POSSESSED 9

Baek Joomyeong, feeling a bittersweet sense of his own shortcomings, looked at his reflection in his phone screen. He recalled the moment not long ago when Jang Taeyeon had personally applied ointment to him.

The scratch had already healed and vanished. Among Hunters with special abilities, those of a high rank possessed rapid physical recovery speeds. Such facts were common knowledge among Hunters, but an ordinary person couldn’t help but be unaware. So, he hadn’t mentioned it, fearing it might make the other man feel unnecessarily embarrassed. Or perhaps, he simply couldn’t find the words because the offer to apply it personally had been so unexpected.

Both the ointment and the nagging… it had been a long time. Even for a minor violation. Baek Joomyeong let out a weak chuckle and shook his head. For some reason, he found himself looking forward to Monday.

Having spent the weekend somehow not just waiting but actually anticipating it, Monday finally arrived. Baek Joomyeong, who had come to drop off Yeonji with a light heart, fixed his gaze on Jang Taeyeon’s face the moment he saw him. It was because of the bandage stuck to his bottom lip and the yellow bruising visible around it.

🍥

I saw Baek Joomyeong enter the center with Yeonji, but I tried my best to pretend I hadn’t.

Thinking of the child, I wanted to hurry over and greet her, asking if she had a good weekend, but I felt hesitant, conscious of Baek Joomyeong’s presence. Every time I looked at him, the events of Friday evening came to mind, and my conscience pricked.

Technically, I haven’t done anything wrong to Baek Joomyeong. But that damn Jang Taeyeon…. I had to feel the pangs of guilt because of the fraudulent acts committed by the original owner of this body.

On Friday evening, I used my ability on the Hunter from the Jeoksang Guild. As soon as the Jeoksang Hunter sensed something unusual, he tried to stop me. He had raised his fist to strike again.

‘You son of a bitch…!’

I focused, not letting a single second slip by. Even as the man raised his sparking fist and swung it right before my face, I gathered my mental energy without so much as a blink.

I have to feel like I’m entering the man’s head. I have to inject mana softly but strongly.

I had learned how to use it through Jang Taeyeon’s memories of using his abilities on others. It was as if I had only studied the theory; since it was my first time in practice, I was very shaky and anxious. However, as a result of not backing down, the ability luckily worked.

The man’s fiercely contorted face turned expressionless like a person who had lost his soul, and the “zap-zap” flying sparks vanished weakly. The man stood in a frozen posture, staring blankly ahead rather than at me, but I couldn’t be relieved prematurely. To check if the ability had taken hold properly, I gave a cautious command.

‘…Stand up straight.’

At my words, the man immediately put his hands together. I commanded again.

‘State your name and the guild you belong to.’

‘Lee Sunghwan, Element Team 1 Hunter of the Jeoksang Guild.’

Only then, having confirmed the ability worked, did I feel relieved and brought up the main point to the man.

‘I need you to tell me everything that happened between us, without missing a single detail.’

‘We met at a club. While I was agonizing over Baek Joomyeong, you approached me first and made a proposal. You asked if I wanted to get rid of Baek Joomyeong. If so, you said you would gladly help for a bit of money.’

…Jang Taeyeon, you absolute madman.

He called it “a bit of money,” but the amount Jang Taeyeon actually received was ten million won. The man said he would pay half, five million won, as a down payment. However, Jang Taeyeon acted tough, saying he wouldn’t help unless he was given the full amount in cash at once, and disappeared the moment he received the money.

There’s no psycho quite like him. How could he even think of scamming a Hunter?

Lee Sunghwan hadn’t found my sudden disappearance strange. He had lived completely forgetting my existence until a colleague from the same guild persistently pried into how the task was progressing, which caused him to remember me. Having been ignored and mocked as a Hunter who got fleeced for ten million won by a civilian, it seemed his pride had forced him to recall the memory.

His last memory of Jang Taeyeon was of coffee. He explained that he had met Jang Taeyeon at a secret workshop—which I have since cleared away—and lost his memory after drinking the coffee handed to him.

From my perspective, it seems he activated his ability then, but since Lee Sunghwan wouldn’t have known anything, he must have misunderstood and thought he had been drugged.

However, as I found out more, I couldn’t shake the suspicion that my own influence might be involved.

Could the spell cast on this man have broken when I possessed this body?

‘Why on earth did you believe a person like me? Are you an idiot?’

I was curious. Jang Taeyeon isn’t a genie from a lamp that grants wishes, nor is he a cult leader. This man couldn’t be a total fool, so why the hell did he believe Jang Taeyeon’s words about helping to get rid of Baek Joomyeong?

‘You knew everything about the situation I was in, my heart, and my thoughts. I was desperate for recognition, and believing you was the only thing I could do.’

Simply put, he was bewitched.

Like a person pushed to the extreme grasping at anything as a lifeline to overcome their situation, Lee Sunghwan had snatched up the belief in Jang Taeyeon, who stepped forward at just the right time to help remove Baek Joomyeong.

Jang Taeyeon was cunning. He didn’t use his abilities openly like I just did. After choosing a target, he tended to follow them obsessively and carry out under-the-table work.

He must have eaten away at Lee Sunghwan’s mind bit by bit while following him. After finding out the reality he faced and the worries he had, he likely used manipulation to erase the fact that they had even met.

Whether to call this meticulous or just plain creepy….

The backstory ended there; I wanted to know the intention behind Lee Sunghwan targeting Baek Joomyeong.

‘You said your colleague asked how things were going. Then this matter regarding Baek Joomyeong… is it just you, or have your colleagues joined in? How far does the involvement go?’

‘The Guild Leader. Since the Guild Leader ordered it, it can be called a guild matter.’

The Jeoksang Guild Leader ordered it? How could the head of one guild… toward a Hunter of another guild….

‘What’s the reason? What benefit do you gain by removing Baek Joomyeong?’

‘It is to bring back the golden age of the Jeoksang Guild. We must reclaim our past honor and glory. We cannot lose to the likes of the Wolhwa Guild. Even for the sake of the forces that support us.’

‘The forces that support you? Those forces, ah…!’

Suddenly, an intense pain that started from my eyeballs moved to my head. Unable to finish my sentence, I suffered in agony, staggering until I leaned against the wall for support.

‘Argh…!’

As my composure crumbled, the ability wavered as well.

Lee Sunghwan clutched his head and appeared to be in pain. However, a Hunter is a Hunter; seizing that opening, he regained his senses and fled from me. I knew I had to catch him and erase his memory, but the pain was too severe for me to stand.

I don’t know how I got home after that, or how I overcame the throbbing pain that swallowed me up. My consciousness simply cut out. When I regained my blacked-out senses, it was Saturday afternoon.

I spent the whole weekend feeling uneasy, thinking about Lee Sunghwan. The moment that had ended so awkwardly brought constant worry. He will come to me again. Since I even ended up using an ability on him, he might come to kill me. Regardless, there’s no way he won’t come.

Will I be able to use the ability on him again? Thinking of the pain I felt that day…. Since it was the most horrific pain I’ve ever experienced in my life, I don’t want to go through it again, but if necessary, I’ll have to try.

“Teacher, hello.”

“……”

“Teacher?”

“Ah, hello.”