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Man (2)

The man who reappeared in front of Seo Gyu-Cheol had a completely different face and physique five years earlier, but it was still a face easily forgotten. However, as soon as they met, Seo Gyu-Cheol instinctively knew that he was the one he’d met in the office five years ago.

“It’s been a long while since we met.”

Seo Gyu-Cheol lowered his body and paid his respect. No one had told him to, and the man didn’t require him to, but he felt like he should greet him this way. He could hear the man’s voice above his back.

“It’s only been five years, and your descendant is already so marvelous.”

Seo Gyu-Cheol did not know who he was specifically referring to. Whether it was the potential for the Awakened or his talent as an ordinary human being, he was still too young to reveal such things. Instead of expressing doubt, however, Seo Gyu-Cheol waited for his next words. And soon, he found out that what the man was speaking off was a slightly different concept from what he’d thought.

“The heart is a heart, but… I can’t believe that that is the mental strength of a young creature that has only lived for five years. It’s truly firm and superb. I was impressed.”

Mental strength, he said?

Seo Gyu-Cheol replied, bowing his head much lower, “I’m not sure if the soil for the seed to root has been made…”

“You don’t have to worry. You did a great job raising him well. He barely had a gap in his mind. It was a hard rock-like spiritual soil, but the seeds were hard to take root because of the fertilizer called anger.”

He said that due to the method of raising him, which was somewhat closer to emotional abuse by Seo Gyu-Cheol, even his strong spirit, which was challenging to break down, had a crack.

“Have you already been there?”

“Yes, I have planted seeds in two other humans besides your descendant. There were a lot of faces that weren’t seen then. I choose among them.”

In the past five years, Celestial Dragon had achieved tremendous growth on the outside. Seo Gyu-Cheol was convinced, when he heard the names of the two men mentioned, he recognized they were the two strongest people in the guild except himself.

Han-Seol and Park Chang-Hee.

“Both of them are the strongest here.”

“There is a reason for that, but…I chose one because she had a wicked desire, and the other one was also tilted in a strange direction. Anyway, I’ll tell you what you have to do from now on.”

The man’s instructions were simple, but the intention was hard to understand. However, instead of trying to understand, Seo Gyu-Cheol calmly listened.

“My seed will work in a way that amplifies their greatest desire and emotion. You only have to add fuel to the fire and fan it.”

Seo Gyu-Cheol remembered every single word.

“Also, those who have seeds in their hearts are instinctively bound to get involved. In particular, your son will attract other hosts like a flower attracts a bee, so you can help them run more wildly, struggle harder, and pour out more violently.”

The man continued calmly, “If they depend on each other, bind them up tight. If they hate each other, drive them into a small room. Pity, obsession, murderousness, etc.…. let them live on, shooting each other.”

Seo Gyu-Cheol paid attention to one of the words he said. Murderousness? He asked the man, “What if they end up killing each other? Maybe the precious seed might wither away.”

“If it is judged that the blooming takes too late, you can put them in such a situation. What your son has been planted with is a different class of breed from what other hosts have. If he is rather exposed to the danger of death, he will wake up, eat the ones around, and get closer to flowering. But leave that as a last resort. Instead of driving them forcefully, it’s better to let it happen naturally.”

“Okay. Then… I’ll ask you one last question.”

A few months ago, Han-Seol and her hunters joined the group. It was a genuinely exquisite timing for Seo Gyu-Cheol to judge. However, he didn’t expect it to be tailored to the outbreak’s time, predetermined by the [Prophecy]. At this point, Seo Gyu-Cheol was already aware of her unique skill.

“Han-Seol, who you planted the seeds to this time, has the skills to see the future. It is believed that she has not yet seen the future of the seeds being planted in her chest, but if the aftermath of this incident is reflected in the future…”

As Seo Gyu-Cheol also knew, there was a portion that couldn’t be utterly uncontrolled with the [Prophecy]. If she had known that seed would be planted in advance, Han-Seol would not have joined the Celestial Dragon.

‘She doesn’t know yet.’

However, things could go wrong if the content of ‘the man’ or seeds were reflected in the future she would witness. That was what Seo Gyu-Cheol was concerned about. However, the man responded as if it was insignificant.

“Do you think I would look so clumsy to be seen in a prophecy that even the master of the skill has no control over?”

Hearing that, Seo Gyu-Cheol felt chills. The man’s words implied one thing. He was confident that he could control things to prevent his existence or act from being projected into a future scene that Han-Seol would see. It was something beyond his imagination.

“But if she sees my son in the future, wouldn’t she be able to guess?”

“She was able to see it until yesterday.”

His words were true. Han-Seol came to the Celestial Dragon because she saw Seo Jin-Wook’s distant future.

“But it will be impossible from today. I’ve already dug into that heart. Don’t worry; the future that she will see will be limited to trivial things that deviate from the big stem. As soon as she tries harder, her subconscious will feel terror, and she will stop doing so.”

Seo Gyu-Cheol shuddered. ‘This man!’ Seo Gyu-Cheol did not guess about the identity of the man or doubt him. He was only admiring and strengthening his feelings of obedience.

“There are a few more things to note.”

The man consecutively gave additional instructions, such as never to let Seo Jin-Wook enter in a dungeon where the boundary collapsed, or if the seed erosion seemed too slow, there was no need to Awaken him early. He added that the auditory hallucination, like the experience, was evidence that it had not yet been appropriately eroded. The man finished his speech suddenly and knowingly, reading Seo Gyu-Cheol’s mind, “That’s all you have to do. If you do it faithfully, you can look forward to receiving a bigger reward. You don’t mean to stop here, do you?”

Seo Gyu-Cheol realized what he was saying, ‘The potential Mana that he provided then was ten thousand…!’ The activation was finished in an instant. Thanks to him, he became the first S-Rank Hunter in Korea and had been defending the title of the best in Korea, but…

‘It’s the same story that my growth has stopped again!’

He could only grow as much as the man allowed him to. What if he could get the same gift again? No, what if it’s even a bigger gift? It was a cold but deep desire rising from Seo Gyu-Cheol’s heart.

“Well, the next time we’ll see will be after the seed blooms. I’ll let you be until the day of the harvest,” with those words, the man disappeared.

*

Observing the overflowing memory, the shock stiffened my body. Many parts were far from what I expected, and all of these were in the first place…

‘It was a very old plan, targeting the original!’

The man that Seo Gyu-Cheol met twice, no face matched the list of the ministry spirits. He could easily be able to camouflage, seeing that he seemed different every time he appeared.

‘Whatever it was… the alien was only after Seo Jin-Wook!’

It meant that even Seo Gyu-Cheol, Han-Seol, or Park Chang-Hee, who had seeds planted in their hearts, were just tools to develop Seo Jin-Wook’s target as he desired.

There was another reason why I was shocked.

‘The seed eats the other seeds?’

So far, when the seed in my heart attacked another seed, I saw the red energy in their bodies decompose into the air and disappear. So, I concluded that their seeds evaporated.

‘But the memory of the host was delivered to me as it was!’

So, what I saw through [The Successor’s Eyes] wasn’t everything that there was? What if something other than Mana was absorbed?

‘No, there were two possibilities.’

It didn’t seem to be the man’s expected plan for [The Successor’s Eyes] to overpower the seeds in the first place. Therefore, my seed, which was supposed to eat something else, may have failed. Or the phenomenon in which memories were absorbed could be more like a feeding process for it to grow.

“Jeez, I think I’m involved in something more ridiculous than I expected.”

I expected it wasn’t just a curse, but what the hell was he trying to harvest? What did the host turn into when the seed bloomed?

Seo Gyu-Cheol, who was already unconscious, was breathing slowly. I put my hand on the handle of the devil’s sword he held. I asked the devil’s sword, “What is the state of Seo Gyu-Cheol’s mind?”

The bastard answered, ‘The moment you just did something, what blocked this human’s mind completely disappeared. Based on the reaction, he was brainwashed by another skill, but it seems to have been solved in no time.’ The devil’s sword had an accurate grasp of the phenomenon. He asked curiously, ‘Is it that you have that kind of ability too? Can you cast absolute psychological immunity on yourself and override the psychological skills on another subject? I’ve never heard of such a being before.’

Instead of answering the question, I asked him again, “So, you’re saying that he returned to normal?”

‘Wait a minute,’ The sword seemed to trigger the [Whispers of the Sword] again. After a short silence, his mental wave returned, ‘Whatever the standard of normalcy you’re talking about may be, it isn’t fit to describe this human’s state of mind.’

What, didn’t it say the brainwashing effect was nulled? Or maybe it was because of the situation that his memories flowed into me….

“Is it a loss of memory?”

‘No, it’s not the memory he lost. Yeah, it’s not something like a memory,’ he hesitated as if he was choosing the right words to describe it and then spilled telepathy again, ‘A fundamental piece to preserve one’s cognition has collapsed.’

“In easier words.”

‘Until you did something to him, the human mind was infested with wicked desires and emotions. It was awful. But it has completely disappeared.’

I asked, baffled, “It’s not that the fire died down. It’s completely extinguished?”

‘Exactly, it should be impossible for him to survive. The cognitive process or the memory as a living thing remains intact. But the desire to do something and the emotional function to respond to the surroundings have completely stopped.’

Only then did I realize that a person who was once consumed by a seed would not come back wholly when the curse is destroyed. The desire and emotion that the seed amplifies disappear together as soon as the seed is destroyed. It does not return to normal but completely disappears. The devil’s sword continued to explain Seo Gyu-Cheol’s condition.

‘As the biological brain is functioning, breathing and the heart beats, but that’s all. Even the basic desire to maintain one’s life has disappeared. If he stays like this, he will die after breathing for a few days like a brain dead without eating anything or moving his body.’

Oh, damn it. I clicked my tongue. In a way, Seo Gyu-Cheol was one of the victims used by ‘the man’ in the memory. All the more, ‘If Seo Gyu-Cheol dies or disappears shortly after he disappears with me…’

Of course, the charges will point to me. I asked the sword, “Just because his desires and feelings are gone doesn’t mean your skills aren’t working, does it?”

‘No way. It makes it rather easier. It’s like there’s no ego to defend instinctively. The only thing left in this body is a computational device to perform cognitive processes like a machine. The free will to enter the command on its own has disappeared.’

Like Marionette, that had lost its will.

“Then.”

I organized my thoughts. “Just give Seo Gyu-Cheol a few orders.”

The first order to command was, ‘Live!’ a command to maintain one’s existence, the instinct of any creature.

Scree! Seo Gyu-Cheol raised himself, but I felt it was more of an automatic movement rather than a desire of the will. I asked the devil’s sword, “By any chance, an order to restore its desire and emotion…”

‘Of course, it doesn’t work. It’s like creating something that doesn’t exist.’

The devil’s sword explained to me what he could and couldn’t do. As a result of piecing those together, “His life as a hunter… No, beyond that, it’s as if his life as a social human being has ended.”

No matter how much content the devil’s sword put into his mind, Seo Gyu-Cheol, who acted by instinct, was noticeably strange. It was possible to live by eating three meals a day silently, moving moderately, and taking a rest when it’s time for it. Still, no more complicated activities or instructions were possible. Even with the ability to think, there was no emotion indicating a primary will or motivation to make any choices.

‘It’s a bit sudden, but I’m going to have to let him declare his retirement. After that, instead of appearing among people, he will live in a nursing home.’

I gave some additional instructions to the devil’s sword. This was because Seo Gyu-Cheol himself had a lot to do, such as deal with inheritance or retire as the Guild Master. The devil’s sword, who was listening silently, said sarcastically, ‘This world strangely deals with family inheritance. It is common for a son to kill his father and take everything away, but it is also rare among the devils to completely erase his father’s ego and make him one’s puppet. It’s more vicious than just killing. Demons need to watch and learn.’

“It wasn’t me that erased his ego.”

‘In the end, didn’t you have to do something about it?’

After giving all the instructions, I got the devil’s sword back from Seo Gyu-Cheol’s hand. Initially, the effect of [Whisper of the Sword] was limited from the moment the contact disconnected. Seo Gyu-Cheol, whose ego had already left him, moved according to the commands left in him.

Weing! Seo Gyu-Cheol teared up the teleport scroll and returned to the guild headquarters. Only after confirming the magic was activated, the flash of light completely disappeared in front of my eyes.

Beep beep! Beep beep beep beep! I saw the terminal on my wrist ringing like crazy. Hunter Management has been trying to contact me. Putting aside the call for a while, I read the messages that have been accumulating.

‘It’s a mess.’

An official request from the Hunter Management Department Minister said that he would hold an emergency meeting with Seo Gyu-Cheol and me.

‘Seo Gyu-Cheol will never appear again in front of them.’

I replied simply.

– I’m already done talking to my father. I’d like to request a one-on-one meeting with the Minister.