Swish!
Blood splattered.
The blood pouring from Im Chang-sik’s chest sprayed in all directions, and as expected, Su-ho was drenched in it.
It was Im Chang-sik’s blood.
Im Chang-sik trembled.
But he couldn’t groan or shudder.
That’s because his pressure points had been activated.
[ Heal is activated. ]
Four days had passed since Su-ho first started cutting Im Chang-sik.
And today marked the fifth day.
Tomorrow, Yoon Hyun-chul would return.
That’s why Su-ho had given his all to torture Im Chang-sik today.
For the last five days, Su-ho had been cutting Im Chang-sik for a specific skill.
That skill only granted experience from living enemies, so Su-ho had to push himself to get the most out of it.
But it seemed that even five days of effort were still far from enough.
‘Then again, I didn’t realize that until I was over level 200 myself.’
Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!
Just then, the alarm on Su-ho's phone went off.
It was time to return.
Unfortunately, he had to stop here.
Su-ho dismissed the Blood Sword and released the pressure points from Im Chang-sik.
"Ughh!!"
Im Chang-sik collapsed to the floor, gasping for air.
It couldn’t be helped.
While he couldn’t move with the pressure points on, the pain from his chest wound had been steadily building up.
Now, with all the accumulated damage, he couldn’t help but convulse, his eyes rolling back in his head.
But Su-ho felt no sympathy for him. Instead, with his usual detached demeanor, he treated him before using an item to clean up the nearby blood.
Afterward, he placed the Chang-sik Gang’s drugs, some water, and a bit of food near Im Chang-sik.
"See you later."
The promise to grant freedom was never something Su-ho intended to keep.
After all, Im Chang-sik hadn’t kept any of the promises he’d made to his many debtors.
***
Su-ho exited the Pocket Space House using Clone Movement and found himself back in Yoon Hyun-chul’s room, where breakfast was in full swing.
The clone had been sitting against the wall, and when it was swapped out for the real Su-ho, he stretched his neck and signaled that he had returned.
Nearby, Kim Goong-won quickly approached and sat next to him.
"You're back, Hyung."
"Yeah. What about breakfast?"
"We were waiting for you."
At those words, Su-ho naturally released Kim Goong-won's sense of taste.
"Thank you, Hyung!"
Once his sense of taste was restored, Kim Goong-won bowed his head and eagerly went to the table to start eating.
But today, the scene at the table seemed a bit odd.
Su-ho shifted his gaze to Bae Seong-hwan, who was poking at his food, looking much thinner than usual.
The other inmates looked the same.
Su-ho chuckled and called out,
The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.
"Seong-hwan."
"...Yes, Hyung."
Bae Seong-hwan came over with a weak voice at Su-ho’s call.
It wasn’t just a feeling—he had really gotten thinner.
His cheeks had hollowed out, and his complexion looked poor.
It was because of the Seong-go.
Su-ho asked,
"Do you feel sick?"
"Well... I don’t think it’s a cold or anything, but I’m feeling weak and have no appetite."
Su-ho narrowed his eyes and activated Mana Detection.
The mana waves became visible as he focused on Bae Seong-hwan.
After examining him, Su-ho noticed a clear presence in Bae Seong-hwan’s abdomen and smiled faintly.
It was the Seong-go, now much larger than it had been five days ago.
‘It’s matured nicely.’
They said four days would be enough, and indeed, it was.
Su-ho said,
"Want help?"
"Huh?"
"You said you’re in pain. Want help?"
"How?"
"Close your eyes."
"...Huh?"
"Can’t you hear me?"
"No, it’s not that!"
Bae Seong-hwan obeyed and closed his eyes.
The other inmates, including Kim Goong-won, watched with interest.
Su-ho activated a skill on Bae Seong-hwan, who had his eyes shut.
[ Recovery is activated. ]
As Recovery activated, a golden light surrounded Bae Seong-hwan.
"Don’t open your eyes."
Bae Seong-hwan felt the sudden surge of energy and nearly opened his eyes in surprise, but at Su-ho's warning, he kept them shut tightly.
It was then.
"Ugh!"
A wave of nausea hit.
It felt like the kind of nausea one would experience after eating dozens of yogurt cups.
And in the end, Bae Seong-hwan couldn’t fight the feeling and had no choice but to vomit.
"Ugh!"
Since he hadn’t eaten much, almost nothing came out except water.
But what did emerge from his stomach was none other than an insect.
"...!"
"...!"
"...!"
It was a Seong-go.
The white and thick insect resembled a grub, and soaked in stomach acid, it squirmed on the floor, proving it was still alive.
"Ugh!"
"Ugh, stop!"
Seeing the scene, the other inmates were also overwhelmed with disgust and nausea.
Bae Seong-hwan finally opened his eyes, startled by the commotion.
And when he saw the squirming Seong-go in front of him, his eyes widened in shock.
"What... what is this?!"
"Quiet."
"H-Huh?"
"Go eat. You’ve been suffering because of this."
"Because of this insect?"
When Su-ho said it was because of the Seong-go, Bae Seong-hwan’s eyes flared with anger for a moment.
Seeing this, Su-ho warned him first.
"Don’t touch the insect, just go eat."
"But I need to get rid of the insect..."
"Don’t do anything useless, just go."
"Y-Yes... I understand."
"Again."
"Huh?"
"Do you have anything to say?"
"...?"
At Su-ho's question, Bae Seong-hwan looked confused for a moment, then his eyes widened, and he bowed his head again.
"Th-Thank you! For helping me get rid of the insect. Thank you so much!"
"Be sure to thank me properly."
"Yes, of course!"
Bae Seong-hwan hurriedly moved toward the table, eager to avoid any further trouble.
Now, only two people remained.
Su-ho smiled and said,
"You two, come here."
"U-Us too?"
"You’ve got the same symptoms. Hurry up."
At Su-ho's words, the two couldn’t deny it.
The symptoms and timing were exactly the same as Bae Seong-hwan’s.
But after seeing the Seong-go being vomited, they hesitated to approach.
At that moment, Kim Goong-won, seeing them hesitate, kicked them forward.
"Are you crazy? Hurry up and go!"
"S-Sorry!"
The two almost tripped as they scrambled to Su-ho, who used Recovery on them as well, successfully extracting the Seong-go.
After receiving their thanks, Su-ho gathered all three Seong-go eggs.
‘Looks like today will be a very busy day.’
It was harvest time.
***
As expected, it was an incredibly busy day.
It was no surprise, as Su-ho had to harvest Seong-go from nearly every inmate in just one day.
But with Kim Goong-won's help, Su-ho was able to successfully collect most of the Seong-go.
‘Now, just the infirmary left.’
Su-ho headed to the infirmary, the last place for his harvest.
When he arrived, the doctor and the healer greeted him indifferently as always.
Su-ho politely asked,
"Could you both step aside for a moment?"
After exchanging looks, the doctor and the healer nodded and moved aside.
As soon as they left the infirmary, the inmates inside began to tense up.
The doctor and the healer were the bare minimum of safety, so their simultaneous departure left the inmates uneasy.
Su-ho spoke,
"Everyone, line up in front of me, one by one."
At Su-ho's words, the inmates hesitated for a moment, but soon they all lined up quickly.
After that, everything proceeded as usual.
Using Recovery, Su-ho extracted the Seong-go from each one.
When the first inmate vomited the Seong-go, the others were startled, but there was no other choice but to wait their turn like those who had already been served.
Finally, it was Jo Gwang-ho’s turn.
He looked much thinner than he had five days ago.
It was understandable.
He had already run to the infirmary to escape the torment of the other inmates, but here he was suffering from the Seong-go, so his complexion was far from healthy.
Jo Gwang-ho looked at Su-ho for a while, then quietly stood beside him, waiting for Recovery.
Su-ho took the last Seong-go from Jo Gwang-ho.
"Ugh!"
Jo Gwang-ho vomited forcefully.
Su-ho smiled in satisfaction as he watched the Seong-go. The one that came out was much larger than the others, likely because it had grown over the past five days.
Right after Su-ho collected the Seong-go,
"You..."
It was then that Jo Gwang-ho, who had been wiping his mouth, suddenly spoke to Su-ho.
Su-ho calmly looked at him, and Jo Gwang-ho met his gaze before speaking again.
"You... Who are you?"
At his question, Su-ho smiled faintly.
Look at this. Even though he was decaying, he was still the former king of Cheongok?
With the same smile, Su-ho replied,
"Why? What if I know?"
"What?"
"If I know, what does it change?"
"What do you mean..."
Jo Gwang-ho's eyes grew wider, slowly realizing who Su-ho really was.
Seeing his expression, Su-ho turned off the voice modulation device for a moment.
"Have you accumulated enough anger by now?"
"...!"
Instead of the modulated voice, Su-ho's true voice came out.
The moment Jo Gwang-ho heard it, his eyes widened, as though he had seen a ghost.
How could he forget that voice?
The owner of that voice was the one who had started his downfall!
Su-ho smiled as he watched Jo Gwang-ho’s reaction.
He lowered his voice slightly, so Jo Gwang-ho could hear him better.
"How pitiful. The former tiger, now too scared of rabbits and foxes, hiding in the infirmary."
"You..."
"But when I saw you in the infirmary, I thought of something. Maybe this isn’t an infirmary at all, but a poison jar where Gu-dok (insect poison) is made. So, have you built up enough anger yet?"
"You bastard...! Why are you doing this to me?"
"What’s the reason?"
"What?"
"Did you kill people because you had a reason?"
Jo Gwang-ho’s eyes turned bright red, his fury rising.
He was struggling to hold back his anger, fully aware that if he lashed out, it would be his last move.
"The way you reap what you sow. Speaking of which, watching you, I had a thought. Maybe I should remind these idiots of their place."
"They’ve made me even more miserable, haven’t they?"
"Stop playing the tragic hero. Do you think you have the right or the honor to feel miserable? You’re just trash eating away at society. You were just too lucky to be punished for it until now."
Su-ho activated the voice modulation device again and spoke,
"I heard you’re the fool who gets picked on here, right? But, you know, after hearing that, I thought—why do all these idiots, who are just as much trash, get so caught up in trying to act righteous while tormenting you? I think it's time I reminded them of their place."
Su-ho activated a skill on Jo Gwang-ho.
[ Pressure Point Technique is activated. ]
Su-ho released the pressure points from Jo Gwang-ho one by one.
Then, he gently lifted his hand and made Jo Gwang-ho curl his fist.
At that moment, Jo Gwang-ho’s eyes grew as wide as saucers.
"When you exorcise a beast, you have to open an escape route. This is the brief escape route I’m giving you. Go and let your anger out. Show these idiots what kind of place this is. Don’t dare try to challenge the throne again. Remember, if you don’t know your place, next time, you won’t even be able to chew your food."
Jo Gwang-ho trembled at Su-ho's harsh words.
But he quickly understood the meaning behind Su-ho's words and bowed deeply, his forehead touching the ground.
"...I’ll do as you say. Thank you, Hyung."
"Good. Now you’re starting to get it."
Su-ho patted Jo Gwang-ho on the shoulder and stood up, signaling the end of the conversation.