Chapter 138 - Chapter 135: Episode 133 - Instability
Watching her mother, Lee Shin-ah, with her eyes closed, a whirlwind of complex thoughts raced through her mind.
Along with the guilt of striking down the hero she once admired, there was the undeniable realization that even that hero was no longer a match for her.
For the first time, she felt a genuine sense of achievement—something she had earned entirely on her own.
Everything had been brought about by her own hands.
Yet, despite that, her hands were trembling.
Her mother's body was far weaker than she had imagined.
She had even wondered if she'd killed her.
But then, she looked at Lee Seon-ah, sitting beside her.
Seeing what happened after the man she'd intended to use as her semen dispenser reached out to her mother, she snapped back to reality.
When they were returning to the Han-il Guild West Sea Branch, he'd claimed to be a hunter who had awakened a 'recovery' ability.
It wasn't hard to guess that the light he'd used on her mother was a healing act.
Even so, her mother remained unconscious.
She felt angry that he'd healed her mother without permission, but since she hadn't actually intended to kill her, she felt a flicker of gratitude as well.
Perhaps sensing her gaze, Lee Seon-ah flinched.
Even so, the way he looked at her was nothing short of defiant.
Should she be angry at him for acting on his own?
No.
Strangely, she felt good.
It was as if she were overflowing with power, accompanied by the absolute confidence that she could accomplish anything.
That was why she decided to let it slide with just a warning this time.
"Why did you act on your own? Are you not afraid of me?"
"To do such a thing to your own mother... You're the one who's crazy..."
His body flinched as he looked at her. She could tell how much terror he felt.
Yet, she couldn't understand his defiance at all.
The courage emanating from that frail body—which could be snuffed out if she just reached out her hand—was far too dazzling.
It was completely different from her own past, when she'd had no choice but to succumb to the malice directed at her because she lacked power.
Back when she was caught by Seo Ju-ha, and even when she returned from the Han-il Guild.
Thinking back to that time, when they were both caught by Seo Ju-ha, Seon-ah had sacrificed himself just before she was about to be violated by that psycho lesbian bitch.
He and she had similar appearances and personalities, but he was someone who could carry out his own will even without power.
Some might call it recklessness, but he possessed the image I had always longed for.
It wasn't the version of herself that had gained power, but rather him—the one who could uphold his will even without it—that was so dazzling.
Because he naturally did the things I wanted to do when I lacked power.
And because I felt disgusted with myself for having changed like this...
That was why I wanted to snuff out that light.
She began to threaten him in a low voice.
She tried to break his will and peel off that hypocritical mask.
"Ha... are you crazy? Do you not understand the situation? What do you think will happen if a hostage talks to their kidnapper with such a rebellious attitude?"
"Don't you regret doing that to your own family? Swinging your fist at your one and only mother..."
However, his response was unexpected.
That action wasn't hypocrisy.
She had to realize that his will, which shone even when his life was threatened and in the mud where he was violated countless times, was not a lie but the truth.
Unlike her, he was a fool.
It was annoying.
It was detestable.
He naturally accomplished things she couldn't.
She began to feel jealous of him, who wouldn't yield to any threat.
A black restlessness was burrowing into her heart.
She wanted to break that man's will somehow.
She wanted to drag him down into the same abyss as herself and make him taste this terrible guilt and regret.
"Is that so? Fine... I'll let it slide this time."
But when he opens his eyes next, a hell will be unfolding before him.
She would make him walk the same abyss as herself.
With those words, Hyun-ah grabbed Seon-ah by the neck and began to apply pressure.
It was an action to knock him unconscious.
Because her strength had suddenly increased due to her ability, she couldn't control it properly, so she had to be careful.
"Keu... keuheuk... keuheuk...."
Painful groans escaped Seon-ah's lips.
After picking them both up, she looked around her room one last time.
Her room, where she had lived for quite a long time.
But now it was time to say goodbye.
She took out the restraint suit she had used on Seon-ah earlier from a corner of the room.
The Han-il Guild, currently at war with the scavengers, had obtained the right from the prosecution to punish and restrain them.
Therefore, they had prepared items specifically for that purpose.
For her, a supply team member, it wasn't difficult to secretly siphon off some of those suits.
There was only one target for this one.
Her mother, Lee Shin-ah.
Since she only had one, she couldn't put it on Lee Seon-ah, but because her power had become complete after receiving his semen, it wouldn't be a big problem even if he resisted.
She put the restraint suit on her mother.
Carefully, so she could never move.
Inside the suit, which emitted electric currents whenever she tried to use her ability, her mother wouldn't be able to use her power properly.
Whenever she tried to use her gravity manipulation, the electric current would flow out, breaking her concentration.
It was a bit annoying that she had to change the batteries, but since this was the only way, it couldn't be helped.
She hugged the limp Seon-ah and her mother in each of her arms and lifted them up.
She quickly moved them to her commuting vehicle.
Since a loud noise had echoed when the wall collapsed earlier, it was certain that a report had been made to the police.
'If it's discovered that an ability user caused this, the hunter guild will probably be dispatched.'
It was certain that a troublesome situation would unfold once the hunter guild arrived.
Since she had already applied to the association as an S-rank, it was obvious that she would be on the list of suspects along with her mother.
Therefore, she had to scout out a place to move these two.
Even if she were to be kicked out of society and live like a scavenger, she couldn't give up this power she had gained.
Thinking about the maximum humiliation she would make Lee Seon-ah taste, she began to drive the car away.
Her vehicle was a van, which was good for utilizing the interior space.
The van could carry much more luggage or people than a regular passenger car.
She had been forced to buy this car due to the constant harassment she received at the Han-il Guild West Sea Branch.
That harassment was quite petty.
One of the hunters who led the bullying began to entrust them with their luggage, and others followed suit.
As if it were only natural.
Even so, she had been too foolish to think of leaving the Han-il Guild.
Does her mother, Lee Shin-ah, know about that?
The fact that there is harassment between adults, between working professionals, in the guild she represents as the leader...
She probably doesn't know.
She probably doesn't even care.
That was why she had been disappointed in her mother hundreds of times over.
It's true that she didn't have the courage to tell her mother, but she endured because she firmly believed that it would be resolved someday.
However, that fruition came in a different form like this.
After leaving the area where she lived and coming to a distant location, Hyun-ah stopped the car in a secluded spot.
And then she began to wake up the two people in the car.
Her body felt stifled.
Lee Shin-ah could tell that she had been put in a restraint suit even before she opened her eyes.
As someone who had been using her ability for a long time, she tried to use her gravity manipulation while keeping her eyes closed, but electric current burrowed into her body.
A crackling sound was heard, and a weak groan escaped her.
Noticing that sound, the voice of the person she expected to have put the restraint suit on her was heard.
"What is it... Mother, if you've opened your eyes, you should at least give some sign, right? Come to think of it... you've been like that since I was young, right? Whenever you fell asleep while watching TV in the living room, if I turned off the power, you would say 'Mom isn't sleeping,' so pretending to be asleep is the same now as it was then."
It was her eldest daughter, Hyun-ah.
Lee Shin-ah opened her eyes and looked around.
Inside the car her eldest daughter drove.
Outside the window, a landscape overgrown with trees could be seen.
A place where no sign of human presence could be felt at all.
Why Hyun-ah had brought her here.
And it was strange that her body was more intact than she thought.
Recalling the light that extended from the man's hand that she had witnessed last before losing consciousness, she was able to remember the fact that Seon-ah had healed her.
"Where is... Seon-ah?... Where is he?"
"He was rebelling too much, so I put him to sleep for a bit. If I were to describe my current feelings roughly, it would feel like, 'The one who was rebelling against me is now by my side'..."
With those words, Hyun-ah pointed to Seon-ah, who was fast asleep in the back seat.
She was worried about whether he had been subjected to something by Hyun-ah because he had healed her.
"But you know, Mother, why did you come to my room? You visit occasionally, but you've never come by suddenly without any contact like this."
After hearing those words, she thought she should tell her the reason she had come.
The real reason, excluding trivial things like having summoned the executives...
"Hyun-ah... listen carefully... the Lee Seon-ah who is by your side... is your cousin."
Although she was lying down with a restraint suit on, Hyun-ah couldn't help but realize from that serious expression that what her mother said was the truth.
However, now that she had come this far, there was no turning back.
Not only had she already violated him, but in order to maintain this power, it didn't matter whether he was her cousin or whatever.
He was absolutely necessary for her current power not to disappear.
Therefore, she hid her wavering heart and said to her mother.
"Is that so? I... I didn't know. But what do you want me to do? Didn't you see it when you came into the room? It's already too late. We're in a relationship where we've mixed our bodies. Do you think there's anything to hold back now that I've already done it once?"
Hyun-ah said, as if she were being cunning, even while stammering.
Her heart became complicated at the fact that there was no turning back anymore.
Seeing Hyun-ah's wavering appearance, her parent, Lee Shin-ah, noticed it and began to persuade her.
"Even now... you can just stop. This mother of yours was wrong... I know how much you've suffered all this time..."
She tried to apologize by confessing that she had done something she shouldn't have, saying that she could still turn back even now.
However, those words could not continue to the end.
"Stop! What do you know! Think about what you did to me... The moment my younger sister... Lee Ji-ah awakened her ability, you heartlessly abandoned me... I was just in pain..."
The resentment filled inside Hyun-ah burst out.
When her younger sister awakened her ability.
The sorrow toward her mother, who acted as if she had abandoned all the attention that was directed toward her once she possessed a higher ability than her.
For Hyun-ah, that was more painful than anything else.
Even when she became the laughingstock of other hunters, and even when she was bullied, the moment that was more painful than that was when her mother cut off her attention.
Lee Shin-ah didn't say a word because she knew about the cruel things she had done to her daughter.
She just looked at the face of Hyun-ah, who was venting those resentment-filled words.
Perhaps feeling relieved after venting, Hyun-ah continued.
"Haa... haa... now that it's come to this, I'll tell you... why I kidnapped Seon-ah..."
Lee Shin-ah, who had been silent, turned her head toward Hyun-ah after hearing those words.