Chapter 173 – Conversation with a Soul

[You have killed Hunter Lee Min-ji.]

[You have stolen the characteristic ‘Power of Healing’.]

[You have stolen 7 pieces of equipment.]

Min Do-jun, who had just killed Lee Min-ji, immediately checked the characteristic he had obtained.

[Characteristic – Power of Healing]

-Grade: S

-Description: By placing your hand on the wounded area and saying ‘heal’ in your mind, you can restore it to its original state. As long as the bones are still connected, you can heal any injury. However, if a body part has been severed, you must reattach it before healing for it to reconnect. It’s impossible to regenerate parts that have been completely severed with the bone. The higher your magic power, the faster the healing process.

‘So it can heal anything as long as the bones are still connected. Truly overpowered.’

Min Do-jun was already somewhat familiar with her characteristic.

After all, Lee Min-ji was a famous healer both now and before his regression.

‘It’s common knowledge that Lee Min-ji was able to grow into a world-class healer because of this characteristic.’

Among the skills available to the public, there are no healing skills for wounds.

Even awakened individuals with healing aptitude who work in hospitals all heal using their characteristics.

‘Among them, Lee Min-ji’s healing characteristic is top-class.’

No healer in any hospital could restore a student’s leg that had been burned to ashes in less than 30 seconds.

‘With her high magic power, she must have been able to heal that quickly.’

Due to the nature of her characteristic, which made healing faster with higher magic power, Lee Min-ji had invested all her stats into magic power.

‘Even so, a supporter can’t really pretend to be a damage dealer.’

Min Do-jun’s gaze fell on Lee Min-ji’s corpse.

Her body and head were slowly disappearing.

‘Originally, I planned to torture her for information and then kill her, but…’

Since there were witnesses, he had to modify his plan.

For now, he decided to kill her and have a conversation with her soul.

[You have stored a soul.]

[Number of stored souls: 10/10]

[You can view the list of stored souls or converse with them through the skill window.]

[1. Bizarre Tree Elemental]

[2. Bizarre Tree Elemental]

[……]

[……]

[9. Bizarre Tree Elemental]

[10. Lee Min-ji]

Looking at the list, he could see that Lee Min-ji’s soul had taken the last slot.

‘Good thing I cleared a space beforehand.’

Min Do-jun touched Lee Min-ji’s name with eyes full of curiosity.

He was genuinely curious whether he could actually insert a human soul and have a conversation with it.

[Huh? W-what’s going on?]

A human voice echoed in his mind.

It was definitely Lee Min-ji’s voice.

[I’m sure I died, didn’t I?]

‘Yes. I killed you.’

Lee Min-ji seemed to hear Min Do-jun’s thoughts, as she responded with a startled voice.

[M-Min Do-jun Hunter?]

‘How did you know? Can you see me?’

[I can see you, of course.]

‘Interesting. How much can you see?’

[What do you mean, how much?]

‘Can you see the top of my head?’

[Yes, I can.]

It seemed she could see everything from a third-person perspective.

[But why are you here……]

‘I told you. I killed you.’

[……]

As if she couldn’t quite grasp the situation, she remained silent for a while before letting out a sigh.

[Ah, don’t tell me the Magic Swordsman who interfered was……]

‘Yes. It was me.’

[……]

‘Just a moment ago, I cut off your arm and severed your neck to kill you.’

[B-but your face……]

‘I have an item that can transform my face. I’m still transformed now, but it seems souls can see through it, judging by how you recognized my name.’

[……]

Lee Min-ji was silent for a while.

She seemed to be in shock for various reasons.

[So the person who interfered with me was actually you, Min Do-jun?]

Her tone had changed.

Even just from her voice, it was clear she was filled with anger.

[Why did you interfere? Why did you kill me!]

‘Saving innocent citizens is only natural.’

[Don’t lie! I know you were targeting me deliberately!]

‘Did you read my thoughts?’

[Thoughts? If what I’m hearing now are your thoughts, then yes! That’s right. Whether I want to or not, I can hear your voice!]

‘When conversing with souls, I’ll need to be careful about what I think.’

He didn’t want to carelessly leak information.

[How did you know about this place? Did you follow me from the café? Are you trying to get revenge because I refused to form a party with you?]

‘As if I’d have such a petty reason.’

[Tell me. How am I able to talk with you like this? What was your purpose in following me?]

‘Enough questions. Now it’s my turn to ask.’

[Shut up! You’ve ruined my life. Do you think I’ll just answer your questions?]

‘You will if you still care about your younger sister.’

[……What?]

‘An S-rank healer with nothing to envy took the risk of kidnapping people just for her sister. Solely focused on revenge. So what would be this healer’s weakness?’

[You don’t mean……]

‘Answer my questions. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to harm your sister.’

[How low of you to threaten me with my sister……]

‘Didn’t you do the same? You took innocent siblings hostage. I’m just doing the same.’

[But you saved my sister from those trash bullies.]

‘That’s separate from this. If you don’t listen, I’ll have to target your sister.’

[Why are you doing this to me? What grudge do you have against me?!]

‘That’s not important. Just answer my question. What’s your relationship with Shin Kyung-min?’

[Shin Kyung-min? Why bring him up out of nowhere?]

‘So you have no relationship. Then let me change the question: if I asked you to join a coup, would you?’

[A coup? Are you insane?]

‘It seems you need to learn to speak more politely first.’

[Why should I? What do I have to fear?]

‘You don’t mind if your sister gets hurt?’

[You don’t even know where my house is.]

‘I can just ask.’

Min Do-jun approached the two male students who were still tied up.

“Do you two know where Lee Min-jung lives?”

“Huh? Lee Min-jung?”

“I know. She lives in Bupyeong 1-dong.”

Having easily obtained the home address through the students, Lee Min-ji cursed.

[Those damn bastards!]

‘Judging by your reaction, the address must be correct.’

[Min Do-jun! No, Do-jun-ssi! Why are you doing this to me? Wasn’t killing me enough? Why do you want to harm my innocent sister? Don’t you feel sorry for my sister who’s already suffering from those trash bullies?]

‘Don’t get ahead of yourself. If you cooperate well, I won’t touch her.’

[After interfering with my plans and even saving those nuclear waste-level trash, do you think I’d be in the mood to cooperate?]

At that moment, the male students spoke to Min Do-jun.

“Hunter-nim. Thank you so much for saving us.”

“I’ll never forget this debt even if I die…” “So, could you please untie these ropes…”

There was a flash of light, and the students’ heads fell off like bunches of grapes.

Thud- Thud-

Min Do-jun spoke with disgust.

‘Who said I saved you? I was planning to kill you from the start.’

[……]

The only reason he hadn’t killed the male students earlier was because their family members were watching.

‘The slots are full, so even their souls can’t be collected.’

Since he agreed with Lee Min-ji’s description of them as “nuclear waste,” he felt no guilt despite killing ordinary people.

[Huh? The b-bodies…?]

Whether Lee Min-ji was surprised by the magically disappearing bodies or not, Min Do-jun cleaned up the area.

He gathered the clothes and belongings in one place and roughly disposed of them.

He didn’t touch the female students’ bodies that Lee Min-ji had killed, nor the ropes.

[Where are you going?]

‘Why do you need to know?’

Min Do-jun replied curtly and touched the name in the list to block the conversation.

‘Now she shouldn’t be able to hear my thoughts.’

He wasn’t sure if she could still see but just couldn’t hear his thoughts.

‘I’ll find out when I ask her later.’

He decided to postpone getting information from Lee Min-ji and left the scene for now.

There was nothing good about staying at the crime scene for too long.

‘Awoo. Let’s go.’

He mounted the ghost wolf and quickly left the scene.

Only corpses and bloodstains remained in the deserted ghost station.

* * *

[Breaking News! Recently missing persons visit police station last night, claiming they were kidnapped by S-rank healer Lee Min-ji.]

[World-class healer Lee Min-ji committed kidnapping, murder, and torture? Testimonies continue.]

[Consistent claims lead to investigation of ghost station where they were allegedly kidnapped; corpses and multiple bloodstains found. Personal belongings also discovered in a corner……]

[Missing persons claim they nearly died at Lee Min-ji’s hands but were saved by a mysterious hunter who suddenly appeared.]

[Lee Min-ji confirmed dead as she has disappeared from the rankings.]

[Police suspect homicide as someone concealed Lee Min-ji’s belongings. The mysterious hunter who rescued the people is a suspect.]

Min Do-jun, who was reading the articles, looked at the comments.

└Wow, it’s not even April Fool’s Day. What is this? Is it real?

└A healer committing kidnapping and murder? And a famous S-rank healer at that?

└The most shocking news of 2021.

└A healer becoming a killer. Shocking.

└But is this reliable? There’s nothing but the testimonies of the missing persons?

└What do you mean just testimonies? There’s evidence like bloodstains too.

└Who would slander an S-rank healer unless they were insane? It’s definitely true.

└Meanwhile, the police are wasting time trying to find the hunter who served justice?

└Murder cannot be justified for any reason…

└What a self-righteous comment.

└I’d like to see if you’d still say that if your family was murdered.

└The funny thing is there’s no backstory about why the healer became a killer.

└Right. She wouldn’t have kidnapped 8 people for no reason.

└What would an S-rank healer need that would drive her to kidnap? This article is complete nonsense.

└You must not know, but there are many weirdos among hunters…

└I guess killing living beings every day would make anyone mentally unstable.

└That bitch Lee Min-ji must just be a psychopath.

[This is bullshit……]

Min Do-jun had learned that blocking the conversation also blocked the visual feed.

Knowing this, he deliberately allowed the conversation with Lee Min-ji while reading the articles.

He wanted to show her people’s reactions to what she had done.

[These pig-dogs know nothing!]

He had no particular purpose.

He was just curious whether she regretted her actions.

‘My ears are rotting. Use more polite language.’

[But look at this, Do-jun-ssi! There’s nothing in the articles about why I did it for revenge! Those escaped bastards must have coordinated their testimonies to only say what benefits them! Of course I’m angry, aren’t I?]

As she said, no matter which article he looked at, there was no mention of the healer’s motive for revenge.

It was evidence that the hostages had coordinated their stories beforehand.

‘If I were in their position, I wouldn’t have said anything disadvantageous either.’

[Pretending not to know when you do is lying!]

‘Stop being so noisy. I might just erase you completely.’

[Ugh……]

Min Do-jun could delete Lee Min-ji’s soul if he wanted to.

For Lee Min-ji, who still had attachments to the living world, this was as powerful a threat as threatening her sister.

[By the way, why did you come to this mountain?]

‘Why do you need to know?’

[I’m just curious.]

‘A guest will be arriving soon.’

[A guest?]

‘Never mind, you go back in.’

Min Do-jun blocked the conversation and smiled.

‘Time to prepare to welcome our guest.’

His figure slowly disappeared.

* * *

“Is this the place?”

Tian Lisheng, who had arrived in Korea, immediately headed to the mountain where the incident had occurred.

“Seeing the cabin, this must be it.”

After briefly looking around to confirm no one was present, Tian Lisheng closed his eyes and sniffed.

Closing his eyes like this allowed him to track scents more precisely.

“Sniff sniff. This is it.”

Tian Lisheng quickly found the location where the incident had taken place.

‘So this is where that idiot Gao Zhihong got beaten up.’

He closed his eyes again and sniffed.

He could sense three scents remaining.

‘Gao Zhihong, a Black Sea Guild member, and the Black Sea Guild master. So there were three of them.’

Since Gao Zhihong had mentioned three people being present, this seemed correct.

‘But why is there so much blood scent?’

No matter how badly Gao Zhihong had been beaten, there shouldn’t be this much blood scent.

‘There wouldn’t be this much unless someone was killed?’

Had one of the three died?

‘I didn’t hear anything about Gao Zhihong killing someone?’

Regardless, he only needed to track the Black Sea Guild master’s scent.

“Sniff sniff.”

Tian Lisheng closed his eyes and analyzed the scents precisely.

Among the three scents, he found one that was mixed with Gao Zhihong’s.

‘This must be the Black Sea Guild master’s scent.’

Tian Lisheng smiled with satisfaction.

Once he found the target’s scent, the mission was as good as successful.

‘Now I just need to follow this scent to find the Black Sea Guild master.’

Then he would assassinate him with a surprise attack, and that would be the end.

This mission too would be successfully completed without difficulty.

But things didn’t unfold as easily as expected.

“Sniff sniff sniff sniff… Huh?”

Tian Lisheng, who had been sniffing, tilted his head in confusion.

‘Why is this scent so strong?’

A scent would only be this strong if the person was nearby.

‘Could it be?’

With a chilling sensation, Tian Lisheng raised his head.

And then.

“Ni hao.”