn"t have the guts to hide such an important fact. Despite that, they were getting married. Kang-suk really was a good person.
Tae-hyuk wanted to run up to Ha-ran right now and say.
"I"m sorry Noona.
And―.
…Thank you."
It was at that moment.
Pajijijijijik―!
Tae-hyuk realized that something on his face was shattering. He slowly raised his head and looked at the mirror in front of him. There was something really strange.
A blank face with no emotions stared back at him. Then half of it broke and fell off of his face. Mask…?
"…What, since when was I wearing this type of thing?"
He couldn"t understand the situation. Tae-hyuk reached up and peeled off the half mask.
"……!!!"
This…
The Phantom mask. Tae-hyuk made a shocked expression as the mask smiled. Then a voice was heard, like a hallucination.
–Ah, I was discovered.
Waaaack!
Tae-hyuk covered his mouth to block the scream that wanted to emerge. Ha-ran was outside the bathroom. He didn"t want to unnecessarily worry her.
"What is this?!"
Tae-hyuk tossed the mask to the ground and started stepping on it. It turned into white particles and disappeared.
“D-Don"t tell me that until now… Ugh…!"
In the end, he couldn"t endure it and dunked his head over the sink. He hadn"t eaten anything, so only yellow gastric juices were vomited out, but it was better than nothing. After a few minutes, he felt the nausea fading away.
Ha-ran"s concerned voice could be heard from outside.
"Tae-hyuk? What’s going on?"
“All of a sudden, my stomach…"
"Ah! Y-Your stomach hurts? I"ll go and buy medicine straight away!"
"…I think it will get better if I rest a little bit. Don"t worry."
Tae-hyuk made an excuse to Ha-ran and sat on the bathtub. Then the illusion of people dying appeared in front of his eyes.
"I-I…killed… P-People… W-What on earth…"
When did he start to cross the line? Tae-hyuk bit his lip and desperately searched through his memories.
"…Yes. It is clearly after I upgraded to a King."
There were some signs of it when he was a n.o.ble. The more he used the crime skills, the more numb he became to committing crimes. It felt like he became another person. It became worse after he was a King, and he easily killed others. It was like he was spellbound by something, but the memories still remained intact.
A few hours ago, he was about to kill a couple who hadn"t done anything wrong.
“This, dammit! I am just like a serial killer!"
In the future, he was framed and went to prison. However, he might be punished for the sins he committed.
"But I have the crime skills… Waaaack! Y-Yes! That is the killer!"
Tae-hyuk pulled out the Demon Revealing Mirror.
"This really was a cursed object from the beginning!"
He had barely come back to his senses. But what if he started using the crime skills again?
Tae-hyuk bit his lip and muttered,
"I"m not a criminal… So now I will quit being Phantom. I will return to being the high school student Seo Tae-hyuk, Ha-ran noona"s little brother."
He couldn"t throw away the Demon Revealing Mirror but he decided not to use the sinister crime skills.
Woong!
Woong woong!
Woong woong woong!
The Demon Revealing Mirror started to vibrate.
"What? Do you think I will be convinced by that? I"m not going to use the crime skills. So just disappear."
At that moment, a message appeared on the screen of the Demon Revealing Mirror.
[It is possible to become the G.o.d of Crime by obtaining one million affinity points.]
The Demon Revealing Mirror showed him the condition required to upgrade his rank.
“Are you saying that you want me to kill one million people?"
He obtained affinity points by changing the fate of others. There was a simple way to do this. It was to kill someone who should"ve lived.
“d.a.m.n! I guess you laughed when I was possessed by you!"
Tae-hyuk felt terrible.
"…Yes. I won"t use the crime skills. Then I"ll be able to maintain my sanity."
Anyway, the main case was over.
Woong! Woong woong! Woong woong woong!
As if trying to persuade him, the Demon Revealing Mirror kept on raising notification windows in front of Tae-hyuk"s eyes.
“You won"t deceive me!"
Tae-hyuk declared firmly. In the future, it was necessary to protect his important people without using the crime skills. There was only one way to do that.
He left the bathroom and headed to the kitchen where Ha-ran was cooking.
"Noona."
"Huh? Yes? Oh, I"m making porridge because your stomach hurts. Just wait a little longer."
"I"ve picked a career."
“C-Career? Oh, the course you want to go into?"
"Yes. I"m going to being a detective like Kang-suk hyung. I will go into the police department. There is a course at S University."
"Omo! W-Wah!"
Ha-ran grinned and clapped with delight. Her brother wanted to be a police officer. It was a wonderful job where he would protect people.
"Yes! Obviously, Kang-suk will support you."
Ha-ran gently hugged Tae-hyuk.
Yes, this was surely right. The reason he chose a police officer was simple. Tae-hyuk still remembered the future.Most of the information was about crimes. As long as he had those memories, there was a possibility of being dragged into incidents.
Could he solve those without using the crime skills? However, a police officer was different. He could officially fight against crime.
As he thought this, his anxious mind calmed down. Now there was nothing…
The next day, Ha-ran went missing.