KEG 7

“Does killing people for money bother you?”

“I can’t trust you, that’s why I’m not comfortable with it.”

“Ah, so killing people is fine then?”

“I’ll make my own judgment after hearing the details.”

I still didn’t know who the target I had to kill was. If I didn’t like what I heard, I would refuse.

“I only accept the job if I feel like it.”

Either way, I needed money for my 96% mental contamination level, which was no different from a ticking time bomb. I needed a large sum of money that would come in regularly enough for me to survive long-term.

“Then let’s do it this way.”

The other party held out a USB drive. I didn’t take it and just stared at it.

“This is a video of Ha Seongho taken in Colonel Kim Hanseong’s room.”

A video was taken. Was it CCTV? But even if they saw it, they wouldn’t know that I was the one who killed him.

My skill made no sound and wasn’t flashy.

“It’s a video that Colonel Kim Hanseong left himself. Ha Seongho’s voice is in it too. The voice reciting the account number.”

So Kim Hanseong had left it. I thought he was just an Esper who wanted to die, but he was thorough. That must be how he found me.

“If you accept the request, I’ll hand this over. There are no copies. Believe it or not, it’s up to you.”

I still didn’t take the USB. Instead, I squeezed a long strip of toothpaste onto my toothbrush and put it in my mouth. The conversation had dragged on and my mouth felt gross.

Brush, brush.

“Who do you want me to kill?”

***

At 4 AM, the night streets were filled with a biting wind. The city lights, which never seemed to go out, had dimmed just a little.

I was leaning against a personal taxi with its roof light on, watching the streetlamp. After staring at it for so long, even when I closed my eyes, the afterimage of the light stung my eyes. Bright things tired me out just by looking at them.

“Sir, can you go to Jamsil?”

A man staggered over and spoke to me. I nodded without replying. The man took it as permission; he opened the back door, got in, and curled up with his arms folded.

“Ugh, it’s cold. Hurry up, sir!”

I stubbed out the cigarette I was smoking in the portable ashtray and slowly exhaled the last drag.

“Let’s go.”

I got into the driver’s seat and closed the door. Following the cold man’s request, I turned up the heater. I looked at the man in the back through the rearview mirror and asked,

“What were you doing out until this hour before heading home?”

“Overtime, what else! Damn it, it’s filthy.”

The man didn’t hold back and flicked blue monster unauthorized copy byproducts all over the inside of the car as he adjusted himself. In the process, some of the blue liquid splattered on my right cheek and glasses lens.

Spraying monster byproducts, which are contaminants, on ordinary people? Was he out of his mind?

“You must be an Esper.”

“Yeah, well. A Hunter. Want an autograph?”

He waved his hand in the air, and sparks like static electricity crackled with a burning smell. He probably thought I was impressed and decided to put on a little show.

“Search for Hunter Park Juik. My videos should come up.”

These days, civilian association Espers filmed themselves fighting monsters, uploaded the videos, live streamed, and gained public favor while promoting themselves. I didn’t enjoy browsing the internet, so I didn’t know much, but I heard there were programs broadcast by major networks too.

“The video of me evacuating people during the Seogang Bridge collapse got a lot of views, so like it and leave a comment.”

I wondered why people paid money to watch others struggle in hardship.

But I didn’t particularly want to criticize them. Humans have been watching people burn to death in public squares since the Middle Ages. As long as someone finds the content entertaining and is willing to pay for it, it’s their money to spend however they want.

“You’re also famous for other videos.”

“What? Ah, haha! You saw that too? A fan?”

But this was the modern era. We should judge things with modern ethics, not medieval ones.

It might be a privilege of the free market economy to film and monetize whatever one wants, but using teleportation and electricity abilities to kidnap, torture, and film grotesque snuff films was crossing the line by a long shot.

“You’re an Esper, so you shouldn’t be short on money. Why do you upload those?”

“Well? Self-actualization? It’s fun.”

I glanced up at the rearview mirror to look at the bastard. But he was no longer in the back seat.

“By the way.”

At some point, he was sitting in the passenger seat next to me.

Crackle

“How did you know it was me?”

The bastard created threatening sparks in his palm and stared at me with gleaming eyes.

Thud! Crackle!

“Ugh…!”

Soon, the sparking hand grabbed my throat.

Screeeech–! Screech–!!

Attacked while driving, the car lurched. The loud screech of tires scraping against the asphalt rang out like screams.

“Who leaked the information? Tell me and I’ll let you live.”

I knew eyes like those. Even if I said what he wanted to hear, those eyes said he would slit my throat either way.

“…Do you have… family?”

“What?”

“Do you have family? No mom?”

My question provoked him, and blood rushed to his eyes. He immediately released electrical energy, which scorched the passenger seat black.

“Kgh…!”

The electric shock from his hand grew stronger. The pain felt like my neck would be torn off, cold sweat broke out, and my limbs stiffened.

I couldn’t endure it any longer.

This should be enough.

“You motherfucker who’s about to make someone motherless!!”

The bastard screamed in excitement. I grabbed his wrist and gave him the last words he would hear in this world.

“You’re even more pathetic than someone who actually doesn’t have a mother.”

And I drew the sign of the cross on my chest.

[Skill activated.]

[<Dream Exile>]

[One Esper has been exiled.]

***

“Wow~ You really caught him~”

I looked back at the client, who was marveling while covering the face of the corpse lying in the back seat with tissue.

After cleaning up the scene and contacting the client to move to a quiet place, the world had already brightened into morning. The white hair of the bastard, backlit by the clear morning sun, shimmered.

“1 billion won.”

“It must’ve been tricky. With teleportation ability, he wasn’t easy to pin down.”

I stroked the charred collar of my shirt and unbuttoned a few top buttons. The burning sensation on my skin and the feeling of being choked made me feel irritable.

“1 billion.”

“He was a decent A-class with pretty good skills, so it was a waste. If he hadn’t died here, I was planning to keep using him in various ways.”

I roughly wiped my cheek and took off my glasses to clean off the blue fluids the corpse had splattered using my clothes.

The lenses were slightly scorched too, so I’d probably need to visit an optician.

“1 billion. Say it one more time and you die too.”

I put my glasses back on and stared straight at him.

The client burst into laughter, then made a short phone call somewhere and told me to check.

“It should be there.”

I fumbled my way into the banking app as I’d learned from the AI teller at the counter. The promised amount had been deposited exactly.

“Why do you use your phone like an old man when you’re young?”

“Looking at small things like this hurts my head.”

“Wow, even your reason sounds like an old man’s~”

Banking apps were convenient but inconvenient.

Not just banks, wherever you went, consultants had been replaced by AIs, and they strongly encouraged self-service through apps, so you had no choice but to use them. It was annoying.

My old-fashioned preference for seeing black text stamped in a physical passbook had become a relic of the past, which irritated me to no end.

“Why do you have so many scars when the wound on your neck has completely healed?”

He seemed to have noticed the scars visible on my hands and the nape of my neck and guessed there were more on my body.

“Because I’m human.”

Not an Esper, so when I got hurt, I got normal wounds, and if I didn’t get timely treatment, they got infected. All these scars were proof of my weakness and traces of my survival.

“Do you usually wear glasses?”

“…….”

He asked way too many questions.

I only wore them when driving or watching movies, but I no longer felt it was worth answering.

I checked my wristwatch. It was almost time to go to work, so I mentally calculated the time to go home, shower, and head out. Since I couldn’t use the car, I’d have to take public transportation today.

“Want to work under me?”

As I turned to leave, the client expressed a desire to become my employer.

“2 billion.”

He doubled the amount without hesitation.

I had been working at a peaceful hospice ward that felt like a cradle, and jumping back into danger wasn’t something I wanted to do. After Colonel Kim Hanseong incident and this payment, I had planned to save money and live quietly.

But if he was offering 2 billion so readily, that changed things.