Chapter 51 - Special Prison for Criminals (2)

* * *

Haeryeon tilted her head as if challenging them to explain exactly what the problem was.

For starters, the leaking poison was strange. Just how badly was this place being maintained? Or were they in a situation where they couldn't maintain it?

Either way, both possibilities were a problem. A very big problem.

"... Ah. You need help. You don't want to deal with this, so when we showed up, you jumped at the chance to shove us inside? You're trying to pin it on us?"

Even Haeryeon was incredulous at what she had just said. But judging by the situation, she couldn't be sure they wouldn't do exactly that.

"Fine. If you don't want to answer, don't."

A direct phone call was always faster. Haeryeon took out her phone, and the guards panicked the moment they saw it.

Her expression turned icy as she watched the sudden change in their eyes. She was certain something had happened inside. After seeing them like this, how could she let it slide?

"Yes, Commissioner. It's me, Oh Haeryeon."

Haeryeon deliberately mentioned the commissioner—the highest rank in the correctional service. The moment they heard that title, the guards went beyond freezing up and turned deathly pale.

"I came to see the Poison King, but what they're telling me differs from what was promised, so I called."

There were things they had overlooked: she was a Black Eagle. And she was Oh Haeryeon.

"Not only is poison pouring out of the Poison King's holding area, they've forbidden us from using our abilities and handed me nothing but an access card. What do you make of that?"

<"... Have they lost their minds?! I'll contact them immediately!">

"Yes. I'd appreciate that. Goodbye."

Haeryeon hung up and looked at Hyeonyul.

"Sorry, but could you check why the poison is leaking before the warden comes running?"

"Yes. I'll go check and be right back."

"Look from a distance. Don't get close to him. If he calls you over, just give him the middle finger."

"Understood."

Hyeonyul took the card from Haeryeon and went inside. The guards looked flustered, but under her gaze, they had no choice but to keep their mouths shut as though that had been their intention all along.

* * *

Hyeonyul walked forward, step by step, until he stood before the Poison King. Unlike last time, the man wasn't wearing a mask. His melted face was still striking.

"Hello."

At the sound of that calm voice, the Poison King looked coldly at Hyeonyul.

"... Have you come to kill me?"

His face had changed, but this was indeed that test subject.

"I'd like to. The security cameras in here are useless, after all."

Hyeonyul pointed at a camera. The only thing still intact in the room was the round, tank-like enclosure holding the Poison King. The machinery that must have been there, the glass that couldn't have been ordinary glass, all the pharmaceuticals, even the magic—everything had melted in the concentrated poison.

'So this is what they were trying to hide.'

Even the magical formulas surrounding the tank were dissolving. Hyeonyul reckoned that, if not today, the Poison King would be able to escape within a week. No wonder he wasn't pleased to see him.

"I only came to warn you."

"Warn me...?"

"Yes. You know that however powerful you may be, it means nothing against me."

The corners of the Poison King's mouth trembled at those words. Poison didn't work on him. No such human existed in this world. He had held an unassailable position, only to fall this far because of that one being.

But the Poison King soon regained his composure. Who was he dealing with, after all? This was no ordinary person. This was the most perfect human, created through experimentation on test subjects.

"Yes. You could do it. You, of all people."

The way the Poison King looked at Hyeonyul resembled the Red Witch's gaze. It was filled with greed.

"If you ever leave this place, I'll kill you. I'll come visit whenever I'm bored, so rot here for the rest of your life."

"I won't tell you anything. Wouldn't killing me be quicker?"

"It would. But wouldn't it be nice to leave at least one reminder of defeat?"

Hyeonyul smiled. Having the Poison King, who made everyone tremble, locked up here made for a rather pleasing picture.

"Are you still a Black Eagle?"

"I don't know why you ask when you people have never done anything for me."

"That's why I'm kindly warning you. Get out as soon as you can. The deeper you get involved, the greater your regret will be."

"Do you want me too?"

"I do. And I pity you at the same time. That's why I keep telling you how things really are, isn't it?"

The Poison King smiled. He seemed to be looking down from the top, knowing everything.

What information did he have? What did he know, and how much?

"Will you answer if I ask?"

"Well. If you want an answer, wouldn't you need to offer something worth it?"

"Does that bastard you worship know about me too?"

At Hyeonyul's question, the Poison King approached the edge of the tank and swung his hand. But it never reached the wall. The drugs held it back, stopping it.

"Why are you getting so worked up?"

When Hyeonyul smiled, the Poison King burst into laughter as well.

"... Interesting. Very interesting."

"I don't find it very interesting. Just utterly boring."

Take away the name Poison King, and he was just another run-of-the-mill villain, the kind Hyeonyul had seen countless times.

What if he simply cut his throat? He had already considered it dozens of times.

"By now, you must be wondering whether the Empire has truly accepted you."

"Yes. I've wondered about that."

Hyeonyul didn't bother hiding it. Since the man knew he was a test subject, he could easily come up with something like that.

"They have no choice but to accept you. You're the one and only success. You know yourself how useful you are, don't you?"

"I've been wondering about that. What exactly do you see in me that makes you spout all this crap about hope and success?"

The Red Witch had said the same thing. He was a success? It almost made him laugh. How could a body that fell apart without the medicine Jeongmin gave him be a success?

"Why act like that when you know too? You've seen it all."

"I haven't seen every experimental facility."

"Fine. Search as much as you want. Stir things up to your heart's content. I'll wait."

"What are you waiting for?"

"You."

The Poison King's lips curled upward. An intense conviction shone through. But Hyeonyul still felt no interest.

"Do as you please. You'll outlive me anyway, so cling to that pathetic hope and keep going."

He was sick of being manipulated. He was the fool who had only understood the truth after being taken in again and again.

"Shin Daeho must have always called you over whenever he met someone else. And he must have assigned you work in ways that kept you from killing ordinary people. Aren't you curious why?"

"Whatever you say, Shin Daeho was someone I needed to kill, and I killed him. Do you want to manipulate me that badly?"

Hyeonyul let out a faint laugh. However much the man tried to hide his anxiety and impatience, it all showed.

"Then you should have done a better job when you made me that offer before. I don't know what makes you think you're so great that you can run your mouth when you can't even manage the basics."

Shin Daeho hadn't honored his employment contract, and the Poison King hadn't even bothered with simple things like checking whether Hyeonyul was off work or had time to spare.

"I'm the one asking the questions. All you have to do is answer."

Hyeonyul's hand melted away and seized the Poison King's throat, squeezing hard.

"Do you understand?"

It was true that he could kill him at any time. No matter where the Poison King was, no matter what sort of place held him, Hyeonyul alone would be able to cut his throat.

"... Fine. I'll play along."

At the Poison King's faltering words, Hyeonyul released his grip.

"Oh, may I take that territory where you'd put down roots?"

"... What?"

"I'd like to thin their numbers by making them destroy each other. I'll take it even if you refuse."

Ever since hearing that various factions were converging on the territory the Poison King had vacated, Hyeonyul had kept thinking about how to reduce their numbers.

The Poison King had been captured. What remained of his organization could resist, or it could surrender. Someone would use it anyway, so why shouldn't Hyeonyul?

Once that thought occurred to him, he had wanted to see the Poison King.

"Sign this."

Utterly shameless, Hyeonyul openly held out a sheet of paper. It stated that the Poison King would transfer everything to him.

"... Ha."

The Poison King gave a hollow laugh. What kind of absurd situation was this?

"I don't think you need time to consider it. An organization that's lost its leader will fall apart anyway, and I could take advantage of that opening to seize it all."

In the world of villains, power was everything. Hyeonyul didn't know how many people claimed to have succeeded the Poison King, but he knew that if he kept killing them, they would bow at his feet.

"Are you afraid this might be legally binding? Your money, your property, all of it belongs to the Empire anyway."

Villains had no legal protection, whatever the matter. Why was he hesitating?

"That's a dangerous idea, isn't it?"

"Do you mean swallowing up your organization?"

"Yes. It's a large organization. Won't your stomach burst?"

"Well, my stomach's burst plenty of times, so you needn't worry."

The Poison King furrowed his brow at that needling tone. Swallowing up his organization was another matter entirely. How could anyone say such a thing unless they were mad?

All the work he had put into building it. All he had done to claim that position. Hyeonyul was trying to take everything, disregarding all that effort.

"Do I look normal to you right now?"

Hyeonyul answered the expression on the Poison King's face and the look in his eyes.

"If I did, I'm sorry to disappoint you."

Black smoke fluttered around Hyeonyul's body, then entered the tank.

"If you don't want to sign, there's nothing I can do."

A dagger was in Hyeonyul's hand.

"...!"

The Poison King reacted in near panic. This liquid had drained his power over and over, yet it had no effect whatsoever on that test subject.

How? Why?

Countless questions swirled through his mind.

"They tried all sorts of experiments on me. They must have been curious about a lot of things. How far do you think they went with those experiments?"

Hyeonyul obligingly answered him and took hold of the Poison King's hand.

"... What are you going to do?"

"Since you don't want to sign, I'll take a finger instead. If I cut it off and show them a photo as proof, won't they fall in line on their own?"

"Are you insane...?"

The Poison King's voice rose. He really intended to cut it off.

"Yes."

Hyeonyul answered simply. Why had it taken him so long to realize that?

"I asked nicely, and you refused, didn't you? You know the very first thing I learned as a villain."

The dagger moved. With its smooth motion, something fell from the Poison King.

"If you want it, take it. If someone's in your way, kill them."

At Hyeonyul's words, which seemed to whisper in his ear, the Poison King turned his head. Purplish blood streamed down. Then the pain surged in. At the intense sensation he hadn't felt in so long, his eyes became fiercely bloodshot.

"You people taught me that, didn't you?"

Hyeonyul smiled, waving the Poison King's finger.

"... You baaastard!"

This crossed the line. It went far, far beyond it.

The Poison King reached both hands toward Hyeonyul's throat. But Hyeonyul was no longer there. He stood outside the tank, flaunting his presence.

"Why are you angry?"

Hyeonyul reacted as though he couldn't understand.

"You took m-my finger? How dare you! How dare you?!"

"You people taught me all of this. It's so strange. Why didn't you teach me something decent instead?"

You mustn't kill people indiscriminately. You mustn't simply take things because you want them. Those were things Jeongmin had taught him.

What he had learned as a test subject, what he had learned from villains, what Jeongmin had taught him—all of it filled his mind, circling endlessly.

He had to rehearse how to judge things and how to act, over and over and over again, to be able to live like an ordinary person.

"No. You should be happy."

Hyeonyul took his phone out of the shadows.

CLICK.

Seeing how well the photo had turned out, Hyeonyul gave a faint laugh.

"I'm the successful test subject you want so badly, aren't I?"

Hyeonyul turned the phone around to show him the picture. It was an excellent photo, brimming with fury and bewilderment.

"Keep singing my praises."

Hyeonyul was enjoying himself.