Chapter 41: The Commander’s Court

A groan slipped out of me naturally.

I had tried to use as little power as possible, but it was still exhausting.

“I think it’s done. But just in case, please keep watching her condition for a while.”

“Oh my goodness! Thank you… thank you so much!!”

The chef hugged his wife, who was sleeping peacefully now, and cried like a child.

“You worked so hard. You suffered so much, Yeongji’s mom. Ahh… now let’s go see the kids. Yeongji and Yeongjun must be waiting for us at the shelter. Let’s go see them now. We can go now… we can see them again… ahh….”

How worried he must have been after sending the children away alone.

The chef cried bitterly, pouring out all the pain he had endured alone.

There was a chance they wouldn’t be allowed into the shelter.

He said the gates had been closed for a long time.

Still, I hoped there would be some way.

Hoping the couple would at least meet their children in their dreams, I quietly left the room.

“Anyway… where is that brat Jun wandering around?”

As I went back down to the hotel lobby, I grumbled about him not showing up yet.

How could he just leave me alone like this?

What if something happened to me?

I sat on a sofa in the hotel lobby, waiting for Han Jun.

Every person who passed by bowed their heads at me.

At first it was just greetings, but some people bowed deeply like they were greeting a Buddha statue in a temple.

Others even pressed their palms together as if praying.

Some even started making wishes.

Apparently a rumor had spread that I could heal not only crazy people but even the dead.

Now people were treating me like some kind of wish-granting stone Buddha.

At this rate, someone might start a religious cult around me.

One guy seemed to have learned something wrong somewhere—he bowed twice when he saw me.

Maybe he thought doing it twice was more respectful than once.

Excuse me?

I’m still alive, you know.

I’m a living person.

At this point, I was half afraid someone might light incense sticks next to me.

Even when I told them not to do it, they wouldn’t listen.

So I decided the best option was simply not to see them.

I covered my face with a newspaper.

With my vision blocked, I finally felt more comfortable.

I was lying there with the newspaper covering my face like someone who had died suddenly when I heard someone running.

“B-boss!!”

“Yes?”

“Huff… huff… I think Boss Han Jun is in danger….”

It was the gangster I had met earlier in the hallway.

He was breathing heavily as if he had run a long distance while telling me Han Jun was in danger.

Han Jun? In danger?

That didn’t make sense.

There was no one around here who could threaten him.

Had Commander Jo Jun-cheol already appeared?

Even though I found it strange, I immediately stood up when I heard that Han Jun was in danger.

“W-where is he?”

“This way!”

He led the way.

The moment we stepped outside, a huge military vehicle was parked in front of the hotel.

It had massive wheels and armored plating, looking capable of smashing monsters aside while driving.

“Did you run here?”

“Huh? Oh—yes, yes. I ran. Hurry and get in!”

Why did he run when there was a car right here?

I glanced at him suspiciously and then looked inside the vehicle.

Shin Doong-ho was already sitting inside.

“Boss! Hurry and get in!!”

He gestured for me to come in.

At that moment, I realized the source of the uneasy feeling.

This was a trap.

My instincts had been spot-on lately.

Instead of getting in, I slowly stepped backward.

I was about to turn and run when—

“Boss?”

Shin Doong-ho was smiling brightly at me.

The gangster behind me was also smiling faintly, his eyebrows twitching.

Ah, shit.

When I tried to run sideways, the man behind me grabbed my arm.

I tried to shake him off and run, but he threw his whole body at me and held me down.

“Let go!! Damn it!!”

When I shouted, people started rushing out of the hotel.

They looked shocked.

Judging by their confused reactions, Shin Doong-ho must have planned this kidnapping on his own.

Damn it.

I should never have saved that bastard.

I regretted it too late.

While I struggled on the ground, refusing to get into the car until people came out to help, a shadow fell over me.

It was Shin Doong-ho, grinning.

“Kid, you’re pretty quick to notice.”

In the next moment, yellow energy struck me.

I lost consciousness instantly.

Why did that saying suddenly come to mind now—

that people can’t be fixed?

Maybe the mistake was thinking Shin Doong-ho could change.

Perhaps there was a reason Han Jun had shown such hostility toward him.

Maybe Han Jun had instinctively known that Shin Doong-ho wasn’t someone who could be fixed.

Han Jun’s thinking was simple—

he liked good people and hated bad ones.

But maybe that simplicity made him better at judging people.

“You want to impress the Commander, right? Hmm? Kid, your life depends on how well you behave.”

Shin Doong-ho stroked my head roughly and grinned.

He messed up my hair and didn’t even bother fixing it.

After all, I had saved his life.

I lowered my eyes and ground my teeth silently.

If I could just punch his face once, I would have no regrets.

But my hands were tied behind my back.

There was no point provoking him and getting beaten again.

Being electrocuted and slapped several times to wake me up earlier was already enough.

My right cheek was still burning.

The military vehicle was speeding roughly down the road.

I saw a bent road sign that read “National Assembly Direction.”

So we were probably heading to Commander Jo Jun-cheol.

He was probably going to report losing Garak Market and ask for help.

But if he was going there, why drag me along?

Every time a monster jumped onto the moving vehicle, Shin Doong-ho shouted curses.

“You damn monster bastards!! Get lost!!”

Whenever Shin Doong-ho shocked them with electricity, the gangster driving stepped harder on the accelerator.

Thud!

A monster’s corpse slammed into the windshield, leaving dark red stains.

They wiped the blood away with the wipers.

“Ugh, disgusting.”

Honestly, they would probably react the same way even if it were a human body instead of a monster.

Shin Doong-ho clicked his tongue and looked back at me.

“I’m going to rip off that arrogant bastard Han Jun’s head, but I’ll spare you. I’m not such a bad guy. I’m just a reasonable man who returns what he receives.”

You’re just garbage.

I clenched my teeth, trembling with anger.

There was no way Shin Doong-ho could kill Han Jun.

He knew that himself—that’s why he was going to ask Jo Jun-cheol for help.

“Commander Jo Jun-cheol actually looks like a gentle and kind man. But inside he’s completely twisted. He laughs when he sees people die. I couldn’t be that cruel. I guess that’s why they say you shouldn’t judge people by appearance.”

What a hypocrite.

You look exactly like what you are.

From Shin Doong-ho’s words, it sounded like Commander Jo Jun-cheol had an awful personality too.

Someone like that definitely wouldn’t help for free.

He was probably planning to trade me—someone with useful abilities—in exchange for support from other psychics.

“You better behave, okay?”

Shin Doong-ho smacked my head lightly like I was a puppy.

It pissed me off.

When the vehicle finally stopped, they put a blindfold over my eyes and dragged me along.

We climbed stairs and walked down a long hallway.

Eventually we stopped somewhere.

A door opened with a clunk, and warm air blew over me.

Unlike the cold hallway, the room inside was very warm.

“Have you been well?”

A warm scent.

A gentle voice.

A comfortable atmosphere.

Exactly the kind of atmosphere I didn’t want to feel in enemy territory.

This only made me more nervous.

After all, the ones who smile while beating you are the scariest.

“But where is the young man?”

“Ah… yes. I have much to report.”

Shin Doong-ho was speaking humbly to Jo Jun-cheol.

Just how powerful was this guy to make that trash act so submissive?

“Why are you standing there? Please sit.”

“Thank you.”

“Hm?”

Shin Doong-ho dragged me forward and sat me on a sofa.

Then Jo Jun-cheol spoke again with confusion.

“Why is that young man sitting there?”

What?

Was I supposed to sit on the floor?

My eyes were still covered, so I could only understand what was happening through sound.

“Oh… right, right.”

Shin Doong-ho shoved me off the sofa.

I awkwardly dropped down and knelt on the floor.

“I told you to behave.”

He smacked my head angrily.

What the hell did I even do?

“So, what brings you here?”

Jo Jun-cheol asked.

And the crazy Shin Doong-ho began reporting what had happened—

but heavily edited to make himself look better.

Several times I wanted to interrupt and say that wasn’t true, but I held back, afraid he would hit me again.

He said an unregistered psychic had appeared, someone weaker than him, but thanks to the healing ability I possessed, that person had become arrogant and started causing trouble.

He claimed he had tried to discipline the brat, but I had instantly healed that person’s wounds.

Then, while he relaxed after thinking he had won, he was ambushed.

It was a story filled with a hundred spoonfuls of lies.

“This guy can even bring the dead back to life.”

No, I can’t.

If you’re going to lie, at least get it right.

“I was caught off guard and tortured until I was nearly dead. Just when I thought I could see the afterlife, this guy saved me. I guarantee his ability with my life.”

“Oh?”

Jo Jun-cheol sounded very interested.

Suddenly fingers slid under my arms.

Someone was lifting me up.

“What a valuable guest we have here. Why are you sitting down there? Please sit on the sofa.”

You bastards told me to sit here.

Are these people insane?