MAEPG: Episode 71
Episode 71 New Order (1)
Flap, flap—
[Hehehe… It’s like the trash never ends, no matter how much I clean it up.]
A dark night, not even illuminated by moonlight.
Black robes billowed in the wind atop a tall building.
The only thing clearly visible in the darkness-shrouded figure was a pair of blue ghost fires.
Those eyes looked down at the brightly shining nightscape, coldly gleaming like an absolute ruler surveying the world.
Actually, calling him an absolute ruler wasn’t wrong.
He was the calamity of the Auterica Dimension, the Immortal King himself.
‘The crime rate in the areas I swept through once decreased, but the area I have to cover keeps expanding, so the workload is actually increasing.’
He had used the infinite magic power he gained after becoming the Immortal King and skills like “Path of Magic” and “Magic Domination” to overhaul the ‘Contagious Familiar Magic Final_Revised_2nd_FINAL(3)_ReallyTheLast’ that he had been using.
And thus, the ‘Contagious Familiar Magic Complete Edition’ was born.
It became more stealthy, more accurate, and could detect a wider range.
As a result, his area of activity covered the entire Seoul and continued to expand, and the number of evildoers he had to punish was increasing beyond what he could handle.
[It’s truly lamentable how this world is teeming with evil. How much resentment must they have to be like this.]
How could the chaotic state of society be solely their fault?
Weren’t they also victims who had been hurt by this world?
So…
[Yes, I will accept all your resentment towards the world. So that you don’t have to vent your malice outwards anymore… You will find eternal peace in my embrace. Hehehe—]
Someone had to break the cycle of misfortune.
And Hans, who could be considered the embodiment of all negativity, was the most suitable being for that task.
At that moment, another signal was detected.
Robbery and murder using supernatural abilities, unfortunately, it seemed like there were already several victims.
[Oh dear… They’ve done it.]
Then he had no choice but to take them in.
Hans’s body was enveloped in darkness, and his figure began to fade.
Before he completely disappeared, hundreds of something writhed in the shadow beneath his feet, as if clamoring.
As if to enthusiastically welcome the new arrivals… very roughly.
Flap, flap—
[Hehehe… It’s like the trash never ends, no matter how much I clean it up.]
A dark night, not even illuminated by moonlight.
Black robes billowed in the wind atop a tall building.
The only thing clearly visible in the darkness-shrouded figure was a pair of blue ghost fires.
Those eyes looked down at the brightly shining nightscape, coldly gleaming like an absolute ruler surveying the world.
Actually, calling him an absolute ruler wasn’t wrong.
He was the calamity of the Auterica Dimension, the Immortal King himself.
‘The crime rate in the areas I swept through once decreased, but the area I have to cover keeps expanding, so the workload is actually increasing.’
He had used the infinite magic power he gained after becoming the Immortal King and skills like “Path of Magic” and “Magic Domination” to overhaul the ‘Contagious Familiar Magic Final_Revised_2nd_FINAL(3)_ReallyTheLast’ that he had been using.
And thus, the ‘Contagious Familiar Magic Complete Edition’ was born.
It became more stealthy, more accurate, and could detect a wider range.
As a result, his area of activity covered the entire Seoul and continued to expand, and the number of evildoers he had to punish was increasing beyond what he could handle.
[It’s truly lamentable how this world is teeming with evil. How much resentment must they have to be like this.]
How could the chaotic state of society be solely their fault?
Weren’t they also victims who had been hurt by this world?
So…
[Yes, I will accept all your resentment towards the world. So that you don’t have to vent your malice outwards anymore… You will find eternal peace in my embrace. Hehehe—]
Someone had to break the cycle of misfortune.
And Hans, who could be considered the embodiment of all negativity, was the most suitable being for that task.
At that moment, another signal was detected.
Robbery and murder using supernatural abilities, unfortunately, it seemed like there were already several victims.
[Oh dear… They’ve done it.]
Then he had no choice but to take them in.
Hans’s body was enveloped in darkness, and his figure began to fade.
Before he completely disappeared, hundreds of something writhed in the shadow beneath his feet, as if clamoring.
As if to enthusiastically welcome the new arrivals… very roughly.
__________________
“So, how is it? Did you figure anything out?”
“Hmm… I think I get it. It replays the trauma when certain conditions are met, and he even mixed his thoughts into the curse, making it impossible to circumvent.”
The man wearing a baseball cap answered, placing a hand on the head of the person sleeping on the hospital bed.
“I already knew that. What about dispelling it? Can you do it?”
“Ah, that? Absolutely not. The system is different, and he’s stronger than me. If I touch it carelessly, I’ll be the one cursed.”
The man in the suit frowned and glared at him, seemingly dissatisfied with his answer.
“Then what can you do? Did you find anything else?”
“One thing’s for sure. The person who cast this curse, he’s a monster. If I were him, I would rather commit suicide than fight this guy.”
“…Is he that strong?”
Park Han-cheol, the team leader of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Supernatural Ability Management Bureau, roughly scratched his head and sighed.
The man in the cap thought for a moment to give a more detailed explanation before opening his mouth.
He was currently cooperating with the investigation as an advisor on dark magic.
“First of all, the level of dark magic is high. Judging by its complex and sturdy structure, it seems like he systematically learned something that has been developed in another dimension for a long time.”
And it wasn’t just a superficial understanding, he must have properly grasped and mastered its secrets.
“And the density of dark magic power is unbelievable. It’s not just that the amount is large, but the quality itself is different. I want to ask him how he accumulated such pure energy.”
Impurities inevitably accumulated as you strengthened your energy, but the dark magic power used here was incredibly pure.
It was to the point where he realized for the first time that dark magic power, which was an unholy energy, could be this pure.
“Lastly… I don’t know if it’s a characteristic of their system or a secret technique, but the way he uses curses isn’t human.”
“What do you mean by that?”
The man in the cap, Ahn Sung-jin, looked at the person lying on the bed again, as if he could see through him with his sharp eyes.
“Curses are a double-edged sword, so you have to be extremely careful when using them, right? If you’re not careful, it could backfire on you.”
“…I’ve heard that a lot.”
“But this guy has no safeguards against that. It’s a method that only pursues efficiency, speed, and power. But it works so naturally.”
There was nothing superfluous in the curse to protect himself.
There should be some kind of loophole so that he could try to dispel it or something, but there was no way to even touch this one.
“Maybe he has a curse immunity skill?”
“Maybe… But it doesn’t seem like it’s at that level? It feels subtly off? Like there’s no humanity…?”
“Ha! Humanity, my ass. That guy must be crazy.”
“Hey, it’s just a feeling. And not all dark magic users are crazy, right? I’m pretty normal, aren’t I?”
Park Han-cheol stared at Ahn Sung-jin, the man in the cap, for a moment and then sighed again.
Of course, he was usually well-behaved, but he had a history of being caught after having a seizure and causing trouble.
He was blocking the mental contamination from dark magic power with a special skill, but the problem was that it wasn’t perfect.
Right after he returned, he witnessed gangsters barging into his parents’ store, which they were struggling to maintain, and causing trouble, and he lost control.
Fortunately, it didn’t lead to murder, so considering various factors, he was currently helping the Supernatural Ability Management Bureau.
‘He’s a high-ranking dark mage, even if he doesn’t look like it. Actually, he could have escaped, but he’s a mentally stable guy who surrendered because of his parents.’
He couldn’t scold him anymore because he had been quite helpful so far.
“You said Hahoe Mask was the one who cast this curse? And he takes the bodies after killing criminals?”
“Yes, sometimes he leaves behind only blood filled with dark magic power, and sometimes he takes everything without leaving any traces.”
“Wow… Necromancy used by a dark mage of this level? That’s really scary. Even their souls become slaves.”
“…Really?”
“Death isn’t the end in front of a necromancer. He’ll recycle their bodies and souls until they’re completely worn out. I wasn’t joking when I said it would be better to commit suicide.”
Of course, he might be weaker than expected because he wasn’t a specialist like Ahn Sung-jin.
He might have just taken the body for practice.
But it was foolish to rely on such luck against an opponent of this level.
“Actually, this guy has been here for a while. He was attacked when Hahoe Mask was active and hasn’t been discharged yet.”
Park Han-cheol pointed his chin at the man lying on the bed, asleep.
He was also a criminal, so they had put him to sleep to make the investigation easier.
“But Hahoe Mask, who had been quiet for a while, started being active again. So we have some guys who just came in today, and their treatment is mostly finished, so I would like you to take a look at them.”
“What’s going to change after just a few days?”
“But wouldn’t you be able to read something more from someone who was just attacked?”
“Hmm… then I’ll take a look.”
Ahn Sung-jin nodded obediently, as his words weren’t wrong.
And they entered the intensive care unit and faced a mummy completely wrapped in bandages.
“Uh… what did this guy do to end up like this?”
“Let’s see… arson. It seems like he got off lightly because there were no casualties. Hahoe Mask mainly targets violent criminals these days, so most of them are summarily executed.”
It was only natural, considering his expanded area of activity and busy schedule.
Ahn Sung-jin nodded and moved to the patient’s bedside, placing a hand on his head and closing his eyes.
After a while…
“Gasp!”
He suddenly opened his eyes wide and hurriedly took his hand away, stepping back several steps.
“Ah…”
“Why? Is there something different?”
“Aha… Hahaha— So, Team Leader! What, what are you going to do with Hahoe Mask after catching him?”
Ahn Sung-jin chuckled and changed the subject, not answering the question.
Park Han-cheol frowned for a moment, but he answered his question.
“Catching him is secondary, first we need to identify him. And then we’ll verify it again and try to persuade him. He has abilities and seems to be following a code of conduct.”
“Like me?”
“Well… yeah? No, but why are you acting like this? Did you find out something?”
Ahn Sung-jin smiled gently, his eyes as if looking at something far away, as he frowned and pressed him for an answer.
“It seems like I need to retract what I said earlier.”
“Oh? You found out something!”
He nodded proudly and slowly opened his mouth.
“It seems like I… need to die right now. …But I’ve helped the country quite a bit, so I’ll get a government pension, right? How much money did I save…”
Only then was Park Han-cheol able to properly read his expression as Ahn Sung-jin started rambling.
His eyes, dilated and unfocused, were staring blankly into space, and his face, with a forced smile and trembling lips, was covered in cold sweat.
“…Are you okay?”
Ahn Sung-jin recalled what had just happened with a dazed expression.
The moment he looked closely at the curse to obtain information,
He made eye contact with ‘that being’.
[Oh—? What are you doing?]
He thought it was just a simple thought like the one he saw in the previous curse, but… something was different.
A figure that seemed to be a clump of darkness, with a pair of blue eyes staring directly at him.
Ahn Sung-jin’s mind went blank for a moment at the gaze that seemed to pierce through his soul.
When he came to his senses, he was frantically disconnecting…
And even then, those eyes were just staring at him.
Without looking away for even a moment, until he left.
“Hey! What’s wrong with you! Come back to your senses!”
“Hahaha… I’m fine. But I think I need to call my mom, so can you let me go for a moment? I’ll tell her I’m on a secret mission, and it would be nice if you could process my death as a line of duty.”
The difference between the curse he examined first and this one.
It wasn’t just that it was stronger or had grown.
The density of its existence itself was different.
His soul was shaken just by glimpsing a fragment of it.
He was also a high-ranking dark mage, so he could understand to some extent.
He looked down at his hands.
He clenched his fists, looking at his trembling hands, and strengthened his resolve.
‘He’s aware of my existence. Now that he’s directly observed my soul, he can find me whenever he wants.’
His surroundings could become dangerous at any moment depending on Hahoe Mask’s whim.
If he came to his house while he was there…
‘No! It’s better to die now! And if it’s now, maybe my soul can be saved without being captured…’
Slap—!
“Hey! Ahn Sung-jin! Are you out of your mind?!”
His mind instantly returned with the burning pain on his cheek.
Only then did he start to see his surroundings properly.
“Hey! I can roughly guess what happened, but calm down!”
Park Han-cheol sighed, seeing that Ahn Sung-jin’s eyes had returned to normal after slapping him.
“The first thing you need to know is that Hahoe Mask has only been punishing criminals so far. And he even has his own standards, differentiating them according to their crimes.”
In the case of serious crimes like intentional murder, he summarily executed them, and for other cases, he judged and punished them according to his own standards, like the criminal next to them.
“And he’s been aware that we’re after him from the beginning. But he hasn’t done anything to us.”
Hahoe Mask had a clear line, only judging criminals.
“You got it? You’re not in your right mind right now. Calm down and think rationally.”
“Ah…”
Ahn Sung-jin listened to his words, took a deep breath, and organized his thoughts.
Right, he hadn’t even discovered any significant information.
He didn’t know Hahoe Mask’s identity or location, and he didn’t even know his abilities, other than that they were ‘amazing’.
He just happened to make eye contact with him through his thoughts.
He was able to objectively see his condition.
He had only briefly encountered a fragment of his existence through the curse, but he was terrified and panicked.
“Hahaha… I see…”
“Are you okay now?”
“Yes… Um, Team Leader?”
“Yeah! What is it? Do you have something to say?”
“I, I need to rest for a moment…”
Thud—!
Ahn Sung-jin, whose tension suddenly broke, collapsed on the spot as if he had fainted.
“Huh? Hey! Suddenly? Here?”
He could hear Park Han-cheol’s voice as if from afar, but he didn’t have the energy to think anymore.
“So, how is it? Did you figure anything out?”
“Hmm… I think I get it. It replays the trauma when certain conditions are met, and he even mixed his thoughts into the curse, making it impossible to circumvent.”
The man wearing a baseball cap answered, placing a hand on the head of the person sleeping on the hospital bed.
“I already knew that. What about dispelling it? Can you do it?”
“Ah, that? Absolutely not. The system is different, and he’s stronger than me. If I touch it carelessly, I’ll be the one cursed.”
The man in the suit frowned and glared at him, seemingly dissatisfied with his answer.
“Then what can you do? Did you find anything else?”
“One thing’s for sure. The person who cast this curse, he’s a monster. If I were him, I would rather commit suicide than fight this guy.”
“…Is he that strong?”
Park Han-cheol, the team leader of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Supernatural Ability Management Bureau, roughly scratched his head and sighed.
The man in the cap thought for a moment to give a more detailed explanation before opening his mouth.
He was currently cooperating with the investigation as an advisor on dark magic.
“First of all, the level of dark magic is high. Judging by its complex and sturdy structure, it seems like he systematically learned something that has been developed in another dimension for a long time.”
And it wasn’t just a superficial understanding, he must have properly grasped and mastered its secrets.
“And the density of dark magic power is unbelievable. It’s not just that the amount is large, but the quality itself is different. I want to ask him how he accumulated such pure energy.”
Impurities inevitably accumulated as you strengthened your energy, but the dark magic power used here was incredibly pure.
It was to the point where he realized for the first time that dark magic power, which was an unholy energy, could be this pure.
“Lastly… I don’t know if it’s a characteristic of their system or a secret technique, but the way he uses curses isn’t human.”
“What do you mean by that?”
The man in the cap, Ahn Sung-jin, looked at the person lying on the bed again, as if he could see through him with his sharp eyes.
“Curses are a double-edged sword, so you have to be extremely careful when using them, right? If you’re not careful, it could backfire on you.”
“…I’ve heard that a lot.”
“But this guy has no safeguards against that. It’s a method that only pursues efficiency, speed, and power. But it works so naturally.”
There was nothing superfluous in the curse to protect himself.
There should be some kind of loophole so that he could try to dispel it or something, but there was no way to even touch this one.
“Maybe he has a curse immunity skill?”
“Maybe… But it doesn’t seem like it’s at that level? It feels subtly off? Like there’s no humanity…?”
“Ha! Humanity, my ass. That guy must be crazy.”
“Hey, it’s just a feeling. And not all dark magic users are crazy, right? I’m pretty normal, aren’t I?”
Park Han-cheol stared at Ahn Sung-jin, the man in the cap, for a moment and then sighed again.
Of course, he was usually well-behaved, but he had a history of being caught after having a seizure and causing trouble.
He was blocking the mental contamination from dark magic power with a special skill, but the problem was that it wasn’t perfect.
Right after he returned, he witnessed gangsters barging into his parents’ store, which they were struggling to maintain, and causing trouble, and he lost control.
Fortunately, it didn’t lead to murder, so considering various factors, he was currently helping the Supernatural Ability Management Bureau.
‘He’s a high-ranking dark mage, even if he doesn’t look like it. Actually, he could have escaped, but he’s a mentally stable guy who surrendered because of his parents.’
He couldn’t scold him anymore because he had been quite helpful so far.
“You said Hahoe Mask was the one who cast this curse? And he takes the bodies after killing criminals?”
“Yes, sometimes he leaves behind only blood filled with dark magic power, and sometimes he takes everything without leaving any traces.”
“Wow… Necromancy used by a dark mage of this level? That’s really scary. Even their souls become slaves.”
“…Really?”
“Death isn’t the end in front of a necromancer. He’ll recycle their bodies and souls until they’re completely worn out. I wasn’t joking when I said it would be better to commit suicide.”
Of course, he might be weaker than expected because he wasn’t a specialist like Ahn Sung-jin.
He might have just taken the body for practice.
But it was foolish to rely on such luck against an opponent of this level.
“Actually, this guy has been here for a while. He was attacked when Hahoe Mask was active and hasn’t been discharged yet.”
Park Han-cheol pointed his chin at the man lying on the bed, asleep.
He was also a criminal, so they had put him to sleep to make the investigation easier.
“But Hahoe Mask, who had been quiet for a while, started being active again. So we have some guys who just came in today, and their treatment is mostly finished, so I would like you to take a look at them.”
“What’s going to change after just a few days?”
“But wouldn’t you be able to read something more from someone who was just attacked?”
“Hmm… then I’ll take a look.”
Ahn Sung-jin nodded obediently, as his words weren’t wrong.
And they entered the intensive care unit and faced a mummy completely wrapped in bandages.
“Uh… what did this guy do to end up like this?”
“Let’s see… arson. It seems like he got off lightly because there were no casualties. Hahoe Mask mainly targets violent criminals these days, so most of them are summarily executed.”
It was only natural, considering his expanded area of activity and busy schedule.
Ahn Sung-jin nodded and moved to the patient’s bedside, placing a hand on his head and closing his eyes.
After a while…
“Gasp!”
He suddenly opened his eyes wide and hurriedly took his hand away, stepping back several steps.
“Ah…”
“Why? Is there something different?”
“Aha… Hahaha— So, Team Leader! What, what are you going to do with Hahoe Mask after catching him?”
Ahn Sung-jin chuckled and changed the subject, not answering the question.
Park Han-cheol frowned for a moment, but he answered his question.
“Catching him is secondary, first we need to identify him. And then we’ll verify it again and try to persuade him. He has abilities and seems to be following a code of conduct.”
“Like me?”
“Well… yeah? No, but why are you acting like this? Did you find out something?”
Ahn Sung-jin smiled gently, his eyes as if looking at something far away, as he frowned and pressed him for an answer.
“It seems like I need to retract what I said earlier.”
“Oh? You found out something!”
He nodded proudly and slowly opened his mouth.
“It seems like I… need to die right now. …But I’ve helped the country quite a bit, so I’ll get a government pension, right? How much money did I save…”
Only then was Park Han-cheol able to properly read his expression as Ahn Sung-jin started rambling.
His eyes, dilated and unfocused, were staring blankly into space, and his face, with a forced smile and trembling lips, was covered in cold sweat.
“…Are you okay?”
Ahn Sung-jin recalled what had just happened with a dazed expression.
The moment he looked closely at the curse to obtain information,
He made eye contact with ‘that being’.
[Oh—? What are you doing?]
He thought it was just a simple thought like the one he saw in the previous curse, but… something was different.
A figure that seemed to be a clump of darkness, with a pair of blue eyes staring directly at him.
Ahn Sung-jin’s mind went blank for a moment at the gaze that seemed to pierce through his soul.
When he came to his senses, he was frantically disconnecting…
And even then, those eyes were just staring at him.
Without looking away for even a moment, until he left.
“Hey! What’s wrong with you! Come back to your senses!”
“Hahaha… I’m fine. But I think I need to call my mom, so can you let me go for a moment? I’ll tell her I’m on a secret mission, and it would be nice if you could process my death as a line of duty.”
The difference between the curse he examined first and this one.
It wasn’t just that it was stronger or had grown.
The density of its existence itself was different.
His soul was shaken just by glimpsing a fragment of it.
He was also a high-ranking dark mage, so he could understand to some extent.
He looked down at his hands.
He clenched his fists, looking at his trembling hands, and strengthened his resolve.
‘He’s aware of my existence. Now that he’s directly observed my soul, he can find me whenever he wants.’
His surroundings could become dangerous at any moment depending on Hahoe Mask’s whim.
If he came to his house while he was there…
‘No! It’s better to die now! And if it’s now, maybe my soul can be saved without being captured…’
Slap—!
“Hey! Ahn Sung-jin! Are you out of your mind?!”
His mind instantly returned with the burning pain on his cheek.
Only then did he start to see his surroundings properly.
“Hey! I can roughly guess what happened, but calm down!”
Park Han-cheol sighed, seeing that Ahn Sung-jin’s eyes had returned to normal after slapping him.
“The first thing you need to know is that Hahoe Mask has only been punishing criminals so far. And he even has his own standards, differentiating them according to their crimes.”
In the case of serious crimes like intentional murder, he summarily executed them, and for other cases, he judged and punished them according to his own standards, like the criminal next to them.
“And he’s been aware that we’re after him from the beginning. But he hasn’t done anything to us.”
Hahoe Mask had a clear line, only judging criminals.
“You got it? You’re not in your right mind right now. Calm down and think rationally.”
“Ah…”
Ahn Sung-jin listened to his words, took a deep breath, and organized his thoughts.
Right, he hadn’t even discovered any significant information.
He didn’t know Hahoe Mask’s identity or location, and he didn’t even know his abilities, other than that they were ‘amazing’.
He just happened to make eye contact with him through his thoughts.
He was able to objectively see his condition.
He had only briefly encountered a fragment of his existence through the curse, but he was terrified and panicked.
“Hahaha… I see…”
“Are you okay now?”
“Yes… Um, Team Leader?”
“Yeah! What is it? Do you have something to say?”
“I, I need to rest for a moment…”
Thud—!
Ahn Sung-jin, whose tension suddenly broke, collapsed on the spot as if he had fainted.
“Huh? Hey! Suddenly? Here?”
He could hear Park Han-cheol’s voice as if from afar, but he didn’t have the energy to think anymore.
________________________
[Hmm… This is a first.]
Hans stared at one side in the darkness-shrouded space.
At the end of the direction his blue ghost fires were facing… was a hospital.
[Hmm… This is a first.]
Hans stared at one side in the darkness-shrouded space.
At the end of the direction his blue ghost fires were facing… was a hospital.
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