Chapter 233 – Summary Judgment

[Trait – Berserker]

– Grade: S

– Description: Energy accumulates when experiencing pain or anger. This energy is stored in the wielded weapon, amplifying damage by up to 500% based on the amount accumulated. The energy gained varies depending on the intensity of pain and anger.

‘So that’s the kind of trait it was.’

Min Do-jun nodded as he confirmed Seo Jin-cheol’s trait.

‘That’s why the pain disappeared from Seo Jin-cheol’s face. He converted the pain into energy.’

He had wondered about the red aura surrounding Seo Jin-cheol’s blade, and now he understood it was energy that amplified damage.

‘Charging pain or anger into the tip of the sword to unleash it… That’s pretty useful.’

If it could amplify damage by five times, it was undeniably a cheat-like ability.

‘I don’t know if it amplifies skills as well, but even if it only applies to basic attacks, that’s still incredible.’

Given that his basic attacks were already quite strong with buffs, this would be a significant help.

‘That aside…’

Min Do-jun’s gaze turned toward the camera that was still recording.

‘I need to deal with that camera first.’

Approaching it to check, as expected, the footage captured everything.

It showed Min Do-jun transforming and even the scene of him burning Seo Jin-cheol to death.

‘This kind of thing mustn’t be revealed to the world.’

He immediately deleted the video and used Hellfire to reduce the camera to ashes.

‘Now, Shin Kyung-min should be arriving soon.’

Thanks to Parasite, he could tell.

Shin Kyung-min would be here any moment.

Bang-!

“Do-jun! I’m here to help!”

Shin Kyung-min burst into the factory along with Shin Hye-ri.

Armed in hunter gear, Shin Kyung-min spotted Min Do-jun and rushed over.

“Do-jun, are you okay…?”

Seeing Min Do-jun in much better condition than expected, the question of whether he was okay trailed off.

“Kyung-min, you’re here?”

“What happened, Do-jun? Where’s Seo Jin-cheol?”

“You heard the situation from your sister, right?”

“Yes. I heard everything over the phone. That’s why I came to help, but…”

As if there was no need for help, Min Do-jun’s condition was perfectly fine.

That didn’t mean there were no traces of a fight.

The floor was covered in blood.

“Is that Seo Jin-cheol’s blood?”

“Yes, it is.”

“What on earth happened…?”

“There was a fight.”

Min Do-jun calmly explained the situation.

He described how he held off Seo Jin-cheol, who was wielding dual swords, and had no choice but to kill him due to fierce resistance.

“I wanted to subdue him and hold him until you arrived, Kyung-min, but his resistance was too strong, so I had to kill him.”

He didn’t mention anything about his transformation ability.

If the world learned of such a skill, it would only cause chaos.

“You killed Seo Jin-cheol?”

“Yes…”

Min Do-jun answered with a troubled expression.

His voice even trembled, as if he were someone who had committed murder for the first time.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. A bastard like him deserves to die.”

On the contrary, Shin Kyung-min comforted Min Do-jun.

He was worried that Min Do-jun might carry the guilt of killing someone for the rest of his life.

“If it hadn’t been you, Do-jun, I would’ve killed him myself. That bastard.”

It wasn’t an empty statement.

Shin Kyung-min had been pacing with the sole intent of killing Seo Jin-cheol the moment he found him.

That’s when he received the call from Shin Hye-ri.

“I heard everything from Hye-ri. She said you appeared at a dangerous moment and saved her. And then you stayed behind to deal with Seo Jin-cheol.”

Yet, somehow, there wasn’t even a trace of Seo Jin-cheol to be seen.

If he had been killed, there should at least be a body.

“Where is Seo Jin-cheol’s body?”

“Well…”

Unable to say that he had absorbed the body with the Energy Recovery trait, Min Do-jun put on a troubled expression and fabricated a lie.

“I have a magic skill called Hellfire, and while using it, I accidentally…”

“Hellfire?”

Shin Kyung-min was startled.

He had heard of Hellfire before.

It was a skill almost legendary among mages.

“That’s the unique skill that even most mages struggle to obtain, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I happened to acquire it.”

“Did you use it on Seo Jin-cheol…?”

“Yes… He turned to ashes in an instant.”

Hellfire was famous for melting anything.

If Seo Jin-cheol had been hit by Hellfire, it made sense that there was no body left.

In reality, it wasn’t quite to that extent, though.

“It’s a relief. I’m glad he didn’t die peacefully.”

Knowing that Hellfire maximizes pain, Shin Kyung-min was pleased with Seo Jin-cheol’s death.

“Thank you. Do-jun, you’ve properly avenged me. And on top of that, you saved my sister twice…”

Shin Kyung-min looked at Min Do-jun with eyes full of genuine gratitude.

Since Min Do-jun had never received such a look even in his past life, it felt awkward to him.

“But how did you know Seo Jin-cheol’s location, Do-jun?”

Judging by his tone, it wasn’t suspicion but pure curiosity that prompted the question.

“When I saw Seo Jin-cheol at the university before, he seemed like a dangerous person. Thinking he might cause trouble someday, I tailed him whenever I had the chance, and then this happened…”

“Ah, it’s a good thing you were there, Do-jun. Really.”

If Min Do-jun hadn’t been tailing him, Seo Jin-cheol would likely have committed his crime and fled overseas by now.

“It’s truly fortunate that we stopped the crime…”

Shin Kyung-min glanced at Min Do-jun cautiously.

“But proving self-defense might be tricky…”

Even if Seo Jin-cheol had committed a crime, killing someone still constituted murder under the law.

Even hunters weren’t exempt from this.

“Seo Jin-cheol tried to kill me. Won’t that be recognized as self-defense?”

“If your level were lower, killing him might have been recognized as self-defense, but since you’re rank 1… The court will likely see it as excessive force.”

The court’s stance would probably be that, with greater strength, he should have subdued rather than killed.

“This is a headache. Since it’s such a high-profile case, covering it up isn’t an option either…”

Given that Seo Jin-cheol had already committed murder at the university and caused a scene, hiding the incident was impossible.

“I wish I had been the one to kill Seo Jin-cheol. Then you wouldn’t be in this difficult situation, Do-jun…”

Shin Kyung-min showed a genuinely apologetic expression.

However, Min Do-jun didn’t seem particularly worried.

He was well aware of hunter laws.

“Isn’t there a special law for hunters? The one called Summary Judgment?”

“Ah…!”

Summary Judgment was a law that permitted hunters to kill when another hunter posed a threat, applicable only to hunters.

Shin Kyung-min clapped his hands.

“That’s right, Summary Judgment! Ah, but to have that applied, Seo Jin-cheol’s crime needs to be proven…”

While it was clear that Seo Jin-cheol had committed murder at the university, it was only based on Shin Hye-ri’s testimony.

Without clear evidence like CCTV footage, proving Seo Jin-cheol’s guilt would be difficult.

“Oppa, I saw it! That man killed Kang-woo!”

“Yes, but it happened in a place without CCTV. And since he escaped using invisibility, there’s no proof he was even there.”

“Even with a living witness like me?”

“Testimony alone isn’t enough. We need solid evidence of the murder.”

“I have evidence.”

Min Do-jun pulled out something the size of a finger from his pocket.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a recorder. Just in case, I recorded the situation while observing with invisibility.”

Pressing the play button, Seo Jin-cheol’s voice from the call with Shin Kyung-min could be heard.

– Yeah. I kidnapped your sister.

– Male student? Ah… you mean the guy who was with her when I kidnapped her. He was in the way, so I killed him.

After the call ended, the conversation with Shin Hye-ri followed.

– Want me to tell you how I’ll get my revenge?

– See that camera over there? I’m going to record a video of your rape with it. Then, I’ll cut off your limbs like an insect, and finally, I’ll slit your throat to kill you.

– I’ll leave the video of the rape and murder behind and flee overseas. Then, later, when Shin Kyung-min sees it, he’ll be absolutely furious, right? Heh heh.

Crunch-

Imagining the situation, Shin Kyung-min expressed his anger.

“That bastard Seo Jin-cheol…”

From the call with Shin Kyung-min to the conversation with Shin Hye-ri, all the critical content was recorded. Seeing this, Shin Kyung-min nodded.

“This is enough evidence. With Seo Jin-cheol’s confession, his future plans, and even his cruel nature revealed, Summary Judgment can easily be applied.”

“I guess recording it was the right call.”

As if he had anticipated this outcome, Min Do-jun pretended to sigh in relief, brushing his chest.

“By the way, Kyung-min, if it’s not rude, may I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Hypothetically, if I had failed to rescue her, what would you have done?”

“Failed to rescue… You mean if Seo Jin-cheol succeeded in his crime and escaped overseas as planned?”

Min Do-jun quietly nodded.

“I don’t even want to imagine it, but if something happened to my sister, I can’t predict how I’d react. I’d probably go mad with anger and guilt.”

‘Mad enough to stage a coup?’

He wanted to ask outright but held it back.

Mentioning a coup in front of the mastermind, Shin Kyung-min, was still premature.

‘Still, it seems possible. He said himself he might go mad.’

In his past life, Shin Hye-ri must have been killed by Seo Jin-cheol.

‘It’s reasonable to think that caused a change in Shin Kyung-min’s state of mind.’

If so, having saved Shin Hye-ri, would Shin Kyung-min no longer turn dark?

Would there truly be no coup in this life?

‘That remains to be seen.’

Since there were no definitive clues yet, it was best to keep observing the situation.

“Do-jun, thank you so much.”

Shin Kyung-min bowed deeply to Min Do-jun once again.

To him, Min Do-jun was a lifelong benefactor who had protected his only family.

* * *

[Breaking News! Rank 5 Seo Jin-cheol Murders Korea University Student and Kidnaps Shin Kyung-min Hunter’s Sister.]

[Reason for Kidnapping: Revenge Against High School Classmate Shin Kyung-min Hunter.]

[Fortunately, Hunter Min Do-jun, Who Had Been Tailing Seo Jin-cheol, Intervenes, Safely Rescuing the Hostage.]

[Seo Jin-cheol Killed During Rescue Operation. Not Even a Body Remains.]

Reading a Korean article through a translation program, Justin Walker furrowed his brow.

“Idiot.”

The person he was cursing was none other than the deceased Seo Jin-cheol.

‘I thought he’d rape her and immediately flee overseas, but he botched the job?’

Reading further into the article, it seemed he didn’t even get the chance to commit the rape.

Min Do-jun had been tailing him from the start.

‘Min Do-jun intervened… What did he know to tail him?’

The reason for tailing Seo Jin-cheol was unclear, but one thing was certain.

Because of that, the plan had gone awry.

‘I was planning to target Min Do-jun after Shin Kyung-min anyway. This works out well. Heh heh.’

A meaningful smile crept across Justin Walker’s lips.